"Nick Fury was a traitor. He hired pirates to hijack his own ship."
One member of the World Security Council spoke coldly.
"He exploited your friendship to pressure us into delaying Project Insight. That gave him time to conduct his illegal dealings. He knew Insight would expose him."
Another followed immediately.
"The Council has reached a decision. Project Insight will resume at once."
The gavel fell.
No room for objection.
Alexander Pierce did not argue.
He didn't need to.
The moment the meeting ended, a faint smile curved his lips.
They had walked straight into his trap.
He picked up the phone.
"Project Insight is cleared to proceed. Upload the final code to all Helicarriers. Await my next instruction."
"Yes, sir. Hail Hydra."
The line clicked dead.
Pierce turned to the framed photograph of himself and Fury.
"You really made this easy for me, Nick," he murmured. "Watch closely. The world will belong to Hydra."
---
New York
Karl returned to New York through the Lu Xingniao Space and handed the flash drive to Skye.
"Where'd this come from?" she asked, plugging it in. "Looks interesting."
"From the black egg. He 'died.' Gave it to Steve before he did."
Skye's fingers froze. "He actually died? I thought you were joking."
"Details," Karl waved it off. "He's not staying dead. Guys like him don't go that easy. If he really died, I'd dig him up and scatter the ashes myself."
Karl suspected Coulson and Hill were hiding him somewhere. Neither had shown their faces since.
Skye frowned at the screen.
"There's a tracking protocol embedded in this. The moment it activates, S.H.I.E.L.D. will know."
She slipped on her comms headset.
"How much time do we have?" Steve asked from D.C.
"New York branch? About nine minutes from lock-on to boots at your door. Helicopter response."
"Be careful," Natasha said. "Karl, point the camera at her screen."
"No need," Skye replied. "Find a computer near you. Give me the IP. I'll mirror it to you. I'll mask your location so S.H.I.E.L.D. only sees me."
Steve and Natasha moved to a mall electronics display and relayed the IP.
Skye grinned at the scrolling code.
"Wow. Your agency really loves secrets. This drive is protected by your AI—rewrites its own command strings every five seconds."
At the same moment—
S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.
Alarms blared.
A red dot appeared on the central screen.
"What is it?" Sitwell demanded.
"Sir, the highest-level tracker has been activated."
Sitwell stiffened.
The drive.
"Lock the destination. Deploy strike teams immediately."
The map zoomed in.
Location: Manhattan, New York.
Sitwell stared at it.
Impossible. Steve had escaped less than a day ago. How could he already be in New York?
Didn't matter.
"Alert the New York branch. Full mobilization."
Within minutes, helicopters lifted off.
---
Back in New York, Skye finally cracked the drive.
"…That's it?"
She blinked.
"It's just a location marker. No files. No data. Nothing."
"Where?" Natasha asked.
"New Jersey. Pretty close to New York. What's there? A stadium?"
Karl already knew.
Steve leaned closer to the mirrored screen.
"Zoom in."
Skye did.
Recognition dawned across Steve's face.
"You know it?" Natasha asked.
"I used to."
His voice had gone distant.
"I need to see it."
"Pull the drive," Natasha said.
Skye ejected it and handed it to Karl.
"So what exactly is going on? S.H.I.E.L.D., New Jersey, manhunts… need backup?"
Karl shook his head. "Stay put. You've got work. This is small stuff."
Outside—
Helicopters thundered overhead.
Armed tactical units surrounded the entire apartment building. Residents peered nervously from their windows.
Karl's phone rang.
Tony.
"Yeah?"
"JARVIS just flagged your building," Tony said, voice sharp. "S.H.I.E.L.D. tactical teams, full perimeter. What did you do?"
"Nothing. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s got a snake problem. Fury 'died.' Internal mess."
There was a long pause.
"…Fury died?" Tony barked. "And that's not a big deal?"
Metal clanged in the background as he abandoned his armor assembly.
"JARVIS, pull everything."
Within seconds, restricted S.H.I.E.L.D. feeds surfaced on Tony's screens.
Nick Fury—deceased.
Captain America—wanted fugitive.
Tony's expression darkened.
"This just became a very big deal."
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