*Author's Note*
Thank you for the faves, follows, and reviews.
Work has been so crazy busy lately. I'm trying to get at least one new chapter update out a week. I'm sorry this took so long. Hope you guys enjoy it.
Prying Power Lunch With Pierce
Gem POV:
"Messiah Jack-Boot, your totes making a Starbucks run cause there's no way in hell we can survive the morning without the caffeinated nectar of the gods." Darcy told Brock as we trudged downstairs, towards the parking lot where his SUV (which would become mine once we visited the bank after work today) was parked and waiting for us.
"I ain't your boyfriend, why do I gotta buy your coffee?" Brock asked as we reached the last flight of stairs.
"I'm your girlfriend's sister from another mister and your tazer sister, that's why you gotta buy my Venti Smores Frappe, dude." Darcy said matter-of-factly in a 'duh' type of tone.
I just let out a small, amused chuckle while Brock countered my best friend with, "Since when are you my tazer sister?"
"Since you bought me Chinese on Monday and helped me with Billy's care package, Messiah Jack-Boot." Was Darcy's answer as we all stepped onto the ground floor of the apartment complex.
"Once Darcy dubs you her unofficial sibling, you're stuck with her friendship til the world ends." I smirked at Brock as we all made our way to the lobby door.
"Damn straight." Darcy nodded 'gansta' style before rushing by me and out of the door that Brock was holding open. It's so nice that he has manners, but he is pushing 40 so…yea…he was raised to open doors and stuff.
"You'll get used to her, or at least I hope you do." I told Brock, passing him on my way out the door.
"She's not that bad, just eccentric." Brock assured me with a chuckle, following me out of the door as Darcy quickly made her way over to the SUV that would officially be mine after work.
"Thank God you said that cause Blane hated her." I sighed in relief as we made our way to the SUV that Darcy was currently hopping in the back of.
Brock leaned in close to me, as if he was sharing a secret, and chuckled, "I think he hated her cause she knew he was a man slut; tried to get you to leave him sooner too."
"Prolly." I half-smiled, agreeing with my boyfriend's assumption about my ex.
My day's pretty hectic AKA it's the usual Friday bullshit for me on the 100th floor. All kinds of prestigious people were coming and going for meeting with Pierce, also the phone was ringing off the hook with various people needing to speak to the World Secretary. I also had a clusterfuck of documents I needed to spellcheck for Pierce; emails I needed to spellcheck or write for him too.
It's been so hectic that I'm stuck working thru my lunch break. Well, at least Pierce bought us lunch from that high end place he likes to order in from. Currently, I'm just sitting at my desk, going over a document while waiting for the food delivery guy to arrive.
I felt like my brain was frying like a cracked egg on a hot July sidewalk in Brooklyn whenever the elevator doors dinged open. The delivery guy stepped off the elevator with a large paper bag in his hand. He didn't say a word as he walked over to my desk. Upon reaching my desk, he placed the bag down and gave me a small smile. "Here's your delivery. Have a nice day."
"Thank you. Have a nice day, too." I smiled at the man before he turned around and headed over to the elevator.
Quickly, I rose from my seat, grabbed the handle of the delivery bag, and rushed over to my boss' office. I tapped on the glass door, causing Pierce to look up at me. I held the bag of food up, showcasing that our lunch was here and silently asking for permission to enter his office. Pierce hated it when anyone barged into his office unannounced, it was one of his biggest pet peeves. Must be cause his ex-wife, who resembles Demi Moore a bit, does it a lot.
"Come in, Miss Schulze!" Pierce ordered, getting up and moving over to the long glass-top conference table that was in the middle of his insanely large office (that took up 2/3 of the 100th floor. Of course, I did what I was told and entered the room. "I'd like you to eat lunch with me and help me work on my new project, Project Insight." He told me, setting down a large folder on the table, as I made my way over to the large conference table.
"Okay, Mister Secretary." I told my boss, setting the takeout bag on the table and unpacking it.
After the food was unpacked, I stepped out of the office for a moment to get some water bottles from the break room. As soon as I returned to the room Pierce asked me, "Do you have an interest in politics, Miss Schulze?"
