Chapter 20: Hail Hydra!

Chapter 20: Hail Hydra!

A/N: Alexander Pierce finally gets some good news!

-x-X-x-

Secretary Alexander Pierce had not been having a good couple of weeks. As one of HYDRA’s heads, the Winter Soldier debacle fell squarely on his shoulders. As much as he might have preferred taking the easy way out and blaming one of his underlings, the truth was that the buck stopped with him. He’d been the one to give the order to bring the Winter Soldier out. He’d been the one to sign off on the mission.

Only, their secret weapon, the legendary assassin who’d shaped the last century of mankind’s development... was in the wind. Worst of all, no one could tell him whether the conditioning had broken or whether the Winter Soldier had been captured. They couldn’t even properly confirm whether the Soldier had made it to his target. Judging by Agent Romanoff’s report to Nick, he hadn’t.

That made it seem more likely he’d managed to break free of his conditioning then anything else, but if that was the case there should have been a trail to follow at the very least. The legendary assassin’s complete and utter disappearance spoke more of concentrated enemy action than anything else.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t been able to pin the action on any of their known enemies. And that meant there was another organization out there who not only had HYDRA on their radar in a big way but was also skilled and hidden enough that HYDRA had no idea who they were.

So yes, Alexander Pierce had not had a very good past couple of weeks. But finally, things were starting to look up.

“Sir, Tony Stark is here to see you.”

Smiling brightly, the Secretary reaches over and presses a button on his desk.

“Send him in please, Marsha.”

A few moments later and Marsha leads Tony Stark, Chief Science Officer and Owner of Stark Industries, into his office. The billionaire genius actually looks a little bashful of all things... even nervous! But he’s also got this excited energy to him that’s almost infectious.

“Mr. Secretary, sir! Glad to be able to meet with you!”

Waving Marsha off and watching her leave the room, Pierce rises to his feet to take the offered hand that Stark thrusts across the table. It’s funny, their file on Tony Stark says the man hates being handed things and hates shaking hands. And yet, here he is, initiating a handshake all on his own. Afghanistan really had changed him, hadn’t it?

Hah! But then, of course it had. And most of the world, SHIELD included, didn’t know the half of it, not really.

“It’s a pleasure, Dr. Stark. Please take a seat.”

“R-Right!”

Sitting back down as Stark does the same, the Secretary presses another button on his desk. The windows go opaque and a low hum, barely audible to the human ear, fills the air. There’s no steel walls that come up or anything truly obvious like that, but in that moment Alexander Pierce has put his office into lockdown. No one can hear a single word of the conversation he’s about to have with Tony Stark.

“... We can speak freely now, Tony. May I call you Tony?”

Looking a little bashful still, Tony offers a surprisingly human smile and nod.

“Yes sir. That’s perfectly fine.”

Honestly, when Zola had first contacted him about this, Pierce could hardly believe it. It seemed too good to be true. But now, sitting across from the man and seeing it with his own eyes... he was starting to have faith. This could be just what HYDRA needed to bounce back from the disappearance of the Winter Soldier. But first, he had to be sure.

“You know Tony, when our mutual friend first got in contact with me, I wasn’t sure about what he had to say. You are... well, you were one of the last people I thought would dedicate themselves to something as meaningful as this. Your time in Afghanistan must have had more of an effect on you than any of us realized.”

Tony offers a tepid smile at that.

“Yes sir. I’m very good at putting on a façade and when I first came back from Afghanistan, that’s exactly what I did. I put on a smile and a brave face and promised everyone the world. But really... I was still reeling. I’m still not fully recovered.”

Stark raises a hand at that, showing a tremble in his fingers even now. Truthfully, Pierce isn’t surprised. What the man had gone through would be a harrowing experience for anyone, let alone someone as soft as a civilian billionaire.

“I needed security. I needed to know I was safe, or even if I ever could be safe again. So... I started searching for answers everywhere. And then Obadiah died and... and things got even worse.”

Humming, the Secretary considers letting that pass for a moment... but in the end decides it’ll be good to see how Tony reacts.

“You know, SHIELD thinks that you killed Obadiah Stane. Aldritch Killian as well.”

Tony flinches and looks down at his hands. He doesn’t act surprised by that, Pierce notes.

“I... I know. I had JARVIS hack into their files. I know what they think of me. I know that they sent Natasha Romanoff to spy on me.”Visitt novelbin(.)co/m for the latest updates

Tony nods rapidly, his smile only growing as he swipes at the hologram and brings up the schematics for the power source. Now Pierce begins to recognize it.

