Into The Shadows
Chapter Seventeen
"So you expect me to let you run off to some Canadian Island, on your own, with barely any weapons, knowledge of the area, the artifact you're looking for, or even if it's still there, against Loki and your sister, not to mention all the men they'll have working for them?" Fury stared at me from across the table. We were in the meeting room at SHIELD, and Tony and I were trying to sell our pitch to Fury. Steve, Clint, Bruce, Natasha, Thor, and a handful of other agents were watching silently.
"She won't be alone." Tony pressed, "I'll be on her audio the whole time."
"Great, a mission ran by Tony Stark. That's a surefire way to get her killed." Fury snapped back. Tony recoiled, hurt.
"Fury, I can take care of myself. I do know what I'm looking for, and I've taken out Loki's men before." I begged, hearing the whine in my own voice.
A long silence fell in the room, with Fury's brow furrowing and straightening like it usually did when he was trying not to beat the ever living hell out of Tony. Finally, he gave a resigned sigh.
"I'll order a chopper for you, Agent Reynolds. Be ready at 23:00 hours for take-off to Pender Island." He glared from me to Tony. If you're wrong about this, I'm putting you both in traction.
We thanked him and walked out. I had some serious packing to do.
"Claire," Tony pulled me aside, a smile hinting at his lips. "There's something in my workstation here that I want to show you. You'll need it for this little trek."
"How does it fit?" Tony called.
"It's a little tight," I admitted, zipping up the undershirt, which was more like a black leather vest, fitted almost perfectly to the curve of my waist. The leather pants were thick, and slightly padded on the knees and on the inner thighs, 'just in case of motorcycles', according to Tony.
The over jacket was also made of leather, and the elbows of it were padded too. As I put it on, I realized the only problem with it was the size. It fit perfectly everywhere but across my chest. I sighed and tried to force the zip, but it wouldn't go any further than just below my bust. When I got back, Tony and I were going to have to discuss my measurements. I checked that the biker boots were completely done up before stepping out. of the small changing cubicle. Tony looked me up and down appreciatively, nodding his head.
"It should be good down to sub-zero temperatures, and it should be waterproof too. I modified your holsters, including Denearmul's." Tony handed me my gun holsters, ,which wrapped around my thighs and my hips. I did up the buckles and slid my SHIELD issue black pistols into them, nodding to Tony to give me my next article.
He handed me a black, hard cased rucksack. "Waterproof, for sure. I've put a spare set of Winter Clothes in there for you, just in case you get too cold. There's a Winter Jacket in there and a pair of thicker pants, which Pepper went out and got from the Wardrobe when I told her about this."
I slid the rucksack over my shoulders and nodded, taking everything in.
"Okay, here's the sheath thing for the sword..." He slid the Sheath over my shoulders, and I slipped Denearmul into it pretty easily. I preferred my side-sheath, but that would get in the way. This meant that Denearmul would sit below my rucksack, and actually meant that my weight was distributed evenly.
"Now," Tony grinned at me, "Here's the fun part. Your aqualungs."
"They don't have missiles on them do they?" I asked apprehensively, and he frowned.
"No.They strap to your arms. One on each." He began to put them on my upper arms, tightening them and making me wince. "The mouth piece and you goggles come up around the back, they're on top of the rucksack right now. You've just got to flip them over your head, and you're done.
I nodded, taking in everything he'd said, inhaling deeply. "Thanks Tony."
He smiled sadly and brought me in for a hug, which was awkward owing to all my baggage. "Take care of yourself kiddo, and remember I'm going to be on this earpiece the whole time." He handed me the small bud, which I placed in my ear.
"Thanks, Tony." I gently punched his shoulder and gave him a fleeting grin before walking out of the room and into the hallway. Last I'd seen of him, Steve had been headed for SHIELD's gym.
He was pummeling a punching bag, dancing around it on his toes when I walked in. His face was screwed up in concentration, sweat glistening on his forehead.
"Ninety years old," I stepped further into the room, and he stopped, turning to face me, "And you still can't do your own bandages." I pointed to the wrap around his knuckles with was coming undone. He frowned slightly.
"What am I going to do with you?" I teased quietly, stepping right up to him and starting to unwrap the cloth.
"You're going then?"
I nodded, concentrating on his hand. I heard him exhale.
"Thank you for the picture."
His hand stiffened in mine, and I looked up at him. His blue eyes were unreadable, and slightly covered by bits of blonde hair flopping over them. My fingers itched to brush it back, but I began re-winding the bandage.
