Chapter 19: Confessions and CoinsSummary:Daisy finally comes clean with a detail she was hiding from an ally, before taking her biggest shot against Hydra now that Bucky Barnes is secure.
Notes:Obligatory disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, DC, or any characters that come from other works.
I also want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement, and RhinoMouse for the inspiration their world of "Retirement Ended Up Super" provided.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextMay 21st, 2009, MCU
Tony Stark, Stark Malibu Mansion
Tony had been having the time of his life since he came back from Afghanistan. With Pepper taking on a larger and more official role for the work she had been doing for him, along with Jarvis getting such massive upgrades, and ideas for new inventions being nearly spoon-fed to him by the two tiny terrors, his workload has never been smaller.
And he wasn't exactly dealing with an overload of work before, if the amount of partying and drinking was any indication…
For what felt like years, Tony had honestly been in a daze with his inventing. He made new weapons, because it was expected of him and what was needed. But now, he feels joy every time he steps into the lab, either by himself or with little Danvers. He feels like he was asleep, and is finally awake. He feels like he has more ideas, muses, and inspirations than he has time to achieve.
He feels… like his life has meaning.
With the patents for the Quinjets (now named Starkjets) filed, Tony finally had time to put the finishing touches on his other key project. The problem left to him by his father, in a message to the future.
While in the other timeline he apparently was able to make an entirely new element in under a week, this time he took his time to do things right. Or more specifically his girlfriend Pepper required him to actually take his time before sticking something experimental back into his chest.
This timeline he also didn't need to ruin his mansion, be held captive and forced to work on only it, or slot it in with only the barebones of projective testing done to the ride off into battle, and was able to create it without anyone else other than his partners being aware that he had done so.
Really he owes a lot to Kara and Daisy, not that he will ever come out and say it, because he will forever take the two houseguests that were squatting in his mansion over the manipulation and control he would have suffered at the hands of Shield. He has been called a control freak, usually in response to 'his thing' about being handed stuff from those he doesn't know when that isn't even the worst of his control habits.
If you're rich or a genius, then your quirks aren't problems, they are eccentricities. And that is the excuse he will keep using to stop himself from going to therapy.
All the same, after a long day of tests, limits pushed, and contingencies designed, Tony finally stares down at the new triangular power core resting in his chest. He will eventually need to install the cover he designed that changes the light back to the old circular design to continue to fool Shield or Hydra, and that isn't even addressing the fact that hopefully in a few years time Extremis will be worked out enough that he can have his injuries actually healed. But for now, Tony revels in the increased power that he can feel thrumming in his core.
It is probably completely psychosomatic, but he even feels healthier already knowing that the slight palladium poisoning he was getting is gone as well.
Walking upstairs from his lab, he expects to find a dark house as by this time Pep is normally asleep in their bed, but instead he finds Kara and Pep talking on the couch and Daisy sitting at the kitchen island missing with a tablet in her hands.
Probably hacking into the Pentagon because she's bored or something.
"I'm pretty sure I didn't lose a whole day down there, so our game night shouldn't be until tomorrow night, and don't you have a mission that involves murdering a bunch of corrupt Hydra agents around the world tonight?" Tony begins, casting a look at both of their combat outfits already donned on each of them. Daisy is in her normal Quake outfit, but Kara is dressed in a basic dark combat suit.
"You were finally putting in your new core today! Of course we would come see how it would go." Kara says as she gets up, nearly skipping over from the couch, crossing the large room in only a second, inspecting his chest piece without her glasses, most likely looking into all of the internals to double check his work.
For all her vision is called 'x-ray' he has no idea what it actually is. All his power cores have been protected against that kind of examination ever since he went to the Pentagon, yet Kara's vision is still able to pierce right through it.
Daisy is right that Kryptonians are overpowered as all hell, and Kryptonite doesn't exist here either, making her MORE overpowered than she was on her version of Earth.
Tony does his best not to be emasculated by being so outclassed by two teenage girls, knowing their true age and species, and he at least partially succeeds.
"Green across the board with all the tests, and it feels great installed too. And that was a great idea you had about refining the Badassium using a less powerful atomic laser over a longer period of time. It made sure our power draw won't get noticed in making it, and also decreases the overall power cost in the process." Tony does his best not to fidget under Kara's piercing gaze. He HAS done the same to her when they were testing her powers, so it is only fair.
Letting out a light cough from the couch she is still on, Pepper saves him by knocking Kara out of her trance. "But that isn't the only reason they are here tonight, right Daisy?" The tone of annoyance lets Tony know that at least she didn't know before him whatever this is.
Daisy sets the tablet down, screen hidden against the table, before turning to him. "That's right. But first, you were able to look over the information about the Winter Soldier we sent to you with Dr. Banner and Dr. Hansen, yeah? Any progress?"
Wary of the change in topic to the frankly depressing man, Tony nods. "Yeah. While I have made a couple weapons that affect the human head, that is more physical than the kind of chemical programming that has been done to him. Maya and Brucie have more ideas about how to reverse it using a base version of Extremis to try and 'heal' his mind back to normal, it may take a while. Although I will probably have to design some specific applicators to inject Extremis in all the right places of his head. Why?"
A VERY guilty look crosses Daisy's face, and she opens and closes her mouth a few times before finally speaking in a very careful and slow voice.
"That's why I wanted to talk to you first. You have the right to choose whether to put in the work to help him or not, I won't hold it against you if you don't. Thor knows I tried avoiding helping the people who hurt me before, and hated being guilt tripped into helping anyways."
