You Won't Even Notice
As Fury started to return to the home he once shared with Priscilla he listened to what Maria and Rhodes said from the bug that was in Rhodes’s pocket. He knew he didn’t have long before Rhodes found the bug but it it helped Fury realize what was coming for him. A bit after Rhodes had left the hotel room, Maria called Fury.
“You got that?” She asked confirming Fury heard everything.
“These motherfuckers.” Fury shook his head. Fury sent a recording of the conversation back to Maria’s phone.
“You got that?” He repeated.
“Yeah.” Maria confirmed.
“You have to have a cooler response than that.” Fury joked and Maria hung up on him. Fury laughed, okay, that worked.
Fury drove under disguise of the veil that Maria got from Rick Mason. Outside of their home Fury scanned the area, he took note of anyone or anything that seemed out of place. Knowing everyone was looking for him was stressful, but he was ready now. It was only a matter of time before the skrulls, Russians, or the Americans or now the British found out where Priscilla and he really lived. His best guess was that the skrulls would find it first, he had no idea what Varra shared with the resistance. Nick got out of the car that he parked around the block and he walked up the sidewalk casually as an old white man with a trim white beard.
Priscilla walked down the sidewalk with a bag of groceries. She walked by the disguised Fury giving him a brief neighborly smile as she walked past. He kept going by her like it was nothing. Priscilla stopped.
“That’s it?” Priscilla asked, turning around to look at the man on the sidewalk.
“I’m sorry?” He asked in a thick Scottish accent.
“Oh, you better be sorry, leaving me those dishes in the kitchen.” Priscilla said and then the disguised Fury chuckled.
“If you make someone breakfast you can’t leave the mess of dishes.” Priscilla glared at Fury.
“Maybe your fellow was going to do the dishes but you were out of dish soap and he couldn’t find anymore.” Fury shrugged.
“Maybe if he was around a bit more he would know where I store it. It would have been almost charming, too.” Priscilla sighed.
“Almost.” Fury nodded.
“Did you come back to spy on me?” Priscilla asked taking a staunch stance on the sidewalk.
“No, I came back to ask you a question.”
“In this face?” She said looking Fury over.
“If you can’t be your true self, why should I get to?” Fury asked with a minor shrug.
Priscilla looked around the block observing to see if anyone was around. It was an empty street.
“You can come in, if you want.” Priscilla said unthreateningly.
Fury was armed and he knew he could take out Varra if he had to, even though he didn’t want to. He nodded at Priscilla and the two of them went back inside.
“Don’t worry, you don’t have any chores to do.” Priscilla added with a little wifely look and the disguised Fury bit his bottom lip suppressing a grin.
“They had to soak!” Fury joked and Priscilla looked at him the way a displeased wife looks at any husband who tries that bullshit line about dishes.
Priscilla brought the groceries in to the kitchen and Fury followed her, instinctively starting to help. He took the veil off once he was inside.
“I assumed you were gone for good after the other night.”
“Hopefully, I didn’t make a mistake coming back.” Fury said ominously.
Priscilla paused and she looked up at Fury. It was clear to her that he knew of her involvement in the resistance and she stopped pulling her vegetables out of the green reusable shopping bag on the counter.
They were both quiet as they looked at each other, the silence was heavy in the air.
“When did you find out?”
“Awhile ago.” Fury lied but his statement was vague enough that Varra assumed it was true. Fury was a very smart man. He was hard to play. If you thought you were stringing him a long, he was probably stringing you along.
“Are you going to kill me?” She asked biting the side of her lip.
“Are you going to kill me?” Fury asked her in the same tone and the two of them stared at each other.
“How do you think this is going to end?” Priscilla asked skeptically.
“You know, ‘Scilla, between us, I have to wonder if it ever really started? Was it all a scheme from the beginning?” Fury said as he grabbed a granny smith apple from the fruit bowl on the counter. As he grabbed it, he slipped a tiny listening device under the lip of the granite counter. Then he took a bite of the apple and smirked at Priscilla.
