Gunshots fired from behind me. I managed to duck as a couple of bullets zoomed past a few inches from my ear. I glanced at Jin Kwan, a man originally from North Korea who was eager to meet up with his wife and two children in Seoul since they were able to escape. They couldn't travel together in case the authorities of the North suspected anything.
I gestured at Jin telling him to get on the ground as bullets zipped and ricocheted all over the place. Looking behind me, a horde of soldiers were starting to approach us with firearms pointed in our direction. I took a deep breath and focused on my surroundings.
I'm a SHIELD agent known as Sparrow with a wicked ability of telekinesis. I've been with the agency since I was fifteen after my parents died. First, I attended the academy and then trained in the field. Before their deaths, Mom and Dad were SHIELD agents.
Long before SHIELD found him, Dad had been a cop in the Bronx. He was on top of the police academy and helped solve multiple cases and put away dangerous criminals. Dad caught a perp who was being tracked by SHIELD and that was when the agency recruited him.
Mom had been a brilliant scientist at the Smithsonian and like Dad was recruited by SHIELD. They both met sometime after getting into the agency and hit it off.
After they had me, they wanted me to have a normal life despite the fact I was born prematurely and almost died and injected with a mysterious serum that soon resulted in my developing telekinesis and the capability of speaking and translating any language I hear and read. It all got Director Nick Fury's attention and suggested that I join SHIELD as an asset. After losing Mom and Dad, I ended up moving in with Brett Kemp and his son Gunner who both are my adoptive dad and brother. Brett and Dad had been best friends, which made things comforting for me.
It all lasted until SHIELD brought me to the Academy. I suggested that the agency keep Brett and Gunner off their radar, just as my parents did before agreeing to attend the Academy and work for them.
I made sure to keep in touch with the Kemps as we were like family. I also kept in touch with my paternal uncle Austin, who lived in Texas and had finally proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Ellie Ramirez, and are wanting to get on with the wedding as soon as I get a break. I even kept in touch with my maternal aunt, Sylvia Dower who was an independent journalist and traveled the globe to gather stories.
I had been assigned to get Jin to Seoul as he had further information on the activities of North Korea. He insisted that his wife and kids head south there first, and he'd catch up with them later. I got that he put his family first and then himself.
Just then, trees and vines collided together like they were blown by a massive windstorm tangling the soldiers. They were yelling in Korean in wonder and to keep going until Jin and I were shot. Bullets fired at us once again. I concentrated and caused the bullets to ricochet in the opposite direction and punctured the tires of the oncoming armored vehicles.
"Keep going," I turned to Jin who nodded at me in astonishment as both of us got back on our feet and headed straight for the border. However, I could tell he was noticing that I was starting to get a nosebleed.
Another side effect of overusing telekinesis was bleeding from my nose and being drained of energy. Thankfully, I wasn't worn out in that situation!
Reaching it, more armed soldiers were blocking it. I telekinetically yanked their weapons out of their grips and pushed them against the concrete and metal wall and they were knocked unconscious.
Jin and I climbed up one of the towers overlooking the borderline.
"Okay, we're gonna have to jump," I suggested to Jin as I glanced at the ground for a safe place to land.
He nodded at me as I counted to three and both jumped off the side of the tower, over the wall, and landed on the other side. I felt my feet throbbing in pain after making that landing. Jin looked like he twisted his ankle as he tried standing up, but the pain was too much for him.
"It was all worth it. This won't keep me from reaching my wife and children. I can't wait to see them," Jin sighed satisfyingly.
"You will. Once I get you to Seoul, straight to your family, be sure to write or print out all you know about the North and I'll see that it gets to the director of SHIELD," I said as I located our ride, a couple of SHIELD agents posing as North Korean soldiers seated in a Jeep.
A few hours later, we arrived in Seoul. Jin's wife, Yebin, and their two young daughters were waiting at a small park. I smiled as Jin hugged Yebin and moved on to his kids who were ecstatic to see him again. It made me think of the times my parents came back home after a long mission.
Once we got Jin and his family to the safe house, he wrote down his knowledge of the events in North Korea. Although it was all written in Korean, I could read what it said. I'd translate it for Fury when I returned to the States.
It took about ten sheets of paper for him to write everything down as he related his experiences. I tried convincing him to use a laptop or tablet provided, but Jin was content with writing by hand to prove his point.
My phone went off. So, I excused myself and went into the other room. I saw that Fury was calling me.
"Sir?" I asked.
"Armstrong. I need you for an important task," Fury replied simply.
"What kind of task?"
