Pierce leaned forward, elbows resting on the desk, his expression serious. "I agree," he said quietly. "I was the one who pushed for Fury to become director — my choice, my recommendation. He was supposed to work for us, to guide S.H.I.E.L.D. the way we wanted. But now…" He exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing. "Now he's getting too curious. It's time to cut him off before he starts digging too deep."
Malick's face stayed calm, but he too was thinking about the consequences of their decision and what it would entail for their future. "Alright," he said. "But tell me this, Alexander — how the hell does a mid-level agent know about Project Insight? About you, or any of the upper ranks? That's not something you pick up in the field."
Pierce frowned, irritation slipping through his controlled tone. "That's what I'm trying to figure out," he said. "That traitor was supposed to be nothing. A field grunt, useful but disposable. And now? He's walking around with top-level knowledge and healing from a bullet to the head. That's not normal."
Malick leaned closer to the hologram, voice steady but cold. "So, what's your theory? A leak?"
Pierce stayed quiet for a few seconds, his mind turning over possibilities. "No," he said finally. "Not a leak. Another traitor. Someone high up in the organisation — someone who knows everything about Insight. They're using the field agent as a cover, feeding him bits of information to see how much Fury can find."
Malick raised an eyebrow but didn't argue. "Possible," he said. "Someone smart. Ambitious. They hide behind the field agent and watch what happens." He paused, then added, "And that regeneration — maybe from some off-the-record experiment... Whatever their personal vendetta is...its ruining our plans."
Pierce nodded slowly. "We'll find them. Whoever's pulling the strings will make a mistake sooner or later. When they do, they'll regret fucking with us."
Unfortunately for them, their search would be a waste of time..
As the truth was much simpler.
There was no traitor. No experiments done. No conspiracy.
Liam wasn't being helped by anyone.
He was something entirely different — a transmigrator, armed with a power no one in this world could understand.
While HYDRA would tear itself apart searching for enemies within, the real threat was already out there, quietly growing stronger every single day.
The two men sat in silence for a few moments, the hum of the hologram filling the air. Then Malick spoke again, returning to the matter at hand.
"Do you have a way to get rid of Fury cleanly?" he asked, curious. "No public fallout, no blood trail leading back to us, and no scandal that buries the Council along with him."
Pierce smiled slyly— the kind that came from a man who had made a career out of turning disasters into opportunities. He nodded once. "Yes," he said. "Think about the timing. The alien attack happened this afternoon. The city's still in shock — buildings smoking, civilians screaming, governments demanding explanations. It's chaos, Gideon. Pure chaos. And chaos is opportunity."
Malick's eyes narrowed. "Go on."
"There's no avoiding the backlash," Pierce said, his tone cold and certain. "The Council's decision to launch that missile will leak, eventually. Someone will talk. Some file will surface. And when it does, the world will turn on us." He paused, letting the silence stretch between them. "So we get ahead of it. We write the story before anyone else does."
Malick gave a small, knowing smile. "You mean—give them a villain."
Pierce's smile deepened slightly. "Exactly." He clasped his hands together. "We say Fury panicked. That he went rogue, made the call himself to launch the nuke. We'll forge authorization logs, edit comms data, plant a junior agent's testimony. Everything will point to one conclusion — Nick Fury endangered millions and ignored orders."
Malick exhaled softly, considering it and then nodded his head in agreement.
Pierce continued. "By the time the information about Fury firing nuke reaches the press and public, no one will care about the details — just the outrage. A single face to blame. A name to burn."
Malick leaned back, the corners of his mouth tightening into a cruel smile.
"And after that we'll formally place him under arrest," Pierce said, voice flat. "We'll present it as an internal investigation — lawful, procedural. During the transfer to custody, if he resists — and he will — we'll ensure he doesn't walk out of it. It will be staged as an unavoidable escalation: self-defense or an accident during detainment."
Malick nodded, leaning forward again, his expression sharp. "After Fury is disposed...the agency will need a new Director immediately. Someone controllable. Someone who won't ask questions."
Pierce folded his hands. "Sitwell's the obvious choice," he said. "He's loyal, discreet, and knows when to keep his mouth shut. More importantly, he's one of ours — he'll follow orders without hesitation. With him in charge, S.H.I.E.L.D. stays steady on the surface while we clean up underneath."
Malick chuckled, the sound low and dark. "You've thought this through."
"I always do," Pierce said simply as it was his job.
Malick then spoke up,"I think...the members of the Council will agree too. They're under the same pressure we are. Their decision to fire that nuke will haunt them, and they'll be desperate to bury it. We'll offer them the perfect cover story — Fury as the rogue operative, and the Council as the heroes who tried to stop him at any cost. Their fear and greed to hold that position will do the rest."
Pierce nodded slowly. "They'll definitely bite. Fear always makes men obedient." He looked up, eyes narrowing. "And when it's done, S.H.I.E.L.D. will belongs to us, unchallenged."
