When we got close enough, Natasha launched us in a Quinjet while Clint took Falcon in another one. It was kinda cool, being part of a fleet of Quinjets seperating to fly from a giant flying command center. The helicarrier was behind us in moments. Rhodey and I sat in the back, his armor standing in the center of the large space in a tall rack. It was weird speaking to Rhodey. In a weird way, I now knew him better than anyone else in the world. We had been one, and my direct link to Zola's algorithm had given me even more intimate knowledge than that. But there was something else to talk about.
“While we were uh... when you were linked with the suit,” Rhodey said in the seat across from me. “Jarvis managed to get an understanding of what you were doing. Tony thinks he can replicate it.”
I cocked my head. “What, make a permanent Upgraded War Machine?”
“No,” Rhodey shook his head. “He thinks he can, in a limited way, make his own version of your alien.”
I stared at him.
“Yeah,” he said with a nod. “Jarvis found out that Upgrade is technically made of some combination of organic matter and nanotechnology,” Rhodey waved a hand dismissively. “I don't know, it is way over my head. But he wants to use the data from War Machine to study it.”
I looked over at War Machine, thinking about that. In the comics, Tony had done some amazing stuff with nanotechnology. Made suits as close to liquid as they were solid steel, really bleeding edge stuff. Pun intended.
But Upgrade wasn't just nanomachines, he was a living being. If Tony went too far, he would create actual life just like the Galvan and Azmuth did by total mistake. And people who do that tend to end up with a lot of problems. Seriously, making life is generally a bad idea in fiction unless you cover all your bases and even then it was a hit and miss kind of thing. The only reason the Galvanic Mechamorphs worked out is cause the Galvan instantly treated them as their own people the second it was made clear they were sapient. Even then, Malware still showed up, though it could be argued whose fault that was. So... needed to figure out what to do about such a thing.
“I need to talk to him about that,” I said, still staring the War Machine armor. I looked at Black Widow, then got up and walked to look out the window. “In the meantime, what's the mission? I mean, I know what it is, but I don't want to screw it up, so a refresher is good.”
“The SHIELD Academy of Science and Technology is a few minutes away. We're meeting a man named Tomas Calderon, who's assembled a squadron of Quinjets to join us. He'll make a perimeter with War Machine, you and I will go inside. You'll follow my lead while I'm training you.”
“Training me?” I asked, blinking.
“I'm multitasking,” Natasha said simply. “You'll stay human unless I say otherwise, and I'll see how you do. Not sure if you noticed but once you return to being a human you are not exactly much of a threat and people can easily take advantage of that. Besides, this way we can conserve the watch so you don't time out too quickly.”
I looked over at Rhodey, who smiled kindly. I looked back at Natasha. “Shouldn't that be something I learn at a training facility or something?”
“Well, we are going to an academy,” Natasha gave me a grin.
“Smartass,” I replied. “How about Rhodey?”
“You need to learn on the job,” Rhodey said. “And I've got the firepower in case someone attacks from the outside that the Quinjets can't handle.”
I nodded, but still felt uncomfortable. Natasha noticed.
“You want to transform, don't you?”
That was it. I was more comfortable being an alien right now. Stupid useless angst. I sighed in acknowledgment. I turned and walked over to sit across from Rhodey again. “Yeah, I guess so. I shouldn't for a bit, should I?”
“I'm no psychologist,” Rhodey said. “But I am a soldier. I remember my first kill, that moment after it's over. You know what I felt?”
“...Relief,” I said.
Rhodey nodded. “Because I was alive. I even felt proud, that I'd beaten him, that I'd survived.”
“And that's normal?”
“It's human, man. We're supposed to do everything in our power to survive and to feel happy when we do. It's okay to feel that way, for a brief moment. It's normal to feel horrified afterward too. Just remind yourself that you're doing the right thing and that you have people to talk to.”
“Then you can go to therapy if you need it,” Natasha said seriously. “But for now, we have a mission. Strap in.”
