Taking Words Back

Warehouse, Louisiana

May, alongside a dozen SHIELD operatives and four TSAB mages, were watching any potential exit routes to ensure that none of the criminal inside managed to escape. They were caught by surprise when suddenly there were shouts mixed with gunshots coming from the inside.

"What was that?" Asked a SHIELD operative in confusion.

As if to answer his question, a blue energy bolt hit him at the back. Upon seeing that, the other operatives and the mages immediately hid behind the nearby cars. When they returned fire, they saw that the attackers have thrown a few smoke grenades and were throwing more. As such, May and others were shooting blindly.

"It's a trap!" Shouted a mage.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, Ackbar!" Replied an operative with a hint of sarcasm.

"My name is not…"

"That's a reference and we'll end it at that!"

As the operatives and the mages returned fire, May realized that the attackers' shots were slowly but steadily ripping through the cars. Which meant that sooner or later they were going to need to find new cover.

SHIELD Field Base, Louisiana

"What do you mean we can't send any help?" Asked Hayate to Granger.

"Because we won't be able to protect the support personnel and we don't know whether there's another ambush nearby."

After getting a radio call from Coulson about the ambush, Hayate immediately asked Granger to send reinforcements towards the ambushed personnel. Granger however refused to do so and explained why.

Hayate gritted her teeth upon hearing that. What Granger said was true; if they send the remaining combat operatives to rescue the endangered personnel, the former might walk into an ambush as well and leave the non-combatants without protection.

There was also the fact that she can't use her magic. Sure, it was non-lethal and would only knockout everyone inside, but the debris from the warehouse could still hurt them if she didn't destroy the entire warehouse. And with Chitauri weapons inside, she didn't want to risk causing one of them to explode and killing the people inside.

"What's the ETA of the reinforcements from the nearest SHIELD base?" Asked Hayate.

"At least 20 minutes. And that's if the traffic is on our side." Replied Granger grimly.

Hayate again gritted her teeth. She diverted her sight towards where the warehouse was located.

"My friends, good luck. You're going to need it." Thought Hayate.

Warehouse, Louisiana

"This isn't going as I expected." Thought Nanoha as she and a pair of SHIELD operatives ran away from what Coulson had dubbed as "Centipede Soldiers."

When the Centipede Soldiers emerged from the containers, Coulson ordered everyone to run and seek cover. The Centipede Soldiers however managed to kill two SHIELD operatives. To make matters worse, while many managed to escape from the ambush's kill zone, they were also separated from the others.

After running for a few minutes, Nanoha and the two operatives – Mendez and Taylor – stopped and took some breaths. As they rested for a while, they could hear their comrades and the Centipede Soldiers firing at each other.

"Captain, are you alright?" Asked someone through a telepathy spell to Nanoha.

"I'm fine. What's the situation?"

"Not good. These…Centipede Soldiers have what appears to be some sort of energy shield surrounding them. On… SHIT!"

"What's wrong?"

"Some of them are mages! They're using – AAAH!"

The connection between her and the mage was soon cut off as the latter sounded to have been hit. Before Nanoha can call back the mage, a blue energy bolt from a Chitauri weapon passed through the three of them. The three of them immediately took cover behind a container.

"Shit! They've found us!" Exclaimed Mendez.

"We need to move ASAP!" Stated Taylor before shooting back at the Centipede Soldiers.

Nanoha and Mendez start running while Taylor shot several more times before joining them. However, a container behind them suddenly moved towards the side of another container. When the two met, they sealed the path between Nanoha and Mendez and Taylor, separating them.

"Taylor!" Shouted Nanoha as she and Mendez ran back to where they came from.

Both of them banged on the container but immediately stop since they knew it would do nothing. Nanoha also couldn't make a hole with her magic since she didn't know what was inside this container. For all she knew, it contained several Chitauri explosives that can blow everyone in the warehouse sky high.

"Keep moving! I'll find another way!" Shouted Taylor from the other side before sounds of footstep and more gunfire happened.

"Looks like it's just you and me, kid." Stated Mendez before he and Nanoha continued their run.

After taking several turns, both of them could see a wall of the warehouse. Which meant they have exited the maze of containers. Nanoha and Mendez started to slow down and relaxed a bit.

