Happy Monday, readers! Apologies for the slightly late update, I've just come home from work and I had a power nap, man I'm tired.
Anyway, the upcoming chapter is so big that I had to chop it in half so I'll update that one later on tonight!
Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.
Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.
Recap
Nick Fury was sat at his desk, staring intently at the computer screen, ignoring both of them. While Phil stood in front of Nick's desk with his hands clasped in front of him, waiting for Nick to look up, Lowri sauntered over to the couch on the raised platform far away from the desk and sat down without being invited.
Nick looked up at Phil and then he looked at Lowri, "I know you're a busy woman, Ri, but something has come up." Nick nodded at Phil to leave and it was just her and Nick left in the room.
"I'm not that busy, Nick, I just don't like being called in off leave." Lowri said with a sigh, she leant back and crossed one leg over the other and tugged the skirt down. "So, what has come up? Is it something to do with one of your new projects gone wrong?"
"Not as such, no." Nick said with a small smile, he got to his feet and came towards her, he sat down beside her and looked back at her. Lowri had the impression that something had gone severely wrong and Nick was too worried to tell her and that she was probably going to have to sort out whatever the problem is.
"Just tell me, Nick." She said shortly. Her voice rang authority, the one that she tries to keep hidden away but it sometimes slips out when the situation requires it.
"You know about Project Stripe-" Nick began but Lowri held one hand up in front of her to stop him. Nick stopped and looked at her.
"Tell me." She said, repeating her words in her commanding tone.
"A call came in 18 hours ago from a Russian oil team looking for oil in the Arctic, and well, they delivered some pretty big news." Nick began, "They've found something big. Something no one has seen in a long time."
Lowri inhaled and exhaled slowly, watching Nick carefully.
"I sent a team of four agents as soon as I got the call in to check it out. They've sent word back to me when you were still in New York." Nick said, he looked at her, "They've found the Valkyrie."
For a moment, it was as though time had stopped and all she could do was stare blankly at Nick. Nothing made sense. What had Nick said? They've found the Valkyrie? Impossible. The landscape of the Arctic Circle is always changing and the chances of ever finding the Valkyrie is very, very, very low.
"I'm sorry, Nick… what did you say?" She asked lightly. Lowri planted her hands either side of her for stability as the room spun around her, was it possible to pass out sitting down?
Nick raised an eyebrow at her, "The Valkyrie. They've found it in the ice and they're trying right now to dig it out." Nick said, he spoke a little slower.
"Okay." Lowri said, she nodded her head, "Alright." And then it hit her. The Valkyrie. They've found it. Her mouth wobbled and then she sat up abruptly. "Oh. Oh, my God. They've found it?" She asked sharply, turning her gaze to Nick.
"Yes." Nick answered. Lowri replied by burying her face in her hands, trying to stop the happy tears from springing down her cheeks.
If Steve is still on there, if his body is still there… she can give him the funeral he deserves, she can lay his body at rest and give him the goodbye she never got to give him. Her heart was about to burst with how happy she felt.
"I'm sending you and Agent Coulson out there with a small team of agents to oversee everything going on. Help where you can." Nick ordered.
Lowri leant back with a smile on her face, completely ignoring the fact that Nick just ordered her to do something.
"You were right to pull me off leave, Nick." Lowri said slowly, "Thank you." She looked out of the window, the smile growing on her face. "I can't believe it."
"Well, believe it. You're leaving in an hour. Coulson and your team are prepping now, so go get some warm stuff." Nick said, smiling as he ordered her again.
Lowri rolled her eyes at him but she stood up and headed for the door.
"Hey, Ri," Nick called after her, she stopped at the door and looked back at him, "You can lay him to rest now."
"I can." Lowri said with a smile before leaving the room. She headed over to the elevator and pulled out her pass, she pressed the little key that is on her pass against the pad beside the screen. "Basement."
The key allows Lowri to override every floor and it allows her access to the Basement. The Basement is the lowest level of S. H. I. E. L. D. and it consists of a series of rooms built right at the start of the organization. It holds all sorts of goodies, things from way back in the day and Howard's babies, mostly the bad ones that he wouldn't let anyone have because they caused so much damage.
Lowri has stuff down here too, deeply personal things that could make trouble for her if she kept them in her flat. Things that were part of a bad past.
But she has got good things down here. Her old memoirs that she's kept since the 1800's and her old kit that she used when she camped out in Russia and Asia and Europe with the Howling Commandos at the end of the war were among things she kept down here.
Howard had designed thermal gear for her to test, even though she didn't need it. To this day, the thermal gear still works better than any of the stuff that can be bought in shops.
