Aurora walked deliberately, her footsteps silent against the floor. She faced forward, keeping her back against the deteriorating brick wall. She could feel the presence of agents May and Ward behind her as she took point. As she met the end of the wall, she raised her palm to halt them. Slowly, she peeked around the corner and into the connecting hallway. Two guards stood side by side, facing away from them. She gave it a second to see if they would change positions. They didn't. Turning to May, Aurora held up two fingers, and both agents nodded.
The three of them rounded the corner, their strides long. Coming up behind the soldier on the left, Aurora slammed down her elbow into the crease of his neck, quickly catching his arms and slowing his dead weight as he collapsed to the tunnel's floor. Simultaneously, May brought down his partner.
"Coulson?" Aurora mouthed, looking at Agent May.
"The next left," May responded, just as quietly.
Then the two of them were moving forward again, Ward walking behind them and facing backward to cover their flank. When they reached the end of the hallway, they waited for Coulson's cue; their backs pushed against the wall.
"Now," Aurora muttered, and May ran by her releasing a battle cry and kicking a soldier square in the throat. Aurora followed, grabbing another soldier, and punching him in the gut before kneeing him hard in the nose. She heard Ward and Coulson each taking down a soldier behind her, and she turned just in time to see their inside man, Shaw, hurl a knife into the chest of the last soldier.
"Time to go, Agents," Ward said.
"Exit?" Coulson asked.
"Follow me."
Aurora and Ward waited for a beat, waiting for the others to pass by them. As the group rushed to the exit, they ran by the bodies of unconscious men, downed in their path to Coulson.
"I was wondering what you guys had been up to," Coulson joked.
She turned another corner in time to see May lower the ladder to the surface, a small amount of snow falling at her feet.
Coulson made a point of looking up through the exit, before motioning forward with his hand. "Go," he said, and one by one the agents climbed up the rickety latter to the snowy surface, a wave of cold enveloping them. Aurora took three quick strides and stepped on the back of the sled, behind May and Ward, and next to Shaw and Coulson, taking hold of the frozen handlebar.
"Um, where are the dogs?" Shaw asked, his eyes darting around the front of the sled.
"Don't be ridiculous," Coulson chuckled. Reaching into the front pocket of his jacket, he pressed a button. Abruptly, the sled jolted forward and began pulling them towards the bus.
⊗⊗⊗
Aurora sat in one of the lounge chairs, a tablet in her hand. She was half-listening to Skye and Fitz discuss the "disgusting" nasal operation Simmons was doing to Shaw in the lab to retrieve the intelligence he'd collected. After twenty minutes, the door to the lab slid open, and Fitz jumped to his feet to meet Coulson and Simmons.
"Ah, good," he said. "Done with that paranasal extraction nonsense. Do you need me to analyze the data?"
"That won't be necessary," Coulson answered dismissively, walking past him.
"If it's encrypted, I can mine the chip for him," Skye said, also standing up.
"I'm afraid this mission's classified," Coulson said, spinning on his heels to face the rest of them. "Clearance Level Eight," he added as Ward and May joined them. Aurora rolled her eyes, fucking classified, as the others turned to go back to their work.
"Wait; what?" Skye asked, annoyed. "He can just shut us out of the process like that?"
"Yup," Aurora said simply. Her next tap on the tablet was unnecessarily aggressive.
Fitz looked at both women hesitantly. "Well, he did say the mission is Level Eight."
"And we're not, so we can't know about it," Simmons added.
"Right," Skye said, "but this is normally the part where we all stand around the Holocom, and we learn about stuff. I mean, aren't we all on the same team?"
"No need to get started on one of your Socialist riffs," Fitz said. Aurora shot him a look as she gritted her teeth.
"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s whole infrastructure is based on the hierarchy and compartmentalization of intelligence," Simmons explained.
"Every agent can't have the intel on every mission," Ward said, as the two scientists made their way to the lab. "It makes the entire organization vulnerable."
"Okay, fine, but if I just fought my way out of an underground Siberian prison, I'd kind of want to know what for." Me too, Skye, me too.
"Coulson's got you used to the plane, the way we do missions here. The Hub is different," May said.
"We're going to the Hub?" Aurora asked, raising her eyebrows. May nodded at Aurora, then shot Skye a smirk.
"The Hub?" Skye questioned as May walked off. "What's the Hub?"
Aurora abruptly snapped the protective cover for the tablet shut and ground her teeth harder. They were going to the epicenter of S.H.I.E.L.D. Great, fantastic, superb. In less than a few hours, she was going to be surrounded by men and women in black suits that did nothing more than kiss each other's feet and blindly worship the bureaucracy that was S.H.I.E.L.D. Fucking great. She could already feel a headache blooming.
As much as it pained Aurora to admit, the actual architecture of The Hub was awesome. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. Everything that didn't absolutely need a human was automated.
"I didn't realize Big Brother was this big," Skye said as they walked down one of the main hallways, their footsteps hitting the shiny, crystal white, tiled floor. As they walked, Aurora constantly shifted her shoulders to avoid making contact with any of the many suits.
"Oh, this is nothing," Simmons said. "Wait until you see the Triskelion." Once again, Aurora found herself rolling her eyes.
"Everyone's wearing the same suit," Skye said. "Someone tell me why, please." Aurora turned and shot the girl an amused look over her shoulder.
As they reached the front desk, everyone, except Skye, took hold of their official S.H.I.E.L.D. badge. Aurora adjusted her leather jacket and pinned her label to the front of her simple black t-shirt.
They had only walked a few more feet when Coulson called out, "Agent Sitwell." Aurora ran her tongue along her teeth at the sight of the agent.
"Agent Coulson," he responded, reaching out to shake Coulson's hand. "Good to see you feeling better. Agent Hand's waiting for you in the situation room."
"And she doesn't like to wait," Coulson said as the team followed behind the two agents.
"So, you know her."
"Only her reputation."
"Your Level Sevens can join us in the briefing," Sitwell said, reaching the glass door and leaning forward so the panel next to it could scan his face. The door slid open. Coulson, May, and Ward followed behind them. When Skye tried, her prison bracelet locked her to the panel, and a small alarm sounded.
"Ouch," Fitz muttered next to her, and Aurora winced, pursing her lips.
"Is this your subtle way of saying I can't come with?" Skye asked, jostling her arm as Coulson reappeared.
"We'll be back," he said, leaving Skye attached to the panel.
"Aurora, why aren't you going with them?" Simmons asked, tilting her head.
Aurora grabbed her label, lifting it away from her shirt for emphasis. "Level Five," she reminded them. A surprised and confused look came over both of the scientists' expressions for a brief moment before transforming into understanding.
"Right, of course," Simmons said, nodding once.
"Well, we should, we should probably head over to the tech corridor," Fitz said, turning to Simmons.
"Oh, I can't wait to see the new chem-kit." Then the two turned on their heels and walked off.
"I don't think it likes me here," Skye said under her breath. Smiling slightly, Aurora walked over to the girl and tapped twice on the keypad, allowing her to be set free.
"Cafeteria's open to anyone," Aurora said, nodding in its general direction. "C'mon."
The Hub cafeteria looked like almost any other cafeteria. There were rows of plastic tables and chairs lining the linoleum floors. The food was subpar and served by people severely underpaid. The only major difference was every table, chair, wall, trashcan, and anything with a moderately flat surface dawned the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo. Just in case anyone forgot where they were.
Aurora sat down in one of the uncomfortable chairs, placing her half-made salad, served on a S.H.I.E.L.D. approved tray, down in front of her. Skye took the seat across from her, her tray carrying a salad and a pile of mac-and-cheese (which Aurora had promised not to tell Ward about). The girl's eyes hadn't stopped darting around the room, taking everything in. Trying not to roll her eyes for the umpteenth time, Aurora took an aggressive bite of lettuce and tomato. They sat and ate their food quietly for a few minutes, until suddenly, Skye spoke.
"Why were Fitz and Simmons surprised that you were Level Five?" Aurora choked on her food. Swallowing, she raised an eyebrow. "Today, when you reminded them you were Level Five, they were surprised."
Aurora cleared her throat. "Most agents, that do what I do, have higher levels. Like Romanoff."
"Then why are you Level Five?" she asked, waving her fork around.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't trust me," Aurora said simply. Without thinking about it, she rested her fork down on her tray, and her eyes shifted to the two men in suits that had followed them in here. Both of whom were pointedly not looking at her.
"Why?" Then Skye rolled her eyes, still gesturing with the fork. "Other than the whole Brotherhood thing, I mean."
Placing both arms under the table, one of Aurora's hands migrated to her forearm, and she felt a wave of familiar pain radiate through her skin. Slowly, she sucked in a breath. "They want me to be willing to die for them," she answered honestly. "I'm not. And I won't pretend that I am." Shock filled Skye's face, and before she could stop herself, Aurora was talking again. "But they still need me to eliminate their targets, so, Level Five is the lowest they can give me that still lets me do my job."
"If they don't trust you," Skye asked quietly as if she had only just become aware they were having this conversation in the heart of S.H.I.E.L.D., "and you clearly don't like them, why'd you join?"
She swallowed a fistful of gravel and tried to ignore the growing compression in her chest, suffocating her lungs. "They 'saved' me when I was seventeen. I was on a mission from the Brotherhood in Pairs. I noticed the same two men in suits following me everywhere I went. Sometimes together, sometimes alone. After a few days, I managed to corner one of them. I already knew what S.H.I.E.L.D. was." How persistent, how unrelenting they were. "And when I saw his badge, I realized that I had two options, either join S.H.I.E.L.D. or spend the rest of my life running from them. I chose to join." It was the wrong choice.
"Wow," Skye said, leaning back into her chair. "You were seventeen? So, you've been with S.H.I.E.L.D. for...?"
"About eight years."
"Wow," Skye repeated, and Aurora hummed. She could see Skye open her mouth to ask something else, but her attention shifted as she pulled out her phone. "Saved by the bell, Coulson wants us back in the main area." The two shoved a few more bites of food into their mouths, before cleaning their trays and heading over. May, Coulson, Simmons, and Ward were already waiting for them when they arrived.
Aurora followed their gaze and saw that Fitz had gotten a cart stuck between one of the sliding glass doors. He took hold of one side, attempting to peel it open.
"What the hell? Who designed this?" he exclaimed, waving his arms. "In the Hub of all places." After another moment, he pushed the cart through, and the doors closed on him. Aurora watched as his mouth formed the word 'fantastic,' and she could almost hear his accent.
