Tony Stark's arrival turned the warehouse facility into a war zone in seconds.
The Iron Man armor blazed through the sky, repulsors firing with surgical precision at the armed guards below. Men scattered in all directions, some returning fire with automatic weapons that sparked harmlessly off Stark's armor plating. The remaining trucks exploded in sequence as micro-missiles found their fuel tanks, sending pillars of black smoke climbing into the morning sky.
"Fall back now," Hill hissed, already moving away from their position. She kept low, using the shipping containers for cover as they retreated toward the abandoned industrial complex. Marcus followed, his mind racing through the implications of Stark's presence.
This was not supposed to happen. Tony Stark should be dealing with his own issues right now, the palladium poisoning, preparing for the Senate hearing, maybe starting to develop new armor configurations. He should not be in Baltimore attacking a HYDRA weapons facility that SHIELD did not even know was compromised.
Unless someone had tipped him off. Unless someone else was playing a larger game that Marcus did not fully understand yet.
They made it fifty yards before the situation deteriorated further. A section of the warehouse wall exploded outward, and three men in black tactical gear emerged carrying what looked like modified versions of Stark Industries weapons. The technology was unmistakable, arc reactor-based energy weapons that glowed with the same blue light as Stark's chest piece.
"Those weapons should not exist," Hill said, her voice tight with anger. "Stark testified before Congress that his technology could not be replicated. Either he lied, or someone found a way to steal his designs."
One of the HYDRA operatives spotted them and shouted a warning. Gunfire erupted immediately, high-velocity rounds tearing through the metal containers and forcing Marcus and Hill to dive for better cover. They rolled behind a concrete barrier as bullets chewed through the space they had just occupied.
"Return fire," Hill ordered, her own weapon already up and tracking targets. She fired three controlled bursts, and one of the HYDRA operatives went down clutching his shoulder. The other two dove for cover and began flanking movements designed to pin them down.
Marcus raised his sidearm and sighted on the nearest hostile. His enhanced reflexes made the shot easy, he could see the man's movement pattern, predict where he would emerge from cover, and time his trigger pull perfectly. The bullet caught the operative in the leg, dropping him before he could complete his flanking maneuver.
Hill glanced at Marcus, surprise flickering across her face before professional focus reasserted itself. "Good shot. We need to move before they bring up reinforcements. On my mark, we run for that building at ten o'clock. Three, two, one, move."
They broke from cover together, sprinting across open ground while bullets cracked through the air around them. Marcus's enhanced speed gave him an advantage, but he carefully throttled it back to match Hill's pace. He could not afford to display abilities that would raise questions, not here, not now.
They reached the abandoned building and crashed through a rusted door, taking up defensive positions inside. The interior was dark and filled with debris from years of neglect, but it provided multiple angles of cover and several exit routes.
"Call it in," Hill said, breathing hard from the sprint. "We need tactical support and we need it now. This operation has gone completely sideways."
Marcus pulled out his secure comm unit and keyed the emergency frequency. "This is Agent Reid, badge number seven-four-two-nine-five. We have an active situation in Baltimore requiring immediate tactical support. Multiple armed hostiles, stolen Stark technology confirmed, and Iron Man is currently engaged on site. Requesting backup and extraction at coordinates, "
The building's wall exploded inward.
Marcus barely had time to register the danger before his precognition kicked in. He saw the trajectory of debris, saw where Hill was standing, saw the chunk of concrete that would crush her skull if she stayed in that position. He moved on pure instinct, his enhanced speed carrying him across the space in a blur. He tackled Hill, driving them both sideways just as the debris smashed through the spot where she had been standing.
They hit the ground hard, Marcus taking the brunt of the impact to protect Hill from injury. For a moment they lay tangled together, both stunned by the near-death experience. Then training reasserted itself, and they were rolling apart, weapons coming up to face the new threat.
Brock Rumlow stood in the opening his explosive had created, flanked by four more HYDRA operatives. All of them carried the modified Stark tech weapons, and all of them were aimed directly at Marcus and Hill.
