April 16th 2012
"Thanks for the ride." Ryan smiled softly, exhaustion from the last few days seeping in now that her apartment was in sight.
They'd just come back from a blown mission in Africa, everything turning into a shit show when they were forced to run for days until they could finally make it to an extraction point. After that, they'd flown directly back to New York. She couldn't wait to go inside and wash off the grime from the last few days.
Rumlow bowed his head in acknowledgement, pulling over by the front entrance. "I got a new date and time for that meeting." He said, before she could leave the car. Ryan raised a brow, waiting to hear it. Her meeting had already been postponed twice because the Strike Team kept getting called to deal with global situations. "On the 30th, in D.C, provided no major catastrophes happen. It should line up with the next break, so we won't be on call."
It was still two weeks away, but Ryan didn't mind. She planned on keeping herself busy until that the time came. "Alright. See you around." She hummed, before making her way out of Rumlow's vehicle and up to her apartment. She took it easy for the rest of the night, heading right off to bed after that long awaited shower.
April 22nd 2012
Ryan knocked three times at the front door, a bag filled with supplies tucked under her arm.
The door opened a moment later, Ryan finding herself face to face with one of Clint's arrowheads. When he realized it was only her, he immediately dropped it. "What the fuck?" He muttered, before stepping aside to let her in. "I thought you were in DC with the rest of Strike Team Alpha."
Ryan shrugged, kicking off her sneakers and carefully placing her back down as she slipped off her jacket. "Oh don't worry, I'll be back in time to report tomorrow morning."
"Is that Ryan?" She heard Laura call from the kitchen.
"Surprise…" Ryan smiled sheepishly, when both Natasha and Phil poked their heads around the corner to see for themselves who was at the door. "I know I haven't been by in a while and this visit was a little bit… unplanned. But, I brought some wine that I picked up in Tuscany yesterday." She was mostly being honest about her reason for the last-minute visit. The part that she couldn't say was that she needed a bit of normalcy, or she'd go crazy thinking up every possible scenario for her upcoming meeting with one of the HYDRA head honchos.
"From that place outside of Florence?" Clint asked warily.
Ryan nodded in confirmation. It was this picturesque winery tucked away in the Tuscan hills that they'd gone to with the intention of going to a wine tasting while tracking the mafia hitman who owned the place. Turns out, they had accidentally crashed a big Italian wedding. Making the most out of the turn in events, they'd all enjoyed the wine and had a great time that evening, before bringing in the hitman at the end of the night. After that, they'd made it a point to pick up more bottles if they were ever in the region.
"Dinner's almost ready. Pop those bottles open and make yourself at home." Clint then said, gesturing towards the dining room.
Ryan gave him a small grateful smile, before following his instruction. She made her way into the dining room, finding Natasha and Phil in their usual seats. This kids had already been put to bed, minutes before Ryan had arrived. She settled in her usual seat next to Natasha, shifting out of the way when Clint reached over her shoulder to set another place at the table for her.
"You made it." Phil said happily, glad to see his gang back together again. He immediately grabbed one of the wine bottles that Ryan placed on the table, getting to work uncorking it. He then quietly poured some generous servings in everyone's glasses.
Dinner was delicious as always, Laura always pulling out all the stops when she had company over. They'd chatted throughout the meal, catching up on what they had missed since the last time they'd seen Ryan. She heard some funny stories from the ops that she'd missed while she'd been up on the helicarrier, up until Clint had been placed on a security detail at the Pegasus facility. He then went into ridiculous detail about how tedious the detail was, because he spent most of his time up in the rafters keeping an eye on a bunch of boring scientists.
Ryan in turn, shared what she could about her time away on the helicarrier. She told them about the training sessions in the helicarrier gym, and how she was helping to improve the Strike Team's overall skills. She didn't mention what she'd been up to over the last few weeks, knowing that the questions wouldn't stop if she did. She'd been good about covering up her tracks. No one asked when she was coming back, Ryan glad that she wasn't forced to make up another excuse.
Conversations got a little looser over dessert, the group talking about some plans for over the upcoming summer. Clint got to talking about another renovation he had planned for the house, and Coulson about a cellist he'd been on a few dates with in Portland, wondering if it was a viable relationship.
Ryan sat back and enjoyed the moment, letting it recharge her. That is, until someone stepped on one of the eggshells they'd been avoiding until that point.
"Fury is talking about bringing in Captain America as an asset again." Phil said excitedly, only realizing his mistake when Ryan stabbed into her slice of pie a little bit too hard.
