Into the Blue

“Romanoff, on your way out, grab Grant.”

The dark brunette women, raised her head with a frown as she surveyed the dozens of computer screens before her, before pressing her gloved finger to the earpiece hooked on her lobe.

Apart from the computer screens, their was no other source of light. The slim women sat on the large chair, her dark pant covered legs tucked beneath her, and her fingers and hands moved swiftly across the desk, typing at more then a hundred keys that were before her. She jumped as she heard a muffled explosion

“Get who out now? I’m not done Cap-”

“Their is no debate Grant.” The voice continued sternly.

“Look Captain, I can find his location, it’s simple-” she tried again, jumping as another explosion sounded beneath her followed by an enormous growl.

“You heard him Beth-”

Beth’s head snapped up at the familiar voice, that rang through her ear and she clicked violently on the keyboard.

“While you’re busy flying around Stark I’m trying to get something done.” she snapped with an annoyed sigh, as she searched through the long list of files, her light eyes flying from screen to screen in urgency.

“Just do what the Captain says.” the voice continued urgently, “Don’t need anything happening to the brains of this operation.”

“I’d love to follow your orders, but, I’m following orders from Fury, grab everything or nothing at all....” she chuckled before she stopped as she slumped in her seat starring wide eyed and frozen at the screens, a slacked jaw, “And I’ve found everything.”

“Grant, this is an order, get to the ground hallway so Romanoff can find you-”

“Nope.”

“Beth,” Tony said warningly, “Don’t be stupid.”

“I’m not,” she countered back, her eyes surveying the screens, growing wider and wider, “We need this information-”

“Beth, don’t do this to me.”

She scrunched up her nose, and turned back towards the screens, “Nothing is going to happen.”

She spoke quickly before swiftly removing the ear piece from her ear and tossing it at her side.Turning back to the screens she typed away quickly, smirking wide as a map began loading across all twelve screens.

She grabbed the small chip that was in her breast pocket and stuck it into the main hard drive, and stood up as she heard banging from all around her. She glanced impatiently and nervously, as the files began to load, ever so slowly.

Pacing around the computers, Beth stared longingly at the ear piece that had been tossed aside.

Pulling off her gloves, she pulled the small gun that had been given to her before leaving the Helicarrier, she stared at it unsure, and placed it near the ear piece and stared back at the screen, her heart pounding as she saw red flaring on the screen.

“No.” she muttered to herself, as she began typing away, the white number counting down setting her on edge as she quickly reached for the ear piece, knocking the gun down and screaming as it let out a shot.

“Captain!”

Her heart beat faster, pounding in her ears, as she glanced at the other screen, watching as all the files loaded onto the small chip, as she typed.

“Captain!” she yelled pressing the ear piece tighter into her ear drum.

She groaned out in panic when no one answered, and the count down stopped. Leaving the numbers reading 00:05:00. Turning to the download, she watched as it too, stopped 00:04:00.

“Five minutes,” she let out a deep breath, “Captain! Can anyone hear me!”

“Cap’s down at the moment Grant, what’s wrong?”

Beth took a deep breath, “The building is going to self destruct in five minutes. Do you copy that. It’s going into the water!”

“What?” she heard immediate panic in Natasha’s voice, “Were all on the ground floor, where are you.”

Beth closed her eyes, “I’m on the the thirtieth floor. Natasha, you all need to get out now, I can send the files via sadelite once they’re done-”

“Were not leaving with out you.” Natasha countered panic stricken, “We won’t.”

“You don’t have a choice.” Beth countered, watching as the numbers quickly changed to three and two, “The files are almost done downloading.”

“Stark!”

Beth cringed at the sound of the name, and licked over her chapped lips, watching as the numbers changed from two to one.

“Natasha you have two minutes!”

“Beth.”

She glanced up at the screen, hearing his voice in her ear, “Yeah Tony.”

“I can get up there and get you in thirty seconds flat, you and the files can come home-”

“No Tony, you’re not risking anything-”

“I’m not risking you.”

Beth said nothing as the files finished loading on the chip and she swiftly tugged at it and plugged it into the sadelite phone at her side and watched as it loaded quickly, “I’m sending the files now.”

“No!” Tony groaned at her, “You have time-”

Beth smiled as she saw the bright letters on the phone read,Sent.

“Fury has the files.” she whispered, watching as the final minutes began to count down.

“Beth, I’m coming up.” Tony said panic stricken and Beth knew that he was counting down the seconds.

“Natasha, stop him.” Beth whispered into the ear piece as she took a seat on the desk chair, and typed slowly, watching the seconds tick away, “I’m destroying the computer, so nothing can come back.”

“You have to come back!”

Beth watched as the computer destruction synced with that of the building, “Duty calls Mr.Stark.”

He heard him groan into the line, and she gnawed onto her dried lips, feeling them bleed.

“Don’t try and-” Tony argued.

“Those were the first words I said to you Tony.” Beth smiled watching as the numbers reached 00:00:30.

“Are you on the craft, Natasha.” Beth whispered, gripping the gun tightly in her hand.

“We are, Grant.” Natasha said slowly, “Were up, we can see the building, it’s self destroying from the bottom up. Going into the water.”

Beth nodded as she stared at the screen, the building shaking, as the pictures on the screens told her exactly that.

Her hands were trembling, as the building shook violently, and she gasped as water met her feet, “Wow, so fast.” A pipe near her broke, shooting sparks every where, she let out a gasp as a few landed on her cheek.

