SSARITF? Chapter Three

[samecgh]

When they heard HYDRA, Agents Barton and Romanoff were expecting to be sent to Eastern Europe, parts of Asia or South America.

Not Pittsburgh.

In fact, they were wondering who they had pissed off this time to be sent on this assignment. Any agent could have taken it, but they sent two of their best. As they watched the steady stream of people going in and out, Natasha at street level, Clint on a roof, they discussed what they thought the actual reason was. Even if they didn't feel the mission was worthwhile, they still captured numerous pictures and ran them through databases.

“Do you think we were sent after bail jumpers?” Clint inquired, seeing that one of the men was wanted in California for running.

“Or traffic violators,” she guessed, finding a woman that had thirteen parking tickets in New York. The next few she searched were clean, but something set off with the man and woman that walked in. “HYDRA connection, but the BPRD also has these two pegged. Sketches only.”

“What for?”

“Helping a Berockh demon,” she pronounced, “Also, kidnapping an agent. It was Myers.”

“Think Coulson knows?” The short chirp of his cell phone interrupted the two. He checked it quickly. “Hi, Sir.”

“Make sure Romanoff's listening in,” he ordered, “Manning contacted Fury, annoyed that I had talked to a few former agents about the demon, and annoyed that I was looking into their case. The HYDRA connection you found helps us. Manning can't deal with HYDRA. Not to mention their former agents don't want to work with the BPRD. Fury's allowing me to bring them in for this assignment, if they agree.”

“Do we know how bad the demon is?” Clint asked.

“Should we just intercept now and try to find out the location?” Natasha suggested.

“No, we have no idea of the contingency plans that are in place if they don't come back,” he directed, “Follow if necessary, but do not contain.”

“Understood,” both reported. Coulson ended his side.

“Did he sound more worried than usual?” Clint asked.

“I would say around the same level after you were compromised,” she mentioned. It took a few minutes for him to come up with a little noise of acknowledgment. After that, the two walked out of the building. “Moving.”

“Got it.”

=

The floor that Pepper had arranged for was a business level. The conference room was two doors off of an emergency exit that led into the street. JARVIS was going silent, thankfully. If needed, Coulson would ask specifically for him to talk. He hoped Stark was busy updating his suit and not questioning his usage of a floor for a meeting. Or asking JARVIS to help spy.

There was the bare staff and he was notified as the group made their way over to the elevator and up. The video on the screen showed two clearly non-human entities with one female. One was blue with a device around his or her neck while the other was bright red with a tail coming out of the trench coat. He saw what the insistence on privacy was for.

He kept to the windows, making sure not to block any exits, as if they had to worry about that. It was the small things to get them to trust him. He was possibly going to ask for their help in going after a demon and getting John back alive. He wanted them on his side. “Agent Coulson,” he greeted as they walked in.

“Liz Sherman,” the woman introduced, “Abe Sapien, Hellboy.” She pointed to the respective namesakes.

“No agents from the BPRD?” Hellboy questioned.

“No, as of a few hours ago, this is now a SHIELD assignment. Recently, the group HYDRA has been tied with the demon that kidnapped John Myers.”

“HYDRA?” he asked.

“A terrorist organization that rose to power in World War two,” he simplified.

“I remember a little about that. The Professor was worried about their connection to Rasputin,” Abe noted, “They believed the Norse mythology was true. I suppose they were right.”

Coulson confirmed, “You know about the Junditto incident.”

“And Loki.”

“Great, Trickster God,” Hellboy grumbled.

“He's not as bad as he was a few months ago,” Coulson partially defended, before getting back on track. “The demon, what should you know?”

“Berockh demon, last time he tried to raise enough power to take over the Western Hemisphere with the sacrifice of two humans,” Hellboy mentioned, “Stopped him from gaining the power, but the sacrifices still died. Couldn't go after him; he teleported.”

“Berockh demons have no hypnotic abilities. The people that help are doing this willingly. They hope to get something for their service,” Abe added, “Places in the new rule, favors.”

“How much power would the demon need to raise if he wanted to take over the world?” Coulson asked.

