In the lobby of the Triskelion, Pierce escorted the members of the World Security Council inside to their chambers. All of the members had arrived, such as the likes of Chao Yen, Jakuna Singh, Douglas Rockwell, and Pamela Hawley.

However, businessman Gideon Malick was curiously absent from this particular meeting, even though he was one of the people who gave the go-ahead for the nuke during the Battle of New York.

"And how was your flight?" Pierce asked the group.

"Lovely." Answered Hawlet, clutching her handbag. "The ride from the airport less so." Pierce simply shrugged and nodded. "Sadly, SHIELD can't control everything."

"Including Captain America." Councilman Rockwell alluded, making Pierce look back towards him, but was approached by an agent with a case.

"This facility is biometrically controlled." Pierce began, opening the case, and distributed a small pin to each member. "These will give you unresisted access." As he gave each member their pin, they had all affixed it on their person.

PROJECT INSIGHT.

2 HOURS, 9 MINUTES & 3 SECONDS.

"I know the road hasn't exactly been smooth." Pierce began as they entered the chamber, with a glass of champagne in his hand. "And some of you would have gladly kicked me out of the car along the way."

"Finally we're here." He raised his glass alongside the other members to toast Project Insight. "And the world should be grateful." Before they could proudly take a sip of their drink, the intercom blared with a familiar voice.

"Attention, all SHIELD agents." the voice began in a serious tone, all over the speakers of the Triskelion. "This is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days, some of you were even ordered to hunt me and my teammates down. But I think it's time you know the truth."

Moments ago, Steve, Sam and Maria had breached the command center of the Triskelion, where the orders of Project Insight were revealed. The agents within had gladly surrendered of their free will.

"SHIELD is not what we thought it was." Steve continued, his attention undivided in the control center. "It's been taken over by HYDRA."

"Alexander Pierce is their leader." He declared through the speakers of the Council's chamber, as all the members turned to face Pierce, who trutted away from their view. However, Pierce didn't deny the allegations. He just shrugged, admitting the truth, while typing away on his phone.

"The STRIKE and Insight crew are HYDRA as well. I don't know how many more, but we 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 and it won't end there. If you launch those Helicarriers, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone who 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."

Steve ended his speech and turned off the intercom. "Did you write that down first?" Sam asked him with a gentle smirk. "Or was it off the top of your head?"

. . .

In the other control room, Sharon and the other techs watched as Rumlow barged into the room. It was now no secret that everyone knew he was HYDRA as everyone fell silent, watching him with a bitter face.

"Preempt the launch. Send those ships up now." He commanded a SHIELD tech, who turned back to face him. The young tech hesitated, intimidated by Rumlow's attitude and allegiances. "Is there a problem?"

"Um... I'm..." The young tech shook his head nervously, avoiding Rumlow's evil look towards him. "Is there a problem?" Rumlow repeated.

The tech advisor collected himself, and breathed deeply, as everyone in the room watched nervously. "I'm sorry, sir." The advisor spoke up clearly. "I'm not going to launch those ships. Captain's orders."

Upon hearing his last words, Rumlow removed his piece and pointed it against the tech's head. "Move away from your station." Rumlow ordered, as if he held any sort of authority among them now.

Sharon furiously marched towards Rumlow, and aimed her gun towards him, as the other agents in the room soon followed after her. "Like he said!" She barked at Rumlow, now finding himself surrounded. "Captain's orders."

Rumlow growled, not turning to face her. "You picked the wrong side, agent." He hissed as he pressed the barrel of the gun against the tech's head, as he shut his eyes in fear.

"Depends on where you're standing." Sharon retorted, as her gun remained pointed at Rumlow's temple. All the guns in the room remained pointed at Rumlow. If he shot the agent, he'd end up with ten times as many shots.

Rumlow took the gun off the agent's head, and dropped it on the ground, shocking the agent. However, he quickly released his combat knife, and slashed Sharon's right arm, dropping her gun into his, as he began firing shots, but the other agents fired back at him.

Sharon, whilst on the ground, managed to kick him in the ribs, but Rumlow had managed to give the order to release the carriers, and ran off from the center.

Project Insight was launching at that very moment.

"Let me ask you a question." Pierce spoke up as Rollins and the other masked STRIKE Officers pointed their weapons at the Council members. Right outside, Steve and Sam were preparing to disable the Helicarriers with the switch blades Fury had given them.

"What if Pakistan marched into Mumbai tomorrow, and you knew that they were gonna drag your daughter into a soccer stadium for execution?" Pierce posed hypothetically, placing his phone on the table, exchanging it for his glass, handing one to Singh as well as he posed this question to him. "And you could stop it with a flick of the switch."

"Wouldn't you?" He posed to Singh, then looked to the Council. "Wouldn't you all?" He turned to the members, who didn't give a single reply.

"Not if it was your switch." Councilman Singh concluded, knowing what HYDRA had done to the world. He threw the glass on the ground, shattering on the ground.

In response to this heinous act, Rollins offered a pistol to Pierce, who had accepted the weapon and pointed at Singh. However, of all people, Representative Hawley immediately kicked Singh out of the way from the weapon.