I put on the belts on my seat as Rhodey did the same next to me. Natasha lowered the Quinjet, the motion of the jet giving me a feeling similar to when an elevator dropped, that shift when your stomach is left catching up with the rest of you. Rhodey drew my attention with a wave, pointing at a headset hanging from the ceiling, and put one on his own head. I followed his directions as the sound of other aircraft could be heard outside.
“Calderon, this is Romanov, do you read?” Natasha said on her headset.
Rhodey and I listened. It was silent for a long uncomfortable moment.
“I read you, Romanov,” a male voice responded. He didn't sound happy. “So Fury sent you?”
“Will that be a problem?” Natasha asked.
“...No,” the guy said after a moment too long for his answer to be honest. Rhodey and I shared a look. “You have any Avengers with you?”
“No, just two specialists.”
“Normal?”
She looked back at us. Rhodey and I shrugged. “Not really.”
“Christ,” the guy cursed. “Fine, whatever. We'll discuss when we land.”
“Can't wait,” Natasha rolled her eyes.
“If it helps, technically we are normal, we just have really cool toys.”
“Doesn't matter to some people,” Rhodey replied. “My armor is enough for most people to get really worried. That watch is probably worse considering it's not human-made. Hell, it explicitly turns you into aliens.”
I sighed at that but nodded. Sadly, most people wouldn't believe the Omnitrix is technically a diplomatic tool rather than a weapon.
Natasha didn't say anything as we came in towards the building ahead.
------
When we landed, Rhodey got into his armor, the suit opening in the front to let him inside. I made sure the Omnitrix was tight on my wrist, not really necessary, but it was a ritual I was used to. Then Natasha walked up to me and handed me something while looking me in the eyes.
“I want you to stay human for a bit, that doesn't mean I'm leaving you defenseless,” she reached into a pocket and took out a pair of tiny disks, passing them to me. “Taser disks,” she explained as I stared at the small circles. “They release a burst of electricity when you activate them. Use them as projectiles if you have to.”
“Got it,” I put them into a pouch on my belt. We waited for the back of the Quinjet to open, then went down the ramp.
The school was quiet. We'd landed in the parking lot of the Academy, which had several black SUV's parked in a circle and one other Quinjet on the ground. The school itself looked like any college or university I'd ever seen in my life, if more modern, with a large SHIELD symbol high up on one of the walls.
More Quinjets hovered around the school, with soldiers running around. They all had their phones strapped to their hips, the Hercules app flashing green. Some of the soldiers had gathered around the Quinjet with guns drawn. We confidently stepped out like badasses, and the Hercules app at their waist flashed green, prompting them to lower their guns.
“Sorry about that,” One man said. While he wasn't dressed in black combat gear like the others, he seemed to be in charge. A tall, bald man, wearing a vest over a button up shirt and a small bulletproof vest over that. “We weren't sure if it was really you,” he came up and held a hand out to Natasha, who shook it. “Tomas Calderon, I'm here to assist in your operation, Agent Romanov.”
“Understood,” Natasha said. She nodded towards us. “These are my assets. War Machine and Dial.”
“They Avengers?” He asked, looking between us, noting Rhodey's armor and my very unique uniform.
“Reserve,” she said, even though I wasn't sure there was an official name for what Rhodey and I were to the current SHIELD.
“Hmm,” he said, a complicated look on his face.
“Problem?” Rhodey asked.
“No... I have issues with people who have as much power as the Avengers do. But you helped us at the Triskelion, so it would be stupid of me to let my suspicions get in the way of my professionalism,” Calderon said evenly.
“Very magnanimous of you,” Natasha said diplomatically.
“Okay, my team is ready to go,” Calderon said. “Ten men, plus me.”
“Got it,” Natasha looked at Rhodey. “You good?”
“Yep,” he gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder before his mask snapped down and he took off into the sky with a loud 'fwoosh' of noise.
“Huh,” Calderon said, watching as Rhodey flew to join the Quinjets. He looked at me. “So, you need a gun?”
I patted my handgun. He seemed to accept that as an answer.
“Okay, we move on Black Widow!” He said to soldiers nearby.
“That means follow me,” Natasha said helpfully, smirking when I gave her an annoyed glance.
