Chapter 17: Vibes and VeritySummary:Daisy concludes her interactions with two of the most infamous members of the world's dark underworld; The Black Widow and The Winter Soldier. And finally, Kara takes a look at her company's new HQ but with good news come complications as well.
Notes:Obligatory disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, DC, or any characters that come from other works.
I also want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement, and RhinoMouse for the inspiration their world of "Retirement Ended Up Super" provided.
Sorry this is a day late! Work kept me busy yesterday with a 13+ hour shift. I love working in theatre, but boy is it not the best for a regular work schedule.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextMay 17, 2009, MCU
Daisy Johnson, Crash site outside of Odesa Ukraine
Daisy continued on after her target, flying through the woods by rocketing herself around the trees with blasts of vibrations sent through the air behind her. Despite The Winter Soldier (and she refuses to call him Bucky, she didn't expect to even be in the same WORLD as him ever again when she named her cat that) already recovering and moving to a new location to try and turn her ambush around, she was able to easily track him.
And why is that? Well it is quite simple, the answer is his Vibranium arm.
His Vibranium arm that by all Shield reports should be made out of titanium at this point in the timeline! What could have possibly happened that caused Hydra to locate this much Vibranium, and use it to make it into an arm for their best assassin?
Back when her gauntlets were built, Daisy would occasionally dream about getting a pair made out of Vibranium, thinking that would make her unstoppable as she could freely use her powers without worrying about the consequences.
Now she knows better, because Vibranium is apparently the metal of the devil himself.
Okay, that is a bit unfair to Robbie, but in her defense, she is on edge because Vibranium feels like nothing.
No, not nothing. Worse than nothing. Honestly, her powers probably read Vibranium the same way they would read a black hole being in front of her. It's as if space itself collapses in wherever the Vibranium arm is, and it is constantly giving Daisy the same instinctual feeling as standing at the edge of a cliff when you can't see the bottom.
She hates it.
And besides the way it makes the hairs stand up on the back of her neck, the Vibranium also acts as a cover for everything behind it as well. Making a portable blind spot, from which anything could be happening behind the cone of its location relative to where Daisy is, and she will have no idea what.
So it is also her biggest tactical weakness, aside from speedsters like Kara, as well.
All the same, Daisy arrives at the Winter Soldier's spot faster than he probably expected, as she was able to cut corners and make a beeline right towards him. All the same, he is able to react and brings up a gun from behind his Vibranium arm, and aims at her.
Oh good, his super-soldier programming made him quick-witted enough to realize that her powers were blocked by his arm during her opening strike, so he is using it as a shield against her. Fucking GREAT!
But combat is nothing new to her, and neither are bullets, which are blocked by the protective layer she emits around herself. Soon enough almost the full magazine is unloaded at her, all kill shots aimed directly at her heart or her head, and he begins to motion as if he is surprised at his gun being out of ammo and acts like he is throwing away the pistol.
Deciding to play into things, Daisy drops her cover and shoots forward as if to tackle him to the ground, when he acts as she expected him to. Barnes quickly brings the nearly discarded pistol back up, and fires the last bullet that he only pretended to use, trying to catch her off guard with his last shot.
Unfortunately for him, in order to fire at her he had to raise the pistol above his Vibranium arm, so she could still feel the bullet in the chamber.
Also she knows that model of pistol, and can count how many times he fired.
If this was a preplanned ambush of her, she would be honestly insulted at it. But seeing as this is a plan that Barnes came up with in a matter of seconds after being attacked by a complete unknown, she is just more impressed at his ability to adapt while deeply mind controlled.
In response to the end of the pistol now pointed directly between her eyes, Daisy jabs her hand forward, extending two fingers out from her fist to help deliver a concentrated 'bullet' of force right down the barrel just as the trigger is pulled.
With the force of the gunpowder, and the force of her shockwave competing to push the bullet in opposite directions, that left only one possibility.
The gun in Barnes' hand suddenly explodes as the bullet misfires, some shrapnel digging into his hand but the majority of it bursting out the sides missing them both.
Daisy never stopped her forward momentum in the face of the gun raised at her, so she continues on and crashes straight into the shoulder of Barnes' now injured side, avoiding the Vibranium completely, and sends him crashing to the ground with a crack as his shoulder dislocates.
