Chapter Text
Thursday - Oct 12th, 2016
Avengers Tower - Lab
4:23 PM
Quiet.
When Tony thought of his life recently, the word that came to mind was quiet. Which is strange because usually his life had been filled with everything but.
It was a bit off putting. Like he was being lulled into false security; like any moment a bomb is going to go off and he has no earthly idea when; or where.
However, despite its unnerving nature, things were quiet. The Avengers were living in the tower, his and Pepper's “post-breakup” friendship was going fine, he wasn’t pissing off more government officials than usual, they seemed to have a good enough handle on the strange weapon attacks, so beside the weird panic attacks he’d been experiencing lately, things were just quiet.
And for most the quiet would be comforting; calming even. But for Tony? It was quite the opposite.
Whether it’s a bigger problem with the new weapons that robbers are arming themselves with these days, or a fight between the group, or even another alien attack. The point is he’s anxious; very anxious.
And not just because in the last attack he was sucked into a wormhole.
“So have you figured it out yet?” Steve asks; effectively snapping Tony out of his thoughts.
“Uhh,” Tony drawls, rubbing his eyes.
“No. I haven’t.” He responds disgruntledly after a moment.
“It’s the Thermal Runaway in Micro-Arc Reactor interface right?” Bruce shouts from across the lab.
Tony gives a disgruntled sigh, nodding his head.
“You know you should-” Bruce starts.
“Start drafting a workaround using an adaptive liquid-metal cooling array, I know.” Tony intrupts. “I’m doing it now.”
He spins his chair around, gathering a new set of materials.
“Ok well I didn’t really get any of that but uh, good luck.” Steve says after a beat. He pats Tony on the shoulder as he exits; once again leaving him alone with his thoughts.
“Oh yeah don’t forget, we’re gonna head down to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new project division tomorrow.” Steve calls out, stopping by the door.
“Mmm” is all he gives in response.
Bruce stares at him, as if trying to read his expression.
“You alright?”
“What?”
“You just seem a bit on edge. Is something bothering you?” Bruce reiterates.
“No I just-” he sighs.
His ‘problem’ sounds crazy. Any normal person would be happy to have peace and quiet.
If it sounds this stupid in his head then he’s sure it’ll sound even worse out loud.
”Nothing, I'm fine. Just frustrating.”
Thursday - Oct 12th, 2016
Avengers Tower - Living Room
5:16 PM
The spoons fall to the counter with a loud clink.
Wanda grunts frustratedly.
“Don’t worry young one, you will achieve this soon.” Thor proclaims encouragingly.
Loose red magic encircles the eight pieces of metal once again; straightening them into a neat row.
Wanda closes her eyes, concentrating as hard as she can. She slowly opens them, as if any sudden movement is dangerous.
Natasha and Vision look at her anticipatingly.
“I think I did-” clink!
One of the spoons drops and Wanda’s once excited expression turns back into a frustrated frown.
“You just need to focus.” Vision says calmly as she sets down the rest of the cutlery.
“I am!” Wanda exclaims.
“What exactly are you trying to do?” Steve asks; looking up from the boiling pasta.
“She’s trying to test her abilities in levitating multiple objects at a time.” Natasha answers.
“So what’s the problem?” Steve continues stirring. “She seems to be able to do it pretty well.”
“They have to all stay in the same position! And every time I try to fix a crooked one, another falls.” Wanda stares angrily at the spoons, seemingly blaming them.
“You just have to focus on all of them at the same time.” Vision reiterates once again.
“I’m trying Vis but obviously it isn’t working!” She snaps.
Natasha puts a hand on her shoulder that she shrugs off.
“It’s fine. Whatever.” Wanda adds in response to her concerned expression.
Steve takes note of her annoyed tone.
“Ok well how about you take a break to come help me cook. We’re gonna need those pretty soon to eat anyway.” He suggests lightheartedly.
After a moment of contemplation Wanda circles the counters to the cutting board and starts chopping up tomatoes.
“Fine.”
