Coulson sighed as he read over the damage reports. Three helicopters destroyed, three casualties, no deaths, countless wasted bullets. He dropped the reports back onto the table and stretched, cracking his back as he yawned. What a day. His general torso area hurt like hell, but at least they had finally caught the mysterious swordsman. That man had put up a hell of a fight. Fury... Coulson wasn't sure how Fury would react. He would be fairly upset over the losses, but his anger would probably be dulled when he saw the strange man who was definitely not human. The blond swordsman (whose name Coulson still didn't know) was currently in an impromptu medical bay. He had been knocked out by one the tranquilizers, which had enough dosage in it to knock out an elephant for a few hours. The stranger would be under for maybe another hour before he would need to be dosed again. Coulson closed his eyes and sank into his seat. That was enough time for a quick nap, right? He settled in. He wanted to rest while he could, before another alert or alarm went off and he had to deal with a flooded port-a-potty or something of the sort. Tiredness took him over and a relaxed smile came onto his face, right before a red alert blared through the small office. Coulson jumped to attention, already grabbing his tranquilizer gun off the wall.

Is blondie up? He wondered idly as his feet carried him over to the medical bay. Blondie had to be the only one in the base who would set off the red alert, right? Thunder rumbled outside. Coulson sped up his pace, hearing screaming from around the corner.

There he was, strapped to the table. Blondie had managed to get one of his arms and one of his legs free and was currently fighting with all his might against a doctor who was approaching with another dose of the tranquilizer. He was screaming his lungs out, clutching his head and flailing wildly. He managed to get his other leg free, and immediately turned to try and free his remaining arm. That gave Coulson the perfect shot. He fired the tranquilizer into Blondie's left shoulder, causing him to look up in shock. The expression soon turned into a wild snarl as he freed his other hand and pulled the tranquilizer out. He jumped off the table and out of reach of the doctor, knocking over tables full of equipment and staring in surprise at the clatter they made. It seemed to shock him out of his rage, and he calmly slumped against the wall. He pulled the tranquilizer out and glanced tiredly at Coulson. "Why am I here?" He asked softly.

Coulson lowered his tranquilizer gun. The tranquilizer didn't seem to be taking effect this time, but this specific type of drug was all they had way out here. Blondie would get away after all they had done to catch him, and God knew how hard it would be to catch him a second time. Fury was definitely going to be mad. "We needed to take samples. You probably wouldn't have agreed any other way."

Blondie gave something between a chuckle and a sob. "You're right. I wouldn't have. Shinra never does ask for permission, do they? Or whatever you guys are."

Coulson shrugged. "S.H.I.E.L.D. And yes, we don't usually ask before protecting Earth."

Blondie shook his head. "That's not a good excuse. You shouldn't need anything of mine to save your world." He glanced around, "Where's my sword?"

Coulson sighed. He dug around in his jacket pocket and pulled out his business card. The business was a front of course, but the information was all correct. "Take this. Your sword is down the hallway to the left."

Blondie eyed the card. "Not interested," he said, then walked quickly down the hallway, throwing over his shoulder, "Don't go looking for me."

Coulson watched Blondie's retreating figure as he tucked the card back into his pocket. The red alert still hadn't shut off. He motioned a few lower level employees in and gestured towards the doctor. "Help him clean up." He briskly walked out of the room and attempted keep his distance from the swordsman while still keeping him in sight. The man turned around and glared at him, asking gruffly, "Why are you following me?"

Blondie was not in a good mood, but that wasn't going to stop Coulson. He cleared his throat and stared the man in his glowing eyes. Glowing? Coulson shook his head. Another question about the man that probably wouldn't ever be answered. "What's your name?"

The man looked at him suspiciously, then turned away and continued walking. "It doesn't matter."

Coulson attempted to catch up, but Blondie increased his pace. Coulson attempted to match him. He could see the exit, rain pounding down on the temporary base. He had to catch him now, before he would lose sight of him in the storm. "Please. Just in case we need to reach you. You can ignore us later, but please tell me your name. I don't want to keep calling you Blondie when I talk about you."/p

The man turned around once more and raised a slender eyebrow, then muttered, "...Cloud. Cloud Strife."