"I'm glad you liked it."
A smiled crossed my lips, and I tightened the bandage. "I was starting to think you'd never let me see them." I admitted, and he chucked.
"Claire," he began, and I looked up at him. He opened his mouth to continue, when someone interrupted us.
"Uh, Agent Reynolds?"
I looked across the gym to see a young Agent, hovering by the door. "They want you on the copper pad."
"I'll be there in a minute." The head retracted from the doorway, and I turned back to Steve. "I guess that's me."
"Don't get yourself killed, okay?" he brushed a hand behind my ear, stroking down to my neck, and I stood on my toes to kiss his cheek.
"I promise I won't." I whispered in his ear, before dropping down to my normal height and giving his bandaged hand a quick squeeze.
"We can't land on the island, Fury's orders." The Agent who'd interrupted me and Steve called. "So you're going to have to drop out into the water, and call us again when you want us to pick you up."
I gave him a thumbs up to let him know that I understood, and waited while he received and checked the coordinates of the Faithful's supposed resting place.
"Okay!" he nodded to me, giving me another thumbs up. I slid my goggles over my eyes and put my mouthpiece in, standing at the edge of the chopper platform.
"You alright?" he called, and, instead of answering, I pushed myself forwards ad off the chopper. I felt my stomach do flips as I fell through the air, plummeting at an unhealthy speed to the water, which I hit with a resounding splash, cutting straight through it and continuing to descend. When I'd finally slowed, I adjusted the waterproof flashlight on the strap of my rucksack.
"Alrighty then." I heard Tony's voice come to life on the earpiece. "Claire, I'm here with Clint, Thor and Steve. Your flashlight has a built in waterproof camera, so we've got a visual."
I began to swim downwards, my torch beam guiding the way through the murky depths. My leather suit was working pretty well to keep the cold water out, but my hands and face, which were uncovered, stang with the cold.
"What's that?" Clint asked, after about five minutes of swimming. I stopped, scanning the water.
"I don't see anything, where was it?"
I had to agree with Tony - the water wasn't producing anything.
"No no, there, to the left a little. Yeah, yeah that's it! Claire, swim straight ahead." Clint ordered. I did as I was told, keeping my eyes out for wreckage. Slowly, I began to pick up on some things. Occasional lumps of metal were littered around the seabed.
"Claire, swing your flashlight beam up? I want to see what's in front of you."
I did as I was told and froze. It was murky, dark, and hard to make out, but I could see the outline of the Faithful up ahead.
"She won't be alone." Tony pressed, "I'll be on her audio the whole time."
"Great, a mission ran by Tony Stark. That's a surefire way to get her killed." Fury snapped back. Tony recoiled, hurt.
"Fury, I can take care of myself. I do know what I'm looking for, and I've taken out Loki's men before." I begged, hearing the whine in my own voice.
A long silence fell in the room, with Fury's brow furrowing and straightening like it usually did when he was trying not to beat the ever living hell out of Tony. Finally, he gave a resigned sigh.
"I'll order a chopper for you, Agent Reynolds. Be ready at 23:00 hours for take-off to Pender Island." He glared from me to Tony. If you're wrong about this, I'm putting you both in traction.
We thanked him and walked out. I had some serious packing to do.
"Claire," Tony pulled me aside, a smile hinting at his lips. "There's something in my workstation here that I want to show you. You'll need it for this little trek."
"How does it fit?" Tony called.
"It's a little tight," I admitted, zipping up the undershirt, which was more like a black leather vest, fitted almost perfectly to the curve of my waist. The leather pants were thick, and slightly padded on the knees and on the inner thighs, 'just in case of motorcycles', according to Tony.
The over jacket was also made of leather, and the elbows of it were padded too. As I put it on, I realized the only problem with it was the size. It fit perfectly everywhere but across my chest. I sighed and tried to force the zip, but it wouldn't go any further than just below my bust. When I got back, Tony and I were going to have to discuss my measurements. I checked that the biker boots were completely done up before stepping out. of the small changing cubicle. Tony looked me up and down appreciatively, nodding his head.
"It should be good down to sub-zero temperatures, and it should be waterproof too. I modified your holsters, including Denearmul's." Tony handed me my gun holsters, ,which wrapped around my thighs and my hips. I did up the buckles and slid my SHIELD issue black pistols into them, nodding to Tony to give me my next article.
He handed me a black, hard cased rucksack. "Waterproof, for sure. I've put a spare set of Winter Clothes in there for you, just in case you get too cold. There's a Winter Jacket in there and a pair of thicker pants, which Pepper went out and got from the Wardrobe when I told her about this."