She struck Pierce straight in the eye, and threw an electric disk at another STRIKE Officer, and quickly disarmed Pierce. Just as Hawley continued to disarm the STRIKE agents, one of them struck Rollins in the back, making the HYDRA operative turn back.

The masked STRIKE agent struck him three times, twice in the chest, and once right across the jaw, actively making him lose a tooth. The Agent then grabbed him by the collar, and swung him into the ground, rendering him unconscious.

Another agent whipped out a pistol and a somewhat silenced "PEW." rung as bullets had contact with other agents.

One agent turned to see his fallen comrade, but noticed purple veins running across his face, but he too was hit by a dendrotoxin bullet. Hawley took a pistol and aimed it confidently at Pierce, just as the two masked STRIKE agents had.

"I'm sorry." Hawley finally spoke up, as she stood more confidently, unlike how she would have, and tapped her temple. Her face ran with pixels, as the cybermask deactivated, and she pulled it off her face, revealing who she was.

"Did I step on your moment?" Natasha cockly asked as she whipped off the faux wig, just as the masked operatives pulled off their masks, revealing Zach and Ella behind them.

. . .

"Falcon, status?" Maria asked through the comms, as Sam and Steve both took heavy fire on the outside. Steve was still on the ground, while Sam was high in the skies, soaring pass the aggressive Quinjets.

"Engaging." Sam reported, gliding by the Quinjet, firing with his automatic handguns. He glided down, kicking down a HYDRA agent, and shot the other agents behind him, as his wings allowed him for a better advantage. "All right, Cap." Sam reported, eyeing the door into the Helicarrier. "I'm in.

However, an enemy Quinjet had spotted him, and readied it's weapons to fire. "Oh, shit!" Sam recalled and flew away, just as it began shooting. He flew across and under the jets, leading it away until an untimely explosion, briefly dropping him to the ground.

The jet had emerged from the smoke, but Sam jumped from the edge, shooting right back at it as his wings deployed.

On the ground, Steve was knocking out agents from left and right, trying to make his way to one of the Carriers. He punched and kicked, and spun in the air, knocking out two agents with his leg and the shield. "Eight minutes, Cap." Maria warned through the comms.

"Working on it." Steve reported back, just as he flung the shield at an approaching target. The shield returned back to him, as he slid it back on his arm.

Pierce was now held at gunpoint by Councilman Yen, while Ella aimed her ICER at Rollins, now conscious with a broken jaw. Zach just glared at Rollins with a stare so deep into his soul, but fighting the urge to smack him across the face again.

"What are you doing?" Councilman Rockman asked, as Natasha typed away.

"She's disabling security protocols," Pierce explained. "And dumping all the secrets onto the Internet.

"Including HYDRA's." Natasha spoke up, her comment aimed at Pierce.

"If you do this," Pierce confessed, looking desperately at Natasha. "None of your past is going to remain hidden." Despite his warnings, Natasha continued typing away. "Are you sure you're ready for the world to see you as you really are?"

"Are you?" Natasha continued to type away on the center console, as Ella, now still aimed at Rollins, walked around to Zach. "Um... you know how I said I'd tell you everything?" Ella muttered under her breath, as she got close to Zach.

"Yeah, what about it?" Zach questioned back, as Ella looked at him with a worried look, but still remained aimed at Rollins. "Now that Nat is going to dump all of Shield and HYDRA's dirty little secrets on the web..." She spoke up.

"There's something that Shield had covered up — a big secret that HYDRA didn't ever know about but now they will. The entire word will." Zach looked confused at what the fellow agent meant, just as she had a worried look on her face.

"You weren't the only person SHIELD was protecting."

"Disabling the encryption is an executive order," Pierce commented, as the encryption read "Restricted Access", and the two of three Helicarrier had been disabled from the outside. "It takes two Alpha Level members."

"Don't worry," Ella commented, still looking at Zach before turning back to Pierce. "Company's coming." Just from the outside, a Helicopter docked on the helipad right next to the chamber.

Yen still kept his gun and focused on Pierce, but couldn't help to watch along with the remaining Council members. A figure in all black stepped out of the helicopter, out of view from everyone, but marched into the office with a sling on his left arm, and confident as ever.

Pierce was surprised to see his old "friend" was still alive, and smirked with both scorn and surprise written on his face. "Did you get my flowers?" Pierce arrogantly asked Fury, coldly eyeing him with discontent. "I'm glad you're here, Nick."

"Nobody calls him Nick." Zach commented towards Pierce. "You would have known that if you really did know Director Fury."

"Really?" Fury appreciated Zach's words, and faced Pierce, slowly stepping towards him. "Because I thought you had me killed.

"You know how the game works." Pierce confidently answered, while Fury stared at him with his good eye. "So why make me head of SHIELD?" He questioned the Secretary.

"Cause you're the best," Pierce replied, remembering Fury's actions that saved his daughter's life. "and the most ruthless person I've ever met." Fury's gaze remained on Pierce, speaking of anger and justice. "I did what I did to protect people."

