Chapter 915

The hospital where Nick Fury had once been treated received an unusual visitor.

A man wearing a blue jacket walked through its corridors with the hood pulled over his head. He kept his head lowered and the brim of his hood angled to conceal his face. Unless someone deliberately paid attention to him, he was easy to overlook.

He seemed to know exactly where he was going.

He didn’t stop at reception, register as a patient, or ask the nurses for directions. Nor did he behave like a worried family member searching for a doctor.

Instead, he walked straight toward the emergency department and eventually stopped beside a vending machine in the corridor.

The man was none other than Captain America.

Having temporarily escaped Hydra’s pursuit, Steve Rogers had disguised himself and returned to the hospital to retrieve the silver USB drive Nick Fury had entrusted to him.

The incident at SHIELD headquarters had ended with an ambush. Now he was being hunted as a fugitive.

There was clearly something significant hidden on that drive, and Steve intended to find out what it was.

Unfortunately, when he reached the vending machine, he was met with an unpleasant surprise.

The USB drive was gone.

He stared at the spot where he’d hidden it behind a piece of chewing gum.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Where was he supposed to look for something like that?

Should he put up a missing-person notice?

LOST: One silver USB drive containing extremely sensitive information. Viewing its contents may result in immediate death. If found, please return it to Captain Steve Rogers at...

Before his imagination could get any further, he noticed something in the vending machine’s reflection.

A brown-haired woman with a completely makeup-free face had approached from behind. She was chewing gum and casually blew a pink bubble.

Natasha Romanoff.

Black Widow had been present when Steve hid the drive. His little trick might have fooled the average field operative, but it had never stood a chance against a master spy.

She recognized the USB drive immediately. It was the same one she’d used to copy the information from the Moriah Star before handing it over to Nick Fury.

Her instincts had told her that the drive was somehow connected to Fury’s fate. So she’d taken it and stayed at the hospital, waiting for Steve to return.

Now she finally had her opportunity to ask some questions.

Steve, meanwhile, had become thoroughly paranoid.

His response was immediate.

After checking that nobody was watching, he grabbed Natasha and pulled her into a dark, unoccupied room. He pinned her against the wall.

"Where is it?"

"Somewhere safe."

Natasha remained remarkably relaxed.

Seeing that Steve wasn’t convinced, she decided to change the subject.

"I know who killed Fury."

Steve’s expression sharpened.

"Most intelligence agencies don’t even believe he exists," Natasha continued. "But the people who know about him call him the Winter Soldier."

She paused.

"Over the past fifty years, he’s been linked to more than twenty assassinations."

Steve listened without interrupting.

"Five years ago, I was escorting an important target. Someone sabotaged the tires on my vehicle near O?wi?cim. We lost control and went over a cliff. We managed to escape the wreckage, but the Winter Soldier was waiting for us."

Natasha lifted the edge of her shirt, exposing her abdomen.

"I stepped in front of the engineer. His bullet passed through me and hit the target."

She pointed toward the area beneath her ribs.

"Soviet ammunition. No ballistic signature."

Steve lowered his eyes and nodded thoughtfully.

He was considering whether her account was genuine. After all, Natasha had wanted to know the results of the ballistic analysis before Maria Hill had even finished discussing them. That suggested she’d encountered the Winter Soldier firsthand.

Still, something about her explanation bothered him.

"Wait. Are you lifting your shirt to show me your belly button or that little green tattoo?"

Natasha blinked.

"Oh."

A faintly embarrassed expression crossed her face as she pulled her shirt back down.

"There used to be a bullet scar there. Sarah got some scar-removal cream from her employer. It worked, although it left me with an abstract little tattoo."

She shrugged.

"At least I can wear a bikini again."

Steve regarded her with an utterly straight face.

"You’d look terrible in one."

Natasha’s lips curled into an amused smile.

"Hmph. I don’t wear bikinis for your benefit."

She returned to the subject at hand.

"Tracking the Winter Soldier is practically impossible. I’ve tried. And now, it looks like we’ve lost SHIELD’s support as well."

She reached into her pocket and handed him the silver USB drive.

Steve took it.

His expression remained grim, but there was no trace of despair in his eyes.

"Then let’s find out what all this is really about."

Meanwhile, Alexander Pierce was holding a meeting with the members of the World Security Council.

He had already decided that Project Insight would be approved for immediate deployment.

The plan had reached a point where he could probably force it through even without the Council’s blessing. Still, securing their official approval would make everything considerably easier.

After all, the three Helicarriers had only just taken off from SHIELD headquarters. They still needed time to reach their designated positions around the globe.

Pierce had no intention of wasting that time intercepting anti-aircraft missiles launched by various countries.