Four pairs of eyes turned towards Ryan to see what she would say. Suddenly aware that she was the center of attention, Ryan forced her stiff shoulders to shrug. "If he's ready, he can do whatever he wants." She tried to sound nonchalant about it, but she knew she wasn't fooling any of the world class agents sitting at the table. It had almost been a year, and she'd known all along that that was going to be the plan whenever they felt he was ready.
"What team would he be assigned to?" Laura asked, genuinely curious. It was a neutral question, and safer than trying to see how Ryan felt about it all. "From what I've heard, he was never much of an independent do-it-yourself agent."
They all looked at Ryan, knowing that she had the highest security clearance between them and should know this detail. But she didn't, because she refused to talk about it with Fury. "He'd have to go through the assessment program for a placement, like anyone else."
Clint chuckled. "Wouldn't that just be a waste of time? He's Captain America."
"A lot's changed since the war." Ryan suggested. "Fighting styles are refined and combined, people are harsher and quicker to pull the trigger. Morals have gotten trickier. It's all different. Besides, he wasn't the best shot. Hated guns. I don't think he'd pass the field certification requirements right off the bat."
"He could do more damage with the shield than any gun." Coulson pointed out, letting his inner fan boy shine through with a small smile lighting up his face. He also seemed slightly relieved, that Ryan hadn't snapped at him for bringing up this topic. She also didn't dispute that point because she'd seen firsthand just how much damage Steve could do with his shield.
"Either way, he'd have to go through the program to see which team he'd be best suited for. It's definitely not going to be Delta, because he's not a spy. If I had to guess, I'd say Strike Team Charlie or Echo for a while to get him used to the environment before he moved up the ranks." She then explained, keeping her tone neutral and professional as to not give away how she really felt about the possibility of Steve eventually working his way up to Strike Team Alpha. Hopefully she wouldn't have to worry about that for a while.
She was still fully avoiding him, after all.
It seemed that Ryan not shooting down the first mention of Steve opened a whole other can of worms. "How are you doing, with all of that?" Clint asked, vaguely referring to her disappearing act from the last few months.
"I'm fine." Ryan responded dryly, though let out a long, discouraged breath when she realized that she clearly was not fooling anyone sitting at the table. "I'm dealing with it." She muttered a moment later, even though she was aware that they wanted more from her than that.
"Why'd you pass him off to another agent?" Clint asked, genuinely curious.
Ryan eyed Natasha with raised brows, surprised that she'd kept the information to herself. Natasha was the only one out of the team that she'd spoken to about coming clean about who she was to Steve. She'd assumed that the Russian would have mentioned it to the rest of the team, especially after Ryan avoided everyone for months. But, she'd kept her word. So, she figured there was no hard in trusting the rest of her team. "I told him the truth. I was right, he didn't want anything to do with me after that."
"Because you're a trained killer or because you lied to him about it." Clint asked, cutting through the bullshit.
She wanted to say both but knew that it wasn't true. Steve had known what she did for work for months. The real reason he wanted nothing to do with her right now was because she'd lied to him the entire time he'd been awake. "You know why."
"We told you that would happen." Clint shrugged.
She wasn't able to hold back the flare of anger she felt at his statement, nor the words that slipped out. "Did you seriously just fucking say 'I told you so'?" She ignored Laura murmuring that she was going to get a head start on the dishes, and Natasha offering to help. Coulson stayed; arms crossed as he quietly observed Ryan about to lose her shit. "You have no goddamn clue what you're talking about."
"You're right!" Clint shouted, months of biting his tongue coming to a head. "We have no clue, because you've been shutting us out for months."
Coulson looked about ready to interject, but Ryan silenced him with one look. She fully turned her attention towards Clint, sick and tired of these little comments he'd been making ever since Steve had been found in the ice. "God, stop pushing me! Stop asking me about my fucking feelings. Stop being an annoying little shit. Stop walking on eggshells and expecting me to fold over any time someone brings up Steve. Just. Stop!"
"You refuse to talk about it so what else are we supposed to do?" Clint then asked, not backing down just yet.
Ryan wasn't able to hold back her frustrations once again. "Leave it alone! I'm so sick and tired of you all asking me how I'm doing, or how I'm handling things. I'm fine. I don't have a choice, but to be fine. I'm focused on my work. I can't afford feelings or distractions right now, so respect my god damn boundaries and leave it alone."
"Is that what we are to you?" Clint asked, face hardening. "A distraction?" He pressed. "Because if you would've asked me, I would've said we were family. Families help each other through shit."