Thursday - Oct 12th, 2016
Avengers Tower - Living Room
6:38 PM
“You’re just a sore loser.”
“I am not! You’re just a cheater!”
“Go cry about ya baby.”
“That’s it!”
Steve, Bucky, Bruce, and Tony watch as Natasha and Clint aggressively hit each other with couch cushions after a rather heated match of Super Mario Bros.
Sam turns to Rhoedy, “Called it. Pay up.”
Rhoedy sighs and pulls out a twenty.
“I told them to stop playing. It always ends up like this.” Steve says, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Yeah, well, If Nat stopped cheating it wouldn’t.” Bruce adds.
“Uh oh,” Bucky says, straightening up. “He’s trying to hit her with the toaster again.” He says, darting off.
Tony lets out a chuckle as he watches Clint try to beat Natasha with the metal object.
It’s nice having them here. Between the fighting and the saving and the death by kitchen appliances.
He sat there, at the kitchen counter, finishing the spaghetti Steve made for dinner, watching Clint try to shove Bucky's metal arm into a toaster in an attempt to electrocute him, talking amongst his teammates, and that weird anxious feeling subsided; not gone, but quieter.
Friday - Oct 13th, 2016
Avengers Tower - Lab
2:04 PM
The door to the Lab opened with a hiss, followed by the familiar click-clack of someone’s heel.
“Yes, well, I understand you are upset and I will be getting back to you shortly. Yes we are very sorry. Yes I am aware you flew all the way down from Germany. Yes it is a long flight. Really? That many hours?” Pepper says into a phone pressed to her ear by her shoulder, papers and clip boards in hand.
“Hey Pep” Tony calls out, not looking up from his blueprints.
“Yes, well we will certainly work that out. Ok I will get back to your boss later. Again we are so sorry for the misunderstanding.” She says, ending the call all in one swift movement.
That’s when Tony looks up. Pepper seems to take a deep breath and then snap her head up, giving Tony a look that makes him sure a plant bursted into flames behind him.
“Anthony Edward Stark.” He swears he could see smoke coming out of her ears.
“Why hello Pepper, how nice of you to stop by. Whatever are you here for?” He says with a pleasant smile.
“Are you kidding me right now?! You never showed up to the meeting!! What the hell is wrong with you?! You better have broken a bone very badly to not show up to the meeting that I orchestrated for 4 months!! Because what other excuse could you possibly have short of being in the hospital?!” Pepper yells, pacing back and forth, her hands clenching the papers in them so hard her knuckles turn white.
“Y’know now that you asked, I do have a bit of a stomach ache.”
“Oh this is so not funny.” Pepper states sternly. “I just got off of a 3 hour phone call with Mr. Gustav’s legal team!”
“Oh so that’s who that was?” Tony asks knowing full well. “You know it’s very rude to be on the phone in the presence of others. Have you not been reading that etiquette book I got you for Christmas?”
“Oh you-!” Pepper screams, face completely red, before cutting herself off.
She closes her eyes, taking a very deep breath before opening them. “Alright. Here’s what we’re gonna do, you’re going to go get changed for the meeting at S.H.E.I.L.D. And while you’re gone I am going to set up another appointment with these people, to which you will be at or I swear you will never see the light of day again, and you are going to apologise for the inconvenience. Got it?”
“Yeah yeah totally, what’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” Tony asks dismissively.
Pepper looks down at his oil stained black tank top. She looks back at him with a look that either means ‘Are you serious?’ Or ‘I’m going to jump out of that window.’ Maybe both.
Before he can decide she walks out muttering something unintelligible.
Friday - Oct 13th, 2016
S.H.E.I.L.D. - Enhanced Asset Development Division (EADD)
4:58 PM
“Fury will be with you shortly. Feel free to look around while you wait. Again we’re sorry for the delay.”
“No problem Agent Coulson.” Steve responds. Polite as ever.
“Please, Phil.” Coulson clarifies.
“Phil.” he repeats back with a kind smile.
The agent exits leaving the team to themselves.
