The wooden villa, Hudson Valley.
In the master bedroom, on the large bed, Jason and the two women were fast asleep.
Suddenly, the phone on the pillow began to vibrate frantically.
BZZZT! BZZZT! BZZZT!
The phone vibrated for over ten seconds, but Jason slept on.
Harley, however, frowned and slowly opened her groggy eyes. The thought of becoming a mother had left her too excited to sleep. She'd tossed and turned for over an hour, only managing to drift off a few minutes ago. Still in a light sleep, the vibrations jolted her awake.
"Who the hell is it?" Harley muttered, annoyed. She checked the phone. The caller was a member of their organization—one of the Long Island escapees.
Isn't he supposed to be Stan's contact in Washington? Why is he calling this late? Stan must have something urgent to report.
Puzzled, Harley answered.
"Boss! Thank god you answered!" A frantic voice said. "S.H.I.E.L.D. found the villa! Missiles are inbound! You have to teleport out of there, now!"
The words snapped Harley wide awake. She violently rolled over, grabbing Jason and Christine's hands. With a single thought, the three of them vanished without a trace.
A second later, they reappeared in the dense woods outside. The cold, damp earth shocked Jason awake instantly.
"Harley, what are you—" He started to get up, but the words died in his throat.
Two missiles, trailing plumes of fire, streaked across the sky and slammed directly into their villa.
BOOM!
A world-shattering explosion. The villa was instantly consumed by a searing fireball, vaporizing into a million pieces. The brilliant flash stung their eyes.
The farm's soft soil allowed the missiles to penetrate deep underground before detonating, causing a collapse in a hundred-meter radius. A row of outbuildings, dozens of meters away from the main house, collapsed into the dark, bottomless crater.
Jason stared in stunned silence at the devastation. The two women beside him covered their mouths in shock.
That was too close! Another ten seconds and they would have been annihilated.
After a long moment, Jason let out a breath. "Harley, what the hell was that?"
"It was Stan's contact," Harley said, her face grim. "He called just now. Said S.H.I.E.L.D. found this place and launched missiles, told me to get us out. I acted before he could finish."
S.H.I.E.L.D.!
Goddamn S.H.I.E.L.D. again!
Counting the last missile strike, this was the second time.
Jason's eyes were bloodshot, the veins on his forehead throbbing. He clenched his fists. "S.H.I.E.L.D. must have spotters nearby," He said coldly. "Harley, find them."
Harley nodded and activated her power. An instant later, a three-dimensional map of the one-kilometer area materialized in her mind. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, who thought they were so well hidden, had nowhere to hide from her power.
.........
Staring at the inferno, a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative hidden deep in the woods let out a sigh of relief. "Phew! Mission accomplished. Time to rendezvous with the captain."
He picked up his pack to leave, but when he turned, he saw three figures standing in front of him.
A muscular man wearing nothing but boxer shorts, flanked by two gorgeous women in silk pajamas.
"J-Jason!"
Seeing the man who should have been a pile of ash standing right in front of him, the operative was terrified out of his mind and stumbled backward.
Jason's face was cold as he advanced.
The agent snapped out of it, pulled an assault rifle from his pack, and opened fire. "Die!"
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!
A stream of bullets slammed into Jason's body, then simply clattered to the ground.
With a roar, a fist the size of a cinder block slammed into the agent's head.
SPLAT!
His head burst like a watermelon. Bits of flesh, brain, and blood splattered across Jason's face. The gunfire ceased. The headless corpse toppled backward onto the ground.
Jason licked the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Next," He growled.
The gunshots in the dead of night were piercing. Rumlow, who had thought the mission was a success, was about to message Fury when he heard gunfire from the nearby woods... then more shots from other directions.
"Shit! Jason's not dead!" It was the only possible explanation.
He didn't even dare grab his pack; he just turned and ran. He hadn't made it a hundred meters before the three figures appeared in his path.
Having killed several men, Jason was now splattered with blood and gore, looking like a demon that had just climbed out of a sea of blood.
Rumlow froze, then backed away cautiously. "Whoa, hey, big guy, I'm just a soldier. Just following orders. I..." His back hit a tree. He was cornered.
