Into The Shadows
Chapter Eighteen
The metal was old and rusting, but it was definitely the submarine I was looking for. I swam around the base of the sub, looking for an entrance.
"Claire, look to your right and down a little." Steve ordered, and I did as I was told, seeing a small hole in the side, just big enough for me to fit through. I swam towards it, and peered through the water as I entered the ship. Swimming up and forwards, I got closer to the surface of the water. When the sub had crashed it obviously had trapped air inside it. It wasn't long before I breached the surface of the water, and could begin wading across the floor.
"Fun?" Tony asked as I took my mouthpiece out.
"So far," I chucked, swinging my body around so the torch beam moved.
"Okay..." Tony clicked his tongue, "So far, the most direct route would probably be up ahead and to your left. That's where the cargo hold will be. However, judging by these blueprints, there's going to be a special alcove where the spear is gonna be."
"Do you think they knew what they were dealing with?" I asked, moving up the corridor.
"Doubtful, yep, that's it, take this left."
I did as I was told and came to a smaller corridor.
"Second door on your right."
The door was slightly ajar, but decades of sea salt and decay had made it stiff and hard to move. I struggled with it for a few minutes before it shifted, scraping along the floor with an agonizing sound.
"Sweet Jesus," Clint groaned.
"Sorry," I stepped into the cargohold. It was a mess - almost completely destructed.
"Where the hell is this alcove, anyway?" I asked, stepping over what I really hoped wasn't a body.
"Okay, keep walking... Take a right... And stop."
I halted, looking around. "Tony, this isn't an alcove."
"Oh, did I forget to mention? The alcove is underneath you."
I rolled my eyes and dropped to my knees, trying to find a crack in the grating, or a handle, or hinges - anything that would indicate a door. Finally, I found it, and dug my fingers into it, groaning as I lifted it up.
"You know what?" I grunted, raising it a couple of inches, "Next time, I'm just going to let Loki take over the world - maybe I'll even help him."
Tony laughed, and I gave one last un-ladylike grunt as I swung the door open. Remarkably, what I found wasn't a scene of destruction and horror like the rest of the dank ship. Almost completely untouched, in an open wooden crate, laying on a bed of straw, was a Spearhead.
"Well shit." Clint whispered. I reached down and plucked it from the crate, examining it. I barely had time to look at it, however, before I heard the click of a gun. I turned, knowing exactly what I would find.
"Well thank you, sister dear, for finding the spear for me." Anna, dripping from head to toe, snatched the spearhead from my grasp. “It would have been so much trouble to track it down myself.”
I glared at her, “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, Anna. Loki’s a bad guy. He doesn’t want to use this spear for good.”
“Fits with my plans perfectly.” She smirked at me, allowing me to scramble to my feet.
“Give it back, Anna.” I ordered, “You have no idea what it can do.”
“Oh Claire,” she cocked her head, “Let’s not fight.”
“No, let’s.” I snapped, spin-kicking the gun from her hand and sending a fist into her gut. She cried out and dropped the spear, which rolled away across the floor.
Regaining her composure very quickly, she sent a booted foot into my stomach, and a fist into my windpipe, sending me flying, and knocking the breath out of me.
She tutted me, grabbing the spear from the floor and dashing off around the corner and out of sight. I sat there, struggling to breathe while she got away.
She was getting away.
I was letting her get away.
“Claire.” Steve warned as I got to my feet and stumbled after her down the corridor, “Don’t you dare.”
“Claire this is a really dumb idea.” Tony called. Clint yelled something not totally comprehendible and, ignoring them all, I put my mouthpiece back in, bracing myself for the water again.
She was about ten feet ahead of me. I could just make out her legs kicking away.
“Claire, don’t even think about going after her.” Tony snapped.
“Agent Reynolds, I’m ordering you to stop following her.”
I continued to swim. I was faster than her, more athletic – I always had been. I was catching up quickly, closing in the gap. I was so close.
She stopped swimming, and through the haze, I saw her turn. What was that? She was lifting a gun.
I tried to turn, to swim away, but I wasn’t fast enough. The bullet punctured the side of my right oxygen tank, and I watched as the bubbles cascaded from the hole.
“What the hell was that? JARVIS, update.”
“Miss Reynolds’ left oxygen tank has been ruptured. She is now breathing using only the left tank.”
I kicked my legs and began swimming again. There was no way in hell I was going to drown here. I swam up, kicking towards the surface as quickly as I could. As I swam I became aware that the temperature was dropping. I was steadily getting colder.
“Miss Reynolds’ oxygen levels are at 10%.”
I could just see the moonlight on the surface.
“Miss Reynolds’ oxygen levels are at 5%.”
I was so close.
“Miss Reynolds is breathing manually.”
“Shut up!” I heard a chorus of men scream.
