Chapter 22: Ambush
Months Earlier….
Fury paced around his office as his guest, a SHIELD appointed psychiatrist, sat at his desk setting down two folders. "I have the Evaluations you requested Director Fury." She began, sliding over the reports on both Catra and Adora she had compiled. "Specifically, the reports on my last meetings with the two." Fury walks bed to his desk and began to flip through the files. The woman continued. "As you requested, I interviewed them separately first. Afterward, I brought them together into a third session, in order to both evaluate their interactions with one another, and help them through any remaining issues they may have from their upbringing." She tossed another file onto the desk. "Considering what Adora has informed about their childhood me in our previous sessions, I expected there to be some resentment from Catra at the very least."
"Focus on the solo sessions first, if you would." Fury replied, grabbing Adora's file first. "I assume you asked them both the question I requested?"
"Of course Director." the woman replied, nodding. "Starting with Adora, I began by recapping our previous sessions together. Thankfully, she was very co-operative, and has become much more comfortable speaking with me." Fury nodded along as he flipped through the file. "Finishing the recap, I moved on to asking her questions about Catra, now that the two have been reunited. Adora was much more responsive than before we managed to rescue her. She told me about how well the two were getting along, and the fact they had started a relationship."
"Banner and Barton owe me ten bucks." Fury deadpanned, before the woman continued.
"Ever since Catra has come back into her life Adora has shown more confidence, and seemed more...how should I put this… at ease than previous sessions?" She explained. "I wouldn't exactly say relaxed though."
"She still has difficulty settling down?" Fury asked, glancing up at the woman.
"To be blunt, yes." She responded. "Considering her upbringing as a child soldier, she seems to be alert at nearly all times, and treats most situations with the sort of professionalism of a soldier. The closest I've seen her be able to relax is when she's around Catra." The woman adjusted herself on her seat as she folded her hands over her lap. "She has a calming effect on Adora. Now, as for the question that you requested I ask." Fury set down the folder and listened intently to the woman. "I asked her about her thoughts on the existence of Organized Crime, and whether or not it could be considered a necessary evil. Her response was quick and to the point. 'All Crime, no matter what, is evil and must be eliminated entirely at the source.' When I asked what lengths she believed should be taken, she responded, and I quote, 'We need to root them out at the source, any and all lengths should be at least considered.' She was very firm on her stance, and was unwilling to consider a compromise."
Fury nodded as he set the file down. "And your professional opinion on her?"
"Adora has a strong respect for any figure of authority, and has a hard time adjusting to anything resembling civilian life." She began. "Her strict upbringing, which she claims was intended to make her a 'perfect soldier,' has made her a perfectionist with a severe martyr complex. Similarly, she shows immense guilt over the loss of life in New York, she seems to believe that she failed to protect them somehow. This ties into her perfectionism. Whenever something goes wrong she tends to project all the blame on herself for 'Failing' and pushes herself harder to not 'fail' again. She tends to also grow attached to people rather quickly when shown kindness. The best way to describe her is she has the mentality of wanting to be a good soldier, and has difficulty deviating from that lifestyle."
"Similar to her father?" Fury asked.
"Not quite. Captain Rogers has proven willing to disobey authority to do the right thing. I'm not entirely sure Adora is capable of doing so."
"Alright, now onto Catra." Fury said, grabbing the next file.
"Catra has been a tougher case to work with." She began, leaning back in her chair. "She's proven very difficult to get to open up with me. As you're aware in my earliest sessions with her, I needed Adora nearby for her to even begin to open up to me." Fury nodded as he began to look through the file. "After a few sessions she became much more comfortable around me...and well...everything just began to flow. The poor girl was clearly in need of a place to vent. Of course I didn't press, I allowed her to open up at her own pace."
"Considering what we've been told, I have to agree." Fury commented.
The woman nodded and continued. "It's only been in our most recent sessions that Catra became willing to discuss her mother, Doctor Lorraine Santos." She took a moment to take a deep breath. "Suffice it to say I wasn't prepared for the sheer amount of horrible neglect and abuse she put the girl through after she got her hands on the Black Garnet. Regardless of her reasoning, she still put Catra through hell." Fury simply nodded solemnly. "Even still, she can't bring herself to truly hate her mother and still mourns her death. In the last session, I moved the subject to her relationship with Adora."
