"Strucker, Sir, we've got a connection. The wormhole is steady." an A.I.M. personnel, that could only be assumed to be a scientist, informed his superior whilst reading off of a monitor.
Hope, in her miniaturised form, peeked her uncovered head out from the air vent which she was presently hiding inside of. She leaned forward to catch a glimpse of the personal-sized stargate, which was about twelve feet in diameter that had a glowing event horizon like an amber puddle vertically spanning the surface of the triangular frame of its doorway. It sat in a large room with two storey high ceilings, which she was nearly at the hight of, inside of her cover.
They had breached A.I.M.'s largest compound just outside of Washington D.C., and according to the files (that Maria had acquired from them), the organisation had access to two stargates – this small one that Strucker had in his personal possessions, and a massive one, big enough to ferry large space vessels through. That one they just moved into Earth's orbit, wanting to transport the hoards of Brood vessels through it. The space gate was tasked to Tony, Bruce, and the Wakandan Space Program (headed by Shuri, with T'Challa leading aid to her). The team was tasked to infiltrate A.I.M.'s small, cloaked space station – which operated the gate – and get control of the asset. They were to make sure that it didn't turn on to become the bridge that would deliver Earth's demise.
The mission all seemed so larger than life to Hope that she quickly came to the conclusion that she better not worry herself on what her teammates' tasks were, but to concentrate on her own.
"The gate's activated," Hope spoke in a low tone into her communication device as Scott took a step closer to look over her shoulder at the mentioned activity. He too was in his miniaturised form, with Antany the VII (his insect mount) off a little ways behind them in the vent.
"Rodger," Natasha's voice emanated through her headset, acknowledging her. "I have visual of it now," she says from her location in the compound's security room which she'd previously commandeered.
Suddenly, there was a rippling disturbance in the gate's event horizon when a large, six-limbed bug came crawling out. Hope instantly stiffened to the creature. It was hideous with a huge, elongated head, and golden oval eyes that were without pupils. There were spikes down its back and at the joints of its limbs. Though, what had probably been the most menacing attribute about it was its large mouth, which had sharp dagger-like teeth protruding out of its wet visible gums.
Soon came another brood through the gate, of a similar size to the first, where they probably both stood as tall as an elephant. The two looked about the room before they parted and faced each other just as a third arrived, but this one was seizable in comparison to the other two. It needed to dip its head to fit through the threshold. The largest one also had a redder tone to its exoskeleton than the other two, who were both a dark grey.
Strucker approached the largest brood, bowing his head as he said, "You're Majesty."
"You assured me my ships would be here by now," the queen hissed, spit flying from her mouth. "But we cannot get a lock onto the gate."
"Yes," Strucker answered in what appeared to be both fear and nerves, "we're having a little trouble connecting with our relay station."
"You have lost control of our gate!" she growled, her voice haunting in nature.
"No, no, I'm sure it's just a technical hiccup."
"Was that us?" Scott whispered into his headset from right beside Hope.
"It better be," Natasha said.
"What do we do about these brood?" Hope asked Natasha (their team leader) as Strucker continued to assure the brood leader that he had everything under control. "I mean, this is the queen."
"Our mission is to take in Strucker, not to engage with the aliens."
"But we have a real opportunity here to take out their leader."
"Those exoskeletons are thick. We didn't exactly come prepared with weapons for that."
"I could shrink her."
"Can you do it from your miniaturised form?"
"No."
"So you'd have to grow in front of them, shoot – and not just her, but the other two as well – all before one of them literally bites your head off?"
Hope bit her lip, not taking into consideration the danger of it, but proceeded to answer with confidence, "Yeah, pretty much."
"No way. I'm not letting you attempt that."
"I can do it."
"Yeah, and I can act as a distraction," Scott jumped in.
Natasha asked sarcastically, "What are you gonna do, ask the brood to pick a card?"
"Hey, my magic tricks have worked on multiple occasions as a distraction method," he said in defence, yet his tone didn't sound bothered by her jab.
"Nat, we can do this," Hope insisted.
"Maybe you can, but I'm not risking it. Besides, I'm sure she'll still be able to communicate with her hoard even while she's the size of an actual bug. Others might come flooding through that open gate." Just as Natasha finished her sentence, the wormhole connection broke.
