"This is the last time I'm gonna do this." Meredith snarled under her breath as she viewed the massive base in front of her. She placed her phone on silent, didn't want it to ruin her covert operation. Had she looked at her phone, the state would have noticed several missed calls from her father, and multiple siblings.
This base, which oddly enough had the word S.H.I.E.L.D on it, was structured around a crater. New Mexico eyed the crater and rubbed her chest. When whatever hit the ground last night caused the state's heart to throb painfully. That was partly the reason why New Mexico agreed to stalk South Dakota's wayward people. She needed to be aware of all strange occurrences in her territory.
Looking ahead, the state noticed that there were trailers, and other vehicles, which formed barricades. There were armed man guarding a gate that had a razor wire fence that ran over 60 yards. The fence connected the crater's edge with the base, and there was plastic tubes covering every inch of the place. The tubes all connected in cube formations at the center of the crater and New Mexico wanted to know why. Cursing quietly, the state crouched and stealthily moved closer to the base.
In her peripheral vision, New Mexico noted that South Dakota's people were standing a ways behind her. Dismissing them for a moment, she scooted closer and was able to see a large glass wall in one of the trailers. A man in a suit, probably the one that Darcy told me about Meredith thought, was directing some people, mostly likely minions, and was busy at work. He was talking to someone in a walkie-talkie and there were other people talking to him holding sheets of illegible scribbling. Moving even closer, the state noticed that the man was viewing surveillance from what the state assumed to be the center of the base. New Mexico squinted her eyes and reared her head back in confusion. Was that a hammer?
*Meanwhile else where*
"Here." Jane absentmindedly handed Thor a pair of binoculars, while she used her own to view the large SHIELD base. Thor looked at them in confusion.
"Are these like telescopes?" The thunder god asked Jane.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, they're called binoculars and you use both eyes to see." The scientist showed Thor and then zoomed in on something strange. Was that a woman sneaking around the base? Jane shook her head; this isn't the time for mysteries. She needed her equipment back and fast.
"This isn't a satellite crash," Jane frowned and furrowed her brows, "they would have hauled away the wreckage, not build a city around it."
"Mjolnir is here, I am sure of it." Thor nodded to himself. As the pair moved painstakingly closer, Thor shucked his jacket off and handed it to Jane.
In return, Jane gave the Asgardian a puzzled look. "What's this for?"
"You're going to use it to shield yourself." Thor commanded regally. Jane titled her head and eyed the tall blonde intently.
"Why? I'm going in with you. I'm not going to let you do this by-" The astrophysist was cut off as thunder rumbled in the sky, lighting up the otherwise dark night. Without a second thought, Jane grabbed the jacket and wrapped it around her. Satisfied, Thor placed his palm up and gestured for Jane to sit, which she did not.
"Stay here." Thor said with a gleam in his eyes. He could feel his blood singing in anticipation at the possible battle that lay before him. "Once I have Mjolnir, I shall return your stolen goods."
A mere glance at the Midgardian revealed to him that the tiny woman would most likely ignore his request and follow him anyways.
"Do we have an accord?" Thor asked with a single blonde raised brow. Jane shook her head.
"No! Have you seen what's going on down there?" Jane pointed to the encampment with multiple men guarding any forms of entrance. Thor did not look frightened or impressed.
"You can't expect to just go in, grab my stuff and walk out with no repercussions." Jane whispered furiously mindful enough to not attract attention.
"No." Thor said thoughtfully. Thinking the man had come to his senses, Jane lets out a sigh of relief.
"Thank god." Jane said. Her mind worked at a fast pace thinking of another way to retrieve her stuff without either of them getting caught. She almost didn't notice Thor heading to the center.
"I'm going to fly out." With that, the man began to run, no longer heeding the human's shouts for him to stop.
I'm so going to regret this Jane thought to herself as she glumly sat on the dusty floor of the desert. Her mood worsened as rain had begun to fall into the dusty land, covering all in the New Mexico desert.
First South Dakota and now New Mexico? Happy wasn't a word that would describe the United States of America in this moment. Angry, yes. Paranoid, yup. Worried as hell that his states weren't answering his phone calls, texts and even pages shut up don't judge. Ding ding ding we have a winner. The ride to D.C, though it was rather quick, didn't do much to ease America's overactive fears or cure his restlessness. The jet lag that usually followed him after a ride was strangely absent. The pilots were rather eager to chuck him out of the plane, loyalty and patriotic duty to their country be damned. D.C was very helpful in filling in America on the situation, which did calm the Superpower down but not by much.
"Call Toni," America ordered D.C as he loosened his tie. The district nodded before clicking away at her phone. "Ask him if he could pick me up and drop me off in New Mexico please."
"Has Virginia found any information on this agency yet?" America asked when he saw D.C. briefly glance up at him.
"No, sir." D.C. replied eyes glued to the tiny little glowing screen. As America walked with his young district a single thought plagued his mind was just who in the hell was S.H.I.E.L.D?
"Agent Sitwell, the readings have spiked." A mousy looking technician held up a device that was scanning the strange artifact. The artifact that oddly enough a hammer began to dully glow. The technician jolted as lighting cracked across the sky. The techie turned to Sitwell looking for some type of order.
"What does the readings mean?" Sitwell asked a nonplussed look graced his face.
Another techie, who sat in the corner with a computer in their lap, spoke rapidly. "Tech isn't really working with that thing giving off interference."
This techie gestured to the glowing hammer airily, while he focused on the computer and abruptly stood. He carried his laptop to Agent Sitwell, showing him the screen.
