Chapter 23: Flight from SHIELD
Adora And Catra had to hide Fury, and themselves, fast. Their injuries were bad enough, but that freaky masked soldier could still be on their heels. Needless to say they weren't exactly willing to deal with him again. "Where the fuck do we go Adora?!" Catra asked in a panic, her fur still standing on end.
"I think I have an idea. Come on, give me a hand…" She replied, helping support Fury on her shoulders and lead the two to the only place she can think of to be safe. Her father's apartment.
They three hadn't been there long, having set Fury on a chair upon arrival, before they heard the door open. Catra's ears twitched hearing the person at the door trying to sneakily enter the room, but catching the familiar scent of Steve Rogers put her at ease. Seeing Catra calm, Adora let her own nerves rest for a moment. Soon enough, Steve came around the corner, shield in hand, and sighed seeing the three. His eyes were clearly full of worry when he saw Adora's wounds, and he leaned against the wall in relief that they weren't intruders.
"I don't remember giving any of you a key." He commented, probably trying to lighten the mood.
"You really think I need one?" Fury responded as Adora ran over and hugged Steve. "My wife kicked me out." He deadpanned.
"Didn't know you were married." Steve quipped, checking out Adora's wounds, and noticing her hair wasn't up in a ponytail like usual.
"There's a lot you don't know about me." Fury calmly said.
"I know Nick, that's the problem." Steve said, flicking on the lights to see Adora's injuries better, and suddenly he noticed Nick and Catra's wounds too. Fury calmly turned off the light near him while motioning for him to be quiet. He moved his hand to his phone to show he had typed the words ;Ears Everywhere.'
"I'm sorry we had to do this, but I needed some place to crash, and Adora recommended it." Fury explained, before showing his phone again. 'SHIELD Compromised.' Adora nodded and quietly motioned to her injuries. Steve nodded silently, not showing his emotions but clearly fuming that his daughter was hurt.
"Who else knows about your wife." He asked, quieter than the last question.
Fury showed his phone. 'You and Me' and began talking again, standing up. "Just….my friends."
"Is that what we are?" Steve asked, causing Adora to open her mouth. She was about to bitch Steve out but Catra cuffed her mouth before she spoke.
"That's up to you." Fury replied. Suddenly, three gunshots rang out. Fury yelled out in pain as the rounds, which Adora recognized as a sniper rifle, punched through the wall and struck him. Catra leapt back in fear and Steve threw himself in front of the two girls, putting his shield up protectively. Catra glanced out the window and hissed at the sight of the shooter. It was the masked man again. Steve also noticed him, and the three dragged Fury out of the line of fire. Adora was frantically trying to apply pressure to the wound, but Fury seemed to be fading fast.
"Director, Please, not you too…" She pleaded. "I already lost Phil, not you too."
Fury's only response was to hand Steve a flash drive. "Trust nobody...all three of you." And letting out a gasp, he went limp as Steve took the USB.
Suddenly, the door burst open again, and the two agents were alert. Once again, Catra's sense of smell put them at ease, but only slightly as Steve's neighbor 'Kate' walked in, handgun at the ready. "Captain Rogers…" she said, lowering the gun. "Captain, I'm Agent 13, I'm with SHIELD. I've been assigned to protect you."
"On who's order?" Steve replied, fed up with the secrecy.
Agent 13 rounded the corner, and gasped at the sight of Fury. "Agent 13….Director Fury's…"
"It was on his orders captain…" 'Kate' kneeled down beside Nick and checked his pulse. She quickly pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "Foxtrot is down, he's unresponsive, I need EMT's at my location immediately. Agents Rogers and Santos are here too."
"Do we have a 20 on the shooter?" The voice on the other end replied.
Steve was glaring out the window. "Tell him I'm in pursuit…" he growled.
"I'm coming with you." Adora said quickly, her eyes tearing up with rage.
"No you're not." Steve quickly responded.
"Dad I-"
"NO!" Steve suddenly barked out. "You're already injured. I'm not going to let you put yourself in danger again tonight." He looked at Catra. "Keep an eye on her. Please." And with that, he smashed his way out of the window in a hurry, chasing after the shooter.
Adora simply couldn't handle the stress of the days events and collapsed to her knees, breaking down as Catra hugged her close. Agent 13 did what she could as well, and soon EMT's showed up to collect Nick Fury, in hopes of saving his life.
