The Day S.H.I.E.L.D. Fell
Everything was so loud, yet Delaney couldn't hear a thing. Gunshots echoed just beyond the other side of the locked door. Her head was pounding, her hands ached, and the cut on her bicep was burning.
The S.H.I.E.L.D intern looked down at the three agents sprawled out across the floor in her office. The fourth agent was on her coffee table, her scarlet blood dripping on to important papers that Delaney had been sorting through just before the attack.
"Oh." Delaney breathed out, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth. However when she did that, her busted lips stung when she touched them.
Delaney looked down at her outfit. Her blue floral skirt and white long sleeve had splatters of red across the material. Her white heels were no longer on her feet. One had been thrown across the room and another had been used to stab one of the agents in the arm.
The sound of a phone going off scared Delaney, making her jump. Her phone was sitting on the edge of her desk.
"Oh no." Delaney shook her head. She didn't want to go near the dead agent on her coffee table. But she had to.
She decided to run to her desk, grab her phone, then hurry back to the corner she was hiding in.
"Oh my gosh, Maria." Delaney breathed out as she answered the call. "Everything is so, so bad. I-I-I had to do it. I swear, I had to. There was just-There was just no other way! I promised you I'd always keep my powers in check and it wasn't them! That wasn't how it—,"
"Valente! Valente, take a deep breath."
Delaney put her head back against the wall and closed her eyes as she took a much needed deep breath.
"Now tell me what you're freaking out about. Has it started there? I can't get ahold of anyone."
"Has what started?" Delaney repeated.
"HYDRA is taking over S.H.I.E.L.D."
"That explains so much." Delaney shook her head, rubbing her head as she let out a spigh. "Agent-Agent Moore and Hernandez and Summers and Marshall all tried to attack me. They wanted information on you and on Director Fury's personal files."
"Did you give them anything, Valente?"
Delaney shook her head, her eyes finding the body on the little coffee table.
"Valente, answer me."
"No, Hill. I-I killed all of them. All of them."
"Valente, right now you cannot worry about that. They were going to hurt you and you did what you had to in order to survive. Is there anyone else with you?"
Before Delaney could answer, a gun went off just outside the door.
"What's going on, Valente?"
"Shhh." She hushed Hill.
The door knob to Valente's office began to jiggle. Delaney slapped her hand over her busted lips in an attempt to refrain from screaming. She quickly moved to hide behind her overturned desk. The desk had been flipped over during her fight with the four HYDRA agents.
Whoever it was kicked the door open. Delaney pressed her hand tighter against her mouth and gripped her phone tightly.
"I'm here, sir, but I don't see Valente." The man speaking was a good friend to Delaney, Agent Kevin Williams.
Kevin Williams was very tall man with a lean figure. His eyes were a chocolate brown and his hair a dark black. His skin was a deep brown. Kevin was just beginning to grow some facial hair along his jaw and his chin.
Tears began to form in Delaney's eyes at the possibility that Kevin might be HYDRA.
"Valente, Agent Williams is searching for you." Hill spoke. "He's going to help get you out of there. Make your location known."
Delaney took a deep breath, pressing herself against the bottom of the desk.
"Are you.... Are you one of those double agents, Kev?" She asked him quietly, her voice scratchy and timid.
"Of course not, Delaney. I'm offended you'd think that." Kevin hesitantly remained in his spot near the door. "Is it okay if I come to you? You aren't going to shoot me or anything?"
"I won't." Delaney shook her head.
"Has Williams found you, Valente?" Hill asked through the phone.
"Yes, ma'am." Delaney replied, standing to her feet as Kevin moved towards her.
"Shit, Laney." He muttered, his brows furrowed together in concern. One of his hands cradled her jaw while the other started to wipe the blood from her cheek and forehead. "They really beat you up, sweetheart."
"Put Williams on the phone, Valente." Hill ordered.
"I'll be okay, Kevin. Hill wants to talk to you."
Kevin let Delaney go and took the phone. He cleared his throat and began to speak to the Commander.
"This is Agent Williams, ma'am."
As they began to share a quiet conversation, Delaney made sure that she stayed close to Kevin. Her hands gripped his dark long sleeve the way a child would her parent's shirt.
