And here is the second part. Originally, this was written as part of 'Blood', but it seemed to fit 'Mission' better.
Enjoy,
Illusinia
Prompt: Mission
From: avengers-tables .livejournal under 50-word prompt (yes, I do intent to use all 50 words)
Pairings: Clint/Darcy
Unfortunately, being a superhero means limited down time. Barely two weeks have passed since Darcy's discussion with Coulson before there's another dumbass running around in tights and attempting to take over the world. Or something like that. Clint gets the call near midnight (luckily neither him nor Darcy were asleep) and is out the door almost five minutes later.
Coulson calls her two minutes after Clint is out the door. "Can you take command?" She can hear the unease in his voice.
There hasn't been time to meet the rest of the logistics team yet and Darcy refuses to fire or switch anyone out without first trying to work with the team. They had been planning to run a simulated mission for the team so any issues could be worked out before their first live run. Best laid plans and all that.
"Yeah, I'm already heading out," confirms Darcy as she slides on a sweatshirt and grabs her badge. "Have you assembled my team or do I need to?"
"They've already been called and should be there by the time you arrive," confirms Coulson. "Are you sure? I can head the logistics team for a mission if you need me to."
Darcy barely refrains from rolling her eyes. Somehow, even over the phone, her father always knows when she does. "I'll be fine Phil, promise."
He grunts a little when she uses his first name (she's sure he's noticed that she uses his first name in lieu of Dad) but he doesn't say anything more on the topic. "Connect with me when you've arrived. ETA for them is twenty minutes."
She's already in the garage at the mansion and grabbing her car. "I'll be there in less than ten."
It takes almost seven minutes for her to reach the main HQ (quicker than normal due to the sirens that were installed on her car for this express purpose) and she's walking into the command center five minutes after she's arrived. Everyone looks up when she comes in of course; the whole team knows they're getting a new logistics head. The only people who don't seem to know are the Avengers themselves. Fury and Coulson had been planning to inform the Avengers when everything was settled so the group could actually come meet the team. Obviously, that isn't going to happen.
No one says anything when she enters, just looks at her expectantly. She's heard the speculation on who the new head is. They've been talking about it since the previous guy was reassigned and threw a hissy fit over the whole thing. The consensus seems to be that the new guy (or girl, as many of the female techs have pointed out) is someone who already works for S.H.I.E.L.D. Most money is on Coulson taking command. Darcy knows when she walks in that they're expecting Coulson to enter behind her. Knowing looks which clearly say 'I told you so' and a few hand motions indicating a bet transpire between the gathered group. Everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D thinks Darcy is Coulson's secretary. Of course they think Coulson is going to take command.
"Alright, lets look alive people! We're live in three!" shouts Darcy as she slides up into the station that sits above the rest of the team and brings the computer online. It's linked in with all of the other stations and has five different monitors for her to track information on. A headset is hanging off a peg next to the station and she pulls it on before flipping the switch that allows her to connect with Coulson and listen in on the Avenger's comm line. When she looks back over at the team, everyone is staring at her with wide eyes. She just cocks an eyebrow at them. "C'mon guys, lets get moving and show the Avenger's that we're more than competent!"
That gets everyone moving. There's a flurry of motion and chatter as everyone moves to get their stations online. Darcy gives them a moment before flipping the line over to check in with Coulson. "Phil, you there?"
"I can hear you, Miss Lewis," confirms Coulson over the line. "Remind me to have your microphone checked after this. Your voice is distorted."
Darcy makes a face and glances at the various controls at the station. "Hang on, let me see if I can fix that." She finds the microphone feed system and fiddles with some of the controls before trying again. "That better?"
"Clearer," confirms Coulson mildly. "I can understand you now, but we need to replace that mic. Is your team online?"
She glances around at the group, noting that everyone appears to have their stations up and running. All but two of them are looking up at her for instructions. It's only a five person team, not including her. "Yeah, we're good to go."
"Excellent. Your line is set so you can listen in to the Avenger's communication feed but they won't be able to here you," explains Coulson, like he hasn't said this before. "If you need to give them information directly, I'll patch you through."
Darcy smirks a little, dropping her voice some and bending her head towards the monitors so the others can't hear what she says next. "Playing phone operator now, Phil?"
"We're being recorded, Miss Lewis," reminds Coulson dryly but she can hear the faint smirk in his tone. Fury's the only one who will hear these communication recordings except for maybe Agent Hill. Besides, everyone knows she calls Coulson by his first name. It's usually referred to as one of her idiosyncrasies.
"Your point?" asks Darcy with a faint smirk. "Fury's the only one who'll hear. Isn't that right, Director?"
"That is correct, Miss Lewis," confirms Fury over the line. She knows he's stationed in one of the three command centers that monitors the Avenger's activities. All three of the centers are in different parts of the building, in part so if someone attempts to attack the command center they can't take out all three at once. Theoretically, if Fury's and Coulson's centers went down, command would switch to Darcy. It's part of there reason she had issues with the last guy.
She opens her mouth to say more, but Steve breaks into the comm line at that point, drawing everyone's attention. "We're near the drop point. T minus 2 minutes."
Darcy hears when Coulson's center goes live because there's a click on the line. "And here we go. Captain, give me a visual."
On her end, Darcy quickly draws up the map of where the team is headed along with her copy of the mission briefing. It's more in-depth in some regards than the one that's given to the team, mostly because it contains additional details that her team might need to relay information. She flips a switch on her control panel to mute her microphone. "Alright team, we're live. Cal," Calinia (Cal for short) Janson, a raven-haired woman with big green eyes, looks up from one of the computers near the front. "Pull up a map on the main monitor of their location. I want to see where they're headed. Jack," Jack Thompson, a guy with sandy blond hair and glasses, looks back at her from near the front of the room, "I need their GPS trackers online stat. If one of them gets pinned, I want to know where."
"That's not possible, ma'am," Jack informs her uneasily. Shy doesn't seem like his style, not based on his file. It makes her wonder what went down with the last guy. "The GPS tracking system has been offline for months. It went down a while back but Edison never submitted any kind of maintenance order."
