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Chapter 25

God, looking through SHIELD accounts were boring- if they had accountants, why were they making an agent do it?

Still, Emily needed to check expenses reports to see if her claims had gone through. As she went through her account, something caught her eye.

There had been no reason for her to look at the transactions concerning the technology that the North Dawn had brought to SHIELD. That was for accounts and tech, simple as that. She didn't even know what was on the ship until she'd disembarked, but even then she wasn't entirely sure what it all was.

It was on her section, owing to her actually being on the mission. Clicking on it, she scrolled down the page, casually looking at what had been bought. It was mainly radar equipment and screens, for exactly the eye-watering price she expected. Emily was about to click off the page, but then something practically jumped out at her.

Personnel- $10M/1.38M CAD

Emily frowned.

How could she, Sitwell, Irving and those Communications graduates cost that much? There was no way to explain it, absolutely no way. It could be the cost of the grad education, but even then, it was a steep price. Was it Steve and STRIKE Team Delta? No, they wouldn't be included either- though she knew Steve could ask for (and get) a better salary than the one he got now.

She clicked on it, but the page came up with RESTRICTED- ALPHA level. Frustrated, she travelled over to a random piece of tech, again restricted but to a lesser extent- tech and accountants, as was standard.

That was standard, but the personnel being Alpha level confused her. Alpha was Nick Fury level, not even Commander Hill could get that high up. It didn't make sense, especially since he'd been in Europe for so long.

Then it clicked- Secretary Pierce. He was that high up, he could have access to this. Emily trusted Pierce, but she knew she couldn't just walk up to him and ask about it. If it was Alpha level, then it wasn't like he was about to tell her what was going on.

Next to the personnel bit, however, was a 7 digit code. It was assigned to all agents, their individualised expenses number. Well, at least that was easy to check.

8742398

One hit- Franklin Delano.

Ok, apparently Franklin D. Roosevelt was a member of SHIELD. Searching further, however, she could find nothing on this 'Franklin Delano.' There was not a single hit, profile or report containing his name. His name did not appear anywhere, not even in the former and deceased agents section.

A ghost had paid $10M for some personnel.

That's when it hit her- they'd converted it to Canadian Dollars. That meant only one thing- Gratuit Q.

Someone at SHIELD had paid millions to Sartre and the terrorists. It couldn't be anyone outside of the agency; otherwise it would come up as someone else. Some insider had hired or paid them for some inane reason.

Just who the hell was this Franklin Delano?

Emily had to find out who this person was. Whoever it was had funded terrorists who could have quite easily killed the man she loved; Natasha and other people. She didn't care about herself right now; she just wanted answers to this puzzle. Somehow, she'd stumbled upon the closest thing she had to an answer and she was not letting go.

There was one person at SHIELD who knew everything about anyone and had the means to find out if they didn't.

Natasha.

Not wanting to risk messaging her, Emily logged off and jumped out of her chair. She paced the corridors of SHIELD until she saw the redhead walking down the corridor.

"Natasha!"

"Hi Emily, what's up?"

Emily stepped closer, until they were in whispering distance.

"I need you to do something for me. I have a name and nothing more. I need to find out who this person is. It's classified, mostly, but I know you have more intel than anyone bar Nick Fury."

"Is this about the investigation?"

Emily froze.

"I don't want to get you involved."

"Emily, you and Steve trusted me to help dig around. I'm not scared of revealing a name."

"It's above my level."

"I know that if you're asking me, it's for a good reason, that's all. We're friends- I trust you. Now- what's the name?"

"It's Franklin Delano."

Natasha paused.

"When high up SHIELD figures need to send money for a sketchy cause, they'll use a pseudonym. It's always a really common name, like a President or a famous actor. Franklin Delano, William Clinton, Christopher Lee, stuff like that. It's not technically against SHIELD rules, but you can get a lot of shit for it. Using one of these names means it's big, big shit. Usually, they would just raise the level to 10 or Alpha or whatever so most people couldn't see it. If they're using a pseudonym, it means it's sketchy as hell. Whoever this is did NOT want to be discovered. Nobody else knows who it is, unless the person tells them. Names are never used twice, even by the same people. This is one name that I cannot give you more info on. All I know is that they're probably really high up and/or into something that isn't right."