"I guess I do. I mean I was a Poli Sci major, so…" I answered while going over to the conference table and setting down the water bottles.
"Did you find the humanities side of it intriguing?"
"Mister Secertary, Political Science in itself is a humanities studies, so I think I found it intriguing. If I didn't, I wouldn't have studied it."
"Were you an early declared major or did you declare later, say your sophomore or junior year?"
"I applied to Culver as a Poli Sci major my senior year of Bishop Kearney."
"Oh, so you were an early declared major." Pierce acknowledged my remark around a mouthful of braised beef tips. Pointing his fork at me, he asked, "What made you decide on Political Science before you graduated high school?"
"I took AP Government; it intrigued me so I declared as a Poli Sci major when applying for a handful of colleges." I answered my boss in between eating my overpriced chicken Caesar salad.
"Ah." He nodded his head. "And what made you choose Culver?"
"I fell in love with the campus when I did a tour, plus it has a great Poli Sci program."
"Yes. Yes, it does." Pierce nodded, eating his lunch. "What program did you intern with your Senior year, might I ask, Gem?"
"I interned here in DC with the National Security Agency. I interned with Colonel James 'Rhodey' Rhodes." I honestly answered, but only cause that little fact about me was in my resume and on my records.
"But didn't you apply for other internships?"
"Yes, at my college boyfriend's urging I applied for an internship with Senator Newman's staff, but I chose to intern with Rhodey instead."
"Oh, did your ex from college intern with Senator Newman's staff? Is that why he encouraged you to apply?" Pierce asked, even tho his tone gave away that he already knew what my answer would be, while spearing a piece of asparagus with his fork.
"Yes," I nodded before shoving a forkful of salad into my mouth. Pierce didn't say a word, just looked thru me in a way that let me know he was waiting for me to expand on my answer. After chewing and swallowing my forkful of salad, I complied with my boss' silent request with the explanation of, "but the internship with the National Security Agency is even harder to be accepted to then the staffing internship with Senator Newman's staff. I had to apply a year in advanced instead of in my senior year, like I did with my other internship, so of course when I was selected, I took it."
"And how did your ex feel about your internship with the National Security Agency?"
"He wasn't happy; thought I should've done my internship with Senator Newman's staff like he did."
"Hmm…" My boss hummed, cutting his beef tips with his plastic knife and fork. "Your ex is a fool, my dear. The internship with Colonel Rhodes at the National Security Agency is very beneficial to our means, much more then an internship with Senator Newman's staff." He said knowingly as he ate his beef tips with such a grace that it's a bit disturbing. I mean how can somebody eat so gracefully when they're not an European royal? "I see why Commander Rumlow's so infatuated with you."
Red alarm bells started going off in my head. Pierce was bringing up me and brock, that couldn't be good. I didn't say a word, just stared a hole into my takeout container and ate my salad.
"May I ask, Miss Schulze, my dear, how you feel about certain, let's say, political issues in our country? No, not just our country, but our world?"
"I want to bring order to the chaos, Mister Secretary." I sweetly smiled, knowing that I needed to use that phrase over and over again since Brock said it was the right thing to say. I knew something wasn't quite right with Pierce, so I was going to say that code as many times as I had to.
"Good. That's very good to hear." Pierce grinned manically, reaching for his water bottle.
Brock POV:
I was fucking pissed when I got an email from Pierce, cancelling the mission that STRIKE Alpha was set to go on next Wednesday. He didn't give a reason for the cancellation, just that he was giving it to Epsilon instead. Those HYDRA fuckers (one of 'em happens to be President Ellis' son or nephew or some shit like that) were getting the mission that I needed to go on for Fury. When I told both him and my handler, Coulson (who just flies around all day in the bus with his own covert team), about it they told me that I needed to gather intel on the mission since it was something involving some HYDRA funded archeologist digging up some old relics or something near Cairo.
Fuck. I was so livid that I stormed out of my office and shouted, "Fucking Cairo mission's been axed! Epsilon fuckers got it instead!", to my team. The didn't say a word as I marched over to the elevator and frantically pressed the up button.