Mentally, Darcy wanted to chuck Edison, the former head, to the moon and watch him suffocate. Her mind was generating a shitload of ways she could watch him suffer and die. Most of them were probably physically impossible, but she could dream. The best involved ten of Natasha's good knives, lemon juice, and a table with restraints. Also some sandpaper.
"Ma'am?" Jack's voice draws her away from her ideas of vengeance. "What do you want us to do?"
"It's Darcy," corrects Darcy as she reaches for the switch that will unmute her microphone. "Phil, we've got a problem."
"Problems are dangerous, Miss Lewis," points out Fury before Coulson can respond.
"Yeah, I know," growls Darcy. "And this is one of the potentially dangerous type. Apparently the GPS tracking system failed months ago but Edison never reported it."
She can hear Fury cursing over the comm line and shouting at someone to get Edison into his office, stat. Scratch her previous comment about knives and lemon juice, Death by Fury is far better. Phil might even let her watch on the security cameras.
Coulson's voice cuts through the line again, speaking over Fury's ranting. "Can you operate without the GPS system, Miss Lewis?"
"Yeah," sighs Darcy unhappily as she starts drawing up different feeds from her station. She gives a hand motion for Jack to stand-by as the list of feeds comes up on her screen. "Hang on Phil." Again, she mutes her mic. "Jack, can we get a thermal feed overlay on the map?"
Jack turns and hits a few buttons on his station. "Drawing up the thermal feed."
The map which Cal had previously gotten up on the display warps as the thermal over-lay comes up. It's grainy at best and zooms the whole map out to an annoyingly distant level. There's no way that'll work. "Can we get closer?"
"I don't have the permissions to actually operate the satellite," admits Jack sheepishly. "Edison's system should be equipped with the codes though."
"Seriously?" Death by Fury might be too good for Edison. Her fingers fly over the keys and, sure enough there are the control codes. Thank god she learned how the computer system worked months ago. "Alright Jack, I'm transferring the controls over to you. Zoom us in as far as possible." She flips the switch for her mic again just as Coulson is starting to shout for her to reply. "I'm going to murder Edison if I ever get my hands on him."
"You'll have to beat Fury to him," points out Coulson. "He's ready to murder the man. Should I assume there's more wrong than just a failed GPS system?"
"Maybe," sighs Darcy, "but I can't check all the controls at once so we'll have to operate with what we have. I've got a thermal read up on the screen of their intended location. It's not the best but assuming they haven't arrived yet I should be able to track them once they show up."
"It'll have to do," agrees Coulson.
Steve's voice cuts across the line again. "We're T minus 30 seconds to the drop point."
"Roger that Captain," confirms Coulson before speaking to Darcy again. "Do you see them on screen yet?"
Darcy's eyes dart across the screen and she sees the mass of color slide onto the map and into view. "Yeah, I've got them on visual. It's crappy but it'll work."
"Alright." Coulson sounds about as thrilled as she is, but this guy isn't one of the major baddies so hopefully this won't be too big of a deal. "Captain, proceed to drop point. You're clear to go. Maintain radio contact at all times."
"Roger," accepts Steve. Then he's gone and it's just Darcy, Coulson, and Fury on the comm lines.
Darcy's eyes fall back to her computer. She draws up the blue-prints of the base the Avengers are targeting (an abandoned hideout from a former mad scientist they took out years ago) and clicks through that while monitoring the regular satellite feed for the area. It's not particularly detailed but it allows her to watch for guards. The command center won't have much to do until the team is actually on the ground. Her eyes are drawn to the main screen when a blip of color wonders onto the map. Its a small mass but she can make out three individuals from it. Walking a patrol path.
"Coulson, we have a problem," informs Darcy immediately, mentally cursing as she does. Everyone in her command turns to look at her, then up at the screen. She can hear someone swearing in the room that isn't her.
"Please tell me it isn't technological," sighs Coulson unhappily.
"Biological," replies Darcy as she starts attempting to pull up better satellite images of the base. "I've got three guards on patrol, five o'clock and approaching the drop point."
She hears Coulson utter a quiet 'damn' before the line crackles. "Captain, we have a problem. Three guards heading your way, 5 o'clock."
"Roger," replies Steve. "Hawkeye, do you see them?"
"Yeah." Clint's voice cuts across the comm line, tense and a little rough. "Want me to take them out?"
"Keep them in your sight," instructs Steve. "Coulson, can you give me more information?"
Coulson doesn't say anything, instead allowing Darcy to speak before he can ask. "There's a cluster of trees between the guards and them. If they duck there, it might be possible to ambush them."
"Did you catch that, Captain?" asks Coulson mildly. Darcy bulks a little, surprised that Coulson would allow her to speak directly to Steve like that.
Steve pauses for a second but that could be him issuing orders. "I heard sir and I see the tree cluster. Attempting ambush, stand by."
"Roger," confirms Coulson.
Darcy takes the opportunity to mute her mic and turn back to her team. "I want a full history of this place and it's former occupant. Everything from what the guy or girl was working on to anyone who's been spotted there in the time since their capture. Images, recordings, whatever you can get I want it."
"Roger than Darcy," confirms Jack as he begins scanning through information. She watches the other five members of her team follow suit.
She's scanning the area on the ground when Steve comes back online. "We've neutralized the guards sir."
"Roger that. Logistics, do you see any more guards?" asks Coulson.
"Not yet," replies Darcy as she flips her mic back on. "My team's doing another information scan for anything since the last nut job that occupied this place. Something doesn't feel right here."
"Agreed," sighs Coulson. She can hear him doing something on his end but isn't sure what. "I don't see anything maj-"
"Darcy, I have something," calls a brown-haired man with messy spikes from against the wall. Three of the stations plus her own face the large monitor while two (one on each side of the room) face the side walls. One of the stations is routed directly into S.H.I.E.L.D's database and the other is isolated from S.H.I.E.L.D's internal network but has full external access. The remaining three stations control the satellite feeds, GPS feeds, and additional communication feeds that aren't directly related to the main line that is split between her, Coulson, and Fury.
