Interlude #5.1

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Interlude V.1

Technomancer in MCU

–Sharon Carter–

She was still reeling from the news of Steve of all people being declared a traitor when she got the call to immediately report to the nearest office. 

She took a calm breath to prepare for what was undoubtedly about to follow. She was the agent appointed to help Steve acclimatize to the modern world. She always knew it was an excuse to maintain surveillance over the only known super soldier in the world but she had come to view Steve as a friend.

It didn't help that he was a sweet gentleman as well. The sweet temptation of being with her aunt's old love interest didn't help at all. 

She tried to remove those thoughts from her mind and started preparing to burn her current identity and return to the active agent roster.

She had just gone through pruning her digital identity when somebody knocked on the door.

She immediately stood ramrod straight and took out her gun and headed toward the door. She only opened it after getting the agency confirmation codes. 

She was pretty confused when she found a whole unit waiting for her. The only reason she wasn't terrified for her life was they seemed to be guarding her and one of her academy friends, Terry, was with them. She might not trust the motives of the agency right now but she knew Terry.

"Hey, little Carter. We don't have time to chit-chat. We need to leave right now. Grab anything that can't be replaced and meet me in the car downstairs." he said before she could get a word in.

Understanding the severity of the situation, she nodded and went inside to get her duffel bag that she kept handy in case of emergencies.

By the time she took the bag out of her closet, the team was already in the process of removing any evidence of her presence in the apartment. Weirded out by the incident and not feeling particularly safe in the presence of multiple armed people with their faces covered, she swiftly left for the car waiting for her downstairs.

Terry, always the gentleman, was waiting for her with one of the doors open.

"Thank you," she muttered and entered the vehicle.

Terry sat in the front seat and the car sped off immediately.

"Okay. What is going on? The urgency and the security seem unnecessary for a normal escort." she asked Terry who was speaking with someone on the radio.

Through the windshield, she could see an entire convoy escorting her. The situation raised more and more alarm bells inside her head.

Terry looked back at her question and smiled, "No need to worry. You are an important asset to the agency, Little Carter. With the recent incident with Captain Rogers, the higher-ups in the agency thought it prudent to make sure you were safe. So, sit back and relax. We'll have you safe and sound at HQ in no time."

She nodded, still a little uncertain about the circumstances but willing to trust Terry over this.

Soon, they arrived at the HQ and as soon as she entered the main building, the security detail disappeared and she was escorted by Terry to her supervisor's office. "He'll be here soon. I'll see you around, Little Carter. Don't get into any more trouble without me." Terry said with a smile and left.

She smiled at his parting joke, a temporary relief to the all-crushing tension she had felt since Director Fury, a dear friend to her aunt, was killed.

She stood up when she heard the door open but stopped midway in her greeting when the person who entered the cabin was The Secretary of the World Security Council, Alexander Pierce.

Getting out of the shock of meeting who was essentially her boss' boss' boss, she greeted him, "Secretary Pierce, Good Afternoon."

"Good Afternoon, dear. Please take a seat." he gestured to her and sat in her supervisor's seat.

"So, dear, I'm sure you must be terribly confused as to why I am here?" he questioned her.

She shook her head in reply, "Not quite, sir. I am quite aware with me being the agent assigned to spy on Captain Rogers–"

"Steve Rogers, please. I'm afraid with the latest stunt he has pulled, he no longer has the rank of a captain officially. I'd appreciate it if everybody could acknowledge that." he interrupted her, his voice quite irritating.

She nodded, a bit weirded out by the obsession in his voice when he said, "Sure. I was the agent assigned to Steve Rogers and I failed in reporting any signs of him planning to assassinate Director Fury. I understand if I have to undergo screening to be placed on the official roster once again."

"Good. As long as that is clear, we have nothing to worry about. Your aunt was a great spy and did phenomenal work with the agency, I'm sure you'll do the same. You'll have your orders soon. Until then, report to the HQ five days a week and be ready for regular debriefings. In fact, I believe you have one scheduled today. Agent Terry will escort you there." Pierce gestured to the door where Terry had silently positioned himself.

She nodded and with a determined face, she left the cabin. Terry escorted her but he was oddly silent, a thing she was grateful for as it allowed her to digest the events that happened to her.

The very fact that Secretary Pierce came to personally greet her was suspicious but the way she could feel the glee in his voice when he talked about the death of Director Fury and the dismissal of Steve raised all sorts of alarm bells in her mind.

Her thoughts churned furiously as she arrived at one of the many interrogation rooms in the base. She never thought she would have to arrive at one of these places for interrogation.

She felt Terry slap her back, "Good luck, Carter," and then he opened the door for her.

She nodded silently and entered the room. Inside, an interrogator was waiting for her with a notepad in his hand.

Taking a deep breath, she entered and closed the door behind her, hoping that it was just her mind playing games and not an octopus tattoo that she saw on Terry's wrist as he opened the door for her.

The consequences of that being true were so dire that she didn't even want to think about them.

________________________________________________________________

Observation Room

–Alexander Pierce–

He watched through the glass as they asked Sharon Carter all they could without tipping their hands.

"Anything?" he asked Terry as he heard the door open.

"Nothing. There's nothing we can incriminate her with that Peggy Carter's hounds in the agency wouldn't sniff out within minutes of that happening."

Yeah, that.

He had been so engrossed in the emergency relocation they had to carry out as an organisation due to that damnable AI that he had not monitored the day-to-day workings of S.H.I.E.L.D. Somehow, the fossil, Peggy Carter, with some help from her old army buddies, managed to plant multiple high clearance agents of her own into the agency and that too, in positions of power that they had been trying to get access to for years.

He now regretted not killing that woman when he had the chance. They had termed her an invalid due to her mental state but somehow, in the few years they left her alone, she managed to invoke her old army contacts and entered the political scene again. POTUS was all too happy to accommodate her for some reason.

They had a few agents in her guard detail but the other various three-letter agencies had taken over her guard duty and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents barely even saw her in person anymore.

Even now, he could see many of her plants in the HQ, seemingly doing their work diligently but he knew they were just waiting for a signal from that woman. There was no way that Peggy Carter of all people would believe her beloved Steve Rogers being a traitor. She knew him too well for that.

In such a situation, especially with the carriers scheduled to take off in less than a week, he could ill afford to force a confrontation between his forces and multiple high-level faction leaders.

He then watched on as Sharon Carter responded to the questions in an extremely obtuse manner. He narrowed his eyes as she claimed to have no important information on Rogers that could help them track him down.

"Hmm, she is lying," Terry said, standing beside him.

"You're right. Have a team surveilling her. Make sure she doesn't realise that. Business as usual, am I clear?" he ordered Terry.

"Crystal," Terry nodded.

He had just left the observation room and entered his cabin for another meeting when he heard multiple shockwaves rock the building, making him fall down on his ass.

"Sir! Sir!" he felt somebody lifting him up.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked Terry, who was bleeding from his forehead.

"It's Sharon, she's taken." he said.

What?

His pupils dilated at the news.

"Any casualties?" he asked Terry, dreading the answer.

"A dozen and counting, sir."

"Who?" 

He tensed even further when he realised two of the casualties were from the list of agents that Peggy Carter had placed in the agency. This meant that somebody else entirely kidnapped Sharon Carter, the only living relative of Peggy Carter, from the HQ of S.H.I.E.L.D. in broad daylight, whilst being under heavy security.

This day could not have gotten any worse.

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Word Count - 1637

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