His strategy was simple: make the Council believe that accelerating Project Insight was their own idea.

He began by repeatedly praising Nick Fury’s contributions to SHIELD over the years. He even went so far as to emphasize his own opposition to rushing Project Insight into operation.

After all, he’d worked alongside Fury for years. As far as everyone knew, the two men had been close friends.

If Pierce suddenly reversed his position and openly condemned Fury while the man’s body was barely cold, it would naturally raise suspicions.

Fortunately, Pierce had already laid the groundwork.

His earlier reports had convinced the Council that Fury had conspired with pirates to attack one of SHIELD’s own vessels. According to the information Pierce had supplied, Fury had intended to delay Project Insight for some undisclosed purpose, but something had gone wrong during the operation, ultimately costing him his life.

The Council members who had previously insisted that Project Insight’s launch date required further discussion were now beginning to favor immediate deployment.

Pierce decided to push them a little further.

"We shouldn’t make such a serious decision hastily," he began. "There are certain details in SHIELD’s earlier reports that I failed to disclose."

He paused.

"The pirates you believed Nick Fury had hired never actually boarded the ship. Or, more accurately, they were killed almost immediately after boarding."

The Council members watched him closely.

"Captain America and the strike team weren’t fighting pirates aboard the vessel. They encountered another organization entirely."

Pierce leaned forward.

"Umbrella."

The four representatives fell silent.

After a moment, the female representative spoke.

"How much else has SHIELD concealed from us? And what exactly is Umbrella?"

"A mysterious organization that calls itself a company."

Pierce had originally been the one to conceal Umbrella’s involvement in the operation.

At the time, Fury had still been alive. Revealing the organization’s presence would have complicated matters considerably. The Council would have questioned Fury, and the man was more than capable of defending himself.

The last thing Pierce had wanted was to give Fury an opportunity to communicate directly with the Council.

Now, however, Fury was dead.

There was nobody left to contradict Pierce’s version of events.

He could reveal as much as he wanted, embellish the details, or even fabricate evidence to frighten the Council into approving Project Insight.

"According to the information Nick Fury uncovered before his death, this company was secretly established before the fall of the Third Reich. It has remained hidden from public view ever since."

Pierce adopted a grave expression.

"Its ultimate objective may be to provoke another world war and establish global domination."

"May be?"

The Russian representative, whose Slavic features were unmistakable, spoke in a firm, disapproving tone.

"SHIELD is supposed to provide answers, not speculation."

"I’m afraid I can only apologize."

Pierce offered a smile that never quite reached his eyes.

"Umbrella was discovered by Nick Fury himself. Given the seriousness of the threat, he personally established a secret investigative unit that reported directly to him. Unfortunately, following his sudden death, nobody knows how far that investigation progressed."

The French representative stroked his beard.

"Then am I to understand that SHIELD has only established the organization’s name and a possible motive?"

He leaned forward.

"You don’t know its actual size, its resources, or what operations it has conducted?"

Pierce appeared somewhat embarrassed.

"I’m afraid that’s correct."

"Then allow me to make an assumption."

The French representative ran a hand through his beard.

"Perhaps this company existed only in Nick Fury’s imagination. Or perhaps it was a private paramilitary organization that he secretly established and kept under his personal control."

Pierce remained silent.

"Fury has accomplished a great deal over the years. We all recognize his abilities. But there’s another possibility."

The representative’s expression hardened.

"What if he was playing both arsonist and firefighter? What if Umbrella was his own organization, deliberately creating crises around the world so that he could subsequently resolve them and claim the credit?"

"That’s impossible, sir."

Pierce maintained his polite smile.

"I know Nick Fury. He would never do something like that. Besides, establishing and maintaining an organization of that scale requires enormous financial resources. If you don’t understand just how much money that involves, I happen to have some paper and a pen. I can prepare a rough estimate for you."

"Your sense of humor doesn’t conceal your incompetence, Pierce."

The British female representative finally spoke.

"Do you honestly believe we haven’t noticed the serious corruption within SHIELD?"

Pierce spread his hands.

"I’m not sure what you’re referring to."

"We know there are substantial irregularities in SHIELD’s financial operations. The logistics department contains numerous hidden funding channels. Their total amounts are unknown, and so are their intended purposes."

She paused.

"Apparently, after Nick Fury hired that rather questionable consultant who repeatedly appropriated logistical supplies, you became suspicious. You investigated the department and shut down those funding channels."

Her expression sharpened.

"That may have resolved the immediate problem, but did you really think we wouldn’t find out about them?"

Pierce sighed.

Ah. So you’ve discovered that.

The anonymous tip-off was my idea, after all.