Delaney closed her eyes and used her enhanced hearing to listen to the fighting on the ship. There were so many guns, so many lives being lost....
"Yes, ma'am.... She is perfectly safe with me." Kevin spoke under his breath, his free hand going back to hold one of Delaney's hands. "I have Agent Khanna with me. Delaney is the safest person on this boat.... Yes, ma'am. That's understood."
Kevin ended the call and stuffed Delaney's phone into one of the pockets of his pants.
"Where's your gun, Laney? We've got to find Zara."
"I-I-I do not want to kill anyone else, Kevin." Delaney shook her head. "I was friends with Tia Moore."
"Obviously not if she tried to kill you."
The door opened without any warning, causing Delaney to jump and cling to the back of Kevin.
"Those bitches are closing in, Kevin." Zara pulled out the empty clip from her gun and reloaded it. "We have a very small three minute window before they take the only way in and out of this death trap."
Zara Khanna was a tall woman with broad shoulders and a fit figure. Her eyes were brown, her long dark, brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail high on her head, and her skin was a beautiful tawny beige color.
Any other day, Zara wouldn't be caught without her favorite red lipstick on or allow it to be messed up. It was always perfect. Today, however, it was mixed with blood on her lips and a trail of red was making its way out of her nose. Her skin was smudged with dirt, a sign of the small explosives the HYDRA agents had been using.
"Are you cool with taking the lead, Zara?" Kevin asked her.
"Of course. These assholes killed Montie."
"Agent Montgomery is dead?" Delaney whispered, her eyebrows coming together and her lips parting.
"We can cry about our losses later, Valente. We need to get out of here." Zara called over her shoulder as she made her way to the door.
"Here." Kevin handed Delaney a loaded Walther PPQ 45. "Please. Just take it and yell at me later for making you do it. I'd rather you be alive and angry than dead and not angry."
Delaney looked at the gun in her hands for a few moments before letting out a sigh.
"I won't yell at you later. Yelling isn't my thing."
"Then we can chat about this over Ben and Jerry's. Follow Zara." Kevin nodded his head in Zara's direction.
The female agent peaked out of the office, making sure the coast was clear, and then she began to lead the way down the dark and smoke-filled hallway. Delaney struggled to keep herself from coughing. She carefully stepped over the bodies that were sprawled throughout the hallway.
She peeked over her shoulder to make sure Kevin was following. He gave her a thumb's up and then pointed ahead, indicating he wanted her to keep her eyes on whatever could be waiting for them just around the next corner.
Zara slowed down to a stop and leaned against a wall. She paused briefly to take a deep breath before turning the corner. Three shots were fired. One on her behalf and two from someone on the other end of the hallway. The gunshots ceased and Zara gave Delaney and Kevin the signal that the coast was clear.
The trio continued to walk.
As Delaney stepped over a body, it grabbed her ankle and tried to stab her thigh with a knife. Kevin delivered a fatal shot to the man's head. He let Delaney's ankle go and slumped back down on to the floor.
"Did he get you, Valente?" Zara asked quietly.
Delaney shook her head, brushing her hand over her thigh to check for a wound.
"Then let's keep moving."
Delaney watched as the dark haired agent moved ahead of herself and Kevin. He nudged Delaney in the back, encouraging her to continue walking. As they did so, Kevin started to whisper from behind her.
"If it comes down to us or them and we run out of bullets, you use those powers you keep hidden from everyone else."
Delaney slowed down a little so that they were closer and she glanced over her shoulder to him.
"Director Fury and Commander Hill told me to never use them."
"Would you rather die because you don't use your powers that you were given for a reason or would you rather live because you used them once in the, what, eight, nine years you've been out of the field?"
Delaney let out a small breath but said nothing else.
The hallway the trio was in suddenly became a battle ground. Bullets bounced off the walls, shots echoed, and Kevin pushed Delaney towards a door.
"This is Agent Greenway's office."
"Right now, Valente, I don't care whose office this is." Zara moved to make sure the office was clear of any warm bodies while Kevin remained at the door, shooting at the enemy.
Delaney watched as Zara tucked her gun into the holster on her thigh and then began to tip the desk over on to its side.
"Are you going to stand there or do you want to hide behind this thing?" Zara raised her eyebrows as she gestured to the overturned desk.
Delaney wasn't sure if Zara was being sarcastic or actually serious because all that Delaney wanted to do right now was get behind that desk and wake up from this terrible nightmare.
"Easy, Zara." Kevin called over his shoulder. "She's never been out in the field."
Zara watched Delaney for a moment, her dark brown eyes set on the intern she was tasked with rescuing.
"Is there anything you can do that would be beneficial to me and Kevin?"
"She can breathe fire."
"Kevin!" Delaney whispered his name loudly.
"It's fine, Delaney."
"She can breathe fire." Zara muttered, nodding her head as she started to pat down her pockets in search of a magazine. She pulled one out of a pocket on her thigh and loaded her gun. "Right. That's bad ass."
"Isn't Raycer on the ship, Zara?" Kevin asked her, then peaked his head out the door and shot twice in the direction of the enemy.
"I don't know, Kevin. I literally just landed here a half an hour after this whole mess started."
"Agent Eric Raycer?" Delaney asked tentatively, licking her busted lips and brushed her hair back out of her eyes.
"Yeah." Kevin nodded his head. "You know him?"
"No but I know he's supposed to be here. He flew in early this morning with a few other agents. How do we know he isn't a HYDRA spy?" This was one thing she could help with. She knew who was on this ship and who wasn't suppose to be here.
"He's one of the few agents I know better than you." Kevin replied. "If he's a HYDRA Nazi, then I seriously have to question all of my relationships in life."
Zara moved to take Kevin's place by the door.
"Where are we going once we get out of this room?" Delaney questioned, her eyes raking over Kevin to check for any wounds.
"Assuming we'll actually make it out, we have a helicopter waiting on the deck." Zara replied.
"What if those HYDRA guys get to it first?"
"Then we're screwed. That is unless you happen to grow wings and turn into a dragon."
"I'm not a dragon."
"Laney, come here." Kevin nodded for her to go to him. He stood in the far corner of the office, on the opposite side of the door. "You have to let your instincts take over for this, Delaney. I know you don't want to kill anyone but these people were trying to kill you. Hill needs you where she is."
"Where is she?" Delaney asked quietly, her eyebrows drawn together as she listened closely to Kevin.
"Only I know the location. I don't want to risk anyone else finding out. But Laney...." Kevin took a deep breath, his eyes flickering to Zara at the door. She gave him a thumb's up before shooting at the HYDRA agents down the hallway. "Laney, Director Fury died."
"What?" She whispered, taking a step away from Kevin. "No.... No, that's-No."
"Delaney, I need you to help us get you out of here alive because Hill needs you." Kevin took a hold of her arms and looked into her brown eyes. "You're all she's got left to try to fix S.H.I.E.L.D. Do you understand?"
"What if she dies too, Kevin?" Delaney's voice cracked. "She's-She's all I've got aside from you. Phil's gone and—,"
"She is perfectly safe where she is, Laney. We can't worry about her right now. We aren't safe here."
"It's not that that whole exchange males me want to vomit all over or anything but we need to go now." Zara announced. "The hall's clear."
Delaney sniffled and wiped her cheeks. Director Nick Fury had been a close friend and mentor to Delaney despite being her boss.
"Hey, remember we're gonna talk about this later over Ben and Jerry's." Kevin reminded her, rubbing her shoulder before he moved towards the door.
Delaney nodded her head and took a deep breath, wiping her cheeks and then smoothing out her ruined skirt.
"You can do this, Delaney." She whispered to herself, watching the two agents at the door. "You can do this. Everything will be okay."
I kept telling myself that I didn't need to publish this yet, that I needed to wait but I can't!!! I needed to get a POC story out because it's been eating me up that I've only written Caucasian/white characters.... :/
Delaney Valene is Latina and is from Brazil. Obviously since this is just the first chapter, more about her will come out when I publish more chapters.
ALSO this chapter takes place right around the time of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
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<3 Kacey <3