"What's up Mac?" asks Darcy as she looks towards the young man. He's probably about her age and is positioned at the computer with full external access. His file says he's a hacker.
Mac types a few keys and downloads something onto one of many flash drives before plugging it into the second computer to his left. It's isolated from the internal network to the extent that it can't access the network but Darcy can open a backdoor to retrieve any information he places on it. "I found a record of the former owner. She had a son, some kid with half her intelligence and a bit of a grudge over what happened to Mommy. Looks like he's been arrested numerous times and has a few friends in the mad-science ring."
Darcy feels a shiver travel down her spine. That sounds very bad. "Who has he been seen with?"
"Looks like Venom, Moonstone, and his mom were pretty close at one time," supplies Mac as he downloads more information onto a second flash drive and plugs it in below the first. Darcy opens the backdoor and starts scanning the files on a virtual machine.
"Shit, I'm seeing more than a Hydra agent and some girl with powers from a stone on this list," mutters Darcy. "Hey Ph-Coulson, we think we know who this clown is and it's not good." She quickly corrected herself on his name. Calling him Phil when Fury was on the line was one thing but Steve would lecture her until her ears bled if he heard her call Coulson by his first name.
"Why do I have the distinct impression I'm going to regret asking what you found?" asks Coulson with a heavy sigh. She learned when she was 8 that was his way of not making a sarcastic comment when his superiors are around. Fury doesn't really care but it's not the most professional thing to do. Plus Hill's given him the evil-eye over his sarcasm before and she could have gone into the command center.
Darcy hits a few buttons and forwards the information to Coulson. "You will."
She knew the second he saw the file. His muttered comment of 'dammit, of course this has to happen right after we get rid of the incompetent ass but before we can fix his mess' comes through the headset loud and clear. She gives him a few seconds to get it out of his system before continuing. "What do you think? We can still extract them."
"It's worse than we thought," admits Coulson with clear frustration.
Fury chooses that moment to interject in his usual calm manner. "Unfortunately, they're there and need to finish this now. Who knows what insane plot these crazies have up their sleeve?"
"We don't have the information to properly advise them if something comes up," points out Coulson, apparently moving steadily towards the 'extraction' mindset rather than the 'lets see if they almost get killed first' one that Fury is favoring.
"That is what we have the logistics division for," comments Fury in such as way that Darcy knows he's expecting her to insist they can do this. If she were sure about that, she might agree.
Her eyes scan the room, taking in the five people seated there. "Give me a minute." Then she mutes the mic and slides the headset to hang around her neck for the moment. "Okay, everyone listen up." The whole team, all five of them, turn to face her with uncertainty. On the screen, the six colored marks representing the Avengers haven't moved far. "Here's the deal. The Avengers are out there and potentially in over their heads. We weren't expecting someone with these connections or anyone to be there other than our target. This is the deciding moment concerning if they go forward or not. Question is, can we support them if they do? I'm new here but I've read your files and believe we can do this. Thing I need to know is if you guys agree."
For a moment, the room hovers in silence. Every pair of eyes is locked on her, wide and disbelieving. Uncertain. Surprised.
Cal is the first to speak, looking the most surprised and uneasy. She's also the newest addition to the group. "You're asking us?"
"Duh," replies Darcy with a smirk. "If you guys can't do this or aren't up for this, we'll turn the group around. I can't do this shit alone people."
"You really want our opinions?" Jack's brow is furrowed, but he looks less surprised than suspicious. Minor paranoia was noted in his file, specifically of government agencies. If he couldn't write, repair, and operate GPS programs like he can, S.H.I.E.L.D might not have hired him.
It takes too much effort to suppress her eye-roll. "If I didn't I wouldn't be asking. Guys, we're supposed to be a team and I can't do this alone. If the rest of this team isn't behind me, I'm not going to agree to anything."
Mac smirks slightly and nods. "Wow, someone who finally gets it. Impressive. And I'm in, I say we go for it."
His counterpart on the other side of the room, a quiet albino woman with beautiful silver hair and blue-white eyes named Dawn Swan (seriously, that is her name), nods in approval. According to her file, she has some issues with sun and light sensitivity, which is why her area has no lighting directly over-head and there's a pair of sunglasses constantly at her side. Coulson also added a note that she and Mac work well together.
"Okay, we have two," comments Darcy as her eyes sift back to everyone else. "That's two yes, three undecided."
"Three yes," corrects Leo Nelbrim from where he's sitting at the communication station. He's very tall and lanky with long hair pulled back into a pony tail. His bangs are long and there's a cowboy hat that sits on the table next to him. According to his file, he comes from the southwest and a ranching family. He can also organize and track pretty much anything, which is great for someone who's job it is to handle transportation.
"Right, three yes' and two undecideds then," corrects Darcy as she looks towards Cal and Jack. They look at each other and shrug but nod. She gives them both relieved smiles and slips her headset back on. "Hey Fury, we're on board if you still want to keep everyone deployed."
"Glad you could join us again, Miss Lewis," growls Fury, apparently a little annoyed she disappeared but he can deal. She won't agree to anything without the support of her team and she's made this clear in the past. "But it's good to know you're all for this. Does your team support this decision?"
"That's what I was checking on," explains Darcy. "We're ready over here when you are."
"Then lets get this party started," mutters Coulson. There's a weird click on the line, then Coulson's talking again. "Captain, are you there?"
"We're here sir," replies Steve. He sounds tense, not that Darcy can blame him for that. "What's your call?"
"Keep going, we'll feed you information as you proceed or we find it," commands Coulson. Darcy can hear a few pieces of paper and a mouse click or two on his end. "I'm going to patch your team's communication lines in with logistics so they can directly pass information on to you as they work."
"Logistics sir?" questions Steve uneasily. "No offense, but the last few times we've worked with the logistics team, things have gone badly."