She grabbed all the gear that she thought she would need, including the thermal gear and some snow boots, and she got back into the elevator, heading back up to grab her bag from her office. She locked down her office and changed into her thermals and under layers before heading down to the bay where she met up with Phil and the team.
As she waited in the elevator, her phone buzzed and she pulled it out. The elevator stopped and the doors opened, allowing more people in. She checked her messages and found a lengthy document from Agent Hill.
"Command Centre." Came the voice of one of the specialist agents. She heard him settle on his feet but she kept her eyes on her phone, "Going on a mission are you, ma'am?"
Lowri looked up and smiled, "Yes, I am. Apparently, it's a cold one." Lowri replied, smiling up at Grant Ward.
"Well, that won't affect you too much, would it?" Grant Ward asked with a smile.
Lowri shook her head, "No, but I gotta keep up pretence. Not everyone knows about my mutant powers." She said with a laugh.
"Well, good luck on your mission. This is me." Grant said, the elevator stopped and Grant got off.
"Good luck on yours." Lowri replied.
"How did you know I was going on a mission?" Grant asked, turning back to look at her.
"Oh, a simple intuition." Lowri said as the doors closed on them. It was only a few seconds until she was dropped off at the Bay.
The quin jet was almost packed up with their stuff and Phil was waiting for her at the side of the jet, a huge grin on his face.
"I don't think I could have put those words into my mouth." Phil said, explaining how he could not have told her about the plane.
"You're strange." Lowri said, smiling at him. "But, I have to agree. I'm still struggling to understand it."
"It's hard. I get it." Phil said.
"God knows what we're gonna find. Has the team that went ahead of us sent any intel back on whatever else they found?" She asked as he and Lowri paced onto the back of the jet.
Their small team of three, highly skilled agents was already inside, packing away the crates they were taking with them into the sides of the jet.
"No." Phil replied, he spotted her disappointed look and turned to her. "I know you were hoping for a different answer. Where else could he be?"
Lowri shrugged her shoulders in answer. "Are we ready to set off?" She asked, looking around the jet.
"We've got two more crates to bring in and then we should be good to go, ma'am." One of the agents replied.
Lowri nodded her head, "Alright. I'll start the jet up." She said, she dumped her bag before ducking her head to go into the cockpit and she smiled to herself. She really did love flying.
She slid into the pilot's seat and began the process to start the jet up. Behind her, she heard the agents complete their task and then they strapped themselves in and Phil called out they were ready for take-off.
Lowri pushed the throttle forward and initiated the vertical take-off, she called into the control tower and the roof above them lifted open, she flew the jet out of the Bay and began their journey to the Arctic Circle.
Her mind was constantly busy throughout the flight, mostly she was thinking about the man she could finally lay to rest after sixty-seven long years. What else is there with him? What else is on the Valkyrie?
The necklace that Steve Rogers had given her before his first mission as part of the Howling Commandos was still hanging around her throat, it looked tarnished and it has aged considerably. But it reminded her of the man she gave her heart to and it reminded her of him and what he stood for.
Finally, she caught sight of the lit-up base and she made a beeline for it but she could barely see the lights. It was snowing heavily but Lowri's an experienced flier and she managed to fly through the snow and she landed safely.
Once on the ground, Lowri could already feel the cold air seeping in and if it was cold enough for her to feel, then it was definitely cold for the others.
"Gear up!" Phil yelled, the agents with them, Brown, Cole and Adams, they began tearing apart some of the crates they'd stored away and once the crates were opened, Lowri could see inside is the new regulated S. H. I. E. L. D. cold weather gear.
Once the agents and Lowri had pulled on the cold weather gear and were satisfied with looking like giant marshmallows, they finally left the jet with packs on their backs.
Outside the jet, a short man stood waiting for them dressed in a bright organ jacket, huddled against the cold with a pair of protective glasses on.
"Agent Coulson," Phil said, offering his gloved hand to the man. It was hard to see him because of how dark the world was around them with the only light coming from the backend of the jet illuminating them.
There's orange lights stuck in the ground, lined up to resemble a path, but it was snowing so heavily that the snow just blocked them out.
Lowri was tempted to light her hands-on fire but she guessed that the storm would just extinguish the fire and she didn't want to take her gloves off.
"Tom Abraham. We've met." The man said.
"Oh, you're one of ours. Good." Lowri said, she strode forward along the dimly lit path and the jet closed up behind her. "Are the Russian oil workers still here?"
"Yes, ma'am." Brown replied, "They're in one of the rooms in the back of the building."