"I never asked for your fucking help." Ryan said lowly, but she didn't deny that they were family. Clint knew, past all the anger and frustration that was currently boiling over that the people in this house were the ones that Ryan had come to consider her family over the last 10 years. It didn't need to be said out loud.
But then, she found out why he was really frustrated with her right now. "Why'd you talk to Nat about it and not me? We're a team. We need to be on the same page." She saw now how that had hurt him. He thought that she didn't trust him as much as she trusted Natasha. That wasn't true.
You don't deserve this family. The voice rang clear in Ryan's head. She knew beyond any doubt that that was true. The closer she was to them, the more danger she put them in. Until she figured out how to deal with her assignment and finish it, she was putting them all at risk of being used against her. So, Ryan made a decision in the next second. She was going to push everyone away, for their own safety.
"It's not something that I wanted to talk to anyone about." Ryan started explaining. "But out of everyone here, she understood where my head was at. She's the most rational person here."
"I can be rational." He defended himself.
Ryan shook her head at him. "Clint, you're one of the most emotionally driven people that I know. It's what drives you, makes you a great agent. But at the same time, it's just another tool for people to use against you…" She trailed off.
She knew she'd hit a nerve when his shoulders tensed.
"I should go. Hell, I shouldn't have even come tonight…" She mumbled, pushing her chair back and standing abruptly.
"Why did you?" Clint asked, not having moved an inch since she'd reminded him about the reality of their lifestyle. "You're doing everything you can to push us away. You clearly still don't want anything to do with us right now for whatever reason… so why come here tonight?"
The honest answer was that she'd needed something real in the midst of the chaos her life had become over the last few weeks. But, she couldn't tell anyone that. So, she lied. "I don't know." She didn't wait around for his response, rushing out of the dining room before things got worse.
She didn't bother putting on her coat, just slipping into her sneakers and rushing out the door into some light rain. She'd parked far enough away from the house, having half the mind to avoid puddles as she hurried over to her rental car for the evening. She'd been so determined to get to her car that she hadn't noticed that Phil had followed her out into the pouring rain.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Coulson asked, tone sharper than anything Ryan had ever heard as he followed her over to her rental car, avoiding muddy puddles in their path. "That's your team! Why are you trying to break it up? I've known you for almost 20 years. This isn't you."
"I can't do it anymore Coulson!" Ryan snapped at him now, wishing he would just let her walk away. "The bonding and the knowing every little secret… are you really trying to tell me that's not a distraction on the field?"
Phil's whole posture softened. "I'd argue that it's a strength. Gives you something that's worth fighting for."
Ryan vehemently shook her head in denial at his statement. "I see it as something to be used against me. I can't have that. Not anymore. It's too dangerous for them"
A look of realization crossed Phil's face. "This is about your op. That's why you're pushing them away. You're getting close."
Ryan continued to back away, shaking her head at him. She glanced skyward when a crack of thunder resonated above them. She didn't doubt that it was about to start pouring. Sure enough, the heavens opened up seconds later, drenching them both almost immediately. "I can't do this." She repeated over the rain.
But, Coulson was right there in her space, looking as determined as ever. "You don't have to do it alone."
"Yes, I do." Ryan stressed.
He still wasn't buying it. "Let me help you. It's my job."
"Not with this." She all but begged this time, knowing that she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. She needed to get out of here. "Please Phil, just let me go."
"Absolutely not." He said unwaveringly. "Ryan, I've been watching you holding something in for the last 6 years, watching it slowly eat away at you. I've kept my distance because that was what you asked, but I can see how hard whatever this is has been on you. You look like you're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Let me carry some of it with you…"
Ryan looked at him almost desperately. He needed to stop. "Phil…" She pleaded.
"No, not this time. I'm not dropping it."
Ryan stood and watched him for a long time, as the rain continued to pour around them. His determination never wavered, and Ryan slowly came to the conclusion that he wasn't going to give it up. Maybe, she could confide in him just enough to get him to back off and keep doing her thing. She was so close, after all. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to keep the secret for as long as she had.
So, she decided to tell him the truth. "I'm about to be inducted into HYDRA."
Phil's gaze widened significantly, clearly not having expected that. "Captain America's enemy Hydra? I thought they were defeated when he went into the ice."
Ryan shook her head once. "So did I. I found out about it about 6 years ago now, that they'd been slowly rebuilding their forces in the shadows of government organizations all around the world. I've been trying to infiltrate them ever since."
"Why didn't you read us in?" Phil then asked. "We could've helped you all these years."
