"Romanoff, Barton. I have a job for you." Said Fury and let the two agents into his office. Director threw a folder on the table. From the folder dropped out few photos of demolished terrorist bases.
"What caused the explosion?" Asked Clint curiously.
"According to our technicians it was always auto destruction. But with three bases in one month? That's suspicious. I think that someone hacked them. Someone who can swim through codes like a fish in water."
"I don't think that's possible with current technology. Most of them use auto destruction buttons with twenty number combination, fingerprint and voice verification. Single wrong attempt and the alarm will go off. Someone unauthorized would have to get around these steps but I don't think it's possible at this time." Explained Branwell, the head of the technical center, who was standing next to the director. Fury only frowned.
"There is a pattern, it seems that whoever is causing this appears to be traveling from Baltimore to Philadelphia. We were able to guess which base could be blown up next. Find a team, get there first and wait for anybody who causes this and immediately report back to me." With these words, he dismissed them.
"Let's head out today. I have a bad feeling about this." Said Natasha.
"Yeah, that will be the best. We'll meet at six in the hangar, and we'll set off." Announced Clint.
-Time skip-
Liam Mills watched in boredom as a landscape full of coniferous trees flickered behind a window. Slowly, he bopped his head to the beat of Twenty-One Pilots' Stressed Out, which began to play in his ears. He felt the train slow down slightly, so he began to rise from his seat. He climbed out of his compartment and prepared to get off the train. A few minutes later, he was coming out of the station building and looking around. The place looked deserted, except of the few houses that could be seen through the snow in the air. Snuggling even more into his white coat, he let out a puffy breath and began to penetrate through the thick layer of snow towards his next goal.
He hid behind a tree when he saw the first guard. He raised his wrist as if to look at his watch, and around it wrapped a holographic strip. He slung the hood of his snow-white coat over his head and began climbing the tree carefully. The guard's watch beeped softly, signalling the start of the exchange. A large light blue ten appeared on Liam's holographic strip.
Ten.
Liam looked around and saw a ventilation shaft.
Nine.
He saw a camera monitoring the shaft.
Eight.
He pulled a tiny disk from his coat with a blue backlit button in the centre.
Seven.
He pressed the button and calculated the angle of the throw.
Six.
With a quick flick of his wrist, he threw the disc that stuck magnetically to the camera.
Five.
In Liam's eye, the codes began to be projected in the iris, and a repeated shot was set on the camera.
Four.
He ran up a branch of the tree to the ventilation.
Three.
He took off the light plastic cover.
Two.
He slipped inside.
One.
He put the cover back in its place.
Zero.
He deactivated the video loop on the camera.
He sighted. He had the easiest part behind him. Liam began to crawl through the ventilation shaft, careful not to make any noise. He crawled around the opening into a corridor and noticed a plan of the building on the wall. His irises now began to act like a camera lens, and he zoomed in so he could see the map clearly. Ten more meters and he'll be where he wants to be. After a while, he finally appeared above a darkened room illuminated only by the light from the monitors. To the luck of Liam, the man at the table had headphones in his ears with music so loud that even the intruder could hear it. Liam carefully removed the plastic cover and quietly placed it next to him. He froze as the man in the chair moved. He took off his headphones, got up from his chair and walked slowly around the room, stretching and yawning. He walked around the vents and Liam took the opportunity.
He swung through the opening, wrapped his strong legs around the man's neck, and covered his nose and mouth with one hand. He held the edge of the ventilation shaft with his other hand. It didn't take long before the man hung limply in Liam's grip. Liam laid him on the ground without any noise and moved himself to the computers, more specifically to the bulletproof glass protected self-destruction button. From the glass cover, thin wires led to one of the computer boxes. He attached one of the disks that he used on the camera. Within seconds, a holographic keyboard appeared in front of him. He began to make his way through the protective walls. Thanks to his ability to get through a twenty-digit code, it was not a problem. The next level was the fingerprint. He scanned the face of the passed-out man on the ground and compared it to information he had already obtained from previous terrorist bases of the same organisation. His position wasn't high enough. This complicated his work. He scanned the rest of the room with his eyes. A half-eaten apple caught his attention. He scanned it more closely and found fingerprints on it. There was also a drop of blood on the peel of the apple. Apparently, someone injured their gums while eating it. He pulled a device similar to a diabetic blood sugar meter from his pocket. He sucked some blood with a needle and verified its identity. General Thomas Garraway. That sounded a little better. He entered his name into his database and sought the importance of his position.
