"No. No, no, no! Leave it!"

I pushed the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers on past the cart of equipment that falling debris had caused us to drop and toward the "escape" truck waiting for us. The roof was about to cave in. A soldier held his hand out.

"Agent Coulson, sir, grab my hand!"

I grabbed his hand and he swung me up into the back of the truck.

"They got the Tessaract. Shut them down!" Fury's deep voice crackled through the walkie-talkie I carried.

I pressed the "talk" button on my walkie-talkie, my hands sweaty.

"We're clear upstairs, sir. You need to go."

The truck lurched forward, gaining speed. I looked up to see the huge building we had been in begin crumbling into a big black and blue hole of nothingness. As we drove away from the collapsing mess, I raised up to get a better look, my eyes wide. And there I stayed for several minutes, my mind racing, my eyes taking in this horrid sight. Once the building became a blob of nothing, I looked around at the men beside me in the truck.

I had trained these men. I had taught them. I had become their friend. I was not about to let something happen to them if I could help it at all.

Up ahead of us, a jeep was racing away, a helicopter chasing after it in the air. I peered closer. The helicopter door was open and a figure was shooting out of it at the jeep.

"Fury," I murmured.

I saw shots exchange between Director Fury in the helicopter and, in the jeep, Loki and-was that Agent Barton and Dr. Selvig? I clicked my walkie-talkie.

"Agent Hill, where is Agent Barton and Dr. Selvig?"

Silence. I furrowed my eyebrows. Then, a voice crackled through the receiver. Maria Hill's voice.

"Barton's been compromised. Something's wrong with him. He's being...hostile. So is Dr. Selvig."

I frowned. What? Looking up, I saw that both the helicopter and the jeep had made their way into a field. Suddenly, a flash of blue erupted from the figure in the back of the jeep, Loki, and the tail of the helicopter caught on fire. The aircraft went spiraling down into the field. The jeep made a skidding U-turn and turned for the road. Fury jumped out of the helicopter just before it hit the ground, went tumbling across the grass, and then stood up and made several more shots at the jeep, which sped away. I strained my eyes to get a better look at what was going on, but I couldn't.

"Director? Director Fury, do you copy?" I spoke determinedly into the walkie-talkie.

"The Tessaract is with the hostile force."

My heart sank.

"I have men down," the voice continued. "Hill?"

Now Agent Maria Hill's frank voice crackled through the receiver once again.

"A lot of men still under. Don't know how many survivors." Maria sounded tired.

"Sound a general call," Fury said. He seemed to already have developed a plan in the short time it took for this all to unravel. "I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase." Fury was referring to the briefcase that held the Tessaract.

"Roger that," Maria replied.

"Coulson," Fury spoke again, "Get back to base. This is a level seven." Fury pronounced the words decisively. "As of right now, we are at war."

Despite the fact I had dealt with hostile forces and scary situations time and time again before this, my stomach twisted into a knot. My voice fell from its usual confidence.

"What do we do?"

Silence.

I dropped the walkie-talkie in my lap and looked out of the end of the tarp-covered truck. My breath came heavy. I swallowed hard. Despite the fact that I had narrowly escaped death so many times before, I couldn't help the helpless feeling within me.

I couldn't help but think, "This is nothing we've ever prepared for."