Desperate Measures (MCU fanfiction)

Chapter One: Calla Lilies and Walking in the Dark

April 6th.

Agent Coulson crossed the room to the screen on the wall. The mug in his hand emitted only distant dreams of a dark bean, filtered and discarded like long worn shoes. "Trip, get Agent Hand on the line - tell her it's urgent." He ordered the young agent. Coulson sat down at a desk next to the wall quietly and sighed.

"Yes, sir." Came the obedient reply.

I can't believe I would let this happen. His insides churned, begging to be fed and finally put to rest but the middle-aged man knew his sleeping period wasn't for quite some time. How could he sleep at a time like this when two of his responsibilities have gone unattended to? They're missing, and it's all his fault.

Five months earlier, November 20th.

It was still dark when Simmons awoke to a loud banging noise. She looked over her shoulder at the small clock behind her. 3:00 AM. Sigh... She heard steps out in the common room so she stood and adjusted her sleepwear before investigating the loud noise.

She couldn't make out much in the mostly dark room at first but once her eyes adjusted to the unusually dreary tone, she saw young Mary. Currently seated at a loveseat with her back to Simmons, Mary's head was down. All that was visible in the dim lighting of the room was the top half of the girl's pink hair, short and natural. Simmons' mistaken eyes melted the S-curls together so the head - or what little she could see of it - turned into a swimming pink blob. "Mary, what are you doing up so late?" Early.

Mary didn't look up, either unsurprised or emotions just well concealed. "I couldn't sleep. No worries." She sounded distant, detached.

Simmons felt annoyed. "Well I'm trying to sleep and I don't enjoy being startled awake."

"I'm sorry. I'll be quiet." An apology? Mary was usually too proud to express feelings of guilt. However, she still sounded removed. A few moments passed and Simmons sensed she was waiting for nothing.

Simmons sighed (she'd been doing a lot of that lately, since Mary came onboard. She simply didn't understand the girl). "Well it's far to early for me. I'm going back to bed. I suggest you do the same." Irritated and tired, Simmons retreated to her bunk, leaving Mary to her thoughts.

Mary was staring intensely ahead, not really seeing much. Try as she might, she just couldn't stop replaying that dream in her head.

Darkness. Nothing but darkness and the hot asphalt road beneath her bare feet. She looked down and saw she was clothed in her sleepwear. Warmth. Comfort. Reassurance. She felt these things so immeasurably. No matter that she was obviously vulnerable to an attack, she felt safe.

Suddenly, she panicked. Someone was following her. Someone big. She ran as fast as she could but she just wasn't good enough.

She just wasn't good enough. Tears welled in Mary's eyes as she repeated the sentence in her head a few times.

A room now, dank and dirty. Lying on a table, restraints dug into her wrists and ankles. She tried to speak but gagged on a large object shoved down her throat, forbidding any noises but strangled moans. She looked over and saw Simmons in the same state, drool seeping from the gag. Simmons was crying, muffled sobs echoing in the mostly empty room. Only, when Mary looked up, she realized the room wasn't so empty after all. Surgeons. Operating.

She'd never felt so violated. Mary was finally reduced to quiet sobs.  She pulled her legs to her chest with one arm and braced her head with the other while waiting for the dream to start over.

It did.

March 29th.

Coulson stood in front of the holo table in the lab. "We have been given a mission. Agent Hand wants us to infiltrate XTra Inc. We have good reason to believe this company is harboring a very dangerous alien artifact know as the Prime Necroliber. This artifact is rumored to be a simple notebook made of a rare extraterrestrial material comparable to papyrus - one exception being that it is fire retardant."

He went on for a while, getting into details, before adding a final note. "Also, Simmons and Mary will have to stay behind. Simmons because we will be sending you data to analyze here in the lab and Mary because we need you to hack the security systems and retrieve some encrypted data regarding the use of the Prime Necroliber. Dismissed." Mary wanted to complain and she was sure Simmons did too, but she kept to herself, too tired to argue.