Chapter 10:
[Raijin POV]
[3 months later, SHIELD HQ, New York City]
Virtual-reality. Cap taps the white strip of tape on the floor with his feet, "On the line." The SHIELD recruits did as instructed. Cap stands in the center, "This is a simple exercise. All you have to do is get past me and ring the bell on the opposite side of the area." The first 3-man team readies themselves on the line. Karai blows the whistle signaling the start of the exercise. The three charge at Cap. Cap leaps onto the first guy and flips him onto his back. The second guy he takes down with a roundhouse-kick. The last guy tries to make quick rush pass Cap. With a smirk, Cap throws his shield, sweeping the leg out from under him. "And here I thought he was going to go easy," Skye murmurs. I smile under my mask, "That was him going easy." Skye looks at me in disbelief, then drops her head, "Now that just cheating." We continue to watch Cap takes down the other teams. "You would think they would've figured out the purpose of the exercise is to work as a team," I comment. "They'll figure it out. Eventually," Karai says. After an hour of training, we call a quit. "Alright guys log-out," Karai says.
Training-area. I open my eyes back in the real world seated in a layback chair with a headset on me. Next to me is Skye, who is starting to come to. We both take off the VR-headset. "Well, that was an experience. It felt real. Pain and all," she says, sitting up. "The brain makes it real. To the mind, pain's pain," Karai says. Skye peer at her, confused. "The phantom pain affect," I clarify. "Well, least I don't have to worry about lasting injuries from training," Skye says. "True," I state. As we watch Skye head out, Karai turns toward me, "I take it, you're not going to ask her out?" I shake my head, "No. Not built for it." Karai sighs, "Everyone's built for it. Whether it works out or not for both parties is a different story. Then again, I can't talk. I haven't dated anyone for almost a year." I raise an eyebrow, open my mouth to comment, but Karai stops me with a waved hand. "Fling doesn't count," she states.
[New York City]
Karai and I stroll through the nearly empty street of Hell's Kitchen. "It was nice to tag-up with Cap again," Karai says, walking beside me. "Yeah, it was," I tell her. We cross Saint Ann orphanage. I eye it. There aren't many orphanages in the city nowadays, or across the country. Since the installation of the Foster care system, a lot of orphanages closed down, including Guardians' Garden orphanage. We continue on. Coming up the block; there are a gathering people at the end of the street. Getting closer, we see that's it a block party. Karai peers to me, flashes a smile, "Want to be my plus one?" I beam, "Sure.'
The party is in full swing. Admittedly I didn't know anyone, hell I don't think anyone knew anyone. They're just there to enjoy their time. Karai took a few shots of tequila. She offered me some, but due to being enhanced by the BIO-ENHANCER, I couldn't get drunk. Hell, I couldn't even get a buzz. Regardless, I take the drink and gulp it down. Seeing a dance floor, Karai takes my hand, and we head over. I'm not a great dancer, but I could do good enough to get by. Karai takes the lead, and I follow. We move together with the rhythm of the music. "You're not a bad dancer," she says. "Honestly, I'm just following you, Karai," I say, sheepishly. Karai places her arms around my shoulders, drawing me closer, "You don't need to be nervous. Just go with the flow." A few hours later, a ruckus by a restaurant catches our attention. Curious, Kara and I go investigate. An enrage overweight chef storms out of the restaurant, meat cleaver in hand, chasing an animal. A puppy. "Oh, hell the fuck no," Karai yells, giving chase. I go after the three.
