Chapter 2 - Discovery


"This is Masters. Report"

Prodding the four of them, ensuring that they were unconscious, their field leader, decked out in black and red tactical gear, reached up to his shoulder and grabbed his radio.

"This is Squad Leader", he rolled over their obvious leader to confirm his identity, "We have him. Tell the Colonel, the Subject X has been acquired"


"SQUAD LEADER! GET YOUR MEN BACK INSIDE NOW!"

"MASTERS!" he calmed himself, shouting at a superior officer was never a good idea, "Gimme a sit-rep!" He paused, before adding, "What the hell is going on!?"

"We've got two more teams incoming. If it's S.H.I.E.L.D., we need to have him inside before they discover him. The Colonel wants to make a show of it now"

"Understood Sir", damn theatrics, "We're on our way"

With a few curt commands, the men began lifting the unconscious bodies into their nearby parked SUVs. The bodies were piled in, one on top of the other, with it taking them all six men to carry the last body. His 'enhancements' weighed him down, before he was dropped, none too gently, into one of the trunks.

Wasting no time, the field team bundled into their SUVs and headed straight for the spillway entrance, their precious cargo in toe.


'The Bus' was capable of fully automated flight, but it was one of May's favourite times of day to sit in the cockpit, sometimes with Natasha, and just watch the world pass by. Like the feeling of a fight, before anyone had actually thrown the first punch, sitting there, knowing she was flying into a combat situation, bur before they arrived – those were the moments she lived for.

So it was with some highly disguised eagerness that she sat in her seat, with Natasha next to her, as they both looked over the horizon. The Black Widow and The Calvary enjoying the sunlight.

At the other end of the plane, Hawkeye was strapping himself into the webbing on one side of the ramp, should he be needed to provide covering fire during a speedy exfiltration.

In his experience, cover fire was always needed.

Though, then again, that could just be the way he and Natasha did things.

On the other side of the cargo hold, the field team was preparing to disembark.

Fitz's brand new fully automatic ICER rifle was now in Hunter's hands, having been checked and re-checked to the engineer's meticulous standards. It had taken him eight months to build, and another twelve of designing, before the sole prototype had been constructed, and they were choosing now to field test it.

Said engineer was in the midst of checking every inch of Rogers' new stealth suit, which he had, much to his childlike delight, collaborated on with Tony Stark. It was designed to adjust to its surroundings, taking on the camouflage design it thought best. With a touch of the belt, it would revert to his Avengers' red, white and blue uniform. His trademark shield was slung over his back, where it could be quickly summoned, should a fight become necessary.

Here's to hoping it won't.

Coulson wore his usual shirt and tie with a Kevlar vest over his chest, while Skye wore a shield standard issue jumpsuit, with her own gauntlet, which helped control her abilities on case of emergency. Both of them had an ICER handgun tucked into a hip holster.

Fitz himself, wore his shield combat uniform – black t-shirt, combat trousers and jacket, along with a pair of combat boots. A black backpack was on his desk, ready to be slung over his shoulder when they left. Both Coulson and Skye were reminded of the old mission to Ossetia, the only difference in his appearance was the light stubble of a man who often worked late, and the ICER that was secured at his own hip, much like their own.

While Fitz's aim had vastly improved, he'd never been tested under duress, and they weren't too anxious to start his field training now.

Not that they really wanted to take him into field anyway.

May lowered The Bus into a clearing, with the ramp already lowered, and the team jumped out, into a four point defensive position. Coulson, Hunter and Skye had their weapons raised, and Cap's shield was in front of him, each of them facing in a different direction. Fitz's weapon was still holstered, and he was stood in the centre of their defensive cross, protected on all sides.

Slowly, and moving as a well-coordinated team, they moved silently into the forest, disappearing into the trees, and headed straight for the spillway.


Combat and dangerous situations were not new circumstances for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Mockingbird to find herself in. Sat in the rear of the cloaked quinjet with Mack, Jemma and two members of her designated S.T.R.I.K.E. team, she silently ran her hands over her batons and handgun, inspecting them for anything that may cause a problem later on, be it chips in her batons, or a lack of oil in the barrel of the handgun. Bobbi Morse liked to be prepared for anything.

She watched on as Jemima mimicked her actions with the handgun.

