A week ago…
Right after Fury discovered that Agent Pryce, someone he never truly trusted but only found useful, had planted a circular micro-tap during their time in the shawarma joint, he sat alone replaying the CCTV footage over and over. Again and again he scrubbed through the same ten seconds, scanning every frame to make sure he hadn't missed anything.
Once his paranoia stopped buzzing loud enough to cloud his judgement, he picked up his phone and dialed a number without hesitation.
Hill answered before the first ring finished. "Sir?"
"Secure room. Now," Fury said. "And bring the drive."
"On my way."
He hung up, eyes glued to the exact moment Pryce's fingers slipped beneath the table. Smooth. Surgical. Efficient. A traitor's hand doing traitor's work.
The heavy security door finally clicked open, and Hill stepped inside, sealing it behind her. This room had no cameras, no mics, no wireless signals. Just analog steel and dead air.
Hill's eyes immediately locked on Fury's expression. "What did you find?"
Fury didn't answer. He simply played the footage on the isolated monitor in front of them.
Hill leaned in, watching Pryce plant the micro-tap, Daniels shooting Liam, Daniels shooting himself...and everything else.
She inhaled sharply. "That's a listening device. And it's not standard S.H.I.E.L.D. issue."
"No," Fury said, voice flat and cold. "I didn't authorize it."
Hill frowned. "HYDRA?"
"HYDRA," Fury confirmed.
She straightened. "Do you want a team to extract the device? We can lock down the shop, sweep for other taps—"
"No." Fury's voice hit like a shutting vault. "We don't touch it."
"Sir, if it's recording—"
"It is recording," Fury cut in. "But that's not the problem."
He paused the footage and pointed to Pryce's hand.
"If we pull it out, HYDRA knows we found it. Right now, they think they're invisible. That gives us leverage."
Hill thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. "So we pretend we never noticed."
"Exactly," Fury said. "The trick isn't to remove the device. It's to follow it."
Hill folded her arms. "If we're just watching, should we at least jam the signal? Distort whatever HYDRA hears so the audio is useless?"
Fury shot her a look. "A jammed signal is a red flag. HYDRA will know something's wrong in seconds."
Hill hesitated, then spoke carefully, now understanding why Fury didn't want the device touched. "Is it because they might've already captured something? A tap that small could've been transmitting live. Everything said in that joint could already be with them—"
"They might have," Fury admitted. "But they'll want the full recording too. They'll retrieve the device sooner or later." His voice lowered. "And whoever picks it up becomes our first lead."
Hill nodded. "The first link in the chain."
"A chain we follow until we reach the head," Fury said. "And then we cut it off."
He crossed to the analog desk, flipping open a folder with hand-inked maps of the city. No digital systems. No risk.
Hill straightened. "So what's the plan?"
"I need watchers," Fury said. "Not S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Not anyone HYDRA can predict."
Hill understood instantly. "The Ghost Unit."
"Two operatives," Fury confirmed. "No comms. No electronics. Pure shadow work. They observe the shop day and night. When someone retrieves the tap, they follow. No engagement unless forced."
"And if they lose the courier?" Hill asked.
"They won't," Fury said. "But if they do… we move to Phase Two."
Hill raised an eyebrow. "Phase Two?"
Fury allowed the smallest, driest hint of a smirk. "We bring in Tony Stark."
Hill sighed. "He's going to enjoy this a little too much."
"He's also unstable after hearing what happened to his parents," Fury said. "That anger is a weapon. I intend to point it at HYDRA."
"And Doctor Banner?" Hill asked.
"He's in," Fury said. "We need someone who can authenticate the CCTV, verify the tampering attempts, and lock the evidence behind a wall HYDRA can't break. If they try to alter anything, I want the whole world to know."
Hill nodded. "Understood."
Fury closed the folder. "HYDRA made their move. We're going to make sure they regret it."
--
---
----
A little later that night..
The night outside the Shawarma shop felt wrong in a way that had nothing to do with the weather. New York moved slowly after the alien attack: crews picked through rubble, broken streetlamps flickered, and the city's usual noise had lowered to a cautious whisper. Two figures waited in the alley across from the shop, the Ghost Unit, the small team Fury trusted completely. They wore plain dark clothes and no electronic gear. Each had a fabric throat mic tucked under a scarf that transmitted sound through touch and copper lines, safe from hacking.
The woman with braided hair murmured, "Still nothing."
Her partner replied, "They'll come. Director doesn't guess."
Then they faded back into the shadows.
