A/N: Here's the next story in my 'The Masters' series. This will be a SHIELD story for the most part, that will incorporate a lot from the comics and movies universes. The New Avengers and other heroes will make appearances here and there, though.

In Shadows

Upheaval

The Triskelion

It was only a matter of time, Fury figured. Eight days since the defeat of the Masters of Evil, the World Security Council launched a full review, as was their wont and protocol after every major crisis. Normally, he received a good review.

This wasn't a normal occasion. They just overcame the greatest global crisis since WWII, but not without a massive cost. Hydra had infiltrated SHIELD, the Avengers were dead, and over 70% of SHIELD's based were smoldering piles of ash. Dozens upon dozens of SHIELD agents were either dead or turned into some kind of biological Sentinel hybrid. All under his watch.

He had a bad feeling about this meeting.

He almost always did. It was no secret that he had no love for the WSC. They disagreed on almost everything, and he had his suspicions about whether they were really as on the up and up as they tried to make themselves out to be.

This time, he felt especially bad. Everything that could have gone wrong in the beginning did, in spectacular fashion. In fact, it was only when the New Avengers cut ties with SHIELD that things actually start going right. Fury was proud of the team, but the alarming speed with which they flipped the script on the Masters had him worried about his job security. He, in his own opinion, acted incompetently during the entire ordeal. He was sure that the WSC saw things the same way.

Fury sighed and strode quickly down the crowded halls en route to the conference room. To his left was his Deputy, and his right was his best agent. Next to him was Agent 13, aka Sharon Carter.

He liked Sharon. She was a straightforward woman who did her job the right way, without question. She was also the great-niece of the first SHIELD director, Peggy Carter. He guessed that made her part of some kind of legacy of Carter women in SHIELD. He didn't know if Sharon's mother, Peggy's niece, was apart of SHIELD. That'd be something he'd have to remember to ask her.

"I have a bad feeling about this, boss," Coulson said in a low tone. Hill nodded in silent agreement.

It was no secret that Fury didn't care for the WSC. It was also no secret that the WSC didn't care for him. They had been looking for a reason to kick him to the curb for years. Decades, really, since they never jibed well together to begin with.

"They're looking for an excuse, sir," Carter noted. She didn't have to point out that he very well may have given them a valid one.

Fury sighed. "I'm aware."

"They're looking for a scapegoat," Hill stated.

Again, Fury sighed. "I'm aware."

"You're taking the fall for this," Coulson said.

Fury stopped at the door of the conference room where the WSC was waiting for him. He turned to face his three agents. His weathered face was tight and weighed down with grim realization. "I'm aware," he answered for a third time. He opened the door and stepped inside. The door closed, leaving the three high ranking agents to pace the floor and inquire about his fate.

The room was dimly lit, presumably for intimidation. There were only five people in the room – three of which were members of the WSC, representing France, Germany and the United States. One, a redheaded woman in her late twenties, was the registrar in charge of recording the discussion. Finally, there was an unknown caucasian man, possibly in his forties with graying black hair sitting in the corner. When they made eye contact, he nodded once sharply.

Fury didn't nod back.

"Welcome Director Fury," greeted the French councilwoman. "Please have a seat and we will begin."

He did so. The table he sat behind was small, just large enough for one person. There was one overhead light illuminating the perimeter of his table. There were three lights illuminating theirs.

"How are you today, Director?" asked the German councilman.

"Let's cut to the chase, Councilman Langsdorf," Fury stated dryly.

Langsdorf sighed softly and nodded. "Very well, Director. Why don't you give us a brief synopsis of what happened with the Masters of Evil."

Fury spoke promptly. "On June 13th of this year, at approximately 5:02 in the afternoon, SHIELD received word that a swarm of oversized insects, wasps and ants specifically, was rampaging through Houston, Texas." It was a sign of the times that no one found that to be weird in the slightest. "I alerted and deployed the Avengers immediately. After our debriefing the next day, the team was attacked by first a dragon, and then a cloaked man who was later identified as the Mandarin."

"Did you give the team any assistance with the, ah, dragon?" asked the councilwoman.

"No," he answered succintly.

"Why not?"

"We had problems scrambling our jets. Our systems were hacked by Hydra."

"And how did that happen?"

"We are still trying to figure that out."

She wrote nothing down, which coaxed an eyebrow from Fury, and gestured for him to continue.

"The Avengers then laughed a full investigation into the Masters. It was then, on June 18, that Rogers and Stark found that Dr. Henry Pym and Mr. Scott Lang had been kidnapped by Hydra. Stark deduced that it was Hydra who was behind the attack in Houston, and that they would likely want Pym's colleague Janet Van Dyne, as well. En route to bringing her to SHIELD, they were attacked by Hydra. Lang, under orders from his captures, kidnapped Van Dyne and took her back to Hydra."

The American councilman, Jackson, raised an eyebrow. "And yet, we've been briefed that he was not only not apprehended, but was allowed on the New Avengers."

"His daughter was kidnapped and used as leverage against him. I can forgive a man for doing what it takes to keep his daughter alive." Fury waited to see if Jackson wrote anything down. He didn't. "At the same time as this, in Montreal, Thor and the Maximoffs were sent to handle a disturbance. They were immediately attacked by the Abomination. We still don't know how he managed to escape from his quintuple maximum security prison cell. While Thor battled him, and Scarlet Witch handled the civilians, Quicksilver was brainwashed by Amora the Enchantress, who sent him to kill his sister. If Thor hadn't have shown up when he did, he would have.

"Later that night, I sent Agents Romanoff, Barton and Drew t–"

"The Hydra spy, you mean?" interrupted Jackson.