"Our enemies are your enemies, Nick." Pierce argued back with Fury, the faces of HYDRA & SHIELD looking back to the other. "Disorder, war... it's just a matter of time before a dirty bomb goes off in Moscow, or an EMP fries Chicago."

"Diplomacy? A holding action, a band-aid." Pierce continued his tirade. "And you know where I learned that? Bogata."

"You didn't ask, you just did what had to be done. I can bring order to the lives of 7 billion people by sacrificing 20 million. It's the next step, Nick. If you have the courage to take it."

Zach grew furious with Pierce's logic, and he could tell Fury was too. "No. I have the courage not to." Fury remarked, grabbing him by the arm and forced him to the retinal scanner.

Natasha typed a few words, activating the retinal scanner, and pointed the gun at Pierce's head, yet he still faced Fury. "You don't think we wiped your clearance from the system?" He beckoned, but Fury still had a fixed expression.

"I know you erased my password, probably deleted my retinal scan." Fury guessed, still ahead of Pierce. "But if you wanna stay ahead of me, Mr. Secretary..."

Fury rose his good arm right to his eyepatch, removing it off his face, as everyone saw the condition of his bad eye. The eye itself was glossy and fogged, as a long scar led down diagonally across his eyebrow. Smaller scars followed, but the longest scar was the most prominent.

"You need to keep both eyes open." Fury hissed in anger. Pierce stared into both of his eyes, as Zach marched forward and grabbed Pierce by the back of his head, holding his head towards the retinal scanner, as Fury had followed suite.

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

As the message was received, every single file had been leaked into the internet. All of SHIELD and HYDRA's dirtiest secrets, now for everyone's viewing pleasure. However, one certain file pinged on the center console, just as Natasha walked back to it. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Zach." Natasha spoke up in a surprised voice. "You're gonna want to see this." Zach turned to Ella, who nodded, yet with a scared look on her face, and he approached the console.

RIAN MONROE, AGE 8.
YEAR OF BIRTH: 2006
PARENTS: ELLA MONROE & ZACHARY DANVERS-STARK.

EMBER MONROE, AGE 8.
YEAR OF BIRTH: 2006
PARENTS: ELLA MONROE & ZACHARY DANVERS-STARK.

THEA HART, AGE 8.
YEAR OF BIRTH: 2006
PARENTS: "EDDIE MONROE" & AMELIA HART (DECEASED).

"I'm a father?"

. . .

Steve had made it aboard the third and final helicarrier, but both he and Sam were ambushed by the amnesiac Bucky. Sam had unfortunately been grounded by Bukcy, and was on the lower floors of the Triskelion. However, he was near where Rumlow was sneaking around.

Steve entered the upside-down dome of the third helicarrier, ready to insert the blade into the severs. However, Bucky stood in his way. Unflinching, unwavering, the Winter Soldier stood quietly with a narrow stare, never blinking.

"People are gonna die, Buck." Steve spoke up, trying to get through to his best friend. "I can't let that happen." However, the Soldier stood just as quiet.

Steve took several deep breaths, trying to regulate himself. "Please don't make me do this." His voice broke, not even wanting to hurt Bucky.

The Soldier still said nothing, only stared. Steve unfortunately had to accept it; Buck was gone, and only the Soldier remained in his steed. Steve gritted his teeth and swung the shield towards the Soldier, who blocked it with his metal arm, ricocheting it back towards him.

In the time the shield took to return back to him, Bucky rose his gun and fired off two shots towards him, which Steve blocked off. More shots fired off, and the Soldier managed to graze Steve by his midsection, and he winced in pain.

Before Bucky managed another move, Steve pushed against him with the shield, making him back into the ground, but he rose back up, employing his knife again.

A fistfight rose again, as the two super soldiers exchanged blows against each other, but as Steve managed to back off Bucky, he got the servers to unlock, allowing him access to insert the blade system.

Bucky swung yet again, and the two held each other in a lock; Steve holding the shield against Bucky, and Bucky held the shield back. The folds of his titanium arm opened and closed again, regaining his strength, as he pushed back against Steve.

Steve was pushed back into the console, but managed to remove one of the chips, and prepared to insert the final one. Yet, the Soldier couldn't let that happen. Their ongoing fight caused them both to fall onto one of the folds of the dome, as they continued to duke it out.

. . .

TRANSFER COMPLETE.

Zach still couldn't believe the file he had read. According to what it had said, Ella was pregnant around 2006 when she supposedly left, and had given birth to twins later that year, as did Amelia, who gave birth to a daughter before she passed; his niece, Thea.

His kids — his son, Rian, and his daughter, Ember, were eight.  The two were six when the Battle of New York took place, and two when he first became a hero.

And they possessed his genetics. Due to develop their powers at any time.

Natasha herself was in disbelief. She knew about almost everything, and this still took her by surprise. Ella winced in regret, and was about to speak up, but a message came through the comms.

"Rumlow's headed for the council." Maria radioed, as Zach looked through the people in the room, and back to Ella, the look on his face too overwhelmed by everything.

"We'll talk." He spoke up, but not a single hint of anger flowed through his words, before he ran out the room to confront Rumlow.

