30 Chapter 30 (1/2)
The backpack on Bobbi's back shifted around to surround her body. The small catoms moved around like purple liquid, surrounding her chest, across her abdomen, then down to her legs. Then they solidified in a single moment. Bobbi gasped, looking down at herself.
She'd designed the armor herself, making the chest, abdomen, and inner thighs a shade of white, and the rest a combination of purple and black. The very center above her abdomen was triangular, with a glowing purple light that strummed. Her boots had a small purple force field hovering just above them, and her batons now had purple highlights. Bobbi looked at her hands, the blonde grinning at the sight of the light armor gauntlets surrounding her fingers.
”Whoa. This is cool,” Bobbi twisted her hands, and a helmet rose over her head, a pointed design with a long slit where her eyes were that glowed purple against the white of her helmet. A hood sprouted over her head with another of her wrists, colored dark purple as well. She twisted her hands one more time, and the helmet and hood faded, leaving Bobbi grinning at us. ”Oh, that is awesome. Wait, what is this?”
She tapped her chest on the logo of a bird holding an arrow.
”It's a, uh,” I coughed before lying. ”A Mockingbird. You can get rid of it, but I thought it was good.”
”Huh... I like it.”
”Good to know,” I said with a grin. ”How about you guys?”
The others rushed to put their packs on, while I left mine on the floor.
Hartley turned hers on first. Unlike the others, she had a small backpack, a jacket, and a fanny pack to put on, all of which weighed quite a bit. She struggled a bit, and Creel moved forward to help her with the jacket.
”Thanks, handsome,” Hartley said with a wink. Creel smirked at that, stepping back to let her settle. ”Warrior!” With the call of her codename, Isabelle Hartley was covered in her armor.
She looked very different from Bobbi, for good reason. When we'd created the armor designs, we gave people three options. Bobbi had chosen the light gear, made for fighters who favored movement over durability. I'd chosen the medium personally, wanting to be able to move, but also knowing I wasn't as fast as everyone else. Steve and Bucky had been two of the three who had gone for heavy armor, and those two had gone without the strength enhancers.
Hartley had chosen the heavy variant as well, and she had the strength enhancing gear to boot. She rose up several inches in height, and a thick plate of armor ran across her body, covering her shoulders, her thighs, shins, all the way to her boots. She was dressed in over three hundred pounds of weight, all of it having been spread between the backpack, fanny pack, and jacket to make it somewhat manageable. But portions of the catoms settled into an exoskeleton under her armor, enhancing her strength. She raised her arms up with ease, grinning happily at her gold and black patterned armor. She had a small skirt at her waist, evocative of Xena: Warrior Princess' skirt, which I found kinda funny. She put a hand to her waist, where the handle of a Model 3 BCW quickly formed from the catoms. She clenched the handle and raised it, smiling viciously as a blade grew from the handle to make it into a short knife. She held it sideways and furrowed her brow in concentration, grinning when the blade extended into a massive broadsword, portions of her gauntlets moving into the blade to give it the extra material.
”Whoa!” Bobbi leaned back as the three-foot blade grew in her direction, dodging it. ”Careful!”
”Oh, sorry!” Hartley, embarrassed, shortened the sword back into a knife, then back to a handle, putting it away. She put the Model 3 away at her waist, then brought her arms up and twisted her wrists. Her helmet came across her face and solidified into a smooth round metal helmet that was tinged with gold around the black sections, shaped like that of a Roman soldier's. Underneath, I knew that she was currently getting an augmented reality view of the world, the suits VI helping her through the cameras and sensors.
And I did mean VI. Jarvis, X, Tony, Fitz-Simmons, Bruce, Jury Rigg, Skye, and everyone else had made sure I didn't make another accidental AI. I was very keen on not giving X accidental siblings.
Bucky went next as Hartley put her helmet away. Unlike Hartley, his armor was in the form of a single large backpack, which had to weigh around five hundred pounds. He flipped onto his back with ease and said his codename.
”Nomad,” he said, not raising his voice the way Hartley and Bobbi had.
