Who Am I? » [Stucky]

135. Felons and Freaks

Nothing could be seen and they padded uncertainly into the pitch-black void, wary of what awful things might lurk there. They were on high alert. There was a rumble as the electricity charged the lights in the roof and they flashed to life in rows at a time.

The hangar walls seemed to bulge outwards the place was so empty, it was vacuous and soundless. They were frozen in a moment of bewilderment, all sharing silent glances to confirm they hadn't all made an identical mistake. But with a shimmer, much like the recalibrating camouflage of a chameleon, The SHIELD Airbus was revealed. Astounded laughs and smirks crept their way into the crowd.

There was a hydraulic hiss as the bay door at the rear end of the mechanical beast unhatched. The door creaked open dramatically, and surrounded by a foggy cloud of exhaust, Coulson stepped out. "Evening Avengers, minus our very own demi-god and Rhodey... I'm glad to see that you could all make it," he began, feet clattering as he bounded down the metal ramp. "Thank you all for being so punctual..." He did a mental headcount. "This is The Bus... she'll be taking you to our safe house this evening, with a small amount of help from my pilot, Agent Melinda May. The rest of my team is already gathered at our location and I will introduce you to them when we arrive... So... Without further ado, please: step aboard. There's room for your vehicles in the bay and we have enough room for you all in the lounge for a quick briefing. Sort yourselves out and meet me there in five, pronto..." Phil about turned, without socialising and strolled away eerily.

They tactically parked their vehicles in the parking lot installed into the underside of the airbus, stashing away their treasured vehicles for whatever might be required of them in the unforeseen future. And as the last motorcycle decommissioned its engine, Coulson sealed and pressurised the door; ensuring their safety.

They filed up the metal stairwell in a line, trudging up to the main area, sharing pleasant nattering amongst themselves.

Bags were all lazily dumped in a stack on the sofas, flung carelessly and untidily in a toppling heap, slowly slipping like a landslide, ready to cascade and spill its contents at any given time. And they all communally gathered in a glass panelled room: containing a Stark tech table and a built in screen.

"Welcome aboard The Bus..." Coulson greeted them all with a friendly smile. "Sorry again for the short notice, but you're all required for a matter of great urgency... HYDRA is an organisation that poses a threat to the whole world. International political outrage has begun: rioting, warring, missile threats..." He tapped his fingers on the Stark tech table installed in the glass booth. On the screen was displayed horrific images and news reports linking back to HYDRA, some of which implied Bucky's involvement and credit to the assassinations and disasters. "Their world-toppling schemes can be traced as far back as World War Two and Lenin and Trotsky... Or more recently, the Cuban Missile Crisis, The Cold War and the Washington DC crisis, sorry again, Bucky. They've been linked to the assassination of JFK and Martin Luther King in attempts to topple the world into anarchy... They're master plan is to drive the people of the earth into such hysteria, into such feral madness that we start beating and eating each other and crave a dictator. They want nothing more than to rule the world: to put their man on every throne and presidential seat. They're trying to annex the world and claim it under their rule. They want to make it a "pure" world. A world where everyone fits the Nazi ideals which they still idolise today. And they'd commit ethnic cleansing and genocide until the world was run under their regime. They're latest attempt at toppling democracy has been this..." Phil's fingers skimmed across the interface and pulled footage up of the latest news reports. "Tension between Russia and the USA. Now don't get me wrong, these resentments have been high for all of recent history. There has always been contentions between our capitalist run country and their communist one. But no one could've thought history would repeat itself. Putin isn't happy that their sub was appropriated by Americans and Americans don't like it that it landed on their soil. It appears tension is running high and the countries are vulnerable... We could be on the brink of a crisis, lady and gentlemen..." Phil said, acknowledging the flame haired Soviet assassin.