Priscilla paused, she pressed her lips together more bitterly this time.
“Yes.” She admitted rather brazenly and a bit irritated. “It was, but it did change, for awhile.”
“But at first it was to keep tabs on you. It was never real.” She lied in a harsh tone that both Fury and Varra knew just didn’t seem truthful, but if it made it easier for Varra or Fury to pull the trigger they needed to pull to end this eventually, she was going to say it.
“Innocent people are dying because of this, people you care about got hurt.” Fury reminded.
“Countless innocent skrulls have died for nothing for generations.” She huffed.
“So you want to add to that count?” Fury questioned her skeptically.
“Don’t lecture me.” Priscilla snapped.
“I’m not, I’m confused, I don’t understand. That boy is not going to win this fight and you are all going to die in the process.” Fury warned.
“You’re not invincible despite what you may believe, Fury.” Priscilla warned right back.
“I watched myself turn to dust before my eyes, so that’s the only thing I know about me for sure.” This clearly wasn’t lost on Fury who vanished only years ago. “I’m the one who has been trying to help the skrulls.”
“No, you’re the one who was trying to benefit from them.” Priscilla corrected coldly.
The two of them stared at each other and Fury took his apple and started to leave.
“Where are you going?”
“To attend a speech.” Fury said like it was a joke. “You going to be there?” He turned and looked at Priscilla right in the eyes almost daring her to do something.
“I guess you’ll have to wait and see.” She muttered at Fury a bit angry but also hurt. He raised his eye brows at her comment and then left. Knowing that Fury didn’t trust her was devastating to her, even though she deserved it, but he lost her trust too. It was a challenge because she did love him and she did care about him but after awhile it started to seem like he did not care about anyone at all. It was hard for Varra to not be her true self living the life she could have had, and in this complicated sometimes real marriage.
As Fury left he placed the veil over his face before he went outside. Priscilla watched Fury walk out the door and around the block from her kitchen window. What did he mean when he said he was ‘going to attend a speech?’ She played confident when he was here, but as she thought about it she was bit confused.
As Fury walked down the street and out of view from their home, he placed an earpiece in his ear.
Priscilla picked up her phone and called Raava. Raava answered in Rhode’s voice.
“I can’t talk.” Rhodes said quickly.
“I need to…” She started
“What did you not understand?” Rhodes’s sharp angry voice cut her off quickly. “Try someone else.” Raava hung up the phone. She couldn’t risk saying anything else relating to skrulls and she couldn’t warn Varra either without the person on the other end knowing that she found the second one.
Priscilla sighed and then she decided to do something she had not done in a very long time. If she couldn’t talk to Raava, she was going to have to talk to Gravik, she called him right away.
“What?” Gravik asked in a short tone.
“He was just here.” Varra said and Gravik knew exactly what she meant.
“What did he want?”
“He knows I’m with you.” She admitted.
“And?”
“He just wanted to know why.”
“God, that pathetic old man.” Gravik groaned.
“Should I let him leave?”
“Did he say where he was going?”
“Vaguely.”
“What did he say?” Gravik commanded in a harsh tone.
“That he ‘had a speech to attend.’” Varra repeated and Gravik laughed. That fake message from G’iah really came through.
“Yeah, let him leave. Don’t worry he’ll be back though. Was he with anyone?”
“He came alone.”
“He’s going to Downing Street, the Prime Minister is making an announcement later, maybe you should meet him there, and make sure he stays alone.” Gravik said casually but it was clear to Varra that this was an order.
“I’ll be there.” Varra sighed.
Fury tried not to smirk to himself as he went toward his car, but then he noticed a woman in a car with a short messy bob haircut. She had a green army jacket on, and as Fury saw her face and how she looked at him he got suspicious. He walked over to her in his Scottish disguise and tapped on her window, he had his hand in his pocket ready to take his gun out.
She lowered the window just a little.
“Yes?” She said.
“I’m afraid I have a flat and I need to call for a tow, can you call one for me. I don’t have a mobile.”
