After The Fall
Title: After The Fall
Series: Agents of Inception (more will follow)
Author: Eustacia Vye
Author's e-mail: eustacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Rating: Let's go with R due to violence
Pairing: gen, actually. Kind of pre-Arthur/Ariadne, tho.
Warning/Spoilers: Winter Soldier/AOS spoilers, violence, major character death
Summary: Ariadne had thrown herself into working for SHIELD, and she loved knowing that in some small way she was helping to make the world a safer place. Now, it felt like the entire world was falling apart at the seams.
Agent Dominic Cobb was standing in front of Agent Robert Fischer, gun in hand. "You have a choice here," he told Fischer with a slick smile. "Better make it the right one." Fischer didn't reply, clenching his jaw instead; he was a stubborn one, and Ariadne would have thought Cobb knew him better than this.
There was gunfire down the hall, and Ariadne didn't think that it was anything more than more Hydra agents coming out of the woodwork. How many people she saw on a regular basis were sleeper agents? How many people she had trusted?
How could she trust anyone ever again?
Ariadne had thrown herself into working for SHIELD, and she loved knowing that in some small way she was helping to make the world a safer place. Now, it felt like the entire world was falling apart at the seams. Having secrets exposed on the Internet and finding out about Hydra infiltrating the entire organization was devastating enough. It was even worse to have her CO turn out to be one of those Hydra agents. Cobb was trying to convince them to leave SHIELD's remains and transfer allegiance to Hydra; the first agent that refused was lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood, rapidly cooling.
Ariadne managed not to jump out of her skin when the door was kicked open, but it was a near thing. The kicked open door bounced off the wall, and Cobb turned to scowl at whoever was coming in. His face exploded in a shower of blood.
Now she jumped, swallowing a shriek of shock. Some of the others in the room jumped as well, so Ariadne didn't feel silly about that.
She didn't recognize the agent that stormed into the room. He was tall and slim, with dark hair that wasn't even mussed, brown eyes and a suit that somehow still looked immaculate despite the fact that he clearly had been in several gunfights. Most of her coworkers were shaken, and Ariadne hadn't thought she was worse off until he turned to her and touched her shoulder. "Hey. You're okay. You're okay."
"He killed Mal," Ariadne gulped, studiously not looking at the dead body on the floor.
"Look at me," the agent said in a commanding voice. Ariadne did so, more than willing to look at anything other than poor Mal's body. "I'm Arthur."
"Ariadne," she responded. Normalcy was woefully lacking right now, but this little bit was calming, at least. Unless that was the point? She had trusted Cobb until he turned on everyone in the bullpen. "Can I trust you?"
"I'll let you make that call," he told her seriously. "He was holding a gun on all of you and an agent is dead on the floor. That's all I need to see to know that one was a sleeper Hydra agent and figure the rest of you aren't. So I have to trust you right now," Arthur said, looking intently first at Ariadne, then at the other agents in the room. "But we have to get out of here. There are more agents at all different levels, and we need to get out and regroup. I had a friend at the Triskelion, it sounds like it's fallen to Hydra. They're working on getting to other locations, but at least we've still got the Cube and the Fridge."
Heart sinking, Ariadne tried to absorb that. "They'll want to go there next. The prisoners and tech alone…" Her voice trailed off; this couldn't be surprise for Arthur. "I'm just Level Four. I'm not rated to work there."
Arthur smiled, and it transformed the stern lines of his face. "I'm Level Six, not rated for it, either. But if we're all they've got, then we'd better step up. Besides, I'm not sure levels count anymore if SHIELD is going down in flames."
"We'd need an army to take down Hydra, it seems."
Standing tall, Arthur scanned the room. Besides Ariadne and Fischer were three other terrified Level Four agents. "We're a good start."
"I don't have the training for this," one of the other agents nearly wailed. "I'm a mathematician, for God's sake! I just do statistics!"
"Someone needs to run the numbers for us," Arthur said calmly. "What's your name?"
