Chapter 4 : Failure
A/N: Yo, long time no see! I apologize for being away for this long. School and real life was really hard these few months, and I just couldn't find time to write. But now that it's over, I am back for goof.
As always, I would like to thank Web of Obsidian, Dark Universe, Andrewthegreat1 and Avengers Fan for reviewing. It's always nice to hear that someone likes your work. Without further delay, next chapter.
And Marry Christmas to everyone! :D
It's never a nice feeling when you let someone down.
Someone would think that after all those failures I made, all those deaths I caused and places I ruined, I would get used to it.
But you can never get used to failing.
When we arrived at the destination and when they all suited up, except for me, we were determined to be quick, to save those agents and to get home into out layers, our safe zones.
What we didn't know was that we were to damaged and dysfunctional to work together.
Our minds were wrapped around our problems, and because of that we failed.
It all lead us to the disaster that could have been avoided.
But we were just too stupid to see it.
Bruce Banner.
As a team leader, he felt as an utter and complete failure.
Instead of being the one to hold the team together, like a glue, he couldn't see that they were slowly drifting apart and that it can only lead to a disaster.
He quietly observed his teammates as they drove in a jet, not one of them speaking a single word since they settled down in the back of the plane.
When his eyes fell on the figure of Natasha Romanoff who was clenching her left side, trying to easy the pain on her broken ribs, or when he glanced at Stark who removed his ruined Iron man suit only to reveal a huge cut across his forearm, something inside Captain Steve Rogers clenched painfully.
The whole team was a mess, each one of them in their own corner, as always, but this time tiredness and exhaustion washed over them, making them look more vulnerable than usual.
And for a second, Steve had to ask himself a question...
Were they even ready to be an actual team...?
Sadly, he knew the answer.
No.
~Flashback~
"Stark, the incoming enemy is heading your way!" Steve yelled over their comm. link, swinging his hand and sending another enemy into the wall, the sound of bones cracking filling the dark place.
He spun around, sending a kick into the enemy's stomach, but receiving a strong punch into his face that made him stumble backwards.
He tripped over his own feet, but soon regained the balance, wiping the trail of blood from his chin with his free hand.
He couldn't find any of his teammates around as they scattered the same second they stepped the foot on the land and suited up. He did try to keep them together or in groups of two, but seeing as they brushed his words off and headed into their own directions, he gave up.
Later, he realized he shouldn't have given up, but it was too late.
No one was around him and soon he found himself fighting against bunch of enemies.
It didn't pass much time before he finished his part of deal, punching the last enemy and making his lifeless body hit the ground.
"My work is done. Does anyone need assistance?" He tried to ask once again, hoping that he would get a different answer this time.
The silence on the other side was painful, and just as he was about to give up and search for others, a stained voice was heard from the other side.
:: Cap.. I found.. The agents... East side of the mansion, basement... Huge.. Gray doors... ::
The voice of Natasha Romanoff was heard from the other side, followed with a painful scream mixed with her panting and hard breathing.
"Natasha? Are you there? What's your condition?"
He gained no answer as the other side of the line went dead.
In a flash, he picked up his shield and following the simple instruction he got, he launched himself towards Natasha's location.
Passing through the corridors and hallways, he ignored the sound of battles and the painful screams that filled the place. His mind was focused on finding his fallen comrade, and nothing else.
In a few seconds, he found himself in front of the huge grey doors, and before waiting or checking if someone was there, he pushed the doors open and entered the dark room.
There was no light there, except for a small flash light on the floor. The room smelled awful, the scent of blood, sweat and death mixed together with no windows or fresh air to let it all out.
"Natasha?" He all but whispered, his voice breaking a little as another shiver passed though his body.
"O-... Over.. h-here..." A quiet, pained voice whispered from the far corner of the room and as he focused on the direction of the voice, he noticed a glimpse of red on the floor.
It took him a second to reach her, finding the injured Natasha on the floor, with her hand pressed on her ribs.
"Cap.."
"Hey, are you okay? How bad does it hurt..."
"It's not that bad, I've had worse injuries, bu-..."
"It's okay.. Where are the agent?" He asked the question quietly, as if he was afraid of the answer. And the look in her eyes didn't help at all.