The pup gets cornered at a dead end. Turning, it sees the chef stalking towards it. The dog drops the meat it's holding in its mouth, and growl threateningly at the overweight man. The man just laughs, amused. "You little shit screwed with my business for the last time," the man yells. Before he could get closer to the animal, Karai grabs him by the shoulder. 'Let's not do that," she orders. The chef blinks back in surprise. "Cause if you did what you were set out to do that would be a crime. You go to prison, but not before I break your arms and legs. So, calm down and back off," Karai continues. Despite acting calm, I could see she's itching to punch the man out. I step in, making the guy's attention fall on me. From my pocket, I hand the chef a few hundred dollars, "For the damages the dog might have caused." He's about to say something. "Don't push your luck. Take it. Leave. Don't look back," I tell him. With a snort, the man walks away. I turn my gaze to Karai. She kneels down in front of the pup, a space between them. The dog steps out from the dark corner, peering at my partner suspiciously. "It's okay. It's okay. The mean fatass is gone now," she says to the pup. Karai picks up the piece of meat that it dropped. Unwrapping it, Karai holds out a bite-size bit. Cautiously, the pop moves toward Karai; sniff the beef, then eats it. "Aren't you a cute little thing," she says. Karai reaches out an empty hand to pet it. The pup jumps back. It studies her hand then Karai face. "I'm not going to hurt you," she tells the dog. Accepting her words; the pup moves in close, letting Karai pet it. Karai picks it up from off the ground. "You don't have a tag. Guessing you don't have an owner. Haven't seen your type of breed before. A hybrid, maybe?" Karai says, "Well, I guess you're stuck with Raijin and me." The pup licks her face happily. I walk to stand next to her, getting a better view of the puppy. The dog in her hands has a raven-colored fur. The eyes are the most striking. It's bright blue with a black sclera around it. 'Don't think that's a normal dog. Hell, it looks more wolf than dog. Maybe it's a wolfdog.' "I'm calling it Ahab," Karai says. Together we make way toward home with a new addition of the team.
[Steve Rogers POV]
[The Smithsonian, Washington DC]
Riding my motorcycle through the city, after riding about for a few hours, I found myself in one of my favorite places. The Smithsonian. But lately, it's been a little weird coming here, because the museum installed an exhibit on me. 'Steve Rogers a walking historical relic.' The last two days, been nagging me. Felt like everything I fought for was for nothing. Since when did we start sacrificing freedom for security. I shake my head. Walk through the exhibit as the voice over plays, telling a version of my story. Stop at a group of mannequins wearing replicas of the uniform worn by the Howling Commandos. My eyes drift to the mannequin that's supposed to be Bucky. Turning, I saw a black-&-white picture of Bucky titled 'A Fallen Comrade.' The voice over plays, "Both on school grounds and the battlefield Steven Rogers and Bucky Barnes were inseparable. Brothers in every way but blood. Barnes is the only member of the Howling Commandos to give his life in service of his country." I take a deep sad breath.
Next, I progress into a film room where I watch an interview with Peggy Carter. "That was a difficult winter. A blizzard trapped half of battalion behind German line. Steve, Captain Rogers, he fought his way through a HYDRA blockade that had pinned our allies down for months. He saved 1,000 men," she tells the interviewer, "Including the man who would eventually become my husband. After he died, Steve was still changing my life." I pull out the old compass from my pocket, admiring the only photo of Peggy I had. My mind dance at a distant memory of our one and single night together. For a moment, I thought about seeing Peggy, but it felt wrong and somewhat cruel in a way. 'Let her go, old man. Let her go.'
[Nick Fury POV]
[Weeks later, Triskelion, Washington DC]
Office. "Secure the office," I order. The windows polarize to a dark tinted shade. Other security measures I couldn't see started up as well. No electronic traffic could go in or out. I insert the USB drive Romanov had brought back into a terminal, "Open the Lemurian Star satellite launch file." The computer displays a message on the screen, "Access denied." 'The fuck?' "Run decryption," I order. "Decryption failed," the computer tells me. "Director override. Fury Nicholas J," I say, trying another approach. "Override denied all files sealed," the computer relays. "On whose authority?!" I demand. "Director Nicholas Fury," the computer tells me. Someone locked me using my code. There aren't that many people that can do that. My mind starts to list off some suspects. I had suspicions something was going within SHIELD but didn't have anything substantial to go on. Now the question is how deep does this goes, or rather how high? There's only one person I could ask. I make a beeline to the elevator.
