Back to Gatefold
Issue #16 by Steve Crosby
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She awoke with a hand over her mouth.
It was pitch-black, her eyes only able to make out the faintest outline of a large man. The hand was covered in a leather glove, but through it she could taste his sweat and wanted to gag. The stench of him was overwhelming, and when he whispered in her ear the smell coming from inside him was so much worse.
“Make a sound and I snap your neck.”
Roughly she was pulled from the bed. The sheet tangled around her legs and she nearly hit the floor wrong end up. He pulled her up so hard her arm was almost pulled out of its socket. Only his words kept her from crying out. His words and his stench, all man and it made her want to retch.
Through the door there was light and with the light she saw bodies. The dead eyes of one corpse seemed to stare up at her from a head twisted all the way around. She noticed those that hadn’t been killed by bare hands had been stabbed. There were no gunshot wounds that she could see, and at no point did she wonder how she could recognize such things.
In the light she also saw the face of her rescuer, or at least the mask that covered his entire head. Mostly it was black, except for the splash of white across his face. With the holes over nose and eyes, and the stitching over the mouth, at first glance the white could be mistaken as a skull. But she recognized it for a cross. This man was holy, she knew, and almost forgave the rest.
Outside the night was hot and humid, thick with the stink of death. She saw many more dead bodies, these certainly killed from a distance. Most were soldiers, a far greater percentage than those inside, who had primarily consisted of doctors and nursing staff. Some men were alive and moving out of her large companion’s path. They all wore gaudy green uniforms with bright yellow H’s that ran down the front and back. A few were patrolling the battlefield, shooting bodies in the head so that there would be no doubt.
Then she appeared, a goddess in the midst of beasts. Beneath a dark green cloak she was covered in a green bodysuit, with gloves and boots of a slightly lesser green. From dark green belts there hung knives and pistols, their weight pulling the belts low across shapely hips. Darkest green of all was her hair and lightest green were the eyes and lips, contrasting exquisitely against olive skin. But most of all was the aura of fearsome leadership she carried that prompted all men to drop to their knees and raise both arms in salute.
“Hail Madame HYDRA! Hail Madame HYDRA! Hail Madame HYDRA!”
The third time she found herself screaming it from a kneeling position. The man had let her go, but otherwise hadn’t made a move in deference or defiance. Madame HYDRA ignored him to focus on her.
“I see their efforts were in vain. Deep inside you remain true to yourself.”
She looked up at the Madame with absolute worship. “You…you know who I am?”
“I know that your father felt you were the wrong gender and hated you for it. I know that he was not a patient man and so used you in experiments of accelerated development. I know that he was content to leave you to this fate, but I am not that foolish man. I am what you should have and still could become.”
Madame HYDRA offered her hand. “If you want to kill, Sinthia Schmidt, you will take my hand.”
She took it eagerly.
It was pitch-black, her eyes only able to make out the faintest outline of a large man. The hand was covered in a leather glove, but through it she could taste his sweat and wanted to gag. The stench of him was overwhelming, and when he whispered in her ear the smell coming from inside him was so much worse.
“Make a sound and I snap your neck.”
Roughly she was pulled from the bed. The sheet tangled around her legs and she nearly hit the floor wrong end up. He pulled her up so hard her arm was almost pulled out of its socket. Only his words kept her from crying out. His words and his stench, all man and it made her want to retch.
Through the door there was light and with the light she saw bodies. The dead eyes of one corpse seemed to stare up at her from a head twisted all the way around. She noticed those that hadn’t been killed by bare hands had been stabbed. There were no gunshot wounds that she could see, and at no point did she wonder how she could recognize such things.
In the light she also saw the face of her rescuer, or at least the mask that covered his entire head. Mostly it was black, except for the splash of white across his face. With the holes over nose and eyes, and the stitching over the mouth, at first glance the white could be mistaken as a skull. But she recognized it for a cross. This man was holy, she knew, and almost forgave the rest.
Outside the night was hot and humid, thick with the stink of death. She saw many more dead bodies, these certainly killed from a distance. Most were soldiers, a far greater percentage than those inside, who had primarily consisted of doctors and nursing staff. Some men were alive and moving out of her large companion’s path. They all wore gaudy green uniforms with bright yellow H’s that ran down the front and back. A few were patrolling the battlefield, shooting bodies in the head so that there would be no doubt.
