Alexander read over the files for SCP-6448. Yet another Keter class object running wild, another one he wouldn't be able to place in containment. Once upon a time, he would have mourned the possible rewards the system might have given him.
Yet, now that he knew the truth about the system, that it was something made by the use of Solomon's wisdom. He knew that the rewards given had their limits.
While it wasn't limited to only his own powers being unlocked, or SCP objects contained by Solomon's wisdom, the number of rewards outside of that was highly limited and would likely be given by the system upon summoning rather than as rewards.
"Not much I can do here, best just to leave it to the people in charge." Alexander mused he liked to have a hands-on with most situations, but he simply didn't have enough hands to go around.
And that was even after he handed over a good bit of his work to the three new members of the O5 council.
One task that was still on his hand was dealing with the people he had pulled out from SCP-7995; while the mutants and the humans with mutant genes dormant were something many people within the Foundation wanted to study, the people in his hands had neither of those things.
His key assets were naturally Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, and the white tiger amulet worn by Peggy Carter.
People who were all very interested in the suffering of the people within SCP-7995. Or rather they were concerned with their suffering. And their concerns made their way up the chain of command all the way up to him.
Steve Rogers was the most troublesome one. He was a man of justice, someone who couldn't close their eyes to the suffering of people.
To someone like him. The world behind SCP-7995 was everything he could ask for. A world at war, one with innocent suffering, people standing up and bravely fighting for what they believe is right and just.
So that world is one he could lose himself in, fighting along with the people there, trying to save their world and way of live. Fighting for freedom and survival without having to deal with any real political bullshit.
Bucky and Peggy very much just followed behind Steve, they had grown a lot, Peggy through a full life, and spending much of that as a spy, and Bucky from the brainwashing. He was recovering well, but mostly because he kept himself busy.
Banner wasn't an issue; sure, he was still hurting over the death of his friend, Oliver Bell, but thanks to professional help, and his budding relationship with Lena Morris, he was recovering well.
And thankfully, Dr. Bright was busy dealing with the broken sun within SCP-7995, else he would surely be poking Banner with all kinds of sharp things to get the Hulk out of him.
But for now, Alexander's problem was that Steve Rogers really wanted to help those people, yet the Foundation had very little interest in trying to help them. which meant that he needed to distract Rogers somehow or he would likely attempt to split from the Foundation, which wouldn't end well for him.
It wasn't like there weren't things the Foundation was doing that a super soldier could be useful for, but it was never so simple.
Of available tasks, there were few good ones that could keep those three busy while also satisfying Rogers's need for justice.
"Hydra has been quiet for a while now, though it seems Pierce is gathering weapons for some reason." Hydra had few secrets from the Foundation at this point, and more agents were placed in Hydra then in Shield.
It was just far easier to place them in Hydra, and since Hydra was pretty much Shield, it didn't make much of a difference.
"Hydra still has their use, so let's not go after them while they aren't doing anything." He decided as he continued to look down the list.
"Natasha hasn't found the tesseract yet, nor found many clues about the Skrulls, it seems like O5-2 will have to deal with those on his own. Maybe O5-6 will be able to help, those damn aliens are dangerous."
Alexander couldn't for the life of him understand why someone as paranoid as Nicholas Fury would trust aliens from a civilization that prided themselves on infiltration and destroying others from within.
Surely, any spy would understand just how dangerous something like that would be. He couldn't possibly believe that they weren't any threat. So what in the world made him trust them so much?
Well, it didn't really matter, for while Fury and Shield might trust them, the Foundation didn't. And the Foundation would capture every single one of them and place them in containment or even kill them.
He, and the Foundation would never allow a hostile alien race to settle on earth. He might allow the Asgardians to come and go, but that was mostly because he could not stop them, and they kept Earth somewhat safe.
But the Skrulls? No way, those were getting locked up and that was the end of it.
"Focus, what to do with Rogers?" He reminded himself as he worked his way down the metal list.
He couldn't see any point of having Rogers oversee The Hand while they dug for those dragon bones, in fact it was likely better to not let him know about this criminal syndicate at all.
The same could be said for the Mandarin, who was quietly waiting for the perfect time to bring his dead wife back to life; Alexander and the rest of the Foundation were eagerly awaiting good news, as they too would then gain the knowledge of a working method of bringing the dead back to life.
There were still many more projects, but most weren't the type that a justice warrior was fit for. Other than the project, there was the ever-growing number of SCP objects on the loose. "Maybe I should send him out to find 343?"
Alexander remembered that Steve should have mentioned his belief in God when dealing with Thor and Loki, so asking him to lock up God himself could be funny. But it was likely also a task a bit beyond what an enhanced soldier could be entrusted with.
"Maybe Cain and Abel? Those aren't the most dangerous ones, and finding them would be good… but I have little clues yet… but It might be better than nothing."
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Steve had been growing restless ever since they had to abandon those people back in Ironwood. Getting back to the real world, where everything was peaceful, where no wars were happening, it was strange.
To just go from the near end of the world, then the apparently literal end of it, and back to a perfectly normal world. One where people just went about their day without any worries. It was a strange feeling.
And it didn't sit right with him.
Those people clearly needed him, and in their hour of need, he left. He was ashamed of himself.
Deep down, he knew he hadn't done anything wrong; he was, in many ways, still a soldier and was just following orders. But he didn't like it one bit.
It didn't help that they were just sitting on standby; even Bucky was getting restless; only Peggy seemed able to stay calm these days.
She was spending her time gathering information, learning more about the Foundation and the various SCPs, she was likely scared after hearing about the Sun turning like that.
It was crazy, how does the Sun just suddenly do that? Yet there was plenty of proof of it, apparently, the Foundation had in their infinite wisdom tested it.
Sent people into the light, watching on with cold eyes as the people melted into monsters.
The Foundation's cold calculations clashed with his instinct to never abandon anyone in need.
He stopped at a window overlooking a courtyard. In the reflection, he saw Bucky lingering in the hallway behind him, arms crossed, leaning against the wall. Bucky had been quieter than usual, perhaps because he knew Steve too well to interrupt his thoughts. Steve turned, giving his friend a nod.
"Thought I'd find you here," Bucky said, his tone light but laced with understanding. "You've been chewing this over for weeks, Steve. It's eating you up."
Steve sighed, running a hand through his hair. "How do you do it, Buck? How do you just—how do you deal with standing by while the world falls apart? While people suffer?"
Bucky shifted his stance, looking down at the floor as he considered his words. "I don't know if I do. But I guess I've gotten used to fighting for survival, one day at a time. It's different from what we used to do, but… sometimes, you don't get to choose your battles."
"That's the problem," Steve shot back, frustration seeping through. "The Foundation is making all these choices for us, deciding who lives and who gets left behind. I thought we were supposed to be the good guys. But now, it's like they're playing God."
Bucky nodded slowly. "Yeah, I get it. But they've got a point too, Steve. We don't know what we're dealing with half the time. And we're just a few people in a big organization. We can't take the whole world on our shoulders."
Steve shook his head, the anger not fading. "Maybe we can't save everyone. But we should at least try. And right now, all we're doing is waiting for orders that never come."
Bucky's expression softened. "Look, if it's eating you up this much, maybe it's time we go and have a word with someone higher up about it, see if they don't have something for us to do, something meaningful."
A/N
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