Castle knew he probably wouldn't have been the first to admit it...but the raid on the Sokovian castle could have been going better.
A lot better.
It's like they knew we were coming, he thought in frustration as he dove for cover, knowing his thoughts would be picked up by the group mind-link.
Esposito was in full agreement, having picked himself up after a repeating repulsor weapon knocked him flat on his behind for what felt like the hundredth time. You guys didn't mention this much firepower in your recon report...
They didn't *have* this much firepower when we were doing recon, Ryan insisted.
Only Stark seemed to be having any luck at all. I can pick 'em off from the air, he told the group, but only with my repulsors. The roaring repeat of a half-dozen anti-aircraft guns ripped through the air, causing Stark to have to duck and swerve to avoid losing some of the crucial tech that was keeping him airborne. They've got their own ways of keeping me busy.
The condition to Stark's targeting wasn't lost on Castle. The soldiers are being shielded?
Yep, Stark agreed. Same frequency as the one holding that damn scepter. The castle's got a shield over it, too. Different frequency on that one, though.
Beckett was sharing her friends' frustration. Picking these guys off one by one is going to take way too long. We need a tank.
On it, Ryan declared. He stretched his mind until he connected with the Warehouse. Banner, we got trouble. We could really use your help over here.
Ready when you are, replied Banner.
The Hulk arrived a moment later, taking three repulsor blasts before he got his bearings...and discovered the Guardians ducking behind cover. Bad day? he teased.
You don't know the half of it, Ryan replied. We gotta get Stark into the castle to disable these shields. Can you clear a path?
The Hulk smiled. No problem.
Soldiers started flying in the Hulk's wake as Banner barrelled his way up the path, stopping only when an invisible, inpenetrable wall sent him flying back in a textbook example of 'equal and opposite reaction'. Might have been nice of you guys to warn me about the *shield*, he groaned into the mind-link.
Sorry, Ryan apologized, wincing. Stark, can you bring down the shield on the castle?
If I could I would have done it by now, replied Stark. Castle, you got a read on it?
Castle scrambled out of hiding, surprised to find the coast clear for the moment. He forced himself to focus his energies on the building in the distance. Kate...
Beckett grabbed her soulmate's hand, channeling his magic through her hyperactive senses...until the couple staggered back, each clutching their heads in obvious agony. The frequency's too close to the scepter, they declared. We can't touch it.
I can. The group turned around to see Blair hesitantly raising his hand at the back of the group. The shield's energy is making it harder for me to channel, but it's not hurting me like it hurts you guys. I think I might be able to take a crack at it.
The group backed away, allowing Blair to the lawn in front of the castle wall. He stopped three feet before the wall, unable to move further ahead. Blair raised his hand, pressed it against the shield, and closed his eyes.
Castle tilted his head, his curiosity sparked by what he was feeling in the environment around him. Has Lanie ever confirmed Sandburg was a flip?
Not that I know of, Beckett replied, surprised by the circumstances that were bringing up the question. Why?
He's pulling from some type of energy I've never felt before, thought Castle.
The admission surprised Beckett. But...what about Central Park?
Ryan was the conduit for that spell, Castle explained. We were all manipulating the energy that he was providing for us. But I don't think I've ever felt Blair try a spell of this magnitude before. And if this is SOP for him...maybe he's not a flip, after all.
More things in heaven and earth, shrugged Beckett. Castle nodded in agreement...until Blair staggered back, falling to his knees and gasping for breath.
His Sentinel was by his side in a heartbeat. "Blair?" asked Jim, "Talk to me. What's going on?"
Blair grabbed Jim by the collar and yanked him down until his lips were level with Jim's ear. "I'm fine," he growled. "But you need to stick to the damn mind link. We don't know if there are any microphones behind that shield."
Jim allowed himself a small, silent chuckle before pulling his Guide up so the younger man could stand on his own two feet. Sorry, chief. You okay?
Blair nodded. It felt like I was pouring energy into a black hole. I think I had enough mojo going to bring the shield down, but I couldn't focus long enough to kill the generator.
Jim helped Blair back away from the shield. Shame the Guide thing doesn't go both ways, huh, chief?
The thought stopped Blair in his tracks. What if it does?
Jim glared at his partner. I know that look. I *hate* that look...
No, Blair protested, hear me out. We've never tested whether you could help me focus. Hell, I've never even *thought* about testing that before now.
So? asked Jim.
Blair smiled. Interested in letting me be the research subject for a change?
Jim rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to protest...only to close it just as quickly. What's the worst that could happen? he thought to himself. If it kills him... Jim turned his attention back to the mind-link. Okay, I'm in. What do you want me to do?
Blair turned his attention back to the 'shield-wall', drawing in deep breaths to regain his strength as quickly as his body would let him. Put your hand on my shoulder, the Guide instructed his Sentinel, just like I used to do with you. And if you notice or feel anything weird, well, just...roll with it. Jim nodded. Blair closed his eyes, returning his focus to drawing in the energy of the earth beneath his feet. Jim put his hand on Blair's shoulder as he had been instructed, closing his eyes and focusing completely on his Guide. A sensation tugged at the back of his mind, and he followed it, 'rolling with' that feeling...
