Please read the prologue first. http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/pswatts/news/?a=71615
Chapter One.
Half a year later
“Much has changed for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division in the past several months. A great conspiracy was revealed, a grotesque scandal uncovered. As you all know well, General Nicholas Fury arranged the murders of more than twenty agents of this division for a period of over six months. Many of you assembled here today witnessed his final trial and execution a week ago. “
The speaker paused, gazing over the large audience. It was comprised entirely of division agents. He recognized many of the faces, but several others he had never seen. He moved his face close to the microphone.
“So, a worthy agent has been chosen by the Council to replace the traitor Nick Fury as General and Director of this division. Please welcome the Director and General of S.H.I.E.L.D., Maria Hill!”
The sound of applause filled the Helicarrier as the short haired woman walked up to the speaker’s stand.
“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I know many of you knew the former General and thought of him as a friend.”
She lowered her eyes.
“I did for one. But we must not let the treachery of one man drag down with him the legacy of this division. As we are saddened by the abrupt fall of someone who was once a great man, we must also create a future where what he did can never happen again. And so as I assume the title of Director and General of this department I say this. Anyone who stains the reputation of this division will be shown no mercy. There will be no trial for those accused of criminal activities against S.H.I.E.L.D.! This session is over.”
As Maria turned away, her eyes glinted with rage. Rage against the man who had been killed in a gas chamber one week earlier, rage against the trust she had had in him, rage against herself for not seeing that he was a liar all along, and rage over his death forcing her to lead the largest secret anti-terrorist network in the world without so much as a warning.
As the hundreds of agents dispersed across the ship, a man dressed in a S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent uniform quickly moved past rows of shiny monitor screens to get to the woman making her way away from the speaker’s platform. He walked up to Director Hill as she walked down the narrow hallway and said in a calm voice,
“So, I heard you caught another one.”
Hill looked up quickly.
“What are you talking about, Agent Barton?” she snapped.
“Another so-called red agent.” he replied, seeming not to hear the sharpness in her tone.
“Yes, we did. How does that concern you?” Her mind was still deep in thought, and she was angered by this irreverent interruption.
“Doesn’t it surprise you that over thirty-six agents in high position have out of the blue been revealed to be traitors?”
“Look, things happen, leaders fall, others rise. Think of Clark over there. He’s been here for years and has worked hard. He has served us well, and now he’s been promoted to First Lieutenant. But if he makes one mistake, if for one second he forgets who he is fighting for, he becomes a dangerous threat. People look up to him, people follow his lead. Let’s hope he doesn’t turn out like Fury. Now excuse me, I have a Helicarrier to run.”
As Barton walked away, he spoke quietly in his earpiece. “The situation is getting worse. I’m on my way to the Director’s office.”
Barton walked up to the two guards in front of the Director’s command room with a nod and strode past, his heart not skipping a beat.
Access Granted. Hawkeye smiled. The card he swiped from Hill’s coat pocket had served its purpose. Sitting down, he plugged in a flash drive. As he navigated through the computer, he found an encrypted folder.
Strike two for S.H.I.E.L.D. Sorting through the folder, he found what he was looking for. He copied the files to his tablet and slipped it into his pocket. He walked out the room casually, trying not to cause suspicion. His boots echoed slightly as he walked out of the hallway into the bright sunlight. He quickly moved across the deck to his personal plane and started the engine. In ten minutes he was above the infinitely wide rolling ocean. As the Helicarrier receded from view he switched on autopilot and slightly reclined in his seat.
Suddenly he was grabbed in a choke-hold from behind and flipped out of his seat. Barton lashed out with both feet and kicked his attacker backwards. He caught a glimpse of a masked face and then threw himself into a standing position. Barton jumped in the air and landed a kick on his attacker’s chest. With lightning speed he struck out with his fists at the masked man’s face and stomach. But with equal rapidity the attacker knocked aside Hawkeye’s blows and brutally knocked him in the face.
Barton momentarily reeled, and his enemy took the opportunity to move in, hitting him repeatedly until Barton fell halfway to the floor. As his opponent whipped out a thick knife and slashed down Hawkeye violently rolled to the side and grabbed his enemy’s arm. They wrestled back and forth until Barton slid on the steel floor. His attacker wrenched free and stabbed Hawkeye in the stomach. Indescribable pain brought Barton to his knees as his attacker vanished from his vision. A gunshot rang out, and some distant part of Barton’s mind realized that the gasoline lines were burning. Losing so much blood, try to think straight ......breathe. A parachute lay within feet of his grasp. He reached for it..and slumped over limply. Thirty seconds later the plane crashed like a fading torch into the blue ocean.
By J. Daniel Green and P. Scott Watts
Chapter two on the way!