"Because I care." Ryan admitted. "They'll kill anyone who so much as looks at them sideways. If they caught wind that we were looking into it, they wouldn't hesitate to kill you all. Why do you think I've been pulling away? I'm trying to protect everyone. They wouldn't hesitate to use Cooper and Lila to get me to do what they want if they ever found out about them..."
"I guess this answers a lot of questions from over the last six years. The questionable missions, mistakes that happened on the field…" He listed, as he started to put together the pieces in his mind. "And you've been doing it all alone…" He added sadly. "Why?"
"I need to get close enough to free the Winter Soldier. He's… a friend from back in the day. I owe it to him."
"The Winter Solider is real?"
Ryan nodded, not wanting to go into any more detail right now even though Coulson clearly still had a bunch of questions for her. It was still raining, and she was getting cold. "Look, I know you have a lot of questions… but I need to go." She paused, holding up a finger when he'd gone to interrupt her. "I'm tied up with Strike Team Alpha for the next two weeks. But… I could meet you at my cabin in May. I'll show you the file, and read you in properly."
"Something tells me I don't have much choice." Coulson figured.
Ryan forced a half smile. "You could choose to stay out of it."
"Not a chance. You don't have to shoulder it all on your own."
"Then meet me at the cabin on the 5th. I'll tell you everything."
"Deal."
"You know, you can't breathe a word of this to Clint or Natasha. They won't stay out of it either and will end up killed." Ryan warned, making sure that Coulson understood.
"I know." He said, before he surprised Ryan and pulled her into a hug.
It wasn't the most comfortable hug, considering they were both soaking wet from the rain, but it was exactly what Ryan had needed to not fall apart. He didn't say anything, simply holding her close and letting her know that he was there for her. Part of Ryan wished that she would have caved a long time ago and let him in.
"Be careful." He spoke softly as he pulled back.
Ryan felt the smallest of genuine smiles rise on her lips. "I always am."
With that, she turned and finished walking over to her car. She slipped into the driver's side, ignoring how uncomfortable her wet clothes were as she started up the engine. She set the car in drive, rolling away from the farm, watching Coulson disappear in her rearview mirror.
Though she wished the night hadn't taken this turn in events for Coulson's safety, she found that she didn't regret it. She knew that his help would prove to be invaluable, and that together they could probably figure the entire thing out even faster. She just hoped that letting Coulson in wasn't the thing that was eventually going to get her caught. She also hoped that she hadn't just signed his death warrant, because he now knew the truth.
Only time would tell.
April 30th 2012
Ryan stepped out of her apartment about an hour ahead of schedule. It was a nice, warm spring day and she wanted to get a coffee and some fresh air. The sun was out after a rainy spell for the past few weeks, and she was in a good mood. She was getting picked up later to make her way down to D.C. for this mystery meeting. But until then, she decided it would be nice to grab an iced coffee and a bagel from her favourite bakery in the heart of Greenwich Village before heading out.
The walk over to the bakery was a quick one, not many people out of the street because it was that odd quiet time in the day between the lunch rush and end of day commute. The bell at the door chimed when she pushed it open, senses invaded by the delicious smell of the baked goods inside.
She mindlessly scanned the inside of the shop out of habit, doing a double take when her gaze caught a familiar blonde head of hair.
Ah crap.
Ryan thought about turning around and abandoning her plans to grab an iced coffee, but Steve had already seen her. So, she walked over to the register, ordered her coffee and waited at the end of the counter while it was being made. She purposely didn't look behind her, hearing his chair scrape against the tiled floor as he stood and pushed it back. He walked over, just as her coffee was placed on the counter, ready to go.
She turned to leave, finding Steve waiting by the door. She sighed, not seeing a way out of this situation unless she fully pretended, she didn't see him (which would look ridiculous). So, she nodded for him to follow along and made her way out of the coffee shop. He quietly followed, as Ryan started walking back in the direction of their apartment buildings.
"You're back in New York?"
Ryan bit her lip. "Yeah, but not for much longer. I'm heading out in about thirty minutes. I have some meetings in D.C later." She paused, wondering why she was even telling him this. "Did you need something?"
"I wouldn't mind some answers. You've been avoiding me for months."
"I've been busy… Now that I'm not…tied to New York, I'm being sent out on every strike op." Ryan shrugged, biting at her lip to stay focused. "Besides, I've already told you most of what I can. What else is there to talk about?"
"You're still wearing the necklace." Steve remarked, eyes catching the chain she'd been wearing for the last four months. It was tucked under her shirt, unnoticeable to most and usually hidden under her suits at SHIELD. It felt like it was burning through her skin now that he'd pointed it out.
