Chapter 26 - Stevie

January 12, 2014 - 5:30 a.m.

The laundry truck pulled into the Triskelion loading dock early the next morning, and the three climbed from it with varying degrees of stiffness. Their breath steamed in the cold, still air. Stevie looked around warily, but the subterranean space was empty. The sharp slam of Rovshan's door echoed in the quiet.

Pietro stretched backward, groaning theatrically.

"That was, without a doubt, the single worst night of my life!"

"Hey, at least it wasn't the dirty laundry," Rovshan replied with a grin.

They had spent the night in Rovshan's truck, and hidden inside his laundry tubs for the drive over - an experience Stevie had certainly never planned to repeat. In the darkness of the truck bed, lit by the anemic glow of Wanda's phone, she had explained her plan to the twins. It was a gamble, but with the twins' unique abilities at her disposal, it just might work.

Thanks to her time in Europe during the War, Stevie could sleep wherever she had to. After their planning session, Stevie had leaned up against a laundry tub and dozed, unperturbed by the cold, as Wanda shivered and Pietro's high-speed fidgeting made the whole truck vibrate. Now, seeing Pietro blur restlessly around the truck, she appreciated again how difficult the night must have been for him.

"Alright," Stevie said. Pietro flickered to her side. "It's go time. Rovshan?"

The man looked up, one foot already on the running board.

"Thank you."

He smiled.

"Good luck, Captain," he said.

"You, too."

I'll certainly need it, she thought as Rovshan pulled away, the smell of diesel exhaust filling the dim concrete enclosure.

"Well?" Pietro said beside her. "I thought it was go time."

Wanda smacked his arm. "Be patient," she hissed.

"No, you're right," Stevie said. She had been woolgathering. It was hard not to, in this calm before the storm. "I'm ready."

Pietro nodded, picked her up, and the corridors of the Triskelion smeared around her like wet paint. They stopped with a jolt and she gasped, reaching a hand to the wall to keep herself from falling. Still haven't gotten used to it, she thought, swallowing to calm her stomach. Pietro blinked out from beside her and returned with Wanda, who handled the situation much more gracefully.

They were outside the IT office, in one of SHIELD's lower levels. Unlike the upper level's futuristic all-glass, thumbprint and badge-activated doors, the door to this office was black metal with a frosted window, a smudged keypad above the handle.

Stevie knocked at the door. Beside her, Pietro fidgeted. He had been skeptical about this part of the plan.

Why not just go straight to the hangar bay? He had said. Why delay?

She had paused, at thought, remembering how she'd felt, just days ago. How angry. How...betrayed.

Because SHIELD is full of good people, she had said. And they deserve to know the truth.

And because the chaos of the revelation will help cover our entry and the Black Widow's mission? Wanda added, a cynical smile incongruous on her youthful face.

Stevie had nodded. That, too.

A stocky, gray-haired woman opened the door, eyes widening behind her tortoiseshell glasses as she realized who Stevie was.

"Hello, Luanne," Stevie said. Beside her, Pietro sighed and rolled his eyes. "Can we come in?"

The woman quickly looked up and down the corridor before beckoning them into the office. The last time Stevie had been here had been to talk about a problem with her email account. She was almost surprised to see that nothing had changed. The same surprisingly small cluster of cubicles, computers with double monitors, incomprehensible comics and jokes pinned up everywhere. Then again, that had only been a few weeks ago. Stevie shook her head. The past few days felt like a lifetime.

Besides Luanne, there was only one other person in the office - a tall young man trying to grow a lackluster beard.

The rest must be out on calls, Stevie thought. Probably easier, if something goes wrong. And what would she do, in that case? Hold Luanne hostage and force the man to do what she wanted? No.

The young man stood up.

"Captain?" He said. "What…?"

"It's alright...Hunter?"

"Taylor," he said.

"Ah. Sorry."

"No problem."

"Do we really have time for…" Pietro interjected, before Wanda swatted him in the arm.

"My friend is right," Stevie said ruefully. "We don't have much time."

The two stared from her, to Pietro, to Wanda, back to her, stunned and silent. Time to be the Captain.

