SHIELD Agent Eleanor Flint

Chapter 2

Okay, so maybe I hit my elbow on the ground harder than I thought. 

I scrambled to crawl behind a wooden crate before more bullets rang out from a wide doorway. I looked down at my right elbow to see the bruise beginning to form. I rubbed it quickly for some sort of relief before taking the Glock pistol from my belt and cocking it. I peeked over the wooden crate to see a man doing the same from behind the doorway. I fired and he ducked away. My bullet hit the concrete wall with a crack and I hid behind the crate again. 

I checked my watch which read: 5 Minutes Till Detonation. 

I huffed then glanced at the next stack of wooden crates ahead of me. I cocked the Glock again and stood up from behind the crates. The two hostiles in the doorway began firing and I fired back as I made my way to the next stack of crates. I tuck and rolled into cover as a grenade was rolled towards me. I kicked it away with my boot just before it made a small detonation. I shielded my face from the wave of heat and took note of the five hostages that were tied up behind the hostiles. 

I pressed my earpiece. "HQ, this is Agent Flint, I make 5 hostages." 

"Five hostages noted," an Agent replied. "You have 4 minutes till the building detonates."

"Noted," I answered. 

I peeked over the crates at the two hostiles that were also peeking out. I fired and hit one in the shoulder. He stumbled back and I was answered with more gunshots from the second hostile. I steadied my breathing as I thought through my next move. I went over scenarios in my training as quickly as I could, and this was probably wasting my time. See if Clint were here, he'd make a decision in a snap and we'd be out of here ten minutes ago. But, this is a solo mission, I have to make my own decisions. I checked my watch again. 

3 Minutes Till Detonation. 

"Crap," I muttered. 

A bullet went through the crate next to me and I stood up, fired a shot at the hostile which hit the mask over his eyes and he ducked away. I ran forward and made it to the doorway. I kicked the hostile in the head before he could recuperate and knocked him out. I turned to the five hostiles and my eyes caught the blinking red light of a bomb at their feet. I kneeled, pulled it away, and deactivated the timer with one minute left. I sighed in relief and stood up, pressing my earpiece. 

"Detonation canceled. Hostages are safe. I'm preparing for extraction." 

There was a click of a gun loading and I turned quickly. As the trigger was pulled I raised my arm and a wall of ice spread. The bullet ricocheted and hit the hostile in the chest. He choked and stumbled back. His body glitched for a moment, revealing the blue gridded framework of his body. He stayed in that glitch, switching back and forth between his avatar and computerized animation. I dropped the ice shield and allowed it to shatter on the ground. 

The lights turned on and the hostages behind me disappeared in the same manner of the hostile's glitch. The two hostiles that I had ceased disappeared, then finally the one in front of me. I relaxed as my surroundings disappeared, leaving me in a plain, gray room. The window that covered the entire wall to my right lit up and Clint stood there with a tablet in his hand. Two Agents sat at the control panel and another Agent who I did not recognize stood in the corner of the observing room. 

"I didn't see the third guy," I said as Clint entered something into his tablet. 

"Yeah, I know." Clint's voice came over a speaker in the training room. "Mistake number one: You fired first thing when you saw a hostile. That goes against one of our policies, only use lethal force when necessary."