G’iah thought about what this man just said to her and she tilted her head.
“I don’t think so.” She responded and she started to put the window back up. But then she lowered it again because she just had the slightest suspicion.
“Maybe I can give you a lift instead?” She proposed surprising Fury and herself.
Fury got into the passenger side of the car and the two of them stared at each other in a tense moment of silence. G’iah just had a gut feeling, something she got from her parents. She knew she was close to Varra’s and she had to guess that Fury was probably lurking around there.
“Do you know who I am?” G’iah asked.
“Do you know who I am?” Fury repeated and they were both quiet again.
“Fury?” She asked looking him over.
“How do you know that?” He asked with a raised brow.
“I know more than anyone what’s like to walk around in different skin.” G’iah admitted.
Fury removed his veil to reveal his identity.
“You got something you want to tell me?” He looked at G’iah skeptically.
“I’m G’iah.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“I’ve seen a family photo or two.” Fury joked. She could tell Fury’s trust in her wavered from the fake call but she wanted to get it back to save her father.
“But that’s not what I’m wondering about.” Fury looked at G’iah more seriously.
“I know where Gravik is really going.”
“You’ve pulled this one a couple times now.” Fury looked her up and down.
“No, … he lies, he plants things, he planted the decoys to trick you and me, he tried to kill me and then he called my father and lied that he was targeting Lawton next. It’s a trap. She’s a skrull in disguise. I know where he’s really going to strike, he doesn’t know I know this, he doesn’t know I’m alive.” G’iah explained calmly but desperately.
“I thought you wanted a homeland?” Fury looked at G’iah curiously. Talos told him she had been radicalized, but they saw that fading before them as she struggled with the loss of her mother.
“Who cares about where you live if you don’t have a family to live with?” G’iah asked. Gravik killed her mother, he tried to kill her, he wasn’t killing her father too.
“Good point. Well, then we’re we going?” Fury asked her, he felt like he got a trustworthy read on her but part of him just wanted to see where this was going. As he heard on the bug, Varra was going to the speech and that’s where Gravik expected Fury to be.
G’iah paused for a moment. She knew how Gravik was going to go after Ritson, but she didn’t know where the talks were being held. No one did, it was a secret.
“Okay, well, the thing about that is, I know he’s going to try to get Ritson with his motorcade but the thing is …” G’iah made a face.
“You don’t now where the motorcade is going?” Fury finished her thought for her and G’iah nodded.
“So close, G.” Fury almost laughed.
Back at the hotel, Raava had a problem. Whoever was on the other end of that bug heard what Maria told Rhodey and then heard Rhodey’s response. Raava had recorded the conversation herself in case she needed some leverage or evidence for Ritson—edited evidence that is, but now if another version existed there was going to be a problem. Raava was going to have to find where these bugs went back to and get rid of anyone who heard it. Then she’d had to figure out what to do with Hill. People knew she was here now, it was hard for her to disappear in such a secure place, but Raava did know she could stall her quite a bit, but this posed another problem. Raava was supposed to be going with Ritson to the talks. If someone was bugging Rhodes, Raava was going to have to make sure she was clear of them before she went with Ritson so she could give Gravik his location when they traveled. Raava was going to have to make sure she was truly secure before she could do that, and she couldn’t even update Gravik on everything that had happened with Hill being here.
All Maria had to do was keep this skrull occupied and trusting her, but they both laid down some heavy handed deceit over each other. The skrulls were prepared for Maria to defend and clear the real Fury apparently. And they were going to make it impossible for her to do that even if they did expose the skrull invasion. They were going to take Fury down no matter what and Maria was pissed. These skrulls played a very long slow game and they were really going to have a good pay off if Maria and Fury didn’t stop them.
