A/N: Oh dear. I fear I've confirmed myself as an unreliable and dilatory updater... To those people who fav'd/review'd/alerted, I thank you, it really made my day, and I most humbly beg your forgiveness.
The plane touched down on the strip with a jolt and a squeal of tyres. Hill had already unbuckled herself and stowed the paperwork away. Matt handed her the file, then looked out of the window as the plane taxied round. Behind the small terminal building was the massive silhouette of-
"-an aircraft carrier?" asked Matt. "You guys don't do things by half measures, do you?"
Hill nodded. "The helicarrier is S.H.I.E.L.D's base for the time being."
"Helicarrier? Does... does that thing fly?" The plane drew to a halt and the door opened, bringing a breath of cool, fresh air.
Agent Hill just smiled as she pushed past him down the aisle. Matt hurried after her. "Hill, with my abilities do you really think it's a wise idea to have me on that thing?" he asked, somewhat concerned.
"Lynch, it is outta my hands," she said, emerging into the sunlight and making her way down the steps. "Take it up with Director Fury."
"Now that," he said, following her and raising his voice over the whining of the engines, "is a terrible idea. 'Taking things up', as you say, with Mr Fury hasn't resulted in anything good in the past. Most recently, a broken lab and several bruises and cuts. Mostly on his part, I would like to add."
Hill smirked, none too kindly, and they continued towards the terminal building. "That was the past, Mr Lynch. This is the present," she said firmly. Matt's eyes flashed dangerously.
"Don't think it's that simple," Matt said lightly. "The past isn't something you can dismiss like that," he continued, unable to keep a slight tinge of anger from his voice.
Hill looked at him sharply. "You just agreed to this mission, remember. Don't screw it up already for some kind of personal agenda."
"I do remember, even as far back as this morning. Thanks for the reminder though," he smirked. Hill let out an exasperated sigh, and turned to carry on into the building. Fury had actually sent her to recruit this guy? She needed serious words with him.
Hill led Lynch up the gangplank in a prickly silence. Matt stared around him, impressed. The whole carrier seemed to be bustling with activity – groups of sailors hurried across the deck, securing innumerable cables and lines to the metal flight deck.
As they made their way up a metal flight of stairs and out onto a gangway an alarm suddenly blared out over the flight deck, sending groups of men running to secure lines. The whole ship began to shudder, the water being churned into a milky froth at each side of the ship. Stumbling a little, Matt grabbed a hold of the railing and turned to look over the flight deck.
His mouth dropped open.
The entire vessel had lifted itself out of the sea, water pouring from its flanks as the gigantic propellers beat the air. Even though he almost knew what was coming, it was still an awe – inspiring sight.
"The shock and awe campaign is working," he said. Hill smiled a little despite her own annoyance with him, leading him up another narrow flight of stairs and onto the spacious bridge.
They stepped through the doors, just in time to hear: "...if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."
"How disconcerting," Matt remarked, as heads turned their way. "I think I'm going to go Amish after all this."
"Sir, I brought Lynch," announced Hill, somewhat redundantly.
"You're late, Agent," said Fury's familiar voice. Matt stiffened, slowly turning towards the raised plinth. He locked eyes with the Director, and felt familiar stirrings of anger in his gut. He hadn't seen the man in more than two years now. Just looking at him brought back memories of their last encounter, a thing which Lynch would much rather he forgot. Flashes of memory swam in front of his eyes – a destroyed room filled with machines finished in that special scientific type of dead white, one corner of the room ripped open in a tangle of wires and tubing, the flash of white teeth stained a pinkish red from a burst lip, that familiar deep voice with a faintly mocking tone. The flash of reflected floodlights from a rotor blade, as a distant helicopter vanished into the inky sky.
"Director," Matt said, bitterness colouring his tone.
Fury looked away, finally noticing the eyes of most of the people in the room had been flicking between them. He cleared his throat, trying to defuse the tension. "Lynch," he said, with a nod. "I sincerely hope you will prove yourself useful."
Matt gave a tight – lipped smile. "As do I, Director. Every day," he said. He climbed slowly up the steps to join the group clustered around the plinth, thinking through the situation. Fury was obviously attempting to keep things civil, or as civil as Nick Fury could be. Very well, he thought, I shall meet civility with civility. If working with Nick Fury is the only way I can help the public, then so be it.
"Returning to the matter in point," Fury said cuttingly, "we're running the facial recognition software. Hopefully-"
"It won't find him in time," Romanoff cut the Director off, ignoring his icy glare.
"You have to narrow your field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" chimed in Banner, who had been watching Matt and Fury's interaction with keen-eyed interest.
"How many are there?" Fury asked.
Banner seemed to think for a moment, furrowed his brow, then said, "Call every lab you know. Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places." He looked up. "Do you have somewhere for me to work?"
"Agent Romanoff, would you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory please?" directed Fury.
"You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys," smiled Natasha as she led Bruce deeper into the ship.
"Dismissed. Lynch, I want a word," declared Fury, as the group began to disperse. Matt slowly made his way over to the plinth. "You read the file, I presume?"
Matt, despite his pledge to remain civil towards Fury, couldn't help but feel slightly insulted. "Of course," he said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes with difficulty.
"I was wondering about one thing, though," he continued, cutting off Fury as he opened his mouth. "Why do you think it's wise to bring me into this flying tin can? I get it, you need Banner because he can find this cube, but you know what could happen if I lose it." And losing it is a distinct possibility, he added mentally, seeing the ever-present cold glint in Fury's eye.
Fury's jaw clenched. "I was coming onto that, if you'd had the patience to hear me out," he said flatly. He turned to his screens, and pressed a few buttons. On the displays in front of them the biographies of all the Avengers, potential and current. Matt scanned them as saw his own name, with his abilities listed neatly. Ability to absorb and manipulate electrical energy in the form of a beam or a shield. Like an 'ability' that had more or less screwed up his life could be reduced to a single sentence.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has had the Avengers on its books for years the potential recruits have waxed and waned depending on current events," started Fury. He slowly turned around, fixing Matt in his stare. "When we had our..." Fury almost seemed to stumble over the word, "dealings, I realised your abilities work in harmony with one other team member who came to our notice recently." He pressed a button, and one of the biographies expanded to fill the entire screen. A massively built blond man in somewhat impractical armour was shown swinging a massive hammer, sparks flying from the tip.
Matt raised an eyebrow. "Thor? How do my abilities go with Thor's?"
"I thought that would have been obvious, Lynch," Fury said in a slightly surprised tone.
"I hate to point it out to you, but I'm not a demigod."
Fury rolled his eyes... eye? "He can generate electricity. You can absorb and let out electricity."
"Ah, right. I guess I'll just stand back while he smashes things up."
Fury nodded. "If it comes to that, then yes. You let him smash." He leant forward. "Now, we haven't currently secured Thor's help, but we're searching for Loki."
Matt nodded, understanding. "Where there's one demigod, the other one will also show up?"
"Precisely. When Thor does arrive, and I have no doubts he will, he will join forces with us if all goes to plan. You'll work with him. Any questions?"
Matt turned to go, recognising the dismissal in Fury's tone. He reached the door, then turned back. "Did you tell anyone of our... dealings?"
Fury shot Matt a look. "The briefing we gave to the other potential recruits was... shall we say, unspecific in that area."
There was a moment's silence.
"Thank you." The words sounded as if they had been wrenched out from somewhere deep down against Matt's will.
Fury opened his mouth to respond, but Matt had already disappeared through the door.
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