"How did that go?" Fury asked.
"Better than expected." She admitted. "Just from speaking to her about her and Adora's history I was able to determine she still holds some level of resentment for the level of favoritism shown towards Adora in their childhood. She also appears to hold resentment for Adora leaving to join SHIELD, one time even referring to it as a 'betrayal' before trying to backpedal." Fury looked concerned, but she continued. "The Resentment is deeply buried, and I worry it may rise up in the heat of arguments or disagreements. It's something I intend to look into and work on with her."
"And the question?"
"Right, I was getting there. I asked her about her feelings on Organized Crime and the response was quite different from Adora's. She thought about it for quite some time, and then she pressed for a bit more information. Circumstances, size and actions of said Organizations." She explained. "So, after setting up a hypothetical scenario, she explained that she believed that it would be a necessary evil. Better that Criminals be controlled by an organization that potentially can keep them in line rather than be allowed to act freely. Order rather than Chaos." Fury set down her file. "She admitted that it wasn't a perfect solution but it was the best case we could hope to work with given the circumstances I outlined. However she also admitted she would be very happy to see said organization crumble if there was a means of doing so safely."
Fury nodded as she spoke, "Very different from Adora."
"Indeed. My opinion on Catra is as follows." She began "First and most importantly, she has serious abandonment issues. She clearly hasn't entirely forgiven Adora for their previous falling out. Similarly, she has a strong desire to prove herself, stemming from her Abusive, neglectful childhood. Paradoxically, she also has quite the rebellious streak and disdain for authority figures. Also, she's very emotionally guarded, she never truly lets herself open up to new people, and almost never allows herself to be vulnerable even for a moment without Adora nearby. On a positive side however, she's far more independent than Adora and a rather cunning and pragmatic individual." A slight smile crossed the woman's face. "Though, amusingly, she's also very in-tune with her animal half. I don't think we'll ever train that out of her."
Fury had to stifle a slight laugh himself. "Not very professional, Tara."
"I know, but it's worth noting." Tara said with a chuckle.
"Continue please, how did the joint session go?"
"They were very enlightening." Tara replied. "I won't bore you with the details this time, but to make a long story short, they seem to exhibit a sort of Codependency on one another. They are only ever comfortable being entirely open and function in a more stable manner when together… I mean other than their constant and egregious levels of flirting."
"I see…"
"Simply put, Director? They need one another."
Present Day:
Adora and Catra, sat quietly in the back of Fury's van, bored out of their skulls. Working protective detail on the single most important person in SHIELD sounded like it would be a crazy, dangerous job, but almost nothing had happened the whole time they'd been assigned. Though even Adora could tell something was bothering Fury today. She noticed it in his office too. He was looking through the files he had on Project Insight, and something seemed to be wrong.
Noting their boredom, Fury decided to strike up a conversation. "You two getting along with Doctor Plume?" he asked them.
"Tara? Yeah she's cool." Catra replied, looking out the window.
"Honestly we really needed her help. Badly." Adora added.
"Understatement of the fucking year Adora." quipped Catra as she rolled her eyes.
"Plus she makes some surprisingly good tea." Adora added as well, smiling. "Seriously, how the heck is it so good?"
Catra leaned forward, "I know! I hate Tea and even I enjoyed it."
Fury chuckled a bit as he drove. "You know she grows the tea leaves herself."
"Seriously? That sounds like a massive pain." Catra replied stunned.
"You should see her personal Garden." Fury said smirking. "She's a master when it comes to plant life." He began to type something into the console of his car. "I need to make a call. Remember that not a word of what you hear leaves this car."
Adora and Catra nodded as the voice interface of Fury's Van opened up. "Activating Communications Encryption Protocol." The monotone, robotic voice declared.
"Open Secure line 0405." Fury commanded, and the computer acknowledged, opening a call with Maria Hill. Adora and Catra immediately took note of how important this call was. Especially with the high level of encryption Fury was using.
