in the shadows ? steve rogers

043 ? a dead director

"But—"

Grace looked back at Alexander. "You're in my organization, Alexander," she said firmly. "I think it'd do you good to remember that." She glanced at Steve momentarily before letting out a breath and walking out of the office.

She quickly found Adelaide who pulled her into a room and locked the door. "It's Hydra!" she exclaimed and Grace furrowed her brows. "I mean, it's Hydra within SHIELD. Rumlow and some others are double agents."

"How do you know that?" Grace asked. "I doubt they would've just told you. They are smarter than that."

Adelaide shook her head. "I overheard them. I had to shake them off my trail. That's why we have to be quiet."

"Wait, so..." Grace blinked in confusion. "The organization we founded to fight off threats like Hydra has been compromised?" Adelaide nodded. "Shit."

Both Grace and Adelaide looked up when they heard a muffled sound. Grace moved over to the window and saw a Quinjet pointed at a moving figure. She narrowed her eyes and they landed on a shield of red, white, and blue.

"Stand down, Captain Rogers," the operator of the Quinjet said. "Stand down. Repeat stand down."

Grace watched as Steve threw his shield at the propellers before jumping onto the jet and destroying it. He grabbed his shield and he disappeared from her sight.

She grabbed Adelaide's hand. "Come on." She opened the door and looked around for agents before pulling out her phone. "We gotta go."

"Where?"

Grace sighed, putting her phone up to her. "A friend's."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

"𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏, Sam," Grace said, walking into the small house. "Apparently everything I own is probably bugged."

Sam waved it off. "No problem."

"Oh, uh, Addy, this is Sam Wilson," Grace introduced, gesturing between the two. "Sam, this is Adelaide Snow. She's a SHIELD agent."

Adelaide smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

"You, too."

"He's not picking up," Grace sighed, looking down at her phone. "Though I don't think I should be surprised. He jumped out of an elevator; and left a dent in the floor. I doubt his phone survived the fall."

"So, what are we going to do?" Adelaide asked and Grace shrugged. "We have to tell them about Hydra and SHIELD."

Grace pressed her lips together. "I think Steve is already picking up on that... otherwise he wouldn't have jumped out of a freaking elevator."

Sam cleared his throat. "If everything you have is bugged, wouldn't that phone lead anyone to here?" he asked.

Grace shook her head. "This was my emergency phone. I've been around long enough to be prepared." She ran a hand over her face. "I guess we wait it out. Hope he finds us."

Meanwhile, in a small underground lab, Kennedy stood in front of a chair. "Well done, Soldat," she said with a smile. "Mission was successful." She opened the file that she was holding in her hands. "Now those idiots just need to complete the rest."

"Patience, my dear." Kennedy looked behind her and saw Alexander Pierce walking toward her. "Captain Rogers may have escaped our grasp, but he can't hide forever."

"Well, what about her?" Kennedy asked, pointing at the picture of the brunette. "Can't we use her for some kind of gain?"

Alexander shook his head. "We can't kidnap Grace Stark of all people. She's too influential. She'd lead everybody we don't want right to our front step. We have to use him." Kennedy looked back at the man in the chair. "Prep him," he ordered and Kennedy glanced at the older man. "I have another mission for him."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

an: just a small dose
of kennedy before she
appears more in future
chapters... I did say
you'd both love and
hate her

probably three to four
more chapters in winter
soldier and then two
more acts to go :)