S.H.I.E.L.D. HEADQUARTERS
Steve and Anneliese were taken to Pierce who was talking to Agent 13.
"For whatever it's worth, you did your best," Pierce said.
"Thank you, sir," Sharon replied and as she turned to leave, she saw Steve and Anneliese. "Captain Rogers. Miss Schultz."
Steve replied coldly as he and Anneliese walked toward Pierce, "Neighbor."
"Ah, Captain. Ma'am. I'm Alexander Pierce," Pierce introduced.
"Sir, it's an honor," Steve said as they shook hands.
"The honor is mine, Captain. My father served in the 101st. Come on in." They entered Pierce's office where he showed Steve and Anneliese an old photo of Fury with Pierce. "That photo was taken five years after Nick and I met. When I was at State Department in Bogota. ELN rebels took the embassy, and security got me out, but the rebels took hostages. Nick was deputy chief for the S.H.I.E.L.D. station there. And he comes to me with a plan. He wants to storm the building through the sewers. I said, "No, we'll negotiate." Turned out the ELN didn't negotiate, so they put out a kill order. They stormed the basement, and what did they find? They find it empty. Nick had ignored my direct order and carried out an unauthorized military operation on foreign soil. He saved the lives of a dozen political officers, including my daughter."
"So you gave him a promotion."
"I've never had any cause to regret it. Captain, ma'am, why was Nick in your apartment last night?"
"I don't know."
"You two know it was bugged?"
"We did, because Nick told us."
"Did he tell you two he was the one who bugged it?" Steve and Anneliese didn't reply, obviously not knowing that information. "I want you to see something." He brought up footage of Batroc being interrogated.
A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent asked, "Who hired you, Batroc?"
"Is that live?" Steve questioned.
"Yeah, they picked him up last night in a not-so-safe house in Algiers," Pierce replied.
"Are you saying he's a suspect? Assassination isn't Batroc's line."
"No, it's more complicated than that. Batroc was hired anonymously to attack the Lemurian Star and he was contacted by e-mail and paid by wire transfer. And then the money was run through seventeen fictitious accounts, the last one going to a holding company that was registered to a Jacob Veech."
"Are she and I supposed to know who that is?"
He handed Steve the file. "Not likely. Veech died six years ago. His last address was 14-35 Elmhurst Drive. When I first met Nick his mother lived at 14-37."
"Are you saying Fury hired the pirates? Why?"
"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."
"If you really knew Nick Fury you'd know that's not true."
"Why do you think we're talking? 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." He hesitated a moment. "Captain, Miss Schultz, you 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."
"I wonder if that included him."
Steve paused a moment before replying. "I'm sorry. Those were his last words. Excuse us." Steve picked up his shield, placed it on his back and started to make his way out of the office, followed by Anneliese.
"Captain. Ma'am." Steve and Anneliese stopped and looked at Pierce; Steve had motioned to Anneliese that Pierce had called her. "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 and Anneliese turned and left.
They left Pierce's office and stepped into the elevator and Steve 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. Ma'am."
"Rumlow," Steve replied once he'd 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 two want me to get the tac-team ready?"
"No, let's wait and see what it is first?" Steve replied.
"Right." Steve and y 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 and Anneliese, "Excuse me."
Rumlow glanced to Steve and Anneliese 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 and y looked at the agents in the elevator, noticing one of them was sweating, then the elevator stopped and more agents entered.
The friends exchanged a wary look.
"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 and Anneliese a shock. The others grabbed them and tried to strap their wrists with magnetic cuffs. Steve and Anneliese managed to knock some of them down, but one cuff remained, then Rumlow used his rod to give Steve a shock. He gave Anneliese a shock as well.
Sitwell, in a control room, watched them on a monitor and ordered, "Mobilize STRIKE units, 25th floor."
Steve and Anneliese managed to free themselves from the magnetic cuff and knocked the agents down and turned to Rumlow.
"Whoa, big guy, girlie," Rumlow said. "I just want you to know, Cap, ma'am, this isn't personal." He went to attack Steve and Anneliese with his electric rod, but Steve and Anneliese defended themselves 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 and Anneliese.
"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 him. He closed the door and looked for a way out.
"Give it up, Rogers!" a STRIKE agent yelled. "You and your friend have nowhere to go!"
Anneliese pointed out the window and Steve nodded.
Steve broke through the glass in the elevator and the two plummeted down to finally hit the ground floor. From his monitor, Sitwell watched in shock as Steve and Anneliese got up, and started running off.
"Are you kidding me?" Sitwell asked. He ordered the STRIKE team, saying, "They're headed for the garage. Lock down the bridge!"
Steve and Elisabeth 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, Miss Schultz," the Quinjet pilot ordered. "Stand down." The Quinjet lowered its machine gun. "Repeat, stand down."
Steve and Anneliese didn't stop, and the Quinjet began shooting at them. 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 and Anneliese 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 and girl, I want to know about it."
"With all due respect, if S.H.I.E.L.D. is conducting a manhunt for Captain America and Miss Schultz, we deserve to know why," Sharon, Agent 13, said.
"Because they lied to us," Pierce replied, entering the room. "Captain Rogers and Miss Schultz have information regarding the death of Director Fury, they refused to share it. As difficult as this is to accept, Captain America and Anneliese Schultz are fugitives from S.H.I.E.L.D."