Lyra Redfield has been pushed around ever since she cut ties with the famous Anthony Stark. When fate happens to bring them together again, she realizes just how little her life meant to her. She wanted to make a difference-be better and do better...
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LYRA felt the pain relieving itself as they made it to a cave-like area. Sam and Steve helped carry her as the pain had become unbearable, but now, it was tingling an odd sort of way. She furrowed her brows at the people around them. A man ran up to them who looked like a doctor.
"GSW. She's lost at least a pint," Hill said to the man.
"Maybe two," Sam added, the worry in his eyes.
"Let me take her," the doctor said.
"She'll want to see him first," Hill said, keeping her pace toward a room in the back.
Lyra let out a wry laugh as she saw Nick Fury lying in a hospital bed—alive and well, of course.
"About damn time."
Lyra smiled lightly at Natasha, who looked relieved at the sight of the director.
When the doctor sat Lyra down, she pulled off her shirt sleeve on that arm, eyes furrowing as the tingling increased.
The doctor looked at her curiously. "Is this normal for you?"
Lyra looked down to see her wound and the skin around it turning orange as something metal began to slowly be pushed out. "Son of a bitch," she muttered as the bullet landed on the ground next to them with a loud clanking sound, which alerted the others. They watched in shock as her skin repaired itself.
Leaning her head back on the chair behind her, she laughed. "Killian was good for something."
"Is that a part of the Extremis project?" Hill asked.
"Tony took everything he could out of me. Hell, by now, I probably would have blown up with the way I was going. I guess this regeneration thing is sticking," she said, going quiet at the end. The doctor wiped her skin free of blood before offering her a new shirt. She nodded in thanks. "I suppose I'm lucky. Tell me about you," she said to Fury.
"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, one hell of a headache–"
"Don't forget your collapsed lung," the doctor added.
"Oh, let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good," Fury said with a laugh.
Natasha crossed her arms over her chest. "They cut you open, your heart stopped."
"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it," Fury said.
"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve asked, placing a hand on his head as if he was having a major headache as well.
"Any attempt on the director's life had to look successful," Hill said.
"Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust," he said, and Lyra saw Natasha's eyes fall. "I'm glad you got my message, Redfield. I needed you on this job because, quite frankly, you're one of my best fighters."
"You told me to stay away from S.H.I.E.L.D. You said there was trouble. I kind of went against orders," Lyra said with a laugh.
Fury nodded. "Exactly what I expected you to do."
Once the doctor was able to get Fury into a wheelchair, he was pushed over to a table with files and a large briefcase sitting on it. Lyra sat next to Hill with a faraway look in her eye as she was thinking of the hell she would be in with Tony since her phone was crushed and her glasses were broken. The only connection she had to Jarvis was the suit if she opened it.
Fury picked up a photo of Alexander Pierce. "This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said, 'Peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility.' See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues."
"We have to stop the launch," Natasha said.
"I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore," Fury said as he opened the briefcase that was containing three chips.
"What's that?" Sam asked.
"Once the Helicarriers reach three thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites becoming fully weaponized," Hill said.
"They plan to kill Tony and I," Lyra said with a glare as her fist clenched. She eyed the shining glimmer of light from her engagement ring. "What do we need to do?"
"We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own," Fury said.
"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational a whole lot of people are gonna die," Hill said.
"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is Hydra. We need to get pass them, insert the server blades, and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left—"
Steve interrupted Fury. "We're not salvaging anything. We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick, we're taking down S.H.I.E.L.D."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. had nothing to do with it."
"You gave me this mission, this is how it ends. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been compromised, you said so yourself. Hydra grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."
"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed," Fury countered.
"And how many paid the price before you did?"
"Look, I didn't know about Barnes," Fury said with a sigh.
"Even if you have, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that too? S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra, it all goes."
Hill sighed. "He's right." Fury looked over at Natasha and Lyra, who both nodded. When he looked at Sam, Sam laughed.
"Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower."
"Well—Looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."
Lyra tugged on the suit she had not worn in years. The black tight fit would help when she deployed the suit. She already knew she would have to, for she needed a way into the sky since she, Sam, and Steve were getting their own Helicarrier to stop.
When the quartet of Sam, Hill, Lyra, and Steve made it to the control room, they all pointed their guns at the people to make way for Steve to get to the intercom.
"Attention, all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. This is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days, some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth. S.H.I.E.LD. is not what we thought it was, it's been taken over by Hydra. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The S.T.R.I.K.E. and Insight crew are Hydra as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want: absolute control. They shot Nick Fury and it won't end there. If you launch those Helicarriers today, Hydra will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way, unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot, but the price of freedom is high, it always has been, and it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not."
"Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?" Sam asked with a smirk.
