A/N: This is just a simple reupload of an old story that I once had called Come Morning Light that I figured you all deserved to see the rest of, but done a hell of a lot better. Expect a more thorough explanation in the next chapter's A/N, my dears. Any and all questions, direct them over to my Tumblr (shhwift) because I'll see it faster than I will the PMs on here. With that...enjoy.
Chapter One: The Call
LOCATION: REMOTE SHIELD FACILITY
The sounds of instructions involving the ongoing evacuation sounded throughout the research facility, as one Phil Coulson stood outside, watching the skies for his boss. People moved all around him, pushing past to get the equipment out of the facility as well as themselves. Spotting a familiar light up in the sky, Agent Coulson pushed up his sunglasses to withstand looking directly into the bright light. As the helicopter slowly settled on the ground, Nick Fury and Agent Hill emerged, setting foot on the ground. Director Fury stopped momentarily to regard Agent Coulson's presence. "How bad is it?"
"That's the problem, sir," Coulson admitted. "We don't know."
Moving throughout the depths of the facility, agents Maria Hill and Coulson eagerly followed Director Fury. More people were rushing around them at a rapid pace, carrying out their own sets of orders. Coulson began to speak as they walked. "Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago," he explained, trying to keep up with the pace of the Director.
"NASA didn't authorize Selvig to test the Tesseract," Director Fury pointed out.
"He wasn't testing it," Coulson said. "He wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous advancement."
Agent Hill's face was decorated with a look of astonishment on it after she had processed Coulson's statement. "It just turned itself on?" she asked, still in a state of disbelief.
Her comment went ignored, as Director Fury pressed on. "What are the reading levels now?"
"Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered the evac."
"How long to get everyone out?" Fury questioned.
"Campus should be clear in the next half hour," Coulson said.
"Do better."
Agent Hill and Director Fury proceeded on into the furthermore depths of the facility, Hill following after the Director. "Sir, evacuation may be futile," she protested.
"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" Director Fury asked, clearly mimicking the woman's statement.
"If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance," Hill argued.
"I need you to make sure that phase 2 prototypes are shipped out," Fury carried on.
"Sir, is that really a priority right now?" Agent Hill asked, the strain in her voice a dead giveaway of the amount of stress she was undergoing at the moment. Director Fury stopped in his tracks, turning around to face her.
"Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin," Fury stated, his voice harsh. "Clear out the tech below. Every piece of Phase Two on a truck and gone."
Hill walked past him, not bothering to ask any more questions about what they could potentially be facing. "Yes, sir."
Fury continued walking, until entering the lab facility where the Tesseract was being held. Scientists were running around, evidently stressed out as they tried desperately to get a hold of the reins concerning the Tesseract. "Talk to me, Doctor."
Doctor Erik Selvig, from behind his position at a computer, raised his head to acknowledge Director Fury's presence. "Director."
"Is there anything we know for certain?" Fury asked, walking over to Selvig's side.
"Tesseract is misbehaving," Selvig said, beginning to walk off to check on other statistics.
"Is that supposed to be funny?"
"No, it's not funny at all. The Tesseract is not only active, she's…misbehaving."
"How soon 'til you pull the plug?" Fury inquired, following Selvig around the lab.
"She's an energy source," Selvig explained. "If we turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level…" he trailed off, leaving it up to the Director to figure out the rest.
"We've prepared for this, Doctor. Harnessing energy from space," Fury prodded.
"We don't have the harness. Our calculations are far from complete. Now she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation."
Nick Fury locked eyes with the man. "That can be harmful." Looking around, he then turned his attention back to Selvig. "Where's Barton?" he asked.
Selvig raised an eyebrow. "The Hawk?" Smirking, the doctor pointed up behind him to the upper levels of the laboratory. "Up in his nest, as usual."
From a railing where he remained stationary, watching the scene unfold below him, Clint Barton's earpiece began to make noise. "Agent Barton, report to me," Fury's call transferred in, and almost instantaneously, Barton jumped up and made his way down to where the Director was.
The two began walking through the lab, Fury looking over at the agent. "I gave you this detail so you could keep an eye on things," he started.