"Look, something terrible is about to happen," she said. "And I need your help."

Luanne and Taylor shared a look. Then Luanne turned to Stevie, jaw set.

"What do you need, Captain?" She said.

Stevie felt a surge of relief. My sterling reputation counts for something after all.

"I need to send a message to every SHIELD employee that I can, right now," she said. "Everyone in the building, everyone on the grounds. Is that possible?"

This time, it was Hunter who answered.

"Oh, definitely." He was already sitting down at his computer, clicking and typing as he spoke. "Video or just audio?"

"Both," Stevie answered. "If I can."

"I'll just hook up my webcam…" He fiddled with something attached at the top of his screen. "What's the admin access code, Lu?"

As Luanne told him, Stevie saw Pietro fiddling with a little plastic toy Superman hanging from someone else's cubicle. Wanda hissed something at him and he put it down.

"Alright, Captain," Luanne said. "We're ready to patch you in."

"Just sit in the chair and look directly at the camera," Taylor said, pointing to the little round ball at the top of his screen. "Don't look at the monitor. Rookie videoconferencing mistake."

Stevie sat down, and Luanne and Taylor adjusted things around her.

"Ready?" Luanne asked.

Stevie took a deep breath. She had thought, during her long night in Rovshan's truck, about what she would say. Now, she just had to do it.

"Yes."

The camera's green light turned on, and on the screen, a little window showed Stevie herself, blinking. She tried not to look at it. It was harder than she thought.

"Attention all SHIELD Agents," she began. "This is Captain Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the past few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth."

She paused. Even after everything, it still hurt to say what came next.

"SHIELD is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by Hydra. Alexander Pierce is their leader. 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."

Out of the corner of her eye, Stevie saw Taylor and Luanne give each other frightened looks. She could be signing SHIELD's death warrant. If this worked as she hoped - SHIELD would tear itself apart. Sorry Peggy.

"They almost have what they want. Absolute control. They killed 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."

It wasn't just SHIELD's death warrant she was signing. If this worked, agent would fight agent. People who thought they were friends would kill one another. She'd considered it, over that dark night. She could strike fast, and anonymously, like Pietro wanted. Maybe that would avoid bloodshed. But then, the guilty would have time to bury their trails. The truth would stay hidden. The people who had lied, and murdered, who had taken Bucky from her, who had turned him into that...thing...they would never be brought to justice. The thought filled her with fury.

That can never be allowed to happen.

"I know I'm asking a lot," she continued. "The price of freedom is high. It always has been. But it's a price I'm willing to pay. If I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not."

She gave a nod to Taylor, who started a little before he turned the camera off. Pietro clapped mockingly.

"Lovely," he said. "Did you write it down, or was that off the top of your head?"

Stevie ignored him.

"Thank you Luanne, Taylor," she said. "Before we go, can you give us access to the secure elevator? We need to get to the Project Insight hangar."

"Sure thing," Taylor said, sitting back down at his computer. "Wait...no."

"What?"

He typed. Clicked. Shook his head.

"The elevator has been locked out. The hangar is...opening."

"Oh no," Luanne said softly. Pietro cursed in a language Stevie didn't know.

"Change of plan," she told the twins, who looked at her with matching, inscrutable expressions. "We'll need to go straight to the airfield."

Stevie turned back to Luanne and Taylor.

"The server room is pretty secure. You should lock yourselves in, wait for this to blow over. It shouldn't take too long."

"No, ma'am," Luanne said simply, pulling herself up to her full height. "We're SHIELD agents, and we'll fight to protect what SHIELD stands for. We'll do everything we can."

Stevie smiled. There was still so much good in SHIELD. She saluted them.

"Good luck."

"You too."

"Oh, we can go now? Sure you don't want a tea break?" Pietro snarked as they left the room.

"Enough," Stevie said. Surprisingly, he shut up. "We have a plane to catch."

It begins...

Sad story - this chapter, along with the next three, were lost when my old laptop crashed, months ago, plunging me into a bout of writer's block. I've rewritten them, obviously, and I think they're just as good. ;-)

Hope you're well, and I look forward to seeing what you think of the next few chapters - they'll be action-packed!