Then she appeared, a goddess in the midst of beasts. Beneath a dark green cloak she was covered in a green bodysuit, with gloves and boots of a slightly lesser green. From dark green belts there hung knives and pistols, their weight pulling the belts low across shapely hips. Darkest green of all was her hair and lightest green were the eyes and lips, contrasting exquisitely against olive skin. But most of all was the aura of fearsome leadership she carried that prompted all men to drop to their knees and raise both arms in salute.
“Hail Madame HYDRA! Hail Madame HYDRA! Hail Madame HYDRA!”
The third time she found herself screaming it from a kneeling position. The man had let her go, but otherwise hadn’t made a move in deference or defiance. Madame HYDRA ignored him to focus on her.
“I see their efforts were in vain. Deep inside you remain true to yourself.”
She looked up at the Madame with absolute worship. “You…you know who I am?”
“I know that your father felt you were the wrong gender and hated you for it. I know that he was not a patient man and so used you in experiments of accelerated development. I know that he was content to leave you to this fate, but I am not that foolish man. I am what you should have and still could become.”
Madame HYDRA offered her hand. “If you want to kill, Sinthia Schmidt, you will take my hand.”
She took it eagerly.
“HE THAT IS WITHOUT”
Director Nicholas Fury of the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate read the report again. He already knew exactly what it said, but as his eye ran over the words, they still didn’t seem real. The operation had existed almost as long as SHIELD itself, certainly longer than Fury had been an agent. Not that that wouldn’t keep him free of the consequences. Fury may have not have initiated the program, but he’d known about it and kept its existence hidden from those most affected.
One of those individuals walked into Director Fury’s office just then. He closed the file and set it aside. “Shut the door and have a seat.”
Agent Sharon Carter, codenamed 13, sat in one of the chairs facing Director Fury’s desk. “Is this about repairs on the Helicarrier?”
Ever since the Juggernaut’s attack, Director Fury had been running operations from the static, official headquarters in New York City. “That’s still a few months out, but no. I also called for Captain America.”
“So did the President. Guess which city he’s in now?”
“Dammit.” Fury occasionally read the news, so he had an idea of why Captain America would be summoned to the White House on that day. “I don’t feel like waiting on politics all day, so you’ll hear this first. One of SHIELD’s first operatives was just killed, along with a top secret asset.”
Sharon started to her feet. “Where do you need me to be.”
“Right here. For reasons I’m about to explain, you can’t be involved in the operation.”
As Director Fury talked, he prepared himself. Near the end, when Agent Carter tried to punch him in the face, he was ready.
# # # # #
Captain America strode into the Oval Office. Sitting behind his desk was the President of the United States, considering a bill placed before him. Captain America saw that the bill had been signed with the President’s name, and gasped.
“Sir, you didn’t!”
“We both know I had no choice, Captain. The only way the appropriation could pass was with this amendment.” The President folded his hands over the bill and sighed.
“You could have vetoed, sir. Forced them to take that out and approve the funding alone.”
“And I would have played right into their hands. At least this way, in passing a law I’ll never enforce, the real work continues.”
“Maybe you won’t, sir, but what about the next man or woman to sit in that chair. Even if none ever do, the fact remains that now they can, and that erodes the foundations of freedom that built this country.”
“You’re right, of course. But the problem is getting the American people to see that, which is why I’ve called for you. Please, sit down and I’ll explain.”
# # # # #
The men gathered around Captain America were as uneasy as he was. That was understandable. Throughout the country, teams of American soldiers like this were preparing to follow the same orders. Orders that went against everything that claimed to fight for, that even the man who gave them didn’t agree with. Captain America eyed the guns being readied.
“Remember, safeties on. Those are not to be used under any circumstances.”
“Sir, yes sir!”
They went out and struck at the building as planned. Elsewhere the soldiers went in first, using the techniques perfected for more extreme targets, bursting down doors and using flash-bang grenades. But there in Washington DC, against that most high-profile of targets, it was Captain America who led the charge, with a simple knock on the door.
The door opened, and the security agent gaped at sight of the stars and stripes.
“How, how may I help you?”
“Please tell the Speaker of the House that Captain America is here to see him.”
# # # # #
“My fellow Americans.”
The President of the United States stood at the podium. Facing him were dozens of reporters, cameras, and millions of men and women watching around the world. They all saw the President, and their eyes were drawn to Captain America, standing beside him.