Well, it's certainly worth a try. Liam scanned the fingerprint, applied it on his own finger and then placed it on the scanner near the button.
.
.
.
No alarm went off so that's good.
Last wall was voice verification. Liam managed to obtain that from Garraway's file. The last wall of defence just fell and the bullet proof glass cover opened. He reached to press the red button that was now exposed, but before he could do that, the alarm went off. The room was illuminated in red and panicked Liam looked at the monitor that showed the cameras. Shield.
"Shit!" There was one agent inside the building and the rest was outside. Liam longingly looked back at the red button, then at the gun lying on the table to his right. He grabbed it, checked if it was loaded and took a deep breath in. He pressed the button and a 2-minute count down started.
Liam headed out and started to run in the direction of the Shield agent. No Hydra agent seemed to notice him since they were too occupied with Shield near their base. He managed to sneak all the way to the hall where the Shield agent was and helped him get rid of the Hydra soldiers. Liam then used his powers to connect to the man's earpiece.
"CLINT, GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE! THAT PLACE IS GONNA BLOW UP IN TEN SECONDS!" He could hear the yelling. 'Clint' didn't seem to register the information as he stared at Liam.
"It's you..." The agent said in realization. Liam quickly sprinted to the blonde, grabbed his wrist and run towards a very convenient window. Using the few bullets left in his gun, he shattered the glass and threw himself and Clint out just when the loud 'BANG' could be heard. The pressure wave hit the two of them in the back and sent them many meters away.
"Ughh!" Groaned Liam when he felt an unpleasant pang of pain in his arm that he landed on. Slowly he got up and limped towards the motionless body of Clinton Francis Barton (as he found out, was his full name, thanks to his powers) and checked his pulse. The agent was fine, just unconscious. Liam sighted and swung Barton's hand over his shoulder. He lifted him from the snow and ventured out to search for his colleagues. From behind one of the trees swiftly appeared a read haired woman with a gun aimed at his forehead. He slowly showed her his empty hands and without breaking the eye contact laid Barton on the ground. Out of nowhere, an electric shock run through him. He yelped and then his world turned black.
-Time skip-
Liam woke up few hours later, in a brightly lit room with a steel table and two uncomfortable chairs. Liam lifted his head from the table and looked around. This was interrogating room, that was for sure. The door on Liam's right opened and a man in black suit walked in with slim folder in hand. Liam quickly found out who the man was. Phil Coulson. One of the best Shield agents out there.
"Great, I was starting to get thirsty." He said with raspy voice and Coulson's lips twitched.
"What is your name?"
"What Coulson? Shield couldn't find even that?" Liam smirked.
"You are on a thin ice young man, we have enough to lock you up for the rest of your life."
"Oh, do you? 'Cause I'm pretty sure I was just having a fun time on my afternoon walk when an explosion went off and one of yours knocked me out." This time, it was Coulson who grinned.
"We've happened to arrive on the spot just in time to see and record your little stunt. I must say, I'm impressed. It's been a while since I've seen one man take down a whole base. Man of your qualities could be a valuable ally and-"
"I won't join Shield. That's not what I do, y'know. Not my style."
"And what is your style?" Asked Coulson, the mischievous glint in his eye still not disappearing.
"Laying low, in the shadows. Coming out only when its absolute necessary. Keeping an eye or two on what's known about me."
"Then how about we make a deal? You help us when we won't know what to do and we'll keep our nose out of your business." Liam raised an eyebrow.
"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Coulson did not respond.
"Very well then. The name's Liam Mills and I'll make sure you'll keep your side of the deal."
"Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D. Mr. Mills."