The buildings are flashing past Fury's car as he speeds down the street, ignoring the other cars as he weaves in and out of them. His car is sleek black, an armoured car disguised as a 4x4 and heavily kitted out by SHIELD on the inside. He looks at the small holographic screen in the corner of the car, where the interface for the inbuilt AI is housed. He quickly instructs it to make a call.
"𝙰𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚘𝚌𝚘𝚕." The AI in Fury's car replies.
"Open secure line zero-four-zero-five." Fury orders.
"𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍."
A female voice comes through the speaker. "This is Hill." The voice says, it's stern but still obviously female.
"I need you here in D.C. Deep shadow conditions." Fury informs her.
"Give me four hours." Hill replies.
"You have three, over." Fury replies. Fury stops at a red traffic light, he looks over to the next car and sees the two police officers in the car look at him with suspicion. "Want to see my lease?" He taunts, looking back at the road. The policemen quickly sound their police horn once before they start to drive off. As Fury goes to drive off, not thinking anything of it, he is suddenly crashed into by another police car, his car is then surrounded by several other police cars crashing into him; inside his car Fury is injured.
"𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍. 𝚁𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚒𝚗𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗." Fury reaches down and grabs the syringe and as Fury is giving himself the injection a SWAT team truck pulls up. Fury looks up at the truck in confusion. "D.C. Metro Police dispatch shows no units in this area." His eyes widen and Fury is surrounded by the police and SWAT team, he quickly realises they are all disguised mercenaries.
"Get me out of here!" He shouts as the mercenaries suddenly start shooting at Fury's car.
"𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎."
"Then reboot, dammit!" Fury replies. The armour on Fury's vehicle starts to become weaker, the mercenaries bring out a battering ram to break in.
"𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐! 𝚆𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍."
"You think?" Fury says sarcastically. "How long to propulsion?"
"𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐." The mercenaries start to use the battering ram on Fury's car window. "𝚆𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢-𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙳𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜."
"Hold that order!" Fury shouted as the battering ram smashed against the car window again, causing it to jolt slightly.
"𝚆𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙾𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍."
"Wait!" Fury replies as he watches the battering ram as it is smashed against the window again.
"𝚆𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝."
"Now!" Fury orders when suddenly a minigun pulls up from inside the car and Fury uses it to return fire on the mercenaries causing the SWAT truck and some of the police cars to explode.
"𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎."
"Full acceleration, now!" Fury says as he continues to fire at the mercenaries Fury's car automatically backs up and drives off. "Initiate vertical takeoff!"
"𝙵𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍."
"Then activate guidance cameras!" Fury orders as he moves over to the driver's seat. "Give me the wheel! Fury takes over driving his car as the mercenaries chase after him in their police cars. "Get me Agent Hill."
"𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍."
"Well, what's not damaged?" Fury shouts, slightly annoyed at the damaged technology, his hand clenching on the steering wheel.
"𝙰𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕." The police cars continue to chase after Fury as he weaves through the cars on the road "𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍."
"Give me an alternate route." Fury instructs.
"𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚁𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎. 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚟𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍. 𝟷𝟽𝚝𝚑 𝙰𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚞𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚜, 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍." Fury ignores this and when he heads into the traffic he smashes into some cars causing a pile up which stops the police cars. At this; the mercenaries get out and start shooting at Fury's car, Fury manages to kill two of the mercenaries by running them down before getting past the traffic, but the remaining mercenaries continue to chase after him and manage to sandwich Fury's vehicle between them. "𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗." As they approach the intersection Fury manages to shake off the two police cars, killing off the mercenaries.
"GET ME. OFF. THE GRID." Fury orders, his voice full of desperation.
"𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗." Fury's eyes widen when he sees a mysterious figure emerge ahead in the middle of the road. They are kitted out fully in black tactical gear, goggles and mask. They don't move as the car comes closer, not scared. It suddenly shoots a bomb that attaches itself to Fury's vehicle causing it to explode and flip over. Trapped inside his car, Fury watches as the figure walks over to the car but he manages to escape just in time by using a laser weapon to burn a hole out.
