Maria was the first one out of the helicopter, but Fury quickly joined her side and walked up to the lonely agent who was awaiting them. The agent was none other than Phil Coulson. He looked very mysterious as he stood there, stone-cold amidst all the chaos surrounding him. Oh, and let's not forget the dark shades.
"How bad is it?" Fury asked as soon as they reached the agent, not the one to beat around the bush.
Just as Coulson swiped his shades off, he replied, "That's the problem, sir. We don't know." Perhaps he wanted to have a good look at the Director when he spoke with him, or maybe he just wanted to be polite.
"That seems like a problem, indeed." Keira said absentmindedly as she joined the group, her eyes gazing at the people running around them. Although the evacuation was in full progress, they were still none the wiser as to what was happening. And that did not bode well.
"If I want a sarcastic comment, I'll ask for it, Nowak." Fury said sternly, throwing her a death glare which caused Keira to look down in shame. Sometimes her mouth worked too fast for her brain to handle.
"I'm sorry, sir." She muttered to the ground, following in the older agents' footsteps as Coulson led them inside and into a lift. Keira hated elevators. The mere knowledge that she was trapped and doomed to fall to her death if a cable snapped was unsettling to her.
Besides, she had seen a few horror movies in which people who were trapped in elevators crawled out on their stomachs through the half-open doors between levels, only for the power to return. This caused the elevator to start moving again, and the person was effectively cut in half. So yeah, not a big fan.
But she had no other choice than to brave it as the lift descended deeper and deeper below ground.
There were still quite a few people around, despite the fact that the facility had been in full evacuation for a while now. Keira was surprised by that, as she would've expected the building to be almost empty by now. But no, people were still running around, trying to bring the bare necessities with them.
"When did you first notice that the Cube was acting strangely?" Keira asked, which forced both Coulson and Fury to look back at her over their shoulders, as they were marching in front of her and Maria.
"Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago." Coulson replied in a somewhat hurried voice as they made their way through the radiation section of the facility.
Keira couldn't help but wonder what other secrets the PEGASUS projects held, since the radiation unit alone was enormous. And there was still a lot more room to cover. But as she had barely known of its existence, so it was no surprise that she didn't know what was going on in the other parts of the building.
Again, SHIELD and its secrets.
"NASA didn't authorize Selvig to go to test phase." Fury cut in. Why would the scientist test the Cube without permission to do so? As he attempted to get a grasp on the situation, a look of confusion painted his features. Not knowing what was going on made him uneasy. And he did not like feeling uneasy.
"He wasn't testing it. He wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous event." Coulson replied without hesitation.
Spontaneous event? That sounded serious. This wasn't her area of expertise, but if a Cube from outer space begins to act strangely, then there's definitely a reason to worry.
"It just turned itself on?" Maria asked, just as puzzled as the rest of the group.
"Where are the energy levels now?" Fury asked while completely ignoring Maria's question, which in Keira's opinion was quite rude. But when she threw a sideways glance at the brunette agent, she noticed that Maria didn't seem phased. She was too focused on Coulson and Fury's conversation to even notice.
"Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered the evac." Coulson said as people buzzed around them, packing down whatever they could into secure cases.
Of course, Keira understood that it would be a shame to lose the research, but was everything that was still here really that important? Didn't they value their lives more than this? Was it worth risking their lives to secure whatever it was that they were packing? But on the other hand, this was SHIELD she was talking about. So obviously, the scientists would do everything in their power to save their research.
"How long until everyone's out?" Keira asked, her stomach churning unpleasantly as she looked at Coulson. Nothing she had heard so far had done anything to settle her nerves. If anything, her stress had only increased.
"Campus should be clear in the next half-hour."
"Do better." Fury looked at Coulson, who gave a short nod and turned back to where they came from. How on Earth was he was supposed to accelerate the evacuation? A magic spell or something maybe?
Looking over her shoulder, she watched Coulson disappear. Of all the things she had heard so far, she still couldn't place what her role was in all this. As she had no scientific input to offer, she was of no use in regard to the Tesseract. So that was definitely not the reason as to why she was here. Maybe they simply just wanted an extra pair of hands in case something weird happened?
Being a mutant had its perks, and despite everything she had endured with HYDRA, they had helped her to develop her abilities. Not only did she have enhanced speed and strength, but she could also turn her skin into diamond, making her practically impervious to harm.