“Last week I signed a bill that guaranteed funding for our nation’s military over the next fiscal year. It is a necessary bill, one that has passed for nearly half a century without incident. But included in this year’s bill was a provision that I reluctantly signed into law. This provision broadened previous laws, granting the military extended powers in regards to battling our nation’s enemies. It is a provision that Congress was criticized for including in the bill, and I was further criticized for signing it into law. This provision, granting the military unfettered power to detain American citizens without due process, threatens the very freedoms it claims to defend.
“Therefore, under the new law, I have ordered the detention of every member of Congress that voted for it.”
The President did not pause after saying this. The next few sentences he uttered were drowned out by the rapid questioning of reporters.
“Over the past few hours, soldiers have invaded the homes of hundreds of men and women. These are lawmakers, members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Each of them made a decision to restrict the freedoms of American citizens. Under the new law, I interpreted this as a terrorist act and had them seized.”
Not for the first time did Captain America reflect on the irony of the date. Friday the 13th, originally made infamous as the date in which the Pope exterminated the Knights Templar.
“There are many who will criticize my actions. Those who will name me a dictator, using the military for my own ends. But the fact remains that it was Congress who granted me this power, and under the Constitution there are only two means by which to take it away. Should this case ever fall before the Supreme Court, they can determine the law to be unconstitutional. But there is also another way.
“Today over half the seats of the Senate, and more than two-thirds of the House of Representatives, have been vacated. Today I urge the governors and citizens of each of these United States to fill them. To swiftly appoint and elect those within your community into the Legislative branch of own government. To grant those with the desire to overturn this abomination the power to do so, to create a new bill eradicating this piece of legislation. I would suggest overturning previous laws, perhaps even releasing most of those detained by these laws, but that would not be my place. My sworn duty is to execute legislation passed by Congress, not tell them how to do their job.”
Captain America suppressed a smile at that. It was one of the reasons he had balked most at the prospect of becoming President. Many citizens had thought he could force Congress in line. Now that knew what that entailed, and he hoped it terrified them, as the reality seventy years ago had terrified him.
“I urge America to do this quickly. Should I happen to get mind-controlled by a super-villain or impersonated by a Skrull, there may be no turning back. Thank you, and good night.”
# # # # #
SHIELD Director Nicholas Fury shut off the television and rose from his chair. The phone on his desk was lit up, but Fury ignored it. He wasn’t paid to take calls. He was paid to anticipate and act.
As Fury left his office, Deputy Director Dugan fell in step beside him. “Red Skull’s daughter was busted out. No sign he was involved, but somebody likes knives. Could be the same as-”
“It is,” said Fury. “Any ninjas?”
“None. A military strike all the way. You could put a mask on any thug.”
“No, it’s him. HYDRA and the Hand are working together.” Were Fury a lesser man, he may have shuddered. “I want specifics. You looked at the Helicarrier like I asked?”
Dugan nodded. “During the repair unauthorized personnel accessed some files. Turns out they went straight for Schmidt’s location.”
“And along the way they found a bonus. Perfect.” Fury had suspected an accident. The project had been far too secretive to have been leaked. “You seen the news?”
“Yes. It’s great the President has balls, but this is going to eat up all our manpower.”
“It’s too much to hope he locked up any actual terrorists.”
“Nope. Hard as it is to believe, this Congress was clean.”
“Let’s try to keep it that way.” They walked into a room filled with televisions, each playing footage of politicians and pundits. Scores of SHIELD agents were watching and taking notes, searching for anything suspicious. “What do we have?”
An elderly agent approached Fury with the report. “Every state lost a Representative, and most lost both Senators, though a few didn’t lose any. Immediately after the announcement, we’ve seen activity from local and state officials, virtually everybody that had lost their seat last time, and not a few nut jobs. The sleepers we know about are being watched closely. Some we had cleared previously.”
“Look again. A sore loser would be more willing to make a deal.” Fury glanced over the report. “If anybody started to campaign a second before the announcement I want to know about. HYDRA has three governors and the Secret Empire another. That we know of. I want to know about any statements they make for or against a candidate. Dugan, mobilize the strike teams to act at a moment’s notice.”
“Sir?” In previous elections, SHIELD had always monitored and attempted to discredit any candidate they knew had ties to terrorism. “I feel it’s my duty to remind you of U.N. mandate. Without direct evidence we can’t interfere in elections.”