Hope tried for a third time after seeing what had just transpired, "The gate's off! I could—"
"No. Just leave it be." Natasha cut her off. "If the space gate is down, she won't be our problem. She'll leave and we'll make sure to deactivate this gate here so it can't connect to their end."
"But she'll be a problem out in the galaxy for other planets," she said, trying to convince her to let her engage.
"Our responsibility is to this planet."
The queen suddenly screeched, pulling the Avengers' focus onto her once again. "Dial me back to my gate," she demanded while seemingly unconvinced by Strucker's words, ready to leave him.
"I assure you, you will have Earth. I'll be it's deliverer as promised," Strucker pleaded.
The queen lunged at him, unhinging her large jaw as she chomping down on Strucker, severing him clean in half. She then tilted her head up, swallowing his upper body in one gulp.
"Holy crap," Scott gawked in reaction as Hope took in a sharp inhale at the horrifying sight.
One of the other brood then went to the gate controls as the scientist ran off only to get a few steps away before it slashed at him, using the spikes on his leg as a weapon. Blood flew against the wall as the man bodily crashed to the ground. The bug then dialled the gate which opened the portal once again.
"Secure the compound," the queen hissed to the two. "Figure out where my space gate is." She then turned, with clear intentions of leaving through the portal, but Hope wasn't about to allow that.
She had an idea and knew her opportunity was now or never.
Hope speedily activated her helmet and flew through the grates of the vent and downwards into the large room. Just as the queen had taken a single stride through the event horizon, Hope grew to size, feet touching ground, as she shot her blaster – but not at the brood – instead, she aimed for the gate itself. Instantly, the triangular transported shrunk, and in the process, it crushed the queen in half, her backside collapsing on the ground in front of her as her body was bisected.
Hope turned to the side to see one of the, now reactionary, brood about to grab her with its jaw. She was quick to shoot it with her blaster, instantly shrinking it. But before she was able to get eyes on the other alien, it struck her from behind, sending her flying. Her armour protected her greatly from the strike itself, but not so much from the landing as she smacked hard into the wall.
Just as she lifted her head, she saw the brood charging her as she speedily shrank down. She tried to fly away but he was already on top of her as she desperately searched to find an opening to get out.
To her rescue, the brood was ripped away from her as she caught sight of Scott in his embiggened form, holding the creature by its back legs. She took the distraction to grow back to size as she watched the creature trying to turn in Scott's grasp, nipping aggressively at the air in god awful screeches.
Hope lifted her arm, easily shooting the brood as it shrunk in size before Hope collapsed her weight onto a nearby table where the gate controls were. She attempted to catch her breath from when the wind had been knocked out of her all while Scott took the opportunity to stomp on the two rat-sized bugs that were scurrying about, which produced the loudest cracking sound that she was sure would stick in her mind forever.
"Damnit, Hope, you're even worse at listening to mission orders than I am," Natasha sounded slightly annoyed as she came in through her comms.
Hope deactivated her helmet as she huffed with a smile, "It worked, didn't it?"
"That last one nearly had you."
Her partner shrunk down to size as he opened his helmet as she smirked at him. "I knew Scott would have my back."
He gave her a lopsided smile as he nodded. "Always." The man then looked to the disembodied terrorist. "So, I guess we failed our first Avenger's mission. Unless taking in half of Strucker counts?" His gaze was locked onto the sight of the man's lower body which was covered in blood and saliva. He evidently was only able to stand the sight for a moment as he soon turning away in visible aversion to the gore. He then focused back onto Hope. "You okay?"
She stood up straight as she nodded. "Yeah." She smiled, totally exhilarated by the experience. She'd instantly fallen in love with the feeling of being on missions.
Hope then turned to the scientist on the floor, her smile immediately fading as she made her way over to check on him. "He needs medical attention."
"We gotta get out of here," Natasha said. "Leave him. One of his own will have to deal with him." Hope sighed, understanding that they were still in a compound full of enemies with no backup. "Now grab the stargate and get out."
"Yeah," Hope said in understanding before she went and picked up the mentioned item that was now the size of a tea saucer. She flicked off a hunk of green bug juice from it as she looked down to the goopy puddle that surrounded the dead insect, definitely having less issue in taking in the sight of her, over the one of Strucker's disembodiment.
