Lottie watched Nick with cautious eyes. She sat in the passengers seat of his armored truck, watching him as he kept his eyes focused on the road ahead of them as they headed into the city.
"Activating communications encryption protocol," the AI of the car told them, and Lottie raised an eyebrow at the man beside her.
"Something got you nervous or-"
"SHIELD has been compromised,"
Lottie's eyes widened as she turned fully in her seat, but Fury never looked over once.
"Excuse me?"
"I need people I can trust, and you're one of them," Fury told her, stealing just a single glance in her direction. "SHIELD is compromised. I don't know on what level, but something isn't right."
"Project Insight," Lottie whispered, and Fury gave her an affirming nod. She swallowed the lump in her throat, sitting back in her seat and keeping her eyes on the road. "So it could just be one person?"
"Yeah, but I'm willing to bet that it isn't," the pair locked eyes one more time. "Open secure line zero-four-zero-five."
"Confirmed," the AI said as the communication systems kicked on.
"This is Hill," the familiar voice came through the car.
"Watson is in the car," Fury told her. "I need you here in D.C. Deep shadow conditions."
"Deep shadow?" Lottie questioned, but was ignored by the two.
"Give me four hours,"
"You have three, over," the line clicked off as Fury looked over at Lottie again. "There's a lot going on, a lot I can't explain right now. I'm going to need you to trust me."
Lottie only gave a nod of her head. This man sitting beside her was the one who created the Avengers, created the team to help save the world. If he said SHIELD was compromised, she'd trust his word on it.
Their car pulled to a stop at the next stoplight. Both Fury and Lottie looked over through the driver's side window, seeing a cop car pulled up beside them. Lottie's senses were going haywire as she looked at them, the two cops inside intently looking at the pair in the car.
With a pounding in her head, Lottie was involuntarily launched into a vision.
His hair was long and dark, the bottom of his face covered with a black. Lottie's eyes widened as she looked at him, his eyes piercing into her soul even from so far away. But something was pulling at the back of her mind, something wasn't right about him; he seemed familiar.
The moment was gone not long after, the armored vehicle that Lottie and Fury were in flying through the air upside down, the man in the mask watching from the sidelines intently.
Lottie's eyes flew open in time to see the car beside them pulling away. Fury shot a glance at Lottie, cocking an eyebrow at her.
"What did you see?"
"I don't know. There was this man, he seemed so-"
The car lurched, airbags deploying as a police car rammed into the side of the vehicle, followed by multiple other police cars as they were surrounded. Lottie's head flung to the side, banging off the window. She clutched her head, hand coming away to reveal a trickle of blood as she turned to Fury, seeing him in a similar state.
"Fury, fracture detected," the car AI spoke as Lottie and Fury looked outside, seeing their car surrounded. "Watson, concussion detected. Recommend anesthetic injection."
"Are there dispatch units in the area?" Lottie questioned the AI, realizing that it was police and SWAT teams surrounding them as Fury grabbed the anesthetic from the glove compartment and injecting himself with it.
"D.C. Metro Police dispatch shows no units in this area,"
Fury and Lottie exchanged a quick glance before the policemen outside opened fire on the vehicle.
The pair watched as the shields on the windows kept them safe, though Lottie knew they weren't going to hold long.
"Get us out of here!" Fury demanded.
"Propulsion systems offline,"
"Reboot!" Lottie called out, eyes widening as she saw the SWAT guys approach the driver's side window, battery ram in hands as they geared it up.
"Watson, get in the backseat," Fury demanded. Lottie quickly followed his order, climbing into the backseat as Fury climbed into her seat soon after.
"Warning! Window integrity compromised,"
"You think," the ram hit the car, Lottie and Fury hitting their heads off the windows as the entire vehicle shook before placing itself back on the ground. "How long till propulsion?"
"Calculating. Window Integrity thiry-one percent. Deploying countermeasures,"
"Hold that order!" Fury looked back at Lottie like she was crazy, but she was actually the most level headed person in the car as she stared back at him defiantly. "You want me to trust you? Start by trusting me. Hold that damn order until I say so."
The ram hit into the window again as Lottie tried to brace herself on the seats.
"Window Integrity nineteen percent. Offensive measures advised,"
"Wait!" Lottie called out again, watching the window closely. Fury looked between her and the window for a second before finally catching on to her plan, readying himself in position as the ram hit the car once more.
"Window Integrity one percent,"
"Fury, now!"
Lottie threw herself onto the floor of the backseat, covering her head as she heard the spray of bullets from the console gun as Fury fired through the window at the unsuspecting agents outside, following his attack with the grenade launcher attached.
