Chapter Thirty – Alexander Pierce

Dixon drives in silence for a while. You look at him from time to time. But you don’t say anything. He’ll probably get in trouble if he tells you. If this mission is on a need to know basis, you probably shouldn’t pry too much.

When you reach the SHIELD building, and Dixon drives the car into the garage. He looks at you.

– Listen, YN. I know that you want me to tell you. The thing is, I can’t. This mission is on..

You sigh. And clear your throat.

– A need to know basis. And I don’t need to know!

Dixon parks the car, and gives you a little smile.

– Just do your work, YN. Rumlow’ll be back before you know it!

You grab your purse and reach for the door handle.

– I hope you’re right!

You both exit the car, and walk towards the elevator together. No need to split up. Everybody knows about your relationship with Rumlow anyway. And this Dixon guy is kinda like a bodyguard.

When you walk into the office floor, you feel everybody looking at you. You feel a little uncomfortable about it, but you can’t blame them either. You would probably have reacted the exact same way. You try not to look at them, and to just do your work. Shut off your head, and go into work mode. And strangely it kinda works.

When it’s time for lunch, you stay behind. You’re not really hungry, you feel that the others are kinda scared to talk to you. And you don’t want to sit alone in the break room all through lunch. When you’re alone on the office floor, you finally feel that you can breathe again. This shutting off your head thing was harder on you than you thought. And on top of not sleeping well… God, you feel exhausted.

Lunch break flies by, and soon the office floor is packed with people again. You put your headset back on, and go back to work. Constantly checking the time, to see when you can go back home.

Suddenly your screen freeze up. You try everything to get it to work again. But nothing is working. You can’t even turn your computer off. You reluctantly turn to the person sitting next to you, to ask for help.

– I’m sorry. My screen just froze, and I don’t know what’s wrong.

The girl next to you looks at your screen. Then she looks at you. And pushes her chair as far away from you as she can get. Looks at you with fear in her face. You don’t understand anything, and you feel the ice cold feeling of fear, taking over your entire body.

– What is this? If you know, please tell me!!

The girl just looks at you. Others are starting to look at you as well. You want to stand up, but it’s like you’re glued to your chair.

– WHAT IS HAPPENING??!!?? TELL ME!!

Finally the girl opens her mouth. Her words feels like echoes in your head.

– Oh, you’ll find out, YN! Your card has been flagged.

– Flagged? What does that even mean?

Your voice now full of fear. Why is your card flagged? And what does this mean for you?

The girl pushes her chair even farther away from you.

– I want nothing to do with this! Please don’t talk to me!

You swallow. This is insane. This girl won’t even talk to you. That means something is seriously wrong. Scary wrong. You look back at your screen. Still frozen. What the hell is happening here? You lift your hands up to your face. They’re shaking. You put your hands over your face, and you realise you’re crying. You’ve never been this scared in your whole life. Not even with David.

The door to the office floor opens, and four agents come over to your station. The office floor is dead quiet, you can hear them walk all the way over to you. Two of them stands behind you, and you have one on each side of your chair. They’re surrounding you! Do they think you’re going to make a run for it? And why do they think that? You try to calm your breathing down, but it’s impossible.

– Miss. Please vacate your station!

You slowly manage to get up from your chair. Two of the agents takes a hold of your arms, one on each side of you. And then, all four of them escorts you out from the office floor. You can feel your Co-Workers eyes burning into your back as you exit. You feel nauseous, dizzy, confused as hell and scared out of your mind.

They’re not letting go of you. It doesn’t hurt. But you’re so scared that it actually feels like their fingers are digging into your arms. They escort you to an elevator, and the elevator starts to go up. The only person who’s office is above the office floor where you work, is Alexander Pierce. If they’re taking you to see him, then this must be extremely serious.

– Wh… What is happening?

You feel like you’re screaming. But you know you’re not. Everything is just magnifying in this situation. You feel like your head is about to explode. Tears still rolling down your face. No one is answering. The four agents don’t say a single word. Not to each other, and not to you.

The elevator comes to a stop, and you enter a big office, with a desk by the window, and a magnificent view over the City. Not that you’re here to take in the view. The agents escorts you over to the desk. The guy behind it has his back against you. Looking out the window. He looks older, even from behind. He has some grey in his hair, and kinda an old fashioned suite. You already know that this is Alexander Pierce. You swallow.

Alexander slowly turns around. Looks at you. You try to meet his eyes. But you’re to scared. You almost feel that he’s got lazer eyes, and that he will set you on fire, if you look directly at them.

– Please, sit down, Miss. YLN!

One of the agents gets a chair for you, and pushes it against the back of your knees, so you have to sit down. He’s not using force. But still. You feel that something terrible is about to happen.

Alexander looks at you. Clears his throat, and rests his hands on the desk.

– Miss. YLN. Can you tell me, where you were 10.27pm last night?

What?

– I… I was at home. I.. I couldn’t sleep, so I watched some TV, and eventually fell asleep on the couch? Dixon was outside my door all night! He knows I didn’t leave!

Alexander looks at you, searching your face.

– There are other ways to leave the apartment, without being noticed by guards!

– You think I snuck out??

Your voice almost angry. You know that’s probably not a good idea. But this is just too much.

– Call, Brock! He’ll vouch for me. He knows me!

Alexander lets his fingers drum on the desk.

– You might have managed to wrap Rumlow around your finger, and have him eating out of the palm of your hand. But Miss. You certainly won’t fool me!