They call her Human Torch! Chapter 25
Bella POV: September 13, 2015
Never in my 7 months and 3 weeks that I have been here, has Heimdall ever shown fear. Sure sometimes he smiles softly or frowns in disappointment, but fear? No. I didn't feel fear, but I did feel a burning rage and even hate building up inside of me at the moment. Shortly after our return from Xandar I invested all my time into the information that there was on the infinity stones. I knew how they came to be, I knew what stone did what, and I knew that Thanos was after them. The point that all that information drew, was that those stones could easily destroy planets, they were the most potent and powerful weapons in existence and another thing that I now knew, was that S.H.I.E.L.D, the agency I work for, that I thought was all about people's security, was trying to weaponize the Tesseract. I couldn't believe Heimdall when he told me that the Tesseract had 'awoken' on earth. I was relived when he told me they had it. I thought for sure they would lock it up and guard it, but no, they were studying it, prodding, and testing it. It was a beacon to earth now. If we knew it was there then surely Loki and his friends did too.
"How did they even find it? Who is on the job to study it?"
"A man acquired it years ago, he was part of this group you call shield and now, they have the same man you call Selvig looking into the power behind the cosmic cube."
"Shield called in Selvig? Why? I don't understand why they are looking into it now if they have had it this whole time!"
I paced back and forth, not knowing what this meant. Why or how did the cube just wake up now? What changed for them to weaponize it?
"They can't do anything with it can they? They don't know how to use it. With the Bifrost broken Loki can't even get to earth to get it right?"
"We can only wait and be prepared. I cannot see Loki, I fear that is where our disadvantage lies."
"That's it? Wait and see if he attacks my home planet? Then what? What can we possibly do from here? Watch?!"
"Bella."
I turned at the sound of Thor's voice and saw him standing there with the King. I know they came to Heimdall to speak about something private so I flew off and straight into my room before landing and locking every entrance. I was starting to feel the fear now, but fury was still principle. What would I do if I had to sit by and have Heimdall giving me running commentary about how everyone that I love was being blown up? What a way to spend my 24th birthday…
Back on Earth. October 3, 2015.
Phil Coulson walked with Director Fury through the base as he explained the reason for calling an evacuation. Maria Hill followed behind as she watched everything with scrutiny.
"Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago, sir."
"NASA didn't authorize Selvig to test the Tesseract."
"He wasn't testing it, he wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous event."
"It just turned itself on?" Agent Hill butted in.
"What are the reading levels now?"
"Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered the evac."
"How long to get everyone out?"
"Campus should be clear in the next half hour."
"Make it better."
Coulson nodded and fell back as he got to work.
…
Agent Hill followed Fury and spoke to him about how effective evacuation may be.
"Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every piece of phase 2 on a truck, and gone."
"Yes sir."
She turned in frustration and proceeded to do her part as Fury finally entered the lab facility. He spoke with Selvig but was left unsatisfied with his inability to harness the power of the misbehaving cube.
"Barton, Report."
From the top corner Clint watched over everyone, he slid down a rope and walked over to Fury, knowing what he would be asked.
"No one's come or gone. It's oven is clean. No contacts, no I.M's. If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end."
"At this end?"
"Yeah. Cube is a doorway to the other end of space right? Doors open on both sides."
Every Agent and lab assistant in the base stopped for a moment to steady themselves as the ground shook and the cube glowed brighter than it had before. The energy surged and gave a resounding crack as a disheveled man appeared in the lab. He was pale and sweaty as he slowly looked up with a crazed look in his eye. The only thing about him that actually seemed to be alive was the spear in his grip.
…
On the other side of the base Coulson ran back and forth as men loaded truck after truck. He saw the fear in their eyes grow every time the ground shook. Minutes passed before he heard a static over his radio.
"Hill, do you copy? Barton has t-"
The voice was Fury's, his radio cut out halfway but still he continued to dispatch trucks. A group of 5 came out with loaded cases but as they went down the stairs the earth moved once again and caused the men to falter. The rocking didn't stop as they hurried to gather the equipment once more.
