"No," Steve said.
Natasha looked at him. "Fury said no."
Adam stayed quiet on the couch.
He knew this argument was coming. The moment Natasha said he was not going, the whole room had shifted. Steve did not raise his voice, but his face changed in that direct way Adam had learned to recognize.
Captain America had made a decision.
"Fury also told me to keep Adam close," Steve said.
Natasha's eyes moved to Adam for a moment. "That doesn't mean he comes on every mission."
"There are S.H.I.E.L.D. people in danger," Steve said. "He can help."
Natasha held his gaze. "Fury had reasons."
Steve answered, "Then he can explain them after we get back."
Adam finally spoke. "For the record, staying alone in a S.H.I.E.L.D. building sounds worse."
Adam almost said that Fury was probably right.
He did not.
He wanted to go.
That was the stupid part. He knew the mission would put hostages on the Lemurian Star while Natasha secretly copied data. If Adam went, he might change things. If he stayed behind, Hydra would still move around him and he would learn everything too late.
Steve shook his head. "Fury put him with me. After what just happened, I am not leaving him alone in any S.H.I.E.L.D. building."
Natasha looked like she wanted to explain something and decided not to.
"Fine," she said at last. "If this goes sideways, he is on you."
Adam raised one hand. "I'll try to be a quiet problem."
Neither of them laughed.
"Right," Adam muttered. "I'll read the room."
The mission began soon after.
Adam sat inside the aircraft with the mission team. Steve was near the door. Natasha looked calm as always, while Rumlow stood with STRIKE. Adam had not transformed yet. His hands rested near the Omnitrix, and he kept his face calm, but inside he was barely holding himself together.
He was inside a real scene from the movie.
Every time that happened, the system seemed to treat it like something important. His EXP had been moving faster since the Winter Soldier path began. It was not enough to level up yet, but it was close enough that Adam kept checking the watch when nobody was looking.
'A new alien soon.' Adam thought. 'Please be something good.'
The system felt like it was counting every canon step he walked into.
Rumlow stood near the front, briefing the team.
"Target is the Lemurian Star," he said. "It's a S.H.I.E.L.D. mobile satellite platform. Pirates took it ninety-three minutes ago, and our people are still on board."
Adam listened closely even though he already knew most of it.
Steve looked at the team, then at Natasha, then at Adam.
"I'll clear the deck and pull their attention," Steve said. "Nat, you handle the engine room."
Natasha nodded.
Steve turned to Rumlow. "Rumlow, get the hostages to safety."
Then his eyes moved to Adam.
"Adam, stay on the hostages. Use the phasing if it helps. Do not go looking for a fight."
Adam nodded immediately. "Hostages first."
Natasha looked uncomfortable for a second.
Rumlow did too, though his face hid it better.
Adam saw both reactions.
'You really should not have brought me, Cap.' Adam thought.
Then he added silently, 'But thank you.'
The operation started fast.
Steve went first, dropping toward the ship like a man who had no normal fear of height. The rest of the team followed their own entry path. Adam waited until the attention shifted away from him, then turned slightly so the nearest agent could not see the Omnitrix clearly.
There was no reason to use Diamondhead here.
Big Chill was the right choice.
He tapped the dial and transformed.
Cold spread through his body. His frame grew thinner, and his feet lifted from the floor for a moment before he pushed himself downward.
There was no dramatic entrance and no shouting this time.
He phased through the aircraft floor and dropped toward the ship.
The air rushed around him as he passed through the outer wall of the Lemurian Star. For a second, the ship felt like a maze packed with locked passages and moving bodies.
Then he found the hostages.
Several S.H.I.E.L.D. staff members were tied near one section of the ship while armed men watched them. One guard turned when the temperature dropped.
Adam came through the wall beside him.
The man barely had time to raise his gun before Adam breathed cold air across his arm and chest. Ice locked him in place. Another pirate shouted, but Adam passed through the first frozen body and appeared behind him.
One touch was enough.
Frost spread over the second man's shoulders and down his legs.
Adam moved quickly after that, freezing anyone holding a gun near the hostages and breaking the restraints with careful hands before pointing the frightened staff toward the safest passage he could find.
"Quietly," he said. "Follow the S.H.I.E.L.D. team when they reach you."
For this part, his power made the mission almost unfair.
While Adam cleared the hostage area, Natasha moved through another part of the ship.
She reached the computer system and started copying data.
Steve caught her there, just like Adam knew he would.
Even from a distance, Adam heard enough through the comms to know the argument had started. Steve's voice was controlled, but angry. Natasha's answer stayed calm, which somehow made it worse.
Adam did not move toward them.
Something else had pulled his attention.
Rumlow had entered the passage near the freed hostages.
He was not close enough to attack, but he was close enough to watch.
Adam turned fully toward him.
He knew who Rumlow really was.
Rumlow looked at Adam's stance and understood something too. Adam was not floating like a confused newcomer anymore. He was ready for a fight.
For a few seconds, neither of them moved.
Rumlow knew Adam would be hard to catch, especially with phasing. Adam also knew Hydra would not have marked him as a recoverable asset without thinking about ways to deal with him.
The corridor stayed quiet between them.
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