7. S.H.I.E.L.D
“This man declined The Nobel Peace Prize.” Nick said, holding a picture of my grandfather in his hand. We were now sitting around a table in another room , trying to think about a plan on how to stop the carriers from getting up in the air.
My shoulder was stitched up, it still hurt like hell, but I wasn’t bleeding anymore at least.
“ Not like he deserved it.” I said, full of disgust. “ He used to say that peace wasn’t an achievement …”
“It’s a responsibility.” Nick finished my sentence. “ You see, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues.” His eyes were now focused on Nat, and I knew exactly why.
“We have to stop the launch.” She said changing the subject looking at Steve.
“I don’t think the council is accepting my calls anymore.” Nick commented looking at me.
“ Don’t look at me , he sent the freaking Winter Soldier after me. He left me alive twice now, this time he was ordered to kill me.” I said, making him look away. I felt a strong gaze on me as soon as the words left my mouth and I knew exactly who it was. I never told Steve about the first time I met his war buddy.
Before he could have asked anything Nick opened the small briefcase resting on the table revealing 3 targeting blades. Wait what?
“What are these?” Sam asked, confused.
“ Once the helicarriers reach 3000 feet , they will triangulate with insight satellites, becoming fully weaponized. Maria said, showing us a demo of the carriers and how they work.
“ I still can’t understand how you agreed to this project Nick…” I said looking him in the eye.
“ I just wanted to protect the world, Project Insight was supposed to be something to help us, not destroy us. “
“ Yeah because getting advice from a former Hydra scientist on how to make weapons for mass murder was always a good idea. '' Nick gave me a firm look, indicating that I’m close to hitting a nerve. I just rolled my eyes and decided to stay silent. This wasn’t the time for an argument.
“ As I was saying…we need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own. Nick explained while we were focusing on the simulation Hill was showing us on one of the computers.
“ But one or two won't cut it right?” Sam asked.
“ No , we need to link all carriers for this to work out, because if even one of those ships remains operational , a lot of people are going to die.” Maria explained making me let out a frustrated sigh.
“ Oh that’s great, easy right? I mean it’s us against the whole organization. “ This plan will never work…
“Well, we have to assume everyone on those ships is Hydra.” Nick said, confirming my thoughts.
“ Any chance that Stark could pop in and help? Clint? “ I asked hoping Nick had some other trick up his sleeve , because we were not looking good.
I mean I was injured , Sam was not trained for this, Steve's judgment was clouded because of the Winter Soldier , Nat looked rough herself and Maria….she is the only one who can coordinate the lunch.
“ We can’t trust anyone at the moment Amelia…not even them. “ This has to be a joke.
“ Clint is with his family and Stark has other things to worry about at the moment. “ Nat explained, making me nod.
“ Amelia, your job is to save as much as SHIELD as you can while we take care of the carriers. You are our best shot at this. “ Nick said, handing me another thumb drive.
“ We are not salvaging anything!” Steve snapped. He snatched the drive out of my hand before I could even react. “ We are not just taking down the carrier Nick, we are taking down SHIELD.” he finished giving me a quick firm look.
This statement just gave me mixed feelings.
“ SHIELD had nothing to do with this. “ Nick protested, his eyes landing on me. He knew I was the only person in this room who was still hoping to save something. SHIELD was all I had left…all he had left.
“ You gave me this mission and this is how it ends. SHIELD’s been compromised, you said it yourself. “ Steve was not going to back up. He was determined to take down everything. Was I prepared to do this? “ Hydra grew right under your nose and nobody noticed. “
“ My parents did…Nick did..” I said, making Steve land his gaze on me . I never told him the story about my parents , or how I got into SHIELD but I think he is starting to put 2 and 2 together.
“ Amelia is right… Steve, why do you think we are meeting in this cave? I noticed. “
“ And how many paid the price before you did? “ He was talking about Barnes.
“ Look, I didn’t know about Branes.” Nick confessed and I knew he wasn’t lying.