"No no no! Leave it! Go!"
He knew the lives of the men were more important as he rushed after them and loaded himself into a waiting helicopter. Looking back at the base he took out his radio and hoped it still worked.
"We're clear upstairs sir. You need to go."
From up in the air Agents watched in shock as the ground beneath the base wavered and caved in on itself.
…
In a separate helicopter Fury watched as hundreds of offices, government equipment, and work collapsed. He caught sight of the car with Loki and a now hypnotized Barton and Selvig got away. Fruitlessly he tried to shoot at the car to stop it but had to jump out when Loki blasts it with his spear.
"Director. Director Fury, do you copy?"
"The Tesseract is with the hostile force. I have men down. Hill?"
"A lot of men still under, don't know how many survivors."
"Sound the general call, I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase."
"Rodger that."
"Coulson, get back to base. This is a level seven. As of right now, we are at war."
"What do we do?"
Fury didn't answer as he thought about the Avengers. He wasn't sure how he was going to pull it off without half of the team. Barton was out, Bella was still missing and without her, he was not sure if Stark would still be on board.
"Contact the ones left. I think it's time I have a talk with the Captain."
"He requested to be left alone for sometime."
"It's been 2 weeks. This is a good reason to interrupt him Agent."
"Yes sir. I will call in Romanoff."
Phil was not sure what to make of the situation. He knew he would have to go to Stark personally but without Bella, he didn't know how that would go. Everything would be easier if she were here. He shook his head to clear it and waited to get to another base before contacting Romanoff, she was in the middle of a mission and would not appreciate being interrupted but this took priority. And she would want to know about Barton.
…
After some digging he was able to contact the phone closest to her and ask to speak with her. As he had originally thought, she was not pleased.
"We need you to come in."
"Are you kidding? I'm working."
"This takes precedence."
"I'm in the middle of an interrogation and this moron is giving me everything. Look you can't pull me out of this right now."
"Natasha, Barton's been compromised."
"..Let me put you on hold."
He hears swiping and grunts of pain as he waits for her to come back on. Shortly after there is a crash and sounds of chains hitting concrete.
"Where is Barton now?"
"We don't know."
"But he's alive."
"We think so. I'll brief you on everything when you come back, but first we need you to talk to the big guy."
"Coulson, you know Stark trusts me about as far as he can throw me."
"No, I've got Stark. You get the big guy.
He hears her stop walking on the other end of the line and her breath catch short before muttering something in another language.
…
Natasha used her time in the plane to read up on the Hulk/Banner file and Bella's file. She knew Bella visited every year around her birthday and that she was a no show this year. Not for the first time in the passed few months, she wished her friend would appear as suddenly as she disappeared, It would make this mission so much easier.
Once in the city with backup Agents she asked them to stay undercover while she looked for a small child to lure him in. Bella never spoke about his private life but many times she did say how touched she was while witnessing his compassion for others. She shuddered to think what Bella would say now that she was using that information against him.
Before long the girl ran passed her in the house and through the window as had been agreed. She herd him mutter to himself before she made her presence known behind him.
"You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle."
"Avoiding stress isn't the secret."
"Then what is? Yoga?"
"You brought me to the edge of the city, smart. I uh.. assume the whole place is surrounded?"
"Just you and me."
"And your actress buddy, is she a spy too? Do they start that young?"
"I did."
"Who are you?"
"Natasha Romanoff. I'm here on behalf of SHIELD."
"Shield. You are Bella's friend. Where is she?"
His concern for her almost make Natasha's mask fall but it didn't matter because when she froze he inched forward.
"Why isn't she here?"
His concern and slight anger at her muteness made his eyes flicker green for a moment.
"She is.. gone. I am not here because of her."
"What do you mean gone?!"
His neck strained but the anger was gone. He gripped the table and looked to her so deeply that that she felt her own eyes battle to create moisture.
"She can't die. She heals."