"Plus Darcy'll kill someone if one of us gets hurt again," adds Clint, who's apparently a little ways off from the group if he's using the comm lines.
Darcy rolls her eyes, relieved that the rest of her team can't hear what's going on through this particular channel. At least she doesn't think they can. Glancing around, she realizes no one is wearing a head-set but her. She makes a note to ask about that and tunes back into the conversation without commenting. Telling Clint she's running the logistics team isn't a conversation she's looking forward to, which means she won't say anything until she has to.
"Logistics has experienced a few changes that should greatly improve the division," explains Fury. "They can and will guide you through this. It's their job."
Another mic crackles to life, Natasha's voice coming over the line loud and clear. "Will they get someone shot this time?"
Now at least she knows someone else was pissed about that. She cuts in before Coulson or Fury can comment. "No one is getting shot if we can avoid it. We need you guys to tell us what you need though, no one here can read minds."
Steve cuts back in before Natasha can respond. "We'll communicate as much as possible."
"That's all we ask," assures Darcy as she sits back against her chair, opening a chat window (the room is wired with an isolated chat system for exchanging information when verbal commands are impossible) with Cal's system. She asks the other woman to give her as much information on the topography of the area and construction of the building as possible. In another window, she tells Jack to tag the Avenger's dots if he can. She also tells Leo to hold the chopper that dropped off the team in the area. She wants their transport no more than five minutes from the drop site, less if possible. All three send back affirmative responses but she feels the tension in the room increase. They're a team with an unfamiliar leader looking at a very rocky situation where they will be needed to pull information to guide the team through any number of obstacles.
She listens to the chatter on the main line for a moment longer before muting her mic and slipping her headset off one ear to issue orders. "Mac, I need everything you can get about this area. Surrounding cities, maps, roads, whatever you can find, get it up to me and do whatever it takes. Dawn," her eyes dart to the woman, giving her a look that asks for permission to use her first name. There wasn't a notation in her file like there was for everyone else. Dawn looks back at her and nods, apparently fine with being addressed by her first name. "I need everything S.H.I.E.L.D has on this place in their databases. I don't care if it's notations about past suspicious deliveries to the surrounding towns or major baddies who've built forts there at any time, I want everything."
"Yes Darcy," confirms Dawn with a touch of a smile as she spins back towards her station and starts pulling information.
For several minutes, Darcy just listens to the main line as the team trades information and strategies while watching their dots move. Though he couldn't identify which was which, Jack had managed to tag the Avenger's dots so that she could track the team itself. She heard Steve order Hawkeye on the roof and watched as a dot broke away from the group and headed for the roof.
"Jack, the dot that just broke away is Hawkeye," informs Darcy as she gestures towards the solo dot. "Can you tag him individually?" She's careful to keep her voice neutral rather than hopeful.
The tag attached to his dot shifts to read 'Hawkeye'. "Done."
Darcy nods her thanks and continues to listen to the comm line chatter for a moment longer before Mac waved at her. He pointed at his monitor, then mimicked her taking off her headset. She makes sure her mic is muted before sliding the set around her neck and turning towards Mac.
"What's wrong?" asks Darcy with a furrowed brow.
Mac's expression is drawn in a way that makes a shiver run down Darcy's spine. That look couldn't be good. "I'm seeing a lot of small-level transactions in the surrounding cities for some really weird stuff."
"Send me a list of the shipments," requests Dawn as she turns towards Mac, her own face concerned. "I may be able to recognize what they are doing or know of a matching list of materials connected with a weapon in the system."
Darcy nods for Mac to transfer the lists, which she pulls from the second computer and forwards to Dawn before refocusing on the main comm line again. Her eyes rise to the map again, watching the dot labeled Hawkeye as it stalks across the roof of the building. Natasha has broken away as well, her representative body heat darting along the side of the building. Darcy sends Jack a command telling him to mark that dot as well. The label 'Black Widow' is added to the screen.
"Hey Coulson, what's the chance of me getting shot if I make myself airborn?" asks Tony suddenly. Darcy can hear the impatience in his voice.
Steve's voice cuts into the line as well. "That wouldn't be a bad idea if we could swing it. It would give us additional aerial coverage."
"Stay grounded Iron Man," cuts in Darcy, nixing the idea immediately. They have no where near enough information to have people potentially giving the group away yet. "We're still trying to get a feel for what's going on." Darcy shoots Jack a request to zoom back a little so they could see more of the area. "It doesn't look like there's any more guards outside but we can't say the same thing about inside yet. Just sit tight for a moment longer."
"I'm not seeing anything," informs Hawkeye across the line. "No signs of any big guns that'll cause us a lot of trouble."
Darcy sighs and opens her mouth to say something when Dawn starts waving her arms frantically across the room. Her normally composes face is creased with worry and a touch of fear has edged into her eyes. "Hang tight for a minute Captain, we might have something." She mutes her mic and pushes off her headset to focus on Dawn. "What've you got?"
"Trouble," replies Dawn as she spins back towards her computer and throws a few documents up onto the main screen. Normal-sized copies appeared on the monitor just to the left of Darcy's main monitor. "This list of materials almost completely matches a list for a very, very powerful bomb designed to take out a lot of people. The shrapnel alone is concentrated enough that they could kill nearly thirty people with just one explosive."
Darcy swears as she looks over the list. "This is bad. Dawn, how many of these do you think they're building based on the shipment numbers you've seen?"
"A small arsenal," sighs Dawn with a shake of her head. "They have the material's to mass produce these things."
"Shit," curses Darcy as she pulls her headset back on. "Coulson, we've got a really big problem on our hands."
"That is not what I want to hear," informs Coulson unhappily. "What have you found?"
Darcy copies the material's list and Dawn's findings and sends them up to Coulson. "Evidence that these nuts are probably trying to destroy a series of small towns. Or a large city. Either way, it's bad."
She can hear Tony swearing along with Clint over the line, apparently having heard her little announcement. Something that might have been Steve muttering a few choice words of his own, albeit no where near as bad as anything Clint or Tony was saying, comes over the line as well.