"Well, I see better from a distance," Barton quickly countered.
"Are you seeing anything that might set this thing off?"
One of the NASA scientists working over by a computer, watching the Tesseract's readings, yelled in the direction of Selvig. "Doctor, it's spiking again!"
Stopping near the Tesseract, Barton looked down at where the cube was being currently held. "No one's come or gone. Its oven is clean. No contacts, no I.M.'s. If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end."
"At this end?" Fury repeated.
"Yeah," Barton said. "The cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? Doors open from both sides."
Just as the words left Barton's mouth, the Tesseract began to activate, unleashing a brilliant stream of blue towards the opposite end of the laboratory. It continued to shoot out, and in turn, opening the portal through space. The blinding light carried on shining as something exited the portal, before abruptly closing up. There, standing on a small platform, a silhouette stood; smoke moving away from the person. The man looked up, a sinister grin on his face as he observed his surroundings.
"Sir," Fury called out. "Please put down the spear." The man looked down at his spear for a moment, as if questioning as though it was really there, before pointing it in Fury and Barton's direction and releasing an exploding blue light at them. Barton immediately grabbed Fury and pushed him out of the line of fire. All hell began to break loose as a few of the security guards tried firing at the man, but to no avail. Each one who aimed at him was stabbed with the spear or got another exploding wave of light sent his way. As the man made his way closer, Barton fired at him a few times before rolling out of the way as another explosion was sent in his direction.
Poising the gun, Barton aimed and was ready to pull the trigger when the man forcefully yanked him up and onto his feet. He took Barton's hand, before uttering quietly, "You have heart." He then lifted the spear, placing the tip of it at the center of Barton's chest and watched as his mind was possessed. Barton put his gun back in his holster, staring blankly at the man.
Director Fury quietly leant up, retrieving the Tesseract from where it was being held and slipped it into a briefcase while watching the unfamiliar man perform the same deed as he had to Barton to several other S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel. Slowly standing up, Fury turns and tries to escape the lab.
"Please don't." The voice of the man echoed out from behind him, and Director Fury stopped dead in his tracks. "I still need that."
Fury turned around, facing the other man. "This doesn't have to get any messier."
"Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else," the man insisted, before a sick smile spread across his face. "I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."
Selvig, who was still on the ground from Loki's first explosion, stared up at him. "Loki? Brother of Thor?"
Fury tried to civilly reason with Loki. "We have no quarrel with your people," he said, in hopes that Loki would take that as his cue to return, all in a part of a grand misunderstanding.
"An ant has no quarrel with a boot," Loki returned.
"You planning to step on us?" Fury asked, his questions growing more and more short ended and harsh.
"I come with glad tidings, of a world made free," Loki explained.
"Free from what?"
"Freedom. Freedom is life's greatest lie. Once you accept that, in your heart," Loki paused, turning to face the now standing Dr. Selvig and positioned his spear over Selvig's heart. "You will know peace." Loki withdrew his spear as Selvig's mind was then his to control.
"Yeah, you say peace," Fury began. I kind of think you mean the other peace."
Barton then strode over to Loki, pointing at the ceiling which was fluctuating blue from the Tesseract's activity. "Sir, Director Fury is stalling," he said. "This place is about to blow. Drop a hundred feet of raw material, he means to bury us."
"Like the Pharaohs of Odin," Fury replied.
Selvig, who was standing near a computer and checking the readings of the place, nodded. "He's right; the portal is collapsing in on itself. You got maybe two minutes until this thing goes critical."
Loki looked in Barton's direction, giving him a single command. "Drop him."
Barton didn't reply; he wordlessly fired at Fury and sent him to the ground. With Fury down, Barton grabbed the suitcase and lead Loki, Selvig, and a few other possessed S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel out of the lab.
Once in the parking garage of the facility, Barton pointed at a few of the vehicles lined up. "Need these vehicles," he said. Agent Hill, who was standing nearby, followed after Barton with a confused look on her face.
"Who's that?" she asked.
Barton merely replied, "He didn't tell me."