"Going to ask Pierce why?" Rollins asked as the elevator doors dinged open.
"Yes." I stated before stepping onto the sparsely filled elevator. I just jabbed at the button for the 100th floor and stood with my arms crossed over my chest. The other people in the car with me didn't say a word. They knew who I was and who was on the 100th floor; they knew better to open their mouths.
The elevator made a few stops to let the other passengers out, but I was alone after the 72nd floor. Thank god I was alone, meant the ride to Satan's office will go by quicker. Yea, Darcy's nickname for Pierce stuck; me and Gem often called him Satan now. When the elevator stopped and the doors dinged open, my blood boiled at the site I saw. There, right before my eyes, was Satan (I mean fucking Pierce) leaning in close to my baby girl; saying something to her with a fucking calculating look on his face as they sat next to each other while eating lunch at his glass top conference table. By the tight look on her face, I could tell he was grilling her.
Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!
My cancelled mission went to the backburner of my mind as I marched over to Pierce's office. My only thought now was protecting Gem from Pierce and his HYDRA probing. Fuck, goddamnit, I had a feeling he'd pull this shit and gave Gem strict orders on what to say when he did, but I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. Shit, he must be pushing hard cause his little birdies are reporting back to him; telling him that me and Gem spent over a week together bouncing around between our places. Shit, Pierce must think we're moving too fast or something. He's probably just looking for a reason to whack her too.
"Pierce, what's this shit about the Cairo mission being cancelled and handed over to STRIKE Epsilon?" I barked in my deep and irritated tone as I barged into the HYDRA leader's office.
Pierce turned his head and gave me an arched look while Gem gave me a solid poker face, but her eyes clearly read 'thank god you're here, honey'.
"I felt that the matter of the mission wasn't dire enough for STRIKE Alpha, my best elite team, so I gave it to Epsilon instead." Pierce answered my question with a snippy undertone. Gesturing to the open seat next to my girlfriend, he ordered, "Please, Commander Rumlow, take a calming breath and join us for lunch." I took a quick, but deep breath and let it out thru my nose while squaring my shoulders. I gave my boss a curt nod and proceeded to the empty seat by my girl. "I'm sure you won't mind sharing her salad with her since you often do that during power lunch hour." Pierce zinged me as I took my seat next to Gem.
I didn't say a word, just nodded before picking a piece of grilled chicken out of Gem's salad and taking a bite of it. Gem didn't say a word, just gave me a faint line of a smile before offering me her fork. "You sure, baby? Ain't ya hungry?" I asked, eying up the fork.
"I'm sure. I've just been picking at it for a little while anyways." She told me, extending the fork out in a gesture that made it clear that she wanted me to take it. Also, her words came across as a code for 'I can't eat with Pierce's questioning'.
"I was just discussing some political views with Gem here and would you know that she wants to bring order to the chaos." Pierce remarked with a pleased look on his face. Of course, she told him that. I fucking told her to so he wouldn't whack her. Before I could say a simple 'oh' or 'ah', Pierce barreled on with, "Your girlfriend, Gem, here did her senior year Poli Sci internship with Colonel James 'Rhodey' Rhodes at the National Security Agency, although she also had an opportunity to intern with Senator Newman's staff like her ex-college-boyfriend did."
Oh god, I felt sick. I wanted to throw the fuck up. Why did she tell him that? WHY?! Oh my fuck, now he has a form of leverage over her. Knowing about her internship with the NSA with bad. He's going to want her to do some HYDRA security liaison shit for him or something cause she's with me. Whoa, what a fucking hot goddamn minute, did he just say she had an opportunity to intern with Senator Newman's staff like manslut did? Oh my fucking god, man slut's HYDRA! FUCK! No wonder he was always cheating on her and making her think it was all in her head, those fucking Nazi fucks are all crazy manipulators.
"Brock, I think Gem would be a great addition to our organization. Don't you think?" Pierce told me, causing my heart rate to spike, my blood pressure to soar, and blood to ring in my ears. Of course, I kept a calm look on my face.
