A full day had passed since SHIELD’s raid on the Dead End Gang.
Nick Fury hadn’t left his office once.
The operation had confirmed what he’d feared.
Hydra had survived.
Worse, it had grown.
Its agents had infiltrated government offices. They might even have infiltrated SHIELD itself.
That possibility had robbed him of sleep.
Again and again, he returned to the same conclusion.
An internal investigation was unavoidable.
But how far should it go?
Who would conduct it?
How long would it take?
Would standard interviews be enough, or would they need polygraphs and interrogation drugs?
How could SHIELD continue operating while its own personnel were under suspicion?
Every answer created three more questions.
A knock interrupted his thoughts.
Before he could respond, the door opened.
Fury frowned for an instant, then relaxed as soon as he recognized the visitor.
Alexander Pierce.
As Secretary of SHIELD, Pierce possessed the same Level Ten clearance as Fury himself. Years earlier, he’d been instrumental in securing Fury’s promotion to Director. More than that, the two men had become genuine friends.
Pierce didn’t need permission to walk into this office.
Fury stood and greeted him with a grin.
"Alex."
"What brings you here?"
"Weren’t you supposed to be entertaining the World Security Council?"
Pierce smiled as he walked inside.
"World peace isn’t maintained through conversation."
"It requires people willing to do the work."
His smile faded slightly as he studied Fury’s face.
"You look exhausted."
Fury crossed to a cabinet and retrieved a bottle of whiskey along with two glasses.
He poured both.
One stayed in his own hand.
The other slid across the desk toward Pierce.
"Occupational hazard."
He took a drink.
"I assume you’ve heard about Hydra."
Pierce accepted the glass.
"I have."
He sipped the whiskey before raising an eyebrow.
"Drinking on duty?"
Fury smirked.
"You planning to report me?"
Another sip.
"What do you think about everything that’s happened?"
Pierce set his glass down.
"Honestly?"
"I’m shocked."
"I thought the only place I’d ever see the name Hydra again was in history files."
He glanced at Fury with a faint smile.
"No, I won’t report you."
"But if you get drunk, I’ll hang you off the roof until you sober up."
Fury snorted.
He deliberately took another swallow, giving Pierce a challenging look that practically said, You’d never lift me.
Then his expression turned serious.
"What bothers me most isn’t that Hydra survived."
"It’s that they may already have people inside government."
"And maybe inside SHIELD."
The irony was almost laughable.
Fury spoke with complete trust.
He knew there was a mole.
He simply had no idea the man standing in front of him was Hydra’s highest-ranking infiltrator.
Corporate espionage was one thing.
Believing the chairman of the company was secretly working for the competition...
That was the kind of twist people dismissed as absurd.
Pierce sighed heavily.
"I’ve read the reports."
"Hydra has been rebuilding right under our noses."
He lowered his eyes.
"I never imagined something like this would happen while you and I were responsible for SHIELD."
Fury shook his head.
"Don’t blame yourself."
"This isn’t on you."
"But now they’ve exposed themselves."
"And sooner or later..."
His voice hardened.
"I’m going to wipe every last one of those fanatics off the face of the Earth."
Pierce’s left little finger twitched almost imperceptibly.
"I don’t doubt that."
He kept his expression perfectly calm.
"So what’s your plan?"
Fury set his glass down.
"First, we clean our own house."
"If SHIELD isn’t secure, nothing else matters."
If you clean your own house... I’m finished.
Pierce reached into his pocket and produced his phone.
"I think you should look at something."
"It’s a digital copy."
"The original is being held in the evidence room."
Fury unlocked his own phone, transferred the file, and opened it immediately.
It was a police operations plan.
According to the document, the deceased police commissioner had intended to launch a token crackdown on the Dead End Gang to improve his performance record and strengthen his chances for promotion.
The scheduled date...
Matched SHIELD’s operation exactly.
Only the time differed.
The police raid was planned for that evening.
Fury finished reading and immediately understood the implication.
If the document were genuine, the missing gang members might simply have gone into hiding after being warned about the police operation.
No SHIELD leak.
No internal mole.
Just unfortunate timing.
He looked up.
"You believe this?"
Pierce smiled.
"Truthfully?"
"I don’t believe a single word of it."
"Not even the punctuation."
He folded his hands.
"But it makes for an excellent excuse."
Fury frowned.
"Excuse?"
"What kind of excuse?"
"An excuse not to launch an agency-wide investigation."
There it was.
The real reason for Pierce’s visit.
Fury leaned back.
"Why?"
Pierce answered calmly.
"Because SHIELD doesn’t answer only to itself."
"This incident will have to be reported to the World Security Council."
"Hydra has resurfaced."
"They’ve infiltrated government officials."
"They may even have infiltrated SHIELD."
"When the Council hears that..."
He let the sentence trail off.
Fury’s patience visibly thinned.
"I couldn’t care less what those bureaucrats think."
"As far as they’re concerned, if every nuclear missile is still sitting quietly in its silo, then the world’s perfectly safe."
Pierce chuckled.
"Exactly."
"’World peace.’"
He rose from his chair and began pacing the office.
"The world has become... comfortable."
"That’s good for humanity."
"But organizations like ours thrive during uncertain times."
"Armies receive their greatest support during war."
"No one complains about military spending when they believe the enemy could attack tomorrow."
He smiled with a hint of nostalgia.
"SHIELD is no different."
"When the world feels dangerous, we’re indispensable."
"I almost miss the Cold War."
"Back then, everyone believed World War III might begin at any moment."
He looked toward the window.
"Those were SHIELD’s golden years."
Fury gave him a flat look.
"So the World Security Council thinks SHIELD has become unnecessary?"
He shrugged.
"And for the record..."
"I don’t miss the Cold War."
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