Stabilizing herself with some corrective blasts of vibrations, Daisy stays standing over the now prone form of the Winter Soldier. Drawing her pistol, Daisy goes to end this fight and capture Bucky Barnes by shooting him with an icer round.
And that's when Chekhov's gun fires, just her luck, because with Barnes on the ground and having only the knives in his holsters left Daisy had been subconsciously ignoring the vibranium arm that had been distracting her so much. Which meant that she did not notice the small compartment in the palm opening, nor did she sense the blade being shot out of it and straight at her either, as it seemed to ALSO be made out of Vibranium.
The only thing that ended up saving Daisy's life were the combat instincts drilled into her by May, and the Centipede Serum running through her veins that helped to increase her reaction speed.
All the same, she was only able to get her arm up in time to intercept the blade from striking her straight in the throat, and instead have it bury in the side of her bicep, stabbing through her combat suit.
Growling to herself at the oversight, Daisy raises her offhand to send a blast of vibrations to knock Barnes out cold, not wanting to risk trying to aim with her now injured arm, when it happens.
All the vibrations she threw forward, instead get cut off at the source, for the first time since she unlocked her powers, the millions of bees she has kept contained within her fall silent. Dead. Gone.
Even the control chip had only stopped her from activating or using her powers, whatever the Vibranium blade is doing, it leaves her feeling off. Her body is numb, it is as if she is now missing a limb, or as if she has suddenly lost one of her major senses. Or maybe even all three at the same time.
On top of that, it seems stealing every bit of vibration she has, is FINALLY able to affect the Vibranium, only this causes the blade to vibrate where it is, in her arm.
"Agh!" Unable to come to terms with the change of circumstances so quickly, Daisy falls to her knees and cries out in pain and panic. But she is not a trained agent for nothing, and gatehrs herself quickly enough to register that Barnes is almost back up and about to launch another attack at her.
Their duel is interrupted when bullets begin raining down on Barnes' position, the very first one striking him in the leg, while the others either miss or get blocked by the arm.
"No!" Daisy cries out, seeing the mind control man about to be killed by the Black Widow as she emerges from the tree line towards them. Forcing herself through the pain and discomfort, Daisy raises her injured arm enough to get her Icer in position to make the shot.
With Barnes having the shield himself from the bullets coming for his side from his original advisory, he is unable to block her shot in time, and the bullet in his leg stops him from being able to avoid it.
Despite the whole fight lasting only 30 seconds or so, it is finally over and mission accomplished, giving Daisy the time to rip the blade out of her arm, throwing it to the ground, and letting the vibrations course through her body once again.
Hopefully Kara won't be too mad about the obvious medical problems that come from ripping a knife out of yourself, but it was completely worth it in Daisy's book. Even letting out a sigh of relief, although with her voice changer it almost sounds like an android rebooting or something.
At least that's what Daisy feels like it sounds like, and the look of incredulousness the Black Widow is giving her makes Daisy feel correct in that approximation.
"Thanks for the assist, but I'm not looking to kill someone who was mind controlled to be an assassin. He went through even stricter and less humane conditioning than you did, Black Widow". Daisy begins.
Romanoff stiffens at the mention of both what she went through and at having her Shield codename dropped casually, but luckily she doesn't take it too badly as the gun stays aimed at the ground instead of pointing at Daisy. Although it isn't moved back into the holster either.
"Well you did most likely save my life, but it is a little bit hard to believe that the world's best assassin is just an innocent civilian." Romanoff returns back.
"Eh. Civilian certainly isn't accurate for what he was before he was captured, but he is another victim of the race for the Super Soldier Serum, although I didn't release his story along with the others that I leaked last year."
"You leaked… Are you part of SPEAR then? You match the description of the enhanced known as Quake I was discreetly told to look out for, but your profile was quite lacking and verbal only." While Romanoff doesn't take aim even then, she does go from being relaxed in her stance to being far more ready for this to dissolve into fighting.
Turning to face Romanoff head on, she raises an eyebrow in question even though it can't be seen through her mask. "Yeah dude. I'm the founder and head of it." Not that anyone needs to know it is currently just her, and sometimes Jarvis. "Did Coulson and May really stick to our deal that well that you didn't hear about our adventure in Bahrain?"
At Natasha's slow head shake no, Daisy is going to have to readjust how much respect she thinks she's earned from Coulson, or that Romanoff is not as trusted as she believed at this time.
