*Breaking News Bursting from the Courtroom!*
*Shocking: Who is He?*
*Mr. Buson Laun Sues the FBI, but the Real Culprit is Someone Else!*
*Target Switched: Wall Street Top Lawyer Aims at the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division!*
*The Furious Judge! The Humiliated Judge!*
*Judge Knott Signs the Second Mandatory Information Disclosure Order of His Career, Demanding the FBI Hide Nothing!*
...
That afternoon, the New York media circle was absolutely detonated by this explosive news.
In the closed-door hearing, the defense had first managed to convince the court to dismiss the lawsuit based on national security.
But the moment the case was about to be quashed, Locke and Lawyer Laun pivoted instantly, choosing to refile against the Strategic Homeland Intervention... whatever Division.
What exactly was this Division? That didn't matter.
What mattered was that this so-called Director—along with an Assistant Attorney General from the DOJ—had just been arrested by bailiffs for contempt of court and perjury.
Good god.
This news traveled almost at the speed of light across the United States. Along with it came that ridiculously long and tongue-twisting agency name.
Everyone was bewildered.
What kind of entity was this? A mysterious federal law enforcement agency? Does Congress fund it? They don't? Then it's not "mysterious"—it's a flat-out illegal secret agency.
Almost the moment the news hit D.C., a congressman from Texas stood before the cameras. He stated that Congress had never heard of this department and that tomorrow, he would launch a motion for a full-scale investigation and release the report to the public.
Whether he would succeed was secondary. The fire was lit. That was enough.
...
*New York S.H.I.E.L.D. Operations Center.*
*D.C. Triskelion Headquarters.*
*The World Security Council.*
On a three-way video call, Councilman Alexander Pierce, Maria Hill from the Triskelion, and Victoria Hand from New York all wore expressions of extreme gravity.
After a long silence, Alexander Pierce spoke with a heavy voice. "This... Locke Broughton. What is the deal with him? How does he know about us?"
"New York affairs are handled by the Director," Maria Hill stated flatly.
Commander Victoria Hand chimed in. "Councilman Pierce, it might not be Locke Broughton who knows us. It's likely the 'Peerless Assassin' who knows us and is simply using Locke as a tool."
She briefly explained the suspected connection between Locke and the assassin, as well as the disappearance of Agent 83. "Councilman, what do we do now?"
The Director in charge was currently in a jail cell for perjury—a federal felony in the US. Usually, S.H.I.E.L.D. would respond with overwhelming force to rescue their own.
But S.H.I.E.L.D.'s position was awkward. To the five global superpowers, they were a legitimate, secret international agency. But due to the unique structure of the US domestic system, they were technically illegal on American soil.
In his home, Alexander Pierce cursed inwardly.
How the hell should he know what to do? From the moment that Peerless Assassin demanded they erase all traces of Hydra, he knew things were going south. He had even given a subtle, cryptic warning to Nick Fury—the tool he had personally helped promote.
The result? The idiot charged right into the trap anyway.
'Is there not a single one of these guys with a normal IQ? Wait... I nominated him precisely because he seemed dense enough to allow Hydra to grow under his nose, didn't I?'
Pierce blinked, regaining his composure. "S.H.I.E.L.D. cannot be exposed."
Victoria Hand gave a bitter laugh. "Sir, the court's mandatory disclosure order has already arrived. Furthermore, I strongly suspect Locke Broughton knows the address of our New York base."
They couldn't gamble anymore. The outcome for gamblers is always the same. From the second Nick Fury stepped into that courtroom, the game had been rigged.
Pierce's mind raced. "Commander Hand, I said S.H.I.E.L.D. cannot be exposed. I didn't say the 'Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division'—the name currently attached to the Department of Homeland Security—cannot be exposed."
"Wait... what?"
"Ever since the US established the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), haven't we been planning a name change? That's why we've mostly just been calling ourselves S.H.I.E.L.D. for the past two years, isn't it?"
"Sir, you mean..."
Two years ago, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the White House had authorized the creation of the DHS, pulling resources from various agencies to focus on counter-terrorism. The original long name of S.H.I.E.L.D. sounded confusingly similar to the new DHS. Because of this, the agency had been looking to rebrand.
The East had the S.P.E.A.R. Their council representative had even suggested that if there is a Spear, there should be a Shield. It was a perfect fit. While S.H.I.E.L.D. was funded by the five superpowers after WWII, the East had spent years being ignored by the others until they built up enough strength to stop "abstaining" from votes.
'Is the Peerless Assassin an agent for the East?' Pierce wondered.
Regardless, the paperwork for the name change hadn't been finalized. If S.H.I.E.L.D. was exposed now, they'd lose their unique status and the direct funding from the World Security Council.
Pierce shook his head. "We'll use this crisis to finalize the rebranding. The 'Strategic Homeland Analysis' branch will be officially dissolved and merged into the DHS. Thus, Nick Fury, Phil Coulson, and Melinda May are indeed members of the Strategic Homeland Intervention... Division, but they are not members of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Victoria Hand and Maria Hill froze. The implication was clear: Nick Fury and his team were being abandoned.
Pierce looked at the two women and let out a soft laugh. "Do you have a better idea?"
They exchanged a look and shook their heads.
There were other options, but who knew what other cards Locke Broughton held? If S.H.I.E.L.D. was exposed, it would lose its reason for existing. Their purpose was to protect the world from the shadows and filter what the public was allowed to know. Exposure made that impossible.
Maria Hill pointed out, "Mr. Pierce, Director Fury already claimed to be a CIA agent. That was a lie. Now we claim they're part of a DHS-adjacent division?"
Pierce waved it off. "Nick Fury isn't the point. The point is that this lawsuit must stop."
It didn't matter who Fury was. It mattered that S.H.I.E.L.D. stayed in the dark. That "Bald Eggy" had offended someone he couldn't afford to offend.
Pierce felt a small spark of relief. At least Hydra hadn't completely crossed the Peerless Assassin yet. But S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't risk "pulling up the radish and bringing the mud with it"—exposing Hydra in the process.
Besides, the solution needed to be grand enough to satisfy the "show." The S.H.I.E.L.D. Director fired? High-ranking agents forced into retirement?
Pierce recalled the letter they had received recently. It was a reply from the Peerless Assassin. Unlike S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra knew the truth: Locke Broughton was a puppet. The assassin behind him was the mastermind.
Hydra had been too wary of the assassin to act, only sending an email to test the waters while watching Fury charge around like a blind boar. The reply had arrived yesterday. It was just one sentence:
'I don't care if S.H.I.E.L.D. is exposed or not. I only care if the "scene" is big enough!'
Locke's mission was called "Assassin Junior," not "Expose S.H.I.E.L.D." As long as the spectacle was sufficiently massive, the agency's secrets were irrelevant to him.
Furthermore, Locke had no intention of letting Fury and the others simply rot in a US prison.
Their lives!
I'll be the one to take them personally!!!
"I am a very easygoing person."
"Heh."
"This whole thing has nothing to do with me."
"Heh."
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We're 14 stones away from 400 but I'll post this anyway, i know you guys will make it in few hours
Thanks for the support 💕
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