"Kristen," the woman sniffled.
"Okay, Kristen. You try calculating the odds of us getting out alive. Give me a number of agents that we'll need, I'll see that we get them."
"Have you seen any higher level agents to help us?" Ariadne asked, feeling some of the shock begin to fade. Now abject fear was starting to kick in, and damn, did she miss the shock.
"None that were still loyal to SHIELD," Arthur said grimly. "The ones in this area seem to be neutralized, at least." He looked at each agent in turn, and squared his shoulders. "There was no way to predict this, no way to plan for this. But we can get through this if we keep working together. If we believe in the mission we took on when we joined SHIELD. We're not beaten, we're not broken. We can fight back."
"I'm in," Ariadne said firmly, stepping closer to Arthur. The proximity seemed to give her strength to wrap her mind around this concept and push the fear away.
Fischer looked at Arthur assessingly, then nodded. "Me, too."
Kristen and the others looked frightened, but didn't want to be left behind. Being in the Statistics office, they generally didn't go about armed on a regular basis. Ariadne stepped closer to Cobb's body than she would have liked and took his Beretta in shaking hands. Fischer took his backup weapon, and the others fell in step behind them. "We can do this," Ariadne said, voice firmer than she really felt. "I want to see this through."
"You're a lot tougher than you look, Ariadne." Arthur shot her a grin that made her wonder what things between them would be like once the current deadly circumstances were over. "I'll take point," he told her.
Ariadne nodded in the direction of Cobb's corpse. "I'm better than him," she told Arthur, determination in her voice. "I'm going to prove it."
That grin didn't leave Arthur's face, and his eyes actually crinkled a bit in the corners. Not amusement, she could tell. He was pleased that she was stepping up to the challenge, that she was willing to work with him, that she planned to have his back and not let SHIELD falling to pieces define her.
They were better than that, and were willing to work toward a better future together. Ariadne wasn't sure what it would take to get there, and was sure Arthur didn't have any idea, either. Only one way to find out: survive and take out Hydra.
The End
Series: Agents of Inception (more will follow)
Author: Eustacia Vye
Author's e-mail: eustacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Rating: Let's go with R due to violence
Pairing: gen, actually. Kind of pre-Arthur/Ariadne, tho.
Warning/Spoilers: Winter Soldier/AOS spoilers, violence, major character death
Summary: Ariadne had thrown herself into working for SHIELD, and she loved knowing that in some small way she was helping to make the world a safer place. Now, it felt like the entire world was falling apart at the seams.
Agent Dominic Cobb was standing in front of Agent Robert Fischer, gun in hand. "You have a choice here," he told Fischer with a slick smile. "Better make it the right one." Fischer didn't reply, clenching his jaw instead; he was a stubborn one, and Ariadne would have thought Cobb knew him better than this.
There was gunfire down the hall, and Ariadne didn't think that it was anything more than more Hydra agents coming out of the woodwork. How many people she saw on a regular basis were sleeper agents? How many people she had trusted?
How could she trust anyone ever again?
Ariadne had thrown herself into working for SHIELD, and she loved knowing that in some small way she was helping to make the world a safer place. Now, it felt like the entire world was falling apart at the seams. Having secrets exposed on the Internet and finding out about Hydra infiltrating the entire organization was devastating enough. It was even worse to have her CO turn out to be one of those Hydra agents. Cobb was trying to convince them to leave SHIELD's remains and transfer allegiance to Hydra; the first agent that refused was lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood, rapidly cooling.
Ariadne managed not to jump out of her skin when the door was kicked open, but it was a near thing. The kicked open door bounced off the wall, and Cobb turned to scowl at whoever was coming in. His face exploded in a shower of blood.
Now she jumped, swallowing a shriek of shock. Some of the others in the room jumped as well, so Ariadne didn't feel silly about that.