“Can’t believe they trust us enough to be here unsupervised.” Natasha says, looking up at the tall industrial ceiling, as well as the doors below it.
The building was very big. Very big. Like a warehouse. And this was only the lobby. Or the waiting room. Or the holding cell. Tony really couldn’t tell.
Tony also couldn’t exactly tell what the building’s purpose was.
“So, why exactly are we here?” he asks aloud to no one in particular, observing the dark metal walls.
The lobby was sleek and unnervingly sterile, lit by recessed white LEDs with no clear source. Along each wall were seamless black doors that very much fit the industrial design, marked only with small labels in clean silver text.
“Why do you keep asking that?” Natasha questions.
Sector #8,764
“I like asking things I know the answer to over and over again. Keeps me young.” Tony retorts sarcastically.
“S.H.E.I.L.D. opened a new project location and wanted us to check it out. Fury said he wanted our experienced advice on some of its contents.” Bruce answers.
East Unit #379
“‘Experienced advice’? Most of you still can’t figure out YouTube.”
West Unit - Sector 4
Tony walks up to one of the doors that rests open.
“Hey, what are you doing? I’m pretty sure they want us to wait here.” Sam shouts to Tony as he walks closer to the door.
“Agent Coulson did not clarify that.” Vision states in his usual monotone voice.
“He did say we could look around.” Wanda adds.
“All these names are so ominous. It tells you nothing about what's inside” Sam states. “You could get lost.”
“Yeah with these kinds of labels, you could be walking into the Man-Eating-Insect room for all you know.” Clint warns.
“I’ll take my chances.”
“Ok, I’m just saying, death by giant ants is a bad way to go.”
“Why would they be making giant ants Clint?” Natasha asks.
“On Asgard they have creatures such as those.”
Tony can half hear them bickering as he walks further down the hallway.
When they had asked Coulson what they would need ‘advice’ on, he listed some projects, a few battle ready assets, but what caught Tony’s attention was when he mentioned the “Program Affiliates”. When Bucky inquired all Coulson said was:
“The operatives-in-training usually stay in the East Wing. You’ll see them later.”
To which he realised later was not a real answer.
The corridor he was walking farther into at the moment was labeled East Unit #106. Along the wall to the left of him were more doors. Each having the same silver writing to the right of them. Most ending in “Restricted Access”. Some being more conspicuously named than others.
Tony stopped and squinted at one.
“Seriously? ‘Neural Assets’? That’s not suspicious at all.” He muttered to himself.
He looked down the length of the long hallway and the doors that littered it. He couldn’t help the feeling that something was off.
Sure, maybe he was just paranoid from the last time he worked with one of S.H.E.I.L.D.’s ‘programs’. But it did feel weird. Why weren’t they aware when it first started? Why have they been called in halfway through the process?
He remembered the late night reading he did on the program when he found out they would be working on it.
There was almost no information at all, even when he hacked into S.H.E.I.L.D.’s database. Everything was reserved for “Black-Level Clearance” to which he was only aware that Fury had. Maybe Coulson and Hill as well.
“Black-Level” was only a term Tony had heard a handful of times. It's usually a term meant for people with the highest clearance. Or the strongest abilities.
However, the term Black-Level in agents is far different than in clearance or weaponry.
Black Level means top tier. It’s the highest anyone can be. Whether that's intelligence or a gun.
Black Level agents were soldiers specifically trained to be lethal weapons.
They were the best of the best. Incredibly useful but also incredibly dangerous.
Apparently it all went back to a program that S.H.E.I.L.D. had tried to start over 53 years ago.
From what he heard, they had stopped making those kinds of soldiers when a Black Level was brain washed by the enemy; gaining control of her abilities.
It led to a devastating wipe out. After they found out the kind of tech the people they were trying to take down had, the kind of mind control it was capable of, they decided it was too dangerous. That they would lose more heroes than gain.
So they executed them all.
Since then they shut down the making of these so-called “human-weapons”.
