Metallic Soldiers {Metallic Charms Book #4}

Chapter 8: Discoveries {Part 1}

Chapter 8: Discoveries {Part 1}

...Noel's Point of View...

So, normally being stuck in an elevator with two people you know and AC/DC playing as the elevator music can be seen as a good thing. However, when one of those people have just dropped the biggest bombshell since, well, the one that had landed Tony in hospital, things got a bit awkward.

"You're getting married?!" I almost screamed the second I saw the new addition of jewellery to Sky's wardrobe. Left hand, forth finger, there sat a small diamond ring that I hadn't ever seen before, and yet, knew exactly where it was from.

"Wow, there really isn't anything you miss is there?" Sky replied holding up her hand so I could see it properly.

"When? Where? Why? How? I don't have to ask who." I fired at her. Tony stood there completely dumbfounded -okay, so I hadn't just been miraculously left out of Steve's plan to propose, Tony had no idea too.

"Two days ago, after you told me about all the stuff Steve turned up with a picnic basket and season 3 of Psych ..." Sky trailed off biting her lip, her eyes were getting all wistful as she thought about it. This was the happiest I'd seen her since I'd turned up in the middle of the New Mexican desert.

I launched myself at her in the elevator; I squeezed her with all I had. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Congratulations." Tony said from behind me.

"Get in here," Sky demanded, holding one of her arms out so we all had a group hug. That was the first time I'd been this close to Tony since we'd broken up and... It still had the same effect on me.

"So he just...did it? No fuss no muss? You guys broke up for like half a year and then he just rocks up with a ring and a Psych DVD and you drop your proverbial panties?" I asked, laughing as she blushed.

"It was exactly like that..." Sky ended up explaining that she'd gotten mad at him for being so distant and evasive and then she'd gone through the picnic basket and found the little ring box. When she looked up, he was on one knee. And then she interrupted him, repeatedly.

"That's my girl!" I laughed hugging her again. "You little beauty."

"I felt terrible afterwards; he was scared out of his mind that I was going to say no. Apparently pretending to be dead gives a guy a lot of time to think about the big picture."

I made the cliché girlie ‘awww’ noise as the elevator opened up on Fury's floor.

Thankfully, Sky's engagement was a pretty good distraction from being scared of Director Fury’s almost definite ending of my job and possibly sending me to some federal prison that was impossible to find and nobody except for super villains were locked up in.
“Here goes my whole life.” I muttered under my breath hoping that Sky and Tony didn’t hear. If they did, they didn’t respond.

Fury’s secretary, who I didn’t know the name of because she didn’t wear a name tag and didn’t speak to anybody, sat at her desk as usual. Her black hair was tied up in a tight bun, a pencil sat behind her right ear –I didn’t think she ever used it since she was constantly typing on her computer. She had an expressionless face, she could have been mistaken for a mannequin if she wasn’t typing and blinking occasionally.

“We’re here to see Director Fury,” I told her. “Tell him its Barton, Stark and Evans.”
The secretary didn’t do anything. She just kept typing.
“Uh, hello?” Tony butted in, she still didn’t respond, “Excuse me?”
Sky interrupted Tony, “Maybe you need other names. Iron Man, Cobalt and Ghost. Now can we see Fury?”

She stopped talking and reached behind the stack of files on her desk, I assumed she was reaching for the phone to buzz Fury.
Oh, man was I wrong.

“You were the first of many.” She said in a monotonous tone before she pulled out a gun and started firing in my direction.
Sky started sprinting away and we both followed, the secretary close behind. Fury’s floor was secluded, there were no other offices or hallways, just a couple of conference rooms and the holographic room where I’d spoken with the Security Council after I’d come back from Asgard.

All of us ducked into the nearest conference room and barricaded the door with our own bodies.
“What about Fury?” I yelled over the gun shots.
“What about him?” Tony yelled back, “Best case scenario, he’s dead!”
“How is that the best case scenario?” Sky exclaimed, clamping her hands over her ears to quell the piercing sounds of the shots.
“I don’t know!” Tony started playing around with the cuffs on his wrists. He was trying to summon the Iron Man suit. “DEPLOY!” He yelled into his wrist. Even with the fastest suit it wouldn’t be here for a few minutes. Sky couldn’t do anything unless she was in front of the person she had to attack.

I took a deep breath and stepped away from the door. I flexed my hands and I felt them heating up.
“Move away from the door guys.” I said as she stopped firing. Doing this slowly seemed too dramatic, so the second Tony moved away from the door I fired. The blue light ripped through the wooden door and smacked the secretary against the wall.

“Go!” I told Tony and Sky, “Get out of here, I’ll find Fury.”
I ran back to where I knew his office was, but his door was already open.

His office looked like a bomb had hit it. The desk was upside down, there were papers everywhere, his desk chair had been tossed out a window and Fury was nowhere to be seen.

I turned back to the elevator. We needed help and a lot of help. Somebody –and I was guessing it was the same guy who blew up the school in Chicago- had infiltrated SHIELD. There was only one problem with that; who else wasn’t who they said they were?

Tony and Sky were already gone, the elevator was going down. For the time being, I was stuck up here with the secretary who was trying to kill me.

I peaked around the corner, the one where I’d left her after the door had knocked her unconscious. She wasn’t there.

“Crap.” I whispered and let my hands heat up again. There were only so many places she could hide on a level with an office, four conference rooms and a holographic room, and because of that door hitting her, I was betting that I was in better shape than her right now.

I hugged the wall, keeping my hands in front of my face and keeping an eye out for the secretary.

What was happening? Where was Fury? How long had the Hydra copy-cats been inside SHIELD?

I stopped next to the holographic room, I heard voices. I took a shot, opened the door and closed it behind me.

There was Fury, talking to the Security Council.

“Oh thank god you’re okay.” I breathed.
“Director, who is that?” A woman’s voice spoke up.
Fury shut down the call, the whole room went dark, there was only the subtle glow of my hands – I was still getting used to be a walking flashlight.

“Noel, what the hell are you doing here?” Director Fury boomed.
“I came to tell you that Loki’s back and found that Hydra’s infiltrated SHIELD.” I threw my arms up in the air incredulously.
“Loki? That’s impossible.” Fury frowned.
I raised my voice so that I seemed less scared than I was, “Well, he’s my roommate so we can take care of that later. For now, who else is Hydra in SHIELD? How long have you known about this? Sky and Stark were here with me but I told them to go get help.”

Fury sighed and rubbed his head, “A couple of days. I thought I could shut it down, but it’s too big. They’ve got people in every inch of our operations. Some of them are even in the field.”
“Any of the Avengers?” I asked.
“Not that I know of, why?” Fury looked at me sceptically. “Do you know something?”
“No, just keeping tabs on who I’m working with. I like people, doesn’t mean I trust all of them.” I quoted the first thing Fury had ever told me that I took to heart. He gave me a small almost-smile. The closest thing to ‘good job’ you’d ever get from him.

“So, what do we do?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth there was another gun shot. “Because I think your evil secretary is back.”
Fury pulled his gun out of the holster on his hip. “We’re SHIELD agents; we’re fighting our way out of here.”

I smiled wickedly, “Couldn’t have said it better myself, boss.”