"We might as well head over to Headquarters now, see if we can lend a hand there." Natasha suggested, referring to the possibility of assisting the agents, the sweeper team, and the rest of the Avengers that were at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s main compound (who had been tasked in taking it back from A.I.M.s control). They were a mere fifteen-minute Quinjet flight away from them, so it only made sense to go over there to help.
Hope unzipped the top of her suit to shove the miniaturised stargate inside of it, glad to change locations. She hoped that she'd find Maria at the other compound since she didn't seem to be where they were now.
Hope closed up her suit before shrinking down and taking off towards the same air vent that they'd previously been inside of, with Scott – now too in his small form – not far behind her, mounted atop of his ant like a flying steed.
Maria closed her eyes, taking in a deep, sorrowful breath before fluttering them back open. She looked about the Operations Deck, the one she'd been on a hundred times before with her fellow coworkers bustling about, but now it was eerily silent with about a dozen A.I.M. men lying dead on the floor, put there by hers truly, with the assistance of a flash grenade and her pistol.
She made sure that she was in the S.H.I.E.L.D. compound during the raid. She had wished to aid her people by allowing them access into the building, which she did from that very spot with the compound's controls at her fingertips.
The elevator chimed before she heard the automated voice say 'operations'. Maria turned to see at least ten men flooding out of the lift, fully equipped with full-body armour, shields, and M4s, which were out and ready to fire. Behind them walked out Agent May, who assessed the space with haste, darting her eyes about as her men poured onto the floor, securing the area. They swept the room and checked to make sure that all the bodies on the ground were indeed not a threat.
The agent slowly walked towards her commander, eyeing her suspiciously. "Maria," she said plainly.
She responded accordingly, calling the agent by her first name as well. "Melinda," she said, understanding that the agent knew full well that the situation was not a typical one, that she wasn't necessarily talking to her superior anymore. "How did your team manage in the attacks?" Maria asked in grave fear, yet needing to know the extent of the damage that she'd created.
She could see the pain in the other woman's eyes as May halted in front of her. "Simmons didn't make it." Milinda locked her gaze onto Maria's as she shook her head. "Tell me you were carrying out orders." Her eyes pleading with her, though her face remained firm.
Maria swallowed, wanting to cry in that moment, yet she kept her composure, even through the pain she felt over losing one of her agents. "I was not." She forced out, "Fury was in the dark about everything,"
"Where is he now?"
Maria tensed up as she recalled back to the horrific memory. "The last I saw of him, he was dropping into the Atlantic along with the three bullets I put in his chest." Maria could see the shift in the woman's expression like Maria had stabbed her in the back with her very words. "Agent May." Maria nodded, putting all of her energy into keeping herself from breaking. "Now is the time when you arrest me."
Milinda nodded, she had a job to do. She cleared her throat before announcing, "Maria Hill, you are under arrest for the murder of Director Nicholas Fury and for your treasons against the state." The agent then turned to one of her men who was not equipped with a shield, gesturing with her head for him to take her.
The man complied, stepping to Maria as she cooperated, putting her hands behind her back where he zip-tied them together and led her out.
By the time the trio got to S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, it had already been claimed back. So Hope, Natasha, and Scott went straight to Operations, as instructed by Coulson. Once they arrived on the top floor they found Steve, Sam, Thor, Coulson, Carter, and two other women who Hope didn't recognise, but she'd assumed the older one of the duo was Agent May, based off of how she had been described to her prior.
"Okay." Coulson nodded at the three before he looked about the room. "I guess we can get started." Hope was a little confused by his words, assuming he was about to either debrief them or give them new orders, and had been waiting on them to arrive. "The operation was a success. We have control of both stargates." Natasha pulled the little gate out of her possession (Hope had given it to her earlier) and walked over to Coulson, handing it over to him. The man bowed his head in thanks as he took it. "The Brood are cut off from Earth," he continued, "and their queen is dead. Without a queen, they aren't a threat." He gestured over to the Asgardian. "According to Thor's intel on the creatures, that is."
"Yes," Thor took over, "if they do not have a suitable female that can link the hoard together, they will die. The queen is essentially their brain. They need to find a new one in order to survive."
"Thank god." Sam breathed a sigh of relief.