Rhodes did not dare go back to his hotel room, they claimed it was clear but he made the agents who were with him find him another space, and forced them to double check everything in the new room they set him up in. Everything turned up clear but Raava still didn’t totally trust it. She pulled off her suit jacket, her shoes, and went through her clothes to make sure she didn’t have anything else on her. How long had someone been bugging her? Was it just since she got to London? Did they get anything in DC? Was it someone on the secret service? Val? Ritson? As Raava checked all over her clothes for any signs of tampering she was relieved to not find anything else.
Raava went into the bathroom and she turned on the faucets to have white noise cover Rhodes’s voice so she was able to call Gravik.
“We have a problem.” Raava started very quietly as Gravik answered the phone.
“We have no problems and you are going to make sure of that.” Gravik assured comfortably.
“Hill is here. At the hotel where Ritson is.” Raava spoke so quietly Gravik had trouble hearing her.
“So she’s not with Fury again?” Gravik sounded almost pleased despite the dilemma this posed.
“She thinks Fury has been a skrull this whole time and that the real one is missing and replaced.”
“Ahaha.” Gravik paused with a smug laugh. “I love it when we get a free one.”
“I showed her it was the real Fury who shot her.”
“Yeah I bet that took down a peg.”
“But she told me everything she knew about us, and she has some stuff. She thinks the CIA Director is the plant.”
“They’re so dumb, they’re almost smart.” Gravik was in such a good mood, everything was going so well.
“No, she is smart. She barely even bought the thermal imaging video. She’s going to start unraveling the threads real fast. She wants to talk to Ritson, she suspects Ritson is the next target.”
Gravik was perplexed with what to do. If he got rid of Hill that was the only person who knew where the Harvest was. If he didn’t get rid of her she could blow his whole plan up instantly. He had to split the difference somehow.
“I’m keeping them separated. Hill won’t talk to Allegra because she thinks she’s a skrull, but I won’t let Hill near Ritson because of the security risk with Fury in London. They think he wants to finish the job with Hill and Ritson next.” Raava explained before Gravik got a chance to decide anything.
“Aww, Raava! See, this is why I kept you around.” Gravik praised yet diminished her.
“If you send me someone we could replace her.” Raava offered.
“Use Apox.” Gravik said like this was easy. Apox was the skrull who replaced agent Killbourne.
“I need him. I’m alone here without him.”
“You’ll still have him, as a skilled version of him if you ask me.” Gravik joked in a strange way that actually complimented Maria.
“People would know he’s missing. It’s better for him to stay as himself.”
“I think I can spare Frain, be on the look out for him.” Gravik grumbled to himself.
“I recorded what she told me.” Raava admitted.
“Why?” Gravik asked harshly.
“I’ll have someone edit it down, with her saying Fury’s going after the President and the CIA is in on it. That’s basically what she said anyway. I have to have a reason to keep the CIA, Ritson, and Hill separated until we can replace her.” Raava was thinking so fast it was hard to plan in this state.
“What’s she going to try to do if we don’t?”
Raava thought back to what Maria said about the bombing, that she wanted to get the event shut down. She was all about preventing things before they happened.
“She’s going to try and stop Ritson from being able to leave. That’s what I’d do. That’s her game, prevent it before it happens. Security threat, diversion, anything, then she’ll try to get to him and tell him about us.” Raava figured that was a pretty good guess at what Hill had in her mind and she wasn’t wrong.
“Well, make her think her plan is working, but you make sure Ritson is in that motorcade, I don’t care what you have to do.” Gravik warned Raava coldly.
“Yeah. I know.” Raava agreed before she hung up. This was so stressful. Raava did not want to be the one who had to kill Hill, she wasn’t even sure if Rhodes’s emotional drive would let her. Raava was physically pained by Maria’s mixup that she was trusting Rhodes so genuinely. It was so hard to watch someone Rhodes cared about that deeply to walk so blindly and unsuspected into a trap. Raava covered her face with her hands for a minute. This day was so stressful. Everyday was stressful. It had been exhausting for days and she was ready for it to be over.
Finally, Rhodes made it to the President’s suite. He was a little late to this meeting, but Raava needed some time for her mental health he walked in confidently only to stop dead in his tracks.
