And now we have the final chapter of this arc!
Chapter 171: Agents of Asgard Part Nine
FBI Correctional Facility, Maximum Security - Time Unknown
Apollo and Sigyn stand in front of Ivory in battle stances to make themselves take up more space. Officer AR164 has a gun pointed at them as his eyes dark around, studying the situation. Sigyn knew that if she continued to pry away at her binding charm, he might open fire.
"Please," Ivory scoffs, "we could take him."
"As a hostage or in a fight?" Apollo asks.
Ivory raises a brow. "Both."
To their surprise, Officer AR164 drops his gun to the floor and any weapon he had on him. Taser, extending baton, cuffs, everything kicked to the side far away for him to grab if they attacked first. He wasn't wearing riot gear like the officers they took on earlier but just his regular uniform.
"Shut up," Sigyn states as she starts walking up to him, despite him not even saying anything. "You were onto us from the start, weren't you?"
Instead, of responding or telling her to stay where she is, Officer AR164 holds a finger to his mouth as a sign for them to keep quiet. As if it were clockwork, the radio on his shoulder makes a static noise before clearing up.
Officer: Ruiz, do you have a location on Inmates Gates and the blonds?
Sigyn balls her hands into fists, ready to tackle him. She can hear Apollo and Ivory teeter towards running the other way, shoes sliding discreetly against the linoleum floors as id they're about to bolt.
"No," Officer AR164 responds to his radio, "I'm clear."
Once the transmission is sent through, Sigyn lowers his fists skeptically as Ashton disconnects his radio and tosses it to the side as well. She doesn't dare take her eyes off him but turns to the side to look at Apollo and Ivory while still having Officer AR164 in her peripheral vision. Following her cue, Apollo and Ivory walk closer to them, staying on edge since Ivory remains behind Apollo.
"What part of your plan was this?" Ivory asks, pointing to Officer AR164.
"Still figuring that out," Apollo responds, eyeing him. "I will admit that getting a cop in on this to help us before getting rid of him is smart."
"I found your plan and timed all the cameras in your path to stop filming by the times you'd cross them," Officer AR164 states. "Nobody knows we're here since I already locked it off to avoid other prisoners from entering this wing. Given that you took down a team, they won't doubt my statement. I recognized you two the moment you walked into this prison."
Sigyn and Apollo remain silent. They should yell at SHIELD when they get back since they were sent, aside from their first choices, Angela and Xavier, being preoccupied, to deny any association with Ivory's breakout. It now makes sense why Officer AR164 eyed them the moment they showed up, questioned Sigyn when she was first brought to her cell, and stuck by them more either with observation or patrolling. He was onto them but, at the same time based on what he just told his team, wanted them to keep their cover. But why?
"Stupid hot dumb blonds," Ivory grumbles. "Should've stayed in solitary."
"Dumber blonds," Apollo corrects. Ivory looks at him oddly before agreeing.
"Stupid Council," Sigyn also corrects.
"Wait, how?" Apollo asks him.
Officer AR164 holds out a set of keys. "Tell Xavier we're even."
Sigyn and Apollo stare at him like a deer-in-headlights, glancing at each other as if the other person had the answer despite them knowing the same amount of information. Why was Xavier involved? Is that why he was supposed to go on this mission?
Ivory snaps them back into reality by snatching the keys from Ashton. "Will do."
"Xavier and I were roommates in the Academy before I transferred after third year," Officer AR164 explains. "I'm Ashton."
Apollo's jaw drops in realization. "Oh, oh, now it makes sense. I learned your name here but I didn't connect that you were Xavier's friend because I've been busy. I've heard all about you from him. Nice to meet you. Bad timing but we have to get going. Our mission is getting away." He points to Ivory already heading down the hall.
Sigyn grabs Apollo's arm and grips it tightly. "You knew his name and didn't tell me? I would've connected it!"
"I was busy planning and you got thrown into the SHU. Then I forgot. Anyways, gotta go."
Sigyn cusses him out as he runs to catch up with Ivory. She doesn't go just yet because she has some words to pick with Ashton Ruiz for knowing the whole time. Now everything he said to her while walking to the SHU about his roommate makes sense. How his roommate sounded so much like Xavier when she was describing him. It was the same boy moping over the same girl for years because he wouldn't get over her, and how they lucked out with each other.
"You knew I was talking about Xavier, weren't you?" Sigyn questions. The second-hand embarrassment from when she asked him about conjugal visits and ghosting her ex now burn through her as if she was tied to a stake.
