Relax, this is the only OC-centered chapter this time.

Sunday, September 4th, 2011

"It's all over Johnny!" One of the police officers shouted. "Come out with your hands up!"

"Nah," Johnny called out from the shack he was holding up in. "I don't really think I want to!"

"Come on, Johnny!" The officer continued to try to reason with him. "The only way you're getting out of here alive is if you surrender now! The Bureau is willing to make a deal! You give up your suppliers, you get off with twenty-five to life! Considering what you're facing, that's a pretty good deal!"

"Yeah, that is a good deal." The officer's face lifted for just the briefest of moments. "I'd consider it if the Bureau wasn't filled with some of the vilest, low-life, bottom-feeding scum that ever walked the face of the Earth! Tell them they can kiss my ass!" The officer let out a sigh of aggravation.

"I'm warning you, Johnny," he called back. "You ain't leaving us with much of a choice."

"You ain't leaving me with much of a choice here either," Johnny called back. "That's why I'm going to give you to the count of five to get your louse-ridden, yellow-bellied carcasses out of here before I start shredding them apart with bullets."

"Heh," One of the cops scoffed. "He's bluffing."

"Johnny, if you'd just come out and put down the gun…"

"One… Five!" Immediately the sound of machine gun fire erupted from the surround sound speakers. Lara watched as cop after cop was felled by the power of Johnny and his Tommy Gun. She had no idea why Tony had the entire Angels With Filthy Souls trilogy on DVD, but she was grateful for it. Otherwise, she'd have nothing to keep her entertained until he got back.

After showering and taking her nap (which lasted until about three in the morning) Lara wasn't left with much to do. After all, her one and only job were to monitor the building's power levels and call Tony if something went drastically wrong. All she was essentially doing was babysitting his penthouse and as fabulous as that sounded, it was still a very boring job. Though, she should consider that a good thing. Nothing had happened so far and it was looking like this whole ordeal was just going to be smooth sailing over calm seas.

That was until JARVIS had to speak up.

"Miss Conroy," the AI said while automatically lowering the volume of the television. "I'd hate to interrupt, but an agent from S.H.I.E.L.D. is trying to gain access to Mr. Stark's private elevator." Lara's brow furrowed.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.?" she questioned. "Coulson?"

"No," JARVIS said. "I am running facial scans to try and identify the individual, but they are wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform."

"Did Tony send them?" Lara asked.

"No," JARVIS said. "I have tried to inform Mr. Stark of this, but he has not looked at his phone."

"Ugh," Lara groaned as she got up. "Of course, he hasn't. Alright, I'll go see what's going on. Just let me straighten myself out." Just as she reached for the remote, the movie got to the best part. She couldn't help but mouth along.

"How's that deal now, you filthy animal?" With that, Johnny fired one last round into the cop.

Going down in the elevator, Lara finished tying up her braid. She honestly didn't think this was going to be that big of a deal. Most likely, Tony had forgotten something and had sent someone to get it for him. A simple explanation for a complete non-issue. At least, that's what she thought.

When the elevator came to a stop, Lara was stunned. The doors opened, revealing the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to be trying to rip the control panel for the elevator off the wall.

"Um, excuse me?" The agent instantly halted in his movements. "What the hell are you doing?" Turning to face her, Lara was suddenly taken aback by something about his appearance. He was an African American man, but his eyes were a stunning shade of crystal blue. Lara tried not to stare too much, assuming it to be a genetic anomaly.

"Ma'am," the agent said. "Would you please step aside?"

"No," Lara said. "I work for Mr. Stark and I'm not going to step aside until you identify yourself and state your intentions."

"That wasn't a question," the agent's voice was deep and firm. "Step aside."

"I'm sorry," Lara said. "Were you sent by Mr. Stark or an Agent Coulson? Because unless you were sent by either one of them…" She was cut off by a swift punch to her jaw and she would have fallen back if she didn't already have her hand braced against the elevator door to keep it from shutting. Her other hand flew to her jaw as she slowly looked up. "Wha-" She cut herself off when she saw that he was gearing up to throw another punch. Leaning forward and ducking down, Lara managed to avoid that blow and sent a counterpunch directly to her attacker's stomach. The man briefly gripped his side but seemed unphased as he tried to throw another punch. Lara dodged that one as well and countered by using all her strength to push him back as far as she could. By some miracle, she managed to make it far enough to buy her some time to hit the button to close the elevator doors.

