Agent Raven of S.H.I.E.L.D. (COMPLETE)

Follow the Leader

The screen at the front of the passenger bay had a timer, counting down to the time we land. At first, I didn't understand it. If we knew how long it took to travel somewhere from SHIELD, anyone could calculate and find it where we were headed. Field agents weren't supposed to know where the missions were happening, only the pilots and drivers, who weren't allowed to know the mission. Compartmentalization was key.

Or maybe it was just to prevent questions along the way. No one was about to ask if we were there yet, after all.

And maybe no one else realized that they could figure it out. It was easy for me, because I had studied the capabilities of, and regulations for, this and all other air vehicles in SHIELD, but how many of these agents had? Few to none, most likely.

No one bothered me on the way up. It was an hour flight, not that long. We were probably heading somewhere along the east coast, judging from the turns we had taken during lift off. North, I think, probably up towards Maine.

I stared at the ground, glancing every so often at the time. With so many unknown people around me, I needed the full act. Eyes neutral, posture relaxed, face calm, lips closed, hands steady. Breathing was regular, at resting pace, and no eye contact with the other agents. It had taken me a year or so to master an unsuspecting presence, but I had a lot of practice. Natasha, as a part of my training, instructed me to act this way every day, no matter where I was. I became very familiar with this practice, and now it was my life. I've been asked once how I always managed to control my expressions, and it was because lying had become my normal. No part of what anyone saw was genuine anymore. My mind, my emotions, my opinions, all of it was separated and hidden from the outside. All anyone saw was a monotone agent.

The way it was supposed to be. The way it had to be.

Fifteen minutes until touchdown, Doug stood up, and the timer on the screen was replaced with a model of a building. Apparently, it was time for debrief.

He got right to the point. "This is a small town area, no more than 10,000 residents in the city. We're right in between downtown and suburbia, and for all the world to see, we're busting into an unassuming office building."

See, this is what I'm talking about. Somewhere in the vicinity of Maine, small town with less than 10 K residents, office building between downtown and suburban areas. That narrows it down to about 50 cities, if not less. 

"Our mission is to rescue hostages. A few ex-SHIELD agents have gone missing, they've been traced to this area. We're going to pull them out, along with any other prisoners we find. We'll knock down the front door, and keep two agents in the lobby to guard the exit. Everyone else will follow me down to the basement level, find the prisoners, and get everyone out before someone dies. We'll make this quick, no more than fifteen minutes unless someone gets lost."

I would probably end up on guard duty. I had done the same thing in Germany, just over a month ago, but that had turned out to be quite eventful. Chances were this mission wouldn't turn out as chaotic as that, but there were no givens out here in the field. 

Doug pulled out a package of ammunition clips, but they weren't loaded with regular bullets. He passed them along both sides of the bay seats, and everyone took two, as did I. As we passed them, he explained, "ICER's only. We don't know where the ex-agents are, and we don't want to kill someone that should trust us. Retrieval will come afterwards and clean up, as per usual. Questions?"

So these were ICER bullets. I had read about these a few years ago, they were concentrated units of dendrotoxin, developed by Dr. Jemma Simmons for the night-night gun designed by Dr. Leopold Fitz. I didn't know that they could be used in regular firearms, though. Someone must have altered the original design in the past few years. I wouldn't have seen the alterations in Records, since the files would have gone directly to the archives in the Research department. 

I switched out the clips and stuffed the regular bullets in a pouch on my belt. If worst came to worst, I could reload and use them later on. The jet began its descent, and we braced ourselves for the landing. Once the engines were switched off, the bay doors opened, and we followed Doug into town. 

We jogged in pairs, everyone matched with the person they had sat across on the flight over. I didn't particularly like running with a full combat suit, a helmet, and plenty of gear all on at once, but I wasn't about to complain, especially on the first mission. I just followed the person in front of me, and took note of my surroundings as we went.

Only so many housing units were out here, but all of them had the blinds drawn, and almost none of them had any decorative additions on the exterior. Nothing valuable was left out in the open, and cars were parked in the driveway, if at all. The residents of this area clearly knew that they lived in a dangerous environment. The ex-SHIELD agents must have either known as well, or were lured here and ambushed. Either way, this mission was already showing signs of high risk.

I could see a cluster of buildings off to the east, but we turned down a side road to the office building Doug had mentioned. In all honesty, though, it didn't look like an office to me. Windows were tinted, even in the lobby, there was very minimal advertising in the front, and the lawn was overgrown. Marketing techniques would have advised against all of this, and that was just the beginning. Was I really the only person who was picking up on this? I couldn't be.

Behind me, in line, I heard Smith snort and chuckle. "Looking a little shabby for a small company." Thank you, at least someone else noticed. A few people around him chuckled, but I started running through worst case scenarios. This was starting to look like a suicide mission. 

Doug was still running towards the front doors, though, like the good soldier he was. I was on his unit right now, which meant I had to follow his orders, and the orders he had received, so I went in with the nine agents who trusted him.

"Smith, stay with Raven and watch the entrance," he instructed. "Everyone else, form on me."

Guard duty. Again.