Solomon in Marvel

"Just received word from headquarters—Director Fury is back. He's waiting for you at the Triskelion," Melinda May informed Agent Coulson. "You can finally talk to him about what's been bothering you."

"About time. There's more than one thing troubling me," Coulson sighed. The recent mission, which had mobilized several senior agents, was a disaster. Victoria Hand, John Garrett, Agent Blake, and Jasper Sitwell (who had to drop out at the last minute to handle an emergency on the Lemurian Star) had all been involved.

Despite their differing opinions on Coulson's theories about the "Clairvoyant," they had reluctantly agreed to help him in the spirit of camaraderie built over years of service.

"That's your Santa Claus, not mine," Victoria Hand had sniped as usual.

While the Bus soared at 50,000 feet, Coulson's hacker, Skye, handed the agents a blindfolded mission strategy. Coulson believed that the Clairvoyant had infiltrated people and operations they'd previously encountered. To counter this, all actionable intelligence was fragmented—one agent knew the location, while another knew the target's identity. Randomized assignments and last-minute mission details were supposed to catch the Clairvoyant off guard.

This approach earned Skye her formal promotion to S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 1 Agent. Overjoyed, she put on the sunglasses she'd bought in anticipation of this day. She was finally no longer a temp—and that meant a real paycheck.

As the agents headed to the electromagnetically shielded room to receive their mission briefs, Victoria Hand lingered behind. Coulson noticed and paused, sensing she had something on her mind.

"Have you questioned that mage yet? Could he be the Clairvoyant?" Hand adjusted her glasses without looking at Coulson. He knew exactly whom she meant.

Indeed, if anyone possessed the supernatural ability to know S.H.I.E.L.D.'s moves, it would be Solomon Damonet. Hand vividly recalled the eerie prescience he had displayed in the past. If she hadn't been following Coulson's lead, she would have already sent a strike team to apprehend him.

"He's not interested in such things, Hand," Coulson replied, shaking his head. "His focus is on monsters, not people. And I…" He paused, furrowing his brow. Suddenly, he couldn't articulate what he was trying to say. Hand noticed his hesitation immediately.

"What is it, Coulson?" she demanded.

After a long moment of contemplation, Coulson hesitantly answered, "I think I met with Solomon after that… incident. But I can't recall when or where. It's like I remember him giving me answers, yet… I can't pin down the memory."

"List Solomon Damonet as a suspect," Hand declared coldly, her tone brooking no argument. "If he can read minds, it's not a stretch to assume he could erase memories as well."

"That's reckless," Coulson protested, though Hand's words had planted a seed of doubt in his mind. He suspected there was a reason Solomon had tampered with his memories but believed that confronting the mage would yield answers—not escalate matters.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. can't handle someone like Solomon. His abilities far exceed what our task forces can manage, and he's been nothing but cooperative thus far. Reporting this to Fury is sufficient. The director will have contingencies in place," Coulson reasoned.

Reluctantly, Hand agreed.

"Be cautious, Coulson," she warned. "I've read the reports on his dealings with the Asgardians. He captured one of their own despite Earth's alliance with Thor, which suggests he views himself as superior to both Thor and Odin. The items you described match the artifacts linked to an ancient conflict with Odin. That makes him a serious threat."

"I trust that Fury was aware of these risks when he sent me to work with Solomon. Don't worry, Hand—I think he's a good person."

Good people don't make teapots dance, Hand thought to herself but didn't voice the sarcastic retort. She simply nodded in apparent agreement, keeping her true intentions private. If this operation failed, she would move forward with her own plan to investigate Solomon in secret.

"I'll be coordinating from the command center," Hand said. "If anything goes wrong, someone has to be ready to pull you out."

As Hand predicted, the mission failed spectacularly. Despite the blindfold strategy, the Clairvoyant had foreseen their every move. Grant Ward's team found nothing. Coulson and Garrett were intercepted. Worst of all, Blake and May were ambushed by a Deathlok—revealed to be Mike Peterson, a former recruit of Coulson's team. This tied in with Garrett's previous encounter with a Deathlok unit.

The lead target, Thomas Nash, became the prime suspect. Registered as a patient at the Serenity Bridge Care Facility, Nash was a decoy. However, Coulson's team eventually tracked him down, thanks to a tracking round Fitz had secretly loaded into Ward's weapon during the firefight.

Nash had once been a high-performing Canadian stockbroker recruited into a classified government project, claiming he could influence people's behavior. However, his assertions were never substantiated, and a car accident had left him suffering from catatonia. By the time Coulson's team located him, Nash was immobile and unable to speak.

Grant Ward, still seething over Skye's injury during a previous mission, shot and killed Nash in a fit of rage. The investigation reached an abrupt dead end. Coulson had a nagging feeling that Nash had only been a puppet. Everything had gone too smoothly—nothing aligned with the Clairvoyant's demonstrated capabilities.

Could Hand's suspicions about Solomon be correct?

"Sir!" Simmons burst into Coulson's office, breathless. "Solomon Damonet is here! And he's carrying something!"

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