"Propulsion systems now online,"
"Full acceleration!" Lottie demanded, shooting up in her seat as Fury continued to fire, the car finally making it's way out of the area and shooting down the street ahead.
"Initiate vertical take-off!" Fury commanded as Lottie watched from the back window, seeing the agents after them now.
"Flight systems damaged,"
"Then activate guidance cameras!" Lottie called out as Fury climbed back into the driver's seat. She followed suit, throwing herself back into the passenger seat as her head began to pound. "Fury, take the wheel!"
Fury didn't hesitate, taking control of the vehicle once more.
Dancing in and out of traffic, Lottie grabbed the gun that was placed underneath the passenger seat and leaned out the passenger side window, shooting at the cars behind them as Fury tried to keep them steady.
"Get me Agent Hill!"
"Communications array damaged,"
"Well, what's not damaged?"
"Air conditioning is fully operational," Lottie rolled her eyes, ducking back into the car for a second to avoid a stray bullet. "Traffic ahead."
"Get me an alternate route!"
Lottie whipped around to see what street they were on, the street maps of D.C. quickly forming in her head as she leaned of the car and fired at the police cars once more, yelling to Fury along the way.
"There's got to be a traffic delay on Roosevelt, the vehicles will be stopped!" Lottie dodged another stray bullet. "17th Avenue should be clear, three blocks ahead!"
Fury didn't waste a second, smashing through the cars as he followed Lottie's orders. She ducked back into the car just as Fury plowed through two stopped cars, getting their own vehicle momentarily stuck behind a bus along the way.
The glass of the bus next to them broke, Lottie and Fury ducking. She stole a glance up, seeing one of the agents on the other-side of the bus and firing through it. She grabbed her gun, not even looking as she looked up and shot him through the driver's side window over Fury, hitting him dead between the eyes.
Fury pulled out of the traffic and onto the clear road ahead as two of the cars still trailed behind them. They each took a side, smashing into the armored truck from the driver's side and the passenger side. Lottie and Fury exchanged a quick glance.
One of the men reached through the passenger side window with his gun aimed at Fury. Lottie cocked her head for a second, realizing suddenly that these agents weren't even trying to shoot at her, all they wanted was Fury.
She grabbed his gun, twisting his arm and pulling it from his grasp as she brought her leg up, kicking him in the head and knocking him out instantly.
"Warning, approaching intersection,"
Lottie looked up, seeing the intersection incoming before looking to Fury.
"Hit the brakes!"
Without a second of hesitation, Fury hit the brakes, the car coming to quick stop as the police cars ran through the intersection, immediately getting plowed by a semi-truck heading through. Fury veered off down the next side road, the pair taking in deep breaths finally.
"Get us off the grid!"
"Calculating route to secure location,"
Lottie closed her eyes for just a second, opening them when she heard Fury's sharp intake of breath. The pair looked out the broken front window, eyes wide to see the man standing in the middle of the street.
His hair was long and dark, the bottom of his face covered with a black. Lottie's eyes widened as she looked at him, his eyes piercing into her soul even from so far away. Just like in her vision, something in the back of Lottie's mind pulled at her. This man, he looked just too familiar. She knew him, but from where?
The moment was gone not long after, the armored vehicle flying through the air upside down as the bomb that the man had shot at the bottom of their car exploded, the man in the mask watching from the sidelines intently.
Lottie's head hit the window just as the car hit the ground on the roof. Her body was flung forward, her head as neck hitting the roof at a weird angle as she laid there in pain, gripping onto her neck as the car skidded across the road until it finally stopped.
Fury groaned, eyes wide as he looked out of the car and saw the man quickly approaching. He turned to Lottie quickly, grabbing her arm as she hissed in pain.
"Watson! Get it together, we gotta move,"
She nodded as easily as she could manage, seeing the man approaching. Fury grabbed a device from his jacket, quickly aiming it toward the ground as it cut a hole through the roof and into the ground below. Fury maneuvered himself into the whole, grabbing onto Lottie and she quickly followed him, the pair disappearing just as the man in the mask reached the vehicle.
◼ ◼ ◼
Okay, come on. I know we ALL want to say it: LOTTIE IS A FREAKING BADASS OKAY! She has maps memorized, traffic patterns, she's a certified genius who is a freaking badass. This might be the most badass she's ever been, I feel like this chapter is a good representation as to the extent of her powers. Even the way she knew something about The Winter Soldier was familiar.
Also, wow I just love this whole scene. GOD I LOVE THIS BOOK.