Pierce’s proposal ultimately won out.
Rather than launch a sweeping purge, SHIELD would conduct a series of small, covert investigations.
Personnel would be selected at random, both investigators and subjects alike, to preserve fairness and secrecy.
Anyone involved would be forbidden from discussing the process before or after questioning.
Satisfied with the outcome, Alexander Pierce left Nick Fury’s office.
He had barely reached the hallway before he happened to encounter Agent Silvet.
The meeting looked entirely coincidental.
Their conversation sounded perfectly official.
"Sir," Silvet said as he adjusted his rimless glasses, speaking just loudly enough for passersby to overhear, "General Ross is extremely dissatisfied with SHIELD’s refusal to assist in the Hulk operation. He’s threatening to file a complaint with the World Security Council."
"If he wants to complain, let him."
Pierce answered in the same conversational tone.
"While he’s at it, he can explain who created the Hulk in the first place."
The two continued walking side by side, chatting casually about General Ross and the Hulk.
Only after the corridor had emptied did Silvet lower his voice.
"Sir... what do we do now?"
Pierce glanced in both directions before answering.
"Covert investigations."
"Small groups."
"Conducted in secret."
"You know what that means?"
Relief flashed across Silvet’s face.
"Yes, sir."
"I know exactly what to do."
A quiet investigation suited Fury’s purposes.
Unfortunately for Fury...
He had no idea how deeply Hydra had already rooted itself inside SHIELD.
He imagined a handful of spies.
The reality was something else entirely.
A covert investigation created opportunities.
Whenever a Hydra operative was selected for questioning, Hydra simply ensured the investigators were Hydra as well.
When an ordinary agent was chosen, there was no need to interfere.
The investigation could continue indefinitely without uncovering anything substantial.
Of course, even Pierce knew that wasn’t a permanent solution.
Nick Fury wasn’t the type to abandon an unanswered question.
The ideal approach would have been to sacrifice a few expendable operatives.
Let them shoulder the blame.
Convince SHIELD the infiltration had been eliminated.
Case closed.
The problem was Hydra’s internal structure.
Too many members knew one another.
One captured operative could unravel an entire network.
For now...
Delay was the safest strategy.
If they could buy enough time for Hydra’s larger plans to unfold...
None of this would matter.
The two men reached Pierce’s office.
Silvet opened the door respectfully, allowing Pierce to enter first before following him inside and quietly locking it behind them.
Pierce dropped into his chair and gestured for Silvet to sit.
"Let’s get to the real issue."
"How were those Dead End Gang operatives exposed in the first place?"
Every consequence had a cause.
The gang’s exposure had created a disaster for Hydra.
Someone had started it.
And Pierce refused to believe Nick Fury had simply received divine inspiration overnight.
Silvet sat only on the edge of the chair.
"We still don’t know exactly."
"But I believe Agents Coulson and Melinda are connected."
"Believe?"
Pierce leaned back.
"Walk me through it."
Silvet nodded.
"The raid happened with almost no preparation."
"It wasn’t a carefully planned operation."
"It was a sudden decision by Director Fury."
"Shortly beforehand, Coulson and Melinda met privately with him."
"They remained inside his office for quite some time."
"The order to raid the Dead End Gang came immediately afterward."
Pierce slowly nodded.
"That tracks."
Then another question occurred to him.
"But how did Coulson discover Hydra inside that gang?"
He couldn’t imagine the young Hydra members doing something idiotic enough to expose themselves voluntarily.
Even they had limits...
...didn’t they?
Silvet continued.
"The day before the raid, Coulson and Melinda completed another mission."
"It also took place in Brooklyn."
"The Dead End Gang’s territory."
"What mission?"
"A Level Six assignment."
"It apparently involved an Inhuman."
Silvet shook his head.
"I didn’t investigate further at the time."
"I had no reason to think it would become relevant."
As a Level Six agent, he had possessed sufficient clearance to review the operation.
He simply hadn’t bothered.
Now he regretted that decision.
"An Inhuman..."
Pierce narrowed his eyes.
"Find out everything you can."
Silvet gave an apologetic smile.
"I already tried."
"After Coulson’s report, Director Fury sealed the entire operation."
"The file now requires Level Ten clearance."
He hadn’t waited for orders.
The moment he sensed something suspicious, he’d attempted to access the records.
The system had refused him immediately.
Permission denied.
Nothing else.
Pierce tapped a finger against the desk.
"So the answer lies with that Inhuman."
His thoughts raced.
He knew Hydra’s external branches, especially the one led by Daniel Howister, had always shown a strong interest in Inhumans.
The picture assembled itself quickly.
The Dead End Gang’s Hydra members had probably approached the Inhuman.
Not politely.
More likely, they’d attempted to force cooperation.
It hadn’t gone well.
Later, when Coulson encountered the same individual, the Inhuman had told SHIELD everything.
The Dead End Gang became exposed.
And in the aftermath...
Pierce’s own Hydra division had been dragged into the mess.
His reconstruction wasn’t entirely correct.
But the latter half was remarkably close to the truth.
Silvet leaned forward eagerly.
"Sir, even if the files are sealed, we may still be able to identify the Inhuman."
"We could retrieve surveillance footage from Brooklyn."
"Or trace the GPS records from Coulson’s vehicle."
"That would let us determine exactly where..."
"Pointless."
Pierce cut him off.
"If the mission was upgraded to Level Ten, then Coulson’s vehicle logs have already been erased."
"And any relevant surveillance footage from Brooklyn was almost certainly collected during the Dead End Gang raid."
He shook his head.
"If a Level Ten operation could be unraveled that easily..."
"It wouldn’t deserve Level Ten classification."
Anything compromising would already have been cleaned up.
The personnel ordered to do the cleanup probably hadn’t even known why they were doing it.
Pierce looked at Silvet with a faint, knowing smile.
"And suppose you did identify that Inhuman."
His eyes sharpened.
"What exactly would you do then?"
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