Eminent Silence

by Tristan Carey

  Brandt was almost on top of us.

  'Бунтарь!'

  The words had me frozen to the spot. Shock. Horror. Acceptance. In the back of my mind, I could hear Wanda's distant, long-ago warning: 'Amelia! Cover your ears!'

  But I couldn't. My body refused to obey me. Those first two words alone, and I no longer belonged to myself. My mind was slowly losing control.

  I was vaguely aware of Simmons yanking on my arm, panicked at my sudden lack of response at this newly arrived threat. The KGB agent was only five feet away. There was a grin on his face. He knew he had me.

  He was already speaking the next word: 'Колумбия, Стре—'

  Fwit.

  A bullet disappeared into the snow at my feet. The KGB agent went rigid, his jaw hanging open, unable to finish the word. Blood slipped down from a hole in his forehead, that hadn't been there a second ago.

  Simmons and I watched, stunned, as he keeled over into the drift.

  Brandt was five feet away. Gauntlets of fire in her hands. Snow melted away at her presence, turning to slush, water. Revealing cold, hard ground beneath. That, too, was scorched away, leaving only an ugly black scar behind.

  Behind her, three more Extremis agents. I recognized Johannson. All of them, ablaze, ready to end this rebellion.

  I was halfway to a kneel, ready to face her. Even as blood dripped down my face. Even as my head pounded, screaming for release. The world spun and swayed around me.

  I didn't have much longer, anyways.

  Pietro pulled on my arm, away from them. Could he carry me? Was he strong enough? He was better off not wasting that energy on me.

  I didn't have time to think on other options. All I knew was how to fight.

  'You should have listened, Amelia,' Brandt sneered, slowing as she neared. She wanted to revel in this moment. See my face before I died. She always liked that part of her job. 'Look at you! You can barely stand! You won't make it another mile.'

  She was probably right. But I'd rather die, trying to reach another mile, than go back to the Crucible.

  I couldn't say it, but I knew Brandt could see the answer on my face. She bared her teeth. 'Disappointing. Well, if that's how you want it, fine. I'll only be too happy to oblige. Boys?'

  The Extremis agents behind her laughed as they sided up next to her. A formidable line. In different circumstances, I probably could have taken them. But not like this. I was too weak. Too broken.

  Brandt initiated the attack. A burst of fire. Pietro and I threw ourselves out of the way, but I wasn't quite fast enough. The explosion caught me, sent me crashing into some brittle underbrush. Twigs and branches cut at my skin as I landed. By the time I recovered, scrambled behind a fallen log, Brandt and the other three had caught up.

  But I wasn't on my own.

  The sound of running. Wanda crying out.

  'Leave. Her — ' Two pale legs leapt over me. Wanda landed on the other side of the log, throwing up her arms. ' — Alone!'

  The entire world went red.

  'What in the world —?' she gasped, stunned at the dead man lying before us. It took me a moment to overcome the effects of the first trigger words and realize what had happened.

  'Sniper,' I breathed, my gaze shooting up, instantly figuring out the invisible path of the bullet.

  Up, up. Up into the the Crucible. Someone was up there, watching the battle play out from above.

  'Who is that?' Simmons asked, leaning heavily on me. I held up an arm, placing myself in front of her, just in case. 'Did you call in reinforcements?'

  'No.' I said, low. My eyes were still on the fortress above me. The perfect vantage point. For a second, I thought I saw a tiny glint, high up on a turret. 'That's not one of us.'

  'Then who —' Simmons continued, but I grabbed her arm, turned on my heel.

  'C'mon, we have to keep going!' I shouted right over her, nearly having to drag her along, away from her gaze of the Crucible.

  The Extremis soldiers went flying.

  Wanda emitted a pulse-like wave, punctuated by her scream. I ducked, covered my head as what felt like tsunami came crashing over me.

  Wind, a gale. Powerful, thick, nearly suffocating. Almost solid in matter, and blistering, stinging, like hot needles piercing my flesh. The snow beneath me evaporated instantly. The log I had cowered behind turned to ash, simply blasted away, dissolved to the nuclear level.

  A loud roaring filled my ears, echoes of Wanda's voice. I thought my head might burst from the pressure.

  Then it was over.

  Utter silence. The stinging vanished. I picked my head up.

  Wanda was on her knees in the dirt, arms limp at her sides, breathing hard. Everything around her had been turned to ash. Snow, trees, rock, everything destroyed in a perfect thirty foot radius.

  A flash of silver. Pietro at her side, helped her up, whispering to her. 'Get up, please get up, Wanda, we have to go…'

  As we tore after Ward, Skye, and Fitz, I saw another man fall, his head snapped back in a burst of blood, falling face first into the snow. He had only been ten feet away.

  A woman, who only seconds ago tried shooting at us, collapsed against a tree.

  'What the hell?' I heard Skye shout ahead, reeling when she saw a man's head burst right in front of her. Still running, she looked over her shoulder and yelled, 'Who is that?'