“Rhodes, what the fuck is going on?” Ritson said as he walked into the room and Raava felt herself a bit shook. Val was glaring at Rhodes with daggers.
Had Rhodes just been caught? Were they ones listening? It had to be Val. She was standing next to him in the conference room and she left and could have gotten into his hotel room when he was talking to Maria, right? Then Raava paused. Val would have had to have been really fast or had a minion of hers do it.
Rhodes shook his head in confusion from the response.
“Nothing to say for yourself?” Val asked hatefully.
“I don’t know…” Rhodes started and looked again at Val and Ritson acting puzzled.
“What a surprise, he doesn’t think he did anything wrong.” She squinted at Rhodes viciously.
“You kicked Val out of debriefing her own employee?” Ritson asked annoyed.
Raava felt her heart stop and then restart as Ritson explained what was happening. Rhodes looked at Val and the way she was looking at him, Raava interpreted that she knew something more.
“She was being erratic.” Rhodes said calmly.
“That’s extremely sexist.” Val pointed out hastily.
“Only if it’s a lie, and I promise you it is not.” Rhodes shot a sharp look at Val.
“I do not have time for a Val problem, do you understand? I am in a global fucking catastrophe, and the very last thing I need is her complaining to me.” Ritson scolded Rhodes.
Val looked at Rhodes very sinisterly despite the way the President was talking about her.
“I am trying to stop a man with a lot of skills and resources from murdering innocent people, Hill included, I can’t do that if I am not able to get the information from her.”
“She doesn’t know where he is.”
“No kidding, but in case you forgot, I run the Central Intelligence Agency, we can take information and get intelligence.”
“Yeah, you’re doing a great job by the way.” Rhodey huffed sarcastically with an eye roll and Val looked at Rhodes so smugly that Raava just knew she was the one who bugged him.
“At least I’m not just some guy whose relevance faded years ago trying to remain in power to protect his friends.” She snickered, why was Rhodes even here.
Rhodes was offended. He worked in government almost his whole life. Val was the one who dropped in for her own personal gain.
“Where is Hill?” Ritson asked, he didn’t need Rhodes and Val to fight over this Hill could just tell Ritson herself and end this nightmare for him.
“I’m going to send her to the hospital. She didn’t have anything useful.”
“Oh, I’ll be the judge of that.” Val said like she knew something.
Rhodes stared at Val and then looked at the President. This was the first time Raava had to deal with paranoia like this, and it was alarming, especially with Hill just a few floors away who knew so much of the truth.
“With Fury in London, it’s best to keep her away from you.” Rhodes to said to Ritson, Raava had to think of a reason to keep Hill separate from Ritson before she went and spilled everything. “And you, I guess.” Rhodes added about Val.
“I can handle myself against old men like you any day.” Val scoffed like she wasn’t buying Rhodes’s attempt to keep them all separated. Rhodes bit the inside of his cheek.
“Do you two need to go into the ring and have a little brawl so we can actually get some work done?” Ritson shot at the two snarking advisors.
“Mr. President, I apologize. It’s just been a rough few days.” Rhodes said solemnly.
“Yeah, for everyone, get it together.” Ritson said directly at Rhodes and he nodded. Val looked so smug like she had won this and Raava didn’t have a great sense of the room.
A knock came from the door and a staffer came in.
“Mr. President we should be able to leave for the talks in about an hour. Motorcade is being prepared and Prime Minister Lawton confirmed that Chequers is prepared for your arrival.” The staffer reported.
“Good.” Ritson sighed.
Chequers was the Prime Minister’s country residence, it was in Buckinghamshire about 30 miles northwest of London. It was a very private area but Ritson wasn’t sure why he couldn’t just do this at Camp David, the Russians could bite him, show up or get lost. He was sick of them pretending the Americans had something to do with this nonsense. The Prime Minister would be joining them after her announcement in London.
Killbourne called Rhodes, shortly after Rhodes left the meeting with the President. Raava was fuming, there was just so much going on. She needed a minute to calm down. Everything was happening so fast.