Coulson swears colorfully with a touch of a growl. "'Bad' is an understatement in this case. Director Fury, did you receive the documents as well?"
"Yes," confirms Fury. He sounds more unhappy than usual. "Can we identify where the manufacturing level is?"
Darcy hits a few keys on her computer, pulling up the map she has of the building. "It looks like the only space would be the former laboratory in the basement of the building. Mac, can you confirm there's been no major remodeling to the building?"
"Searching, searching, all the world," replies Mac, his fingers already flying over the keys. "We're looking for anything since S.H.I.E.L.D evicted the former owner, right?"
"Anything since these blue-prints were made," corrects Darcy. "If these aren't the most up-to-date blueprints, I want to know."
"You got it," confirms Mac, his focus solely on the screen in front of him.
"We could send Natasha and Clint in to scout the building," suggests Steve. "It could offer us more information."
"And get everyone killed if they're caught," argues Darcy. "I'm looking at the numbers now, Cap. We can't risk you guys getting spotted early. Assuming these shipments are all stored there, these guys have amassed enough explosive power to blow the entire building and destroy about three miles of the surrounding area." Darcy noted Mac waving a flash drive in the air, then plugging it into the second computer. "Look, just sit tight for a moment. We might have something over here." Muting her mic again, Darcy pulls the files Mac offered her up on one of her monitors and examines the blueprints. "Are these the most up-to-date plans?"
"Most up-to-date I can find," confirms Mac. "That's not to say they couldn't have done some of their own remodeling, but this is what we've got to work with."
"Right," sighes Darcy, pulling her headset back on and tuning into the conversation, which is sounding something like an argument between Coulson and Steve. "Alright, we've got blueprints. It looks like the manufacturing level is probably the basement. As in the entire basement. There's a chance modifications have been made that aren't on the blueprints though."
She can hear Clint mutter something about the 'unreliability of logistics' and feels one of her eyebrows start to twitch. "Look, Hawkeye, I'm sorry if that isn't what you wanted to hear, but it's all you're getting for the moment. Most of my team doesn't have the security clearance they should, some of our equipment is malfunctioning, and we're basically doing a dry run for this mission. So shut it."
For a moment, no one responds. Apparently, they hadn't counted on the new logistics head having a backbone. Not that she is surprised; Edison had always struck her as apathetic at best.
Steve is the first one to speak up, giving orders easily. "Widow, Hawkeye, scout ahead. I want you to confirm that the basement is the manufacturing level. Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor, hang back here with me until we know more."
"Roger," mutters Clint. "Logistics, can you at least guide Natasha and I around or is that asking too much?"
Darcy rolls her eyes and doesn't even try to suppress her growl. "I'll lead you around as best I can, but you both need to relay information on your positions to me so I can make sure I'm giving you good data. Got it?"
"Just keep up," growls back Clint before the heat signature that they identified as him and the one representing Natasha start to move.
"Alright, get on top of the building if you guys can," instructs Darcy as she spins the blueprints for the building on her screen so they're oriented the same way as the satellite image. "And I'll get you guys down into the basement from there."
"Alright, I can see the production line. And I think we're screwed." Clint's attempt at humor falls drastically short given the situation at hand.
Thirty tense minutes after they entered the building, Clint and Natasha are in the basement of the formerly abandoned mad scientist's lab. And Darcy is focusing on making sure they remain alive. "Be careful. Based on sightings in the near-by towns, there could be as many as a hundred and fifty people in that building. I know that doesn't sound like much-"
"In what universe?" cuts in Tony's sarcastic voice, the incredulous look apparent in his tone.
"-but that's a lot of people if they're all wondering around. I'm monitoring for patrols, but if there is any shielding up I won't be able to see them." Her fingers tap across her keyboard, pulling up additional scans of the building. "What do you guys see?"
"Machinery," replies Natasha. "Large vats, piping, and some individuals in laboratory safety gear."
Darcy nods, typing a few notes into the messenger system and sending the data to Dawn along with a request for the size and type of equipment needed to safely work with the chemicals mentioned. Dawn shoots back a list almost immediately, along with an ideal schematic for setting up a production line for this particular explosive. "Alright, I have a schematic for the ideal production set-up. I need to know if you're seeing the same thing."
For the next five minutes, Natasha describes in, her succinct style, the set-up they are looking at: a series of large tanks of varying sizes, all connected to a single large vat from which a greenish-gray liquid is intermittently pouring. The liquid is being transferred into vials that are then inserted into flat-bottomed spheres and carefully loaded into well-lined boxes.
By the time the red-headed Russian spy is finished, Darcy knows for sure what they are looking at. And she is beyond unhappy. Without bothering to mute her mic, she calls out to Leo. "Leo, I want you to bring their chopper in closer. As in, three minutes or less closer. I don't care where the chopper hides or how you do it, but bring it in."
Leo holds up his hand in the 'okay' position and sets to work following her orders.
Over the line, Coulson makes a very unhappy noise. "I'm going to assume you've confirmed this isthe weapon they are currently mass-producing."
"Bingo," confirms Darcy with a sigh. "Unfortunately, I'm not sure there is a way we can take out the system without blowing everything to high-hell."
"So we blow it to high-hell," states Tony. "Blow it up and go home."
Darcy can feel the tension in her jaw. "Iron Man, if we blow the place up, it's going to take out everything in a five-mile radius. Along with all of you. I don't feel like being murdered by Pepper because you decided to play with an explosive of questionable stability."
Before anyone else can add to the smart-assery, Coulson cuts in smoothly. "What are the other options then?"
"We could plant timed charges and get the hell out of dodge before the whole thing blows," suggests Clint, his voice less hostile than before.
Darcy considers the material list in front of her and the strength of the explosion before replying. "That could work, but do you guys have any explosives that can do the job? It wouldn't have to be a lot."
"I can jury-rig something," offers Clint. She can hear the shrug in his voice. "It wouldn't be the first time I've done it."
"We may have a charge or two in the helicopter as well," points out Natasha. "Usually there is at least one S.H.I.E.L.D. explosive somewhere."
"Right, Iron Man, can you see if you can find what they're talking about?" requests Steve in his 'I'm in command and this isn't actually a request' voice.
"Or, you know, we could make one of the wonder twins do it," retorts Tony, even as the whine of his repulsers echos through the comm channel, indicating he's taken off again.
Darcy shakes her head a little. "Negative. I don't want them going in and out of the building if we can avoid it."
"Yeah, that's kinda unavoidable if we want to blow this place sky-high," points out Clint, the hostility leaking back into his voice. Not for the first time since this mission started, Darcy is considering just outing herself to him. Maybe his attitude would improve if she did. Then again, they'd probably have an argument about her new position over the comms if she said something. "You know, we can do this stuff ourselves without you guys."
"I said I want to avoid it if possible," grinds out Darcy as she attempts to keep her temper in check. "That means not having you guys try to sneak back out to pick up explosives that might not be there." Darcy knows her frustration is starting to leak into her voice, but by this point she's bordering on mad. Yeah, logistics screwed up. Big time. But if they continue to treat her and her team like the enemy, shit will keep going bad. "Remember the whole 'half our equipment isn't working right' comment earlier? That wasn't an exaggeration. Which means, I can't promise that I can get you in and out without this whole thing going sideways. Once was risky, twice is probably going to be pushing it, and three times is really asking for trouble. If we can do this without you guys having to creep all the way back out, that's the best option we have."
"I have to agree with Logistics," cuts in Coulson, his voice commanding in that mild way of his. "Unfortunately, this is a far more complicated situation than we were anticipating. Special precautions do need to be taken, as certain individuals have made it very clear what will happen should anyone be injured avoidably again." Clint may have groaned at Coulson's pointed message, but Darcy couldn't be sure over Tony's snickering.
Even Steve sounds amused when he speaks up. "Alright, we'll find a way to get the explosives to you down in the basement. Just stay put."
Darcy sighs, glancing at the material's list in front of her while Steve and the others begin planning a way to get the explosives to Clint and Natasha. At this point, Clint and Natasha have a better idea of the layout of the building than she does, so leaving that conversation to the others seems logical. One of the ingredients on the list catches her eye for a moment, and she quickly mutes her mic before calling out across the room to her team member. "Hey Dawn, how are these explosives usually triggered?"
Dawn glances up from her computer, furrowing her brow a little at the question. "Timers are the most common method. Remote detonation has been used too, but the range of most home-made remote detonators usually renders that method useless."
"Based on the material's you've seen, what kind of detonator is being used in these?" Darcy knows how to make a timer of course; her father taught her how to so she'd know how to disable one if she ever needed to.
The albino woman glances quickly at the list on her computer before spinning back to look at Darcy. "My best guess is a timer system based on the material's list. I haven't seen anything that could be used to construct a signal emitter, but it's possible that they already have the materials on site for that."
Nodding slowly, Darcy can feel an idea forming in her head but she needs more information first. "The chemicals used to make the explosive, how stable are they?"
"None of them are particularly stable," replies Dawn, curiosity clearly piqued. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that they might be able to put something together to blow this place up without having to find a way for someone to smuggle them explosives," explains Darcy. "What would it take to make any of the chemicals explode?"
Dawn shrugs a little. "A spark. Blowing one of the supply tanks would probably cause a chain reaction and lead to the whole place exploding."
"How big of an explosion are we talking?" presses Darcy. This isn't the best idea she's ever had, but it might be their best option.
"Pretty big," states Dawn with another shrug. "It's hard to say without knowing what size the tanks are."
"Best estimate is in the thousands of gallons," supplies Darcy, relaying Natasha's earlier comment.
"The blast radius would easily encompass a 5 mile area then," estimates Dawn. "The whole building would be gone, along with a large chunk of the surrounding property."
"Widow says she thinks the tanks are made of metal, does that sound right?" queries Darcy as she turns to her computer and takes another glance at the material's list, switching topics. What she's thinking is definitely viable.
"Sounds right," confirms Dawn without pause. "Several of the chemicals would eat straight through plastic. There might be a coating on the outside, but even that's unlikely. The plastic could potentially trap excess heat in a way metal wouldn't and increase the temperature inside the tank, causing an explosion."
Darcy nods, waving for Dawn to join her at her desk. "Alright, hang on for a minute. I'm going live again." Unmuting her mic, she refocuses on the conversation in enough time to hear Tony arguing with Steve about what they're going to do. From the sounds of it, there were no explosives on the chopper. "Strike out on the explosives hunt?"
"Completely," confirms Coulson. "You checked out on us, Logistics. Trouble?"
"No, actually, a plan if anyone wants to hear it," replies Darcy, expecting the grumbles that come from the team. Yeah, yeah, yeah, she heard them the first time. Logistics is stupid, blah, blah, blah.
"I'd like to hear it," insists Coulson. "It might prove useful."
Darcy smirks a little. Useful? Probably. It's the plausibility part that she's still working on. "We were taking another look at the materials that have been sent into that area recently and we're thinking they're building timed devices to detonate the bombs. On top of that, the chemicals used to produce the explosive aren't stable. A spark could set them off. So, the idea is that Widow and Hawkeye could hook up one of Widow's spider-bites to a timed detonator and attach it to the most unstable of the chemical's. The current should be enough to ignite the liquid and blow the place, plus all the components should be right near where Hawkeye and Widow are hiding."
"Except we don't have direct access to the chemicals. Everything is in vats," points out Hawkeye.
Glancing at Dawn, Darcy makes sure the other woman has heard the comment before she hands over the headset. For a moment, Dawn looks a little stunned, but quickly puts the headset on when Coulson's voice calls for Logistics through the headset. "Um, Swan here from Logistics. Look, I've seen the specs for the spider-bites and the current should be strong enough to ignite the tank. All we need is for it to go off. These guys aren't in a sophisticated area and the materials which were shipped in don't include a non-conductive metal in any quantity great enough to construct those tanks. Furthermore, it isn't going to take much to make one of those tanks blow if you select the right one."
