As soon as Hill parked, they all piled out, noticing they were near a dam. Sam holding on to Nat as she held her shoulder covering it with gauze.
"GSW in the shoulder. She's lost at least a pint." Hill informed the man running towards them.
"Maybe two." Arden added, recognizing the man as one of Fury's, Dr. Fine.
"Let me take her." He responded.
"She'll want to see him first." Hill insisted.
They didn't say a word, just following them into the back room of where they were. Hill pulling back the curtain, revealing Fury in a hospital bed, completely alive.
"About damn time." Fury greeted them weakly.
They settled around him while Natasha was getting her wound looked at.
"Well?" Arden spoke up first, looking at him struggling to get comfortable in bed.
"Lacerated spinal column, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache." Fury informed them of his long list of injuries.
"Don't forget your collapsed lung." Dr. Fine reminded him.
"Let's not forget that." Fury played along. "Otherwise, I'm good."
"They cut you open. Your heart stopped." Nat remembered.
"You used Tetradotoxin B, didn't you?" Arden mentioned, and he nodded, winking at her for getting it right.
"Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great on him, but we found a use for it." Fury informed the rest of them.
"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve asked betrayed.
"Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful." Hill answered.
Arden scoffed, shaking her head as she took a seat beside him, looking at the floor.
"Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust." Fury mentioned.
After managing to get Fury up into a chair, they informed him of their findings about Pierce, but it seemed like Fury already knew.
"This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility. See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues." Fury brought up, looking at a photo of Pierce, throwing it back onto the table.
"We gotta stop that launch." Natasha mentioned, looking around at everyone.
"I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore." Fury seriously joked, opening a briefcase with three memory drives.
"What's that?" Sam asked.
"Once the helicarriers reach 3,000 feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites becoming fully weaponized." Hill answered, turning her laptop around with the blueprints.
"So we need to get to those helicarriers and replace their targeting blades with these ones." Arden caught on, pointing at the briefcase.
"Yes, but 1 or 2 won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remain operational, a lot of people will die." Hill informed them.
"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA. We have to get past them, insert these server blades. Maybe, just maybe salvage-"
"We're not salvaging anything. We're not just taking down those carriers, Nick. We're taking down S.H.I.E.L.D." Steve interrupted angrily.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. had nothing to do with it." Fury defended.
"You gave me this mission. This is how it ends." Steve pushed. "S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been compromised, you said so yourself. HYDRA grew under your nose, and you didn't even notice."
"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed." Fury countered.
"How many paid the price before you noticed?" Steve argued.
Fury sighed, looking at Hill and Arden. "I didn't know about Barnes."
"Even if you had, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that too?" Steve asked. "S.H.I.E.L.D. HYDRA. It all goes."
Fury looked over at Hill and Arden again, Arden leaning back in her chair.
"He's right." Arden agreed, nodding at him.
Fury looked at Natasha, who didn't say a word, then at Sam.
"Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower." Sam defended.
"It looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain." Fury sighed, leaning back in his chair.
Steve nodded, proceeding to walk out of the room. Sam followed behind not too long after, leaving Hill, Fury, Natasha and Arden in the cave.
"You two miss me?" Fury asked, breaking the silence.
Arden and Nat looked at each other, scoffing, shaking their heads at Fury.
"Miss is an understatement. We needed you." Natasha answered for the both of them.
"You do okay working with Rogers?" Fury asked Arden.
She sighed, nodding. "He trusts me now. I think."
"Told you, it just takes time." Fury reminded her.
"I feel like I'm missing something here." Natasha commented, looking at the three of them.
Arden looked at Fury for permission, and he nodded giving her the okay.
"Nat, I'm-"
"Gear up. It's time." Steve interrupted, walking in the room.
"I'll tell you later if we survive." Arden whispered to Natasha, getting up from her chair.
Hill, Sam, Steve and Arden walked through the forest, looking up at the headquarters.
"I hope this works, Cap." Arden whispered to him.
"Yeah, me too." He whispered back, leading them towards headquarters.
They made their way inside, Hill and Arden bypassing the security system, making their way to leading tech room where they were controlling the plan of Insight. As Steve was about to kick the door down, Arden put her hand on Steve's chest, causing him to stop.
"Didn't your mother teach you manners?" She teased him, knocking on the door.
When a man opened the door, Hill and Arden aimed their guns at him, making him hold up his hands.
"Excuse us." Steve politely greeted, looking over at Arden and she winked at him.
The man stepped aside, allowing them to walk in. When the other guards noticed them, they immediately put their weapons down. Hill and Sam retrieving them, putting them aside while Arden stood over one of the keyboards.
"Would you like to do the honors, Captain?" She smirked, opening her body to the mic.
He smirked, taking a step forward, clearing his throat before he spoke into the mic.
"Attention all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, This is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth. S.H.I.E.L.D. is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The S.T.R.I.K.E. and Insight crew are HYDRA as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want. Absolute control. They shot Nick Fury, and it won't stop there. If you launch those helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. Unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot. But the price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, so be it. But, I'm willing to bet I'm not." Steve announced.
"Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?" Sam teased him.
Steve shrugged, chuckling, looking over at Arden.
"It was good don't get me wrong, just a tad bit long." Arden added, pinching her fingers to emphasize and tease him.
The alarm began to blare, sounding off that the helicarriers were in motion to take off. Arden quickly turning to the screen, typing away, trying to override the system.
"Shit, they initiated the launch." Arden informed them.
"Go." Hill demanded, looking at them.
They nodded, taking off towards the helicarriers. Running across the airway, with Steve leading them.
"How do we know the difference between the bad guys and the good guys?" Sam asked.
"If they're shooting at us, they're bad." Steve answered with an obvious, but playful tone.
"Give me a lift, will you Cap?" Arden asked, looking at Steve as they ran.
Sam opened the wings, leaving them as he took off into the sky as Steve held onto Arden, taking a leap onto another airstrip, landing hard on his shield, they both of them rolling off with ease, running towards the boxes to shield themselves. Arden pulling a HYDRA merc, kicking him, and knocking him out as she stole a flash bomb from him, taking cover.
"You okay?" Steve asked her as she was breathing heavily.
"Just another day in the office." She teased, turning the corner quickly as she threw the flash bomb towards a group heading towards them.
"Hey, Cap. I found those bad guys you were talking about." Sam said into comms.
"Falcon, status?" Hill asked.
"Engaging." Sam answered. "All right, Cap. I'm in."
"Ready?" Arden asked Steve.
"Just another day in the office." He repeated, and she smirked, following him as they fought side by side, taking down HYDRA mercs, making their way closer.
"Eight minutes, guys." Hill informed them.
"We're working on it." Steve replied.
They ran inside, making their way one of the carriers as it was taking off. They ran towards the targeting system, quickly inserting their chip.
"Alpha lock." Arden said into comms.
"Falcon?" Hill asked for his status again.
"Had to take a detour. One sec." Sam answered. "Bravo lock."
"Two down, one to go." Hill announced.