As for the girl, supposedly when she woke up and realised what she had done it drove her mad and she killed herself.
Supposedly, there had been talk of restarting the program. Tony had a suspicion that that was one of the things Fury was trying to do in this new division but without proof it was nothing more than a guess.
“Fury’s back!” Rhoedy’s voice calls out, echoing down the hallway.
Tony makes a mental note to loop back later while he makes his way back to the lobby.
Fury is standing in the middle of the large room with the rest of the team in a displaced semicircle around him.
“Nice of you to join us, Stark.” Fury calls out as Tony approaches.
“Well, I didn’t want to interrupt your dramatic entrance. Figured I’d give it a minute.”
Fury gives a scowl in return.
“So this is S.H.E.L.D.'s newly built Enhanced Asset Development Division. I’ve called you here for your input and help in its improvement.” Fury states authoritatively.
“You’ll be helping with training recruits and engineering advancements.” He adds.
“You are each at minimum advisors in S.H.E.I.L.D. 's database so you will be granted clearance and the ability to deem Battlefield Readiness to assets you work on.”
“I will warn you however that the things you will work on are all extremely classified. That means you will not be allowed to tell people without the same priority clearance you have been granted about the contents of what you work on or witness.” He adds sternly. Looking targetedly at a select few.
“So if I hear you have told so much as a peep to someone outside of this building, without clearance from me first, there will be severe consequences.”
“We look forward to your help in developing what we hope to be a battle ready field so in the case that any problems arise, particularly involving alien tech, we are ready.” Fury continues, “As I’m sure you are aware, Hydra still very much exists. It is nowhere close to extinction.”
Steve looks down, a heavy look crossing his face.
“But neither are we. We, together, are going to make sure that our neighbours, our friends, our coworkers, and our government officials, are not working against us. And if innocent, are not at risk for harm. These are the reasons S.H.E.I.L.D. was formed; as well as the Avengers.”
“So we ask that we all do our jobs and help prevent crises.”
Everyone is silent for a moment.
Fury, dramatic as always.
After a second Natasha looks him up and down. “Why?” She finally asks.
“‘Why?’ Agent Romanoff?” Fury repeats, raising a brow.
Natasha crosses her arms. “As long as I worked here S.H.E.I.L.D. has always tried to retain as much privacy as possible. Not to mention the fact that most of the higher ups concerning S.H.E.I.L.D. see the Avengers as a bunch of reckless, unmanageable, dangerous, children. So why, now, out of nowhere, do you suddenly want our help?”
His face shifts for a second, as if an internal debate is going on. He seems to pick a side then looks up at us.
“Fine. You're right. It was not our first pick. But S.H.E.I.L.D. management and government authorities have decided that the Avengers should not be operating on their own. They find you a bit unruly. And they believe S.H.E.I.L.D. info should not be so underground. Especially since the last…‘incident’. So when they discovered we were creating a new division, and with the recent weapon attacks, they strongly encouraged a reunion of some sorts.” Fury declares begrudgingly.
Sam scoffs. Clint and Natasha stare at Fury intently, seeming to search his face for any deceit. Steve seems to contemplate all that Fury said and the rest take on a similar approach.
Tony has nothing to contemplate.
He doesn’t trust Fury pretty much at all, but what he’s saying seems to add up. Plus, it’s always good to have more eyes on S.H.E.I.L.D. and Fury.
He simply doesn’t want to do it because it means more work here and less time in the lab. There is no decision though. They have to do it. Or else they’ll have problems to deal with concerning Government authorities and S.H.E.L.D. Especially with these recent attacks they can’t afford that. They have to do it.
What a hassle.
“Fine.” Steve says after a pause, “We’ll do it.”
“Fantastic.” Nick replies dryly.
Monday - Oct 13th, 2016
S.H.E.I.L.D. - Enhanced Asset Development Division (EADD)
10:37 PM
Hill talks smoothly as they entire the shiny lab. Glass covering the entire north wall, peering over the city. The rest of the lab was standard. Roughly the size of his back home. There was a large lengthy table in the middle of it and different desks and stocked shelves littered all ends of the room. Much like the rest of S.H.E.I.L.D.’s charming decor, it was sleek, sanitized, dull, cold, and spacious.