"Well, well," Rumlow said, his voice carrying the casual confidence of someone who believed he held all the advantages. "SHIELD agents where they should not be. I am going to need you both to put your weapons down very slowly, or my men will demonstrate just how effective these new toys are at cutting through standard tactical armor."
Hill's jaw tightened, but she lowered her weapon carefully and placed it on the ground. Marcus did the same, his mind working frantically through possible solutions. His powers could potentially deal with Rumlow and his team, but not without revealing himself. And revealing himself meant answering questions he could not answer, meant scrutiny he could not afford.
"On your feet," Rumlow ordered. "Hands behind your heads. You are coming with us."
They stood slowly, complying with the instructions. Marcus could feel Hill's anger radiating from her in waves, but she maintained perfect control. She was waiting for an opportunity, calculating odds and possibilities just as Marcus was.
"You made a mistake coming here today," Rumlow continued, his weapon never wavering. "But your mistake is our opportunity. SHIELD has been getting too nosy lately, asking questions about operations that do not concern them. Maybe your disappearance will send a message about the cost of that curiosity."
Outside, the sound of repulsor fire continued as Stark fought his way through HYDRA's defensive positions. Explosions rocked the warehouse district, and smoke billowed across the industrial complex. Rumlow's team kept glancing toward the noise, clearly nervous about Iron Man's proximity.
"Move," Rumlow snapped, gesturing toward a side exit with his weapon. "We have a vehicle waiting two blocks south. You are going to walk there very calmly, and if either of you tries anything stupid, I will shoot you both in the spine and carry your paralyzed bodies instead."
They started moving, Rumlow's team maintaining a tight formation around them. Marcus's enhanced senses picked up details that he normally would have missed, the slight catch in one operative's breathing suggesting an old injury, the way another favored his left leg, the subtle tells that marked these men as experienced but not superhuman.
He could take them if he had to. But the cost would be exposing his abilities to Hill, and possibly to Rumlow if any of them survived. That exposure would create complications that would ripple forward through time, changing the timeline in ways Marcus could not predict.
They emerged from the building into an alley filled with industrial dumpsters and abandoned equipment. The vehicle Rumlow mentioned was indeed waiting, a black van with tinted windows and no visible markings. Two more operatives stood guard beside it, bringing their total opposition to seven armed hostiles.
"Agent Hill in first," Rumlow ordered. "Then Agent Reid. Try anything, and your partner pays the price."
Hill moved toward the van, her expression carefully neutral. But Marcus saw the way her eyes tracked the positions of their captors, saw the slight tension in her shoulders that suggested she was preparing to act. She was going to try something, probably as soon as they were inside the van where the tactical situation might shift in their favor.
Marcus prepared himself to support whatever play she made, his powers coiling beneath his skin like compressed springs. If Hill made a move, he would have to help her succeed without revealing too much about his capabilities. It would be a delicate balance, but he had no choice.
Then the van exploded.
The blast came from beneath the vehicle, a shaped charge that had been carefully placed to maximize damage without spreading to surrounding structures. The van lifted off the ground and flipped sideways, transformed into a flaming wreck in less than a second. The two guards closest to it were thrown backward by the concussion, their bodies ragdolling across the alley.
Everyone else dove for cover as debris rained down. Marcus grabbed Hill and pulled her behind a dumpster, his enhanced strength making the movement easy despite her own trained reflexes. Rumlow shouted orders to his team, trying to establish a defensive perimeter against this new threat.
A figure dropped from the rooftop above, landing with impossible grace in the center of the alley. She wore black tactical gear that seemed to absorb light, and her red hair was pulled back in a tight braid. Two pistols appeared in her hands as if by magic, and she fired with mechanical precision.
Natasha Romanoff. The Black Widow.
She moved like water flowing around stones, each motion economical and devastating. Two of Rumlow's operatives went down before they could bring their weapons to bear. Another tried to flank her and received a knife thrown with perfect accuracy into his shoulder. She was not trying to kill them, Marcus realized, she was aiming to disable and capture.
"Hill, get your partner out of here," Romanoff called out, her voice calm despite the chaos. She rolled under return fire from Rumlow's team and came up firing, driving them back toward better cover. "I will handle this situation. Report to Fury immediately."
