Jim sat on the back porch and sipped his coffee while watching Bindi romping in the old elephant paddock. Dr. Sallis and Bobby were looking at something on Bobby's laptop. Jim assumed it was probably laboratory equipment, since Dr. Sallis had taken over one of the smaller buildings - Jim was pretty sure it had been used by one of the sideshow acts - and had been moving lab ware in as he and Bobby had been able to get it.
He had to admit, Bindi was good for Sallis. The creature the papers called a Man-Thing was actually a decent man under all that muck and greenery, and being admitted into the family had brought out his human side. Bindi's delight in playing with him had especially given his human side a boost. Lately, he had begun assembling lab ware and talking about finishing the project he'd been working on when he was killed.
Sure, he still vanished every so often, and come back missing pieces often enough that Jim and Bindi had dug a channel from one of the farm's wet spots to the larger swamp around them, so water and swamp muck could fill it in and give Dr. Sallis a place to regenerate, but he had become a part of the family despite his responsibilities as the Guardian of the Nexus.
"Penny?" Sallis asked, giving Jim an amused look. Jim wasn't sure if it was the influence of the Nexus, or just the fact that he had been one of them for a few weeks now, but it was becoming ... well, maybe not easy, but at least possible ... to get a feel for his facial expressions.
"Not sure they're worth that much," Jim laughed. "Just thinking about family. I was noticing that you're a lot more human now that you're one of us."
"Or ... you ... are ... more ... strange," Sallis shot back, his body bubbling in that way Jim had learned to think of as his version of laughter.
"Hey!" Jim laughed. "I've always been plenty strange!"
"Truth," Sallis said, with an amused snort. "Between ... jobs?"
"Yeah," Jim said. "Ever since SHIELD collapsed, I've discovered just how many of my contracts were for SHIELD fronts. I guess they were more paranoid about me than I realized."
"SHIELD ... collapsed?" Sallis asked. There was an expression Jim had never seen on his face. "How?"
"HYDRA, apparently," Jim said. "From what we saw in the news, Captain America discovered that HYDRA had infiltrated right up to the top."
"Bad," Sallis said. "Very ... very ... bad."
Jim started to worry. Sallis was getting worked up in a way that had him worried.
"Ted? What's going on?" Jim asked. Meanwhile, out in the elephant paddock, Bindi stopped tormenting alligators and turned toward the house.
"SHIELD," Sallis said. "Project ... Gladiator. ... Super ... soldier ... project. ... Lab ... near ... Nexus. ... AIM ... killed ... me. ... Serum ... and .... Nexus ... revived ... me."
"So if this was a SHIELD project," Jim mused for a moment, and his eyes opened wide. "Fuck. HYDRA." He stood and called, "BINDI! BOBBY! Meeting at the house!"
Bindi had already started toward the house, so when Jim called, she jumped, landing close enough to bounce things off the porch tables. Bobby, meanwhile, finished his walk from Sallis' lab to the house, sat in a chair near the steps, and set his laptop down on the table next to his chair.
"What is it, Daddy?" Bindy asked. "And why is Uncle Ted worried?"
"Remember the bad people from the flying ships, sweetie?" Jim asked.
"The tentacle skull people?" Bindi asked.
"That's right, sweetie," Jim said. "They might know why Uncle Ted is here in the swamp, and they might come to try and take him away."
Bindi's eyes lit up with a dangerous green glow, and she growled, "Bindi will keep Uncle Ted safe! Bindi will make tentacle skull people into ashes!"
"They might not come," Bobby said gently. "If they do, then you can burn them, sweetie, but I think they've got too much on their plate in New York and Washington to have anyone to spare for bothering Uncle Ted."
"Good!" Bingi roared, her voice causing trees to bend. "Bindi will keep Uncle Ted safe!"
"Thank ... you," Sallis said, and rested a hand on Bindi's ankle. "Bindi ... is ... strong."
Jim noticed that Sallis was shaking, and frowned, then looked up at Bindi. "Bindi, sweetie? Do you want to show Uncle Ted what you've been coloring?"
"But - " Bindi started, then looked down at Jim's smile and gave a happy squee. "Bindi will show!" She bounded toward the performance barn, which had been turned into her bedroom / playhouse / personal sanctuary.
"Thank ... you," Sallis said, as the shaking slowed. "She ... angry ... emotions .... too ... strong."
"Thought so," Jim said. "That's the problem with her age. She feels everything, like a five-year-old should. But anyone threatens her family, and she feels that, too."
"So," Bobby asked, a resigned tone in his voice. "How many trail cameras do you want to buy?"
"Let me get a map," Jim said, and pushed himself to his feet. He took a map from the pickup and spread it on the table Bobby's laptop had been on. "Ted, which areas are impassible? No point in putting cameras there?"
The three men huddled over the map, Sallis pointing out areas that were impassible, as well as areas that were easy to bring an army through, while Jim marked spots for cameras, and Bobby began setting up an order for the needed hardware. All three knew it would take Bindi some time to package her current project so she could show them, so they had plenty of time to work out the details.