"Not God, Hope is who you should be thanking," Natasha corrected him.
The man smiled towards the new Avenger. "I'm already excitedly awaiting for the day you become our team leader." Hope couldn't help but smirk at him, always finding him enduring as she noticed Steve beside him rolling his eyes with a smile towards the man's comment.
"Coulson." Natasha eyed the senior agent. "If the operation was indeed a success, why – in all due respect – are you the one debriefing us?" She shook her head as she asked, "Where are they?"
Coulson glanced over to Agent May as they shared a grave look before he turned back. "Fury's dead."
"What?" Steve blurted.
"You've seen his body?" Natasha didn't take a second's hesitation to enquire about the claim.
"No," Agent May addressed her, "but by Hill's description of what happened, there isn't much need for a body to confirm his status."
In hearing Maria's name, Hope couldn't help but ask, "Where is she?"
"Hill?" May looked to her. "Ah." She briefly hesitated like she had to take a second for herself. "She's being processed," she said rather calmly.
Hope asked in confusion, "Processed?"
"She confessed to Fury's murder," May explained with a heavyweight hung on her words.
Hope shook her head in disbelief, muttering, "No."
"As well as being solely responsible for all the losses S.H.I.E.L.D. took." Agent May nodded sorrowfully, her emotions finally starting to breach. "She's going to the Raft for her crimes."
"She saved the entire planet!" Hope snapped in anger, refusing to accept what she was hearing as her eyes darted over to Coulson, who she knew would be acting director in that moment.
"Not the entire planet," that one agent who Hope didn't know, spoke up through visible pain. "People are dead because of her." The woman's voice shook. "She killed my best friend."
Coulson addressed her softly, "Daisy…"
"No!" she snapped at him. "Jemma's dead because of her." The woman took a calming breath before she turned her attention towards Hope. "Agent Simmons wasn't like us. She didn't join S.H.I.E.L.D. to fight the bad guys in combat like you and I do. She was smart – brilliant actually. She was a scientist. That was her contribution." The woman took another moment as her eyes began watering. "She was in her own lab when it happened. A place that was supposed to be safe." A tear started running down the girl's beautiful face. "She was supposed to be safe." She wiped her cheek dry with the back of her hand before she growled, "The Raft is exactly where Hill belongs." The woman then aggressively turned and walked out of the room.
Hope was speechless. Daisy's pain was so visible, and Hope felt for her down to her core, but even then, her outlook didn't change. She knew that there were dire consequences from Maria's actions, but she still believed them to be justified. Maria would never put a soul in danger unless it was completely necessary for the success of her mission. A mission – which they've all already learned – was life-or-death of their entire species.
"Fury has died before and come back with Maria's knowledge," Natasha's voice broke the silence of the room. "How do we know this isn't another one of their deceptions?"
"If that were the case, why would she not just say so?" May asked.
"I don't know." Natasha shook her head as she sighed.
"She obviously needed to gain their trust and taking out Fury was probably what solidified her position with them," Coulson theorised. "She must've deemed it necessary to sacrifice him for the safety of the human race."
"Fury's like a father to her," Steve spoke up again, clearly having a hard time with what they were discussing.
Natasha nodded in agreement to his words. "I'll believe he's dead only after a body is produced."
"I want to see her," Hope practically demanded, needing desperately to talk to Maria. She was not able to give her attention anywhere else in that moment.
"You can't." Coulson sighed. "None of us can. She's out of our jurisdiction now."
"This is fucked up," Hope growled in frustration before spinning on her heels, almost crashing into Scott, before trudging out. She snarled so all could hear her as she made haste towards the elevator, "She's a goddamn hero, not a fucking criminal!"
Once she loaded into the lift and it began its descent, Hope pounded the glass at the back with her fists as she cried out. She then turned, only to slide down the wall to the floor as she began to weep. It was like how Scott went to the Raft all over again, but this time it felt infinitely worse. She couldn't accept the idea of not being with Maria ever again, and she was sure that there was no future release date for her like her partner had gotten. The thought of having to live on without her, as she was locked away forever, was too much. It wasn't fair! They didn't deserve this! they saved the world! Why were they being punished like this? Why was being a hero coupled with such horrific consequences? Maybe she wasn't equipped for this lifestyle after all.