"How are we going to do that?" presses Natasha. Darcy can hear their voices clearly, even though she's not wearing the headset. "Neither of us are what you would call chemists."
Dawn glances at Darcy again, who nods in encouragement. "I can tell you which tank to hit. If we get the right one, the whole place will blow sky high."
Darcy smiles and leans back a little for the next half an hour as Dawn walks the team through everything they need to know.
"How are you doing, Widow?" asks Coulson, voice slightly tense.
Darcy has her headset back, having been given it back after Dawn finished explaining what tank needs to be hit. The poor woman had practically shoved the headset back when she was done and scurried back to her desk. Not that Darcy could blame her. The Avenger's weren't being very cooperative at the moment.
"The device is planted," replies Natasha. Darcy can hear the sound of her moving as she slips back down the wall from where she'd been hiding on the ceiling. "The timer is set for 1 hour, which should give us enough time to get out."
"Good," confirms Coulson. "Withdraw. Logistics, how far out is their transportation?"
"ETA 3 minutes at tops," replies Darcy, glancing at Leo for confirmation. The other man nods, indicating everything is good to go. "They should have more than enough time to get out."
"Great," cuts in Clint. "Now, mind guiding us back out?"
Darcy smiles a little. "Depends on if you scarred my team member or not. If she's damaged, I will have all your hides." Dawn looks a little mortified, but Darcy offers her a reassuring smile in return along with a wink, indicating the joke.
"Well, let's hope we didn't then," breaks in Natasha, her own tone amused. "Now, where do we go?"
"Alright guys, you're almost there," informs Darcy. Her body feels tense, like a spring coiled too tightly. She's spent the last half hour helping Clint and Natasha escape the building, with her nerves ratcheting up more and more as each minute passes. "If you turn left, there should be a vertical shaft that'll lead to the roof."
"I can see the vertical shaft," confirms Natasha. There's a soft sound like a pen clicking open, then a thump, like a magnate sticking to thin metal. "And I see sunlight."
Darcy allows the breath she's been holding to escape in a soft sigh, though she knows they are no-where near out of the woods yet. "Alright, can you get up there?"
"Yes," assures Natasha. "We should be out momentarily."
Several minutes pass with only the sound of Natasha and Clint attempting to navigate the ventilation shaft echoing through the comms. When the sound of metal scraping against metal reaches Darcy's ears, she nearly collapses in relief. Then hears the last thing she ever wanted to.
"Freeze." The voice is metallic and digitized, as if the person is speaking through a voice modulator. "Climb out nice and easy. No funny stuff."
And just like that, Darcy relaxes again. They've been caught by an amateur. Sure enough, within the next few seconds the sound of that same non-human voice letting out a groan and the thump of a body tells her the guy is down.
"Hawkeye, Widow, we need to get out of here," instructs Steve. "Logistics, where's our transport?"
"About three minutes North-west of you," replies Darcy, immediately snapping back to attention. "Can you guys get further into the woods? It would be nice if we didn't have to alert everyone to your presence."
"Can do," assures Steve. "How far in?"
"Just start moving North-west of your current position," instructs Darcy. "I'll have the pilot signal you somehow."
Leo holds up a hand, making a motion that makes Darcy's stomach drop out a little.
Muting her mic, she turns her attention to Leo. "Leo, please tell me there isn't a problem."
"There isn't a problem," repeats Leo like a parrot. His words don't make her feel better. "I'm not sure what's going on, but I had the pilot land the chopper three minutes out like you said and told him to keep the blades running. Thing is, I just tried to hail him and he didn't respond."
Darcy felt her eyes close a little, a headache springing to life across her forehead. Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. This is bad, very, very bad. "Can you think of any reason why he wouldn't respond?"
"Nothing that's positive," admits Leo, looking more than a little helpless.
Suppressing her groan, Darcy refocuses on the problem at hand. "Do you know where the chopper was?"
"I'm sending you the coordinates now," confirms Leo, fingers flying over the keys.
"Alright, keep trying to hail him," instructs Darcy with a sigh before she reactivates her mic. "Guys, we may have a problem. The helicopter pilot isn't responding to our summons. It's possible there's a glitch in our equipment somewhere, but we doubt it."
There's a groan over the line from someone, probably Clint, and some rather creative cussing from multiple sources. Not that Darcy can blame any of them; she'd be cussing too if she were there. Of course, theoretically Tony and Thor could carry everyone out, but that's a long shot at best.
"So what do we do now?" asks Natasha, voice colored with a touch of concern and some annoyance.
Darcy sighs, not looking forward to what she has to say next. "Well, I have the choppers coordinates. We can guide you to it's last known location. Our equipment is still showing it's where it was during the last check-in."
"And if it's been taken over?" challenges Clint. "What then?"
"Then we take out our enemies and get home," replies Steve, tone commanding. "No one could have foreseen this, so we have to adapt to the situation and hope everything works out."
"We will get you home to your girlfriend, Hawkeye," assures Tony, though he sounds just a touch too smug. "Hell, I'll carry you if need be. She'd probably raise us from the dead and kill us again herself if anything happened to you."
Darcy smiles a little. Damn right she would. "Alright, you guys ready?"
"Lead the way, Logistics," agrees Steve.
Sighing, Darcy glances at the coordinates. "Alright, I pretty much said it all before. Head north-west of your current position. The chopper isn't five miles from your current positions."
"It looks like a pretty clear path," confirms Steve. "We should be able to run it straight."
"Just keep your eyes open," insists Darcy, sending a message to Jack requesting a zoom around where the chopper was last seen. She can see the head signature from the chopper's engines and there looks to be one other signature there as well. "Alright, there's someone ahead at the chopper I think. I'm only seeing one, but there could be more. Approach with caution."
"Yes, ma'am," replies Steve.