She shook her head and thought that his low voice was controlled enough for her to get closer. She took out her phone and pulled up the file on Bella before she slid it over.
"She was working a mission. Aliens, or Asgardians came to earth, they wreaked havoc but once the situation was settled.. they got in a circle, it's called a bifrost. She was shaking one of the man's hands. We don't know if he took her on purpose or if she was just standing too close."
He looked over the videos over and over again until he slumped on the table.
"This says the video is from January."
"She has been gone a little over 8 months."
"H-how could- how is Kitty? What is SHIELD doing about this? Don't tell me you are magically waiting for her to come back?!"
"We are doing everything we can to-"
"DON'T LIE TO ME!" His hands banged the table and Natasha was startled enough to pull out her gun and aim it at him. He leaned back and looked down as he ran his hand through his hair.
"I'm sorry. Why don't you put that down before the other guy makes a mess?"
"…Natasha?"
She slowly put down the gun and worked on relaxing her heartbeat. Lifting her finger to her ear she spoke directly to the team outside.
"Stand down. We're good here."
He looked to her in slight amusement.
"Just you and me huh?"
"We need you to come in."
"Why now?
"We are facing a potential global catastrophe."
"Well, those I actively try to avoid."
Nat sighed but reached over to swipe on the phone.
"This is the Tesseract. It has the potential energy to swipe out the planet."
"What does Shield want me to do? Swallow it?"
"We want you to find it. It has been taken. It omits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace. There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that's where I'd be."
He sighed and looked down as if not convinced. She brought up a shot from the last moments in the lab where Loki appeared.
"His name is Loki, he is a brother of Thor. Bella disappeared with Thor all those months ago. If Loki took the Tesseract and we find him, We may know where Bella is or what happened."
That alone was enough motivation for him. He left to pack his bags and Natasha hoped finding Bella could actually be a possibility. Taking out her phone she decided to update Coulson now instead of later.
"Romanoff."
"He agreed to come but was not convinced until I mentioned Loki is Thor's brother. There's a chance we may get information on Bella if he is captured. Maybe when you go to Stark you can lead with that."
"It may save us time. Not sure if I want to put him through that if it leads nowhere though."
"That bad?"
"From what Pepper tells me. She is doing her best to distract him but it doesn't last long. I'm about to see for myself."
…
Fury paused for a moment outside of the abandoned gym. His Agent pointed him to the wrestling room where the Captain was in and he could hear him pounding away on the bags but he tried to center himself before going in.
"Is something wrong sir?"
"Not more than usual. Report."
"Sir, He knows I am watching him. He has given up pretending like I am not. When he needs something he lets me know but other than that he has not left the cabin, unless it is to come here. I must say sir, if he keeps tearing those punching bags apart, we will need to restock for him."
Fury nodded but dismissed him for the time being. Steve Rogers' body had been found 1 month ago. It took 2 weeks to carefully thaw it out and keep his body temperature stable enough to know all his organs were still working. These past 2 weeks he had chosen to spend in an isolated cabin while he came to terms with what had happened while he was frozen, not that Fury blamed him, he liked to think that if it were him, he would explore the world until he caught up on what he lost but in reality, he didn't know how different his coping would be.
Stepping into the room he went unnoticed while the Captain focused on the bag. He saw what the Agent meant when it suddenly gave out and crashed against the wall. He went to pick up another and continue on. Fury couldn't help but notice how precise his movements were even though his eyes were miles away, the way he seemed to come here mostly at night made Fury think about the many symptoms there were for PTSD. Super soldier he may be, but still a soldier.
"Trouble sleeping?"
"Slept for 70 years, sir. I think I've had my fill."
"Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world."
"I went under, the world was at war, I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost."
"We've made some mistakes along the way. Some very recently.
"You here with a mission sir?"
"I am."
"Trying to get me back in the world?"
"Trying to save it."
Fury passed over the file he had made for the Tesseract and watched his face closely for any signs that he was familiar with the object. He was surprised however to see anger.