Before Tony can ask what the HELL she is talking about, when has that assassin ever hurt him, Daisy picks the tablet up and shows him and Pepper the screen as Pepper joins him at his side.
The video is old and grainy, and doesn't have the best lighting. But the time stamp on it is a date he will never forget. The man that crawls out of the car wreck, only to have his face beaten in is someone he has been compared to for all of his life. The woman that is strangled in the passenger seat is someone that he has missed every day since he lost her.
Finally, the face of the man that shoots out the camera is someone he knows now. Someone he has seen locked up at Daisy and Kara's cabin. Someone he was planning to help. Someone that he wants to fly off to, to blast a hole straight through his fucking chest.
Looking at Daisy with anger burning in his gut, he finds himself ready to hurl curses at her. She obviously knew what she was doing. She has known who killed his parents ever since she came back, but she decided to keep that from Tony and help the monster instead.
The look of guilt on her face stops him from hurling the first obscenity. It doesn't stop the near growl afterwards, but he isn't perfect.
Tony knows Daisy is a spy, she can fake who she is and how she feels and what emotions she expresses. Yet… in the near year that he has been partners and even… Friends , with the two he honestly thinks he has some idea of when Daisy is being genuine or not.
For all the avoidance that went into this, there is also a distinct lack of true manipulation. She could have easily waited to 'discover' this information after Tony helped to work the cure, but instead told him beforehand.
"I suggest we cancel game night and dinner this week." Tony ground out. At the sad look coming from little Danvers, he did continue on. "We can meet again for game night next week, and don't expect me to help cure the brainwashed murderer either." At Daisy's shocked look, Tony felt the need to explain. "I am NOT happy. I'm angry and a little betrayed, but I also understand why you did it, and I'm thankful you didn't hide it for long. So we're good in the long run, Shake Shack."
Letting a stunned Daisy and a thankful Kara walk out the door to handle their own business, Pep came over and rubbed his back in comfort.
"I know you're not alright, but let me know if there is anything I can do to help, Mr. Stark." Adding a bit of a humorous twist to her words at the end, in reference to their old normal back and forth.
"I will Ms. Potts." Tony responds back, although the humor fails as his voice cracks a bit in response to the swirl of emotions in him.
Spending a few minutes like this, Tony finally breaks the silence. "Do you know what the worst part is?" At Pepper's head shake no, Tony continues. "The facts and details I learned about the brainwashing he went through, make it so when I said I wouldn't help cure my parent's killer, I don't even know if I was lying or not."
Some days it sucks not being able to just drink away his problems and sleep around, but hopefully Pepper's comfort will continue to be able to bridge the gap.
May 22nd, 2009, MCU, A few Hours Later
Daisy Johnson, Empire State Building
Sitting at the top of the Empire State Building, Daisy and Kara ripped through the burgers that Daisy ordered for pick up after they finished the rest of their mission prep following the tough conversation with Tony.
Maybe it is just the pessimist in her, but Daisy expected that conversation to go much worse, although she won't really know for sure if she broke his trust beyond repair until they meet again for board games next week.
Looking over at her girlfriend, Daisy does her best to pretend not to notice the bit of bacon that drops out of the burger, and leaves a bit of BBQ sauce on Kara's combat suit. Although the way Kara's eyes flash over to her, and then her cheeks go pink, make Daisy think that Kara knows she was caught.
The combat suit isn't as flattering as the Supergirl outfit, but there is something to be said in favor of a hot blond in all black…
Daisy tilts her head back and looks to the sky to try and quell her teenage hormones. Shaking her head after a few moments to clear the last of the horny thoughts. The combat suit is so that if they are ever spotted, the world will never know that Supergirl helped her with this. It is NOT made to allow her to ogle her girlfriend.
Scarfing down the last of her burger, as Kara finishes off her third, they both stand up and meet each other's eyes.
"Are you sure you want to help me with this Kara? This is going to be a bloody night, and not at all the kind of work Supergirl does. It would be harder, but I can get it done without you."
Kara glares back at Daisy, as if daring her to question Kara's resolve again. "We may be the same person, but I don't see Supergirl up here with you. Right now I am just Kara, here to support the woman she loves. So for the twentieth time since I told you I was helping, I am NOT backing off. So stop trying."
Kara pokes her in the chest for emphasis, although the intimidation tactic is a bit soiled by her then immediately going to hold Daisy's hand.
"Just wanted to be sure." Squeezing and sending a pulse of vibrations back through Kara's hand, Daisy also punctuates it with a kiss to the lips. "So, you're handling the flight while I'm using my powers to keep us off radar. Jarvis handles target tracking, best approach details, and sending you directions. When we get to a target, I engage using my powers, and then we rinse and repeat travelling west to stay in the dark of night to hide our movements for as long as possible. All clear Kara?"
"Yes Ma'am." Letting off a little salute, Daisy can see it's a bit of a deflection for what she is likely feeling about what they are going to do. But Daisy won't take the choice to join this mission away from her, so Daisy doesn't comment.
"Any additions Jarvis?"
From the earpiece both of them have, the smooth British voice of the A.I. responds back. "Just that I will also be infiltrating the targets' phones and computers to ensure we collect everything and to try and delay anyone from learning what is happening for as long as possible. Other than that, all clear Dame Daisy and Lady Zor-El."