“The right place,” Abe brought up, “Large enough for all the rituals he would have to perform to build up to the main sacrifice. Being close to places of natural energies would be an immense help. Ley lines, cemeteries, vortexes. ”

“He needed two last time. This time might be three or four,” Hellboy added.

“I believe five might be the optimum here, for a pentacle,” Abe debated, “And to make the power last longer.”

“So he needs about two to four more people,” Liz jumped in, “What type of people would he need for the ritual?”

“Anyone would work well, but the last two had been husband and wife, which was a strong connection. What exactly is your connection to John, Agent Coulson?” Abe inquired.

Now he was put on the spot. A select few knew about his former name (Fury was the one that arranged it, Clint and Natasha knew due to their digging) and he trusted them not to get any on his family in danger. And these people he probably could trust, given that they themselves were keeping secrets, the less people that knew, the more safe it would be. “A concerned party,” he alluded.

Hellboy snorted, “Yeah, right. A SHIELD agent that's more concerned than the people he works with. Try again.”

“It is the truth,” he said, unwilling to give anything away.

Before he could retort, Liz stopped him, placing a hand on his non-stone arm to calm him. “John talked about his older brothers and sisters, specifically the ones he hadn't talk to in years. One was named Phil,” she stated, “That's you.”

Coulson kept himself impassive, but the damage had already been done. The feel of the room became tense, brittle. A ping disrupted everyone. “Ah,” Abe hummed, reaching for a hidden phone, “Jeremy is getting back to me.” The other three didn't say anything as he went through the email. “He sent the reports on the previous ritual.”

He nodded, “JARVIS can put the reports on the screen if you allow him. JARVIS?”

“Of course, Agent Coulson,” the AI responded, the three former BPRD agents glancing around in surprise, “Mr. Sapien, I will only access the email containing the reports and place them up on the viewing screen. Is that satisfactory?”

It took a second, but he agreed, “Of course.” They watched the document show up on the main viewing. Each read the document and a couple of copies separated so each could read at a different place. “That is not good,” Abe commented.

“Frank and Barbra Myers?” Liz murmured.

“Ah, hell,” HB cursed.

“Mr. Sapien, what would be the effect of the demon sacrificing the son of a previous sacrifice?” Coulson asked.

“Well, he did not have the entire effect of the last ones, but he still gained some of their energy. It may be possible using John would give him an added boost due to blood. He may not need as many sacrifices. Two to three, including him,” he explained, “If you are his brother, you must be careful. You or any one of your other siblings would be enough for him to gain enough power to take over two-thirds to three quarters of the world.”

“Where are the others?” Hellboy questioned.

“Frank, Martha and Jake are covert ops. All three have training to deal with HYDRA. Martha's in California. Frank has a security detail thanks in part to his job. Jake's in Eastern Europe. Ben's in Michigan and Abbi's in Nevada,” Coulson listed.

“You and Ben would be the main targets,” Liz confirmed.

“Our security would be able to protect you, Agent,” JARVIS interjected, “As long as you didn't leave the building. I have also notified two SHIELD agents that are in proximity to your brother. They will watch over him; you may want to alert him so he doesn't lose them.”

“After this is over, I will,” he promised.

“Hey, is John the youngest?” Hellboy asked.

“Yes,” Coulson confirmed.

“Frank, Martha, Jack, Ben, Abbi, you and John's the youngest,” he counted out.

“The seventh,” Abe picked up, “If he gets another sibling, he could rule the entire world with just two.”

Carefully setting one of her fingers on fire to calm herself, Liz regretted, “Well, that just went bad faster than normal.”

=

The building that the two SHIELD agents were watching was an old factory, decay already settled in and enjoying the expansive space. The people they had been tracking disappeared in. They saw shadows, but the height of the windows worked against Natasha at ground level. Clint wasn't doing any better, barely seeing the tops of heads from his position on a roof a block away.

“I hate the smart ones,” Clint commented, watching the activity, “This angle's crap.”

“Your angle's better than mine,” Natasha retaliated, “What are they doing?”

