Arianna turned, quickly taking a defensive position by the door. "Sir, do you need backup?" She called into her coms, and Fury replied: "Stay where you are agent, and do what you need to do to get that engine back on."
"Roger, that." She replied just as she spotted movement from down the corridor. Arianna whipped out her gun and opened fire, hitting each target as she called to the other two: "We've got incoming."
The hostile forces took cover around a corner and began to shoot back at her. Arianna ducked behind the doorway, and fired back when she could. Steve saw her and yelled above the wind: "Need a hand?" "Under control." She shouted back just as something came rolling in by her foot.
"Grenade!" She shouted in warning as she backed away quickly right as it exploded. Arianna was flung off the side, falling off the open walkway as Steve yelled: "Ria!" But he breathed a sigh of relief as she grabbed hold of the edge, hoisting herself up quickly just as the hostiles arrived. One began to fire at her as another threw another grenade at the engine.
Arianna avoided the gunner as she leapt up, while Steve jumped across to hit the grenade away, causing it to fall and explode harmlessly a few feet below the helicarrier. He jumped on the grenade-thrower as Arianna kicked the other hostile before reaching into the many hidden pockets on her suit. She grabbed a knife and stabbed the hostile just as Steve threw his opponent off the helicarrier.
The pair looked up as more hostiles appeared down the corridor and began to fire at them. Arianna threw her knife at him, hitting one right in the chest, before the pair ducked back behind the doorway. "You need to get back to that lever." Arianna told Steve as she pulled out another knife.
He glanced at it and then at her as he asked seriously: "Can you handle it?" "Yes." She replied firmly. He nodded and jumped back to the lever as Arianna waited for the break between the gunfire to throw the knife, once again hitting her target.
Suddenly the whole helicarrier jerked, shuddered, and then began to tilt. Arianna grabbed the railings as she threated to fall, and she realized what must've happened Sitwell confirmed as he called: "Sir, we've lost all power in Engine 1."
Fury growled: "It's Barton. He took out our systems. He's headed for the detention level. Does anybody copy?" Arianna hesitated, wondering if she should go or stay. But Nat replied: "This is Agent Romanoff. I copy."
Arianna grimly threw another knife as Fury called urgently: "Stark, we're losing altitude." "Yeah. Noticed." Tony replied grimly. Another grenade came flying in and Arianna kicked it, but unfortunately, the helicarrier lurched at that timing.
Arianna lost her balance and went tumbling while the grenade went flying towards Steve, who punched it away but it still exploded a little too close. He went flying backwards, barely managing to stay aboard as he clung to a loose cable.
"Steve?" Arianna cried in alarm, and he grunted back: "Next time, don't kick it!" "What else was I supposed to do?" Arianna demanded as she hauled herself up in time to throw a knife as one of the hostiles ran out into the engine port. Steve began to haul himself up as more hostiles crowded out onto the walkway with Arianna.
Arianna twisted as they began to fire at her and Steve, avoiding the bullets as she slid between the gunners. She kicked one in the leg, tripping him up as she flipped herself up. She grabbed another one's gun as he turned to her, using her leverage to twist him so that she could punch him.
The third one tried to shoot her, but she twisted so that the bullets hit the man's comrades before she threw a knife over the now dead man's head and her gunman. The last two men turned away from firing at Steve and to Arianna, and she stabbed a knife into one as Tony called: "Cap, I need the lever."
"I need a minute here!" Steve yelled as he hauled himself onto the catwalk, and Tony said sharply: "Lever. Now!" Arianna whacked the last man, kneeing him in the groin and then slamming his head into her knee. "Uh, oh." Tony muttered, and Arianna's heart dropped. She whipped around as Steve hit the lever.
Arianna called desperately: "Tony? Tony?!" There was no response and then the Iron Man suit came flying in, crashing through the doorway as one last hostile tried to sneak up on Arianna. Tony rammed into the man, knocking him down.
Tony dropped his head, also unmoving as he lay down, drained. Arianna sat down, as Steve sank down by the lever, both exhausted. They froze as Fury called over the coms, and Arianna's heart stopped: "Agent Coulson is down."
Morning of May 2, 2012
Arianna sat numbly at the conference table in the briefing room. Tony and Steve sat with her, both in the same state of shock. Agent Coulson is down. It had been the four words that had haunted her the most, the four words she'd hoped never to hear.
