The Tables Have Turned
Tom and Steve went to the hospital where they took Fury and watched through a window with Maria Hill at an operation going on to try and revive Fury. They informed Nat what happened, who just arrived and looked distraught.
"Is he gonna make it?" She asked them.
"We don't know." Steve told her as the doctors examined what happened.
"Tell me about the shooter." She requested from them.
"Whoever he was, he was fast, strong. He even had a metal arm." Tom explained to her, looking at her face, which quivered slightly.
"She must know who it was." Tom pointed out to Ghost.
"We're gonna have to question her later." Ghost said.
"Ballistics?" Nat asked Hill.
"Three slugs, no rifling. Completely untraceable." She informed her and Nat already knew for sure.
"Soviet made."
"Yeah."
Suddenly, things started to go wrong as a defibrillator was pulled out.
"Don't do this to me, Nick." Nat whispered in fear as the defibrillator was used and yet there was no pulse so they tried again and again, nothing.
"Don't do this to me, Nick. Don't do this to me." Nat whispered again but it was clear that Nick Fury was gone. It not only affected Nat but also Hill as they're facades were broken slightly upon accepting his passing and both Tom and Steve walked out, looking at the harddrive Fury gave them.
Afterwards, Steve and Tom stood back as Nat looked down on Fury's corpse in silence when Hill arrived.
"I need to take him." She told the agent and Steve walked up to her as Nat was focused on Fury.
"Natasha." Steve whispered before she placed a hand on Fury's forehead before walking out with Steve and Tom following her out into a hallway.
"Nat!" Tom called out to her and she faced them.
"Why was Fury in your apartment, Steve?" Nat asked, wanting some answers.
"How are we supposed to know? He just showed up, that's it." Tom told her, deciding to follow Fury's warning of not trusting anyone, including Nat. Rumlow then walked up behind them.
"Cap, Wron, they want you both back at S.H.I.E.L.D." He informed them.
"Yeah, give us a second." Steve told him.
"They need you now." Rumlow stated.
"Alright." Tom replied and Rumlow walked off as he and Steve looked back at Nat.
"You're a terrible liar." She said before walking off.
"Something's about to happen. We'll have to keep on our toes." Tom warned Ghost.
"Yeah. Everyone might be out to get us." Ghost agreed without question. Steve then put the harddrive into a vending machine before they joined back up with S.T.R.I.K.E.
"Let's go." Steve said and Rumlow walked with them.
"S.T.R.I.K.E., move it out." He ordered.
They all headed back to the Triskelion and both Steve and Tom got in uniform with their shield and armour and made their way to the office of a man named Alexander Pierce. They turned a corner and saw Pierce talking with Kate. She then walked away from Pierce.
"Captain Rogers, Wron." She greeted them.
"Neighbour." Steve coldly replied and Tom just frowned.
"Oh. Captain. Mr. Wron. I'm Alexander Pierce." Pierce greeted them and shook hands.
"Sir, it's an honour." Steve said.
"Sir." Tom nodded respectfully.
"The honour's mine, Captain. My father served in the 101st. Come on in." Pierce then led them into his office and the first thing he did was show them photos. One showed Fury with Pierce.
"That photo was taken five years after Nick and I met, when I was at State Department in Bogota. E.L.N. rebels took the embassy, and security got me out, but the rebels took hostages. Nick was Deputy Chief of the S.H.I.E.L.D. station there, and he comes to me with a plan. He wants to storm the building through the sewers. I said 'No, we'll negotiate'. Turned out, the E.L.N. didn't negotiate, so they put out a kill order. They stormed the basement, and what do they find? They find it empty." Pierce explained to them as he took his blazer off, grabbed some files and walked over to them and sat on one of the chairs.
"Nick had ignored my direct order, and carried out an unauthorized military operation on foreign soil. And saved the lives of a dozen political officers, including my daughter." Pierce then finished the story.
"And you gave him a promotion because of that." Tom concluded.
"I've never had any cause to regret it." Pierce stated.
"Captain, why was Nick in your apartment last night?" He then asked Steve.
"I don't know." He answered, not giving anything away as he too is starting to listen to Fury's warning.
"Did either of you know it was bugged?" Pierce asked them both.
"Yes, because he told us." Tom replied.
"Did he tell you he was the one who bugged it?" Pierce questioned. Both Steve and Tom practically froze upon hearing that.
"What is going on right now?"
"I want you to see something." He then said as he played footage on a screen of Batroc and Feliciano being interrogated.
"Who hired you two?" A voice asked them in the footage.
"Is that live?" Steve asked for clarification.
"Yeah, they picked them up last night in a not so safe house in Algiers." Pierce explained.
"Are you suggesting they're suspects? Assassination ain't in their line of work." Tom pointed out.
