At this moment, Sitwell received a call from the surveillance room personnel.
"I understand. Stay where you are, and don't move. I'll handle it."
Sitwell hung up and dialed Jack.
"Commander, Agent Hill has already begun investigating the matter of the black slave. Should we dispose of her secretly?"
[FLAG: The term "black slave" does not appear to be an official Marvel designation and seems like a crude or offensive mistranslation.]
Jack: "Follow my lead on this. Leave a few clues for her to find so she can track down where Nick Fury is being held."
"Understood."
Sitwell began making the arrangements.
Two days later, Hill followed the lead from the surveillance room to a forest 200 kilometers away from New York.
Hill landed the Quinjet, activated stealth mode, and proceeded on foot deep into the forest.
Looking at the path clearly worn into the ground, Hill followed cautiously.
She hadn't brought anyone along for this mission; even the Quinjet was from a safe house secretly hidden by Nick Fury that only the two of them knew about.
Ten minutes later, Hill watched the footage sent back by her drone.
Ten minutes after the Agent from the surveillance room entered the building, an Agent she recognized walked out. She remembered him; he was from the Logistics Department.
"It seems S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't very safe after all."
After avoiding the man, Hill prepared to enter the cabin in the woods to see exactly what they were hiding there.
Hill snuck in quietly. While the Agent was deliberately relaxing and drinking tea, she fired a tranquilizer dart, and he collapsed instantly.
Seeing this through the surveillance, Jack asked Crossbones:
"Don't you guys have something like that?"
Crossbones lowered his head in shame. "Commander, we in HYDRA strictly follow the laws of nature. Anesthetics usually take at least five seconds to spread through the body."
Crossbones looked indignantly at the Agent who had fallen instantly after being hit and muttered a few curses at Nick Fury:
"What a black-hearted fellow. To think he kept such a trick up his sleeve; even Officer Pierce didn't know about this."
Jack turned back to the monitors. In the footage, Hill was searching for something inside, but she hadn't found any useful information.
Just as she was beginning to feel disappointed, she heard the crisp sound of metal clashing from the clearing behind the house.
Hill drew her pistol and cautiously moved forward to investigate.
"Oh, shit."
Then she saw Nick Fury lying at the bottom of what looked like a cesspit opening.
She lowered her hands weakly, choosing to temporarily resign herself to fate.
There was no way only one person would be guarding the place where Nick Fury was being held; there were bound to be many others hidden nearby.
A group of HYDRA Agents emerged from the ground, aiming their guns at Hill.
"Agent Hill, please put these on yourself. Don't make things difficult for us."
Sitwell stepped out from the woods and tossed a pair of handcuffs to Hill.
Hill picked up the handcuffs and put them on. As she did, she asked, "Sitwell, what made you betray S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Sitwell gave a mocking smile and said, "I was never a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. to begin with, so how could there be a betrayal?"
"This way, please. You know how it is, so don't make it harder on yourself than it needs to be."
Hill sensibly walked ahead and boarded their aircraft.
Seeing that most of the Agents were withdrawing, Hill frowned. "Are you really that confident, leaving only two people to guard Nick Fury?"
Sitwell adjusted his glasses and smiled faintly. "Our Commander said that as long as we ensure the Director doesn't die, it's fine. Besides, we have many operations underway; I might even get scolded by the Commander for leaving two behind."
"Who is this 'Commander' you're talking about?" Hill asked. She was very curious about the person Sitwell referred to as "Commander."
"The Commander is our new Leader. He's only been in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a few days, and he's already thrown the World into chaos."
Sitwell didn't hide anything. He was taking Hill to see Jack anyway, and she would find out soon enough, so there was no harm in telling her.
"So, how long do you plan to keep Nick Fury locked up? For life?" Hill tried to fish for more information, but Sitwell only shook his head.
"I don't know. The Commander just said to keep him locked up for now, with no other instructions," Sitwell replied.
"However, the Commander also said that if anyone comes to rescue him, we don't need to bother; we can just leave. I don't understand it myself, but the Commander certainly has his reasons."
Hill fell into silence after hearing that.
She was thinking, pondering the reasons behind all this. But she couldn't think of anyone who could have started plotting against S.H.I.E.L.D. before Sitwell even joined.
Ten minutes later, Hill felt the aircraft begin its descent. She had expected it to be some unknown Base or something similar.
When the Quinjet's hatch opened, she saw someone she hadn't seen in a long time.
"Jack?!"
Hill cried out in surprise, all sorts of strange thoughts flashing through her mind.
Jack looked at Sitwell and said, "Take off her handcuffs."
Without hesitation, Sitwell ordered his subordinate to unlock Hill's handcuffs.
Sure enough, as soon as the subordinate unlocked them, Hill punched him square in the nose.
Jack beckoned to Hill. "Come down. Let me tell you how everything happened."
Hill shot a fierce glare at the bald man and his subordinate.
Sitwell didn't mind and returned an apologetic smile.
Hill stood beside Jack, watching the Quinjet depart. Once it was quiet, she asked him:
"Jack, I need an explanation."
Jack tried to put an arm around Hill's shoulder, but she dodged him.
Jack didn't give up and stepped to the left, but Hill dodged again.
After three attempts, Jack forced his arm around Hill's shoulder and patted it, walking forward like they were old pals.
"Is this enough? Just talk already," Hill sighed, urging Jack to speak.
Jack began his long-winded explanation. "It all started when I gave that antisocial sociopath with trust issues a piece of my mind…"
Jack spoke for ten minutes, and Hill listened patiently until she understood the whole story.
"So your goal is to achieve World peace, and that's why you've taken control of S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Jack nodded, confirming her summary.
"You could put it that way, but more accurately, it's to make Earth a better place."
Speechless, Hill leaned back and covered her forehead.
"Nick Fury's attack made me realize that the internal problems of S.H.I.E.L.D. were more serious than we imagined. But hearing this from you… it's just insane. We actually built S.H.I.E.L.D. inside HYDRA. This is truly…"
"Ironic?" Jack suggested.
Hill shook her head. "It's laughable. Just how many enemies did we secretly eliminate for HYDRA? How much profit did we gain for them?"
Jack stood up and said, "Take some time to digest all of this. I need a capable assistant. Once you've figured it out, you can leave."
Jack closed the door to Hill's room. He didn't like persuading people; he was only good at conquering women in bed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can visit my Patreon page:
Patreon.com/PhoeniXcel
There are 30+ advanced chapters available for you to read.
Your support would be greatly appreciated.
Check out my new Naruto fanfic!
[Naruto: I Don't Want Recognition]