Her ability had first shown itself when she had just turned six years old as a boy had tried to hit her. When she had shielded her face with her arms, she had seen her skin transform before her very eyes. The boy, however, had missed it and had punched her anyway. She could still remember how loudly he had wailed after he broke his hand. It served him right though, in her opinion. However, due to her parents' inability to handle the fact that their daughter was different, it was this incident that led them to look for someone, anyone, who would take her.
So, they had given her away to people they thought would be able to take care of her. Or at least, that's what she hoped had happened. She hoped that her parents truly believed that the man who had collected her would be able to help and take care of her, and not that there had been another agenda behind it. Because she knew that HYDRA sometimes bought their assets and she just prayed that it wasn't the case with her.
Hopefully, her parents had not been aware of the pain they were submitting her to for the years to come. Keira had never bothered to look them up after she was freed from HYDRA's grasp. They had made it pretty clear that they wanted nothing to do with their daughter, so who was she to force her company on them?
Truth be told, she had no idea if they were even still alive. The bombings of Novi Grad had started shortly after she had been taken, and even before that, the city had been in a state of unrest. And from what she had gathered by the limited amount of info that she had been able to lay her hands on, the situation had only worsened after that. And as if the bombings themselves weren't enough, a civil war had erupted afterward.
Keira was too caught up in old memories to notice the sloping staircase leading even further down into the facility, which caused her to trip on the step. But she was saved from the embarrassment of a fall due to Maria catching her quickly, the woman's spy reflexes on point. "Trying to get killed already, Nowak?" The brunette asked as she helped Keira back on her feet again.
"Hah, you wish, Hill. Don't worry, you can still plan my funeral together with Romanoff." Keira answered, smiling weakly in embarrassment. When she was stable on her feet again, she trotted after Maria and Fury down the winding stairs. The fact that she had some stamina was a blessing because otherwise she would've died going down those stairs. Because the staircase was long, like way too long.
"Sir, evacuation may be futile." Maria said after a short while, expressing the exact thought that had been swimming around in Keira's head. Uncontrollable energy from outer space wouldn't exactly stay within limits known to man.
"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" Fury asked sarcastically, throwing a questioning glance at Hill over his shoulder.
"I think what Hill means, sir, is that we don't know how powerful the Tesseract is. So, if we can't control its energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance." Keira replied to the Director, despite not being the one asked. Hadn't this thought already crossed his mind? Surely, it must have done. He wasn't stupid.
At last, the staircase finally came to an end, and she drew a deep breath of relief. In her opinion, stairs that long should be made illegal.
"I need you to make sure the Phase Two prototypes are shipped out." Fury completely ignored Keira and instead spoke directly to Maria.
Keira couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this. Very subtle tactics, Director. So, not only did he not have an answer on how big the Tesseract's impact radius would be, but he also prioritized prototypes? That seemed odd to her. It was just... Strange. She hated secrets for this very reason. People went insane because they constantly had to watch every word they said. Phase Two was also unknown to her, but she could put two and two together, guessing it had something to do with the Tesseract.
Maria was visibly confused by these words. "Sir, is that really a priority right now?" She asked, stopping as the Director turned to face her.
"Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on." He replied, starting to walk away before stopping once more. "Clear out the tech below. Every piece of Phase Two on a truck and gone."
As Keira glanced at Maria, she could see how the brunette's features grew harder with every word Fury uttered. "Yes, sir." The woman replied, striding past Fury without a second glance. "Nowak, with me."
While Keira followed Maria deeper into the facility, Fury broke off to who knows where. Probably the Tesseract's location if she had to guess. "What's the plan?" She asked cautiously, still a bit unsure about the stern look on Maria's face.
"Like Fury said, get the Phase Two prototypes on the trucks and out of here." The brunette replied without looking at the buzzing crowd around them, her eyes fixed forward.
Keira nodded in answer and followed Maria around like a lost puppy as the brunette shouted out orders to the surrounding scientists and agents. While they made their way through the facility to the loading docks, Maria's stern look slowly melted away and Keira let out a breath of relief. She didn't like it when her friends were upset.
She still felt really out of place though. This was clearly not her scene. But it didn't take long before this feeling was replaced, and she realized what she was here to do. Being a drudge. Yippie. Since she could carry at least twice as much as the average human, she could easily transport the cases to the loading docks faster than anyone else.
"Look at that. This wasn't the evening you were expecting when I woke you from your beauty sleep, Nowak?" Maria commented with a small smirk just as Keira put down a few big cases on the dock. Even though the situation was stressful with the whole Tesseract thing hanging over their head, Maria still had time for jokes, or at least for the few people she actually liked.
