｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆
CHAPTER NINE— TRUTH COMES OUT

Nick fucking Fury was alive. Nick Fury had been alive this entire time, faking his own death in order to trick whoever had infiltrated SHIELD, which they now knew was HYDRA. 

Maria Hill had known about it too. She had brought them to a secret facility with a doctor there to take the bullet out of Natasha's shoulder. As soon as the bullet got out she healed immediately. It was hard to explain to said doctor, but they managed.

The five renegades stood around Fury's hospital bed that was somehow stolen and brought to said fake facility. They wanted answers and they wanted them now. Hope and Natasha were the most upset out of the group since they had known him the longest and had mourned him as all this shit went down.

"Lacerated spinal column, a cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, one hell of a headache" Fury recited his injuries from the bed. He acted so carelessly, not showing any remorse for what he had done and put everyone through.

"Don't forget your collapsed lung" The doctor added casually, checking over Sam and Lizzie who had a few cuts and scrapes. "Oh, let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good" Hope closed her eyes for a moment, collecting herself and holding back the anger he was causing the young Tribrid.

"They cut you open, your heart stopped" Natasha's voice remained emotionless but her eyes told another story. "Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it" Lizzie glanced at her best friend with worry.

"Why not tell us? You clearly gave us the flash drive because you wanted us to know" Hope snapped at the former Director of SHIELD. Her eyes glowed golden for a second before she felt a hand placed gently on her shoulder. She turned to the side to see that it was Steve who gave her a sympathetic yet stern look which she gave into.

"Any attempt on the director's life had to look successful" Maria explained neutrally. "Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust".

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

They found themselves in an old conference room. The seven of them sat and stood around the large table, Nick held a picture of Alexander Pierce in his hand and spoke while looking at it. "This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said, 'Peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility' " He set the photo down on the table.

"See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues" Hope could barely hold back a scoff at this. Fury made it clear that he didn't trust them so why should they trust him now? After all, he had done and hid from them?

"We have to stop the launch" Natasha's voice was softer than it usually was. "I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore" Fury then opened a large, black briefcase that held three electronic chips in it securely.

"What's that?" Sam questioned, he and Steve were standing in the back while the others sat down. "Once the Helicarriers reach three thousand feet—" Maria started to explain, turning around her computer to show the group. "They'll triangulate with Insight satellites becoming fully weaponized" Fury added.

"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work because if even one of those ships remains operational a whole lot of people are gonna die" Hope's breath hitched in tension with the entire situation. She didn't want anyone to die, whether they were human or not.

"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA. We need to get past them, insert the server blades, and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left..." Steve decided to interrupt, thinking Fury was dumb to try and salvage SHIELD.

"We're not salvaging anything. We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick, we're taking down SHIELD" Fury didn't agree with him. "SHIELD had nothing to do with it" Hope decided to cut in, agreeing with Steve on this.

"Steve's right, sir. SHIELD's been compromised by HYDRA since the very beginning. It has always been part of the Nazi organization, even if we were oblivious to it, even if nobody ever noticed" Fury couldn't help but scowl at his agent going against him.

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed" He snapped back. Steve moved closer to where Hope was sitting, protective of his teammate from both his SHIELD days and the Avengers.

"And how many paid the price before you did?" Fury had been brought up to date with what had happened while he was 'dead', he knew what Steve really meant. "Look, I didn't know about Barnes" Steve was beyond frustrated, he hadn't even fully meant his not-so-dead best friend. He meant everyone who had paid the price.

"Even if you have, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that too? SHIELD, HYDRA, it all goes" Fury was surprised when Maria agreed. "He's right" Fury glanced at Hope who nodded in agreement.

His gaze then moved to Natasha who, despite not doing anything to show she agreed, held a posture that told him that Natasha was for destroying SHIELD. Fury looked at the two non-agents, Lizzie and Sam, to see where they stood.

"Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower" Sam spoke up, meaning Steve when he said 'he'. Lizzie nodded in agreement. "I go where Hope does. Someone needs to watch her reckless ass" Hope smirked at this. "Lizzie, you know you're just as reckless" Lizzie smirked back, the two ready for battle.

Fury realized that Steve had created his own team while he was gone. He was the one in charge now, not him. "Well...looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain" Steve met Hope's blue eyes and a huge smile on her face. "Looks like you're in charge, Cap!" And despite Hope not being biologically related, Steve couldn't help but see so much of Tony Stark in her.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Steve had left for a moment to take a break outside. Sam had almost gotten up from his spot to follow after him(his therapist-side wanting to go comforting the man) but stopped when he realized that there was someone else who would be better to do so.

He had only known Hope for a short amount of time but Steve had talked about her quite a few times and he had seen the way they interacted. Whether platonic or not, Hope was the best person to go after him so he told her to go after the Star-Spangled Man.

Hope followed his scent outside not that far away from the bunker at a small bridge. "You know for a supernatural creature, you aren't that sneaky" Steve spoke up, repeating what Hope had told him not too long ago before everything had happened. He didn't move from the spot on the bridge, gazing out into the horizon instead of meeting eye contact with her.

"Wasn't trying to be" She teased cheekily before moving to his side. There was a moment of silence between the two before Hope decided to talk.

"He's not human, your friend" This caught Steve off guard, finally looking at the Mikaelson girl who looked back at him. "He had some version of the Super Soldier Serum" Hope shook her head.

"I know, it wasn't that. His aura wasn't like yours, like a human with extra powers" The auburn-haired girl pursed her lips slightly in thought, ignoring the look of shock on Steve's face, before continuing to talk.

"I've heard talk of it when I was younger, experimentations to create hybrids of humans and supernatural creatures in Europe. I thought it wasn't actually a thing until I got close enough to him" She sighed sadly, pitying anyone who had successfully become a hybrid and the ones who died

"You're really gonna do this, aren't you? Going after him and all of HYDRA?" It was a rhetorical question, Hope knew the answer. Steve would go through with it even if it was just him against all of HYDRA to defeat the Nazi organization and save his childhood best friend.

"I think you already know the answer to that" And she did, they both did, but that doesn't mean it makes it any easier. The thought of losing any of her friends makes her heart race and her breath hitch. Steve especially, due to his lack of self-preservation skills and his instinct to run head first into any dangerous situation.

"I can't lose any more people, Steve. Not after what just happened. So if you're about to do something potentially dangerous, I'm staying by your side".

Short chapter, I know, but the action scenes are coming up. Excited?