Hill watched the men load up in the vehicles with a growing suspicion inside of her. She turned, walking off in the direction of the lab as her walkie-talkie began making noise. "Hill, do you copy?" Fury's voice crackled from the other end. "Barton is…"
Hill's eyes widened as she quickly turned around to shoot at Barton. One step ahead, Barton already had the gun cocked in her direction, firing at the woman. Hill moved out of the line of bullets aimed her way, watching as Barton jumped into the truck and took off, Hill still firing at him. As he made his way out of the lab, Fury continued to communicate with Hill. "He's got the Tesseract. Track it down!"
Following the director's orders, Hill jumped into a truck and began to speed off, chasing after Loki and his minions. Managing to corner them, she began to fire in hopes that it would be enough to stop them. They finally found a way around her, pulling out and speeding off. As the laboratory caved in, Fury joined Coulson and a few other agents on a helicopter, which took off right as the place began to cave in. Hill also noticed this, as everything behind her began to give way. Speeding as fast as the car would go, she tried desperately to keep up with the hostile force but to no avail; she ended up trapped in between the rubble of the falling garage.
Loki, Barton and Selvig made it out of the collapsing facility, pulling out right in the line of the helicopter. Fury stepped to the open side, firing at the vehicle. Loki saw his attempts and with the simple wave of his spear sent the helicopter hurtling towards the earth. Fury dropped out of the copter, landing on the ground and firing a few final shots at the escaping truck. The helicopter crashed a good ways over, dying as it sputtered on the ground.
In the dead silence of the night, Fury reached for his walkie-talkie as Agent Coulson's voice came through. "Director? Director Fury, do you copy?"
"The Tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down," Fury stated into the communication device. "Hill?"
Pulling herself up higher out of the seat, she looked around. "A lot of men still under," she said, trying to catch her breath. "Don't know how many survivors."
"Sound the general call," Fury ordered. "I want every living soul not needing rescue looking for that briefcase."
"Roger that," Hill replied.
"Coulson, get back to base," Fury continued on. "This is a level seven. As of right now, we are at war."
There was silence on all ends of the conversation; no one knew what this meant or what would come next. Phil Coulson voiced everyone's opinion as he pressed the talk button on the side of the walkie-talkie. "What do we do?"
. . .
"Katniss, you know you shouldn't be messing with that," Gale hissed as the brunette girl standing next to him slowly traipsed her fingers up and down the bow they'd just uncovered. He only gave it a split second before realizing she wasn't parting with it, reaching out to take the bow from her grasp. "Katniss—"
"Calm down Gale, it's just a bow!" Katniss cut him off, jerking the bow away from him and standing on the defensive. He immediately backed down, his hands slowly rising to show he meant no harm. Katniss took a deep breath before regaining her composure. "Sorry, I just…it's just a bow. It doesn't mean anything."
"Where'd you even find that?" he asked, one of his eyebrows rising out of curiosity. "I mean, it's not mine or yours, so who's could it be?"
"Not sure," she mumbled quietly, bringing the bow closer to her chest as she looked around the forest. There wasn't anything for miles; just a large expanse of woods. It was one of the things that she always loved about living in the heart of the mountains. No matter where you escape to, you're always within the safety of the trees. They shelter, they provide, and they give a fortress to whoever seeks it.
Gale looked at her, uncertain of what she could have meant by that. He rested a hand on her shoulder gently, looking around the woods as she had only moments before. "I'm heading out; Ma will be expecting me and I don't want to break curfew," he finally sighed. Katniss simply gave him a slight nod, her eyes focused elsewhere. Gale exhaled loudly once more, slinging his game bag over his shoulder as he turned towards the way they'd entered the woods. The sound of leaves crackling underneath his feet signaled his exit, but they stopped rather abruptly. "And Katniss?" The girl took her eyes off the bow, her head lifting slowly to see his gray eyes staring at her.
"Yeah, Gale?"
"You better hide that bow with ours," he finally said, before letting his head fall again and disappearing within the trees once more.
