Chapter 8
Natasha checked the results again and again then shook her head.
“It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just fixed signals.” She said looking up at her two companions.
“If it is continues, then it must mean something.” Dean announced firmly. “Or she won’t have hidden that button so carefully.”
“Did you find anything?” she asked, turning to Tony.
“I did.” He answered curtly, he messed for a few more seconds with a holoscreen, before he continued. “I found a weird result actually. Even though, Dean pressed the button and turned on these signals, everything I found indicates is that we are receiving it not sending it.”
“What do you mean?” Dean asked in surprise.
“What I mean is what we are getting here is a received continues signals. And not sent.” Then he pointed at the glowing and fading red button, and added. “When you pressed the button, you triggered something, somewhere, and that something is revealing its presence by sending fixed, continues signals.”
“Can you locate where this signal is coming from?” Nat asked curiously.
“Already on it.” A map of the world appeared on the screen, then it zoomed in until only North America on the screen. Then it zoomed again at somewhere in the desert close to New Mexico. “Here.”
“Great. Let’s go back and tell Steve what we found.”
Dean’s eyebrows furrowed suddenly as he stared at the screen with interest.
“What is it?” Nat asked in confusion.
“This signal.” He answered distractedly.
“What about it?”
“I think it is a countdown.”
“A countdown?” They both looked at him with wide eyes.
“Yes, Dean is right. Look. That thing in the desert. Is sending a countdown that will reach zero, in three hours and seven minutes.” Tony confirmed checking on his findings again nervously.
“Then what will happen?” Natasha inquired with a worried frown.
Tony shrugged with no answer.
“I think I know how to find an answer.” Dean said firmly.
“How?”
“By asking the one who hid the button in the first place.”
***
“Sorry, Stark. Visits are no longer available for Agent Hunter.”
Fury said firmly as he faced Tony, Dean and Natasha in his office back at SHIELD.
“What does that supposed to mean?” Tony growled in anger.
“What you heard. I made orders, thirty minutes ago, to prevent anyone and anything to contact Hunter in any way.”
“I am still asking: what does that supposed to mean, Fury?! Last thing I got was that Steve and Cas were interrogating Sydney, what happened that lead to prevent any contact with her?”
“This is no longer your business, Stark! It’s orders. And it is unnegotiable.” Fury barked angrily.
“You don’t even know why we came here for!” Dean snapped back. “Maybe we have something important.”
“You can tell me.” Fury shrugged, setting back on his chair.
Tony and Dean shared a look.
“What if we insist to speak to Sydney personally?” Tony said stubbornly.
“Then I can just arrest you for treason and for ignoring direct orders. And if I can’t arrest you because you are rich, I can arrest your equally stubborn partner here.” he said harshly, gesturing to Dean.
“You can’t-“
Tony was stopped by Nat placing a hand on his shoulder. He turned to her and she shook her head in warning. He took a deep breath trying to calm down.
“Fine.” Dean snapped in frustration. “When we were at Sydney’s house we found a button hidden behind an engraving on the wall and I pressed it in attempt to know what it does then-“
“You pressed it without knowing beforehand what it might do?!” Fury exclaimed in disapproval.
“It is not time for scolding.” Nat interjected. “The button then started to glow and fade, and we don’t know-“
“You pressed a hidden button! Without knowing what it will do? How reckless! No wonder you and Stark get along!” Fury interrupted in anger. “What if it was a bomb that would have evaporated the house?!”
“That didn’t happen anyway.” Dean glared in frustration.
“What if what it did was worse?! I will personally-“
“Enough! My ears gets bored fast from empty threats.” Tony interrupted sharply. “Do whatever suits you, but spare us your stupid lecture.”
Then he turned, grabbed Dean and Natasha’s arms and pulled them out of the room, leaving a fuming Fury behind.
***
Fury stormed out of his office, trying to control his rising temper. He took the elevator to a restricted floor, then walked throw a corridor that lead to a door with two agents on guard.
