Holy goodness you followers are so awesome! There's 42 of you, and 232 pages. This is a good day to be feeling happy because my midterms are tomorrow! (So not thrilled). Anyways! Here's a treat for you this Halloween. :D
-randomblueboots
TASHA
The sound of the explosion filled her ears and Steve jumped up.
"Oh my god!" Joy gasped.
"Was that-" Jane looked over at Maria in horror. Maria's mouth had dropped open, her eyes widened as she listened to the reporter screaming,
"For those of you just listening in there's been an explosion downtown..." All the sounds became muffled to Tasha. SHIELD headquarters, the secret building that they had tried so hard to maintain as looking like just a regular old warehouse on the outside, was completely destroyed. The next thing Tasha new was Maria was grabbing Steve's arm, panic in her voice, she said,
"Coulson was in there!"
"No..."
MAY
First, her vision came back, slowly, but all she could hear was a ringing in her ears like an alarm was going off in her brain. What the hell just happened? She looked down at her hands. She could feel burns along her leg and her cheek. Bruises were forming where she had made impact with the brick wall, and where flying rubble slammed against her. She tasted blood, and she wanted nothing more than to just lie down and go to sleep. Then slowly she didn't hear the ringing anymore.
"May...?" The weak voice made her snap out of her desires.
"Coulson?!" She got on her hands and knees, crawling and climbing towards the sound. He was closer to the place of the explosion. "Please don't be dying..." She breathed. Then she saw his face.
"Hello." He whispered. His breathing was labored, and it looked like he probably was going to have a concussion, and some bruising, cuts, and burns.
"Coulson... let me get you out of here." May used all her strength to begin yanking off the stones and rubble that pinned her Director to the ground. She could hear sirens in the distance. She had to get Coulson out before they could take him to a hospital. It would be too dangerous for him to be there. Someone had obviously decided he needed to go.
"It's alright. I'm not uncomfortable." Coulson said.
"Shh." May hissed. That's not what I'm worried about right now. She yanked a stone off his arm and he shouted out. She stared at the crushed and bloodied mess and groaned. I will not relive Stark's shit.
"Does it look alright?" Coulson's breathing sped up.
"Ummm..."
"Agent May?" May looked up.
"Thank God. Agent Paulson! Help me! The Director's still alive. He needs medical attention." Coulson grabbed May's arm and she looked down into his eyes.
"Trust no one." She looked back up to see Paulson pointing his gun right in her face.
"Now... Paulson... don't be unreasonable." It was only then she noticed that he didn't seem to have suffered anything from the blast.
"You and the Director won't have to worry about anything after you're dead, Agent May."
"Paulson, think about what you're doing."
"I have for a long time-" There was a gunshot, and Paulson fell to his knees. Maria Hill stood behind him, her hands shaking. Captain America at her side.
"Director! Are you alright?!" Maria dashed forward, stumbling on the rubble. Captain America followed slowly behind, May stood. She was dizzy, but the sirens were closer. She had to get Coulson out!
"Captain, if I could speak to you." She said, pulling him aside while Maria continued her job of freeing Coulson from the rubble. "The director needs help, but he can't be taken to a hospital. He'll be far too unsafe anywhere besides a secure SHIELD base. HYDRA is obviously after him."
"What do you suggest we do?"
"We have to get him out of here before the medics come!" The sirens could only be a few blocks away now. May was feeling panic building up in her chest. She had to push it away roughly, trying to maintain her calm she looked over at Coulson worriedly.
"There's no way to move him without a stretcher." The Captain frowned.
"I've got it covered," Maria said, as she finished removing the last bricks from Coulson's body. "Bruce is on his way."
"There's no way he's going to get here in time!" May snapped. A voice came out of Maria's phone:
"I'm here, Maria, you all come down here and get suited up."
"May, you stay here with Coulson." The Captain said, "We'll be right back." May watched as Maria and the Captain hurried down the stairs to the first floor.
"May...?" Coulson breathed, "Is it HYDRA? Is that why you're worried? Have they come for me?"
STEVE
"Bruce, where did you get an ambulance?" Steve asked.
"Don't ask any questions, just put this on." Bruce handed him a paramedic outfit. "Quickly! The sirens are getting closer." He was dressed himself in scrubs, he flipped the switch to turn on the ambulance lights, and Steve turned to see Maria pulling off her SHIELD coat and yanking on the paramedic shirt.
