Chapter 33 - Rachel Stark 

"A pantsuit? Really, Fury?" I ask, kinda mad. 

"Well, since you just got shot, I've made the executive decision to escort you to the sidelines. You are sitting this one out," he says definitively. I give a low grumble, but walk away, knowing he is right. I quickly change and throw my hair up into a bun, so the face mask won't read my hair. 

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"How was the flight in Councilwoman?" Pierce asks me. I smile under the mask, feeling the electrons moving with my face. 

"It was alright, not the most comfortable flight I've ever been on," I lie. Fury had me dropped off at Dulles International Airport so that I could intercept the real councilwoman and blend in with the other members. I keep up with the rest of the group as best as I can, my head still spinning slightly from blood loss. Everything happened so fast. 

"Unfortunately, S.H.I.E.L.D. can't control everything," he comments over his shoulder as I pin my security badge onto the collar of my jacket. I watch him like a hawk as we make our way up to the World Security Council floor. The council spreads out around the room, looking out of the windows and checking out the wall of screens in front of us, waiting for Project: Insight to launch. Pierce says some monologue that I don't pay attention to, keeping my eye keenly on the man himself. We all grab a flute of champagne and raise a toast. I raise my glass, holding eye contact with Pierce as the PA system sounds. 

"Attention all S.H.I E.L.D. agents, this is Steve Rogers." I look around, not knowing what is happening. The other council members act similarly. "You've heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth." Pierce walks calmly around the room. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader." The council looks to him, the mood in the room turning confrontational. "The S.T.R.I.K.E. and Insight crew are HYDRA as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want. Absolute control. They shot Nick Fury." The other members look surprised by this. "And it won't end there. If you launch those helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. Unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot. But the price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not." 

The PA clicks off, leaving the room in silence. 

"You smug son of bitch," a councilman says to Pierce. He smirks, walking towards the front of the room. Two agents walk into the room. 

"Arrest him!" another councilman demands. The agents walk to Pierce but stand behind him, affirming their allegiance by pulling a gun on us. Pierce flicks his eyebrows upwards, sighing in annoyance by the council's reaction. 

"I guess I have the floor," he seethes, looking over at us. I watch as his eyes travel behind me, fixated on the scene outside. I turn, watching the helicarriers lift off. I stand still in shock, not being able to believe how corrupted S.H.I.E.L.D. truly was. No one was able to stop the launch. I flip my comm on discreetly. 

"They are initiating launch." I hear Maria state bleakly over the comms. I want so badly to be in the field right now. 

"Hey Cap!" I hear Sam say in the comm. "I found those bad guys you were talking about." 

"You okay?" I hear Steve ask. 

"I'm not dead yet." Sam states. I turn my attention to the snake Pierce, blocking out the other conversation in my ear. He turns away from the window and looks out at us, his phone in his hand.   

"Let me ask you a question," Pierce asks, the HYDRA officers still pointing their guns at all of us. "What if Pakistan marched into Mumbai tomorrow and you knew that they were going to drag your daughters into a soccer stadium for execution, and you could just stop it, with a flick of the switch. Wouldn't you? Wouldn't all of you?" he asks, handing one of the councilmen another drink. The councilman cautiously takes it, staring Pierce down. 

"Not if it was your switch," he announces, tossing the glass across the room. Pierce chuckles and looks towards a guard who hands him a gun. He turns to face the councilman, pointing the gun at his face. I spring into action, kicking the councilmember's knee, causing him to fall to the ground just as the shot rings out. I disarm Pierce quickly, pointing the gun at him as I throw a widow's bite onto one of the guards. As he falls, I flick the gun at the other officer, smacking him in the throat. I disarm the other guards who had entered earlier efficiently, taking the last one's weapon. I stand up slowly, turning my aim towards Pierce. 

"I'm sorry," I say, tapping the button on my mask to deactivate my voice concealer.  My voice crackles across the quiet room as I pull my wig off. I tap one last button on my mask, turning the facial recognition off. I peel it slowly from my face and toss it to the side. Pierce's look of surprise causes me to smirk. "Did I step on your moment?" 

Pierce quickly covers his shock with a smirk. I hand the gun to one of the council members and make my way over to the computer. 

"Agent Stark, what are you doing here?" the councilman asks, confusion etched on his face. I begin to hack into the computer. 

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence caught up to HYDRA's plan. I've been tasked to keep you safe." I roll out my shoulder a little, scrunching my face slightly in pain. I start decrypting all of the data files stored on the computer. I take a quick glance up to check on Pierce, but the destruction out the window causes me to hold my attention there. I watch in acute horror as the helicarriers shoot at Sam. 

Oh, how the mighty S.H.I.E.L.D. has fallen. 

"What are you doing?" the eldest council member asks, causing me to turn my attention back to the computer.  

"She's disabling security protocols and dumping all the secrets onto the internet," Pierce answers for me without a touch of discomfort in his tone. 

"Including HYDRA's," I mumble. 

"And S.H.I.E.L.D.'s," Pierce says, looking at me. "If you do this, none of your past is gonna remain hidden. Are you sure you're ready for the world to see you as you really are? A weak, damaged little girl?" The room pauses and I stop typing, taking a deep breath in.

"Are you?" I retort, raising an eyebrow in his direction. I keep typing, focusing on leaking the HYDRA files first, then the secure S.H.I.E.L.D. ones. I listen in on the conversations happening in my ear. Sam and Steve had disabled two of the three carriers and are working on the third. My nerves settle a little, knowing that this day is almost complete. The screen beeps, snapping my attention back to the room. 

"Disabling the encryption is an executive order. It takes two Alpha Level members." Pierce says, the gun still pointed at his head. 

"I know. Company is coming." I say, looking straight at Pierce. I smile and avert my eyes to one of the windows to my right that looks out onto a helipad. I watch as the chopper lands, revealing Nick Fury. He walks through the door, the wind fluttering his long jacket. Pierce looks a little surprised and somewhat amused. 

"Did you get my flowers?" Pierce asks with a small smile. Fury glares over to him, unamused. "I'm glad you're here Nick."

"Really? Because I thought you had me killed. "

"You know how the game works." 

"So why make me the head of S.H.I.E.L.D?" Fury fires back, his eye locked on Pierce. 

"Because you were the best and most ruthless person I ever met."

"I did what I did to protect people," Nick defends. Pierce shrugs and begins walking towards the computer. 

"Our enemies are your enemies, Nick. Disorder. War. It's just a matter of time before a dirty bomb goes off in Moscow, or an EMP fries Chicago." He pauses and shoots a glance out of the window. "Diplomacy? A holding action, Nick. A band-aid. And you know where I learned that. Bogota. You didn't ask. You just did what had to be done. I can bring order to the lives of seven billion people by sacrificing 20 million. It's the next step, Nick. If you have the courage to take it." Pierce says, thinking he can convince Fury that he is right.  

"No," Fury says. "I have the courage not to." 

"Rental scanner active." the computer says. Fury walks Pierce forward, a hand wrapped tightly around his arm. I pull out my gun and point it at Pierce's head. 

"You don't think we've wiped your clearance from the system?" 

"I know you erased my password. Probably deleted my retinal scan. But if you want to stay ahead of me Mr. Secretary, you need to keep both eyes," He flips up his eye patch. "Open." My breath hitches in my throat, shocked by the appearance of Fury's eye. They ignore me as they turn to the screen to scan their retinas.  

"Alpha level confirmed. Encryption code accepted. Safeguards removed."