Run Chad RUN! #3.2

Commissioned by [ChaosUntold] on P*treon.

Disclaimer - I don’t own nor claim to own any of the IP of the giant multi Billion Dollar companies that might appear here. I just own any OCs that you see.

Times Square, NYC [May 2011]

–Chad Tannings–

Then again, what did he expect from someone who had just fought his way out of a facility and was now facing a giant red monster, crackling with energy?

The punch aimed at his crotch, though, was not nice.

Sigh, so much for a good first meeting. 

He removed himself out of the good Captain’s range and let himself fall out of Flashtime, allowing normal time to resume as the Captain stumbled a bit, having nothing for his punch to land into. That did not mean the absolute unit of a man did not immediately reorient himself, take in the new information and propel himself towards the large red monster with his hands, smoothly transitioning into a kick.

He sighed and let the man kick his current lightning armour, which could not really be called a lightning armour. It would be more accurate to call it a speed force energy construct, giving him enhanced, well, everything actually as the Captain, not even deterred one bit, flipped back and assumed a combat stance, ready to jump him if need be.

Fury’s car reached the spot right in time, as multiple agents jumped at the city’s newest vigilante, after the Captain, who had been sleeping for seventy years, mind you, had already taken two shots at the new threat in the vicinity. 

Damn, Cap was really built different, wasn’t he?

“STAND DOWN!” Was the first thing that Fury hollered as soon as he alighted from the SUV, bringing with him an absolute army of agents as they surrounded the area, kind of isolating it from everyone.

“I said, Stand down, Soldier!” Fury said, which finally made Steve relax and drop his boxing stance. He remained the same, obviously, since he was not really in a combat stance to speak of. Steve looked utterly confused, as if a lost puppy, looking all around himself, his neck constantly on a swivel as some new sound or sight grabbed his attention.

Man, being in his position would suck major balls.

“And you!” Fury, once done making sure that the only living(that they know of) Super Soldier was not harmed in any way, whirled on him, the giant monstrosity of crackling red energy, thundering, “What are you doing here? This is a classified case.”

He deliberately made a show of looking all around himself, at the very public place, where millions of people everyday came, Times Square before deadpanning at the Director. Then, he drawled. “Really? You don’t say.”

The Director then glared at him and then turned around, “Captain, I will explain everything to you once we are somewhere private. Long story short, you were asleep. For–”

“Seventy years.” He helpfully supplied, drawing looks from every single SHIELD agent in the vicinity. He snickered a bit at that. “What? Just trying to be helpful.”

“You know what?” Fury pinched the bridge of his nose, “You’re coming too, since you seem so invested in this?”

He shrugged, “Alright.” 

His answer clearly surprised Fury, who was a beat too late in replying as he waved his hands at the agents who began clearing the area while the signature Black SUVS began rolling in, void of any identification marks obviously.

He followed the good Captain who still looked confused at the giant red being following them but probably chose not to say anything for now. Once the Director sat in and Cap followed suit, his height shrank bit by bit, until he was his real height, which was average, then he sat in the car, which was quite roomy.

Once the windows were up and the partition between the driver and the passengers was up, he decided to let the armour fizzle away and then had to immediately hit his back to the seat cover as the book, the priceless Kamar Taj book that he had been carrying around almost fell down.

Carefully extracting it, he sighed in relief as there was no outward reaction from the Captain or from Fury, which meant the book’s stealth function was working as intended, obfuscating its true origins and also working to move people’s attention off of it.

It worked as expected as Fury didn’t even address the odd situation of the strongest vigilante in the country carrying around a book with him, not to mention the mundaneness of the book, which made it all the more odd.

“You’re normal,” Captain eventually remarked, leaning in to take a closer look at his handsome features.

“What? Expected a freak under that light show? No, he looks normal, if a bit vertically challenged.” Fury helpfully supplied, making him give the man a glare.

“Ignore the optically challenged,” He quipped as he offered his hand for a handshake, one that was returned, if a bit reluctantly, “I am Chad Tannings, pleasure to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you.” Credit to the man, he was rock solid even when confused. Guess being in the military certainly taught you to remain steady even when faced with something that should have made most people snap, with their entire worldviews shattered and rebuilt, especially in the current era when a generation was more than enough for the world to look entirely new, with new things being adopted and discarded at an alarming pace.

A trend that was only going to accelerate exponentially in the future, with decreasing attention spans and even more decreasing empathy for anyone.

He nodded and leaned back into the seat, looking out the window, curious as to where they were going. He was not afraid, not at all. Most people with like level 6 or above access at SHIELD probably knew his face. It was inevitable after he confirmed his identity with Coulson.

When he met the man, he was in a constant do-do-do mode, his entire existence revolving around catching criminals during the day, doing his little routine at night which helped a lot since that was the little slice of his life he jealously guarded from everything, and then get back to work in the early mornings.

But ever since the Ancient One warned him about his powers and how they could spell doom for not just a universe but a multiverse? It had disturbed him greatly, forcing him to slow down and look at the larger picture.

Will he still patrol the city, take down any criminals he came across and overall do his part in protecting the city? Absolutely.

Will he just let that be all and end all of his life? No.

Which is why he was sitting in a SHIELD SUV, with Captain America, on their way to some SHIELD blacksite. Fury probably did not want him during his little indoctrination attempt on Cap, which was not going to work anyway but it would be nice to lay the groundwork for a future positive interaction and also to tell Cap the reality of the world.

How the war was over but in its place something even more disturbing sprout out, creating an entire generation of cold warfare, with countries constantly on guard, ramping up on weapons. All of that without even mentioning the race for super soldiers, a race that involved him since he was the progenitor of the race.

The Super Soldier Race. And now that Cap was out of ice, he was certain that Uncle Sam would come knocking soon enough, to get the army of Super Soldiers they were guaranteed by Doctor Erskine, 75 years ago.

He looked at the nervous Captain and tried to reassure the legendary man, “Don’t worry too much, Captain. You’ll love the future. We have great food, the internet–you’ll love it or hate it, and then medicinal advancements–though I suppose you don’t need them. All in all, with a few black spots, the future has come a long way, and I think you’ll like knowing and learning new things in it.”

“Thank you,” The Captain said before looking out the window. “It’s just,” There was hesitation and real pain in the man’s voice, “I had a date.”