Was SHIELD unnecessary?
Of course not.
That didn’t mean the World Security Council viewed the organization favorably, especially during one of the most peaceful periods the modern world had experienced.
Pierce faced Fury.
"No one thinks SHIELD is unnecessary," he said evenly. "But the Council’s patience with us is wearing thin."
He lifted a hand.
"Every crisis becomes an argument."
"They see an organization consuming more funding than any intelligence agency on Earth while performing work that often overlaps with everyone else’s."
There was some truth to it.
This was an era before the Avengers.
Before alien invasions.
Before gods descended from the sky.
Most of SHIELD’s day-to-day work looked remarkably similar to that of the CIA, the NSA, and countless other intelligence services. SHIELD consistently produced better results...
...but it also demanded the largest budget.
To many politicians, it looked like issuing one soldier three assault rifles and wondering why the most expensive one was necessary.
Pierce raised the phone still containing the forged document.
"Now imagine presenting this to the Council."
"We found Hydra."
"They’ve supposedly survived for sixty years inside a street gang nobody’s ever heard of."
"And because one operation didn’t go perfectly, we’ve concluded they’ve infiltrated the government..."
"...and SHIELD."
He shook his head.
"Tell me honestly."
"Which sounds more believable?"
"Your conclusion?"
"Or this document?"
Fury remained silent.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose and looked away.
Pierce continued.
"They’ll say you’re exaggerating."
"They may even accuse you of fabricating an enemy."
"An invisible Hydra conveniently becomes proof that SHIELD deserves even more authority, more funding, and even less oversight."
It wasn’t an impossible accusation.
SHIELD already enjoyed extraordinary privileges.
First access to global intelligence.
Broad legal immunity.
The ability to conduct covert operations across sovereign borders without requesting approval beforehand.
If diplomatic disasters followed, governments cleaned up afterward.
More than one foreign ministry had lodged formal complaints over the years.
Nor was the World Security Council alone in its skepticism.
Within the U.S. government, plenty of officials believed SHIELD had become an organization with too much power and too little transparency.
The CIA, in particular, had long argued that SHIELD’s funding and authority should be reduced and folded into its own structure.
The proposal had never gained much traction.
Still...
The criticism never disappeared.
Now imagine Fury walking into a Council meeting.
He claimed that a long-dead terrorist organization had resurfaced.
That he’d uncovered it through a raid on an obscure neighborhood gang.
That Hydra had infiltrated governments.
Perhaps even SHIELD itself.
With almost no corroborating intelligence from any other agency.
To many politicians...
It would sound as though Fury had invented the threat himself.
Create the fire.
Rush in to extinguish it.
Then use the crisis to justify expanding SHIELD’s authority.
"You want to audit us?"
"Sorry. We suspect you’re Hydra. Please come with us."
It wasn’t difficult to imagine how the accusation would spread.
At last, Fury spoke.
His voice was calm.
His expression wasn’t.
"I don’t care what the Council thinks."
His single eye locked onto Pierce.
"I care about the truth."
"And right now..."
"What I want more than anything..."
"...is to hunt down every last Hydra operative threatening this world and crush them."
Pierce met his gaze without flinching.
"You think I don’t?"
He stepped closer.
"A handful of Hydra agents hiding inside a street gang means nothing."
"I care about the larger picture."
"We both know how powerful Hydra once was."
"And today..."
"We know almost nothing about them."
"If we’re going to fight an enemy like that, SHIELD has to remain capable of acting."
Fury frowned.
"Which is exactly why I want an internal investigation."
"If Hydra has infiltrated SHIELD..."
"And I doubt there’s only one mole..."
"Then that’s the greatest threat we’re facing."
An enemy was dangerous enough.
An enemy receiving SHIELD’s secrets in real time was catastrophic.
Pierce raised his own voice.
"A few spies won’t cripple us as badly as the World Security Council will."
"And Hydra isn’t the only threat in the world."
"If you launch a massive internal investigation, you’ll need the Council’s authorization."
"They’ll seize the opportunity to conduct a comprehensive audit of SHIELD."
His tone grew increasingly serious.
"They’ll freeze operations."
"They’ll restrict agent deployments."
"They’ll redirect active missions to other agencies."
"They’ll comb through every classified file they’ve ever wanted to see."
"It won’t matter whether they’re supposed to have access."
"They’ll demand it anyway."
"And while they’re doing all that..."
"SHIELD will barely function."
Pierce wasn’t exaggerating.
A bureaucratic investigation on that scale would effectively paralyze the organization.
Months of paperwork.
Months of inspections.
Months of political oversight.
Hydra wouldn’t wait politely for the auditors to finish.
Neither would every other terrorist organization operating around the globe.
By the time the investigation ended...
The damage could already be done.
Fury hesitated.
A full-scale internal purge had never been a final decision.
Only the option he had been leaning toward.
Now doubt crept into his thinking.
"So what do you suggest?"
"We just ignore it?"
If you actually ignored it, Pierce thought, I’d happily run naked around this office in celebration.
Naturally, he said nothing of the sort.
"Ignoring it would be reckless."
"But there’s no reason to announce it."
"We investigate quietly."
"Small groups."
"One department at a time."
"No public declarations."
"No organization-wide disruption."
"It will take longer."
"But SHIELD keeps functioning."
He paused deliberately.
"And more importantly..."
"We avoid involving the World Security Council."
There it was.
The proposal he’d wanted Fury to accept from the very beginning.
Fury leaned back and considered it.
A discreet investigation...
No bureaucratic interference.
Minimal disruption to ongoing operations.
Hydra would be less likely to realize SHIELD was hunting for an infiltrator.
Even better...
If they identified the mole without exposing the investigation, they wouldn’t necessarily need to arrest them immediately.
They could feed carefully crafted false intelligence through the leak.
Then follow it straight back to Hydra.
One operation.
One decisive strike.
A chance to destroy the network in a single blow.
The longer Fury considered it...
The more reasonable it sounded.
Finally, he nodded.
"All right."
"We’ll do it your way."
Across the desk, Alexander Pierce smiled.
The trap had closed.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter