Steel Hearts

- 3 -

Once back at HQ, we're taken up to the bullpen. The two of us are allowed to change into our suits, taking our time doing so we come up with a plan to get out of there and get the flash drive back.

"Pierce is gonna want to talk to both of us. Take a different elevator on the way down when we're done. I'll meet you in the lobby," he tells me, placing his shield on his back so he can pull his gloves on.

"I don't like this," I state, eyes hardened to watch our surroundings as I pull my thigh holsters and tactical belt on before my fingerless gloves, "We can't give any definitive answers."

"I don't either, but we don't have a choice right now," he states, "Different elevators. Meet me in the lobby. We're going to figure this out."

With a nod, the two of us make our way to the conference room side by side. We pass by Agent thirteen in the hallway outside of his office.

"Captain Rogers."

"Neighbor," he says coldly.

I nudge him, shaking my head, "Play nice."

"Oh. Captain. Agent Cohen. I'm Alexander Pierce," the stout man in a grey suit says when we approach him, shaking both our hands.

"Sir, it's an honor," Steve says respectfully.

"The honor's mine, Captain. My father served in the 101st. Come on in."

The two of us follow him into the conference room, not bothering to sit down. Printed photographs are waiting for us on the coffee table.

"That photo was taken five years after Nick and I met when I was at State Department in Bogota," Pierce explains the photo Steve is holding, digging through files for something else entirely, "E.L.N. rebels took the embassy, and security got me out, but the rebels took hostages. Nick was Deputy Chief of the S.H.I.E.L.D. station there and he comes to me with a plan. He wants to storm the building through the sewers. I said, 'No, we'll negotiate.' Turned out, the E.L.N. didn't negotiate, so they put out a kill order. They stormed into the basement, and what do they find? They find it empty."

He drops the folder he was looking for onto the coffee table and sits down, Steve and I following closely behind in our respective chairs as he hands the photos to me to look over.

"Nick had ignored my direct order and carried out an unauthorized military operation on foreign soil, and saved the lives of a dozen political officers, including my daughter."

"So you gave him a promotion," Steve puts two and two together. I place the photos onto the table in front of me and look back up to the two of them.

"I've never had any cause to regret it," Pierce says before jumping right into questioning, "Captain, why was Nick in your apartment last night?"

"I don't know."

"And why were you there, Agent Cohen?" he turns to me.

"Can I not visit a friend after work?" I straighten slightly, placing my hands on my knees.

"I suppose I can't tell you what to do when you're not at work. Did you know the apartment was bugged?"

"I did because Nick told me."

"Did he tell you he was the one who bugged it?"

I narrow my eyes slightly, looking for tell to see if he's bluffing. Steve not breaking his eye contact with Pierce and not showing any sort of emotion.

"I want you two to see something," Pierce reaches over and turns on a video on the screen behind us. Georges Batroc pops up.

"Is that live?" I ask, shifting in my seat to get a better view of the screen.