❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place!"
"Hail HYDRA!"
"Long live HYDRA!"
BOOM.
As John Garrett's final words left his lips, the blazing Phoenix Ray slammed into his body.
The moment he finished speaking—
He vaporized on the spot.
Hawk's eyes returned to their normal clear blue. He stared at the space where John Garrett had stood moments before, replaying the man's last words in his mind.
"Heh."
"Cut off one head, two more take its place?"
"Maybe."
"But not in New York. Not anymore."
Hawk let out a quiet laugh, then turned and vanished from the office without a sound.
...
Down on the lowest level—in SHIELD's detention block. After HYDRA's second uprising, over thirty SHIELD agents who hadn't been killed but instead captured were now locked up here.
Commander Victoria Hand was among them.
Her condition wasn't good.
Her complexion was terrible.
But at least she was still conscious.
Three HYDRA operatives had been assigned to guard the captured SHIELD agents.
Their condition wasn't much better.
They'd just learned over the radio what was happening upstairs. The two originally stationed here, plus a third who'd just finished escorting Skye down, now stood with weapons trained on the only entrance, eyes sharp with paranoia.
The next moment, Hawk appeared.
Muzzles flared instantly. The three HYDRA operatives squeezed their triggers as fast as they could. Bullets sprayed like a torrential downpour toward Hawk, who'd materialized right in front of them.
And then, the hailstorm of bullets froze mid-flight as Hawk raised his hand.
Three sharp clicks echoed through the detention block as the magazines ran dry. The three HYDRA agents stared at the surreal scene unfolding before them, expressions blank with disbelief.
Their confusion didn't last long.
Because they died pretty quickly.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
With a thought, Hawk reversed the trajectory of three bullets hovering in front of him. They shot backward with sharp whistling sounds, punching clean through the foreheads of the three stunned HYDRA operatives. They toppled backward onto the cold floor, eyes still glazed with shock.
With a rattling clatter, the remaining suspended bullets dropped to the ground like rain.
The imprisoned SHIELD agents stared in stunned silence.
Victoria Hand—pale, weak, clearly on her last legs but clinging to consciousness through sheer willpower—saw Hawk appear and managed a faint smile.
Then she passed out completely.
"Commander!"
"SHIT—COMMANDER, COMMANDER!" The two female SHIELD agents who'd been taking care of Hand since their capture immediately called out in alarm.
Hawk saw what was happening and didn't waste time. With a thought and a sharp CRACK, the cell door shattered open.
The next second—
The lead agent in the front cell—bruised and battered but still mobile—shoved the door open and sprinted to the three bodies. He grabbed their weapons, swapped in fresh magazines, brushed past Hawk without a word, and took up a defensive position at the detention block's only entrance.
None of them stopped to talk to Hawk.
No need.
Anyone who showed up here right now and killed HYDRA operatives was an ally. That was all that mattered.
"Medical bay."
"The Commander needs an immediate transfusion."
One of the female SHIELD agents carrying the unconscious Commander Hand spoke urgently as she emerged from the cell. She looked at Hawk with desperate eyes. "Mr. Phoenix, the Commander's in bad shape."
Hawk glanced at her briefly.
"Just go. There's no more HYDRA left in the building."
"...Thank God. Get her to medical. Now."
The female agent who recognized Hawk froze for a second, then her face lit up with relief.
The three armed agents who'd already taken point at the entrance exchanged glances, then unlocked the heavy door the HYDRA operatives had sealed shut.
Beyond—
The corridor outside was empty.
Dead silent.
"Move it. Mr. Phoenix doesn't bullshit."
"Medical bay!"
"The Commander needs emergency care!"
The female agent who knew Hawk barked the order again. The agent carrying Commander Hand immediately took off at a run.
The rest of the surviving SHIELD agents locked up here snapped out of their daze and started moving.
Skye finally processed what was happening.
She rubbed her wrists where another SHIELD agent had just removed her cuffs, then stared at Hawk without blinking, her face a mix of shock and disbelief. "Wait—it's you."
She suddenly remembered selling Hawk a used laptop a while back.
Hawk recognized Skye as well. He was mildly curious why she was here, but didn't ask. Instead, he said, "So you joined SHIELD too?"
Skye blinked.
