Introduction: This AU is a crossover with the Marvel television show, Agents of SHIELD. SHIELD is a government organization dedicated to protecting the earth, especially from unknown forces like aliens or super-powered people. In this AU, the BH6 and other characters from the film are either SHIELD agents, HYDRA (the main opposing organization) agents, or connected to SHIELD in some way. It will also include characters from the Marvel Universe and perhaps original characters.
Prior warning that this universe will probably have a bit more violence than I've been writing.
If you don't watch the show and have any questions, feel free to shoot me a comment to clear things up! And since I'm not the most familiar with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, some things may be a bit off, so you can call me out on those too. :)
NO TELLING:
It was disconcerting, how they watched so nonchalantly while the boy on the operating table screamed himself hoarse.
Granted, Alistair Krei winced ever so slightly when his flailing arm hit the medical robot and the assistants had to pin him down. Granted, Yuki Akiyama betrayed a brief moment of concern when he begged them to let him die.
Yet for all that, they showed an impressive lack of emotion.
Akiyama adjusted her clipboard in her hands, trying to hide her mild uneasiness. She looked up at her superior through thick black-rimmed glasses.
"Sir, I am a little...wary about the ramifications of this project. You know Coulson has suggested shutting it down."
It took a few moments for Krei to respond, as if he couldn't tear himself away from the spectacle behind the glass. "I am aware of that, Akiyama. But you also know that SHIELD has given it more time. We may still find a subject that responds well. As it is, the agent would have died anyway. Now he gets to live."
He turned back to where they were wheeling the unconscious, panting patient out of the room, and wrinkled his nose in distaste at the burn scars all over the boy's arms.
"You never know. Perhaps this will be the one."
~~~
Tadashi Hamada woke up. And blinked. He stared at the ceiling, which was painted a soothing off-white. Though aching all over, he struggled to sit up, his foot catching the woolen blanket. Almost instantly, an agency healthcare worker hurried to his side.
"Agent Hamada." Her voice was low and reassuring as she punched in a message on the wall touchpad, and then adjusted the height of his bed so he reached a gently upright position. "Just rest easy, and someone will be with you shortly, okay?"
A million questions swum in Tadashi's brain as he tried to remember what had happened. The low white cot and the bandages all over his legs and arms provided no satisfactory answers, only an increasing, confused anxiety.
Then the door of the room swung open, and three people walked in.
He recognised the first. Philip Coulson. Field agent. Respected in his own right.
He also recognised the second. Yuki Akiyama. Scientist (in what field he wasn't exactly sure).
And he recognised the third, but only through photographs, and maybe a few passes in the hallways. His mouth fell open as the SHIELD high-up drew up a chair.
"Agent Krei, sir," Tadashi managed to choke out, his mind racing furiously to find a reason why this Level 10 agent should be in his room and coming up empty.
"Tadashi Hamada," Krei responded, flipping casually through his field agent file, his voice reasonably kind. The man snapped the file shut, discreetly adjusted the lay of his pinstriped blazer, and fixed Tadashi, who suddenly felt very under-dressed in his loose white hospital clothing, with piercing eyes. "Do you know why you're here?"
Glancing down at the bandages and then back up at Krei, Tadashi shook his head. "I was hurt. I don't remember exactly how," he said, his voice dry and raspy. Memories began to trickle in. Crackling, and orange, and smoke that stung his throat-- "Was there a fire?"
"There was, indeed, a fire," Krei began, leaning forward in his chair. "It broke out at the Cellar," he said, naming a SHIELD storage base which held a plethora of dangerous weapons and mysterious alien tech. "Agent Callaghan was in there. You ran in there after him."
Gradually, Tadashi recalled the terrifying picture of the building going up in flames, remembered racing down flights and flights of stairs, blinded by smoke and shouting Callaghan's name. Before he could speak, Krei went on.
"You were found suffering from third-degree burns, a fracture, and smoke inhalation. Only the concerted efforts of the medical teams managed to save you."
Suddenly looking very pale against the blankets, Tadashi gave a quick, barely perceptible nod.
"You're a very lucky man, Agent Hamada."
"Callaghan...did he..." Tadashi ventured, cursing his inarticulacy. "Is he okay?"
The SHIELD executive gave a long, heavy sigh and looked down at the ground, yet somehow it seemed that this, too, was put on, over a mask of aloof professionalism. "Agent Callaghan...did not survive the fire."
The boy on the bed blanched further, but made no sound. So then it had all been for naught, and his S.O. and mentor had died. He'd failed to save him.
Almost sympathetically, Krei put a gentle hand on the younger agent's shoulder. "I know it's hard, Hamada. But you knew things like this would happen when you first joined SHIELD. There are teams investigating the cause of the fire. As for you, it's best you move on."
Krei, trying to gauge Tadashi's reaction, noticed that the conflict in his face quickly turned to panic. Because the boy was remembering the small figure that had stood at the edge of the building, grasping his arm and pleading with him not to go in, watching in stunned silence as he disappeared into the inferno.
