The Chronicles of Captain Carter - The First Avenger

14.

***************************************************************************************

Chapter Fourteen - This Ship Is Going For A Ride...

***************************************************************************************

The explosion caused one of the propellers of the Helicarrier to jam, meaning the ship was in critical condition.

Tony and Peggy helped each other up from where they had fallen. "Put on the suit!" Peggy breathed. "Yeah" Stark agreed. They ran off in the direction of the damage, Tony summoning his suit as he ran out of the lab.

***************************************************************************************

Fury got up and groaned in pain. Clutching his side, he turned on the comms to Hill, who was manning the control centre. "Hill." The unspoken question evident in his tone; What the hell happened?

"External detonation. Number 3 engine is down." Agent Hill reported. "Can they get it running?"

"We've been hit!" 

"Fire in Engine 3!" Agents yelled out updates as Hill ran toward an engineer. "Talk to me."

"Turbine looks mostly intact, but it's impossible to get out there to make repairs while we're in the air." He said, looking concerned.

"If we lose one more engine, we won't be. Somebody's gotta get outside and patch up that engine." Hill spoke into the comms.

"Stark, you copy that?"

"I'm on it." Came the reply.

"Coulson, initiate defensive lockdown in the detention section, then get to the armoury." Fury ordered. Coulson nodded and started to run down a stair case.

***************************************************************************************

Tony and Peggy had made it to where the jammed engine was, when a monstrous roar rang throughout the Helicarrier. They looked at each other. "That didn't sound good."

***************************************************************************************

Loki looked up at the sound of the Hulk and grinned. 

Everything was going to plan.

***************************************************************************************

"Okay, Let's see what we've got. I got to get this superconducting coolant system back online before I can access the rotors. Work on dislodging the debris." Tony muttered to himself before pushing a sparking piece of machinery back into place. He turned to Carter. "I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position." He pointed to a small panel opposite from where Peggy was standing. She nodded and, using a pole sticking out, launched herself onto the platform. She opened and pulled out a giant control panel, flashing orange and red. 

"What does it look like in there?" Stark asked over the comms. 

Peggy, only having briefly caught up on the Tesseract hadn't had the chance to read up on certain areas of technology, so she was stumped. "Well, there's a lot of lights flashing at me, but there are two out of 8 switches which aren't lit up; I'm assuming those are the relays you are talking about." She reported, out of breath from all the running.

"Yeah. I need you to flick the ones which are lit up, the lights should turn off."

She did so and the control panel turned from red to a light green, signalling that all was well; in that part of the ship anyway. "Okay, the relays are intact, what's next?" asked Peggy. Stark had just got to the turbine. 

"Even if I clear the rotors, the turbine won't re-engage without a jump. I'm going to have to get in there and push."

"Wait, if the turbine gets up to speed, you'll be shredded." Peggy said, concerned. 

"That stator control unit can reverse the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and that could-" Stark rambled. 

"-English, please!" Peggy exclaimed. She really needed to catch up.

Stark sighed. "See that red lever? It will slow the rotors long enough for me to get out. Stand by it, wait for my word."

Peggy leapt across and landed roughly on what was left of the platform. Stark used a laser to remove the debris. He jumped onto the loose metal and pushed it away. "Stark, I have hostiles with me, I won't be a moment." Peggy told Tony, then began to fight with the brainwashed agents that had started shooting at her. "

Copy that Cap, just be ready." Stark flew to one of the slits in the turbine and began to push. It soon matched his speed. "Okay Cap, pull the lever."

Peggy however was holding on for dear life, as she had slipped off the edge while avoiding bullets. "Give me a minute, I'm trying NOT to fall to my death!" 

Tony was starting to get panicked as he began getting slower than the turbine. 

He was running out of time. "I don't have a minute, pull it! NOW!" His tone was urgent. 

Peggy had pulled herself up and ran over to the lever. She pulled it long enough for Tony to slip out before he became mincemeat. "Stark, a little help here!" Peggy yelled. The agents had brought reinforcements and were currently shooting at her. Stark flew around to where she was and tackled the shooters to the ground. He lay there, out of breath.

The battle was over.

"Agent Coulson is down." Fury called over the comms.

Agent Barton was being carried away on a stretcher to a recovery room while Natasha was, her head bowed at the news. Tony looked devastated and Peggy gasped lowly. Although she wasn't as close to the man as Tony, and certainly hadn't known him very long, he was a good man, and didn't deserve to die.

He was just one more stain on Loki's hands. And Loki would pay.