Suddenly, Councilman Yen shrieked in pain, and Rockwell and Singh soon followed, dropping to the floor as the pins given to them by Pierce had burned through their clothes and skin.

Pierce held the control in his hands, and Natasha whipped around, pointing her gun at him. "If you want a two-inch hole in your sternum," Pierce warned with an evil glare towards her, as she was wearing Hawley's pin. "I'd put that gun down."

Natasha still didn't flinch, and remained trained on him, as did Fury. "That was armed the moment you pinned it on." Pierce added, his finger hovering over the button. Fury turned to Natasha, and lowered his arm, as Natasha followed after him.

"I'm on forty-one," Rumlow radioed to dispatch, as he made his way to the Council Office. "Headed towards the south-west stairwell." He pushed open the door to an adjoined office, but didn't expect Sam, who was hiding behind the door.

Sam jumped from behind him smacking him with a right jab, tackling him as he joined his arms behind his neck, and kneed his chest twice. Rumlow grabbed Sam's hands and twisted them, headbutting him in the process, pushing him off himself.

Sam slid across the floor, as Rumlow kept his eyes trained on him. "This is gonna hurt." Rumlow grunted, unzipping his vest and dropping it to the ground, revealing crossed straps against his chest.

"There are no prisoners with HYDRA." Sam groaned and rose to his feet, just as Rumlow kept talking. "And order only comes through pain."

"You ready for yours!?" He wickedly grinned, as Sam had just about enough of this asshole.

"Man..." Sam muttered. "Shut the hell up." Rumlow growled, and swung wildly.

Back in the Council's Office, Singh, Yen, and Rockwell laid dead on the ground, as Fury, Natasha, and Ella couldn't help but watch Pierce still intact his plans for Project Insight.

"Lieutenant, how much longer?" Pierce radioed to one of his loyalists. "Sixty-five seconds to satellite link." Charlie XO radioed back to him. "Lowering weapons array now."

In the final Helicarrier, Steve had fought Bucky for the chip, and ran to insert it in the modulus while he had a minute to spare.

"PHEW!" the sound of a gunshot rang as Steve flinched, as the shot ran in his leg. Bucky stood on the windowed floor of the dome, having raised his gun to fire a shot, hoping to immobilize him.

Yet, still having been shot in the leg, Steve still preserved, and jumped up onto a rail, climbing his way up to the modulus. Bucky fired another shot, yet had missed, but had made Steve lose his grip in one hand.

Still fighting the pain in his leg, Steve made it up to the modulus. "30 seconds, Cap!" Maria radioed, just as he made it towards the servers.

"Standby," Steve breathed heavy, grabbing the chip from his pouch. "Charlie..."

"PHEW!" Steve felt another pain near his spine, and dropped to the ground. Bucky had shot him in the back, and through the stomach. Steve stumbled on the ground, facing his best friend.

Now that Steve had been immobilized for the time being, Zola's algorithm deployed, and the number of targets rose from the hundreds to thousands to hundred thousands.

Names and faces filtered through the screen, any present or future target of HYDRA flashed on the screen, all over the world.

Tony Stark. Stephen Strange. Bruce Banner.
Peter Parker. Frank Castle. Clint Barton.
President Matthew Ellis. Amadeus Cho. Jonathan Ohm.

A blind attorney in Hell's Kitchen. A gift shop employee at the London National Art Gallery. A former EKO-Scorpion operative. A United States Army Captain. Anyone who was potentially a target, all part of Zola's sadistic algorithm.

"Firing in three." Charlie XO radioed to Pierce. "Two..."

Steve struggled to move, but reached up, and finally attached the chip in place.

"One."

Just before he could, all the targets disappeared off the screen, and the algorithm was useless. Insight was thwarted. "Okay, Cap, get outta there!" Marria radioed, and changed Insight's own targets, to just the three helicarriers.

The Helicarriers automatically moved into different positions, ready to take out the other. Yet Steve couldn't bring himself to get out. "Fire now." He radioed to Maria, who shirked in fear.

"But... Steve!"

"DO IT!" Steve exclaimed, bracing himself to get out. "DO IT NOW!" Upon Steve's command, Hill increased the firepower of the turrets on the Helicarriers, but hesitated slightly when the button flashed. Against her own judgment, she pressed it.

Each helicarrier took heavy fire from the other, including the one Steve and Bucky were in. Yet through all the damage, Steve's eyes found Bucky, pinned against steel beams, screaming in pain.

And Steve's mind flashed back to the moment he fell off the train. He couldn't save him then; but he could save him now.

. . .

PROJECT INSIGHT
TARGETS: 3

"What a waste." Pierce spat in disgust. He watched the three helicarriers shoot themselves out of the sky, as years of work had fallen into the wayside.

"Are you still on the fence about Rogers' chances?" Natasha sarcastically asked Pierce, who still didn't change his expression. "Time to go, Councilwoman." Pierce defiantly remarked. "This way, come on. You're gonna fly me out of here."

"You know." Fury spoke up, as Pierce forced Natasha to leave with him.
There was a time I would have taken a bullet for you."

