𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑


𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋
(  chapter four  )


"𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 did you do?" Elaila quietly asked Steve.

He looked at her, confusion present on his face. "What?"

"I can see it on your face, you did something. What did you do?"

Steve sighed. "I put the USB in the vending machine." He whispered. 

"Sorry, what?" Elaila stared at him.

"Oh, come on, you heard me." He frowned, looking straight.

"No, no, I heard you, I just needed to make sure I heard you correctly. You did what?"

"Shh!" Steve looked around. "Fury told me not to trust anyone-"

"Yeah, I was there." Elaila squinted.

"So," Steve continued, "I couldn't just give it to anyone!"

"So you decided to give it to a vending machine." Elaila deadpanned. "You're such an idiot!"

"Just leave it!" He said as they rounded the corner and saw Sharon talking to Alexander Pierce.

Steve and Sharon locked eyes and she started walking towards them. "Captain Rogers, Agent Dare." Elaila nodded at her and averted her gaze.

"Neighbour." Steve greeted, bitterly.

Elaila rolled her eyes. All she was doing was her job.

"Ah, Captain. Agent." Pierce acknowledged them as they walked to him. "I'm Alexander Pierce." He held out his hand for Steve to shake and nodded stiffly at Elaila. This guy was... weird.

"Sir, it's an honour." Steve shook his hand.

"The honours mine, Captain. My father served in the 101st." He turned to go inside the board room. "Come on in."

"Please, take a seat." He nodded to the chairs around a long table. They both kept standing. Pierce handed Steve a photo of a young Nick Fury and him.

"That photo was taken five years after Nick and I met,  when I was at State Department in Bogotá." He took off his jacket and slung it over a seat. "E.L.N rebels took the embassy, and security got me out, but the rebels took hostages."

Steve tilted the photo so Elaila could see it better.

"Nick was Deputy Chief of the S.H.I.E.L.D station there, and he comes to me with a plan. He wanted to storm the building through the sewers." Elaila frowned slightly. "And I said, 'No, we'll negotiate.'"

"Turned out, that the E.L.N didn't negotiate. They put out a kill order. They stormed the basement and what did they find? They found it completely empty."

He sat on one of the couch chairs and Steve joined him. Elaila, still refusing to sit, crossed her arms.

"Nick had ignored my direct order and carried an unauthorised military operation on foreign soil. He saved the lives of a dozen political officers, including my daughter." He smiled.

"So you gave him a promotion." Elaila said.

"Never had any cause to regret it." Pierce shrugged. "Captain," he started, "why was Nick in your apartment last night?"

Steve stopped looking at Elaila and turned to Pierce. He paused before saying, "I don't know."

"Did you know it was bugged?"

Steve sighed, "I did. Because Nick told me."

"He tell you that he was the one who bugged it?" Pierce asked.

Steve didn't answer, just stared at Pierce. He pressed a button, "I want you to see something." A man, Batroc, showed up on screen. He looked to be in questioning.

"Who hired you, Batroc?" The interrogator questioned, walking around the back of his chair.

"Is this live?" Elaila asked, stepping forward slightly.

"Yeah, they picked him up just last night in a not-so-safe house in Algiers."

"Are you saying he's a suspect?" Steve inquired, still looking at Batroc on the screen. "Assassination isn't Bactroc's line."

"No, it's more complicated than that." Pierce spoke. "Batroc was hired anonymously to attack the Lemurian Star. He was contacted by email and paid by wire transfer. And then the money was run through 17 fictitious account."

Steve and Elaila tore their gaze from the screen to look at him.

"The last one going to a holding company that was registered to a Jacob Veech."

"Am I supposed to know who that is?" Steve asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"Not likely. Veech died six years ago. His last address was 1435 Elmhurst Drive." Steve opened the file. "When I first met Nick, his mother lived at 1437."

"Are you saying Fury hired the pirates? Why?" Steve asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"The prevailing theory was that the hijacking was a cover for the acquisition and sale of classified intelligence." Pierce explained. "The sale went sour and that led to Nick's death."

What the hell was this man talking about?

"If you really knew Nick Fury, you'd know that's not true." Steve retaliated.

"Why do you think we're talking?" Pierce squinted at him. He stood and Steve followed. "See I took a seat on the Council not because I wanted to, but because Nick asked me to, because we were both realists." He looked out the window and viewed the city.

"We knew that despite all the diplomacy and the handshaking and the rhetoric, that to build a really better world, sometimes means having to tear the old one down."

Elaila made a face at that. What was he referring to? He sounded an awful lot like her father.

"And that makes enemies." Pierce looked back at them. "Those people that call you dirty because you got the guts to stick your hands in the mud and try build something better. And the idea that those people could be happy today," he chuckled dryly, "makes me really, really angry."

He looked at both of the Avengers. "You two were the last people to see Nick alive. I don't think that's an accident. And I don't think you do, either."

No response from Elaila or Steve.

"So, I'm gonna ask again. Why was he there?" Pierce asked, threateningly.

Is this supposed to scare us?

"He told me not to trust anyone." Steve said.

"I wonder," Pierce said, "if that included him."

"Sorry. Those were his last words." He grabbed his shield. "Excuse us."

"Captain," Pierce called out before him or Elaila could leave. "Somebody murdered my friend and I'm gonna find out why. Anyone gets in my way, they're gonna regret it. Anyone."

Steve nodded, "Understood." And they left without another word.

"I don't like him. I don't trust him. The second we stepped into that room, I wanted to leave." Elaila said, her arms crossed as they waited for the elevator.

"I know," Steve reassured as the doors opened. They both stepped in.

"Operations control." Elaila spoke.

The computer beeped, "Confirmed."

The doors were about to shut, before Rumlow stepped through, followed by more agents. "Keep all S.T.R.I.K.E personnel on site."

"Understood."

"Yes, sir."

Steve still hadn't turned to face them but Elaila was eyeing them, suspiciously.

"Forensics." Rumlow spoke to the computer.

"Confirmed."

"Cap." Steve turned to face him.

"Rumlow." He nodded.

The elevator doors shut and they started moving. It was quiet before Rumlow spoke up again. "Evidence Response found some fibres on the roof they want us to see. You want me to get the tac team ready?"

"No, let's wait and see what it is first." He answered, looking down.

"Right." Rumlow spoke, almost sounding disappointed.

Elaila looked at one of the men and saw he had his hand on his gun in the holster. She gently nudged Steve with her foot and nodded to the guy. He saw it as well and frowned at her in question.

The elevator came to a stop and more people filtered in. There was some chatter as one of them said, "Administrations level."

"Confirmed."

Steve grabbed Elaila's arm and pulled her with him into the middle.

"Sorry about what happened with Fury." Rumlow spoke, not sounding very sorry. "It's messed up what happened to him."

"Thank you." Steve nodded stiffly.

Elaila turned to look at the man next to her. He was sweating, though it wasn't hot in the elevator. She glanced at Steve and he nodded discreetly.

The elevator doors opened once more to reveal three men. They stepped in, making the elevator even more crowded.

"Records."

"Confirmed."

Elaila cleared her throat as the doors shut. "Before we start, does anyone wanna get out? Now's your chance."

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