"How'd you get in?"
Pierce's face twisted with confusion.
He never expected to see this person at this moment.
"It's my office."
Nick Fury's voice was steady, almost robotic, as if nothing had happened.
"What are you here for?"
Pierce's suspicion grew. He'd considered Fury might return, but this was too sudden. His question came out flat, pointless.
Unless Fury had stashed a Life Model Decoy in the office, Pierce thought.
"What's wrong, Pierce? Surprised to see me?"
Fury's last word quivered like an electric eel, his expression stiff. Pierce didn't notice.
Fury's face was usually a mask, except when he let out a "motherfucker."
Maybe that was his "everything's under control" confidence.
"Little surprised. Still can't figure out how you got in."
Pierce, still looking off, drew a pistol from his waist and aimed it at Fury.
"Old buddy, why the gun? Is climbing stairs a capital offense now?"
Fury stayed expressionless, his voice trembling more noticeably, yet he made no defensive move.
Bang!
Pierce fired.
"Holy shit!"
A sharp female voice burst from "Fury's" mouth.
"Agent 19, Mockingbird Barbara Morse?"
Pierce stared, baffled, at the "Fury" before him. Mockingbird was just a codename—she wasn't a shapeshifter.
Yet here was Barbara, disguised as Fury, standing right in front of him. It made him wonder.
What else was S.H.I.E.L.D. hiding?
"Who the hell are you?!"
Barbara's Fury disguise vanished instantly. It was just a projection device, nothing more.
Agent 19 had no clue what was happening in S.H.I.E.L.D., but after Coulson's broadcast, she'd grabbed a projection device and an immature voice modulator from the lab to investigate.
When Pierce shot at her while she was posing as Fury, she was convinced the former Director had been replaced.
Pierce saw the suspicion in her eyes.
Now he was stuck in the same bind Fury had faced: proving he was himself.
"You don't know anything, so why'd you barge in? Agents like you make me wanna cry from stupidity."
Pierce's temples throbbed, like a high-blood-pressure patient being force-fed sweets by a well-meaning friend aiming for the "triple high" jackpot.
He gritted his teeth, spitting out the words.
Knock, knock, knock.
"This time it's gotta be right! Come in, Rumlow, Natasha—motherfucker! Enough already!"
Pierce glanced at the newcomers, firing his gun repeatedly with the frenzy of an NYPD takedown.
He'd snapped, channeling Fury's catchphrase and becoming Motherfucker Man II.
"First Fury, now you dare mock me with a dead man?!"
Pierce's carefully crafted aura and gravitas collapsed.
Because walking in was none other than Captain America, decked out in the old combat suit preserved as a S.H.I.E.L.D. relic!
Clang, clang, clang!
Bullets ricocheted off the shield, scattering.
"Looks like Rumlow was telling the truth."
Captain America, having roared in on his motorcycle, arrived faster than Fury or Rumlow's crew.
But acting alone in S.H.I.E.L.D. felt risky. After a series of low-profile moves and patient endurance, it was time for the slaughter chapter.
Fifty years! S.H.I.E.L.D., overrun by Hydra, wasn't worth saving anymore!
But everything he'd lost, he'd take back!
"Alexander Pierce, prepare your last will!"
Steve Rogers hurled his shield, smashing Pierce's wrist. The gun and shield clattered to the floor, and Steve charged, closing the gap in an instant!
"Captain America!"
Mockingbird Barbara shouted his name, her voice brimming with respect.
"You're actually Captain America?!"
Pierce, clutching his broken wrist, stared in disbelief as Steve stepped on the shield's edge, flipping it back into his hand.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Come in, Rumlow, Natasha, and Melinda. Nice work."
Steve's calm tone painted him as unshakable, in complete control.
To him, it was simple: he'd slipped into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s storage, donned his old suit, and climbed the emergency exterior stairs.
Along the way, he'd spotted Rumlow's trio exiting the elevator.
Not even breaking a sweat, he was the picture of cool.
"You got here faster than I expected."
Rumlow eyed Pierce, who looked like he'd swallowed a fly, wondering what the hell had happened to put that expression on his face.
"Greetings… Captain."
Melinda, startled, slipped into Mandarin at the sight of Steve.
"You're Captain America?"
Natasha dropped her sultry act, eyes wide.
Steve sensed something off about the situation, one corner of his mouth twitching into a checkmark-shaped smirk.
"What's so weird about him being Captain America?"
Agent Hill strode in, all business.
"Pierce, you're so blind you can't even recognize Captain America." Sharon Carter's jab hit Pierce like a sledgehammer.
Fury surged, unable to hold back a spray of blood from the shock.
Behind Hill came a panting Dugan and Fury, drenched in sweat. Sharon's eyes locked on the heroic, towering Steve, sparkling with admiration.
That checkmark smirk radiated confidence, sparking a ten-thousand-word fantasy in Sharon's mind about her Aunt Peggy and Steve's reunion.
"Looks like we can handle both things at once."
Rumlow cracked his knuckles, pulling the axe from his waist.
"A former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director who doesn't recognize Captain America? Might as well be dead."
Melinda muttered in Mandarin.
(End of Chapter)
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