World Security Council office. Alexander Pierce, liaison and member of the World Security Council. Four of the council members are in a heated talk with Pierce. The council members are presence via hologram. I notice Gideon Malick is absent from the meeting. Interesting enough, he's on my list of suspects. A secretary walks over to Pierce to informs him that I'm in his office and needed to talk. Pierce strolls out the meeting room, ignoring the councils' protest. "I work 40 floors away, and it takes a hijacking for you to visit," he says, walking to the office. "A nuclear war would do it too," I shoot back. I glance through the window, "Having a hard time?" The man forces a smile, "It's nothing I haven't handle a million times before." I turn back to Pierce, "I need a favor. Call for a vote. Project Insight needs to be delayed." "Nick, that's not a favor, that's a sub-committee hearing. Along one," he says. The hidden anger in his voice isn't hard to miss. Least not for me. Like councilman Malick, Pierce wanted Project Insight ready to go ASAP. My suspiciousness of the man starts to rise. "It might be nothing. It probably is nothing. I want to make sure that it is nothing," I tell him. "But if it is something?" he asks. He was trying to see how much he could get out of me. I've been in counterintelligence long enough to know when someone is subtly trying to get me to spill secrets. I sigh, "Then we'll both be damn glad those Helicarriers aren't in the air." "Fine. I'll talk to the council," Pierce says. As I'm making my exit, I send out an encrypted message that SHIELD is compromised.
[Washington DC]
Car. I drive through the city. A lot is running through my mind. Part of me is hard at work mentally, kicking myself for not seeing the conspiracy sooner. I should've acted on it the first moment I got suspicious. My old age is finally catching up to me. Whatever is going on, it's connected to Project Insight. I activate the communication encryption protocol and call Hill. My second in command quickly answers. "I need you in DC. Deep shadow condition," I tell her, getting straight to the point. "Give me four hours," Hills says. "You got three," I say, ending the call. I stop at a traffic light. A police car pulls up next to me. The two cops inside stare me down. Their appearance hostile, eyes were hidden behind mirrored sunglasses. It wasn't my first time dealing with asshole cops. But this is different. Alarm bells are going off in my head, telling me to be ready for a fight. The light changes green, and everything turns mayhem.
[Karai POV]
[Pakistan]
Quinjet. SHIELD tasked us on a high-priority mission. Intel team got actionable information the TEN-RINGS got their hands on a nuke. The other STRIKE commandos are gearing up. I glance at Rumlow as he starts to brief the team on the mission. "Alright, listen up! The stolen nuke wasn't taken far. Once we have it, we'll disarmament it in route to the LZ. We have its location narrowed down to a missile assembly building. We'll go in by the roof and fan out from there. Raijin, Karai, if any support is needed, you two will reinforce as I lead the ground unit," he tells us. Joining us on this snatch-&-grab op is JSOC. "We're approaching the drop zone," the pilot calls out. "Ten-hut! Make ready," Rumlow yells out, getting everyone on their feet. The quinjet stealthily flies over one of the neighboring buildings. Alpha team rope-line down onto the roof. Weapon at the ready, we enter into the assembly building.
Spotting an enemy, I quickly dash up behind him and throw my arms around his neck, putting him in back-choke-hold. The man is out cold in less than 2 seconds. "Got three on the lower level," a JSOC soldier reports. "Moving to clear," Raijin says. Raijin moves past me to the lower level. He grabs hold the head of an unsuspecting sentry, slams him to the wall, quick-draws his pistol, and drop another three sentries ahead of him. "Clear," Raijin into his comlink. Using the HUD, I spot a team of hostiles Loading the nuke on a vehicle.
"They're moving out! Bring the rain! Do not let them leave with that nuke!" I yell out. JSOC come fast-roping down from an opening, firing on every enemy target they spot. The entire facility just turns into a small war zone with bullets flying in all directions. I sprint across the catwalk, slide under a crate, drop three militia with headshots. Via HUD, I saw Raijin tackle an enemy who was trying to get a drop on me. "Nice save," I say to Raijin. "Someone got to watch your six," he says. "Well, as long as it's not my lower six. Don't want to Skye to get jealous do we," I state back. Despite wearing his mask, I know Raijin's face is bright red with blush. "Mind on the op, Karai," Raijin deflects. "Nuke is secured," Rumlow says via comlink, "Mount up on the transport vehicle." I look over the railing. STRIKE and JSOC are starting to move out. At that moment, I feel like something is off. Raijin and I grapple down to ground-level. Landing on the transport vehicle, we head out.
