Chapter 2: Saboteur
The ride to the Triskelion was quiet, and Natasha had to admit to herself deep down that she was a little nervous. Her mission itself was very simple. Infiltrate the area and seize information and dump it on the internet. The biggest wild card was Hydra. She knew Pierce was Hydra and could guess a decent amount of the top soldiers were too, but she didn't know who else. Was anyone on the Security Council?
There was also the fact that Rogers was going to be here with the rest of the team soon, and when they made their presence known, there was going to be a lot of noise and she was going to have a very small window to get what she needed to done. The car arrived at the Triskelion, and Natasha could tell something was different. There was more tension in the air. More of a rush. She was guessing this was something to do with either Project Insight or Rogers making a mess of things. Or possibly both. The car pulled to a stop just outside the front building and she allowed the door to be opened for her. She stepped out and saw Pierce walking towards them. She wanted nothing more than to put two bullets right between his eyes, but she had to bide her time. She needed him anyway for her plan. She put on her best Councilwoman face as Pierce approached. The rest of the Council had also gathered the three other members that would be accompanying her and that she would have to keep safe, provided they weren't Hydra.
"Council. A pleasure to have you all here. Welcome to the Triskelion," Pierce greeted and then gestured to the front doors. "Shall we?"
"It's impressive," Councilman Yen commented on the architecture, looking up at the building.
"That's thanks to the greatest SHIELD engineers and architects you'll ever see," Pierce replied modestly as they walked in the building. "And how was your flight?" He asked Councilwoman Hawley.
"Lovely," Natasha said, sizing Pierce up. "The ride from the airport, less so." She had only seen Pierce for a few times. She knew almost everything about him, but that came with the job. She had almost memorized his file, but she really couldn't trust anything that was written there. Hydra had infested everything and probably all records were falsified.
Pierce appeared to remain civil, but Natasha could see him bristle a bit. "Sadly, SHIELD can't control everything."
"Including Captain America," Councilman Rockwell said snidely. Definitely didn't help his mood, but he still let it go. They walked up to a guard who held open a case with the rigged pins. "This facility is biometrically controlled, and these will give you unrestricted access," Pierce explained, gesturing them each to take a pin. Rockwell, Singh, and Yen each took a pin. Natasha knew there was something fishy about those pins. They had never used those before when other high ranking officials visited the Triskelion. The problem was that the rest of the council didn't bat an eye and just grabbed them. Natasha didn't have much of a choice as she also grabbed a pin and placed it on her lapel.
They took the walk over to the elevator, passing numerous armed guards along the way. Natasha took in every detail that she could, possible escape routes, guard posts, potential suspicious activity. There was just so much to take in with so much unknown. They all took the elevator to the usual conference room and Pierce had someone bring in a bottle of champagne and some glasses. He could still feel some glares at his back, that was expected. He has pulled some rebellious stunts for the "greater good," but now was the time to gain back that trust. "I know the road hasn't exactly been smooth," he admitted after pouring the champagne and handing out the glasses. "And some of you would have gladly kicked me out of the car along the way." That earned a slight smile from Rockwell.
"Finally we're here," Pierce raised his glass with a glint in his eye. "And the world should be grateful.
They were about to drink, and Natasha was too, when the intercom went off. Already she knew that Rogers was successful in infiltrating where he needed. "Attention all SHIELD agents," Rogers said. "This is Steve Rogers. You may have heard a lot about me in the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down... and I think it's time you know the truth. SHIELD is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by Hydra. Alexander Pierce is their leader."
That earned a look from the Council over to Pierce, clearly wanting an explanation as even if Rogers was a technical fugitive of Shield, his word always carried some weight. In the most honest response she had ever seen from Pierce in her few encounters with him, he just shrugged.
"The STRIKE and INSIGHT crew are Hydra as well. I don't know how many more. But I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want: absolute control. They shot Nick Fury. And it won't end there. If you launch those helicarriers today, Hydra will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. Unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot. The price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not."
She had heard rumors on the inspiration that Steve Rogers could inspire, but to witness it first hand was something else. It's almost as if he practiced it beforehand. She didn't know it at the time, but she fell a little bit more for Steve Rogers at that moment, and it certainly gave her a small confidence boost in what was to come.