Hill did not hesitate. She grabbed Marcus's arm and yanked him toward the opposite end of the alley. They ran while Romanoff kept Rumlow's team pinned down, her weapons firing in a steady rhythm that spoke to extensive combat experience.
They burst out of the alley and into a street filled with civilian vehicles. Hill immediately started scanning for transportation, her tactical mind working through their options. Marcus could hear sirens in the distance, police and fire services responding to the explosions and gunfire that had torn through the industrial district.
"There," Hill said, pointing to an older sedan parked at the curb. She pulled a device from her utility belt and aimed it at the car. The locks popped open with electronic compliance. "Get in."
Marcus slid into the passenger seat while Hill took the driver's position. She used another tool to bypass the ignition, and the engine roared to life. They pulled away from the curb as more HYDRA operatives emerged from nearby buildings, clearly responding to their team's distress calls.
Hill drove with aggressive precision, weaving through streets and taking turns that threw off any potential pursuit. She kept checking her mirrors, ensuring they were not being followed, before finally allowing herself to slow to normal traffic speeds.
"What the hell just happened back there?" Hill demanded, her knuckles white on the steering wheel. "That was supposed to be a simple surveillance operation. Instead we walked into a full-scale weapons smuggling operation, got attacked by hostiles with Stark tech, nearly got captured, and were rescued by an agent I have never seen before in my life."
Marcus could not tell her that the agent was Natasha Romanoff, currently undercover at Stark Industries and working directly for Fury as part of the Avengers Initiative evaluation. He could not explain that the whole operation had been compromised from the start because HYDRA had people inside SHIELD who knew about the surveillance assignment.
"I recognized one of the hostiles," Marcus said instead, offering information that Hill needed without revealing how he knew. "The man who was commanding the team, I have seen him before at the Triskelion. I think he works for STRIKE team."
Hill's expression darkened. "That is a serious accusation, Agent Reid. STRIKE team answers directly to high-level command. If you are telling me that one of our own special operations teams is running illegal weapons smuggling operations, we have a much bigger problem than I thought."
"I am certain it was him, ma'am. I got a clear look at his face. We need to report this to Director Fury immediately."
Hill nodded grimly and pulled out her phone. She dialed a number from memory and waited for the connection. "Director Fury, this is Agent Hill. We have a significant situation that requires your immediate attention. The Baltimore operation was compromised, possibly by internal personnel. We encountered armed hostiles with stolen Stark technology, and Agent Reid has identified one of them as a member of our own STRIKE team. We need to debrief in person as soon as possible."
She listened for a moment, her expression growing more concerned. "Understood, sir. We are en route now. ETA approximately three hours."
Hill ended the call and merged onto the highway heading back toward Washington. "Fury wants us back at the Triskelion immediately. He is assembling a secure briefing team to hear our report. Whatever we stumbled into today, it is big enough that the Director wants to handle it personally."
They drove in silence for several miles, the adrenaline from the confrontation slowly fading into exhaustion. Marcus could feel his powers settling back into dormancy, the energy that had been ready to manifest now retreating into whatever reservoir it came from.
"I need to ask you something, Agent Reid," Hill said finally, her eyes still fixed on the road. "Back in that building, when the wall exploded, how did you move so fast? One second you were across the room, the next you were tackling me out of the way. I have worked with enhanced individuals before, and that kind of speed is not normal."
Marcus's mind raced through possible explanations. He had moved too fast, his precognition and enhanced reflexes combining in a way that had been obvious to someone with Hill's training and experience. He needed to provide an explanation that would satisfy her without revealing the full truth.
"Adrenaline," Marcus said, keeping his voice carefully measured. "I saw the debris coming toward you and reacted on instinct. Sometimes the body can do extraordinary things when survival is on the line. I am sure you have experienced something similar in your own field operations."
Hill glanced at him, and Marcus could see skepticism in her expression. She did not believe him, but she also could not prove that he was lying. It was a delicate balance, and Marcus knew that he had just added himself to Hill's mental list of people who bore closer observation.
