Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, The Avengers, or anything else that looks familiar.
A/N Thank you so much for all the favorites, follows, and reviews! There isn't much from Ryo's viewpoint in this chapter, but next chapter should have a lot from her.
~{I'm just a line break}~
Last chapter:
Ryo almost gave in- to Hydra or madness, she couldn't tell which- when a new plan came to mind. It had flaws just as the many others that she had already considered and rejected did, but it had potential and she had come to the point at which she didn't fear the pain that failure would surely bring.
Pepper, tell Tony Stark to trace this. Contact Agent Phil Coulson. Thanks.
It was a risky plan, yes. But the base was near inescapable and she was weaker by the day.
She could last a little longer, she had to. The fight wasn't done yet and she wasn't going to lose.
~{I'm just a line break}~
Tony snapped out of his shocked stupor first and was at his own computer- well, one of his own computers- and working to pinpoint information on the hacker by the time that Pepper snapped out of her own shock.
"That name sounds familiar," Tony muttered to himself as he worked, "but where have I heard it before?"
"Do you mean Phil Coulson? He was the SHIELD representative that was there that night that Obadiah . . ." Pepper trailed off uncomfortably at the memory of being attacked by Tony's former business partner.
"Oh, now I remember. I never would have guessed that the guy would have such a weird middle name, I mean it's bad enough to be named Agent, but to also have a name like Phil," Tony shuddered, "It's no wonder he works for SHIELD, he's probably trying to get into a witness protection program so he can get a new name."
Pepper sighed, was there anything that Stark didn't make a joke out of? "I'll go call Phil, while you work on tracing the hacker."
Tony agreed distractedly as he continued typing away at his computer, occasionally mumbling instructions for Jarvis.
Pepper resisted the urge to groan as she realized that her workday had just gotten a lot longer. She really needed a raise. Or an assistant. Or both.
~{I'm just a line break}~
Very little- and yet also very much- had happened at SHIELD headquarters since the night that the detainee known as Ryo Inari Noble was taken.
Agents came and went. Paperwork was filed as more paperwork piled up. A coffee machine was broken and replaced. An old man retired from the accounting department and a young secretary left on maternity leave. Business as usual for the large SHIELD office.
The weather grew even colder as December turned to January, and with the passing of days came an office Christmas party- as well as smaller Hanukkah and Kwanzaa celebrations- and end of year bonuses.
Throughout all of this normalcy, Agent Maria Hill was worried.
She was one of the few who sensed the changes, the strange disquiet that enveloped a small number of agents. She heard the whispers in the rumor mill about an entire team that was taken out for the sake of a single unknown prisoner. She sensed the disbelief and fear the story spread until a stern email from the Director himself reminded all employees about confidentiality and the possibility of demotions- or worse- for leaking information.
She saw the lingering frown lines on Phil Coulson's face until finally Director Fury sent Coulson to another base where he would be in charge of Project T.A.H.I.T.I.
She watched as new incidents took priority over the case of the hijacked prisoner, but the tension in the Director's posture remained as each day he was informed that there were no new leads.
Then Romanoff and Barton got back from their mission in Budapest and Agent Hill couldn't help but wonder if there had ever been another time that Romanoff had been so attached to an old assignment that it had been necessary to keep information from her for the sake of her recovery.
Maria was there with Director Fury when Romanoff had healed enough to hear what had been happening when she was gone, and- although she would later deny it- Natasha's cold fury had Maria looking at possible escape routes. If Barton hadn't been present to relieve some of the tension in the room and suggest other possible solutions for the investigation, Maria feared that Romanoff may have gone rogue that day, resorting to Red Room tactics to hunt for leads on the cold case.
And so the days continued in SHIELD headquarters- somewhat tense and somewhat tedious and somewhat discouraged- until a short phone call stirred everything and everyone into action.
"Director Fury, I was just contacted by Tony Stark. It seems that someone is trying to be found. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but I believe this may be a lead on the location of Ms. Noble."
~{I'm just a line break}~
Daryl Thomson squinted at the bright light of the room he awoke in. His head throbbed and he belatedly realized that there was a small amount of drool gathered at the corner of his mouth. He tried to move to wipe off the drool and blinked in confusion when he found that he had raised both of his hands to rub his face. No, that wasn't right, his hands were tied together.
He gasped in shock and the last webs of sleepiness disappeared- unfortunately the headache didn't follow suit and vanish- as he glanced around more carefully and found himself in a cell.
What am I doing here? He frantically wondered, trying to sort through his muddled memories.
With difficulty he stood- finding his ankles bound the same as his wrists in a rough rope- and made his way toward the cell door, uselessly jiggling the handle as if hoping it was left unlocked. It wasn't.
Daryl pulled against the ropes with all his might, but they wouldn't give. "Don't bother," a hoarse voice rasped. He looked up to discover a thin girl whose wrists were bound in the same rope. Although his view of her was obstructed by two sets of bars and a too bright hallway, he could see bruised eyes and bloody wrists. "I already tried," she said hollowly.
