Chapter One: The Anomaly

When the initial intel had come in from Coulson's team that they were moving in to investigate an unidentifiable anomaly that had appeared with constantly fluctuating energy outputs, Steve had perked up. He hadn't been thawed for long so there were very few things that caught his attention, especially ones he was familiar with. He'd gone to Director Fury immediately to request that he and Black Widow accompany Agent Coulson's team to determine what the anomaly was and the extent of its damage, when asked why he'd simply responded with the fact that he had had experience with something similar back in the 40s.

Despite quirking a brow, Fury authorised him and Romanov to help deal with the situation.

The Captain reached up over his shoulder and placed his shield on his back, he stared with mild worry as his face was bathed in the orange glow coming from the rippling, surreal tear that hovered in the corner of the chamber. It spat and cracked loudly as its shape constantly distorted.

Natasha stepped up beside him, cocked her head to the side in fascination.

"This is new," she commented.

Steve didn't say anything, his face was still painted with concern, his blue eyes darting back and forth with every movement of the tear.

"I've seen a lot of things in my time, never something like this, still, it can't be much different from everything else we've faced," Natasha smirked then looked up at the Captain whose gaze was still firmly fixed on the anomaly. "Guess this is a first for you too, huh?"

"Actually-" he began but was cut off by Agent Phil Coulson entering the chamber behind them. The two Avengers turned their bodies slightly to face him as he scrolled through some intel on his pad.

"My team's checked every corner of this place, no sign that anyone but us has been here, can't say for sure what-" the agent looked up from his tablet and spotted the tear, his body straightened and he pointed a finger. "Huh. So this is what's causing all the commotion. Pretty cool, I have to say,"

Natasha nodded her head in agreement. "We need to find out what it is though, you bring your scientists with you?"

"Of course, they're on the Bus, I never leave home without them," Coulson smiled.

"Well," she took a step toward the anomaly. "They've got their work cut out for them I think,"

Steve grabbed her arm before she could take another step toward it.

"Don't go near it," he warned them both. "No one can go near it,"

"Easy there, Fossil," Natasha said, gently pulling her arm free of Steve's grip.

"What's wrong, Captain?" Coulson asked.

The moment the words escaped his lips a creature sprung from the rift shrieking. It's mottled red skin was leathery and taut over small muscles. The creature itself wasn't very big, perhaps three feet tall with a slightly enlarged head and bulging eyes. Steve just about managed to grab a hold of its hips and chuck it to the floor, but not before it scratched his cheek.

Natasha and Coulson drew their guns and unloaded. The creature screamed as it died. It's crimson flesh turning grey as its muscles went slack.

"What the fuck was that!" Natasha yelled.

"That... Was a demon," Steve panted, he then pointed a finger at the tear. "And that... That is a Hell Rift,"

"A what?" Natasha quirked a brow and looked at Coulson in disbelief. The older man looked up at the Captain as he lowered his weapon.

"A Hell Rift," Coulson nodded his head in agreement.

"You've dealt with this before too?"

"No, but I know of them," Coulson told him. "This isn't good,"

"No," Rogers agreed. "It isn't,"

"Anyone willing to fill me in?"

"It's a long story, but, the longer this rift is open, the more likely it is that more of those things are going find it and come pouring out," Steve told her.

"Great, so how do we deal with it then?" Natasha asked.

"I'm not sure we can," Coulson said. "They're heavily influenced by magic and other supernatural weird things,"

"Okay, so, do you know anyone with expertise in supernatural weird things?" Widow folded her arms.

"Once," Steve muttered.

"Meaning... He's dead now or what?"

"I've no idea what happened to him, but he played a role just as important as, if not more important than, mine during the war,"

"So this happened back during the war too?" Natasha asked.

"The Tesseract wasn't the only thing Red Skull was attempting to control," Steve explained. "Stuff like these appear everywhere, all the time, always have,"

"And this is all according to a person you met this one time?"

Steve nodded. "I don't know where he came from, but he became a good friend and he knew what he was doing,"

Coulson cleared his throat. "Lucky for us,"

"What is?"

"I ran into someone a few years back who also knows how to deal with these things,"

"You did?"

"Yeah, he's not exactly a human though,"

"Doesn't matter," Rogers told him. "Are you able to get a hold of him?"

"So long as his phone is turned on, and he's somewhere with a signal," Coulson nodded.

"Do it, it's the best option we've got right now," Steve said.

"Not exactly human?" Window asked confused. "I think that does matter,"

"Not right now," Rogers snapped. he looked at Coulson. "We need to sort this out as quickly as possible,"

The agent nodded then looked at Natasha, she'd recoiled a little at Steve's outlash. "While I do this, I'd appreciate it if you got my team in here, we might need the extra guns if he takes a while to arrive,"

"Good idea," Natasha said, casting an irritated look at the Captain.

"I told them to regroup on the Bus, so they should all be there," Coulson continued.

"We should probably get a move on," Steve said.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah,"

"This is serious,"

"I know, Steve! Just relax," she told him heatedly. "It's not like there's anything worse than demons that'll come pouring out,"

Steve waited until she was out of earshot. "You'd be surprised,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Coulson asked.

Steve looked over his shoulder. "Long story,"

"One I'd like to hear at some point. Sooner rather than later, preferably." With that Coulson tapped his phone and wandered to one of the corners to conduct his call.

Natasha sprinted up the ramp of the Bus, Coulson's team, Fitz, Jemma, Skye, May, and Mack were anxiously loitering in the cargo hold. They all looked at her in unison, eyes darting to look for the others.

"Where's Coulson?" Skye asked. "He said to regroup here,"

Natasha jabbed a finger over her shoulder. "He's making a call. In the meantime, you need to gear up, we need your help,"

"The energy signal?" Fitz asked. "You found it?"

