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Chapter 5 – Nicholas J. Fury

Steve couldn't believe his eyes.

"You should be proud of yourself, Peggy."

He kept this visit to himself. Yet he knew that part of Shield had known. They kept Peggy safe, kept her secured and helped her live her life in solitude. Steve was thankful, but to have the Avengers dig deeper into his already messed up story was too much.

Yet he can't escape.

At the bed side table were picture frames of Peggy's family. The camera panned to the right to show Peggy in her old age, turning to look at where Steve stared. She hummed and smiled at Steve.

"I have lived a life." She worded. "My only regret is that you didn't get to live yours."

Tony sat there in silence.

He desperately tried to find out a way to sneak out and cut all the melodrama. He wasn't good at these moments. To watch it on screen, well… he wasn't sure how to react. He could clearly see Natasha and Clint whispering to each other while Hill and Fury remained silent. Bruce watched on, oblivious.

But to turn to Steve, he could clearly see the man was agitated.

"Poor guy," He thought.

"What is it?" Peggy urged.

Steve hesitated, "For as long as I can remember, I just wanted to do what was right." He took a deep breath, "I guess I'm not quite sure what that is any more. And I thought I could throw myself back in and follow orders. Serve." He smiled sadly. "It's just not the same."

Peggy chuckled.

"You're always so dramatic."

Steve smiled back.

"Look," Peggy began. "You saved the world. We rather… mucked it up."

"You didn't." Steve told her. "Knowing that you helped found Shield is half the reason I stay."

"She founded Shield?" Tony gaped.

"Along with your dad apparently," Fury mumbled. "It was a hectic operation back then. Different techs and hard to get leads."

"True." Hill nodded.

"Hey." Peggy took Steve's hand and brought him closer. "The world has changed, and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best. And sometimes the best that we can do is to start over."

She started coughing and Steve immediately stood to get her some water. When he came back to her and offered it, the look in Peggy's eyes was enough to shatter the human soul.

"Steve?" She gasped.

"Yeah?"

Peggy began to cry, "Y-you're alive."

Tony was looking away.

Why was it so hard to watch? Not even the rest of the Avengers could keep a straight face, let alone Steve. They all held their breath and to think that Steve comes back to that? How painful was it to see everyone aged and he was still the same person?

"Y-you came b-back." She cried.

Steve smiled sadly, "Yeah, Peggy."

"It's been so long." She broke. "So long…"

"Well, I couldn't leave my best girl." Steve assured. "Not when she owes me a dance."

By then the camera had changed its focus and they were brought back to Fury's office. No one spoke. Steve's eyes were glued to the screen and only Tony and Bruce acknowledged each other. As if an agreement had happened in silence, they decided not to speak of it.

Pain was always inevitable.

"Secure office."

The windows dimmed black and Fury turned holding the usb that Natasha had taken at the Lemurian Star. He jacked it in and said "Open Lemurian Star's satellite launch file." But he was denied. "Run decryption." But it failed. "Director, override. Fury, Nicholas J."

"Override denied. All files sealed."

"On whose authority?"

"Fury, Nicholas J."

He went into the elevator and said, "World security council."

"Things are getting interesting." Fury ordered. "Hill, if you don't mind."

"Do you want me to—"

"Discretely, Hill."

"What do you plan to do? Steve asked. "If they're getting involved again…"

"I have no doubt they're getting involved, they always are." Fury sighed. "But we'll see how this plays out so that we know what we're up against. I just want Hill to have a team ready just in case."

"This is the council?" He pointed.

"A bunch of pricks that's what," Tony mumbled.

"If Nick Fury thinks he can get his costumed thugs," Rockwell voiced. "And Strike commandos to mop up his mess, he's sadly mistaken. This failure is unacceptable."

"Considering this attack took place," Singh stated. "One mile from my country's sovereign waters, it's a bit more than that. I move for immediate hearing."

"We don't need hearings," Councilwoman Hawley said. "We need action. It's this council's duty to oversee Shield."

"A breach like this raises serious questions." Yen declared.

"Like how the hell did a French pirate," Rockwell began. "Manage to hijack a covert Shield vessel in broad daylight?"

"Should have known Pierce was in on this," Fury leaned back. "This is where the fun begins and we get to find out who's on our side."

"For the record, Councilman," Pierce corrected. "He's Algerian. I can draw a map if it'd help."

"I appreciate your wit, Secretary Pierce." He glared. "But this council takes things like international piracy fairly seriously."

"Really?" He joked. "I don't."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Natasha mumbled.

"You always do," Clint retorted.

"I don't care about one boat, I care about the fleet." He paced. "If this Council is going to fall to rancor every time someone pushes us on the playing field, maybe we see someone to oversee us."

"Who is this guy?" Bruce asked.

"He helped with Project Insight," Fury expanded. "He also declined the Nobel prize. That it was wasn't an achievement but a responsibility."

"Crap." Tony muttered.

"Exactly."

