Exchange Progamme - Chapter Fifteen (Complete)

Author: Milady Dragon

Author's Note: So, this is the end of this story. Next up will be "Aftermath", which starts after the end of "The Avengers" I won't be posting for about a month; I'm going to be out of town, so be on the lookout for that story.

Also, I signed up for Marvel Bang this year, and the story I wrote is based in my Wizard and Deathless Verse. However, I won't be posting it here as yet because it's over 100,000 words long and I won't have time on posting day, which is this Thursday. It will be going up over on AO3, though, if you're interested in reading it early. I'm MiladyDragon over there, and it's called "The Wizard and the Void"

See you all when I get back!

6 May 2011

Puente Antiguo, New Mexico

It was raining.

Jemma thought that strange, as they were in the desert and all.

The base was on alert. Something odd was going on with the 0-8-4 they were studying; it looked very much like a hammer, which no one had seemed to be able to lift. It had unknown runes carved on it that looked vaguely like Viking symbols she'd seen in books, but when she'd forwarded on a sample to Torchwood, Penelope hadn't found anything in the Archives that matched them, although Ianto was also looking through the paper records that hadn't been digitised as yet, which had been on his to-do list ever since their time at Torchwood House; there was just over a century's worth of written records and, while Ianto had an excellent work ethic, there was only so far someone could get in the time he'd been working on the project. Toshiko was checking with her translation software, but she hadn't discovered anything yet, either.

They'd seen a few strange items, but nothing like that hammer. It defied being scanned, and from what she and Fitz had managed to discover there should be no reason at all for its ability not to be budged. However, they had been able to ascertain that it was the reason for the warped local weather patterns, which was bizarre, and a lot of the energy it exuded was completely unknown.

"What have we got?" Agent Coulson asked, as he entered the temporary shelter. He was dripping wet, and he was holding a radio in one hand; Jemma had put in a report detailing Torchwood's comm system, but there were places out in the field where they simply didn't have coverage yet, and besides whatever the 0-8-4 was, it interfered with the signal. Both Penelope and Toshiko were absolutely fascinated with the effect, and Agent Coulson had promised them copies of all their readings. What readings they were getting, that was.

"There's a massive electromagnetic surge coming from the object, sir," Fitz reported from his station. Jemma, sitting next to him, leaned over to watch the readings come in. Electromagnetism had been one of the very few things they'd been able to detect from the object.

They'd been a part of the 0-8-4 taskforce almost from the moment they'd left Torchwood House, and this wasn't the first time they'd found themselves working with Agent Coulson, who ostensibly led the entire taskforce, not just their part of it. She found that she quite liked the missions that Coulson led; they seemed to have a higher chance of success, and tended toward being more exciting to boot.

However, this was the first mission they'd had where Agent Barton was involved. Jemma was fond of the agent; he was funny, and irreverent, and didn't put up with anyone's crap; besides, she trusted him. She and Fitz could also talk to him about Torchwood, which was impossible with anyone else of their acquaintance. Agent Barton had also said they could talk to Agent Coulson's personal assistant, Agent Noble, because she'd been involved, at least peripherally, with Torchwood, but neither of them had done that as yet. She figured they would, eventually, because it was always good to have allies in one's corner.

It was just a bit sad that they couldn't share what they'd seen there with their other co-workers, outside of the couple of seminars they'd given; and even then, they couldn't admit where they'd gotten their information from. It made citing precedents a little awkward.

To be honest, as much as she was enjoying being out in the field, Jemma was missing their lab time. Perhaps they could get to spend more time in their laboratory at the Triskelion at some point, where they could actually work on the discoveries they'd made so far.

As Coulson walked by, she could hear him calling to Agent Barton over his radio. Knowing the archer the way she did, Jemma figured he'd used that crane that was out on the outskirts of the camp; the one they'd used to get most of the scaffolding in place when they'd constructed the base around the strange hammer. That made the most sense; after all, he did like to be up high, although in a thunderstorm being that far up in the air was inherently dangerous. Jemma made a mental note of what they might have in the temporary base in case of lightning strikes, and possibly hypothermia, since it was also cold in the desert at night. Add to that the rain…there would at least need to be something hot to drink involved, and the coffee was atrocious.

Yes, she still missed Ianto's coffee.

From what she could tell, there was an intruder on the base, most likely after the hammer since it was the only really interesting artefact they had; besides, she doubted in coincidence and who would attack their base if they weren't after it? Jemma trusted the agents on duty to protect the science team studying the 0-8-4, they were trained for that sort of thing and the majority of them were simply intimidating.

She turned back to her own station, booting up the CCTV for the base, searching for the intruder. She found him, currently fighting with several rather burly agents, inexorably heading for that mysterious hammer at the centre of the camp. He was tall, and blond, and quite honestly resembled some sort of male model even in jeans and a t-shirt that was obviously too small. He didn't look a thing like an alien, but she also knew that visitors to Earth came in all shapes and sizes and there was a certain Ianto Jones, who looked human but who she was absolutely positive was alien even though he'd never admitted it to her and she'd never been able to get independent corroboration. She was hoping she'd be able to at least get a blood sample from their intruder…

The violence was over fairly quickly, and Barton hadn't even had to take the shot. The person was in custody after failing to shift the hammer, and Jemma had lots of pretty samples from their visitor.

It wasn't until a year later that she'd understand just what Thor Odinsson would mean to the Earth.

But, for now, she would study, and learn, and be the best agent she could. She had Fitz at her side, and her friends in her ear, and that was plenty for her.

And she had both SHIELD and Torchwood in their corner.

Fin