What was worse was that there was that Phil had died for very little to be gained. Loki had managed to escape, and both Thor and the Hulk had gone missing after they had each fallen out of the helicarrier during the battle. Tony's suit was severely damaged and the helicarrier itself was barely able to stay in the air, let alone find Loki.
If there was one small consolation, it was that Clint was back. Nat had managed to knock him hard on the head, bringing him back to his senses. He was currently in the medical bay, and Nat was with him but Arianna had been unable to move after the news of Coulson's death.
Eventually both Steve and Tony had had to escort her to the bridge, which was how the trio ended up sitting silently at the table, Tony unable even to face the others as he sat with his back to the others. Fury stood quietly at the head of the table, trying to find the right words.
"Phil Coulson was a good man." Fury said quietly at last, and Arianna got up, walking out, unable to listen. When she was gone, Fury told Steve quietly: "These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them." He tossed a deck of bloodied Captain America trading cards, and Steve slowly picked one up as Fury sighed.
"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye." Fury informed them. "Maybe I had that coming." He finally admitted: "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract."
He added as he walked over: "I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier." He nodded at Tony as he explained: There was an idea, Stark knows this, called 'The Avengers Initiative'. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more."
He paced around the pair as he continued: "See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."
Tony got up, unable to listen to any more and he walked out as well. Fury finished quietly: "Well, it's an old fashioned notion." That hit Steve hard, and finally he got up and left as well, leaving Fury to dwell in silence.
Arianna slowly made her way into the medical room, and she paused at the doors. Nat and Clint looked up immediately, sensing a new presence, and their faces softened. Nat stood up, taking the younger woman into her arms in a tight hug as Clint slowly stood up from his cot.
Arianna peered at him over Nat's shoulder and as the Russian assassin let her go she walked over to Clint. He looked at her uncertainly, but Arianna didn't hesitate as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her head into Clint's chest. He hugged her tightly as she clung to him, her eyes squeezed shut as she breathed shakily.
She was so happy he was back, but she could feel him trembling slightly and knew he was feeling extremely guilty about what he had done while under Loki's spell. It was always hard- dealing with death became easier the more they worked on the job but killing innocents was another story.
"I'm glad you're back, Clint." Arianna murmured, and Clint chuckled although his voice cracked a little. "Good to be back, Ria." He said softly. Arianna gestured to his hand as she added: "Sorry about the…" "Nah, you were doing your job. I should rather say good shot." He teased half-heartedly.
They stood for a moment longer in silence before Clint finally pulled back a little, examining her face intently. "It's okay to cry, you know." He said abruptly and Arianna shook her head. "I don't see you or Nat crying, and Phil meant as much to you as he did to me." She pointed out, and Nat's face fell. Clint's became soft as he sighed and sat back down on his cot, pulling Arianna with him.
He gestured at Nat to join him and she sat beside him. Clint wrapped an arm around her as well as he kissed the top of Arianna's head, and he sighed. "I just can't believe he's gone. And that I didn't get to see him before he went." Clint told them, broaching the subject first.
Nat's fists clenched while Arianna hung her head. Clint continued: "He brought me in, and then he seconded my call in bringing Tasha in, and then he and I brought Ria in. He was really the mastermind behind putting the team together when you think about it."
"STRIKE team DELTA." Arianna muttered as Nat nodded. Clint added softly, trying to joke even as his voice cracked again: "The best team." The tears were burning behind Arianna's eyes but they wouldn't come. She sighed a little and Clint hugged her as he murmured softly: "Ria, I'm serious. You can cry- and quite frankly, I think it'll do you better."
"I can't." Arianna's voice cracked. "It's the curse of being a trained spy, isn't it? One of the best men in history died this morning. And I can't even cry for him. It's that hard-wired into me now. Crying is a weakness, and we can't have that." Nat hung her head while Clint squeezed her harder.
Arianna examined her hands, running her fingers across the callouses on her palms from all of her training and missions. She finally muttered: "Sometimes, I really hate myself. He died…" she swallowed, "he's dead, and I can't even bring myself to cry for him." Clint sighed as Nat examined the floor.
They'd all felt the same way at some point, and knew from experience there was no words that could comfort or ease those feelings. Because no matter what people said, it didn't change the facts. At the end of the day, they were killers, people trained to take lives.
