E/d: As mentioned in C19, C20 is a combined chapter between MTL 20 and MTL 21.
'Inner dialogue/thoughts'
"Normal dialogue"
[System]
[Diary entries]
(Word count: 1,359)
~ A few hours later with Fury and Hill, in Fury's office within SHIELD Headquarters ~
Maria Hill, current second-in-command to Fury. Born to Elizabeth Hill. As a young adult, Hill had joined the Military and rose in the ranks until she became a Commander. Through her accomplishments and abilities, she had been scouted and subsequently recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D., where she had caught the attention of Fury and was then appointed as his deputy, being the only one in S.H.I.E.L.D. with level 9 clearance. Hill was one of Fury's closest and most trusted allies. It should be stated that not even Clint nor Natasha enjoys the same amount of trust from Fury that Hill does.
Maria Hill had been on leave today as it was her mother's birthday and she had wanted to celebrate it with her. It had been close to night when she had received a sudden summons from Fury. She checked on her mother one last time, where she apologized for having to leave and gave her a hug before heading towards Fury's office.
Walking into the office, she was met by the sight of a frowning Fury sitting at the front of his desk. "Something wrong, sir?"
"Agent Hill," Fury started. "Do you remember the first thing I told you when I made you my deputy?"
"That there were others who deserved it more than me, but you saw potential in me, and told me not to disappoint you." Hill answered. "And you haven't, now sit down." Fury said as he walked around the table and took a seat opposite Hill.
"What I am about to tell you is on a need-to-know basis. And right now, the only ones who needs-to-know is yourself and Agent Romanoff." Fury said. Hill frowned as she enquired, "and what of Secretary General Pierce or those higher than him?" Fury looked at her for a moment before replying, "As of this moment, they do not need to know."
Hill was confused at this. Pierce had been the one to vocally and publicly support Fury in all his endeavours, even going as far as being the only one to support Fury in sending STRIKE unit Omega to protect Stark. If not for Pierce's support, the STRIKE unit would not have been able to be present on that detail. Seeing the look on Hill's face, Fury added, "I have no doubt that Pierce has all but earned the right to know what I am about to tell you, he has been by my side since day one and I would not be holding the position that I have if it were not for his direct recommendation. As for those of a higher status? They can all go to hell for all I care with their personal ambitions. However, this is for a more personal matter and not business. And right now, only you and Romanoff should know. I will handle it if Pierce finds out about this mission."
In SHIELD, unofficially there exists two levels above Level 10. In the first level, Alpha, there existed only two names, Nicolas Joseph Fury and Alexander Goodwin Pierce. And in the level above, Omega, only Fury's name could be found within. Fury would have told Pierce by all intent and purposes, however, there was just one detail that he knows of which was stopping him. Alexander Pierce was not a name mentioned by the diary. Fury was unsure if the exclusion of Pierce in the small list of trustworthy SHIELD members was due to Pierce being dead or if Pierce was untrustworthy. For Pierce's sake, Fury hope that it was the former, and not the latter.
Seeing Hill nod to indicate her understanding of his orders, "Good. This will be classified as a level 10 mission and you will report directly to me, and me only." Fury started. "There are two persons of interest, siblings, a woman named Wanda and a man named Pietro. I want you to find them and bring them to me safe and alive." Fury said as he handed over the mission folder to Hill for her to view. The folder included information on the Maximoff siblings.
A few hours ago, Fury had made it his priority to look into finding information about the siblings. Although he knew only their name, Wanda and Pietro, but from the diary entries, he could set some parameters to search for. First and foremost, their names, Wanda and Pietro. Second, their status as siblings. Third, their status as orphans. Fourth and most importantly, death of parents connected to Tony Stark or Stark Industries.
Using these parameters to search, Fury had come across a pair of twins that satisfied the requirements he had set. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins, born in Sokovia to Iryna and Olek Maximoff. Orphaned at the age of 7 due to the Novi Grad Bombings, with most Sokovians holding Stark Industries responsible for supplying the weapons that were used. Currently holding residence in a privately run orphanage in Sokovia. Though unknown to Fury and the rest of the world, this orphanage was just a front to a secret HYDRA Base established in Sokovia. Publicly, the orphanage would take in orphans and children who were unwanted by their parents, and subsequently caring for and raising them as they grew within the orphanage. However, secretly, they were also conducting experiments on these children. Being in a country like Sokovia had also helped to keep prying eyes away from them. If one was not specifically looking for them, it would be as if they never existed.
"Anything special about them that I should take note of sir?" Hill asked to which Fury answered with a negative. "So, these are just normal children? No special background? Nothing?" At this, Fury once again affirmed that there wasn't anything special to take note of. Hill was confused. It wasn't very often that Fury would ask someone of her level to embark on a retrieval mission for normal teenagers. However, considering the serious look on Fury's face and the need-to-know nature of the mission, she could only acknowledge the mission and begin preparations for the mission.
Watching Hill leave his office, Fury could only hope that Hill would be able to retrieve the siblings. In Fury's opinion, it would not suffice to have Natasha alone to form a connection with Luke. He needed to prevent at all costs the mental collapse of Luke. As such, he believed that having Wanda, a greater Anchor than Natasha, around Luke could help support his mental well-being.
- End of Chapter 20 -
Next time in C21 - Luke is Enhanced! Save the Twins!
"You need to give up these two teenagers, Strucker." Sitwell repeated, to which Strucker asked, "And why should I do that?"
"Because the one leading the team is Agent Maria Hill."
E/d: MTL 21 was mainly a reiteration of Luke 'missing' his world, and also cementing Luke's mental fragility as portrayed in the diary. And that is followed by a general scene that talked about how Natasha and Wanda would help to reduce the chances of a mental collapse. Although this led to an issue in my case. In my earlier chapters, I had not written down ANY information about the Maximoff siblings. While in the MTL, Su Che (MTL version of Luke) had written in his diary "When i first got here, I had wanted to go to Sokovia to find Wanda". So, I improvised the scene :D Whether those parameters would actually work in finding someone, just know this guys, Fury's the goddamn king of the spies! (please buy my excuse please buy my excuse please buy my excuse)
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