Chapter 8: Phase 2
The logical part of Steve Rogers' mind told him to go back. To return to the bridge and wait for any news on the location of the Tesseract. Or, perhaps, join the search for the prisoner who'd escaped on the ship. It told him to do something useful, instead of rising to Tony's paranoid considerations. And he might have been able to disregard them, even if they did make sense, if Bruce hadn't stepped in to agree with Tony.
So here he was, searching for anything that SHIELD and Nick Fury were hiding.
"Wrong way," he stopped, whirling around, and saw Ciara leaning against a wall. Her arms were folded, and she was smirking. "If you want the real juicy stuff, you should head to the secure storage. That's this way," she told him simply, and turned, walking the way she'd indicated.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Steve chased after her, but to his frustration, she kept just out of reach, easily outpacing him and not even breaking a sweat.
"I'm showing you what you're looking for," Ciara answered simply, turning and moving backwards, still keeping just out of reach. Steve knew she could easily escape him, even with his enhanced abilities. She was leading him somewhere, and while he knew it was wrong to let her, not only was he curious about what it could be, but he couldn't just walk away and leave her to continue wandering the Helicarrier unchecked.
"What is it?" he asked as she stopped at a turn.
"Reasons why SHIELD can't be trusted," Ciara replied simply, and suddenly blurred out of view, leaving a silver and black streak that turned the corner. Frowning, Steve followed it, and came across a heavy metal door, labelled "Secure Storage 10-C". He hesitated, looking in at the dark room, before his determination took over. With some effort, he forced the door open, and stepped inside. The room was noticeably colder, kept to a certain degree, and he glanced back before stepping inside. "Take a look around," he jumped, whirling around at Ciara's voice, but wherever she was, he couldn't see her.
"Ellis, come on!" his voice echoed around the room as he continued to sweep the room. "You know it's a wasted effort running around here. There's nowhere left to go!" Steve warned her, and heard her laughter in response.
"Captain, please," Ciara appeared above him, leaning on the railings with an amused smirk. "There's always somewhere to go," she taunted, and vanished in a blur again. "Have fun!" her words echoed around the room, and he waited for another moment, but it seemed she was already gone. Shaking his head, Steve jumped onto a crate and leapt up onto the higher level, starting to take a look around.
Ciara watched from the shadows, as Captain America looked around to find the crates marked "Phase 2". She smirked to herself, knowing what the honourable, heroic man would do when he found just what SHIELD had been using the Tesseract for. She'd known for some time, and she had her suspicions that this was what finally pushed SHIELD to try and hunt her down.
She leapt down from the crates she'd been sitting on, and moved towards the way out, leaving Steve to his hunt. "This really just gets better," Ciara hummed to herself.
"I'm so sorry," Penelope apologised to Coulson and Marcus as she stood in front of them. She kept the ice pack pressed to the dark purple bruise by her jaw, feeling the pain with every word she spoke. "I failed to capture Ellis," she didn't look at them, instead staring at her feet.
"You came a damn lot closer than anyone else has since we started this hunt, Tournes," Marcus shook his head.
"He's right," Coulson gave a warm smile to the young woman as she looked up. Marcus had his arms folded and was looking away, but his usual stern look was a lot less harsh than usual. "You were also the one who captured her in the first place and brought her here," he pointed out.
"She figured it out. What I can do," Penelope explained to them, looking from one to the other. "She figured it out so quickly, I don't..." she trailed off helplessly.
"Ellis has always been intelligent," Coulson explained with a shrug. "It comes as no surprise to me that she figured out your powers. She's surrounded herself with her own kind for years, she knows how to spot other mutants," he pointed out, and she sighed.
"I don't think I'll be able to get another chance like that again. She's too wary of me now. I'm sorry," Penelope apologised again, feeling useless.
"Tournes, this isn't all up to you, you know," Marcus pointed out gruffly, and she looked at him with wide eyes. "You aren't the only one on the team. Your power gave you an advantage. It didn't work out, so we'll work on another play," he told her, meeting her gaze. Coulson nodded in agreement. "We'll get her," Marcus said confidently.
"R-right," Penelope nodded, wishing she felt as confident about it. She glanced to the file on the desk with Ciara's name on it, and sighed. She'd been thinking about it for a while, since she first read into Ciara's background. She reached out and tapped the table with her nail, letting her power kick in. Any noise that should have been created by the metal being struck, was absorbed through the nail, leaving nothing but a silence.
She couldn't help but wonder, what life would have been like for herself, if her parents hadn't been as accepting as they were. She was only young when the truth of mutants was finally broadcast to the world, despite SHIELD's best efforts to keep it hidden. And from the moment it was revealed, Penelope could remember almost nothing but stories about mutants appearing everywhere, causing trouble wherever they went. Some fought amongst themselves, claiming to be fighting for good, but wherever they went, destruction still followed.