Hiro.
"Hiro? Is he safe? Where is he? And Aunt Cass?" Tadashi jerked off his pillow with his eyes wide and fearful. "Please, I need to--"
"It's okay," Coulson said quietly, speaking for the first time, as he eased Tadashi back onto his bed. "He's fine."
"I'm sorry," Tadashi mumbled, ashamed of his outburst. He attempted to keep his voice even. "Just...I want my family."
"Your family is fine," Krei said, while the two agents at his side exchanged worried glances.
"Can I see them?"
Krei frowned slightly. "I think that would not be...advisable quite yet, Agent."
"But why?"
Straightening and standing up, the SHIELD leader shook his head, looking a trifle put out. "I cannot disclose this right now, Agent Hamada. Suffice it to say that it would bring trouble to all parties involved."
The response was hardly satisfactory, and Tadashi struggled for a few moments between respect for the agency and desire to see his family. Finally the latter won out. "That doesn't seem very fair."
For a split second Krei seemed to drop his façade, and an expression of disdain crossed his perfect features. Then he collected himself and put on a smooth, polished smile. "I do not have to explain to you that there are things here you do not question. Your family is safe, and they will be informed that you are the same. At an appropriate time, you will be allowed to meet them." With an air of finality, he started towards the door. "You have no objections, Agent?"
The agent in question nodded again, mutely.
"Then, I suggest you focus on getting better. SHIELD will do its best to nurse you back to health." The jovial words fit ill with Krei's disapproving tone.
Tadashi watched the three go with resentment in his eyes. "Yes, sir."
~~~
Back in the gleaming hallways, Coulson and Akiyama followed closely behind Krei, who seemed not entirely pleased with the results of the visit.
"You were more candid than I expected, sir," Coulson offered, surprised that Krei hadn't blatantly lied his whole way through. True, he'd failed to mention just how the SHIELD medical department had saved Tadashi, but otherwise he'd made it pretty clear. And he hadn't cooked up a story about why the Hamadas couldn't meet their injured relative.
Seeing that Krei made no response, Akiyama whispered confidentially, "He always says the most effective lies are the ones mixed with a little bit of truth."
Coulson grimaced expressively before snapping to attention as Krei wheeled around suddenly. "Yes, sir?"
"I think, Coulson, his attachment to his family might eventually pose a bit of a...problem."
Krei's face wore a look of irritation as he twirled a pen in his finger. "There's no way we can bring them in to see him, after all."
"No, sir," Akiyama agreed, while Coulson clamped his lips together as though wanting to say something but not quite ready to.
The SHIELD high-flier sighed, almost melodramatically. "It's so difficult when these young agents form attachments that they refuse to let go. Understandable, but very inconvenient."
Akiyama was about to agree once more when Coulson cut in, an edge to his voice. "And what do you propose, sir?"
Drawing himself up to his full height, Krei responded huffily, "I propose that we operate on him once more. It will not be easy to revise his memory, but I'm sure it can be done. He's a good agent. I'd hate to lose him just because he wanted his family to know he was alive--impossible, as we all know."
The Level 7 agent didn't allow Krei to finish. "With all due respect, sir, you are a higher level agent that I am, but I am the head of this project. I refuse to let any further procedures be done on Agent Hamada."
"You refuse?" Affronted incredulity tinged Krei's voice as he looked down his hawk-like nose at the determined lower-level agent.
"Yes, sir," Coulson answered evenly. He glared up at Krei, his eyes hard. "I refuse."
"Now, this is distressing."
"Project TAHITI should have been shut down long ago," Coulson went on, more forcefully. "It's inhumane. But taking this agent's core memories away is even more so. We only remove memories of the surgery, maybe the cause of death. We don't remove these people's lives." He levelled a steady gaze at Krei. "You want to turn him into a SHIELD-obeying robot? Is that what you want?"
Both men were angry now, trying to stare down the other, faces grim.
"You were always too soft-hearted, Coulson."
"And you were always too heartless, Krei." Coulson's vehemence belied the fact that Krei could have easily lobbied to get him dismissed. "If you go on with this, I'm taking it to Fury himself."
A snarl danced on Krei's face before he swiftly calmed himself. "All right, Agent Coulson. He shall keep his memories, but you will have to deal with the repercussions."
~~~
And the next day Phil Coulson, standing in a sunlit glass hall, wondered just what those repercussions might be. He watched silently as a small group gathered next to the SHIELD Wall of Valour: a tall black man, a lanky boy with dirty blonde hair, a petite Asian girl and a tall woman, and finally a tiny boy with a shaggy black mop and a suit just a tad too big for him. Tadashi's brother. Hiro.
Coulson maintained a respectful distance, not wishing to intrude on a private sorrow. Instead, he tried to focus on the words engraved across the Wall in stately black letters:
IN HONOUR OF THE MEMBERS OF SHIELD WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY.
"WARS MAY BE FOUGHT BY WEAPONS, BUT ARE WON OR LOST BY MEN."
