CHAPTER SEVEN
I failed you
For as loud and busy as the Helicarrier was, it was like the entire ship was holding their breath. Silence permeated every room, every corner, every hallway. There was not a single person doing what they were supposed to be doing. Everyone was rigid with surprise, and for some the cold black hand of fear gripped their throats with long, thin fingers. The leader of HADES and glue to the Central Forces had been someone that, to the majority of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents, was more of an 'out of sight out of mind' kind of thing. They all knew he was there, but the threat that he posed diminished when they forced him out of their conscience, and to have his voice curling around everyone like a thin vapor of smoke was a very real reminder that you can only ignore someone for so long before they bring up the fact that they are still here. He was the monster under every child's bed, the anticipation around every corner, the shadow on the wall. He was here to stay, and no amount of wishing could make him go away.
Truthfully, Erik had not thought to hack into the communications systems when Tegan first stumbled into his grasp. He'd simply had her as his own little toy and he was content. The idea came to mind when a HADES soldier brought the discarded backpack that Tegan had thrown out of the van at the beginning of her mission. There wasn't much left in it as she'd tacked most everything onto her weapons belt. What she'd failed to remember to grab was her communicator. Though it was only good for sound, Erik had spent a good portion of his day tinkering with it and reprogramming it to match the signal of the Helicarrier's monitors and sound system. He had some choice words to say to Nick Fury and the Avengers, and he wanted to make sure that everyone heard him loud and clear.
Erik liked an audience, which was one thing that had been with him even before he struck the match that lit the fire of the third world war. He relished in the knowledge that every eye and every ear on the Helicarrier would be tuned into him. He knew that not a single person could breathe easy with his voice ringing off the metal walls of the impressive ship. While he'd already had the world for his addressees more than once, the idea of the smaller more personal crowd excited him. He knew that by now they knew he had Tegan. He knew that they knew the stakes of this war were about to be raised higher; and that's what made this all so fun. For the most part he waged his war out of vindictive desire, but from time to time he indulged in a light hearted, dark mannered frivolity. Everyone needed to have a bit of fun, and Erik's heart fluttered excitedly with the thought of the looks of horror that undoubtedly shadowed every single face of every singled S.H.I.E.L.D agent that could hear him right now.
His malicious grin almost had a layer of honesty to it, as if he was truly happy to be doing what he was doing right now. He stood just off to the side of the table that contained a barely awake Tegan, skillfully making sure that she was within arm's reach but constantly out of the camera's view. Her chest rose and fell slowly, and her eyes barely opened –but there was no doubt that she was fearfully aware of Erik's whereabouts. Every time he shifted how he was standing, every loud intake of breath, every sniffle, sneeze, cough, and word that came from him she twitched in anticipation. Her entire body ached, all she wanted was for him to cut her head off and be done with it; but she knew that Erik was in this for the long haul. While the fire within her soul had been frozen by the cool blade of Erik's knife, deep down she fought to find the desire to hate him, to want nothing more than to run a knife through his ribcage, cut his heart out and feed it to his mother. If she made it out of this, that is.
Natasha's heart stopped in her chest and the blood in her veins withered away as she stood stock still, quietly staring at the face of the enemy on the screens before them. She felt like time had stopped, a chilled numbness spread down from the top of her head, trickling all the way down to her toes. She was no longer aware of anyone or anything around her, save for the blond haired man on the screens above them. Green eyes grew wide with surprise. For a moment, she teetered dangerously on her feet; but she quickly gathered control of herself and the block she'd put up on the world around her fell away. Natasha finally was able to take note that even Tony had finally walked into the room, and every single person around her was looking at the televisions. From the corner of her eye, she reveled secretly in the look of astonishment that had crept its way onto Fury's face. While Erik's present actions did not prove that Tegan was still alive, the flicker of hope flared up into a blaze of optimism. Involuntarily, she shivered as Erik (after perhaps deciding he had everyone's attention) calmly spoke to the group of people within the room,
"I'm so glad that I've caught everyone together. Not that I'm entirely aware as to why you are all in the conference room, but I'm glad you're near one another none the less. I would have made contact sooner, but I've been a little busy lately; as you're all aware I believe. I'm a little upset I did not get to personally tell you all myself what I've been up to, but I suppose I cannot complain that I didn't have to do it myself. It's given me more time to spend with one of my special guests. She arrived here yesterday, you know? I'm certain you're missing your lab rat, Fury. I must say that all the hard work you've put into her is paying off! She's still alive, and for all the blood loss…well, she should be dead, and-," Erik's voice suddenly took a turn for the worse as he hissed angrily, "don't leave, Director."