⊗⊗⊗
When they returned to the Bus, Coulson pulled Fitz and Aurora into his office, and dread welled up inside her. The two stood in front of his impressive desk, and Fitz shot her a tentative look.
"There is a device, a weapon," Coulson started, "the name of which roughly translates to 'the overkill device' located in a stronghold in South Ossetia. The intel we collected from Shaw shows that they plan to use the weapon in the next 24 hours to declare independence from Georgia and Russia."
"What does the device do?" Fitz asked, tilting his head slightly.
"It can create vibrations that have the ability to trigger weapons from a great distance." Aurora saw Fitz open his mouth again, presumably to ask more questions about the weapon, but before he could, she spoke.
"Why are you telling us this?"
"Agent Hand needs a two-man team to sneak across the border into the stronghold and deactivate it," he said, his eyes locked on Fitz. "There will be an extraction team, and Ward has connections to get across the border." Fitz's face drained of color as understanding set in.
"Yes, sir," Fitz said. Then, without missing a beat, he answered Coulson's unspoken question. "I can handle it, sir."
"Good." Then Coulson's eyes slid over to Aurora. If Ward and Fitz were the two-man team, why was she here? Slowly, he reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a vanilla folder. The dread solidified in her gut. She knew what that folder meant. She had seen it too many times not too. He slid it across the desk, and, with steady hands, she picked it up and flicked it open. As per usual, there was only a small, grainy polaroid of a man and one sheet of paper, most of which was redacted. Out of the whole page, there were only five lines that Aurora had been permitted to read.
Name: Mikheil Tsiklauri
Sex: Male
Age: 45
Physical Appearance: Brown hair, Brown eyes, Weight; 170lbs, Hight; 72"
Mission: Eliminate Target
Aurora gritted her teeth. "Am I allowed to know why this target needs to be eliminated?" She asked boldly. Her question caught both men off guard, and it seemed like Fitz had to stop himself from leaning over her shoulder to look at the folder in her hands. Why am I killing this human being? It had been years since she had bothered to ask that question. But if there was anybody at S.H.I.E.L.D. who would be willing to bend the rules, willing to show her some type of mercy, to give her back a modicum of control, it would be Coulson. The man swallowed. It looked like she wasn't going to get it.
"Classified," Coulson said firmly. Of fucking course it was. "Our sources say, he'll be somewhere in the same stronghold as the device. You will sneak across the border and into the stronghold with Agents Fitz and Ward, but after that, you're on your own to eliminate the target and return for extraction." He raised an eyebrow. "Is that understood, Agent Auditore?"
"Yes, sir."
Then she pivoted, dismissing herself.
⊗⊗⊗
Packing for a solo mission was an artform that Aurora had mastered years ago. Especially a mission that would last less than twenty-four hours. Truly she only needed four things; a small waterproof watch, a compact knife (tucked into her left combat boot), the bobby pins holding back the hair in her braid, and her Smith & Wesson M&P handgun with an extra magazine and its attachable silencer. For this mission, for Fitz's first combat mission, however, she also decided on a few other necessities. Picking a lightweight, waterproof, black backpack, she threw in a clear plastic baggie of pretzels, a baggie of trail mix, and three water bottles.
As she left the kitchen, her backpack hung over her shoulder; she stopped at her bunk, to pick up the vanilla folder. She flipped it open for the last time, and analyzed the target's face, committing it to memory. His short brown hair, wide brown eyes, the small crook in the center of his nose, and the scar in the center of his left cheek, all of it. Huffing a small breath, she tossed the folder back on to her bed.
Exiting, she came across the three non-combat agents huddled around Fitz's bunk, both women looking at Fitz like he was headed to a death sentence. She rolled her eyes. As she came up behind them, she spoke firmly.
"Agent Fitz will be fine." She made sure to put the emphasis on the word 'Agent' to remind them that he was, in fact, capable of doing his job. Besides, she and Ward could fight for him if they needed to. Then she turned her head to look at Fitz. "We need to go. Time is not on our side."
"Right. Of course," he said, nodding once. Then he placed the straps of his backpack over his shoulders and charged forward. After he passed them, Aurora made eye contact with both women.
"He'll be fine," she repeated sternly. "Hold down the fort while we're gone." She waited until both women nodded, tapped the doorway once with her hand, then headed off after the scientist.
"More moving, less talking, Agent Ward," Fitz said, as they entered the debriefing room. He glanced at Aurora over his shoulder, "Time is not on our side." All the agents looked at each other for a brief moment, and then Fitz and Aurora were moving, Ward following behind.
Ward had opted to drive their inconspicuous Jeep through the Caucasus mountains, while Fitz took shotgun and Aurora made herself comfortable in the truck's bed. Less than a half-hour into the journey, Fitz had gotten sick of the silence and had started telling stories about his time at university, most of which starred Simmons. Aurora only half listened, her eyes peeled, watching their surroundings, and smiling slightly whenever he said something particularly amusing. With her attention divided, she missed the looks Fitz was repeatedly sending her over his shoulder.