Fury stuck a cigar in his mouth and lit it up. “This will have caught them flat-footed, same as us. They may get sloppy, provide us with something we can trace to the real players. Whatever HYDRA is planning, we use this to find out what it is.”
# # # # #
The gun fired with Captain America’s hand around the barrel. The bullet fired into the brick wall, damaging masonry and nothing else. With one quickly maneuver Captain America had the man disarmed and on the ground.
“Traitor of America!” he cried out.
“Better men than you have accused me of worst,” said Captain America. “When this is over, if there are legal consequences I’ll accept them. I urge you to do the same.”
Captain America handed the man over to security and turned back to whom he’d been speaking with. “I’m sorry about that. Hopefully these will settle down tomorrow.”
Though Jack Flagg nodded, he didn’t look confident. “Which side is he on?”
Over the past few days, those that had tried to attack Captain America fell into one of two camps. There were those who thought he was a traitor for helping to detain American citizens, and those who thought he was a traitor for trying to stop it. All were being detained by the military and would be released afterwards. Somehow Captain America didn’t think they would all return as law-abiding citizens, but if that were the case the system would deal with them eventually.
“That’s irrelevant. The only opinions that matter belong to those men and women voting in there.” He pointed down the hall, toward the grand ballroom where thousands of registered voters were gathered. “It’s unfortunate that we lost a pair of otherwise decent Representatives. But I’m glad that you’ll be replacing one of them.”
“I don’t take stock in any of those exit polls.”
“Well, I trust what I’m told. And people tell me they trust you, Jack.”
“They don’t know anything about me, or anyone else they’re electing right now. With this timetable there’s been no vetting process.”
“That would come soon enough in the regular elections. At any rate, local people know their candidates.”
# # # # #
Bullets and laser beams flew past Director Nicholas Fury. A costumed HYDRA thug rushed at him with a knife. Fury swiftly disarmed him, cold cocked him on the jaw, and then threw him bodily into a mass of HYDRA scum. All with one hand, because the other fired a pistol that picked off HYDRA snipers. Fury hadn’t felt so alive in years. If he could trust anyone else with running SHIELD, he’d do it in a hot second and return to the field.
Far behind Fury were the other SHEILD agents, mopping up his work. For a man approaching his centennial, Fury moved like a college All-Star. It was the Infinity Formula that kept his body young, but that powerful fighting spirit was all due to the man himself. Fury couldn’t help but laugh as he lobbed a grenade at a gigantic and complicated piece of advanced weaponry. This HYDRA cell was throwing everything against him, men as skilled and disciplined an any Fury had faced before. And he was laughing at it!
In the next room Fury found himself atop a walkway surrounding a mammoth pit. Below there were a variety of HYDRA vehicles being loaded for evacuation. Even from the great distance, Fury recognized the face that had led SHIELD to that location. The face belonged to a Building Commissioner, responsible for issuing permits, enforcing codes, and fixing paperwork to hide the massive HYDRA base he ran.
Overhead were a series of chains. As Fury jumped, he fired at a chain, and then grabbed one end as it dropped. The swing included a long drop, and Fury wondered if he’d misjudged the chain’s length. Another grenade flew from Fury’s hand just before the chain caught and he entered the upswing. It struck a transport filled with HYDRA, and Fury rode the explosion and screams when he let go.
HYDRA goons were shooting too high when Fury cannonballed into them. The explosion’s force that torn up Fury’s uniform, and HYDRA hands pulled the shirt apart. With a pair of haymakers, a bare-chested Fury cleared HYDRA from his personal space. He saw the cell leader was isolated, and rushed for him. Though a gun was in his hand, the man was unwilling to try his luck against Nick Fury. Instead he dropped the gun, pulled something from a pouch on his chest and brought it to his mouth.
“No!” Fury tackled the man to the ground. But there was already frothing at the mouth. Fury was too late, or was he? Removing a syringe from his belt, Fury jabbed it into the man’s chest. All around him, the battle raged as SHIELD agents arrived to engage HYDRA, but Fury had an eye only for the target.
With a pained, shocked retch, poisoned was expelled from the man’s mouth. He was breathing, and opened his eyes to look at Fury with fear and amazement.
“The Infinity Formula is going to keep you alive for a good long time,” Fury whispered into the man’s ear. “Even as I get everything I want out of you. Only then will you die like the traitor you are.”
