Conning Captain America

"Attention, everyone. Go on full alert. Report any suspicious individuals immediately." Natasha issued orders over the comms to the brainwashed agents.

Steve did not idle around either, immediately heading for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s main power supply room, with "Tony" following behind him.

"What do you think about this?" Steve asked "Tony."

"Tino's" tone gave no hint of his attitude. "It's simple. They can't sit still anymore. Next, they might use their S.H.I.E.L.D. identities to make a move against Valmont."

"That's certainly possible. You've been fairly close with Valmont lately, so keep an eye on him. I'll also have to watch for suspicious people around Valmont." Steve quickened his pace.

"Tony" answered readily. "Mm, got it."

The door to the power supply room was already surrounded by several agents. When they saw Steve and Tony arrive, they voluntarily made way for them.

"Tony" entered the power supply room and put on a show of circling the room, "carefully" inspecting the scene.

"Tony, look over here." Steve's voice came from another direction.

"Tony" walked over to Steve's side. Before them lay two corpses. There was only a single cut on each of their necks, with no unnecessary movements. The killer was highly skilled.

"This."

Steve felt around beneath the corpses and pulled out two darts. "These darts again."

"To kill them without making a sound, the killer's physical abilities must be far beyond those of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents." "Tony" voiced his conclusion.

"Tony" watched as Steve put away the darts. Including these two, Steve now had three darts on him.

"Tony" silently counted Steve's gains. Stark wanted to study the material of these darts, but he could not brazenly hand them over while acting as Valmont.

Steve was a very good choice. As long as this "nice guy" was injured by the darts often enough, as long as he could be made to temporarily lose trust in S.H.I.E.L.D., and as long as he learned that Stark had recently been studying these darts...

"What are you thinking about?" Steve noticed the pensive "Tony."

"Nothing. I was just thinking, with how strict S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agent assessments are, could there really be someone on Earth with physical abilities stronger than theirs?" "Tony" pretended to voice his thoughts.

Steve fell into thought as well. "Theoretically, it's impossible. But these moles are connected to the Chitauri. We've seen Chitauri technology before. No one can guarantee what kind of monsters their biotechnology might create."

As "Tony" listened to Steve, his expression suddenly changed. Steve could feel Tony's worry.

"What is it? Did you think of something?" Steve asked.

"You just said that no one can guarantee what kind of monsters their biotechnology might create." "Tony's" face grew increasingly grim. "Since they're monsters, would the brainwashing affect them?"

"Tony's" words struck Steve's mind like a thunderbolt. Everything could be explained now.

Why had they been so lucky that Glenn appeared among the first batch of brainwashing targets? Why had Glenn not harmed them after turning invisible? Why had the killer deliberately left behind the clue of the darts?

"They're providing cover!"

Steve's tone grew more and more certain. "Glenn was just a target, meant to focus our attention on him and make us assume that all the brainwashed agents are on our side."

Cold sweat broke out on Steve's back. "Natasha issued orders to the brainwashed agents. They already know our next move!"

Steve looked at the corpses on the floor. "The purpose of leaving clues was to keep us here!"

The moment Steve finished speaking, the door to the power supply room slammed shut without warning. A sharp whistle came from the direction of the door, and then the brightly lit room plunged into darkness.

"They cut the main line." Steve's voice rang out in the darkness. "Tony, be careful. They're making their move!"

Another sharp whistle sounded. Steve instinctively dropped to the floor, and as he did, he felt something metallic slice past the top of his head.

Clang!

Metal struck the wall. There was no follow-up attack; the dart had embedded itself in the wall.

"Tony, be careful! We can't sense where they are!" Steve shouted in the darkness.

"Tony" stood in the darkness, coldly watching in Steve's direction as Steve drew fire for him. He could sense the ninja's location and instructed him not to hurt Steve.

As soon as Steve finished speaking, he felt a cut appear on his face. The dart grazed his cheek and lodged in the floor.

Steve could feel his heart pounding violently. Unknown attacks were the most terrifying. If he had not happened to trip just now, that dart would have been enough to kill him.

Bang!

The door to the power supply room was forced open. Natasha rushed in with a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and immediately saw the bedraggled Steve and "Tony" on the floor, along with "Glenn" in the corner.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Natasha did not hesitate, firing several shots in quick succession. The bullets hit "Glenn," who turned into a shadow before Natasha's eyes and vanished.

"What happened?!"

Natasha hurried to Steve's side and helped him up. "Every system in S.H.I.E.L.D. just went down because of the power outage, so I rushed over. Sure enough, something went wrong here."

"Yeah, we were attacked."

Tony looked toward "Tony" beside him, who was also wearing a shaken expression. "Thankfully, at least we can confirm that they can't see in the dark either. They need sound to determine our positions."

"That was too risky," "Tony" said worriedly from the side. "Even if he hit me with a dart, I might not have died."

After steadying himself, Steve spotted the thing that had tripped him earlier. It was a roll of discarded tape.

"Looks like I'm not very suited for fighting in the dark." Steve gave a self-deprecating smile, picked up his shield, and went to retrieve the darts.

Six now, "Tony" silently counted to himself.

"Are you going to hand those over to S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Natasha asked as she watched Steve collect the darts.

A rare look of suspicion appeared in Steve's eyes. "No. S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't safe right now. At the very least, I can't fully trust it yet."

Natasha was choked by Steve's words, and the atmosphere in the power supply room turned awkward.

"Have you found anything new?" "Tony" was very pleased with the current atmosphere, but he still had to appropriately interrupt to stay in character.

"They're hiding very deeply. For now, I can only trust you two and the agents who have already been brainwashed." Natasha's tone was somewhat helpless.

Steve opened his mouth, then closed it again. He had just considered that if he told Natasha there might also be moles among the brainwashed agents, the moles would definitely notice something unusual. It would only become harder to catch them afterward.

"Tony" noticed Steve's hesitant expression and forcibly suppressed the smile tugging at his lips. "Mm, that does sound a little difficult."