Steve, Adora and Catra were already at the hospital by the time Natasha pulled up and ran inside. Adora was in a chair, not able to bring herself to look into the operating room as Catra held her close. Steve was just leaning up to the window, watching intently, and hoping for the best. "Is he gonna make it?" Natasha asked.
"I don't know" Steve replied, honestly.
Natasha didn't take her eyes off the surgery as she asked her next question. "Tell me about the shooter."
"He was Fast. Strong." Steve replied, briefly letting out a sigh. "Had a metal arm." As they watched, Maria Hill entered the room, having finally arrived in D.C.
Adora finally looked up as Steve described their attacker, Natasha continuing her line of questioning. "Ballistics?" Adora could tell Natasha clearly knew something, and began to listen intently.
Maria was the next person to answer. "Three Slugs. No Rifling. Completely untraceable."
"Soviet-Made…" Natasha finished, beginning to sound concerned. The tone of her voice sent chills down Catra's spine. Adora hadn't yet picked up on it, focusing only on finding out who was responsible for what happened to Fury. Maria confirmed what Natasha was saying. Before the questioning could continue, The hospital staff began to panic as Fury's conditioned worsened, Adora jolting to her feet and rushing to the window as they began to move him. At that moment, two other SHIELD agents, Jasper Sitwell and Brock Rumlow entered as well to watch. "Don't do this to me Nick.." Natasha pleaded, her voice shaking.
"Director Fury...please...you can pull through." Adora said, slamming her hands on the window. "Nick, PLEASE!"
Despite the best efforts of the medical staff, Nick Fury soon began flat-lining. "Don't do this to me Nick.." Natasha repeated, her voice still relatively neutral, despite the obvious worry. "Don't do this to me.
The Doctor made several checks, and Steve already knew what was coming. He turned and began to walk away as the doctors finally declared the time of death. Maria left next, and Catra slowly looked up at Adora, who was beginning to shake as the tears flowed. Eventually, Adora punched the window in anger and grief, cracking the normally sturdy glass, before collapsing into Natasha's arms and crying.
Minutes later, Natasha, Catra, Adora, Steve and Maria were in Fury's Hospital room. Natasha stood by his body silently as Adora said goodbye. Catra had barely known Fury at this point, but even she was shaken by his death. In the brief time they were acquainted, she came to respect Fury's no nonsense attitude. She could also tell just how much he meant to Adora, how much Adora respected him. She also was concerned, considering Adora would no doubt blame herself for being unable to protect him.
Maria walked up beside Steve, and quietly yet tactfully spoke up. "I need to take him." Steve understood, and approached the others. Natasha quickly said goodbye in her own way, before walking out of the room in a hurry, followed soon by the younger Agents.
Steve followed after her, and called out to her. Natasha turned around and wasted no time. "Why was Fury in your apartment?"
"I don't know" Steve replied with a shrug. "The girls brought him."
"We found him there too." Adora tried to lie, her voice still shaky.
"Must have been something big." Catra lied, far more naturally.
"Cap, they want you back at SHIELD. The girls too." An agent quickly interjected.
Steve turned around to acknowledge him. "Yes just a second."
"They want you now-"
"Will you give us a moment to fucking grieve?!" Adora snapped at the Agent, much to everyone's surprise, before Steve touched her arm to let her know it was fine.
"We'll be a moment. Girls, go on ahead with him." He quietly said.
Adora nodded and followed after the Agent, alongside Catra. When they were out of Earshot, or at least Adora was, Natasha looked at Steve. "You and your daughter are horrible liars you know." She told him with a smirk, turning around to leave.
Leaving Steve in the hallway, needing to quickly hide the USB he had been given.
At the Triskelion., Adora and Catra walked through the hallways silently. It was Catra who would break the silence between them. "He meant a lot to you, huh Adora?" She asked carefully.
"I've known Fury for the whole time I've been in SHIELD." Adora admitted. "He pulled a lot of strings to help me get settled. He's the one who told me about the Avengers. He's had just as much of a role in my life as Natasha and Clint."
"I wish I knew him better." Catra replied, her ears drooping as she talked. "He was such a badass, I could tell just from talking to him."
"He really was." Adora replied. "And it's only been two years since I lost Phil too…"
Catra tilted her head. "Phil?"
