Silver and Grey

Henry

     "Agent Samson, we are just about there."

Agent Andros' voice reached me through the foggy haze of sleep. I struggled to pull myself out, but it was like I was filled with lead. My limbs felt heavy and my eyelids had trouble opening. Somehow I managed it and groaned as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and stretched. There were stations cutting across the highway with Hungarian border officers checking everyone's passports just ahead.

I gently nudged her. "Lizzy, wake up." She didn't even stir. "Lizzy?" Her face was unusually flushed so I felt her forehead. Her skin was sticky with sweat and she was running a very high fever. Meanwhile, the car was inching closer to the border control officer.

I pulled back the bandages and my suspicions were confirmed. Her wound was swollen, red and crusted all around the edges. It was infected. "We got a problem Andros. Elizabeth's wound probably hasn't been properly cleaned since her last check-up with the doctor at the GECS base and it was reopened. Now it's infected and I don't know if I can revive her to get her to transform. I also don't know if she will be able to stay transformed long enough once she has."

"You better do something quick or we will have a lot of explaining to do and that will not be fun."

I had little choice but to continue trying to wake her. I carefully shook her, patted her cheeks, called out her name and begged her to transform. The car inched ever forward and my attempts became more urgent. Her eyes finally fluttered open slightly and she shrank and changed into a grey long-haired cat. Relieved, I changed into a sleek black cat and curled up next to her. When we reached the officer, he took Agent Andros' passport, checked it and then handed it back without casting a single glance at us. I prayed the whole time Elizabeth would not turn back early and thankfully she didn't, but as soon as we were through, she lost her hold and switched back. This time she was completely out and she would not be waking up again.

"We've got to get her help."

"Do not worry. Agent Hill is sending a plane that should arrive in two hours. On it will be the necessary medical supplies to take care of Agent Barton on your way back home."

"I thought S.H.I.E.L.D. was gone."

"It is. But not all of its people are."

An hour and a half later we arrived in a small town that was Agent Andros' home. I carried Elizabeth into his small and modest house and laid her down on the couch. When I sat down at a round wood table in the kitchen, Agent Andros tossed a manila envelope in front of me. I did not open it. Instead I stared worriedly at Elizabeth's eerily still form.

Suddenly I was back in the cell and she was thrown to the floor by my feet. "What's your name?"

She showed now fear and put on a strong face. "Elizabeth,"

"You're pretty brave Elizabeth."

"Crying and freaking out won't do me any good."

It was my turn to lock away my fear and worry and to put on the strong face. Panicking certainly would not do me any good. I sighed and pushed the chair back so it was balancing on its back legs. My eyes latched onto the clock and watched as the minutes ticked by. As luck would have it, the plane arrived ten minutes early. It was a good thing too. I would have gone insane if I had to sit there a minute longer, nothing to do but wait for time to pass.

The large armored plane rescued before Hydra could confiscate it like the others landed in the enormous meadow behind the house and I carried Elizabeth outside. A door opened and Clint Barton was the first person to come out, running to us. He waved to Agent Andros and then helped us into the plane. Elizabeth was strapped down on a gurney and a pair of doctors got to work right away. Thankfully Clint was too worried about his sister to concentrate on the tale of our adventure in Romania because I was too exhausted to tell it.

I slept again and Elizabeth remained unconscious the whole rest of the trip back to America. The plane entered New York's airspace and flew into New York City to the Stark Tower which was now known as the Avengers' HQ. Maria Hill met us on the platform where we were dropped off. "I'm glad you made it back okay Henry."

I shook her hand, but watched as Elizabeth was carted away. "Not all in one piece I'm afraid."

Clint joined us then. "The doctors say she will be okay. Her recovery will be a long one, but she will fully recover."

"Good." We followed Maria inside and were intercepted by Tony Stark himself.

"Hey, is Ghost going to be alright?"

"Yes and thank you for your help earlier Mr. Stark. I didn't want to ask Elizabeth's partner because he was not well enough to do research and I couldn't call for help from S.H.I.E.L.D. with there being a possible leak. I figured you were waiting for information and a chance to help after you heard that call from Elizabeth."

"You must be Henry. Did she knock out a tooth?"

I grinned despite myself. "No she didn't. Thanks for the warning."

"I know we're not S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore, but I still want to debrief you Henry." Maria motioned to a private room which I entered followed by her and Clint. Tony came in too and after a split second of hesitation, Maria allowed him to stay. Then I launched into my story and spoke in detail of my investigating the abandoned building where the kidnapping took place, what I discovered there, forming a plan with Agent Hayz, finding the base, our escape and then the running.

"But I do not think the GECS will be bothering us much anymore." I said as I wrapped it up. It took the flash drive out of my backpack and gave it to Maria. "After downloading everything I could, I corrupted all their files, placed a homemade time bomb in their lab and took this." I took out a small box this time and opened it for them to see. Inside was a smashed black gem. "This was the gem set in the amulet that gave it its power. They definitely won't be able to recreate their experiments without this or any of their data."

Clint looked at me dubiously. "Does Elizabeth know you did all of this?"

"Are you kidding?" I laughed and finally felt myself relaxing. My tensed muscles loosened up and I sat back in the chair. We were safe. We were home. The GECS were gone. "She would have bitten my head off for endangering our escape. But she told me they were planning on making more of us and the new ones would be able to regenerate. I could not let them do that for that reason and because I would not wish what they did to us on anyone else. They had experimented on others long before us, but all their test subjects died. Lizzy and I were the first successful ones. To reach that new goal it would take just as long, if not longer, and more dead and suffering victims."

"There is something else you should know Henry." Clint said softly. My humor completely evaporated. I did not like the look on his face or his tone of voice. "The GECS is a subdivision of Hydra." I couldn't think of anything to say to that.

Maria sat forward, her brow furrowed. "Where will you go Henry?"

My mind went blank. I had not thought about that. With S.H.I.E.L.D. gone I had no home. There was nowhere for me to go. Clint came to the rescue. "Don't worry about it buddy. You can stay with me and Elizabeth."

"Stay with you where?"

The laugh lines fanned out around his eyesas they warmed when he smiled. "Home,"