However, their little rest was interrupted when a container right behind them was opened from the inside. One of the Centipede Soldiers that emerged grabbed the container's door, ripped it off its hinges, and threw it at Nanoha and Mendez. They managed to dodge it, though the Centipede Soldiers used that distraction to close the distance.

Before Nanoha could use any of her spells, one of the Centipede Soldiers got close enough to try and hit her with his fists. Nanoha dodged the punches and when one of them was about to hit her, she raised a Protection spell. Just as she expected, there was a lot of force in that single punch; it almost forced her to take a step back. Nanoha immediately flew backward and aimed Raising Heart at the Centipede Soldier.

"Axel Shooter!" Exclaimed Nanoha as she used her shooting spell.

Several balls of mana formed and went straight towards the Centipede Soldier, knocking him onto his back. When the Axel Shooter bolts hit the Centipede Soldier, Nanoha realized that there was some sort of energy shield surrounding him; some kind of pseudo-Barrier Jacket perhaps. She decided not to think too much about it now and try to survive first. Before he could get up, Nanoha hit him with more Axel Shooter bolts, sending him flying across the room.

Nanoha diverted her attention to Mendez. When she saw him, the other Centipede Soldier managed to disarm him and cornered him against a container. Before she could use a spell, the Centipede Soldier threw his fist towards Mendez's face. The latter tried to protect his face, but it was too late; the former's fist hit Mendez's face...and went further.

"MENDEZ!" Exclaimed Nanoha.

When the Centipede Soldier withdrew his hand, Nanoha knew that it was too late. The former's hand was covered in blood and perhaps some flesh. As she tried to fight the discomfort in her stomach, the previously downed Centipede Soldier stood up, drew out a Chitauri Staff from his back, and fired at her. Nanoha managed to raise a shield spell in time. Then the other Centipede Soldier also drew out his own Chitauri Staff and added to the barrage. She could still defend herself with the shield spell. However, one of them tried to out-flank her. The sounds of footsteps coming towards her location also didn't help the situation. It could be more Centipede Soldiers.

Nanoha decided to take a risk. She prepared a shooting spell and aimed it near the Centipede Soldiers firing at her. It didn't need to hit them; only exploding near them was enough. Nanoha fired a mana beam. When it hit, it created enough force to make the Centipede Soldiers lose their balance and made them stop shooting.

"A chance!"

Nanoha immediately flew away from the Centipede Soldiers.

It was unfortunate that the environment restricted her full capability in flying. The containers were in the way and the support beams at the ceiling limited her flying height. Even simply flying over the containers would risk her being seen and shot at by other Centipede Soldiers potentially hiding within and between the containers. Despite those, there was still enough room for her to float a few feet from the ground and fly like usual. All she needed to do for now was…

Nanoha's thoughts were interrupted when two containers suddenly opened in front of her. This made the doors of both containers block her way.

Realizing that she couldn't stop in time, Nanoha enhanced her Barrier Jacket before crashing into the doors, ripping said doors from their hinges. Thanks to the enhanced Barrier Jacket, she immediately recovered from the crash and looked at her assailants.

Two Centipede Soldiers stood in front of her wielding staffs. Nanoha quickly let loose several Axel Shooter bolts at them. But to her surprise, both Centipede Soldiers raised Mid-Childan style shield spells. Both Centipede Soldiers then aimed what Nanoha now realized are staff-like Devices and fired multiple shooting spell shots at her. Nanoha quickly raised her own shield spell before shooting back.

Nanoha formed more Axel Shooter balls before sending them towards the Centipede Soldiers. Much to her surprise, the Centipede Soldiers created some mana balls of their own to destroy some of hers and raised shield spells to defend against the rest. They also avoided some by using their own flight spells to float and gain greater mobility. Nanoha however saw a chance and flew behind another container to gain cover.

"Those moves…those are not something people can do just after discovering magic." Thought Nanoha as she took some breaths.