Breathing heavily – mostly from the shock and anxiety of the whole situation – Lara stuck the electronic key Tony had given her into the designated slot and waited for the elevator to lurch upwards. It was only then that she allowed herself to walk over to the far wall and collapse.

"What the fuck?"

Knowing that she needed to inform Tony of this ASAP, Lara pulled her phone out of her back pocket and began texting as fast as she could.

Me: 911 Suss POI ST

It was a very drastic understatement of the situation, but it got the point across. Though, she knew that Tony probably wouldn't understand the slang she used. So, just to be on the safe side, she called as well. However, she found she could not get through as when she dialed his number, she just got a busy signal in response.

"Damn it," she cursed as the elevator doors opened back up. Getting to her feet, Lara sprinted back into the penthouse. "JARVIS!" she called out. "JARVIS, can you block the elevator so that way no one can access it?"

"The elevator already has that function built in," JARVIS said dryly. "I believe that's why Mr. Stark gave you a key."

"Whatever," Lara said. "That's not what I meant. Can you cut off the power to the elevator without messing up the building's whole set-up?"

"Already done." Lara turned around to see that the elevator doors hadn't closed and the lights were off. "I've also notified Tobias Wallace and the New York Police Department."

"Okay, good," she breathed. "That's good. Have you been able to reach Tony?"

"Unfortunately, no," JARVIS said. "I believe S.H.I.E.L.D. is jamming his cellular phone's signal. I will be unable to inform him of the situation until he either leaves or puts on the Iron Man armor."

"Ah," Lara said. "Shouldn't be surprised. I'm assuming you have access to all of the building's security cameras?"

"Indeed, I do," JARVIS confirmed.

"Can you put the live video feeds from in front of the private elevator and the lobby on the TV, please?" Lara asked.

"Certainly." The television then changed from an image of Johnny smiling insanely as he killed the last police officer, to one of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent once again trying to rip the elevator's control panel off the wall. About four other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that Lara could see had joined him as well, likely having come out of the woodworks while Lara was being attacked. She was twice as grateful that she hit the button for the doors when she did.

For several minutes, Lara watched as the company of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents tried desperately to get the elevator to work. They could always just take the stairs, but it was 49 floors up to the main penthouse floor and it was less feasible to try to invade via that route. Just to be safe, though, Lara locked the access doors to the stairs.

Lara tried getting ahold of Tony once again, but still, all she got was a busy signal. She tried calling Pepper next, but her phone rang several times before going to voicemail. She then tried Steve, hoping that he was with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Tony as well so that he could pass on the message, but no dice. She thought about calling either Tony's bodyguard Happy Hogan or his best friend, Col. James Rhodes, but both were on the other side of the country and were unlikely to be of any help. Finally, Lara called 911, just to make sure they were on their way. That ended up being the most productive phone call as the police needed details that JARVIS just couldn't give them, such as identifying marks, the attackers' demeanor, and what exactly they were capable of. Lara assumed a lot given how painful that punch to the face was.

While Lara talked to the police on the phone, she saw the building's head of security, Tobias Wallace, walk up to the suspicious individuals. Wallace had his back to the camera, so she couldn't see what he was saying, but she assumed he asked them to leave. Lara felt her gut twist unpleasantly. Although the agent that attacked her wasn't armed, his buddies clearly were, and she couldn't help but worry about what they might do. Still, they seemed compliant enough, so much so that Lara eventually relaxed and sent Tony another text.

Me: Never mind. Wallace has it under control. ALL CLEAR.

She'd later come to regret that text.

At first, the intruders resisted only with words. By Lara's guess, they were demanding Wallace to get the elevators operational for them. Likely, Wallace refused, and he was struck on the back of the head with the butt of one of the agents' rifles. The blow didn't knock him unconscious, but it clearly took a lot out of him as his left hand went to protect the spot that had been hit while his right hand supported him as he leaned over in a kneeling position. Lara narrated the events to the 911 operator, who put in a request for an ambulance along with the police back-up, which according to the operator, should arrive momentarily. That ended up being too long.