"You smug son of bitch," Councilman Rockwell snapped in slight disbelief, but summing up the feelings of the Council appropriately. And right on cue, two Hydra agents marched in. But Signh thought they were SHIELD. "Arrest him," he ordered, pointing at Pierce. Singh was sorely mistaken. The agents point their guns at the council, not including Pierce. Alexander smiled. "I guess I've got the floor."
She was watching Pierce's every move now, knowing that he had a trump card hidden somewhere, he was too smart and prepared to not have one. She knew that she would make sure to have a safeguard in a situation like this. She kept analyzing when she started to hear explosions from outside. She glanced out the window to see the three INSIGHT Helicarriers rising from the Potomac. And they were all currently firing at something, looking like a man in a wingsuit. It had to be Wilson, who she was quickly filled in on by Terra before she left to collect the Councilwoman's face scan. She held back a smile, as she knew the three were now in the fight and possibly causing a thorn in Pierce's side.
"Let me ask you a question," Pierce began, stepping away from the window and moving towards Sing. "What if Pakistan marched into Mumbai tomorrow, and you knew that they were gonna drag your daughters into a soccer stadium for execution?" He handed Councilman Sing a glass of champagne. "And you could just stop it with a flick of a switch. Would you? Wouldn't you all?" He addressed the rest of the room. Sing held the champagne glass tightly in his hand, his stare unwavering at Pierce. "Not if it was your switch," he bit out, tossing the glass to the floor where it shattered. Pierce let out a disappointed sign and held his hand out to one of the Hydra agents. The agent put a handgun in his palm. Pierce raised the gun and Sing stared down the barrel of it.
Der'mo," Natasha thought. Well, it's now or nothing.
Natasha quickly kicked Sing out of the way and then grabbed the arm that Pierce was holding his gun in and jabbed him quickly in the face. On her right, a Hydra agent pulled out his sidearm, but he wasn't fast enough. Natasha flung one of her widow's bites at him, dropping him to the ground. She ripped the gun out of Pierce's hand and flung it at another Hydra agent, hitting him square in the throat. She pushed Pierce away and took on another agent, taking him down with a quick jab to the throat, a kick to the knee, and then using her enhanced strength to pick him up and immediately slam him to the ground. She turned to find another Hydra goon turning to face her with his sidearm. She quickly grabbed his arm and slammed his head down on the table, knocking him out cold. She turned around to find the last Hydra agent standing and grabbed his arm that was holding his pistol and turned him around, elbowing him in the back and then slamming him to the ground in one motion, effectively taking him out.
She grabbed a fallen pistol off the ground and raised up pointing it at Pierce. She ignored the stunned looks from the rest of the council and stared down Pierce, not even breathing hard.
"Secretary Pierce," Natasha said.
She pressed a button on the side of the veil she was wearing and her voice started to change back as the veil turned off. She peeled the veil off, revealing her own face and took off the wig she was wearing, revealing her trademark red locks. The look of recognition on Pierce's face was one of confusion and disbelief. True she had kept a low profile, only carrying out certain missions for Fury the past couple months since New York. He probably was more focused on the Avengers anyway, considering her not a threat. Well, he probably didn't know her complete story, but now that she just took down a whole room of Hydra thugs, he probably was a little worried.
"I'm sorry," Natasha said, with a smirk. "Did I step on your moment?"
Natasha directed the other Councilmembers to grab the guns and make sure Pierce didn't make any moves. She wanted him dead for what he did, but she needed him alive. She secured the thugs on the ground and then made her way over to the computer terminal. Natasha began typing furiously on the keyboard to the master computer in front of her. In the background, she could hear the explosions of the helicarriers that were currently raising out of the river, and she knew her time was limited. Now, she was working on dumping all of Shield's information on the internet. Numerous topics popped up, some that she knew about, and then the very few that didn't. The Raft, Roger's file, New York details, all of it. She stopped abruptly when she came to the next set of files. Her files. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Let's hope Rogers doesn't retract his deal Nat thought and kept powering through, spewing information upon information on the net.
"What are you doing?" Councilman Rockwell inquired at Natasha, looking at the screen. Pierce stepped forth, hands still up and guns still trained on him. "She's disabling security protocols and dumping all the secrets onto the Internet."
