MERCURY | mcu [1]

𝟭𝟯 | 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

Lorena approached the gear that SHIELD had provided for her. It was reminiscent of the suit she had been wearing when they had taken her in, but it was much more SHIELD coded.

It was stylish, she thought. When she looked in the mirror, she looked like a whole different person. Her face was covered in scratches and gashes, her skin still burned and sore. She probably looked a lot better than she had the day before, but she still looked beaten, worn down. Dark shadows lined the underneath of her eyes, and she looked pale, malnourished. If it weren't for the muscle, she'd look sick.

She wondered if that's how she always looked.

Lorena joined Romanoff and Barton a short while later, all the time being escorted by her armed guards. The three of them were given sandwiches while they held their briefing with Fury.

'You may die out there, di Santo,' he finished, 'but until that moment you're my problem. We intend on keeping you alive, but if you so much as step an inch out of line, you will be eliminated. So you go out there and you do your job so I can go home.'

Lorena stared at him, arms folded over her chest. 'Is that your idea of a pep talk? 'Cause it's kinda crap.'

'It's more of a threat,' Romanoff said, finishing her sandwich.

'You get used to it,' said Barton.

'Our package will be delivered in three hours,' Fury said. 'You have two to get to New York and get into position. Once targets are acquired, await your orders.'

'Spoken like a true Director,' Lorena mused. Fury fixed her in a sharp look.

He passed them out earpieces. Outside, it began to rain again. Lorena listened to it beating the windows. Rather fitting, she thought.

She, Romanoff and Barton boarded the quinjet that would be taking them to New York. It was the three of them and a surveillance team, and Lorena was the star of the show.

She found herself forcing back tears again as the jet took off.

They landed at SHIELD New York within the hour, had some time to stock up on weapons, and then they were off again.

A perimeter was set up around the Chimera building, far enough out that it would remain under their radar. Lorena was stationed in a building opposite, Romanoff in a car along the perimeter and Barton in a building a few blocks out, surveilling the area from above.

'Package in position,' came Barton's voice. From his position he could see the entrance, where their delivery was undergoing security checks. It was harmless, untrackable to the naked eye.

Lorena held her breath. She was unused to doing these without her mask. She clicked her bracelet into place, ready to move at a moment's notice.

She waited, heart racing, on Barton's words.

One minute. Two.

On the streets below, people went about their days, completely unaware as to what was about to happen. Lorena spotted a young couple holding hands as they walked, an old lady disappeared into a coffee shop, a waitress came out of one, carrying a tray of coffees.

It was so peaceful down there.

Three minutes had passed. Four.

'Package received.'

Lorena raised her wrist, pointed it at the Chimera building, and shot. A wire soared from the bracelet and gripped onto the top of the building. A pause, then Lorena was propelled through the air, wind rushing past her ears, blowing strands of her ponytail into her face.

She caught the edge of the roof, swung herself up and landed atop the building.

'In position,' she murmured.

She moved over to the hatch on the roof. It was the only unguarded place in the building. She felt around the edges; the gaps were too small for her fingers. No matter. She reached into her thigh holster, removed a laser.

'Come on, di Santo, we don't have all day,' came Romanoff's voice.

'I'm working, Romanoff,' Lorena said. 'Give me a minute.'

The laser cut through the metal, and, within seconds, she'd pried the hatch open.

'I'm in.'

She tried to ignore the pounding of her heart in her neck. Lorena slid into the open hatch and into the Chimera building.

It felt strange to be back. She hadn't been in this room for years. It was a small attic space that held old paper files. She wondered, for a brief second, if she should take some. Then she remembered why she was there, and, as elusive as the shadowed attic, she slipped into the corridors.

Armed agents paced the halls, and Lorena, at the advantage, took them down one by one. She recognised some of the faces, but she pushed it aside. She could not back out now. She was already in. She would be shot on site if seen.

She made it down slowly, floor by floor, the pile of bodies stacking up behind her. As she moved to each story, she placed a SHIELD device on the walls. An explosive.

'I'm on di Santo's level,' Lorena whispered, ducking behind a doorway as a Chimera agent walked by at the other end of the corridor. 'Preparing to engage.'

The agent walked by again; she grabbed her around the neck-- the agent fought, but was no match for Lorena's strength. She fell limp in Lorena's arms. Lorena dragged the agent by the feet into a room off the corridor, and ducked once again into the shadows.

Before her was the door to her father's office. She couldn't remember a time she had ever been in there. Her fingers trembled, she hesitated.

It had all been building up to this. The last forty eight hours of her life had led up to this.

And now, she had lost her nerve. She stared at the door, the name 'Edoardo di Santo' plastered on the oak wood.

'Heat signature detected,' said Barton in her ear. 'One, inside the room.'

'If I go in there he'll alert the rest to the breach,' Lorena whispered.

Romanoff tutted. 'Then kill him before he does.'

Lorena swallowed thickly, took a knife from her holster. The door would be locked, she knew that. She'd have to rip the handle off completely. The noise would be enough to alert anyone in the vicinity, even if most of the agents around her were unconscious or dead.

She wanted to run and hide. She couldn't face her father, not after everything.

Still, she moved herself forward. Under the cover of the shadows, she reached for the handle, closed her fist around it...

She paused, listened, then ripped it from place.