"Hydra's secret weapon."
"Howard Stark fished it out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what we think, the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs."
The Captain tensed as he handed back the file to Fury.
"Who took it from you?"
"He's called Loki. He's not from around here. There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."
"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me."
"Ten bucks says you're wrong. There's a debriefing package waiting for you back at the cabin."
He collected his things and made to leave but had yet to give Fury an answer on where he stood on the matter.
"Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?"
"You should have left it in the ocean."
…
Phil sighed at Stark's reluctance to let him in. No one but Pepper, Piotr, Kitty, Logan, Darcy, and Jane had seen the man in over 3 months but depressed or not, the world needed him. He took out his phone and connected it to the elevator panel then stepped back to wait until S.H.I.E.L.D was able to override the system.
When the elevator doors opened he stepped in and felt nervous as to what he would say. No one had really understood the way Bella's leaving had affected him but it did, more than anyone else. She was missed and needed to everyone of course but with him, it was like a part of him had died when she disappeared. Pepper had once told him that Bella filled the void he had when it came to a loving family, She cared not for what he could do but how she could help him. She was like that with everyone but he needed it more than anyone else and it was gone just as fast as he got it. The doors opened and he took a breath for a moment before stepping out and facing this.
"Tony. Pepper."
"Phil! Come in!"
Pepper got up and came to hug him while Stark followed quietly.
"We're celebrating. Tony was able to make Stark tower the first building to have self sustainable systems in place."
"That's quite an achievement, You must be proud of that."
Stark smirked and nodded his way.
"What is so urgent that you had to override my elevators?"
"I need you to review this folder as soon as possible."
"I don't like being handed things."
"That's fine because I love to be handed things, so lets trade!"
Pepper gave a flute of champagne to him while she took the folder then handed it over to Stark while taking his half empty flute.
"What is this about? I thought I wasn't a consultant anymore."
"This isn't a consultation."
"Is this about the Avengers?… Which I know nothing about..."
Stark opened the folder and took out the tablet while he talked with a sudden emotionless voice.
"The Avengers initiative was scraped when there were only 3 members left I thought? Plus without Bella I don't even qualify. Remember I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others."
He noticed Pepper's shoulders fall as the gleam in her eyes dimmed. He felt guilty for a moment for ruining one of her distractions for him but knew it was all part of the job.
"This isn't about personality profiles anymore."
"Whatever."
He noticed him messing around with the tablet and then blowing up all the information and videos onto his sensors. Phil found himself imagining what it would be like to beat himself up when he saw Tony pause the video of Bella fighting in New Mexico. He should have taken her file out but it was automatically attached whenever he made any profile with the Avengers keyword. After a moment he wiped his eye casually and kept scrolling silently through the rest of the information. Pepper cut Phil a look but went up to Tony and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Looks like you have homework. I'm going to take the plane to DC tonight."
Phil looked down and tried to give them privacy when he saw Pepper wiping a corner of his eye and him shaking her off. A few minutes later he was back downstairs and driving Pepper to the Stark Jet. She was quiet most of the way but kept wiping at her eyes.
"I'm sorry for interrupting."
"Don't be. I know it's important. I just- I don't know what to do anymore."
"I know."
"I can't comfort him or anyone else like I would a person who is grieving. She can't be dead b-but then I can't tell him she is okay and give him hope that she will come back either."
I reached inside my suit and gave her a handkerchief when her tears began to flow continuously but I had a knot in my throat as well. That there was the problem that we all had. How could we let our friend go and give up on her return? And how could we live our lives waiting for something only to be broken when more time passes and still nothing?
"I know."
…
The next morning Phil Coulson got up bright and early and packed his bag eagerly. Fury had called late last night and informed him that Steve Rogers had to be picked up from the cabin and taken to the Helicarrier. Phil volunteered to do it immediately and had been unable to really fall asleep after that. He had his bag ready in no time and went on to carefully place his mint condition Captain America cards in the front pocket of his bag. After getting all his things he locked up and drove down to the Quinjet where 2 Agents were already waiting to pilot.