A few paces away, Hiro read the same words aloud. "Service of humanity. Huh." He shook his head, bitter. "He wasn't even on a mission. He was just...there."
Go Go placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tadashi died trying to save a fellow agent, Hiro," she said firmly. "If that's not service, I don't know what is."
Not convinced, the boy stared unmovingly as a woman peeled away a small, square piece of protective paper, revealing Tadashi's entry on the Wall. Below the SHIELD eagle, his name was written in black. Fred read it out in a breath.
"Tadashi Hamada."
And then it seemed like Hiro lost the strength to keep on the mask of solemn calm the other agents wore. "That's it. His entire life, reduced to a name on a wall."
Honey gave a small, pained gasp as she met Hiro's angry eyes. "Hiro, you know that it's a great honour to have a name on the Wall of Valour. Tadashi died in the line of duty. He died a noble death." Even as the words left her lips she felt their inadequacy; they seemed to waver and then fall meaningless to the floor.
Hiro pushed her away, hunching into himself. "Yeah, like that's supposed to make it better. He wasn't just Agent Hamada, Honey. He wasn't just another eagle on that wall." He took a quick, ragged breath, choking back tears. "He was my brother, and now he's dead!"
Agent Coulson couldn't help catching the last of Hiro's outburst as the boy's voice rose to an agonized half-shout. He kept his face blank, though his heart swelled in sympathy.
Was it better to have a brother dead, or a brother that was alive from some strange alien blood but unable to tell you so?
He wasn't sure he knew.
1. Source 1Coulson maintained a respectful distance, not wishing to intrude on a private sorrow. Instead, he tried to focus on the words engraved across the Wall in stately black letters:
IN HONOUR OF THE MEMBERS OF SHIELD WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY.
"WARS MAY BE FOUGHT BY WEAPONS, BUT ARE WON OR LOST BY MEN."
A few paces away, Hiro read the same words aloud. "Service of humanity. Huh." He shook his head, bitter. "He wasn't even on a mission. He was just...there."
Go Go placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tadashi died trying to save a fellow agent, Hiro," she said firmly. "If that's not service, I don't know what is."
Not convinced, the boy stared unmovingly as a woman peeled away a small, square piece of protective paper, revealing Tadashi's entry on the Wall. Below the SHIELD eagle, his name was written in black. Fred read it out in a breath.
"Tadashi Hamada."
And then it seemed like Hiro lost the strength to keep on the mask of solemn calm the other agents wore. "That's it. His entire life, reduced to a name on a wall."
Honey gave a small, pained gasp as she met Hiro's angry eyes. "Hiro, you know that it's a great honour to have a name on the Wall of Valour. Tadashi died in the line of duty. He died a noble death." Even as the words left her lips she felt their inadequacy; they seemed to waver and then fall meaningless to the floor.
Hiro pushed her away, hunching into himself. "Yeah, like that's supposed to make it better. He wasn't just Agent Hamada, Honey. He wasn't just another eagle on that wall." He took a quick, ragged breath, choking back tears. "He was my brother, and now he's dead!"
Agent Coulson couldn't help catching the last of Hiro's outburst as the boy's voice rose to an agonized half-shout. He kept his face blank, though his heart swelled in sympathy.
Was it better to have a brother dead, or a brother that was alive from some strange alien blood but unable to tell you so?
He wasn't sure he knew.
~~~
Meanwhile, the test subject grew impatient, as anyone would, cooped up in his room like an animal in a cage. As his pain lessened, he started doing push-ups to pass the time, and when those failed him he resorted to pacing the room. Ten large steps forward, a quick turn on the heel, and another ten steps--Tadashi repeated this daily, often for up to an hour. Coulson, watching silently through security footage, was uncomfortably reminded of the one time he went to the zoo and saw an imprisoned tiger: the great beast, too, pacing with its head down, its tail limp, its vivid fur slowly paling.
After that Coulson managed to get him two hours of exercise outdoors every day. At least he seemed to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.
But the other problem, the one that Krei predicted, was a bit harder to solve. Each day Tadashi asked to see his family, and each day the answer was no, and each day the answerer had to face those disappointed though undefeated eyes.
Eventually an annoyed Krei put his foot down and commanded Tadashi to stop asking. Momentarily cowed by the threat of punishment, and feeling some sort of inconvenient duty to the organization, he stopped. He still wrote letters every day, however, blissfully unaware that the heartfelt scribblings mouldered in a dusty corner of the mail room, under SHIELD orders.
But the other problem, the one that Krei predicted, was a bit harder to solve. Each day Tadashi asked to see his family, and each day the answer was no, and each day the answerer had to face those disappointed though undefeated eyes.
Eventually an annoyed Krei put his foot down and commanded Tadashi to stop asking. Momentarily cowed by the threat of punishment, and feeling some sort of inconvenient duty to the organization, he stopped. He still wrote letters every day, however, blissfully unaware that the heartfelt scribblings mouldered in a dusty corner of the mail room, under SHIELD orders.
Authorly Notes:
2. SO PUMPED FOR THIS AU.
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