With that, Daisy straps into the harness that is built into Kara's combat suit, to allow her to easily ride piggyback. It is a bit of a humiliating pose for both of them, Daisy is essentially using Kara as a magic carpet or something, but it is the only way to stay somewhat comfortable for the long hours of flying ahead.
Kara then heads off into the city, their first round of targets are spread out all throughout New York City, but it won't be long until they begin moving along the coast and then further west, until finishing it off with the very head.
But for now, they head to the house where a corrupt customs officer works, to begin their bloody night.
May 22nd, 2009, MCU, Nearly a day later
Joel Polis, Cayman Islands
Joel Polis yelled out in frustration and anger yet again, as he threw the platter of lunch that was left untouched on his desk for many hours. The maids, cooks, and every other worker besides his bodyguards have long been sent home, while he deals with the unmitigated disaster that is today.
No, it WAS an unmitigated disaster hours ago when he sent everyone not in-the-know home, but now it can only be described as a worldwide attack against him and his life's work.
The day started off normal, he enjoyed the relaxed schedule he was able to work. What is the point of climbing so high if you need to answer to the whims and commands of others? Things got a little bit weird once he started work as some of the messages seemed a bit strange, or as a higher than normal amount of his closest subordinates called out sick.
As the day went on though, he kept finding more and more inconsistencies, coincidences, and odd numbers. Trusting his gut, Joel reached out to his direct reports, and quickly found out that there was no one answering. He was only able to assume that he was being iced out. Replaced. Demoted. Probably soon to be killed.
Then the news reports started airing across America and soon the world. High amounts of accidents were being reported. Car crashes, trees collapsing killing someone, brain aneurysms in public, etc. It took someone in the media a while to draw the connection, but eventually it was found.
People all over the world dealing with ports, dealing with the banking system, or being in positions that could lead them to overhearing a high amount of confidential financial information, were dropping at an alarming rate from what at first looks to be natural causes or coincidental accidents.
In other words, every person that reports to him at every level. From the random bank teller in charge of copying keys to safety deposit boxes that he would never meet, to CEO's that come for party's at his mansion every year.
Once he realized the extent of an attack that he was under, he sent out orders for all of his agents to go to ground. Only to figure out that somehow his communications out were now being blocked, without anything coming in being hampered.
In other words, he could only watch as his empire came crumbling down, powerless to stop it.
Even once he realized that the wave of death was traveling west, starting on the east coast of the USA, he could do nothing to warn those ahead. Just a minute ago, he got word that the last of his major contacts in Peru had been killed when a billboard collapsed on him during his dinner break.
Now… he has no idea if anyone outside his mansion is even left. Looking out across the sea, he can see the sun setting below the horizon. His office is left in ruins, nothing safe from the venting of his anger, as he sits in the now darkness of the night.
Soon enough, he notices a purple glow on his balcony. But why should he care?
Soon enough, the purple glow is at his balcony door. But why should he care?
Finally, standing on the other side of his desk from him, is a figure that has been making its way through reports. Quake.
He should care… but he can't find it in himself to.
"So-" Releasing a cough to try and clear his scratchy throat, caused by his yelling throughout the day, Joel continues. "So, Quake is targeting Hydra? I thought the High Commander was being paranoid because his favorite attack dog went missing. I even voted against going after you, yet here you are."
"Yup. Here I am." Good lord that electronic voice is horrible to the senses. But if he wasn't just numb, maybe he would be feeling fear from it.
"Why me? You seem like someone who was probably a Hydra experiment, and I don't run those. So why me?"
The mocking laughter that follows is even worse than the talking voice. "Because you're the smart first target jackass? You run the money of Hydra. Sure, you don't control ALL of the money, Hydra is too backstabby to trust you with that much power. But you make them too much money and keep it off the books too well for the others NOT to make large use of you. Killing you, and every single person who worked for you, will make killing all the other heads that much easier."
"Ah. Ambitious aren't we? Taking on all of Hydra. I would say it's not possible, but if you asked me this morning I would also say what you have already done is impossible too."
"Yeah, I'm not too worried. But I'll also be honest that it wasn't just that. You also control the largest rings of human trafficking in the world, with no morals or restrictions. Killing you and stealing the information of your work will mean I get to take down everyone with that too, not just Hydra."
Leaning down on his desk, the desk itself vibrating so hard under the pressure of her anger even causing splinters and cracks to form, Quake gets her face mask close to him. Only now does he realize that the purple lights are set into an expression of rage, and not the normal creepy smile that has been reported.
"The work done today will save more lives from some of the cruelest fates in the world, than I will ever end up killing. And I plan on killing a lot."
He knows she is right, he just didn't care about the 'morals' of the work he did. He wanted the power, the control, to have the lives of thousands determined at his discretion. All while living the life of luxury with the most powerful businessmen coming to beg him for his resources.
"Can you just make it quick? I'm not the type of Hydra agent to be good with pain, and I think you're getting just about all the information I have so it's not like torture would be worth it."
The figure tilts her head in consideration, before responding. "On one condition. We have yet to find what kind of AI or something like it was helping you make some of your investment decisions. What is that?"
"Ah. That. While I don't know where the servers are located, that is an AI based on the brain of Armin Zola. The man responsible for the rebirth of Hydra following Project Paperclip. Despite working with him, I've always hated the way he looked down on me. Anything else?"
