SHIELD Agent Eleanor Flint

Chapter 32

-2011, Manhattan, New York- 

I squinted at my phone as it rang. The screen was blinding in comparison to my dark room. I looked at my clock that read 3:32 am and let out a groan. I cleared my throat, hoping that it would clear some of the grogginess and sat up. I swiped the screen to answer and held the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" My voice was groggy.

"Flint, I know it's early, but you need to be informed of this." It was Coulson.

I sighed into the phone and began to step out of bed. "When do I need to come in?" My legs shook and I stretched one arm over my head as I yawned.

"We're sending a cab to take you to the airport where we have a jet lined up," Coulson said.

I dropped my arm and furrowed my brow. "Where am I going?" I walked across my bedroom and flicked on the light. I squinted again and stumbled to my closet to grab clothes and mission gear.

"Greenland," he answered. "I'm sorry this is such short notice. Get dressed and wait for the cab outside. Fury will be waiting for you in Greenland-"

"Wait, why is Fury going to be there- Coulson what's going on?" I pulled out a black t-shirt and cargo pants and threw them towards my bed.

There was a pause and I glanced at my phone screen to make sure that he hadn't hung up. The call was still going. I put the phone back up to my ear and began to pull off my pajama pants.

"They found him," Coulson finally said. I stood upright and frowned. Found who? "They found Captain Rogers."

Then I was silent. My heart beat quickened at the sound of that name. So many thoughts passed through my head. They found him. What did that mean? How long had they been looking? Was he dead or alive? Did they find remains or did the serum somehow keep his body preserved? My face contorted into a look of confusion and I opened my mouth to speak, but only a croak came out.

"We should have told you that we were looking for him, but we thought that if we didn't find him it would be too hard on you..." Coulson rambled.

"When is the cab arriving?" I asked.

"You've got ten minutes," he replied.

~~~

The cab and jet ride were all a blur. They felt like a few moments when I'm sure that the jet ride was at most two hours. I tried to sleep, but I mind was too boggled to rest. The flight attendant repeatedly asked me if I wanted anything, but I declined and felt bad because she must be bored out of her mind. Why did they put a flight attendant on board when I was the only passenger? Did she work for SHIELD? Did the pilots know what was happening?

The scenery around me changed and a snow flurry blew in from the gray clouds. I was becoming exhausted from lack of sleep and my efforts to hold back my ice. My finger tapped on the small table in front of me as I stared out the window and chewed on my inner lip. The flight attendant approached me once more and I pulled out my earbud to smile politely.

"We'll be landing in thirty minutes. Are you sure you don't want anything to drink or eat?" She asked.

It was then that I noticed the rumbling in my stomach and the dryness of my throat. I pressed my lips into a thin line and glanced at her refreshment cart.

"Some water would be swell, no ice please," I said. "And if you have any snacks I'll take whatever you have."

The flight attendant smiled and retreated to her cart, poured me a cup of water and grabbed me a small bag of trail-mix. That was my breakfast. The jet landed at 6:04 am and the flight attendant suggested that I wear a coat when I step off the jet and onto the landing strip so that I don't catch a cold. I laughed to myself in response and zipped up my sports jacket.

A man wearing a long and thick winter coat approached me from the blizzard and I squinted my eyes to look at his face. The eyepatch gave it away. Fury placed his hand on my back and walked me to a concrete building that looked to be some sort fortress. Perhaps it was a military base. Snowflakes rippled across the landing strip and a few workers directed us to the metal doors. They opened and Fury and I rushed in. Two M.Ps closed the doors behind us and Fury threw back the hood of his coat. I looked down the long hall in anticipation then jerked my head to look up at Fury.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"He's currently being thawed out-" He began.

"Thawed out?" I interrupted. "He was frozen?"

"He landed in the North Atlantic, what else do you expect to happen?" Fury questioned.

My arms crossed over my chest and I looked up at Fury in shock. His expression dropped and his brow lowered.

"I thought that Steve was dead at the bottom of the North Atlantic after crashing a plane!" I exploded. Fury took a step back. "The thought never crossed my mind that he may have survived that! Howard and I went looking for the plane wreckage to recover a body to be buried!" Tears threatened to leave my eyes but I continued with a brittle voice. "And now I get a call from Coulson telling me that one of the only friends I ever had is alive after 75 years!" I paused to take a deep breath and choked on a sob. "I expected to come here and look at a dead body."

Fury didn't respond and waited for me to calm down. It would be awhile. I took a deep breath in through my nose and exhaled a cloud of vapor. I glanced back at the two M.Ps by the door. They kept straight faces as they should, but surely they were wondering what the hell was going on. I turned back to Fury and eyed the hallway behind him.

"Take me to him, please," I prompted.

Fury turned and began his strides down the hall. I upped my steps to keep up with him and we turned two corners, rode an elevator down two floors, walked a few steps down another hall and stopped in front of double doors. Fury turned to me and held his hand to the door.

"Before we go in," he began. "It will be a little unnerving for you to see him in the condition that he is in. Last time I saw him he was barely out of the ice." My eyes flicked to the door, then back to Fury. How do I mentally prepare myself for that? I had a feeling that I was going to be shocked either way. "Are you ready?"

"I am," I responded.

Fury nodded once and pushed at the door. It opened and we stepped inside a dark room where the only light came from behind plastic screens that enclosed the area. I could make out blurred outlines of people working around a table. In their hands they held something that glowed orange, similar to the lights around them. Surrounding Fury and I were large fans and a man in uniform looked up from a makeshift desk.

"Colonel," he said. "We have made some progress-" He stopped when he saw me and immediately marched to the plastic screen. He pulled it back and stuck his head in. He said a few words and turned back to Fury and I. "The temperature inside is high, you can only be in there for so long."

I peered behind him to catch a glimpse through the opening and could see a boot engulfed in ice. My heart pounded and Fury placed his hand on my back. We stepped forward and upon entering the screened area, my body felt the immediate change in temperature. A few of the workers stepped aside and my eyes fell upon what looked to be an iceberg. Small in size, but dense enough to hold the body inside.

The red and white stripes were almost blinding to my eye after not seeing them for so long. The blue blended in with the ice so well like it was meant to be there, but it wasn't. Then my eyes flicked up to his face. His perfectly preserved face had been thawed out from the ice and was the only part of him exposed. Water droplets beaded his pale skin and did the bare minimum to clean the small cuts from his fight with the Red Skull as if it had happened yesterday. I stepped towards his upper body to gaze down at his face that once held a genuine smile. So many memories came with that face, that uniform, everything. I smiled softly and tears lined my eyes.

It was him. He was alive after 75 years and he didn't know it. Or did he? I took notice of the monitor that displayed his slow heartbeat. Set next to it on a table was the Shield. I smiled lightly and gazed back down at my friend. I slowly reached up and gingerly trailed my fingertips over his cold cheek.

"Oh, Stevie..." I whispered. "I thought I had left everyone behind."

Hopefully he could hear me.