"What do you want Steve?" Ryan asked tiredly, needing to change the subject. She'd rather talk about anything other than that necklace.
"I've been visiting Peggy." He revealed. "She speaks very highly of you."
Ryan didn't know how to react to that, so she didn't. Instead, she took a sip from her coffee.
"She wouldn't go into specifics out of loyalty to you, but she told me that you had a hard time after the war ended. You weren't able to settle back into your life from before the war." He said almost carefully, as though wanting to see how she'd react.
Of course not, the two most important people in her life had died. She'd moved into an apartment with Peggy, barely ever leaving it that first year. She wished Peggy hadn't told him this but couldn't blame her as well. Though her mind was racing, she didn't give him the reaction he was looking for. "I'd wished I'd died too." She told him dryly.
His brows rose significantly. "You… what?"
Ryan shrugged. "It was a dark time. I didn't have a purpose after the war and had no motivation to go out and find one. If Howard hadn't gotten himself into trouble and needed our help… I probably would've figured out how to get my way. But then, we created SHIELD and I found a new purpose to get me through the days. I became this." She finished off, vaguely gesturing to herself.
He mumbled out a quiet "I didn't know…" before keeping to himself for the next few minutes. They rounded a corner, now nearly back to their respective buildings.
Ryan checked the time on her phone, realizing that Rumlow would be here to pick her up any minute now. She didn't want him to see her talking to Steve, because it would inevitably lead to some questions and that was the last thing she wanted right now. So, she pocketed the phone and turned back towards Steve before they reached their block. "Look, is there anything else I can answer in the next 60 seconds? I need to run."
He wasted half his time building up the courage to tell her what he actually wanted. "I want to know everything."
She couldn't help the way her lips turned downwards into a frown. There it was, again. "That's not possible right now. I can't tell you much… You don't have the clearance to know what I've been up to for the last 65 years." Ryan muttered the same excuse she always used. "Just… Whatever worst case scenario image you're building of me in your head, it's probably not even close to capturing everything I've done over the years."
"Stop trying to scare me away." Steve muttered frustratedly. "I've done bad things too."
"It doesn't even compare Steve." She shut him down. "I don't have time to get in another fight with you right now." She added, before she carried on walking towards her apartment.
"So, you're just going to walk away. Again." He called out, not having moved from where they'd stopped.
"I'm doing what I have to do…" She sighed, but figured he'd heard her anyways. She turned the corner around her building, all but rushing back inside to put as much distance as she could right now from the super soldier that had the ability to make her question everything with a short conversation...
She'd only made it as far as the elevator before her phone rang, receiving a text from Rumlow to let her know that he was here to pick her up. So, she turned around and made her way back outside. She only looked at the blacked out SUV, not across the street where she could feel Steve's eyes on her as she slipped into the passenger seat. Thankfully, Rumlow didn't seem to notice.
They set off for D.C, Ryan using the drive to get her head back into the game. Except, it seemed that things weren't going to work out for her today.
Just as they'd reached the outskirts of D.C., Rumlow received a coded message saying that the meeting had been pushed to tomorrow evening. Ryan had wanted to break something, tired of the constant setbacks. She just wanted to get it over and done with. In order to deal with her frustration without snapping, she'd talked Rumlow into heading over to the Triskelion training center and going a couple of rounds. There was no point in heading back to New York tonight and coming back to D.C. tomorrow.
It had worked well, Ryan getting rid of most of her aggression, refocused on the task at hand. Then, she'd let Rumlow distract her in an entirely different way in the showers, forgetting all about what had happened in New York this afternoon.
May 1st 2012
"Last chance to bow out." Rumlow said again lightly, as they drove towards the Triskelion.
It was late into the evening, and Ryan was aware that most of the higher ranked SHIELD operatives and leaders were in Nevada right now dealing with a situation at the Project Pegasus research facility. Spikes in energy levels or something like that. Ryan had seen the brief, but left it to be handled by Fury. She had other things to worry about, and didn't want this meeting to get postponed a fourth time. Since office hours were finished for the day, the Triskelion was almost empty, save for some janitorial staff and analysts that worked around the clock. No one would be around for this meeting.
Ryan didn't bother answering the question because he knew she wasn't going anywhere. She'd been clear, from the first time he'd brought this up. She knew what she was signing up for, with this meeting. Things were about to change.
