A/N This is my first ever time writing a fanfiction and I wanted to see what I can do so here it is! Criticisms welcome so long as I know how to fix the problem.
Also sorry about the title, I couldn't think of anything.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except Aksikov. All the rest is not for profit and because I get bored and have an overactive imagination.
Set between The Hub and The Well
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"Ok so what are we up against?" Ward asked.
"Maybe a hundred armed anarchists" Coulson said with nonchalance.
"And how exactly do we find him?"
Coulson just shrugged "he'll turn up. Now suit up".
Greek anarchists with a fondness for arson. Have to find an agent we don't have a visual ID of in a homemade fortress made by doomsday preppers. All in under 10 minutes. How hard can it be?, Ward thought while strapping on a Kevlar vest. Thinking through the odds he was glad that May was going in with him. It's still good having the Cavalry as back up.
"Ward. You ready?" May said. He double checked his gear: vest, rifle, Glock, radio, EMP, plastique explosive, detonators. He was ready.
He nodded his response and the two moved to the cargo bay for deployment.
The plan was simple they'd be deployed on the plain outside Athens, half a mile from the subterranean doomsday fortress used by the Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei as their HQ, get inside and find their inside agent: Agent Zakhar Aksikov, who should have sabotaged the terrorists new weapon and the get out.
Ward thought over the plan again, with no visual ID he was picturing a man in his 30s, black hair, short and heavily built, with a pale face and stereotypically Russian face. He should be easy to spot.
He and May moved as silently as possible across the Greek countryside towards the hatch that led to the terrorist stronghold.
"We're here" Ward said into the small microphone beneath his chin. They had Coulson and Skye on the Bus ready with a map of the building based on intel from their mole. May moved silently up to the hatch and started to open the hatch slowly. Ward felt his heart race a little faster every time the hatch creaked and squealed in protest. Eventually it was open and May signaled that it was all clear down below.
Ward entered first. He dropped down the hatch for 8 feet before landing on a metal causeway. Rifle ready he scanned the hallway and found it clear. Before he could give the signal, May and jumped down beside him with feline grace.
"Go West" Skye's voice said calmly over the headset. The pair set off in search of their target.
They were in a tunnel 6 feet wide and 8 high, poorly lit, shadows littering their vision.
At the end of the hall, May touched Ward's shoulder motioning for him to be silent.
May stared hard down the hall, then Ward heard it: footsteps; the clanking sound of boots on a metal walkway.
There was a man walking down the hall towards their position. Ward felt himself tense and his grip on his rifle tighten. Now the man was close enough for them to hear each footstep on the metal floor. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.
Then the footsteps stopped. Was their cover blown? Ward asked himself mentally.
The seconds passed but they felt like hours. He had expected alarms and sirens to be going off and them to be shot at from behind at any moment. Eventually his composure broke and he turned to glance back down the hall. Nothing.
He turned around to see a blur rush past his face. The rifle came up instinctively as he searched the shadows for a target.
"Who are you?" A Greek accented voice asked. Ward spun around to see a tall man holding a Glock 9 in each hand. One leveled at him and one at May.
He looked at May's jacket for a moment before his eyes narrowed.
"You're from S.H.I.E.L.D.". His accent had disappeared.
"I'm Agent Aksikov. You two are my ticket out of here?".
This was Aksikov? That was easy, Ward thought. He looked the man up and down. His original perception had been far from the mark.
He was taller than Ward and well-built. Short brown hair topped a handsome pale face with high cheekbones and a triangular jaw. Dark blue eyes stared back at him.
He turned to May, a questioning look in his eyes. She just nodded.
He lowered his weapons and gestured for them to head for the hatch. The atmosphere relaxed a fraction.
No one moved.
"Look, I set a bomb down there and this whole place is gonna be rubble and ash in a few minutes sooooo"
Still no one moved. Now he just looked annoyed.
"Fine I'll go first", holstering both his weapons and moving toward the hatch.
Not two minutes later the trio were outside the anarchist compound, running at full pelt away from the hatch. Ward was sceptical as to if it was really necessary to run so far but Aksikov had explained that the tunnels ran for miles underground and when the bomb went off the organization's stockpile of fire-bombs would probably go off too, leading to an enormous explosion. They barely covered another 15 feet before a deafening noise echoed behind them. Ward turned to find the source of the noise and was met with the sight of a jet of flame reaching ten feet up into the Aegean sky. The flames reared up, twisted and flurried through the air. It's beautiful, he thought admiring the swirling hues of red and orange.