MCU :: MARVEL UNIVERSE :: MCU
MCU :: MARVEL UNIVERSE :: MCU
It was three in the morning when Deputy Director Maria Hill walked through the halls of the Triskelion with a hot cup of coffee in her right hand and a level ten classified mission report in her left. The Agents on the night rotation quickly got out of her way, either out of respect of her position within S.H.I.E.L.D., or the irate expression on her face—Maria couldn't be sure, nor did she really care as long as they stayed out of her way.
She entered Fury's office without waiting for his permission to enter, he had been expecting her five minutes ago but Maria had been awake for the past twenty-four hours with the cyber-security team tasked with finding Cipher, but they weren't having much luck. Maria expected it, but with their recent breach from the hacker, they couldn't afford to leave one stone unturned. If there was one thing Maria Hill hated about her job; it was damage control with the press.
It was a headache and the moment they apprehended Cipher, Maria was going to give that hacker a very, very special welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D.
Nick looked up from whatever it was that he was doing when Maria walked in, looking just as exhausted as she felt. He waved away the halo-documents that he had been reviewing with a harsh sigh, "Secure room."
"Room secured, Director." The office A.I responded immediately, and as the room locked itself (including the vents) the lights brightened before it could get too dark, and Maria settled into one of Fury's office chairs. She took a much needed gulp from her coffee cup, the high temperature and the bitterness making her veins buzz, giving her a rush.
"Where are we with Cipher?" he asked after a moment, allowing his second in command's caffeine to kick in. The last thing he wanted to be dealing with was Maria without her proper caffeine fix.
"Nowhere. After New York she went ghost, we lost her trail in Baton Rouge...so she could literally be anywhere."
"What about Homeland? That Agent, Dinah Madani?"
"I'm leaning on her, but I'm not getting anything. I have a meeting with her tomorrow, bright and early."
"She approved it?"
"No."Maria lips twitched, "I've been gathering Intel through her office. But the story is always the same; Cipher's been there maybe once or twice but Madani had them meeting outside of the office. Those who actually saw Cipher recalled her being young, no older than twenty maybe."
Fury grunted, he'd heard the report before. Twice. And it was starting to get frustrating that, that was all his Agents could find on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s number one opposition. Cipher caught S.H.I.E.L.D with their pants down constantly, getting access to files that only he had access to.
"Keep leaning on this, Hill. S.H.I.E.L.D. can't afford anymore leaks. I want this hacker gone."
"Understood, sir." Maria groaned internally, she already had enough on her plate as is without worrying about this hacker calling themselves Cipher but she also knew her longtime colleague and friend was right. S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't afford to take another hit from Cipher and she knew how important it was to keep the entire operation under wraps.
Fury nodded, and he thankfully moved on, "Mission report on The Hand."
Maria set her coffee aside, and handed him the folder she had been carrying around with her, keeping it close. With Cipher seemingly living in their database, Maria pulled the mission file personally and put it on paper. It was easier to keep track of, and keep the Agent undercover safe.
"I've spoken to Agent Morse forty-eight hours ago. Alexandra Reid is keeping her close, and apparently they are going to California for an unspecified period of time."
"Where Madame Gao is currently located." he commented
"Not much of a coincidence that is."
"And this magic voodoo shit? Where is it?"
"After Agent Morse's Intel of the heroin trafficking on the West Coast, The Hand have been spread a little thin, and so has the Intel. Agent Morse is already in a tight spot, Fury, if she pushes any harder she could be compromised." Maria warned.
"What else was Agent Morse able to uncover?"
"Reid found a candidate to put in her resurrection chamber. Agent Morse over heard Reid bringing in the rest of The Hand's Resurrection Elixir substance but she doesn't know the location of it. Not yet. But I'm thinking it's in California."
"And this candidate?"
"Currently in Madame Gao's possession. Female, young and...she has abilities."
"This girl have a name?"
"Daisy." Maria shook her head, "Morse was only able to catch snippets, so we can't find out who this girl is in the system, not until we know more. And there isn't a Daisy on the INDEX."
