Missing in Action by LittleApril
District XXIII, Hungary, 16th April 2012
The lightbulb swung from the tattered cord, casting shadows along the stone walls. Droplets of rainwater slipped into the cell through the cracks in the sandstone, each bead of water causing the white hot bulb to hiss with electricity. The steel bars that caged the cell slid open. Three figures entered the room, booted feet beating the dark and broken figure buried in the corner of the cell. Hushed foreign swears and curses echoed around the walls, each word louder than the one before it, each kick harder than the first.
"Ki vagy te? Hol van a kód?"
"Hol van a csapat?"
"Szuka, mondd meg, hol találok a kódot!"
"Tévedsz, ribanc. Megöllek. Hol van a kód?"
Hours passed. Each kick to the woman's stomach strengthened her cries and screams. No, she pleaded, shaking her head as she writhed on the sodden ground. Please. Stop. I don't have the key. I don't know who you are. Please. Please. Please.
"Hol van ez? Hol van ez?" Where is it? Where is it?
"Nem tudom! Nem tudom! Kérem!" I don't know. I don't know. Please...
As her eyes began to close, the woman let out a shrill scream as the jagged edge of a serrated blade pierced her stomach. The man above her grinned, carving thick lines into her flesh. Blood pooled at her stomach, and the woman let out one final scream before the men pulled away and gunshots pierced the air. Breathing heavily, drowning in a pool of crimson, the woman's head fell to her right, watching as familiar, polished black shoes edged toward her.
"Warehouse 14, District XXIII. Get the Director on the line. We need a medic team. We found her. We found Agent Moore."
Coughing, the woman closed her eyes. She had to be dreaming. How could this be real? But as the man kneeled beside her broken body, his black trousers sinking into the red-painted floor, she knew it was real.
Moore bared her bloodied teeth in a short-lived smile. "Coulson," she breathed, resting her hand against her injured torso, her voice hoarse and broken as she tried to heave herself up from the cold stone ground. "Miss me?"