She knew that because those moves are some of the basic moves taught by the TSAB's Air Armaments Service for flight-capable mages. She taught them herself as a member of the TSAB's Aerial Tactical Instructor Corps! The only way for them to be able to execute those moves as smoothly as they did was by having actual experience. But that's impossible because…

Her thoughts were interrupted when the Centipede Soldiers suddenly came under fire from Ward and several SHIELD operatives. All of them have ditched their firearms for recovered Chitauri weapons. The energy bolts were unable to damage the Centipede Soldiers thanks to the pseudo-Barrier Jackets that they wore. They then raised shield spells to defend themselves from the attack before deciding to retreat and flew away from them.

"Takamachi, come on!" Shouted Ward.

After that, Nanoha immediately went to Ward. They then went back to where they came from.

Outside the warehouse, things were not going well for May and the others. They were starting to take casualties; only May and half of the SHIELD operatives and TSAB mages were still capable of fighting back. The rest were either too wounded or killed.

With the smoke finally gone, May and others could finally give a decent fight. However, with the cars used for cover almost being destroyed, they retreated to the entrance of the warehouse. While this gave them protection, it also meant that they needed to watch their backs against assailants from the inside.

However, May started to realize something; slowly but steadily, the blue energy bolts were lessening in frequency. As time passed, the bolts were decreasing. May had seen this behavior before, and she knew what their attackers were intending to do; retreating.

She couldn't understand why they would do that, considering they have them cornered. But May is not the type to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Nanoha, Ward, Coulson, and the other survivors were barricading themselves at one of the corners of the warehouse. The containers were fortunately positioned in such a way that they provided quite a lot of cover. However, there were still openings. To handle that problem, the TSAB mages created shields and covered the SHIELD operatives that were firing back.

Well, the ones that weren't too wounded at least.

"Now!"

Upon the signal, Nanoha and the other mages moved from their cover and created overlapping shields to protect the operatives behind them. The shields protected them from the Centipede Soldiers' combined attacks of Chitauri energy weapons and Mid-Childa style shooting spells. However, one of the mana beams managed to pass through a hole in the defense and hit a SHIELD operative.

Nanoha formed Axel Shooter bolts and sent them towards the Centipede Soldiers. This forced their attackers' own mages to form their own shield spells to block her Axel Shooter bolts, giving her and the others a chance to strengthen their overlapping shield spell wall to form better cover without risking being hit. She could see that some of her attacks hit some of the Centipede Soldiers but their own Barrier Jackets protected them from the worst of her shooting spell bolts.

When they took cover, they suddenly saw something land near them. It took them less than a second to figure out what was that.

"GRENADE!"

Before anyone could react, the grenade exploded. The good news was that it wasn't a HE fragmentation grenade. It was a flashbang grenade. The bad news was that it disoriented some SHIELD operatives to the point that they stumbled out of their cover, resulting in them getting hit by either blue Chitauri energy weapon bolts or mana shooting spells.

More flashbangs were thrown, causing almost all the TSAB mages and SHIELD operatives to get disoriented. However, rather than pushing forward, the attacks suddenly stopped. When the SHIELD operatives and TSAB mages regained their equilibrium, the Centipede Soldiers had retreated.

"It's over…?" Said Nanoha with some uncertainty.

"I guess so." Replied Coulson as he looked around. "Question is, why did they leave?"

An hour later…

Half an hour ago, the SHIELD reinforcements finally arrived. Along with them were medical personnel and forensic teams.

Coulson gave his thanks to the medic who patched the wound on his forehead. Seeing that he was now stable, the medic went towards another wounded.

Coulson sighed as he looked at the casualty reports. Not counting his team and Nanoha, only six people – two SHIELD operatives and four TSAB mages – that managed to survived with small wounds. The rest were either heavily wounded or killed.

Among the dead, none of them were from the Bureau. Coulson knew that this kind of thing could breed resentment among SHIELD field operatives next time SHIELD and the TSAB work together. They would demand the mages to do the more dangerous stuff and the Bureau obviously would have problems with that.

Nanoha walked through the busy people, trying to find Hayate. She finally found Hayate, standing alone looking at the warehouse that was now being inspected.

"Hayate?" Nanoha called to her. But for some reason she didn't notice. "Hayate…?" Again, Hayate didn't notice that her best friend called her. Finally, Nanoha shouted to gain her attention. "HAYATE!"

