Chapter 20.
As it turns out, the shit hit the fan before Fury could question the survivors of the attack. As soon as SHIELD took over the scene of the ship, we headed toward Hohenfels, Germany to the military hospital where the survivors were being treated. We had three more days before the Army sent them home and they went back into civilian lives, we got lucky that we caught onto the manifests and even luckier that we found the soldiers when we did. If they had been reintroduced into Civilian life, they would have been harder to track down, and even harder to catch up to. Natasha pushed the jet onward over the ocean, and Steve paced as Loki and I sat in the jump seats. Clint walked up and smiled down at me.
"Fury is proud of you Short Round, he pulled several strings to get you full access to both Sergeant Knott and Private Witte. He is using all resources available to track the shipping container, and hopefully we will have a solid idea of where they took their box of nightmares within a few hours." Clint said and I grinned shyly at the compliment, humility being one of my worst qualities and it was coming through.
"You guys deserve some of it, if you didn't force me into that place, I would never have figured it all out. We wouldn't have the answers we do now, it was dumb luck really." I said and Loki shook his head, raising a finger at me.
"It was a clever mind." He said and I rolled my eyes and shook my head. He let out a long breath and licked his lips, getting ready to lecture or scold me.
"Stop selling yourself short Lilly." Steve said and stopped pacing. "You saw what was in those shipping containers, you probably stopped another bombing or even worse. You nailed this one, accept the praise and enjoy it."
"I will enjoy it when we catch them Steve, right now I am worried about finding out what was in that one container that is currently somewhere in the United States." I said and Steve nodded, I sat back and he resumed his pacing. I tried to ignore everyone around me, thinking about how I should approach the two soldiers to get what answers I needed.
"It was truly clever, how you fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Rogers is correct, enjoy the praise." Loki said and I looked at him, shaking my head and becoming exasperated slowly.
"If I am so smart, then why didn't I catch them months ago? Thousands of people would still be alive if I could have just put the puzzle pieces together earlier." I said, feeling angry at myself for not seeing the bigger picture sooner. I was right and I wanted some recognition for my failures not to be celebrated for finding the obvious.
"No one can see the future Little Mouse, do not blame this on yourself or feel guilt for it. You have done so much more to be proud of on this, and risked even more." Loki said and I sat forward to rub my face with both hands. He had no idea what I was risking now, and I intended to keep it that way for a bit longer. My sanity teetered on the edge, and I was starting to feel it.
"There is more to this, I can see it on you." Loki finished and I nodded, knowing he would not let it go if I wanted him to. He was good for that, and I probably would be hounded until I gave him something. I was to tired to fight with him there as well, and there was so much more that needed to get done before this was over.
"I had a flashback on the ship, the smell was just like Alaska and it all came back. That mechanical smell with rotting flesh under it, I saw them coming and I couldn't move. I froze and almost screwed everyone over because of it, we all could have been hurt or killed because of me." I said and looked down at my feet, doing everything I could not to feel shame. I felt his hand on my shoulder and he turned his body to face mine, his face sad but there was something more there.
"You did what you could, and I saw true bravery back there. You faced your fear of that terrifying space, you ran forward into the unknown and did not back away. That sort of courage is commendable and should be celebrated." Loki said and I blinked at him, not knowing what to say in response. I had almost forgotten how I faced my claustrophobia head on, I must have been out of my mind to do it too, under normal circumstances, I would never have done anything like that willingly.
"I must have looked nuts to everyone." I said and Loki chuckled to himself. I rolled my eyes, trying not to cringe at the mental image I had of myself. Clint walked back over to us and grinned, obviously noticing our conversation.
"Natasha says we have a few hours before we arrive, just in case you want to close your eyes for a bit." He said and I was grateful toward him for not picking on my moment of insanity back on the ship. If Tony were there, he would be relentless, and I would never hear the end of my adventures in the dark cargo hold.
"I may do that, thanks Clint." I said and he nodded at me. I looked back at Loki, he smirked at me and I shrugged. Clint walked back over to talk with Natasha some more, both of them laughing about something. Clint motioned like he was swinging a shovel and I groaned mentally, apparently I am deadly with gardening tools. I sat back and studied Loki for a few minutes, trying not to feel like a fool for being who I was.
"You really think that was brave?" I asked him and he laughed at me, regarding me with open amusement. He rubbed his palms together and I giggled a bit, feeling dumb for even asking.
