The Pirate And His Sea

Chapter 14: How Maria Hill Met Him & Found Out

Maria held perfectly still, not certain if there was someone examining the hall for anymore agents. Next to her, the man held himself with the same tense awareness, and it was just as honed as hers. So she was correct – Jackson was a fighter, experienced in one way or another. After a tense moment, filled with the sounds of sparking circuits and low groans from the bridge, there was a grunt and the sound of heavy footsteps turning away. Taking the risk, Maria peeked around the corner of the hallway and saw the broad back of a dark-haired man toting a strange gun that glowed an unearthly blue. He wasn't alone; there were several other men and women in the bridge holding the same guns and as equally muscled. Most of the agents on bridge duty were lying on the ground, and the ones that weren't were sitting in the control chairs. Their bodies were uncommonly stiff, and they moved rigidly as they went about looking over the Helicarrier's notices and controls.

"It looks like mind control," said Jackson's voice from behind her. Maria jerked a bit in surprise, and turned to look at the man. He had a grim look on his face and his hand had returned to his pocket.

Turning away from the bridge, Maria made her way down the side hallway.
"That's probably correct," she said as she went. Jackson caught up with her quickly. "It's best that I go find the Director, then the person manipulating those agents. You should find somewhere to wait out of the fight."

Jackson scoffed and shook his head. "No way in Tarta - hell. There's no telling how many able-bodied agents are left free of those guys' control, or how many enemies. You need every fighter you can get."

Maria gave him a flat look.

The black-haired man sighed, and said, "Look, I know I'm awfully suspicious, but seriously I have nothing to do with these guys. I was honestly waiting for someone! I even have the tag!" He waggled the piece of plastic. "Just take me to your Director Fury and I can prove it!"

All right, that was suspicious. The mysterious man claiming he was not a threat and to take him to her boss in the same breath? That sounded very much like an enemy to her.

So Maria did the intelligent thing. She pulled out her Taser, as quick as lightning, and dropped him.

She had to give it to Jackson (if that was even his real name), he had fast reflexes. He had jerked as soon as he'd seen her move and his eyes had widened when he saw the Taser in her hand, but he wasn't fast enough. His body hit the ground with a heavy thud, and Maria prodded him with her boot just to make sure he was unconscious. When he didn't react she tucked her Taser away and dragged his body towards a closet. Dumping him inside and arranging the man so that he was tucked underneath the service sink and mostly out of sight, she closed the door firmly. Now she just had to find Director Fury.
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Nick, at that moment, was also hidden in a storage closet, though it was one with spare scrubs for the doctors. He was tucked away behind the awful white plastic suits, a stool artfully pulled in front of his feet so as to hide them. He was holding his breathe, his eye staring at the suit in front of his face as he heard the slow squeal of the door being pulled open. As the light from the hallway spilled into the closet, he could see the silhouette of a stocky man in the doorway, shining through the thin plastic.

God damn it, he thought, if my day gets anymore fucked up I'm going to take a two week vacation, screw the Council and any global crisis that may show up.

He did have every right to be as frustrated as he was. At the beginning of the day he had thought that it wouldn't be that bad – Percy had said that he'd try to stop by the Helicarrier to see him at work, and then head home with him later. Since they were currently hovering over the Atlantic, Percy wouldn't have any problem coming or going, so he'd agreed to meet his partner in the break room several halls away from the infirmary.