Castle was the first one to notice the change. "The shield's down," he declared, not caring if he was heard or not. "They did it."
"That's not the only thing that's down," Beckett added, falling to her knees to check on the unconscious forms of the Sentinel and his Guide. "Can you get them out of here?"
Jim and Blair were gone less than a second later. The remaining group turned their attention to the wall in front of them. Ryan then turned to the quickest solution to the elimination of that obstacle. Bruce, he thought, would you mind...?
The wall exploded as the Hulk's fist went through it...and he shrank down to become Bruce Banner once again. Ladies first, he invited the group, bowing and giving them a gallant wave of his hand.
Beckett rolled her eyes before walking through the door that the Avenger had created for them. Thanks, she told him before turning to the rest of the group. Stark, you're with me. No way in hell we're going through all this and not going home with that scepter.
#
Stark and Beckett ran the small group down the gilded corridors of the main mansion, Beckett 'following her nose' and Stark picking off the few remaining HYDRA soldiers that dared to cross their paths. "The coast looks clear," said Stark. "For the moment..."
Beckett's attention was not on Stark. "It's in there," she declared.
"How sure are you?" Stark asked Beckett. Beckett glared at Stark in response. It made Stark immediately regret the question. "Forget I asked," he apologized. Stark kicked open the door...and the Guardians all stopped where they landed, clutching their heads in pain. It was the only thing that could push Stark to take over for the company that he was currently keeping. "Well, if I wasn't sure before..." he muttered under his breath.
It seemed obvious that the group in this room had a highly preconceived idea of who was going to be storming through the door after them. Iron Man, apparently, had somehow not made the top of the list. Stark fired two quick repulsor blasts, taking out the computers to his right and left and frying the energy shield system that was protecting the scepter. "Give us the scepter," he ordered the three scientists in the room, "and I promise, none of you will get hurt."
The three scientists all smiled at Stark's demand. "You were right, Mistress," Whitehall said to the lone female 'scientist', "their obsession with protecting the innocent is definitely their greatest weakness."
Raina's smile grew just the tiniest bit wider. "Shame they won't be around to regret that particular decision," she declared. Raina snapped her fingers...
And the three 'scientists' disappeared.
In their place, was a bomb.
That instantly exploded.
#
"You know," Ward declared, brushing stray hairs out of Skye's eyes, "I probably shouldn't say this, but I'm glad they didn't take you with them to Sokovia." Skye had fallen silent, having lost consciousness once the Guardians had ascertained the location of Loki's scepter. Ward squeezed her hand, trying to impart some level of comfort to the woman in the bed in front of him. "The world needs to have you in it," he told Skye. "If something happened to you over there, I don't know what I..."
Ward's voice trailed off when he felt Skye's hand move. He sat up, shifting to the edge of his seat. "Skye?" he asked excitedly. "Skye, can you hear me?"
Skye didn't respond to Ward's question. Her arms lifted up with her hands, followed by her shoulders, her chest, her legs, her feet...and finally her head and neck. Ward backed away, stunned by the sight in front of him and unable to think of any way to react other than from an instinctive sense of self-preservation. Finally, though, his love for the...floating woman in front of him broke through his panic long enough to get him to call for help. "Lanie..." he called to the healer.
Lanie looked up from the microscope that, to that point, had been commanding her complete attention. "Agent Ward," she warned him, "if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times..." Her voice trailed off when she saw the condition and location of her patient. "What the...?"
"That's why I yelled for you," Ward replied. The agent and the Guardian watched Skye as she continued to rise in the air until she was hovering almost a foot above the bed. "You...you don't know why she'd doing this?"
"No," Lanie replied. "You?"
Ward shook his head. It tilted his head toward the door in time to see something else float into the lab. "Although maybe that has something to do with it..." Lanie and Ward watched, stunned, frozen and transfixed, as Loki's scepter floated into the room, stopping at Skye's feet. The point of the spear pulled away from the handle, opening the glass bubble at both ends.
The glass of the bubble started to rattle with a tapping noise that sparked Lanie's caution and curiosity at the same time. "What's...what's that noise?" she asked.
Ward shrugged. Then the glass broke.
A glowing yellow stone floated away from the wood, metal and glass of the rest of the scepter. The stone traveled over Skye's feet, past her legs, then over her torso before stopping at her neck. It sank slowly, moving around Skye until it was floating between the bed and Skye's neck. A beam of yellow light exploded from the stone, hitting Skye squarely in the back of her neck.
She arched her back in one giant convulsion from the impact before a swirling rush of wind and yellow light caused Skye to disappear.
Only when the light dimmed and the wind subsided was Skye visible once more, falling on the bed as the room returned to 'normal'. It was then that Skye finally opened her eyes.
Her glowing, yellow eyes.