"You already did!" Pierce argued, as he turned away from Natasha. "You will again when it's useful." With this distraction, Natasha took another electric disk, and activated it, electrocuting herself, but disabling the pin.

However, Pierce watched as she fell to the ground, and grabbed his device. The device quickly rebooted, but before he could activate it again...

PHEW.

Pierce stumbled in his steps, feeling the bullet impale itself in his ribs. He faltered back, as Fury still kept his aim, and shot again.

PHEW.

Pierce's limp body stumbled backward against the glass display, having lost blood from a shard of glass against his cheek. Yet, he still remained alive.

"Romanoff!" Fury called as he and Ella ran to Natasha's body, shaking her unconscious body awake, but she didn't move. "Natasha!" Ella bossed, and turned to Fury. "We need to electrocute her to get her up?"

"Natasha!" Fury called once more, but Natasha's eyes fluttered open, still dazed from the shock. "Ow..." Natasha groaned softly, and turned her head slightly. "Those really do sting..."

But with his dying words, Pierce looked up and weakly muttered. "Hail... HYDRA."

His dead body was left all by its lonesome. In a room of broken glass and broken trust.

TRISKELION — 41ST FLOOR

Rumlow threw Sam into a row of glass desks, but had sported bruises and blows from both Sam and Zach. Zach, not as affected by Rumlow's blows, stood back up, as Sam rose back to his feet.

Rumlow jumped onto the desks, eyeing them furiously like a hungry lion. "You're out of your depth, boys." Rumlow seethed, not noticing the impending Helicarrier coming behind them.

Zach huffed, helping Sam up. "Look behind you, jackass." He scowled, as Rumlow turned to find the Helicarrier just seconds before turning him into minced meat.

The two bolted as Rumlow turned away for mere seconds, giving them a head start. "Son of a bitch!" Rumlow growled as he turned back, running for his life, but ended up under rubble, just as Sam and Zach ran for their lives.

"Sam, Zach," Natasha radioed the two. "Where are you boys?"

"41st floor!" Sam answered quickly. "North-west floor!"

"We're on it, stay where you are." Natasha radioed, as the two looked back at the incoming helicarrier. "Staying is not an option, Nat!" Zach addressed. "Helicarrier incoming — wait, hang on."

Zach looked to Sam. "Good thing you're not afraid of heights, yeah?" He commented as he took Sam's arm, put it behind his neck, and made a running start, and charged enough energy to blast the two of them out the window, ensuring their survival.

And fortunately, landing inside the chopper in the right amount of time, just a few floors underneath.

"41st floor!" Sam exclaimed, as the two caught their breaths. "FORTY-FIRST!"

"It's not like they put the floor numbers on the outside of the building." Fury remarked sarcastically, at the helm of the helicopter.

. . .

Steve, with all the strength he had left, lifted the metal rubble off Bucky's body. He grunted and hissed, still in pain, but had given Bucky enough time to get himself out.

As the two super-soldiers looked towards each other, Steve eyed his friend in the eyes. "You know me." He adamantly said, just to earn himself a punch in the chest.

"NO, I DON'T!" Bucky lashed, his tone truly revealed he didn't, but somewhere in his mind, he did. Steve didn't make a move towards him, and stood up proudly. "Bucky..." He said again. "You've known me your whole life."

Bucky struck him with the full weight of his arm, causing both of them to fall from exhaustion. Yet Steve didn't fight back. He couldn't fight him, but he could resist him.

"Your name..." Steve stated. "Is James — Buchanan — Barnes."

"SHUT UP!" Bucky yelled again, with another strike, as Steve flew back. Steve stood back up, yet ripped the cowl off of him, staring him face-to-face. He still stumbled, but confidently said. "I'm not going to fight you."

His fingers released the grip he had on his shield, as the force of gravity allowed the Vibranium Shield to slip through one of the holes, and dive straight into the Potomac River.

"You're my friend." Steve confidently responded, not breaking the uncomfortable stare between them. Bucky roared, and pushed him against the railing. "You're my mission." Bucky coldly remarked, and he still continued to strike him.

"YOU'RE."

SMACK.

"MY."

SMACK.

"MISSION!"

SMACK. SMACK. SMACK.

"Then finish it." Steve grasped for air, as Bucky paused from his striking, glaring at Steve with an angry expression. Bucky held his fist high in the air, ready to strike again.

"Cause I'm with you..." Steve gasped again, with a swollen eye, and multiple cuts across his face. "Till the end of the line."

And Bucky didn't strike. He kept looking at Steve, and the look on his face had changed. Bucky looked like he finally started to remember him. Who he was. No longer just the Winter Soldier.

But the Helicarrier's debris didn't stop falling, and a piece of rubble knocked them off the railing, sending them falling straight into the Potomac River.

I come up hard baby, but now I'm cool

I didn't make it, sugar, playin' by the rules.I come hard, baby, but now I'm fine...

The lyrics to Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" buzzed on an iPhone 4, as Sam waited by Steve in his hospital bed. Sam sat silently, looking at his lap, counting the seconds.

"On your left..." A weak voice spoke up, as Sam turned to Steve, noting he was indeed on his left. He smirked; the Captain didn't lose his sense of humor.

