Disclaimer - All the usual Yada Yada Yada. I don't own any rights to any characters in this fic save for my OCs. Don't sue me.
Anywho, without further ado - read on.
Earth-6161 [May 2012]
Helicarrier
–Phil "Son of Coul" Coulson–
"This is not going to work, you realise that, right?" He commented to his superior, technically, but someone whom he had grown to see as a friend. A very uptight but very respectable friend, who just so happened to run an agency that employed hundreds of thousands of people and also decided the fates of millions more.
"Yes, I realise that." Director Fury commented as he kept looking at the video feeds the analysts had been able to capture of one Samantha Webers. To be honest, he was actually surprised to know that Earth housed such a being, such was the secrecy surrounding her. He was sure that Romanoff didn't know about it, which meant Clint didn't either.
That…was good because of the current circumstances. Something that the Director would no doubt be pleased about because his paranoia actually worked in his favour this time. Usually, it would be up to Coulson himself to tone down the paranoia of the director in a particular situation so as to see that the situation does not devolve into further chaos.
"You believe her to be the catalyst?" He made an educated guess, something that he realised was wrong instantly because of the way Director Fury's gaze snapped up to him with incredulity oozing from his voice.
"Her?!"
"I guess not," he muttered silently, still looking at the feeds, which were bidirectional, a new fancy holographic display that allowed both the sides to look at the same content at the same time, removing the need to move the monitors for the Director, not that he ever did that.
Director Fury sighed, "Coulson. She is….volatile, in a way I have seldom seen in my life. What she has been through, the amount of caution she has is warranted. I do not fault her for being the way she is, it's the only way she could have survived. What I don't like are the unknowns and we know so little about her that if not for our inability to apprehend Loki, I would have never approached her."
He protested at the idea that this woman could be innocent, "But sir I read the file. Her kill count is in the tens of thousands. How can you say–"
"Coulson, it is not for me to judge someone who has passed through multiple Concentration camps, and endured a brief stay in Soviet Era Gulags, only for her to survive both of these events and come out all the stronger from it."
Coulson's eyes widened as the Director gave him information that was not present in her INDEX file. The Gulag? Concentration camps? But that would mean she was…
"Yes, she is almost a hundred years old. The oldest known documentation that Howard Stark was able to find on her was from 1933 and then, she was already a teenager."
"B-but she looks just about 50, at best 60 years old." He was struggling to comprehend this. Sure, they had investigated some cases in Asia about many people living beyond 110 years old while maintaining motor movement in their bodies but all of those investigations turned out the same result : It was natural. As it turns out, the human body could live to over 110 years old, with semi independent motor movement, if only one knew how to take care of it. SHIELD hasn't found any enhanced yet that could slow down their aging so drastically, whilst also having other abilities capable of devastating entire cities.
"We think it is a side effect of her powers. She is capable of manipulating water in all states, with distance being her only weakness. I believe that she can manipulate the water in her own body, somehow dramatically reducing her aging in the process."
He was quiet for a moment before he spoke, "I see. That certainly fits her abilities. But the question remains Director. The team is not yet ready to face a threat collectively. They are all very different personalities with Dr.Banner not even willing to fight for the team. The less said about Thor the better. And that is before we even try to integrate Samantha Webers into the situation who has shown a very violent reaction to the Tesseract. I believe she might have a history with that."
"I know that. But what other option do we have at the moment? The Council is breathing down my neck for hiding such a -potent asset from them and at the same time, they are ordering me to command her, to command her?! To find the Tesseract as the first priority." He had seldom seen Director Fury so tense, so frustrated at something. Not even the whole Kree thing had shaken the Director as much as the situation with Tesseract had.
In a situation like this, there was only one thing he could do and that was follow the given orders to the letter, "What are my orders, sir?"
Director sighed before looking at him, shutting down the holo monitors, "Was Romanoff able to get through Loki?"
"No, sir but I believe it has only been a couple of minutes since she entered the prison space. I believe that with enough—"
BOOM! BOOM!
He had to hold onto the table for dear life as the entire helicarrier shook from multiple explosions. His eyes widened in horror as his gaze met DIrector Fury's. The entire ship was going sideways and the holo display just showed a warning about Engine Failure.
"GO! GO!" The director shouted and he didn't need to be told twice as he ran out of the office, holding on to any wall he came into contact with. Holding onto the comms, he all but shouted, "Status report! Any available agent, head to the secure areas. Secure the bay areas! I repeat, secure the bay Areas!"
Both the bays held the two prison pods aboard the Helicarrier. They also held important engine circuity right above them. If both the bays were compromised or broken into, they would not be able to do any engine repairs.
"Engine 3 is down! I repeat, Engine 3 is down. We have suffered catastrophic damage on Engine 3. Lowering altitude, engaging load bearing mechanisms." the voice spoke in a ship wide broadcast as the ship began stabilising, even though it was still tilted.
He rushed to the Bay area. Romanoff was still there, talking to Loki according to her last update.
"Agent Romanoff, are you there? This is Agent Coulson, Agent Romanoff, please respond." He repeated into the comms as he navigated through the sea of confused agents to head to Loki.
"We have hostiles on board! I repeat, we have hostiles on board! Agent Barton has been identified. I repeat, Agent Barton has been identified to be with the hostiles. Please proceed with extreme caution!" Another ship wide broadcast as he cursed, trying to get to Loki as fast as possible.
Loki was not a foe that she could defeat.
He skidded to a halt as he reached the weapons dot. "Bingo!" He smiled as the door was already left slightly ajar by someone. Ignoring that since now was not the time to investigate that, he rushed into the room and looked for the one thing he knew would be able to injure Loki, something that had been able to go toe to toe with Thor himself.
"Has anyone seen Webers? I repeat, Webers is AWOL. I repeat, Samantha Webers is AWOL." Yet another broadcast that had him hurrying to get the heavy thing out of the weapons depot.
In the middle of all the noise, a heavy guttural roar of rage resounded in the entire Helicarrier, something that made him rattle to his bones as a chill ran down his spine.
"Fuck!" That was the only way he could describe the situation.
The broadcast came a moment later, with the voice of the agent being extremely shaken and panicked.
"The Hulk has been unleashed. I repeat, the Hulk has been unleashed. All agents fall back. I repeat, All agents fall back! Thor and Samantha Webers, please head to Bay 13. I repeat, please, Thor and Weber, head to Bay 13. The Hulk is loose. I repeat…"
He sighed and shut off the comms, the desperation in that agent's voice too much for him. He then opened his eyes holding steely determination in them. He might not be able to do much in the case of Dr.Banner but Loki? Loki was fair game.
In the middle of his march to the Bay though, a sudden thought struck him as he smiled melancholy, taking the keys to LOLA and tossing them into one of the nearby employee quarters. Hopefully, someone will be able to secure LOLA.
"You were right, Director. They do need someone to get them all together," Smiling, he marched to his doom, content in the knowledge that his death would mean something. It would yield a net positive for the world.
And what more could a man ask for?
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