"Huh. Cool. Was expecting the story to travel a bit more in Shield based off of how much time he has spent since then trying to hunt me down."
"Coulson has been meeting with our boss-" "Fury"- "has been meeting with Director Fury a lot, but I don't even think my partner and handler-" "Barton" "Agent Barton has been filled in on the reason why." While recovering well from Daisy's interjections, the annoyed twitch in the eye of the Black Widow at her knowledge is something to put into her spy resume if she ever needs one.
"Well it was me, I helped them out when their mission went sideways, and between my powers, knowledge, and skills, it has probably made me a priority target for them. Hopefully just for recruitment though. But I ended up making a deal to answer some questions, if Coulson and May limited who they told about me. I just didn't expect them to follow it THIS well. So… want to make a deal of our own? Since Coulson and May have been following the deal, that must mean they don't regret making it, right?"
Romanoff takes a good long while of looking into Daisy's LED eyes, seeming to try and discern anything more to help her make this decision that she can. Finally she responds back. "I'm open to it. But I get to take the Winter Soldier there back with me, since he was my mission after all."
Daisy just lets out a derisive snort at that. "Please, the scientist that you were escorting and have hidden back towards the crash with your Shield phone on him emitting a distress signal is your mission, not him." Thank you Kara for deciding to upgrade her Quake mask to give useful info occasionally, and thank you Jarvis for telling her about the signal after the fight. "Although the lies don't make me as inclined to make a deal anymore."
Romanoff looks completely unbothered about being caught, and just shrugs back. "Technically I'm supposed to take care of anyone who tries to kill who I'm escorting. So it wasn't a complete lie, but we're both spies, and your height and body build make me think we may have started around the same age. We know how to play the game, but what are you suggesting?"
"First is just you take your scientist, I take my captive, with no need for us to fight it out. Second, you skimp over as much of the details of this fight that you saw as you can, and I'll tell you why I'm not looking to work with Shield anytime soon." No need for the details of her struggles against Vibranium to get out, even if Romanoff won't know that's what the metal was made out of, if that gets back to Hydra it could give her issues down the road.
"Sounds to me like you're hiding from Shield, if agents keep making these deals Fury will never truly get the right picture of you. Sounds like this deal benefits you more." Well at least she doesn't try to debate the ownership of captives, speaking of which, Daisy uses her powers to confirm that Barnes isn't going to bleed out anytime soon, nor is his serum letting him wake up from the dendrotoxin early.
"Want me to sweeten it? Fine, I'll tell you what I know about your sister in the Red Room." She was going to say this part anyways, but might as well make it look like a capitulation.
Apparently that was NOT the right thing to say, as Romanoff suddenly takes aim at her, but luckily doesn't go to start a fight by firing. Nearly growling at her, Romanoff bites back at Daisy. "My sister is none of your business, and her past in the Red Room isn't either. Leave. Her. Alone."
Now for the bad news of the conversation. "I agree with you there." That seems to take the sails out of Romanoff's anger, as she settles down and looks back questioningly. "But I wasn't talking about her PAST in the Red Room, I was talking about her being part of the CURRENT Red Room."
Something in the way she says it must make Romanoff feel like she is telling the truth at least a little bit, because Daisy can see the fear and sadness well up in her eyes instead. "No. No, that's impossible. I killed Dreykov and he ran the whole thing. I blew the entire building to pieces."
"While that is mostly true, Dreykov is a paranoid son of a bitch. His office was bomb proofed, and was set to automatically lock up if it detected signals that could be used to set off remote explosives. Like the kind Barton used to help you."
Daisy can see the way her words get to Romanoff, because even before the Budapest bombing Dreykov was known for his paranoia, even to foreign spy agencies like Shield. And after the bombing…
"And the bombing only made his paranoia worse. He has hidden himself so far away and so far off the grid, I have not been able to track him down. His Widows take only the highest paying, but lowest profile kills, as all that money seems to be going towards creating a new super base somewhere, and I haven't been able to find out where that is either." The ability for agencies to build giant bases and structure off the grid is honestly ridiculous these days. You either need the loyalty that Shield inspires, the obedience that Hydra requires, or the ruthlessness to kill thousands of workers once they are done that Dreykov has.