# # # # #
A week after signing a bill, the President smiled as he signed another. “It’s been suggested I should also be signing my resignation. Right now Congress is debating impeachment. The next election won’t be easy.”
“You did your job, sir,” Captain America said. “If you had tried to block elections, locked up anyone who dared to challenge you, I would do a lot more than call for a resignation. What you did was make a point, show the American people how one-sided a trade between freedom and security is. And they listened.”
“For now. With every day the collective memory grows shorter. In a year, two years, new people will be trying the same thing. There are men, and women, who will always try this. Some will think it’s genuinely the right thing to do, while others will be doing it for their own personal ends. I’ve stopped trying to decide who’s more dangerous. It’s a hard job, Captain America, preserving freedom from both inside the government and out.”
“Yes, Mister President,” said the Living Legend with a smirk. “I don’t know why anyone would want it.”
“That’s because you never got to sing a duet with your favorite musician.” The President walked around his desk and shook Captain America’s hand in the middle of the Oval Office. “I can’t express how much I appreciate what you did. The criticism hasn’t stopped with me.”
“I’m used to it sir. From the beginning I learned that a symbol can also act as a target.” Captain America may have had more to say, perhaps about the inspirational power of symbols that survived attack. But at that moment the President’s phone rang.
“Hello?” The President raised his eyebrows and held the phone out. “Captain, it’s for you.”
# # # # #
“Sorry to call you in like this,” Director Fury said as Captain America entered his office. “I’m sure I interrupted some great inspirational moment between you and the President.”
“Our business was over.” Captain America waved a hand and looked with disapproval at Fury’s cigar. “What’s the situation?”
“The Red Skull’s daughter was busted out of her hidey hole.” Fury motioned for Captain America to sit. “That was part of the reason for Juggernaut’s attack. HYDRA used the opportunity to raid our files and find her location.”
“How do we know Red Skull isn’t involved?”
Fury exhaled a cloud of smoke and ignored the question. “Also, HYDRA has joined forces with the Hand. We know those ninja mystics brought Crossbones back to live. So congratulations on not being a killer any more.”
“That didn’t bother me.” Captain America leaned forward. “But where’s Sharon? She usually gives me these updates.”
“She’s cooling off in a cell for trying to beat me senseless.” Fury removed a sheet of paper from a file. “You can see her right after this, as a visitor or a cellmate depending on your reaction. Not long after you thawed out SHIELD took a sample of your sperm, impregnated an agent and raised your son in secret. HYDRA found out. Crossbones killed the agent and kidnapped your son. On this paper is every lead I’ve gathered so far.”
Captain America stared at the paper, trying to process what he’s been told. “Are you serious?”
“C’mon Cap, something like this had to happen eventually.” Fury put his cigar into the ashtray. “For all we know, the government did this back in WWII and you have a bunch of senior citizen kids rolling around. Save the drama for later, pick up the shield, and let’s go kick some ass.”
NEXT ISSUE: Ass gets kicked!
One of those individuals walked into Director Fury’s office just then. He closed the file and set it aside. “Shut the door and have a seat.”
Agent Sharon Carter, codenamed 13, sat in one of the chairs facing Director Fury’s desk. “Is this about repairs on the Helicarrier?”
Ever since the Juggernaut’s attack, Director Fury had been running operations from the static, official headquarters in New York City. “That’s still a few months out, but no. I also called for Captain America.”
“So did the President. Guess which city he’s in now?”
“Dammit.” Fury occasionally read the news, so he had an idea of why Captain America would be summoned to the White House on that day. “I don’t feel like waiting on politics all day, so you’ll hear this first. One of SHIELD’s first operatives was just killed, along with a top secret asset.”
Sharon started to her feet. “Where do you need me to be.”
“Right here. For reasons I’m about to explain, you can’t be involved in the operation.”
As Director Fury talked, he prepared himself. Near the end, when Agent Carter tried to punch him in the face, he was ready.
# # # # #
Captain America strode into the Oval Office. Sitting behind his desk was the President of the United States, considering a bill placed before him. Captain America saw that the bill had been signed with the President’s name, and gasped.
“Sir, you didn’t!”
“We both know I had no choice, Captain. The only way the appropriation could pass was with this amendment.” The President folded his hands over the bill and sighed.
“You could have vetoed, sir. Forced them to take that out and approve the funding alone.”
