00161. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea.

00161. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea.

Fury was seated across from Tao and Agatha. It looked like they were enjoying a fresh pot of tea before Theo arrived. Fury shrugged as he asked, “You're really gonna ask that, with how cocky you've been? Or do you not realize how many clues you gave me?”

“I didn't give you any clues...”

Fury smirked slightly as he said, “I found out your age from Tao a long time ago and you gave me your real middle name. Which was completely stupid by the way.”

Fury shook his head as he said, “I also heard you mention once that your grandfather served with Steve for a while in the war. Another stupid mistake.”

Theo frowned the more he heard from Fury who said, “Then you bought up all of that land in Brooklyn for your Vibe project. All of which helped me narrow down my search.”

Fury confidently sat back in his chair as he said, “If I wasn't worried about you finding out, I probably would have found you a few years ago. But I didn't want to leave a digital trace, so I went to every hospital in NYC and searched their birth records in person.”

“And that's how you found me?” Theo asked.

“Pretty much.”

“I hope you realize, you created a major problem for me, right?” Theo asked with a lowered tone of voice.

Fury shook his head as he said, “No, you did. Anyone in our little group could find you if they put in the effort.”

“Maybe, maybe not.” Theo said before he pointed at Fury as he said, “The real problem is you’re the one who found me.”

Theo moved closer to Fury as he said, “Out of everyone who could find out my real identity, you’re the worst one.”

Fury stiffened a little in his seat as he asked, “Oh, and why exactly is that?”

“Because I can’t fully trust you with that information. More importantly, I can’t trust you knowing about my family.” Theo said.

Fury’s body tensed slightly as he said, “Why? Tao told me about the protection enchantments she placed on your family, they should be able to survive a nuke with it.”

“Just because it’s possible, doesn’t mean I want to test it out. Plus I want them to live a normal, worry free life. I don’t really want them mixed up with any of the stuff I am doing and I don’t think that can happen if you know about them.”

“Well that’s too late, so what do you plan to do now?” Fury asked.

“My gut reaction is killing you and replacing you with a shadow clone. It might be the easiest and safest solution.”

Tao placed her tea cup down as she said, “While I normally wouldn’t interfere in your personal matters. But since I am your master and someone who considers Fury a friend. I would like it if we could figure out a peaceful solution to this instead. How about I just wipe the information from his mind. That should solve everything right?”

Agatha nodded as she said, “That sounds reasonable to me.”

Theo frowned and shook his head before he said, “Not to me... You don’t know Fury like I do. He most likely has a contingency in place in case he forgets who I am. Actually knowing him, he’ll have a contingency for his death too.”

Fury relaxed a little as he said, “I normally don’t like it when someone figures out my plans, but you’re right. I decided to meet you after I had enough contingencies in place.”

Theo nodded before he said, “Which is the only thing I don’t understand. You’re the type of person who would be happy to keep this information secret until you needed to use it. So why are you here now? What do you want?”

Fury was quiet for a few moments before he focused on Theo and said, “You’re right, it wasn’t an easy decision to make. But you have something I want.”

Theo frowned as he said, “So you came to black mail me into making a deal with you?”

Fury looked directly at Theo as he said, “If I’m right, this whole neighborhood will be filled with your people in the next year or two and that doesn’t include whatever else you are planning on doing here.”

Theo nodded as he said, “You're right, I plan to have this entire neighborhood and part of the surrounding ones filled with my people.”

Fury smiled as he said, “That's what, six or seven miles? So long as I stay in this small self-contained area you are setting up, I will be fine to roam around with my family and not worry about it so much.”

“So you want to use the protection I am setting up for my family to help protect your family also?”

“That's just a bonus. The main benefit is being able to take my wife and daughter out and not be in disguise.” Fury nodded in agreement.

“And if I refuse?” Theo asked.

“Then I'll settle for Genosha, but I'll need your help to get my family set up there.”

“Weird, I kinda expected more push back.” Theo said.

Fury shrugged as he said, “What else can I do? Threaten to expose your secret? That would only weaken the organization and possibly kill me. Well, only if Tao allowed you to do it.”

Tao nodded in response as she said, “I would like a peaceful resolution to this.”

“I don’t like the idea of him knowing about me or my family.”

“And I would rather not have my mind messed with.” Fury said.

“It's just a matter of trust right?” Agatha asked.

Theo nodded before Agatha asked, “So what does he need to do, for you to be able to trust him?”

“I have no clue. I know the type of person he is and what he's capable of doing. So I don’t think I could ever fully trust him.” Theo said with a frown.

“While I normally wouldn’t suggest this option, you could make a magically binding contract with him.” Tao said.

Theo and Fury both looked towards Tao with interest as she said, “Since a magic contract is only bound by the rules written into the contract. They need to be very precise and are rarely used. But it might work for your specific issue.”

“So basically make a contract that says Fury could never try to harm me or my family?” Theo asked.

“It would have to be a lot more complex than that, to account for things like accidental injury or other unexpected things. Like what is the definition of harm? If he patted your shoulder a little harder than normal, would that count as harm? Or if he somehow walked into you by accident because one of you wasn’t paying attention?” Tao asked.

Theo nodded along as he said, “So we would basically need a lawyer to write it up...”

Tao laughed a little before she said, “No it’s not that bad... Okay maybe it’s close, but you just need to lay out everything clearly before you make the contract. Once you both agree on the terms the rest is easy.”

“As long as nothing in the contract is unreasonable and my family can stay in Brooklyn, I’ll do it.” Fury said.

Theo pinched the bridge of his nose for a few moments as he thought it over. While he had trust issues with Fury, he didn’t hate the guy. And while some versions of Fury did some pretty questionable things, this one was pretty decent. The fact he had a wife and daughter and wanted to live a normal life with them just added to that fact. Theo finally let out a sigh before he looked at Fury and said, “Fine. If we can come to an agreement with a magical contract, I will let you and your family stay in Brooklyn.”

It took almost a week before Fury and Theo figured out the specifics for the contract. But once it was finished both of them were satisfied and signed it. Since it was a magical contract it was written out on a single piece of parchment that was over ten feet long. At least neither one of them needed to keep the contract itself. Once it was signed, it burst into flames and parts of it settled inside of Fury and Theo.

As for the contents of the contract, it was pretty simple. Fury couldn’t harm or have someone else harm Theo’s family. He also couldn’t expose Theo’s secret or leak it to anyone else. As for Theo, he basically had the same thing. He couldn’t harm Fury’s family or have someone else harm them. He also needed to provide them with a home in the area and create a program that would erase Fury and his family from being on the internet. That last one was a little bit hard to do and wasn’t in the magical contract itself, but Theo agreed to do it outside of the contract.