I squeezed my eyes shut, ready for blaring siren, or maybe to get shot, I wasn't quite sure.
"Ah. I have found the way in." I looked up. Thor was standing next to a doorway in the concrete.
I rolled my eyes and pressed my communications device on my ear, turning it on. "We've found an entrance but no guards."
"Good for you!" Came the reply from Steve, who sounded out of breath. "We weren't quite so," the sounds of some shouts and then silence, "lucky."
Tony's voice came next, "Chop chop kid, get your ass inside that building."
I nodded and followed Thor inside. It was like any basement lab. A series of tunnels with bright white lights on the ceiling and metal doors at regular intervals. As soon as we passed the entrance the wall closed behind us. I swung round. There was no sign it had ever been there.
"This feels too easy." I whispered.
"I agree, stay alert." Thor replied gruffly before setting down the corridor.
"I agree stay alert," I mimicked, "and then you leave me? Jesus." I shook my head and took off behind him.
As I got to him I slowed down to a walking pace.
"Which door are we looking for?" I asked.
"Did you not look at the brief?" Thor asked.
"I mean.. I memorised the maps..." I sighed, realising I must not have read all the brief, "No."
"I did not read the brief either." Thor admitted.
Just as we got to a door a click sounded. We stopped dead still and looked at each other.
"Was that you?" I whispered. Thor shook his head. I looked around us. It was faint but coming out of the air vents at the top of the wall was a light vapour that looked like smoke.
"Thor..." I said slowly. "I think we should back up." As soon as I took a step backward the gas came in full force filling the space with a massive cloud of smoke. My eyes stung and I began to take hacking breaths.
"Cap," I wheezed into my radio, "it's booby-trapped. We got gas."
"Check your belt." Nat's voice came through my ear.
I fell to my knees, my eyes streaming. I could hear Thor coughing, but not as badly. My lungs were on fire. I felt around the attachments on my belt, my fingers badly co-ordinated from my lightheadedness. Finally I found something that felt like a mask. I pulled it on. It fit perfectly to my face. I could finally breath easier, though my eyes still stung.
"It was designed after the Winter Soldier's." Nat's voice came through the radio. "Won't help vision loss though."
"Vision loss?" I asked alarmed. I staggered up, arms reaching out. I felt Thor's body in front of me and grabbed his arm, pulling him to me. "Thor we have to-"
Only it was not Thor. It was a six foot man holding a machine gun. Great. Still holding onto his arm I kicked him in the head, and swung around so I behind him. Gun shots went off, I'd been around gun fire many times, but it always shocked me how loud it was. More gun shots. I zigzagged down the corridor, trying to avoid bullets. I felt one skim my thigh leaving a burning sensation in its wake, forcing me to let out a low hiss. I was just praying to God he only had one gun. I shot a wooden spike behind me. I must have got lucky because I heard a grunt. Then another grunt but no more shots. He must have run out of bullets. I silently thanked whatever guardian angel was looking down on me. Now it was fair game. I ran back the way I came, in the direction of the guard's voice.
I was fighting blind, barely able to see my own feet. Suddenly I felt a hand around my throat, lifting me up. I felt my body freeze in fear, and then suddenly I was scrambling for breath, my hands grabbing onto his arm, my feet kicking out. He squeezed tighter, I could feel my mind clouding. In one final desperate attempt I threw out my arms and shot two spikes at him. One must have hit because he dropped me. I stumbled backwards, gasping for breath. I threw out a vine, wrapping it around his arms and body. He broke free and was up again in moments, giving me a hard hit to the side of my face with the butt of his gun. I shot another spike at him, narrowly missing his torso. I received another hit with his gun this time to the front of my face. I spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Fuck. This." I muttered and I ran forwards and jumped on him, pushing him to the ground. One punch to his face. Then another. I produced a stump of Abrark wood in my palm and hit him on the side of the head with it.
He stilled, unconscious. I swiped my hair out of my eyes and stood up, brushing myself off, and looked around.
No sign of Thor. Great.
I decided to keep my mask on in case of more gas. At least I knew that there were guards around, I just didn't know where.
I moved onwards, careful to keep quiet. I knew the gunshots would have drawn attention so I had to move fast.
"Thor's missing." I radioed in. "I took down a guard but shots were let off."
I took a door to my right, slipping in and shutting it as quietly as possible. It was another corridor. This place really was a maze. One gun out, I ran down the corridor not wasting any time. My heart was thumping in my chest and my lungs were still screaming. I hadn't died so far, but I'd never taken a bullet to the chest either. I guessed even immortals had their limits.