It was no question that Gale and Katniss had grown close after her father's death. After his funeral, she managed to escape into the woods in a blind rage, tears clouding her vision as she'd collapsed on a fallen log. Gale shortly appeared thereafter; turned out he wasn't the only person who thought the woods a safe haven after all. He hunted a lot in the woods, mostly for game. With his mother out of work and caring for three other children and a father who died in the same mining explosion as Katniss' father, he was the breadwinner for their family. He sold his game to people around town in which the two of them lived and it usually did pretty well, considering its small size and complete isolation from the rest of civilization. While Katniss' father showed her how to use a bow and arrow, Gale was the one who taught her how to shoot; he always complimented her skills and told her what a natural she was. Eventually, she started hunting for survival means, the two of them selling the game they killed together and always divvying up the makings between the two of them as equally as possibly.
Gale was her only friend and Katniss would tell anyone that in a heartbeat; whenever she went to school, people thought her a mute or above everyone else since the only person she ever gave the time of day was Gale. He was two years older than her, so she'd only see him at certain points during the school day. The mayor's daughter, Madge, was the only other exception, seeing as how her father was willing to pay up front for the wild strawberries that grew out here in the woods. She was the only other peer Katniss could tolerate, but she was a last resort at best.
It was simple, why she chose to be antisocial. Not only was Katniss one of those miner's daughters, those miners, the ones that died in that mine explosion; but she fell victim to a few nasty rumors ever since she could remember. Living in a smaller-than-small town, people talked and it spread fast, not to mention it stuck for a long time. She'd grown up as an only child, and due to the isolation of District 12 to modern society, there was no true way to know whether or not she was really her parent's child or not. There was always a part of her that knew that there was a great possibility, if not fact that she had been adopted or taken in or whatever crazy scenario that might have entailed her ending up where she was judging by the way genetics ruled. But, for the sake of her sanity, she merely chose to ignore the talk, held her head up and went about life like there was no question of who she was. Anyone who brought it up – namely, the whole town – found themselves on the receiving end of her infamous freezing-outs. She wouldn't have had it any other way.
Katniss ran her fingers up and down the frame of the bow a few more times absentmindedly, sighing. Whoever had left this bow had left a damn good tool behind, for which she was grateful. Toying around with the bow slightly, she held it up as though she was preparing to fire. Her fingers messed with the string, pulling it back before releasing it. The sound it made was a lot stiffer, and she could feel the pull back a lot more, seeing as how the bow was tighter than her own.
Lowering the bow, she took a quick glance at the sky. The sun was already beginning to set, and that meant curfew was approaching rapidly. Katniss straightened out her jacket, beginning to make her way back over to a small hole in the ground that was covered by a thin veneer of leaves. In it rested the two bows and quiver of arrows that belonged to both her and Gale. Adding the new addition in the hole as she laid it across the other two before pushing the leaves back over it, Katniss kissed the woods goodnight and made her way back home.
. . .
"Sir?" Agent Coulson made his way up to where the Director was stationed, his hands firmly grasped behind his back. Nick Fury turned to face the agent, his face emotionless. Coulson took that as his cue to continue. "We've got a problem."
"We've got a lot of those at the moment, Agent," Fury said as he stepped down to Coulson's level. "What kind of problem?"
Coulson swallowed hard. "I compiled the files for when we talk to Stark like you asked. But there was something that came up that sort of throws the whole plan off kilter." He fell silent, before Director Fury's burning glare prompted him to continue. "Sir, you do realize Agent Romanoff was supposedly killed in action over five years ago; there hasn't been any sign of her since?"
"You want me to believe that Natasha Romanoff, the famous Black Widow, was supposedly killed in action? I've heard bullshit before, Coulson, but none like this. Find her," Fury said after barking out a scathing laugh, turning to walk back up to his command station.
"Director, this is Natasha. You know her better than anyone else. If she was alive, if she knew about Barton being compromised, she would be here. We all knew about their bond; if she was the left hand, he was the right. Sir, if Agent Romanoff was alive, then SHIELD would have found a way to communicate with her."
Fury stopped, slowly swiveling back around and walking back up to Coulson. "We lost Barton. We don't have Romanoff. That's two of the Avengers Initiative down. If this Loki means to bring about war, if we need that response team—"
"I think you will, however, be interested to know about what SHIELD has been keeping its eyes on," Coulson said as he retrieved a quite thick file from inside his jacket, handing it over to Fury.