At the head shake no, Joel grabs the bottle of whiskey from the ground, takes as large of a swig as he can, before facing back. Doing his best to meet the figure's eyes below the mask, he utters his last sentence. "Kill one head, and two more shall take its place. Have fun killing the two that follow the death of 'The Banker'. Hail Hydra."
The next second, Joel Polis is a red smear against the wall. Not being discovered, along with the dead guards, until the work staff arrive back the next morning.
Walking back to the balcony, with the deed done and the whole head of Hydra dead, Daisy does her best to shake out the incredible pain she feels in her arms from using her powers for so long. Meeting her girlfriend outside, she hugs her close, before strapping back in to fly home together in silence at the work they did.
SPEAR Reveals the Truth of the Red Sunrise
By Christine Everheart
The world reeled in shock, as the truth of what is now known as the 'Red Sunrise' came to be discovered during the day it happened. Around the world, increases in accidents and seemingly natural deaths spiked up, under the nose of everyone. The event gained its name on the internet from the discovery of bodies as the sun began to rise around the world, death seeming to follow the night. Taking nearly the full day for people to even realize they were somehow connected, authorities began to swarm and investigate by the time it was already over.
In the next few days, authorities began to discover some proof of corruption from the victims, from seemingly minor things like skipping over inspections that should be done, to major items like active Ponzi schemes being run. Even with this connection coming forward, the vast majority of victims still appeared clean, leading to many to still name the thousands of deaths as a tragedy of worldwide scale.
That notion soon came crashing down when SPEAR, the still anonymous hacktivist group, came forward with hundreds of gigabytes of data revealing the crimes of nearly every single 'victim', and these crimes are not some minor issues like what was being initially reported. Human trafficking, loan sharks employing torturers, hitmen, mercenaries, blackmailers, and many many more crimes. Most had a body count of some kind, either directly or indirectly.
Aside from the deceased, the files released also paint damning lights on some of the world's top 1%, having taken part in some of these schemes especially centered around the human trafficking rings supposedly supplying parties for celebrities and business people alike. While no arrests have come from these allegations yet, due to the lack of legal credibility of the accuser, this reporter can say that sources claim it is just a matter of time. With the 'Red Sunrise' revealing corruption in even government agencies such as the FTC, claims are being made that the US Government is doing their best to recapture their image as the source of justice.
Currently, no overall connection has been found linking those killed in the 'Red Sunrise', but I remain unconvinced. What caused this attack to target some of the world's corrupt criminals, but not even everyone directly connected ended up dying? Where was the line drawn, because it must have been drawn somewhere.
While no group or individual has come forward claiming responsibility, many have started pointing fingers at the group SPEAR. While the amount of information leaked by them does seem a bit damning, the timing of the release of the information makes me feel as though this group is not behind the deaths. During the Hulk incident, Spear was ready and releasing their information at the same time as the incident, while this time the data did not get shared with journalists around the world for a full week afterwards.
Myself, and many experts, believe that this group responded to the 'Red Sunrise' by trying to discover the connection, and ended up finding this evidence after the fact. Talking with a cybersecurity expert showed that…
Notes:Author's Endnote: Some feels. Some action. And the first head of Hydra bites the dust! The Banker is basically just a name in Agents of Shield, so I had to do a lot of imagining for what he would do, and ended up venting some class frustrations I'm feeling these days. Oops. Sorry not sorry.
All the same, another chapter out. Hope you enjoyed it, and see you next time!
Chapter 20: Bones and BargainsSummary:Hydra reacts to Daisy's latest actions, and plan how to respond. Meanwhile Daisy goes after a couple targets, one personal and one for what he can give Daisy and Kara. Finally, some news shocks the girls that they will have to deal with very soon.
Notes:Obligatory disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, DC, or any characters that come from other works.
I also want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement, and RhinoMouse for the inspiration their world of "Retirement Ended Up Super" provided.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextMay 31st, 2009, MCU
Alexander Pierce, Triskelion
Alexander Pierce, for over the past week, has found himself filled with rage. Filled with uncertainty. Filled with fear. And finally, filled with annoyance.
The rage is easy to see, as it is by far the first and largest emotion right now. A whole head of Hydra, exterminated in one day. His attempts to reach out to The Banker to issue orders once he realized what was happening went unanswered, even when the autopsy shows the man was most likely the very last killed.
Oh, there are definitely remnants still remaining from the Banker's employ, mostly those who lived off the grid AND we not where they usually were by appointment or habit. Everyone else was killed. As the Supreme Head of Hydra, it was up to him to pick up and take in those scraps to be hidden in Shield.
That was about the only good thing about being the Supreme Head right now.
The worst part, that was leading to his annoyance is dealing with the range of reactions from the other heads.
The Baroness, the head mainly in charge of conventional weapons development, is nearly frothing at the mouth for an increase in money for development to make weapons to kill the perpetrators. Completely ignoring the fact that every head will need to tighten their belts to weather the loss of their investments.
The Sheikh, in charge of international smuggling especially in getting weapons in the hands of terrorist groups that would further their long term goals, is angered at being cut out of Hydra operations in the face of every head wanting to arm their own men right now rather than arm outside groups.
Octavian Bloom, the Head in charge of every business and money making operation that worked above board, is now flexing his muscles and angling for a more important seat at the table. Both trying to claim the remnants from extinct head, and pushing for the others to begin sending him what they used to send to the Banker.
General Hale, in charge of recruitment for members in the US Military and high levels of Government, is barely doing the minimum to attend and fulfill her duties as a head. Seemingly spooked and trying to lay low in case her cover is blown.