"Morning."
"Sir." They responded together and made their way into the flight deck.
Everything was loaded quickly and the jet took off in no time. Phil paced and looked over files as he made time. They would get to the cabin soon but his anticipation was getting the best of him.
"Sir, we are 20 minutes out."
"Good. I will let Agent Fin know not to be alarmed."
"Fin was put on sitting duties?"
"He was assigned to be there in case the Captain needed anything."
"Yes sir, that's babysitting."
The 2 Agents up front laughed but Phil ignored them and got on the radio to make contact. 15 minutes later they hovered over ground while Agent Fin turned off the alarms. Phil hopped up and straightened his suit before fixing his hair and finally opening the ramp. He stepped out but stopped for a moment as he admired the man in front of him. He had grown up with the videos, he had read all the reports, collected all the cards and books, but seeing him in person was different while he was awake and not half frozen, he was star struck and had to think about Fury to snap out of it and not make a fool out of himself.
"Captain."
He stepped forward and extended his hand, feeling a thrill when he shook it.
"My name is Phil Coulson. Fury sent me."
"Nice to meet you. Where exactly are you taking me?"
"Our temporary home base at the moment."
He nodded and made his way in the Quinjet. After Phil gave him the tablet with all the files he got to work and didn't say much for over an hour. Phil got to work himself but kept looking over, not really believing this.
"We're about 40 minutes out from home base, sir."
Phil nodded and got up from his work space. Steve saw movement from the corner of his eye and looked up to see the Agent coming towards him.
"So this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?"
"A lot of people were. You were the worlds first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula.
"Didn't really go his way, did it?"
"Not so much. When he's not that thing though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking-"
Phil stuttered for a moment when the Captain looked up at him in confusion.
"-He's like a smart person."
Phil took a deep breath and followed the direction that the Captain had paced to.
"I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially. I sort of met you, I mean I watched you while you were sleeping. I- I mean, I was … I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's just a… just a huge honor to have you on board."
Oh shit! Phil internally winced and outwardly grimaced when he heard one of the Agents snort from the cockpit. Rightfully so the Captain looked pretty uncomfortable.
"Well, I just hope I'm the man for the job."
"Oh you are. Absolutely. Uh.. we've made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input."
"The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little… old fashioned?"
He could tell that it took a lot out of him just to say that..
"Everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned."
He nodded and sat back down to keep reviewing files.
"Why are these 2 folders crossed out?"
He went into them anyway and swiped quickly through Barton's file but froze when he got to Bella's. Phil quirked his head as he saw him play all the videos with her in them.
"Barton is under the control of Loki. He has a spear that somehow took over the bodies of Barton and Selvig. Bella, she was taken 8 months ago-"
"Taken? By who?"
"Loki's brother, Thor, he came to earth and other Asgardians followed, that is this video here, it shows her helping to fight against what they called 'The Destroyer' when it came time to say goodbye, she was sucked into the hole as well. We do not know if she was standing too close or if they took her on purpose."
Steve could see the sorrow through the mask that the Agent put on and felt bad for bringing it up.
"You were close to her?"
"Like family. She is like family to almost everyone she meets, she is kind, genuinely kind. She does anything to help anyone that needs it, but if you are on her hit list or go against the ones she loves.. then she becomes what you see on those video's, she is..-"
"She is beautiful."
Phil snapped his head towards the Captain in time to see him look down and his cheeks turn red from the slip of mouth. He smiled and continued on.
"Yes she is stunning. From what I hear she has always been a pretty girl but after the transformation she was.. enhanced."
"What transformation? The file say's she is a mutant. I was in the understanding that it is more common now than it was in my day?"
"Well, she is a mutant, she has the gene technically but it was a lot of things that gave her the gene. We don't really know if she was born with it activated or not."
"I don't understand."
Phil sighed and sat next to him as he took the tablet. He blew up the files on the big screen and started talking while showing him pictures and videos.