Cloud Strife... Coulson sounded it out once or twice. Weird name. At least now he could tell Fury the who the mysterious swordsman was. He patted the card in his pocket. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"It's a shame he didn't take it,/span Coulson thought. The tracker would have come in handy. He glanced back down the hallway. Cloud had just exited the side room and sheathed his sword, calmly striding out of the hallway and towards the New Mexico desert, only to be violently pushed to the side as another blond man busted his way inside. This one had shoulder-length honey blond hair, broad shoulders, and was thickly muscled. He wasn't strangely dressed like Cloud, so Coulson chalked it up to one of the local crazies thinking they could break in and take the hammer. He quickly pulled out his radio and started running before the crazy blond man saw him.

"Hawkeye, I need backup." He murmured into the radio.

The second blond man (not Cloud) charged down the hallway, yelling, grunting and attacking every man who came his way. He was like a gorilla let lose in a square full of children. Coulson decided to brave storm to try and reach communications. All the surveillance was up there. As he neared the exit he noticed Cloud staring down the hallway, a confused look on his face. Coulson smiled at him. "I guess your not the only weird blond guy in town."

Cloud shook his head, frowning. "I'll stay and help you with this, but then I'm leaving."

Coulson grinned as he ran out into the rain. He yelled over his shoulder, "Thanks! Sorry about earlier. Government business, you know." He chuckled to himself. Cloud was probably only helping because he was mad about getting shoved into the wall and wanted to get the other guy back.

He reached communications, glancing around the room through his sopping curtain of thin hair. His almost good mood faded as he glanced around the room. The glow of computer screens flickered and the thunder outside grew louder. An assistant glanced at him. "All of our frequencies are messed up. The storm keeps shorting them out." Coulson sighed. He figured as much.

His radio buzzed and his lifted it up to his ear. "Are you sending out more backup?" Hawkeye asked. The rain almost drowned his voice out.

"No. Well, another blond guy is on his way, but he's not one of ours. Still, don't shoot him," Coulson responded.

"He better hurry up. Crazy guy is about to get to the hammer."

Coulson nodded towards the guard who opened the door to the observation station. He stared at the scene below him. The crazy blond was smiling fondly at the hammer. Hawkeye's voice rang out from his radio. "Last chance. You want me to shoot this guy?"

Coulson glanced down, and noticed Cloud approaching the crazy blond through the opposite opening, his steps stiff and his posture ramrod straight. Coulson smiled, "No, I want to see this."

Cloud lowered himself into a fighting stance, drawing his sword. "You," He called out softly, "What are you doing here?"

The crazy blond man turned and glared at him. "Pardon me, fair maiden, but this has nothing to do with you. I prithee, leave me to my task."

Coulson snorted as Cloud's cheeks colored significantly. Cloud glared at the other blond, gritting his teeth and replying gruffly, "I'll have to ask you to leave. Now."

The crazy blond man ignored him, turning back to the hammer. He reached out with both hands, settling into a firm grasp on the weapon. Coulson held his breath. Could this man be the original owner? Could he lift it?

The blond pulled. Hard. His veins bulged as he pulled, his muscles straining. His skin was shiny, whether from rain or sweat Coulson did not know. He had his teeth grit, and he let out small grunts and yells as he pulled. The hammer didn't budge.

Coulson swallowed his disappointment. Cloud stared on stoically, but sheathed his sword. He turned around and walked away. The crazy blond took no notice. He continued straining against the hammer, until eventually the rain slicked his grip enough that he fell backwards. The man sat still for a few moments, his chest rising and falling rapidly. His fist balled. He stood up and faced the sky, the rain falling on his face as he screamed his fury to the heavens.

Coulson sighed. Just a regular crazy. "Alright, show's over," He radioed in. The crazy man was apprehended and didn't put up a fight. Coulson glanced at the hammer. Just who do you belong to? He wondered to himself.

On his way out, Cloud didn't spare a glance towards the screaming man. He exited the building and glanced around. It was nighttime. He should head for the nearest town and try to gather supplies. He trudged out of the strange crater the building had been located in, barely paying attention to the sounds of wildlife. However, although he was alert for the footsteps of enemies behind him, he never noticed two pairs of eyes locked onto him. One pair was from Hawkeye. The other was Jane Foster.