"Yes." I answered as my chest tightened and seized with anxiety. I never wanted Gem touched by my triple agent shit. Fuck… "Of course, my girlfriend would be a great addition; she does share many of my views." I told Pierce while watching Gem's tight posture out of the corner of my eye. I knew she was picking up on the fact that something wasn't right; that the tension was thickening too quickly in the air.
Turning his attention to Gem, our personal Satan asked, "My dear, do you believe that sacrifices must be made? That to save the vast majority that a few must be eliminated from wreaking havoc on the world?"
"I believe in bringing order to the chaos. Anything that creates peace must be done; even if it's a small sacrifice." Gem recited as if her life depended on it, what a minute her fucking life does depend on it. Gem quickly knocked my knee with hers and I knew she was letting me know that she was just doing as I instructed her (saying whatever Pierce wanted to her and using that HYDRA code).
"Good. Very good." Pierce grinned like the goddamned devil himself. Sliding over a large folder marked Project Insight to Gem, he slickly announced, "I'd like for you to work closely on the details of this project with me, or at least the paperwork and political liaison part of it since, Miss Schulze, Commander Rumlow's working on the more tactical and technical side of it with me."
I kept my face neutral, but on the inside, I was screaming: FUCK NO! I nudged Gem's ankle with my boot, letting her know that she had to accept. We both knew that if we wanted to get out of this office alive tonight, she had to say yes. Gem was a smart girl; grew up in a mob family so she knew a high stakes situation when she saw one.
"Of course, Mister Secretary." Gem sweetly smiled. "I'd be honored to help both you and Brock on such an important project."
Pierce smiled like he was the fucking Chesire cat from Alice and Wonderland. It was fucking creepy how he knew he had us both right where he wanted us. Damn, now I have to come clean to Gem about HYDRA being deeply imbedded within SHIELD and my role as a triple agent for Fury. Shit…
"Commander Rumlow, since Miss Schulze is your girlfriend and you two seem to be in the honeymoon stage of your relationship, I'll let you induct her into our organization; teach her the secretly o our doctrine." Pierce told me as he watched me eat the salad that Gem had given me. A perfectly good Caesar salad that she ate maybe a fourth of.
Gem POV:
When Brock barged into Pierce's office, I knew he was pissed about his upcoming mission being cancelled and reassigned to STRIKE Epsilon. Oh, and I knew about that since Pierce had me write and send out the emails along with put in the switch in the SHIELD computer database since I was his secretary. I knew before he even bitched about it. I did flash my boyfriend a quick 'help me' look since I was sick of Pierce's ever prying and creepy questions about my college days and my political outlook on life. I gave him the answers Brock told me to use, but I also had to tell him about my internship since the damn thing was on my resume and he'd know if I was lying. I knew the moment that Pierce brought it up, just by the cutting look Brock gave me, that my boyfriend wasn't happy that I shared that information freely.
I knew Brock was shocked when Pierce was insisting that I come onboard of Project Insight's planning just by how his knee shock as it knocked into mine, even tho his face never flinched or faltered with any signs of surprise. I knew that when we were alone that we'd be talking about what went down between us and Pierce at lunch. What I didn't know was that Brock was going to lose his shit.
Yea, that's right, Brock's sitting next to me in my SUV, losing his shit, as I follow the arrow that points out the direction of the underground parking garage's exit.
"I fucking swear, Gem, what the fuck where you thinking telling him about your internship with Rhodey, Iron Man's fucking bro? Huh, didn't I fucking tell you not to share too much with that man?" MY boyfriend ranted as he frantically flipped open the console between us; rummaging around in it for something.
"I had to tell him, Brock. It's on my resume so if I lied, he'd know." I answered Brock's rhetorical question. "Just chill out, honey."
"Fuck, where are my smokes?" He muttered under his breath as he searched thru the console with more feverish motions then a mother looking for her child's old ratty favorite stuffed bear that she accidently threw out in the trash.
"You smoke?" I asked, hoping the question would center him or some shit like that since he was getting ready to spazz out on me.
"Quit 4-times already. It's a bad habit from the neighborhood." Brock explained before snatching his pack of Reds with a victorious, "Aha, got 'em!"