"After a fashion, I do. I also believe that the fear you were experiencing from the act, played a role in your flashback. Too much at once as they say, but you did not fall apart during it. That in itself is a great moment of courage." Loki said and I nodded at him, he was right after all.
"Sometimes I am just scared out of my mind and being fool hearted is all I have." I replied and closed my eyes. I was debating taking Clint's advice and getting some sleep, the power of suggestion being a mighty thing. I was really tired as well, and we had a few hours before Germany.
"Don't let it put you into necessary peril." Loki said and I opened one eye to study him for a moment.
"Promise." I said to him and closed both my eyes again, drifting thanks to the hum of the engines propelling us through the air.
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Sergeant Knott and Private Witte were waiting for us in the small interrogation room when we arrived, both of them looking bored out of their minds. Steve and I decided early that I would ask the questions this time, I knew what information we needed and I was wanting to ask some very hard questions. We also agreed that both men had been through a lot of trauma, and maybe a nicer approach would be the ticket to get them both to open up. They were not criminals after all, they were victims of this insanity. All of it created by powers beyond their control.
"Babe Alert." The tall, blonde Private said, making me grin as I sat down across the table from him. The dark haired Sergeant looked amused but still sad, almost like he lost a part of himself in everything his life threw at him. His eyes haunted by everything he had experienced and had seen, a distant and long searching quality to them. I knew that look well, because I got it myself sometimes.
"Thank you for the compliment Private Witte, just don't let my fiance hear you say that." I said, flashing my ring and smiling at both men. Sergeant Knott studied me for several moments, and I opened a paper bag that I brought in with me. Showing them a package of cookies and four bottles of Coke. There were five, and Loki was enjoying the missing beverage in the other room and watching us as we spoke to the two soldiers. The Private's eyes lit up, but Knott just stared at the items with distrust.
"We thought that bringing treats would make this easier, and Lilly likes to support the troops any way she can. She is a real sweetheart to think about this for you guys." Steve said as I opened the plastic wrapping around the cookies and took one out for him. Witte claimed a Coke and took a long drink from it, grabbing two of the snacks for himself.
"Cap is right there. Sorry that I didn't really have time to bake for you both, we have been on the go since this all started. I am told that my snicker doodles are awesome though. Please, help yourselves there is more than enough and I don't need the empty calories." I said and Witte grinned around his mouthful of cookie. Knott took one and opened his bottle of Coke, taking a sip and reading the label. I felt a bit nauseous, so I nibbled at one of the cookies myself to keep the queasiness at bay.
"Real sugar, not that corn syrup shit they sell at home. I am impressed, you know how to make a couple of guys talk." Knott said and I nodded, smiling to keep looking pleasant and keep things light. He slid the bottle back and forth between his hands, his thoughts his own.
"Tell us, where is Moose and Squirrel." I said making Knott laugh. Steve sat back and smiled, obviously getting the reference, Witte looked confused but laughed anyways.
"She is always like this." Steve said, and Knott nodded, pressing his lips together while staring at the table.
"I guess you both know why we are here then." I said and both men nodded, Knott continued looking grim.
"I was asleep in the Stryker, Sergeant saved my life when it all happened. He saw more of them than I did anyways, I only saw what was left. The next morning, but I heard them." Witte said and grimaced at the memory.
"No one believes us anyways, fucking Docs say it was a random Taliban attack and that my head made it into something else. Everyone says we are just crazy, why the fuck should you be any different?" Knott said and broke a piece of cookie off, chewing it and washing it down with a swallow of Coke.
"Please don't speak that way in front of a lady Sergeant." Steve said and I laughed, Knott glanced at him and shook his head. Everything about his body language said that he was fed up, he wanted to be left alone, but also believed. He did not want another label, he wanted someone to believe that what he saw and tell him it was true.
"I believe you." I said and he looked at me, his mouth falling open. "I haven't even heard it yet, and I believe you. I know this is going to sound crazy to you, but the men who engineered these monsters have made much worse. Steve and I faced them, they killed people and will do it again. They killed your friends, they killed innocent children who deserved to grow up and have children of their own. I have nightmares about the monsters I faced, that these men made. I also think the only way to make the nightmares go away is to stop these men, before they make something worse and unleash it on the world. Whatever you are willing to tell me, no matter how insane it all seems to everyone else, I believe you."
The dark eyed Sergeant sat in his chair quietly, everything I had just said playing over in his mind. He let out a long breath and rubbed his face with both hands, relaxing his body and studied the table in front of him. I gave him the time he needed, patience was what the man in front of me needed and I could wait if I had to. I was probably the first person who told him that I believed his story, mostly because I had an unfair advantage over everyone he told it to.
