5742/A Broken SHIELD

A Broken SHIELD
Date of Scene:	27 March 2021
Location:	Avengers Mansion - First Floor
Synopsis:	Clint tells Cap about the fall of SHIELD
Cast of Characters:	Clint Barton, Steve Rogers

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Clint Barton has posed:
Clint came storming into the mansion and immediately called out "JARVIS! Get Steve down here now!" He's pacing back and forth as he waits for the first Avenger to arrive, occasionally stopping to punch the wall. This accomplishes nothing but him hurting his hand, but it doesn't really stop him. There's obviously something very wrong.

Looking at the stairs as Steve appears, he growls, "We have major, major problems."

Steve Rogers has posed:
In his room, Steve is looking at a model of a P-51 Mustang. He's opened up the box and spread out all the pieces across the desk. "That's a lot of pieces," he says to himself. "I'm not sure the real plane had that many parts," he says as he looks around at all of it. Then looks at the instructions. "Insert peg F into slot R. Affix strut B12 to..." he murmurs, reading aloud.

The model was a gift, from someone that should they visit he'd like to have it assembled so they don't feel the gift was unappreciated. He rubs the back of his head. "Maybe if I set it out where Tony or Hank will see it, they'll just be compelled to put it together," says, giving a soft chuckle at the thought.

The mellifluous voice of JARVIS cuts in. "Captain Rogers. Clint is looking for you near the entrance. It appears urgent."

Steve looks up, dropping the instructions on the desk and grabbing his shield on the way out the door, just in case. He takes the stairs three at a time and emerges at the bottom of them, spotting Clint. "What is it?" he asks as he moves over to the archer.

Clint Barton has posed:
The still unoffending wall gets another punch before he turns to face Cap, taking a couple deep breaths. "Ok, so SHIELD caught a US Senator working with a Saudi warlord trafficking weapons, stolen SHIELD tech, all that sort of thing. The President was supposed to announce the charges on TV tonight. Instead, he handed things to the Secretary of Defense who tossed up a pack of goddamned lies and misinformation and declared SHIELD illegal in the US, and all SHIELD agents subject to immediate arrest. The military has seized the Triskelion. SHIELD's gone dark, per Fury's orders."

He growls, "You should have seen the smirk on SecDef's face as he presented footage of incidents where _we_ were losing agents to stop enemies as examples of SHIELD breaking the law. He's gotta be HYDRA, and I'm gonna kill him myself."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve's jaw hangs slightly open as he hears Clint. "What?" he says, though it's not so much a question as his brain trying to process. "Have you heard the status of any of SHIELD's agents? How many have been arrested, or if they are resisting?" he asks.

A motion is given for Clint to follow, as Steve heads over to a room with a television. "JARVIS-"

The TV flips on, showing first one news broadcast, and then splitting the screen into four to show different news shows that are covering it. The artificial intelligence asks, "Is this what you wished, Captain Rogers?"

Steve nods, "Thank you, JARVIS," he says, though he's focused on the footage, all of it from a distance, showing US military vehicles and personnel at the Triskelion.

Clint Barton has posed:
Clint shakes his head, "There were a bunch of us at the Swordfish, to watch the President announce our win. So much for that. Bobbi, Agent Carter, Coulson, May, a bunch of the higher ups were there, we all left our ID stuff behind. They were arranging transport and safehouses when I left. Bobbi wanted me to fill the Avengers in on what was going on, but I think you're the only one home at the moment. Plus, this hits closer to home for you than any of the others anyway."

He sinks into a chair, "Steve, how the hell did we let the corruption get so high? How powerful is HYDRA anyway? We've been punching them hard lately, even took one of their leaders prisoner, and they can come back and hit us this hard after we've been beating on them... What the hell have we been doing all these years?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers stays on his feet, though he sets his shield down leaning it against the wall. Standing with his hands on his hips, his expression not hiding how troubled his reaction is.

"We'll need to be ready to render what assistance we can if they need us," Steve says, mind already turning towards dealing with the situation. "Because of you and I, they are likely to put pressure on the Avengers as a group," he says.

Steve looks back to Clint. "I don't know, Clint. I hadn't thought Hydra had this much of a presence anymore." he says. "If they have people that high up in the government, we're going to have to get the proof to bring them down."

Clint Barton has posed:
"Proof? We had proof! And it got turned around and used against us instead. Our proof was worth exactly squat. So tell me, how do we not only get proof the Secretary of Defense is an enemy operative, but also present that information to anyone who matters without it just being twisted again? We went through channels, and look where it got us?" He waves at the screens of the press conference and the military seizing the Triskelion.

"No, they just declared war on us, and it's time we treat the fight against HYDRA as a war. If they want a fight, it's time we gave them one instead of sneaking around the shadows poking each other with sticks. This isn't going to end easily. It's going to get ugly."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve's eyes go back to the screen as a trio of helicopters fly a circle around the Triskelion and then one moves to land on the rooftop helipad. "Then we don't trust others to get the word out. We go straight to the broadcasters with it so it can't be stifled. We release it onto the internet where people with computers can download it and see for themselves," he says in a firm voice.

He turns back to Clint. "For now we need to stay calm. If we're able to use the Avenger's resources to help them, that'll do more for our friends than any number of arrows will right now."

Clint Barton has posed:
Clint looks over to Steve, "Arrows. Crud. Steve, I'm gonna need your help. I need a high speed hand to hand training course. I'm going to be out there doing stuff, and I can't use the bow, it's too obviously me. I mean, I can fight, but I need to get better as fast as humanly possible. I'm going to have to go on missions without leaving a calling card behind."

He shakes his head, "I'm a SHIELD agent first Steve. I can't just sit on the sidelines while this is happening. You might have to because you're in the public eye, but who really notices me anyway? Slap on a mask and drop the bow and I'm anyone."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve turns away from the TV completely. "Of course. Though I don't think I've ever seen you miss a shot. With anything. Whether a bow or a golf club. I imagine you can find a few other means that you'll be effective with," he says.

The man frowns though. "I was part of helping capture a high ranking member of Hydra. Though he is the only one that I know of who realized I was involved. So long as he didn't make it back into their hands, I don't know that they'll come after me here specifically. But if he did, then they'll likely know the degree I'm in league with, others," he says. Not mentioning names specifically. "We need to be extra vigilant. If the government moved against SHIELD, I can't say for sure they might not against the Avengers as well if they see us as being aware of the threat they pose."

Clint Barton has posed:
A deep sigh follows, then he nods, "I think he's probably the one Agent Carter has locked up on Long Island, unless SHIELD got two HYDRA leaders recently. I don't think they'll move openly against the Avengers, but I wouldn't be surprised if we run into troubles for a while, especially on anything dealing with the government. I wouldn't expect any support from them, at the very least."

"And yeah, I have options, but I see a real mess in my future, so I just want to be ready for anything. It's more that my other skills are a little rusty from using the bow all the time. My own fault, got too focused on being Hawkeye."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve nods and says, "Probably the same. I have a burner to Peggy though I don't know if she has hers on her or not. Let's begin setting up secure communications to them."

He walks over to Clint and rests his hand on the man's shoulder. "We'll bring them down, Clint," he says, voice full of conviction that they will win in the end. "Let me go see if I can get in touch with her," he says then of Peggy, turning to head back upstairs to retrieve the burner phone.