Avengers II: The Human Shield (A Thor/Avengers Fanfiction)

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The initial blast of unrecognizable sounds from the twenty-odd videos made more than one jump. Namely, those that didn't have years of secret agent training and were not a god or a super soldier. Tony quickly muted his phone and paused the videos, evenly ignoring his mistake. There were several noises of recognition as the occupants of the room saw themselves, or places they knew, frozen on the wall.

Agent Mason sighed and rubbed her forehead with one hand. "Play them one by one if you please, Mr. Stark. I'd like to avoid as much confusion as possible."

"Fine by me. Chronological?" Tony asked, tapping his phone.

"How far back did you go?" Agent Mason didn't lift her head out of her hands.

"Uh," Tony glanced down, "about, ah, five years. I found a few pictures and written reports too. Didn't know your grandmother was friends with the Queen."

Agent Mason let her forehead make contact with the table with a solid thunk. "It was tea, like- twice."

"Whatever you say, Princess."

"Princess, Stark? Princess?"

"Well, your name is Katherine and you're British."

"You have a problem with my name? Or is this more of your infamous 'style'?"

"Katherine is too stuffy. See he's Point Break, he's Capsicle, and he's Reindeer Games." Tony said, pointing to each of the people present in turn. He gracefully overlooked everyone's obvious disapproval of their nicknames.

"And you are incredibly annoying. You realize that the Katherine you are talking about is a is actually a Duchess, right?"

"Duchess doesn't quite have the same ring to it, Princess." Tony's smile was smug.

"Am I right to assume that arguing would get me nowhere?" Agent Mason didn't look like she was expecting an answer.

Steve decided he wasn't going to remain silent anymore. "It never does with him. Now, Stark, could you please show us these videos?" Tony didn't answer, but one video box enlarged itself to fill the wall. Tony checked his phone before addressing the group again.

"I narrowed it down to the ones that involved one or more of us. The first one, not surprisingly, features yours truly." The screen showed Agent Mason surrounded by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. She opened a panel and placed her hand on the circuit. A few seconds later she turned and nodded to someone off screen. The mystery of who it was was solved when Natasha appeared on the second screen. She walked over to where Tony and Fury were sitting. The wall went blank again, but not before a man in a black suit approached Agent Mason. Tony felt the need to explain what they had just watched, seeing as most were not there when it happened.

"That was about a year ago, Fury brought me some of my pop's old stuff," he turned to Agent Mason, "I'm assuming that's how they blocked my communications?" She nodded confirmation, "That actually explains a lot. Shall we go on?" Without waiting for an answer, he pressed play.

The next clip was unrecognizable for a few moments. A group of agents in HAZMAT suits moved away and the object they were looking at was easily recognizable, it was in the room with them right now. One of the HAZMAT wearing men was waving a metal detector-like device over the mound. The next person to step on screen shook all of them at their core. Phil Coulson led a cautious Agent Mason towards the half-buried hammer. With a simple hand gesture, the scanner-wielding agent left, and the enclosed area emptied quickly. The onscreen Mason spoke quietly, "What do you want me to tell you? It's giving off enough electricity to power the New York branch. The energy isn't constant more...flexible, pulsing almost. Nothing we didn't already know. Personally, its giving me a headache." She glanced at Coulson, "You know what it reminds me of-". The piercing wail of an alarm cut her off before she could finish.

"Go." Even on a recording, Coulson's voice didn't leave any room for an argument. A group of men in S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms appeared on screen, half going with Mason, and the other half waiting for orders from Coulson.

The wall went blank again as Tony selected a new clip without offering an explanation. The camera that had taken the video looked like it was mounted on the dashboard of a car, looking out at the desert landscape speeding by. The vehicle slid to a stop, and several others formed a circle around it. There was the sound of opening and closing car doors, and then a voice.

"Is this the spot, Agent Cale?" Coulson stepped onto the screen, looking at the sky.

"Yes sir, the disturbance in directly above us." Coulson turned to face the agent who was watching the portable monitor closely.

"How accurate is that?"

"Pinpoint, three inches at the most, sir."

"Great thinking, if something falls from the sky it'll be on us faster than Bond." The sarcasm was evident in his voice. "Mason?"

"It's about twenty feet in front of us, but growing." She paused and her eyes widened dramatically. "It might be a good idea to take cover." She calmly walked behind one of the black cars, and the rest took her lead. No sooner than the last agent had hidden, and a silver streak and cloud of dust filled the wall. When it receded, there was a large, metal, humanoid shape there.

"Is it one of Stark's?" A bald agent asked.

"I don't know, that guy never tells me anything." Phil grabbed the proffered bullhorn and addressed the suit. "You are using unregistered weapons technology. Identify yourself." The helmet opened and started to glow orange. "Incoming!" Phil dove behind the nearest car, a split second before the spot he had been standing was obliterated. The metal monster turned towards the camera and the video ended as the car the camera was in exploded. 

Long time, no see! The end of term is coming up, and with that come exam finals. Sorry, but that takes priority now. I have a few things I need your opinion on: 

1. What do you think of the new title? I don't know if I like this or Avengers II: Storm Warning. more, tell me what you think? 

2. I'm starting to get annoyed with Agent Mason's first name. Should I change it? 

 

I hoped you liked this chapter, it was supposed to help give some background to AM. There will be a little more next chapter, but good news is is that we are getting close to the action! I'm going to start recognizing a person(s) each chapter whose review really stood out from the rest, last chapter's was... JuliaPhyllis and ProngsLily4Ever. Thanks!

This is getting really long, but I wanted to let you know that the new actress for AM is Brittany Robertson! As always, thanks THOR reading ;)