"So, Simmons, by this point, does not have a bloody clue," he spoke as Ward pulled into their intended location, "we're in the back, trying to contain our laughter. Simmons goes into the vacuum chamber wearing a-- a bunny suit. We just call it that because it, it covers your whole body. So she's in the vacuum chamber," parking, Aurora jumped out of the side of the truck as the two open their doors, "but when she takes her mask off to speak to me, she sneezes all over the faraday cup..." Aurora stifled another small smile as Ward shot her a look of pure annoyance. Slowly he took off his sunglasses and turned his look to the scientist. "Which is funny."
"Do you have the beacon?" Ward asked, striding towards the entrance.
"Yeah," Fitz answered, stopping in the middle of the parking lot. "But it's funny because vacuum chambers are so dry, and this instrument was actually supposed to go into space." Taking the beacon from Fitz, Aurora saw Ward subtly roll his eyes and place it with a group of rocks by the side of the building, still doing his best to ignore Fitz. "Simmons actually tells it a lot better than I do," he finished dejectedly.
"Listen," Ward said. "My contact's Uri Dubrovsky. We'll pay him to get us across the border." The man turned suddenly, looking seriously at Aurora and Fitz. "We go back, but he doesn't like new people, so keep your mouth shut and your head down."
As they walked inside, Aurora noted that it looked like every other Russian bar she had ever been in. Despite the two lights hanging from the ceiling, the room was dark, and the wooden floor was dirty with sand, gravel, and the sticky remnant of alcohol; the room smelt like alcohol too. There was also a small, barely functioning, Tv mounted to the wall by the corner of the bar. Every person had their eyes glued to its screen, enraptured with the football, soccer she corrected herself, game playing. There was only one notable entrance or exit, and it was the door they just walked through.
"Evening," Ward said in Russian, as he reached the bar. "Two vodkas, straight. One for me. And one for my friend, Uri." The barman wandered away, and the man next to Ward took his shot and stood up. Aurora gritted her teeth.
"Um, can you ask what beers they have on tap?" Oh, Fitz.
"Uri is your friend?" the man asked.
"Yeah," Ward said, his accent slightly Russian.
"Uri's dead." Not good. Not good. She moved, positioning Fitz so he was sandwiched between her and Ward. Turning her back to them, she faced the rest of the bar. But it didn't matter. She heard the sound of a gun cocking from behind her just as another man approached, also cocking his gun. Not good. "You have no friends here."
⊗⊗⊗
They had been tied to chairs in the backroom. Aurora ran her tongue along her teeth and wiggled her writs, trying to loosen the bonds of rope. She could feel it chafing against her skin as cheering filtered into the room.
"What's happening?" Fitz whispered, leaning closer to Ward and Aurora. "Why haven't they killed us yet? I mean, I'm glad they haven't killed us yet."
"They're waiting for their boss," Ward answered, "so before he--"
"Or she," Aurora interrupted. Ward rolled his eyes.
"Or she gets here, we need a plan."
"The ropes aren't giving," Aurora muttered, and for the first time, she was irritated by Fitz's presence. Not Fitz specifically, but his lack of basic combat skills. The chairs they were sitting on were wood, old wood; she could easily smash them and use one of the legs as a stake. The sound of it breaking would draw attention to themselves, but she and Ward could fight their way out, disarming those with guns. But Fitz couldn't do that, and they couldn't split their attention between protecting him and their attackers. Aurora let out a small breath. They needed a plan that involved Fitz. They needed to think their way out.
"How long can you hold your breath underwater?" Ward asked, looking past Aurora to Fitz.
"I don't know."
"You familiar with the term 'slam and cram'?"
"No, and I don-- I don't think I want to be."
"You don't," Aurora said, slightly disgusted that Ward would even suggest it. "And I'm not doing that."
"How attached are you to your pinky?" Ward asked.
"Ward," she hissed.
"Very, very attached, and before you ask another terrifyingly vague question, any plan that involves even one of those scenarios isn't going to work for me." Aurora watched as a shadow disturbed the light flooding into the room, and she kicked both men in the shins, hushing them. Moments later, an intense-looking woman with two henchmen walked into the room.
"I heard you were looking for your friend Uri," she said, looking at Ward, "and Uri was friends with separatists. Are you separatists?"
"No. We're here to stop them."
"Definitely here to stop them," Fitz added. The woman's eyes slid to Aurora, and she raised her head higher.
"Trust me," Ward said, and Aurora gritted her teeth. "If you could just help us get across the border--" Another roar from the crowd in the bar interrupted him.
"Ah, I'm missing the game!" the woman spat. "You're wasting my time, so let me be clear. You've given me no reason to trust you. And trust is everything to me." Aurora watched as her henchmen pulled a gun out from his front pocket, and she leaned forward subtly in an attempt to place her torso in front of Fitz. But as he cocked the gun, the lights went out, and they heard the boos from the angry crowd. There was a beat, as the woman and the henchmen looked around the dark room, then she started cursing, rather impressively, in Russian.
Aurora relaxed slightly in her chair. The familiar cover of darkness gave her safety. She had trained in the dark. And, in this case, the darkness threw her potential opponents off-balance, distracted by their sudden loss of entertainment. It gave her an advantage in a fight. She heard Fitz's chair groan as he shifted his weight, and she bit back a curse. Right, fighting wasn't an option. She needed to think. And the woman needed to trust them. No, the woman needed to like them.