In the middle of Erik's monologue, Fury had started towards the door, his head low and talking quietly to someone on through the device in his ear. He stopped and slowly turned back to the screens, looking up at the man he said, "I'm sorry, you were busy babbling about shit I don't have time to listen to. As you are aware, I'm sure, I have plenty of other things to be doing than sitting around listening to you toot your own damn horn about all the fantastic things you've been up to."
Though a shadow of anger had crossed his face before, the expression was gone as Erik smiled and laughed heartily; almost warmly and in the way a friend would laugh at another friend's joke. His voice lost the malice it had so briefly contained before as he lightly said,
"Well, I'm certain that you would love nothing more than to go and shut me down and to regain control of your communications, which is what I know you were going to go do, but I have something to tell you. So please, come back over to where you were standing, or maybe even have a seat at the table. I want you to be comfortable for this."
Fury stood still for a moment, judging whether or not it was actually going to be worth his time to stay and listen to whatever bullshit Erik had to say, but after glancing around at the rest of the team that seemed to be rooted to where they stood, he heaved a sigh and dropped his hand from the handle of the door and stiffly made his way back to one of the chairs that lined the glass and mahogany table. Swiveling around in his seat to get a full view of the four screens that had the same thing on them, he waved his hand and sharply said, "please, continue on with what you had to say."
Erik smiled wider and shook his head. His tone was mocking as he said, "no, no! I want you to have the utmost comfort. Would you like a blanket, a glass of water?"
Fury growled angrily at the stalling tactics of the German man, "I'll get up and leave right now if you don't spit out what you are so anxious to tell me."
Erik chuckled and sinisterly said, "alright."
The blond man shifted how he was standing, as if grabbing for something just off the screens. For a moment, something shiny and presumably metal flashed across the screens. His eyes never left the camera as he leaned over. Off frame, the sounds of desperate whimpering and begging filled the silence like a gentle spring breeze whistling through trees. Erik's grin grew malevolent as he make a sharp movement towards whatever was off screen. The sounds of tortured screams took the place of the begging. Tegan's agony reverberated off of the walls in the Helicarrier. Her cry was long and drawn out, slightly hoarse perhaps from repeated cries like the one she had just let loose. Erik's gleeful laugh could barely be heard above the screeching. His arm continued to move off frame as he pierced Tegan in the side over and over again, provoking a scream louder than the last with each subsequent stab. Natasha's hand flew to her mouth as she stuck her fist between her teeth and bit down to avoid saying something that she would later regret saying. While at first she'd been hoping that Tegan was alive, now that she had the reality of what had become of her friend, she wished that the agent had met a swift death as opposed to the long and drawn out agony she was being faced with now. Talking over the sounds of Tegan's cries, Erik caught sight of the pasty faces stricken with horrified surprise before him and happily spoke,
"Her resilience is perhaps the most astonishing aspect about her, Fury! I thought I knew what you were doing in your labs at S.H.I.E.L.D, but this is far more than I would have ever expected."
He finally dropped his arm, and the sound of something hitting the concrete was lost beneath the dying whimpers of Tegan as he took a step back. No longer as close to the camera that broadcasted his message and torture to the entirety of the ship, more of his lanky body came into view. His white long sleeve shirt had been rolled up to his elbows and darker splatters of older blood darkened the rims of his cuffs. On his bare arms glistened patches of newer blood. Natasha could feel herself going numb again, but she fought for control over herself as Erik went on to run a bloody hand through his hair and say,
"So here's the deal, Fury. I know what an investment this woman is to you. I know that you've put a lot of time, thought, and money into her, and I suppose we can go ahead and say that she's an important aspect to S.H.I.E.L.D, not that I'm entirely sure why you are so taken by her. But I suppose we can go ahead and say that you might do anything to get her back even though you have probably spent a good portion of your day saying that you don't need her," he clapped his hands together happily, "so! What I'm going to do is offer you a deal, would you like to hear my deal?"