"No, no. It's more complicated than that. Both Batroc and Feliciano were hired anonymously to attack the Lemurian Star. And they were contacted by email and paid by wire transfer, and then the money was run through 17 fictitious accounts. The last one went to a holding company that was registered to a Jacob Veech." Pierce further explained, handing them a file to look through.
"Are we supposed to know who that is?" Steve asked.
"Not likely. Veech died six years ago. His last address was 1435 Elmhurst Drive. When I first met Nick, his mother lived at 1437." Pierce revealed.
"Okay, this is just too much." Ghost groaned.
"You're suggesting Fury hired those pirates? If so, why would he do that?" Tom asked him.
"The prevailing theory was that the hijacking was a cover for the acquisition and sale of classified intelligence. The sale went sour and that led to Nick's death." Pierce gave him an explanation. One that didn't sit well with either Tom or Steve, considering who Fury was.
"If you really knew Nick Fury, you'd know that's not true." Steve argued.
"Why do you think we're talking?" Pierce questioned before standing up and walking over to the window. Both Tom and Steve got on their feet.
"See, I took a seat on the Council not because I wanted to, but because Nick asked me to, because we were both realists. We knew that, despite all the diplomacy and the handshaking and the rhetoric, that to build a really better world sometimes means having to tear the old one down. And that makes enemies. Those people that call you dirty because you got the guts to stick your hands in the mud and try to build something better. And the idea that those people could be happy today makes me really, really angry." Pierce explained to the pair with a look that made them stay silent.
"Captain, Wron, you were the last ones to see Nick alive. I don't think that's an accident. And I don't think you both do, either. So, I'm gonna ask again. Why was he there?" Pierce then asked them directly.
"He told us not to trust anyone." Steve answered for them both.
"I wonder if that included him." Pierce contemplated.
"Those were his last words, sir. That's it. Excuse us." Tom told him and both he and Steve headed out, Steve putting the shield back on his back.
"Captain, Wron, somebody murdered my friend and I'm going to find out why. Anyone gets in my way, they're gonna regret it. Anyone." Pierce warned them both.
"Understood." They both said before walking out.
They entered an elevator and looked out at the view.
"I'm starting to think we shouldn't trust Pierce." Tom said, though Steve didn't answer.
"This is just getting messier and messier." Ghost explained.
"Operations control." Steve requested from the computer.
"Confirmed." It acknowledged and the elevator was about to close when Rumlow and some others entered.
"Keep all S.T.R.I.K.E. personnel on site." He ordered the others.
"Forensics." He then requested.
"Confirmed."
"Cap, Wron." He then greeted the pair.
"Rumlow." They greeted back as the elevator doors closed and it started moving.
"Evidence Response found some fibers on the roof they want us to see. You want me to get the tac team ready?" Rumlow asked Steve.
"No, let's wait and see what it is first." Steve suggested.
"Their heart rates are high." Ghost informed Tom, who frowned until he and Steve noticed that one of the men had their hand right next to their weapon. They all looked away from them as though they're hiding their expressions. The elevator door opened up and more men appeared, two of them holding briefcases.
"Administration level." One of them requested.
"Confirmed." The computer said as some men entered, making the elevator cramped and both Steve and Tom had to get in the centre of the elevator as it started moving again.
"I'm sorry about what happened with Fury. It's messed up, what happened to him." Rumlow said to the pair.
"Thanks." Tom replied, slightly on edge.
"Tom, the guy next to us is sweating and his heart rate is going crazy." Ghost informed Tom. It's now becoming clear what's going on now.
"They're here to subdue us." He stated, making Ghost growl in anger.
The elevator opened up once more and three more men appeared, one of them being a big brute.
"Records."
"Confirmed."
Steve was now coming to the same conclusion as Tom and Ghost as the elevator closed and started moving again. Tom's hands curled into fists with Ghost's mass started to slip on Tom's wrists.
"Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?" Steve asked everyone, letting them know that he and Tom were onto them.
Within seconds, the man in front of them pulled out a shock stick and tried to hit them, but Tom deflected his strike onto Rumlow and another agent but then the big brute grabbed Steve and held him in a choke hold and a few others grabbed his shield off as the elevator was now on an emergency stop.
Tom was busy using his Ghost covered fists on some of the other men as the men with the briefcases pulled off the handles and wrapped them around Steve's wrists, moving them to the metal as they're magnets/
Tendrils formed out of Tom's back and swiped at more of the men, knocking them back and giving Steve a chance to fight back as he kicked a man's knee, making them fall and then slam his open palm into another's throat, knocking the wind out of them and then elbowed another in the face.
Tom threw his fist into one agent, knocking them out instantly and then grabbed another and threw him into a couple more agents before a tendril formed and choked them until they're unconscious.
Steve slammed an open palm into an approaching agent's throat and elbowed another and then headbutted the brute's face, loosening his grip and threw him onto the glass.