The trio sat in silence for a long time, before Clint finally spoke: "Nat and I are going to go after Loki." Arianna looked at them sharply, her eyes dark and calculating. Nat met her gaze evenly as Clint asked quietly: "What will you do?"
Arianna examined the pair as she murmured: "We're not soldiers. We're spies." Nat almost snorted- of course Clint's student would say the same thing he had- and Arianna noticed. She raised her brow and sighed: "So, you've thought of that."
Clint watched carefully as the youngest member of DELTA became pensive, before she admitted: "I think I would feel better if I could stick a knife in Loki's eye." This time Nat did snort, and Clint joined her. Arianna looked at them questioningly and Nat explained, sounding a tad amused: "Clint said almost the same thing. You two really are a pair."
Arianna's lips curved into a small smile at that, and Clint squeezed both of his girls once more before he stood up. "Well, I won't be doing anyone any good like this." He gestured down at his rather beaten-up attire. He moved towards the bathroom but paused.
Turning back he crouched before his two girls, and looked at them each as he said seriously: "I know there are things you two regret. Phil's death will be a thing for all of us to deal with. But just remember- Phil was proud of you two. I know, because I am. I'm proud of you two, and the people you've become despite the circumstances."
Nat nodded while Arianna bowed her head. Clint leaned in to kiss both of them on the tops of their heads, ruffling Arianna's hair a little as he moved to the bathroom to clean up. Nat watched the younger agent as she clenched her fists, and she took the girl's hand in her own.
Arianna turned to her with eyes shining with tears, and Nat murmured: "Should I go kick Clint's butt again for making you cry?" Arianna laughed, even though her voice was thick with tears as she said: "Black Widow's comforting me? There must be something wrong with the world today."
Nat cracked a smile, and Arianna just sighed. She buried her face on Nat's shoulder, and the redhead held her as Arianna took comfort in the warmth of her embrace. The tears didn't fall, but Nat didn't comment as they just sat there and shared the sorrow of losing a good man.
The pair glanced up when the door to the medical bay opened, and Arianna was surprised to see Steve standing there fully dressed in his Captain America suit. She stood up as he said firmly: "Time to go."
"Go where?" Nat asked from where she was still sitting on Clint's cot. Steve replied seriously: "I'll tell you on the way." He turned to Arianna as he asked: "Can you fly one of those jets for us?"
"I'll do it." Clint replied as he walked out of the bathroom. Steve glanced at the other man, and then looked questioningly at the women. Both nodded once to show Clint was back on their side, and Steve didn't question it further. He asked Clint: "You got a suit?"
Clint jerked his head once and Steve ordered them: "Then suit up." DELTA exchanged looks before they immediately moved into action, each separating to get ready for battle. Clint moved to the men's locker rooms for his SHIELD suit and to collect his bow and unique arrows.
Nat moved to get her weapons and gear from the weapons room, while Arianna went to her locker to fetch all her knives. She slid each one into its place on her suit, meticulously checking them again to ensure they were still sharp. They had never once not been, but she knew it was best to be safer than sorry. Her life would depend on it.
She slammed the locker shut, when she suddenly felt a presence by the door. She turned sharply, pulling knife out only to relax as she saw it was only Steve. He raised his hands in surrender, his brow raised in amusement as she lowered her throwing arm with a sigh.
"Steve," she muttered, "you scared me." "Sorry, didn't mean to sneak up on a SHIELD agent." He joked half-heartedly and she pointed out: "What're you doing here? In case you didn't notice the sign, it's a women's locker room."
He shrugged as he pointed out: "The door was open so I knew you couldn't be changing. Besides, I wanted to talk to you." Her brow rose at that, and she walked over casually as she asked: "Oh? And what can I do to help you, Captain?"
"Ria." He said seriously and her brows furrowed as she examined him. He was looking at her intently and he said abruptly: "Sorry."
"About what?" Arianna asked, still confused, and Steve clarified: "About earlier. I shouldn't have accused you or mistrusted you so easily. You were right- if you'd known about the Hydra weapons, you wouldn't have followed me or pointed out the crates in the first place."