Even with her parents accepting her powers, Penelope hid them. She worked to control her powers, but beyond that, she hid them, pretending to be normal. She hadn't wanted a part of the destruction, the infamy, that came from being a mutant who openly displayed what they could do. She wondered, if her childhood hadn't been as loving; if it had been more like Ciara's, would she have been the same as her?
"Tournes," she jumped, and looked up as Marcus snapped her from her thoughts. "Get some sleep. You've not rested since you got back from Germany, so go sleep," he told her.
"But Sir, with Ellis still running around the ship-"
"You're no good to us sleep deprived," Marcus cut her off firmly as Penelope tried to argue. "Go and rest up. That's an order," he said. Forgetting herself, Penelope sighed heavily and got to her feet.
"Yes sir," she nodded to the pair, and traipsed off, unwilling to admit how tired she really was. As soon as she was gone, Coulson chuckled, and Marcus frowned.
"What?" he asked.
"You're very sweet with her," Coulson smiled pleasantly, but Marcus had known him long enough to see the teasing behind it. His dark brow furrowed at the shorter man. "Almost fatherly," he added, and Marcus felt his cheeks warm against his will.
"Feck off Phil," Marcus rolled his eyes and stomped off. "I'm going to check the security footage. See if Ellis has stopped long enough to be picked up," he declared, and Coulson watched, still laughing to himself.
"This is pretty good," Ciara admitted out loud, a mouth full of bread. She slipped into the shadows, eating what she'd pilfered from the kitchen when the staff weren't paying attention. Her stomach grumbled, pleased by the meal after several hours without anything.
She walked through the corridors again, finding herself growing bored once again. It had been a little while since she'd led Steve to the storage area, and she was wondering what to do now.
Ciara sighed, and started on the sandwich she'd stolen, devouring it quickly. She knew Loki had a much bigger plan that had been let on. The Tesseract was still on the move, and SHIELD still hadn't even come close to locating it. At the rate they were going, they would only find it when it had opened up another gateway.
The speedster stopped walking, her hand falling to her side with the half eaten sandwich still there. She struggled to swallow the mouthful, her mind on the Tesseract. Even now, she still felt it. Ciara had figured it was a lingering effect of being near it, and that being away should have caused that pull to fade, but it was still there. She wanted to go to it, and that scared her.
She huffed, shoving the rest of her sandwich into her mouth. "Get out of my head," she hissed to herself, refusing to acknowledge the pull the Tesseract still had on her.
Turning the corner, Ciara was still trying to ignore the lingering thoughts, and walked straight into someone. They barely even moved, as she fell backwards, feeling as if she'd walked into a wall. Thor turned, frowning at the collision, and when his blue eyes settled on the silver-haired speedster on the ground, it turned to a look of shock.
"Ciara Ellis," he breathed, and Ciara looked up in surprise at the deep voice. A cocky grin then spread across her face, much more like the looks he'd grown used to during his short exile a year ago.
"Hey big guy. I see you're just as much a wall as ever," she rapped her knuckles against the metal plated armour on his chest. He looked down at the lanky girl who just about reached his shoulder, taking a moment to adjust to seeing her.
"Why?" the word finally broke his silence, and Ciara tilted her head. Her eyebrow arched delicately, waiting for him to finish his question. "Why do you work with him? His work almost caused the destruction of not only you, but the rest of the people in that town," Thor reminded her of the fight against the Destroyer. Ciara touched the scars that stood out above her eyebrow, a souvenir in the fight she had been hopelessly outclassed in.
"Do you remember, when we broke into the SHIELD base, to retrieve Mjolnir?" Ciara turned away, her hands behind her back. Thor noted her flawless pronunciation of the hammer, which at this moment was currently in the bridge, but he didn't speak. "You asked me why I would help you; a stranger I'd just met, in such a dangerous mission," Ciara continued.
"'Because it'll be fun'," Thor repeated the answer he'd received. "You truly would side with my brother because it's enjoyable to you?" he asked, struggling to understand it. Ciara turned back to him, moving with exaggeration and keeping her hands behind her back. "All those people who have died – all the people who will die because of this, you would willingly have their blood on your hands?" Thor pressed, and Ciara rolled her eyes.
"Why should I care? Would they, if it was me?" she challenged, with more venom in her voice than he expected. "No. I'd be another dead mutant, one less problem they'd have to pretend existed in the first place. People like that-" Ciara cut herself off, realising how heated she was getting. She steeled herself, removing the emotion from her face. "Why should I care about people like that?" she asked in a flat voice.
"You mean people like your father?" Thor's simple question had the desired effect. Ciara's mask shattered as the memories flooded back in. Her fists clenched, and her blue eyes turned stormy.
