It hadn't been the best idea but, after spending about ten minutes in my car, I switched my phone on again. I quickly bypassed the missed calls from Tony and found Steve's contact, hitting the call button and holding it to my ear as my fingers tapped the steering wheel impatiently.
"Phoebe, what do you not get about laying low?" Steve answered after the first ring. I snorted into the speaker.
"Tony is going to find out where I am one way or another. What did you guys find?" I could hear Natasha say something in the background before he replied.
"Pierce is the one that launched the domestic missile strike to try and wipe out Natasha and I. There's this algorithm made by a German scientist, Arnmin Zola, back during the war and we think they're going to use it when they launch project insight. The algorithm was on the Lemurian Star; Natasha extracted it while we were on that mission. We just don't know what it does yet." I stayed silent for a moment, thinking through their discoveries.
"Where are you headed next? I'll meet you there." I stepped on my break and hit the ignition, starting the car and waiting for Steve to reply.
"We have to make a stop first, but meet us downtown in about an hour. We've gotta find Sitwell and figure out what the algorithm is before Insight launches." I nodded, agreeing with him and pulled into the street before replying.
"I'll tail Sitwell until then. Shoot me a message when you get into town." There was a slight scuffle on the other end of the line before I heard Natasha speak into the receiver.
"Phoebe, please call Tony or let him know you're okay. He's losing it." I could hear the irritation in her voice. He had probably tried reaching them when my phone had turned back on.
"I can't give him answers, Natasha. He's going to try to kidnap me and drag me back to Malibu if he finds anything out." I swallowed hard, my voice showing my obvious distress at the thought.
"I know you can't. But he needs to know you're okay." I agreed and we said our goodbyes. I was following the flow of traffic towards the Triskelion and glancing at my phone, wondering if it was right to call Tony.
I let out a frustrated sigh and picked up my phone again, hitting Tony's number and holding the phone to my ear. He answered before it could even ring. I cut him off before he could say anything, though.
"Tony, just listen. I'm sorry I had to do this. I'm okay, I just have some things that I need to sort out right now. I promise-," I was cut off when the black SUV that had been driving next to me swerved into my lane, slamming into the side of my car.
My phone flew from my hand, and I used my arms to cover my head so the glass from my shattered windshield wouldn't get in my eyes. My car was thrown into the guardrail to the left of me, my door was crushed and I could feel the metal digging into my side. My airbag had gone off at some point and my arms, along with every other part of my body, ached as I moved it away from my face.
When I could finally look up, there were men dressed in black surrounding my car, black SUV's lined up behind them. I was surrounded and with my injuries, I knew I wasn't going to get out of this any time soon. I held my hands up in surrender.
A few of the men came forward, easily pulling my car away from the guard rail before ripping the door off it's hinges. I yelped in pain as the metal that had pierced my skin was ripped away suddenly. I could see the traffic surrounding us and made an attempt to hide my face, I didn't need any pictures of this on the news. One of the men approached me, yanking me from the car. I stumbled on my feet, dizzy from the amount of blood that I had already lost.
The man shoved me to the ground on my knees, and yelled for me to keep my hands behind my head. I did as he said, flinching as he held a gun to my head.
"Not here!" I heard someone yell. The voice sounded familiar. I looked up from my position on the ground and found myself staring at none other than Brock Rumlow. "Pierce needs her for Insight." He growled, turning to open the door on the closest SUV. "Get her inside. Let's go!"
I was pulled to my feet again, my head spinning as I was shoved into the SUV, a seatbelt buckled around me. I could feel myself losing consciousness as someone began yelling about medical help, and the world around me went dark again.
When I came to, I couldn't recognize where I was. My eyes couldn't focus on any of my surroundings and all I could tell was that I was tied to a chair. There was noise all around me and I felt a bandage covering my side from the accident. I felt a hand on my cheek, lightly slapping me awake, and I groaned, moving my head.
"C'mon, girl. We're gonna need your help here." Alexander Pierce's voice broke through my fog and I was finally able to focus my vision, seeing him standing above me. "There she is." He gave a grin and patted my cheek, signaling for one of the agents dressed in black to untie my hands.