Again, the agents demanded him to open the elevator and again Wallace must have refused to do so as another one of the agents delivered a swift, hard kick to his ribs, causing Wallace to fall over and roll onto his back. At that point, the agent that attacked Lara pulled a Sig Saur out of the holster at his side, cocked it, and pointed it directly at Wallace's head. Once again, a demand was made to open the elevator. Once again, Wallace refused. With a bright flash from the gun's muzzle and a small explosion of blood from the top of Wallace's head, his life was ended. It took everything Lara had in her not to scream directly into the phone. Instead, she just fell back on what she learned in training for these kinds of situations with the Secret Service; remain calm and focus on the objective.

"We have a man down," Lara reported to the operator. "Mid 50's male shot once in the head."

"Are you sure?" The operator asked. "I didn't hear any gunshots."

"Yes ma'am," she said. "I just saw it happen on live security footage."

"Is he responsive?"

"I'm not sure," Lara reluctantly admitted. "As I said, I'm watching this on a live feed. I can't confirm that without putting myself at risk. I would think not, though, given the location of the wound and the angle of the shot."

"Okay," the operator said. "Police are entering the building now, they should be with you in a moment." Lara doubted that, but she still gave a polite ", okay, thank you, ma'am." "Now you said these people are armed with guns and shields?"

"No," Lara said. "They don't have shields. The work for an agency called S.H.I.E.L.D. or are at least wearing their uniforms. They do have handguns and rifles, though."

"Got it."

Lara watched the screen as the first officers walked through the lobby's doors with guns drawn. She bit her lip and watched uncomfortably as they walked into what was sure to be their certain doom. Even though she had warned the 911 operator of the seriousness of the situation, there had clearly been a breakdown in communications somewhere because as far as she could tell, none of the officers were wearing tactical gear or even a single trace of Kevlar. They were very unprepared to fall into the trap that had been set up for them.

It seemed that the agents had seen the cops coming from a mile away. While two of them worked to re-wire the elevator to get it to work (as they successfully managed to get the control panel off the wall) and a third stood guard, the remaining two set forth down the hall to greet their incoming guests. Lara watched with bated breath as they walked out of frame. She knew with great certainty what was going to come next; an ambush.

"Two of the agents just walked out of frame," she said. "I'm not sure where they went, but I think they might know that the police are here."

"Okay," the operator said. "I'll let them know."

"Let them know fast," Lara urged. "It's very much possible that they're trying to set up an ambush."

"Okay." Lara pinched the bridge of her nose. Maybe calling 911 wasn't as productive as she originally thought.

"I need to put down the phone for a second," she said. "I won't hang up, I'm just going to ask someone something really quick." She didn't wait for the operator's response as she turned off speakerphone and set the device down on the table in front of her. Taking a deep breath to collect herself, she turned her gaze upwards at the unseen being. "JARVIS, what is the fastest escape route barring the elevator?"

"Any of the three stairwells would suffice," the AI explained. "But I would recommend the emergency stairwell in the south-west corner of the building. It is reinforced with steel and was built to withstand a potential explosion or building collapse. The access doors to each floor are also bullet-resistant."

"Thank you," Lara said as she got up and ran to the kitchen. "I don't think it's a good idea to stay here."

"I would have to agree with that conclusion." Lara nodded as she grabbed a knife from one of the kitchen drawers. It wasn't deathly sharp and probably wouldn't do much against an AK-47, but it would work in a pinch if she needed it to.

"I just have one more question to ask," she said. "Where does Tony keep his belts?"

Securing the belt as tightly as she could around the metal brace at the door, Lara once hoped to all dear goodness it would hold up if someone tried to enter through one of the other two stairwells. It was an easy and effective way to barricade a door in the event of an active shooter, so she had to assume that it could withstand some stress. Just in case, though, she made sure for the eighth time that the door was locked and pushed another table against it just to be sure. She knew that to escape, the door to the emergency stairwell wasn't going to be reinforced, but JARVIS promised to lock it once she left, so she had to hope that bare minimum of protection was enough.

Hopping down from the table top, Lara grabbed her purse and the handful of belts she had grabbed from Tony's room. It was a long way down and there was no telling whether she'd be able to make it all the way down without any issues. If she got cornered by these guys, she wanted to have an easy way to deny them access to her location and find an alternate escape route. Though, she doubted there'd be many of those, especially on the higher levels.