For a moment, neither man spoke. The sound of distant sirens filled the silence, echoing faintly through the reinforced glass of Pierce's office. Outside, New York still smoldered — smoke rising where alien wreckage and fire met steel. The world was celebrating survival, but here, in this quiet room, two men were already reshaping the narrative.
The people were cleaning up the streets.
The politicians were preparing their speeches.
And Alexander Pierce and Gideon Malick were deciding who would take the fall.
A man who had technically saved the world was about to become its villain.
Malick leaned back slightly, his expression serious. He couldn't wait to see how it would all unfold.
He was about to end the call when Pierce's voice cut through the fading hum of the hologram.
"As for the Avengers, and that so-called traitor who calls himself Liam Walker now — don't worry about them." He paused, calm and certain. "They won't interfere with our plans to eliminate Fury. I already have plans for them too."
Malick smiled. He tapped the console and the holographic projection winked out.
---
[Earlier the same day...]
The timestamp on the security feed read 12:41 PM, a little more than an hour after the huge HYDRA reveal inside the shawarma shop. Nick Fury sat alone in a dark room lit only by the glow of a monitor. A cup of coffee sat untouched beside him. Even the faint hiss of steam felt too loud in the stillness.
Maria Hill had dropped off the external drive only a few minutes earlier. She had worked fast and retrieved every recording available from the shawarma shop's outdated, fully local CCTV system. The footage wasn't connected to anything online and was recorded onto a small internal drive. It was untouched and exactly what Fury needed.
He inserted the drive, exhaled slowly, and said, "Let's see what the hell happened."
He pressed play.
The first camera angle showed the counter and dining area: scratched tables, a spinning shawarma spit, cheap lighting, and nothing else worth noticing. Then the door opened in the footage, and Fury watched himself enter with the same irritated posture he remembered, then Hill and then three field agents.
Everything looked normal at first. The agents spread out like they always did. The first two scanned the room. The third, Agent Daniels, stayed near the back. Meanwhile Liam sat in frame, eating calmly.
Fury watched the version of himself in the video take two steps forward.
Then Daniels' posture changed. His expression turned blank. His shoulders stiffened. And without hesitation, he drew his gun and fired at Liam. The silent footage showed Liam falling backward out of the frame.
Before anyone could react, Daniels raised the gun to his own head and fired again. His body collapsed instantly.
Fury's hand twitched toward the controls, ready to pause, but a cold instinct stopped him. If one agent was compromised, why not the others? He let the video continue.
The restaurant erupted into chaos. Thor nearly flipped a table. Hulk roared. Natasha and Clint shifted into combat stance. Steve looked stunned. In the footage after Liam magically got up unhurt, Fury moved forward and gave sharp orders. Hill repeated them. The two remaining agents ran to follow.
They reached Daniels' body first. He had collapsed awkwardly near the entrance, partially blocking it. Pryce said something quietly to his partner, and together they lifted the body and moved it to a table near the door, about three to four tables away from where the Avengers were sitting. It was close enough for them to work on but far enough not to disturb the team.
They laid Daniels on the table. Pryce immediately leaned over the body and began checking pockets, badge placement, and anything that might explain his behavior. It was routine and expected. The second agent started a standard perimeter sweep. He crouched near the entrance, examining the floor for loose rounds, a dropped magazine, any secondary weapon, or anything Daniels might have dropped during the incident. It was basic protocol.
Nothing seemed unusual. Everything looked normal.
Pryce's left hand moved naturally as he searched Daniels' corpse. His right hand, partially hidden by the corpse and by the angle of his body, held something small and metallic. He kept it concealed beneath the agent's jacket until the exact moment the entire room's attention was completely on Liam, who had by now started eating the shawarma with no wound on his forehead despite being shot directly in the forehead.
For a few seconds, no one was looking at Pryce.
He used that moment.
Pryce subtly shifted his weight. To anyone watching from the other side of the room, it looked like he was merely adjusting Daniels' body on the table. From Hill's angle, his back blocked the motion entirely. The second agent remained crouched low with his attention fixed on the floor.
Pryce made a tiny, practiced hand movement..
He pressed the small micro-tap onto the underside of the table directly beneath Daniels' torso. The table was roughly three to four tables away from the Avengers' seating area, positioned near the entrance...far enough that no one would think to watch it, but close enough for the device to pick up every conversation inside the shop.
The action was perfect. Clean. Invisible. No one in the room noticed. Pryce immediately returned to checking Daniels' uniform as if nothing had happened.
The video ended with the the two agents bringing the corpse out of the joint.
The screen paused.
Fury stared at it without blinking. His jaw tightened. He leaned back slowly and exhaled through his nose.
"…motherfucker."
***.
TITLE: They don't know that we know they know we know
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