It's been a month now since we left headquarters and moved in with Clint. Wanda and I have been training every single day. Spending hours in the gym, helping to build up each others strength in hand to hand combat.
After all the training I have put in with my suit, I am finally starting to feel comfortable using it. It feels like second nature.
Steve left for his mission with Bucky the day after he phoned me. Since that moment, all I've felt is anxiety. At first he continued to message me to update me on his progress but the last few days, he's not been replying to any calls or messages.
It's driving me insane. Not knowing what's going on or if he's okay is making me feel sick with concern. It's getting to the point where I'm considering talking to Wanda about it and asking her advice. I seriously don't know what I'm supposed to be doing in this situation.
I walk into the living room and take a seat on the sofa beside Wanda. She's watching tv and doesn't look up as I enter the room. I sit in silence for a few minutes, trying to convince myself that speaking to her is the right thing to do.
I decide to just take the plunge. I lean forward and pick the tv remote off the table. I turn it off. Wanda goes to snap at me but stops when she sees the serious look on my face.
"What's going on?" She asks nervously.
I don't say anything. Still unsure as to how to begin. "You're scaring me Andi. What's going on?"
"Okay" I take a deep breath and continue. "You know the mission Bucky went on after we moved here?" She nods her head. "Um okay, so Steve phoned me a few weeks ago and told me that Bucky wasn't updating them on the mission and had stopped replying to calls"
Wanda nervously bites her lip. I can tell that this is difficult for her to hear and I hate that I didn't tell her sooner. I just hope that she will understand where I was coming from and not hate me for this.
"Steve left to go after Bucky. Just wanting to make sure he was okay. I didn't think we had any reason to necessarily worry. I just thought that maybe Bucky was having issues with connection and stuff"
"But now?" She asks softly.
"But that changed when Steve stopped updating me. He hasn't contacted me in over a week."
I watch as Wanda takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner I just didn't want you to worry" I tell her.
She ignores my apology. "So what do we do now?" She asks.
"I was going to speak to Fury and suggest that I go after them. I can't just sit here and do nothing"
She looks like she's absorbing everything I have said to her. We sit in silence for a while. I just allow her time to come to terms with everything.
She finally starts to speak. "I'm coming too"
I'm not surprised that she said this. In fact I expected her to. I simply nod my head.
"We need to speak to fury" she tells me.
"We can phone him" I suggest. She nods her head.
I pull my phone out of my back pocket and begin dialling the number for Nick Fury. It rings for a few moments before he eventually picks up the phone.
"Agent Stark" his voice comes through the phone clearly.
I don't bother with all the pleasantries and instead move to the important topic of conversation. "We want an update on Steve and Bucky" I tell him.
"You know I can't do that Agent Stark. It's a need to know basis" he tells me quickly.
I look up at Wanda as she rolls her eyes. I sigh.
"Cut the crap Fury, we already know everything. We just need a status update" I tell him sternly.
"Steve told you?" His question comes out more like a statement and I know that he already knows the answer.
"Look, he went after Bucky and now he's gone silent. You can't just leave them out there without backup. Send us out"
"I can't do that and you both know it." He says firmly.
"In all due respect Fury, were not asking for your permission. Either you tell us what we need to know and we go with the knowledge we need or we go anyway. If we don't know what we're getting ourselves into then that comes down to you. We're going either way" I tell him. Wanda nods her head in agreement.
"Please Fury" she begs.
We hear him sigh and that's when we know we've won. "How quickly can you get to headquarters?" He asks.
"Give is an hour" I tell him.
Fury ends the call and I immediately step into action. "Go and pack a bag, we will then need to go and update Clint" I tell Wanda.
Wanda nods her head and runs from the room. I follow after her and head into my bedroom.
I grab my go-bag from the bottom of my wardrobe. It's a bag that I always keep packed just incase something goes wrong and I have to leave in a rush. It contains some money, fake ID's, clothes and my axe.