While Fury prepared himself to deny Erik's deal without having even heard it, Natasha hastily blurted out, "yes!"
Erik's icy gaze slid over to where Natasha stood, his warm smile turned into a knowing smirk as he addressed her, "you have been so shockingly quiet, Agent Romanoff! I forgot you were in here. Well, you seem eager to get her back, don't you? Is this a hint of sentiment and care that I'm seeing in the stone heart of the famous Black Widow? I'm honored to have provoked such a reaction from you! While I can see that you would perhaps do more than anyone in this room to get the lab rat back, I must unfortunately inform you that my deal applies to Fury and no one else."
Natasha sunk back slightly as he addressed her and flicked her head over her shoulder to glare at Fury, as if daring him to do anything but let Erik make his proposition. Fury let his one-eyed gaze slide over to where Natasha stood. He looked at her for a long moment before rubbing his face and sighing. He waved a hand at Erik once more and dully said, "I'd love to hear what you have up your bloody sleeve, Sunderland."
Erik's smirk disappeared and was replaced once more with his happy and warm smile and he leaned against the black wall behind him,
"So let us just go ahead and say that you want her back, yes? It'll make my offer so much easier to understand. Under no normal circumstance would I be willing to let her go, but I would be happy to make a trade. Let's say, her freedom for your withdrawal in the war. Along with your resignation from the fight, you'll hand over all remaining confiscated HYDRA weapons to HADES and the Central Forces, and then you will sit back and let those that truly deserve to win-," Fury opened his mouth to blatantly oppose this ridiculous and outlandish but Erik quickly cut him off and raised an impatient finger while clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, "no, no. I don't want an immediate answer. I want you to sleep on it, give you time to think it over. After all, no one really makes a decent decision off of impulse, am I right? I will give you three days to answer; and should you not answer in the way that I want…then, well. Everyone on the Helicarrier will get a front row seat to the execution of Miss Tegan Hollis! Doesn't that sound exciting? You will all sit and obediently watch the effects of your refusal to follow directions as I slowly cut into her flesh and strip her down to the bone. Maybe I'll even box her remains up in a cute little package and send them to you as a gift when I'm through with her. And then, after that, I will launch my final attack and one way or another, I will win this war. So let me know how many lives you're willing to risk. The choice here is to waste one life or waste a million. Personally, I don't think that it should be that hard of a choice, but you seem to be a bit confused with your priorities. And don't bother changing the security on your communications, because we'll just break right through it again."
Before anyone could say anything else to Erik, the screens suddenly went dark. Fury shook his head and turned his chair back around and started to stand while saying,
"Well that was a nice waste of my time. You can all go back to whatever you were doing before you came here, because I am not negotiating with the crazy German."
Everyone didn't dare move or say anything; that is until Natasha turned and walked over to where Fury sat, slamming a forceful fist into the glass she demanded, "you have to send a rescue party to her location right now!"
Fury lifted a curious eyebrow and shook his head, "I'm really beginning to think that you are hard of hearing, Agent Romanoff. I already told you that I am not sending anyone out there to risk losing someone else."
Natasha shook her head and angrily replied, "you heard him! One life or a million lives! Is that what you want? If we get Tegan back, I bet that she knows exactly what he's planned. He's already told us quite a bit in just that short amount of time and chances are he's told her much more under the assumption that she's not getting out of there! Please!"
Fury stared at her with a curious look for a long time before shaking his head, "I cannot believe that you are so willing to put such stock into the words of a man we already know to be a compulsive liar with little sanity left. For all we know, he could be bluffing. After all, how can you guarantee that he'll give Tegan back in the delusional event that I agree to his terms? He's not exactly been playing fair this entire time."
