Work Text:
SECRET SHIELD AUTHOR’S NOTE/DISCLAIMER
Prequel to Rescue Mission. Everything belongs to Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Marvel, Stan Lee, and everyone else who created these characters. I only own the plot.
1948
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS INTERNATIONAL ESPIONAGE AND LAW-ENFORCEMENT DIVISION BASE: RAT: LOCATION CLASSIFIED
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Gilmore Hodge shouted, glaring at the men in front of him. I was nearly killed because of this Nazi crap and now they want to bring members of that crap here? he fumed. He wasn’t going to stand for it.
“Hodge!” Colonel Chester Phillips warned. Don’t blame the kid for being upset but he’s not going to do himself any favors by getting himself court-martialed, he mused.
“No, Colonel. I’m with Hodge on this one. This is a bloody mistake,” Peggy Carter responded. “These men risked their lives for this country and agreed to joining this organization as a continuance of their work and now you want to bring in the very rot that they lost two good men to?” she asked, her tone icy, fixing the man before them with a furious glare. The man---Gregory Malick---glared back resolutely, even as the other man----Werner Reinhardt----just stared at them impassively.
“By utilizing their minds and talents, we are keeping them from rejoining the Axis Powers and continuing their work,” Gregory argued.
“I refuse to work with Nazis or Nazi sympathizers,” Gilmore insisted and Werner glared. Such narrowmindedness. I had such high hopes for Hodge, he grumped. His prior attitude had made him a viable candidate for his and Dr. Zola’s idea. But apparently he had been wrong. And Carter was….of no consequence, though she was beautiful. From his interrogation he had been under, he had already deduced that she couldn’t be swayed.
“Herr Malick, it is alright. These people just don’t share your advanced vision. They can’t see the future like I can,” was all he said out loud. At this, Gilmore lunged forward but Colonel Phillips quickly blocked him.
“Not worth it, Son,” he cautioned.
“Hodge with me. I need a drink,” Peggy instructed. At this, the soldier glanced at the woman in surprise. What is she up to? he wondered. Carter didn’t normally drink during the day and she certainly wouldn’t announce it like this in front of everyone. Curious despite himself, he followed her out of the room, where Howard Stark was waiting.
“I take it that you two were unsuccessful in changing the Colonel’s mind?” he deadpanned.
“Quite so,” came the British woman’s response. “And despite our rocky beginning, Hodge behaved just as I hoped he would,” she continued. At this, the man in question turned to gape at her. What does she mean by that? he wondered. He had just tanked his career. She was hoping for that? Why?
“So we’re bringing him in then?” Howard queried.
“Yes,” Peggy confirmed.
“Bringing me in on what?” Gilmore demanded. What is going on here? he wondered.
“If you’ll follow us please, Lieutenant,” Peggy requested as she and Howard began walking and despite his misgivings, Gilmore followed. What’s going on? What are they up to? he wondered. And they were up to something, he could sense it. He just didn’t know what and yeah, he could admit it, that bothered him. To his surprise, they headed for an used part of the building and he watched as Peggy headed to a non-descript door, saying something too low for him to hear and then the door opened. Peggy and Howard walked in and Gilmore followed, his eyes widening when he saw the rest of the Commandos: Timothy “Dum Dum” Dugan, Isadore “Izzy” Cohen, Gabriel Jones, Robert “Rebel” Raltson, Jonathan “Jumper” Juniper, Percival “Percy” Pinkerton, Jim Morita, and Jaques “Frenchie” Dernier.
“Guys?” he asked. What are they all doing here? he wondered, looking around even as Howard closed the door and locked it behind him. The room looked similar to the regular S.H.I.E.L.D. offices, however, instead of just the eagle emblem, the eagle was nestled inside what appeared to be an etching of Steve Rogers’ shield. Rogers. The only other guy they had lost. He and Sergeant Barnes had been lost in the war, Barnes during a mission and Rogers had crashed a plane into the water rather than let it hit New York. “What’s going on?” he wondered as they greeted him happily, pulling him into their circle.
“With the boys in charge making dumb decisions such as Operation Paperclip, Stark and Agent Carter decided that there should be a little extra something where their hands are not part of the pie,” Dum Dum responded.
“I can get behind that,” Gilmore stated. “So what is this place and does Phillips know?” he wondered.
“He knows that Agent Carter and Stark are up to something, but not what. Said he wanted the assurance of plausible deniability,” Jim responded.
“The shield within S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Howard replied after this as Izzy handed him a small pin that shared the emblem that was on the wall.
“Gilmore Hodge, we welcome you to S.H.I.E.L.D. Prime,” Peggy announced. Gilmore’s breath caught. A shield within S.H.I.E.L.D. that sounded good to him. The war had changed him. He was no longer that cocky son of a bitch that had called Agent Carter Queen Victoria. This was his second chance. And he wasn’t going to let them down.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Through Wikipedia, I am aware that in the comics Gilmore Hodge ends up defecting to the Nazis’ side, but I decided to change him up a bit since I have only seen him in Captain America: The First Avenger. I figured that being in a war and captured would probably knock some of the attitude out of him. Whether or not this change is permanent remains to be seen.