The large backpack shifted in an instant, covering his entire body. He twisted his hands immediately, his helmet rising to move over his face. His suit was black with green circuitry running through it, blending in with his robotic arm. The chestplate was thick across his pectorals, and the armor ran down his abdomen in extra plates. His thighs and shins were just as heavily armored. Yet, despite the enormous amounts of plating and a lack of an exoskeleton like Hartley's, Bucky moved very easily in the suit. The helmet that rose over his head was... unsettling. Like a bird-of-prey, somehow. There was a scope style eyepiece over the left eye of the helmet that glared out at us with a bright green light. He twisted his hands again, and the green lights on the suit faded to black. Another twist of his wrists and his entire body faded away. Active camouflage. There was an unsettling click I recognized as the Model 2 BCW Rifle. The next moment he was sitting in his seat, holding the sniper version of the rifle in his lap, making us jump at his sudden and silent move. He kept the helmet on. On the center of his chest, barely visible, was a star, imprinted on the black of his armor.
”Geeze!” Rhodey and I said in unison. Rhodey looked at me, and I shrugged.
”Bucky,” I said with a scowl. ”Can you be less... sneaky, when I'm around? Normal guy here.”
Bucky chuckled a little, twisting his hands to put away the helmet. ”You did good work. I can barely feel the weight too.”
”It's over five hundred pounds,” I grumbled, looking over at Sam. He was putting his wingpack on his back, and I did the same with my own small backpack. With a shared look, we said out codenames together.
Still blew my mind that I had a cool codename.
”Dial/Falcon.”
Just like that, our suits rose across our bodies. Falcon's focused on his chest and wingpack, leaving large portions of his body free. His gauntlets had repulsor weapons on the back, and his guns had changed to become Model 1 variants on his hips. His boots gained rocket ports, and his wingpack was streamlined into a smooth black variant. I knew that the wings had been similarly changed. Sam twisted his wrists, and a pair of goggles appeared over his eyes. Another twist and a mask made of metal appeared. It was tight to his head, with the shape of the goggles over his eyes and a mouthpiece that connected to an air tank on his wingpack. His chestplate had a symbol of an falcon in red, feathers spread out across the black.
Sam flicked out his arms and his wings snapped outwards. He grinned at them, bringing his hands up. ”Okay, we're good to go.”
My own suit was simple in design. A chestplate with an angular design, armored shoulders, gauntlets that left my elbows open and the Omnitrix available. I wore armor on my legs and boots. The whole suit was colored black with green circuitry, with the Omnitrix symbol on the center of my chest. I made sure my ponytail was still in place, and touched my beard, sighing in relief when they were intact. With a snap to the side, one of my gauntlets sprouted a blade from the top in a burst of catoms moving.
”Whoa, can mine do that?” Hartley asked, excitedly snapping arms out. She giggled when two blades sprouted from her gauntlets.
Rhodey smirked at the newbies with their power suits, and got into his own. The War Machine, newly upgraded and repaired, snapped over his body, turning him into the tallest person in the room. ”Okay, kids, how about we get down to business.”
”He's right,” Sam put his wings away. ”Arm up, and get ready. X, you ready?”
”We'll be there in one minute,” X responded.
I turned and grabbed my weapons, putting my handgun in my leg holster, my rifle against my back, and my melee handle to my waist.
”Okay, you all look pretty now,” Creel grumbled. ”Can we do this already?”
”Jealous?” Hartley asked mischievously.
”More like anxious,” Creel smirked. ”You heard Sam. 'Failed experiments'. That means monsters. Probably an Alien situation.”
”What, like Thor, or the Chitauri?” Bucky asked curiously. It was a reminder that he knew less about pop culture that even Steve at the moment. HYDRA apparently never thought the knowledge would be useful for a super-assassin.
”Well, we ain't Marines,” Rhodey said, striding to the center of the room. ”So we should be okay.”
”In their defense, Hollywood isn't a fan of useful tactics in horror movies,” I said weakly.
”Hollywood?” Bucky frowned. ”Why are you taking about horror movies? Like Frankenstein?”
”Pop culture night's going to get full,” Hartley noted, giving Bucky a sad look.
”If we ever have time for a pop culture night,” Bobbi sighed sadly.
Creel patted Bucky on the back, before moving with the rest of us towards the back of the Defiant, Bucky following while grumbling.