“I got something, but I think we should talk in person.” Killbourne said to Rhodes.
“Where are you?”
“Same place.” Killbourne hadn’t left Hill’s door.
Rhodes arrived shortly after in a rushed and stressed he had a hurried pace right up to Killbourne.
“The bug, it’s American.” Killbourne whispered quietly to Rhodes away from the door.
“How do you know.”
“It’s origins are Cambridge Tech. They have a exclusive non-disclosed contract with the US government.” Killbourne said barely audibly.
It was Val, god damn it. Raava was pissed. She wanted to hit the wall. Val did hear everything didn’t she. She was going to need a way to keep Val and Maria from talking until Frain got here. And then Raava got an idea a last minute improvisation. Rhodes knocked on the door to Maria’s hotel room where Maria had been waiting for Rhodes to return.
Maria knew there was almost no chance she could get the President not to leave, but she did at least have a way to track Rhodes if she could get him back near her and getting him to check on the make of the bug was a solid way to ensure his return to his trusted secret service agent.
“Yeah?” Maria answered like she was surprised that someone was coming to see her.
“It’s Rhodey.”
“Oh.” She laughed easily and opened the door for him. Rhodes came in very awkwardly, not at all like the friend he had been earlier and Maria looked at him curiously.
He took his arm and he touched Maria’s back gently pushing her away from the door, the way men sometimes encourage women to move with physical touch but not in a forceful way but as an entitled way. Although Maria hated that manhandling stuff she didn’t see anything because she could see the alarm on Rhodes’s face. Raava figured Maria hated this but Rhodes was a man after all.
“What happened.”
“It’s Val.” Rhodes said quietly. “She’s a skrull, she bugged our conversation and my room.”
“How do you know?” Maria asked quietly back.
“The bugs, the origin of them come from a tech firm that has a non-disclosed government contract, they only make them for us.” Rhodey added some truth to the matter.
“They’re in the CIA.” Maria muttered in some shock but that was her feigned suspicion that she gave to Rhodes earlier and here he was trying to confirm it back to her. This was almost certified to Maria that Val was in fact, not a skrull.
“They’re going for Ritson.” Maria warned again.
“I know.” Rhodes looked genuinely panicked and shocked and Maria had to compliment this level of acting. She did believe the skrull as Rhodes was alarmed about something, and dropping bugs on him sure did seem to raise his senses.
“What should I do?” Rhodes asked like he was helpless.
“Don’t let him leave, this a secure building. Just say there’s been a security threat and lock it down. Don’t let her near you or the President.” Maria gave her real advice and it was exactly what Raava thought it would be. This was Raava’s attempt to see if she was right on the money, and she knew she was.
“He has to go to the talks, we are trying to prevent a war with Russia.”
“It’s just a delay, it will be fine.” Maria genuinely encouraged.
“Don’t do anything until this is rooted out, this could turn into a Loki level crisis. If the skrulls pretending to be working in the government kill the President, it’s all out war with no direction, no leader, it’s nuclear war, mass murder, chaos, no one will know who to trust or what is going on and they won’t believe anything.” Maria again raising her sincere concerns that Raava could tell were real.
“Low key?” He asked surprised at her term.
Maria stared at Rhodes.
“Loki God of Chaos, Nukes in New York, aliens!” she reminded and Rhodes nodded, how could he forget?
“Right. You need to go to the hospital, that’s where I told Val you were going, if you aren’t there she’s going to know something’s up. I assigned another security agent to you.”
“That’s overkill.” Maria shook her head no.
“It’s definitely necessary.” Rhodes said in a rushed voice.
“Where are the talks?”
“I can’t tell you that.” Rhodes insisted.
“For the love of god.” Maria said with an irritated tone.
“Chequers.” Rhodes answered, he couldn’t help it. He had to keep Maria trusting him and what did it matter, she was about to be replaced any minute.
“Oh.” Maria did not look surprised by that. “They can definitely postpone.” She said like it was easy. Rhodes and Raava had to appreciate Maria’s consistency. Safety first, prevention first.
