Always Mine (An MCU Fanfiction)

31. Chasing Shadows

Peyton's P.O.V

By the time Fury's voicemail finished playing, my hands were shaking.

"SHIELD has been compromised. Trust no one. Go dark immediately."

The message ended with a burst of static. For a few seconds, nobody moved. The living room felt impossibly quiet.

Then chaos erupted.

"Go-packs!" Vince shouted.

Everyone scattered.

The words SHIELD has been compromised kept echoing through my head as I sprinted down the hallway. This wasn't another training exercise. This wasn't a drill. Someone had infiltrated SHIELD. Someone powerful enough to fool Nick Fury. And somehow, that someone already knew where we lived.

I threw open my bedroom closet and grabbed the emergency backpack we'd put together after a series of California earthquakes. Back then it had seemed overly cautious. Now it didn't feel cautious enough.

I shoved my laptop and charger into the pack along with spare batteries, flash drives, first aid supplies, and whatever else I could grab.

As I zipped it shut, my gaze drifted to a photo taped above my desk. Casey. A grin spread across her face in the picture. For a split second, my stomach twisted. She should have been here. She would have known what to do. Instead, she'd vanished. No goodbye. No warning. No explanation. 

Weeks later, none of us had answers. And somehow that scared me more than Fury's message. Because Casey disappearing wasn't normal. Nothing about it was. Not for someone as careful as her. Not for someone who could disappear whenever she wanted but always came back.

Until this time.

"Peyton!" Vince yelled from somewhere in the house.

I slung the bag over my shoulder and ran. I nearly collided with Vince in the hallway. My twin brother was carrying an Xbox under one arm and stuffing controllers into a duffel bag.

I stared at him. "Seriously?"

"If we're never coming back, the Xbox is coming with us," Vince told me.

I laughed despite myself. Leave it to Vince. Aliens, conspiracies, possible assassination attempts. Still thinking about video games.

"Says the guy who fought an alien invasion like he was playing GTA," I grinned.

Vince rolled his eyes. "I was going for Halo."

For a moment the tension eased. Only for a moment.

The second I glanced out the front window, it came rushing back. A black SUV sat parked across the street. Its engine was running. My stomach dropped. That vehicle wasn't usually there.

"Vince," I called.

His expression darkened immediately. "You see it too?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

The two of us exchanged a look. The same realization hit us simultaneously. We didn't have much time.

Sean was helping Melanie pack when we found them. Unlike the rest of us, she looked strangely calm.

"I've done this before," she said while stuffing supplies into her backpack.

Sean raised an eyebrow. "Running from secret organizations?"

"No." A sad smile crossed her face. "Wildfire evacuation."

The room fell quiet.

"When I was younger, one got close enough that my family had ten minutes to leave," Melanie shrugged. "You learn real fast what matters."