5923/Strike First, Strike Hard, Show Mercy

Strike First, Strike Hard, Show Mercy
Date of Scene:	12 April 2021
Location:	Director's Office - Playground
Synopsis:	Fury asks May if she'd like to be the new Commander of STRIKE
Cast of Characters:	Nick Fury, Melinda May

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Nick Fury has posed:
    The sounds of agents outside the office moving in to the Playground, coming in from the cold, continues even as Fury sits at the large wooden desk staring at footage on a tablet. With a shake of his head he drops it on to the desk and then notes May is right on time. Just as he had expected.

    "Come in Agent May. Please, shut the door and take a seat," he says sounding just how reality is, betrayed. It was a low blow that Jasper Sitwell was such a deeply embedded mole for HYDRA. The footage is from ten years ago, a still frame of Jasper helping another agent up who had been shot in the line of duty.

Melinda May has posed:
May arches a brow slightly as she enters, closing the door behind her. She moves towards the chair in front of the desk. "You wanted to see me?"

Yeah, Sitwell was a blow. Garrett... was more of a chaser. Really, out of everyone they could guess at, him and Rumlow weren't nearly the surprise Sitwell was. She looks at the image on the screen. "Who's he helping?" she asks.

Nick Fury has posed:
    "Agent Kumar Tate," he replies and frowns. "Died from complications. You want to hear the saddest part in this mess? I asked Sitwell to investigate Garrett." He spreads his arms a little and sits back in his chair. "The man had me that fooled I trusted the security of the Triskelion to him," he says looking extremely troubled.

    "Garrett had gotten increasingly cold over the years. Not to his fellow agents, but to the adversaries he encountered out in the world," he says. "They used to joke that they were Cobra Kai, you know from that movie Karate Kid. Strike first, strike hard, no mercy," he reminisces.

    "It seemed like harmless fun at first, Garrett was liked amongst his peers even if he wasn't my kind of person. He got results and never let SHIELD down.. except when he did," he lifts up a tablet and touches the screen to show a long list of incidents that were all cleared and explained to the satisfaction of numerous senior agents over the years including Sitwell.

    "Carefully aligning their HYDRA goals with SHIELD goals. They were playing a long game. A really long game. This isn't the first time STRIKE has been a hive of HYDRA.. before STRIKE joined SHIELD, it was a British run operation. HYDRA infiltrated them then too. When SHIELD took the moniker of STRIKE in and fostered it back to health, we were careful about who we let in. Yet.. somehow.."

Melinda May has posed:
"Frankly, sir," May says, one leg crossing over the other as she adjusts her seat, "I suspect HYDRA has infiltrated *a lot* of organizations over the years. What Peggy and I found under the Vatican is only the tip of the iceberg." Even if he hasn't gotten all the intel from Peggy about that, yet, May isn't worried about sharing it with him. She trusts Fury.

Of course, it's Fury. So, she rather expects he already knows.

"And chances are things are going to get a lot more complicated on that front again before they get better." Her thoughts stray to that mirror and the very good possibility that the medieval man running around is Arturo Malevolo. "There's a HYDRA behind HYDRA, if you get my meaning. One that believes in play all sides toward the middle. That's what we're seeing here. That's why those heads keep popping up even after we've been playing whack-a-mole with them."

Nick Fury has posed:
    "I suspected as much. The M.O. of HYDRA is complex. On the one hand they want to wipe out anyone who will get in their way, then on the other hand they hide away and horde resources and money without any explicit purpose for years on end..." he says and turns off the tablet and puts it back down on the table.

    "The trouble is, we live in a society where bad behavior equals corporate and political success. How do you tell the difference between a regular asshole and a HYDRA asshole when being an asshole is the norm?"," he says with a smirk.

    His fingers steeple and he says, "May I need a new STRIKE. One that strikes first, strikes hard, but shows mercy. Better integrated in to the other teams instead of being an isolated silo of operations agents only. OPS, SPOT, WAND, SWORD, ARMOR.. will continue to encounter high risk environments and SHIELD needs to be able to respond to those situations quickly, efficiently, and above all to our moral code."

    "I'm not asking you to replace Garrett, I'm asking you to replace what Garrett built. I'd like to promote you to level eight and be the Commander of STRIKE. You're one of the best fighters in SHIELD and those who are your equal or better were trained by you. There isn't anyone better suited to this role. I'm not telling you to take the job, I'm telling you if you don't take the job someone less qualified will have to."

Melinda May has posed:
May's brows drift up somewhat again. She runs a hand through her hair, her lips pursed. She doesn't say she's flattered or make any sort of stammering nicetiess. It's not her style and she doesn't see his words as flattery. It's entirely practical.

"I hear you," she says after a moment or two. "And I get it." She looks up at him. "You know about Nepal, I imagine? I'll be honest. It's played merry hell with me, sir. I... need a couple of days to wrap my head around what you're asking. It's bigger than just a security clearance and a bump in pay. And, if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it right."

She inhales a deep breath. "I just need to consider what that really means."

Nick Fury has posed:
    "Good," he says and lowers his hands, "That's what I want to hear. If you can't think of how you'd approach the role then the role isn't for you." He nods his head, "Yes, I know about Nepal. I also know about that Asgardian staff. There's a curious old file about it I have been reading since I heard you found it. Somehow I'm wondering if the Nepal incident and the staff aren't related. Who else could handle such a weapon?"

    His eyebrows raised. He's not one to believe in the supernatural - but their definition of natural is significantly broader than most people. "I hear the Inhumans talk about fate a lot. May be there's something to that. Some cosmic force messing with our lives. Or perhaps time travellers nudging us in specific directions," he says with a rare grin on his face. Is he joking? hard to tell sometimes.

    "All Agents of SHIELD put themselves in harms way - a good Agent knows when to step out of harms way and let STRIKE take over. STRIKE puts themselves in harms way even when the odds of success are zero. Because a good defence needs a good offence," he says. "Take a few days, think it over."

Melinda May has posed:
May hadn't really considered the fact that the staff and the manifestation of her Inhuman abilities might be linked. But she can see why Fury might. Indeed, there have been several comments made to her about how, if anyone can handle the emotional rollercoaster that is Empathy, it's her. She's been training for it for years, really. "It's not an easy weapon to hold," she admits. "But... I've had practice." Every morning. Even without the actual staff in her hands.

"I don't really understand Inhumans," she tells him, her smile small, wry, and faintly rueful. "I understand they believe that every ability manifests for a purpose. I suppose there may be some truth to that."

But the comment about time travel earns a snirk. "Yeah. I'll take whatever help we can get. You know that Chinese curse, 'May you live in intersting times?' I think we live that." But that's never stopped her before. It won't stop her now.

Still, in the end, she nods. "I'll do that. I'll let you know soon." She pulls herself to her feet. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

Nick Fury has posed:
    He shakes his head, "No Agent May. STRIKE will be starting from scratch.. and will need to keep a lower profile than in times past for obvious reasons." He spreads his arms indicating where they are right now. "But you have my full confidence, if you do decide to accept the position."

Melinda May has posed:
May nods. "Thank you, sir." She turns toward the door. "One way or another, we'll make it work." Of course, he knows that. They're SHIELD. She waits for just a moment to make sure Fury has nothing else to say and is willing to dismiss her. Then she gives him another nod and makes her way back to her quarters.