Just as Teresa had said, there was no way this could be swept under the rug so easily.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had indeed once despised the committee responsible for overseeing them, believing those people to be far too bureaucratic, valuing procedure over results. The committee had indeed held S.H.I.E.L.D. back and constrained many agents, but more often than not, they had stood in front and taken the pressure for S.H.I.E.L.D.
But now the committee was finished too. They could not escape responsibility for what had happened to S.H.I.E.L.D., but since they had been able to serve on the World Security Council, they still wielded considerable influence in their own countries. They would not be ruined by this incident, though neither would they recover anytime soon. So now was the time for S.H.I.E.L.D. to face the public's accountability directly.
Three days later, an accountability hearing regarding the incident was held at the United States Capitol in Washington. Since the United States was the biggest sucker funding S.H.I.E.L.D., the entire incident had taken place within its borders, and both the earlier fighting and the final battle had caused losses to the United States alone, it had plenty of unfortunate reasons to claim the hearing. With some political maneuvering added in, the United States seized the right to hold the hearing through the United Nations.
The representative attending the hearing on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D. was Black Widow, Natasha.
Nick Fury, as director, should have been the most suitable person to attend, but he was officially a dead man now. The committee had been decent enough not to fully expose the fact that Nick Fury was still alive, so he could not come.
As for people like Evenson, they were merely consultants employed by S.H.I.E.L.D. without specific positions. Their rank was not quite high enough—in other