“We’re working on a new non-invasive neural interface system—something that could theoretically allow agents to control tech or vehicles using brainwave commands alone.” She tapped two fingers to her temple. “Think battlefield drones, emergency communication, piloting in high-stress conditions. We’ve got the hardware prototypes running, but we need you two to work on optimizing signal fidelity, reducing cognitive lag, and developing a predictive algorithm that can filter out noise from intentional signals.”
Hill gestures to the lab. “This is where you’ll be working. The lab is fully equipped with state-of-the-art tech, top-tier data access, and everything S.H.I.E.L.D. deems safe enough to let you two near. You’ll find separate workstations, custom interfaces, and an isolated AI sandbox—per Director Fury’s very specific request.”
She pauses, then adds dryly, “Try not to break anything. I’m looking at you Stark.”
Stark fakes offense, putting a hand to his chest.
“He turns into a giant green rage monster and you’re looking at me?”
She ignores him. “You’ll find your access levels already loaded. But don’t get creative with the firewall. We will know.” She pointedly stares at Tony.
He rolls his eyes.
“That’s all. If you have any questions, call. I’ll leave you to it.” She walks towards the sliding glass door.
“Blueprints are on the desk.” it opens and shuts again.
Bruce sighs.
Tony strolls around the room, taking it all in. He still doesn’t understand why he couldn’t just do the work from his lab. When he had bargained with Fury for 2 hours all he said was “it’s more convenient” and a bunch of stuff about also having to help train agents and test out things with other scientists and engineers and blah, blah, blah. He tuned most of it out.
To be honest, he wasn’t exactly looking forward to this project. It was most likely going to be boring and slow. He wasn’t suicidal or anything because at least he would get to work with Banner and the rest of the team but S.H.E.I.L.D. had a tendency to bring out the worst in them. Almost always ending in arguments.
Whether it’s a fight about S.H.E.I.L.D.’s intentions or Fury’s; or a fight with Fury. Or it’s government officials getting mad at them through S.H.E.I.L.D. or really any number of things. S.H.E.I.L.D.’s a common denominator.
Bruce pulls an instructive hologram closer to him, reading it aloud, “I’ll be building a cleaner input filter that isolates intention-based motor signals from background cognitive noise. You?”
“Dounno. Probably something that blows up.” Tony takes off his jacket, throwing it onto the chair.
“Friday? Download yourself into the algorithm k’?”
“Proceeding now.” A voice responds.
Monday - Oct 21st, 2016
S.H.E.I.L.D. - Enhanced Asset Development Division (EADD)
1:13 PM
Tony took the holographic blueprint, spinning it around before laying it on the table.
“Fri, try the left vertical with a telescopic 4 inch instead of 2.5 will you darling?” Tony calls aloud.
Tony stares down at the blueprints a while longer before looking back up at Bruce.
“How’s it going over there Jolly Green?”
Bruce glances at him, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
His eyes return trained on the papers held in his hands, eyes squinted as if trying to dicypher it.
“Good, yeah, good. I just need to change the uh-”
“Hey, how’s it coming?” Sam asks as he walks in, Steve and Nat following close behind.
“I was uh, testing a closed-loop neural modulator, but the feedback latency hit a full 300 milliseconds. That’s enough to cause oscillations in motor response — basically, the subject’s brain starts overcorrecting and the whole system destabilizes.” Bruce answers simply.
The non-scientists in the room wear a dazed expression as they stare blankly at him.
He looks up, realising their confusion.
“The feedback delay hit 300 milliseconds. Brain couldn’t keep up.” he restates.
“Oh I’m sorry.” Steve replies.
“Yeah, hate when that happens.” Sam laughs.
Tony rolls his eyes.
“Well we were gonna get lunch. Do you two want anything?” Natasha asks.
