HER AND STEVE KEPT AN EYE on the streets while Chan was briefed. The man had seemed jumpy when Rumlow offered to oversee the questioning. But he'd calmed down when Sam had promised things would be fine.
She stood beside the super-soldier, arms crossed, and watched the sunset.
"You did good, Samantha."
"Of course," she grinned over. "Surprised?"
Steve chuckled. "How modest."
"Modesty's never been my strong suit, Rogers."
He shook his head and threw an arm around her shoulders, bringing her in close. Sam grunted, but didn't fight back, leaning into the embrace instead. It was peaceful. Listening to the sounds of the city while watching the daylight fade.
After a few moments, Natasha came over. Steve glanced back toward Chan, letting go.
"How's he doing?"
"Jittery, nervous, but not running. Good job, Clarence."
Sam grinned.
"Is Rumlow still questioning him?"
"He should be done any minute."
"I'll check." Sam pulled away and moved toward Chan, off the street talking to Rumlow. He was rubbing his arm nervously. She could tell he was still fighting his 'fight or flight' mode.
But it was to be expected.
Sam slowed as she approached, giving them their space. The last thing she wanted was to startle Chan again.
She caught Rumlow's voice. Low, careful.
"How long have you been enhanced?"
"I... I don't know. It's recent, since the Battle of New York."
"You can control it?"
"Not well."
Rumlow nodded, checking a screen in his hand again. He pursed his lips. "You ever wanted to put them to use?"
Chan hesitated. "N-not really. It's a street act, that's all."
"You ever wanted to go into combat?"
Sam narrowed her eyes. Chan looked even more nervous, shifting from foot to foot. He shook his head again. "Not really."
"We could use a man like you, Yin."
"I'm not a fighter."
"You could be. We've got enhanced of our own. And an agenda for power. You like power, Yin?"
The man didn't answer. But he gazed over at his half-empty hat. Rumlow followed his gaze and grinned.
"You won't have to scrounge for scraps anymore."
Sam snapped out of her confusion. Moving forward, she approached the two, and plastered a smile on her face. Rumlow visibly stiffened and Chan blinked a few times, looking away.
"How are you doing, Chan?"
"I-I'm alright."
"Things will get easier," she said. "I promise."
He nodded mutely. She gazed squarely at Rumlow and found him studying her face, as if searching to see what she'd heard.
"We good here?"
"Just about."
"What questions are left?"
His eyes narrowed. But Sam held his gaze steadily and he turned back to Chan, clearing his throat. "We'll send someone here every month, Yin. They'll check up on how things are going, your powers and all that."
Chan nodded. Rumlow turned back to her, before brushing by.
"We're good."
Sam watched him leave. There was a sour taste in her mouth and she shook her head. Chan shifted, rubbing a hand over his face. "Can I go, now?"
"Of course."
Another member of the STRIKE team escorted him away and Sam clenched her jaw. Moving back over to Steve's side, she crossed her arms. She studied Rumlow, standing across the street, muttering something to another of his teammates.
"I don't like him."
Steve looked startled. "Who?"
"Rumlow."
He followed her gaze. Rumlow glanced over as they stared and grinned slightly, inclining his head. Then he turned his back on them and continued his conversation. Sam scowled.
Steve didn't look convinced. "Did he do something?"
"He's a snake."
"You know this how?"
"I just do, Rogers. Tell Clint and Nat to keep an eye on him, would you? Him and the whole STRIKE team."
Blue eyes studied her, but Steve nodded. She moved back toward the quinjet as the others got ready to leave, following Clint up to the pilot's seat. Sitting beside him, she sighed and propped her feet up on the dashboard.
The man chuckled. "Long day?"
"I want pizza."
"Believe me," he groaned. "So do I."
Everyone else climbed aboard and they were back in the air within the hour. Sam dozed on and off the way back again, though her dreams were haunted by the HYDRA symbol, this time. Rumlow's dark eyes, Sitwell's smirk. One word, repeated over and over again.
Hail Hydra.
~ ~ ~
Stark Tower was silent when they walked back in. Sam gazed around, before JARVIS came over the system.
"Good evening, Mr. Rogers. Miss Clarence."
"Evening, JARVIS."
"Successful mission?"
"Could've been better, could've been worse."
"Mr. Stark would like your presence on the upstairs floor."
She paused, shooting Steve a confused look. He shrugged.
"Whose presence, JARVIS?"
"The entire team, Miss Clarence."
They exchanged looks again, but moved toward the stairs, starting up the next few flights. Sam didn't know what she was expected. Had Tony found something? Good, bad?
Coming over the top step, she paused.
The others all waited in the open room, lounging on the couch, gathered around the table. Tony leaned against the arm of the sofa and straightened as he saw them. He grinned, but it wasn't reflected in his eyes.
"Capsicle, Casper."
"Stark," Steve glanced around. "What's wrong?"
"I might have—"
"Stark messed up."
The deep voice made Sam jump and she nearly cursed as Fury came into sight, like he'd been hiding in the shadows. The man wore his outfit of black, one eye narrowed. None of the others in the room met her gaze and Tony rolled his eyes.
"I didn't mess up, per-say."
"I'd like to know why your little group of idiots is trying to break into SHIELD database. Captain?" Fury glared at her. "Clarence?"
She winced.
So that was it.
"Here I am, trying to enjoy my day," Fury's tone was dangerous. "Only to find that files have been going missing for weeks. And better yet, Stark technology is at work trying to hack into confidential, level ten information."
Stupid levels.
"Um," she shifted nervously. "It was an accident?"
"Don't play coy with me, Clarence."