After her defection, Bobbi had taken to attempting to teach her combat, but she spent too much time overthinking each movement and deciding what to do next to be at all effective in combat, so she'd had Mack take her to the firing range. After several sessions, she'd become proficient enough to kill anyone within one hundred yards, who was standing still … and not firing back.

She was allowed to carry a firearm by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s standards, however, she was not cleared for combat.

Mack was checking his rifle, while the two members of her assigned S.T.R.I.K.E. team were checking over their own, and then each other's.

That was something Bobbi could appreciate. She'd never met someone whose hands she could place whatever her life depended upon in. Even her marriage to Lance had never made her feel that secure. She'd tried a field partner before, in the old S.H.I.E.L.D., but never found one that she could work with.

Prior to his transference to Team 616, there were persistent rumours that Ward was to replace Romanoff as Fury's right hand, due to her involvement with The Avengers, and that she would be replacing Barton, to act as Ward's field partner and de facto number two.

What would've happened during 'The Fall', if that had happened?

Their pilot's voice came through, shouting back to them that they were ready to deploy. The quinjet touched down, de-cloaking long enough for the pilot to see where he was touching down and for three of the four man S.T.R.I.K.E team to jump out, scanning the area, followed by Simmons and then Mack and Mockingbird.

The fourth man remained on board, waiting for them to get clear, before cloaking the quinjet and taking back off, where he could avoid detection longer, while remaining inside communications range.

Wasting no time, Mockingbird barked her commands and the team moved off, heading for the secondary entrance near the cliff face.


He was the last one to awaken.

"'Bout time your arse woke up"

Groggily, he opened his eyes to find his team shackled opposite him, but in the same position. Like him, the girls had standard issue handcuffs, chained above them by an extremely tight chain. He could feel them digging into his wrists rather uncomfortably.

His friend's hands however, where just stuck to the wall, so he raised his eyebrow in curiosity, and was rewarded with a one word answer, his tone conveying that he'd already answered the question twice.

"Magnets"

Ah. Clever.

"Are you guys alright?"

They snorted at that.

"You're the one who took an extra half hour to wake up. We're just glad you're up Boss Man"

He fought a smile at that.

Before they could even think about creating an escape plan, the door to their makeshift prison cell was thrust open and a small party of soldiers rushed in. They wore U.S. Military uniforms, but he recognised their movement pattern.

HYDRA trained.

The final man walked in, in dress uniform instead of standard field greens, with the gold leaf on his shoulder identifying him as a Major. While the soldier's rifles remained trained on him and his friends, the Major strode straight up to him, so that they were stood nose to nose.

Well … nose to chin. He found he still had a few inches over the other man. The Major wasn't used to being the smaller man, and he felt a smirk slip onto his face.

"Major Tony Masters. Hail HYDRA", his tone wasn't arrogant like he expected, just resigned. The mark of a man following orders, "Come with us, don't resist, and we won't have to kill anybody"

He made eye contact with his team, trying to assure them with his eyes, before returning his gaze to the Major, and nodding briefly.

The Major returned a curt nod, and he found his arms dropping, with a stiff soreness in his muscles. He shook them to get some feeling back, before stepping into the corridor and turning left.

He paused in his tracks and ignored the sharp jab to his ribs from the rifle, as he waited for his team to join him.

There was a scuffle from inside, followed by his three friends being marched into the corridor and to the right. They made to move after him but he shook his head, waiving them off, and Masters spoke up.

"You are to be examined. Don't resist and you will then be returned to your friends", he ignored the silent alive, at the end of that statement.

Unbeknownst to him, his three friends were taken to the central room of the compound, where they were sat into metal chairs, with their hands cuffed behind them, well two were handcuffed, and he received magnetised clamps.

He himself was led into an examination room, and commanded to strip. The blank white walls and grated metal ceiling, matching his demeanour perfectly.

His own shyness non-existent, thanks to high risk seductions around the world, of both sexes, he removed his leather jacket, t-shirt, combat trousers, boots and underwear.

He stood there blankly, naked, as they danced around him, weighing, sizing, measuring and testing him. Reflexes, weight, height, lengths, widths, reactions, eyesight, hearing, body ratios.