Tony doesn’t look up. “Coffee.”
“I’m good for now. Thanks.” Bruce adds.
Natasha nods and they exit.
After about an hour of working, Tony looks up from his work again.
He takes a sip of his coffee. The warm caffeine running down his throat.
“So, did you fix the feedback delay?”
Bruce looks at him from behind the hologram.
“What? Oh, yes. Yes I did.” He stagers.
“Good. Y’know I could use some eyes on-” Tony is suddenly cut off.
“There is harmful activity on West 32nd street. Armed robbery with hostages. I would advise immediate action.” The voice echoes through the lab.
Tony and Bruce share a look.
“What kind of ‘armed’?” The former asks.
“They are wielding the familiar foreign tech from previous fights.” She respondes
“Alert the team. Banner? Feel like joining?” He asks as he prepares to suit up.
“No I’ll uh, I’ll sit this one out.”
“Alright.” Tony exits onto the balcony attached to the room and bosts off.
Monday - Oct 26th, 2016
S.H.E.I.L.D. - Enhanced Asset Development Division (EADD)
1:13 PM
The cold metal connected with Stark's hand as he screwed the nails into place. The light reflected off of the scattered tools that lined the counter.
“Where do you think they’re getting the stuff?”
“Beats me.” Tony responds.
Bruce shrugs.
Tony hates how casually Bruce can discuss this. How it seems obvious that it doesn’t worry him as much as it does Stark.
“It’s definitely not a common substance. The tests I did show that it only showed up after New York so it probably originated from that attack.” Bruce placed a different petri dish under the microscope.
The engineer rubs his eyes; willing the headache that had been throbbing behind them to go away; a dull reminder that he hadn’t slept more than three hours straight in over a week.
Bruce lifts his eyes from the microscope.
He walks over to a different desk that’s cluttered with other liquids.
“So why do you think we’re working on this?” Bruce asks, still looking down at his work.
Tony pauses. It’s not like Banner to question orders like that. That had always been Tony’s role.
“What?”
“I mean they must think that these weapons are a big deal if they decided to open a whole new program for it.” Bruce added.
“Though it could have nothing to do with the weapons. Maybe they just know something we don’t.” He mused.
“Probably.” Tony responds, which is in direct alignment with his thoughts. Fury probably does know something they don’t and he’s sure there’s more reasons as to why this is being built; the thought alone made him uneasy.
“I’m really not looking forward to another alien attack.” Bruce holds the beaker up to the light, examining it.
His hands froze, chest coiling unevenly, pressing into his lungs.
The topic made Tony unreasonably uncomfortable and he wasn’t actually sure why.
“You probably have enough control that you would be able to help more easily.” Tony thought, trying to convince himself more than Bruce as his heart rate picked up.
“That’s true. But control or not I am definitely not praying for another wormhole to open up.”
Tony hummed in acknowledgment, finding his breathing pattern too wild to safely get a sentence out. His fingers twitched against the table, the familiar aching anxiety spreading from his chests to his lungs.
“I just hope it doesn’t end up like last time.”
Crash!
The bolts fell to the floor, scattered over the linoleum.
Tony grunts, the headache coming back full force.
“You okay?” Bruce asks.
“I’m fine!” Tony responds annoyed, sharper than he intended.
After a pause, he hears footsteps approaching him.
“Tony?”
He realises that his chest is heaving abnormally, his breathing raged and stiff.
“Hey man, sit down for a sec.” Bruce guides him onto a nearby stool.
“I’m fine I just-” He pauses to shove more air down his esophagus.
He does not want to explain to his friend that the reason he nearly fell to the floor was because a simple conversation is too hard for him.
“Just forget it. I’m fine, really.”
“Did I…say something?” He asks tentatively.
Yes. “No.”
“It’s ok, you can tell me.” Bruce says encouragingly.
Tony lifts his head from his hands, looking into his lab partner’s eyes.
“I’m…fine.”
Banner gives him a pointed look.
