If there was one thing Steve Rogers was starting to learn, it was how many secrets Agent Phil Coulson could keep. Coulson's death brought about meeting his adopted daughter Evelyn, another person who carried many secrets and mysteries of her own, ma...
I stood outside the chamber, waiting for the test begin. According to the outline, Lesedi was supposed to play some sort of shot put game. Targets would fly at her and she would use her powers to thwart or destroy them. She said she had played the game before, and that there was no pain involved. Fury said that she had become too fast, so they made changes in speed. I wanted more information, but Lesedi was fine with it. She only asked that I be there.
No problem.
ओह! यह छवि हमारे सामग्री दिशानिर्देशों का पालन नहीं करती है। प्रकाशन जारी रखने के लिए, कृपया इसे हटा दें या कोई भिन्न छवि अपलोड करें।
We locked eyes through the glass as checks were being run for the program to start from the tech booth. Standing in her black form fitting suit that resembled Natasha's, she gave me a small smile as the countdown started.
As soon as the countdown ended, a barrage of fire shot from different sides. I'd never seen her move like that. No wonder she was able to keep up with me when we went on that kitchen raid! She was flipping and bouncing off walls, avoiding fire and at times shooting ice knives from both hands. I was so damned proud of her.
Finally it stopped after about ten minutes. She was breathing hard. She gave me a look that told me that she had in fact been pushed, but had been victorious. We shared a smile.
Suddenly the room changed. All the white lights turned red. Lesedi's eyes widened, and then she frowned as her attention turned toward them. She began to sweat.
"What the hell--" I watched as the lights began shooting at her, but this time the ones she dodged burned any surface it touched. I knocked on the glass. I wanted to stop. "Sedi?"
She put up a hand. I shook my head no. This wasn't the kind of improvements either of us had in mind, and I knew it. She closed her eyes, summoning her concentration. When she opened them, she was ready, her eyes white. She was also angry.
"No, Sedi..." I whispered, shaking my head.
The red bolts flew and every time her ice shards hit them, water and steam erupting in the collisions. I saw the lights in the chamber grow redder-hotter-and I began to worry. She was doing great, but she was tiring faster. One bolt hit her and she screamed in pain, hitting the floor.
"Stop it!" I yelled, hitting the glass to get the technicians' and Fury's attention from the booth next to me. "I'm coming in!"
She was on the ground, still deflecting as best she could. I saw tears streaming down her cheeks. I saw the readouts inside the chamber. The climate temperature was nearing a hundred degrees. She was in trouble.
"Fury!" I ran to the control booth door and banged. I heard her scream from the chamber, and the next thing I knew I had destroyed the electronic door panel and was tearing the door open. "TURN THE DAMNED THING..." My roar died in my throat as I looked at the chamber through the observation glass, seeing nothing but a wall of solid ice. "...off." I stood wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Where was she in there? I looked at Fury.
He sat back in his chair in deep thought. "Hmm."
"Get her out of there." I growled.
"I don't know if we can," Fury shook his head, giving a small sarcastic but rueful laugh. "I didn't see this coming."
"Defrost the damned door, then." I ordered. "I'm going in." The techs looked at me and I gave them a look that let them know I wasn't repeating myself, and to start making it happen. They scrambled, and the door began heat. "Nothing above seventy degrees." I turned on my heel and started loosening the door, ignoring the water that started leaking from the chamber. I stood in front of it, pushing the door as it heated. It partially slid open, so I pushed it the rest of the way and ran in, almost slipping on the ice and turning it into a slide so I landed beside her. "Sedi...?"
All the walls were covered in ice, and the laser shooters were now covered with huge mounds of ice. Her skin had a small tint of blue, but she was breathing normally. She opened her white eyes and looked at me. "Get me out of here."
I picked her up and headed for the door.
"Cap, she should be checked--" When I pushed past Fury, he added, "Are you a doctor?"
"Are you? Do you know what you could have done?" I bit out, not slowing to talk to him. He followed me to the door, and I swung around to tell him, "No more tests. You are done."
Fury threw up his hands in a defenseless gesture and stepped aside.
When we got to the elevator, Lesedi touched my face, turning my head toward her. "I think I can walk now."
I looked down at her, and rubbed her nose with mine. "I think I'm not putting you down."