Jason didn't say a word, just advanced on him slowly, his face cold as stone as terrifying energy, visible to the naked eye, coalesced around his right arm.
One glance was all it took for Rumlow to abandon any thought of resistance. "I surrender! Don't kill me! I'll talk! I'm not really with S.H.I.E.L.D., I'm—"
Jason cut him off, raising his fist. "I don't care who you are."
"No! It has everything to do with you!" Rumlow said, pulling out his video comms. "Before you decide whether or not to kill me, please, just talk to my boss first."
"Your boss? Fury?"
Rumlow just shook his head and started the call.
.........
The Triskelion, Washington.
Alexander Pierce picked up his communicator. Seeing the caller ID, a satisfied smile touched his lips. He accepted the call, and Jason's blood-soaked form appeared on the screen.
"Jason Walter. You truly did not disappoint," Pierce said, sitting down. "I know you're furious right now, and you have many questions. But now that you've passed my little test, I'm willing to share a secret with you."
Jason's lips curled in a smirk. "I don't need you to. I already know all about you. You and he are both HYDRA. And S.H.I.E.L.D. is full of your moles."
Hearing this, the smile vanished from Pierce's face; he looked as if he'd seen a ghost. HYDRA has been dormant for decades. No one knows we exist. How could this killer possibly know? Unless... he has a mole inside HYDRA?
After a moment's pause, Pierce clapped his hands softly. "Excellent! It seems I've greatly underestimated you. Since you already know, I won't play games."
"First of all, the strike on your residence was Fury's idea. It had nothing to do with me, or with HYDRA. Of course, I could have stopped him. But then I thought, this could be a good test. If you could survive it, it would prove you have what it takes to join us."
Jason's expression was one of pure contempt.
Pierce wasn't bothered. "I know a man like you, proud as you are, would never choose to join HYDRA. That's just a suggestion. It doesn't matter if you disagree."
"As I see it, HYDRA and your Joker Organization have a solid foundation for cooperation. We share a common enemy: S.H.I.E.L.D. And Nick Fury."
"Cooperation? What's in it for me?"
"The benefits are numerous," Pierce said. "In fact, we've been secretly sponsoring many terrorist organizations for years. Most major terrorist attacks around the globe have ties to HYDRA."
"That Mr. Norman Stansfield is your man, isn't he? Don't bother denying it; HYDRA has concrete proof. But I've already had it sealed. Not even Fury or the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. command knows about it."
"If you agree to cooperate, I will see to it that Stansfield is promoted to a Level 7 Agent within two years. You know how powerful S.H.I.E.L.D. is. Having an asset high up in their command structure would be invaluable to your organization."
"Furthermore, your organization lacks funding, equipment, weaponry, and any kind of official protection. I can provide all of this, free of charge. You won't have to lift a finger for HYDRA."
"So? It's a deal you can't lose, right?"
Jason fell silent. The energy in his right hand slowly dissipated.
"A good deal? HYDRA spends a little pocket change and provides some intel, and in return gets to use the Joker Organization as a weapon against S.H.I.E.L.D. Sounds like you're the one who can't lose."
Pierce smiled. "It's a win-win situation for both of us. Isn't that for the best?"
Jason smiled and nodded. "Yes, of course it is. I'm willing to give this partnership a try. Whether it becomes a long-term arrangement... that will depend on your sincerity."
Pierce let out a sigh of relief. "Then it's settled! With HYDRA and the Joker Organization united, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fall is only a matter of time."
"By the way, Rumlow is one of my men. Since we've reached an agreement, I'd appreciate it if you'd spare his life. As compensation... I can give you the name of the S.H.I.E.L.D. mole in your organization."
So there really is a mole. Anger flashed across Jason's face again. "Fine," He growled. "You have a deal."
Rumlow let out a massive sigh of relief.
"The mole is a Level 7 S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. Clinton Barton. Codename: Hawkeye. His friends call him Clint."
Clint! Jason instantly recalled the new recruit Billy had recommended to him earlier that day.
"He's a master archer, an expert in hand-to-hand combat, a skilled pilot, and proficient with all manner of cold weapons. He is one of Nick Fury's aces."
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You can read advance chapters and view R-18 images of the characters on pat reon page.
pat reon.com/GreenBlue17
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