ALLURA AND JAMES SCREAMED IN pain, the sound coming distorted because of the black thing in their mouths. Their wrists were being tugged down and their bodies were shaking.
But they were used to it. Used to the punishment that came with the slightest amount of disobedience.
The electricity stopped flowing through their brains, the agents undoing their restraints and repeating their trigger words, the soldiers complying immediately. Alexander Pierce walked into the room, a victorious smirk in his lips.
"Perfect." He said, his gaze going to Allura as he grabbed her arm, his hand going to her waist. "Can I take the asset?"
The strawberry blonde understood his intention, twisting his arm and flipping him with ease. The agents grabbed her immediately, the soldier not fighting her handlers since she knew it would only make matters worse.
"No. Our asset is not one of your prostitutes." The superior said, walking in. He instructed the agents to take them, Alexander rolling his eyes and following the Alien's slim body with his dark eyes.
"If you insist."
The man smirked, handing the superior another file with a smirk.
"Other targets." Agents grabbed the papers, reading thought them with a satisfied smile. They exchanged nods as they looked at their prepared assets. "Captain America and Black widow are no match for your assets. And it seems quite fitting."
"Indeed. But who is Gravity?"
"HAVE YOU EVER HEARD ABOUT respecting your elders?" A boy asked Rumlow, his eyebrows raised as he watched Captain America being dragged around the place.
Steve chuckled, patting his friend on the back and making him follow to the mystery destination. "Then we should probably bow to you." The other man went without hesitation, knowing the direction they were heading towards.
"Why are we going to Pierce's office?" He asked, Rumlow rolling his eyes and opening the door for them.
"Captain Rogers." A blonde greets, Steve only looking at her coldly. The girl sighed, nodding at the other boy.
"Neighbor." Steve replied, Sharon walking out.
"Ah, Captain. I'm Alexander Pierce." The old man greeted, the man next to Steve crossing his arms in indignation to not being greeted.
"Sir, it's an honor." They shook hands.
"The honor is mine, Captain. My father served in the 101st. Come on in." The old man grabbed a picture from his desk, showing it to the blond. "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 SHIELD 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." Alexander explained, the boy accompanying the captain yawning in boredom.
"Can we get to the point?" Steve chuckled at his friend's eagerness.
"If you wish." Alexander said annoyed. "Captain, why was Nick in your apartment last night?"
"I don't know."
"You know it was bugged?"
"I did, because Nick told me."
"Did he tell you he was the one who bugged it?" Steve didn't reply at this, his eyes confused as Pierce showed them a video.
"Is that live? Because it looks fake" The boy with Steve asked, Alexander sending him an irritated look
"Yes. It is live. They picked him up last night in a not-so-safe house in Algiers."
"Are you saying he's a suspect? Assassination isn't Batroc's line." Steve asked.
"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."
"Am I supposed to know who that is?" Alexander hands Steve the file, the blond reading it with his friend and analyzing it.
"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 boy asked, Steve asking the question with his eyes.
"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." The boy told him stubbornly, his arms clenching at the thought of the death of his friend. His family.
"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." Alexander ranted. "Captain, you were the last one 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 me not to trust anyone." Steve said, the boy next to him glaring back at the older man, suspicion towards Pierce rising in his stomach.
"I wonder if that included him."
"Stop wondering."
"I'm sorry. Who are you?" Alexander asked, his gaze profoundly disturbed by the man's commentary.
"Ezekyel Ljós. Gravity. An Avenger." He told him, Steve almost chuckling at his response, but then adding to the conversation.
"I'm sorry. Those were his last words. Excuse me." Steve picked up his shield, placing it on his back and grabbing Ezekyel's arm while walking away.
"Captain. Somebody murdered my friend and I'm gonna find out why. Anyone gets in my way, they're gonna regret it. Anyone."
"Understood."
When they were officially out of sight, his blue eyes turned amused as he looked at his friend. Ezekyel shrugged knowingly, his hand writing on the notepad on his left hand.
"I wouldn't be surprised if that weird man had murdered him." Steve only ignored his friend, going over to the elevator and stopping. "Something's wrong. I know it."
The two entered the machine, standing in silence as agents began getting in. Ezekyel frowned, noticing the fighting stance they all wore and the practically planned positions they were all taking around the small space.
Ezekyel stepped on Steve's foot lightly, discreetly telling him that he noticed the agents suspicious acts too. "I'm sorry about what happened with Fury. Messed up, what happened to him." Rumlow said, the agents next to him sweating.
"Thank you."
A few more minutes of silence go by, Steve looking at the height and speaking with confidence in his tone. "Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?"
It was a matter of seconds before agents were pinning both men to the wall, a fight breaking loose in the confined place as the agents struggled to fight the enhanced man and the martian.
The agents tried ripping the hydrogen bracelets of Ezekyel, but he made them move with his hand towards each other. Others cuffed Steve to the metal with magnetic equipment, the man breaking free after being electrocuted, kicking them.
Punches were thrown, and Ezekyel head butted a few of them, his eyes alert as he panted.
"Whoa, big guy. I just want you to know, Cap, this ain't personal." After trying to attack him, Ezekyel moves Rumlow's own baton and hits him on the head with it.
"I knew there was a reason I hated him."
"Yeah. It kind of feels personal."
"Drop the shield! Put your hands in the air!" Agents ordered. Steve used his shield to break off the elevator wires, the elevator going down.
Ezekyel forced the doors open, more STRIKE agents approaching them. He closed the door and looks for a way out with speed, his eyes landing on Steve's.
"Give it up, Rogers! Get that door open! You have nowhere to go!"
"There's always somewhere to go." Ezekyel mumbled, grabbing Steve's arm and pushing him and himself through the crystal window that he broke with his mind. The two landed on the cement, rolling to break the impact and standing up.
Steve fought the quintet that was heading their way, Ezekyel grabbing two bikes and moving another machine with his hand to make it fall on top of the attacker's vehicle. Steve ran towards the motorcycle, quickly hopping on it while Ezekyel rode the other one.
So, they escaped— now knowing that once more, they had been fooled.
And Ezekyel is alive! I didn't kill him, he's not HYDRA, he's been SHIELD since it was SSR, and he's been in a lot of places, and has quite the history that I'll reveal soon enough.
Thanks for 10K, wow, that is a lot! Thank you for reading, voting and commenting, you guys have no idea how happy and determined that makes me to write this story, for I know that there's people out there enjoying it!
~ What do you think will happen now that Ezekyel is back?
Have a great day!
- evanescence2016