Fury's lips spread out into a thin smile as he opened up the file, looking at the top page of contents. "Thank you, Agent."
Before making his exit, Coulson gave the director a twisted half smile. "Sir?" Fury's gaze left the file and focused on the agent in front of him. "You should know something about this…situation before you jump into it headfirst. If and when we get Barton back—when he finds out that we went through with this, he's going to personally kill you."
. . .
The sun peeked through the tops of the trees, whispering a soft good morning like it seemed to almost every single day Katniss came out. Sundays were her days with Gale, out alone in the woods and having only one other to entertain as company. Sundays were her day of solace, day of peace. Katniss readjusted her position sitting on the tree branch, staring at the forest floor long enough to lose her train of thought.
The sound of leaves rustling caught her attention, a thin smile spreading across her face. Gale's here. She jumped down from her perch, letting her arm brush down against her side as she strolled in the direction of the same path through which they'd enter the forest. "About time, Gale!" she called out teasingly. She was met with no reply, just the sound of the leaves on the ground crunching under someone's feet growing nearer. "Gale?" This time, it seemed to be more of a warning call as Katniss craned her head, looking around to see who it could be. If it had been an animal approaching, her voice would have scared it off and she knew it.
Out of pure instinct, she silently pulled an arrow from her quiver and in one swift motion, drew back, ready to shoot. She stood motionless against the trunk of a tree, waiting for her predator to emerge from the small thicket away. Katniss began to count her breaths, a trick Gale had taught her to keep her patient and silent while waiting for game when she was first starting out.
After what felt like an eternity of waiting, a tall man, dressed in all black and wearing an eye patch walked straight through the undergrowth and into the clearing, stepping right into her line of fire and his uncovered eye locked dead on the arrowhead aimed for his chest. He chuckled to himself, but she kept the bow and arrow where they were; poised to kill.
"Who the hell are you?" she finally asked, her voice thick and distorted in defense mode.
"Nick Fury; you can call me Director," the man replied. "It's nice to finally meet you, Miss Everdeen."
The way he said her last name was almost as if it was a joke to him, but she instead tried to focus on the more important things, like the fact that there was a strange man with an even stranger name in front of her who knew exactly who she was and how to find her. "How did you—"
"Find you?" he finished, another laugh escaping his lips. "It wasn't that complicated. You see, Miss Everdeen, it's impossible for you to be found when you were never lost." His words sank in slowly, and they stirred inside of Katniss, registering as the fact that she'd been watched, watched for much longer than she could have ever really imagined.
"That doesn't explain how you know me," she said again, her index finger resting on the arrow beginning to twitch. "It doesn't explain anything. It just gives me even more reason to shoot."
"Miss Everdeen, I'd love to sit around and have this lovely chat, but there's no time for it. I need for you to come with me, and I need for you to come with me now." She opened her mouth to argue, but Fury dismissed it with the wave of his hand. "Surely you'd like to know about your real parents," he said, and he knew he'd struck a chord by the bewildered look on Katniss' face staring back.
She contemplated that thought for a moment. She was presented with a simple ultimatum and one he clearly knew was going to strike a chord; leave behind everything; everything she knew and loved in order to find out about something that could very well be a cruel joke, or stay here and face a whole lot of nothing, save for the occasional deer.
Katniss lowered the bow, removing the arrow and putting it back into the quiver that she swiftly swung over her shoulder. "Lead the way," she said, pointing in the direction that Nick Fury had come. He said nothing else, just led her off wordlessly into god only knew what was awaiting her.
Well, I hope you enjoyed it! So, basically, this is going to be a rewrite of the movie, but my take on it. Natasha is presumed dead and Clint's been taken by Loki, so I think at this point it's pretty obvious who will be filling Tasha's spot. ;) Like I said before, feel free to ask me any questions you may have. Be sure to leave a review; they're inspiring, refreshing, and it's nice to know people like your stuff. Don't forget that review, seriously. (Too lazy to edit this AN too, so there ya go.)