Later on, as Steve is walking to his apartment he hears his pretty neighbour talking on the phone as she goes to do her laundry downstairs. "That's so sweet. That is so nice. Hey. I gotta go, though. Okay, bye." He overhears as she walks up the stairs, a basket of clothes under her arm. She looks over at Steve. "My aunt, she's kind of an insomniac." Steve smiles slightly. "Yeah."
"Hey, if you want…" Steve's voice flatters slightly. "If you want, you're welcome to use my machine. Might be cheaper than the one in the basement."
"Oh, yeah? What's it cost?" Sharon asks playfully.
"A cup of coffee?" Steve suggests.
"Thank you, but um...I already have a load in downstairs, and, uh...you really don't want my scrubs in your machine. I've just finished orientation in the infectious diseases ward, so." She looks away from him, opening her door.
"Ah, well, I'll keep my distance." Steve replies, putting his hands up mockingly, taking a step away.
"Well, hopefully not too far." Sharon says and Steve nods and turns to go into his apartment. "Oh, and I think you left your stereo on."
"Oh. Right, thank you." Steve replies.
"Yeah." Sharon answers before Steve watches her go down the stairs before turning in suspicion to his door.
Steve presses his ear against the door and hears music. He steps back before walking away from the door and he cautiously enters his apartment through the window, he grabs his shield for protection and finds Fury sitting on his couch in the dark. "I don't remember giving you a key." Steve tells him.
"You really think I'd need one?" Fury replies, as it's the most obvious thing. "My wife kicked me out."
"Didn't know you were married." Steve admits.
"A lot of things you don't about me." He answers.
"I know, Nick. That's the problem." Steve explains to him before turning on the light, his eyes drawing to the state Fury is in, and the injuries over his body, he tries to say something but Fury indicates for him to stay silent and turns off the lights.
Fury lifts up his phone screen and shows it to Steve. 'EARS EVERYWHERE'. "I'm sorry to have to do this, but I had no place else to crash." He tells him. 'SHIELD COMPROMISED'
"Who else knows about your wife?" Steve asks, playing along, understanding the severity of the situation.
"Just...my friends." He says slowly. 'YOU AND ME'
"Is that what we are?" Steve questions.
"That's up to you." Fury answers.
Suddenly a shot rings out from the window and Fury is shot three times in quick succession from through the wall and collapses. Steve looks out the window for the shooter, seeing nothing but the dark sky, two small white pinpricks in the night. He then quickly drags Fury to the next room, and before he leaves Fury hands him the flash drive, placing it tightly in his hand, curling his fingers over to hide it. "Don't...trust anyone." Fury tells him quietly, his voice raspy before passing out.
Steve suddenly hears someone breaking into his apartment and hears his neighbour calling out to him. He looks up, and sees Sharon walking into the room. "Captain Rogers?" She calls out, her gun raised in a protective stance. "Captain, I'm Agent 13 of SHIELD Special Service."
"Kate?" Steve asks, confused and shocked about the sudden revelation. He stands up, his hands on the table in front of him, his eyes going out of the window and back over to her.
She forces a smile. "I'm assigned to protect you." She admits, coming over to him.
"On whose order?" Steve asks.
Sharon walks closer and notices Fury lying injured on the ground. "His." She answers. She quickly gets down on her knees and puts pressure on the chest wound, getting out a radio using her other hand, bringing it to her mouth. "Foxtrot is down, he's unresponsive. I need EMTs." She tells them.
"Do you have a twenty on the shooter?" The SHIELD agent on the radio asks her.
Steve notices the shooter through the window, a glint in the darkness and nothing more. "Tell him I'm in pursuit." He tells Sharon before Steve smashes through his window and runs after the assassin. Steve chases him through an office building smashing through the walls, when he finally catches up with him on the roof. He quickly throws his shield at the assassin in hopes to stun them but to his shock they reach out and catch it with their metal arm. Their head turns to look at him, a mask secured to the lower half of their face, and black warpaint over their eyes. He swiftly throws it back to Steve, as if he's practised it before and. Steve looks at him in shock, watching as he escapes.