Keira raised an eyebrow at the sarcastic question and shook her head. "No, I thought you'd have something fun in mind. But I forgot, miss Hill doesn't do fun." She answered with a shrug as she turned away to pick up some more cases.
Maria remained silent until the blonde woman returned, this time carrying a large grey case in her arms. "I can both do and be fun." She replied, leaning closer to Keira so she wouldn't be overheard by the other agents.
"Oh?" Keira questioned, pretending to be surprised. She met Maria's gaze with a sly smile on her face and said, "Feel free to prove it then." Of course, she had seen Maria let her hair down a couple of times. It was too much fun to tease the brunette though, as most SHIELD agents would probably describe Maria as 'strict'.
But like most people in this business, she could be quite fun and relaxed with the people she was comfortable with, and Keira was lucky to be one of those selected few. Even though she had only been a SHIELD agent for about two years.
"You know I will, Keira." Maria responded, placing a hand on the younger woman's back in what appeared to be a comforting motion before shoving her playfully back in the direction of the labs. "This time, you're paying though."
As Keira was on her way back from the labs, she almost tripped over the big case she was carrying when a quake shook the facility, causing dust to fall from the ceiling. The fuck? That was not normal in the slightest. And her guess was that it had something to do with the bloody Tesseract. Even from this distance, she could see the worried expression on Maria's face. So, instead of asking any questions about it, as she guessed that Maria was as clueless as her, she just accelerated her pace.
After a few more rounds of carrying various sized cases and bags with who knows what in them, Keira finally put the last one down. She leaned her elbows on it and drew a great breath. "Next time you want me for a mission, please give me something more exciting." She huffed at Maria, whose face was still painted with concern. The quake had shaken her, both figuratively and literally.
"Oh, you're such a drama queen. Work can't always be fun. But fine, you have my word, at least for one mission to come." Maria answered, shaking her head at the younger woman's antics.
"Thank you, Mari-" Keira began but shut her mouth as she saw Clint leading a very assorted group of people toward the trucks. Having seen his picture in the paper, she recognized Selvig, the scientist. But the one with slick, black hair and a weird costume on, didn't sit right with her.
"Need these vehicles." Clint said, pointing at the jeeps to make his point clearer.
Maria, who had been walking towards the group stopped mid-step, looking confused. In a similar fashion to Keira, her eyes were also glued to the black-haired man with the glowing stick. "Who's that?" The brunette asked as the man sat down in the back of a truck.
The man in question, appeared to be in poor health. His skin was pale, and a thin layer of sweat was pearling on his face. It almost looked as if he was hurt because he was hunched over, holding on to the edge of the truck for dear life. Like it was a lifeline.
Clint barely even glanced at her as he answered, "They didn't tell me."
"Clint, what's going on?" Keira asked, a confused frown on her face. Clint was usually a quite warm person, always ready with a joke. But now, he appeared cold and emotionless. Almost as if something else had control over him. He didn't bother to answer her but turned around to make sure that his group got into the truck.
"Hill!" The voice of Fury broke through Maria's radio. Keira noted how the black-haired man's head shot up in their direction. "Do you copy? Barton has turned."
It was as though a signal had been given because the moment these words were spoken, Clint turned around, aiming his gun at Maria, and fired. She managed to avoid getting hit by a bullet by rolling behind a wall just in time.
"Clint! What the hell?!" Keira yelled, which caught Clint's attention. And when she met his gaze, she gasped loudly. His normally kind, blue eyes had turned a much clearer shade of blue, but they were lacking any kind of emotion. It was as if he didn't even see her. This wasn't Clint. Something else had control over him. It didn't take him long to fire at her, causing her to duck down behind the case she had been carrying previously.
Occasionally, or most of the time really, Keira got annoyed with herself. This was one of those times. Why had she ducked down? Bullets were no match to the diamond, which had been tested multiple times before.
In annoyance, she hit herself on the forehead before transforming her skin and getting up. With her gun pointing at the place where Clint had last stood, she saw to her dismay that he was gone. The slamming of a car door draw her attention and she quickly fired at the vehicle. Maria's bullets joined her own, but Clint just kept driving. "Shit!" She was greatly annoyed that she hadn't been able to puncture a tire at the very least.
"They have the Tesseract! Shut them down!" Fury's voice echoed through the radio. Oh, god. They had the Tesseract? That was a disaster. And if they got away with it... She didn't even want to think about it.
