[Elena's POV]
I frowned down at my phone, rereading the messages.
Elena: We're going bowling. You in?
David: Not sure
Me: Come on, it'll be fun. Everyone's coming.
David: Alright, I'll come. But I'm bringing someone.
Someone.
Elena: …Okay. Come to Frames Bowling Lounge by 6.30pm today.
Sophie, who had been sitting next to me on my dorm bed, noticed immediately. "Uh-oh," she said, setting her laptop aside. "What's with the face?"
I sighed and turned the screen toward her. "Look at this."
She skimmed the messages, and the second she read his response, her lips curled into a slow, knowing grin. "Ohhhh." Then she burst into laughter.
I scowled. "What?"
Sophie nudged me with her elbow. "You look like you just swallowed a lemon."
"I do not."
"You totally do." She leaned in, eyes practically sparkling with amusement. "Let me guess. You didn't expect him to bring anyone?"
I hesitated. "I mean, no… I just—"
Sophie gasped dramatically. "You thought it'd be just you and him?"
"No!" I said, too quickly.
Sophie's teasing grin widened. "Elena."
I groaned, flopping back onto the bed. "I don't know, okay? It's just weird. Who is he bringing? Why didn't he just say who?"
Sophie rolled onto her side, propping her head up with her hand. "Maybe it's a friend. Or maybe" She gasped again, this time even louder. "it's another girl."
I shot up. "Why would you say that?"
"Because you're fun to mess with." She winked.
I grabbed the nearest pillow and smacked her with it.
She just cackled, completely unbothered. "Wow, okay. That reaction says a lot."
"I don't care if he brings someone," I grumbled. "I was just… surprised."
Sophie smirked. "Mhm. Sure."
Before I could argue, the door swung open as Nat and Izzy strolled in. They went to coffee from the café downstairs.
Izzy's eyes narrowed, glancing between me and Sophie. "Okay, what did we miss?"
Sophie, the absolute traitor, didn't even hesitate. "Elena's moping because David's bringing someone tonight."
"David's bringing someone?" Nat asked, raising a brow.
"Yeah," Sophie said, biting back another laugh. "And Elena's not jealous. At all."
"I'm not," I insisted. "I just..."
Izzy gasped dramatically, clutching her chest. "Oh my God. Are you jealous?"
I groaned. "Can we not do this right now?"
Nat just sipped her coffee, looking mildly entertained. "I mean, it's a fair question."
"I am not jealous."
"You so are," Izzy sang, wiggling her brows. "You wanted it to be just you and him, huh?"
"That's not what I said!"
Sophie threw an arm around my shoulders, shaking me playfully. "Elena, babe, you are so obvious."
Nat, ever the level-headed one, finally stepped in. "Okay, okay, let's not give her too much grief." She turned to me. "But seriously, do you know who he's bringing?"
I shook my head. "Nope. He didn't say."
Nat hummed. "That's a little weird. But hey, maybe it's just a friend."
Izzy smirked. "Or maybe it's a date."
I opened my mouth to argue, because obviously it wasn't a date, but before I could, Izzy's smirk deepened.
"You hesitated," she singsonged, leaning in like she'd just won some grand argument.
I groaned. "I did not."
"You so did."
"She totally did," Sophie chimed in, nodding sagely.
Even Nat, who usually stayed out of this kind of thing, looked slightly amused. "I mean… it is odd that he didn't just say who he was bringing. If it were just a casual friend, wouldn't he have mentioned it?"
"Exactly!" Izzy pointed at her like she had just discovered the meaning of life. "Mystery plus secrecy equals potential romance."
I rolled my eyes. "Or it just means I asked last-minute and he had plans with someone already."
"Plans with who?" Sophie pressed, wiggling her brows.
I sighed, staring down at my phone like it might magically answer the question for me. "I don't know. But it doesn't matter."
Izzy hummed, clearly unconvinced. "You say that, but I can tell your brain is spiraling. Who is he bringing? Why won't he say? Does this mean he's secretly dating someone? What if he"
"Enough," I groaned, cutting her off.
