So it goes with saying that only things I own with any connection to MARVEL I bought on Ebay or Etsy. MARVEL COMICS & MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE are their own creatures and I have nothing to do with either of them aside from the fact I enjoy reading or watching them, and am grateful for the ability to play in their world. I claim nothing, and I receive nothing for this, expect the pleasure of putting something out into the world.
You can also find this story on ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN under the same title and pen name along with a place to post suggestions.
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DAY ONE
CHAPTER FIVE
TUESDAY, MAY 1ST 2012
2045 HOURS
S.H.I.E.L.D CIVILIAN SURVEILLANCE UNIT #7121482301 (STATUS: COMPROMISED)
RAWLINS WYOMING
S.H.I.E.L.D AGENT, LEVEL SIX
SUPERVISING OFFICER
It wasn't a stretch of the imagination to assume the situation was going to be bad even though we only just arrived on the scene if there were already civilians circling her house.
We came in vehicles because we couldn't fit enough men to possibly subdue Agent Barton and the Terrorist in a helicopter if we encountered them. then we were using the remaining ones to provide spotlights to help in the search for survivors. So we sped across the desert in Humvees to this little town, trying to turn an hour-long trip into a half hour one, but even arriving forty-five minutes after the base was destroyed it was clear we weren't quick enough.
Now our job is containing the situation, not collecting a target. We were sent to retrieve a level one agent by the name of Nora Elaine, and her son Jareth. Apparently Miss Elaine despite her very low clearance level has a retrieval priority level six. Which means unless she is hiding in a cupboard or wandering out there in the sand somewhere, I'm getting demoted.
I don't even consider the possibility that maybe she wasn't home to begin with because we already knew she was. Level one or not being a S.H.I.E.L.D agent her house was outfitted with a well hidden security system; When she used her key, the scanner built into her doorknob read the microchip in it and checked her fingerprints, It didn't record her leaving either before something shut all of it off.
And by something, I mean whatever hit this thing was something the system didn't even recognize. The last thing we got was the computer trying to identify the appearance of a strange energy anomaly in the area, and then its circuits burned. It may not have figured it out, but we were sent from the P.E.G.A.S.U.S base, so we knew what it was.
We just don't know why they would come here, for a level one who should be a level six, because while we had to come get her, we didn't get to know anything else.
But clearance level and impending demotion or not, I still have a job to do here, and so do the rest of the men in the four SUV's following us. To begin with we need to secure the scene and deal with these people, which quite honestly is one of the parts of my job I like the least.
Just like clockwork, the first accusation of this being unconstitutional comes right on the heels of the first phone being confiscated. They also aren't please when one of the agents dressed like local law enforcement starts putting handcuffs on a young man who was braver than the rest and made it as far as the broken door frame.
The rest of the agents just divide themselves up into groups without much discussion, we've all done this enough to know what we have to do. Confiscate the evidence, gather information from witnesses, see what we can retrieve from the security system, clear the house, then clean the scene.
The only thing out of the ordinary that happens is when the agents clearing the house come back out, minus a woman or child in their midst, but in possession of what looks like two bloody syringes and a rather distinguishable knife. Its standard issue to members in the disposal units, and it's bloody too.
Fuck. She isn't here, and while the absence of a body and the sight of the syringes means she is probably still alive wherever she is, it's certain she is injured too. Though I still don't know why Barton would even come for these people, even if their safety counted is a level six priority she shouldn't be that important. His own clearance actually ranked level six. She wouldn't know anything he didn't.
I also don't have any knowledge about the woman myself to base a guess on, before today I never even heard her name.
One of the three agents that went in separates himself from his team on the way out and heads my way, no doubt to tell me of what observations I can't make with just my eyes. "There's no sign of her sir, but the evidence of forced entry and a struggle is pretty clear. He used propofol on her, she definitely didn't go with him willingly."
"What about the boy?" The question should have been self-explanatory, especially since I know he looked at the mission itinerary too, he was in the vehicle with me. So his look of confusion not only confuses me but also annoys. "Her son Agent. What's the status of the boy? Jareth Elaine?"