Armin Zola seems to be at a loss for both words and actions, having not seen this circumstance coming in any of his projections, is spending all his time trying to recalculate how to best move forward.
But honestly, the last three heads are the most annoying, because for once they are all in agreement and AGAINST Pierce's position.
Because of course Hydra knows that Quake was the one behind this attack. While the vast majority of footage and cameras was either avoided or deleted, there were some far away offline cameras that caught some details of the perpetrators of the attack.
The mask seemed to have been unlit during the operation, most likely to avoid drawing attention, but the shape of the mask and the makeup of the outfit were a match. The second unidentified figure is just as concerning, as it shows Quake to have access to those with a wider variety of powers than expected, if the amount of flying that the other did is any indication.
But from the mission reports given by Fury to Pierce, and what was known from Hydra about the Belyakov family from Bahrain, means that the chances of Quake being an inhuman, and a powerful inhuman at that, are incredibly high.
Whitehall is ignoring the threat, as he has seen other Hydra heads come and go, and is instead nearly giddy at the thought of getting Quake on his operating table. Gideon Malick is acting like a conspiracy theorist who was proven correct, nearly ranting about wanting to return Hydra to its 'original mission' and find a way to summon Hive in order to gain control of Quake. Von Strucker meanwhile is less interested in dissecting Quake like Whitehall does, and instead wants to use Quake as the subject for their shared 'Destroyer of Worlds' project to make the ultimate sentient superweapon.
After a long visit to Whitehall's subordinate Bakshi for extensive reprogramming using the Faustus Program that is.
Those three are taking most of his time in these meetings honestly, because they forget about one important detail.
"I hear you all, and I am not disagreeing that getting Quake under our sway, including all the other inhumans she has access to, could move our plans up years if not decades. But I continue to ask, HOW do you intend to capture and hold her? Her powers appear to be some kind of large area telekinesis, but this attack shows she does not need to even have line of sight to use her powers in a lethal way. What in our arsenal could possibly hold her?!" Pierce bites out, this Hydra video call having already run much longer than he wanted.
Every other head, not just the three main supporters of the approach, go quiet at his anger becoming clear in the face of them not having an answer.
"The one tool we had to potentially deal with Quake if he was able to ambush her, was instead ambushed himself. The Winter Soldier has now been captured, and with him our best chance of defeating Quake gone. The 'miracle metal' that was used, at great expense, to attempt to upgrade him in fighting Quake did nothing to help. I would have the smuggler killed for misleading us on the metal's abilities, but he went to ground after the sale and has yet to pop back up. So… besides throwing men at her in the hope of a lucky shot, how do we capture the pest?"
The silence that continues just angers him even more, finally reaching a breaking point.
"I ASKED A FUCKING QUESTION, SO ANSWER ME!". Pierce's yell startles many, as this is probably the first time any of them have seen him do so. Despite his anger, the yelling is just for show anyways, but he sees the doubt and treason starting to take hold in some of them. They have started to doubt his leadership, so he must remind them of their place, or face usurpation from within.
"We do not, but I will continue researching solutions and come forward when I find one, Supreme Head." Von Strucker, Pierce's second, answers back in a way that both concedes the topic while leaving the door open for the future.
"Good. Now report. Hale, what is the temperature of the US's reaction to Spear's leaks?" Pierce finally gets to move on to more productive discussions.
Hale grimaces before speaking up. "It seems you were correct in going against my suggestion of villainizing Spear over the Red Sunrise. If we had, and then these leaks had come out, then it could draw undue attention and weaken any future engagement against Spear. The overall consensus is that Spear is not behind the attacks, most are annoyed at the humiliation the government is receiving at the extent of the corruption revealed, but plenty are seeing Spear closer to vigilantes than anything else. I agree that continuing to use Shield to hunt down Spear is the correct path."
It would be better if every branch of the US Government could be hunting Spear, but Hydra's control of those are nominal to minimal, so making use of Shield is unfortunately the best way forward.
"Understood. Hale, work with Bloom on this. I want you inserting our people into the correct positions in the investigations that stem from the leaks. Then when assets are able to be seized, I want them turned over to Bloom for further investment into credible sources. We need to rebuild our warchest, and this time not from sources that can be so easily buried. Bloom, any idea what happened to all of our money that the Banker was holding."
Clearing his throat, and sitting a little straighter, Bloom does his best to project more sophistication than he has. If the man doesn't cool his ego, Pierce may just end up killing the man to avoid having to deal with this every meeting.
"Tracing back all of the transfer has been impossible. Whomever was behind that part of the operation was a master at covering their digital tracks. Possibly another inhuman with technological based powers? That is not my area of expertise if that is possible or not though. That said, just because I couldn't follow it, doesn't mean I haven't been able to see where it ended up.
"Charities around the world are seeing record numbers of donations, from small to medium in size. Nothing singular that would set off alarms with banks, but enough that there is no way it is natural. Currently it only accounts for 7.5% of what we lost at most, but it has yet to stop or even slow, so it may end up being most of it in the end."
Well that could be an angle. "Any chance of us pointing the investigation towards these charities in order to recoup our losses that way?"
At this, shame flashes across Bloom's face. "I am guessing they already know about it, it isn't the most subtle of money funneling going on. But the reason they are not touching it, and I encourage us to cut our losses there as well, is the number of charities being donated to that align with the victim's of the Banker's investments. Such as organizations against Human Trafficking. In the wake of the leaks, going after that money would draw far too much attention and all of it negative."
