Unexpected

Reprimands

The guards met me in the hall. I looked at them unfazed while their own eyes were bugging out of their heads. They were obviously worried. They probably thought that there was an escape attempt. One insisted on escorting me out of the hall, while the other went, with gun held in hand, to make sure that everything was alright. I assured the one that had me by the arm, leading me out of the hall, that everything was fine, but he told me that protocol must be followed.

I hadn't meant to cause such a commotion, to lose my self-control there and bend the bars to Ed's containment cell, but... I had. I knew there were cameras in the hall. Whoever was working on the Triskelion's surveillance would see what happened. Trouble would most assuredly come my way, but I couldn't say that I regretted it. Even though the alarms were blaring all around us and I was practically being dragged along through the hallway I couldn't help but feel like I was almost floating, like all the noise and chaos was far away. My limbs were light and airy and my legs had weakened again even though I knew full well that I still had plenty of excess strength from my electric shock flowing through me. I'd faced him. I'd asserted my own power above him and in doing so I'd freed myself. I could hardly believe it, but now I felt a strange mixture of exhaustion and jubilation.

Emerging from the hallway, I turned to the guard again with a little, good-natured laugh, trying to surreptitiously pull my arm away from his grip without seeming rude. "Thank you sir, but I can walk on my own."

"Right. Sorry. It's just-" He cut himself off as we noticed a new person in the room who had not been there when I had entered the cell hallway. I knew this person well, and I was more than a little shocked to see her standing there, arms folded over her chest, dark hair pinned up just as it had been yesterday.

"Agent Hill, Ma'am." The guard lifted his hand in a salute.

My stomach flip-flopped as my jubilation deflated at the sight of her. "Agent Hill." I acknowledged her, my gaze dropping instantly as she turned her head to look from the guard to me, "I would have thought that you would have gone home by now."

She didn't bother to acknowledge my statement, "Agent Copper. Director Fury would like to see you in his office."

"Yes, ma'am." I responded compliantly.

She nodded, and then turned, heading back the way she came to the elevator. I followed her quickly, remaining a step or two behind her, my head tilted down. I wasn't ashamed of my actions, nor did I regret them, but at the same time I couldn't help but respect Maria Hill's authority and fear whatever it was that Fury had in store for me. Why did he want to see me? Was I going to get in trouble? My stomach dropped as the pair of us entered the great glass elevator. I wasn't going to be fired for what I did was I? I tried to silence my worries, attempting to keep my back straight as we rose up the floors and as I followed her to Director Fury's expansive office.

Fury was dressed, as he usually was, in black from head to toe as he sat behind his desk. Floating before him was a sort of hologram computer. Since it was see-through I could see that he was watching a recording of me in the containment unit's hallway. A blush came to my cheeks and I could feel my temperature drop in worried anticipation. As we approached the desk he looked up from his screens with his one good eye.

"Thank you, Hill."

She merely nodded before excusing herself from the office. I remained where I was, standing tall with my head up and my hands tucked respectfully behind my back. I made my expression professional and passive as I readied myself for whatever Fury had for me. I was an agent and I would act like one. The door clicked shut behind me as Fury leaned forward in his seat, clasping his hands together so his fingers intertwined before resting his chin on top as he looked me over.