At that moment in time, Natasha was testifying before Congress. Sharon had found a new job at the CIA. Hill was undergoing a lie detector test for a job at Stark Industries. Senator Stern was being arrested for his involvement with HYDRA.

And somehow, Rumlow had actually survived the rubble of the destroyed Triskelion. Now badly burnt and scarred as if he emerged from the lakes of hell.

Fury, Zach and Ella awaited outside a large container, full of confidential documents and information. The former director cast aside his eye patch in exchange for a pair of sunglasses. Fury threw the eyepatch inside as he and Ella doused the shipping container full of gasoline, and Zach's fist lit up, causing a small burst of energy to ignite the container on fire.

Burning every physical piece of Nicholas J. Fury off the planet.

"So..." Zach spoke up, as the three watched the container burn down. "You both have a lot to tell me." Fury nodded in agreement. Now that everything about SHIELD and HYDRA was out in the now, there were no more secrets.

"Ella." Fury spoke up. "You and I have a lot to answer. You both take your time, and Zach... there is a place I have to take you."

"Yes... you're a dad." Ella confessed truthfully as they walked away from Fury. "We have two kids. Their names are Ember and Rian. I gave them my name — I couldn't give them yours for... obvious reasons."

However, the look on Zach's face didn't speak of any anger or resentment. He was more emotionally healthy, and led somewhat of a good life. "Can I... can I meet them?" He asked nervously.

Ella was genuinely shocked. She thought Zach wouldn't want anything to do with them, having not been in their lives for eight years, or that he'd be angry that such a big secret was held back from him.

"Y-Yes, yes, of course." Ella agreed immediately. "They know about you; I've told them stories. I know it doesn't mean anything but..." She paused for a moment, and took the tip of his hand gently. "It'd mean a lot if they got to know their dad."

"And Eddie... has a kid?" Zach asked her, as she nodded. "Yeah, after Amy passed, I've been... somewhat of a mom to Thea." Ella answered. "May's been watching over them as well."

"Of course May knows." Zach sighed, not in regret, but in the fact that she and Ella were close. "And if we're talking about this..." Ella said quickly. "Eddie... isn't his real name."

"It's not?" Zach questioned, as Ella sighed. "It's better if he told you." Ella confessed again. "After all, he didn't tell me the story either."

"But we have a few days before we have to get back to everyone on the Bus." Ella mentioned, shrugging her shoulders. "That would be... enough time to get to know them?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'd like that." Zach nodded, with a tiny smile, as Fury approached them. "Right." Ella nodded and turned to Fury. "Director Fury."

"Not Director anymore." Fury humbly held up his hand towards the two. "No Director of anything. Now... I do have to take Zach to see some people."

"Some people he hadn't seen in a long time."

. . .

After a goodbye with Steve, Sam, and Natasha, Fury and Zach were driving upstate to New Jersey. The drive had seemed quiet, and Zach was worried as Fury was driving with one hand, but he remained steady.

"Tell me something." Fury finally broke the silence. "What do you remember, before the accident?"

Zach was still quiet. He never thought about the accident for decades. "I'll be honest, I never thought about it for years." Zach responded after a few minutes. "But even if I was little, I still remember Mom making time for me in her schedule as a pilot."

"She took me into one of the jets the Air Force had." Zach remembered, as Fury cackled. "A McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle!" He remarked. "When I first met her, she couldn't remember a thing. But we found that picture of you both."

"You know, Air Force Pilots had call signs." Fury explained to Zach. "Everyone has one. Maria Rambeau, she went by Photon. You know what your mom's was?"

Zach shook his head, and Fury only smirked with surprise. "Oh, come on." Fury sarcastically chuckled. "It's not like you're on a team of the same name." The young Avenger looked back to Fury, now with surprise written all over.

"Carol Avenger Danvers?" Zach replied with wide eyes. "Before I was writing up the Avenger Protocol, it was called the Defender Protocol." Fury explained, still keeping his eye on the road, as they almost approached New Jersey. "Your mom is the reason you're all called Avengers."

"Wow..." Zach awed, as Fury nodded. "All of this... why wasn't I told about any of this? I'm a dad, Fury, and I didn't know."

"At first, all of this was to protect you." Fury answered honestly. "Before your mom left, she remembered you. You were the most important thing in her life, and she tasked me, and others, to protect you."

"But as for the kids..." Fury paused. "It's obvious you and Ella fell in love all those years ago; and I apologize, sincerely, about all of that. Her family, they all had something to do with HYDRA. She was the odd one out."

"So after her father was dealt with." Fury revealed. "She went off the grid. She didn't want you hurt, and she didn't want your kids hurt either."

"Well, truth be told." Zach spoke up, cutting the silence again. "I want to get to know my son and daughter; I want to be in their lives. I can't explain it, but as I saw their faces in that file — I wanted to be in their lives."

Fury adamantly nodded. "Well, after this visit," He elaborated. "I'm getting you there to meet them. And while we're talking about no-more-secrets..." He said as he pulled into their exit from the Highway.

"Check that duffel bag behind me." Fury dictated to him, gesturing behind him and not letting go of the wheel. Zach turned back, fishing for the duff and pulled it up.