"Good, not you can calm down." I told him while pulling out of the parking garage.
"I can't fucking calm down, baby. Not when I just got you involved in my wet work." He sighed, flipping open his pack, taking out a cigarette, and sticking it between his lips. "Fuck, promise me you won't break up with me over this." He requested, pulling his lighter out of his pack and lighting up his cigarette.
"I promise, now just tell me what's going on." I told him as he tucked the lighter pack into the pack of Reds before pocketing the pack. "Oh, and what bank are we going to for the lease transfer?"
"City First Bank on U Street." Brock told me as he took his first official drag of his smoke. Exhaling a lungful of smoke bit shakily, he ranted, "Gem, I've been deep undercover for the past 8-or-9-fucking-years in HYDRA, which is imbedded deep within SHIELD, on Fury's orders. Pierce's their leader and almost all of the STRIKE teams are HYDRA, except for me and Clint Barton. Fury recruited me straight out of the SEALS special for this undercover mission. Fuck, I dropped my life in Norfolk, moved here to DC, got shot up with some HYDRA juice, and impressed Pierce enough that I've been his protégé for years. Fucking years and the shit I give Fury still isn't enough to nail these HYDRA fucks. Oh, but now I accidently dragged you into this dangerous shit, baby. Fuck!"
"What the fuck, Brock? Are you serious?" I gasped as the weight of his ranted words hit me like a ton of bricks. Holy shit, he's undercover in HYDRA, which is also SHIELD, and our boss Pierce runs the show. God, I knew I should've told my uncle to go to hell instead of letting him set me up on a blind date with Arlo's son.
"No, I'm practicing my act for the comedy club on Connecticut Street." He dryly and sarcastically remarked. Taking another drag of his cigarette, he snapped, "Of course I'm fucking serious, baby." Brock shook his head and banged his fist against the dashboard while screaming, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
"What, Brock? What's got you so worked up?" I asked, feeling a bit freaked out that my stern, cocky, commander boyfriend was losing his shit as I drove us to the bank.
"Pierce wants you to join HYDRA cause of me, baby. I fucking put you in danger, which is something I never wanted to do." Brock answered me while taking a deep drag off his cigarette. He let out a long, billowing cloud of smoke from his kissable lips and revealed, "I never thought he'd want you to join HYDRA. Damn, I just told you that HYDRA code so he wouldn't kill you like he did that last few secretaries he had that got too nosy; asked too many questions."
"What? HE killed his other secretaries?!" I shrieked, my chocolate brown eyes popping out of my head.
"Yea, baby girl, he killed them." Brock confirmed, offering me his half-smoked cig. I took it from him while he told me, "It's why I'm so protective of you, Gem. I know what Pierce's capable of and I don't want to be the reason something happens to you."
I let out a tiny cough as I smoked for the first time in about 4-years. Brock just rubbed my back, trying to calm me down. He looked at me wit empathy and concern shinning in his hazel eyes. "I'm fine, honey. Just haven't had a smoke in a few years." I assured him, my voice a bit strangled and hoarse from my impromptu coughing, before taking a deep breath and trying to smoke the cigarette again.
"Oh, so you quit and stuck with it." Brock nodded as I handled the smog in my lungs easier then I did before.
I blew a smoke ring, a trick I hadn't done since I dated Geno back in high school, and sighed, "Don't do that to yourself, Brock. We haven't been together long enough for you to try and protect me from Satan, who's a crazy killer HYDRA leader, and feel guilty for getting me messed up in your shit."
"Gem, baby, I already told you that I'm serious about us. I ain't gonna fucking flake out on you." Brock told me as we got closer to the U Street. "Even tho you don't think we've been together that long; we've been staying the night with each other for a week and a half now Gem, bouncing between our places, so I think we're past casual."
"Brock…really?" I sighed, taking another hit from our shared smoke.
Brock took the cigarette from my fingers as I exhualed a small lungful of smoke and told me, "Baby, I get it, you just got out of a bad relationship a few weeks before we started up, but we're solid." He took a quick drag, only to smirk, "I'm not leaving and I know you're not leaving me either cause I've ruined you with great sex."