Pierce feels the urge to scowl, but keeps his face passive in the end. The angry shouting was useful, but now is the time to project confidence and collection.
"Then we continue as we were. Anything else needed to be shared?" At the silence, the long meeting getting to everyone by this point, Pierce draws the meeting to its end. "With that, you all have your orders on how to go forward. More than that though, work to prevent your heads from falling the same way that the Banker's did. More variance in schedules. Backup communication methods. More cells kept off the books. We can not fail. Hail Hydra."
"Hail Hydra." They all respond back, before the video screens all shut off, leaving Pierce alone in his room.
After taking a few moments to think on if the discussion changed his plans for the future, in the end Pierce decided that nothing the other Heads had shared altered the circumstances enough. Hitting a button on his desk, his guard from outside comes in and stands in front of his desk ready for orders.
Brock Rumlow, leader of Strike Team Charlie, is the leader of the longest running of the advanced Strike teams. While Strike Team Delta may be Fury's favorite due to the higher specialization of members such as Romanoff and Barton, Charlie has been doing consistent work for years and the members are only getting better with experience.
More than that, it is a Strike team that is completely filled with loyal Hydra agents. As long as Fury does not have specific orders for the team, as Secretary of the WSC Pierce is able to assign them to missions of his own without having to read Fury in.
"Agent Rumlow. I want you and your team to meet up with the Winter Soldier handler team. Now that their schedule has been forcefully opened up, they have thoughts on some advantages and weapons to outfit your team with. Meanwhile, I want you to begin entering combat on low level enhanced vigilantes. The 'Superman Pact' has brought many enhanced into the light of day, let's use them to train your team up on fighting enhanced. I want you ready to take down Quake when we get the chance."
"Rules of engagement, sir?"
"Take them down. If they're alive, then we can package them to Strucker later. If they die, then send their bodies off to Whitehall. But take your time, stalk your targets, and make no mistakes. Above all, I want you operating under everyone's radar. If Fury sends your team on another assignment, take it. But training on taking out enhanced will be your team's default from now on. Understood?"
"Sir, yes sir! Hail Hydra." Rumlow snaps into a Hydra salute at the obvious end of the conversation.
"Hail Hydra." Pierce dismisses back.
Quake may have declared war against Hydra, but Hydra will be ready to strike back. In the end, Hydra always wins.
June 6th, 2009, MCU
Ulysses Klaue, State Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow
Ohhhhh man. Ulysses Klaue is very excited for today. Today he gets to have a little fun, expand his stock, and hopefully have a new lifelong client going forward.
Klaue HAD been lying low… but he got bored. Easily. The fact was, the last buyer of some of his Vibranium was SUPPOSED to be a private research facility. The people he met with even seemed to be scientists, and had deep pockets.
But Klaue knows when he smells bullshit, and he smelled bullshit. After leaving the deal, he doubled back around to watch the 'scientists' leave, only to see a large collection of very well armed mercenaries helping to back up the scene.
All led by some man with a metallic arm.
Normally Klaue lays low after a deal, just in case his buyers got extra greedy and get big dreams of going after his whole stock. But this time, he decided to go a step forward and go alllllllll the way around the world.
He wants to be a rich man, not a dead man left in the gutter.
But it can never last, he hasn't been a patent or truly careful man for much of his life. Luckily two separate channels seemed to find something interesting at the same time.
One was his scouts, who go around the world looking for loose little itty bits of Vibranium that he can scoop up. Right in Moscow, on display was a spear, recovered from Africa supposedly from the 9th century. According to his scout however, the metal under the collection of rust and sediment on top, was giving back readings of being Vibranium.
Based on the size of the spear head, could be tens of millions worth of the stuff.
Meanwhile, a former SVR agent who is an up and coming industrialist with a high interest in military artifacts had made contact with another one of his agents expressing interest in purchasing some Vibranium to make a weapon out of.
While a spear tip is not enough metal for what the pretty little Russian buyer wants for a weapon, it will be a wonderful demonstration of the metal to ensure Klaue is getting the highest price possible.
Even more lucky for Klaue, the client thought his choice of venue was only to be in public to keep the meeting peaceful rather than what he truly wanted. So when he expressed the location, the rich former Russian government dog let him know that he paid off the Museum to be 'closed for fumigation' during their meeting time.
While less fun than getting to kill some security guards, Klaue won't fight against Russian corruption and its usefulness when he is lying low.
Walking in to the Museum, Klaue walks in alone, walking past various armed security that were obviously expecting him as they don't try to stop him.
Maybe the buyer will try to strong arm him and he will get to at least kill a couple of them? Klaue knows his worth, and he can stand torture just fine, so he has no worries walking in alone. His ship full of Vibranium is well hidden in a well paid off port hundred of miles away.
Walking into the African section of the Museum, he sees his buyer waiting impatiently, pacing around rather than sitting or even looking around at the pieces.
Honestly, somehow THIS is a former SVR agent? This is a normal meeting, although one that will end with him stealing a priceless artifact, but the buyer doesn't know that yet!
"Ah! I see you are not one for history? Most of my clients usually are, so that is a little surprising."
At his opening line the man, Anton Ivanov, turns around to face him. While the pacing may not have been indicative of an SVR agent, the way the man immediately settles and keeps his face passive certainly does.
