Shadows of the past

The First Encounter

"I work forty floors away, and it takes a hijacking for you to visit?" He asked, looking at who had requested his presence. "A nuclear war would do it too." Conferring for a little, Nick mentioned that he needed a favour "I want you to call for a vote. Project insight has to be delayed."

Keeping his face stoic, Pierce replied. "Nick, that's not a favour. That's a subcommittee hearing. A long one." Agreeing to hold a meeting, Pierce struck a deal with Nick by asking for Tony to stop by his niece's birthday party.

______________________

2014, VA, Washington D.C

Steve stood to the side of the room, leaning against a pillar where his new friend held a counselling group for veterans. Listening to their stories, he and Bucky had visited Nick to scold him for lying, the Smithsonian, in Steve's case, Peggy.

After bidding farewell to the veterans, Sam turned back and noticed the man. They all walked over to a table with leaflets, engaging in conversation. "Look who it is. One of the running men," the darker-skinned man said, picking up leaflets and heading towards the wall Steve leaned against.

"Caught the last few minutes. It's intense," Steve replied.

"Yeah, man, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret," Sam said, not looking up. Sensing the sombre tone, Steve asked, "Did you lose someone?" Sam nodded, lowering his voice almost to a whisper, "My wingman, Riley, flying a night mission. Standard PJ rescue op, nothing we hadn't done a thousand times before until an RPG knocked Riley's dumb ass out of the sky. There was nothing I could do. It's like I was up there to watch."

Understanding the feeling all too well, having witnessed his sister's death, Steve replied sorrowfully, "I'm sorry." They continued to talk, sharing memories of battles and making jokes, lightening the mood. After their conversation, the men departed, with the super soldier heading back to the apartment he shared with Bucky since the day they had woken up.

______________________

2014, Highway, Washington D.C

Driving through the city, Nick Fury initiated a call from his car, connecting with Maria Hill. "This is Hill," her voice resonated through the car's speaker as she answered the call. "I need you here in D.C. Deep shadow conditions," speaking in code, aware that if anyone were nearby, they wouldn't understand the conversation. "Give me four hours," she responded.

"You have three," He replied, ending the call as he approached a pair of traffic lights.

As he pulled up to the lights, Fury glanced at the car beside him, officers inside eyed him with suspicion. Without rolling down the window, he quipped, "Want to see my lease?" Activating the sirens, the officers cautiously drove past him. As Fury attempted to drive off, another police car rammed into him, with two more cars appearing to block him.

Injecting himself with an anaesthetic, Fury found himself surrounded by multiple cars, guns drawn, treating him as a potential threat. The man sensed that something was wrong, realizing no police had been dispatched to his location. "Get me out of here," he instructed the car. Just as he said that, the men surrounding him opened fire. Rebooting the propulsion system, Nick observed the unfolding chaos, witnessing them bring a battering ram out of a truck. Placing the ram by the driver's side, Nick moved to the passenger seat, instructing the computer to deploy countermeasures.

When the window integrity reached 1%, Nick conjured a weapon, firing at the men outside. His counterattack forced them to retreat, providing him with an advantage. With the propulsion systems back online, he regained control of the car. Weaving to evade the pursuing vehicles, Nick attempted to contact Hill, but the communication array was damaged. Along with everything else except the aircon.

Receiving an alternate route from the car, Fury blocked the chasing cars, disembarking to engage the pursuers. After dispatching two mercenaries, he continued driving, confronting the remaining adversaries, even allowing a lorry to collide with them. Instructing his car to "Get me off the grid," Nick's eyes widened as he spotted a figure in the distance through his damaged windshield — someone he had heard of but never encountered.

The woman facing him had dirty blonde, almost brown hair, a pair of goggles, a mask covering her face, and a metal arm. Raising the gun in her hand, she fired a bomb at the car. Positioned at a distance, she waited as the bomb attached itself to the vehicle - flipping it over. Winter moved aside as the car approached her, letting it glide past. Weakened, Nick turned and observed the woman closing in. Reaching behind him, he grabbed a tool to aid his escape. Twisting it, Nick started cutting into the ground just as the woman reached the car, tearing the door off.

Leaning down to peer into the car, Winter internally groaned as she realized that her target had escaped through a hole he had carved into the ground. Smirking behind her mask, she was confident she knew where the dark-skinned man would go, planning to continue the mission there. Winter was assured that by the end of the day, the director of SHIELD would be dead, granting not only her but also her associates more freedom to pursue their objectives.

______________________

A/n

I know this part is random. I'm sorry, I hope you have enjoyed this. Please feel free to vote, follow or leave feedback in the comments as it would help me to make this story better.💕

The next part is a continuation of the end of the prologue.

Word Count:1514