Andie Knight remembers the fall of SHIELD. Vividly. The day Captain America crashed through a glass ceiling front of her changed her life. Thanks to a call from Sam Wilson, the man who threw her from the 41st floor of the Triskelion to save her life...
Two days and Andie Knight's entire world had changed. From knowing she was doing good in the world for SHIELD to the uncertainty that plagued her mind. And all it took was Captain America plunging through a glass roof and orders from the top to hunt him down. Andie was supposed to trust Jasper Sitwell, world's biggest asshole, over Captain America. To trust Alexander Pierce. While she couldn't speak for everyone, trusting them over a literal paragon of purity like Captain America was a hard sell. Cap practically walked around the Triskelion with rainbows and puppy dogs following in his wake; it was hard to believe he could be at the heart of something sinister.
And everything she had seen - or, rather, what she hadn't seen - since had her convinced she was on the wrong side. Missing files, redacted information, and classified this that and the other. Yet nothing she'd looked up was so sensitive it should've needed such secrecy.
Secrets and compartmentalization she understood. Usually, she could hack her way around it, if she wanted to, but she understood the need for it. Fewer points of failure, fewer weaknesses.
On top of it all, Nick Fury being dead left a black hole in the middle of it all. Even Maria Hill had vanished.
Now SHIELD headquarters, the Triskelion, the place she'd considered almost a home for years, felt oppressive as she walked the halls. Who around her could she even trust? It wasn't like a video game where she could equip a heads up display that automatically pointed out every enemy. But years of training, time in the field, she was confident she could at least manage to not get herself killed.
From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Alexander Pierce and a group of delegates she recognised as being from the World Security Council. There was something off about the way the sole female delegate walked that piqued Andie's curiosity. Something wasn't right.
But before she could work it out, the group disappeared.
So Andie continued on. She'd need access to the servers to find out what the hell was going on. And they were closely-guarded. Heavily-guarded. And on the 41st floor, so it wouldn't be an easy escape if shit hit the fan. Which, knowing her luck...?
She tried not to think about it, though. Heights weren't her thing. At all. Especially all 41 floors of it.
Twirling her badge in her fingers, Andie made her way to the elevators and hoped like hell the modifications she'd made to her access would work.
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"Attention, all SHIELD agents," Captain America's voice echoed through the speakers and the halls. "This is Steve Rogers."
"Yeah, no shit," Andie snorted. She had managed to get into the server room and gain access to the files she was looking for.
"You've heard a lot about me over the last few days."
"Understatement." Her fingers danced over the keys.
"Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down." While she'd known he was a fugitive, the phrasing made it seem more...predatory than she'd imagined. More sinister. "But I think it's time you know the truth."