"Don't presume to know me, Thor, just because you read my file," she warned him in a dangerous tone.
"I simply wonder, is it because of him, and your family-"
"I don't have a family!"
"That you refuse to trust anyone?" Thor continued on, despite Ciara's furious snarl. He watched her with a calm expression. "Is that why you refuse to take sides, and would instead antagonise the people who try to protect this planet and its people from harm?" he asked her, and Ciara gave a mocking snort.
"Protect? SHIELD protects their own. They don't care about my kind. They barely care about humans," she rolled her eyes.
"Or is it him? Pietro Maximoff?" Ciara froze, stunned, and before Thor realised it, a blow to the face actually knocked him to the side. However, it wasn't enough to even daze him, and he reached out, catching Ciara's wrist. "Finally," he nodded with approval. "Something truthful about you," his victorious words snapped Ciara out of her rage, and she tugged, trying to break free of his grasp. It wasn't painful, but it was strong; too strong for her to break free.
"Let me go," she demanded, her breathing uneven as more memories tugged forwards, freed from the box she'd shoved them into. "I mean it Thor, let me go," she continued to struggle, but he didn't so much as loosen his grasp.
"I am truly sorry for your past, Ciara Ellis," Thor's victorious look faded.
"Don't you dare pity me," Ciara snarled back at him, seeing the look in his eyes. "Not after you would bring up-" she choked, looking away. "Let me go," she repeated, her voice softer now.
"I am sorry, but I cannot allow you to continue down this path. I swore I would protect this realm from dangers, and that includes from you," Thor told her, and with that, began to move, dragging her effortlessly. After a moment, Ciara sighed, and walked obediently behind him, forced to walk faster to keep up with his long strides. Her heart pounded painfully and sweat ran down her face, as nausea threatened to force her stolen food back up.
"Thor, we need to get to-" Natasha stopped as she saw Ciara in Thor's grasp. "Get to the lab. We have some information about Loki's plan," she said, looking up at the Asgardian. Ciara scoffed quietly, but made no attempt to speak, mockery or otherwise. Thor nodded wordlessly, and they made their way to the lab, where they heard Fury and Steve speaking.
"I was wrong Director," Steve growled, standing beside a large weapon he'd found in a crate. "The world hasn't changed a bit," they double-took when they saw Ciara with Thor and Natasha, and Steve shook his head. "To think it took her to help me realise it," Fury turned to Ciara, anger in his one good eye, and she met his gaze with as defiant a look as she could muster.
"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked Thor and Natasha.
"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" Natasha asked, trying and failing to keep the worry from her voice. Ciara glanced to her, and as Bruce gave a mocking laugh, she realised what it was that Loki had planned.
"I was in Calcutta; I was pretty well removed," he reminded her bitterly. Ciara gave a small laugh, and Thor glanced to her, frowning.
"Loki is manipulating you," Natasha warned Bruce, who rolled his eyes.
"And you've been doing what, exactly?"
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you," Natasha retaliated.
"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy," Bruce refused to leave and they could all feel the tension in the room rising, which made both Natasha and Fury even more wary.
"What are you thinking, Ciara?" they all looked at Thor as he spoke to the girl still in his grasp. She looked up at him with a much more defiant look than before, and he took note of the dark lines around her eyes.
"Loki doesn't need to manipulate Banner, or anyone for that matter," she told them, glancing to the others in the room. "Because SHIELD is just like me," Ciara smirked, her eyes gleaming for just a moment. "Unwilling to trust anyone," she stated.
"Ellis, that's enough out of you," Fury warned her carefully.
"So, Fury, why exactly is SHIELD using an unknown power source to build weapons of mass-destruction?" she asked innocently, tilting her head. Fury's anger grew, and he didn't speak.
"Get her out of my sight," he told Natasha.
"No," as the red-head went to grab Ciara, she was stopped by Bruce's firm voice. "I'd like to know that too," he turned the screen to them, showing the schematics for powerful and seemingly unstoppable weapons. Fury was silent as he regarded the scientist, before raising a hand.
"Because of him," Thor's eyes widened when the finger was pointed at him.
"Me?" the one who had been quiet the most in the arguing, spoke up in confusion. Tony frowned, and Ciara even arched an eyebrow.
"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet, who had a grudge-match that levelled a small town," Fury explained, and the guilt showed in Thor's face as the others looked at him too. "We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly – hilariously – outgunned," he explained, and Ciara rolled an eyebrow at his words.
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor argued.
"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury challenged. "And you're not the only threat. The world is filling up with people that can't be matched. They can't be controlled. Ellis here is the perfect example of that," he gestured to the mutant.