"We've been searching for some information, sir," Steve stepped forward. "On different parts of SHIELD."
"Still sure that SHIELD's out to dominate the world? Seriously, Rogers?"
"We think HYDRA's infiltrated SHIELD."
Fury's dark eye snapped to her. "Excuse me?"
"We have a... source that suggests SHIELD isn't as clean as people believe." She lifted her jaw and held his gaze. "And that HYDRA isn't as dead as people believe."
"A source. Clarence, what the hell is this about?"
She swallowed.
Telling Fury what they suspected could do two ways. Either they could get access to vital information and aid that might come in handy, or Fury could shut them down.
Or worse, he couldn't be as trustworthy as everyone believed.
She glanced over at Steve. He nodded.
"Something happened after the Battle of New York," Sam started. "We had an... unexpected visitor."
~ ~ ~
By the time she'd finished, Fury was silent.
She didn't think she'd ever seen the man so tense before. His dark eye was narrowed, snapping back and forth between them. As if he was trying to tell who was lying. Who was going to tell him it was all a joke.
No one said a word.
"I've seen a lot of crazy things," he finally said. "But hell if you think I'm going to buy time travel."
"It wasn't Loki," Steve said. "The man who attacked me knew all my moves. And he knew about Bucky. Somehow, he knew that'd be enough to take me down."
"I saw him too," Sam said. She still hadn't told the others word-for-word how their conversation had gone. She wasn't planning to now. But she met Fury's gaze steadily. "Somehow, it was Steve."
"Then what about Sitwell?" He asked. "The man's an idiot but HYDRA? He's not that stupid."
"I know what I heard."
"I can't turn on SHIELD, Rogers. What do you want me to do? Run a background check on every agent, scientist, assistant, technician? The New York base is one of many. It's not possible."
"We need in the system."
"No way in hell I'm letting you in SHIELD's system. That's for level ten agents. Which involve me. And only me."
"Screw the levels," Sam growled. He glared at her.
"It's not as simple as that, Clarence."
"Then simplify it. You're the director. You're level ten. If HYDRA really has been working under your nose all these years, then who's going to take the blame? You said it yourself. SHIELD is everywhere. That's a danger we can't ignore."
"This is a fool's plan, Clarence."
"I've been called worse."
He breathed heavily through his nose. Sam had pushed him pretty far before, but she wasn't sure how far was too far. How much would make the director crack?
"Sir, aliens and gods exist. The Tesseract can control space and Loki's scepter can control minds. Are we really ruling out other realities?"
Fury held her gaze for a long moment.
The others shifted nervously.
Then the one-eyed man grunted, turning away and pacing back and forth. He stopped, stood still for a second, then turned to Steve. "I'm gonna to need a drink."
Steve's eyes flooded with relief.
Sam herself took a deep breath, unable to believe that they might've dragged Fury over to their side. This only proved the SHIELD director wasn't working with HYDRA... which she'd expected to be more of a relief.
But there was still so much to go over. To dig into.
One step at a time.
Following Steve into the kitchen, she poured herself a glass of whiskey too. He raised a brow and she rolled her eyes, shouldering past.
"Don't give me that, Rogers. I barely feel it."
Thor came in, munching on a poptart. Sam felt like she hadn't seen him in weeks, their schedules so off proportion and constantly changing. The god grinned as he saw her.
"Lady Casper!"
"Thor," she accepted his embrace, but felt something crack in the man's tight hug. Grunting, she pulled back. "How are you?"
"Enjoying the Midgardian delicacies."
"I don't think poptarts count as delicacies."
"Asgard doesn't have them."
She tilted her head. "I'd like to hear more about Asgard sometime."
Thor beamed, his blue eyes dancing. He'd trimmed his beard a little, but his hair still went down to his shoulders. The man looked different wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Still godly, just... human godly.
It was weird.
Going back out, she found Tony messing with the screens across from the room. Going over the files she'd given him, searching deeper and deeper into SHIELD documents.
He pulled up the STRIKE team. Rumlow, Rollins, and a few others. They were all clustered together in a file, while a few of the others were separated.
"Rumlow," she said, stepping forward. Tony paused and Fury turned toward her. "Tell me about him."
"He's head of the STRIKE team. A well trained soldier."
"But is he... trustworthy?"
Fury gave her an odd look. "Brock Rumlow was recruited off the streets. He was part of a few gangs once, has a bit of a spotty past. But a lot of agents do."
Natasha shifted. Sam shook her head.
"If he was HYDRA, would we know?"
"Rumlow isn't HYDRA, Clarence."
"Would we know?"
Silence was her answer. Sam took a drink and swallowed hard, the sharp burning grounding her thoughts a little. They were grasping at straws here. Wondering who was trustworthy and who wasn't.
HYDRA had managed to infiltrate SHIELD. But what if...
She blinked.
"Samantha?" Steve gave her a confused look. He could read her mind as well as she could his, seeing the sudden change. "What is it?"
"HYDRA figured out how to infiltrate SHIELD. Right?"
"That's the damn question," Fury muttered.
"There's no way to know who we can trust. And who we can't."
"I trust this is going somewhere, Clarence?"
She fixed the man with a look, gripping her glass tightly. Because it was a fool's idea. A possibility that could not only give them up, but possibly lead to a very, very painful death.
But maybe it was all they had.
"What if we found a way to see HYDRA from the inside out?"
"... How?"
"What if one of us infiltrated HYDRA?"
~ ~ ~
A/N: Here we go, a plan to maybe see what HYDRA is doing! What do you guys think? Thoughts, theories? I adore you all.