The engineer sighs, defeated. He looks down at his hands that remain shaking. Not enough to be noticeable, but enough for him to feel it.
He takes a deep breath. “There’s not anything bad happening right now.”
There’s a pause.
“Isn’t that…a good thing?” Bruce questions.
“No. I mean yes but- it’s just- I’m just worried that-” Tony struggles to find his words, something he’s not used to.
“That something bad is gonna happen and you won’t be prepared.”
Tony looks up at him.
“I get it. When I was still…not in control. I would just walk around in a panic; waiting for something to trigger me. Waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
A look touches his eyes that Tony can’t quite figure out. Before he can, Bruce looks up at him warmly.
“It happens when your body is always jumping from crisis to crisis. When you're not used to things being not bad. It’s called ‘Emergency Mode’. Hard to turn off.”
Tony hums thoughtfully.
He likes lab time with Bruce.
Thursday - Oct 28th, 2016
S.H.E.I.L.D. - Enhanced Asset Development Division (EADD)
3:26 PM
Tony surveilled the room. Like the previous rooms, the walls were tall, sleek metal lining them. The shiny linoleum floors were a lighter gray than the rest of the interior. The color only appeared again on the doors that were scattered along the walls.
As Coulson led them deeper into the area, other things became visible.
There was a large cutout in one of the walls, glass replacing it. Almost like a huge window. But not like the glass walls that littered the Tower. It cut off horizontally after about two feet of the metallic design.
He then noticed that there were many of these rooms on all ends of the sector.
However, the rooms were not the most striking difference from the rest of the buildings; it’s what’s in them.
The entire floor was bustling with people in different labs and studies all throughout the place; most having a similar glass structure.
The most interesting were the rooms that seemed to be training units. The insides were all a sterile white, a jarring contrast to the rest of the metal-heavy interior surrounding them.
Some rooms remained empty but inside most were, what he assumed to be, agents. There were at least two in each unit and they seemed to be sparing with each other.
“This is where our operatives train. This particular area of the east wing is where our recruits stay. Once Fury arrives he will give you a group that you will be training with for the week. After the week is finished you will rotate to a different group.” Coulson gestures to the different vaults.
“You will meet the trainers later once Agent Hill arrives. In the meantime, why don’t you look around and get familiar with the place.” He states, departing down the long corridor.
“This place is huge.” Clint says as he admires the lengthy ceiling
“So these are the people we’re gonna train.” Sam walks closer to one of the units.
Tony leans against a wall. “Great. I call dibs on the ones who already know how to use doors.”
Out of the corner of his eye he can see Natasha and Bucky wandering down towards more of the rooms.
After a quick glance he decides to follow them.
They wordlessly look around the other sections.
“Test Bay - #PTE680”
“Isotope Cell Containment #YGM214”
Ok so the wired names continue. Tony rolls his eyes.
“All of the trainees are volunteers for the program. They undergo intense conditioning; therefore have a very strict schedule. That’s why they stay here for the duration of the course, in the ARC Unit. The Agent Readiness Corps.”
He remembers what Hill told them about the so-called “volunteer”’s living situation. Why would anyone volunteer for this?
He turns another corner and notices that the lighting is much more dim compared to the rest of the place.
Has he wondered too far? He hopes so.
Ever since he heard of these agents he’s not ashamed to admit that he’s been extremely curious. Scrambling for any information on them.
Sam said it was because he couldn’t comprehend someone sacrificing themselves for a greater cause.
Tony moved deeper into the wing, the sounds of training fading behind him. The hallway here was quieter—too quiet. Each wall was lined with identical doors, each one fitted with a narrow pane of reinforced glass. Through them, he could see sterile white rooms: stark, minimal spaces with just a bed and a dresser. They were perfectly uniform. Clean. Cold.
It looked less like housing and more like containment. Especially with the edition of clipboards resting in each of the wall mounted containers. The kind of thing you would see in a hospital.
He picked one up but he couldn’t decipher any of the things written down. From what he could tell it looked like a description and progress review of the person that he assumed belonged in the room.