"Perhaps," Hill said finally. "Or perhaps you are not telling me everything about yourself, Agent Reid. But that is your business, as long as it does not compromise operations or put your teammates at risk. Just understand that if I ever discover you have been hiding something that could get people killed, there will be consequences."
"Understood, ma'am."
They drove the rest of the way in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Marcus used the time to review what had happened and plan for the debriefing with Fury. He would need to be very careful about what he reported, ensuring that he provided valuable intelligence about HYDRA's operations without revealing knowledge he should not possess.
The Triskelion's towers came into view as they crossed the Potomac, the triple buildings gleaming in the afternoon sun. Hill drove directly to the underground parking garage and stopped at a security checkpoint that Marcus had never seen before, one that required multiple biometric scans and a personal code from Hill before the reinforced barriers would retract.
"This is the secure entrance," Hill explained. "Only used for high-priority situations where standard security protocols might be compromised. If there really is corruption inside SHIELD, Fury will not want word of this debriefing spreading through normal channels."
They parked and took an elevator that descended even deeper than the garage levels. Marcus had no idea how far underground they traveled, but the elevator moved for nearly a minute before finally stopping. The doors opened onto a corridor that looked like something from a military bunker, reinforced walls, heavy security doors, and cameras covering every angle.
An agent Marcus did not recognize escorted them to a conference room where Fury was already waiting. The Director stood beside a large display screen showing satellite imagery of the Baltimore warehouse facility. Coulson sat at the conference table with a tablet, ready to take notes. And standing in the corner, still wearing her tactical gear, was the red-haired woman who had saved them in the alley.
"Agent Hill, Agent Reid, have a seat," Fury said without preamble. "I want to hear everything that happened today, start to finish. Do not leave out any details, no matter how insignificant they might seem."
Hill took the lead, walking through the operation chronologically from their arrival at the surveillance location to the moment they encountered Rumlow and his team. She spoke with precise military clarity, providing exact times, descriptions, and tactical assessments. Marcus supplemented her account with his own observations, carefully noting what he had seen without revealing how he had known to look for certain details.
When they reached the part about Iron Man's arrival, Fury exchanged a glance with Coulson that suggested this was not news to them. Marcus filed that away for future consideration, SHIELD had known about Stark's involvement, which meant either they had tipped him off or they had been monitoring him closely enough to know when he would act.
"Agent Romanoff extracted you from the situation," Fury said, gesturing to the woman in the corner. "She had been conducting her own investigation of the weapons facility and arrived in time to prevent your capture. Agent Romanoff, do you have anything to add to their account?"
Romanoff stepped forward, and Marcus got his first clear look at the legendary spy who would become one of the most important members of the Avengers. She studied both him and Hill with eyes that missed nothing, her expression professionally neutral.
"The operation at the warehouse was more sophisticated than our initial intelligence suggested. The weapons being moved were not just stolen Stark technology, they were modified versions that showed evidence of advanced engineering and manufacturing capabilities. Whoever is behind this has access to serious resources and technical expertise. I counted at least thirty hostiles before the facility was evacuated, and they moved with military precision that suggests extensive training."
"Did you identify any of the individuals involved?" Fury asked.
"Several faces that match SHIELD personnel files," Romanoff confirmed. "Including the man Agent Reid identified as being from STRIKE team. I am running facial recognition on all recorded footage, but preliminary results suggest we have a significant infiltration problem."
The implications of that statement hung heavy in the air. SHIELD's own personnel were running illegal weapons operations. The organization was compromised from within, and no one knew how deep the corruption went.
"We lock this down immediately," Fury said, his voice hard. "Agent Hill, you are now the lead investigator on this case. Report directly to me and only to me. Agent Reid, you are assigned to her team. Agent Romanoff, you continue your investigation from your current position. I want to know who is behind this, how far the corruption spreads, and what their ultimate objective is. And I want all of this kept completely off the books until we know who we can trust."
Fury turned his attention fully to Marcus, and the intensity of his gaze was like being caught in a searchlight. "Agent Reid, you have had an interesting few days. First someone tries to kill you, then you walk into the middle of a major weapons operation, and now you are identifying corrupt personnel within our own organization. Either you are the unluckiest agent in SHIELD's history, or there is something about you that is drawing this attention. Which is it?"