"This is Hill." Her voice came through the call, as stoic as ever.
"I need you here in D.C." Fury stated, matter of factly. "Deep. Shadow. Conditions."
"Give me four hours." Came her reply.
Without taking his eye off the road Fury replied, "You have Three. Over."
As the van came to a stop at a red light, Catra nudged Adora, noticing a police car having pulled up beside them, with the officer at the wheel staring daggers at Fury. The two of them groaned and brushed it off as profiling, and Fury seemed to agree. He glanced at them and deadpanned. "Need to see my lease?"
The car began to pull forward as it flared its sirens briefly, and Nick began to drive again, before the car suddenly Jolted. Catra's fur stood on end and Adora shrieked as the van was T-boned by another police cruiser. "What the fuck is that guy's problem?!" Catra yelled out as Adora shook off the hit. Her eyes widened when she saw the car ahead of them back up into the front of the Van, before another rammed the bumper and a fourth slammed into the right side.
"They've boxed us in! Director, are you alright?!" Adora yelled, drawing her pistol and silently cursing the fact she'd left her sword back at the Triskelion.
"Fracture Detected." The Van's computer announced, showing an image of Fury's skeleton with one of his wrists blinking Red. Fury pulled himself from the Airbag. "Recommend Anesthetic injection." Fury quickly reached for his glove box as the Car on his left pulled back and a Swat van rolled up. The door swung open, with the officers inside readying assault rifles. "D.C. Metro Police dispatch shows no units in this area."
Adora unbuckled her seatbelt and took aim. "Director, this looks like an ambush. Assassins disguised as police." she reported, quickly slipping back into her military mindset.
"NO FUCKING SHIT!" Catra yelled out, reaching for her own pistol. "Can I kill these guys sir, please?"
Nick injected himself with the anesthetic and spit out the lid. "Go ahead Catra, Adora, but don't take any unnecessary risks. Computer, get us out of here!" He yelled, the officers beginning to open fire on the three.
"Propulsion systems offline." The computer responded, Catra rolling her window down just enough to provide cover and fire back. Adora did the same, trying to force the false police into cover.
"Then reboot damn it!" Fury yelled, watching the Van's armor integrity slowly tick down under continued fire.
"I can't get a good shot sir!" Adora reported, being forced to roll her window back up and duck in her seat. As She and Catra tried to get their bearings, she felt Catra tap her shoulder, and was directed to the Van nearby. Three False officers came out, dragging what appeared to be a battering ram to the Van, and setting it up.
"Warning, Window integrity compromised."
"YOU THINK!?" Fury replied, annoyed with the computer's sense of the obvious. "How long to propulsion?" He asked, the Computer beginning to calculate.
"Not long I hope-" Catra said under her breath before the van was struck hard by the ram, causing it to jolt hard and Catra to give off a high pitched meow.
"Window Integrity, 31%. Deploying Countermeasures."
"Hold that order!" Fury responded, bracing himself as another hit struck the van.
"Window Integrity 19%, Recommend offensive action."
"Nick, seriously, I hope you have a plan." Adora nervously asked.
"Wait!" Fury again barked out. A third blow struck the window.
"Window Integrity, 1%"
"NOW!" Fury yelled, and the car deployed a miniature turret for him to open fire on the assassins who had begun closing in. Adora then brought down her own window, allowing her and Catra to unload their handguns at the attackers. With their combined fire, and Fury's turret having a Grenade launching option, they managed to kill several of their attackers and destroy the SWAT van, as well as another car. The constant fire quickly ended up forcing forcing many of the others to fall back.
"Propulsion System back online."
"Oh yeah NOW it's ready? Swear to god this thing is useless!" Catra growled.
Fury continued to fire on his attackers, "Full Acceleration, NOW!" He commanded. The Van complied and began to drive the three away from the ambush, with them continuing to return fire on the assassins.
"Initiate Vertical takeoff!" Fury ordered, lowering the turret and shifting himself in the passenger seat. Adora was not surprised the car could fly too.
"Flight systems offline."