  At the far rear, I was too far away to give a response. I could feel Simmons eyes on me; maybe she knew I was holding onto the answer. But what could I say? I already knew they wouldn't believe me.

  Another agent, female, rounded around the tree. Like the first agent, she seemed determined to activate turncoat protocols. 'Бунтарь! Колумбия!'

  My shield deflected her bullet just in time. No sooner had I felt the impact did she drop, hole through her heart.

  We couldn't stay to ponder the damage Wanda had just incurred.

  Once she was back on her feet, we kept going.

  Her attack had given us another headstart. The KGB were scattered, but they'd regroup again, and relocate us if we didn't leave immediately. I didn't see Brandt or the others. Secretly, I prayed she had been killed in the blast. Was there even a possibility of surviving that?

  Something akin to hope started to bloom in my chest.

  There could only be one person responsible for this. Only one man who could eliminate a target over three hundred yards away, in the dead of night, in freezing temperatures. All without a sound.

  The KGB agents themselves didn't seem to know what was going on, either. I could see them hesitating before coming after us now.

  A fourth collapsed, silently, as if killed by a ghost.

  That did it. Frantic wails rose up from the trees. Some decided to turn tail and run, rather than risk becoming another target. One of them shouted in Russian, 'It's SHIELD! They brought a sniper!'

  But that wasn't true. They had no idea this was friendly fire. Deliberate friendly fire.

  'You don't know?' Ward demanded. 'I thought it was May. You didn't call this in?'

  'May has no idea we're here! It has to be someone else!'

  'Who cares?' Fitz said, his voice high-pitched, freaking out. 'They're on our side, right? Just keep going, we're almost there!'

  We didn't stop until we were sure we lost them.

  We didn't stop for another mile. Maybe two. The effort was exhausting. I could feel my body starting to lag. Everything hurt. The pounding in my head had become so unbearable that I was plagued with moments of completely blindness. Hearing loss.

  But it didn't stop me from smiling a little, as we finally jogged to a stop, in the middle of nowhere. The Crucible, the mountain it lied sequestered within, was far behind us. I could no longer see it anymore. A strange sound came out of my throat, earning alarmed looks from Wanda and Pietro.

  'What?' I asked.

  Pietro tilted his head. 'Oh, nothing. I...I just never heard you laugh be
fore.'

  'It sounds weird,' Wanda added, starting to giggle. She shared a look with Pietro, and he grinned.

  I chuckled, although it was broken a little by tiny sobs. Not sadness, but relief. Overwhelming relief. I gazed at Wanda and Pietro, their expressions of happiness. Pietro's arms hanging as he relaxed for the first time. Wanda sagging against him, no longer afraid.

  We did it. We were free.

  Two gunshots. My laugh died in my throat.

  I stumbled on a branch hidden beneath the snow. I had been dealing with a headache this entire time but this was the first for a length of time that I felt legitimately distracted. The lurch of the fall made my heart skip, my stomach clench. For a second, I thought I had been shot.

  Then I recovered, shook my head, adjusted Simmons on my shoulder.

  'Are you okay?' she asked, frowning as she wobbled, trying to keep her bad ankle off the ground.

  'F-fine,' I muttered, putting my gaze forward. It was tough, resisting the urge to look behind me, at the Crucible. It felt wrong. Like I would be the next target with a bullet through my head. 'J-just feeling a little nauseous.'

  Right on cue, a KGB agent running in the opposite direction went down, suddenly headless. All I saw was a dark silhouette, but it was enough.

  Simmons let out a tiny scream.

  We started to run again.

  I'd never been shot before.

  This is new, was the only thought I had. I always wondered what it felt like.

  The bullets hit me almost simultaneously. Slammed directly into my back, like someone punched me. The force knocked the breath out of me. I leaned forward, a gust of air leaving my mouth in a cloud of fog.

  Everything slowed. The world came to a complete standstill. Snow starting to fall, flakes caught in midair. Wanda and Pietro, frozen in a moment of action.

  The pain in my head had reached a crescendo. No pulsing; just a long, continuous note of torment, like a shrieking off-key horn.

  I knew what had happened immediately. My brain translated the report of the gun with the impact I felt and made the correct conclusion.

  I wanted to turn around, to see who did it. But I had strangely lost all feeling in my body. It didn't respond to me anymore.

  Like I was under protocol again.

  All I saw were the looks of horror on Pietro and Wanda's faces.

  Seconds stretched out into eternity. I wondered why nothing was moving. Why the world seemed to be tilting on a bad angle.

  Then my knees gave out beneath me.

  'I see it!' Fitz' voice rang out, bouncing off the empty forest floor. The snow wasn't as disturbed here. I found our old trail.

  Simmons was panting hard. The pain and the exertion of running was catching up to her, and she wasn't built for extreme sports. I was supporting more and more of her weight the closer we got to the quinjet.