An idea struck her, and she shifted her body closer to Fitz, turning her head to look at him. Fitz was cute. It was the first thing she had thought when she saw him. Not only that, but he was kind. He was personable. He was incredibly, undeniably, inevitably likable. Not like her or Ward, who were all hard lines and sharp edges.
"What?" Fitz asked, meeting her gaze.
"She needs to like us," Aurora whispered out of the corner of her mouth. "Get her to like us."
"How, exactly, am I supposed to do that?" he muttered back.
"By being you." She raised an eyebrow.
"Auditore--" Ward started, but she cut him off, keeping her eyes on Fitz.
"He can do it." Fitz gave a jerky nod and let out a low cough, getting the woman's attention mid curse. Then he started talking.
It took less than ten minutes for Fitz to get the name of the henchman, Vladimir, and the woman, Marta. It took less than a half-hour for him to convince them that he could help restore the power, and, after exactly thirty-five minutes, Vladimir was gently guiding Fitz behind the bar where the circuit breaker was as two other henchmen lead out Aurora and Ward, a controlling hand on each of their shoulders.
"Okay! Enough," Fitz said, as Vladimir guided him by his feet under the bar. "A little to the left, Vladimir. Gentle. Gentle. That's it. Okay." Ward shot Aurora an uncertain look, and then glanced at the man behind him. "Can I get a little more light down here, Marta?"
"Of course, Mishka," she said, snapping her fingers. Mishka, Aurora smiled slightly. It fit him.
"Thank you, sweetheart."
"Little Bear?" Ward questioned.
"I like watching him work," Marta said, "that little bear."
Suddenly, there was a thudding sound, and the lights flashed on, along with the small Tv in the corner. Cheering sounded throughout the room, as the two henchmen helped a beaming Fitz back to his feet.
"It's nothing," he said. "I'm just a man." A small, genuine smile formed on Aurora's lips when he looked at her.
"Get this man a drink," Marta said, gesturing at Fitz.
"Oh, no. Here we go." Not hesitating, he clinked the shot glass with one of the other patrons and took it back without grimacing. "Salty." Aurora glanced at the empty shot glasses. I miss Russian vodka.
Sharing a glance with Ward, Fitz turned to face Marta, leaning one of his arms on the bar. "So, let's talk business."
⊗⊗⊗
"Two million rubles?" Ward asked again, as the truck they sat in rolled passed the security check at the border. Aurora had her bag tucked between her legs while Fitz clutched his against his chest. "We need to work on your negotiation skills."
"I thought they were like pesos. And anyway, you should be thanking me," Fitz said, leaning over to pull something out of his pocket. "I shorted the circuit breaker with my localized E.M.P. when we were tied up." Clever.
"Really?"
"Yes, and my plan worked because we're over the border now, aren't we?" No sooner had he said that did the truck slow to a stop. "We're stopping. Why are we stopping?"
The driver shouted something Aurora couldn't understand, and she moved into a crouched position.
"Quiet," Ward said, putting a finger to his lips and also moving into a crouched position. "Stay here, Fitz. Auditore and I will check it out." Before they could move, however, the sound of bullets ricocheting off the truck forced him back. "Okay, maybe we'll all stay here."
They waited for only a moment, then Aurora shifted on her feet, and took a step closer to the edge, peeking between the strips of fabric that protected them. "At least two men," she whispered. "They have assault rifles."
"Okay, we need a plan," Ward said. Then he stood up and pulled one of the barrels out from behind them. Then another. "When I say so, kick one of them as hard as you can," he said to Fitz. Then he turned to Aurora, "You have your gun?"
Aurora bit back a snide remark, pulling out her Smith & Wesson M&P. She clicked off the safety, pointedly showing it to him and slinging her backpack over her shoulders.
"Good, no kill shots." Aurora looked between the fabric curtains again, and saw the soldiers getting closer. When they got within feet of the truck, she nodded to Ward. "Now," he said, and the two men shoved the barrels out. Aurora heard the thud as they made contact with the ground, immediately shoving her head out and shooting them. Water exploded out with the sudden release of pressure, and the soldiers dropped.
Ward joined her, just as another man came around the corner of the truck. Ripping the gun from him, Ward hit the soldier with the butt of it, knocking him to the ground. Jumping out of the truck, he hit the man again for good measure. Aurora jumped down after him as another truck skidded around the hill in front of them. Then she heard the sound of Fitz's feet hitting the ground behind her and felt a tug at her arm. Looking behind her, she saw Fitz already running towards the edge of the road. Clicking the safety on and tucking her gun into the belt of her waist, with her backpack bouncing against her back, she took off after him.
"Fitz!" Ward called out. "More border patrol!"
"We're already moving. Hurry UP!"
⊗⊗⊗
Dusk was falling on the hills as they fled from the patrol. It was colder too, and Aurora was glad that she had changed into her long sleeve black shirt before leaving for the mission. She could hear Fitz panting slightly behind her, and she jogged forward to catch up with Ward.
"We can't keep moving. We need a place to lie low," she spoke, her eyes subtly darting to the scientist. Ward followed her line of sight and nodded. Up ahead, she saw a metal structure poking up from the tall grass.
"Drainage pipe," Ward called out. "We'll wait them out over there."
"We can't wait too long," Fitz huffed. "If they use the overkill device, everyone on the border's in danger."