“The Arc Reactor was something my father invented many years ago. But like with many of his inventions, he was ahead of his time. The best he could do was create a rather large version of the Arc Reactor, which powers the main campus of Stark Industries to this day. However, we’re in the digital age now sir. The age of miniaturization. So I shrunk the Arc Reactor down. They’re actually powering that Repulsor Technology that SI is selling to the US Military, if you’ve heard about that.”

Actually, Pierce had heard about that. He gives Tony an interested look.

“I heard that all of those weapons were black boxed. That you wouldn’t even let the military crack them open to see what was inside.”

Here, Tony’s bashfulness asserts itself again.

“A-Ah... well, I figured if anyone could know what was powering them, it would be you sir. Besides, that Repulsor Technology... it’s all operating on far weaker Arc Reactors anyways. The Iron Legion will be top of the line! The best I can make. All for the cause... all for HYDRA.”

It’s the first time the word has left Tony’s lips. It sounds good coming out of the genius’ mouth, Pierce decides. He stares over the schematics for the Arc Reactor one more time, but honestly it all goes over his head. He was never a scientist. Zola though... if Zola was taking lead on this project, then he supposed he could count on the uploaded intelligence to make sure everything went according to plan.

Although...

“We’re going to have to find a way to get SHIELD off of your tail, Tony. They’re nipping at your heels and I have to admit, Nick is a personal friend of mine... which is how I know that once he gets his teeth on a bone, it’s all but impossible to get him to stop gnawing. How do we redirect SHIELD’s attention? Do you have any ideas?”

Correctly deducing that show and tell is over, Tony reaches out and turns off the display disc, pulling it back off the table before giving Pierce a tentative smile.

“Well... I did have one idea. If you can’t beat ‘em... join ‘em, right?”

The Secretary just raises an eyebrow and quirks the side of his mouth up in amusement, gesturing for Tony to go on.

“The way I see it, SHIELD thinks I’m a loose cannon. They think I have to be studied and controlled because they don’t know my motivations or intentions. So... we let them think they’ve won. Let them think I’m under control... specifically under YOUR control, sir. Yours and the World Security Council’s.”

Oh? Now there was an idea.

“I’ve got plenty of goodies to go around, really. We can give SHIELD some toys to placate them, like the Repulsor Technology and other stuff. The really good stuff we hold in reserve for HYDRA. That way, SHIELD thinks that they’ve got me right where they want me. Of course, it won’t work if I’m actually under Fury’s thumb. I’ll need to be outside of the SHIELD command structure. A civilian contractor of sorts, under the direct authority of you and the World Security Council. That way we can say I report to you and only you in the event that I need to do things that SHIELD might frown upon.”

Heh, it was obvious for all Tony’s bashfulness and the way he’d been buttering Pierce up this entire time that the man still had problems with authority. Or maybe he just didn’t like Fury and SHIELD. Based on the reports of what Fury and Coulson had been trying to do to get to Stark the past year and a half, it wasn’t all that surprising. Not to mention, finding out that Natalie Rushman was Agent Romanoff had probably pissed off a control freak like Tony to high heavens. Speaking of which...

“And where would Agent Romanoff fit into all of this, exactly? If we’re going to bring you under the World Security Council’s umbrella, there’s no point in leaving her in her current position, is there?”

At that, a hunger seems to enter Stark’s eyes.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’d say... I’d say we have Natalie, err, I mean Natasha... be my SHIELD liaison. Keep her attached to me and Stark Industries. Pep would miss her otherwise.”

It’s obvious that even with the betrayal and even with all of the changes the man has gone through, Tony Stark is still a horndog easily led by his cock. After all, Natasha Romanoff is an exceptionally beautiful woman. And from the sound of it, the rumors of him and his new CEO sharing women together were quite true.

More amused than anything, Pierce nods his head and rises from his chair once more. Tony hurries to do the same on the other side of the desk.

“I think that can be arranged, Tony.”

Holding out a hand, Pierce waits until Tony takes it before giving him a wide grin.

“Here’s to a brighter future. Hail Hydra.”

One last test. Though only partially. Even some perfectly loyal recruits had a hard time saying it the first time. Just stumbling over the words didn’t mean you were a traitor. However, when it comes to Tony Stark, he lights up and doesn’t even hesitate.

“Yes sir! Hail Hydra!”

... Yes, the last couple of weeks had been very rough for one Alexander Pierce. But as Tony leaves his office, the Secretary can’t help but smile a little bit. The disappearance of the Winter Soldier was still very troubling of course. However, when one door closes, another opens. Things were already starting to look up.

-x-X-x-

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A/N: "Well Arnim Zola has been around a lot longer than this Jarvis AI so he MUST be stronger, right?" - Alexander Pierce being a boomer.

And thus does Tony say the fateful words. Hail Hydra indeed :P