“And I would have played right into their hands. At least this way, in passing a law I’ll never enforce, the real work continues.”
“Maybe you won’t, sir, but what about the next man or woman to sit in that chair. Even if none ever do, the fact remains that now they can, and that erodes the foundations of freedom that built this country.”
“You’re right, of course. But the problem is getting the American people to see that, which is why I’ve called for you. Please, sit down and I’ll explain.”
# # # # #
The men gathered around Captain America were as uneasy as he was. That was understandable. Throughout the country, teams of American soldiers like this were preparing to follow the same orders. Orders that went against everything that claimed to fight for, that even the man who gave them didn’t agree with. Captain America eyed the guns being readied.
“Remember, safeties on. Those are not to be used under any circumstances.”
“Sir, yes sir!”
They went out and struck at the building as planned. Elsewhere the soldiers went in first, using the techniques perfected for more extreme targets, bursting down doors and using flash-bang grenades. But there in Washington DC, against that most high-profile of targets, it was Captain America who led the charge, with a simple knock on the door.
The door opened, and the security agent gaped at sight of the stars and stripes.
“How, how may I help you?”
“Please tell the Speaker of the House that Captain America is here to see him.”
# # # # #
“My fellow Americans.”
The President of the United States stood at the podium. Facing him were dozens of reporters, cameras, and millions of men and women watching around the world. They all saw the President, and their eyes were drawn to Captain America, standing beside him.
“Last week I signed a bill that guaranteed funding for our nation’s military over the next fiscal year. It is a necessary bill, one that has passed for nearly half a century without incident. But included in this year’s bill was a provision that I reluctantly signed into law. This provision broadened previous laws, granting the military extended powers in regards to battling our nation’s enemies. It is a provision that Congress was criticized for including in the bill, and I was further criticized for signing it into law. This provision, granting the military unfettered power to detain American citizens without due process, threatens the very freedoms it claims to defend.
“Therefore, under the new law, I have ordered the detention of every member of Congress that voted for it.”
The President did not pause after saying this. The next few sentences he uttered were drowned out by the rapid questioning of reporters.
“Over the past few hours, soldiers have invaded the homes of hundreds of men and women. These are lawmakers, members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Each of them made a decision to restrict the freedoms of American citizens. Under the new law, I interpreted this as a terrorist act and had them seized.”
Not for the first time did Captain America reflect on the irony of the date. Friday the 13th, originally made infamous as the date in which the Pope exterminated the Knights Templar.
“There are many who will criticize my actions. Those who will name me a dictator, using the military for my own ends. But the fact remains that it was Congress who granted me this power, and under the Constitution there are only two means by which to take it away. Should this case ever fall before the Supreme Court, they can determine the law to be unconstitutional. But there is also another way.
“Today over half the seats of the Senate, and more than two-thirds of the House of Representatives, have been vacated. Today I urge the governors and citizens of each of these United States to fill them. To swiftly appoint and elect those within your community into the Legislative branch of own government. To grant those with the desire to overturn this abomination the power to do so, to create a new bill eradicating this piece of legislation. I would suggest overturning previous laws, perhaps even releasing most of those detained by these laws, but that would not be my place. My sworn duty is to execute legislation passed by Congress, not tell them how to do their job.”
Captain America suppressed a smile at that. It was one of the reasons he had balked most at the prospect of becoming President. Many citizens had thought he could force Congress in line. Now that knew what that entailed, and he hoped it terrified them, as the reality seventy years ago had terrified him.
“I urge America to do this quickly. Should I happen to get mind-controlled by a super-villain or impersonated by a Skrull, there may be no turning back. Thank you, and good night.”
# # # # #
SHIELD Director Nicholas Fury shut off the television and rose from his chair. The phone on his desk was lit up, but Fury ignored it. He wasn’t paid to take calls. He was paid to anticipate and act.
As Fury left his office, Deputy Director Dugan fell in step beside him. “Red Skull’s daughter was busted out. No sign he was involved, but somebody likes knives. Could be the same as-”
“It is,” said Fury. “Any ninjas?”
“None. A military strike all the way. You could put a mask on any thug.”
“No, it’s him. HYDRA and the Hand are working together.” Were Fury a lesser man, he may have shuddered. “I want specifics. You looked at the Helicarrier like I asked?”
Dugan nodded. “During the repair unauthorized personnel accessed some files. Turns out they went straight for Schmidt’s location.”