"Oh please," she rolled her eyes in exasperation. "What you're saying, is that you're using the Tesseract to build a defence. Messing with it in the first place is what drew Loki and his army here in the first place," Thor found himself nodding at Ciara's words. "Because that's all you humans do. You seize any power available to be the biggest threat out there, to stomp out anything different, purely because you think they might be a threat," she accused angrily, unable to stop the emotions.
"Ellis, I'm warning you, that's enough," Fury warned with a snarl.
"It's never enough, not for people like SHIELD and HYDRA," Steve started at the name she uttered, which shouldn't have been known by anyone outside of SHIELD.
"She's right," Thor nodded. "Working with the Tesseract is a signal, a blaring beacon, to the rest of the realms, that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war," he warned them darkly.
"A higher form?" Steve repeated in alarm.
"You forced our hand. We have to come up with-"
"A nuclear deterrent," Tony cut Fury off, and the man sighed heavily. "Because that always calms everything right down," he mocked.
"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury challenged the billionaire.
"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep in-"
"Wait, hold on, how is this now about me?" Tony demanded, unsure of why Steve was bringing him into it.
"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Steve asked sarcastically.
"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor rolled his eyes, and Fury rounded on him.
"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" he challenged. Ciara gave a laugh.
"Please, if you had the chance, you would have," she stated confidently. "That's what humans do. Conquer everything and everyone," she shrugged.
"Enough with your mutant pity party," Natasha snapped at her, fed up with Ciara's heated words. "If you people were less willing to cause destruction with your powers, maybe it would be easier for everyone to accept each other," arguing broke out amongst everyone as Ciara just laughed in exasperation at her words.
"You speak of control, yet you court chaos," Thor laughed. Ciara realised he'd released his grasp on her arm, too heated in the arguments to realise what he'd done.
"It's his MO, isn't it?" Bruce spoke quietly. "I mean, what are we? A team? No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're..." he trailed off, and gave a small smile. "We're a time-bomb," he declared.
"You," Fury turned to him, looking concerned. "Need to step away," he warned, approaching Bruce carefully.
"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked, putting a hand on Steve's shoulder. Immediately the hero slapped him away.
"You know damn well why, back off," Steve snarled, just as concerned.
"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me," Tony requested.
"Yeah...big man in a suit of armour. Take that off, what are you?" Steve challenged as he circled Tony. The man rolled his eyes in response.
"Genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist," he answered, and Ciara shook her head in exasperation as the two continued their argument. She took a tiny step back, ready to bolt, when her eyes landed on the blue light emitted from the sceptre. Her arms fell to her sides, as a whisper in the back of her mind made her wince.
"Agent Romanov, would you escort Doctor Banner back to his-"
"Where?" Bruce challenged sharply, his smile cold. "You're renting my room," he pointed out, making it obvious he was aware who the cell Loki was imprisoned in was really for.
"The cell was just in case-"
"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't," Bruce snarled. "I know, I tried," his declaration stunned everyone, as Ciara even managed to pull her attention from the sceptre. Bruce shrugged, very aware of the attention in the room. "I got low, I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out," as he spoke, Ciara's gaze was pulled back to the sceptre, which seemed to glow even brighter.
'Divided...fall..." she heard the faint whisper of words in her head, and put a hand to her temple as pain shot through it.
"So I moved on. I focused on helping other people, I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak-show, and put everyone here at risk," Bruce glared at Natasha, making it clear he blamed her for it. "You want to know my secret, Agent Romanov? You want to know how I stay calm?" he challenged, not registering the gust of wind that blew past. He noted both Fury and Natasha reaching for their guns as the other three went on alert.
"Doctor Banner," Steve spoke slowly. "Move now," he ordered, and Bruce frowned, before turning and seeing Ciara holding the sceptre in her hands.
"Ciara-"
"Ellis," Fury interrupted Thor's concerned words. "Put it down," he lifted his gun and aimed it at her as she watched the blue light.
"You people really are pathetic," she spoke softly. "Too busy fighting each other to see the real picture. That's why you'll lose," she looked up, and her eyes shimmered an eerie blue, paler than usual. "Divided you fall," she whispered, smiling wryly at the worried group.
"Ellis, you need to put it down," Steve warned her, hands raised. The computer beeped loudly behind them, distracting them from Ciara, who looked back down at the light of the sceptre again. Bruce shuffled over to the computer to check the reading, pulling on his glasses to read the information. Ciara winced again at the pain that pulsed through her head, as if the light was fighting against her. It was different to the pull of the Tesseract, which drew her in. This repelled her, fascinating her even more.
'Not meant for you,' she heard the whisper again, and the light flared. When it faded, Ciara collapsed, and both Fury and Thor started towards her.
"Oh my god," Bruce's words stopped them, before an explosion rocked the Helicarrier. Ciara woke instantly, thrown forwards, barely able to hold onto the sceptre as the rest of the group were thrown in different directions.
Hope you liked it!