"As soon as we're in, can you take me down to them? I'd like to speak with them." Lowri asked, "And while I'm chatting to the Russians, the rest of you can get those crates from the back of the jet in."
"Ma'am." Abraham replied. He led them down the path and to their left was a large bulky object. "That's the Valkyrie."
"Does it look familiar?" Phil asked, stepping up beside Lowri.
"It looks smaller than I remember." Lowri said quietly. "I only really saw the back of the jet."
"Most of it is still buried in the snow, ma'am." Abraham added. He held open the door to the building and they all stepped into the reception where they were met with a blast of hot air and all Lowri wanted to do was strip off the marshmallow layers.
"You can leave your things here for now, the Russian team is in one of the rooms down there, they're making their statements and being interviewed." Abraham said slowly as Lowri immediately began unzipping her large coat.
"You three start unloading those crates and distribute them, I'm sure we can find somewhere to put them. Phil, get on the horn with Director Fury and let him know the status we stand at. I'll have a chat with our Russian friends." She looked back at Abraham, "Are we making any progress with searching the Valkyrie?"
"We're trying to get a way in without damaging the plane, it's proving difficult." Abraham answered. Both Lowri and Phil took off their large coats and thick trousers, they left them on the side as the rest of their team headed back out to the jet.
"Don't worry about damaging the plane. It's like to have damaged by ice already. It's too big to move it as it is, so it'll be taken apart and stored." Lowri said, "Just laser through it. I want that plane searched."
"Ma'am." Abraham said. "The Russian oil workers are down that hall, fourth door on the right."
Lowri moved off down the hall, peering through the doors as she walked. All the doors have a window about three quarters of the way up.
She got the fourth door on the right and looked in, she could see the team of Russian oil workers sitting in the room with one of the S. H. I. E. L. D. agents sitting with them, talking.
Lowri stepped into the room and the S. H. I. E. L. D. agent looked up sharply, a look of recognition passed over his face and he stood pretty sharpish.
"Ma'am." The agent said.
"What's your name, agent?" She asked as she closed the door behind her.
"Ivy, ma'am." Agent Ivy replied.
"Thank you for sitting with these men, Agent Ivy. I'll take over from here. You can re-join your team. You'll be investigating the plane very soon." Lowri said warmly.
"Yes, ma'am." Agent Ivy said before moving to the door and leaving.
There are five men sitting in front of Lowri, each looking at her warily. One of them was sitting closer and he looked sterner than the others.
"I assume you're the leader of the team?" Lowri asked, looking at the forward man.
"My name is Albert." The man said in halting English.
Lowri sat down in the chair that Agent Ivy had just occupied and looked at him.
"Would you prefer to talk in Russian?" She asked gently. The Russian nodded his head. Lowri thanked her own foresight to learn various languages. "When did you find the Valkyrie and when did you contact S. H. I. E. L. D.?"
"Sometime yesterday, I think it was early morning. We contacted our team manager in Russia and he made the call." Albert said in Russian.
"Did your team manager tell you to keep quiet about S. H. I. E. L. D.?" Lowri asked, "We do like to keep in the shadows."
"Yes, we all understand. We have signed documents, promising our silence." Albert said quickly.
Lowri nodded her head, and slowly got to her feet. "Good. Alright, if you and your friends stay here, I'll send someone down to escort you back to your camp so you can continue your work." She said, nodding her head at them.
Lowri left the room and grabbed one of the building's actual workers and got him to escort the Russians back to their camp.
She came across Phil again, he was still in the reception area.
"I've got radio contact with our team heading out. The three that came with us are joining them, the more the merrier I told them." Phil said.
"So, in less than an hour we can know what's in there?" Lowri asked.
"Hopefully." Phil confirmed. "How was the Russians?"
"Scared mostly. They've signed their silence and I sent them back to their camp." Lowri replied. She watched as a group of people rushed past, talking quickly about something. "They're preparing for something big."
"Yeah. We don't know what they're gonna find down there." Phil said.
The wait was long and drawn out, the hours slogged and the minutes ticked away slowly. Lowri and Phil found a small office in the building and claimed it as their own, they set up the equipment and then waited. They alternated coffee and tea runs between them.
Updates from the team through the radio was regular. It took some time for them to actually get into the plane for them to establish that the plane wasn't going to fall under the Arctic's whim any time soon. Eventually, the small team managed to get inside with a light and they explored.
I hope you all enjoy reading, and I will be updating with another chapter later on tonight. (I'm on GMT)
Quick question; What does everyone think of the new name choice for the character?
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