Maria opened the mini fridge and she grabbed two waters. She tossed a water bottle to Rhodes.
“Lockdown drills, remember?” She smirked at him, back in the military, during their fighting days, you always kept hydrated during a lockdown. Rhodes caught the bottle and he briefly smiled at Maria. She was so prepared, and into procedure. Rhodes couldn’t believe how much he just wanted a drink of water right now, especially from the only person he even trusted here—-which was the only person he shouldn’t and Raava knew that. Rhodes twisted the plastic cap off the bottle before taking a quick sip. Wow he longed for the old days. This was so complicated, Maria was a the person he trust here but he couldn’t trust her even though she was genuinely trusting him. He just had to lean into their relationship and keep feeling this way, real and easy.
“Act like everything’s normal, get out of here soon, get to the hospital, before this place locks down. I can contact Agent Killbourne there. I know they’re looking for you too.” Rhodes said to Maria like they hadn’t done this style of thing for years and they exchanged a brief glance like they were about to execute a plan.
But both of them knew it was fake.
Rhodey paused as Maria got ready to leave.
“Be safe.” He said with genuine affection for her.
“Be smart.” Maria said back almost like a warning, but Raava thought it seemed on brand for her. Rhodes took another drink from the water bottle Maria gave him.
“I can come, I know what this is, I’ve known for a long time.” Maria offered.
“It’s probably best if the two people who know what’s going on are not in the same room for them to kill.” Rhodes explained and Maria nodded, she couldn’t fault that reasoning.
Rhodes left the room and he shut the door behind him taking his water with him and he looked at Killbourne.
“Where is Frain?” Rhodey asked quietly, he hadn’t gotten here yet?
“On his way.”
“When he gets here head out immediately.” Rhodes said loud enough so Maria could hear if she was listening.
“but before you leave swap.” Rhodey practically mouthed to Killbourne and Killbourne shot a glance at the door behind him and then back at Rhodes and Rhodes nodded.
Maria was listening by the door but she didn’t hear what Rhodes mouthed even though she knew he was still there. She waited to hear Rhodes walk away before she immediately picked up her secret phone and called Fury.
“They won’t let me get near the President, but I think Val is clear. The president is going to Chequers.” Maria said very quietly to Fury. She had no idea how many skrulls were around her and if she even tried to get near the President she wondered if they would stop her. It seemed like Rhodes ran a tight ship with the secret service agents and she couldn’t take an unknown amount of them by herself.
“Are you sure?”
“He drank the water, so you can track him.” Maria reminded and Fury pulled up the screen and he was able to track Rhodes in the hotel anywhere.
“Alright.”
“Come back.” Maria said to him as she knew what he was about to do was going to be dangerous, he was definitely out numbered, and if he didn’t take Gravik right out, it was over.
“Well, if I don’t, finish this up for me, yeah?” Fury asked but rather casually for what he was suggesting.
“Yeah, sure.” Maria rolled her eyes.
“That’s not a cool sign off, you gotta…” Fury started to complain to Maria again and she hung up on him and he laughed. “I guess that’s her thing now.” He huffed to G’iah with a light laugh.
“Hill is mad at me for sending her to voicemail for years and now she hangs up on me.” Fury joked to G’iah.
G’iah tilted her head at Fury’s laughter.
“Yeah, that seems right.” She nodded. “I’d hang up on you too, I might not even take your call. ”
Back at the hotel Rhodes did not call a security threat or anything. Instead, he walked right out with the President the the motorcade. He got in the same car as Ritson. He was supposed to do this, so Gravik could tell what car Ritson was in and Raava could manipulate where the President went during the attack. Raava felt her heartbeat picking up. Was this really, finally happening? It was going to happen right under Fury’s nose no less.
As the motorcade started moving, Rhodes was quiet but he looked at the annoyed Ritson. This was not what he wanted his presidency to be. Fending off war with Russia, this was annoying, but he definitely did not want to be known as the guy who lost America to nuclear war… if there was anyone left to remember him.