She didn't recognize the agent that stormed into the room. He was tall and slim, with dark hair that wasn't even mussed, brown eyes and a suit that somehow still looked immaculate despite the fact that he clearly had been in several gunfights. Most of her coworkers were shaken, and Ariadne hadn't thought she was worse off until he turned to her and touched her shoulder. "Hey. You're okay. You're okay."
"He killed Mal," Ariadne gulped, studiously not looking at the dead body on the floor.
"Look at me," the agent said in a commanding voice. Ariadne did so, more than willing to look at anything other than poor Mal's body. "I'm Arthur."
"Ariadne," she responded. Normalcy was woefully lacking right now, but this little bit was calming, at least. Unless that was the point? She had trusted Cobb until he turned on everyone in the bullpen. "Can I trust you?"
"I'll let you make that call," he told her seriously. "He was holding a gun on all of you and an agent is dead on the floor. That's all I need to see to know that one was a sleeper Hydra agent and figure the rest of you aren't. So I have to trust you right now," Arthur said, looking intently first at Ariadne, then at the other agents in the room. "But we have to get out of here. There are more agents at all different levels, and we need to get out and regroup. I had a friend at the Triskelion, it sounds like it's fallen to Hydra. They're working on getting to other locations, but at least we've still got the Cube and the Fridge."
Heart sinking, Ariadne tried to absorb that. "They'll want to go there next. The prisoners and tech alone…" Her voice trailed off; this couldn't be surprise for Arthur. "I'm just Level Four. I'm not rated to work there."
Arthur smiled, and it transformed the stern lines of his face. "I'm Level Six, not rated for it, either. But if we're all they've got, then we'd better step up. Besides, I'm not sure levels count anymore if SHIELD is going down in flames."
"We'd need an army to take down Hydra, it seems."
Standing tall, Arthur scanned the room. Besides Ariadne and Fischer were three other terrified Level Four agents. "We're a good start."
"I don't have the training for this," one of the other agents nearly wailed. "I'm a mathematician, for God's sake! I just do statistics!"
"Someone needs to run the numbers for us," Arthur said calmly. "What's your name?"
"Kristen," the woman sniffled.
"Okay, Kristen. You try calculating the odds of us getting out alive. Give me a number of agents that we'll need, I'll see that we get them."
"Have you seen any higher level agents to help us?" Ariadne asked, feeling some of the shock begin to fade. Now abject fear was starting to kick in, and damn, did she miss the shock.
"None that were still loyal to SHIELD," Arthur said grimly. "The ones in this area seem to be neutralized, at least." He looked at each agent in turn, and squared his shoulders. "There was no way to predict this, no way to plan for this. But we can get through this if we keep working together. If we believe in the mission we took on when we joined SHIELD. We're not beaten, we're not broken. We can fight back."
"I'm in," Ariadne said firmly, stepping closer to Arthur. The proximity seemed to give her strength to wrap her mind around this concept and push the fear away.
Fischer looked at Arthur assessingly, then nodded. "Me, too."
Kristen and the others looked frightened, but didn't want to be left behind. Being in the Statistics office, they generally didn't go about armed on a regular basis. Ariadne stepped closer to Cobb's body than she would have liked and took his Beretta in shaking hands. Fischer took his backup weapon, and the others fell in step behind them. "We can do this," Ariadne said, voice firmer than she really felt. "I want to see this through."
"You're a lot tougher than you look, Ariadne." Arthur shot her a grin that made her wonder what things between them would be like once the current deadly circumstances were over. "I'll take point," he told her.
Ariadne nodded in the direction of Cobb's corpse. "I'm better than him," she told Arthur, determination in her voice. "I'm going to prove it."
That grin didn't leave Arthur's face, and his eyes actually crinkled a bit in the corners. Not amusement, she could tell. He was pleased that she was stepping up to the challenge, that she was willing to work with him, that she planned to have his back and not let SHIELD falling to pieces define her.
They were better than that, and were willing to work toward a better future together. Ariadne wasn't sure what it would take to get there, and was sure Arthur didn't have any idea, either. Only one way to find out: survive and take out Hydra.
The End