  I was almost surprised when Skye doubled-backed to help me with Simmons. It wasn't necessary. I was strong enough to carry her in my arms if I had to, but that would sacrifice the safety the shield provided. Still, I gave a small nod of thanks as Skye took up Simmons' other side, and we headed together towards a small clearing.

  The only the bay door was visible, a dark, gaping hole with a ramp leading to the ground. Fitz had already disappeared inside. Ward had stationed outside, covering for us with his weapon in case any other hostiles appeared.

  Then the outline of the quinjet flickered against the forest backdrop, before returning to its original black color. The engines spluttered blue before warming to a low hum. The quinjet nosed down and it rose several feet into the air. Ward clambered onto the ramp, reaching out for us as we caught up.

  I felt a grin form across my face as we crossed that last twenty meters.

  The ground came rushing to meet my face.

  Pietro caught me first.

  'No, no, no, no…!'

  His arms came around me, slowing my fall to the ground. He came to a crouch, and all I saw was his face, the mottled clouds above, the twisting black fingers of tree branches.

  The world suddenly shot back to regular speed, like a record skipping. I choked. I couldn't breathe. My lungs spasmed in my chest. My hands turned to fists, grasping helplessly, clutching to Pietro's arms.

  I could see his mouth moving. His voice faded in and out, like a tuning radio. 'Amelia...hear me? Can you...please, stay with me… don't — !'

  He was cut off by a sharp cry. I saw a bolt of scarlet energy fly over his head, followed by the sound of a yelp. Wanda, striking the one who'd shot me. Apparently, that was all it took, because I saw nothing else, heard nothing else, until her face joined Pietro's above mine.

  There were tears in her eyes. Her hands were on my face. The blood was only now starting to dry. But the agony didn't cease.

  Pietro looked to his sister, said something. His lips moved wordlessly, but I understood what he said. Do something, sister. Save her.

  But Wanda only shook her head helplessly, biting her lip. There was nothing she could do.

  'I can make it go away,' she whispered, voice hoarse. 'So it doesn't hurt anymore.'

  It occurred to me that this all felt very familiar. Dying, that is.

  I wanted to say something to them. Final words to remember me by. Something poetic, something wise. Like in the movies.

  But my breath rattled in my throat. My tongue was thick and dry in my mouth. I couldn't remember how to speak. My mind couldn't think past the shrieking pain. The memories, the protocol fighting against one another, even as everything was falling apart. Even as my heart started to slow, both parts were still struggling for dominance.

  Who would I be when I die?

  When Wanda took my hand, all I could do was squeeze, just so she'd have some form of an answer.

  I finally found the will to speak. Enough for one word.

  'Go.'

  She nodded, understanding. Her thumb stroked my forehead, and for an instant my entire vision turned to blood.

  And just like that, the pain was gone.

  Soft, sweet emptiness replaced it.

  My vision returned. My hands had gone cold. I no longer had the strength to hold onto them. My hand slipped away from his arm, her hand.

  Breathing ragged. It felt there was a giant weight on top of me, pulling me down. Cold rose to meet my body, cradled in the snow.

  Pietro was shaking his head, refusing to leave, even as Wanda tried to pull him away. Both had tears in their eyes. I wanted to tell them they were taking too long, that they needed to go before the KGB caught up.

  At the same time, I wanted them to stay.

  I didn't want to be alone.

  Wanda relented, and they turned back to me. Stayed, for a moment longer. Pietro pushed a piece of hair out of my face.

  A fog slipped over my mind.

  'You're going to be okay,' he said.

  I blinked, smiled. I couldn't remember his name.

  My eyes were heavy. The ground was so soft. My head fell back against the pillow that wasn't there. Tired, so tired.

  It was time to sleep.

  My eyes closed again. The weight lifted off my chest.

  And the world slipped away.

  'Holy shit!' Skye crowed as the quinjet rose into the air, the ramp closing behind us. She pumped her fist into the air. 'We did it!'

  She threw her hand at me, and I rose mine up, taking the high-five in complete bewilderment. Then Skye took me by the shoulders, jostling me, then a hug. 'We kicked ass! Mission success!'

  'Yes, you three did very well,' Simmons nodded appreciatively. She sat along the bench, foot propped up. She was shivering, only dressed in a shirt and jeans (unlike Fitz, Skye, and myself, in our winter gear), but her smile was genuine. 'I'm pleased to see those Night-Night pistols proved useful. I suppose we can't argue with Fitz now as to what to name them, can we?'

  'Nope!' Fitz called from the cockpit, sounding very pleased with himself
. The cabin of the quinjet filled with a low roar as we rose in altitude and gained speed.

  Finally, we were going home.

  Ward seemed beside himself in shock. He slumped onto a bench against the wall, running a hand through his hair. 'Unbelievable. Un-freaking-believable. Got to admit, Coulson's got more faith you than I do. I can't believe he actually sent you guys alone on this.'