Ashton nods, sucking in a breath but smiling. "It was really hard not to tell you. I almost did just so you could trust me in case you needed someone on the inside to help you out with whatever you needed. I didn't contact him during this since I didn't want to jeopardize you or even him. I didn't think he knew you were here. I was doubtful since you weren't around for so long and assumed it was because you were locked up. Changed my mind when you started saying you and Xavier were good. He was sad as fuck in the Academy and really good at hiding it because he distracted himself with other things. Camp really did a number on him, did he tell you about that?"
Sigyn nods, smiling and feeling the happiest she has in a while. "You know, he was supposed to be on this mission with Angela but they had to deal with something else."
Ashton laughs, nearly holding his sides. "Oh, god. What I'd pay to see those two in prison jumpers."
"That's what I said." Her smile brightens. "Anyways, got a breakout to complete. Thank you so much."
"Wait, Britney."
"Sigyn." She didn't realize how much she loved that name until she used it again.
"Sorry, Sigyn. Take care of Xavier."
Sigyn nods. "I will."
-o-
Sigyn catches up to Apollo and Ivory as they approach the end of a T-way hallway, the sealed exit doors on one end and a stream of armed officers on the other. They took a slight detour to draw attention away from the area Ashton locked down for them so he doesn't get in any trouble for helping them. Those officers look ready to shoot them and don't care if they're dead on the floor or not.
But they can try.
"Okay, you two, head for the exit. I'll take care of these officers," Apollo states.
As Ivory and Sigyn sprint towards the doors (he's a little offended they didn't barter to wait with him), Apollo takes a lighter out of his pocket. He's glad he won it from Pats in a poker game. As the officers bark orders at each other and take action, Apollo lights a flame and tosses it up towards the sprinkler on the ceiling. Once it connects, every sprinkler in the building sets off and some officers slip and slide on the ground. Alarms are always handy for instant chaos.
Apollo turns the corner and sees that Ivory and Sigyn were waiting for him in the indoor rain he created. At least they're not complaining since they're almost there.
"Get the charm! Run!" Apollo screams at them.
Ivory and Sigyn turn and continue running when he catches up. Within the rain, officers start opening fire. Apollo makes sure he's running behind them since, despite a few bullets having no effect on him, Fate wouldn't let anything happen to him so, as Sigyn's familiar with, Fate shields them with a blinding light, bullets bouncing off. It was more chaotic now. The glimmer of drawn guns, pouring water from the sprinklers, and bombardment of screaming. But, in the midst of it all, Apollo and Sigyn look at each other and laugh.
"For fuck's sake," Ivory mutters as she tries to work the master key against the control panel.
"Look what rinsed off in the rain," Sigyn says as she holds her dissolved binding charm in a pool of water in her cupped palms. She dumps it on the floor as Ivory manages to get the door open. "Witches hate water, remember?"
Apollo laughs as the outdoor sun hits their faces. They squint their eyes as Sigyn's hand glow green with magic, brighter than ever after being suppressed in her veins for so long. When she grabs their hands, they instantly vanish.
-o-
Location Unknown - Time Unknown
They land awkwardly on a hill, skidding through the desert sand and rocks before rolling to a stop at the bottom. They sit up in a field of cacti in the middle of nowhere, no cars on the dusty road nearby. Instead of bothering to dust themselves off, Sigyn snaps her fingers and they're all in new casual outfits, almost as if they were dressed for the gym than prison. They were even refreshed with no residue from the intentional rainstorm at the supermax. It was almost like they were never behind bars.
"We would've been screwed without Xavier's friend in there," Apollo states as the desert sun beams above them.
"We would've been screwed, period," Sigyn states.
"Maybe when we go back to Asgard, we can be real Agents of Asgard."
Sigyn laughs a little. "Gods, no."
"I don't get how we survived but fuck it," Ivory states. "We're out only so I could go back under SHIELD's watch so fuck the both of you. We should've gone to Madripoor. Were you supposed to extract info from me?"
Apollo shrugs. "I don't think so."
"Got anything to share?" Sigyn asks.
Ivory purses her chapped lips. "Tempting, but I can't imagine SHIELD got that far. Hell, knowing who's involved, SHIELD's in trouble."
And that concludes our third Rando Week arc. I would like to thank Victorious's song All I Want is Everything for being my go-to song on loop for the past three days it took to write this arc.
The next arc will look at who SHIELD got involved in Ivory's conundrum. Feel free to guess who's in trouble.