[The Adamantium Affair] – Foreshadowing

Two boys were staring at a gravestone that read – Wilfred Malick - A man of his word and...

"Cthoo!", one of them spit at the stone and poured out the anger and hatred in his heart, "A man of his word?! Liar!! He was a fucking liar! Motherfucker! I wish he never was my father! Fucking lying... cheating bastard!!"

The other boy was relatively calmer than him. He gazed at the spit on the gravestone slowly dripping down the name and shook his head. He turned around and said calmly, "Let's go, Gideon. We need to Mr. Whitehall."

Gideon kicked the top of the grave and turned to his brother – Nathaniel Malick. Greed flashed in his eyes as he asked, "What did he say, Nathaniel? Was it about the stone? Or the lake?"

Nathaniel walked forward and Gideon followed behind him. He checked his watch and replied, "I don't know. The message didn't say anything else other than he wanted to meet us."

A few hours later, in a tight security prison, Nathaniel and Gideon Malick were standing in front of a cell. Inside the cell was the man whom Peggy had arrested and obtained the Obelisk from him. This man was none other than Werner Reinhardt – the man who had tortured Jiaying.

"Mr. Whitehall! We came as you ordered.", Nathaniel, the more well-spoken of the brothers said.

Werner Reinhardt or now known as Daniel Whitehall approached them and said, "Good! I wanted to talk to you about your father's lie."

Gideon immediately flared up however, Nathaniel grabbed his hand and shook his head while looking at him. Gideon glanced at his brother and calmed down. He realized that it wasn't a good place to be angry.

"What about my father, Mr. Whitehall?", Nathaniel said after letting go of Gideon's hand and turning back at Whitehall.

Daniel smiled eerily and said, "If you wish to find the stone search the area near the lake where your father hid it like a dog hiding it's bone."

Near Oakland Lake, around midnight, both of them were searching for their father's lies when suddenly, they removed a big stone and found a bag underneath it. They took out the bag and stared at it. Then, they looked at each other for a few seconds until... both of them took out their weapons and aimed at each other.

Gideon took out a knife and stared at the barrel of the gun pointing at his forehead with fear. He looked at his brother and tried to say, "Nathaniel! Yo–"

* BANG *

Nathaniel watched his brother fall to the ground with a bullet hole in his forehead without any remorse. He turned around and murmured, "This power belongs to only one of us, brother. And you aren't the right candidate for it."

He opened the bag and found a shiny white rock inside. His eyes widened and he hurriedly took it out of the bag. He examined it closely and murmured, "I-It's perfect..."

He looked around and sighed in relief when he realized that he was alone. Well... except... that the corpse of his brother was lying beside him but he didn't care about him. He ran toward the lake and took a deep breath and thought, 'I can do this! I can be what my father could never be! I would have power!'

He aimed and threw the rock into the lake.

* SPLASH *

He watched as the rock slowly disappeared from his eyesight as it descended into the water and he waited for a few minutes until... he saw it – the black mist!

He smiled widely seeing the black mist and it approaching him. The black mist asked him after coming near, "What do you want?"

"Power!", Nathaniel replied immediately.

"Very well.", the mist said and it spread before him. After that, it said, "Enter the mist and you would gain your power!"

Nathaniel nodded enthusiastically and entered the mist in the lake. However, as soon as he touched the mist, it began entering inside him causing him immense pain. He cried out for help but nobody was around to do so. The process continued the entire mist entered his body and he stopped moving.

A few seconds later, the new Nathaniel got out of the lake and looked around. It seemed that he was unfamiliar with his surroundings. He raised his head toward the sky and took a deep breath after which a smile spread on his face as he said, "At last! Fresh air! It's been so long since I've breathed in fresh air."

He looked at his hands, legs, and body and murmured, "I'm going to take this boy as my host."

. . .

In Afterlife – The Inhuman Settlement, in Nepal,

Jiaying was teaching young Inhumans the importance of having control over their abilities when suddenly, her eyes fell upon the Obelisk which began glowing eerily. Kora was also present and she noticed her mother's face when she looked at the Obelisk.

She followed her mother to the Obelisk and looked at it. She saw her touch the Obelisk and recoil immediately. She caught her before she could fall and asked her, "What's wrong, Mom? What happened to it?"

Jiaying looked at her daughter with a horrified expression on her face and said, "H-H-He's back! H-He's back!"

"Who?", Kora asked with a confused expression on her face.

"Hive!!"

. . .

In Camp Lehigh, New Jersey,

Peggy got out of the elevator and walked into the hallway. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents glanced at her and nodded with respect. Nodding back, she continued on her way. She stopped in front of Howard's office door and knocked on it. After that, she entered inside and found him arguing with somebody on the phone. She smiled and watched the drama unfold.

Howard didn't even notice that Peggy had entered since he was busy trying to console the angry woman on the other side of the line, "Y-Yes... Maria... L-Listen to me... I know... I know... Today was our anniversar– No! I didn't stay back on purpose! What? Baby... Sigh!... Okay! I-I'm sorry! Okay! There! I said it! I apologized! I'm sorry! I apologized twice! Nooo! Look, I'll be back right now. Okay? O..kay? I know. I love you too. Bye!"

* CLICK *

He put the phone down and sighed heavily. He raised his head and was surprised to see Peggy. However, before he could say anything, Peggy cheekily smiled and taunted, "Look how low the mighty have fallen! The once playboy has woman problems now."

Howard sighed in exasperation and replied, "Yes, Yes, go on. Rub it in my face."

"What did you do to make Maria so mad?", Peggy asked curiously.

Howard averted her gaze and replied reluctantly, "U-Umm... I forgot that today was our anniversary."

"Wow! Classic Stark!", Peggy taunted.

Howard clicked his tongue in annoyance and looked at her, and said, "You're a woman. Tell me, how do I fix this situation?"

Peggy crossed her arms and replied, "You could buy her some flowers. That would be the least decent thing you could do right now."

"Flowers...", Howard murmured and kept the valuable suggestion at the back of his mind.

At the same time, Hank Pym and Mystique entered his office. Hank looked at Howard and said, "Here's what you wanted."

He placed a device on the table which Howard picked up. After examining it closely, Howard kept it in his pocket and looked around. Seeing everybody look at him with a strange expression, he was confused and asked, "What? Is there something on my face?"

Hank shook his head and said to Peggy, "This is why I don't like him. I risked my life for him in this mission and this is what I get in return?! No thanks. Nothing. I haven't heard a simple thank you from his rotten mouth. I'm telling you. Next time, I want my own missions and not from others." He pointed at Howard and said, "And, especially not from him."

* BANG *

He walked out of the office and slammed the door shut. Peggy sighed and rubbed her forehead. She looked at Mystique and asked, "What do you want?"

Mystique awkwardly smiled and said, "Is it a bad time to ask for a leave?"