"Hard to miss," shrugged the spy.

"What is it?"

"Cap seems to think it's something called a Hell Rift,"

"That sounds... Pleasant," Jemma winced.

"What's a hell rift?" Ftiz asked.

"I'm sure the Captain will be more than willing to explain once we get back,"

"Well, what sort of equipment do we need to investigate?"

"None, the only equipment you'll need are guns," Natasha said.

"Um... Why's that, exactly?" Jemma raised a finger slightly.

"Captain says it's too dangerous. He doesn't want anyone near it," came the reply. Natasha glanced at May. "I don't want to leave the boys alone for long, there's some pretty weird stuff going on down there,"

"Right," May nodded standing by the ramp.

"Um, I'd recommend a gun," Widow told her.

"If I need a gun, I'll take one," May cocked her head to the side with a slightly irritated expression on her face.

"Trust me, you'll need one, maybe even two, just to be safe," Widow held out a pistol for her.

"Any particular reason?" May asked, not moving to take the gun.

Natasha glared at the woman. "We might have to fight some demons on behalf of humankind,"

May mulled it over for a split second, then took the gun and holstered it with a nod.

"Demons?" Mack raised a brow, cocked his shotgun. "Great."

"Like Devil May Cry, type demons?" Skye asked, slotting her pistol into the back of her trousers.

"Uh sure... I'm thinking more like demons from the film, Demons," Romanov shrugged as she pocketed a few extra clips.

"Oh," Fitz made a face. "I'm not sure-"

"No backing out, Turbo," Mack said.

"He's right, even Steve is worried, we'll need every gun we can get," Natasha said.

Skye looked at the others, she'd only been on the team a couple of months, and they were all acting nonchalant about the entire situation. "So, is this normal for you guys?"

"Not really, but it's to be expected," Mack told her.

"You're not scared?"

"Of course, but this is our job,"

"Oh. Okay." She played with her fingers, she could feel her heart thumping in her chest. "Does that mean I'm qualified to fight them?"

"About as qualified as any of us are," May told her. "Come on let's go,"

Fitz picked up a gun, held it with little familiarity then carefully tucked it into his backpack. Jemma seemed no more confident in the situation, she looked at him. He smiled.

"What do you think it could be?" Fitz asked as the group started to move.

"Could be anything, I've never heard anything like it," Jemma said.

"I mean, for something to open and allow demons through," Fitz's eyes gleamed as he chewed the puzzle over.

"It seems impossible,"

"Magical, possibly,"

"Fitz," Jemma said in her softly condescending tone.

"I know, that's a stupid idea,"

"An improbable idea, not stupid, we don't know for sure, it might be magic for all we know,"

"Maybe, if only we could analyse it," he stared at the ground then piped up to the others. "Are you sure-"

"This isn't a field trip, Fitz," May cut him off.

"Fully aware, the possibility of death or worse, I know," he rattled off quickly. "But it still needs investigating,"

Jemma grabbed Fitz's wrist. "Let's not go in out of our depth, okay?"

"Right," Fitz nodded, relaxing. "Sorry,"

"You two are far too excited for something out of a horror film," Skye muttered.

"If the Cap says it's dangerous then we're not risking anyone,"

Coulson waited agitatedly for the two rings it took before his contact answered the call. He didn't have to say anything as the person he was calling answered as if expecting the call.

"Coulson!" said a gruff but cheery voice. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Oric," Coulson smiled. "Unfortunately, this isn't to catch up,"

"Had a feeling," Oric said. "I guess you're calling in that favour then?"

"Yeah," nodded the agent. "We might've found a Hell Rift in Virginia and we've no idea how to stop it,"

"Virginia? Not possible,"

"Why's that?"

"Fourteen rifts opened up today, but none of them are in Virginia," Oric told him.

"You know this how?"

"I'm a demon, Coulson, I can sense them, that and I'm looking at a map right now,"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive,"

"Well, I'm looking at something that resembles a Hell Rift, so what is it?"

"Not sure exactly,"

"Well, whatever it is, a demon came through,"

Oric fell silent for a moment. Coulson heard him breathing.

"That's not good," he said eventually.

"I'm aware, we're not entirely sure how to contain this situation," Coulson explained. "Can you help?"

"Personally, no,"

"Can you at least tell us how to stop it?"

"It's not something you mortals can just... do,"

"Not helping,"

"I'll send my son, Adam, he's young but just as capable of handling these situations as I am,"

"Great, when should we expect him?"

"No idea, but he'll get to you as quickly as he can,"

With that Oric hung up the phone.

Coulson huffed.

He'd met Oric once before, and even then he never took the idea of danger seriously, Coulson figured that's what came with being an invulnerable demon. Cockiness in the face of death because you were technically already dead.

The agent looked up from his phone to Steve.

"Well?" The captain asked.

"Helps to come," Coulson told him. "I just don't know when,"

"So your contact failed?"

"No, no, I trust him to deliver, he's just a little too laid back sometimes, immortality does that too you I suppose,"

Steve pointed at the rift.

"We don't have time to spare, I've seen what this thing can do, there are monsters you couldn't fathom,"

"And I believe you," Coulson said. "But if we want to take care of this properly we'll have to give it time, no matter how long,"

"What if we can't hold them off?"

Coulson could see that the Captain was genuinely afraid, whatever previous experience Rogers had with them, it clearly hadn't ended as well as it could've been. He couldn't know for sure, there wasn't anything documented on rifts in the 40s.

"We held off an army of aliens once," Coulson told him reassuringly. "I think we can take care of a few demons,"

"Right," Steve agreed with a nod. "Except you died,"

Coulson shrugged. "Yeah, well, live and learn I suppose,"

Steve looked at the rift again.

Then quietly added. "We even had a Hulk that time around,"