The French representative picked up the thread.

"That would explain the timeline."

He looked around the virtual conference room.

"Those hidden funding channels were probably being used by Fury to maintain his private army—the organization you’re calling Umbrella."

He continued, growing increasingly confident in his theory.

"Once Pierce began auditing the logistics department, those channels were shut down. Fury could no longer pay his people. The organization consequently broke away from his control and turned against him."

"Fury then tried to bring it back under his authority. That’s why he staged the incident aboard the Moriah Star. The pirates were merely a diversion. His real objective was to sell Project Insight’s intelligence to Umbrella so that he could provide them with money and bring them back under his control."

The representative spread his hands.

"Unfortunately, the deal went wrong. Umbrella realized it had been manipulated and killed him."

He nodded.

"It fits rather neatly, doesn’t it?"

Pierce nodded along.

"An impressive deduction. Very thorough."

Then he added the one thing every suspect says when confronted with an accusation they cannot disprove.

"But you have no evidence. It’s all speculation."

"Oh, come on, Pierce."

The French representative leaned back in his chair, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.

"What era do you think we’re living in? The Information Age. Nothing can remain perfectly hidden forever."

He continued.

"SHIELD controls enormous resources. If Fury had genuinely been investigating Umbrella, there’s no way he would have uncovered so little."

He gave Pierce a pointed look.

"So the only reasonable explanations are that Umbrella was Fury’s own private organization—or that the company doesn’t exist at all."

He shrugged.

"Which possibility do you find more believable?"

Neither.

Pierce found the entire argument rather amusing.

Nevertheless, he arranged his expression into one of grave concern.

"What’s the point of arguing about that now? The important thing is that Umbrella operatives boarded the ship. They may have tampered with Project Insight’s satellites."

He paused.

"Although we’ve inspected the programming several times and found no problems, Nick Fury insisted that we delay the launch for further, more rigorous checks."

"Nick Fury’s opinion is irrelevant now!"

The French representative struck the table.

"He may have been responsible for this entire incident! His objective was to delay Project Insight, and you’re still defending him?"

He leaned forward.

"I thought you were the sort of man who could separate personal feelings from professional responsibilities."

Pierce’s expression shifted.

For a moment, he appeared to struggle with the decision.

Then, as though finally giving in, he lowered his head.

"Very well. What would you have me do?"

The moment he finished speaking, all four holographic images froze.

The representatives had apparently stepped away from their terminals to discuss the matter privately.

When they returned, the decision was clear.

The British, French, and Russian representatives supported the immediate deployment of Project Insight.

The fourth representative, an Asian man with black hair, abstained.

Under the principle of majority rule, Pierce had no choice but to accept the decision.

He appeared utterly miserable.

Well, if you insist...

I suppose I’ll have to do it.

You’ve all left me with no choice.

Meanwhile, Evenson had finally decided it was time to get involved.

The situation had reached the point where he could no longer sit around and watch.

It was time to head out and save the world.

Or, as he preferred to describe it, make a suitably dramatic entrance.

He returned to his shop, retrieved his car keys, and prepared to take Habbas with him. His destination was Captain America.

Unfortunately, he never made it out the door.

A group of men had gathered inside his shop, effectively blocking the exit.

They were all dressed in black. Most were large, broad-shouldered men with bulging muscles and suspiciously bulky clothing.

Evenson took one look at them.

Well, well. Hydra has decided to deliver itself straight to my doorstep.

And they even had the nerve to enter my shop.

His fingers twitched.

How considerate. I could use a few more Soul Shards.

Unfortunately, his plans for turning the intruders into magical resources came to an abrupt end when the men stepped aside.

Their leader emerged from behind them.

Victoria Hand.

Evenson recognized the rigid, expressionless SHIELD agent immediately.

He rolled his eyes.

"Agent Victoria Hand. What brings you to my humble little shop?"

He glanced at the armed men behind her.

"And I certainly don’t remember receiving any notification that I’d be working with you. Or that I’d be getting paid for it."

Victoria’s expression remained as cold and unchanging as ever.

"Times have changed, Evenson."

His response came almost instinctively.

"Then what’s the price?"

He immediately bent forward, shoulders hunched, before realizing what he’d just said.

A moment later, he straightened up.

"Ahem. What exactly has changed?"

"The message has been sent."

Victoria raised her chin.

"We no longer need to hide."

Evenson narrowed his eyes.

"Which message?"

Victoria’s expression suddenly took on an almost fanatical intensity.

She raised both arms.

"Step out of the shadows and into the light!"

Then she shouted:

"HAIL HYDRA!"

"Cough! Cough!"

Evenson immediately choked.

...