Thanatophobia

2 | Captain Spangles

a n x i e t y

a nervous disorder characterized by a state of excessive uneasiness and apprehension, typically with compulsive behavior or panic attacks

~~~

The sound of boots clicking against the stone floor echoed through the halls of the base as Gryffin walked, her hands curled into fists at her sides. Her mind whirled with possibilities of what her brother could possibly want, only to come up with two terrible outcomes.

He had a mission for her, or she had a session with him.

Not that she hated him, it just made her upset that they wanted her to pick at the guy's brain as though he were some sort of science experiment. She wanted to help people, not turn their brains to mush.

And mission, god missions. They were terrifying, but as an agent at this god-forsaken place, she had to go on them occasionally. Gryffin was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of another pair of boots clicking her way, and she quickly looked up, masking her face with an impassive look.

"Agent Rollins," she said, nodding in acknowledgment. He nodded in return, walking past her briskly. He stopped his pace suddenly, turning around to look at Gryffin. 

"Enigma." Gryffin stopped walking, halting with her feet together. She breathed in and out heavily before pivoting on her heel to look at him. "How can I help you, Rollins?"

"Agent Rumlow needs you in his office." Gryffin's blood ran cold and she nodded impassively. "Is it a mission?" she asked calmly, her eyes following a spider on the wall. It had a fly wrapped up in it's web and Gryffin's eyes saddened when she realized what a similar situation she was with the small insect.

They were both trapped.

"You'll see." He turned, walking away and leaving Gryffin watching his retreating back. 'What could that possibly mean?' she thought as she slowly turned and walked to the office. 'It could be a mission, or a session. Or maybe he enrolled me for training again?'

Gryffin froze in her tracks at the last thought. Training? She suddenly felt a strong urge to turn around and go back home to snuggle with her oversized bear while watching White Collar.

'Dammit,' she thought as she continued her short walk to the office. She came to the door and counted to ten while taking deep breaths. Her mind was a mess, and she carefully leaned her forehead against the door.

When the door clicked, her head shot up and she straightened, her hands tense at her sides. Alexander Pierce walked out, nearly bumping into her as he closed the door behind him. His weathered face crinkled at the eyes as he smiled at her tightly.

"Enigma."

"Sir."

They exchanged a brief nod each before Pierce walked around her and down the hall, lackeys on either side. She opened the door and walked in to see her brother standing in the center of the room, his arms crossed over his chest. He was frowning at the floor, seemingly in deep though. She cleared her throat quietly, trying not to startle him. He looked up, his arms flexing slightly.

"Hey." Gryffin walked forward, her arms crossed over her chest as well now. A small smile rested on her lips as her brother relaxed, his arms falling from his chest. He smiled at her slightly, and wrapped his large arms around her small frame, Gryffin wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Hey." Gryffin pulled away, her eyes searching his face, scanning the wrinkles and stubble. She frowned, rubbing her nails against his rough cheeks. He grimaced lightly, jerking back.

"You need to shave. Anyway, what'd you need me for?" she asked, trying to hide her anxiousness by walking to his desk, sitting on it, and fiddling with the gun sitting on it. It was fully loaded and flipped it around in her hand, pretending to be disinterested.

"Okay, first, put the gun down." She pouted but complied, placing the gun back on the table. "You do realize that I know how to kill a man with a gun without shooting it?" He rolled his eyes and walked over to the small wardrobe at the side of his room.

"I do realize that. Anyway, I want you to join me on the next STRIKE job," he said as he pulled on his black shirt over the thin tank top he had been wearing. Gryffin's face relaxed and she shook her head at how nervous she had gotten.

"What kind of mission?" She got up off the desk and walked over to the wardrobe, shifting through the few clothes. "I could literally wear something from your stuff and no one would be able to tell because we literally wear the same style. Black."

"Target's a mobile satellite launch platform, the Lemurian Star, you know about it. Pirates took over the ship is holding the SHIELD agents hostage." Gryffin stopped riffling through the clothes to look up at her brother who was reading through some files.

"Wait, SHIELD's? So if I'm going, would I be correct to assume that Captain Spangles and the red-head are tagging along as well?" Brock looked at her over the files and frowned at the concerned look on her face.

"Yeah. They're coming. Fury assigned 'em." Gryffin threw her arms up into the air in exasperation.

"Great! Just great! Not like I didn't just see both of them this morning! What if they recognize me?! They don't know I'm with SHIELD or HYDRA or whatever I am! Shit!" Brock grabbed her flailing arms gently and leaned down to her eye level so that she would look at him, but her eyes flew around the room rapidly.

"Hey, hey, calm down. You're going as Enigma, not Gryffin Rumlow, okay? Just calm down. Wear your mask, and you'll be fine." Her breathing calmed down slowly and he watched her carefully before pulling her into a hug.

"You're brave, come on. Suit up."

Oh, if only that were true.

~Sarah