The Soldier's Girl

Bubblegum

He nodded curtly in silent agreement.

Pierce shows Steve an old photo of Fury with himself. I had seen this photo before, he always kept it on his desk. I thought it was always for pride because Nick and him have never been that close.

"That photo was taken five years after Nick and I met. When I was at State Department in Bogota. ELN rebels took the embassy, and security got me out, but the rebels took hostages. Nick was deputy chief for the SHIELD station there. And he comes to me with a plan. He wants to storm the building through the sewers. I said, "No, we'll negotiate." Turned out the ELN didn't negotiate, so they put out a kill order. They stormed the basement, and what did they find? They find it empty. Nick had ignored my direct order and carried out an unauthorized military operation on foreign soil. He saved the lives of a dozen political officers, including my daughter."
I knew Pierce was telling this to Steve to try and make an emotional connection with him after Fury's death was still fresh.
I sneakily, out of sight from Pierce, intertwined my hand with Steve's. He linked his pinky with mine making me bite back a smile at his child-like behaviour.

"So you gave him a promotion." Steve concluded, staying strong and not giving Alexander what he wanted.
"I've never had any cause to regret it. Captain, Allison, why was Nick in your apartment last night?" He asked us now getting to the point.
"We don't know." I told him.

"You know it was bugged?" He asked again.
"I did, because Nick told me." I replied.
"Did he tell you he was the one who bugged it?"

I knew this wasn't the case. SHIELD had been locking its higher ups out their own system. Luckily I was smart enough to code into it without anyone knowing, retrieving all my information and more. Alexander was planting bugs.
I squeezed Steve's hand, again sending a silent message to him. He squeezed it back in reply but we didn't say anything to Pierce, keeping up our act.

"I want you to see something." He brings up footage of Batroc being interrogated.
"Who hired you, Batroc?" I hear a agent say.
"Is that live?" Steve asked.
"Yeah."

This made no sense. Why would Pierce want to show us an exact moment of Batroc's interrogation, if he didn't know what was going to happen himself?
My brows knitted in confusion and I played with Steve's pinkie in mine nervously.
Was Alexander stalling?

"Are you saying he's a suspect? Assassination isn't Batroc's line." Steve asked.
"No, it's more complicated than that. Batroc was hired anonymously to attack the Lemurian Star and he was contacted by e-mail and paid by wire transfer. And then the money was run through seventeen fictitious accounts, the last one going to a holding company that was registered to a Jacob Veech." Pierce told us.

"Am I supposed to know who that is?" Steve asks as Pierce hands us a file. I take it and open it up.
"Not likely. Veech died six years ago. His last address was 14-35 Elmhurst Drive. When I first met Nick his mother lived at 14-37."
"Are you saying Fury hired the pirates? Why?"

This again did cross my mind. But it didn't make any sense. My brain was hurting from trying to figure all of this out and that did not happen often. Usually I could work out difficult calculations in the matter of seconds.

SHIELD being compromised was baffling me. Even if I did see it coming. Nothing could prepare me for what was to come.

"The prevailing theory was that the hijacking was a cover for the acquisition and sale of classified intelligence. The sale went sour and that led to Nick's death."
"If you really knew Nick Fury you'd know that's not true." I state.
"Why do you think we're talking? See, I took a seat on the Council not because I wanted to but because Nick asked me to, because we were both realists. 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. And that makes enemies. Those people that call you dirty because you got the guts to stick your hands in the mud and try to build something better. And the idea that those people could be happy today, makes me really, really angry. Captain, Allison, you were the last one to see Nick alive. I don't think that's an accident, and I don't think you do either. So I'm gonna ask again, why was he there?"

I never wanted Pierce on the council. It was my first real argument with Nick. I thought he was risky but I let it slide keeping close tabs on him. Guess not as close as I once thought.

"He told us not to trust anyone." Steve answered.
"I wonder if that included him." Again Pierce was trying to get through to us.
I squeezed Steve's pinkie once more.

"I'm sorry. Those were his last words." Steve repeated.
"Excuse us." I dismiss, taking my hand out of Steve's and walking towards the door.
Steve held the door open for me.

"Allison. Captain. Somebody murdered my friend and I'm gonna find out why. Anyone gets in my way, they're gonna regret it. Anyone." He threatened us.

"Understood." Steve told him.
We then walked out and down the corridor.

"We're clear targets now Steve. We can't trust anyone. I've been backing up SHIELD intel for a few months when everything started to go sketch. I have everything I need. We need to leave and figure things out." I tell him.
"I agree. We'll pack up everything and go back to Brooklyn." Steve spoke quietly to me as we walked down the many corridors back to the elevator.

"I don't think that's a good idea. We need a safe house."
"You really think they're going to try and kill us?" Steve asked me.
"I wouldn't put it past them." I reply sadly as we stepped into the elevator.

"I have your back Ali. We'll do this together."
"I know. I just don't know where to start. Maybe Nat's idea of retiring in the country wasn't so bad after all."
"I'm sorry. I know how much this company means to you."
"Guess I just took to many leaps of faith huh?" I tell him with a small smile.
"This isn't your fault."
"Then why does it feel like it is."

Before he could reply to me the elevator doors soon opened again to reveal Rumlow and something just didn't sit right with him joining us.