"They.. T-They are all.. D-Dead."
It was then when he noticed the blood on the floor.
~End of the flashback~
"Captain, we arrived."
The pilot informed them quietly and Steve snapped from his thoughts as he realized that the others already moved towards the helicarrier.
With a sad sigh, he picked up his shield and hurried after them, trying to catch up although he didn't want to go there.
Neither one of them wanted to enter the helicarrier.
They were all aware of the fact that they screwed up.
And that Fury won't be happy.
The sun was slowly setting down behind the horizon, coloring the sky in beautiful purple and baby blue color.
The silence outside the helicarrier matched the one in the meeting room as all six of them sat in silence, their eyes pointed on their hands on the ground.
At the center of the room, Nick Fury was standing with his hands in his pockets and his his back turned towards his team.
If they could be called a 'team'.
He stared into the distance, his mind going over his choices and decisions.
Lately, he started questioning himself a lot. Did he made a right choice in calling them in?
Was it a good idea to make them live together or was it a really bad choice?
So many questions, and no answers to any of them.
He turned around to face his team and he found them all quiet, each one of them staring in the opposite direction of him, and their teammates.
They were ashamed, they realized what they did.
They realized that they failed.
~Flashback~
"Captain? Stark?" Fury yelled in his comm. link, but only silence waited for him on the others end. The whole fact of him not having a way to contact them was killing him, and he was showing it.
"Is it possible that there is no way for us to get a connection with them although we have all this fucking equipment?"
The agents around his scattered, trying their best not to piss him off further as they tried to fix the comm. link that was clearly blocked by the enemies' equipment.
Exactly two hours ago, Nick Fury lost contact with his team. The last thing he heard was that there was tons of enemies, but all of them were humans, so it should've been easy.
But then, as an explosion happened, the link went dead, and since then, Fury had no idea what happened with his team.
He gripped the table he was standing next to, his fingers leaving a trail in the plastic. The vein on his forehead appeared and a few agents pulled back, afraid that they might die when Fury explodes.
Thankfully, Maria Hill appeared.
"Sir..."
"Yes?" He said, his voice cold as ice, but when he noticed the grim expression on Hill's face, he let go of the table and turned around to completely face her.
"The Avengers are done, they are in the jet on the way here?"
"And?"
"They.. killed all the enemies, destroyed the base and weapons that were stolen."
He noticed that she was avoiding to answer him straight, so he decided to be direct, although he feared he knew the answer.
"Was the mission successful? Did they save the agents?"
By the silence after his question, he realized the answer.
"Mission... Failed."
~End of the flashback~
"You are all dismissed." Fury finally spoke spoke in a disappointed tone and turned around, heading towards the exit with Agent Hill following his lead.
He didn't spare another glance towards his team as he passed the bunch of agents and headed to his own office.
That day, the whole base mourned and everything was quiet.
The moon already settled across the sky, being the only light in the dark night.
That night at the Stark Tower seemed darker than the previous nights as the silence filled the whole place.
As they returned from the helicarrier, they didn't speak. They just went in their separate ways, heading towards the darkness and solitude of their rooms.
Neither one of them could sleep as the burning guilt clenched their hearts, making it hard to breath.
Maybe they didn't know those agents.
But they didn't have to.
A life is a life, and every life is worth saving.
The thing is that they failed to save those lives.
In the middle of the night, a figure moved through the Tower. His dark form was slowly moving across the living room, his hands in his pockets and his head lowered down as he dragged his feet across the room.
It was clear that he couldn't sleep that night, that the nightmares were too much, that the guilt was preventing him from entering the blissful land of no dreams.
He entered the kitchen and turned the lights on, barely suppressing the scream in his throat as he noticed that someone was already in the kitchen.
Taking a step forwards, he brushed a few curly locks out of his eyes and removing his glasses with his free hand. It seemed that the person by the table didn't hear him as he was lost in his thoughts and problems.
"What are you doing here?" He asked quietly and the person slowly looked up, meeting the doctor's brown eyes.
A/N: Finally, the things will get going soon.
Anyways, reviews make me happy!
See ya soon :D
Horizon.