"What do you think of this diary entry?"
"Hmm… I read it in the car."
"Natasha Romanoff!"
"Alright, alright—seriously, I don't actually care that much."
Watching Nick Fury's face darken even further through the video call,
Natasha smiled calmly. "Everyone dies someday. It's a fate no human can escape."
"So since we're all going to die eventually, I don't mind being the first among the Avengers to go—
as long as I find something worth more than life itself.
Something I truly cherish, something I'm willing to protect with everything I have."
"At least, that's how I see it."
She paused, then shifted the subject smoothly.
"By the way, Nick— I've been meaning to ask since I first saw the diary:
What exactly is the Mind Gem?"
She leaned slightly closer to the screen.
"Su Che wrote that the Maximoff siblings had innate abilities,
but they were awakened through the Mind Gem."
"So what is it? If we obtain the Mind Gem early, could we recruit the Maximoffs to our side?"
Her gaze sharpened.
"Of course, I don't mean to 'leverage' the siblings to pressure Su Che—the superhero from another world."
Nick Fury was silent for a few seconds.
Then he nodded slowly.
"Alright, I admit it. I've already sent agents to Sokovia to locate the Maximoff siblings."
He knew exactly what Natasha was implying.
"In fact, I've had every superhero mentioned in the diary placed under surveillance or located."
"The Avengers Initiative has always been my idea.
I'm not foolish enough to try and blackmail Su Che using the siblings.
That would only alienate him—a superhero from another world."
"For this world, every additional superhero means an extra layer of protection.
My role is to bring them together and provide support. The rest is up to them."
"Of course, all of this assumes that Su Che truly is an Avenger from a parallel world."
He spoke without hesitation.
With the black-gold diary in play, many secrets were already slipping out.
Fortunately, Natasha was—for now—someone he could trust.
"The Mind Gem is of the same nature as the Tesseract."
"The Tesseract?" Natasha sat up straighter.
"You mean the artifact Captain America and the Red Skull fought over?"
"Correct."
Nick Fury nodded.
"The final battle between Steve Rogers and Johann Schmidt ended with Schmidt's disappearance and Steve crashing into the Arctic."
"Later, Howard Stark and Peggy Carter never gave up searching for the legendary hero.
Unfortunately, S.H.I.E.L.D. only managed to recover the Tesseract from the crash site—
not Captain America's body, or even the plane he flew."
"The Tesseract may seem small, but the energy it contains is terrifying.
If utilized properly, even a fragment could easily destroy a planet."
Natasha listened intently.
"So where is the Tesseract now? And what's its connection to the Mind Gem?"
"The Tesseract is stored in a classified dark-matter research facility under S.H.I.E.L.D.
Scientists are studying it in secret—I hope to harness its power to develop new weapons to protect Earth."
"Another name for the Tesseract is the Space Stone.
It's one of the six Infinity Stones that exist in the universe.
The others are the Mind Gem, Power Stone, Reality Stone, Soul Stone, and Time Stone."
"How do you know all this?"
"Me?"
Fury chuckled faintly.
"You think I became director of S.H.I.E.L.D. just because Alexander Pierce recommended me?"
"Natasha, the reason I conceived the Avengers Initiative is that I've witnessed things firsthand —
including going into outer space and battling aliens on their warships.
I was the first person in S.H.I.E.L.D. to ever fight extraterrestrials."
He pointed to his damaged eye.
"I lost this in one of those battles."
"That's why I want to form a team like the Avengers—powered individuals who can defend this world.
Because I know Earth isn't alone in this vast universe."
Well, half of that intel came from Captain Marvel Carol Danvers.
and the other half from the Skrulls secretly hiding within S.H.I.E.L.D.
Since Natasha was likely to become a future Avenger,
It was time she learned some of this.
Besides, much of it would probably appear in the diary eventually.
But of course, what he told her was only part of the truth.
It didn't include Captain Marvel—his final, most reliable trump card—
or the shape-shifting aliens already living among them.
Yes, Natasha Romanoff was trustworthy—for now.
But even so, Nick Fury would never reveal all his secrets and cards to anyone.