"Sir, we have an unknown aircraft coming directly above us."
"Redirect their flights to Santa Fe." Sitwell ordered. The techie nodded before scurrying off to warn the security room. The laptop was left on the chair he sat on, still showing readings from all over the base.
The mousy techie called out to the other, "Make sure to get the passengers free drinks for the delay."
The techie's chuckles died down as Sitwell glared at them.
"It's a nice gesture, don'tcha think?" The techie asked weakly. The techie looked everywhere to avoid Sitwell's dark eyes and noticed something. They moved closer to the computer, the hammer in the center of the room forgotten. They crinkled their brows.
"Sir, there's something outside the fence." Agent Sitwell pushed the techie away and looked at the thermal imaging next to the fence. He looked closer and saw the silhouette of a woman.
Sitwell spoke into his own radio, "Green, Johnson check it out."
"Yes, sir!" The agents replied.
"Tony, dude, thanks for the ride!" America thumped his alien buddy on the back.
"Fucking." Tony replied as the alien smooth flew above the state of New Mexico. The alien's red eyes occasionally wandered to the unnaturally quiet personification of America.
A loud beeping sound from Tony's spaceship forced America out of his daze. He sat forward and looked to his friend. He cursed loudly as ship rocked and caused America's head to snap back against his seat.
"Shit!" The grey skinned alien furiously began to press random buttons at a rapid pace. The turbulence was gone. It kinda scared America there for a second. As an alien who came from a technologically superior society, Tony's space ship shouldn't be hackable.
"Bro, what's wrong?"
"Bitchface!"
"What do you mean someone's trying to give you different coordinates? How is that even possible?"
"Fucking suits!" America gasped.
"My technology isn't that advanced. Not even Starks!" He paused for a second. Tony gave him a look that said, liar.
"Seriously!"
Besides, Stark stopped manufacturing weapons after his kidnapping. But who else had the brains to make smart enough tech? Needless to say, getting to America's destination was filled with some tension.
Given the excellent viewpoint that she had, New Mexico was able to see a pair of men enter a jeep and drive off. A quick glance to the other side showed that South Dakota's Jane Foster was nowhere near the fence. The state took a deep breath before running after the jeep. Thankfully the drive wasn't too far, barely out of breathe, New Mexico crouched down out of sight.
The jeep slowed to a crawl as the agents used their flashlight to scan the fence. Nothing is out of place, disappointed the agent called it in.
"It's all clear, sir. It probably was a coyote." Suddenly the other agent who had been inching across the fence spoke up.
"The fence has a gap." The agent spoke gravely. The two agents moved to their car. Prepared to follow them once again, New Mexico gaped at the scene before her. Lighting flashed in the sky, revealing a large man who had blended with the night sky standing in from of the jeep. Oh shit, New Mexico cursed silently. She watched as Thor, it had to be Thor, roughly punch one of the agents across the jaw, making the man spin for a second. Then he grabbed the agent by the neck and slammed the man's head on the hood of the jeep. The agent collapsed and was unmoving.
The other agent raised his gun and was shakily trying to aim at Thor. Thor was having none of it. The thunder God wrapped his hand around the barrel, yanking it out of the man's grip and thrusting the hilt back, breaking the agent's nose. Thor stood breathing heavily and began to walk away from the scene. New Mexico stood still and saw a lone radio lying on the ground.
"Delancey, Jackson…. report." Sitwell worriedly spoke into the radio. New Mexico hesitated for a second before grabbing the radio and stuffing it into her bag. Looking around, and seeing nothing New Mexico stealthily trailed after Thor. Had she stayed behind for a little while longer, the state would have seen another agent approach the jeep and the down for the count agents.
"Agents down! We've been compromised! There's a breach!" The agent shouted as she checked the pulses of the men.
She would have seen the agent talk into his radio. She would have knocked the man unconscious and would have saved herself the headache. But alas, she followed Thor as he made his way across the base.
*Back with Sitwell*
The unidentified object that the whole base was centered around began to hum with energy. Both Agent Sitwell and his techies watched Mjolnir with wary fascination. The computers that were stationed in the room went static. Sitwell tried to check his phone but it was also useless. Grim faced, Sitwell turned to the techie and issued out another order.
"Get Coulson."
"Yessir." The techie scurried out of the room, but not before Sitwell added, "and have security light up the perimeters.
Sitwell sighed and rubbed his baldhead in frustration. Why oh why did he volunteer for this assignment? He turned his back to the glowing Mjolnir and looked up at the sky. Lighting flashed across the dessert sky and Mjolnir glowed brighter every time thunder was heard. The techie noticed this and scrambled to find a note pad and scribble this observation down.
Jane ducked low as a light swept across the base. Her nimble fingers danced on her cellphone as she dialed Selvig's number. Jane swore when a record messaged played instead of her mentor's worried voice reached her ears.
"Hello, you've reached Dr. Erik Selvig. Please leave a message and I shall return your call."
As Selvig's voicemail beeps, Jane brings her phone closer to her speaking softly and as quickly as possible.
"Erik, before I say anything else," Jane hid behind a large bush, "I'm alive and I haven't been kidnapped. I'm alright."
Loud noises came from base and when Jane peeked over the bush there was mayhem. Men were running about shouting orders, alarms were sounding from the base towers. And in all of this, Jane had lost track of Thor.
Regardless of the chaos that lay before her, Jane continued on, "But just in case you don't hear from me in the next hour, you might wanna come look for me at the crater site. I may have done what you told me not to do. So, call me back. Bye."