“And along the way they found a bonus. Perfect.” Fury had suspected an accident. The project had been far too secretive to have been leaked. “You seen the news?”
“Yes. It’s great the President has balls, but this is going to eat up all our manpower.”
“It’s too much to hope he locked up any actual terrorists.”
“Nope. Hard as it is to believe, this Congress was clean.”
“Let’s try to keep it that way.” They walked into a room filled with televisions, each playing footage of politicians and pundits. Scores of SHIELD agents were watching and taking notes, searching for anything suspicious. “What do we have?”
An elderly agent approached Fury with the report. “Every state lost a Representative, and most lost both Senators, though a few didn’t lose any. Immediately after the announcement, we’ve seen activity from local and state officials, virtually everybody that had lost their seat last time, and not a few nut jobs. The sleepers we know about are being watched closely. Some we had cleared previously.”
“Look again. A sore loser would be more willing to make a deal.” Fury glanced over the report. “If anybody started to campaign a second before the announcement I want to know about. HYDRA has three governors and the Secret Empire another. That we know of. I want to know about any statements they make for or against a candidate. Dugan, mobilize the strike teams to act at a moment’s notice.”
“Sir?” In previous elections, SHIELD had always monitored and attempted to discredit any candidate they knew had ties to terrorism. “I feel it’s my duty to remind you of U.N. mandate. Without direct evidence we can’t interfere in elections.”
Fury stuck a cigar in his mouth and lit it up. “This will have caught them flat-footed, same as us. They may get sloppy, provide us with something we can trace to the real players. Whatever HYDRA is planning, we use this to find out what it is.”
# # # # #
The gun fired with Captain America’s hand around the barrel. The bullet fired into the brick wall, damaging masonry and nothing else. With one quickly maneuver Captain America had the man disarmed and on the ground.
“Traitor of America!” he cried out.
“Better men than you have accused me of worst,” said Captain America. “When this is over, if there are legal consequences I’ll accept them. I urge you to do the same.”
Captain America handed the man over to security and turned back to whom he’d been speaking with. “I’m sorry about that. Hopefully these will settle down tomorrow.”
Though Jack Flagg nodded, he didn’t look confident. “Which side is he on?”
Over the past few days, those that had tried to attack Captain America fell into one of two camps. There were those who thought he was a traitor for helping to detain American citizens, and those who thought he was a traitor for trying to stop it. All were being detained by the military and would be released afterwards. Somehow Captain America didn’t think they would all return as law-abiding citizens, but if that were the case the system would deal with them eventually.
“That’s irrelevant. The only opinions that matter belong to those men and women voting in there.” He pointed down the hall, toward the grand ballroom where thousands of registered voters were gathered. “It’s unfortunate that we lost a pair of otherwise decent Representatives. But I’m glad that you’ll be replacing one of them.”
“I don’t take stock in any of those exit polls.”
“Well, I trust what I’m told. And people tell me they trust you, Jack.”
“They don’t know anything about me, or anyone else they’re electing right now. With this timetable there’s been no vetting process.”
“That would come soon enough in the regular elections. At any rate, local people know their candidates.”
# # # # #
Bullets and laser beams flew past Director Nicholas Fury. A costumed HYDRA thug rushed at him with a knife. Fury swiftly disarmed him, cold cocked him on the jaw, and then threw him bodily into a mass of HYDRA scum. All with one hand, because the other fired a pistol that picked off HYDRA snipers. Fury hadn’t felt so alive in years. If he could trust anyone else with running SHIELD, he’d do it in a hot second and return to the field.
Far behind Fury were the other SHEILD agents, mopping up his work. For a man approaching his centennial, Fury moved like a college All-Star. It was the Infinity Formula that kept his body young, but that powerful fighting spirit was all due to the man himself. Fury couldn’t help but laugh as he lobbed a grenade at a gigantic and complicated piece of advanced weaponry. This HYDRA cell was throwing everything against him, men as skilled and disciplined an any Fury had faced before. And he was laughing at it!
In the next room Fury found himself atop a walkway surrounding a mammoth pit. Below there were a variety of HYDRA vehicles being loaded for evacuation. Even from the great distance, Fury recognized the face that had led SHIELD to that location. The face belonged to a Building Commissioner, responsible for issuing permits, enforcing codes, and fixing paperwork to hide the massive HYDRA base he ran.
