Part 3 – New Avenger
Arriving back at the Helicarrier was no small sight, a series of paramedics ran up to the two of them with a stretcher.
As they departed, Ms. Marvel waved them off, "Ma'am, you do need to come with us," one of them said as he ushered towards them.
"I'll follow you," Ms. Marvel said before putting her hand on Barrett's shoulder, "What about you?"
"I have to report to Colonel Fury," Barrett said, "I'll see you on the bridge."
As Barrett was walking back toward the armory, the first thing he saw as he was departing the elevator was Colonel Fury.
"Welcome back agent," Colonel Fury said.
"Colonel sir," Barrett said as he stood at attention.
"At ease," Colonel Fury said, "Follow me."
"I heard it got a little squirrely down there," Colonel Fury said.
"Minor problem," Barrett said, "We weren't compromised until we were nearly out."
"When they said you boys were good I didn't believe them," Colonel Fury said as they entered the armory to return the guns, "You have made me into a believer."
He placed the rifle on the table, along with the other magazines, but as he placed the 1911 on the table, Colonel Fury handed it back to him.
"Colonel," Barrett asked.
"You handled yourself well down there," Colonel Fury said as he removed the magazine from the gun, and handed the empty gun back to Barrett, "One question: what condition do you keep your sidearm in."
Barrett took the magazine, inserted it into the gun, and engaged the safety.
"That would be condition 3 sir," Barrett said.
"Smart man," Colonel Fury said, "Come on, let's meet the rest of the team."
"Me," Barrett said as he followed Colonel Fury out of the armory, "Meet the Avengers?"
"Why not," Colonel Fury said, "When they heard the news that one individual freed their comrade, they were very anxious to meet this operative."
"Well, I'm flattered," Barrett said as they walked down the corridor to enter the elevator, "But I would have liked a little time to make myself more presentable."
"You'll be fine," Colonel Fury said as they exited the elevator on the level where the bridge was.
"Are you sure about that," Barrett asked, "There are very few men on this base that have white hair and white eyes."
"And there aren't many guys that have facial tattoos," Colonel Fury, "But then again we have billionaires that wear hi-tech flying suits, a god with a hammer that no one can lift, a Super Soldier from World War 2, and a teenager that can shoot webs."
"Somebody call me," Spiderman asked as he looked down at the two of them as they entered the bridge.
"Very sneaky," Barrett said as he looked up at Spiderman.
"This is the man, Colonel," Spiderman asked.
"That's him," Colonel Fury said.
Spiderman jumped down in front of him, and held out his hand, "When the Colonel told us about you I didn't believe him," he said as Barrett shook his hand.
"So this is the hero of the day," Captain America said as he walked up to Barrett, "You must be Captain White."
"Captain America," Barrett said, "It's good to meet you."
"And you as well," Captain America said as he shook Barrett's hand, "Damn fine job you did in saving Major Danvers."
"Thank you, Captain," Barrett said, "I serve at the pleasure of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers."
"I'll give you one thing," Spiderman said, "He's loyal."
"He is," Ms. Marvel said as she entered the room, having been cleared by the medics.
"Carol," Steve said as he walked up to her, "You ok?"
"Yea," Carol said, "A few cuts and bruises, but aside from that, not a scratch thanks to him."
"A perfect way to test a prototype," Colonel Fury said.
"Prototype," Carol asked.
"The Ghost Warrior project," Colonel Fury said as he walked up to Barrett, "S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first success at creating super soldiers," he then walked around Barrett, "Faster and stronger than most humans, but still human."
"A super soldier that's not me," Steve said as he looked at Barrett, "I'm impressed."
"I knew you would be," Colonel Fury said, "Now we have to get back to business. We need to learn how an Eastern European Bureaucrat found Nazi weapons powered by Kree energy sources."
"The Nazis did occupy Des'teria during the war," Barrett said, "When the Soviets invaded, the Nazis left a whole bunch of stuff behind."
"Kind of obvious," Steve said, "But then again, I do seem to recall during the war that several HYDRA documents did mention Des'teria and some kind of secluded castle."
"But we didn't see any HYDRA symbols in the castle," Carol said.
"Des'teria was once a monarchy," Steve said, "Could be that the symbols were hung from banners, and the Soviets burned them when they took the country."
"Still doesn't explain the Kree power sources for the weapons," Spiderman said.
"The Kree did move all over the place," Carol said, "Could be that a few of them set up shop in Des'teria."
"Unless there's a third possibility," Barrett said.
"And that is," Colonel Fury asked.
"That Miss Rochelle herself is a Kree," Barrett said.
"It's not out of the realm of possibilities," Spiderman said.
"Still unlikely," Colonel Fury said, "Anyone else?"
"Possible black market connection," Carol asked, "Kree Cosmic Batteries could fetch a nice coin on the open market."
"Any idea if Miss Rochelle received any visitors over the last few days," Captain America asked.
"I'll check with our sources," Colonel Fury said, "I'll call if we have anything."
As everyone left, Fury stopped Barrett, "Sir," he asked.
"I wanted to tell you your quarters are aft section, seventh level, number 21" Colonel Fury said.
"Thank you, sir," Barrett said.
After leaving, he walked to the lift, and after selecting the seventh level, he heard someone exclaim, "Hold that elevator!"
Barrett grabbed hold of the door, and pushed it open, allowing Captain America to enter.
"Captain," Barrett said.
"Captain White," Steve said as he hit the button for level five, "Heading somewhere?"
"My quarters," Barrett said, "I arrived just shortly after your team got back from Des'teria, and I want to see if there's anything I think I should do to make it my own."
"So they brought you here, and immediately sent you out," Captain America asked, "They could have at least given you the chance to see your room."