“Did she eat her food?” He asked one of the agent.
“Everything is going well, sir.” The agent nodded in respect.
“Open the door.”
One of the agents rushed to unlock the complicated electronic lock on the door. The door opened, revealing an elegant suite, where they were keeping Sydney, who turned to Fury calmly with a smirk.
“Well, hello there, Fury. Did you come to pat your new pet?” she greeted snidely.
Fury was silent until the door closed behind him.
“Pets are not given fancy suites like this.” he said firmly.
“You mean when you put a bird in a golden cage it will make him forget he was a prisoner? Even when he will not enjoy the same freedom other birds are having?” she countered waving her hand around the suite, the sarcastic smirk on her face made him reel for a second. It looked familiar. Too familiar.
“We are not here to discuss philosophy. You know why we are keeping you here.” he sighed while taking a seat on a nearby chair.
“Oh, right! Because I am danger to your precious future which is already in danger anyway!” she rolled her eyes with a snort.
Fury furrowed his eyebrows at the familiarity of her sarcastic manner, which made him review his interaction with Stark and Winchester earlier and got even more frustrated.
“What’s that button you were hiding behind an engraving on your wall?” he cut right into the chase.
He obviously hit the right spot, because every ounce of sarcasm and sass on Sydney’s face vanished and was replaced by panic.
“The button? You found it?!” she exclaimed in panic.
“Yes. Stark, Winchester and Romanov found it and Winchester pressed it then-“
“He pressed it?!” she yelled while jumping to her feet in panic. “Oh, God! When did that happen? When?!”
Fury wasn’t expecting such reaction, so he was thrown off guard.
“Almost thirty minutes-“
“Shit! That gives me three hours at most!”
“Three hours? What the-“
Sydney interrupted him again by grapping him harshly by his jacket, removing him from his chair with shocking strength.
“I must get out of here. Now!” she thundered in a strong voice that made Fury shiver unintentionally.
“It’s impossible. You know it is impossible!”
She twisted Fury’s arm behind his back as she turned him around like a rag doll, ignoring his pained shout as she wrapped her arm around his neck, choking him.
“I need to get out of here. No matter what!”
Fury was frozen in shock from her unusual strength. He wasn’t weak in the slightest but he was helpless against her brutal strength.
Just then, the door was thrown open by the two agents who held their guns towards Sydney.
“Let go of Director Fury or we will shoot.” One of them ordered, pointing his gun at her.
“I will break his neck if one of you took a step! Get out of the way!” she barked sharply, tightening her hold on Fury’s neck.
The two agents shared a nervous look.
“Our orders are to not let you out of the room. No matter what.”
“You won’t risk shooting me. You need me alive.” Sydney yelled while pushing Fury in front of her.
“That’s where you are wrong.” Fury choked out painfully.
“Do you wanna bet on that with your life?”
“We will try to keep you alive if we could. But we will try harder to keep our future, which is threatened by you getting out of here. Which meant if we failed in keeping you here, it will only leave us with one choice. Killing you.”
She furrowed her brows even further as she said in even more frustration: “You don’t understand anything! I will get out of here sooner or later. I am just trying to protect you from what will happen in those three hours you idiots!”
“You are not fooling anyone.”
“It is not a trick! It is not a trick you son of a bitch!” she screamed in anger.
Fury was gasping for air now while Sydney was shouting: “Get out of the way! Get out or-“ Then she saw four more agents rushing towards the suite. “If anyone got closer, I will-“
The men moved suddenly, one shot Fury in the chest by a small dart who gasped then went completely lax in her arms.
Then a second agent shot her.
She let out a frustrated scream while pulling out the tranquilizer dart from her neck.
“No! Don’t do this! Don’t!” she shouted, then her vision started to darken dangerously. “I am trying to protect you, idi-“
She didn’t finish her sentence.
She fell to the floor unconscious, leaving her ship to continue its countdown.