Overhead were a series of chains. As Fury jumped, he fired at a chain, and then grabbed one end as it dropped. The swing included a long drop, and Fury wondered if he’d misjudged the chain’s length. Another grenade flew from Fury’s hand just before the chain caught and he entered the upswing. It struck a transport filled with HYDRA, and Fury rode the explosion and screams when he let go.
HYDRA goons were shooting too high when Fury cannonballed into them. The explosion’s force that torn up Fury’s uniform, and HYDRA hands pulled the shirt apart. With a pair of haymakers, a bare-chested Fury cleared HYDRA from his personal space. He saw the cell leader was isolated, and rushed for him. Though a gun was in his hand, the man was unwilling to try his luck against Nick Fury. Instead he dropped the gun, pulled something from a pouch on his chest and brought it to his mouth.
“No!” Fury tackled the man to the ground. But there was already frothing at the mouth. Fury was too late, or was he? Removing a syringe from his belt, Fury jabbed it into the man’s chest. All around him, the battle raged as SHIELD agents arrived to engage HYDRA, but Fury had an eye only for the target.
With a pained, shocked retch, poisoned was expelled from the man’s mouth. He was breathing, and opened his eyes to look at Fury with fear and amazement.
“The Infinity Formula is going to keep you alive for a good long time,” Fury whispered into the man’s ear. “Even as I get everything I want out of you. Only then will you die like the traitor you are.”
# # # # #
A week after signing a bill, the President smiled as he signed another. “It’s been suggested I should also be signing my resignation. Right now Congress is debating impeachment. The next election won’t be easy.”
“You did your job, sir,” Captain America said. “If you had tried to block elections, locked up anyone who dared to challenge you, I would do a lot more than call for a resignation. What you did was make a point, show the American people how one-sided a trade between freedom and security is. And they listened.”
“For now. With every day the collective memory grows shorter. In a year, two years, new people will be trying the same thing. There are men, and women, who will always try this. Some will think it’s genuinely the right thing to do, while others will be doing it for their own personal ends. I’ve stopped trying to decide who’s more dangerous. It’s a hard job, Captain America, preserving freedom from both inside the government and out.”
“Yes, Mister President,” said the Living Legend with a smirk. “I don’t know why anyone would want it.”
“That’s because you never got to sing a duet with your favorite musician.” The President walked around his desk and shook Captain America’s hand in the middle of the Oval Office. “I can’t express how much I appreciate what you did. The criticism hasn’t stopped with me.”
“I’m used to it sir. From the beginning I learned that a symbol can also act as a target.” Captain America may have had more to say, perhaps about the inspirational power of symbols that survived attack. But at that moment the President’s phone rang.
“Hello?” The President raised his eyebrows and held the phone out. “Captain, it’s for you.”
# # # # #
“Sorry to call you in like this,” Director Fury said as Captain America entered his office. “I’m sure I interrupted some great inspirational moment between you and the President.”
“Our business was over.” Captain America waved a hand and looked with disapproval at Fury’s cigar. “What’s the situation?”
“The Red Skull’s daughter was busted out of her hidey hole.” Fury motioned for Captain America to sit. “That was part of the reason for Juggernaut’s attack. HYDRA used the opportunity to raid our files and find her location.”
“How do we know Red Skull isn’t involved?”
Fury exhaled a cloud of smoke and ignored the question. “Also, HYDRA has joined forces with the Hand. We know those ninja mystics brought Crossbones back to live. So congratulations on not being a killer any more.”
“That didn’t bother me.” Captain America leaned forward. “But where’s Sharon? She usually gives me these updates.”
“She’s cooling off in a cell for trying to beat me senseless.” Fury removed a sheet of paper from a file. “You can see her right after this, as a visitor or a cellmate depending on your reaction. Not long after you thawed out SHIELD took a sample of your sperm, impregnated an agent and raised your son in secret. HYDRA found out. Crossbones killed the agent and kidnapped your son. On this paper is every lead I’ve gathered so far.”
Captain America stared at the paper, trying to process what he’s been told. “Are you serious?”
“C’mon Cap, something like this had to happen eventually.” Fury put his cigar into the ashtray. “For all we know, the government did this back in WWII and you have a bunch of senior citizen kids rolling around. Save the drama for later, pick up the shield, and let’s go kick some ass.”
NEXT ISSUE: Ass gets kicked!