"I'm aware."
"And that includes Marta and Vlad."
"Oh, you're on a first-name basis now?" Ward said, stopping at the edge of the pipe. Aurora paused next to him, watching as Fitz slipped on the snow.
"Yeah, well, I'm just saying, their lives are on the line too. So, let's not get too comfortable." Then Fitz crawled into the pipe, Aurora and Ward following him.
None of them spoke for a while, and together, they watched dusk turn to darkness. Ward and Aurora had shifted into more relaxed positions, allowing themselves to lean against the walls of the pipe.
"Why do you think S.H.I.E.L.D. sent in just the three of us?" Fitz asked finally, breaking the silence.
"Technically, I'm on a separate mission," Aurora spoke quietly. Fitz shot her a look.
"I don't know," Ward said. "They said they needed a guy like you and a guy like me."
Turning, Fitz reached in front of him and unzipped his backpack, pulling out something in a clear plastic bag. Opening it, he took a whiff and let out a noise of contentment.
"Is that a sandwich?" Ward asked. Uh oh, and they had been getting along so well.
"Simmons made it," Fitz said. "My favorite. Prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella with a hint of pesto aioli." Aurora felt her mouth water at the description. She must have made a face too, because, after he slowly unwrapped it, Fitz looked to her. "Here. You can have half."
She almost moved to take it, but before she could, Ward was leaning over her legs and ripping it out of Fitz's hand, throwing it as hard as he could out of the pipe.
"What the hell?" Fitz whispered, looking wantonly in the direction Ward had thrown his sandwich.
"There are dogs tracking us, and you bring a prosciutto sandwich," Ward responded. Aurora gritted her teeth and pushed her back harder against the wall of the pipe. Suddenly she wished she had let Fitz take the middle spot.
"I can't believe you just did that."
"This is a mission, not a picnic," Ward hissed.
"Oh, I'm well aware it's not a picnic, Mr. Save the Day," Fitz hissed back.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, come on. You obviously get off on it, being the guy who always gets to throw the last punch, who always swoops in to save the girl. And now you've destroyed the world's most dangerous sandwich, congratulations." There was a pause in Fitz's speech, and in that pause, Aurora heard the sound of dogs barking. Her eyes shot to Ward, who was looking up at the roof of the pipe. "Well, I'll tell you something. I don't need to be rescued by anyone, Grant Ward--"
Without hesitation, she leaned over and covered his mouth with her hand. He let out a small noise of shock, and his eyes widened, locking on to hers, but he didn't try to remove her hand. Next to them, Ward raised a finger to his lips. The sound of the dogs got louder, and Fitz's shocked expression morphed into one of fear. Confident he would stop whisper-yelling, she removed her hand from his mouth, subtly wiping it on her pants.
"Before we left," Ward started quietly, looking at Fitz, "Coulson told me to take care of you. That is what I am doing. Nothing more, nothing less."
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, as Fitz pointedly looked away from both Ward and Aurora. Letting out a breath, she leaned forward and unzipped the backpack that rested between her feet. Reaching inside, she pulled out her bag of pretzels and tossed it into Fitz's lap. The man startled, then looked between her and the bag. She raised an eyebrow at him, but he still didn't move. She swallowed.
"I also brought trail mix," she offered quietly. Fitz looked at her for another moment. "It's better than nothing."
"Uh, pretzels, pretzels are fine," he said. Hesitantly, he moved, and the sound of him munching on them filled the pipe. After a moment, he offered the bag back to her, and she shook her head.
She didn't really like pretzels.
The three of them sat like that until light started peeking out over the horizon, then they trekked back up the hill to the main road. When they arrived, Fitz dug into his backpack and pulled out a Mag Pouch, laying it onto the ground. Immediately the fabric changed to mimic the dirt road. Unzipping it, they moved to lay side by side inside the pouch. It was a tight squeeze, and Aurora felt the muscles in her body tense, and her stomach twist into a knot at the feeling of Fitz pressed against her side. Looking up at the sky, she felt a hand wrap around her wrist, squeeze it only slightly, before letting go.
She let out a breath and forced herself to unclench her jaw.
It was only Fitz
She was fine.
She was fine.
"Good day to be a rat," Fitz said suddenly. "I mean there you are, minding your own business, spreading filth and disease, scavenging for grub worms or rotten fruit, when lo and behold you see it--" Aurora felt a smile curl at her lips at Fitz's dramatics, subconsciously her body relaxed. "A prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella sandwich."
"Fitz," Ward drawled.
"With just a hint of pesto aioli."
"Quiet." A pause. "Feel that?"
She did. The earth beneath them rumbled.
"A truck," Ward continued. "It's coming. Auditore, zip-up--"
"Got it," she said, reaching down and pulling up the zipper, so they were completely covered. There was a second; then their bodies jolted as the pouch connected to the underside of the truck.
The dirt beneath them slowly transformed into asphalt as the truck got closer and closer to the compound. Eventually, the truck rolled to a stop, and Aurora took hold of her backpack in one hand and unzipped the pouch with the other. Quickly, the three rolled out from under the truck then took cover behind one of the large metal pillars that held up the upper levels of the building. After making sure the area was clear of soldiers, they moved again, hiding behind a set of stairs near the wall of the building.