Evac location. We station down in the middle of an open field 10 miles out, waiting for our pick-up. It'll be a 2-hour wait time. Raijin taps my shoulder and hands me a bottle of water which I happily take. We eye the other soldiers who are celebrating a successful mission. Raijin and I go join them. An hour past. I heard something coming from the distance. Gazing over the horizon, I spot seven flyers. "Transport's early," Raijin says, standing next to me. At that moment, a message from Fury displays on our HUD. 'SHIELD compromised,' it reads. Once in range, the flyers start to open fire on us. "INCOMING!" Raijin yells.
He jumps on me, dropping both of us to the ground. It's complete chaos. Soldiers are ripped to shreds left and right. Those who aren't killed by the first pass start to fight back with everything they had. Getting to our feet, Raijin and I join the battle. Obtaining rocket launcher, a JSOC soldier takes one of the flyers down. Three carriers land, dropping a small battalion of troops. They move on us, boxing us in. The Flyers still in the air makes another past, wiping out a group of soldiers. There's only a handful of us still standing. The JSOC soldiers who are fighting alongside us are quickly killed one by one with insane shots to the head, leaving only Raijin and I the last two standing. The mercs surround us on all sides. A near-invisible shadow steps forward, deactivates the stealth-camo, revealing Drake. Raijin straightens. Rumlow and his team casually stride to the mercs. "You motherfucker," I growl, glaring hateful daggers at the man, "You sold us out." Rumlow smirk. Drake eyes the man, "The Bosses want you back in DC." "Hail HYDRA," he says, walking off. Both Raijin and I eyes gape in shock at Rumlow's words.
Drake dashes forward, he slams his fist to Raijin's face. I quickly take aim. But Drake zig-zag in close, take hold of my gun, elbows me in the jaw, spins me around while still holding onto my arm, slams an elbow to the joint, breaking it. I scream out in pain.
[Raijin POV]
I jump to my feet, just in time to watch Drake break Karai's arm. He tosses her to the side. We stare each other down. "Drake," I growl the man's code-name. "Come on, Runt. Let's go," Drake says. Before I could move, Drake grabs me by the neck with one hand. I break out of his hold, arm-throw him to the ground. As the assassin jumps back to his feet, I rush at him, striking him in the chest with a jump-knee. Karai watches on in fear. My momentary distraction gives Drake the advantage. He punches me with a sturdy hook, sending my flying to the aside like a ragdoll. "Raijin!" I Karai yells. Karai goes back on the attack. But Drake easily fends her off. The assassin utterly outmatched her. In a swift lighting speed motion, Drake draws a blade and stabs Karai in the shoulder, then punctures the blade to the side of her body. Karai screams in agony. She falls to her knees, blood streaming out of her wounds. I run forward, tackle Drake off of her. He back-elbows me in the face, throws a hand at my face, slamming my head to the wall. Karai tries to get back in the fight, but Drake kicks her square in the face, sending her back to the ground. He turns back to me. Drake swings his knife. I black the attack, push him toward the wall, rain down punches. Every blow I hit the assassin with is harder than the last. I felt the bone of his jaw crack under my fist. Drake pushes me off and spin-back-kicks me in the chest. The hit sends my crashing to the ground. The merc strides to the downed Karai. He grabs her by the head, yanks to her knees, and readies the blade for the killing blow. Karai spits in his face, "Fuck you." "No!" I yell out.
From out of nowhere Drake is shot by an energy blast, sending him crashing to the ground. The carriers hovering nearby are also shot down. I look up to see a woman in a red and blue combat-suit. It's Carol Danvers AKA Captain Marvel. The mercs start to open fire on the masked rescuer. With grace, she maneuvers around the air, avoiding the oncoming fire. The woman blasts a few of the mercs. Jetting toward Karai and me, Danvers takes hold of us and flies off. Drakes stands back up, glaring as we escape.