I stalked down the corridor, checking every door I came to for anything of use. Most of them just had desks or cabinets, nothing of use. There was one last door at the end. I opened it and stepped through.
I gasped.
At the end of the room was a cage.
Inside the cage was a girl. She looked about 20, but it was hard to tell. Her hair had been shaved off, and she looked incredibly thin. She had light brown skin, but it looked like it was paler than it should be.
I ran over to her to the cage.
"Have you come to run more tests?" She asked dryly.
"No." I said, looking around for where the cage opened. A cage? Fucking hell. I really didn't know what I'd gotten myself into. "I'm going to get you out. What's your name?"
"232." She replied.
"Your real name." I replied, shaking the cage.
"I'll tell you when I know you won't kill me." She sounded hoarse, like she hadn't drunk in days. I groaned. Thor would be really useful right now. Just hammer that shit open.
"Hold on." I told her, looking into her big brown eyes. She was grubby, but something about her screamed defiant. "Get to the back of the cage." I instructed.
She did as I said, and I got out a small explosive from my belt. I placed it at the bottom of the bars and turned it on, stepping back some paces and covering my ears. There was a boom and a bright flash. The metal was melted.
The girl crawled out and stood up. She wobbled slightly and I grabbed her. "Can you walk?" I asked.
She nodded. "I think so." She looked down and I followed her gaze. Her leg had been burned in the explosion.
"Great." I muttered. I wrapped one arm around her shoulders and helped her limp to the door at the end of the room. "Do you know your way around this place?"
She nodded. "Just how to get to the testing site."
"Show me." I instructed. I followed her directions through the complex. Soon we'd come to work in a rhythm, getting faster despite her limp.
"It's at the end of this corridor." She explained.
I nodded. We got to the door. It needed a code. Damn.
"Tony," I said into my communicator, "this door needs a fucking code."
"We don't need an update every time you do something Vines." Came the reply. "Do you hear us talking all the time?"
I groaned, looking at the pad. Screw it. I punched the keypad. The door swung open. "I really was not expecting it to be that easy."
"Yeah, normally punching things doesn't work." The girl shrugged. "I could have hacked it if you'd asked me but I guess you got lucky."
"That'd be first."
I kicked the door wider open and we entered a huge lab. I scanned my eyes around. In the centre was the enhancement diffuser. To the left were computers. I looked at the girl. I still couldn't trust her.
"I'm going to put you down here, don't move."
She raised an eyebrow. "Don't move?"
"You know what I mean." I hissed.
I ran over to the computers and produced a hard-drive. Stark had programmed it to download all the information and then corrupt the internal systems. I plugged it in and then walked up a small flight of steps to the diffuser. It was a huge metal cylinder, with wires and screens all over it. There was a chair in the middle with straps attached to it to lock someone in. With a sick feeling I realised that what I had taken to be just a different material on the floor was actually trails of dried blood.
"I wouldn't touch that if I were you." Came silky voice from behind me. Commanding, but soothing. I stopped. I knew that voice. Oh dear God.
"Remind me why should I listen to you?" I kept my eyes fixed on the huge piece of technology in front of me.
"Because-"
"Did you kill the girl?" I interrupted without turning round. "Or were you the girl."
"Alina? She's just sleeping. I wanted a more private conversation with you."
It was as though someone had poured ice down the back of my shirt. I was trying not to shake. With excitement? Fear? Anger? I didn't know. "Well then speak."
"Oh no my dear. It is you who is going to speak."
"Not likely." I replied. I could hear the voice coming closer. One step at a time. He was light on his feet and I could barely hear his movements.
"So they've recruited a new one? The Avengers really will stop at nothing won't they. What is your name?"
I swallowed. He was nearly behind me. "If you're going to kill me, why do you want my name?"
"Oh no, I'm not going to kill you." His voice sounded like home, like pain, like so many memories I had buried.
I had to think of a name, a name he wouldn't recognise. I had to draw him closer. "Omen." I replied. "My name is Omen."
He laughed, "Really? That's what they came up with?" Another step and he'd be breathing down my back. "How pitiful."
"You know no pity, no mercy." I growled. "I am an Omen. That is my name because my face will be the last thing you see before I destroy you."
"Destroy me? Oh they tried that. What makes you think you're any different?"
"Because you created me."
I turned around.
In front of me, so close I could see the tiny flecks of blue in his green eyes, was Loki prince of Asgard, God of Mischief.