She grinned. "I'm just saying, the fact that you care so much about this is very interesting."
I huffed and took a sip of my coffee, pretending I wasn't still thinking about it. Because, okay, maybe a tiny part of me had assumed it'd just be me and him hanging out together tonight. Not in a date way, obviously. Just… in a way where I had his full attention.
Now, instead, I had to spend the whole time wondering who the hell he was bringing along this evening.
As if sensing my thoughts, Sophie nudged me with her foot. "You could just ask him."
I opened my mouth to respond, then hesitated. The real answer was I don't know. But I couldn't say that.
Instead, I scoffed. "I can ask him."
Nat raised a brow. "Then why don't you?"
I stuffed my phone into my bag, feeling all their eyes on me. "Because I don't want to."
Izzy let out a loud, exaggerated gasp. "Oh. My. God." She grabbed Sophie's arm. "Did you hear that?"
Sophie nodded solemnly. "Tragic. Absolutely tragic."
I shot them a glare. "I don't want to get involved because it's irrelevant," I clarified, though it hardly improved matters. "Whoever he's bringing, it's none of my concern. I'm just inviting him so we can thank him for intervening in the nightclub for us."
"Uh-huh, so you say." Izzy hummed, clearly unconvinced. "And yet, you've been frowning at your phone thinking about it."
"I was not—"
"You were," Nat confirmed.
I let out a sharp sigh and started walking toward the door. "We're leaving for our class. Right now. Before I throw one of you out the window."
Sophie grabbed her bag, grinning as she followed. "You'd miss us too much."
Izzy looped her arm through mine, smirking. "Come on, Elena. We'll get to see what mystery person your boy is bringing in the evening."
"He's not my boy," I muttered, but my face felt just a little warm as we stepped out of my dorm room.
---
---
[David's POV]
"You sure you want to bring me along" Jayden asked.
"How many friends do you have at your college to hang out with for you to relax?" I countered him with another question.
He didn't answer, just bent down and stuffed his mouth with food. That was all the answer I needed.
Shaking my head, I focused on eating, but my thoughts drifted to her, Elena.
I liked her. That much, I knew.
I wanted to ask her out, but everything about this was new to me. So, I decided to take my time.
The invitation to go bowling with her and her friends had caught me off guard. I didn't have friends to hang out with. Even from the old David's memories, it was clear that he didn't either. Going out like this? Meeting new people? This was a new step for me.
I was pulled out of my thoughts by Jayden's voice.
"So, what time are we going?"
"We'll leave around 6 PM," I said.
"Alright." He stretched before getting up. "I've got some work to finish. Was planning to do it in the evening, but since I suddenly have plans now, I need to get it done before we leave."
"Got it. I'll call you when I'm heading down. Meet me downstairs."
Jayden nodded, tossed his trash into the bin, and left.
I finished eating, cleaned up, and then sat down at my desk, flipping open my laptop. The screen lit up, flooding my vision with stock tickers, live market feeds, and financial projections.
For now, I had my own priorities.
I needed to make money.
An opportunity was coming, the Mandarin attack.
I had already mapped out how this event would shake the market. With my skills and the predictive algorithm I had recently coded, I would always be one step ahead of analysts, hedge funds, and corporate insiders who thought they controlled the game.
The funds I was using? Millions from my account. Hush money from my mother's death. Money that was meant to make me disappear.
Instead, I was turning it into something more.
It also contained her insurance payout. I had already moved it under one of my shell companies.
On top of everything else, my hacker jobs were still bringing in steady income.
Speaking of my side business, one of those jobs led me to Rising Tide, a large group of hacktivists. After the Battle of New York, they became famous for revealing S.H.I.E.L.D. to the public. They also exposed short video clips from the Battle at Stark Expo (Iron man 2) and the Duel between Hulk and Abomination in Harlem.
I got on their radar when I stopped an attack on a tech company. I didn't know it at the time, but that attack came from a few of their members. When they saw how I handled it, they took notice.