The shock of suddenly having no air to breath made me stop suddenly. My lungs began to ache; I hadn’t taken a big enough gulp of oxygen.
I kicked my legs and began swimming again, desperately clawing my way through the water to get to the surface.
I breached the surface of the water with a gasp, almost screaming from the burning in my lungs.
“Claire?”
“Claire, are you okay?”
“Midgardian?”
I choked back tears and bobbed in the water, still gasping for air. After a couple of minutes, my breathing returned to normal.
“Claire?”
“I’m… Fine…” I managed to splutter, feeling my teeth begin to chatter. “I’m s-oo… c-cold tho-ough.”
“I thought you said the suit would protect her?!” Steve bellowed, and I heard Tony trying to explain himself.
“Experiment… Completely hypothetical… Steve I…”
I heard crashing and a yelp from Tony.
“Claire, you’ve got to get to shore so you can wait for the chopper.” Clint told me, the voice of reason amid chaos.
I began moving, but I was so cold that my limbs would barely cooperate. Clint talked me through it the whole time soothingly, and in the background, I could hear Fury trying to stop Steve from killing Tony.
“Rogers, take a time out.” Fury ordered. A door slammed.
“Your boyfriend just tried to break SHIELD.” Clint laughed, and I heard Thor start to question Tony, more calmly, about why the suit wasn’t working. Right now, I didn’t care. Right now, I just wanted to be warm.
I waded up the shoreline onto dry ground and collapsed, ripping off gun holsters and rucksacks, reaching into my bag from the warm clothes.
“Clare, before you get changed, I’d roll the bag over. We can see you.” Clint offered, and I did, pushing it over so I couldn’t see the flashlight, before reaching for my zipper.
I was shaking so violently that I had trouble pulling the zipper, but after a few moments of struggling, I did it. It took me about five minutes to get changed, but when I was dry, I could talk properly.
“You good?” Clint asked as I rolled the bag back over, so I was facing the flashlight.
“Yeah, better now.”
“Hey, make sure you don’t leave that suit behind. I’m going to modify it when you get back.” Tony told me, and I stuffed the black items back in the bag.
“JARVIS?” I called, “Where’s Anna?”
“Your sister is a little further inland, Miss Reynolds, in a cave on the side of the rocks, in the clearing.”
I stood up, shouldering my pack. “Fury, I came all the way to this island. I’m not letting them leave with that spear.”
There was a long, audible sigh, but Fury agreed with me, and I set off into the woods.
"Claire, look to your right and down a little." Steve ordered, and I did as I was told, seeing a small hole in the side, just big enough for me to fit through. I swam towards it, and peered through the water as I entered the ship. Swimming up and forwards, I got closer to the surface of the water. When the sub had crashed it obviously had trapped air inside it. It wasn't long before I breached the surface of the water, and could begin wading across the floor.
"Fun?" Tony asked as I took my mouthpiece out.
"So far," I chucked, swinging my body around so the torch beam moved.
"Okay..." Tony clicked his tongue, "So far, the most direct route would probably be up ahead and to your left. That's where the cargo hold will be. However, judging by these blueprints, there's going to be a special alcove where the spear is gonna be."
"Do you think they knew what they were dealing with?" I asked, moving up the corridor.
"Doubtful, yep, that's it, take this left."
I did as I was told and came to a smaller corridor.
"Second door on your right."
The door was slightly ajar, but decades of sea salt and decay had made it stiff and hard to move. I struggled with it for a few minutes before it shifted, scraping along the floor with an agonizing sound.
"Sweet Jesus," Clint groaned.
"Sorry," I stepped into the cargohold. It was a mess - almost completely destructed.
"Where the hell is this alcove, anyway?" I asked, stepping over what I really hoped wasn't a body.
"Okay, keep walking... Take a right... And stop."
I halted, looking around. "Tony, this isn't an alcove."
"Oh, did I forget to mention? The alcove is underneath you."
I rolled my eyes and dropped to my knees, trying to find a crack in the grating, or a handle, or hinges - anything that would indicate a door. Finally, I found it, and dug my fingers into it, groaning as I lifted it up.
"You know what?" I grunted, raising it a couple of inches, "Next time, I'm just going to let Loki take over the world - maybe I'll even help him."
Tony laughed, and I gave one last un-ladylike grunt as I swung the door open. Remarkably, what I found wasn't a scene of destruction and horror like the rest of the dank ship. Almost completely untouched, in an open wooden crate, laying on a bed of straw, was a Spearhead.
"Well shit." Clint whispered. I reached down and plucked it from the crate, examining it. I barely had time to look at it, however, before I heard the click of a gun. I turned, knowing exactly what I would find.
"Well thank you, sister dear, for finding the spear for me." Anna, dripping from head to toe, snatched the spearhead from my grasp. “It would have been so much trouble to track it down myself.”