That’s not weird at all. He rolled his eyes.
The lights above buzzed faintly, casting a pale glow over the polished floor. It was hard to tell if anyone was inside the rooms; most appeared unoccupied. Or just… still.
If it wasn’t for the occasional notebook on the dresser or post-it on the wall he would think the place was vacant.
Aside from doors he could spot three bathrooms clustered on one end of the hallway.
Tony was just about to head back but something managed to catch his eye.
At the far end he spotted a single matte-black door, unmarked and windowless. Utility access? he guessed. Maybe a maintenance passage, maybe another string of identical rooms beyond. S.H.I.E.L.D. buildings loved their hidden hallways and service corridors.
With a small shrug he set off toward it, curiosity edging him on.
He tried to open the door but to his half surprise it was locked.
He grimaced. “Fri?” He called out.
The reply was instant. “On it boss.”
Tony rolled his sleeve up slightly. Revealing the Iron Man cuffs he always kept on in case of emergency.
A blue holographic light came out of his wrist, scanning the lock. It was about 20 seconds before the panel light turned green and he heard a click.
15 seconds longer than he anticipated. Looks like S.H.E.I.L.D. has upped their game. Good for them, he thought.
He turned the handle and as he expected all that met him was an identical hallway; on either side, a neat procession of identical rooms stretched away—sterile white cubes glimpsed through narrow glass panels. Inside: a single bed, a compact dresser, nothing else.
He slouched his shoulders in disappointment. Guess this place is as boring as he thought. Maybe Sam was right and he just had to come to terms with the fact that S.H.E.I.L.D.’s motives aren’t always sinister.
He turned his back, getting ready to make his exit, when suddenly, he heard something.
Foot still off the ground, mid-step, he froze.
He could’ve swore he heard what sounded like someone, or something, taking a deep, shaky, breath.
He spun around. Facing in the direction he had heard it. He carefully walked further into the hallway, passing door after door.
As he got closer he noticed that the rooms towards the end of the hallway had the same door design as the rest but also had a glass cutout on the side, making practically the whole room visible.
Guess the designers weren’t big on privacy.
However, that was definitely not the only weird thing about these rooms. The strangest difference from the rooms down the other hallway is what was in some of them.
In one a steel sphere – fist-sized, resting in the center of the floor, faint scuff marks around it. From what he could make out another had subtle scorch marks near the corner of the bedframe. Others had a chalkboard mounted on the wall or a scratch mark on the dresser.
Not all of them had strange objects inside, but it was enough to spark Tony’s curiosity.
He heard a splash from below him and looked down to find a small puddle below his foot, perfectly still, in the exact center of the floor. There were no leaks. No source. No explanation for the suspicious body of water. Only that a room up ahead seemed to have an even smaller one resting within it.
Getting distracted by the confusing elements, he almost forgot his purpose for investigation when he heard yet another shaky breath. This time more clearly which told him he was getting closer.
He kept on his journey, passing by more and more rooms until he thought he had just imagined the noise.
As he walked by another room peering in as he strolled cautiously, he froze.
In this room that had likely more scuff and scratch marks than any other he had seen in his investigation, was a…person?
They were so still Tony could’ve mistaken them for furniture.
For starters they were incredibly small. Brown curls falling against their bony face. They seemed to sit curled in a bawl on the floor, back against the wall, knees tucked to their chest, arms keeping them there. Shaking so bad they were practically vibrating. Faint bruises along their arms and jaw showing up vibrantly against their extremely pale skin.
But what Tony couldn’t take his eyes off wasn’t how skinny the boy, he guessed, was. Or the slightly damaged walls and floor surrounding him. Or even how horrifyingly young the kid looked.
No. It was his eyes. They were looking right into Tony’s. And they were absolutely terrified. The pure unadulterated fear in his irises couldn’t be missed. He was petrified.
And Tony was sure, absolutely positive, that in that moment, as soon as his eyes met those scared brown ones, he could swear, he heard a bomb go off in his head.