Taking a Stand

05

"He told me not to trust anyone."

"I wonder if that included him."

Steve paused a moment before replying. "I'm sorry. Those were his last words. Excuse me." Steve picked up his shield, placed it on his back and started to make his out of the office.

"Captain." Steve stopped and looked at Pierce. "Somebody murdered my friend and I'm gonna find out why. Anyone gets in my way, they're gonna regret it. Anyone."

"Understood," Steve answered before he turned and left.

He left Pierce's office and stepped into the elevator and said, "Operations control."

"Confirmed," the S.H.I.E.L.D. computer said. Just as the elevator doors were about to close, Rumlow stepped in with two STRIKE agents.

"Keep all STRIKE personnel on site," Rumlow ordered.

"Understood," STRIKE agent one said.

"Yes, sir," STRIKE agent two replied.

"Forensics," Rumlow told the computer.

"Confirmed," the S.H.I.E.L.D. computer said.

"Cap."

"Rumlow," Steve replied once he had turned to the front as the elevator doors closed and they began riding down.

"Evidence Response found some fibers 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."

"Right." Steve noticed one of the agents touching his weapon suspiciously. The elevator stopped and more S.H.I.E.L.D. and STRIKE agents entered.

"What's the status so far?" S.H.I.E.L.D. agent one asked.

"Administrations level," a second S.H.I.E.L.D. agent said.

"Confirmed," the S.H.I.E.L.D. computer replied.

The second S.H.I.E.L.D. agent said to Steve, "Excuse me."

Rumlow glanced to Steve before saying, "I'm sorry about what happened with Fury. Messed up, what happened to him."

"Thank you," Steve replied.

Feeling something was off, Steve looked at the agents in the elevator, noticing one of them was sweating, then the elevator stopped and more agents entered.

"Records," STRIKE agent three said.

"Confirmed," the S.H.I.E.L.D. computer stated.

Steve asked, "Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?"

There was a moment's pause before one of the agents turned and used an electric rod to give Steve a shock.

The others grabbed them and tried to strap their wrists with magnetic cuffs. Steve managed to knock some of them down, but one cuff remained, then Rumlow used his rod to give Steve a shock.

Sitwell, in a control room, watched them on a monitor and ordered, "Mobilize STRIKE units, 25th floor."

Steve managed to free himself from the magnetic cuff and knocked the agents down and turned to Rumlow.

"Whoa, big guy," Rumlow said. "I just want you to know, Cap, this isn't personal." He went to attack Steve with his electric rod, but Steve defended himself and eventually knocked Rumlow out.

"It kind of feels personal," Steve retorted. Steve picked up his shield, then opened the elevator doors, but was faced by a team of STRIKE agents pointing their weapons at him.

"Drop the shield!" a 25th floor STRIKE agent ordered. "Put your hands in the air!"

Steve used his shield to break off the elevator wires, which sent the elevator down. Steve forced the doors open and saw more STRIKE agents approaching them. He closed the door and looked for a way out.

"Give it up, Rogers!" a STRIKE agent yelled. "You have nowhere to go!"

Steve's gaze turned to the window and he broke through the glass in the elevator and plummeted down to finally hit the ground floor. From his monitor, Sitwell watched in shock as Steve got up and started running and limped off.

"Are you kidding me?" Sitwell asked. He ordered the STRIKE team, saying, "He's headed for the garage. Lock down the bridge!"

Steve rode out of the S.H.I.E.L.D. garage on his motorcycle, evading the obstacles laid out, but a Quinjet emerged ahead of them.

"Stand down, Captain Rogers," the Quinjet pilot ordered. "Stand down." The Quinjet lowered its machine gun. "Repeat, stand down."

Steve didn't stop, and the Quinjet began shooting at him. Steve threw his shield into the propellers to jam it, giving him an opportunity to hop onto it and do more damage to the jet with his shield before jumping off as the jet went crashing and he escaped.

---

Sitwell said to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, "Eyes here." Everyone, including Agent 13, looked at Sitwell. "Whatever your op is, bury it. This is Level One. Contact DOT. All traffic lights in the district go red. Shut all runways at BWI, IAD, Reagan. All security cameras in the city go through this monitor, right here. Scan all open sources. Phones, computers, PDAs, whatever. If someone tweets about this guy, I want to know about it."

"With all due respect, if S.H.I.E.L.D. is conducting a manhunt for Captain America, we deserve to know why," Sharon, Agent 13, said.

"Because he lied to us," Pierce replied, entering the room. "Captain Rogers has information regarding the death of Director Fury, he refused to share it. As difficult as this is to accept, Captain America is a fugitive from S.H.I.E.L.D."