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That's right.
Nick Fury.
After all, he'd faked his death. He hadn't actually died.
Originally, Fury's plan had been to fake his death to avoid HYDRA's attacks, slip past their surveillance, then secretly contact Captain America and stage a triumphant "The King Returns" comeback.
Sure, HYDRA had grown powerful during his tenure as Director.
Sure, Alexander Pierce—the man who'd recommended and vouched for him to become SHIELD Director—had turned out to be HYDRA's leader.
But at the end of the day, he'd faked his death, escaped, and then worked with Cap to take down HYDRA.
One way to look at it—
Even if it wasn't a merit, it was at least effort, right?
Most importantly, The best way to cover up one problem was to create an even bigger one.
So, Fury had already planned it out. Just having a victorious return wouldn't be enough insurance. He needed an even bigger crisis to emerge. A two-pronged approach would guarantee the Security Council would be too distracted by his comeback to come after him.
And he already had a plan for that bigger crisis.
Nothing would give the Security Council more headaches than completely exposing SHIELD and the HYDRA infiltration to the public.
But he couldn't be the one to do it.
As for who would handle that particular task, Fury already had someone in mind.
Natasha.
A former Red Room operative, now a SHIELD agent. She was perfect for the job.
Except, Before he could even contact Captain America, terrible news reached him from afar.
HYDRA was done. Finished. Game over.
Damn it!
Fury was completely screwed now.
But once he'd recovered from the shock, he immediately reached out to Maria Hill.
Once again, He'd faked his death. He wasn't actually dead.
Hill didn't seem particularly surprised by Fury's call. She didn't express much concern either. She just reported the matter to the Security Council.
After several days of closed-door meetings, the Council's first order of business upon emerging was announcing Hill's promotion to the new SHIELD Director.
As for Nick Fury?
The Security Council didn't even discuss him.
But like the saying goes—sometimes silence speaks volumes.
Just as Victoria Hand was about to say something, the phone on Hill's desk rang.
Hill walked over and pressed the speaker button.
"Hill speaking."
"Commander—I mean, Director. The Pentagon sent people. They're here to pick someone up."
"Understood. Send them up."
"Yes, ma'am."
Hill hung up, then turned to Victoria Hand with a slight smile.
"See? Right on schedule."
"Yeah."
Hand caught on immediately and nodded. "So the rumors were true. When Fury's authority was first frozen and then unfrozen, the military helped him out. Looks like Fury and the Pentagon have a pretty cozy relationship."
Hill's tone remained neutral.
"That's none of our concern."
"True. Probably for the best that he's leaving."
Hand shook her head. "I've been going through the books these past few days. Alexander Pierce's tenure—the accounts were relatively clean. But Nick Fury's time as Director..."
She trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.
Hill let out a dry laugh. "We're the Security Council's SHIELD. So, the Council has made their decision, and we follow it. SHIELD's former Director Nick Fury fell victim to HYDRA and tragically lost his life."
...
A short while later.
A military vehicle that had entered SHIELD's Triskelion headquarters left less than ten minutes after parking. The vehicle pulled out and drove away from the Triskelion.
Hill and Hand stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the top-floor conference room, watching the military vehicle disappear into the distance.
Hand withdrew her gaze. "I heard Nick Fury tried to implement containment protocols for Hawk multiple times, but you shot them all down."
Hill also looked away from the window, turned to Hand, and—understanding what Hand was getting at—smiled. "Tell Sharon that Nick Fury is no longer one of ours."
Hand smiled faintly and pulled out her phone.
"I'll call Sharon right now."
...
"What??"
"Nick Fury got picked up by the Pentagon?"
Still at home on Bleecker Street, cast on his arm, sling around his neck, wearing nothing but shorts and looking as relaxed as humanly possible, Hawk raised an eyebrow at Sharon's words. "Fury and the Pentagon are that tight?"
Gwen, sitting nearby, looked curious. "Who's Nick Fury?"
She genuinely had no idea who Nick Fury was. At first, she hadn't paid attention. Then after Sharon came asking for help, she'd learned about Commander Hand and Commander Hill.
She might have heard the name once...
But—
"Isn't this Nick Fury supposed to be dead?"
"Faked his death."
Sharon shrugged, looking at Gwen. "He claims he faked his death to escape, then planned to work in the shadows to take down HYDRA's conspiracy."
Gwen caught the tone in Sharon's voice and raised an eyebrow.
