Maria Hill's report was brief but heavy. As she finished speaking, Steve Rogers frowned, his brow creased with the weight of an unspoken concern.
"Are we sure it was a plant... from a foreign organization?" he asked, his voice low but firm.
Natasha Romanoff leaned against the wall, arms crossed, her gaze sharp as always. Her tone carried layers of meaning. "That's what it looks like, on the surface."
Hill nodded and clasped her hands tightly. "According to the intel we've gathered so far, the evidence supports that conclusion. The infiltration traces back to external sources."
Fury sat at the head of the table, elbows resting on the armrests, fingers steepled at his chin. He studied each of the people in front of him—those he trusted most. Rogers. Romanoff. Barton. Hill.
He asked quietly, "What's your take on this?"
Clint Barton gave a small shrug and scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. Don't look at me for answers. I'm great at taking down targets, not dissecting conspiracies." His voice was blunt, with a tinge of embarrassment. He was a field man, not a strategist.
Steve Rogers remained silent, deep in thought. The lines on his forehead deepened.
It was Natasha who finally spoke again, her words measured and calm. "It went too smoothly."
That observation changed the mood in the room.
Steve's eyes lit up. That was it—the strange feeling that had been gnawing at him since the incident. Everything had been executed with eerie efficiency. From the infiltration to the abduction attempt—it all felt too... perfect.
Natasha continued, connecting the dots. "Foreign forces inserting a mole into S.H.I.E.L.D. is plausible. But why act now? Why attempt to capture the Goddess of Judgment at that exact moment?"
Hill nodded, encouraged by Natasha's reasoning.
Natasha pressed on. "This operation was strictly classified. Only a few agents even knew of the mission, and we certainly didn't expect the sudden appearance of the Goddess of Judgment. Yet somehow, the moment she fainted, someone was ready."
She emphasized her point by tapping the table. "They didn't hesitate. They administered a high-dose anesthetic almost immediately and tried to extract her. That means they came prepared. They didn't just stumble across her—they planned this."
"Reporting the sighting, confirming her identity, organizing a response team, preparing dosage, executing the plan… all that takes time and coordination. And they pulled it off flawlessly, in real-time."
Hill added, "And we know these operatives had international connections. That kind of coordination—especially under network lockdown protocols—should be impossible unless... unless the command came from inside."
Natasha turned toward Fury, eyes narrowed. "During the mission, our temporary base's network was isolated from everything but internal S.H.I.E.L.D. communications. If anyone issued orders, it had to be someone with clearance—someone high up."
She picked up a folder and held it up. "The data shows that our only two Level 6 agents outside the current team were overseas during the incident—one in Northern Europe, the other in the UK. Both thousands of miles away."
The implication was clear to everyone in the room.
Agents below Level 6 had limited authority. They weren't even permitted to access mission-critical operations, much less authorize an unsanctioned extraction of a dangerous anomaly.
Even the so-called "mask agent" who had helped coordinate parts of the mission was only Level 4. Level 5 agents didn't have the clearance to override security or issue commands regarding a classified being like the Goddess of Judgment.
So how had it happened?
"There's something deeper going on here," Rogers muttered. "A layer we haven't uncovered yet."
Fury was still silent. His eyes were unreadable behind the shadow cast by his eyepatch. Unlike the others, who were working through the implications, he was diving straight into the patterns. He didn't just want to know how—he wanted to know why.
It was too clean.
Too perfect.
Too obvious.
The ones they had caught were low-level operatives—just pawns. Their backgrounds were innocuous, their communications sparse. Disposable assets. Decoys.
Where were the real culprits?
Were the true agents so well-hidden that not even he could find them?
Fury leaned back, his silence thickening the air around the table.
Suddenly—
Beep!
A sharp alert sound broke the silence.
Hill immediately reached for her encrypted S.H.I.E.L.D. mobile device. Her eyes scanned the message, and her expression changed in an instant. Her lips parted in surprise.
She stood up abruptly. "Director—new report. The Goddess of Judgment has just been sighted."
Everyone straightened.
"Where?" Rogers asked quickly.
"Along the East River."
The room fell into a tense silence.
"What's she doing there?" Natasha asked, already retrieving a tablet to check the area.
Hill didn't answer right away. Her eyes flicked toward Fury. "Director... She's near Pierce's convoy."
Fury's brows furrowed.
"Pierce?" Barton echoed. "Isn't he supposed to be heading to that security summit?"
"Yes," Hill confirmed. "But she's not attacking. She's... observing. Standing on a rooftop."
Rogers stood, fists clenched. "We need eyes on her now."
Fury gestured toward Hill. "Put her image on the screen."
Seconds later, a live drone feed appeared. The Goddess of Judgment stood on a ledge overlooking the East River. Wind whipped her long coat as her gaze locked onto the convoy below—Pierce's motorcade snaking along the bridge.
She didn't move.
She simply watched.
The atmosphere in the room changed once more—from confusion to dread.
Rogers' voice dropped. "She's sending a message."
"Or scouting targets," Barton added grimly.
Natasha tilted her head, thoughtful. "No. If she wanted Pierce dead, he'd be gone already. She's calculating. Watching how we move."
Fury's eyes never left the screen. "She's making it clear—she knows."
Hill exhaled. "Then... Pierce is compromised?"
No one wanted to say it aloud, but they were all thinking the same thing.
Pierce had motive. Pierce had access. And if the Goddess of Judgment had chosen to appear specifically near his convoy...
Fury finally spoke, his voice grave. "It's time to start treating Pierce like a suspect."
"But he's on the World Security Council," Hill warned.
Fury turned to her. "And I'm the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. That hasn't stopped enemies from getting in before."
He looked around the room, making sure they understood.
"Keep this off the official record. Nothing through central command. No electronic traces. We do this quiet—and we do it fast."
Natasha nodded. "Understood."
Barton cracked his knuckles. "Time to go hunting."
Rogers placed a hand on the table, his voice steely. "If Pierce is involved in this... we'll find out."
As the team prepared to move, the camera feed continued to show the Goddess of Judgment standing alone in the wind.
Still watching.
Still waiting.
Below, the motorcade passed through a checkpoint.
The next phase of the game had begun.
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