"Should've known you were HYDRA scum." I mumbled under my breath. He feigned a hurt look. "Who the fuck rejects a Nobel Peace Prize? No one." I felt my hands tingle as they were released, the blood rushing back to them at a normal pace. He laughed shortly, but I was forced to stand and stumbled again.
"I always knew you had some bite to you." He replied, motioning for the agent holding my arm to follow behind him. I was led through a series of control rooms before we came to a stop in the last one. Commander Mager was sat in the room, looking slightly uncomfortable in a large office chair. When he saw me, he had apology written all over his face.
I was forced into one of the chairs off to the side as Alexander moved to shake the commander's hand. "You think you can dig her out?" He asked the commander sarcastically, a smile on his face. My face contorted in confusion.
Mager laughed before responding, "I'm the only one that knows how." He said, returning to his seat as Alexander took his own.
"Insight launches in about five hours. The algorithm shouldn't take that long for her to decrypt, is that correct?" He asked Mager. He seemed to be addressing other people as well, and when I turned to look behind me, there were several agents and some men in suits. Mager nodded in response before Pierce started talking again. "From there, we'll only have to initiate the launch from the headquarters. I don't want anyone interrupting her once she's begun decoding. No chances of fucking this up. The World Security Council is going to be here, and this needs to be executed as smoothly as possible. Understood?"
I was still a bit dizzy from the amount of blood that I had lost, and I felt as though I was still half asleep. When everyone in the room had agreed, a couple of guards came forward and moved me into a different chair at the center of the monitors. I was faced away from them, though, and it was hard to keep my eyes focused on anything.
I saw Alexander nod, and the majority of the people in the room left; leaving just him and Mager in the room with me. He closed the door behind them and Mager came to stand in front of me. He stood, snapping his fingers just inches from my face. My vision became even more blurry around the edges, but focused on his figure in front of me.
Finally finding my voice, I spoke up. "You're not gonna find anything, Mager." I slurred slightly, becoming slightly dizzier, "They deactivated Onyx when they got their chance." I wasn't sure how much Mager knew about my being captured by HYDRA, or if anyone knew that they had deactivated the soldier commander Mager had worked so hard to create, but the laugh he gave when he heard me speak told me he already knew.
He tilted my head back slightly so I was looking up to him before he spoke, "No one knew this Onyx existed except you and I, Phoebe. I made sure of that. This was a different level of training; one no one could ever know about. This was only to be uncovered when Zola's algorithm was deciphered, and that day has come." He reached into a bag next to the chair he had been sitting in when I first entered the room, pulling out a small red book with a Soviet star on the front of it.
Shaking my head, I moved to rub my temples, confused at what he was saying. "What did you do to me, Commander?" I asked. I felt my arms being forcedly held to my side after a moment, my head moved so I was facing him again. There was still a slightly apologetic look in his eye, as if he didn't even want to be there. As if he was being forced to be there.
He approached me again, opening the book and turning about half way through. He finally reached up, touching a point on my forehead and then the tip of my nose before speaking. My vision was still blurry, the only thing I could focus on was my hearing.
"Onyx. Dark, not a day in the light. Black in the night, lost in sight."
I heard him begin the activation chant to wake up Onyx, and my thoughts clouded. It seemed as though my memories of all my personal life were draining from my mind.
"Red will rise, come due time." I felt the last of the memories drain, leaving me dazed and confused before a few memories began to trickle in. There were memories of training, my head being held under water for almost five minutes at a time, shocks being registered throughout my body and pain from my head to my toes.
"Scarlet sin, peace will win" With the last phrase, a snap in my memories occurred as I was flooded with different theories, methods and algorithms. I straightened my back, my sight coming back to me as I looked Commander Mager directly in the eyes.
Okay I'm very sorry about the late update! However, I've had to postpone the second story for another week because of classes, so the late chapter was a little necessary. And I'm back now! Thank you all for being understanding! Let me know your thoughts and opinions!