"Including HYDRA's," Natasha said coolly, getting to the really fun stuff. All of the black ops missions that HYDRA had ever carried out was on here, and Natasha would enjoy reading about them later. She was happy to note that she had only been in a few of these, unaware of the true goal obviously, but still pissed that she did missions for a secret Nazi death cult that had been presumed dead in 1945.
"And SHIELD's," Pierce pointed out. "If you do this, none of your past is gonna remain hidden. Are you sure you're ready for the world to see you as you really are?"
Natasha hesitated for a moment. He was right. While Rogers did say that she could stay with them, there was a higher percent chance that she could end up in a prison for the things she had done. Her dealings with the Red Room and the KGB would certainly make her an enemy of the United States. Hell, what she did to Stark wouldn't work out well. With the spying she did on him for the recruitment for Shield, and the fact that she helped deliver Ho Yinsen to a terrorist group in her last days as a KGB operative. She glanced up at Pierce and looked into his deceiving eyes. While he did make a point, he was also the enemy. Responsible for thousands of deaths, and if they did not succeed today, millions. She wasn't going to be responsible for that anymore. Even if it brought her down, she would go down doing the right thing.
With a coy smile, she fired right back at Pierce. "Are you?"
"Disabling the encryption is an executive order, it takes two Alpha Level members," Pierce informed her, unable to hide the hint of satisfaction in his voice.
Natasha knew she would be denied. Honestly, if Pierce thought she was this dumb around hacking and security systems then the rest of Hydra would go down easily. "Don't worry," Natasha said, an equal amount of smugness in her voice. "Company is coming."
As if on cue, the sound of a helicopter grew gradually that made Pierce and the Councilmen turn around towards the helicopter pad outside. Sure enough, a military-grade helicopter kissed the ground and Natasha smiled internally. A figure exited the helicopter, one arm close to his chest and striding towards the door. And sure enough, Nicholas J. Fury walked through those doors with the tail of that damn black leather trench coat whipping in the wind behind him.
"Did you get my flowers?" Pierce managed to say. Silence. "I'm glad you're here Nick."
That changed Fury's expression to look annoyed as hell. "Really? Cause I thought you had me killed."
"You know how the game works."
"So why make me head of SHIELD?"
"Cause you're the best and the most ruthless person I know," Alexander said honestly.
Nick's eye almost twitched. "I did what I did to protect people."
"Our enemies are your enemies, Nick. Disorder, war. It's just a matter of time before a dirty bomb goes off in Moscow, or an EMP fries Chicago. Diplomacy? Holding action, a band-aid. And you know where I learned that; Bogota."
Fury didn't say anything to that as well and Natasha knew the rough details about the Bogota mission. Where Fury disobey direct orders to save a bunch of people. Learning about that case is what made Natasha able to at least take orders from Fury, even if she didn't trust him all the way.
"You didn't ask, you just did what had to be done," Pierce continued. "I can bring order to the lives of seven billion people by sacrificing twenty million. It's the next step, Nick, if you have the courage to take it."
Fury glared hard. "No. I have the courage not to." He grabbed his old friend's arm to lead him to the retinal scanner. Natasha hit the activation for the clearance test and picked up her own handgun and trained it on Pierce, making sure that he would confirm their authentication. The screen activated at their presence. "Retinal scanner active."
Pierce looked at him like he was joking. "You don't you think we wiped your clearance from the system?"
"I know you erased my password, probably deleted my retinal scan, but if you want to stay ahead of me, Mr. Secretary..." he lifted his eye patch. "You need to keep both eyes open."
They both leaned forward, Pierce looking a bit stunned about something that they actually managed to miss, and almost in disbelief that it actually worked and the computerized voice that came out.
"Alpha Level confirmed. Encryption code accepted. Safeguards removed."
Natasha, lowering the gun she had on Pierce slightly, looked at her phone and Googled Shield and kept the giant smile that she wanted to spread across her face, but she needed to keep her cool. "Done," Natasha said smoothly. "And it's trending."
The distraction on checking her phone proved to be very costly.
The council members suddenly convulsed as their pins activated and burned at their sternums, sending them unconscious to the ground. "Unless you want a two inch hole in your sternum, I'd put that gun down," Pierce said to Natasha, holding his phone with his thumb over a button that would certainly activate her pin. "It was armed the moment you pinned it on." His finger hovered over the button threateningly.
