Chapter 21 [SHIELD Compound]

Fury sat in his office and sipped calmly on a cup of coffee. At the moment, he waited for his best analysts to report on the ramifications of the day's events. He regarded the walkie talkie sitting on the desk with little emotion as well. Right now he wanted updates and information.

The President waited for updates too.

Atleastthosedelegatesaresafe.He recalled the Secretary General's call concerning Peggy's daring breakout. AtleastAgentSimmonsisontheball.Withoutthehostages,hopefullyRogersandtheotherscanmopupthatsituation.He rolled his good eye. ThatisifStarkcankeepfromfightingwiththeotherslongenough.

At that moment, the walkie talkie buzzed at him.

"Go," he answered into it.

"Colonel, this is Agent Simmons. The situation at the UN has been dealt with. NYPD is taking the Hydra agents into custody. The Red Skull vaporized during the course of the fighting," Peggy reported.

"I see. Vaporized, Agent Simmons?" he wondered.

"Schmitt refused to surrender. He fired on me. I returned fire with one of his own weapons. Apologies for not bringing him back alive, Colonel," she clarified.

"No apologies necessary. Nice work on getting the delegates out. Return to base. Put Rogers on," he assured her.

"Yes, Colonel?" Cap answered.

"Anything else you'd like to add to Agent Simmons' story about the Red Skull?" Fury queried pointedly.

"No, sir. We engaged his forces. He vanished during the firefight. It was just like what happened onboard his jet craft in 42. He's somewhere out in the cosmos," Cap reported. "But he's out of it."

"You sure?" Fury pressed.

"Until Loki brought him back, he was trapped out there. We need to deal with him. Any word on Thor or the Widow?" Cap rebutted.

"Other than her request for EMTs to treat the wounded, negative. Send Iron Man and Hawkeye to the airport. Get Agent Simmons back here. Then you hook up with them. Got it?" Fury instructed. "Fury, out." He set the walkie talkie back down on the desk and dialed his cell. "Hey, Targot, any word from NYPD?"

Sybil Targot, a senior analyst and SHIELD's liaison to the NYPD, responded, "Yes, sir. SWAT forces entered the UN and apprehended Schmitt's forces. Commissioner Raymond will hand over the weapons to us as per your request."

"Excellent work, Targot. Keep me posted. Out." Fury set the cell down heavily on the oak surface. "One down, one to go." He picked up the walkie talkie again. "Widow, this is Fury. Status?"

"Widow here, Colonel. Ambulances are here. EMTs are either treating victims or transporting them to local hospitals. I am monitoring things here. No word on Thor or the others and…."

A loud crash could be heard in the background.

"What the Hell was that? Romanov!" he barked.

"No idea. It's coming from where Thor went to engage Loki. Orders?" she informed him.

"Orders? Hell, Widow, if the medics have everything under control, back Thor up. Got it? Out!" Fury concluded. "So much for peaceful solutions. With my luck, JFK's going to be toast. What else can go wrong?" He gulped from his coffee again.

On cue, the cell went off again.

"Now what?" he groused. "Yeah?"

"Fury, what the Hell's going on?" an obstinate voice bellowed into the phone.

Fury felt his headache getting worse at that voice. "Don't yell at me, Ross. I don't care who or what you think you are but stay out of my business!"

Thunderbolt Ross hissed back, "The Hulk makes it mybusiness! That emerald brute's been spotted at JFK taking on some blonde muscle man with a hammer. Don't suppose you know about that?"

"The blonde hammer guy is my agent, Ross. We've dealt with one situation already. Now I am retasking the others in the field to back him up against the Hulk. Do not engage them. The President has authorized SHIELD and these agents to deal with it. In addition your daughter is in the middle of it. Remember the mess in Virginia?" Fury retorted icily.

"Don't you dare bring my daughter into this! I outrank you!" Ross barked.

"Not where the President's concerned. Stay out of my way, General. You add to the crisis and I'm sure the President will hang your ass out to dry," Fury concluded before hanging up. "You'd think he'd have learned not to mess with Banner or Big Green where his daughter's concerned. He definitely needs a clue." He pressed a button on his console. "Okay, People. Anyone sees any gunships coming into the New York area, you let me know immediately. This is not a request. OUT!"

He knew this was going to be a long day. It just got longer….