"A lead?" The Dragon repeated.
"It's just a hunch but while you were on leave, Murakami did some digging. We know there were Dragons before you. The first confirmed sighting of a Dragon was 1960. After that we have '61, '63, '68, '72, '79, '85, '89, '91, and six in the 2000s. Do you remember anyone before you?"
"No. I…I remember being woken up that last time and that's it. That's all I can remember. What does it mean?"
"Murakami has a location. She wanted to approach you with it, but…"
"But I cut her off. Yeah, don't remind me." She yanked off her fingerless gloves and shoved them into a pouch on her utility belt. "I couldn't look her in the eye after what I did."
"She doesn't blame you. In fact, she told Fury that he could go fuck himself. She's on your team."
She crossed her arms over her chest as if she could guard herself from his words. "Innocent people died, Phil. I don't know what happened. One second I was fine and the next…I don't know why I'm here. What could I possibly add to Fury's little boy band."
"Acoustics," he snarked. "That was eight months ago. You've had therapy, training, and Blake will be ready to help. Amber, you know who you are. You do. And you will know when to be that person when the time is right."
She rolled her eyes at his words and pointed an accusing finger at him. "I hate that name. Out of all the ones you've tried out, I hate that one."
"That's exactly why I keep using it."
"It's better than Vivianna or whatever the hell you called me that one time."
"What's wrong with Vivianna?"
"You know damn well what's wrong with that."
"Alright, Amber."
She threw a punch at his shoulder and purposefully missed but kept her eyes narrowed in warning. He let out a soft laugh and stood. "Let's get back to work."
They split up in the hallway, him going left and her going right. She took two right turns and found herself staring at one Captain Rogers looking at a janitor closet door.
"Lost?" she drawled. He whirled around and opened his mouth to stammer out an excuse but she simply smirked. "You can't lie to me, Captain."
"If I were to, hypothetically, be looking for where weapons are stored because I know the Tesseract-"
"It would be in secure storage."
She swiveled on her heel and strode down the hall without a second thought. His footsteps quickly followed her.
"Why are you helping me?"
"I'm not SHIELD's favorite person right now. If anyone will get in trouble for this, I'd rather it be me than Coulson's idol." That was a partial truth. She's read up on all the files in the Avengers initiative. She knew the sacrifices he's made.
The people he's lost.
She approached the storage container doors and cursed, realizing her keycard was still in her locker. Hesitating, she pressed her hand up against the door and started to suck in a breath.
"Wait," Steve whispered. He moved to take her spot and she calmly stepped out of his way. He broke the door open and slid it far enough that they could slip in. Damn Super Soldier strength.
The spy carefully leapt onto a crate and then the railing. She grabbed onto the railing above her and pulled herself up easily. Captain Rogers blinked and then made the choice to follow her. They crept along the various crates, occasionally reading labels as they passed. He paused at one, staring at it for a beat, and then continued on ahead of her. The Dragon looked over in the direction he was heading and then back down at the crate that stopped him. She tilted her head to the side, reading the scratchy handwriting on the label.
Spitfire.
The assassin reached out to touch the top of the crate before she hesitated and pulled her hands away. Something tugged in her gut. She always trusted her gut and was never wrong. She lifted her hands and grasped the top, yanking it up and off of the crate. Moving the wood out of the way, the Dragon found what looked like personal items nestled among the shavings. Her hands brushed over an aged gas mask and a small journal. She reached out and grabbed a slim pocket knife out of the crate. It fit perfectly in the palm of her hand and she raised it to find initials carved in the end.
AR.
"Automatic rifle?" she whispered the words to herself. Footsteps started towards her again and she yanked the crate lid back on and stuffed the pocket knife in one of her utility pouches. Captain Rogers walked towards her with a rifle in his hands. One she had seen in files before. A HYDRA rifle.
"Did you know about this?" he demanded.
"I've been out of commission for eight months, Captain. I know as much as you do."
"What is Phase 2?" Stark's voice floated out of the lab and into the hall. Steve slammed the rifle onto the counter.
"Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the Cube to make weapons. Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me."
"Dragon," Fury greeted, a warning coating his tone. She simply crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head to the side. She would love to hear this explanation.
"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're making-"
"I'm sorry, Nick. What were you lying?" Stark turned the monitor around, revealing schematics for weaponry. The Dragon approached it and stared at the designs, her jaw clenching when she realized that some of them looked familiar.
"I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit," Steve snapped.
"Did you know about this?" Banner asked Natasha as she entered with Thor.
"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor? You too, Dragon?" she said in lieu of greeting.
"I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed."
"This is Chris' design," Dragon replied. "She said she was done making weapons. What did you do? Take her old files and repurpose them?"
"Loki is manipulating you," Natasha warned.
"And you've been doing what exactly?"
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."
"Yes and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." Banner grabbed the screen and pointed at it. "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."
"Because of him?" Fury pointed to Thor.
"Me?"
"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously outgunned."
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet."
"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled."
"Like you controlled the Cube?"
"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."
"A higher form of war?" "You forced our hand. We had to come up with something."
"A nuclear deterrent," Stark interrupted. "'Cause that always calms everything right down. But it's not just that. It's a containment. For people like her."
