"Agent Sitwell, we've just received word from the Triskelion. You have orders to report to the Lemurian Star immediately."

Jasper doesn't let his confusion show at Hand's announcement. She'd said that word had come down from the Triskelion, but not who that word had come from. Fury? Pierce? At present, all he knows is that he's being suddenly reassigned to a location that makes absolutely no sense to him. What business could he possibly be needed for on the Lemurian Star of all places? Whatever the reason, he can't question it. He's got to go with the flow and hope for the best.

"I guess I've got a boat to catch," Jasper says, once Hand has left them alone. He holds his hand out. "Good luck, Agent Coulson."

"You, too, Agent Sitwell," Phil replies, meeting him with a firm handshake.

For now, this is just as it seems: two colleagues, two friends, wishing each other luck on their separate endeavors. Neither of them could possibly know that in the days and weeks and months to come, it will mean so much more than that.


"Encrypted line: secure."

"Agent Jasper Sitwell, Update Log 568," Jasper answers smartly.

He pauses, taking a deep breath to get his bearings after his private meeting with Pierce. HYDRA is preparing to surface. After seventy years of biding their time, after all the years that Jasper had spent in their company, it's all coming to a head. They need to be ready.

"I'm being assigned to the Lemurian Star," Jasper says into the receiver. "There are valuable files onboard that relate to Project Insight that I'm supposed to protect. You need to stage something. I don't care what it is; insurgents, pirates… hell, take the boat out if you have to. We're moving into End Game territory. Someone has to recover those files at all costs and it can't be me, not this time. I'm the only senior officer that's going to be stationed aboard who knows anything about this, so if I try anything, they'll find out."

He frowns hard, the day's events tumbling through his mind of their own free will.

"Send Rogers and Romanoff. Rogers is good for clearing the place and Romanoff… well, I don't have to tell you what she's good at. That's just my suggestion. Update Log 568, end."

Jasper sets the phone back on the receiver and replaces the wall paneling. There's a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he exits into the dark, deserted alleyway but he tucks it away neatly, professionally. After all, he's got work to do.


Jasper sighs as he rides the lift up to the forty-first floor of the Triskelion. Unsurprisingly, Pierce wants a word over the debacle aboard the Lemurian Star. Likely to discuss their next move.

When Jasper wished Phil luck, he really had meant it, but… well, it's complicated. In fact, it's times like these that he really hates the fact that it has to be complicated. He'd allowed a man he'd called a friend for years to run off on a wild goose chase, putting himself and his team—and Jemma, a little voice in the back of his head reminds him—in danger. And apparently, Felix Blake had paid a very high price; from what he hears, his fellow agent is still in intensive care, lined up for another round of surgeries to correct the damage done when Deathlok had caved his ribs in. Jasper could have solved all of it himself, prevented that from happening, in a heartbeat. Should have. But couldn't. Not if he was to maintain his cover.

Yes, Jasper Sitwell, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who's secretly an Agent of HYDRA who's secretly still an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. working directly for Nick Fury, has to maintain his cover. Friendships, relationships, loyalties, they all have to come second to this. And how many years has it been now? How many years since HYDRA had first approached him and he, in turn, had approached Fury? He still remembers how Fury had explained it to him then; HYDRA couldn't touch Phil Coulson, but his ambitious young protégé with a less than sparkling record? Now that is someone they'd like to get their hands on.

So he'd let them think they'd gotten their hands on him. He's played his part and played it well, but that doesn't mean he's been comfortable with the lengths he's had to go to. In fact there are more than a few things that have cost him a good night's sleep or two (or three or four or several). But this is necessary. This has to matter above all else. Because S.H.I.E.L.D. cannot be allowed to fall to this threat.

"Agent Sitwell."

Secretary Alexander Pierce greets him with a smile as he steps off the lift.

"Mr. Secretary," Jasper answers respectfully.

"Come in, come in," Pierce says, ushering him forward. "Sit and have a drink."

"Thank you, sir," Jasper says, following the man further inside.

It's like walking into the lion's den every time and he never really did peg himself as a Daniel, but he's learned over time. It's just another skin he's figured out how to wear, just another mask. He sits in the proffered seat across from the secretary, gratefully accepting the tumbler full of scotch that's handed to him.

"I bet you're thinking I called you here to reprimand you for the Lemurian Star," Pierce guesses.

Jasper adopts a contrite look, bowing his head in admission. "Sir, I accept full responsibility. I failed in my duty and I am prepared for whatever punishment you see fit."

He hears Pierce laugh. "You see? I knew it. No, my boy, that's not why I've asked to see you."

"Sir?" Jasper prompts questioningly, looking up.

Pierce waves a hand. "Fury is… crafty. You couldn't be expected to complete your duties with pirates and Captain America and the Black Widow onboard, could you? Of course not. But you see, this is what we do. We move forward. We've had our share of setbacks over the years so it's unsurprising that we'll hit more than a few roadblocks as we near our goal."

"Of course, sir," Jasper answers dutifully. He allows himself to look hesitant, curious. "If I might ask, sir… if not to reprimand me, why did you ask for me? At a time like this, wouldn't I better be serving our cause by being out in the field?"

"Too right you are and I intend to send you out just as soon as we're finished," Pierce answers him. He stares into his own glass before taking a slow sip. "It occurred to me, Agent Sitwell, that you've been with us for some time. Nearly seven years, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

"And in that seven years, you've proved to be one of the most valuable assets we've recruited towards our cause," Pierce continues. "Service like that deserves to be acknowledged, deserves to be rewarded. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I agree only to what you see fit, Mr. Secretary," Jasper replies.

Pierce wags a finger at him, grinning. "You see, that's why I like you, Sitwell. That's why I've always liked you. I had my eye on you since Agent Coulson first recruited you and don't ever let it be said that I don't know how to pick them."

Jasper nods appreciatively. "And I know the winning side when I see it."

"Precisely," Pierce agrees. "Which brings me to my next point: you've long proclaimed that you make a great patsy. With your service to us over the years, I have to say that I'm in complete agreement."

Jasper is startled, but not startled enough not to fight back, when he's seized from behind. There is a quick, brutal struggle that ands with him pinned on his belly with what feels like seven or eight people holding him down. He still struggles in futility, unwilling to let it end like this. The realization comes crashing down on him: his cover is blown. They're going to kill him. They're going to torture him for information and kill him. S.H.I.E.L.D. is in danger. Fury is in danger. Everyone is in danger.

"But you know," Pierce says. "It wasn't until recently that I realized just who you were playing patsy for. Bravo, Agent Sitwell, on a job well done."

Jasper feels a sharp prick at the back of his neck. He struggles even harder, knowing what's about to happen, but it's useless. Within seconds, he can feel whatever they'd injected him with beginning to take effect. His frustration and anger mounts as his body grows numb and his mind goes fuzzy.

"I'm not… not gonna tell anything," he slurs.

Pierce shrugs. "Not by your own free will, no. Fury tends to pick them as well as I do. But I've got big plans for you, my boy. We'll make you a proper agent of HYDRA yet."

That sinking feeling is back, a hundred times worse than before. Thanks to whatever's in his system, he now quite literally feels as though he's sinking. Just before he loses consciousness, Jasper wonders what exactly being made a proper agent of HYDRA entails and knows that, whatever it is, he has to do whatever it takes to resist. This is a fight he can't afford to lose.