"But you don't believe him?"
"He only became SHIELD Director because Alexander Pierce recommended and vouched for him."
"Fair point."
Gwen nodded instinctively, looking at Sharon. "If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't believe him either."
Hawk, lounging on the couch, listened to the back-and-forth between the two women and let out a dry laugh. "Nick Fury really isn't HYDRA."
Sharon and Gwen both turned to look at him.
Hawk smiled. "You can call Nick Fury stupid. You can call him incompetent. But he's definitely not HYDRA."
Even though Hawk wasn't particularly fond of Nick Fury—hell, he'd originally thought he might end up killing the guy at some point.
After all, based on Fury's thought process, if he'd ever found out about Hawk's existence, he would have absolutely tried to bring him under control.
But that had never happened.
Hawk didn't entirely understand why, but he wasn't some rabid attack dog. Since Fury had never come after him, he wasn't going to go out of his way to cause trouble for Fury. And he certainly wasn't going to throw baseless accusations at him.
But he'd also picked up on why Sharon had come over today to mention this.
Clearly, His original assumption had been wrong. Nick Fury hadn't been indifferent to him. Fury had ideas about controlling him, but Maria Hill—or maybe the Security Council—had shut those plans down.
But now that Fury had left SHIELD, Sharon's message was crystal clear.
From now on, whatever Nick Fury did had nothing to do with SHIELD.
Nick Fury no longer represented SHIELD.
Hawk's mind worked through the implications, then he let out a soft chuckle and dismissed the matter, turning to Sharon. "So the Security Council's final decision is to downsize SHIELD?"
Sharon shook her head. "The downsizing was Director Hill's idea."
Hawk's eyebrows shot up.
The next second, he understood Hill's strategy. "Smart move."
Cut yourself before someone else does. Give the Security Council an explanation.
At the same time—
New leader, new team.
Now that Maria Hill was in charge, she was using the HYDRA crisis as an opportunity to completely reorganize SHIELD. Streamline operations to avoid getting shut down by the Security Council, while also ensuring the rebuilt SHIELD would be staffed entirely by people she trusted.
No question about it.
Maria Hill was far sharper than that corrupt one-eyed bastard who'd spent his time embezzling funds to build secret bases. Both in terms of strategy and execution, she was leagues ahead.
Hawk kept those thoughts to himself.
Gwen, meanwhile, looked at Sharon with concern. "If the New York SHIELD office is shutting down, then what happens to you?"
Sharon glanced at Hawk first, then turned to Gwen with a smile. "Thanks to you two, I got promoted. I'm now SHIELD's First Agent in New York."
Gwen's concern transformed into congratulations. "Really? That's great! Congratulations!"
Sharon smiled happily.
She'd actually been preparing to find a new job. She'd even drafted résumés for both the CIA and the FBI, just in case.
But then—
The promotion came completely out of nowhere. And yet, at the same time, it made perfect sense.
SHIELD was the Security Council's only bridge to Hawk.
And she was SHIELD's only bridge to Hawk.
So—
Sharon turned to Hawk, sitting on the couch, and gave him her most pitiful puppy-dog eyes. "Hawk, I can promise you that SHIELD has absolutely no agenda when it comes to you. So please, do me a favor. If something comes up, or if you need to leave town, just give me a heads-up?"
Hawk caught his fiancée's amused smile out of the corner of his eye, then looked at Sharon—who was practically begging with her hands clasped together—and his mouth twitched. He gestured to his cast and sling. "I'm in this condition right now. Where exactly do you think I'm going to go?"
Sharon grinned sheepishly.
Gwen, who had a very positive impression of Sharon—and who'd fought alongside her, no less—jumped in to help. "Sharon's our friend. And she finally got promoted. It's only right that we help her out."
Then she turned to Sharon. "Don't worry, Sharon. I've got your back. If anything comes up, I'll contact you right away. Besides, bone injuries take time to heal. It's only been ten days. Hawk's going to need at least three more months of recovery."
Hawk froze, staring at Gwen.
"Wait. Three months?"
"School's starting again in a few days. Your injury doesn't stop you from studying, does it? And you're not actually hurt, so what's the problem?"
"Uh..."
Hawk blinked as Gwen's words sank in. He recalled the past ten days of being treated like absolute royalty, then turned to Sharon with a completely serious expression and nodded.
"That's right. I'm injured. I need to recover for a full semester."
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