“Working on weapons,” he reported, “Guns, knives, nothing too unusual.” Both heard the chirp of a notification from Coulson. He waited a minute for her to read. “What?”

“Any sign of John Myers, we get him out if at all possible. If the demon even attempts to sacrifice, he'll gain enough power to take over part of the world,” she declared, “He also has a 'take out if necessary.'”

“Shit,” he swore, “We're not doing that, are we?”

“Like hell,” she equally cursed in Russian.

=

Coulson got off with Ben. He wasn't happy, but the stress of his voice drove the point home. Ben wouldn't lose the agents. He also confirmed with the two there. He contacted Natasha and passed along the order to get John out or kill him if absolutely needed. They all knew he didn't want to, but the sake of the earth was important.

After finishing those important parts, he went back to the three still there. “My agents tracked two HYDRA members that were identified during the raid the BPRD led early this morning. This apparently is a base of operations,” he informed, bringing up the building on the screen.

Abe carefully studied the picture. “I am unable to tell. I do not recognized it or anything around that would give it an edge,” he studied, “I could contact Jeremy and he could run it against the known locations of Ley lines and look up other nearby areas that have been used for rituals.”

“Please.” He walked out of the room to make the call. Coulson finally let himself sit in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the room. He kept the strong front that he developed during the Rangers and early SHIELD days, but his mind was in turmoil. He now finally know what happened to their parents, and John, the youngest, might become the next one in the family to suffer the same fate. All because HYDRA and this demon were going to try and take over the world with their deaths.

“What was going to be the offer?” Hellboy asked, breaking the silence after a minute.

He centered at the demon. “Compensation, fifty thousand,” he told him, “Another offer to join SHIELD. We would have found a more secure and larger house for the five of you.”

He nodded, “Not bad. Still not joining, had too many problems with Manning to consider working on the payroll for any governments again.”

“Red means he doesn't do well when people tell him what to do,” Liz chipped in.

“Hey,” he grumbled, no real force behind it.

“It might be a good idea, to go somewhere,” she suggested, “To make sure someone takes care of them if anything were to happen to us.”

He chuckled, “Going back would cause something to happen. We're better off staying out.”

Everyone looked up when Abe came back in the room. “Jeremy has found most of the ritual areas the BPRD has investigated within the past twenty years. He also has a list of places we suspected would be excellent ritual sites,” he reported, “The factory they are at is not the best for their ritual, but it can be in case they have no places that are ready or secure.”

“Let's bring them up,” Liz said.

Abe directed, “JARVIS? The information is on my phone. Would you please?”

“Yes, Mister Sapien,” the AI allowed. The reports were replaced by a map of a hundred miles around the factory, known ritual sites marked in red and possible in yellow. “If I may make a few suggestions.”

“Go ahead, JARVIS,” Coulson approved.

“Searches of local records indicate that several of these locations,” he cited, highlighted around fifteen to twenty spots, “Are unsuitable for their needs.”

“Businesses?” Liz figured.

“And two apartment buildings,” he added.

“Have you already checked them out?” he questioned, “Check security and nearby surveillance cameras?”

“Selected areas are quiet.”

“Fairly sure this is illegal,” Abe mentioned.

“So is talking to aliens and Myers broke that law,” Hellboy grinned, “Can we use cameras in the other areas? Search for anyone watching?”

JARVIS processed the suggestion quickly. “Seven areas don't have sufficient coverage,” he reported, the areas staying or becoming red, “The others have enough to establish enough surveillance.”

“All right, the seven should be checked by agents, the others by analysts. What should they bring to each of the sights?” he inquired to Abe and Hellboy, routing the other areas to analysts that could instantly start scanning for signs.

“There are a few protection amulets. Useful against standard energy surges and basic to moderate curses. Higher level protection has to be requested a few months in advance,” Abe suggested.

“Holy water, white oak stakes, silver knives or bullets, clover leaf but it'd be better for you guys to use as an oil and smear it on any and all knives you normally carry,” Hellboy listed.

“Squirt gun or spray bottle?” Coulson asked.

“Squirt gun works better. Also, balloons for large groups,” he smirked.

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