Love & War | S.Rogers

014. 𝑏𝑖𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠

"No, no. Of course not" he said, staring at her before he grabbed a remote, turning on a screen behind them.

It was Batroc, the French pirate who hijacked the S.H.I.E.L.D. ship, sitting in an interrogation room. "Who hired you Batroc?" the interrogator asked.

"Is that live?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, they picked him up last night in not so safe house in Algiers," Pierce said.

"You think he's the one who killed Fury?" Freya asked.

"Assassination isn't Batroc's line," Steve said.

"No, no. It's more complicated than that. Batroc was hired anonymously to attack the Lemurian Star. And he was contacted by email and paid by wire transfer, and then the money was run through 17 fictitious accounts. The last one going to a holding company that was registered to a Jacob Veech" Pierce said, handing them a file.

"Are we supposed to know who that is?" Steve asked.

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

"Are you saying Fury hired the pirates? Why?" Steve asked.

"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" he said.

Steve shook his head, not even giving himself a second to think that was true. "If you really knew Nick Fury, you'd know that's not true," he said.

Pierce nodded, seeming to agree with him. "Why do you think we're talking?" he asked, standing up.

"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."

Daphne and Steve stood up as Pierce looked at them like they were the ones who couldn't be trusted.

"You two were the last ones 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?"

"He told us not to trust anyone," Steve told him.

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

"I'm sorry," Steve said. "Those were his last words. Excuse us."

As Freya and Steve turned to walk out of Pierce's office, he called out to them right before they walked through the door.

"Somebody murdered my friend and I'm gonna find out why. Anyone gets in my way, they're gonna regret it. Anyone" he said.

Leaving his office they made their way to the elevator, only speaking once they were inside.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked.

"He thinks I had something to do with it," Freya said. "After what happened with Loki-"

"None of that was your fault," he said.

"I don't think he sees it that way. I know what he thinks of me. And Thor. That we're just aliens who came to your planet with our problems. Maybe he's right" she sighed.

"Hey," he said, grabbing her hand. "He's not. And any one else in their right mind would know that's not true. New York wouldn't be standing today if it wasn't for you two."