Fury watched from three floors below a supply building, the room lit by a single static-filled monitor. The black-and-white feed jumped and hissed, but he trusted it because it was analog and isolated from every network. Maria Hill stood behind him with her arms folded.
Fury muttered, "Someone will want that back. Stay sharp."
Half an hour passed. The Ghost Unit didn't move. Then a figure appeared on the feed.
A man in his late thirties, hoodie low over his face, walked with steady, measured steps. He checked reflections in windows and car chrome without turning his head, tapped his shoe twice at corners, and changed his pace at random. All signs of a trained operative. The braided woman whispered, "Target." Fury leaned closer.
The man entered the shop carefully and walked straight to the table Pryce had tampered with. He crouched, used a small shielded penlight aimed downward, covered the tap's lens, checked its contacts with a gloved thumb, and slipped the device into a padded pocket. Then he left calmly, like a man finishing a late-night meal.
The Ghost Unit followed with natural, quiet movements. They avoided staying directly behind him, shifting spacing, crossing the street, or pausing at storefronts so their tail didn't form a pattern. The courier hailed a taxi and left. Two operatives followed in separate cabs.
Fury switched to the next feed. The courier's cab headed toward the Lower East Side, the image faint in grayscale. This wasn't just confirming Liam's information anymore. It was the first step in a real chain of custody, something he could use. Liam had given him knowledge. This was proof.
Ten minutes later, the courier stepped into a dim side street. An older, broad-shouldered man in a heavy coat waited. No words. Just a nod. The courier handed him the device.
"Handler," Hill whispered.
"Keep following," Fury said. Every new face meant another HYDRA operative he could identify and track. Liam had mentioned names, but names couldn't be submitted as evidence. Faces on analog footage could.
The handler moved with more caution than the courier. He timed his steps with light changes, used a newspaper to block his hands while switching pockets, and slowed at a crowded bus stop to force any tail into exposing themselves. The Ghost Unit adapted easily, using a delivery truck and a phone booth as cover.
The handler eventually entered an old maintenance building behind a worn parking structure. He tapped a short code. Someone checked through a small opening, then let him inside.
Hill said, "Is this their hub?"
Fury shook his head. "A relay." A relay meant multiple steps, meaning HYDRA wasn't relying on one agent. It meant a system. A structure. Exactly what Fury needed to expose their depth.
Inside, the handler passed the tap to a third man wearing gloves. This one used a small transfer pouch with a code lock, placed it into a matte-black case, sealed it, and exited through a different door toward a waiting sedan.
Fury nodded slightly. Three handlers already meant three separate HYDRA cells intersecting. Pierce wasn't acting alone. There were layers. A network. Something Fury could dismantle with precision when the time came.
The sedan began moving. A second identical car pulled out of a parallel street and slowed in front of the team, a deliberate decoy. The Ghost Unit split immediately: one on the first sedan, one on the second, and one repositioning to catch either route. As long as one operative maintained visual, Fury could map both routes and identify which HYDRA members had trained in tail-splitting. Another tactic documented. Another layer exposed.
The real sedan entered a secure underground garage beneath a government building. It used a side access lane usually meant for supply vendors and displayed a sealed courier envelope to pass security. Fury made note of the guard who waved it through. If SHIELD ran an internal purge, that guard would be included.
The sedan parked. The man with the case stepped out and walked toward a reinforced door guarded by two officers. He showed a Level-6 clearance badge.
Hill stiffened. "Sir… that belongs to Pierce's department."
Fury watched the screen without blinking. This wasn't just a suspicion anymore. It was an operational link between field HYDRA and a high-level government office. A connection HYDRA would never expect SHIELD to have recorded on unhackable analog feeds.
"It leads to him," Hill whispered.
Fury shook his head. "It leads through him." The chain was clear now: courier, handler, specialist, guard, badge, Pierce. A full path, physical and undeniable. For the first time, Fury had something that couldn't be erased or argued away. Something he could use to destroy HYDRA from the inside.
Hill swallowed. "What happens now?"
Fury stood, smoothing his coat. "Now we prepare. Quietly."
He wasn't only preparing for Pierce. He was preparing for every link in the chain. The guards. The couriers. The specialists. The hidden offices. The unexplained clearances. Liam had given him the name of the snake. Tonight, Fury saw the body.
"We map the structure," he said. "Every branch. Every route. And when we move…"
He met Hill's eyes.
"…HYDRA won't have time to bury a single thing."
Outside, the city remained quiet. Inside the building, the black case disappeared deeper into secured corridors. Fury watched it leave the frame. For the first time, HYDRA had left a trace they couldn't hide.
And Fury intended to use it.
***
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