"Yea, I suppose," Barrett said.
"Anyway," Captain America said, "I was kind of hoping that you'd meet me in the training room. You save Carol single-handedly, and I want to see what kind of training you received."
"I'll take you up on that one," Barrett said, "When?"
"Half an hour," Captain America asked.
"Perfect," Barrett said.
The door opened on the fifth level, and Steve stepped off, "See you in half an hour," he said.
Barrett nodded and waited until the elevator arrived at the seventh level.
The rooms were numbered, so finding his room was no real problem.
The room was barebones: a bed and a lamp, he defiantly needed to order a few things and make it into something he wanted to come back to.
The first bed he had ever slept in, the first room he had ever had, and the first place he called home, it was kind of nice to think about.
He removed the holster that contained his 1911 and placed it on the table next to the bed.
"Cozy little place," a voice said from behind Barrett who turned around to see Ms. Marvel standing there, "Add a few things, and it might be worth spending the night in."
"I got here right after you were taken hostage," Barrett said, "Haven't had a chance to decorate."
"Must be a record," Carol said as she leaned against the door, "They usually don't send anyone out unless they've been on base for at least two weeks."
"It was an extraordinary circumstance," Barrett said, "You were in trouble, and S.H.I.E.L.D. had just discovered Kree batteries in the hands of an insane Eastern European dignitary."
"I can see why they would activate someone like you," Carol said, "I didn't get to see a majority of your skills from my cell, but I saw your handy work on the way out. Not one alarm raised, not one shot fired, and a very clear escape route. That'd probably take a few days of work to plan, and you only had what, a few hours?"
"At most," Barrett said, "Most of it was luck, but I don't think I did so bad."
"I think it's more than luck," Carol said as she held out her hand, "I look forward to working with you."
"Likewise," Barrett said as he shook her hand.
Carol then looked down at their hands, and asked, "I have to ask, have we met?"
"Not before yesterday," Barrett said, "Why?"
"It's just…," Carol began as she withdrew her hand, "There's something familiar about the way you shook my hand. It seems like we've met once before."
"Hmm," Barrett said, "I don't know."
"I'll think about it," Carol said.
"Of course," Barrett said, "In the meantime, I promised Captain Rogers I'd met him in the training room."
"Good luck," Carol said, "Rogers doesn't go easy on anyone, not even new faces."
"I'll keep that in mind," Barrett said.
As Barrett arrived at the training room, Steve was waiting there, "Right on time," he said as he hung his mask over his shield.
"I try to be," Barrett said.
Steve walked to the center of the room, and Barrett walked up to the mat the Avengers used to spar.
"Computer," Steve said, "Log sparring partner as Barrett White."
"Partner logged," a voice said from all around them.
"Shall we begin," Steve asked.
"Let's begin," Barrett said.
Steven came in with an overhand jab which Barrett blocked, and tried to step into to throw an elbow, only for Steve to throw his hand up, catching it, and pushing him backward.
Barrett was able to maintain a stable stance and spun around to kick Steve who blocked it with both his forearms.
As Steve regained his footing, he dodged Barrett's incoming haymaker and threw a kick only for it to be blocked by Barrett who then shoved Steve's leg away.
Steve recovered and swung at Barrett who didn't duck in time and was knocked backward.
As he recovered, Steve charged again, only for Barrett to go low, faking sweeping his feet, and then shot his foot upwards, knocking him back against the matt.
Steve quickly jumped back to his feet, and smiled, "Well played my friend," he said.
"Thanks," Barrett said.
"But it won't save you," Steve said as he charged back at him, pretending to throw a low blow, only to then charge in with his knee, nailing Barrett in the stomach.
Barrett grabbed Steven as he was coming down, and in one move slammed him onto the matt.
As he went to punch him, Steve moved out of the way and shoved Barrett off of him before sweeping his feet out from underneath him.
As Barrett landed against the matt, he moved out of the way as Steve tried to slam the heel of his boot down on top of him, and sprung to his feet.
They were about to charge again when they heard a familiar voice say, "Computer, declare round one over, and a draw."
The two of them looked over to see Colonel Fury walking up to them, "Colonel," Steve said as he and Barrett stood upright.
"Don't bother standing at attention," Fury said, "You two honestly looked like you were dancing. Only one blow per person?"
"He's good," Steve and Barrett said at the same time, "That's weird."
"Ok, let's try not to do that," Steve said, "That's freaky."
"Yea," Barrett said.
"Anyway," Fury said as he walked up to the two of them with a file, "Looks like Major Danvers was right about the black market connection," he handed the file to Captain America who opened it to find a picture of a Central European man wearing a trench coat, and a pair of custom sunglasses, "Henry Bilyk, he's a Ukrainian Nationale, and very well connected arms dealer. A position he inherited from his father, Michael Bilyk, State Department trafficker watch list, wanted for smuggling in every country along the Mediterranean, most notably to Libya during Gaddafi's rise to power. They made him rich, and when he retired, Henry took over, and when the revolution broke out in Libya, he became the go-between for France and the Libyan Revolution for all arms and armor sales."
"He saw the tide turning, and switched sides," Barrett said.
"Yes," Fury said, "Now he sells the best arms he can get his hands on to the highest bidder. Records show a week before intelligence acquired the pictures, he visited Des'teria as a personal guest of Miss Rochelle. After a look at his financial records, he received a large payment from her when he left for Ukraine."
"So we have a lead," Steve said.
"Yes, you do," Fury said, "You leave for Sevastopol as soon as you gear up."
Before we end, I'd like to say I'm sorry this took so long, I've been dealing with a lot of things, and I haven't found the desire to go further, but I'm back, and I promise, I will finish this fiction!