For another minute, all Darcy can hear is the sound of the group moving through the underbrush. It's muted in nature, far quieter than anyone would expect it to be given the Hulk is running around. Well, unless Bruce shrunk to his normal size. They never give him a communicator because he usually ends up breaking or loosing it.
When Steve speaks again, his voice is hushed. "I'm not seeing anything ahead. Are we still in the clear, Logistics?"
"As far as I can see," confirms Darcy, eyes darting around the map on the large screen. "Any sign of the pilot?"
"Yes," replies Natasha. "He's apparently having a cigarette." Darcy can feel the urge to hit her head repeatedly on her desk growing with every passing second. Seriously, is everyone incompetent? "And there appear to be a multitude of dead soldiers around him." Scratch that, the man deserves a cigarette.
"He's flagging us over," states Steve. "We're boarding now."
"Good," replies Darcy, eyes flying to the digital countdown timer on her screen. The one that says their homemade bomb is going to go off in less than seven minutes. "Now get out of there. You're pushing your time limit."
"Roger that," shoots back Clint. Then, the noise of the chopper's rotor fills the mics and everything is lost to her. She can hear the wind as they rise and take off, see them moving away on the screen. Not 20 seconds after they are out of the blast radius, a mass of red fills the screen where the labs had once been.
They did it.
Below, her team cheers. Not that she can blame them, this is probably the first successful mission they've pulled off in months where no one has been hurt and the bad guy hasn't gotten away. For her part though, all she can do is collapse into her chair and close her eyes in relief. They're safe, the team is safe. She can hear them chattering lightly over the comm lines, joking with each other and teasing Coulson. For a moment, she lets everyone cheer. Then she pushes the headset back, mutes the mic, and whistles to get everyone's attention.
When the team is looking up at her, she offers them a big grin. "That was epic guys. Normally I'm not one to comment on stuff like that, but you did an amazing job today. And I wanted to say thank you for accepting this administrative switch like you guys did. I know it's not easy to have a real situation pop up as your dry run, but everyone here handled it spectacularly. So, congrats everyone and you guys are free to leave whenever you want to." The startled, wide-eyed looks she gets back following that statements tells her exactly how big of a jackass Edison was. "And yes, I am completely serious. Get me your reports by tomorrow, but otherwise I don't care what you guys do tonight. I'll stay behind to do the post-mission monitoring. I want to compile a list of problems with our equipment anyway."
"Thank you, Darcy," thanks Cal, her eyes still wide in shock. "That's really nice of you."
Darcy smiles at them, shaking her head. "It's part of my position. It's not your jobs to stay behind and finish everything up. So, go relax and have some fun. All of you deserve it."
Several more 'thanks' and 'thank yous' rise up from the group as pretty much everyone grabs their stuff and bolts. When Mac, the last one out, has shut the door, she pulls the headset back on to listen to the Avenger's post-mission chatter while she begins to save and file all the documents they had used that day along with her notes. She's so focused on her work, she barely catches Tony's sudden interruption into the group.
"Hey guys, I'll be right back," informs Tony. "I need to make a phone call."
Probably to let Pepper know he's alive. She smirks slightly at the thought of how whipped the man is, only to feel her blood freeze as her own cellphone starts playing 'I'm too Sexy for my Shirt'. Glancing at the screen, she confirms that Tony is calling her. Why is he calling her?
For a second, she hesitates answering but knows he'll probably do something horribly public to get back at her if she does. Thus, she pushes the headset from her ears, checks that the mic is muted, and answers the call. "What's up, Tony?"
"Just calling to let you know your boy is in one piece," replies Tony casually. "Figured you've probably been tense through most of this mission."
"That's good to know Tony, thank you." He called to let her know her boyfriend was alright? Did someone hit Tony over the head with something while she wasn't looking?
Tony's voice echoing out of the speaker draws her attention back to the phone again. "I also wanted to say that you did a good job today. Normally, I wouldn't, but I felt bad that everyone was giving you a hard time."
Darcy nearly falls over. Seriously, the only reason she doesn't is because of her desk. "How did you-?"
"I deal with machines on a daily basis, remember?" reminds Tony. "I'm used to hearing modulated voices. By the way, your microphone is crap. I'm replacing it with a Stark Tech one."
"Um, thank you?" replies Darcy, still too shocked to really reply. Tony is the one calling to tell her she did a good job? Tony? "But, Tony, why are you calling me?"
For a moment, Tony doesn't reply. It's a long enough pause that Darcy begins to think they have been legitimately disconnected. Seriously, Tony is never quiet for that long. His voice cuts though the connection before she can prompt him though. "Honestly? It's because I remember what it's like to be trying to change your image and become better when everyone just thinks you're going to fuck it up." He pauses again, but this one is much shorter. "When I became Iron Man, there were all sorts of objects and people telling me I couldn't do it, that I was just going to screw everything up worse than it was. It's not an easy thing to face, and I guess I just wanted to offer some support because I've been there."
Darcy can feel the smile creeping over her features. It's moments like this that she can see why Pepper puts up with Tony. "Thank you, Tony."
She can hear a touch of warmth to his voice when he speaks again. "No problem kid, and don't worry bout me saying anything to the others. I'm sure you'll tell them when you're ready to."
"I'm not planning to keep it a secret for long," assures Darcy. "Fury was going to make the announcement in two weeks. He's just giving me some time to tell Clint before he says anything."
"Well, tell him soon," advises Tony. "That guy is already not gonna be happy."
"No, he's not," agrees Darcy. "But I'm not stepping down either, so he can deal with it."
Tony is definitely grinning when he speaks again. "Good. Listen kid, I'm gonna scramble back with the others. See ya when we land in ten."
"See you then," confirms Darcy before the click of the disconnect echoes through her speaker. Shaking her head, she saves her work and heads out the door towards the hanger. It wasn't the best situation for a dry run. In fact, it was a pretty bad one. But they did it. They brought everyone home alive and got the bad guys. There isn't much more she could have hoped for.