Adam stood in the hospital beside Captain America.
The doctors had already taken Fury away from them. Steve stood near the glass with his face locked down. Adam stood a little behind him, watching the hall from the corner of his eye.
Natasha had not arrived yet.
That was why Adam spoke first.
"I don't think S.H.I.E.L.D. is what it looks like," Adam said.
Steve turned his head toward him.
"What do you mean?"
Adam kept his voice low. "I think Alexander Pierce is involved in this."
Steve's face changed.
"Pierce?" he asked.
Adam nodded once. "I don't have proof. I just don't trust him."
Before he could ask anything else, Natasha came down the hall.
She looked different from usual. Her steps were still steady, but her face had gone quiet in a way Adam had not seen often. She looked at Steve first before her eyes moved toward the room where Fury had been taken.
Adam knew what came next.
Things were going to turn from here.
He opened the Omnitrix selection as quietly as he could. To everyone else, the watch only gave a green flash. To Adam, the dial opened and Diamondhead's shape appeared.
He pressed it.
Green light covered his body.
His height rose a little. His muscles tightened, and hard diamond lines began to form over his skin. His shoulders became sharper. His arms looked heavier. His body was still mostly human, but the Diamondhead form had covered him like armor.
Steve saw the change at once.
"Adam?"
Before Steve could ask why he had transformed, Natasha spoke.
"Why was Fury in your apartment?"
Steve looked at her.
"I don't know."
Natasha's eyes stayed on him for a moment. Adam could see the sadness on her face, but she was already forcing it down. That was Natasha. Even when something hurt, she moved like the next problem was already in front of her.
Footsteps came from behind them.
Rumlow and several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents entered the hall.
Rumlow looked at Steve first, then at Adam's transformed body. His eyes paused there for half a second, like he had not expected Adam to change forms inside a hospital.
"Cap," Rumlow said. "They want you back at S.H.I.E.L.D."
Steve did not move. "Give me a minute."
Rumlow's tone became firmer. "They want you now."
Steve's jaw tightened.
"I said I'm coming."
For a second, the hallway became tense.
Rumlow did not push again, but he did not leave either. The agents stayed where they were.
Steve turned slightly toward Adam. His hand moved fast and low, hidden from most of the agents by his body and Adam's larger frame.
Adam felt something small press into his palm.
It was the flash drive.
Adam closed his fingers around it without looking down.
He knew what was on it. He knew why Fury had given it to Steve. He also knew that if S.H.I.E.L.D. searched Steve now, they would be looking for exactly this.
Adam slipped the drive into the inside pocket of his coat.
Then he moved toward Natasha.
"Things are going to get messy here," Adam said quietly.
Natasha looked at him.
Her expression sharpened, like the sadness had been pushed behind a wall.
"What makes you say that?"
Adam glanced once toward Rumlow and the agents.
"We need to leave."
Natasha held his eyes for a second.
Then she walked away.
Adam did not follow her right away.
Steve had to go with the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Adam could not stop that without making the whole hallway explode into a fight, and he did not want to start it in a hospital.
So he kept quiet and moved with them.
Not long after that, they reached S.H.I.E.L.D.
Steve was taken toward an office room inside the Triskelion. Adam was not taken inside with him. That was fine with Adam. The real danger would not stay inside one room.
He moved toward the elevators nearby.
He stepped into one elevator and stayed there.
The doors opened on one floor. Adam did not get out.
The elevator climbed to another floor. A moment later, Adam sent it back down before taking it up again.
Adam stayed inside.
He watched the numbers change over the door and kept his hand near the Omnitrix. His diamond body made the small space feel even smaller, but that was the point. If someone wanted to trap Steve, Adam wanted to be close before the trap fully closed.
Inside a control room, two agents noticed him on the camera feed.
"Why is he still in the elevator?" one of them asked.
Another agent leaned closer to the monitor.
Adam rode down three floors, then up two, then stopped again without getting out.
"He is not exiting," the second agent said.
The first agent picked up a radio and spoke in a low voice.
"Subject is still inside the elevator. He is moving between floors."
Another monitor showed Adam's diamond-covered shoulders and sharp arms.
Adam could not hear them, but he could guess the kind of attention he was getting. He did not care. Let them watch. Let them feel nervous. For once, he wanted S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hidden people to know that Steve was not alone.
After a few more minutes, the elevator returned to the office level.
The doors opened.
Steve was standing outside.
He had just come out of the office room. His eyes moved to Adam at once, then to the diamond pattern on his skin.
Steve stepped into the elevator.
"Why are you still transformed?"
Adam was about to answer.
Then more agents stepped in behind Steve.
Rumlow entered last.
Steve stopped himself from asking anything else.
The agents looked at Adam.
Their faces did not hide the tension well. A few of them stared at his hardened skin. One agent's hand moved closer to his weapon, then stopped when Steve looked at him.
Adam stood beside Steve in Diamondhead form and kept his mouth shut while the tension stayed clear on the agents' faces.