She kept quiet as they drove into the underground parking, going to the elevator that led directly to the higher floors. Rumlow scanned his badge and fingerprints in the elevator, before pressing the button to the executive's floor. Ryan realized where who they were going to see, as they climbed higher and higher. Sure, she'd known that she was going to meet with someone important, but she never would've thought the man in charge would be the one to introduce her to everything. She kept her expression neutral, as she was trained to do as she processed this turn in events.
They walked over to Pierce's office door, catching glimpse of a conversation between him and Jasper Sitwell through the glass walls that surrounded the office.
Rumlow turned to her before knocking, something she couldn't quite read on his face. Was it… concern? "Look, try not to react too badly to what you're about to hear. Don't ask too many questions… They're still a little hesitant, considering everything. I'll answer whatever I can after the meeting if you still have questions. And, I'm vouching for you, so don't fuck it up or we're both dead."
Ryan raised a brow. "You know I can't die, right?"
He huffed out a laugh. "You can't but I sure as hell can. Try not to get me killed."
"Whatever this is, it's worth it, right?" She asked him quietly.
Rumlow nodded once.
So, she lifted the corner of her mouth in a small smile. "Then don't worry about it. I know that this is a big deal, and it's going to change a lot of things. But, from what you've told me, it seems to line up with what I want. I wouldn't have taken this meeting if I was having second thoughts about any of it. And, I trust you."
With that, he raised his fist and knocked his knuckles against Pierce's office door. It was pulled open a moment later by Sitwell, who had a bit of a shit eating grin on his face as he let them into the office. He made way for them to come into the office, closing the door behind him on his way out.
"Agent Stone." Pierce stood from his desk, coming over to greet Ryan and shake her hand. He nodded to Rumlow, who'd gone over to the back of the room. He wasn't the one in the meeting, therefore he was going to keep his distance until he was called upon.
"Mr. Secretary." Ryan responded, calling him by his title. She then took a seat in one of the chairs across from the desk, leaning back and crossing one leg over the other. She took a breath, making sure to appear comfortable and confident. Then, she waited for the meeting to start. She didn't have to wait all that long.
"Now, I'm willing to bet you're wondering why we arranged this meeting." Pierce said, having now settled at his desk. His gaze was sharp, looking for anything that didn't look right. Ryan wasn't going to give him anything to doubt.
So, she met his gaze. "You're recruiting me for something into some kind of secret organization you run on the side." She stated plainly because they all knew that Ryan wasn't oblivious.
Pierce shrugged sheepishly, a crooked grin crossing his face. "To put it simply, yes." He started, before the grin disappeared and the serious look returned. "I'm assuming you've heard about Hydra from your days working with the SSR during the war."
Ryan made sure to release the breath that suddenly felt stuck in her throat. She slowly nodded, keeping her gaze locked on his as she spoke. "It was run by Johann Schmidt. Established by Hilter, as their science division, though Schmidt disassociated from Hilter when they no longer shared the same views. Schmidt wanted to take the world." Ryan listed as though she was reading from a history book, before leading into the more personal aspect. "I was captured by Hydra during the war, when I was a nurse along with the 107th. They experimented on us. I took to those experiments better than most of the men they tried them on before me. I don't know the science behind it all, but they are responsible for my enhancements."
"Your enhancements have proven quite useful over the course of your career." Pierce pointed out.
Ryan nodded once, agreeing. They'd saved her on numerous occasions.
Pierce carried on with his interrogation, still watching her every move for any sign of dishonesty. "Agent Rumlow tells me your view of SHIELD has changed?"
Again, Ryan shrugged. "In a way, yes."
"How so?"
"I'm good at my job, wouldn't you agree Secretary Pierce?"
Pierce nodded, almost seeming amused.
"I have a skillset that constantly being under-utilized. Look at the past year, for example. I spent more than half of it stuck in New York, babysitting a man out of time."
"Your former partner."
Ryan shook her head. "It was never like that. Yes, I knew him well, and he was one of the people that I was closest to before the war. Yes, things got physical a handful of times during the war. But it could never be more than that. He chose to sink his plane, and I moved on with my life. I put all of that far behind me and focused on what mattered."
Pierce wasn't nearly as good at hiding what he was thinking. She could see from the look on his face that he was skeptical. "And what was it that mattered to you?"
"The mission." Ryan answered easily, and this part wasn't a lie. "I put everything into becoming the best agent anyone had ever seen. I became the best fighter, the best shooter, the best intelligence operative, the best spy, best assassin... I learned to use my new skills to become the best at all of it. And I still am." She paused, taking a breath. "I helped them found SHIELD, as you're already aware. They sold it to me on the premise of keeping the peace that had settled after the war. And, that worked for a while. But as time went on, more rules and protocols were put into place, and they can be quite the hinderance to someone like me. Especially the past ten years, there's been too much red-tape and politics getting in the way of what used to be a very simple job. It's not what it used to be."
