Metal
Iris struggled to stay calm as she sneaked through the dead silent forest. She pushed away stray branches, careful not to break any as to cause a noise. Her eyes darted from left to right, checking her blinking location monitor every two seconds to ensure she was on the right course.
From control Bucky could see her heart rate spiking. He wished he was there by her side, directing her with his gestures and able to calm her, but he wasn’t. His grip on the edge of the metal desk was so strong he was denting it. Steve noticed, but he didn’t say anything. He knew how hard this was on Bucky.
Iris continued through the trees until she just reached the end. In a low valley below her was a dark grey building, dead and quiet looking, almost like a prison. There were no windows and only one visible door. Besides the door was a single guard who looked so tired that he might just pass out with a flick to the head.
She took a few steps to the left, following the blinking light on her arm. Iris then kneeled in the cover of the shrubbery, sticking a single gloved hand into it before pulling out the thin components of a rifle tucked into a camouflaged box. She quickly pieced the weapon together, knowing the entire piece by heart with Bucky’s relentless teachings.
The simplicity of it all calmed Iris a little yet set her on edge at the same time. She shook her head silently, thinking to herself as she waited for the signal to ensure the cameras were on a loop. A single, quiet beep rang in her ear before she stabilized her hand, aiming her silenced rifle at the man. Killing hadn’t become any easier for her mentally, but with Bucky’s guidance, it had become a lot less physically tolling. She steadied her breath.
One Breath in.
Two Breath out.
And with that, she squeezed the trigger. With a silent pop the man by the door collapsed in a heap.
Iris took no time to think about what had happened. She quickly disassembled the rifle, stuffing it back in its box to the best of her ability, before moving to the edge of the hill. Her frazzled nerves returned as she stepped into the open area. She knew she was an easy target now, no trees, no cover. Iris sucked in sharp breath of the fresh pine air before somewhat awkwardly Iris made her way down towards the building.
Soon she reached the front door which looked like nothing but a thick sheet of metal. There was no handle and no place to scan a card. It almost seemed as though the entire building was an impenetrable or maybe unescapable iron box.
Iris stood nervously, rocking on the balls of her feet. It reminded her of the one year she joined girl scouts to sell cookies only to have her father knock her over the head with a glass bottle when she got home for going to other people’s houses without his permission. Iris shook her head once more, suppressing the memory with a shiver.
“You gonna get this door open for me or what, Stark.” Iris whispered quietly. There was radio silence for a split second, causing her heart to skip a beat.
“Hold on pretty lady. Give me a second.” Stark’s playful sarcasm dripped through the headset.
“Hey.” She heard a muffled Bucky in the background retorting against Stark’s comment.
Just as Iris let a quick grin flicker to the corner of her twitching lips the door beeped and cracked open.
“There.” Stark said.
Iris nodded, not even thinking that he couldn’t see her. Her nerves were beyond on edge and her mind was basically on autopilot. She only remembered a having similar feeling when going through withdrawal, though that was a hell of a lot worse.
Just as she stepped into the building a sharp buzz resonated in her ear, electricity flickering through her entire body. She yelped before quickly covering her hands with her mouth.
“Iris! What was that?” Bucky’s voice rang crackly through the headset. “You…camera…”
“What? I can’t hear you?” Iris whispered, feeling her heart almost blow itself out of her chest.
“Your camera…I…short circuit.” Stark’s voice was fragmented.
“I think it was something in the building.” Iris heard her voice tremble. “Should I keep going?”
“Get out!” She heard Bucky say, but Fury interrupted.
“It’s fine…don’t…visual…but…audio connection.” Iris filled in the blanks to Fury’s voice. She knew well that she should follow Fury’s directions over Bucky’s, even though it didn’t make her happy. She didn’t want to risk being dumped on the streets. Again.
“Okay.” Iris hoped she didn’t sound to hesitant. She checked her navigator but the metal walls around her seemed to block all signals. Iris groaned internally but felt relatively confident she knew the directions. The entire way here her eyes were basically glued to that damn screen.
She moved silently, using Bucky’s methods to keep her footsteps to a minimum. Every corner she peaked around, but the entire building seemed empty. There were no visible doors in the halls and definitely no windows. The lighting was harsh, but somehow not bright. It felt like a whole other world. A chill ran through her spine every time she passed a blinking security camera, but she knew she could trust Stark with his technology skills. Or at least she hoped.
After a few hesitant turns and long walks through seemingly endless hallways, she began to notice a few doors along the walls. They were all like the main entrance, solid and handle-less. A few had some small windows peering in, but they all looked like abandoned rooms filled with dead looking computers. All in all, it was incredibly unsettling.
Why couldn’t Fury have sent me to, I don’t know, a rescue mission in the Bahamas or something. Jeez. Iris thought to herself, counting the doors.
Eventually, she reached the one she thought was correct, stopping at the entrance.
“I think I’m here.” Iris quietly stated into her headset with a hand over her mouth. It was so quiet she was afraid to make any sound.
“One second.” She heard Stark again.
As the metal door popped open she couldn’t help but feel pleased that she managed to remember the entirety of the path. Iris stuck her fingers into the frame, pulling sharply to get it open. A blast of icy air blew from the room, chilling Iris to her bones. Inside it smelled of disinfectant and musk at the same time. The entire room had only one dull row of lights on the celling, barely illuminating anything.
Each step her knees shook a little more. Lines of computers ran across the wall, each one only lit with a single green light on the corner of the monitor. She stood above the closest one, clicking the mouse and keyboard. Stark had already gotten into the system, unlocking the computers. All Iris had to do was the part Stark couldn’t access remotely: the files. Iris jammed the USB in the side and began working.
Iris leaned over the desk, typing furiously to break through line after line of code. She messed up a few times, resulting in blinking error messages which only further fried her nerves.
“Come on.” She groaned, wanted the smack the side of the computer.
“Iris, I think…someone’s…” Iris heard in her ear. The voice was so separated and robotic she couldn’t tell who it was.
“I need just one second, one second.” Iris gritted through her teeth. And it was all she needed. The files began to flow into her connected USB. She resisted the urge to do a fist pump as she impatiently tapped her foot.
“Got it.” Iris yanked the USB from the computer, pressing the small button on the side of the monitor to leave it in its original sleeping position.
She turned back to the doorway and her heart dropped. Someone was standing right there.