Natasha had the gun leveled right at him. She didn't flinch with the threat, but she cursed herself for being so stupid. I should have trusted my gut on those things, Natasha thought. I knew they were trouble. Natasha thought about putting the gun down, but she didn't. She didn't have much of a family left, only really a decent friendly relationship with Clint and his family. Coulson was a dear friend until his death. Fury was Fury, and she tolerated Hill. She had done the job she came here to do, and that was expose Hydra. She knew the risks that came with it, and if she could get a shot off while he pressed that button, she was surely going to take it. She glanced at Fury quickly, almost as if to send a message to shoot him in the head while he took her down.
Fury looked at her very apologetically almost, and it threw Natasha off. He slowly lowered his gun and gave Natasha the same look that she should do the same. She really didn't think she was worth it, but she had already begun planning on her next move. But Rogers needed to get those Helicarriers neutralized now.
"Lieutenant, how much longer?" he asked in the computer's communication, moving over to the terminal while keeping both Fury and Natasha at gunpoint, finger still close to the button on his phone.
"Sixty-five seconds to satellite link. Target reengaged. Lowering weapons array now," Natasha could hear the Hydra agent respond, knowing that they were almost out of time.
Natasha watched helplessly now as the battle on the Helicarriers ensued. She had to hope that Rogers did his job now that she did hers. She didn't know if she would make it out of this one. Her coming plan was risky, but for some reason, she was okay. Getting approval from Captain America had to mean something, right? Out of all the bad she did, she knew she did a good job for America's symbol of freedom.
Just before the time was out, the Helicarriers seemed to stop as all of their guns rearranged and started to point at each other. Natasha knew the mission was a success at that point, and it only cemented in the fact as they started to fire on each other, causing mass destruction.
"What a waste," Pierce said scowling at the window.
Natasha smirked as the mission was successfully completed. The threat of Project Insight was neutralized and everyone was safe. There was only one thing to take care of. She had to find out how to get Fury to shoot Pierce. She had an idea. It was a long shot, but if she hit herself with one of her widow bites, it would maybe short circuit the chip long enough for Fury to get an opening. While Pierce was focused on the helicarriers, Natasha began working one of the bites from her gauntlet on her right wrist.
Pierce nudged her in the back with the pistol towards the landing platform and helicopter. "Time to go, Councilwoman. This way, come on. You're gonna fly me out of here."
Fury just looked out the window with a bittersweet satisfaction. "You know, there was a time I would have taken a bullet for you."
"You already did. And you will again-" Pierce started before Natasha seized the opportunity.
With Pierce distracted with his small banter with Fury, Natasha brought her Widow bite up and activated it on herself. Oh shit, Natasha thought as pain radiated through her body. She dropped to the ground, hoping she woke up without a hole in her chest, before losing consciousness.
A few minutes later, she was roused slightly with someone saying her name. She opened her eyes to see Fury looking over her with some actual concern. If her entire body still didn't hurt, she would have chuckled at the expression. Instead, she groaned. "Wow," Natasha grumbled, still feeling the effect of the widow bite. "Those really do sting."
She sat up and glanced over to see Pierce with two bullet holes in his chest and dead on the floor. Good riddance. She got up and headed with Fury to the helicopter, knowing that they needed to get out of here and fast.
Fury was flying the chopper around the Triskelion as the last helicarrier started shredding it to bits. Natasha had already changed back into her Black Widow uniform, the red hourglass shining on her belt. She had a radio on and listened to Sam.
"We are on our way," Natasha yelled. "Stay there!"
Natasha was about to ask where Rogers was when she saw a figure drop from the helicarrier. It was feminine in form. Shit, Natasha thought as she zipped her suit all the way up. Natasha grabbed a small breathing apparatus she had in her belt and turned towards Fury.
"Someone dropped from the helicarrier," she shouted. "Get Sam and wait for my tracking signal."
Before Fury could argue, she jumped out of the helicopter and into the water below. As she was on her way down, she knew she would survive. she jumped from higher spots before. She entered the water with a giant splash and headed right towards the person that dropped. she found Terra on the bottom of the Potomac and grabbed her, swimming towards the shore and hoping that Terra wasn't dead. Natasha dragged Terra out of the water and started to go over her injuries. First and foremost, making sure she was alive. She checked her pulse and found a weak one.