Hayate finally noticed and looked towards Nanoha. The latter noticed that the former's face was regaining her color and there were cold sweats. While Nanoha was confused, she decided to save it for other time.

"Y…Yes? Is…there something, Nanoha?" Said Hayate. Nanoha noticed that she was speaking slower than normal.

"Well…" Nanoha wanted to ask something, but seeing Hayate's condition and giving a thought about it made her forget what she wanted to ask. "Umm…is everything going to be fine after this?"

"Well…I guess…so." Hayate let out a sigh and rubbed her own head. "However, I can predict there's going to be a meeting with Fury. Considering what happened, the Bureau is going to have a lot to explain."

Nanoha sighed and agreed with what Hayate said. They managed to identify the captured buyers of the Chitauri weapons as coming from Bureau Space. She finally recognized the staff-like Devices used by the mage Centipede Soldiers as older, retired versions of TSAB standard-issue Storage Devices used by TSAB aerial mages. It was not uncommon for such Storage Devices to be found in the black market circles within Bureau Space.

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted when someone exited the warehouse and shouted something.

"VIRUS! CHITAURI VIRUS! EVERYONE GET HERE ASAP!"

Upon hearing that, Hayate immediately looked at Nanoha. If that person said Chitauri Virus, coming from the warehouse, and Nanoha was in the warehouse for quite a long of time…

Nanoha seemed to share the same thought with her as she immediately flew towards the shouter.

When she arrived, Nanoha could see the SHIELD medics administering something to the survivors of the ambush. She guessed that those were vaccines. One of the medics saw her and picked up a strange looking device.

"Excuse me, miss. You were part of the strike team?" Asked the medic.

"Yes, I was." Replied Nanoha.

"Alright. Your arm please." Nanoha showed the medic her left arm. She already dispelled the mana Barrier Jacket on her arm. "Hold still."

When the medic administered the vaccine on her, Nanoha suddenly feel a headache. Then, without warning, she could feel an energy coming from her, causing her to lose her footing. Luckily, the medic caught her and guided her to a nearby seat.

"Easy there. That's the side effect of the anti-serum. You'll be fine." Assured the medic.

As Nanoha rubbed her head, she could feel a similar energy coming from somewhere. Then another.

"Well, good thing we have the anti-serum on hand." Said someone next to her. When she looked at him, she found out that it was Ward. "First time we found out about it, I had to jump from the Bus in mid-air."

"Why…did you jump from the Bus?" Asked Nanoha.

"You better ask Simmons about that. She has more right for that explanation." Replied Ward as he gestured at the approaching Simmons.

"Hey, you guys alright? No sign of headache? How about…"

"Yeah, everything's alright, Simmons. No need to panic." Replied Ward.

"Of course, right. Sorry. I think…I still haven't got over this."

"It takes time. Speaking of which, Takamachi is wondering about how you and Fitz discovered the anti-serum."

"Umm, yes. If you don't mind." Said Nanoha.

"Well, it's still rather…traumatizing. But I can tell you the summary; I got infected by the Chitauri Virus. Had it reached its final stage, it would have caused the Bus to fall out of the sky. So, I decided to jump from the plane to save everyone. Ward jumped after me to administer the anti-serum in mid-air, curing me, and deployed the parachute just before we hit the water. Then Coulson had to deal with the Moroccan government to save us. Not a pleasant thing and we got reprimanded."

Simmons took a breath after the long summary. Nanoha seemed to be in deep thought after listening. Ward patted Nanoha in the shoulder, causing the latter to look at the former.

"By the way, Taylor wants to tell you that she's fine. She's currently on her way to the hospital, but she will make it." Said Ward.

"Oh, that's…good to hear." Replied Nanoha with a small smile, which then fell from her face.

"It's about Mendez, right?" Said Ward which caused Nanoha to look at him. "Taylor told me. He knew what he signed up for."

"I know. It's just that…he had a family waiting for him." Said Nanoha with a low voice.

"We all have one. But thanks to him – and others – other families won't lose another member of theirs."

Nanoha seemed to be lost in her thoughts. Ward gave Simmons a sign, which she understood. Both of them left her, wanting to give her some space.