Fitz also pulled a device out of his backpack. "Simmons calls it 'The Magic Window.' You'd probably guess, 'is that x-ray technology?'" he said, but Aurora had stopped listening. Instead, she watched Ward turn on the flashlight and wave his hand in front of it three times quickly. She waited, but there was no response. Ward made the motion again. Nothing. The two combat agents turned to look at each other, worry etched onto their faces.
Aurora's worry quickly changed into anger as she realized what it meant. There was no extraction. Fucking S.H.I.E.L.D. They had lied. Of course they had lied. Left them high-and-dry with no time to figure out their own rough version of an extraction plan. Aurora was used to this, and maybe Ward was too. But Fitz wasn't. And usually, S.H.I.E.L.D. had the bare minimum decency to let her know that she'd have to get herself out too.
If Skye ever asked why she wouldn't die for S.H.I.E.L.D. Aurora would point her to this moment, and the organization's blatant disregard for her life. For Ward's life. For Fitz's life.
She ran her tongue along her teeth and tried to force a neutral expression for Fitz's sake. Aurora saw Ward eye another side door a meter or two away. When he raised an eyebrow at her, she nodded towards Fitz, who was still setting up his tech. Ward gave her a look of understanding and darted off towards the door. Turning, she saw Fitz press a button on the tech, giving them an x-ray view into the room.
"Okay," Fitz said, "we have two guards on the west wall. Both carrying automatic weapons. Correction." Aurora watched as Ward's figure joined the other guards. "Make that three guards. We have three guards now. Oh, my god. Oh my god, guys. He's attacking the others." She raised an eyebrow at him, curious at how long it would take the genius to figure it out. "He's coming straight for us." Fitz reached out a hand behind him feeling the air where Ward had stood. He turned suddenly, looking to Aurora. "Where's Ward?!"
"Hurry," the man in question said, throwing open the door in front of them. "Inside."
Fitz looked back to Aurora. "Ah. That makes sense now."
Shaking her head, she lightly nudged Fitz towards the open door, following Ward inside. She paused at the entrance, watching her teammates disappear down the hallway. She turned her gaze to the two men lying unconscious on the floor. Both men were bigger than her, but one of them matched her height almost perfectly. Kneeling down, she peeled off his uniform. Shaking off her backpack, she tugged the man's cargo pants over her own, as well as the matching jacket and protective vest. Then she pulled off the man's black beanie, putting it on so it covered her forehead, and tucking up her braid. Picking up the automatic rifle in one hand and her backpack in the other, she jogged after Ward and Fitz.
When she found them, they were huddled around a cluster of pipes. In the center, she saw a small glowing orange light. They found the device. She let the backpack fall from her grip, the noise of it hitting the floor startling them both. Fitz let out a small shriek, and Ward leveled a gun at her head. A second later, his body relaxed, then his face pinched up.
"Jesus, Auditore-- you look like a guard," he said, holstering his gun.
"That's the point," she replied. Kneeling down, she pulled out the silencer and screwed it on her gun, tucking it back into the spot at her waist. Then she picked up the automatic rifle and looked at Fitz. "How long will it take you to deactivate it?"
"Ten minutes? Max." Aurora nodded, then ran her tongue along her teeth. She glanced down at her watch. Ten minutes. She'd have to make it fast.
"Okay. If I'm not back by then..." she trailed off.
"We'll wait for you," Fitz answered immediately.
"No," she said, leaving no room for discussion. "You leave." She ignored the scandalized look on Fitz's face and turned to Ward. He gave her a single nod. Aurora returned it, then pivoted on her heels, leaving them to it.
She had a target to eliminate.
⊗⊗⊗
The lower level of the stronghold was almost three stories high. It looked like an abandoned factory with dusty mechanical equipment and rusty exposed pipes. The upper level was a lot less dirty, but just as rusty. The metal floor creaked with every confident step she took, as she blended in with the rest of the guardsmen. According to the lower-level soldier she had accosted on the stairwell (before ordering him in the opposite direction of Ward and Fitz), Mikheil Tsiklauri was sitting in his 'office' on the eastern side of the building.
Making her way there, she kept her stride wide and her head high until she turned the corner where the man said Tsiklauri would be. She noted that, for the most part, the area was deserted. Unlike the rest of the hallways she had walked, which had been littered with guards gathered in groups of two and three, this one only had one man. He was standing stock-still, with his back facing a door. Gritting her teeth, she walked past him, peeking into the window beside him. One man. Tsiklauri.
She turned the corner at the end of the hallway and paused, out of sight, leaning her back against the wall. She let out a controlled breath. Moving quickly, she rounded the corner again, passed by the window, then pivoted, hitting the guard with the butt of her rifle. Using his confusion, and likely concussion, she controlled his descent to the ground. Then she hit him again, rendering him unconscious before he could open his mouth and alert anyone.
Taking the guard's spot at the door, she leaned over and looked into the window again. Tsiklauri was sitting at his desk, facing forward, and leaning back against his chair. Calmly, she took her Smith & Wesson M&P handgun out. Then she forced the door open with her shoulder, her gun already positioned at where she knew his head would be.
One shot.
One bullet.
It landed in the center of his forehead.