He didn't answer. I had to guess whatever it was, I would be provided with answers on my way back.
After he hung up, I went back to the main room and took the papers.
"I'll be sure he sees this as soon as possible. Now I have to leave. I'll be sure to check in with you all soon," I said to Jin and Yebin speaking in Korean.
Yebin pulled me into a hug as if to thank me for getting Jin out of North Korea and reuniting their family. Jin nodded at me.
"Make sure they stay safe," I turned to the agents with a stern look after saying goodbye to the Kwan family. I dreaded the thought of agents from the North out in the open tracking down innocent folks who escaped wanting to have a better life.
The two agents nodded at me as I grabbed my bag and slid Jin's report into it and pulled up a hood over my head and walked out into the streets of Seoul. Another SHIELD agent was waiting by a black SUV and drove me to the airfield just outside the city where a Quinjet was on standby.
During the flight, I contacted Peyton Harker, my best friend by video chatting. When the screen came on, she had a smile on her face knowing that I made it through the mission alive. Peyton had fire engine red hair with hints of orange in it which often easily made her pass for the lead singer of Paramore and large brown eyes. She's known as Firefox in SHIELD for her red hair and pyrokinetic ability.
In the background, I saw that she was at our apartment in L.A. SHIELD provided us with money and a place to live. The apartment was big enough to house eight people or more.
"Hey Case!" she hollered happily.
"Hey, Pey!" I smiled.
"Got Kwan outta the North?"
"Yep! I wish I was heading back to you guys, but the boss wants me for something else."
"Yeah. Know whatcha mean. Vince's been hacking into the system, as usual, wanting to know what gives with why the boss seems to be shutting his mouth."
"You can say that again sis!" Vince called out from the end of the room, "By the way Case, did you happen to drop by Gangnam while you were there?"
Vince was Peyton's twin brother. He's a hacker and a technopath, one with the ability to operate any type of machine and electronic device with the mind. He's known as Interface for his hacking skill. Plus, he was the comedian in our group.
Peyton and Vince's father was a scientist who studied genetics, had a lab in a basement, and was often hired by SHIELD. The twins got their powers in a lab accident when they were four. Thankfully, their parents supported them onward, helping them learn to control their abilities. Nine years later, Vince and Peyton's parents died in a traffic accident. They both lived out on the streets and used their abilities to make a living. Vince hacked into the government's official site and was almost arrested for it when SHIELD intervened and invited them to work for the agency with their skills.
Plus, Peyton used to have brown hair like Vince, and people often got her confused with her brother which lead her to dying her hair so others could tell the difference.
"No Vince, I didn't. And I get that you're referencing that song with that crazy dance," I shook my head.
"Hey! Is that Case on the line?" another guy's voice called out.
I saw that it was Sean Dane, my other best friend. He walked next to Peyton. Sean and I grew up together. We had lived in the same neighborhood as both our parents worked under SHIELD. Sean doesn't have a superpower like the rest of us. But we like to think he does since he was great at reasoning with people to where they easily submit to him. He too lost his parents around the same time as I did.
"Hey," Sean nodded at me.
"Hey," I replied.
"How are you doing?"
"Pretty good."
"Fury call you in already?"
"Yep. I'll know when I get there."
"Make sure to give us a call whenever you can."
"I will."
Sean's personality was like Steve Rogers, A.K.A Captain America, but had the appearance of the main guy from High School Musical. He always put others first and looked out for us physically and emotionally. Plus, Sean is autistic. He can't read sarcasm or dirty jokes, which he takes as offensive. Though Sean is an outstanding mathematician with his obsession with numbers, which makes it easy for him to decipher certain codes. He can solve a math problem faster than a calculator and quickly answer a hard question before a computer.
"Wait! Lemme talk to her!" another girl's voice yelled.
I recognized her as Nicole Gloss, another close friend. Nicole is telepathic and can read minds. Her code name is Venus. She was born with that ability. It started when her parents participated in an experimental program in college. Nicole's mother didn't realize she was pregnant at the time. Like Peyton and Vince, she lived out on the streets after the deaths of her parents following a drug overdose when she was eleven and lived in a couple of foster homes for a few years and escaped into the streets from an abusive home. SHIELD found her and that was how we all got together.
"Hey Nic," I smiled.
"Hi, Case. Sucks that you're not coming back right away," she sighed tucking some strands of her blonde hair behind her ear.
"I know. Once it's finished, I'm coming back and we're so hitting that fro-yo place!"
"Totally!"
Once I hung up, I went over the file I was given on my next assignment and braced myself for what might come about.