"Look for a pager." Fury commanded, as Zach's brows furled in confusion. He dug in, and his fingers grasped the round edges of a metallic object. He pulled it out, finding an actual pager, straight outta the 90's.

However, this pager was unlike anything from the 90's. A small attachment laid over the right arrow, and a red object bulged out of the left. A tiny LCD screen laid at the top, and a rippled object with three red glowing lines rested at the bottom.

"The fuck kinda pager is this?" Zach observed the modified pager from left to right, and back and forth, just as Fury burst with laughter.

"This was a pager I used to use when I was just a SHIELD desk jockey." Fury exposed. "Kinda got me in trouble with your mom — my boss at the time was simmed by a Skrull."

"The hell's a Skrull?"

"Another story for another time —" Fury added. "Your mom modified my pager after she trusted me, and told me only to use it in emergencies."

"Why didn't you use it for New York?" Zach questioned, as Fury looked back to him with a stern look. "Coulson had died." Fury explained. "Be it as it may, but his death was the motivation your dad and Cap needed to get the Avengers to unite at New York."

"Ah, we're here." Fury stated as the two looked out to the large base. "This, Zach, is the Sentient Weapon Observation, and Response Division...

"Also known as S.W.O.R.D."

. . .

"Is this another offshoot of SHIELD?" Zach asked as the two entered the headquarters. "Cause the thing with the acronyms, and the espionage..."

"Oh, no, no." Fury replied, showing his hand to the TVs around the lobby. "S.W.O.R.D is its own thing, just like SHIELD was." SWORD's headquarters looked modern compared to SHIELD bases. It was pristine, and nearly looked like a museum.

"We're here to see the Director." Fury told the receptionist at the front, as Zach looked around the base. "Tell her it's the one-eyed-pirate." The receptionist immediately opened the doors to the offices, and Fury ushered Zach to follow after.

"Oh, that pager I had you find," Fury spoke up, as Zach held onto it. "Keep it."

"Nick Fury." A voice called from an office near them, as Fury and Zach walked in. "Been a while, pirate—" Said the voice of a woman in a white suit, who had turned around, only to be expecting Fury, but not the second person present.

"Oh, my goodness," the woman's hands rose up to her mouth, and looked back to Fury, as the look on her face was asking, "Is this real?" The woman turned back, but had seemed familiar to Zach. Her voice was so familiar.

"Little Z?" The woman spoke up, as her voice broke, and it all came back to the young man.

The director of SWORD is Maria Rambeau. His long-lost godmother.

"M-Maria?" Zach stuttered, but the older woman embraced her godson, holding onto him for dear life. "I have-haven't seen you in... years!" Zach held onto her, and couldn't help but cry.

Maria let go, but rested her hands on her godson's chin, yet couldn't help but warmly smile. "Look at you, baby." Maria commented kindly. "You're so tall! And whaddya know, I see you, being a hero, just like your mom."

"You're the director of SWORD?" Zach asked her, just as Fury light chuckled, along with Maria. "I'm not just the director, sweetie." Maria laughed, and held her hands out. "I'm the founder of SWORD."

"Maria created SWORD around the time I became director of SHIELD," Fury explained, still lamenting the public loss of his organization. "I got to work on this place after 1996." Maria added. "After the conflict your mom was a part of, with the Kree and Skrulls, I figured we needed to do something."

"Again, what's a Skrull?"

"A shape-shifting race of aliens." Fury blurted, then reiterated. "Shield would sometimes deal with extraterrestrials, but Extraterrestrial is SWORD's wheelhouse."

"Wait, wait." Zach slowed them down, as something else had just hit him. "Monica — where's... how's Monica?"

Upon hearing her daughter's name, Maria smiled again and patted his cheek. "Oh, thank god, you remember Monica!" She smiled brightly. "Oh, when you two were little, you both were a pair of troublemakers. She was like your older sister then!"

"I... actually kinda have another sister-figure now too." Zach chuckled. "So I have two now!" Maria laughed, but leaned to get her phone.

"Hey, Mon?" Maria smiled and looked back at the men. "I got some guests here from what was SHIELD."

"On it, I'll be there." A voice spoke back, and in a short amount of time, an older woman came walking in with a clipboard. "Okay, so..." The woman said without looking up. "I'm guessing new job assessments, and what are your names—"

Monica stopped talking as she looked up, now facing eye-to-eye with Zach. The clipboard dropped from her hands in surprise as she looked up and down, and to her mother with the same expression Maria had moments before.

"Hey, Monica—OOF!" Zach grunted as Monica rushed to hug him tightly. Fury looked back to Maria with a soft look. "I'll leave you three to talk." He gently smiled and exited the room. "Good to see you, Mon."

"Hey, Fury." Monica responded, but still hadn't let go of Zach, who clutched onto her too. "I can't believe it." Monica released Zach, but couldn't help but smile. "You're here! After so long!"

"It's... really good to see you, Mon." Zach spoke up, not even wanting to fight the tears. "Both of you."

"Look at that. My godbrother, out there, saving the world!" Monica exclaimed, leading her godbrother and her mother to the sofa in her office.