"Thank you." He said, his voice a whisper but deafening in the silence of the room. I smiled sadly back at him, feeling bad that I was going to make him remember his own personal hell.
"Your welcome. Take your time, I am paid by the hour." I said and Steve laughed to himself, I knew the rest of the team was on the other side of the two way mirror and watching the conversation. I could picture Clint laughing to himself and I smiled at him, reaching out and folding my hand over his and waited for him to speak. Whatever Knott wanted us to know would come out on its own, and not a moment before.
"I can still hear the howls, the way they sounded across the desert before they attacked us. They were animal, but strangely human at the same time. Like somebody fucked a wolf, and that was what popped out." he said finally and I nodded, Witte raised his hand and I looked at him. I nodded, urging him to talk and get whatever he wanted to say out.
"It was like that, but more like the way bats see stuff when they fly. I can't think of the word though." Witte said twirled his finger, struggling to find the right word.
"Echolocation." I said and he nodded, pointing at me.
"Yeah that. You see, except for when they ran across ours, they never hit any of the Strykers. It was pitch black out there too, but they found all the people except for us. They were just like bats, the noise they made helping them find the food." Witte said and shivered, his face drawn and pale suddenly.
"That's good, any details you can remember about them help us." I said and Knott snorted. I glanced over at him and gave him a moment, he waved a hand in the air and looked annoyed with his friend.
"Except they were not fucking bats, they didn't fly. They ran, and maybe the noise helped them find the meat, but they were not bats. The claws they had on their hands and feet, they were huge, and they looked alnost human." Knott said and I let him have everything he needed, he was dead serious about what he was describing and I wanted him to keep talking. I scrambled mentally for a prompt, anything to get him to describe them more. I reached across the table to pat his hand, but he pulled away.
"Tell me what you saw. Please, we need this information to save lives." I said and he narrowed his eyes at me, judging my motives briefly. I knew that level of distrust, it came from being told to soldier on despite your wanting to break down. It came from being told you were crazy or worthless, it came from being belittled over and over again, until you were less than human. I let my understanding show, and tried to make him see that I understood. The Sergeant crossed his arms and sat back in his chair, pressing his lips together as he thought for a long time.
"I am not fucking crazy, no way. I saw Vampires, they were drinking blood from the Lieutenant, not eating him. They ripped the head off his shoulders like it was nothing and drank from the stump like he was a beer." Knott said and waited for my response. I folded my hands in front of me and nodded, hoping he knew that I was not judging him at all. He had my full attention, and I was not going to treat the gory details like they were his imagination run amok.
"Go on, anything you tell us is information we can use, even if it seems stupid." I said and both men gaped at me in surprise.
"You really believe us." Witte said and we all looked at him. Knott picked up the Coke and took a long drink, licking his lips as he remembered more for us.
"They did have pointy ears, not like an elf or that Tolken shit. Like a cat, but on the sides of their head, kind of like our ears. I didn't see any hair on the ones I saw, but their claws were hooked on the ends of their fingers. Fucking strong too, it takes a massive amount of force to rip tendons apart and bones out of sockets. These things did it like the men were paper, just tore them apart and drained them but they were skinny, like junkies or something." Knott said. I thought about what he had told us, looking at Steve and feeling pale. Witte looked relieved that someone actually believed the both of them, his grin widening.
"They were defiantly bipedal?" I prompted him and Knott nodded at me, letting out a shaky breath as he remembered that night. I felt sympathy for him, knowing what it was like to have something horrible in your head.
"Yeah, I think they did move on two feet. And they were fast, not like super speed, but damn fast. Their skin was weird too, it looked thick and rough, like leather or an elephant's skin." Knott said and rubbed his face again, looking at Witte briefly before studying the bubbles in his bottle of Coke. He seemed fascinated in the way they rose to the surface, floating along it and vanishing as they popped.
"Is there anything else you remember Sergeant?" Steve asked and Knotts head jerked to attention, his eyes narrowing at us as he thought. I pushed the package of cookies toward him and gestured for him to help himself, he looked at it and took a couple more.
"Yeah. The one that was feeding on the Leiutenant, it looked at me. The fucking eyes were really pale blue, I remember them because the bitch saw me before I closed the Stryker up." He said and I blinked at him, wondering what he meant by calling it a bitch.