"Goddamnit, I'm stuck with you for life now, huh?" I half-scoffed, half-smiled, as I turned onto U Street.
"Yea, but it could be worse. You could be stuck with that manslut HYDRA ex of yours."
"Why do you think my ex is HYDRA for, honey?" I asked, driving down U Street and keeping my eyes peeled for City First Bank.
"He interned for Senator Newman's staff; Senator Newman's HYDRA." Brock said matter-of-factly as the bank came into view.
"Holy shit, the Erlings are HYDRA?!" I gasped out in a shriek.
Brock's eyes narrowed into slits as he gruffy asked, "Erling? Your ex is the fucking bastard Erling?"
"Oh god…" I shakily sighed before asking, "You know him cause of your undercover HYDRA work, don't you?"
"Pierce had me meet him a few times. The first being right before he interned with Senator Newman's staff." Brock confirmed my suspicions as I turned into the alleyway right next to the bank, leading to the back parking area. "Should've strangled the useless bastard."
"That would've be around the time we met." I remarked, driving down the back street behind the bank.
"Damn…" Brock whistled. He rolled down his window and flicked his cigarette butt out of it while smirking, "Too bad we didn't meet sooner. Think about all the fucking fun we could've been having all these years."
"You would say that." I shook my head while pulling into the parking lot. "So, are you going to tell Fury that I know about the HYDRA inside of SHIELD shit?" I asked while cutting off the engine.
"Yea." Brock nodded. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, my boyfriend sighed, "Actually, I better call him now before we go to the bank; change over the lease." I didn't say a word, just nodded and silently watched him unlock his phone and call up Director Fury.
After a couple of rings, I heard a loud, "Fury, motherfucker.", echo out of Brock's phone.
"Fury, it's Brock." Brock introduced himself, even tho I'm sure the SIELD director knew he called cause of caller ID. "We got a fucking big problem; Pierce wants Gem to join HYDRA and wants me to teach her the doctrine."
"Motherfucking good for you and your motherfucking girl. Now, we ain't meeting tonight motherfucker cause I'm watching motherfucking Cupcake Wars with my motherfucking wife and kids, but I'll call you tomorrow night when I'm ready to meet; you can fill me in on the motherfucking details then Commander." Fury's voice echoed out of the phone before the line went dead.
Brock shoved his phone into his back pocket and flung his door open. "Come on, let's go turn the lease over and then get something to eat." As I grabbed my handbag and slid it over my shoulder, Brock climbed out of the passenger's side while saying, "There's a Greek place around the corner. Wanna do that for dinner, baby?"
"Sure, Greek sounds good." I smiled, getting out of the black SUV and locking the door. "Are we going to the Jeep dealer after dinner?" I asked, rounding the Chevy Suburban to meet Brock at the trunk.
"It's in Arlington. We can just go back to my place and then you can drop me off at the dealer tomorrow." Brock told me as we walked out of the parking lot, hand in hand.
"Arlington's only 25 minutes away, honey. I don't mind taking you to the dealer tonight."
"But if we go tonight, you won't come home with me."
"Oh my god, you just want to fool around tonight." I huffed, shaking my head incredulously, as we walked along the sideway that led to U Street and the bank.
"What? I've been spoiled getting a nice piece of ass every nice." Brock smirked, waggling his dark brows wickedly.
I didn't say a word, just shook my head. "Fine, we can go to the dealership tomorrow." I relented, only because I had a feeling that Brock just wanted me with him tonight so that he could 'protect' me from the danger that Pierce could pose.
Talk about Pierce, now that I knew the truth about him and what Brock was really doing as his protégé, I had the strong urge to help my boyfriend. Brock was a good guy and he cared about me; I cared about him too and I knew that I was going to do whatever I could to protect him. Esspecially since he gave me those YDRA codes that more or less kept me breathing long enough for him to show up and join me and Pierce's power lunch.
AN:
Oh boy, Gem knows the truth about HYDRA and Brock's triple agent work. Yikes! Of course, Gem wants to help Brock. How do you guys think the meeting with Fury will go?