"Too? You mean you're also—"
"No. I'm not."
Hawk shook his head, then seemed to remember something. He looked at Skye. "What if I told you the only reason I came here was because you sold me that laptop once? What would you think?"
Skye's expression turned serious. "I'd think that was the worst business deal I ever made."
She remembered how she'd talked herself down on that forum listing, playing up how desperate she was, until she'd basically guilt-tripped herself into selling a laptop she'd planned to get fifteen hundred bucks for at a fraction of the price.
Hawk laughed.
...
In the medical bay, the female SHIELD agent—trusting Hawk's word completely—had sprinted here without stopping. She found the blood type Commander Hand needed in record time, set up the transfusion, and injected a dose of adrenaline.
The effect was instant.
Commander Hand, who'd just been unconscious, shot awake with a sharp gasp.
As she instinctively tried to sit up, the female agent quickly stopped her. "Commander, all HYDRA operatives have been eliminated by Mr. Phoenix."
Commander Hand's mind flashed back to the moment she'd seen Hawk appear, felt a wave of relief wash over her, and then passed out. Her tense muscles finally relaxed.
"Did we reach Sharon?"
"Not yet."
"She's in the same boat as you—hooked up to an IV at the hospital."
"..."
Victoria Hand instinctively turned her head toward the voice and saw Hawk standing nearby, hands in his pockets, smiling faintly.
"Haw—"
Commander Hand started to sit up again out of reflex.
Hawk stopped her with a thought, smiling. "Relax. Sharon should be back once she's recovered a bit."
Commander Hand let out a long, relieved breath. She looked at Hawk, her expression filled with gratitude, her voice sincere.
"Thank you."
"If you're going to thank anyone, thank HYDRA."
Hawk shook his head with a chuckle. "Sharon ran to my house for safety. And then HYDRA had the nerve to show up at my door demanding I hand her over. If I didn't respond to that, what's next? Today they test me, tomorrow they're pissing on my head."
Commander Hand's mouth twitched slightly at his phrasing.
"Then I guess we really should thank them."
"By the way."
Hawk shifted to business, looking at Commander Hand. "John Garrett. Whose man was he? Alexander Pierce's?"
Sure, John Garrett had taken full responsibility for everything before he died.
But was that even remotely believable?
Hawk knew there were plenty of people who could be called HYDRA leaders. But John Garrett wasn't one of them.
Which meant... The guy was just a high-level thug. The real mastermind who'd sent HYDRA operatives to his doorstep was someone else.
And he had a strong suspicion it was Alexander Pierce.
Commander Hand shook her head.
"John Garrett probably wasn't one of Alexander Pierce's people."
"Hm?"
Hawk looked at her, surprised.
After the blood transfusion, Commander Hand's deathly pale complexion had improved noticeably.
She started explaining who John Garrett was.
"John Garrett was a Level 8 agent and a munitions expert. He should have been stationed at HQ, but he got transferred to the New York Operations Center. Alexander Pierce was still the Director of SHIELD at the time, and he personally signed off on the transfer order."
"Doesn't that prove he's Pierce's guy even more?"
Hawk raised an eyebrow. "Pierce moves Garrett to New York ahead of time so he can wipe you all out when the uprising starts."
Commander Hand shook her head. "If that were the case, Garrett should have been made Deputy Commander of the New York Center, not just brought in as a specialist. At the time, I suspected Garrett had pissed Pierce off and was being exiled here."
After all, John Garrett's clearance level was legitimate.
SHIELD Level 8 Agent.
That was no joke.
Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton were only Level 7.
Garrett was Level 8—high-command authority.
And yet—his position never matched his clearance. In New York, his official role had always been munitions expert. No command authority whatsoever.
Hawk listened to Commander Hand's explanation, his expression thoughtful as he nodded slowly.
So if Alexander Pierce wasn't John Garrett's real boss—
Then who was?
Wait, how many HYDRA leaders were there again?
There was the new-generation Alexander Pierce.
There was supposedly some Baron over in Europe.
Did Zola count?
Hawk's thoughts churned.
Just then—
His phone rang.
Hawk pulled out his cell, glanced at the caller ID, and raised an eyebrow.
"Good evening, Anna."
"Good evening, Hawk."
"..."
❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
~# Bonus Chapter every 300PS