"She started an internship at Von Doom Inc, she really loves science and her father had just been murdered so she threw herself into her work and worked up the ranks quickly. In no time she was being invited along to observe an experiment in space. Something went wrong and their time was cut short when a cosmic cloud headed straight for the ship, there were rooms that were not property sealed and protected.."
Phil stopped talking as he showed the video that had gone viral all those years ago. Steve bunched up his hands in anger as he saw the man called 'Victor' leave Bella behind as she tripped. He couldn't look away as the pink air filled the room and she started withering in pain. Her skin looked to be burning everywhere the pink air touched and he almost cringed when her screams started but he saw her look of determination as she took a deep breath and passed out a few seconds after.
"She woke up in a hospital states away from New York. Victor never expected her to survive and when she did, he tried to cover everything up. She burned through a lot of clothing and it took her a long time to really get control over her fire."
"I can imagine."
Steve felt drawn to the videos of her, he wanted to know more about this girl that he had never even met. Phil looked to the captain and quirked an eyebrow, he sensed that he wanted more information and happily kept talking about his dear friend.
"She came back to New York for the trial and Victor was found guilty for the deaths of the 4 others you saw on the video. This video here is the press conference for when the public found out about her…. This was when Victor was found guilty. I don't even have to explain this one.."
He paused when he realized that the Captain was already watching the video and not hearing a word he was saying.
"That's amazing. She can just melt bullets like that? And entire guns?"
"Yes but at that point she didn't even know. You can tell by her facial expressions she was as surprised as everyone else."
Steve kept looking at the video and couldn't help but feel bad for this girl as he saw her looking around at the people just starring at her. Her silent tears evaporated onto her flaming cheeks. She looked scared when the older woman approached her and it wasn't until she woman said something to calm her down then she took the flames away from her arms. The men that had spoken for her in the last video as her lawyers came running and gave her their suit jackets to cover her naked body under the flames. It bothered him a bit how intimate one of the men were when they put their hand on her chin and lifted her head to look into her eyes. Why did it bother him? He didn't even know her. He may never even meet her if she was missing. That thoughthad him feeling anger again.
"Now these are the videos you will enjoy. This is at the Stark Expo."
"Stark Expo? Those are still around?"
"Yes they are, less often now though."
"Is that her? She can fly?!"
Phil smiled when he saw the Captain going back again and again to see the video of her flying. He frowned however when he got to the part where Bella lands at the event hall and begins fighting and destroying the army's of robots.
"She is an amazing fighter."
"Yes, this was one of her first missions actually. She is much better now. Very controlled, gets things done. You'll see in the next video."
Sure enough Steve looked to the screen in awe when she landed in front of a pile of robots that were about to explode. He hears his own gasp when she alone is able to control the explosion and save the lives of all the people in that room.
"We were very proud to have her on our team that day. Like I said, it was one of her first missions and her ability to sacrifice herself to save all those people had us all shocked beyond belief."
"She passed out after that. Where did Howard's son take her?"
"She was injured and he took her to her apartment to help stitch her up."
Minutes passed by in silence as he continued to see all the videos that S.H.I.E.L.D had on file for her. He grew angry when he saw news reports and protests against the military for the medal that Stark and Rhodes were set to receive without Bella because she was a mutant. His anger went away though and he had to smirk when he saw another short clip of Tony Stark dedicating the medal to her in front of everyone. There were small clips after that all of sighting of her in the street.
"She is seen with Stark a lot, are they close?"
Phil smirked when he detected a little jealousy in his voice.
"I have never seen 2 people that have had such an instant connection. They work perfectly together. He is a different person when she is around."
"So they are together? Or they were before she disappeared?"
"No, no. Stark is in a relationship with Pepper. He and Bella are like brother and sister. They fight and tease each other but no one understands him more than she does, and he supports her through anything."
Steve nodded to himself and could not understand why he would care if she was with him or not. He felt relief knowing she considered him a brother but a part of him knew how strange it was for him to think that way.