“ Even if you did, would you have told me ? Or would you have compartmentalized that too? “ And once again Steve's gaze has landed on me .
“ Do you really think if I would have known he’d still be alive today? “ I asked, raising my voice a little. Nat put one of her hands on mine to try and calm me down before we took this argument further.
“ SHIELD , Hydra , it all goes. “
“That includes Barnes as well Steve, just like you said , we are not salvaging anything.” I said before getting up from my seat and walking away.
“ Amelia!” I heard him call my name , but I didn't bother turning around. He was so fixated on doing what HE taught was right that he didn’t even care to listen to what everyone else had to say.
“Are you ok?” Nat asked me as I was getting dressed. We were getting ready to strike and Nick had the perfect plan for us. I was going undercover as Pamela Hawley Councilwoman. My grandfather had ordered the World Security Council to gather in DC for the launch , so everyone was arriving in a couple of hours. Maria was the one who was taking care of the real Pamela while I was using one of my own projects to become her. One of the many gadgets we designed and made at SHIELD was a Photostatic Veil or what Nick called a Nano Mask , was going to make me transform into the councilwoman herself. The Veil is going to allow me to copy the desired person's face and voice , being able to perfectly blend in. My job was easy , while Steve, Nat and Sam were taking care of the carriers I was going to get Nick into the main office, secure the place and dump every information I could find into the internet . Everything… At least that’s what Steve was told.
Being in a room with my grandfather was going to be a challenge. The thought of him being involved in my parents murder … of him sending the Winter Soldier to kill me …
“I’m fine Nat.” I said, adjusting my skirt.
“How did you get involved in all of this?” she pushed, making me let out a frustrated sigh.
“ Nat, I really don’t want to talk about it.” I told her , turning around. She had a smirk playing on her lips , looking straight into my eyes.
“ I won’t push…But I have to tell you I’m happy you and Rogers are finally on good terms. "Wait, what?
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“ Sam told me everything.” I froze. Stupid pigeon.
“Nat, it was just a kiss. As you can see , we are already back to square one, fighting.” I said taking a seat on the bed next to me.
It hurt that me and Steve are not on the same page but it wasn’t my fault only. He is the one refusing to even think about saving what’s left. Something makes me think he wants SHIELD gone as much as Hydra , especially after finding out about everything. I know he wasn’t fond of our organization ever since the first time we met, when he caught Nick lying about Phase 2 , but I never thought we’d get to this stage.
“ I can see the way he is looking at you. He is just upset about the whole Hydra thing.” She said, making me look at her . “ Think about it …he just found out he died for nothing. That can be a hard pill to swallow. “ She was right. Maybe I should talk to him.
“I’m gonna talk to him.” I told her , turning around and leaving to find Steve.
“Look whoever he used to be …and the guy he is now, I don’t think he is the kind you save.” I heard Sam say as I made my way towards him and Steve on the bridge.
“He is the kind you stop.” I said stopping next to them . Both of them looked at me , Sam giving me a smile.
“I don’t know if I can do that.” Steve said, his eyes landing on me. We made eye contact , and the moment we did I felt that jolt of electricity go through my entire body.
“I’ll leave you guys to talk, we leave in 30 minutes.” Sam said , turning around and entering the base.
We stood there , looking into each others eyes, but none of us spoke. To be honest all I wanted to do was throw myself into his arms again. I knew that whatever we had going on , whatever we felt for each other it would mean nothing the moment I killed his friend.
“I can’t let you do it.” he finally spoke , his voice almost quiet. I felt my heart sunk, I knew he wouldn’t but hearing it from him wasn’t easy.
“ You can’t stop me Steve…He took everything from me. “ I said, taking a step closer to him.
He just stared into my eyes , and opened his arms for me . I gladly obliged and glued my body to his , wrapping my arms around his broad torso , burying my face into his hard chest. He wrapped his strong arms around me , making me feel safe again.
We stayed like that in each other's arms for what felt like hours before he decided to speak again.