"Agent Phil Coulson, one of my SHIELD partners." She explained. "He was Killed in Action by Loki aboard the Helicarrier, prior to the battle of New York." She sighed and ran her hands through her hair anxiously. Catra noted she hadn't even fixed her ponytail, she just kept it down at the moment. Given her usual obsession with tidiness, it was very worrying and out of character. "Natasha and I were stuck in the damn Cargo hold fighting the Hulk, then fighting Clint...we couldn't be there for him. I failed Phil, just like I failed Nick.."
"Adora, I really wish you wouldn't do that to yourself." Catra quickly interjected, taking Adora's hand.
"Catra, it was our job to protect him…"
"Yeah and I don't think any of us expected Super-Assassin." Catra retorted. "The Guy was like a fucking ghost. Even Captain America couldn't catch him."
"Natasha has to know." Adora noted. "The way she asked about the killer, and her reactions?"
"Also knowing the bullets were Soviet-Made." Catra realized. "She's not telling us something." Catra groaned in irritation. "And it's probably gonna be a pain to get clearance to figure this out given that sanctimonious asshole Pierce is the closest thing we have to a new boss right now."
As the two talked, They spotted Kyle walking over in a slight hurry. "Hey girls...I heard about the director." He said, patting Adora on the shoulder. "He was a good man. Good boss." The two noted how oddly he was acting. Their suspicions were confirmed when he pulled them closer like he was giving a comforting hug, and silently whispered into their ears. "You two need to leave. Now." He quietly said, the two giving him a weird look. He continued, "I overheard Sitwell passing on an order from someone high up, I don't know who, to detain the both of you and Captain Rogers." Adora's eyes widened from this revelation. "Agent Rumlow is taking several agents and he's going to ambush the captain in the Elevator after his meeting with Alexander Pierce, and I overheard that Agent Hunter has been tasked with you two. Hurry to the Garage as fast as you can and leave."
"If this is a general order to SHIELD why are you telling us?" Adora asked quietly.
"Because something fishy is going on here. The Director dies, and all of a sudden three Avengers are declared targets to arrest?" Kyle explained. "Something's rotten in SHIELD, and I'm not just gonna sit by and let you get caught. Now hurry."
Steve was just leaving his meeting with Pierce and entered the elevator. He leaned on one of the railing, looking out over the city and gave a voice command to be taken to the Operations level. Before the elevator got moving, Rumlow and a couple STRIKE agents calmly walked in. "Keep all STRIKE personnel on site." He instructed them, nodding and greeting Steve, then ordering the elevator to take him to Forensics. The elevator began to descend, and Rumlow turned to face Steve. "Evidence Response found some fibers on the roof they want us to see. You want me to get the Tac team ready?"
"No," Steve replied, "Let's wait and see what it is first."
"Right."
As Rumlow turned back to the door, Steve spotted that the agents around him had their hands on their Stun rods, and were fidgeting slightly as they waited for their floor. Strike 1. Rumlow turned around to address him again. "I'm sorry about what happened with Fury…" He said, almost sounding sincere. "It's messed up what happened to him."
"Thanks" Steve replied. A few floors down the elevator stopped, and several more people entered, discussing inane things and asking to be taken to Administrations. Once again, Steve caught sight of the fact one of them was beginning to sweat and looked rather nervous. Strike 2. More floors down, another group got on, these three were STRIKE agents Steve recognized. These ones didn't even bother with speaking as they asked to go to Record. Steve once again noted the sweat on their necks, and weapons at their sides. And now there were more than a dozen men in the Elevator, all of which just so happened to surround him, and only now began to acknowledge him. Strike 3.
"Before we get started," Steve said, smirking a bit. "Does anyone want to get out?"
"Remind me to thank Kyle if we get out of this." Catra commented as she and Adora rushed to the Garage.
"Why the fuck would SHIELD want to bring us in?" Adora asked, pretty angry at the situation. Catra just gave her a 'really' stare and Adora immediately shut up remembering Fury's message at Steve's apartment. "Good point." She admitted. At that moment she noticed that more SHIELD agents began to enter the garage and slowly approach them. The two tried to pick up the pace, but it was clear they wouldn't be able to get away before being surrounded. At the lead of the approaching Agents was Artemis Hunter, leader of Crimson Team.
"Catra Santos, Adora Rogers, we need to you to come with us at once." The large Agent calmly stated, pulling out a stun baton. Adora was admittedly a bit intimidated, as Hunter was a very tall, well built woman who kept her hair in a ponytail. Adora knew her as a no-nonsense agent, and one who obeyed her orders without question.
"Yeah, I don't think so." Catra growled, letting out her claws.