“Mr. President I am sorry about earlier, but there is something I need to tell you and it is urgent.” Rhodes started and Rhodes’ had Ritson’s full attention.
“When I talked to Hill she said that Fury was coming for you and she thought someone in the CIA was helping him.” Rhodes signed and and a wave of shock washed over Ritson’s face.
“What!?”
“I recorded the conversation, so you could hear it. I didn’t want her to get near you until I could verify what she was saying, it checked out.” Rhodes held up his phone and he played the recording for Ritson.
‘It’s President Ritson. Fury went to great lengths to go after him. I know someone from the CIA is involved for sure.’ Maria’s voice said on an edited recording and Ritson leaped forward in his seat.
“The fuck!” Ritson yelled.
“Is that real?!” He asked in disbelief and Rhodes nodded.
“I couldn’t tell you because Val was in the room and Hill suspects her too.”
“Why would Fury want to kill me?” Ritson asked surprised, he let Fury keep his job, they didn’t have a problem.
“She didn’t know why. I.. here just listen..” Rhodes played more of the manipulated recording:
‘Why did you call Fury?’
‘I didn’t. I saw Fury and everything he was saying was so wrong. He asked ‘how can you keep secrets from me?’ It made no sense. I just knew something wasn’t right. I tried to get Fury to contact someone and get help. He wouldn’t let me get help. He told me lots of people will get killed if he didn’t go after Ritson. I can’t believe Fury is out there trying to kill people. It’s like Fury wants to destroy the world.’
Rhodes watched Ritson’s shocked face. If Ritson wasn’t so concerned for himself he might have noticed some manipulation in the recording but he didn’t.
“We have to release the video of him trying to kill Hill. I want him found right now. Do not tell Val.” Ritson ordered and Rhodes nodded.
Back at the hotel, Maria hated having to play this sitting and wait game. She wanted to just take out fake Rhodey and be done with this, but they had so much information they needed to still get, and who knew what traps and plans they had laid if someone tried something just like that. Maria didn’t even have a gun right now. Clearly, the skrull Rhodey wasn’t threatened by her weakened wounded state, unarmed and just trying to give as much information as she could. She didn’t understand why the fake Rhodes wanted her to leave so badly. Was keeping her away from Val really the reason? They had to be planning to replace her.
Maria went to leave the hotel room and Agent Killbourne followed her, another secret service agent walked up to them. It was the skrull Frain, in disguise as a second agent.
“I’m on this detail now.” Frain and Killbourne looked at each other curiously and Maria watched them out of the corner of her eye.
“We’re both on it.” Killbourne reminded.
“She’s not an it, she’s a person.” Frain remarked smugly trying to win points with Maria.
“Right, but I’m not going to say ‘on her’ now am I?” Killbourne snapped back.
“Yeah, please don’t say that.” Maria muttered giving a disgruntled look.
“We’re going to take a car to a private hospital on Morrow’s street, it’s been secured for the President’s visit.” Frain explained and he walked in front of Maria, Killbourne walked behind her. Rhodes wanted Maria to go to that hospital so bad, she knew something terrible had to be waiting there.
Suddenly Frain stopped dead in his tracks, he pressed his hand into his earpiece. Maria and Killbourne stopped too.
“There’s a threat.” He mumbled, they were in the hallway, walking down past the hotel suites. Maria was surprised, did Rhodes really do it? The president was going to stay? She had to call Fury, but she knew she couldn’t here.
“Ma’am I am sorry we have to shelter in place.” Frain looked down the hall and then he turned to the room closest to them, it Rhodes’s old hotel room which Frain just happened to have a keycard for, but the moment was so fast that the agents didn’t even give Maria a moment to think before they pushed into the hotel room and closed the door. Frain grabbed Maria from behind as she entered the room and covered her mouth.
“Don’t worry, you won’t even notice.” He said surprisingly nicely and quietly as he pulled out small syringe from his pocket.