A few days later, I got a message. It was from Miles Lydon, one of the most well-known Rising Tide members. He was famous for hacking the Kremlin and released topless photos of Vladimir Putin.
I accepted the invitation.
The group had files, networks, hidden forums, and connections buried deep in places most people didn't even know existed. And right now, they were my backdoor to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database.
With my skills now, I could do it myself. But Miles? He was the perfect scapegoat. He was going to get caught eventually.
With the skills I had, I could've gone solo. But that wasn't the plan.
Miles? He was going to be my decoy. The perfect fall guy. If someone had to take the heat when S.H.I.E.L.D. noticed the breach, it wouldn't be me. It'd be him.
Truth is, I already had him flagged as a possible future recruit.
Besides, he had ties to someone important, Skye or Daisy Johnson, the Inhuman who would later become known as Quake. She'd eventually end up on Phil Coulson's team.
And here's the thing, the more I dig, the more it all fits and I'm starting to think, I might actually be in the MCU.
Or at least, that's what the news and the information I've been collecting seems to point to.
I haven't gone digging too deep yet. The last thing I want is to poke the wrong nest and have someone notice me. Staying under the radar is key for now.
But if I'm right… if this really is the MCU, then things are about to start moving fast.
Iron man 3 plot has already started and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. should begin soon.
And that means Miles, Skye's boyfriend, soon to be ex-boyfriend, will be breaking into the S.H.I.E.L.D. database, hunting for the Index list.
That's when I'll make my move.
I'll slip in at the same time and extract everything I can get my hands on. Every secret file, classified name, and off-the-record operation S.H.I.E.L.D. has buried in their system.
And I won't be doing it alone.
I've got Gideon, my AI. A two-man team, except in this case, it's one man and one machine. And I'm leading the charge.
I'm not cocky enough to break into S.H.I.E.L.D. solo. Their tech division is no joke, and this world is full of talents.
But with timing, planning, and the right tools? We'll be in and out before they even know we were there.
--
--
[Few Hour Later]
The afternoon sun was warm, casting a golden glow over the city as I stepped out of my apartment. I wanted to walk to stretch my legs and clear my mind.
I shoved my hands into my pockets and set off down the street. The city was alive with horns blaring, people talking, street vendors calling out to passersby.
By the time I reached the diner, the scent of grilled meat, fresh coffee, and crispy fries filled the air, making my stomach growl.
I slid into a booth and ordered a cheeseburgers with fries and an iced coffee.
After paying for my meal, I continued walking, heading toward a few stores. I wasn't much of a shopper, but I needed a few essentials.
A couple of new shirts, a pair of jeans. As I walked through the aisles, I spotted a leather wallet. Mine was old, falling apart at the seams. I picked it up without hesitation.
After a stop at a couple of electronics shops for some gadgets and few tools, I paused outside a barbershop.
Almost a year.
That's how long it had been since I last got a haircut. Before the coma.
I ran a hand through my hair. It was longer than I'd ever let it grow.
With a quiet breath, I stepped inside.
The shop smelled like aftershave, clean towels, and the faint hint of cologne. Black leather chairs lined the room, mirrors gleaming under soft lighting.
The barber looked up and gave me a nod. "Have a seat."
"Sure," I said, walking over and settling in.
He eyed me through the mirror. "What are we doing today?"
I gave him a rough idea of the style I had in mind.
He nodded. "Alright, I got you."
Just as he was about to start, he tilted his head. "You want a shave too?"
I hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. Might as well."
"Good call," he said, reaching for a hot towel.
The clippers buzzed quietly as he cleaned up the sides and back. The cool snip of scissors followed, trimming through nearly a year of neglect. I closed my eyes briefly, feeling lighter with every pass.
Then came the shave, hot towel, rich lather, and a straight razor that glided smoothly across my jaw.
When he finished, he turned the chair so I could get a good look.
Short sides and back, the fade clean and sharp. The top was left longer, thick and textured, styled up and slightly forward in a messy, tousled look.
"Thanks," I said, standing and paying. I left a decent tip before heading back out.
To Be Continued...