“I don’t want to , but I can’t let you kill him. “ He said, his eyes locking with mine. Sadness coated his blue oceans…He was not going to back off, and deep down he knew that neither would I.
“ And how was your flight?” my grandfather asked as I walked next to him ,disguised as the council woman herself.
“Lovely.” I said, making him smile . “ The ride from the airport, less so. “ I added , following close behind him. It was strange that the first time I’d see him in almost 2 weeks would be like this, me undercover and him not having a clue of what’s to come.
“ Sadly, SHIELD can’t control everything.” He said , making me mentally roll my eyes. Yeah, but I bet Hydra can… “ Including Captain America. “ Well you are not wrong there pops, he is just too damn stubborn sometimes.
It took all the willpower I had, to stop myself from punching him in the face right now, and just when I was about to highly consider actually doing it, we stopped in front of an Agent . He was holding a case in his hands.
“ This facility is biometrically controlled.” Liar . What the hell was he up to? “ And these will give you unrestricted access. “ He continued giving us each a tag to clip onto our jackets. As much as I wanted to break the thing , I had to stay in character.
Acting wasn’t my strongest skill, and I’ve never done an undercover mission before that hit this close to home. And now, being here , walking behind him I slowly started to realize what I was about to do.
My grandfather was not stupid. He had figured out that Nat was missing and he probably knew that she was the one to get us out of that van. The fact that he wanted me dead didn’t even surprise me at this point. He did order his own daughter to be killed after all. What kind of monster is capable of doing that?
All my life turned out to be a big fat lie, and the truth was , he didn’t really care about me . We never really developed a relationship while my parents were still alive. My dad was never a fan of his ,and my mom didn’t insist on me getting to know him either. I knew that my grandfather was a workaholic , my mom always told me that he dedicated his whole life to S.H.I.E.L.D , better said HYDRA. Apart from a few family dinners I never really saw him much , and this didn’t change after my parents died and I was forced to move in with him. I swear I had a stronger bond with his housekeeper Renata than him.
Nick was the person who took care of me , and stepped into my life as the father figure , although he always insisted that my grandfather really loved me , he just sucked at showing it.
Well in my opinion ordering your granddaughter to be killed isn’t really an act of love and care , but who am I to question the man?
Lost in my thoughts , I haven’t even noticed that we have arrived at the conference room. We all walked in , and I looked around , my eyes landing on the control table.
“ I know the road hasn’t been smooth” my grandfather started talking , looking at us , while an agent handed out champagne glasses. “ And some of you would have gladly kicked me out of the car along the way. “ He finished, his eyes landing on Rockwell Councilman. “ But finally…we made it here. “ He turned around , us following him. In front of us , was a huge screen now, with a timer set on the top. Shit. We had less than 2 minutes till the launch.
Before he could have said anything else , a loud noise came from the speakers, then Steve's voice filled the air.
“ Attention all SHIELD. agents, this is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time to tell the truth. SHIELD. is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The STRIKE. and Insight crew are HYDRA as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want. Absolute control. They shot Nick Fury. And it won't end there. If you launch those helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. Unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot. But the price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not.” he finished making a faint smirk play on my lips. There was no going back from here.
While we were all listening to Steve’s speech , I hadn't even noticed the STRIKE team marching into the office. I knew damn well they weren’t here for him.
Jackson scanned the room and his right hand landed on his gun , still tucked into his holster.
Just a few hours ago he had a gun to my head, which I’m sure he always wanted to do. Ever since my first moment with STRIKE , this guy hated my guts.
He didn’t really have a reason to , if I’m being honest. I always tried to make conversation and be nice to him, but he just gave me nasty looks and sarcastic comments from time to time. Rumlow said he just didn’t like the fact that I was privileged and got “special treatment” from Nick. Which wasn’t true at all. I did exactly what they did. I followed orders and I even saved his ass a few times. Never got a thank you for it to this day.
“You smug son of a bitch.” Rockwell Councilman spoke, anger and venom spilling from his mouth.