I grab the case which contains my suit and place it on the bed beside my go-bag. I begin to throw a few last minute items into my bag. I grab some toiletries, my phone, my wallet and throw them all into my bag.
Once I'm satisfied that all is packed, I pick up the bag and my case and leave the room. I head towards Wanda's room and find her packing the last of her things.
"You ready to go?" I ask her. She nods her head.
"I'll go and get the jet ready. Can you update Clint?" She asks.
"Yeah. Can you take my bags with you? I'll meet you on the jet"
She nods her head and takes my bags from me. She picks her bag up and we leave the house.
I watch her walk towards the jet and take a deep breath. I hope to god Steve is okay. I can't live in a world where everyone around me is in danger all the time. I hate the fact that this is my life but at the same time, I wouldn't change it for the world. It gave me my family. Without them, I would be all alone.
I begin the short walk towards Clint's house. I don't bother to knock and instead walk straight in. "Clint? Laura?" I call out.
I hear footsteps heading towards me from the hall. Clint walks into the kitchen. Concern written all over his face. He walks towards me. "Andi? What is it? What's wrong?"
"I'm okay" I tell him quickly. Relief washes over his face but he still looks confused, so I continue.
"Look, Bucky went MIA on his mission so Steve went after him. Now we can't get in contact with either of them and we're growing worried. Wanda and I are going after them. We're meeting Fury at headquarters so he can inform us of the mission and we can get started. I just wanted to update you before we leave"
Realisation washes over his face. "Let me grab my things" he begins.
I reach my arm out to stop him from walking away. "I'm not asking for you to come with us Clint. You need to stay with your family" I tell him.
"You're both my family too" he says softly. "You all are. I can't let you go alone"
I nod my head. Realising that I'm unlikely to convince him to stay. He smiles, knowing that he has won this argument.
"Give me 5 minutes. I'll meet you at the jet" he tells me.
I nod my head and watch as he turns to leave. Before he has a chance to leave the room, I call out to him. "Thank you Clint"
He flashes me a comforting smile over his shoulder before he disappears from the room.
I take this as my moment to leave. I quickly head out to the jet, walking up the ramp.
Wanda is already seated as I walk forward. She turns to look at me. "Ready to go?" She calls out.
I nod my head and walk to take a seat beside her. "Clint is coming too" I tell her quickly.
"We could use a pilot honestly" she says with a laugh.
I laugh. Through all of this, I hadn't even considered the fact that we would need someone to fly the jet. Despite all my years working within S.H.I.E.L.D I had never taken the opportunity to learn to fly one of these things.
A few moments later, we hear footsteps walking up the ramp behind us. I turn in my seat and smile as Clint strides onto the jet. His bag slung over his shoulder.
"Let's get this show on the road" he says confidently.
He moves to sit in the pilots seat and begins pushing buttons. The jet roars to life and I watch as the access door begins to close.
I take a deep breath as I feel the jet rise into the air. The anxious nerves I get at the beginning of every mission begin to form.
Wanda has been awfully quiet since we set off. I turn to look at her to see that she's just staring down at her hands.
I reach over and place my hand over hers. "Are you okay?" I ask. She looks up at me and nods her head. Saying nothing.
"Are you mad that I didn't tell you?" I ask her softly. She shakes her head.
"Of course I wish that you had told me sooner but I understand why you didn't. I wouldn't know what to do if the situation was reversed. I'm just glad you told me now so we can do something about it. I just hope it's not too late and they're okay"
I nod my head. "I hope so too" I tell her honestly.
"I keep imagining that I'll just get a text from him. Saying that he's fine and his phone died or some shit" I laugh. She chuckles and nods her head.
"I will kill them myself if that's the case" she laughs.
Clint turns his head to look back at us. "What did Fury tell you about the mission?"
"Not a lot honestly. He was reluctant to agree to let us know anything." I tell him. "He didn't even want us going after them"
"We didn't give him much choice" Wanda adds in. I shrug and smile.