“You want me to follow the buddy system?” I asked as we walked towards the school. “Do we get juice snacks when this is over?”
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“If you're good,” she joked, then became more serious. “Okay, you had time before and during the flight to study this place. What do you know?”
“Uh...”
“The first lesson about missions is learn everything you can about them,” Natasha said, going up some stairs as the soldiers followed. “The location, the targets, evacuations points, history, allies nearby. What do you know about it?”
“The uh, the school is one of three run by SHIELD,” I said hurriedly. “SHIELD sends all the smart people they can here, the ones with PhD's. It's run by Dr. Jennifer Weaver.”
“Good enough,” some soldiers ran ahead to the glass doors ahead, opening them for us as Natasha and I took out our guns. “Next time, I want you to try and memorize maps of the area we're trying to attack. Even the slightest idea of what a place is like can save your life, or save others.”
I nodded, kinda amazed at the turn my life had taken that lead to me getting lessons from Black freaking Widow.
“Okay, I'll take point, you stay by my side, Calderon, you're upfront with us. Dial, you get ready to transform if need be, okay?”
“Understood,” Calderon and I said in unison.
We entered the school.
------
The place was an odd combination of clean and futuristic with the messy aftermath of an evacuation. Despite all the glass windows, stylish statues, and clean marble everywhere, there were also papers spread all over the place, scuff marks on the floor, signs of people running away from something. It was eerily quiet in the school.
We walked through the hallways as a group, moving at a loping pace. I tried to copy the professionalism of the soldiers around me but found it easier to just walk like a human being and not a loaded spring.
“Okay, down this hallway,” Tomas said, leading us to the right. “The bunker should be in the next building.”
Things felt tense. It felt like we were in the middle of a haunted house, with the papers everywhere, the silence of everything except the Quinjets outside and our footsteps. I took a breath and looked at Natasha. She wasn't affected by the tense atmosphere, just doing that catwalk she did that drew the eye. When she saw me looking she smiled.
“Always project confidence,” she whispered. “Even when you're worried.”
“Are you?” I asked her.
“More suspicious,” she said. “HYDRA should have sent someone, anyone. These are the most brilliant minds in the world, but they left them untouched. Even the HYDRA personnel hidden among the faculty and students gave up without a fight. That worries me.”
Suddenly, a loud sound came from ahead of us. We all froze, aiming our guns forwards.
“Or they were waiting,” Tomas said.
We went towards the noise. My palms were sweaty, forcing me to wipe them off on my pants so my grip wouldn't slip. When we got to the end of the hall, Tomas pressed himself against the corner leading to a wide space. We went up against the wall behind him. He held a hand up and poked his head around the corner, then pulled back. He grabbed his phone and held it up. The Hercules app flashed red when he pointed it around the corner.
“HYDRA,” he confirmed what we already knew. “Six of them, moving around.”
“How'd they get past the perimeter?” I asked.
“No idea,” Tomas said. “But they're there. Should we try to capture one?”
“Yes,” Natasha said. “But leave that with me. Move in after I engage.” Without waiting for a response, she went around the corner.
We all shared a look. “Uh,” I said softly. “I kinda wish I could see what was about to happen.”
“Me too,” a guy behind me said.
“Hello, boys,” Natasha said from ahead of us.
Tomas leaned over to look. I put my head over his to see as well.
Black Widow was fighting in a room full of cafeteria tables, the kind of place that students could hang out. I'd played a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh on tables like those. Natasha parkoured over a one such table and kicked a HYDRA agent while his friends were staring at Natasha. Apparently, her casual greeting had been enough to throw them off. When the first guy was reeling back, the others raised their hands up. Natasha grabbed the guy she'd kicked and pulled him in front of her.
The soldiers hesitated long enough to let me take a good look at them. They were all dressed in black uniforms, with purple visored helmets. Over the outfits, they wore what looked like exoskeletons with gold sections on the chest and extremities, sections of them glowing with purple lights. Their hands had what looked like gauntlets on hands, with a section over their knuckles looked like a fusion of a brass knuckle and a energy weapon. When they couldn't get a shot on her, three of them activated rockets on their backs and feet, lifting into the air to move around. Natasha threw a taser disk at one of the fliers, making him scream and quiver in the air, slamming through a couple tables in a uncontrolled flight.
