Chapter 9 - Missing Links

15 1 1
                                    

The door opened, so we all headed inside, me between Kamala and the Hulk with the neural uplink we needed. I went over to the computer, pulling out a hard drive, and plugging it in. All of a sudden, there was thudding and red and gray robots appeared. 

"It's AIM!" she exclaimed. 

"They must have followed you inside. Protect the uplink. I think I can upload the protocols to a secure server. Miss Najafi, please do go ahead and copy them just in case," JARVIS said.

 "We have to get this data back to the Chimera. Think we can hold them off?" she asked. While they fought off the bots, I typed quickly, copying anything and everything I could get my hands on. I kept glancing over my shoulder, ducking when a bot flew toward me, shattering on the nearby wall.

 "Come on, Abila! Let's go!" She grabbed my wrist, pulling me towards the entrance. We ran back at the Quinjet, where Dr. Banner was standing, wringing his hands.

I tossed him the jacket, and he pulled it on. We flew back to the Chimera, him installing the uplink for JARVIS. 

"Now that the Neural Uplink has been successfully installed, I can access my full database. Director Hill is reviewing the SHIELD protocols that you also recovered," JARVIS reported. 

"Feeling better, JARVIS?" she asked him. 

"Everything seems to be in working order," JARVIS reported.

"You have no idea how much this means to me...to SHIELD. Thank you, Bruce. You too, Kamala and mystery girl. With this, I can start rebuilding SHIELD in earnest. If you ever need anything, give me a call. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of each other," Miss Hill said.

 "Looking forward to it, Director," Dr. Banner said.

"Oh, my name's Abila," I said tentatively, trying not to wring my hands.

 "I feel like I should salute or something," Kamala admitted. 

"No need for that. Good luck, all of you," She said, then disconnected the call.

"JARVIS. You think you can get us Tony?" he asked. 

"This will take some time, but I should be able to find Mr. Stark. In the meantime, I've uncovered something that might be of interest to Ms. Khan and Ms. Najafi in the HARM room," JARVIS reported. 

"The what now?" I asked. 

"The Holographic Augmented Reality Machine. Something the Avengers use for training," JARVIS said. "

That sounds awesome," JARVIS gave her instructions to the HARM room, and she took off.

"You're not going with her?" he asked, and I shook my head.

"JARVIS, are there any old computers I can take apart?" I asked.

 "There is one in the research bay," JARVIS reported, so I headed there. I found a room filled with computers, dust coating every surface. I went over to the nearest one, popping the side off and pulling out all the parts.

After a while, I heard someone come in but I was so engrossed in what I was doing I didn't know who it was. I found putting computers together therapeutic, and it gave me an excuse to get lost in my head.

"We found Tony," I jumped slightly, Dr. Banner snapping me back to reality. I stood up, dusting off my hands. 

"Let's get this show on the road," I said as we headed back to the War Table.

 "Mr. Stark's last known location is his ancestral home, Golden Acres. You may be able to find a clue to his current whereabouts there," JARVIS said.

"Never heard of it. He really doesn't want to be found," Kamala commented.

 "Indeed not. The estate was located in a remote area of Nevada. I can provide you the precise coordinates," The coordinates popped up, along with a little Avengers A above it. 

"Let's go," Dr. Banner said, and we headed to the Quinjet. 

"I never thought I'd be going back to Nevada," I mused.

 "You've been to Nevada?" she asked.

"I grew up in North Las Vegas,"

SHE | Marvel's Avengers [10]Where stories live. Discover now