“Hey Tony.” she said feeling the water climb to her knees, “Stay on the line with me.”

“I’m here, Beth.” the voice said slowly.

Beth sighed, and glanced at the screen that now read 00:00:15.

“I-I know that it wasn’t supposed to go down this way.” she chuckled, “And that you expected more-”

“You’re going to get out of this.” Tony spoke, she could hear the lies straight through his teeth, “The top floor is safe.”

She chuckled and read over the words the Computer was flaring, “I know.”

They were safe.

00:00:10.

But the computer was going to blow up, no matter what.

“Turn off the computers and you’ll be fine.”

“Then their would be no point in having the files sent to Fury.”

“Fuck Fury!” Tony shouted.

00:00:07

“Beth.” the voice breathed out.

“Yeah,” she whispered.

00:00:05

“I love you.”

00:00:04

“I love you too.” she breathed out tasting the blood in her mouth from her lips.

00:00:03

“I’ll see you, okay.” Tony said confidently.

“Of course.”

00:00:01

“Tony, I-”

The blast sent her flying back in the abyss of dark water that shot through the floor. The computer sparked dangerously. Beth opened her eyes under the water, wincing as it’s coldness penetrated her eye balls. She watched as the computer shut down, she pushed herself up, and pressed up against the ceiling, gasping for breath as she did her best not to cry. She cried out as the water pressed her face to the ceiling and she inhaled through her nose deeply and slowly, taking the deepest breath possible before water consumed her entirely.

She swam quickly, swimming towards where she knew the hallway was and pulled at the door knob, her blurry eyes making it hard to see.

She held in a scream when the door wouldn’t open. She tugged three more times, before it finally opened. She swam forward, and broke at the surface, gasping with a sob as air hit her lungs.

She pressed her ear, “Tony!”

“Grant!”

“Ah,” she gasped exhausted as she wadded breast deep in freezing water she kept her arms above her head, “Ask Banner how I get out-”

“I’m coming for you.” Tony said sharply and she continued taking deep breaths as she heard the familiar sound of the suit shooting through the air, “Go to the top floors, they’re not under yet.”

With chattering teeth, Beth glanced around the flooded floor, looking for a familiar green exit sign.

“I can’t see the stairs,” she cried, panic stricken, as stinging tears slipped out of her eyes, “I can’t.”

“Don’t do that!” Tony said in anguish, through the ear piece, “From the room you were in, go left.”

Beth shook, and turned around in the water, and squinted as she found the faint glowing sign, she wadded through it, her arms still above her head as she shook, her bleeding lips stinging more from the salty water.

“Where are you now?” Tony asked.

“At the stair case.” she shuttered, pushing open the door, sighing in relief as she saw no water in the stair case above her, but water from the lower floors bubbled up.

“Go!”

She struggled through her wet clothing to walk faster, “What’s the top floor?”

“Thirty six,” Tony said in a sure voice, “You’re almost there, when you get there, open the roof access door.”

She nodded and raced as fast as she could, her legs sore. Glancing behind her, she saw the water just a few steps behind her, as she reached the thirty fourth floor, she gasped, “No, no.”

In front of her the remains of the rest of the stair case, collapsed and preventing her from moving forward, and it blocked directly up.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“The roof collapsed on the stair, I can’t get up to the last floor!”

She screamed as she heard explosions from over head as she pushed at the metal, and she screamed back as sparks flew at her, knocking her down a few steps and back into the water that had caught up.

She pushed her hands above her head pushing forward in anguish as the water reached her waist once more.

“Grant!”

Beth froze and stared at the made-shift ceiling that prevented her from getting out as Tony’s voice rang through the ceiling, instead of the ear piece.

“Tony, I’m here!”

“I’m getting you out!” he shouted, and Beth watched her lips burning, as a BANG shot through the air, and she caught a glimpse of the night sky and a man in a red and bronze metal suit, before the mask lifted and he peered down.
f
“I see you!” he shouted with an anguished laugh.

Beth smiled, but stared back down at the rising water, “Tony the building’s going to go down.

“Not if I can help it.” he said his face sweaty, as Beth reached through the gap and awaits for him to take her hand, just as the entire building gives way.

From the craft, Natasha, Clint, Thor, Eric, and Steve gaze in horror. Fury’s hand is on Steve and Thor’s arms, holding him back, as the man in the Iron suit, flies up high, before shooting straight into the water. The teams cringes as the the building sinks rapidly and light explodes from the water.

From within the suit, Tony ignored Jarvis’ warnings that he’s loosing power and might not make it back to the surface, he keeps going and grips the pipes as he sees a small struggling hand from the ruins.

Through the flooded space, Beth grips her lips closed as her ears pop, and she feels her lungs growing smaller. She stares at the small space her hand still holding on the bars of broken staircase. Her eye sight is blurry, but she stares as a large mass of metal is thrown off and she can fit her face through the space, just as a golden mask appears before her.

She squeezed her eyes shut just as the metal hand reaches for her, and she feels her body grow limp and weak.

From within the suit, Tony sees the face grow pale, and he continues to ignore Jarvis’ warnings. He reaches his hand out, and stares astounded as the petite hand pushes back at him, and he stares into the light eyes, and watches horrified as the woman before him opens her mouth and takes a deep gulp of water.

“No!” he shouts from within the suit, and reaches forward grabbing the small hand tightly. His eyes are searching the face through the hole, as the woman inhales the merky water again, drowning herself.

Beth closed her eyes and did her best to picture the pearly white mansion that hung over the ocean in Southern California.