As Maria jumped behind the wheel, Keira hopped into the passenger seat, and the brunette didn't hesitate in pursuing Barton. Maria clearly had a shortcut in mind, because she drove off from the main tunnel and into a smaller one. "You got a plan?" Keira asked as she reloaded her gun. She would've preferred her bow instead of the gun, but she hadn't had time to retrieve it from her locker before they arrived here.
"I always do." The woman answered simply, guiding the vehicle through the narrow tunnel. It broke into several passages, and Keira couldn't help but be impressed by Maria's navigation skills. How anyone was able to find their way down here was a miracle. It was a bloody maze.
Suddenly, Maria swerved a hard left which caused Keira to slide sideways and bump into the car door. Confused, she looked around and when she looked in the rear-view mirror, she felt her heart give a small leap. Maria had managed to get them in front of Barton's jeep, and Keira silently praised the woman in her mind for this.
Maria pulled the handbrake and swerved the car around 180 degrees, so it was front to front with Barton's. The tires screeched in protest at the abrupt turn, and Keira aimed her gun at the same time as Barton did. Although she didn't want to shoot at him, she had no other choice as he happily pulled the trigger at her. She tried to aim at his arm, which was outstretched through the window as he fired at them.
While Barton aimed out of the side of the car, Keira chose to shoot right through the windshield. Right now, she couldn't give a damn about the glass. They fired at each other, but none of the bullets hit their targets. She ducked down just in time to hear a bullet swoosh past her left ear and her breath hitched. That had been close, way too close for comfort.
When his target disappeared from view, Clint pushed down the gas pedal and swerved the steering wheel, which caused Keira's and Maria's jeep to wobble out of the way, giving him a free path forward.
Maria managed to correct the vehicle just in time to avoid crashing into the cave wall, and Keira breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods you know how to drive..." She mumbled to herself as she aimed her gun at the disappearing jeep in front.
The distant sound of an explosion reached her ears, which caused her to drop her gun in shock and turn around in her seat. And what she saw was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Big pieces of rock were falling and crashing against the asphalt below as the tunnel caved in behind them.
"Maria! Better hit it!" Keira yelled as the rocks closed in on them. The only thing she could hear was the engine roaring and the rocks crashing down behind them. Getting buried under tons of rock was like something out of a nightmare. She silently prayed to the gods she didn't believe in, to save their lives this one time so they could try to do better in this world. And to not get crushed under a whole building collapsing on top of them.
"What do you think I'm doing?!" Maria shouted back, swerving around a big boulder that had fallen in front of the truck. With Maria zigzagging around the falling debris, Keira couldn't get a clear shot at Clint's jeep, which had gained the momentum of the fight and was disappearing further and further away.
It would be terrible if Clint and the black-haired man managed to escape, but right now, there were more pressing matters on her mind. Like the possibility of getting buried. But she could swear she could see the end of the tunnel in the distance, and she silently prayed to Maria to push the jeep to go even faster.
But it was to no avail. Heavy boulders crashed down all around them, and one fell in front, causing the jeep to screech to a halt. Keira's head smashed into the dashboard as she didn't have a seatbelt on, and a groan left her lips. Even if she was more durable than most, it did not mean she was impervious to pain.
The jeep was wedged between heavy rocks, and Keira knew they wouldn't be able to get the vehicle out of there. The tunnel however seemed to have stabilized, no longer in danger of collapsing but dust still hung heavily in the air. She glanced over at Maria, who appeared to be unharmed, except for the nosebleed and probably a few bruises.
"Come on, let's get out of here before the whole tunnel collapses." Keira urged as she helped Maria out of the jeep. Even if the tunnel seemed stable for now, she did not want to wait around to find out whether or not it was, though. Her ears picked up distant radio chatter, but her brain was unable to make out the words.
It seemed like Maria could, however, as she answered, "A lot of men still under. Don't know how many survivors. Nowak's okay as well." She leaned against Keira for support and stability, because her body really did hurt.
"Sound a general call. I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase." Fury said firmly. So, he had also avoided being crushed by the collapsing building. At least one good piece of news among all this destruction. SHIELD needed Nick Fury.
"Roger that."
"Coulson, get back to base. This is a Level Seven. As of right now, we are at war." Fury's voice echoed through the radio, the sound being amplified by all the rocks surrounding them. As the stone laid heavily on the jeep, slowly crushing it, Keira realized how lucky they were to not have been buried.
~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Okay, so I struggle so much with action scenes. I never feel like I get the right flow with it, like you can in a movie. But I hope this was alright to read nevertheless haha..