"Former Hydra spy," he corrected, annoyed at being interrupted again.

Jackson rummaged through the papers before him and pulled one in particular out. He quickly scanned through it, then shook his head. "Hm, no. Her dossier doesn't say anything about her formally renouncing her allegiance to Hydra. Matter of fact," he paused at went through the same process, "neither does Romanoff's."

Fury shrugged. "Seems like they didn't need to, since they both had been on their best behavior for the five and eight years, respectively, that they had been at SHIELD."

"They're spies, Director Fury. They make a living in deep undercover. How do we know that Romanoff wasn't in collusion with this Yelena Belova for the Red Room? How do we know that Drew wasn't the one who hacked into SHIELD's computers and mussed up the systems? How do we know that Thor didn't secretly provide an avenue for his friend the Enchantress to sneak onto Earth?"

Fury leaned back in his chair, jaw tight with annoyance and burgeoning anger. The unadulterated gall these bastards had to actually insinuate that the Avengers, his handpicked heroes, had something to do with this. "Romanoff and Drew were taken as young girls and abused by their respective groups, molded into killers, and then set loose on the world on a leash. When they broke free, and found that they could atone for their sins, they jumped at the opportunity. I like to think that I'm pretty good at reading people. Trust me, they were legit. As for Thor, he was a noble prince. An honorable man. I guaranteed that he had nothing to do with this."

"But not intentionally, right?" the councilwoman, LaRue, retorted. "She was his childhood friend, wasn't she? If a friend asked to visit, would you say no?"

Fury looked at her strangely. He knew, for a fact, that Thor only told him of his relationship with the Enchantress. How did they know that? "How did you know that?"

"The other Asgardian, Valkyrie, told us when we debriefed her recently," she answered coolly.

Valkyrie had only been back on Earth once since the battle at Zemo's castle, and that was to ask him if she could take Loki's scepter back to Asgard. She left immediately after he said he'd get back to her.

His eyes narrowed, suspiciousness and paranoia permeating off him like a thick smoke.

"Is something the matter, Director?" Langsdorf asked casually.

Fury stood abruptly from his chair. "What is this?"

The three councilmembers watched him calmly. "This is your performance review, as is protocol after crises like this. If you'll have a seat," Langsdorf suggested.

"I'm not sitting anywhere. Something isn't right about any of this."

The three looked at each other then back to Fury. Jackson shrugged. "If you'd like to discontinue the debriefing, we can."

Fury said nothing.

"Very well. We've made our decision."

"What? What decision? How?"

They ignored him. "In light of the way SHIELD handle the crisis with the Master of Evil, the death of the Avengers, and the death of thousands, we deem it necessary to move in a different direction with SHIELD. Unfortunately, that direction will not include you."

And there it was. Fury figured he'd lose his job. It was why he looked as calm as he did when the figurative hammer dropped.

But, literally none of this sat well with him.

But, what could he have done? He had no real power over them, and even if he did, he had just been fired. He was just a man now.

"We are terribly broken up about –"

"Save it, Jackson," Fury spat. Now that he was fired, he could have spent days lambasting the three jackasses in front of him. But he didn't. He had more important things to look into.

Without another word or passing glance to anyone in the room, he strode out. Once outside, he looked at his three agents. Specifically Hill. In the protocol, it stated clearly that if anything happened to him, the Deputy Director would be promoted to Director. Even if she was passed over, there was Coulson and Hand. Either way, SHIELD was in good hands. "Good luck," the said with a broad nod to the three of them.

"Good luck? Nick, wait!" It was Hill, but he didn't stop.

He didn't stop until he walked inside his office and found it already devoid of furniture, pictures and his desk. Hell, even his picture of the Howling Commandos that was hanging up behind his desk was gone. All that was present was a cardboard box with the things that once occupied his desk. "Bastards."

"Nick?" Hill and Coulson stepped inside and faltered. "Sir, what happened?"

"It should be obvious, Hill. You, or Coulson or Hand, are in charge now." A grave silence swept over the room. Fury waited a few moments before taking his leave. "Take care. It's been an honor serving with all of you."

Nick Fury wasn't one for over emotional and sappy goodbyes. He wasn't one for goodbyes in general; he usually just left. This case, however, he felt that the people before him deserved at least one final word. He decided right then to give Victoria Hand a call to say goodbye. For as much crap as she put up with from him, he felt she deserved it, as well. Also, he had something to ask of her.

He felt a little bad using his dismissal as leverage to basically guilt her into doing this. Well, it had to be done.

As he walked down the halls of the Triskelion, he dumped his box in the nearest trash can and headed for the exit. There was nothing in that desk that he needed.

"Mr. Fury," said a voice once he stepped outside. He turned and found an older man with graying black hair and goatee dressed in a sharp navy blue suit. He was leaning on a bright yellow Corvette. "Hello. I'm –"

"Dr. Stephen Strange, yes, I know who you are." How couldn't he recognize the outspoken neurosurgeon? But, how did he get passed security without proper authorization, and why was here to talk with him?

Strange smiled knowingly. "Of course you do. First, allow me to say that I'm sorry for your frankly unjust dismissal," he said genuinely.

Fury raised an eyebrow and cocked his head back. "How did you –"

"I'll explain. Please," he gestured toward the passenger side door, "if you will. I have much to speak with you about."

Should he? Whatever Strange had to talk about probably wasn't important, but there was something about him that compelled him to at least listen. Besides, he had all the time in the world to do what he needed to do now. "Sure. I'll listen."

A/N: And there we go. Let me know what you all think.