Rescue time
The quinjet was packed. With the Avengers plus K’s family there was little room for anyone else. DA Hill demanded to be a part of the mission in order to ensure that all laws were being followed and that SHIELD wouldn’t be getting any flack. She poured over the satellite images during the flight and then listened in on some radio signals before she gave the go ahead to attack.
The building looked like it came out of a bad horror movie. The walls were covered in graffiti; there were men circling the huge lawn with semiautomatics. The cameras seemed to remove any chance of a stealthy entrance so Captain America decided that a simple frontal assault would be best.
The assault team consisted of all of the Avengers except for Bruce, Colonel Case, Agent K and Agent Coulson. DA Hill stayed back to handle the attack while Dr. Banner, Dr. Addy and Specialist Sciuto stayed in the quinjet as backup. There was a medic team as well but of course everyone hoped that they would not be needed.
They first spread themselves around the building before Captain Rogers gave the signal to attack. The flurry of activity confused the Fulcrum guards at first. Iron Man flew overhead and shot down while everyone ran out of the woods. Captain America jumped over a high part of the wall while Agent Barton shot down from a perch in a tree. The arrow landed on a man that was about to fire at Rogers while he pushed off of the wall with his hands and landed on the other side atop two people who were looking up at Iron Man. He instantly took his shield off of his back and flung it at another guard. It bounced off a head and hit two of the cameras before bouncing back into his arms.
Agents K and Coulson took out the guards at the front gate while Colonel Casey and the Black Widow took out the guards at the back gate. All were easy shoot to kills. The attackers found themselves alone in the yard around the building.
Colonel Casey was the first up the stairs. He kicked in the front door and ducked to the side fast enough to avoid the shots that came his way. K and Coulson just walked up shooting. Every hit met their mark and everyone was able to enter the hospital safely. They split up quickly. Two people to a floor.
It was Casey and Romanoff that found him. After freeing a few other prisoners they came upon a room were Bartowski was tied to a chair surrounded by computers. There was a cage-like dome upon his head with wires leading from his skull to the various PCs. The Black Widow went to get Stark while Casey made sure that he was alive. The man on the chair was staring at a monitor that Casey turned away from his view. The screen showed flashes of faces and scenes. When he could no longer see the video, Bartowski lowered his head and passed out.
Iron Man clanked into the room. The mask went up as he whistled at the setup. Tony stepped out of his suit as he sat himself down at one of the computers.
“Hey, get Bruce for me, will ya? That’s a peach.” Tony told the room at large. Natasha went to get him as John continued to look after his charge.
Stark typed for a bit before whistling again. “I don’t know who wrote the programming but I want to hire them if they are still alive. Nowhere near as nice as my work, of course, but definitely a diamond in the rough.”
“What’s it do?” Bruce asked as he entered the room. His eyes narrowed when he saw the wires going through the cage into the man's head.
“Looks like it maps the signals Barty here gives off when he sees certain images. That would explain the sensors on the cage but I still cannot figure out why they needed to drill into his head.”
Bruce studied the wires for a bit before swearing. “These go to his temperal lobes and occipital lobe. Why do they need to attach to his hearing and vision center?”
“No idea about the hearing. The flashes are visual, I guess.” Colonel Casey shrugged.
“Okay, the programs have been turned off. It should be safe to remove his now. I’m keeping a copy of this for myself.” The two scientists slowly removed the cage from Bartowski’s head. The wires literally just fell out. There was no bleeding and Bruce could find no permanent damage without equipment.
The unconscious man was life-flighted to the nearest hospital. It took three days but he finally woke up. The doctors could find no damage except for the holes but they were only through the skull and the membrane. The actual brain was untouched. The scientists all argued but the only rational thing that they could come up with for the wires was that he was going to have his lobes electrocuted to see if they could force a flash. Either that or to destroy any chance he had of flashing in the future. Since their are cheaper and easier ways to blind and deafen someone the Avengers decided on the first option and just were thankful that they got to him in time.
“Wow, wait. Where am I?” Charles Bartowski yelled out as he abruptly woke up.
“Your in the hospital, genius,” Colonel Casey told him calmly. “Look, Chuck, Fulcrum had you for a few days. We have no idea what they did to you or if you can even flash again...”
He going to keep talking but Bartowski had enough time to look around the room at this point and flashed when he saw the man standing in the corner. “Wooh, Agent K. Real name unknown. Did you really give an alien flowers? Wait, is he a good guy or a bad guy?”
Casey smirked down at his charge. “Yep, he’s going to be fine.”
The colonel walked the agent out of the room, “Thanks for helping me dad.”
“That’s what family exists for. You call sooner next time.”
“Will do.” Casey saluted his father and then returned to guard the kid.