Fitz stepped over the two he had just knocked out and walked to the wings, where he roused any men he could and released the prisoners.
"As payment for your release, help move my men to the buses." He said. "After that you can join our HYDRA, or go off on your own."
Surprisingly, most of the prisoners listened. Roughly half of his men were knocked out; the rest were either stunned or hurt, unable to stand. Two were dead, probably from the woman he had been fighting: the Cavalry. She had been a good fighter. Better than Archie. But Fitz was even better. He'd broken a sweat, but that was all. The Cavalry wasn't so lucky.
"I'm not leaving anyone behind." He said as he turned to release the prisoners in the middle. They were harder to break out, but it only took a few extra minutes. He had all the tools he needed, and more than enough strength to use them effectively. "Remember that it's HYDRA who's breaking you out." Fitz said as he finally broke through.
The prisoners looked at him with grins and then started running up the steps. Fifteen of them were kept in this middle section, marking those fifteen as the most dangerous of the bunch. Fitz held his hand out to stop the last three men from leaving.
"Help bring my men to the buses." He said.
The first one glared at him and tried to shove past, but Fitz pushed him to the ground with one hand. "I said help."
The other two hastily went to grab the fallen men dressed in black while the first stood. "Hurry." Fitz said. "They'll wake up soon."
He went over and helped the stirring Archie to his feet, placing one arm over his shoulder. "We won." He said to him. "Now let's get out of here."
Coulson woke up to Jemma crouching over him, looking at him worriedly.
"Sir, are you okay?" she asked.
He sat up and blinked slowly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Is he -."
"He's gone. And I believe all the prisoners are as well."
Coulson stood and looked around. The building was quiet; HYDRA was definitely gone. "Damn it." He said.
"I need to go check on Trip and May." Jemma said.
"Right." Coulson said. "I'll be right there."
She nodded, and he walked out the front door, inspecting the open space. There were tracks from large vehicles, but no sign of them otherwise. He mentally swore. They hadn't been prepared enough. He had hoped that warning the facility and arming it with some people from his team would be enough to defeat HYDRA. He had decided not to set traps outside, to keep the element of surprise.
He had been wrong.
And now some of his men were dead, with all the prisoners gone.
"Coulson!"
His head jerked up and he ran inside as Jemma's cry split the silence, down the stairs Jemma had gone down. Trip was standing against the wall next to the stairs, shaking his head. Jemma was next to May, motionless on the ground.
"What happened?" he asked, rushing over to them.
"Fitz found me, and May distracted him so I could escape. They were fighting when I left to find you."
"Wait, Fitz?"
"Yes, he's their super soldier. But right now I need help with May."
Her tone was slightly panicked, but Coulson saw the precision and control instilled in her as a scientist coming out.
"What's wrong with her?"
"I'm not sure, but she's barely breathing. She needs medical attention."
Coulson moved to lift her and Jemma put out a hand to stop him. "We have to move her carefully." She said. "Slowly."
He nodded, and together they lifted the agent between them and started walking out of the base, careful to barely move her. This just reasserted Coulson's sense of shame at their defeat. If his best fighter was critically wounded, they weren't ready.
He looked at May, limp between him and Jemma, and wondered what had made her seem so fragile. It must have been an intense fight, to leave her so battered. He hoped she had gotten in some good hits as well.
Then he remembered that Jemma had said the super soldier was Fitz. He would need more information on that.
They got May to the car and made sure she and Trip were safe in the back, and then Coulson started driving like a bat out of hell. He didn't care if he got a ticket; a member of his team needed medical attention, and the best attention for her would come from the scientist he hadn't wanted on the mission. Boy was he glad she had come now. And she could care for May best in their own base, where she had all the equipment she needed.
So they made it back to the Playground in record time, and May was moved to the medical section of the base.
Twenty minutes later Coulson had called his other team and told them to come back to the base as fast as they could.
"How is she?" he asked Jemma once she stepped back from her patient.
"She's stable." She said. "There's a lot of trauma to the head, which probably made her pass out in the first place. I'm worried about that, so I'm keeping her unconscious for now, to monitor her. There's a bit of swelling. Her arm is broken as well, most likely from trying to deflect Fitz's shield." She looked at Coulson and shook her head. "She's beaten all over, sir."
"But you think she'll be fine?" he asked.
"As far as I can tell she'll be fine." Jemma said. "Though Fitz certainly didn't hold back."
"How do you know it was him?"
She looked at him as if he were stupid. "I've known Fitz for years. I had my suspicions when I heard the voice on the tape you showed us, and now I'm sure it's him." She lowered her gaze. "He didn't recognize me."
"Fitz wouldn't do this." He said. He blinked. "Fitz couldn't do this. Why did they make him their super soldier?"
"To send a message to us." Jemma said. She didn't know how, but she was positive she was right. "They've turned S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into slaves before, but this is personal. And by making him that strong… it's a slap in the face."
Coulson took in what she was saying. Fitz, the dorky scientist who wanted a monkey, was now a brainwashed Captain America working for HYDRA.
Jemma was right. That was an extreme slap in the face.
There had been forty men in the S.H.I.E.L.D. penitentiary. Out of those forty, thirty-eight stayed with HYDRA.
Once they got to the new base (Doc had told them to meet there), Fitz called everyone into a meeting. There were general noises of complaint about this, even from Archie, but Fitz silenced them quickly.
He stood in front of them, his hands clasped behind his back. "Some people would say our mission today was a success." He stared them down. "I'd barely agree with that. We had at least fifteen more men than they did, and every one of you was taken down. The only reason we succeeded at all was because of me!"
There were murmurs throughout the assembled warriors.
"This wasn't the victory Doc had hoped for us to have. We got more men, which is important. But this mission showed me that we are weak. We're going to fix that. I'm going to have strict training sessions, starting at first light. Archie and I will divide you into units, and once each unit has basic training we'll come together and work on group formations. We have a good start to numbers. If we're going to increase them, we need to have the strength behind them."
He looked over the people standing stock still before him and lightened his stare. "Go eat, and rest up. Tomorrow we work."
They relaxed their stances and started filing out of the room, towards the kitchen. Archie stayed behind.
"Tough speech." He said.
"They needed to hear it. We almost lost."
"But we didn't."
"No." Fitz said. "And we won't ever lose again."
Dr. Whitehall looked at the messenger with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure your information is valid?" he questioned.
"Yes sir." The woman squeaked. She was trembling.
He nodded. "Thank you."
She realized she had been dismissed, and once his door was securely closed he growled, pounding his fist on his desk. He breathed deeply and rubbed the bridge of his nose, regaining his composure.
The rumors he had been hearing about another HYDRA weren't just rumors anymore. There had been an attack on a penitentiary, a fight involving Director Coulson himself if Whitehall's sources were correct. Some wretches were stealing the name of the organization Whitehall proudly headed.
And Whitehall did not like competition. Even if there were other people who technically had power like his in HYDRA, he was the one who was really in control.
This group wasn't in his control.
He needed to make it his. And if that didn't work, there was always another option. One he thought he would enjoy more.
He would destroy it, starting with its leader.
A/N: Hey guys! Are you loving the new season as much as I am? It's great! But back to this story, I hope you liked this chapter! More to come soon!