Malik Councilman kept staring at the STRIKE team standing still next to us , waiting for them to do something. “ Arrest him.” He urged , but all he got in response was Jack pulling out his gun and pointing it towards him.
Things were escalating quickly and I started to panic. Nick’s plan was indeed simple, but he never went into detail regarding my job here . All I knew is that I had to make sure that when he gets here ,he’ll have instant access. Which of course meant to clear the room and eliminate the bad guys. But I haven’t really taught about how to do it. There were 3 STRIKE Agents in the room , including Jack , and that wouldn’t really be a problem for me if they were just simple bad guys , but given the fact that I’ve trained with them , I’m sure they will recognize my fight tactics immediately. Let’s hope the fact that I’ll be fighting them as the 42 year old Pamela Hawley will throw them off a bit.
“ I guess I’ve got the floor.” My grandfather responded smugly, taking a few steps forward.
My eyes were glued to the timer on the screen , that was now counting down the final seconds ... .5…4…3…2…1...My heart sank when I saw Project Insight - Active on the screen.
The carriers were going up in the air. We were losing.
A loud crash from outside made our heads turn towards the window, and all I could see was smoke and fire. Steve , Nat and Sam were most likely already fighting their way through the agent’s trying to get to the carriers. Come on Amelia , deep breaths, you’ve got this. I said to myself while scanning the room , watching my grandfather's every move.
“ Let me ask you a question,” he started , walking away from the window. “ What if Pakistan marched into Mumbai tomorrow. And you knew that they were going to drag your daughters into a soccer station for execution, “ The sick son of a bitch…He was smirking while handing Malik another glass of champagne. “ And you could just stop it with the flick of a switch. Wouldn't you? Wouldn’t you all? “
“Not if it was your switch.” Malik proudly said, answering for all of us in the room. The tension was present and I knew we were running out of time.
A disgusting laugh left my grandfather’s lips, as Jack took his gun and handed it to him. SHIT!
Think Amelia , think. As soon as he lifted the gun towards Malik , I kicked him to the side , marching forward , kicking the gun out of my grandfather's hands. I punched him right in his jaw and my lips curled up into a smile. God that felt good.
I threw one of my shocking disks at a STRIKE agent while I kicked Jack in the face , knocking him to the ground. I turned back to my grandfather now , who was wiping some blood from his lips. He had a shocked expression on his face, not knowing what hit him.
I felt a hand on my shoulder , so I grabbed it , turned around and gathered all my force. I kneed the agent in the stomach , smacking his head on the table next to us right after.
Jack was quick to recover , grabbing me from behind , one of his arms locking around my neck while his other was holding my head in place.
“Pretty good for an old lady.” he mocked in my ear . I let out a loud groan , gathering all my strength and lifted my left arm ,elbowing him in the side , making him loosen his grip. Once I was able to move my head a bit I bit his arm as hard as I could, resulting in him fully letting go of me. I turned towards him right after , lifting my fist and landing it right on Adam's apple, using the throat punch Tom taught me a few weeks into our training. He was now bent over , trying to recover while groaning in pain , so I walked closer and landed my right heel in his face , knocking him out.
Now that they were all out , I quickly bent down and grabbed the gun from the ground , then straightened myself , looking around.
Shocked expressions were staring back at me , which is understandable , given the fact that I still looked like Hawley Councilwoman.
I proudly raised my gun towards my grandfather , my blood boiling at this point. A smirk played on my lips as I lifted my other hand, and pushed the small button on my right temple, my Nano Mask turning off. While that was deactivating I grabbed my wig and took it off, letting my blond hair loose.
“ I’m sorry , did I step on your moment?” I asked, looking him in the eyes. His blue eyes were now full of anger and fear. But most of all, shock . He couldn’t believe it. His own blood was now holding a gun to his head. Funny how things change right?
“ Lower the gun Amelia. “ He said demandingly. He really thought I’d start listening to him now? He knew damn well I never did anything he told me to do , and I wasn’t going to start now.
