Iron Beta 3: What to do When your World Explodes

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"I have absolutely nothing. They only one with these files are S.H.I.E.L.D., the Dream Team, me, you, Obie, and Hammer."

My dad sighs dejectedly. "And none of our team would do this. Obie is dead. Did you get the info on Hammer?"

I nod. "I called yesterday. He's still being a creepy psycho on full lockdown with no computer access. He could not have done this, it's impossible."

"Did you check up with Thor on the possibilities of influence from the magical side of things?"

"Yes, I did. Loki died last summer and we aren't getting anywhere because Thor says no one else uses malicious magic on Asgard and I don't know what the hell to DO!" My voice rises with every word and I'm shouting the last word as I slam my fist down onto the table.

I immediately pull back as pain grabs at my hand and bruises blossom. My snarls turn into pitiful whimpers and I slump my shoulders and pull my feet up, burying my head between my knees.

I can feel my dad's calloused hands rubbing soothing circles up and down my back and he begins to ramble comforting words.

"Hey, calm down. It's okay."

"No it is not."

"Good point. Well, it will be okay eventually. You'll see. Soon we will be back in our lab, the Iron Cave, and we can be blowing stuff up and chasing Dummy around. You can be shooting stuff with Nat and Clint and being weird with Darcy. Just you wait."

"But when, dad? When will we be able to stop hiding? Have you seen how many people want our heads?"

Silence hangs heavy for a moment as he fumbles for a response. "Soon, I promise. We will get our robot back, we will find out who this mystery is, and we will get home. Trust me."

I nod and we return to our papers with a renewed vigor, determined to reclaim what is ours.

A~A~A

The sound of pounding footsteps made me eventually lift my head about an hour after my little fit.

"Guys!" Steve bursts into the room, his hair and eyes wild as he clenches his shield. "There are black vans pulling up outside. Big black eagles on the side. Suit and be ready to go in five."

I spring up from my chair, papers spilling everywhere as I sprint down the hallway to the bedroom where Darcy is clipping a pistol to her hip.

I dig out my collapsed bow and travel quiver, which is smaller than my normal quiver but never runs out of arrows, thanks to magic. I clip my bow to the back of my belt and hand my quiver to Darcy for safekeeping. I open my suit and let the midnight black panels slide and click into place. I wait until the comms crackle in my ear before confirming my combat status.

"This is Iron Beta reporting."

"Copy, Beta." Steve replies. "Iron Man, Widow, Hawkeye, Thor and I all fighting."

"Hulk?"

"Too big. Bruce is watching over Darcy, Jane, and Betty."

"Is he linked in?"

"Yes."

I nod and try to buzz Bruce. "Bruce?"

"Here, Beta."

"Good. Keep them safe."

"Will do."

"Cap, we need a plan of action." my dad injects. "Are we running or fighting?"

"Voting. All in favor of fleeing?"

The only noise is seven people breathing.

"Fighting?"

"Iron Beta."

"Iron Man."

"Widow."

"Hawkeye."

"Banner."

"Aye!"

"And me," Cap finishes. "Fight it is, then. Alright, here is our plan. Beta, I need you up of the roof. There should be shadows on the...western side right now. Go dark and crouch there until I give a signal, then drop from above and have at the agents. Iron Man, cover her, but stay back farther into the woods. Hawkeye, find a tree near the edge of the woods and pick them off. Keep moving to stay hidden. Widow, find shadows and use gun silencers. I'll be the most recognizable, so I'll be really just using brute force. Banner, I will signal if we need you out here. In that case, we can enact the Australia situation* and I'll send Beta to lead the girls out. Everyone in position, move on my mark."

I adjust my footsteps to silent as I open the window and jump down about two feet to the ground. I go completely dark - no lights, no sound, stealth repulsors - as I crawl into the shadows onto the roof, crouched and ready to attack on Cap's signal. Meanwhile, I have a full view of the battlefield below.

And it is really bad.

People in dark clothing with the S.H.I.E.L.D. eagle emblazoned on their uniforms pour out the vans like clowns out of clown cars and only a few are picked off by the arrows and bullets whizzing out of the forest. Their weapons do not look normal, but I can't tell what they are from up here.

"Move in! Move in!" Cap's shout tears my thoughts away as I fire up my suit and blast off the roof and let repulsor fire rain down on the agents.

I flip one way to avoid a blast from a weapon and kick its owner in the head before reaching up to block a huge gun from targeting me, yanking it to the side and unbalancing the holder of said weapon, letting him go down and be trample by the chaos of the battle. I duck to avoid a foot aimed at my head, and when I do, I get a glimpse of a smaller gun about a foot away. It's glowing blue and has a skull headed octopus on the side.

"Phase two!" I shout into my earpiece. "Watch out, they're using the Tesseract!"

A nearby agent hears me, releases a feral snarl and slams a palm into my helmet, causing it to rattle against my head and give me a massive headache.

I groan loudly and wince as my teammates scream loudly in my ear, only intensifying my head pain. Once I finally blink all the dark spots out of my eyes, I realize that my suit-covered ankles and wrists are tied and I'm being dragged somewhere.

I whimper as I my side is carelessly slammed into a tree and then thrown roughly - still bound - into a clearing.

My helmet ripped off in a shower of sparks and I clamp my eyes shut against the sudden light. Once my eyes adjust, I peer slowly at my wooded surroundings.

And only my possibly broken ribs keep me from gasping out loud.

My team is in similar positions - bound and gagged, Thor lies unconscious - and in various degrees of pain. My dad's suit sparks and protests loudly with every tiny movement, his gauntlets almost ripped off by the ropes binding his ankles and wrists. Clint is hog tied, gagged, and weaponless, with a gash bleeding heavily into his left eye. Natasha lies slumped against a nearby tree - not bound but probably drugged with elephant-grade sedatives. Or worse. Steve is on his knees, bound, bruised, gagged, and bloody, his blue eyes not meeting mine, just focusing on the ground.

I feel a prick in my neck and my head starts to fog and gets heavier.

The last thing I see before it all fades is a silver badge with the letters W, S, and C.

WSC.

World Security Council.

Am I allowed to be scared yet?