"Catra wait. Look, we don't want a fight okay." Adora tried reasoning. "We can just leave, nobody has to know we were here."
Hunter sighed. "Look, Agent Rogers… I don't want to have to do this but my orders come from Pierce himself." She explained, giving them a genuinely sorry look. "Please don't resist, this doesn't have to be hard. But we will use force if we need to."
"Well…. Guess talking is out of the question, Adora." Catra deadpanned, looking around at the gathered agents and cracking her neck. Adora responded by nodding and cracking her knuckles. "Who's first?"
As if on cue, the agents rushed in trying to restrain the two. Adora quickly leapt backward and knocked two of their heads together. When a pair restrained her arms, she tossed them aside with her enhanced strength. The Agents began to swarm her, a few landing potshots with their stun rods.
Catra on the other hand was ducking and weaving, retaliating with quick face and stomach jabs. She managed to dodge a few of their attackers to shove one of Adora's attackers side. When someone tried to strike her with a stun rod, she kicked it out of his hands, caught it herself, and knocked him out with it. Adora used the distraction to break free and begin using the dropped Stun rods to knock agents out left and right. Hunter had enough and rushed in herself, landing a solid whack across Adora's back and knocking her down. Catra, seeing her girlfriend in danger, jumped on Hunter's back and tried to get her in a chokehold. Adora then recovered from her injury and began rapidly punching Hunter until she threw Catra off her back. Adora was furious to see Catra hurt and delivered a leaping haymaker to Hunter's face. She stumbled back and wiped the blood off her mouth, growling.
"Catra! Get us an escape vehicle. I can hold her off." She yelled, getting into a boxer stand and throwing a jab at Hunter. Hunter took the punch and punched Adora back as Catra ran over and checked the various vehicles. Adora was at the very least able to keep Hunter at bay with her enhanced abilities, but even she had to admit, Hunter was tenacious. The two exchanged blows for a while until they heard a voice yell out.
"HEY!"
They turned, just in time for a familiar Shield to slam Hunter in the face and throw her to the ground. It returned to Steve's hand as he ran over. "You alright Adora? They're after you too?"
"Yeah, I have Catra getting us a vehicle." Adora replied. A revving sound drew their attention to Catra leaning on a pair of motorcycles. "We're gonna have to share, Catra."
"And that's a problem?" Catra replied with a smug grin. Wasting no time, the three got onto their stolen bikes and raced out of the garage before the Triskelion was able to lock down. Not even a Quinjet could stop their escape thanks to Steve's quick thinking and physics defying Shield.
Alexander Pierce watched returned to his office after giving the order to pursue and poured out a glass of whiskey, his hands shaking in irritation. "Do you wanna explain how you and Hunter both managed to screw this up, Rumlow?" He growled at the leader of STRIKE.
"We obviously overestimated our odds." Rumlow replied, standing at attention. "Honestly if you'd have let us focus all of our efforts on Rogers-"
"Do I need to remind you of the importance of those girls?!" Pierce angrily refuted, standing up. "They're Hydra assets Rumlow. They were supposed to replace the Asset in case we lose control of him." Quickly, he downed his glass and slammed it on the desk, turning to look out the window. "Damn Santos. Even dead that traitorous bitch is a thorn in my side."
"Are you worried about the Cat specifically?" Rumlow asked. "I mean, according to her files-"
"She won't be a problem." Pierce responded. "Get out of here and get back to work…"
To Be Continued…
Adora and Catra, Rogue Agents. This is continually proving to be a difficult movie to adapt, but I'm gonna see it through to the end because of Adora and Catra being tied heavily to Hydra and SHIELD.
Adora's reaction to Nick being declared dead is probably my favorite part of this chapter. It just slowly came to me as I was writing the scene, and I realized that yeah, she would take it that hard considering how recently Phil Coulson was killed. Not only that, but the fact it happened on her watch would only add to Adora's guilt complex. Plus, it allows me to actually write emotional Adora, so emotional in fact it's beginning to worry Catra.
And in case it isn't clear, Agent Artemis Hunter is in fact an adaptation of Huntara. I admit this was a bit of a last minute addition so at the moment she isn't my best work, but she'll have a role in a future arc that I hope makes up for the brevity.
I do not own She-Ra or the MCU. I always appreciate feedback if you're enjoying, especially given the fact I'm building up a mystery for this arc.
NEXT TIME: The True Enemy.