“ You killed them.” I said taking a step towards him. My heart was pounding in my chest. I was finally standing face to face with the man behind all of this. “ You ordered Barnes to kill them!!! “ I shouted this time , the barrel of my gun finally touching his forehead.
Memories of the night my parents died invaded my mind and tears were threatening to fall from my eyes. All these years I was chasing the man who pulled the trigger while the man that gave the orders was right in front of me the whole time.
“You know nothing child. Drop the gun and I will tell you everything Amelia. I ever wanted to harm you . “ He said, trying to calm me. You really want to start bonding now pops?
Lies… even now, facing death and he is still feeding me lies.
“Stop lying!! I have seen the list and my name was right on it. Never wanted to hurt me? You sent your assassin after me , you gave Rumlow the orders to kill me!!! “ My eyes were full of tears at this point, and I didn’t even try to stop them from falling.
“You stepped out of line. You ignored orders and decided to become a fugitive. I asked you to stay away , you were not quli-”
“If you are about to say that I was not qualified to be involved I swear to God-”
“What the hell is happening? “ Rockwell spoke, cutting me off.
I completely forgot about the other people in the room. There was really no time for explanation here , but there wasn’t time for an argument either.
I took a step back from my grandfather , still keeping the gun on him , walking towards the control center and the monitors. Yen's councilman slowly bent down and picked up a gun , pointing in his direction as well. This will help.
“ You’ll find out soon enough. “ I said putting my gun down next to me and plugging my drive into an outlet.
“What are you doing? “ Malik asked this time, but before I could answer , my grandfather spoke up.
“She is disabling security protocols”
“Am I qualified enough now Mr. Secretary?” I mocked, saving all important files to my drive. As far as Steve is concerned , SHIELD will go down today… He will hate me after this.
“ You are really going to dump everything onto the internet ? “ Pierce asked , taking a few steps backwards.
“ Everything related to Hydra and all your dirty work.“ I spat. The world was about to see just how much the government is really hiding.
“ He was working for me , you know. “ My fingers stopped typing and I looked up at him. “ From the moment you stepped foot in this building he had orders to get close to you. “ He is just trying to get inside your head Amelia.
“ Your lies will not get you out of this. Thomas loved me .” I said watching as his lips curled up into a smug smirk.
“Alfa locked.” Steve's voice rang in my head from my earpiece.One blade down, 2 more to go.
“But not enough to tell you about Barnes.” He continued trying to rail me up. And the bad part was , it was working. But I couldn’t lose focus. He was most likely lying , trying to use manipulation as his only weapon at the moment.
Without saying another word I started typing again , waiting for the final security wall to be breached.
“Disabling the encryption is an executive order. It takes 2 Alpha level members.” I looked up from the screen once again, a small trace of victory sparkling in his eyes as they locked with mine.
“ Don’t worry, we are expecting company” His eyes widened in shock and I just smiled. A helicopter was just landing outside, a few moments later none other than Nick Fury walking through the large glass doors.
A few gasps filled the air , and for a brief second my grandfather looked like he had seen a ghost. Given the circumstances I don;t really blame him for being shocked.
“ Did you get my flowers?”he tried sounding unfazed , but deep down he knew it wasn’t working. “ I’m glad you are here Nick” he continued taking a step towards him.
“Really?” Nick mocked. “Because I thought you had me killed.” Disappointment was more than visible in his eyes as he looked at the man he once called his friend.
“You know how the game works. “ The game…to him , this was all a game.
“So why make me head of SHIELD? “ Nick walked closer to me as he spoke, resting a hand on my shoulder as he stood now behind me.
“Because you were the best , and the most ruthless person I met.”
“I did what I did to protect people.” Nick’s voice was firm and full of venom . I have never seen him like this.
“Our enemies are your enemies Nick. Disorder, war. It’s just a matter of time before a dirty bomb goes off in Moscow, or an EMP fries Chicago. “ He took a step closer to us as Nick also walked away from me . A few moments later they were standing face to face again. “ Diplomacy? A holding action Nick, a band-aid. And you know where I learned that. Bogota.” He emphasized the last word and I knew exactly what he was talking about.