Marcus met Fury's gaze steadily, knowing that any sign of deception would be caught immediately. "I wish I knew, sir. I am just trying to do my job and serve SHIELD to the best of my ability. If my work has somehow made me a target, then I want to help find out why and stop whoever is behind it."
Fury studied him for a long moment, and Marcus had the uncomfortable sensation that the Director could see straight through him to all the secrets he was keeping. Then Fury nodded slowly.
"All right. You are dismissed for now. Both of you write up detailed reports of today's events and submit them directly to me within the next twelve hours. Do not discuss this operation with anyone outside of this room. And Agent Reid, watch your back. Someone clearly wants you out of the picture, and today's events probably just painted an even bigger target on you."
Marcus and Hill left the conference room and rode the elevator back up in silence. As they emerged into the main Triskelion building, Hill finally spoke.
"You handled yourself well today, Agent Reid. Better than I expected for someone who spends most of his time behind a desk. If you survive long enough, you might actually become a competent field agent."
It was the closest thing to a compliment Marcus had heard from her, and he recognized it as a significant shift in her assessment of him.
"Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate the opportunity to work with you."
Hill nodded and turned to leave, then paused. "One more thing. That move you made when you tackled me out of the way, I have been going over it in my head, and the timing was impossible. You could not have seen the debris coming and reacted that fast, not from where you were standing. So either you got incredibly lucky, or you have reflexes that are well beyond normal human capability. I do not know which it is, and I am not going to press you for answers right now. But if we are going to work together, I need to know I can trust you. Think about that."
She walked away before Marcus could respond, leaving him standing alone in the corridor with her words echoing in his mind. Hill was suspicious, and rightfully so. He had revealed too much today, moved too fast, demonstrated abilities that raised questions he could not answer honestly.
He needed to be more careful. But he also needed to continue using his abilities if he wanted to make a difference, if he wanted to prevent the tragedies he knew were coming. It was a constant balance between concealment and action, and today had shown him just how difficult that balance would be to maintain.
Marcus returned to his quarters and began writing his report, carefully crafting his account to include valuable information while omitting any reference to his powers or his knowledge of future events. It took hours to get the wording right, to walk the line between being helpful and being suspicious.
When he finally submitted the report and collapsed onto his bed, exhaustion pulled him immediately toward sleep. But his mind continued churning through everything that had happened, analyzing possibilities and planning next steps.
HYDRA was moving faster than he expected. The weapons operation, Rumlow's direct involvement, the corruption within SHIELD, it was all happening earlier in the timeline than Marcus remembered. His presence in this world was already changing things in ways he had not anticipated.
He would need to adapt, to be ready for changes and complications that did not match his knowledge of how events were supposed to unfold. The future he remembered was becoming less reliable as a guide with every passing day.
Marcus finally drifted into uneasy sleep, his dreams filled with purple energy and the faces of people who would become important in the years ahead. He saw Tony Stark in his armor, Steve Rogers frozen in ice, Thor wielding Mjolnir, and Bruce Banner transforming into the Hulk. He saw Maria Hill, her expression shifting from suspicion to trust to something more complex. He saw Nick Fury watching everything with his single eye, calculating and planning and never fully trusting anyone.
And standing in the shadows behind all of them, wearing a smile that promised violence, Brock Rumlow raised a weapon that glowed with stolen technology.
Marcus woke with a start, his heart racing. The clock beside his bed showed oh-three-hundred hours, he had only been asleep for two hours. But something had pulled him from sleep, some instinct or warning that his conscious mind had not yet identified.
He lay still, listening to the silence of his quarters. Everything seemed normal. The door was still locked, the security systems still active. But his enhanced senses picked up something wrong, some detail that did not belong.
The air circulation system was too quiet.
Marcus rolled out of bed and moved silently to the door, his powers already beginning to stir in response to perceived danger. He pressed his ear against the metal and concentrated, using his enhanced hearing to pick up sounds from the corridor beyond.
Footsteps. Multiple people moving with tactical precision, trying to be quiet but unable to completely eliminate the sound of their movement. They were coming toward his room.
Someone was coming for him again.