"Sir, Agent Elaine doesn't have a son. 'Jareth' is her kitten." A kitten? A CAT?! The file had him ranked level one as well, and while I thought it strange for an infant to get a rank I could rationalize if he was a child of a S.H.I.E.L.D agent he would warrant a certain priority in an emergency, BUT A GODDAMN CAT?! "He was a gift from Captain America sir."
Well that actually explains everything. No wonder she was so important. Suddenly getting demoted doesn't sound so bad, I know what I'm going to get is worse. I just let a terrorist get away with Captain America's girlfriend and her cat.
"Sir." Another agent had walked up mid report, and with his first word my mood plummets further. even though his words were fairly innocuous, I just don't want anymore bad news. "I think we have another problem." he adds calmly is he indicates with his eyes for me to look at the neighbor's house.
And I apparently have a body count too. They are bringing sealed sample kits and a body bag out of the neighbor's house. Coulson is going to ruin me, I think Ciudad Juarez is supposed to be nice this time of year.
TUESDAY, MAY 1ST 2012
2342 HOURS
S.H.I.E.L.D HEADQUARTERS, THE TRISKELION
WASHINGTON D.C.
PHILLIP COULSON
RECENTLY PROMOTED S.H.I.E.L.D FIELD AGENT, LEVEL SEVEN
After hanging up with one agent that called with bad news and an unexpected body count, who I quickly informed that once and only after we saved the world would be clearing out his office and looking for a new job at the local dairy queen, I went right into the process of making another phone call, and after that I made another.
I haven't stopped making phone calls the entire three and a half hour flight to D.C. Even after the flight was over I was still making calls, like the one I made to a certain red-head in Komsomolsk-on-amur or another I supervised to the opinionated young scientist operating out of an old garage in New Mexico offering her a paid vacation to the other side of the world. There's no time for me to stop, no time for any of us.
We are requisitioning the satellite feeds from the NWS, and reviewing every second of footage from toll booths and traffic cams on the continent in a radiating circumference from the 'former' P.E.G.A.S.U.S site.
With a threat like this we are reaching out to everyone we can. We are talking to the FBI, the CIA, the FAA, and the NSA. We have had the Army, the Navy and the Marines, is well is the Air Force and the various National Guard branches on the line. Were even going down to the level of state and local law enforcement. It isn't even a stretch to say that eventually we will start talking to traffic cops and mall security if that's what it takes.
We are even pulling missions at this point. Any agent operating within a five state radius has been given the order to abandon their mission and drop their cover in the quickest way possible that doesn't involve them getting themselves killed. The same is going for any techs or particularly skilled civilians in the area. We don't want Loki to acquire any more followers than he already has.
And another step to closing the net is why I'm here in Washington. We need to get our authority off the ground. We already got the president to board air-force one, that was one of the first phones calls we made, the prime minister of Canada, and the Mexican one is well is all the South American Presidents were told to do the same.
We don't know what Loki's plan is, but kidnapping or brainwashing the leader of a country can't be ruled out and is the last thing we want to happen. We are contacting the leaders of the other country's around the world with the same advice, but those three areas got priority being part of our continent.
The Council members too are in the air. They have the authority to command substantial military force and we don't need another stolen weapon to worry about.
Now my job is to start the launching of the Helicarrier from the hangar. Fury already cleared its use with the Council, so I don't have to worry about that. Apparently the potentially apocalyptic threat level made them forget their previous refusal to let us fly this, on the poor excuse that its use wouldn't be cost efficient or serve a practical purpose.
S.H.I.E.L.D is willing to do everything possible to neutralize a problem, and so am I. At least in theory. There is still one phone call I haven't made, because I am hoping by God that they find her out there, scared and cold in the desert somewhere. There is still time, it might happen. I do not want to make a call that will put his friend in danger, I know how much she means to him.
If comes down to a question of my world versus her life. I'm sorry Captain but I won't choose her life.
NOTES FOR THE READERS:
Ciudad Juarez is listed is one of the most violent and dangerous places on the planet.
Komsomolsk-on-amur is a city in Russia. I tried to find somewhere with a SILINSKY PLAZA and I couldn't, but this city has SILINSKY park, so i settled for that.
This is going to be part of a series, which is obvious since I listed it is such, but in terms of chronological order, this takes place as the 5th story in the series. As you read on I am sure you will come to understand why I started the series at this section of my characters life.