"Impossible. If he was making even that much noise, Fury would have noticed and told me." Romanoff seems to be clinging onto the hope, by trying to find a flaw in her logic to latch on to, except…
"Oh he probably has heard, and probably hasn't been able to find the 'where' of it either. But why would he tell you? Afterall, he probably feels that if he can't find the answers then neither could you. So telling you just means losing a great new agent for nothing."
And Romanoff can obviously see the logic in her response. The logic in Fury's actions. Afterall, that's what the head of agencies like that do. Blood math. And in this instance, the math doesn't work in Romanoff's favor.
"But worst of all, the information that your first mission in Ohio helped to steal was for TRUE mind control. Not conditioning like what you and the one-armed-man here went through. But pure obedience at a chemical level, and the bombing made Dreykov so paranoid that it was the push he needed to get that research finished. Now every soldier and every Widow in his service can never disobey an order again."
Dreykov truly is one of the worst people in the world, but even her Shield files from the future aren't able to help her much. He spent much of this time in the dark, so his activities aren't well known, and whatever Romanoff did to take him down is also mostly a mystery.
Just one day while the Black Widow was on the run, suddenly a giant secret airship fell from the sky, with her claiming to Ross that she ended the mind-control Widow program with the help of her sister… Before escaping Ross's detainment of her during the transport to the Raft.
She just ended a worldwide assassination agency that he didn't even know about, and yet Ross still underestimated her just because she didn't have superpowers. Idiot.
In the end, Daisy needs to do the same blood math as Fury, and taking down Hydra is much more important in the short term than taking down the Red Room. So she can't devote the time to find the answers. But unlike Fury, Daisy feels like Romanoff should get to make the choice about what she does, so she gives her what she knows.
"And my sister is caught up in it? What about my parents from Ohio too?"
Well shit. Daisy thought she was just close with her 'fake' sister from that mission. She didn't realize that there was any love with parents as well. And most of all… "Honestly, I don't know. The Red Room's files are as easy to hack as Shield's mostly due the Red Room being offline. But having access to Shield files did let me know that the mind control research that was stolen in Ohio, that came from a Shield Research facility." Sort of true. Obviously that's not what Shield files claim the facility was being used for, mostly because Hydra lied to Shield about that.
At that, Daisy gets a scoff back from Romanoff. "What? Is this the part where you tell me that Fury isn't just hiding things from me, but is actually evil as well?"
"Honestly? No. I don't agree with Fury o a lot of his policies and methods, nor would I personally trust him with my life, but I think he is truly trying to do good." At Romanoff's raised eyebrow, Daisy decides to answer the unasked question. "But who says that Fury has as much control of Shield as he thinks he does? Afterall, Fury has bosses he has to answer to as well."
With that seed of doubt planted about the World Security Council and more specifically Alexander Pierce, their conversation is just about done. So Daisy goes to bind up Barnes, while keeping the Vibranium arm and knife as far away from her as possible for their coming flight.
"Why tell me all this? It sounds like you're trying to get me to distrust the one organization I thought I could use to clear the red from my ledger. Sure, I'll stick to our deal and my report on you won't be complete, but it must be more than that. I was honestly expecting a sales pitch for Spear, but you seem ready to go."
Taking a few moments to finish collecting Barnes, Daisy finally turns back to the Black Widow, as she prepares for her long flight back home.
"First of all, the Red Room is disgusting and no matter what I will be ready to help you take it down. But if I gave you the sales pitch, I doubt you would say yes right now. That would be stupid and far too trusting, and you are neither. But next time I see you? After you spend a few months or maybe a year or two checking out what I said about the Red Room, and looking at Shield with a more critical eye…?"
Daisy crouches down, gathering the vibrations around her…
"THEN I think I will have a real shot at recruiting you."
And Daisy blasts off.
May 18, 2009, MCU
Kara Danvers, House El Revolutionary Origins HQ Downtown LA
As Kara stepped through the front doors of her company's (HER COMPANY!!) new headquarters, hand in hand with her girlfriend beside her, Kara feels like she can take on the world!
Okay, maybe that was a bit much. Her thoughts started sounding more like what Quake used to say in front of the press in National City.
Kara feels like she can take on the mountain of problems coming her way as a young CEO!
The majority of the construction of her company's Headquarters is finished. The place is by no means operational or ready for employees, it has no equipment or furniture loaded in yet, but it has been built! Between Tony helping to get permits quickly, and using Stark Industries to help speed along the construction, the 20 story building was put up incredibly quickly… At least, by LA/ National City standards that is.