"Okay," Natasha said, wiping the hair out of her face. "Let's get you fixed up kid."
Natasha started to patch up Terra's more serious injuries and try to stabilize her before calling the medics. Natasha heard the slogging of water behind her and wheeled, bringing up her pistol in the process. What she saw was something she never thought that she would see. Steve was being drug through the water, with injuries that would kill a normal person. She was definitely worried about that and would take care of it as soon as possible. What she didn't expect was who was carrying him.
"James?" Natasha asked, lowering the gun slightly.
She saw a faint hint of recognition on the face of the Winter Soldier. She knew what they did to him each time they brought him out of the ice, but the fact that he was helping Steve at the moment and not killing him made her think that he was gaining something back. And her past was intertwined with his as well. He raised his arms in a sign of peace, obviously not wanting to pose a threat. He nodded at Steve. "Take care of him."
Natasha knew what he was going through. All of her time with the Red Room, her brain was jumbled all up. She could only imagine what he was going through was ten times worse. She holstered his weapon and came over to grab Steve.
"Go," she said, before working on Rogers.
She dragged Steve next to Terra and started to go over his wounds. It didn't look good. He had a nasty shot to the stomach that could prove fatal.
"C'mon Rogers don't you die on me," Natasha said. "I don't want to lose the leader of the Avengers because of my shitty patch jobs."
She took out her radio and called all of her frequencies. "This is Agent Romanoff," Natasha said. "I have Captain Rogers and Agent Montgomery on the bank opposite the Triskelion. Both are in dire need of medical attention, does anyone copy?"
"This is Agent Hill, I copy. I'll send medical your way. What's your location?" Natasha heard through the frequency and sighed in relief. She was about to answer when she heard sputtering from Rogers. He opened his eyes widely and tried to find his surroundings. She placed herself firmly in his view, hoping that a familiar face would at least calm him down.
He coughed. "R-Romanoff?" His eyes flickered, darting back and forth and around. "Where's-?" He vomited more water off to the side.
"I'm activating my tracking beacon," Natasha said through comms, getting help on the way first. "Get here fast Hill."
Natasha turned back to Rogers, trying to help him through this. "Rogers lay back down," she commanded as he tried to sit up. "You have multiple bullets through you. Just relax and wait for the medics."
She comforted him the best she could and she heard a helicopter land a bit behind her and sirens blaring. There were EMTs all around a second later, and Natasha stood up and let them do their work. She made her way over to where Wilson and Fury were standing, decently covered with Steve and Terra's blood. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the damage that was caused to the Triskelion. "Shit," Natasha said. "My cell phone was still in my office."
Sam went over to talk to Steve and Natasha took a second to gather her thoughts. The battle was over. Everyone was accounted for and alive. They won. The Triskelion was in shambles and who knew the number of casualties, but she knew they were for the better off. Right? After she let Steve and Sam have a moment, she walked over to make sure he was okay herself.
"Feel like shit," she managed to hear Steve say at the tail end of their conversation.
Natasha came over to survey the rest of his injuries and huffed. "You'll be fine Rogers," she said, trying to lighten the mood. "With that serum in you, you'll be healed within the week." Natasha placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned down to whisper in his ear, this wasn't information that anyone else should hear. "James is fine," she said before standing up. "Anything you need?" she asked.
He squinted up at her, trying to see through the sunlight. There was no hint of a lie on her face, and she saw that he knew she was telling the truth about James. His features relaxed and he slumped into the stretcher the paramedics were maneuvering him into. "I need a beer," he quipped. They began loading him into the ambulance. "Wait." They paused. He looked directly at Natasha, struggling to keep conscious now. "The files you released... there has to be some on Bucky. He's out there now and I... I need to find him."
"I can do better than those," Natasha promised. She owed him a lot at the moment, and she had information that she could give him. She had a responsibility to, right? She turned back to Fury and the others. "Do you think you can handle the aftermath of this without me," she asked. "I need to make a trip to Kiev."
"I got this," Nick replied, already punching in some numbers on his phone. "Do what you gotta do."
"Good," Natasha said, already headed out. "Don't get me arrested when I come back."
A/N
Author contributors on this chapter: A Velvet Rose and SarahCon