Nick saved my mom’s life back when he was just an agent, going against orders just to make sure that he saved everyone he could. That action landed him the place as Director of SHIELD.
“That was different.” Nick said, looking him in the eyes.
“You didn’t ask. You just did what needed to be done. I can bring order to the lives of seven billion people by sacrificing 20 million. “ He was trying to reason with him. He was really standing there trying to convince Nick to take his side , to see his point of view.
“Including your granddaughters, right? “ I spoke, not being able to stop myself. Both of them turned their heads in my direction.
“You can still choose a side darling.” I huffed at his comment. He took that as a no, and turned his attention back to Nick. “ It’s the next step… if you have the courage to take it.”
“No , I have the courage not to.” With that , Nick grabbed my grandfather's arm and dragged him to stand right next to me . To access the encrypted files and get to everything regarding Hydra, as he said , we needed two Alpha level members. We had to do a retinal scan.
RETINAL SCANNER ACTIVATED
The AI spoke.
“ You have to be delusional to think I’ll do this. “ he said with an arrogant smile.
My patience was wearing very thin with him already, so I grabbed my gun from the table and pointed it to his head again.
“Either you do it willingly , or I put a bullet in your head and use Loki’s methods for that fucking scan. “ I spat , making Nick let out a low chuckle.
“ Just like your father- “ he was quickly cut off by my gun touching his temple.
“I’m not going to say it again.” I said between my teeth , and this time, he kept his mouth shut. He took a step closer to the screen and opened his right eye , the scan being done in less then a second.
After that , Nick stepped forward but this bastard stopped him by opening his mouth again.
“ You don’t think we’ve wiped your clearance from the system? “ he chuckled , probably thinking he outsmarted us.
Nick just smirked at him and lifted his hand, taking off his eye-patch. “ I know you erased my password. Probably deleted my retinal scan. But if you want to stay ahead of me Mr. Secretary, you need to keep both eyes open. “ With that , he turned towards the machine with his injured eye , and the scan was successfully completed , my screen lighting up , signaling the start of files downloading.
“You are saving the files? “ Yen said, making his presence known in the room. I completely forgot they were still here too.
“We are saving whatever we can sir.” I said taking out my phone, and checking the stats about the carriers. Two of them were fully synced with our blades , but the third one was still under HYDRA protocols.
“Aaaaahhhhh” a sharp cry left Malik’s mouth as the little gadget my grandfather gave us when we arrived , slowly burned into his chest.
We were so focused on saving the files that we completely missed the moment he managed to get his phone. He was not pressing the screen, all councilmen falling to their knees and crying out in pain, while the gadget was burning through their clothes.
I quickly lifted my gun and turned to him ,but he turned his phone towards me , and I saw Hawley’s name on the screen. I was still wearing that stupid thing as well.
“Unless you want a two-inch hole in your sternum Amelia, I’d put that gun down. Enough of these games, child. I let you play the hero for long enough now, it’s time for the grownups to handle this. “ I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked at Nick. He gave me a small nod, signaling for me to drop my gun.
We were so close, we are so close. I can’t let him win.
“Is that all I am to you? A stupid kid you wanted to manipulate?” I tried to steal some time until I figured out my next move.
I’m not gonna lie , his words hurt like hell, but I knew everything he’s told me already.
From the moment I found out he was behind all of this , I made peace with the idea that he would not hesitate to kill me ,and from the moment Nick stepped foot into this office , I realized that the only family I needed was here and beside me. If he was prepared to kill me, I was more than happy to do the same.
“Don’t sound too surprised, Amelia. I tried to keep you safe, to stop you. But just like your mother and father , you had to keep pushing and digging.” He said walking up to the control center starting to type away. A few moments later ,a huge map appeared on the screen. “Lieutenant, how much longer?” he spoke again , this time into his phone.