With a lot of the lower floors going to shipping, or manufacturing, and floors in the middle being dedicated to lab work, it helped speed things along as there was a lot more open space than a traditional building would have.
And with herself being available to help consult the architecture for the lab needs, it also helped to speed things along and avoid errors in making the specialized labs required.
Kara, when working with the architecture on the design, decided to pay homage to two places that have helped shape who she is to this day. The exterior of the building is modeled after CatCo Worldwide Media's building. It is obviously scaled down, as Kara did not need nearly as large of a skyscraper even for the most ambitious research buildings.
Meanwhile, the interior is filled with the soft curving walls, circular hallways, large originate glass windows, and large decorative pillars she grew up around on Krypton.
She and Daisy can't go visit the Krypton of this world yet, but that doesn't mean she can't bring a little bit of Krypton here.
It isn't until Kara feels the light rubbing on her back from Daisy's hand that she realizes a couple of tears have escaped from the emotional state she is in.
"I'm sorry. I know I'm being silly and it's just walls and windows of a building, but…" Kara begins to explain, before losing the words.
"Hey, don't do that." Daisy offers words of comfort, along with running her hand along her cheek while using her thumb to wipe away Kara's tears. "All your life you've been hiding away this part of you. Don't apologize to me for embracing it."
Kara takes a moment to close her eyes, and press her hand into Daisy's hand that is still on her cheek, leaning further into the warmth and comforting vibrations coming from her mate, closing her eyes in contentment.
After a few moments in this position, Kara finally feels herself become collected once again, and opens her eyes and pulls back a little to offer words of thanks. Only to feel her eyes immediately be drawn to the bandaging on her mate's arm. The Vibranium knife that was stabbed into her did a lot of damage, both from how deep the knife went, and how much it moved around from taking in Daisy's powers.
The growl that comes from Kara's throat once again at the reminder of the injury is not something she is proud of, but Kara can't find it in herself to apologize for being protective.
Although Daisy DOES respond first by rolling her eyes at the growl. "I'm nearly healed as it is. You don't need to keep getting all defensive over a little stab wound." Before Kara can object to the use of 'little' for this stab wound, Daisy is continuing. "And it would be really helpful if you didn't glare so hard at Bucky Barnes anytime you go see him in the containment space in the basement of our cabin. I think when we saw him just before leaving your eyes actually started glowing red a little bit."
At that, Kara does feel her cheeks heat up a bit in both shame and embarrassment. She knows that the man isn't truly to blame for his actions, and with him still being controlled glaring doesn't even do anything as the man continues to sit in silence in his cell. The only reaction they get is him eating when given food so far.
But she just can't help it! That last person to truly threaten Daisy she got to beat until they stopped moving. She hasn't had to be in a situation like this before!
"Anyways, moving on." Daisy's chuckling helps to temper the embarrassment with a slit bit of good humor at least. "You said you wanted my help when stepping in here for the first time, but that there was also something you needed me to look at?"
With the reminder of the two applications folded up in her pocket, Kara's cheeks lose their pink dusting as she is brought back to what they were really here for.
"Um yeah… I needed your help deciding whether to accept two applicants to work at HERO or not."
"Sure? Not sure how much help I will be in talking nerd experience but I can…"
Daisy trails off as she sees the two names on the papers Kara presents to her, along with the photos going along with them that she obviously recognizes.
Doctor Jemma Simmons
Doctor Leopold Fitz
Notes:Author's Endnote: Did I get halfway through this chapter, and THEN realize that Bucky's original arm was titanium and nor Vibranium, only to then come up with a backstory to justify it that I like even more than my original plan?... What? Totally no. I absolutely have everything planned out and would never do that…
Anyways, Daisy begins to lay the groundwork for interacting with Natasha going forward, although it will be a while for things to bear fruit. And some of this was trying to make things work in-universe. How can Fury be so blind that he didn't know about the Red Room that was apparently running teams all over the world? Well I say he did, but couldn't locate the source and didn't want to lose Natasha by telling her, hence why she knew nothing by the time the Black Widow Movie happened.
Finally FitzSimmons make their first appearance! While I couldn't find an exact timeline for their lives, I did find that they graduated Shield academy in 2004 and then nothing of real note till they join Coulson's team in 2012. Well now they are doing something of note in this time period!