"I'm pretty sure we'll see more of him later." Natasha pointed out. "Seeing as he's handling being secretary quite nicely."

"Mr. Secretary, nobody is suggesting—" Yen began but was caught off when a woman whispered something into Pierce's ear and walked off.

"Excuse me."

"More trouble, Mr. Secretary?"

"Depends on your definition."

Fury was watching from the outside and the World Council had ceased their conversation. Pierce walked out of the room and jokingly said "I work 40 floors away and it takes a hijacking for you to visit?"

"A nuclear war would do it too." They shook hands.

"Are you friends?" Steve wondered.

"Does it look like we're friends?" Fury retorted.

"You busy in there?" Fury gestured.

"Nothing some earmarks can't fix."

"I'm… uh… here to ask a favor." He slowly said. "I want you to call for a vote. Project Insight has to be delayed."

"Nick, that's not a favor." Pierce gaped. "That's a sub-committee hearing. A long one."

"It could be nothing. It probably is nothing." He shrugged. "I just need time to make sure it's nothing."

"But if it's something?"

"Then we'll both be damn glad those Helicarriers aren't in the air."

"Fine," He agreed. "But you got to get Iron Man to stop by my niece's birthday party."

"Thank you, Sir."

They shook hands.

"And not just a flyby," Pierce said. "He's got to mingle."

Everyone gaped.

Tony started to laugh and Clint followed him. Everyone else was close to snickering. That did not just happen. Out of all the people and it had got to be Tony. Even Fury's face on the screen was pure amusement. Tony can't help himself. It was just too hilarious. He couldn't wait to see what happens afterwards.

"This is insane," Clint cried. "Negotiations and Stark's name does the favor?!"

"Unexpected." Natasha giggled.

"Hey," Tony was fully grinning. "You're totally welcome."

"You have your perks," Fury snorted. "Don't be too cocky about it."

"But seriously, Nick." He laughed. "A birthday party?"

"You're popular, I'll give you that."

The next few scenes were about Steve heading over to meet Sam, who spoke about suit cases and man purses that would help out people with problems. Sam and Steve caught up with each other and simply spoke about issues of guilt and regret. Sam spoke of his wingman Riley and how he stopped working and asked if Steve would go back out, but Steve's answer was simply, I don't know.

During these scenes, Tony went to get some more drinks and popcorn.

Some even left for a little break, but as soon as the scene ended as quickly as it began, everyone was seated right back to watch.

"Activating communications encryption protocol."

"Shits about to get down," Tony said as he downed a bottle. "You drive that thing?"

"Open secure line zero-four-zero-five."

"Confirmed."

"I have a question, have you told anyone else of what happened to us?" Steve wondered. "The ones at the Helicarrier know, but the Council, do they?"

"No." Fury said. "I thought to keep it a little secret."

"They know a little." Hill voiced and pointed at the screen. "But not to an extent that they can use it against us. They don't know much about this."

"Which is why I want us to watch it," He glared. "Just so we know what we're up against."

"Look." Clint pointed.

"This is Hill," she voiced on the windshield.

"I need you here in D.C." Fury said. "Deep shadow conditions."

"Give me four hours."

"You have three. Over."

"What do you need Hill over for?" Clint asked.

"Why do I need you over for?" Fury rebuked.

"Touché."

A white car pulled next to Fury's and the eerie ambiance continued. Fury turned to the driver and got a double take to see two police officers staring at him. The Avengers looked at each other, knowing full well that something bad was going to happen. Even Fury anticipated it as soon as the movie Fury spoke. "Want to see my lease?" He turned away and the police lit up their Siren and moved, followed by Fury.

All of a sudden, the car was hit at the side.

"Holy shit!" Tony jumped.

Everyone else stared in shock.

The bag of the car deployed.

The police stopped, reversed and blocked his front while another police car blocked his back. Another was readying to block the other side.

"Fracture detected." The computer stated. "Recommend anesthetic injection."

"Someone wants you dead." Natasha crossed her arms.

"The question is who." Fury narrowed his eye.

Armed SWAT officers got out of the black van as Fury injected his upper left arm. "D.C. Metro Police dispatch shows no units in this area." Everyone had their guns pointed at him as he spit out the top of the syringe.

"I don't see how you can get out of that," Bruce stated.

"You're trapped." Clint muttered.

"Get me out of here!" Fury ordered.

Everyone started to shoot at him from all sides.

"What the hell?" Tony gaped.

"This is bad," Steve leaned forward in anticipation.

Hill was glancing at Fury, but he didn't tear his eye off the screen. He continued to watch himself struggle to escape an inevitable fate. But nothing was impossible without fighting for it. He knew himself better than anyone, and knew he had a way out.

He always did.

"Propulsion systems offline."

"Then reboot, damn it!"

The armor of his vehicle was at 82% slowly decreasing to 80. Everyone continued shooting and was getting nearer and nearer to the car. They stopped for a moment and brought out a battering ram and set it at the car door.

"You're in for it." Hill addressed. "They really want you dead."

