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[b]Baxter Building, New York[/b]

[color=#ffffff]Maria Hill stood cross-armed in the centre of the Baxter Building living room. Propped up against the wall with a look of well-practised disdain was Johnny Storm. His sister Sue was perched at the end of a table. Around the edges of the room stalked Benjamin Grimm. He was muttering expletives under his breath as he paced. It didn’t make any sense. The Silver Surfer had arrived on Earth – at the worst possible time for them – and here was Maria Hill asking them not to get involved. So vehement was she that they remain on the sidelines that she had made the flight from Washington DC to New York in the middle of a global crisis. The whole thing stank.[/color]

[color=#f6b26b]“You’ve got to be kidding,”[/color][color=#ffffff] Ben repeated for what was surely the seventh or eighth time.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Maria Hill shook her head curtly at the Thing. [/color][color=#8e7cc3]“I’m afraid not, Mr. Grimm.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The words were as much of a shock to Ben as they had been the first time Hill had delivered them. They were halfway out of the door after receiving Harrison Well’s distress message when the deputy director of SHIELD had arrived at the Baxter Building to be the bearer of bad news.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Ben lifted his rocky hands to his face and buried it in them for a few moments with exasperation. SHIELD existed to keep people safe – to defend them from threats like the Silver Surfer – and here was its deputy director asking them to do the opposite. It was madness.[/color]

[color=#f6b26b]“But that’s the Silver Surfer out there. You know, the frickin’ herald of Galactus? The destroyer of worlds?” [/color][color=#ffffff]Ben shouted and jabbed a finger into the side of his head. [/color][color=#f6b26b]“This ringing any bells in that thick skull of yours?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]If Ben’s insult phased her, Maria Hill did a good job of pretending otherwise. Her cold, emotionless eyes watched him pacing around like a caged animal spoiling for a fight. She wasn’t going to give him one.[/color]

[color=#8e7cc3]“SHIELD are on top of the situation in Central City,”[/color][color=#ffffff] Hill said dispassionately. [/color][color=#8e7cc3]“Both the Flash [i]and[/i] Superman are on the scene. That should be more than enough firepower to put this Surfer down.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]A derisive snort left Ben Grimm’s nose at the confidence in Hill’s voice. [/color][color=#f6b26b]“More than enough? You’re in over your head, girl scout.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The last two words that had slipped out of Ben’s mouth succeeded in irking Hill more than any of his actual insults. She opened her mouth to fire back an insult of her own but Sue Storm preempted the slanging match and did her best to steer the conversation back to its original topic – and to set out their stall to both Hill and SHIELD.[/color]

[color=#9fc5e8]“What Ben is trying to say is that we are the only people on this planet that has any prior experience with Norrin. There’s no way of stopping him through force – brute strength and speed alone [i]definitely[/i] won’t do it. You need to reason with him. On our world we managed to turn the Surfer against Galactus. If you give us a chance we’ll do it again, Maria, but we can’t do that from inside the Baxter Building.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Hill’s crossed arms relaxed, her cold eyes softened, and for half a second it seemed as if the deputy director was about to change her mind. Then she clenched her teeth, tightened her arms once more, and shook her head in disapproval.[/color]

[color=#8e7cc3]“We can’t risk the public finding out about your presence here,”[/color][color=#ffffff] Hill said with what approached a sympathetic look towards Sue. [/color][color=#8e7cc3]“It’ll raise too many questions.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Johnny called out from against the wall. [/color][color=#ea9999]“There won’t be anyone left to ask them if you don’t let us out of here.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The comment was met with an approving grumble from Ben. Hill let out a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose as what remained of her patience gave out. She had tried the softly-softly approach with them and it had proved unsuccessful. The deputy director stared at Johnny, who was still leaning contemptuously, and deployed a voice that she reserved for moments like these – one that Guy Gardner had been on the receiving end of not too long ago.[/color]

[color=#8e7cc3]“There seems to have been some misunderstanding. This is not a debate. Your are guests on our world. SHIELD have been very accommodating of you given the [i]circumstances[/i] but this time you play by our rules. If we tell you that you’re sitting this one out, you’re sitting this one out. That’s it. End of story.”[/color]

[color=#f6b26b]“Guests,”[/color][color=#ffffff] Ben grumbled under his breath. [/color][color=#f6b26b]“Sound more like prisoners to me.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]After a few moments of silence, Maria Hill turned to make her exit. Her hand had reached the handle of the Baxter Building’s entrance when Johnny called out to her again. This time the defiance in his voice, veiled somewhat at first instance, was open and unapologetic.[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“And what if we go anyway?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]It was meant as an act of hostility and Maria Hill received it as one – and reciprocated in kind.[/color]

[color=#8e7cc3]“There were some at SHIELD that were of the opinion we should have thrown the four of you into a deep, dark hole and left you there to rot,”[/color][color=#ffffff] she said as Johnny squirmed under her gaze. [/color][color=#8e7cc3]“I wasn’t one of them.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]She looked to Sue whose blue eyes were determinedly softer than her brother’s and smiled begrudgingly at the Invisible Woman as if to acknowledge the unpleasantness of the words that were about to leave her mouth.[/color]

[color=#8e7cc3]“Let’s just say I would become a lot more receptive to the idea.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The threat hung in the air between the four of them for a few moments before Hill stepped back out onto the street. She shut the door behind her with a slam and left Sue, Johnny and Ben alone to mull over their next steps. What was a lifetime in a deep, dark hole weighed against the fate of the world? To millions of lives? How could they stand aside and let the Surfer prepare Earth for consumption after what they had seen and lived through?[/color]

[color=#ffffff]They would go to Central City whatever the consequences. That much was clear the second Sue, Johnny and Ben’s eyes met once Hill had left them.[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“What the hell are we waiting for?”[/color][color=#ffffff] Johnny said with a devilish grin. [/color][color=#ea9999]“There’s no way we’re letting Clark have all the f-”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]He took one step in the direction of the Baxter Building’s elevators when the sound of shutters sliding downwards sounded. Every surface in the living room was suddenly covered in metal – in a manner not unlike the shutters on the Pegasus – and the three of them found themselves encased.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Suddenly Maria Hill’s voice sounded in the living room.[/color]

[color=#8e7cc3]“You didn’t think I went to all that effort to just let you walk out of there, did you?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Ben Grimm shook his head angrily and made a fist. He cocked his arm back and unfurled his boulder-sized hand towards the metal shutters. It smashed against them with some force. Grimm let out a small gasp as he noticed the shutters were undamaged – and weirder still, his hand was throbbing with pain. He grasped at it with his free hand and went down to one knee.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Hill’s voice sounded once more. [/color][color=#8e7cc3]“There’s no point in trying to get out. It’s vibranium – one of the most durable substances on the planet. You’re strong, Mr. Grimm, but not even you are strong enough to punch your way out this time.”[/color]

[color=#f6b26b]“Son of a bitch,”[/color][color=#ffffff] Ben muttered as he stretched out his aching fingers.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Sue placed a supportive hand on Ben’s shoulders and looked to her brother who was trying in vain to melt his way through the metal. His efforts proved to be every bit as fruitless as Ben’s had been. Hill must have designed the room to specification the second they had arrived in Latveria.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]They were stuck.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Ben’s big blue eyes looked up at Sue with an earnest, if worried, smile. [/color][color=#f6b26b]“Looks like it’s on Stretch to save the day again.”[/color]