"Hurry, Steve!" She gasped. Steve groaned and began pulling off his suit.
"I'm not taking off my pants." He said.
"Whatever, just get those on." Bruce said. "Take the stretcher upstairs and bring the Director down and in the back. I'll be stationed here in case anyone asks any questions." Steve and Maria finished "suiting up" just as the other ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars arrived.
"Take the stretcher, quick!" Bruce gasped. "Get to Coulson first." Maria grabbed one end of the stretcher, and Steve the other, and they dashed into the building back up the stairs to save their friend.
LOKI
"Do you know how bad this situation is, Sir, because to me it seems like you don't care!" Steve shouted.
"Captain, it doesn't matter if this worries me or not-"
"It does." Loki stood up from where he sat as a former observer of the argument. "And it worries us. You're our leader, you're the leader of SHIELD. To have you dead would not be good."
"I don't think you're understanding me-"
"Coulson." Agent May frowned, "You're not going back out onto field."
"It's against Dr. Banner's orders, and it's against my orders! You're not leaving this bomb shelter until HYDRA is taken care of!" Steve turned around and looked directly at Tasha, "And we're cutting out all communications."
"Excuse me?!" Bruce gasped.
"My husband is out there!" Jane cried, clutching her son tightly to her chest.
"We have no choice. HYDRA is hacking into our systems daily. It's time to stop that. We're going dark, NOW."
"At least- At least can we warn the others in Florida?" Bruce asked worriedly. Silence filled the room.
"Of course we can-" Coulson said.
"No." Agent May snapped. "And there's one other thing. I'm pulling the rest of our team into this base. This is where we'll operate from."
"I agree with Agent May, she has some good insight. Bring the others here, we've got work to do."
"But what about Agent Oath, and Thor, and Clint?" Bruce said.
"We have to send them a message!" Jane gasped.
"I agree with Jane. We've got to do something." Natasha said.
"Alright... Fine. Then you," Steve pointed to Natasha, "Think of a way to tell them we're going dark without HYDRA knowing."
"Already on it." Natasha nodded, rubbing her belly and grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil.
"Agent May, if you could round up the rest of your team, that would be great."
"Will do."
"Maria, you and I, we're going to find the bastard who killed Agent Glass and make him pay for destroying our only chance at peace."
"What about us?" Loki asked, gesturing to him and Bruce.
"What? I thought you didn't want to be a part of this? You were just complaining about not wanting to stay."
"Well now I am, and I want to help."
"You stay here and protect these ladies. Besides, you have a daughter. Be with her."
"And me?" Bruce asked.
"Help Tash figure out some secret code."
"Yes, Sir." Bruce snapped, fury burning in his eyes, his fists clenched, and a tint of green appearing to his cheeks. Steve shook his head, he wasn't going to worry too much about Bruce, he didn't want to piss him off more than he already had.
STEVE
He wasn't supposed to be back in the tower but he had to go back for something, and Maria wasn't against the idea of grabbing some things of her own from his apartment. Besides, he had left his helmet there when they transferred over to the bomb shelter. That place needs a name. Bomb shelter and "sewer city" (as Tasha so fondly called it) were getting old.
He yanked open his top drawer and moved the top t-shirt to reveal his secret stash of memories and other things. There was a deck of old playing cards, a vintage Captain America comic book about his origin, the tie that he had gotten for his birthday this last year, red and blue and perfectly beautiful because he'd never worn it, a bar of chocolate that he grabbed eagerly and set on the top of his dresser for a quick snack before they went out and followed the vigilante, and of course the little red velvet box that he gently touched with his thumb and smiled. He lifted it out of it's home in his drawer and opened it to reveal his mother's diamond ring, beautifully polished and restored to it's original beauty. He stared at it, remembering what his mother had said when he'd asked about it.
"What's your ring for, Mama?" He whispered as she tucked him into bed. He'd only been seven, so small, and sick.
"It's a promise, sweetheart. Your daddy and I made promises to each other that we'd always love each other, and someday, when you meet a pretty girl and you love her, you can have this ring too just for her."
"Steve? Are you ready?" Steve jumped, slammed the red velvet case shut and shoved it in a pocket of his suit.
"Yeah!... Yeah." He nodded. Maria grinned.
"Lets go catch this guy."
"Hey, Maria." He caught up with her out in the hall way.
"Yeah?"
"You want some chocolate?"
There's some fancy foreshadowing for you.
