Chapter 28
She had to be wrong. The stress of it all was playing tricks on her brain. This could not be the Shield agent from outside the elevator. Would she recognize his voice if he said anything? The agent had only said one thing that day and she hadn’t been paying much attention in the chaos. She hadn’t even smelled the spray on him, but she trusted Natasha’s memory.
Celia breathed in again, trying to do it inconspicuously, so they didn’t notice her being weird. That was definitely Axe. She went to school during the 2000s and boys went crazy with that stuff. This changed things.
Did Fury set this up? Did he have the agents watching the tower grab her so he could get the info Steve blocked him from? They would definitely know if she tried to feed them false information. But why were they asking about Tony? And why the cloak and dagger act? Was it so Fury could feign ignorance to the team? Unless the team knew about this. Celia threw that thought away, because she refused to believe anyone on the team would do this to her, not even Tony.
“Last chance,” the first man said, gripping her knees and bending down close to her face. She could feel his breath on the sliver of her exposed neck. When she didn’t say anything he snapped his fingers.
“Wait!” Celia called out, racking her brain for a plausible lie. Something to buy a little more time so she could think about this new development. She had to make them think she was still in the dark about who they were.
“Go on,” the man said, replacing his hand on her leg.
“I was applying for a job,” she blurted out. “The process takes a long time and I had to sign non disclosure clauses.” She knew the excuse was shoddy at best, but she was sticking with it.
“Even at the risk to yourself, you’re going to stay quiet?”
“I really need the job. But they haven’t shown me anything classified yet. I promise I won’t say anything if you let me go,” Celia begged, trying to sound as scared as possible. She didn’t have to put on too much, because she was afraid, but she was angry too. If this is how Shield treated people, they were manufacturing their own enemies.
“And this is how you dress to get a job in Stark Tower?” the man asked, flicking at her sleeves a little.
“It was just filling out preliminary paperwork.”
“Why don’t you have a cell phone or wallet?”
“I had to check them at the desk for security purposes.”
“Why did you leave without them?”
“I was just taking a walk. They’re expecting me back and will worry that I’m gone so long,” Celia pleaded, finally telling a bit of truth. She hoped Steve was worried about where she was and didn’t think she’d just taken off. Actually, she didn’t care what he thought as long as he was out looking for her. Celia wasn’t one to sit around and hope for rescue, but she wouldn’t mind it now.
A ringing from behind her startled Celia into jumping, dislodging the man’s hands from her legs. The agent let out an annoyed huff, answering the cell phone with an aggressive flip. He didn’t say anything, but snapped his fingers and stomped toward the door.
“We have a little business to take care of. While we’re gone, think about what I asked you. My friend is getting a little impatient,” the man said, giving her shoulder a friendly squeeze before knocking on the door again. Someone opened the door from the outside, so she confirmed there were at least three people she had to deal with. When she heard the door close, she got to work.
Celia started twisting her hands again, getting them into position. She had been hesitant to go this route in the beginning when she didn’t know who she was dealing with, but now it seemed like the best option. People did this in the movies all the time, how hard could it be? She gripped her left thumb in her right hand, picturing the muscles and joints in her mind. Just a little pressure in the wrong way would do the trick, right? Celia blew out a few quick breaths, hyping herself up. A little pain now didn’t matter, she’d be good as new the next time she took a nap.
She pulled as hard as she could, her right hand slipping off her thumb without doing anything. Celia groaned and started shaking her hands. Her palms were too sweaty to get the proper handle. She didn’t have time for this. Who knew how long the men would be gone? This could be her only shot. Celia grabbed her thumb again, desperation and anger fueling her. She yanked aggressively, picturing doing this to Agent Axe. The quiet pop sounded obscenely loud in the empty room and she pressed her lips together to stifle any sounds of pain that tried to escape. That surprisingly sucked.
Celia used her right hand to move the dislocated thumb into a better position. Now her sweaty hands were a plus, helping the cuff slide off with just a bit of resistance. She brought her hands around to her front, ripping the bag off of her head. Her shoulders were aching from being in the same position for so long, so she took time to roll them a bit while she looked around the room.
It was fairly small, barely big enough for the chair and a few people to walk around it. There were no windows and just the one door. She only saw one lock above the knob, but she didn’t have anything to attempt to pick it with. The chair was wood and felt sturdy, but when she tried to move it, it wouldn’t budge. If it was secured to the floor, that eliminated it as a possible weapon.
What was her play here? She couldn’t take down three armed men, probably not even one armed man. Causing bodily harm to them would probably end badly for her, even if it was self defense. Shield could easily drum up some paperwork proving she was a prisoner of some sort. Her best bet would be to get a message out to someone to come save her.
When Agent Axe took his call, she was sure she heard a flip phone. Celia hadn’t seen regular people use a flip phone in a few years now, except on TV when people needed a burner. But it was her and Deb’s preferred method of communication. And the really basic ones didn’t always have a password. If she could get her hands on his, she might be able to make a call or send out a text. And she knew who she had to call. Steve had given her his phone number that first night and luckily she had taken the time to memorize it.
Celia stood up, stretching out the kinks and trying to get her blood flowing. Her thumb ached, but she ignored it. She walked around the small room, inspecting the walls in case there was some secret escape hatch she hadn’t noticed yet. There was nothing, of course.
She walked over to stand next to the door, needing to be ready for when the men came back. Celia checked her pockets one last time, finding nothing but Clint’s marble. Maybe she could shoot it out of her mouth and take someone out that way? She popped it into her mouth and rolled it around a little, spitting it as hard as she could into her hand. Well, that was pointless.
Celia heard a quiet scuff from outside the room and braced herself by the door. If this all went right, she’d get a phone and somehow get them to leave, although she didn’t know how she’d pull that off. If they cuffed her back up, she’d never have a chance.
When the door opened she sprang into action, jumping at the first man through the door. It was Agent Axe and he fell against the doorway with a grunt of surprise. She flailed her hands around him a bit, acting like she was trying to strike him, but really feeling around for where he kept his phone. He tried to grab her around her waist, but she wriggled from his grasp, catching him in the face with a lucky elbow. She snaked her hand into the pocket of his pants, grasping at the small plastic lifeline. Celia turned away from him, slipping the phone into the front of her pants and attempting a backwards kick at his legs. He dodged it easily, turning her roughly by the arm and punching her across the jaw. She fell from the force of it, landing face down and keeping as still as possible, feigning unconsciousness. Another set of footsteps ran up, stopping near the doorway.
“What the hell! Why didn’t you wait for me?” the first man asked.
“Your way was taking too long,” Agent Axe growled, pushing the other man away.
“And she’s gonna answer questions while she’s unconscious?” the first man shot back.
“When she wakes up, she’ll know we mean business!” Agent Axe snapped, poking at her with his foot. Celia kept herself limp, letting her body move naturally in response.
“We need to talk,” the first man muttered, stomping away from the door. Agent Axe followed after him, slamming and locking the door behind him. Celia immediately sat up, leaning back against the door. She pulled the phone out of her pants and flipped it open, almost crying in relief when she didn’t encounter a lock screen. She started pressing in Steve’s number when she heard footsteps thudding back toward the room. Agent Axe must’ve noticed his phone was missing. Celia braced her foot against the bolted down chair, trying to keep the door closed long enough for her to at least send out a text. They were pounding on it, banging it against her back as she hastily typed what she could. The men finally forced the door open, sending her sprawling to the side, hitting send right before the phone was ripped from her hand.
“Who did you contact?” Agent Axe demanded, pointing his gun in her face. Celia kept her hands up, staring down the end of the barrel. She’d done all she could at this point, she just hoped her message was enough.