“Now!” Tomas yelled.
We went around the corner fast, the soldiers firing their guns as they moved in. After a moment of hesitation, I started shooting as well, my handgun bucking in my hands. Natasha shot the guy she was holding in the back and twisted out of the way of an attack.
HYDRA started shooting purple beams from the gauntlets on their hands, one shooting towards us. I ducked a beam and shot my gun at the guy who'd shot at me. He dodged and fired a shot at the soldier next to me, hitting him in the arm and sending him screaming to the floor with his arm removed. Incensed, I grabbed a taser disk and threw it at the guy. It attached to his foot, sending him into convulsions. The guy who's arm had been blasted off shot the HYDRA agent in the throat.
Natasha leaped from a pillar to grab one of the flying soldiers, bring him down and electrocuting him with her Widow's Bite gauntlets, the tasers built into her wrists. He screamed, passing out after a minute.
One of the SHIELD soldiers died when the last HYDRA agent shot him and tried to blast out of a window, but he feel under the hail of bullets that hit him as assault rifles fired on his retreating form.
Tomas looked around in the aftermath of the attack, turning to give Natasha and me a look of sadness when he saw one agent dead and another missing an arm. “How did they get here? What is this stuff they got a hold of?”
“Let's ask,” Natasha looked at the HYDRA agent on the floor. “Dial, we may have more in the base. Go Fasttrack, search through the academy and find out if there are others.”
I looked at her. She nodded. I raised the watch and switched to Fasttrack, pressing the face down. In a moment, blue and black fur appeared on my form. I gave Natasha a wave, ignoring the shocked gasps that followed my turning into an alien. I was about to leave when I looked at the dead SHIELD agent, then the one whose arm had been removed, who was being tended to by one of his friends. Then I turned to Tomas.
“I'm sorry about your man there,” I looked back at the man who'd lost his arm. “And try to visit me when you get the chance. I'll try to whip you up a new arm,” I left immediately afterward.
Damn, Natasha was right. I really wished I'd read a map before coming here. I did my best, rushing through each hallway, sending papers scattering through the place in my wake. Empty classrooms, offices, dorms, nothing for a bit. Then I got to the other side of the campus.
HYDRA agents, about fifteen men and one woman. The men were all dressed in the same futuristic armor as the others, the woman, funnily enough, wore a brown leather jacket and had a black tank top on. She also looked like Michelle Rodriguez. Damnit, she was probably someone special, if the trend in this universe followed.
They were in one of the larger classrooms, the kind I saw in movies about colleges all the time, with the amphitheater style set up. I was at the top where the students sat, while HYDRA had taken positions at the bottom near the professors desk. As I watched, three more people popped into existence, surprising the hell out of me. They looked up when I entered, but I ran out the other door and lifted activated the communication function of the Omnitrix.
“This is Dial, I've found more HYDRA at the classrooms. They're teleporting in somehow.”
“We know,” Natasha said. “The guy we caught says HYDRA has some sort of item, a 'Phase something', he doesn't know the full name. Apparently, it lets them teleport wherever they have coordinates.”
“Shit,” I cursed. “Okay, I'm going to switch to Jury Rigg and create something to cut them off from teleporting.”
“Can you do that?” Natasha asked.
“No idea, but Jury Rigg hasn't failed me yet,” I responded. “They're dropping into Lecture Hall 17-B. I'm going to go grab some computers to make the device and try stopping them.”
“Go ahead,” Natasha said quickly. “We'll meet you there. Rhodey, you hear all that?”
“Yeah, I got it,” Rhodey responded. “Even if they've got cheap copies of Tony's armor, I can stop them.”
“Let us know if you and the Quinjets need help,” Natasha said. “Clint, Falcon, you get that?”
“Yeah, we'll keep an eye out if they try to teleport to this academy too,” Clint answered.
“Tomas is going to send a team to the bunkers, we'll meet Dial near their entry point,” Natasha said. “Move out.”