”Not my fault HYDRA never let me watch movies,” he said. He seemed to withdraw a bit, despite the joking nature of his comment. I put a hand on his shoulder when I noticed. Bucky gave me a quick glance, then smiled a bit. With a twist of his wrists, his helmet appeared, and we both focused on the door.
X began the countdown, and I brought the Omnitrix up, twisting the dial.
”In three...two...one,” X said calmly, guiding the Quinjet down towards the ground. Closer and closer, until the Defiant came to a stop. ”Drop!”
The door snapped down and we all leaped out into the air about ten feet over the ground. X spun the Defiant around and opened up it's guns. The fight was on.
Director Maria Hill
As the Avengers, Reserve Avengers, and BRIDGE went on their missions, Maria had business of her own. She walked through the hallways of the Enterprise, Robert Gonzales with her this time. The older BRIDGE agent kept pace with her as they strode through the helicarrier.
”Gonzales, I want the Iliad out and doing it's work. How are the upgrades going?”
”They're going well,” Gonzales said, his voice low and gravely. ”Mack has installed most of it with Fitz's help. We should be ready to leave for the work soon. Will you be keeping my best agents with your little Avengers team?”
Maria looked over at Gonzales, who seemed sour. ”You wanted someone you trusted to keep an eye on Creel and Bucky. They're doing it.”
”And now I worry if I've given them up for a new job,” Gonzales grumbled.
”Robert,” Maria began to say. He waved it off, sighing grumpily.
”They're grown women. If they want to continue, they'll do it. If they want to come back, I'll welcome them with open arms,” Gonzales stopped when they came to a door where Coulson and May were waiting. ”Keep them safe, Director. Those two saved my life.”
”I wouldn't do any less,” Maria said warmly.
Gonzales nodded. He turned to Coulson and May. ”I suppose I will see you both later?”
”No doubt about it,” Coulson with a smile. May simply nodded, though she smiled as well.
With that, Gonzales turned and walked away.
”...He's kind of intense,” May said.
Maria and Coulson gave the famously stoic May a look. She cocked an eyebrow, daring them to say anything. Since neither Maria nor Coulson were that dumb, Coulson instead opened the door.
Inside, a woman was sitting at a chair in front of a steel table, wearing a white prison uniform. She was wearing a metal collar that was a familiar black with green circuitry. Davida Devito looked up at the three and smiled.
”Ah... you didn't bring my boyfriend,” she said in joking tones.
Maria cocked an eyebrow, moving to sit in front of her. ”Boyfriend?”
”What else do you call a guy who gets you a ring as fancy as this?” Davida tapped the collar, smirking. Despite her seeming jovialness, she was clearly not pleased with the collar. Maria was glad for it, considering it was keeping her powers in check. Davida's eyes narrowed. ”My girls. Are they safe?”
”They are,” Maria took out a tablet. ”You were right. They were checking that Facebook profile. We got in contact with them last night.”
”Got to say, kinda clever of you,” Coulson added. ”Post a specific status on a agreed profile at a specific time using newly made accounts. Clever way to pass messages.”
”Well it ain't full proof, but it gets the job done,” Davida leaned forward. ”Are they safe? Tell me that.”
Maria raised an eyebrow. ”Yes, they are. Helen is cooperating, but she thinks Strucker may be on to her. That he's guiding your girls specifically to places and missions that Helen believes Strucker is willing to let go of, using them in some game against the other HYDRA leaders.”
Davida's fist tightened. ”Then get them out of there. You know our deal, I promised you-”
”I promised that they would be safe for traded information,” Hill said calmly. She eyed Davida carefully.
In the days since Dial had captured her, Davida had been almost obsessive over wanting 'her girls' to be safe. She wanted them away from Strucker, and safe from prosecution, in return for all the information BRIDGE could get.
But as of now, the data Helen, Marian, and Mimi had gotten them was minuscule. They'd been kept from knowing exactly where the castle they were in was placed in through blind flights to and from the castle, had only bare information on the experiments, and nothing on the future plans of Strucker's HYDRA. The only reason Helen had received the message was a phone she'd smuggled onto the grounds, and even GPS wasn't able to find them for some reason, most likely Sterns. Which made the fact she could even access the internet despite him very suspect.