Going Down In Flames

Questions

The tape was rewound several times as everyone stared at it in a state of shock, watching the events unfold before their eyes.

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Among the crowd of people were a few very familiar persons, no one asked for any information from them, they knew very well who they were. Tension bounced off the walls of the fairly large room, most people quivering in their presence.

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In the small sea of faces stood a man dressed in all black, an eyepatch crossed over one eye; another man who seemed to be in his mid thirties, short brown hair and a grim but mocking smile over his lips; and last but certainly not least, there was a woman with dark brown hair pulled back in a tight bun, her facial features projecting themselves for all to see and a unyielding determination in her brown orbs.

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On the screen in front of the high level agents was the playback of the atrocity. On Fury's expression was undoubtably a disapproving frown, it spoke volumes, revealing his thoughts of the tragedy to all who were watching. It seemed to show the emotions of disappointment, dismay and - disgust?

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"Go back."

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Agent Hill faltered as she turned to look at the director warily, an eyebrow raised in utmost confusion.

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"Sir?"

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"Just." He held up his hand to her in dismissal, lowering his head a bit in an attempt to ignore her questioning, obviously more than tired by the short conversation.

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She did as she was told. No one dared to peel their eyes off of the giant screen as they searched each and every pixel for the reason the tape had been rewound again.

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"Pause it now." He demanded with an edge to his somewhat demanding tone, his gaze almost piercing through the overly sized television as he evaluated what could be seen.

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Everyone gasped as they spotted what it was he was staring so intensely at, no one had seen it previously and it made a few people wonder how he had seen such a small detail with only one eye.

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"Is that -" Hill started before Coulson stepped up and interrupted the rest of her sentence.

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"It is." That small smile of amusement never seemed to leave his person, and never seemed to escape anyone, "Zoom in." He called over his shoulder, directing it at one of the technicians standing by not far from the rest of the crowd.

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As the paused screen was pulled up closer, everyone could see what they had saw more clearly, all it took was a few buttons to clear up the image and voila, what they had was a very detailed picture of Eleanor White, facing off the megalomaniacal alien, her posture clearly offensive and defensive simultaneously. But it wasn't that that had caused a stir among the group, it was what the could see on her person. Around her neck was a dark purple and blue bruise, it was truly an ugly sight and they weren't sure how it just appeared on the camera. It seemed to almost blossom the longer he was around her.

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"It didn't happen while he was there.. That wasn't new, she got it somewhere else, but the question is; where?" Agent Coulson walked closer to the screen and pointed directly at her bruise, "This takes on the shape of a hand, a large one at that, most definitely not a woman's. It is safe to infer that somehow this is of Loki's doing. She was choked." He paused a moment, taking in everyone's expressions. "Anyone who could of possibly known anything is dead. All we have to work from is this short tape, nothing more. We don't know anything. We don't know when this happened, why it happened or how no one noticed it, it's a goddamn bruise that covers almost all of the front of her neck!" The man was beginning to become frustrated, it was evident enough in the way he spoke. Everyone was silent, but Fury quickly decided he would not stand for it.