"Why not transfer to a different intelligence agency if you're unhappy with your role at SHIELD?" Pierce asked curiously, a question similar to one Rumlow had asked her long ago when they'd had this conversation.
Ryan reused the same answer as the last time this question had come up, scoff and all. "What organization has less restriction than SHIELD? The FBI, CIA, and NSA are all far too wrapped up in their own political agendas to accomplish a third of what we do a year. I'm stuck here, begging for scraps."
Pierce watched her for a long time after that, contemplating. He looked beyond her at Rumlow, searching for some type of acknowledgement that she was being truthful. She assumed that Rumlow had backed her up when Pierce turned his satisfied glance back towards her. "What if I could give you the opportunity to do what you want? To put all of your skills to use towards a greater cause."
Ryan held his gaze unflinchingly. "What kind of opportunity?"
"A new mission, one to bring order and peace to the world. Freedom to conduct operations as you see fit, no red tape. A chance to change the world for the better." He stated, a hint of pride seeping into his voice.
"What's the catch?" Ryan asked, letting her gaze narrow slightly. They both knew she was smart. She couldn't just accept without him revealing who she would be working for. He'd been vague up to this point, still deciding if she was worth trusting.
"You'd be working as a double agent for Hydra." He stated plainly, gaging her reaction.
Ryan only let her brow furrow slightly. "Hydra?" She asked, ensuring that her tone was curious rather than distrustful. "It was my understanding that Hydra had been defeated by Captain Rogers during the war…"
"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place." Pierce quoted. Ryan couldn't stop the chill from running down her spine when she heard him recite Hydra's saying, not having heard those words in years… "Schmidt's fall was not a defeat, simply a setback. Hydra never fell. We were forced to retreat, rebuild our forces. Operation Paperclip provided opportunity, and we've been building our ranks ever since. Hydra is now integrated into every facet of our modern government. We've been working in the shadows of pre-existing operations, evolving, pushing the world towards the freedom it craves."
"And you want me?" Ryan asked a moment later.
Pierce cocked his head slightly. "We already have you, Agent Stone. Who do you think has been behind your operations for the last 6 years? The 'mistakes' and 'accidents.' John Garrett is one of ours. The suggestions that he has been providing came from Hydra. All this time, you've been doing tremendous work for the cause."
Ryan's gaze widened slightly, feigning shock. "You knew about Garrett?"
"He, like Agent Rumlow, believe you will be a great addition to our ranks." Pierce confirmed. It was nice to know that the years she'd spent building the groundwork for this moment hadn't been for nothing. It had worked.
Ryan sparred a glance back at Rumlow, surprised when she noticed how tense he looked. Though, she was only able to pick up on it because she'd figured out most of his tells over the last few months. His posture was normal, standing tall and confident. It was the clenched jaw, and the slight twitch in his fingers against his gun holster that gave him away. He wanted this meeting to go well, for both of their sakes.
She turned back towards Pierce, finding him watching her curiously again. "I'm open to this opportunity. I think it will be exactly what I've been looking for… but I need more details. What do you expect from me? What would my role be? If I'm going to turn on SHIELD, I need to know that it will be worth it."
Pierce almost looked impressed, that she'd questioned him. However, he never got the chance to answer her questions.
Ryan froze when she heard the alert ring through on her otherwise silenced phone. Hers wasn't the only one in the room that rang, so did Secretary Pierce's. It was a very specific tone, for those who had security clearance above level 8 in case of emergencies. Ryan wordlessly pulled her phone out of her back pocket, catching Pierce pulling his out from the inside of his suit jacket.
It was a coded message from Fury.
Level 7 threat, Tesseract has been taken. Pegasus buried. As of right now, we're at war. Activating the Avengers Initiative.
"Fuck." Ryan muttered, cursing whoever had a sick sense of humor and kept getting in the way of her goddamn op.
She watched as Pierce pulled his laptop out of a drawer and started acting on the message they'd just received. Well, this would put a kink in everyone's plans. It seemed that all conversation about Hydra would be put on hold until they had more information about this threat, possibly even until the situation was resolved. Instead of letting herself get upset about that, she did the thing she was best at, and got to work.
She was about to ask Pierce how he wanted to proceed with this situation, but a second message came through on her phone, though this time it was silent as not to alert the other people she was with.