The man slumped into the chair, and blood spattered against the wall. There was no ceremony. No drama. No hesitation. Nothing. With the squeeze of a trigger, one moment, Aurora ended a man's life. She didn't have to swallow back disgust at herself because there was none. She had robbed someone of their brother or father or cousin or friend or something, and she felt nothing.
It was something nobody had ever told her. The feeling of nothingness that came after, the numbness. When death, when killing, no longer held any impact. That's why S.H.I.E.L.D. needed her. There weren't many people that could handle the weight of the nothingness. Could handle the realization of what they'd become.
Pulling the door back open, she dragged the unconscious man's body into the office then shut it softly. As it clicked shut behind her, she put the gun back into the spot at her waist.
Abruptly, the sound of an alarm blared throughout the building. Her time was up.
Walking quickly, she retraced her steps, tightly gripping onto the railing as the building shook beneath her. Fucking S.H.I.E.L.D. Turning the next corner, she took cover with a group of three soldiers, blending in with them as they ran in the direction of where Ward and Fitz were.
As soon as she caught sight of Ward, who was fighting even more soldiers, and Fitz, who had climbed up to a landing behind him, she lifted up the butt of her rifle, and, as she had with the guard, slammed it into the bottom of his neck. The action took the others off guard, and with a solid kick to the chest and a punch to the throat, she sent them sailing down the stairs. Dropping the rifle, Aurora jumped down the last few steps, joining her teammates just as Fitz kicked the last soldier in the face.
"I just did that," Fitz muttered, surprised. Then, without looking up from the body, he tapped Ward twice on the chest with the back of his hand. "Okay, let's go." He lent down and passed Aurora her backpack so she could shrug it on.
She took up the rear as the three sprinted out of the stronghold. Ward slammed into the metal door, and it made a banging sound as it bounced against the wall. Again, the ground shook beneath them, and again she cursed S.H.I.E.L.D. in her head. They had only made it a few steps into the sunlight before they were stopped. In front of them was an advancing army, each and every soldier pointing a gun in their direction.
"You said they needed a guy like me and a guy like you, right?" Fitz asked Ward.
"Right," Ward answered, and the two men shared a defeated look.
Next to them, Aurora took a step forward, so she stood in front of her friends. Slowly, she positioned her feet shoulder length apart, and one hand drifted behind her back to curl around the handle of her gun. I will not die for S.H.I.E.L.D.
But there was no need, as a whirring sound came from above, and a shadow was cast over them.
"It's the extraction team!" Fitz shouted, as the three of them looked to the sky and a jet flew into view. Aurora shook her head as Ward spoke.
"Better. It's The Cavalry." It's their team. "Never get tired of seeing that." They watched as the bus turned itself around, aiming the engines at the army. Within a second, the engines released a fury of water and wind, knocking the army to the ground.
⊗⊗⊗
Aurora, Fitz, and Ward stood at the top of the ramp, waiting for their team to join them. It didn't take long before they heard the sound of footsteps, and Coulson appeared in the doorway.
"Thanks for coming to get us, sir," Ward spoke, shaking Coulson's hand as he reached them.
"We take care of our own," Coulson said simply, and Aurora's lips pulled up into a slight smile as Simmons appeared behind his shoulder at the entrance of the lab.
Coulson let go of Ward's hand and turned to Aurora extending his hand. She eyed it for a second and sucked in a breath. Glancing back to Coulson's face, she met his eyes. She let the breath out through her nose and accepted his handshake. The man gave each of them a smile, and Aurora a firm nod, then walked by Simmons into the lab.
Fitz almost immediately shed his jacket and backpack, letting them both fall to the floor, before taking the few steps to Simmons. Aurora and Ward gave each other amused looks, the man letting out a light chuckle, and she picked up both items, passing by the scientists into the lab. Pulling out the chairs at Fitz's workstation, she placed both items down. As Skye passed through, Aurora assumed on her way to see Ward, she gave Aurora an understanding nod, which she returned. She watched as a similar nod was exchanged between Ward and Fitz, and she wondered what exactly they had talked about while she was gone.
"I had Ward and Aurora's back the whole time," Fitz said, leaning against the worktable in the center of the room, across from Simmons. "Pretty much saved him from a gang of Russian mobsters." At his statement, Simmons turned to look at her, an eyebrow raised.
"It's true."
"And I kicked a few guys' heads in."
"Also true."
Fitz let out a deep, exaggerated sigh, and another small smile tugged at Aurora's lips at his dramatics. "But enough mission talk already," he said. "Anything exciting happen at the hub?"
"I shot a superior officer in the chest," Simmons said joyfully, and Fitz's smile dropped from his face completely. Aurora, on the other hand, took a step closer to the woman.
"Which one?" she asked, her voice curious.
"Agent Sitwell."
In her head, Aurora imagined the expression on Sitwell's face as Simmons, small, seemingly docile, goodie-two-shoes Simmons, pulled a gun on him. Aurora smiled. It was a large, genuine, mouth wide open kind of smile. And, for the first time in a long time, she had to concentrate on stifling a loud laugh. A hand came up to cover her mouth, but she couldn't hide her wide eyes, radiating earnest mirth. Taking a moment, she pursed her lips together to contain her amusement, but when she spoke, it was clear in her tone.
"Awesome."
Word Count: 8,414
Winter break has officially started! And the next chapter is lengthy.