Thallium | Captain America: The Winter Soldier [7]

Both Eyes Open

My wheelchair lowered first and I rolled out of the way, the wind whipping at my hair and Fury's long leather coat. We entered the room, everyone in the room staring at us. "Did you get my flowers?" Pierce asked, and Fury gave him a very annoyed look. "I'm glad you're here, Nick," Lies. "Really? Cause I thought you had me killed," Fury responded.

"You know how the game works. Both of you," He said. "So why make me head of S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Fury asked. "Cause you're the best, most ruthless person I've ever met," He said. "I did what I did to protect people," Fury snapped. "Our enemies are your enemies, Nick. Disorder, war. It's just a matter of time before a dirty bomb goes off in Moscow or an EMP fries Chicago. Diplomacy, a holding action, a bandaid. And you know where I learned that. Bogota. You didn't ask, you just did what had to be done. I can bring order to the lives of 7 billion people by sacrificing 20 million," He argued.

"It's the next step, Nick. If you have the courage to take it," He jeered. "No, I have the courage not to," He pushed him over to one of the now active scanners, Romanoff pulling a gun on him to keep him in place. "You don't think we wiped your clearance from the system?" He scoffed. "I know you erased my password, probably deleted my retinal scan. But if you want to stay ahead of me, Mr. Secretary, you need to keep both eyes open," Both their eyes were scanned, and that was it. All of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s and HYDRA's files were dumped onto the web.

"Done. And it's trending," I said, glancing at my phone. Suddenly, sparks flew and holes were blown in the councilpeople's sternums. "Unless you want a two-inch hole in your sternum, I'd put those guns down," All three of us had guns aimed at him as he held the remote. "That was armed the moment you pinned it on," Begrudgingly, we lowered our weapons. "Leuitanent, how much longer?" He asked someone on coms.

"65 seconds until satellite link. Target engaged. Lowering weapons array now," The weapons on the Helicarriers started moving, and Cap still hadn't put in the last chip. He needed to hurry up, or else a whole lotta us were gonna die, and I wasn't ready to kick the bucket quite yet. "...Charlie lock," I let out a breath. Steve had done it. Outside, the carriers fired on themselves, destroying them.

"What a waste," Pierce muttered. "Still on the fence about Rogers' chances?" I asked. "Time to go, councilwoman, this way. Come on. You're gonna fly me out of here," He ordered. "You know, there was a time when I would've taken a bullet for you," Fury spat. "You already did. You will aga--" Romanoff used her Widow's Bite to take out the device and knock herself unconscious. 

As she hit the ground, Fury and I both disengaged the safety on our guns and simultaneously shot Pierce in the chest. He fell through the glass as it shattered and Fury went to Romanoff's side. "Romanoff. Natasha. Natasha! Come on!" He urged. "Ow. Those really do sting," She muttered. "Welcome back to the Land of the Living. Come on, we gotta get outta here before Helicarrier slams into us," I said as she stood up.

"You guys take the copter; I'll go find Sam," I said, rolling off before they could object. As I arrived on the 41st floor, I heard fighting and made a beeline towards it. Unfortunately, as I entered the room, so did a Helicarrier. "Skit!" I shouted, rolling as fast as I could, which sadly wasn't very. "Please tell me you got that chopper in the air!" Sam shouted, coming up behind me and pushing me as fast as he could.

"Sam, where are you?" Romanoff asked. "41st floor, northwest corner! Rue is with me!" He shouted. "Hold on, stay where you are!" She ordered. "Not an option!" He shouted back. As he jumped out the window, he grabbed my wrist and the force ripped me out of my wheelchair.

He rolled inside, and I just caught the lip of the entrance. "41st floor! 41st!" He shouted as he and Romanoff hauled me inside. "It's not like they put the floor numbers on the outside of the building!" Fury snapped. "Hill, where's Steve?! Do you have a location on Rogers?" She yelled into the headset. My heart was pounding from the near-death experiences.

 "How many wheelchairs have I destroyed this week? 4?"

a/n Drumroll please...the book that will follow this one will be SHE, which will follow Abila Najafi over the course of Marvel's Avengers (the game)!!