Daryl stared in horror at the girl's injuries: there were streaks of dried blood trailing from beneath the rope on her wrists and a similar broad patch of fresh blood and recent scabbing in a ring around each ankle. Her hands were streaked red and curled in loose fists, occasionally a drip of blood would fall from a fingertip, collecting on the floor next to her.
He realized that she had stopped talking to him- something about a hydra- and was looking at him expectantly. "What was that?" He questioned weakly, having been too busy gawking to listen.
"I was asking how much you remember. Your head was banged up pretty badly and I think you even snoozed through-" her voice suddenly cracked and the girl hesitated before saying, ". . . through earlier." At this her fists clenched a bit more and she winced in pain.
Daryl racked his brain. "I was on shift with Wilson. He got a call from maintenance that they locked their keys in a room. He sent me to deliver the boss's set, so that they could get their keys and then . . . I think I got lost. And now I'm here with you." He shifted uncomfortably at the piercing gaze the girl held on him. "Who exactly are you?"
The girl smirked and then she was laughing, an unhinged laugh that ended in wheezing coughs. She grinned at him and said, "I'm the one that knocked you out."
Daryl jerked away as if she had slapped him, but now the missing pieces were coming back to him. Trying to take a shortcut to maintenance so that he could get back to a card game with Wilson. Walking through a hallway he wasn't technically supposed to be in, passing many empty cells- his workplace was a bit sketchy, but it paid well and it wasn't like there was anyone in the cells he passed- and then he was pulled to the side by the collar of his shirt and his head was slammed into cold metal. And then there was darkness.
"Did you put me in here too," he exclaimed, gesturing wildly around the cell in anger with his bound hands.
The girl laughed again- and wasn't it strange that she was so easily amused- and denied having done any such thing.
"I don't believe you. After all, you did attack me!"
The girl's eyes narrowed. "Believe whatever you want, but I've already paid the price for what I did," at this she raised her fists and slowly uncurled them, Daryl's stomach twisted and he suddenly felt very queasy as he saw great red patches of clotted blood where her fingernails should be.
"W-why?" Daryl stuttered, staring in morbid fascination at the bloody hands. He wasn't certain he wanted the answer, but it was too late to take it back.
"Your Hydra friends were very angry, but I'm as indispensable as I am dangerous, so they recaptured me and brought me back here for a good old fashioned Hydra torture punishment. I don't want to get your hopes up for nothing, but you'll probably be fine," she finished with a crooked smile.
Daryl didn't know what to think. His head still pounded and the lights in the hallway burned his eyes and here was an injured young girl reassuring him that he would be fine. And here was a tiny teenager saying she was dangerous- which sounded absurd, and yet the throbbing in his head suggested that she was a little bit stronger than he would've given her credit for. And there was that word over and over again. Hydra.
"What do you mean, Hydra?" Daryl finally said.
The girl laughed again, a hollow hateful laugh, and Daryl distantly wondered if there was something secretly funny about his questions or if the girl was completely off her rocker.
Before he could get an answer from the strange girl, a group of three people came down the hallway and stopped in the hallway between his cell and hers. The first he recognized as Mr. Brown, his boss's boss, a large keyring hung on a belt loop and Daryl recognized it as the set of keys he had been entrusted with that had access to the whole building. The other two men flanked Mr. Brown and Daryl stared in shock at the firearms strapped to each of their legs.
"Ever the nuisance," Mr. Brown said, stepping menacingly towards the girl. A small part of Daryl's mind thought that he should do something- perhaps defend her- but a much larger part of his mind was too intimidated to do much more than stare. "Did you really think that this attempt would be any more effective than your last? That it wouldn't leave you broken and beaten?"
The girl smirked mockingly, "I may be bloodied and bruised, but I'm sure as hell not done fighting. I've escaped twice, what have you accomplished?"
Agent Brown bristled at the mention of his shortcomings as an interrogator. "You think you're so smart, girl. You didn't get anywhere near the exit. You'll never get out, unless you cooperate and I let you out. You can't win. Even if you had the opportunity to kill me, you wouldn't be able to, you'd hesitate. You're weak."
Daryl rather disagreed- although he didn't say so- he thought that despite her malnourished and dirty form, she looked like she was born to spill blood. A spark burned in her eyes and he wondered why Mr. Brown wasn't scared of being consumed by the imminent fire.
Mr. Brown turned and approached Daryl. "I have a few questions for you about your involvement with this . . . criminal's escape. Please come with me." He unlocked the cell door and one of the guards untied the rope around Daryl's ankles before grabbing his shoulder and guiding him down the hall.
A voice called out, "It was nice meeting you, Daryl Thomson." And Daryl turned back to see the strange girl grinning as she leaned against her cell's door. He felt the burn of his gaze on his back even after he turned the corner and knew that she could no longer actually see him, and he wondered how she knew his name, since he never introduced himself.
He told Mr. Brown his account of the events, nervously sweating at the thought of being fired or something worse.