"That's also true" I say with a smile.
"I wouldn't expect any different" Clint chuckles.
***
It doesn't take long for us to arrive at headquarters. Clint lands the jet and we all rush out.
Fury is waiting for us outside the entrance. His arms crossed. Agent Hill stands beside him. 3 folders in her hands.
As we walk towards them, Fury begins talking. "You got here faster than we expected" he tells us.
"It's a matter of importance" I reply. He nods his hand.
The three of us come to a stop in front of them. "Here take these, they will explain everything until we get upstairs" Maria tells us. She hands us each a folder. I open the first page and stare down at the report. The front page holds a photo of a family.
"Is this the family?" I ask. I look down at the photo again. There's 4 people smiling up at the camera, a man, a woman and what looks like their 2 kids.
Fury nods his head. "They went missing about 2 months ago. Around the same time we picked up some bizarre activity from a group of Hydra agents over at one of their bases in Thailand."
"When you say bizarre activity, what does that mean exactly?" Wanda asks, also looking down at the file in her hands.
"Come inside and I will tell you everything" Fury says authoritatively.
He doesn't wait for us to respond as he turns his back and begins walking into the building. Agent Hill follows after him.
I take a look to the others beside me and we also begin to follow after Fury. I'm desperately trying to keep up with his long strides. His legs are much longer than mine so his definition of a fast pace is more like a run for me.
I manage to keep up and let out a sigh of relief as we make it to the elevator. We all step inside and I watch as Fury presses the button for the 5th floor. There's a moment of silence as we wait for the elevator doors to close.
As they do, Fury turns to face the three of us. "There's no real indication to show that Hydra has any involvement in this at all. At least there wasn't before Bucky and Steve went missing. Now it's leading us to believe that they're more involved than we originally thought"
"What would Hydra want with this family?" Clint asks.
"The father, Richard Watson, is a scientist from England. He and his family moved to Thailand for a job opportunity. I suppose that Thailand was supposed to be a new beginning for them." Maria tells us.
The lift comes to a stop. We wait for the doors to open and all begin to file out. "What kind of scientist was he?" I ask.
Fury stops walking and turns to face me. A serious look on his face. "Astrophysics" he told us.
My eyes go wide. "The same thing Erik Selvig worked on?" I ask quickly.
Fury looks down at the ground. "The very same"
"And let me guess, Richard got involved in something he shouldn't and now Hydra wants information?" Clint suggests.
Fury nods his head. "Richard Watson was a researcher that had worked alongside Erik Selvig a few years back. He became a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D after his work with Erik and the Tesseract"
"He worked for S.H.I.E.L.D?" I asked in shock. Of course he did! Everyone who works for S.H.I.E.L.D ends up in some sort of danger.
"He was a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D." Fury clarified. "He wasn't employed here. We just hired him on a few occasions to help out with the science"
"But you couldn't protect him from Hydra?" I ask.
Fury takes an intimidating step towards me. I keep myself composed and confidently look straight up at him. My eyes not leaving his.
"It isn't about protection Agent Stark!" He tells me.
"To hell it is" I retort. "You hire all these specialists to help out on cases but once that case is over you leave them to their own devices. Once someone is associated with S.H.I.E.L.D that makes them a target to so many organisations who want information. How do you know that Hydra didn't kidnap his family just to try and gain information about S.H.I.E.L.D?"
"How about we refrain from passing the blame and instead focus on the mission ahead Agent" Fury suggests. He turns his back on me and continues walking forward. It takes me a moment to register what just happened. I turn to look at both Clint and Wanda to see them both as shocked as me.
"Come on" I tell them both. "Let's get this over with so we can go save Bucky and Steve"
I follow after Fury and Agent Hill, the others walking closely by my side. I'm so done with S.H.I.E.L.D's inability to protect those that work for them. Everyone who associates themselves with S.H.I.E.L.D always ends up in danger and Director Fury never seems to understand why.