"Can't say that I care about old artifacts at this moment. I'm normally more into modern weaponry, not hatchets and spears." The man says in his thick Russian accent, while motioning around to the pieces around him. "So why did you call me here?"
"Ah! My little Russian doll. I chose this location to meet, because what you want can actually be found right here, as proof of the rest of my stock anyways. Give you a little test, before you purchase the rest. Drug dealers have some good sales tactics I've found." Klaue says, his grin spreading across his face as he messes around with the dour Russian.
"It's HERE? How? Show me."
"Of course. The customer is always right afterall." With that Klaue takes out his Vibranium knuckle dusters, and puts them on. He and his group are getting better at working with Vibranium, but the high feats of technology are still out of his grasp. For now that is…
Going up to the glass display case in the center of the room, housing the spear, instead of having to give a full punch Klaue is able to break the glass into a thousand pieces with an almost negligent tap of the knuckle dusters.
The shock that appears on the Russian's face for just a second is worth him missing the view of his own handiwork. All the same Klaue then reaches out, ignoring the lack of alarm going off to take the spear. Most likely all security was disabled by the Russian when his men set up shop.
This time, Klaue actually does put his all into the punch. Punching the Vibranium knuckle dusters to metal of the spear, causes the Vibranium underneath to respond. After just a few punches, the spear sheds whatever gunk and shit it was caked in, revealing the metal that is the key to the future underneath.
"This isn't enough for what you're wanting, but I think it is a good demonstration of what Vibranium is capable of. So what can I put you down for good chap? I've never done it before, but a Vibranium gun could probably be made to shoot .44 magnum automatically without tearing your arm off. Personally I like the physical weapons more, but you don't seem to be a fan of the spears and such."
As Klaue walks over to Ivanov, showing off the revealed Vibranium spearhead, the man does at first appear fascinated by it but soon just looks back at him with confusion and some anger in his face.
"What are you talking about? It was an interesting magic trick, but I do not care for some metal spearhead. You said you had the keys to my fortune that was transferred out of my bank accounts last week, I want them back and I want them now. Not this bullshit! You should know better than to mess around with someone who is Superior!" The man is nearly yelling in his face by the end of his rant, but it just leaves Klaue equally confused.
"Sorry mate, the accent got a bit thick there, and the yelling rung my bell a bit. But I am a smuggler of the best metal in the world, I don't know shit about any bank accounts. Now do you want to buy a weapon from me, or not?"
"If you do not know about my accounts, then why did you set up this meeting for me to get them back?! I had to use the last of my fortune I had on hand to pay off the place, so I am not walking away empty handed you Anglosaksy ."
Despite not knowing what the last Russian word means exactly, besides it most likely being an insult, Klaue suddenly has an understanding of what was going on. "It's a set up. Someone else set this shit up for both of us. We need to-."
Before he can complete his thoughts, three cracks echo out around the room as the drop ceiling suddenly comes raining down on all of them, knocking both him and Mr. 'Superior' to the ground. Looking up, the room is now filled with dust from the ruined ceiling, but it isn't enough to fully obscure the room.
Across the way, where he entered from, he can see three of the Russian thugs dead on the ground with bullet holes between their eyes. The lack of noise or other Russians running into the room lets him know that they are alone in this fight now, the others probably already dead as well.
He needs to move, and he needs to move NOW.
Getting up with the spear in hand, Klaue begins to make a straight beeline away from the bodies towards the emergency exit at the back, leaving the other man behind hoping he is the bigger target.
Klaue began to think otherwise when some force picked him up and tossed him to his left, letting him hit the wall hard, the air completely knocked from his lungs and the spear falling a few feet from where he landed.
By the time he regained his senses, he looked up to see a feminine figure in a black combat suit, and purple hair facing away from him. At her feet was Superior, a bullet in each of his knee caps. The man struggled just to look up enough to look into the face of the woman above him.
"Who the fuck even are y-" The words stopped dead from the man as another bullet punched straight through the forehead of the man, splattering his brains across the museum's floor.
Klaue is a bit more thankful to actually be the woman's target, as at least he didn't end up like that sack of shit. Meanwhile he is still alive so maybe she wants something from him.
That doesn't mean he is going easily though, why negotiate when you can just kill the mother fuckers?
Reaching his hands to his thigh holsters as he gets up to his knees at least, Klaue pulls out two Vibranium throwing knives and sends them at the back of the bitch. Half rolling/ half stumbling forward from the throw, Klaue moves towards the spear as he sees the figure twisting to avoid the knives thrown at her back.
Taking the spear in hand Klaue leaps up from his crouched position to try and bring the spear down to try and run the woman through before she can recover from avoiding the daggers.
Yet, it wasn't to be as the figure moves much faster than he anticipated, and recovered from avoiding his attacks far too soon. In the end, he just finds himself leaping straight into her grasp. One hand nearly crushing his wrist that wields the spear while the other holds him up in the air by his throat as if he is an errant child.
Now that he can see the 'face' of the figure, Klaue begins to feel his chances of walking away are slipping through his grasp. Who the hell wears a neon smiley face ski mask to battle? Heroes are starting to pop up around America, but apparently Russia gets Villains instead.
Using his free hand to take some of the pressure off his throat, Klaue falls back to his negotiation skills. Some claim he has none, but he has lived this long while many who said that are dead. So fuck 'em.
"I- ugh. I don't know why you did this, urgh. But I can make it worth it to let me go. What do you say?" Klaue gets out in between coughs and choked breaths.
