The facility sirens blared, red warning lights flashing through the labyrinth of halls. The explosion had collapsed part of the upper levels, and chaos reigned as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents scrambled to evacuate and regroup.
Rhiley bolted through the rubble-strewn room, half limping, one hand pressed against her bleeding temple, the other crackling faintly with residual energy. She didn't stop; she couldn't. The Tesseract's pulse still echoed in her, a hollow thrum that tugged at her gut like a magnet.
"Director!" she shouted through her comms. "Where are they going?"
Fury's voice came through, ragged but focused. "Extraction point. Southwest tunnel. Barton's leading them out with the doctor and the Cube. I've got a chopper en route." He spoke into an earpiece, "He's got the tesseract!" He shouted, "Track it down!" He gripped onto the young woman's arm as she pulled him up.
Rhiley glanced back at the energy—it was brewing a storm.
"Agent!"
"I think I can contain it," Rhiley said. The Director now stood alone. "At least long enough to buy you—and everyone else—time to get out."
Director Fury gave her one final look, the weight of leadership carved into the lines of his face. Then, a nod. "Okay."
"I'll be right behind you!" she shouted.
He hesitated for a beat, then ran, boots pounding toward the Tesseract. Rhiley wiped the blood caked around her mouth from her broken nose and turned her attention to the energy.
"You really are an idiot."
"You've been quiet," she muttered, eyes flicking to the corner where Howard's voice lingered. "Would it be harsh to say I haven't missed you?"
"It would be a lie," he shot back. "This is suicide."
She pulled the earpiece from her ear and chucked it across the room. "I know what I'm doing," she hissed, stepping closer to the pulsing chaos that made the walls tremble.
Debris fell; she flicked it away with the twitch of a wrist.
Rhiley raised her arms slowly. Inhaled. Exhaled. Eyes closed.
When they opened again, they glowed fire-red.
Fingers curled into fists. Her power surged.
She felt it—snap. The same break that happened when she'd once tried to lift Thor's hammer with nothing but raw will. But this time, she wasn't suppressing it. This time, her power was hers to wield.
Her veins lit with fire, glowing red beneath her skin, crawling upward. And for a heartbeat—
The world went silent.
"I didn't let them do this to me for nothing, Howard," she growled through her teeth. "I let them do it so I could be stronger. So I wouldn't lose anyone else."
She turned her head—Howard was gone.
The energy pulsed.
She drew her arms inward, holding her power tight in her chest. The energy bent, forming around her into a bubble, her mind shaping it, controlling it.
She had it.
She had it.
Then it exploded.
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"What exactly is it?" Rhiley asked. Cold steel wrapped around her wrists and ankles, chaining her to a chair in what looked like a gutted nuclear reactor. Cables ran everywhere. Nothing felt safe.
YOU ARE READING
Radioactive | Bucky Barnes
Fanfiction"I want to go back to the time you first told me your name." Rhiley, the twin sister of Howard Stark, finds herself wrapped up with the one and only James Barnes. The next time she sees him is on her new assignment with the 107th Infantry Regiment...