She finally understood and Arianna shrugged. "It's okay, there's nothing to apologize for or forgive." She told him. He frowned, confused, and she explained: "It's natural. I'm a spy, I work at SHIELD, it was natural you'd think I was in on the plan. Sure, I was mad at the time, but I don't blame you for accusing me."
He continued to frown, and as she made to walk out, he blocked the door. She looked at him, startled, as he demanded: "What do you mean 'natural'?" Arianna frowned as well as she pointed out: "Like I said, I'm a spy. We're not exactly trustworthy, so you don't have to apologize."
"Is that what you think? Ria, it's no excuse. I was wrong no matter if you're a spy or not." Steve retorted and Arianna pointed out: "You wouldn't have accused me if I wasn't a spy."
"I probably would have." He admitted. "It was the scepter's spell at work when I got angry, but I shouldn't have gotten angry at an innocent person." "I'm not an innocent person." Arianna replied flatly, the word rubbing her the wrong way. He blinked, surprised and then concerned as she added: "I'm not a good person, and don't forget that."
She made to leave again and he blocked her path once more, frowning at her. "What makes you think you're not a good person?" He asked her quietly and she snorted incredulously. "Did you not see my file? I'm a killer, in case you missed that." Arianna told him impassively.
Steve frowned as he corrected her: "No, you're a spy." "Who kills people." She pointed out, and he countered: "Bad people."
"They're still people." She snarled and he retorted: "I know that. But if you're a killer for that, then so am I. I've killed more people than I can count during the war, and even today I've as good as murdered people."
She fell silent as he said softly: "It's not easy, and you have to live with that. But if it saves thousands of others then I can live with my own hands being bloodied. Because it's like you said." She looked at him, and his blue eyes seemed to pierce her soul as he repeated her words back to her: "You saved countless more."
She pursed her lips, wrinkling her nose a little, before she nodded slowly. He could see she wasn't entirely convinced, but it was a start that he'd got through to her as she had done for him. She was looking at him thoughtfully and then said something very unexpected.
"I can see why Phil admired you. Underneath all that," she gestured at his stars and spangles outfit, "you're just a regular guy with a good heart, aren't you?" He blinked, stunned but she was too deep in thought to notice as she walked past at last.
"It's what he always looked for, you know." Arianna continued. "A good heart. Maybe that's what Phil saw in you more than anything. It would explain his obsession a lot more." Steve stared at her as she walked down the corridor, and she paused to look back, realizing he wasn't following.
She looked at him curiously as she called: "Steve? You coming?" He shook himself out of his stupor and quickly strode up, passing her as he strode towards the hanger. "You know, Ria." He said as she followed and she glanced at him. "You're really something."
She frowned as she asked slowly: "Are you making fun of me?" "Who knows?" He called back and her eyes narrowed. Nat joined them, looking at the pair curiously as they reached the hanger doors, and Arianna was forced to let it go as Clint soon followed.
She focused back on the present situation, Steve doing the same as he gave them all a brief check and then nodded. "Let's go." He ordered and the four strode into the hanger, their faces grim.
As they strode into an open jet, the agent who'd been checking its systems said to them nervously: "You guys aren't authorized to be in here-" "Son," Steve interrupted, "just don't." The agent took one nervous look at Captain America, and then at STRIKE team DELTA behind him, and he nodded backing away and out of the jet.
Clint quickly moved into the pilot seat, checking all flight systems as Arianna moved around the jet to make sure it was safe and fully functional. "All systems clear." She called when she was done, and she moved to sit in the seat beside Clint as he affirmed: "Systems ready. Prepare for takeoff."
Steve and Nat took their places, Nat at seat by the scanners on the side of the jet and Steve gripping on to the handle behind Arianna. "And we're off." Clint said grimly as he lifted them off. As he made his way to the hanger doors, Tony's suit flew by and he called to them through the comms: "I'll go on ahead."
"Right behind you." Clint replied, and Arianna called sharply: "Be careful, Tony." "Roger, that." He replied, sounding a tad sarcastic as he shot on ahead with a loud screech. She muttered: "Even in a beat-up suit, he's got to be cocky." Clint didn't respond, but Steve leaned down and squeezed her shoulder again as he said firmly: "He'll be fine. He knows what he's doing."
She nodded grimly as they flew off to fight a Norse God and his army of alien soldiers. Now there's something you don't get to say every day. Arianna thought wryly as she channeled her inner Tony.