Natasha angrily grit her teeth and hissed, "then I'll go get her myself."
Fully standing to tower over her in her slightly crouched position, Fury snarled back at her, "no you will not!"
Narrowing her eyes, Natasha tilted her chin up and challenged, "try me."
The two stared at each other for a while, gauging the seriousness of the other. Natasha was certain that Fury knew that there was no way in heaven or hell that she was going to back down from this and that she was going to continue fighting the matter until she got what she wanted. Whether or not Fury would cave to her, she was not sure. Finally, however, he sighed heavily and sank back down into his chair and motioned for everyone to sit as well. Obediently, the group took their usual seats and leaned into the table to look at Fury. Natasha reluctantly sat as well, but did not take her gaze off of Fury. As everyone seated themselves, Fury stood and strode back to the head of the table and turned to look at everyone before quietly asking Natasha, "you're not going to let this go, are you?" He pulled his lips into a terse line as she vigorously shook his head. Sighing he said,
"Fine. We will create a mission for two of you to go to the last known location of Agent Hollis. There, you will track her down to the compound. If you can, you will get inside, retrieve her, and come back out. You will not do anything more or less than that. Understood?"
Natasha nodded vigorously and stood, but Fury quickly said, "you're not going alone, Agent Romanoff," turning to where Steve sat (not entirely focused on the conversation going on) he said, "Rogers. From what I remember reading in your file and hearing from Coulson over and over, you've actually had a bit of experience with retrieving lost soldiers behind enemy lines. I'd like to put you up to the task with Natasha."
Having not expected to be called on, Steve sat up rigidly in his seat. Of all the people in the group, he would have not figured that he would be chosen for this mission; after all it was no secret that he and Tegan would rather be on opposite ends of the world than in the same room. But Steve quickly understood that this was not a mission to bring his own personal feelings into, and he certainly wasn't going to wish the kind of fate that assuredly awaited Tegan should they not get her back upon anyone, even if that person would much rather stick an ice pick in his eye than be saved by him. Nodding stiffly he said with little amusement,
"Yeah, I've got a bit of 'experience', if you want to put it like that"
Tony, from the back of the table, snickered, but was cut off as Fury glared at him. With his gaze lingering on Tony for a minute, Fury sighed once more and said,
"Good. You and Natasha will have less than two hours to prepare. I want to see you both in the hangar at seven. Don't be late."
With that, everyone was dismissed. However, Steve and Natasha stayed behind as the room emptied. Relief shone in her eyes as she turned to Steve and said, "I know you don't like her, but we really need her."
Steve clenched his jaw and shook his head, "I don't think we really need her, but I'm not going to turn down a mission just because it's for someone that we all know would rather me not have anything to do with her rescue."
Natasha offered him a weak smile and a small thanks before leaving Steve completely alone in the dim room. He stood quietly wondering whether or not this mission, should it go through and be successful, would change things between him and Tegan.
Author's Notes: WELL. This update came a bit late...because I was totally distracted and had a hard time getting into this chapter. Not going to lie, it's kind of a filler, just setting up what's going to happen in the next couple of chapters. Thank you littledhampir13 for the reviews, and I think that it's totally cool that you reviewed the story twice ;D And you know what? I totally heard Achmed's voice in my head when I wrote that yesterday xD So you're not alone! Erikmed (because I like putting names together~) might end up breaking T's spirit, but we'll see won't we! And you're brave for threatening Fury (even playfully!) lol. And Melibells, thanks for the review (again c:), yes I'm a bit of a speed writer ;D Erik is a total creep, completely and totally. AND THAT'S THE WAY I LIKE IT! Tony having a change of heart towards Tegan? No. Lol. I made it so that their personalities clash the entire time because Tony bickering with anyone is fun. AMIRTE! I know I am. ANYWHOOOOO, thanks you guys for reviewing, and reading and adding to your alerts, chapter eight will come sometime tonight! :D
I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine.
Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Remember Everything)