Fury closed the file, leaning back in his chair and leveling a look at his second in command, but Maria knew him well enough—he was pleased, but about what Maria had no idea. Yet. "How close are we to shutting this organization down for good?"
Maria took another much needed sip from her coffee cup, "Seventy two hours or less."
"Negative." Fury countered, and Maria knew his pleased look was about to make her life a living hell, "I want you to wait until this plays out before moving in one these fountain of youth freaks."
"What the hell are you playing at Fury?" she demanded, eyebrow raised. And really she knew she should lower her voice, but Maria was too exhausted for Fury's bullshit, hair brained ideas this late at night, "I will not put one of our top Agents at risk for you to play god."
Fury raised his eyebrow, but didn't comment on her tone—he never did, "We may never get an opportunity like this ever again."
"An opportunity for what?" she already knew what he was going to say next, his paranoia sometimes made Maria want to pull her hair out because sometimes he took it a little too far and his ideas usually blew up in his face. Usually. "Nick. Whatever you're thinking. Stop."
"Half the powered people on the INDEX are in The Fridge because they're sociopaths with a gift and no damn sense," he started, completely ignoring his Deputy Director's exasperated groan, "And the other half are strong willed and good people, but their abilities aren't worth a damn."
"Fury—"
"People like Tony Stark; Iron Man, Bruce Banner; a giant green monster with mommy issues! Gods from other planets throwing a hammer with a red cape. Are running around the goddamn world like it's a playground!"
"Yeah, and do you really honest to god believe that adding to the circus is a great idea?!" Maria argued back, both of her temples throbbing angrily when she raised her voice.
"Damn right." Nick flattened his hands against his desk when he leaned forward, "This is our chance to create our own Winter Soldier, or Black Widow...with a clean slate."
Maria rubbed her forehead, "You're talking about letting The Hand kill a person for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s own gain. Nick, this person could be innocent!"
"It's a casualty that I can live with." was all he said, and Maria's eye twitched, but she knew that this was Nick's final order and there was nothing further she could do but protest in vain, "It's too good of an opportunity to let go, and there's only one person I can trust with this, Hill."
Maria downed the rest of her black coffee, nearly choking on it in her anger at the man sitting on the other side of the desk. Not only was he not listening to her, but he was dragging her in the middle of his schemes—no doubt to clean up his mess when it would all fall apart.
She continued to glare at him and he just smiled at her, as if he hadn't just made her life more complicated, "This stays between us. Understood?"
Maria looked down at her watch and sighed heavily. She'd been in Fury's office for an hour, and she only had two more hours to try to get some sleep before she went to visit Dinah Madani, another pending headache.
"Fine. Anything else, sir?"
Nick studied her with his good eye, before dismissing her with a wave of his hand, "Take care of yourself, Hill."
MCU :: MARVEL UNIVERSE :: MCU
When Dinah Madani walked into her office, she had been in a good mood and when her secretary informed her that she had a guest Dinah didn't think too much of it. She had breakfast with Frank along with David Lieberman and his family. It had been a nice morning and Dinah was patiently waiting for Skye to call her so she could tell her that Frank fixed her van, and that David helped. Adding some security perks here and there that they thought the young woman would love and appreciate.
Dinah was aware that she had more than one way to contact Skye but with S.H.I.E.L.D crawling up her ass and around her office, Dinah didn't want to take any unnecessary risks.
The moment Dinah opened her door, her good mood plummeted when she realized just who was in her office, and slammed her office door shut, "Jesus, don't you people ever sleep?"
"Rarely," Director Hill answered with a wry smile, watching Dinah take off her coat and sit behind her desk. Maria was content to watch the Homeland Security Agent ignore her presence completely while checking her emails. Maria was exhausted but she was patient enough to wait the woman out, and it didn't take long for Dinah to look (glare) at her.
"Is there anything you need, Agent Hill? Unlike you S.H.I.E.L.D Agents, some of us actually have work to do, and I have a meeting in twenty minutes. So please, if you could move this along."
The corner of Maria's lips quirked, "Did you have a nice morning with Mr. Castle and Mr. Lieberman, Agent Madani?"
