[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/deMD2nk.jpg?1[/img][/center]
[sub]Location: [color=00aeef]Triskelion[/color][/sub]
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The Helicarrier Argo floated silently over SHIELD headquarters as Nick Fury peered out of it from the conference room window, his one good eye following the floating fortress's lazy arc across the sky. The Helicarriers were the backbone of SHIELD's response capability, and the Argo was the most advanced ship in the fleet. He had helped oversee her construction under the former Director Mace's leadership. It was capable of crossing the Atlantic in three hours thanks to the new repulsor engines. The others in the fleet were good, but this was going to be the thing that allowed SHIELD to respond to anything across the world. A net of these carriers spread evenly across the globe like a suit of armor.

At least that was Director Pierce's desire. Fury had always hoped that they would only be support. It was an old fashioned notion for sure, but Nick had always hoped they could work with the metahumans of the world rather than against them. 

Top brass in the governments of the world felt differently, though. Things were spiraling, and politicians were scrambling to try and keep up. Rogers had reappeared and was tearing through random locations across the states. They hadn't been able to piece together a motive or a pattern yet. Some rando that look liked he dropped out of a barbarian movie showed up in the middle of Oslo. A girl who could fly and pick up a car over her head was treating Metropolis like her personal playground.

The normal humans of the world felt like they were losing control, and that was always a dangerous situation. When people panicked and lashed out, someone usually died. Taking into account that the people in this case could bench press a Buick, that could be a recipe for worldwide disaster. 

But the path had been set, and Fury wasn't sure there was a way to change that.

The door to the conference room slid open, and Pierce, Amanda Waller, and Maria Hill all entered. Pierce, a man in his sixties who looked like he was in his forties, was dressed in a sharp navy suit. From the outside he looked like any typical military man who went into government service afterwards. Hair greying the black out of his temples, and a strong frame that was only now starting to deteriorate. But there was a cunning ambition behind his green eyes that honestly scared Fury sometimes, and that was hard to do.

If Pierce was hiding his intimidation factor, Amanda Waller wore it proudly in everything she did. A former CIA analyst, a less proper description of Waller might have been that she was "built like a brick shit house". On top of that, she had a personality to match. Waller believed that the super powered age was a existential threat to the human race. She was pushing hard for stricter surveillance on mutants and metahumans, civil liberties be damned. 

Hill was Fury's protege, and one of the few agents in SHIELD he knew he could trust. She nodded to him as she took a seat at the conference table, her short hair bobbing as she did so.

Fury took a seat as Pierce began, "What's your update on Rogers?"

"He and an unknown mutant tore through a town in Mississippi last night," he started. "No idea why he was there or what he was doing. In the end, he allegedly blew up an abandoned orphanage in order to kill the mutant. Our agents didn't find any traces of him or the alleged mutant. But we did find tire tracks from two motorcycles."

"Meaning the former Captain isn't working alone," Waller mused. "Does the Widow know anything?"

"If Natasha knows what he's up to, she's not saying," Hill added.

"And we can trust that?" Pierce looked over the rim of his glasses at Fury.

"Romanoff is one of the best espionage agents the world has ever seen," Fury chuckled back at the director. "If you can find some way of ensuring she's telling the truth, I'd like to see it."

"I'm sending Masters after him," Pierce looked back down at the files he had brought with them. 

"We're turning Captain America into a criminal now?" Fury was shocked. "Listen, Director, I know you haven't been here long, but I know Steve Rogers. If he's doing what he's doing, he has a good reason."

"I don't care what his reasons are," Pierce shot back. "He's flaunting the agreement he made with SHIELD after he murdered a man on national TV. He wrecked a town in Mississippi. What happens when he goes to Chicago or New York? I'm not taking that chance. Masters is going to bring him in, and we're going to take a rogue, unpredictable agent off the board. Masters is the best choice to do that."

Fury clamped down on his anger. Masters was a great agent. He was cold, calculating, and lethal. Sending him after Rogers was exactly the kind of move that was going to set off a powder keg.

Fury shook his head, "Whatever you say, sir. And what about the situation in Norway?"

"We sent Coulson," Waller scoffed. "I doubt that case isn't going to be anything other than a teleporter who just discovered his powers, no matter how big and buff he is."

So Coulson was abroad now too. Another one of Fury's trusted agents away. He could trust fewer and fewer agents on the Triskelion. That was a dangerous proposition.

"I'm giving you Masters's leash for this mission, Nick," Pierce looked directly into Fury's eye. "Masters is a pro. We both know it. If this goes belly up, or if you delay at any time to give Rogers some breathing room, it'll be your head. Understand? The security council is losing patience with us. If we don't start getting things under control, we'll all be out on the street."