HIATUS

Fury's death was something that every loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were sad about. The man had led S.H.I.E.L.D through its most trying times, i.e. The Battle of New York. But it didn't take long for those who have infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D to ruin the reputation the man had built throughout the years and throw it into the mud within less than a single day. To accuse the man of hiring mercenaries to sabotage a S.H.I.E.L.D vessel was something even Captain America did not believe. He just hasn't fully figured out who his enemies were, and it was a problem that is extremely hard to solve, especially alone.

After fighting his way out of the Triskelion he has found himself without any allies. With only the USB drive as his only lead. He thought about contacting Romanoff, but Fury's last warning was always ringing in his head.

'Don't trust anyone'

He didn't know if that applied to Natasha. He hopes that wasn't the case. She was an Avenger just like him. The thought of having to fight and let alone kill her was a hard pill to swallow.

He eventually found his way into the house of his latest friend, Sam Wilson. Since he wasn't part of S.H.I.E.L.D. he hopes that he could be an ally.

"knock. knock."

The moment Sam opened the door, he was greatly surprised to see Captain America, "Hi man?".

"I'm sorry for doing this, but I need a place to lay low...I believe everyone who knows me, might try and kill me", Steve said.

There was an anxious silence for a while but Sam eventually replied and said, "Not everyone".

Meanwhile, Steve was trying to figure out his next move, every S.H.I.E.L.D base was receiving a weird signal. A signal that only those who were members of Hydra could recognize. With this signal, they were starting to discreetly arm themselves and begin fighting for control of the agency. With the death of Fury and the manhunt for Captain Steve Rogers, HYDRA realized that they needed to begin acting quickly.

But aside from this signal, 4 individuals were having a conference using a secure connection. A connection that S.H.I.E.L.D did not know existed.

There were only 4 people involved in this conference, and 3 of these people have one thing in common, all 3 of them were high ranking members of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Victoria Hand; Level 8 Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D and the Chief-in-charge of the Hub.

Robert Gonzalez; Chief-in-charge-of all American S.H.I.E.L.D. fleets. The base of operation; The Iliad.

Anne Weaver; Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Academy Science and Technology

"Hello everyone, how is your day?", a masked man calmly said to the three people at the conference.

"This is no laughing matter, Zero. S.H.I.E.L.D's safety is at hand", Gonzales said with mild anger in his elderly voice. Gonzales was probably in his 70's. The man had white hair and a white mustache and uses a cane for walking. The man may be old but his mind was still as sharp as ever.

"I agree, we must act now. Before people are killed. Fury was just the first one to go", Victoria Hand added. Victoria is a no-nonsense type of woman. She was also willing to sacrifice the lives of a few agents if it means the success of the mission.

While Anne Weaver is an excellent scientist and had been in-charge of grooming skilled and intelligent individuals for the agency for years now. Names like Jemma Simmons and Leopold Fitz were examples of intelligent scientists that were produced during her supervision.

All these three have one thing in common. In their past Zero had met them discreetly and helped them in some of their most hours of need. For Victoria Hand, Zero helped her discreetly in a terrorist attack. For Robert, Zero healed his dying wife. And for Anne Weaver, Zero on occasion help her in some of her research.

These were only the couple of times that Zero lend a hand. It was because of this help that Robert became the chief-in-charge of all American S.H.I.E.L.D. fleets. If Zero did not help him then he would have only control of one vessel.

Zero did this to form trust with them. At first, the 3 agents were wary of him, but after helping them so many times, the 3 individuals had formed a sort of friendship with the masked man. It was after forming this friendship did Zero inform them of HYDRA's plan within S.H.I.E.L.D. At first, they wanted to immediately destroy the threat but Zero told them not to act and only moved when the time is right. And it seems the time, is now.

"Don't worry, I have one phantom in nearly all S.H.I.E.L.D. bases. There is no way Hydra will be able to take out S.H.I.E.L.D.", Zero replied. Zero told them this to keep them calm, but the Phantoms would only act when needed. He wants S.H.I.E.L.D. to handle HYDRA themselves. So, the phantoms would just stay in the shadows and moved when it was the utmost priority.

"Will you be fighting Hydra yourself?", Anne Weaver asked.

A clear chuckle could be heard behind Zero's mask, and he replied, "No, you have all the help you need".

"...I see", Robert replied.

"Do not worry. Fury will show up to world soon", Zero said with amusement in his voice.

"He is alive?", Victoria Hand asked with surprise in her voice.

"Of course, Fury is not a man that would die by assassination", Zero replied.

"Good, knowing that he is alive will increase our agent's morale in the long run", Robert stated.

"I still don't see why you shouldn't just kill all the Hydra operatives. If you already know who they are, then why don't you just get rid of them yourself?", Weaver asked.

"I could but that would lead to the deaths of thousands. I rather have S.H.I.E.L.D. view me as an ally rather than someone who could commit such a bloodbath. Besides, I have more important matters to deal with than just Hydra. If S.H.I.E.L.D. can't handle this mistake then what's the point in saving this agency?", Zero replied.

The three people just remained silent and Zero continued, "Besides, you 3 will use the information I will give you to begin cleaning S.H.I.E.L.D within your own jurisdiction. After that, you can spread out and help Fury take care of the HYDRA agents that have infiltrated the other S.H.I.E.L.D. bases".

The three people just nodded and Zero ended the call.

The next day, Sam decided to help Steve with his problem to figure out who was the one that infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. Steve inserted the drive to Sam's laptop and this showed them the location that they needed to go to, Camp Lehigh, New Jersey. Just to make sure that they weren't tract, Sam reluctantly threw his Laptop away. So, Sam told Steve that he owes him a new one.