Out of The Dark (Captain America Winter Soldier Fanfiction)

Chapter 8: Alexander Pierce

Steve and I stood in an elevator heading down to Pierce's office. I absentmindedly began to stroke Mando's head.
"So...do you know this Pierce guy?" Steve asked.
"Yeah. I do. I've met him a few times with Nick." I said looking outside the glass at the elevator.
"What do you think of him?" He asked.
"Well...you want my honest opinion?" I asked with a slight grin.
Steve nodded.
"I...I don't really trust him. I never have. His eyes are shifty to me. I know it sounds stupid but I've never been wrong when it comes to people. Maybe that's why Fury hired me on as a Criminal Psychologist." I said with a small swallow.
Steve grinned
"Well, of its any comfort to you I will watch myself around him. I won't let him get away with anything."
I smiled back
"Thanks."
"Hey Steve?" I asked as the elevator opened.
"Yeah?" He responded.
"Nick had a bunch of folders on people from SHIELD as well as threats of SHIELD. I remember reading a file on a criminal that fits the description you gave Romanov. After talking to Pierce I'm going to go up there and get it for you. Alright?" I said as we walked through a hallway towards Pierce's room.
Steve nodded
"As long as your careful."
I grinned
"Always."
At the end of the hallway Pierces door opened and Alexander Pierce and Agent Kate walked out talking. He was reassuring her that Nick's death wasn't her fault. Poor girl. She was in the other room when everything happened. It must be hard on her.
As she walked past us she nodded at me and Steve and said
"Agent Genoa. Captain Rogers."
Steve nodded
"Neighbor."
And he walked past.
I stopped her for a second and said
"Thank you for comforting me after Nick was shot. That meant alot to me. Thank you." She needed to hear that. I knew she did.
She smiled kindly and said
"Your welcome."
With that I joined Steve by Alexander Pierce. Steve shook hands with him.
"Aw! Captain Rogers! I'm Alexander Pierce." He said.
"Sir. It's an honor." Steve said.
"Honors all mine Captain. My father served in the one hundred and first. Nice to see you again Agent Genoa. Nice looking dog you have there." Pierce said.
I shook hands with him and said
"Thank you sir."
"Come on in." Pierce said motioning us inside.
I told Mando to sit in front of the door and wait. We walked inside and sat on a nice couch. Pierce handed Rogers some photos of Nick and himself.
"That photo was taken five years after Nick and I met." Pierce began. He started to tell us a story about how Nick had went against orders and ended up saving many political figures. Including Pierce's daughter.
"So you have him a promotion." Steve finished setting down the photos.
"Never had any cause to regret it." Pierce answered smiling.
"Captain why was Nick at your apartment last night? And Agent Genoa, what were you doing there?" Pierce finally asked us.
Steve looked at him and said
"I don't know."
Pierce turned to me.
"Fury texted me on his cell to get to Rogers's as soon as possible. When I got there Fury was badly injured. I'm assuming in a state of delirium and pain from his wounds he went somewhere close that he knew about. Which just so happened to be Steve's apartment." I said convincingly.
"Thank you Agent Genoa. And Rogers...you don't know? Did you both know the apartment was bugged?" He said again turning to Steve.
"I did because Fury had told me." Steve answered.
"Same here." I answered.
"Did he tell you that he was the one who bugged it?" Pierce asked.
Steve stayed silent but I couldn't help but let out a confused "What?"
Pierce pressed a button next to his chair and said
"I want you to see something."
The TV screen behind us lit up with the image of a man being interrogated.
"Is that live?" Steve asked.
"Yeah. They picked it up from a not so safe house Algiers." Pierce replied.
"Your saying he's a suspect? Assassination is a federal crime." Steve said.
"It's a bit more complicated than that." Pierce answered. "He was contacted by email and payed through wireless transfer. Then the money was run through seventeen fictitious accounts. The last one going to a holder company who was registered to a Jacob Beech."
Pierce handed Steve some papers.
"Am I supposed to know who that is?" Steve asked taking the papers.
"Not likely." Pierce said. "Beech died six years ago. His last address was 1435 Elmerse Drive. When I first met Nick his mother lived in 1437."
Steve looked up from the papers at him.
"Are you saying Fury hired the pirates? Why?"
"The prevailing theory is that the hijacking was a cover for the acquisition and sale of classified intelligence." Pierce said looking at us both.
To say that I was surprised by this would be an understatement. Nick? Selling secrets? Never.
"The sale went sour and that led to Nick's death." Pierce finished.
My brow furrowed. Nick wouldn't do that...would he? No. Then Nick's messages to me at Roger's apartment came back to me. "Shield compromised...don't know if it can be saved...they are after you..." I remembered. This was SHIELD's fault. They did this. How could I be so stupid as to let my emotions forget Nick's messages to me?! This is what Nick meant!
Steve had been quiet right along with me then he spoke
"If you had really known Nick Fury you would know that that's not true." I looked at Steve trying to keep the smile off my face.
Pierce nodded and said with a smile
"Why do you think the three of us are talking?"
Pierce stood up and Steve and I followed. Pierce walked to the window in his office and said
"I took a seat on the Council not because I wanted to, but because Nick asked me to. We were both realists. We knew that behind all the diplomacy and the hand shaking and the rhetoric that building a better world often means having to tear the old one down."
He turned to us
"And that makes enemies."
I froze. I didn't trust this man. By enemies...was this a warning? Steve stood perfectly straight just like a soldier. I just stood with my arms crossed and listened.
"Those people that call you dirty because you have the guts to stick your hands in the mud and try to build something better. The idea that those people could be happy today makes me really really angry." Pierce said with conviction.
I shifted from foot to foot. Steve and I really needed to get out of here. There was something really wrong right now.
Pierce stayed quiet for a bit then said to us
"Captain, Renae. You two were the last two to see Nick alive and I don't think that was an accident." On the word accident he looked pointedly at me.
"Seeing that Nick texted you it definitely wasn't an accident for you to be there."
I tried to keep calm and loose. I was glad I was standing next to Steve. He was strong both physically and characteristically. It seemed to fill me with courage. Maybe that's why people follow him so easily.
"I don't think Steve thinks it was an accident for you two to be there either." Pierce said motioning to Steve. I could see Steve tense a little.
"No Steve. Stay calm." I thought desperately. I focused on being strong and brave. To my surprise Steve relaxed his tension next to me.
"So I'm going to ask again." Pierce said moving closer to us. "Why was he there?"
I continued to try to keep myself calm though I was afraid my heart was going to beat itself right out of my chest.
Steve raised his chin a little
"He told me not to trust anyone."
"I wonder if that included him." Pierce said.
"I'm sorry. Those were his last words." Steve said apologetically.
Pierce turned to me
"What did he say to you Renae?"
I looked at him
"He told me the same thing." I answered.
Pierce nodded and turned as if thinking to himself.
"Excuse us." Steve said and began to walk out with me.
"Captain! Agent Genoa!" Pierce called authoritatively. "Somebody murdered my friend and I'm going to find out why. Anyone who gets in my way is going to regret it."
He looked at me again and I wanted to hide. His eyes are what scared me most. Cold and calculating, like a snake. Suddenly, It clicked. He didn't wonder who killed Nick, because he was the one who did it! Pierce continued to look straight at me and said "Anyone." Instead of being intimidated I looked back at him right in the eyes. This man killed my best friend, and this man was going to regret it.
Steve nodded at Pierce and said
"Understood."
Steve and I walked out into the hallway the door closing automatically behind us.