"Schmidt."
Dale Rusk did not turn around.
"Call me Rusk here."
Crossbones twitched the corner of his mouth.
"Force of habit."
Why the act? Could there really be bugs planted in their room by those S.H.I.E.L.D. losers?
Rusk walked over to the desk and opened a report.
The first page detailed the impact of Stark Industries freezing its licensing.
He read it very carefully.
Crossbones stood behind him.
"Tony Stark disrupted our deployment. Unexpected, but understandable."
Rusk turned a page and corrected him.
"Expected. He helped us."
Crossbones frowned.
Rusk finally turned to look at him.
That face was still Dale Rusk's face.
But those eyes held none of the wisdom of an American official.
"Congress will now turn its attention back to Stark and start fearing him again."
Crossbones said nothing.
Rusk continued reading.
"They originally only wanted to control street-level heroes. Now they'll realize that people like Stark need to be controlled too."
He set the report on the desk.
"Fear will make them give me a bigger budget."
At that, Crossbones's expression eased a little.
"The application process for the backup system has already begun."
"I saw."
Rusk pressed a button on the desk.
Another encrypted file popped up.
The file contained a batch of Anti-Superpower Weapons proposals.
Some of the technology was attributed to old military projects.
The rest had no listed source.
Crossbones knew where that portion had come from.
Hydra's old warehouses.
And some even dirtier places.
Rusk looked at the proposals, his tone calm.
"If Stark won't provide it, Congress will find someone else. We'll decide who that someone else is."
Crossbones stepped closer.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. might investigate."
Rusk raised a hand and tapped the screen, bringing up a photograph of Nick Fury.
"Fury will definitely investigate."
He tapped again.
Maria Hill's photograph appeared