A Love Out of Time

Chapter 18

The alert blared over the speakers and a simple cameraman turned his eyes to the ceiling, sighing.

"A fire drill? Again?" 

He growled and shut down his computer. Standard procedure for an evacuation, after all. But unlike standard procedure, he pulled his PK card out of the reader and dropped it behind the desktop, where he could find it when he got back.

Then he groaned slowly to his feet and picked up his backpack, shuffling out of the back closet he called an office.

It was only five to six minutes later when the door to that room opened again. Two figures quickly scanned the room and entered, locking the door behind them.

"Get it open." Natasha ordered.

Clint nodded. "I am."

His own PK card slid into the reader, and his fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed in his password. He sighed impatiently as it loaded, slowly.

Natasha stood, her back to the door, listening.

"No one saw us come in."

"They shouldn't have. This area is already clear." The screens popped up, hundreds of picture frames for hundreds of cameras spread throughout the building. "Finally."

Fifteen minutes later, Clint and Natasha moved down the hallway away from the camera room, barely making any sound. As they passed through a section marker, Natasha brought her radio to her lips.

"Corridor C on level 20 cleared. Lock."

"Confirmed."

The blast doors slid shut behind them. Clint, who was scanning the hallway ahead of them, jerked.

"Who's there?"

Natasha's eyes snapped forward.

"Where?"

"There! I can barely see her! It's like she's in shadow!"

Natasha's eyes searched wildly across the empty hall, but she didn't see anything.

"There is no shadow!"

Clint's eyes watered from the strain of focusing on the shadowy figure and he blinked.

"Ah! She's gone!"

Natasha eyes narrowed. "She?"

"Yes!" Clint pinched the bridge of his nose and growled. "Ow! That really hurt!"

Natasha kneeled down next to him.

"Clint, did it look at all like Agatha?"

He winced and shook his head.

"No, there was no detail. Just the shape of a woman. It was like looking into another world. She was all grainy, like static, and shadowy."

Natasha looked across the hallway again.

"Could it have been a ghost?"

Clint shook his head.

"No. If I had the ability to see ghosts, I would have seen them before this."

Natasha gave him a hard look.

"What about what Tony said? Do you think you could see into alternate realities?"

Clint blinked, trying to rest his eyes.

"I don't know, but I've never felt anything like that before. Looking at it hurt!"

Natasha stood and offered him a hand.

"We need to keep moving. If you see anything like that again, we'll know it's not chance."

Clint took her hand and stood to his feet. "Right."

On the other side of the wall, Morgan had nearly stopped breathing. How? How could he see her? She kneeled over, trying to catch her breath.

The hawk could see her? Whatever happened, she couldn't let him see her again! Morgan's eyes narrowed. 

Wait. What if he could see? What did it matter? He couldn't hurt her. He couldn't even interact with her. As long as she stayed out of phase she'd be safe.

Morgan frowned. But that was the problem, wasn't it? She needed to reenter the world in order to complete her plan. 

A terrifying thought flashed through her mind. If the hawk could see her, could he also see her prisoner?

Morgan ran through walls and doors into a small security room. They had already been here, because the blast doors down the hall were closed. All the screens were off.

Morgan stepped out of phase and pulled the cameraman's PK card from behind the desktop, sticking it into the reader. Her fingers flashed across the keyboard as she typed in the password and hit enter. The screens blinked back on instantly.

Morgan smiled. The man who worked this desk was an idiot. He always left his card behind.

She pulled back out of phase as soon as she was done, and surveyed the screens from its safety.

A low groan sank on the air behind her. Slowly Morgan turned around, a smug grin on her face.

"Well, Dr. Jackson, it sounds like you're awake."