Maria had to give the woman credit, she didn't react outwardly to her comment (much) but her body language was far too casual to be relaxed as she rocked slightly in her office chair, staring at Maria with obvious contempt, "You're wasting your time with me, Agent Hill. I don't have anything more than what I've already told you. I don't know where Cipher is, and I don't have any way of contacting Cipher."
Maria loved the fact that Dinah was so careful not to mention Cipher's gender, every time they spoke. It only further proved that the Homeland Agent was lying to her face, and Maria told her as much.
Dinah scoffed, shaking her head, "So you know that Cipher is a woman, congratulations Agent Hill. Did you know that Frank Castle is a man?"
"I know that you're screwing him. Yet, I'm curious Agent Madani, were you screwing him before he was a free man, or after?"
"I don't know what angle you're working at, Agent Hill, but my private life is just that...private."
"You have a habit of sleeping with killers, don't you? First Billy Russo," Maria filed away that subtle flinch for a later date, "Now, Frank Castle. Did you screw Cipher too?"
Dinah glared at Maria, eyes blazing as she pointed to her office door, "We're done here, get the hell out before I call security."
Maria didn't move an inch, and she didn't even flinch when Dinah picked up the phone to start dialing for security, "I went by your apartment, Agent Madani. Imagine my surprise when I was told that you no longer reside there. So I had a couple of my Agents follow you—you should be more aware of your surroundings by the way." Maria commented crossing her legs at the knee, "Would you like to tell me why you're living in the warehouse district? It's not your type...more like Mr. Castle's. I'm surprised. Living together? So soon?"
Dinah stopped what she was doing, freezing for a few seconds before she muttered something into the phone and dropped the receiver back onto the phone with a loud clatter, "What? Are you following me now?"
"You're giving me no choice, Agent Madani. S.H.I.E.L.D has to assume that you're working with a known terrorist since you refuse to help us catch her. You've slept with two already, what are we supposed to think?"
"Are you here to take digs at my private life now, Agent Hill?" Dinah hissed angrily.
Maria exhaled heavily, holding up her hands, "Look, I get it. You two worked together, clearly went through something traumatic—but your sense of loyalty is misplaced. Cipher isn't your friend."
"What would know about having a friend, Agent Hill? Honestly, I can't imagine you having a lot of those."
Maria would be lying if she said that didn't sting a little because it was a little right on the nose but like everything else, she brushed it off, "Cipher has killed a number of S.H.I.E.L.D Agents and leaked sensitive data—"
"And you want me to help you kill her for it." Dinah interrupted coldly, rising from her chair, "Listen, I don't condone half the shit she is doing, has done, and will probably do in the future. But Cipher is my friend outside of our chosen careers, and that is where my loyalty stands, Agent Hill. I'm sorry but I can't help you."
Maria stood as well, looking down at the other brunette disdainfully, "You're protecting a terrorist."
"I'm protecting a friend, Agent Hill. And I pity anyone you call a friend if you cannot understand that."
Maria bristled at that comment, and smiled sharply, "I wouldn't get too comfortable in this office, Agent Madani if you don't watch your step from now on."
"Is that a threat?"
"It is a warning...oh, and Agent Madani?" Maria pulled out something from the inside of her coat pocket and set it down on Dinah's desk, "The one photo she couldn't scrub from the web. Figured you would like a copy to frame on your wall—assuming that you don't have any others yourself." Maria then left Dinah's office, leaving the door wide open not that the Homeland Agent noticed as she continued to stare down at the picture on her desk.
It was a picture of her and Skye sitting in the diner at their usual table for the last time—the day Dinah warned Skye that S.H.I.E.L.D was coming for her. The picture was clearly taken from across the street, the edges slightly blurry but the side of Skye's face was sharp and clear. She snatched the photo off her desk, nearly crumpling it as she shoved it into her desk drawer and locked it.
Dinah nearly jumped out of her skin when her office phone rang, bringing her back into reality. She quickly went to shut her door before throwing herself into her work but she could no longer latch back onto the good mood she was in earlier. It was just her life now.
She just hoped that wherever Skye was, and whatever she was doing; that she was being safe and watching her back.
MCU :: MARVEL UNIVERSE :: MCU
MCU :: MARVEL UNIVERSE :: MCU