"Like Fury high?"

"Yep, like Fury high."

"You don't think it's him?"

Natasha shook her head, "Honestly, I don't know- it could be Fury, he's the master spy. It also could be a lot of other people. Unless you know Fury was directly involved, then you might have to scratch him off the list. Look, I can't lie. I don't trust a lot of people, but I trust Fury. He's a good man. I don't believe he would do something like this. This is someone else. I just don't know who."

Emily nodded carefully, "So there's no indication- they just pick a name, it's not even related."

"Exactly. Someone could use 'Audrey Hepburn' and it wouldn't be you, as that's far too obvious."

"Right, ok. That gives me something."

"It's not a lot, I know."

"It's more than I came here with. Someone paid money to some bad, bad people. We know it's an inside job at the very least. Someone at SHIELD is dirty."

"Or some people," Natasha corrected, "It may be one name, but there could be more to it than that."

"I have to find Steve. Thank you, you've been really helpful."

"Be careful, Emily. You might be getting into something bigger than you are."

"I will. See you."

"Bye."

Also not wanting to trust her devices, Emily decided to find Steve the old fashioned way. She eventually located him in the Virtual Reality Suite, practicing tactics. He obviously didn't see her, instead focusing on whatever he was watching. Emily tapped him on the shoulder.

He pulled the goggles up and looked at her.

"Hi darling, what's up?"

"I've found something."

Steve didn't need to ask any further.

"We need to go somewhere private," she continued.

He followed her out of the room, down the hall and into one of the small meeting rooms. Emily clicked the button the indicate 'occupied- only knock if urgent,' and made sure the door was tightly shut before she continued.

"What's up?"

"I found the expenses sheet for the North Dawn. Everything was normal until the very bottom. There was a personnel cost at $10M, also converted to Canadian Dollars. I couldn't work out what the hell it was until I realised just why it had been converted. Gratuit Q, they're from Canada and they were the terrorists on the ship."

"Someone hired them?"

"Something like that- hired or maybe bought off, I don't know. Anyway, so, I did a little digging. The actual link to it was classified to Alpha Level. That's not normal, it's usually for accounts, but not even they would be able to access it. The only ones with Alpha Level are Fury and Pierce, not even Commander Hill or Uncle Phil are that high up. There was a code with it though, the usual seven digit expenses number. I searched for it and it came up with one name- Franklin Delano."

"Like President Roosevelt?" Steve raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, just missing the obvious surname. Whoever he is, he's a ghost. There is NOTHING on him, not even in the deceased or former category. I thought I'd hit a dead end before I remembered one person who knows everyone here- Natasha. When I found her, she explained to me that high level agents use pseudonyms when they're transferring money into something that's not technically on the books. It's never the same one, even for the same person. They'll use famous names- like FDR, stuff that can't be linked to anyone. Whoever it is, they're basically top of the pack. It could be a lot of people- it's not a large list, but it's not a small one either. If we find whoever it is, then we are going to solve this investigation."

"We find them, we find out why this is happening," Steve nodded, "Ok, so how do we find who Franklin Delano is?"

"That's where I've drawn a blank. It's not like we can go asking round the top brass-'oh hey, were you using the name of a long dead President to funnel money into a terrorist group that held SHIELD personnel hostage?' We wouldn't only look like idiots, but we'd also be sending off warning signals to whoever did this. There's no way to do this quietly, or even at all."

"Wait a second."

Steve stood up, Emily looking confused at him.

"I remember listening to the radio at FDR's inauguration when I was fourteen. There was that famous quote he did: 'the only thing we have to fear-ʺ

"-Is fear itself," Emily finished, "Yeah, that's like one of the most famous Presidential quotes of all time. Everybody knows it."

"Do you know who likes to quote it before missions?"

Emily looked at him blankly.

"Rumlow."

"Rumlow?"

"Rumlow," Steve confirmed, "Says it all the time. What's more, he was there. He can't have known that STRIKE would have needed to be there unless he knew in advance that they would be needed. Rumlow had heard of him, Sartre, said he even admired the guy. That was supposed to be a training exercise. There was no indication as to what was to happen- unless he'd already planned it."