Heads swiveled towards the Dragon and she balked, her normally stoic facade faltering. She looked back at the plans and let her shoulders fall. Of course. Stark tapped the screen and her file folder appeared at full size.
"Why are you on leave, Agent? Because this says right here that you-"
"And I'm sure if you still made weapons, you would still be neck-deep…" Rogers interrupted him. He stepped forward, easily placing his body between the assassin and the billionaire.
"Hold on, how is this now about me?"
Arguments broke out amongst the group. The Dragon stepped back, her eyes catching on the Tesseract as Banner swept the staff up into his hands. Her eyes began to burn and she shut them, clenching her jaw to keep her focus. Keep her cool. Maybe Natasha was right. Maybe it was time to step away.
Stark and Rogers were going toe to toe, Banner was shouting, and then…then…
"Something's wrong," she called just as the lab exploded.
The Dragon flew back into the doorway, landing centimeters away from Stark and Rogers. She groaned and rolled over to lay on her stomach. Shutting her eyes tightly, she fought back against the pain ringing through her head. She blinked her eyes open, trying to clear the dust that coated her lashes. A figure was hovering over her and she grunted, shifting her weight to sit up.
"Hey, hey, you alright?" Rogers asked. The Dragon blinked a few times and shook her head to clear her mind. She looked up at the blue eyes gazing down at her in concern and frowned.
"Steve?"
"Some kind of bomb went off. We're on the Helicarrier. Are you alright?"
"Fine. Just a little thrown."
Her comms crackled to life and Blake's voice rang out loud and clear. "Dragon, Murakami is approaching the weapons bay."
"I'm on it." She pulled herself up and stumbled just slightly, strong hands grasping her waist and steadying her. Dragon nodded her thanks to Steve and then sprinted down the hall. She passed agents and soldiers scrambling to their posts as orders flew down the halls. Gunfire cracked in the distance but the Dragon couldn't worry about that right now.
"All units be advised. Dragon and Murakami are engaging at the weapons bay. Get out and stay away," Blake barked over the comms.
She carefully stepped onto the platform and entered the long hall that was lined with weapons. The door at the other end of the hall slid open with a hiss and the Dragon shut her eyes for a moment to regain her surroundings. She let out a deep exhale and reached up to pull her two escrima sticks out of their holsters, twisting them into her grip.
"I don't want to do this, Chris. But I have to if you don't stop. This isn't a fight you can win, you and I know that. Let me help you."
The woman at the other end of the hall stared at her blankly with unnaturally blue eyes. Mind control. Christine looked worse for her wear. Her dark hair was braided back away from her face, exposing the cuts on her hair line and bruising on her jaw. Dark bags clung to her eyes.
"Move." Christine's voice was hollow and devoid of any of the warmth that usually resided there. The Dragon stationed herself at the end of the hall and let her sticks rest at her side.
"You know I can't."
A knife hurtled through the air, just missing the Dragon's ear as she calmly moved her head to the side. "If that's how you want to play it, then fine."
She sprinted towards her friend and dropped into a slide, her leg coming out to sweep Christine's legs out from under her. Chris landed on her hands and pushed up in a move that the Dragon had taught her. She was met with an escrima stick to the shins, knocking her back onto the ground. Chris let out a growl and reached for the gun on her hip holster, but Dragon quickly kicked her hand away and flipped the gun up into the air, smacking it across the room with her escrima stick like it was a baseball.
Chris slammed her fist into the ground and metal quickly shot up onto her skin, encasing her fist in the alloy that made up the Helicarrier's floor. Dragon backed away as the metal grew and swallowed both of Christine's fists. She slowly picked herself up and turned to face the assassin. Dragon nodded to herself and slid her sticks back into their holsters. She dropped into a crouch and raised her fists.
Christine lunged at her, one metal fist catching her side and the other landing neatly in the Dragon's open palm. The dark haired assassin gritted her teeth but pushed back her fist, her foot coming up to catch Christine's ankle. They went tumbling along the floor and the Dragon quickly tucked and rolled herself so she could land in a crouched position, one knee bent and the other extended. She lunged forward and swung her boot around to collide with Christine's temple.
The mutant's head snapped to the side and the Dragon hesitantly stood, peering down at her friend's limp body. She leaned down and pressed two fingers against her pulse.
Christine's eyes snapped open and she grabbed the Dragon's wrist, throwing her into a wall of rifles. She let out a grunt of pain and picked herself up as Christine stalked towards her and threw a punch, her metal fist going through the wall inches from the Dragon's head. The Dragon waited…one, two, three. She shoved her fist into Christine's gut and pressed down on the taser she had grabbed from her belt. Chris jerked and dropped to the ground, her head colliding with the metal.
The Dragon leaned over and captured Christine's hands in her fist, keeping them pinned above her head before she lifted one eyelid to check her pupils. All the blue was gone. Perfect. She released Christine's hands and watched as the metal melted away from her hands. The assassin sat back against the wall and raised her hand to call for a medical team on comms when Fury's voice came over.
"Agent Coulson is down."
"The medical team is on their way to your location."
"They're here. They called it."
The Dragon fished the pocket knife out of her pouch that she had pulled out of the crate. She ran her thumb over the carving on the handle and shut her eyes, resting her head back against the cool metal wall.
She was sure they were bright gold.
And if a tear slipped down her cheek, she would deny it to the grave.