Rowan had reached Pierce by locking onto his mind and Apparating straight into the office. The guards were dealt with in seconds. Pierce's memories followed just as easily.
There was never any intention of handing Pierce over for questioning. Rowan had two reasons for that. First, Pierce knew too much about the Tesseract. If SHIELD started pulling threads and discovered the island base had already been wiped clean, suspicion would inevitably circle back to him. He would not give anyone a reason to start asking those questions. Second, leaving Pierce alive was pointless. With Hydra's reach, a prison cell was only a delay. Ending it here was cleaner.
Whatever other Hydra secrets Pierce carried were irrelevant.
Most of Hydra's remaining troops had been pulled outside to reinforce the defense, leaving the interior of the Triskelion thinly guarded. Rowan dismantled what little resistance remained with a thought, metal folding in on itself, and soon crossed paths with Steve and the others as they freed the hostages.
From there, things moved quickly. Coulson, Natasha, and the remaining senior agents took charge of securing the building and evacuating survivors. Rowan, Logan, Steve, and Tony finally had a moment to breathe.
At the entrance of the Triskelion, Logan glanced at the growing crowd of reporters flooding the perimeter. "We should leave. Now."
Tony flipped open his helmet, smirking. "Or you could stop running. The school's going public sooner or later. Might as well control the story."
Rowan hesitated, then nodded. "You're not wrong. If there was ever a moment, this is it."
They stayed.
The reporters surged forward.
"Are you really Captain America?"
"Yes," Steve answered calmly. "I fell into the ice and was frozen for sixty-six years. Rowan found me."
"Is Wolverine real? Do mutants actually exist?"
"Mr. Mercer, are you a mutant too? Why do they call you Headmaster? What school are you in charge of?"
Steve and Logan exchanged helpless looks. Tony, for once, was not the center of attention. Most people already knew him. The questions that mattered were aimed elsewhere.
Rowan stepped forward.
"Let me explain," he said evenly. "There are no mutants anymore, not in the way people imagine. What we have are individuals with abilities. Call us enhanced, gifted, or simply capable. Anyone who exceeds normal human limits in a meaningful way falls under that definition."
He gestured briefly toward Tony. "By that standard, Stark qualifies. Genius is a kind of power."
"They call me Headmaster because I run a school. The Academy trains people like us, especially young ones, to understand and control their abilities. To help them choose what kind of future they want, and how they can contribute to the world rather than be crushed by it."
"Our faculty includes people you already know," Rowan continued. "Captain America. Iron Man. Wolverine."
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
"If you or your children show abilities beyond the ordinary, the Academy can help. We teach control, discipline, and responsibility."
He paused, then added, "As for today, we were here at the request of Agent Coulson. Hydra intended to use the Helicarriers to eliminate targets across the globe. What you witnessed was the end of that plan."
Rowan did not soften the truth. The details of Project Insight were laid bare.
Governments would hate it. Washington would be furious. That was not his concern.
Let them panic. Let them hesitate before deciding the Academy was something to interfere with.
"Finally," Rowan said, "to anyone watching around the world, the Academy is open. Our address is in New York."
He gave a quick glance to Tony, then reached out.
In an instant, Rowan, Steve, and Logan vanished.
The Academy's true location remained hidden. Only those Rowan allowed could find it. Anyone who came searching near the area would be sensed by Charles, and from there, evaluated properly.
This time, enrollment would not be slow.
Rowan reappeared aboard the cloaked X-Jet, already casting a tracking spell to locate Bruce Banner, who had been sent somewhere very far away. By evening, the jet was back at the school.
The next day, as dusk settled, Rowan's phone rang.
"Rowan," Natasha said. "That offer you made. About teaching at the Academy. Does it still stand?"
After Hydra, SHIELD had been dismantled and rebuilt into a domestic agency, no longer a global shield. Coulson was Director now. Hill his deputy. Natasha had joined SHIELD to atone for her past, believing she could balance the scales by protecting the world.
Now, SHIELD served a single flag.
She no longer believed staying would redeem anything.
"It still stands," Rowan replied without hesitation. "We need teachers."
There was a brief pause, then relief in her voice.
"Then… I'm in."
Rowan smiled. "Welcome to the Academy."
...
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