Mr. Brown finally finished questioning him and told him that he would not face any formal punishment as long as he swore to secrecy and signed some legal paperwork. Daryl let out a sigh of relief, but a small part of him wondered about the legality of that girl's confinement, and he guiltily realized that he never caught her name.
"I have a question, Mr. Brown," Daryl suddenly interrupted, causing his boss to raise an eyebrow at him. "I-It's just something that girl mentioned a couple times. She talked about Hydra, and at first I didn't remember where I'd heard of it before, but then I remembered it from history classes and isn't it that old Nazi organization that was destroyed after-"
"Don't concern yourself with her mad ramblings," Mr. Brown interrupted smoothly. "Now, if that's all, I must be going. I'll send you with an escort back to your proper work area. Stay there and don't get into any more trouble, Mr. Thomson, or you won't like the results."
And with that Daryl's wrists were untied and he was free to return to work. At first he felt like he dodged a bullet, but the more he thought about it, the more the strange girl's bloody hands haunted him, and he felt as if she had taken the bullet for him.
That night Daryl Thomson dreamed about a strange girl on a beach whose face was framed in blood as she tried to wrestle with a hurricane. He wondered if she knew it was impossible for a single person to change nature. The harsh wind slowed and he saw the fire in her eyes again. He wondered if she was human, but the cuts and tear tracks on her face seemed to prove she was. He wondered why he had ever believed that a single being couldn't change the world. He wondered if he could change the world too, like the strange girl in his dream who fought a hurricane alone on a beach.
~{I'm just a line break}~
The Director's office in SHIELD headquarters was alive with action. Coulson was flown back to the base, since he was the one who had been contacted. With Coulson came Jasper Sitwell, a regular subordinate of Coulson's and a Hydra double agent, although most people didn't know about that second one. Tony Stark showed up six hours after Pepper's computer was first hacked with the location of the hacker- he had wanted to go there directly in his Iron Man suit, but Pepper had convinced him to collaborate with SHIELD. Agent Maria Hill was also present as she had been in charge of the depressingly short updates on the search for Ryo, and although no one knew for certain that it was Ryo who contacted Stark, the few people who knew her desperately hoped it was her.
Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton were surprisingly not present in the office. As good of an agent as Romanoff was, Director Fury was still worried about any remaining injuries from her mission in Budapest. Besides, Romanoff's best trait as an agent was her ability to infiltrate and manipulate, so he really didn't want her to meet Stark casually when he was already considering sending her to keep an eye on the eccentric billionaire.
Stark delivered his findings directly to Agent Coulson, and Coulson edited the information to remove the typical Stark snark before presenting the report to the assembled group.
"The hacker was located at this abandoned military base in Maine six hours ago," Coulson said, gesturing to the map displayed on the large presentation screen. "The base was decommissioned twenty-five years ago, and our initial investigations of the site have not revealed any signs of activity. The building is fifteen stories aboveground and two levels in the basement. The team I sent there has not entered the building yet, but have reported that there are no vehicles present or lighted rooms visible. The first floor windows and doors are barricaded, but that may have been done to deter trespassers."
"We should widen the search area," Agent Sitwell suggested, "the hacker may have been there six hours ago, but they could be past Boston by now even if they were driving slowly."
Agent Hill frowned, wasn't Sitwell informed of the situation? "The hacker asked to be found. I doubt they went anywhere."
"And what if this is a trap? Do you really think that this Ryo girl knew that Agent Coulson had been in contact with Mr. Stark?"
"Ryo demonstrated on multiple occasions that she knew things she shouldn't, it wouldn't be a stretch to presume that she knew that," Hill shot back, annoyance creeping into her voice.
Coulson stepped between them, trying to diffuse the tension between the two agents. "Regardless of who it was, they asked for help. Isn't it our job as SHIELD agents to offer help even if it is a ploy?"
"This needs to be planned carefully," Director fury added, "we don't know enough about the situation to go waltzing in blindly."
Finally Stark spoke up from his chair, so quiet that the agents had almost forgotten his presence. "So this is SHIELD, billions of dollars at your disposal, and too afraid to do what it takes until after all the paperwork is in order and dozens of countermeasures are prepared."
"You have a problem, Stark?" The Director questioned coldly. "Because we don't need your help to expand the search area and plan a deeper investigation."
The two men glared at each other for a moment, before Tony smirked carelessly. "Oh good, then you won't get my help. Less work for me, I already have an interview scheduled anyways." He stood and left the room before anyone could try to stop him.
Fury cursed under his breath. "Coulson, make sure that Stark doesn't snoop around on his way out. Hill, expand the search perimeter and tell the team at the base to draw back for the moment. Sitwell . . . go deal with paperwork or whatever Coulson normally has you do."
The three agents recognized the dismissal for what it was and quickly filed out of the office. Coulson raced down the hall where Stark had left, and Hill already had her phone out to call the team at the base.
Sitwell ducked into an alcove and called his Hydra superior. "Urgent mission report, the Maine base has been compromised. It is being watched from ground level. Destroy sensitive materials and prepare for possible seizure and apprehension."
~{TBC}~