Barton has been compromised. Tell Laura to go to ground, for their safety. Bring in Rogers, it's all hands-on deck.
That changed everything.
"I've got to go." Ryan mumbled, abruptly standing.
Just as she stood, Pierce pulled up footage of what had happened at the Pegasus facility in Nevada, quickly overriding security protocols to review the automatically achieved footage. Ryan spared a second to watch, as the cube came to life and opened up some kind of strange portal before it quickly collapsed, open long enough for one man to slip through. She didn't recognize him, watching as he stood and started attacking the facility guards and scientist.
Her heart caught in her throat when Clint came down to fight, watching as the intruder's spear glowed a bright blue before the light seemed to go into Clint. He immediately placed his gun back into his holster. This guy had him under mind control. She watched, horrified as he took control of other people at the facility. There was a standoff with Fury, before he was shot and fell to the ground. They watched, as he scrambled out of the collapsing building, making it out just before it collapsed into nothing.
"What the fuck was that?" Rumlow asked, clearly out of the loop here.
She glanced at Pierce, who nodded to her. "Level 7 threat." Ryan then answered Rumlow.
"I'm sending out the order, all strike to report by 0600 for transport. We'll be sending out teams to the Helicarrier and some of our other bases, to bring up security in case they are targeted next. I've got to get on a call with the world security council, determine the next steps. Will you be joining, Ms. Stone?" He asked since she technically had the clearance in these situations.
She shook her head no. "I've got to get back to New York to collect Captain America and Agent Coulson, who's handling Tony Stark. Fury's order."
"Very well." Pierce nodded. "I trust that you'll keep tonight's conversation to yourself until we get the chance to go over the details and properly induct you into your new role?"
"Of course." Ryan nodded, because there really wasn't another option. The world was apparently ending.
"Agent Rumlow, escort her out." Pierce said, as a way to dismiss him as well.
Rumlow nodded, following the order. They'd barely made it two steps out of the office before Rumlow turned to ask her a question. "What the hell is going on right now?"
"You saw the footage." Ryan said, still walking towards the elevator. "A fucking alien just stole the tesseract, and we have no idea what they want to do with it. That thing has the power to level an entire continent in one go. We have to get it back before that actually happens. It's a level 7 threat, which means drop everything until it's resolved."
"Why did you get the alert?"
"I have level 10 clearance." She reminded him, as the doors opened to the elevator. "I know everything. I knew that the cube was acting up today. Fury wanted me to be there when they went to see what was wrong with it… Probably should've gone, in hindsight."
"So where are you going now?"
Ryan resisted the urge to snap at him and ask if he was even listening. "Back to New York. Fury's activated the Avengers Initiative, so I've got to convince an irritatingly stubborn super solider to come fight a war against an alien."
"What's the Avengers Initiative?" He then asked, as the elevator continued shooting downwards towards the parking garage.
"Fury's all-star team." Ryan explained. "A plan he came up with in the 90s when we realized that we weren't the only ones in the universe and that we were very outgunned." The elevator dinged as it made it to the parking level, Ryan taking it as a cue to leave the explanation at that. She walked right over to the SHIELD car closest to her, slipping into the driver's seat. "I'm heading to the New York headquarters to grab some files. Do you need a ride, or are you staying here?"
Rumlow shrugged, not making any move to get in the car with her. "Strike's supposed to report here in a couple of hours. There's no point when I could be getting the guys ready. You gonna make it back in time?"
She shook her head in response to his question, a small smirk making it's way onto her face. "It's a level 7, so I help to call the shots in these situations. Besides, I wouldn't be with Strike Team Alpha on this one because I made the cut for Fury's all-star team."
"Show off." Rumlow muttered though a crooked grin. "Make sure these all-stars have your back out there. Something tells me this isn't going to be a standard op."
"Try not to get killed without me around to cover your ass." She shot back, rolling her window back up and starting up the car.
She raised her hand in a wave, Rumlow mirroring the movement before she peeled out of the parking space and rushed out of the Triskelion, leaving everything behind. Now was not the time to be worrying about Hydra or how long this interruption would set her back. The stakes were suddenly much higher, and she had a job to do. She needed to put everything she had into this, to make sure they succeeded in stopping the alien and got Barton back in one piece.
Something in her gut told her it wouldn't be as easy as she'd like.
A.N: Here we are! Finally getting into the Avengers plot. I have so much fun stuff planned for this (and more drama, of course.)
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. As always, I look forward to seeing your reviews!
See you all again soon with the next one :)