I glared at her, “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, Anna. Loki’s a bad guy. He doesn’t want to use this spear for good.”
“Fits with my plans perfectly.” She smirked at me, allowing me to scramble to my feet.
“Give it back, Anna.” I ordered, “You have no idea what it can do.”
“Oh Claire,” she cocked her head, “Let’s not fight.”
“No, let’s.” I snapped, spin-kicking the gun from her hand and sending a fist into her gut. She cried out and dropped the spear, which rolled away across the floor.
Regaining her composure very quickly, she sent a booted foot into my stomach, and a fist into my windpipe, sending me flying, and knocking the breath out of me.
She tutted me, grabbing the spear from the floor and dashing off around the corner and out of sight. I sat there, struggling to breathe while she got away.
She was getting away.
I was letting her get away.
“Claire.” Steve warned as I got to my feet and stumbled after her down the corridor, “Don’t you dare.”
“Claire this is a really dumb idea.” Tony called. Clint yelled something not totally comprehendible and, ignoring them all, I put my mouthpiece back in, bracing myself for the water again.
She was about ten feet ahead of me. I could just make out her legs kicking away.
“Claire, don’t even think about going after her.” Tony snapped.
“Agent Reynolds, I’m ordering you to stop following her.”
I continued to swim. I was faster than her, more athletic – I always had been. I was catching up quickly, closing in the gap. I was so close.
She stopped swimming, and through the haze, I saw her turn. What was that? She was lifting a gun.
I tried to turn, to swim away, but I wasn’t fast enough. The bullet punctured the side of my right oxygen tank, and I watched as the bubbles cascaded from the hole.
“What the hell was that? JARVIS, update.”
“Miss Reynolds’ left oxygen tank has been ruptured. She is now breathing using only the left tank.”
I kicked my legs and began swimming again. There was no way in hell I was going to drown here. I swam up, kicking towards the surface as quickly as I could. As I swam I became aware that the temperature was dropping. I was steadily getting colder.
“Miss Reynolds’ oxygen levels are at 10%.”
I could just see the moonlight on the surface.
“Miss Reynolds’ oxygen levels are at 5%.”
I was so close.
“Miss Reynolds is breathing manually.”
“Shut up!” I heard a chorus of men scream.
The shock of suddenly having no air to breath made me stop suddenly. My lungs began to ache; I hadn’t taken a big enough gulp of oxygen.
I kicked my legs and began swimming again, desperately clawing my way through the water to get to the surface.
I breached the surface of the water with a gasp, almost screaming from the burning in my lungs.
“Claire?”
“Claire, are you okay?”
“Midgardian?”
I choked back tears and bobbed in the water, still gasping for air. After a couple of minutes, my breathing returned to normal.
“Claire?”
“I’m… Fine…” I managed to splutter, feeling my teeth begin to chatter. “I’m s-oo… c-cold tho-ough.”
“I thought you said the suit would protect her?!” Steve bellowed, and I heard Tony trying to explain himself.
“Experiment… Completely hypothetical… Steve I…”
I heard crashing and a yelp from Tony.
“Claire, you’ve got to get to shore so you can wait for the chopper.” Clint told me, the voice of reason amid chaos.
I began moving, but I was so cold that my limbs would barely cooperate. Clint talked me through it the whole time soothingly, and in the background, I could hear Fury trying to stop Steve from killing Tony.
“Rogers, take a time out.” Fury ordered. A door slammed.
“Your boyfriend just tried to break SHIELD.” Clint laughed, and I heard Thor start to question Tony, more calmly, about why the suit wasn’t working. Right now, I didn’t care. Right now, I just wanted to be warm.
I waded up the shoreline onto dry ground and collapsed, ripping off gun holsters and rucksacks, reaching into my bag from the warm clothes.
“Clare, before you get changed, I’d roll the bag over. We can see you.” Clint offered, and I did, pushing it over so I couldn’t see the flashlight, before reaching for my zipper.
I was shaking so violently that I had trouble pulling the zipper, but after a few moments of struggling, I did it. It took me about five minutes to get changed, but when I was dry, I could talk properly.
“You good?” Clint asked as I rolled the bag back over, so I was facing the flashlight.
“Yeah, better now.”
“Hey, make sure you don’t leave that suit behind. I’m going to modify it when you get back.” Tony told me, and I stuffed the black items back in the bag.
“JARVIS?” I called, “Where’s Anna?”
“Your sister is a little further inland, Miss Reynolds, in a cave on the side of the rocks, in the clearing.”
I stood up, shouldering my pack. “Fury, I came all the way to this island. I’m not letting them leave with that spear.”
There was a long, audible sigh, but Fury agreed with me, and I set off into the woods.