Tilting their head, the figure seems to look around the situation before responding. "I think… that I am thankful I'm getting better at avoiding Vibranium daggers." Letting Klaue be nothing but confused by that sentence, the figure moves on without explaining. "But why would I make a deal with you, when my partner is raiding your ship that you have hidden in St. Petersburg?"
Fuck… She knows where his ship is and his ship has all of his wealth and Vibranium. His bargaining chips. Maybe he can bargain knowledge on Wakanda? Just as he is about to open his mouth, the figure draws a different pistol from what she has been using, the blue glow letting him know it is a Stark Icer pistol.
"The only thing you still have that is worthwhile now, is your value as a present to someone else. And I'm taking that anyways… so… night night!" Klaue's last thought is annoyance that the woman who ended up taking him down, is someone who spends the time to program their electronic mask to give a goodbye wink as she pulls the trigger.
Klaue falls off into unconsciousness.
June 6th, 2009, MCU
Kara Danvers, 'Sanctuary' San Bernardino Mountains
Kara touches down in the midafternoon California time in her Supergirl outfit. Clearing out the ship for Daisy, so she didn't have to deal with the Vibranium more than needed, ended up taking longer than Kara anticipated. Mostly because there was a lot of money, gems, and jewelry hidden throughout the ship, and all of the lead in the cheap ships construction just made the whole thing harder.
Klaue's associates were knocked out and tied up before they even knew she was there, while Jarvis took care of the footage so she wasn't seen. Already Jarvis has placed an anonymous call to port authorities that haven't been paid off about the smugglers ship.
Daisy had filled Kara in about Ultron and how all of the Vibranium from Klaue was used to make him a body nearly 7 feet tall, but with years between now and then Daisy thought he would have some more Vibranium than that. It ended up being enough to make two Ultron bodies actually, which was more Vibranium than they expected.
And all of that had to be carried by Kara to one of Daisy's hideouts in Europe that she has set up to be used by Spear once she starts recruiting. When she dropped off the money, Vibranium, and everything she noticed the holding cell was occupied by an unconscious Klaue. Meaning that Daisy was probably already home.
While her superhearing and x-ray vision already told her the answer, walking in and seeing Daisy sitting on the couch going through their mail, still in her Quake outfit (thankfully without the mask), made her smile.
Kara nearly skipped in superspeed over, and snuggled into the side of Daisy as she seemed to be concentrating on reading a letter.
"Thank you for agreeing to get the Vibranium. It's so interesting and confusing to work with, having more to work with will be easier. But why did you take Klaue captive?"
Her words and even presence seem to take a few seconds to register, as Daisy shakes herself and looks Kara in the eyes as she sets the letter face down on the side table.
"Sorry 'bout that. But no worries, the timing of Klaue and Superior worked out that I could take out two problems at once anyways. And I'm planning on giving Klaue to Wakanda, hopefully that will stop them from throwing a hissy fit if they end up catching either you or Tony with Vibranium in the future."
The unsaid aspect was how the Vibranium was also going to help bribe Tony so Daisy is back on his good side. They had another dinner and game night tonight, and hopefully this one will be closer to normal, as the last one was… awkward and strained, following the Bucky Barnes reveal.
"What? No Vibranium for you?" Kara teases her girlfriend causing Daisy to let out a shudder of disgust. Kara finds Daisy's reaction to the metal pretty funny now that the injuries from her fight with the Winter Soldier have healed completely. "But do you think that will actually end up working?"
Daisy immediately lets out a snort of laughter, although her hand keeps touching the letter she was reading. "Absolutely not. Wakanda is isolationist, and claims a monopoly on an entire metal. Their whole history is them secretly being above everyone else in technology, causing them to look down on the rest of the world. They are used to being top dogs, because they have been playing a different game than every other nation in the world."
"If it's not going to work, then why try?"
"Because even if it doesn't work for the nation, maybe it will help me make peace or work with individuals in the future. And even if not, being able to claim the moral high ground is always nice." Daisy replies, before picking up the letter again, and reading a few lines, and then setting it back down.
"Okay, what is in that letter? It's fine if you don't want to share… but it looks like you need to talk about it." Kara asks with a tone of care and slight worry in her voice.
Letting out a deep breath, Daisy cuddles deeper into Kara's grasp. "Well… it's a letter from my mom…" Kara gives Daisy time to collect her thoughts, as Daisy has been sending letters back and forth with her mom for a while, so this shouldn't be causing this reaction on its own.
Finally Daisy finishes her thought, and what she says next leaves Kara staring at her wide eyed. "How do you feel about having a family dinner tomorrow with my parents? Because, surprise! My mom found and recovered my dad, and we are invited over."
Well… shit. She has to meet her mate's parents tomorrow.
Notes:Author's Endnote: First off, sorry about not having a chapter last week! Work was… a lot. I did 72 hours or so last week. But thankfully my job is out of its busy season now, so it shouldn't happen again. I hope to have an extra chapter to make up for it, but I would rather under-promise and overachieve, than the reverse. So we shall see.
On to the chapter! Not all butterfly effects are good, no matter how hard you try. And Hydra was always going to respond in some bad ways, but now small-time enhanced are being targeted by Crossbones' team for the sole purpose of getting experience to try and fight Quake.
Meanwhile Daisy and Kara get more resources in the form of money and Vibranium, while taking care of a couple people that were always going to be in Daisy's crosshairs.
And finally, it took her long enough, but join me next time to see an incredibly awkward family dinner!!! :D