I slid the rucksack over my shoulders and nodded, taking everything in.
"Okay, here's the sheath thing for the sword..." He slid the Sheath over my shoulders, and I slipped Denearmul into it pretty easily. I preferred my side-sheath, but that would get in the way. This meant that Denearmul would sit below my rucksack, and actually meant that my weight was distributed evenly.
"Now," Tony grinned at me, "Here's the fun part. Your aqualungs."
"They don't have missiles on them do they?" I asked apprehensively, and he frowned.
"No.They strap to your arms. One on each." He began to put them on my upper arms, tightening them and making me wince. "The mouth piece and you goggles come up around the back, they're on top of the rucksack right now. You've just got to flip them over your head, and you're done.
I nodded, taking in everything he'd said, inhaling deeply. "Thanks Tony."
He smiled sadly and brought me in for a hug, which was awkward owing to all my baggage. "Take care of yourself kiddo, and remember I'm going to be on this earpiece the whole time." He handed me the small bud, which I placed in my ear.
"Thanks, Tony." I gently punched his shoulder and gave him a fleeting grin before walking out of the room and into the hallway. Last I'd seen of him, Steve had been headed for SHIELD's gym.
He was pummeling a punching bag, dancing around it on his toes when I walked in. His face was screwed up in concentration, sweat glistening on his forehead.
"Ninety years old," I stepped further into the room, and he stopped, turning to face me, "And you still can't do your own bandages." I pointed to the wrap around his knuckles with was coming undone. He frowned slightly.
"What am I going to do with you?" I teased quietly, stepping right up to him and starting to unwrap the cloth.
"You're going then?"
I nodded, concentrating on his hand. I heard him exhale.
"Thank you for the picture."
His hand stiffened in mine, and I looked up at him. His blue eyes were unreadable, and slightly covered by bits of blonde hair flopping over them. My fingers itched to brush it back, but I began re-winding the bandage.
"I'm glad you liked it."
A smiled crossed my lips, and I tightened the bandage. "I was starting to think you'd never let me see them." I admitted, and he chucked.
"Claire," he began, and I looked up at him. He opened his mouth to continue, when someone interrupted us.
"Uh, Agent Reynolds?"
I looked across the gym to see a young Agent, hovering by the door. "They want you on the copper pad."
"I'll be there in a minute." The head retracted from the doorway, and I turned back to Steve. "I guess that's me."
"Don't get yourself killed, okay?" he brushed a hand behind my ear, stroking down to my neck, and I stood on my toes to kiss his cheek.
"I promise I won't." I whispered in his ear, before dropping down to my normal height and giving his bandaged hand a quick squeeze.
"We can't land on the island, Fury's orders." The Agent who'd interrupted me and Steve called. "So you're going to have to drop out into the water, and call us again when you want us to pick you up."
I gave him a thumbs up to let him know that I understood, and waited while he received and checked the coordinates of the Faithful's supposed resting place.
"Okay!" he nodded to me, giving me another thumbs up. I slid my goggles over my eyes and put my mouthpiece in, standing at the edge of the chopper platform.
"You alright?" he called, and, instead of answering, I pushed myself forwards ad off the chopper. I felt my stomach do flips as I fell through the air, plummeting at an unhealthy speed to the water, which I hit with a resounding splash, cutting straight through it and continuing to descend. When I'd finally slowed, I adjusted the waterproof flashlight on the strap of my rucksack.
"Alrighty then." I heard Tony's voice come to life on the earpiece. "Claire, I'm here with Clint, Thor and Steve. Your flashlight has a built in waterproof camera, so we've got a visual."
I began to swim downwards, my torch beam guiding the way through the murky depths. My leather suit was working pretty well to keep the cold water out, but my hands and face, which were uncovered, stang with the cold.
"What's that?" Clint asked, after about five minutes of swimming. I stopped, scanning the water.
"I don't see anything, where was it?"
I had to agree with Tony - the water wasn't producing anything.
"No no, there, to the left a little. Yeah, yeah that's it! Claire, swim straight ahead." Clint ordered. I did as I was told, keeping my eyes out for wreckage. Slowly, I began to pick up on some things. Occasional lumps of metal were littered around the seabed.
"Claire, swing your flashlight beam up? I want to see what's in front of you."
I did as I was told and froze. It was murky, dark, and hard to make out, but I could see the outline of the Faithful up ahead.