"Why did you call it a bitch?" I asked him and he snorted at me. He closed his eyes a bit and returned to staring at his drink, picking up another piece of cookie and chewing it. Steve shifted in his seat next to me and we began the waiting game again, being patient with the traumatized man. Pushing for answers could just cause him to retreat further into himself, and we could not afford to have him doing that right now. We needed to know everything he did, and we had very little time to act.
"It had tits." The Sergeant said, washing the cookie down with a swallow of Coke. Every alarm in my head went off and I struggled to remain calm, Knott looked at me and nodded. The gesture meant to add emphasis to his answer.
"Thank you for telling us about these creatures. I know we appreciate it, and that it is hard to talk about some things." I said and he looked at me, pressing his lips together.
"You know, it makes sense if they are all female." He said, to no one in particular. He turned his head and looked at me, the look in his face making me very nervous suddenly.
"Why do you say that?" I asked him and he raised his eyebrows at me, making me a bit nervous.
"Because in the animal kingdom, the females are the more vicious hunters. In a Pride of Lions, it is the Lioness that has the stronger hunting instinct because she provides for her young. I also drew the fucking things, you want the sketchbooks?" He said. Steve let out a long breath and I sat back in my chair, Witte and Knott both looked beyond done. I remained silent, processing everything of this madness as two men entered. Steve stood up and offered them his hand, Witte took it and grinned.
"Thank you for the information, we appreciate it. We do want your drawings, if it is not a problem to let us have them." Steve said and both men left the room, I leaned forward on the table and continued to process everything.
"What the fuck did they make?" I asked the empty chair in front of me. The door clicked open and Clint walked in, looking as freaked out as I felt.
"Fury wants the recording brought back, that sounded disturbing at best." Clint said and I looked up at him. I picked up another cookie and my Coke, standing up and thinking as I chewed. This day was just getting worse, and I had a bad feeling the road ahead was longer and filled with potholes.
"The DNA reports on the ones in the jars said they had bat, feline, and human traits. How much you want to bet that the failures were female as well? I said to the two men and finished my cookie. I left the package on the table, not caring what the staff did with them. The envelope in my pocket paid for them anyways, I figured someone would eat them eventually.
"It would make Knott right then, that they used feline traits combined with female instincts to make them more powerful hunters." Steve said and I nodded, Loki walked in and looked at the three of us. I grabbed another cookie and laughed to myself, chewing the sugar and carbohydrate loaded snack as I thought.
"What is so funny?" Steve asked and I put up a finger to ask for another minute. I swallowed the food and flushed it down with a swallow of soda, Steve waited for my response. Clint crossed his arms and looked at me like I lost my mind, I probably did.
"If you think about it, they genetically made real life vampires." I replied, knowing how crazy it sounded. Loki knotted his eye brows, following the conversation the best he could. Clint helped himself to a cookie and chewed it, thinking and looking sick. An orderly walked in and handed me a black sketch diary, bound in leather and I began flipping through the pages. Sergeant Knott had a lot of talent in his drawings, and I admires one of a little girl standing against a wall and smiling.
"From the sound of what those guys described, they did." Clint said and Steve let out a breath. I resisted the urge to make a joke about getting drunk in Germany, feeling that it was too low of humor for the moment. I flipped through the book in my hands, finding the sketch and feeling the floor drop out from under me. There was a series of ten in total, and every horrifying detail Knott remembered was captured.
"Science is so messed up these days." Steve said and I mentally agreed with him, I still wonder sometimes how we made it through the Manhattan Projects. We sometimes overreached arrogantly into the can we, when we should be asking if we should.
"Because I am unfamiliar with your myths and legends, could someone explain to me what a Vampire is?" Loki asked, no one judging him for not knowing. I looked down at the picture in the book and debated with myself to ask him to take the two of us back to Asgard, but we still had so much work to do here. I turned the book around and I showed the three of them the drawing, Loki looking at the monster and turned the page to the face detail. Clint looked sick, and Steve shook his head.
"We need to give Fury this information, and we need to figure out where they took that shipping container. There has to be cameras along the way that caught them, toll booths, anything." I said and Clint nodded, I had to get back to the lab too. From there, I could run a search on which truck took the container and try to track it from there. If we found the owner, then we would have a chance.
"Good thinking Short round." Clint said and I nodded, stopping and looking at Loki as I snapped the book shut.
"Can I explain Vampires in transit? We may not have a lot of time on this." I said and Loki nodded. He could see my urgency and understood, the four of us leaving the room for the jet.