Fury tried another option. "Then Activate Guidance Cameras!" Thankfully this seemed to work, but Fury still slammed into the door as he shifted seats, grunting in pain but managing to grab the wheel.
"Director Fury, I should take over driving, you're wounded-" Adora began to protest.
"Negative Adora, you and Catra keep shooting. Those bastards are hot on our tail. Computer give me the wheel." Fury replied. He began to weave through traffic, trying to evade their pursuers. Meanwhile the two young agents and Avengers continued to return fire out the back of the van to take out their pursuers.
"These guys just don't seem to know when to quit!"
"Get me Agent Hill." Fury ordered the machine.
"Communications Capability is Damaged."
"What ISN'T Damaged." Fury groaned.
"Air Conditioning is fully operational."
"I swear to god!" Catra yelled. "I'm gonna kill whoever programmed this thing!"
Fury kept his head as he continued to weave through the heavy traffic of D.C. Eventually, however, Adora and Catra began to run out of clips. "Sir, recommend we find some way to lose these guys….right now!"
"Traffic's bad, need an alternate route." Fury said, trying to keep his cool.
"Traffic Alert on Roosevelt Bridge. All vehicles stopped." The Robotic voice responded. "17th avenure clear in three blocks, directly ahead." Fury followed the directions of the navigation system as he sped around the city, the assassins still on his heel. He ended up resorting to hitting several civilians vehicles to force the drivers to pull their cars to a stop, blocking the pursuing attackers. They wound up forced to exit their cars on foot and make chase. Unfortunately, as the traffic continued to thicken, movement became hard for Fury, allowing one of his pursuers to keep pace with the van and repeatedly fire at his window. He was soon forced to a stop as the attacker took aim….and then flung the van into reverse, hitting another assassin behind him. He followed this up by driving into a nearby abandoned vehicle, slamming it against the first shooter, and screeching out of the trap.
"How are they still on us." Adora commented, watching the cars behind them.
Catra hissed, "Maybe we should get out there and deal with them personally."
"Too dangerous. They have guns, We're empty." Adora replied, the car shaking again as Nick slammed into a car next tho him, beginning to wrestle with the gunner for his sub-machine gun. Catra took the chance to roll her window down and swipe her claws at the vehicle to their other side, taking out the eye of one of their attackers.
"Warning, approaching intersection!"
Fury heeded the warning of the computer system and slammed on the brakes. The Two remaining pursuers sped off into the intersection and were hit hard by an oncoming truck, allowing Fury to drive off. Finally believing themselves safe from their attackers, Fury demanded to be taken off the grid, and the Van began plotting a route to a safe haven.
"Adora…." Catra begin, trying to steady her nerves, "Remind me to NEVER bitch about a mission being bored again."
"Yeah, no kidding…" Adora replied, panting, before she caught sight of a figure in the road. "What the….is that guy walking towards us?"
Fury's eyes widened as the mysterious figure raised his weapon, firing a disc that slid under the van. "Girls! Brace yourselves!" he barely had time to yell. Soon an explosion threw the van into the air, causing it to slam down on its roof, the figure side-stepping it with an eerie calmness. The van slid across its roof to a halt a slight distance away.
Catra groaned in pain and unclipped her belt, Adora doing the same. "Who the fuck-"
"No time, Sir, he's coming!" Adora responded, noticing Fury taking something out of his jacket pocket.
By the time the masked assailant reached the car, and tore the door off its hinges, the three were long gone, through a hole burned into the roof, and the concrete below. And as they escorted Director Fury to safety, Adora shook like a leaf about the mysterious soldier who'd so effortlessly stopped their escape.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Alright so this was another late chapter. Damn you Halo Infinite!
I was very nervous writing the first half of the chapter. Seeing as it was based heavily on their psychiatric evaluations I wanted to be as respectful as possible when I wrote it. Also did anyone catch the cute cameo of who their psychiatrist is?
Also, fuck writing car chases. It was hard enough putting Adora and Catra into this movie, but that entire sequence was a bitch and a half to write!
I do not own She-Ra or the MCU
Please leave me some feedback if you're having fun :)
NEXT TIME: Escape from SHIELD