"There's so much to tell you both..." Zach smiled brightly, for the first time in years.

"Where do I start?"

THE HUB
HOURS AGO

The Hub had been a mess due to the HYDRA revelation. What was worse was that the Clairvoyant — the mysterious elusive all-knowing being Coulson's team was tracking — was one of their own.

Not just one of their own — someone who was there the whole time.

The Clairvoyant was none other than John Garrett.

He turned on SHIELD when he was wounded by an IED, and he realized as he had called for help, SHIELD gave him nothing but excuses when he needed medical attention. He was more loyal to SHIELD than SHIELD was to him.

He planned to get Ian Quinn arrested but never to get Skye nearly killed. He knew everything due to his SHIELD Clearance. The team nor SHIELD couldn't believe where his allegiances led.

Ward couldn't believe his former mentor was an enemy, and neither could Trip. As Garrett was escorted out of the Hub and on his way to the SHIELD prison known only as "The Icebox", Trip swore him out with every fiber of his being.

En route to the Icebox, Agent Victoria Hand, alongside Grant Ward and two other agents, were guarding Garrett, who only gleamed with justice for himself, now that SHIELD knew what he was.

"He's not telling stories now, is he?" Agent Hand asked Ward, who sat across and in front of Garrett. Ward had stayed silent.

"You know what I'm thinking, Agent Garrett?" Agent Hand turned her attention to the rotten traitor, who now held a frown on his face. "I'm thinking the Icebox or the Fridge is a little too comfortable for you."

"Maybe we should put you a little deeper underground." Hand coldly suggested as Garrett side-eyed her. "What do you think, Agent Ward?"

"You shot the wrong Clairvoyant before," She mentioned, referring to Thomas Nash, the false flag for the Clairvoyant. "Care to shoot the right one?"

Ward stayed silent, but had taken the idea in consideration. Garrett looked at Ward with a disapproving stare to add to his disheveled frown. Ward stood up, and unlocked his gun.

He loaded with a magazine, pulled the hammer back, and it slammed back, ready to kill. He aimed right behind Garrett's eyes...

Only to shoot the agents on either side of Garrett in the head.

Hand was surprised at Ward's actions, but Ward paid no heed, uncaringly turning the gun on her, shooting her in the chest. Hand clutched her chest, and fell to the ground, gasping weakly.

Ward shot her two more times to put her out of her misery.

Garrett looked up to Ward, wickedly smirking at him. He trained and conditioned him well.

Grant Ward was an Agent of HYDRA.
Always has been. Always will be.

Underground HYDRA Lab
Sokovia.

"It's over. Fury has released everything to the public."

Doctor List, one of HYDRA's premier scientists, reported to his superior, Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker. The two were some of the last remaining heads of HYDRA, now that Pierce was dead.

For the past two years, they had held onto one of the most powerful artifacts in the world; Loki's Scepter, and prepared with human testing. Not all their subjects survived.

"Everything he knows about." Strucker reiterated, knowing Fury didn't know anything about their experiments.

"Herr Strucker..." Doctor List sniveled. "If they get word of our work here, if they find out we serve HYDRA..."

"HYDRA. SHIELD." Strucker listed. "Two sides of a coin that's no longer currency." He represented them as they walked to where they kept the Secepter, their trophy of their efforts over SHIELD.

"What we have is worth more than any of them ever knew." Strucker viewed the Scepter, grasping to know the potential of Loki's arsenal. "We've only scratched the surface, and already..."

He turned back towards List, as they continued walking. "There are other facilities doing HYDRA's good work around the world. We'll feed them to Captain America and his colorful friends. Keep them off our scent."

"What about the volunteers?" List asked.

"The dead will be buried so deep," Strucker informed with a sadistic grin. "Their own ghosts won't be able to find them."

"And the survivors?"

"The twins and the boy." Strucker smiled and viewed their creations out of the volunteers. All three wore dull, gray clothing, yet both exhibited powers, gifted to them via the Scepter.

The young men, by the name of Pietro Maximoff & Harry Banner, both sped unnaturally fast around in their rooms, frantically and uncontrollably, leaving afterimages of them in their stead.

However, in a cell in between them, a young woman named Wanda Maximoff, Pietro's twin sister, sat calmly, unlike her brother and friend, and telekinetically levitated wooden blocks.

"Sooner of later, they will meet the three of them." Strucker informed yet again. "It's not a world of spies anymore; not even a world of heroes."

"This is the age of miracles, doctor." Strucker said to Doctor List, jubilantly merciless. "There's nothing more horrifying than a miracle."

And within her cell, Wanda stayed awake experimenting with her powers.
Yet haunted by the images of the glowing Avenger in her mind.

End of Winter Soldier.

a/n: about time I finished this arc of the book. But there you have it, some of the things i teased have happened! 

Zach's a baby daddy lmao. but for now, this book will most likely get more updates beginning next year, and starting with the back half of AOS S1.

AND THEN FINALLY... these kindred spirits will finally meet in Age of Ultron and yadda yadda yadda.

hope you're ready for what comes next. 👀