"The question is who got wind of it." Fury glared. "We can't trust anybody anymore."

"Warning, window integrity compromised."

"You think?"

Fury pushed himself away from the driver's seat and moved to the front passenger seat. The machine drilled through concrete and locked itself there.

"How long till propulsion?"

"Calculating."

The machine was pressed and the car was knocked over to the side. "Window integrity 31%. Deploying countermeasures."

"Hold that order!"

"What?" Hill gaped. "You're holding that order?"

"That's suicide." Bruce mumbled.

Again, the car was knocked to the side. "Window integrity 19%. Offensive measures advised." Fury held his ground as he glared at the window, "Wait!" They knocked the car over again and the window was close to breaking. "Window integrity 1%."

"Now!"

The gear shift was suddenly replaced with a machine gun that Fury immediately manned and pointed at his enemies and shot at different directions. He killed several of them at the encounter. He then shot a grenade at the black SWAT van and it exploded. He did the same to another police car that it toppled over the other one.

"Propulsion systems now online."

"Full acceleration! Now!" He yelled.

The car drove itself away from his pursuers as he made a quick getaway.

"It's like watching a James bond movie." Tony leaned back. "You're insane."

"It's not over yet." Clint pointed. "Look."

"Initiate vertical takeoff!"

"Flight systems damaged."

"Then activate guidance cameras!" He moved back to the driver seat and knocked his arm over the door and yelled in pain. "Give me the wheel!"

"They're still after him." Natasha bit her lip.

Fury maneuvered through traffic like a boss.

"Get me Agent Hill." He ordered.

"Oh it's serious," Hill nodded. "Very serious."

"Communications array damaged."

"Well, what's not damaged?"

"Air conditioning is fully operational."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, the humor wasn't far off. The entire team had to laugh at that one, because it was really funny. But that humor sooner died down at the speed Fury was going to get away from his pursuers. Everyone was on the edge of their seats. They've known Fury for a while, and to lose him was unthinkable.

"Traffic ahead."

"Give me an alternate route."

"Traffic alert on Roosevelt Bridge." The computer declared. "All vehicles stopped. 17th Avenue clear in three blocks, directly ahead."

Fury had no choice and began to ram the car into the other vehicles without causing too much damage. He went between two cars and overtook them, allowing the two to block off the police. The men got out of their car and started to chase him.

He got caught and a man went over a car and started shooting. One of the cars continued pushing through as Fury did the same thing while the other guy ran for him. The guy shot through the bus and Fury had to ram through several of them to get save himself.

And the chase was back on.

"Don't they know the word give up?" Tony breathed.

"The fact that they want me dead is one thing," Fury grimaced. "But to go through the extents, well, that's something else."

They avoided traffic and the police were gaining on him. One of them leaned out the window and shot at him, but Fury leaned back to avoid it. Twice Fury avoided getting shot by driving past a car and a truck. He spun the wheel and rammed into the car and pulled the guy into his window.

"He's boxed in." Natasha glared.

"Do we even know why you're being chased?" Steve questioned.

"Probably the Project Insight," Fury stated and leaned back. "That's the only thing I can think of that connects all of this."

"Hydra then." Bruce mumbled.

"Exactly."

"Doesn't this bother you?" Tony asked.

"Should it?"

"You're getting your ass kicked."

"There's always a day when things don't go your way." Fury shrugged. "Besides, better to watch it than experience it. I have no inclination on doing the latter. Thank you very much."

Fury punched his opponent and ended up wrestling with him. "Warning! Approaching intersection." He stepped the pedal to a stop and the two cars raced forward and got hit by a moving yellow truck.

"Get me off the grid!" He yelled.

"Calculating route to secure location."

"I don't like this." Steve muttered as he felt something on his chest.

The screen was showing Fury's windshield full of bullet holes and the blurred image on the background focused. Steve didn't notice the exchanges Fury, Hill, Clint and Natasha gave each other. Bruce and Tony watched on in shock as the mystery guy aimed.

He shot a disk below the car and it magnetized underneath and exploded a second after. The car toppled and the mystery guy sidestepped it like it was nothing. The guy in black walked after him as Fury tried to get his bearings as he pulled out a device.

The mystery guy with his metal arm pulled the car open and looked inside to find a hole underneath the ground.

Fury was gone.

Natasha cursed in Russia as silently as she could, but Clint overheard her. He patted her knees affectionately and as discreetly as possible without tearing his gaze from the screen. Clint knew how much Shield meant to Natasha. It was him who brought her there after all. Shield was like a home to both of them.

And now… they weren't even sure.

What would Shield be like without Fury manning the stations?

The Avengers rewound the movie and paused at the guy wearing the goggles and mask. They eyed him and his metal arm or fingers… Fury and Hill remained silent. Natasha was livid, and everyone from Steve to Tony could tell that. Clint could only keep her calm for so long, but he knew Natasha well. She can hold her own.

"So," Bruce opened. "Who is he?"

"I have a guess," Natasha glared.

"I don't." Steve stared.