The Unknown Enemy ∘ Marvel [3]

Chapter 33: The Face of a Friend

Sprouse gritted her teeth, momentarily reliving Nya's dead body sprawled out on the floor and Bradley's betrayal, "Look, I thought SHIELD was my only option when I joined. All it's given me is more stupid pain and a superior officer that tried to frame as a traitor. Yes, if there was a legitimate way to stop it, I'd do what I could, but I'm not risking my life on some Mission Impossible crap for that organization or Sienna Firman."

The younger's mouth had formed a tight line and out of habit, her fingers had begun to play with the end of her sweater. Knots of fear twisted up in her gut while she swallowed. She thought of Colton, a wonderful, kind man who she could've loved, something she never thought herself capable of. He had revealed himself to be not only a terrible person who had used her, but a literal Nazi that was part of the infection swallowing SHIELD whole.

What could she do against a threat like that?

Even now, she could feel anxiety crawling inside her and pathetic tears waiting to throw her into another fit of sobs. Every cell in her screamed to collapse right there and fear threatened to overtake any thought reckless enough to dream of anything else. She hated it. She hated it and at the same time wished to side with her own turmoil.

No. No. No. Bad thought. No no.

Layla had done enough of that; now she was angry. Her anger was the only thing keeping her standing because right now, the superheroes were all locked up and no one else appeared to be coming to the rescue. No one else was going to save her friends and defeat HYDRA.

She had courage, at least she thought it was courage. Maybe stupidity. Maybe stupid self-endangerment. Maybe it was craziness. Of course it was craziness, she was going to die-

Shut up self. Shut up shut up shut up

Probably die

sHUT UP

"Are you coming or not?" The blonde was grateful when her voice sounded more confident than first anticipated, "Because I'm going no matter what you say."

Zerina had come to that conclusion as well, knowing that this communications officer wasn't going to listen to her. She tried another method after a pause, "I can't let that happen. Okay, fine, I don't like Firman, but we did agree to keep you safe. She wanted us to stay away from DC and that means staying away from SHIELD. It's what she asked me to do."

"But-"

"I'm trying to keep you safe-"

"What about my sister?" Layla's tone raised and she pulled the wet towel off of her drying hair when it fell lopsided. The stained carpet floor awkwardly creeked under her as she continued, "So you don't care about Sienna. You don't care about SHIELD. You probably don't care about Meredith either."

The opposer's speech stopped when the usually cherubic's girls face go red, but she didn't miss it when her eyes began to shimmer, "What?"

"My older sister, Mere, was taken by SHIELD. She's not even an agent!" Don't quiver voice c'mon don't fail me now, "She's a doctor, she's really uptight, she's engaged to this guy who's completely loaded, and she's the only sibling I got. I love her, I love Si, the rest of SHIELD is okay, and I'm going to go get them."

This is stupid this is stupid you're going to die

Layla took a shaky breath in, raking a hand through her wet hair. She adjusted her glasses, looking back up once she exhaled, "And it'd be really cool if I got someone who can throw punch to help me. Please."

~~~~~~~~

DC Facility

It's surreal experience to have a truth you so desperately wanted to know be revealed in such a harsh manner. Here it is, it changed your entire perception of your existence. Now deal with it, because you wanted it.