"Perfect muscle to fat ratio"

"Ideal height to weight ratio. BMI seems perfect"

"Perfect vision and hearing"

"Perfect reflexes"

"Perfect something else too"

He unsuccessfully fought off a blush upon hearing that last statement, causing several of the girls to giggle. He was certain he saw one of the men stifling a giggle too.

Eventually, he was given a pair of skin-tight shorts to wear, and then taken in to the corridor, without a shirt or footwear. The cold air of the base making itself more prominent to his skin.

He was led into the same chambers as his friends before him, and his breath caught in his throat. Assembled with his teammates, were people he had truly hoped that he would never see again.


Sneaking down the spillway was too easy.

Or maybe it was just Coulson's many years acting as a government agent making him feel paranoid.

Or maybe it was both.

They moved silently, Fitz's additions to StealthTec, such as noise compressors on the boot soles making their lives much easier. The suits even darkened in response to the amount of light in their surroundings.

The spillway was one long underground road, the started away from the compound and, like the military base it led underground. The walls dripped with moisture, dark green moss clung to the walls and the air itself was damp, creating a very unsettling vibe. Skye had to bite back a 'Chamber of Secrets' joke. This was not the time or the place.

They continued to scan over every twist and turn of the place, but it was all for nothing. HYDRA's top secret military base / scientific research lab was seemingly deserted. So either Coulson was about to lead his team into a trap, or Skye had delivered him some very bad Intel.

The end of the spillway was marked by one large steel reinforced gate. The dark metal taking up the entirety of the size of tone cavern. A line down the middle, to split the door into halves, and a single panel at the side, where soldiers would key in and out.

Fitz wasted no time in heading for the keypad, pulling a set of screws out of his bag, he knelt at the keypad and removed the cover panel. He worked, murmuring softly to himself, as he changed certain wires, and removed others. They were sure Fitz knew what he was doing, even if they themselves couldn't follow.

It was with a hiss and a quiet "A-Ha!", that the door pulled apart, slowly at first, with the awful noise of metal on metal, before smoothly and silently, sliding apart. However, their congratulations died on their lips when they opened to reveal a small army waiting for them.

It seemed nearly half of the base's guards were waiting to greet them.

Approximately twenty men, each in different positions, with fully automatic rifles aimed at their chests. Too many for them not to end up dead in a straight shoot out, and being underground, their comms were unlikely to be able to reach for back-up.

Great, first I lead S.H.I.E.L.D. into a civil war of sorts and now … this.

No one blamed the exasperated sigh Coulson gave, as a man bearing the insignia of a Major walked up to them, a small contingent of soldiers moving to surround them. They quickly removed their weapons and handcuffed them.

Cap smirked slightly, being placed in standard issue handcuffs was a joke or him.

A joke that was soon snuffed out when he felt something jab into his neck. The cuffs felt suddenly heavy around his wrists. Where's my strength?

"What've you done to me?"

The Major smirked.

"Power locking serum. My own design", he gestured to himself proudly, "Temporarily nullifies the powers of any enhanced, gifted, mutant or inhuman. Effective for between two and four hours depending on the individual. No known exceptions"

As if to prove his point, another soldier jabbed Skye, who shook her hands, as though she'd lost the feeling in them.

"Now", the Major had lost some of his earlier cheerfulness, and sounding resigned to his orders, "Follow me and I won't have to shoot you or any member of your team"


As far as secret entrances go, Mack had to admit, sneaking down the side of a cliff, to get to one under a waterfall, was pretty damn cool.

The six man team moved slowly, ensuring that each step had stable footing, and that they were secure, before taking another. The discovered entrance was shorter than the spillway by much, but it required a lot more care, and therefore took the same amount of time, so there were equal chances of success.

Two members of the S.T.R.I.K.E team led the way, with Mack and Simmons behind them, and the third team member brought up the rear with Mockingbird.

Reaching a crevice in the cliff face, they all ducked through the natural waterfall, coming face to face with a single steel door.

The door was of average size, and locked with the same type of lock that were usually found on underground compounds. A large, circular, handle, which had to be spun to be opened.

Mack handed his own rifle over to the nearest person, who happened to be Simmons, as he grunted and heaved at the door, until it swung open. Panting slightly, he was handed his rife back from Simmons, who looked rather glad to be rid of it.

They moved into the next room, which was actually a short corridor, with another door on the far side. Mack, being the first in, went to inspect it, when one really important feature screamed out at him. There was no way to open the door.