"He didn't seem too bothered that I'd killed Sartre either. We all wanted him alive, you said it yourself that they'd have preferred him breathing at the end of the day. A guy like Rumlow usually would take great pride in dragging such a wanted criminal in. Hell, he didn't even seem upset that I managed to kill Sartre instead of him. You know, now that I think about it, Secretary Pierce didn't seem too bothered either. He was oddly...Zen about it. Why would that be?"

"Rumlow is a Level 8 like me. Pierce is higher; he could have all the more reason to do it. If he wanted to cover his tracks, he could use Rumlow. How can we even be sure that Rumlow is Delano anyway? It's more obvious if he uses that name."

"I didn't know that he uses that quote before missions, perhaps only a small amount of agents would know. Besides, Rumlow may be smart, but he is the most arrogant person ever. He also probably wouldn't put too much thought into something like this."

"Ok, but we need proof."

"That, I can't give you."

"Wait a second- Rumlow has a little FDR bobble head in his locker. He has something written on the bottom of it, in felt tip pen. Could that be something?"

"Yeah, definitely. Could you get into his locker?"

"Shouldn't be a problem. They're usually quiet at this time, the locker rooms. If you wait outside, you can keep watch and warn me if anyone's coming."

"You are brilliant," Emily leaned up, cupping his cheeks as she kissed him.

"Well I don't know about that," Steve blushed, "Come on; let's finish this once and for all."

Emily took Steve's hand, following him to the locker room. He checked quickly before popping his head out, indicating that he was alone, before dashing back inside. Emily whistled to herself, pretending she was doing something important on her phone. Casually nodding at those walking past, she prayed this would work.

After a few minutes, Steve reappeared.

"What was the number? The expenses number?"

"8742398."

Steve held his phone up- at the bottom of the FDR bobble head was that exact number.

"Holy crap," Emily breathed out, "Rumlow is behind this?"

"Behind this, mastermind, follower, I don't know, but he paid $10M to terrorists."

"Rumlow can't be worth that much, surely?"

"Unless he's secretly rich or won the lottery, I'm guessing not. If he embezzled it, there'd be a paper trail. Someone must have given it to him. Wait a second. You said it was Alpha locked, right? Secretary Pierce has been in charge since Fury went off to Europe. I've seen a picture of his house in Italy, there's no way he's not a millionaire. I could be completely wrong, but it makes sense. I just don't trust the guy."

"Well I thought that too, but Fury trusts him, so I though he can't be all bad. Yeah he gave me a creepy vibe at the interview, but no one in this agency is normal. Maybe he's being used?"

"Or maybe he's not as innocent as he seems."

"Well I don't know how we could alert anyone high up. Pierce is in charge. Fury and Hill are both in Europe. There's the World Security Council, but I doubt they'd listen. They were the ones who wanted to nuke Manhattan after all."

Before anybody could go any further, an alarm came screeching from the speakers.

"SECURITY BREACH, SECURITY BREACH! ALL PERSONNEL TO THE OPEN OFFICE SPACE, WHERE YOU WILL BE SPOKEN TO BY YOUR GROUP LEADER. PROCEED IMMEDIATELY!"

After a sharp screech, the transmission ended.

"Group leaders are speaking, not Pierce," Emily stated quietly.

They headed towards the open office space, following the crowds streaming into the area. Their flow was slow until Steve grabbed Emily's arm, nodding at the other side of the room. Rumlow was striding the other way, looking purposeful.

That direction headed to Pierce's office.

Slipping out of the group, they ducked down until they arrived at the elevator doors that led up to the Director's office.

"Go find your uncle or Natasha or someone with say, tell them what's happened. I've sent you the photo, for proof. Whatever happens, I love you."

"There's no way in hell I'm leaving you alone to deal with this. We're in this together, whether it's good or bad. What they possibly did could have killed you; I'm not letting this slide. If you don't let me onto the elevator, I'll find a way up. We're doing this like we always do, as a team."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

They joined hands as the elevator doors opened, stepping into an uncertain future.

Hi all, hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for the wait, I hope it was worth it.

Next Time: Alone against the enemy, Steve and Emily must not only fight for the truth, but for the chance to leave the room alive.

PLEASE review to let me know what you think, feedback is more important than ever as the story arrives at the final curve. Also, if you like Glee and Vampire Diaries, check out my other stories.

Thanks again, can't wait to see you all again next time xxx