Unknown Location

Inside a large examination room, several Centipede Soldiers are resting on examination chairs. Some of them were drinking either mineral water or energy drinks while others were eating energy bars. Beside them were several doctors that were inspecting their vitals.

At the other side of the room, through an observation window, a girl in a flower dress was inspecting the Centipede Soldiers with fascination. A scientist appeared beside her and observed the Centipede Soldiers as well.

"Like what you see?" Asked the scientist.

"Who wouldn't? Our project, shortened in matter of months, with some upgrades and new equipment as well." Replied the girl with a smile.

"Well, I guess you have a point." The scientist took a closer look at the Centipede Soldiers. "Still, it's fascinating on how people from a – no offense – more primitive world managed to solve some of the problems that the brightest minds within Bureau Space aren't capable of."

"Sometimes, what innovation needs is not infinite resource. But rather being restricted by it." Stated the girl. "On the other hand, it's thanks to you that we now have an easier time in taking care of the Centipede Soldiers' maintenance and health issues."

"Indeed. Who would have thought that common things from Bureau Space – medical knowledge and technology used to treat mages suffering from mana energy over-extension and excessive mana energy feedback, and TSAB-issue energy ration bars and drinks for mages – could have a drastic effect?"

The scientist looked away from the Centipede Soldiers and was now looking at the medical reports on the nearby table. He looked at them while the girl approached him from behind.

"So, about…"

"Stop!"

The scientist's response caught her by surprise.

"I know about your skill in manipulating people with mere words. I am not letting you do that to me."

The girl calmed down after hearing that and smiled, being quite amused at the preventive step taken by the scientist.

"If you're asking about the deal, don't worry. We have the replacement materials that you need. All of them in exchange of this Centipede Serum." Stated the scientist.

"Glad to hear that." Replied the girl with a smile.

Unknown Location

Inside a splendorous mansion, a woman was looking at the recording that fellow members of her organization acquired. In the video, the Bureau field personnel and Earthling personnel were being ambushed by what appeared to be Earth's version of Combat Cyborgs.

She took a puff from the cigarette in her hand before gritting her teeth. Looks like their own personal investigations have revealed that they were dealing with something bigger than other criminals from Bureau Space butting into their business.

Well, it was a good thing that they managed to establish other sources of income for their organization rather than being dependent on smuggling alien weapons, tech and materials from Earth to the Administrated Worlds. Still, that business was one of their biggest sources of income. So, if possible, they wanted to prolong it as long as possible.

The woman walked towards a small table. On the table, there was a plate full of macaroons. She ate one and enjoyed the taste of the pastry in her mouth. She remembered how a gold ring was expensive enough that she needed to save a large sum of her wages for a year just to buy one. Now, she could enjoy expensive pastries as an everyday snack and also possessed several gold rings. Some even with diamonds and gemstones.

When she heard her cellphone was ringing, she picked it up and looked at the screen. There was a message. She read the message and the only thing written appeared to be random symbols. The woman however had little problems in solving it. After all they weren't random symbols, but merely written in language and alphabets unknown in Bureau Space.

After replying the message, she went to her room to prepare for the meeting. Hopefully, the meeting would help them find a resolution to this problem.

Answer to a review:

Asahina Tora: Yeah, I can see your points.

About SHIELD – TSAB relationship, SHIELD doesn't trust the TSAB. How could they trust the TSAB? The Bureau has the technology needed to solve some of Earth's problems, like clean energy. And yet they don't share it. There's also the fact that Fury only gives conditional trust.

Also, Earth can dictate the terms because those terms have no negative impact on the TSAB. Earth also has the support of Asgard. The Asgardians, who still remember the Asgardian-Belkan War, don't want the Bureau – the successor of the Belkan Empire – to have any meaningful influence on Midgard.

And why with SHIELD? To prevent chaos. The situation on Earth is still hot with the Chitauri Invasion being recent. Xenophobia is a growing thought.

Don't worry, the TSAB will have its time to shine. But not now. First, it's necessary to wake them up from their complacency and make them ready to face the problems that the MCU has to offer.

And it's finally done.

If you have question or suggestion, feel free to tell me.

Review please!