"Guys it's a-"

The last of them filed in, and the door behind them swung shut, with the audible 'click' of a door locking itself.

"-trap"

Mockingbird turned to the door and attempted to wrench it open, but it was too late.

The gas had started to flood the room.

They fought against the effects, but it was pointless. The sedative properties of the gas had taken an instantaneous effect upon them. Within moments they were all unconscious and on the floor.

The security team moved in and took them from there soon after.

They were in for a rude awakening.


Coulson had seen many things as a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., and as Director, he'd seen even more. He'd met gods, monsters and people who were just plain weird, but still, entering the main room of the compound behind the Major, he found himself looking at quite possibly, the strangest trio he'd ever met.

They were such a strange trio, especially with how they looked now with their additions, that they had drawn his attention away from where Skye, Hunter and Fitz were staring at the people next to them – Bobbi, Jemma and Mack were also there.

Are they working together?

All of them were handcuffed to their chairs, all but one with standard issue handcuffs, and he had giant manacles. They were obviously designed for stronger opponents, and Coulson found himself wondering how many people were brought here, for them to have specially designed manacles and serums.

His thoughts shot over to Skye, who looked just as cool as May had trained her to be, though Coulson could feel the fear and hesitation radiating from both her and the Captain as they were handcuffed to their chairs, in the same way as everyone else.

The loss of their powers had rattled them greatly.

Well, they were almost like everyone else, those manacles were too big for the chair, but he wasn't fighting back, so he was either under threat of death, or too aware of what would happen to his companions. It seemed it was in fact a trio and a sextet, and not one team, because he kept shooting the two girls reassuring looks, while he was steadily ignoring both sets of S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel.

One question was on the minds of Skye, Coulson, Fitz and Simmons however. There were two girls and the guy, the guy and one of the girls was a shock to see, but the other was recognised instantly, and if she was with them … where was her 'partner'?


The Major had taken up a position in all their line of sights, keeping their attention on him, as he stood, waiting patiently, with his arms behind his back, which Cap recognised as a standard waiting position. He was made to just stand still plenty of times during his own training. It's nice to see the military still has the same standards, even if HYDRA has managed to infiltrate them too.

The noise of marching boots, and the straightening of the Major's posture preceded the arrival of a man dressed in military dress uniform, wearing the rank of Colonel.

He was slightly overweight, but built, the mark of a man who was once well muscled, but has been unable to contain it for long after field retirement. His hair was buzz cut, but had three long scratches on the back, like a wild animal had attacked him with claws.

"Colonel"

"Major Masters. All accounted for?"

"All but the subject Sir"

The Colonel smiled at that, "They should be bringing him here now, prepare the men Major"

"Already done Sir"

They hit a break, as silence fell over them, as neither the Colonel nor Major Masters seemed inclined to speak, and based on the way the soldiers deferred to them, it was apparent that they were in command, so Coulson decided to use the pause to take in his surroundings for the first time.

He wished he hadn't.

On three of the room's four walls, there was different types of electronic equipment, looking like something out of 1970s war movie. It was all blinking lights and paper. In the centre of the room, which was actually below them, he realised, as they were actually on a viewing platform, overlooking the rest of it, was a tank.

The tank was big enough to fit a human in, lying down, but it was the attached needles that shivers down his spine. He saw Fitz examining the set up before paling slightly, and once Coulson followed the needles' tubing, he understood why.

It led to a tank, which was filled with a bubbling, silver substance that immediately made him feel uneasy, and though he tried to repress it, he shuddered slightly. Instantly, all eyes snapped to him, before they followed his line of sight, and he was met with everyone's uneasy looks.

The Colonel just chuckled, "Don't worry, we'll get to that in a minute, when our test subject arrives. In fact", his eyes flicked to the door they'd came through earlier, "Here he is now"

He felt the dread that was in his stomach plummet, making his unease become slight fear. He knew he had gone pale, as the blood in his veins ran cold.

Clad only in a pair of very tight shorts, with an armed escort at his back, and a very murderous look directed at the Colonel was Grant Ward.


Author's Note

Thoughts guys? And please, leave me a review. They keep me writing.

-MarvelMatt

P.S. Next chapter won't be up until we reach 10 reviews.