Stuffing the belts into her purse and reaching back to feel if the knife was still in her back pocket, Lara felt confident she was prepared enough. The only thing she was missing was her cell phone, which she quickly retrieved from where she left it on the table in the living area. Tapping the screen, she wasn't surprised to see that 911 had hung up on her. She wasn't too angry about it as a huge emergency response was amassing outside and there were likely gunshots heard after the police squadron was likely ambushed by those two agents, resulting in several people calling 911 and them needing to free up the line, but still, hanging up on someone was probably the last thing you should do as a 911 operator. Shrugging that aside for the moment, Lara opened her phone and sent another text message to Tony.

Me: I really hope you're getting this Tony because if S.H.I.E.L.D. is jamming this, too, I don't know what I can do. I MADE A MISTAKE! THREAT IS NOT CLEAR! THREAT LEVEL MIDNIGHT! Intruders still in the building wearing S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms. Evacuating now. Please be safe and stay safe!

She quickly followed it up with a text message to Coulson.

Me: Phil, I don't know what is going on here or why S.H.I.E.L.D. called Tony in, but we have people in S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms attacking and killing police and civilians. It's only sheer luck that I'm alive right now. Care to tell me what's going on or is this another Hilary Clinton situation?

With that, she slid her phone back into her purse and began making her way to the emergency stairwell. However, it was too late. As soon as she opened the door, Lara heard footsteps and several voices trying to whisper as quietly as possible. Before she could even make out what they were saying or who they were, she shut the door without letting it make a sound.

Crap, she exclaimed in her head. I took too long! Should have known there'd be two teams! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

Despite not knowing how many of them there were or how close they were, Lara instantly made the decision to fully barricade herself in the penthouse. After all, if she couldn't evacuate without avoiding the potential threat, her best bet was to deny them access to her location. Locking the door, she grabbed another one of the belts from her purse and wrapped it around the metal brace. There were no tables nearby that she could use to barricade the door. The best she could do was grab a chair from another room and try to prop it underneath the door. As she did that, though, she could hear someone on the other side trying (and failing) to turn the knob.

Feeling all the air leave her lungs at once, Lara took a few steps back and momentarily froze up. An unknown number of highly-trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agents against one former Secret Service agent who already had pain in her abdomen flaring up from where her bullet wound scar was. The odds weren't in her favor. She only snapped out of it when she remembered that her best chance to survive was to deny them access to her location. Taking a deep breath, she sprinted down the hall and ran into the first room she saw.

The room ended up being a small closet and when she said small, she really meant small. It probably had a total square area of one foot. She had plenty of room, though, but there was no lock on the door. She'd leave and find another room to hide in, but now really wasn't the time to play musical chairs. She slipped another belt around the door's handle and pulled on it tightly. If someone came in, she'd have only her brute strength to rely on to keep her safe, but she figured no matter what, she'd be toast if anyone discovered her location.

Pulling out her phone, Lara sent one last text to Tony before shutting it off.

Me: Evac not possible. Standing my ground.

Taking a deep breath, Lara tried to reassure herself that she'd be fine and that help was most likely on the way. What she didn't know was that Tony wouldn't get her text messages until a full hour later, and when JARVIS tried to notify him of the situation, he got ignored as Tony had the bigger issue of keeping a hellicarier from falling out of the sky to deal with. Help wasn't coming for a while.

Thank you to mfaerie32 on FFN for the review and to Illegirlsus, mammal, and the guest who left kudos on AO3!

Hopefully, this wasn't too filler-y for you. A thing that always bothered me about the movie was that S.H.I.E.L.D. easily could have warned the public that there was an attack imminent and started evacuating Midtown well before the battle happened, but they didn't. I guess maybe they didn't want to alarm Loki, but still, you're playing with civilian lives there. Also, before anyone says "well, what were they going to tell the public? A crazy god was about to launch an alien invasion force upon them? They'd never believe it!" I'd like to inform you that there's this little thing called "lying." They easily could have lied and said it was a threatened attack by Al-Qaeda or the Taliban or some other terrorist group just to get the people up and moving and then fully disclose what happened later. It's not that hard.

Remember kids, I still want that Angels With Filthy Souls movie! Give it to me FOX!

Originally uploaded to FFN on 1/3/19.