Rumlow then tried kicking Steve's hand onto the metal, magnetically sticking his hand there but Ghost's tendril formed again and smacked his foot away and then hit him right in the face, actually cutting his cheek. Steve then threw an agent right up to where a camera was, cracking the lens and then Tom side kicked one other agent, throwing them on the glass and fell to the ground.
Two of the men wearing blazers attacked Tom and Steve but they took them down within seconds and that left Rumlow, who had two shock sticks in his hands.
"Whoa, you two." He breathed out as the two glared at him.
"I just want you to know, this isn't personal!" He then shouted and swung to hit them but two tendrils formed out of Tom's chest and grabbed Rumlow before throwing him up at the lights above them, knocking him and dropping him on the ground.
"It was personal." Tom sneered as Ghost's mass receded into him and Steve kicked his shield back into his hand and smashed the magnet off of his other hand.
"We need to get out of here." Tom then said and Steve shut off the emergency stop and the doors opened to a large number of armed men aiming their guns at them.
"Son of a bitch." Ghost cursed.
"Drop the shield and put your hands in the air!" One of them ordered the pair but then Steve cut the wires for the elevator and it dropped until it clamped to a stop. He and Tom then opened a pair of elevator doors but closed them back up seeing more armed men run up to them.
"We're gonna have to jump, aren't we?" Tom asked, which Steve nodded as they looked down at the glass roof of the atrium below.
"Give it up, you two! Get that door open! You have nowhere to go!" An agent shouted.
The two took a deep breath and they jumped through the glass and descended to the atrium. Steve curled up with his shield while Ghost formed out of Tom and they both crashed through the roof and landed with glass raining down on them.
Ghost retracted back into Tom and he stood, helping Steve back on his feet and they both headed to the garage.
Once they got there, they got on their bikes and took off right as it was being closed off and they drove down the bridge until they saw that the bridge was being closed off.
"Dammit." Tom cursed right as a Quinjet flew ahead and hovered ahead of them.
"Stand down, the both of you. Stand down." Its pilot ordered as its gun came out and started up. Of course, Steve and Tom kept riding their bikes.
"Repeat, stand down." The pilot said before the jet's gun started firing and the two swerved to avoid getting hit and then Steve threw his shield, which struck the jet's right wing and then Ghost took over as he and Steve jumped off their bikes and onto the jet. Ghost dug his claws into it as Steve pulled his shield out, causing the Quinjet to lose control slightly, nearly throwing Steve off, who used his shield to hook on and then they both got on top and they ripped the fins apart, making it start to spin out of control as they jumped off and onto the ground. They watched as the Quinjet crashed before running off.
They ran back to their apartments and shed their uniforms and Tom put his armour in a backpack and to Steve's surprise, his appearance changed, making him look like a completely different person, thanks to Ghost's abilities.
In civilian clothing, they made their way back to the hospital, intending to see what was in that harddrive. They walked up to the vending machine where they put it, but they were shocked to see that it was gone.
"Where is it?!" Ghost bellowed out in Tom's head. In the reflection from the glass, they saw Nat come up from behind them, chewing on some gum.
"Time to get answers." Ghost snarled as Tom shoved her into a room and into a wall, his hand covered in Ghost's mass and Steve took his hoodie down. Nat was surprised that Tom's appearance had changed.
"Where is it?" Steve asked her.
"Safe."
"You gotta do better than that." Tom spat.
"Where did you get it?" She asked them.
"Why should we tell you?" Steve questioned her.
"Fury gave it to you. Why?"
"What's on it?" Steve asked, ignoring her question.
"I don't know." She confessed.
"Stop lying, Romanoff!" Tom hissed at her, his eyes becoming Ghost's for a few seconds.
"I only act like I know everything." She reasoned with them.
"I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?" Steve asked after looking over his shoulder. She had a look of realisation and shock.
"Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you." She said but then Tom had his other hand up against her face, a blade formed out of Ghost's mass.
"We're not asking you again." He hissed again, demanding answers. She knew that he wasn't kidding around and had to tell them what she knew.
"I know who killed Fury." She revealed to them. This made Tom loosed his grip on her and the blade receded away.
"Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last 50 years." She explained.
"How can someone have that many kills in half a century?" Ghost questioned that piece of information.
"A ghost story?" Tom questioned.
"Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out. But the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer so he shot him straight through me." She told them, pulling up her shirt to reveal the gunshot wound on her stomach.
"Yeowch." Tom cringed.
"That does not look fun." Ghost cringed as well.
"Soviet slug. No rifling. Bye bye, bikinis." She added with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, I'd bet you look terrible in them now." Steve noted.
"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried. Like you said, he's a ghost story." Nat said, holding up the harddrive.
"Let's see what the ghost wants then." Tom stated as he took the harddrive.
I looked up on wikipedia on what Klyntars can do and one point said something along the lines of changing a host's appearance.