“65 seconds, to satellite link” the voice came from the speakers , making my heart stop. Just a few moments ago , the last carrier was still under their control ,and I have not heard anyone confirm that they switched the blade on it. “Targeting grid engaged. Lowering weapons array now. “
“Phase Two should have taught you a thing or two, Nick.” I muttered, unable to stop myself. He had a hand in this too. He might not have selected the targets, but he built the weapons.
“Your little runaway mission with Captain Rogers is what brought you here Amelia. “ My grandfather spoke again , walking closer to me , making my eyes focus on him instead of the timer on the wall.
My blood was boiling at this point , and my head was a spinning mess.
“What about Odessa? Sending Barnes after me there ,was just for fun? “ I asked, rolling my eyes. If he was trying to justify his actions now, he should really think twice before opening his mouth.
“What did she do to deserve this? She is one of the best Agents we have, you trusted me to train her , keep her safe . And for what? To have her killed? “ Nick’s voice filled the air , his tone stern and low.
“I didn’t have a choice, Nick. This world demand’s sacrifices. It might be hard, but I’m willing to make them for the greater good. “ I laughed. I had no reason to, but I couldn’t stop myself.
TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN….
I saw the numbers on the screen as I looked up, my heart instantly skipping a beat.
This can’t be. We can’t lose, they can’t win.
Silence filled the room as the final seconds were rolling up.
FOUR, THREE …come on… TWO …
“Charlie lock.” a tear rolled down my cheek as my lips curled into a small smile. Steve’s voice echoed through my ears, sounding out of breath and in pain.
“Ok Cap , get out of there. “ Maria’s voice took over , urging Steve to leave the carrier. Her job now, was to sync the carriers and fire them against each other, destroying all that’s been left of Project Insight.
“Fire now.” Steve’s strained voice came as a response and my heart sunk. Nick instantly turned his head in my direction as even more tears were now creasing my cheeks.
“Don’t you dare Hill.” I spoke as I pressed my earpiece.
“Do it now!” he demanded , ignoring my voice and command.
“Steve please…” I said , my voice barely audible to the ones in the room…I wasn’t even sure if my microphone would pick up on it.
“He is here, Amelia. As you said everything goes…including Bucky. “ His voice was soft but I could feel the pain in it in every bone in my body. He was using my own words against me , and he was going to sacrifice himself to complete the mission. And what did I do? I went behind his back again and saved everything that could be saved.
“Maria please don’t ..” I plead , trying to reason with her instead of the stubborn soldier I knew would never back off.
“DO IT!” His harsh voice filled my ears once again and I saw Nick taking a step close to me , locking me into a tight hug.
He didn’t care about my grandfather in the room, he didn’t care about anything , he just wrapped his hands around and allowed me to fall apart. A loud bang came from outside , and I opened my eyes just for a moment , to witness the explosion in the air. All three carriers were firing at each other.
The pain was unbearable. I witnessed my parents being killed in front of my own eyes, I lost my fiance just a few months ago, and my own grandfather was behind all of it. But this ? This was my fault. Steve sacrificing himself was only my doing. I was the one who insisted on killing Barnes, on taking my revenge , and never taught about anyone else but myself. Now he took it upon himself to take him out, and the only way he could do it was if they died together. He was his friend.
“I assume Captain Rogers was still on board.” My grandfather's voice filled the air and I lost it. An insane amount of rage took over my senses and I ripped myself away from Nick’s arms.
Before my grandfather could have processed what was going on , I lifted my left leg and knocked his phone out of his hand, bending down and lifting my gun up from the ground.
“You will pay for this. For all of this! “ I shouted between sobs , my tears still falling uncontrollably from my eyes. “ You gave the orders, you pulled the string , they all died because of you! Mom , dad, Tom, Steve!! All of them are gone because of you! And now, I am holding the gun ,I am the one pulling the strings. “I was now standing only a few steps away from him and before thinking about it twice , I lifted my gun to his forehead and pulled the trigger.