Radioactive: The Mystery Avenger

13~ Full of Secrets

*Jodie's P.O.V*

I heard three sets of footsteps approaching my room before they were even a metre away from the door. A set I recognized as Natasha's moved away, and another I recognized as Phil's followed hers. The third set I didn't recognize, and I've heard a lot of people walking past my room in the last few days. These no doubt belonged to a stranger, someone new aboard the Helicarrier.

I leapt silently to my feet, pressing myself flat against the wall and keeping my breathing low as the newcomer typed in the security code to the door. The door slid open and a tall man with blonde hair and a muscular build walked in, glancing once around the room. Without a moment's hesitation I jumped up and jabbed my elbow at the soft spot on his neck, letting out a quiet hiss of pain and surprise when a small bit of the pain rebounded. My entire arm went numb and I bolted from the room as the strange man collapsed in the doorway.

I glanced in both directions, but agents were coming towards me from my left, so I ran the other way. I smacked into someone and fell to the floor, rubbing my jaw. Looking up into the eyes of Agent Davidson, I scrambled to my feet and dodged around him before running into another room. Behind me I heard shouting and heavy footsteps running after me. I didn't even register my surroundings, I just kept running. Through rows and rows of crates I ran, leaping off three very high ones to swing up into the rafters, just in time for the door to smash open and the stranger stood in the doorway with several agents on either side of him.

As they began to search the store room I silently crept through the rafters, relieved at having the feeling back in my arm. Now at the far wall, I was directly above the door. The only obstacle between me and the floor was a ladder attached to the wall so, taking a deep breath, I swung my feet down and gripped the rung of the ladder with my toes before lowering the rest of my body. Crouching low, I was about to lower my feet to another rung when the bolts broke off the wall with a metallic clang, echoing throughout the store room. The ladder moved away from the wall and wobbled for a moment before beginning to tilt towards the floor. I braced myself and jumped off at the last second, rolling away several feet.

At the sound of shouting I raised my head before scrambling to my feet and running back out into the corridors. As crazy as it sounds right now, I am not staying behind while my best friend is out who knows where. I am certainly not staying under house arrest. A faint breeze made the hairs on the back of my neck rise and I ran towards it, diving through a door just before it closed. I landed on asphalt and glanced around with wide eyes, the wind whipping hair around my face. Fury hadn't been lying; we were thousands of feet up in the air.

"No." I ran to the edge and glanced down. All I could see were clouds, no visible landmarks beneath them. "No no no no!" I backed away from the edge and glanced around for another means of escape. It was hopeless, I was pretty much stranded. "Ow!" I glanced at a dart protruding from my arm and pulled it out, dropping it at my feet. As my moves became slower and my vision went blurry, I turned and made eye contact with the stranger. His expression was a fixture of concern, wonder and surprise, the last thing I saw before I fell unconscious. Of course, that didn't stop me from trying.

As soon as my eyes opened and my headache had cleared, I began thinking of another way out. As you can tell, I'm not one who backs down easily. I glanced up and saw they'd somehow gotten a security camera into the corner of the room facing my bed. Now that's just rude. I stared at it, knowing full well Fury or Natasha or some agent would probably be watching on the other end. An idea came to mind, something that Clint had taught me just before my 7th birthday. I've had fairly good practice of using this skill while living on the streets.

I got up and began pacing the room, occasionally scuffing my feet along the floor or sliding my fingers along the walls or lying down in the middle of the room, never going back to the same spot, trying to play at defeat or absolute boredom. When I had been going like this for several minutes, I paced to the far side of the room, beneath the security camera and pressed myself against the wall, slowly and carefully reaching my hand up and switching two wires around at the back. The camera gave a small beep and I smirked, knowing it had worked. In case you're wondering, I just reprogrammed it to play the last few minutes of footage on repeat, meaning I can get out of the room and they will still think I'm in here.