Chapter 18: Ex-Friends and Extra-ReportsSummary:Daisy and Kara talk Fitzsimmons and what it would mean for HERO, while Natasha deals with the situation that encountering Quake has left her in.
Notes:Obligatory disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, DC, or any characters that come from other works.
I also want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement, and RhinoMouse for the inspiration their world of "Retirement Ended Up Super" provided.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextMay 18th, 2009, MCU
Daisy Johnson, 'Sanctuary' San Bernardino Mountains
Having decided to instead have this conversation in a place that she felt more secure, Daisy and Kara left Kara's new building, rode the bus a fair distance away to an area less likely to be under SHIELD surveillance, and flew back together towards their home. The task was made a little difficult from the injury in her arm from Barnes' knife, although with it mostly healed by this point she can mostly ignore the sting. Finally the weight of her thoughts truly hit her.
When… When did I start thinking of our cabin in the woods as 'home'?"
The small little realization causes Daisy to land with a bit more force than intended in their dedicated landing spot, causing some dirt and debris to be kicked up in the air. Luckily Kara hadn't landed yet, so she ended up landing just a little bit away, to steer clear of Daisy's mess.
Daisy just waves off the raised eyebrow from Kara asking what caused the rough landing as they join up to walk into the kitchen door, letting Kara most likely assume it was due to the injury and not from her internal emotional revelations.
Honestly, she blames Fitz and Jemma for this. Dealing with one shock she can do, but two at the same time is a bit harder to work with.
None-the-less, they are soon sitting in their living room, curled up under a blanket both with cups of tea for comfort, despite it being still fairly early in the afternoon. Kara needing it from their excursion downtown, and Daisy needing it for the conversation to come.
"I… I told you about Jemma and Fitz a bit already when we were still in National City, but I also intentionally kept some things vague. Of the original group that I joined Shield with, myself, Fitz and Jemma were kind of our own little group. Fitzsimmons joined Coulson's team because they didn't have the field work experience but wanted it, and obviously I was never an agent. So despite them being over 5 years older than me, it kindof felt like we were all in the deep end for the first time together."
Kara stays attentive, not losing focus but also not interrupting in order to allow Daisy to get all of her thoughts about Fitzsimmons in order.
"The problem was, Jemma had so much fear and need to come up with 'solutions' when faced with the unknown, and the problem was that the biggest unknown we faced early on ended up being inhumans, all while I was trying to hide my powers. As horrible as it sounds upfront, luckily for me at the time Fitz was dealing with his own mental and physical damages brought on by an injury from the field. During that time Fitz helped me hide what was happening from the rest of the team, as he knew they wouldn't react well at all to it. Even after my inhuman status came out and I eventually became closer with Jemma again, it was Fitz who was my best friend for a long time… Until he needed me to be a weapon again and cut me open to remove my power inhibitor despite me begging him not to."
Kara wraps an arm around Daisy in comfort again, obviously recognizing this part of the story from when she told it before, just without mentioning it was Fitz who was the 'best friend' at the time.
"After that, I could never truly let myself relax around Fitz again, and I really noticed how the rest of Shield saw me when no one else on my team backed me up about holding Fitz accountable for his actions, because at some level they all saw me as a weapon for Shield. Even when that version of Fitz died, and I helped rescue a different version of him, I always knew he had it in him to strap me down and cut me open if it was needed. So despite Jemma always putting humans first, even above me, she became my best friend from there, more of a sister to me than my own sister was, even though I knew that it was a one way street."
Wiping a tear that fell from her eyes, Kara leans in and presses a soft kiss to her cheek. "Hey. That says NOTHING about you and everything about them. Don't let them make you feel like you deserve anything less than being treated like the amazing person you are. I'm doing my best to show you that you deserve it." Kara finishes off the statement with a light touch of humor to her voice, knocking their hips together to knock Daisy out of her funk.
"Thanks Sunflower." Daisy responds back with a weak joke of her own, referencing what Daisy had used as Kara's codename to Tony at first. "But all of that was to say that they are two of the most brilliant scientists in the world right now, that don't have any baggage with evil or illegal experiments. They are also completely untrained in field work, so despite them obviously being Shield plants they will probably end up being horrible spies. All the same, don't let them know that you aren't human, as it WILL change how they treat you. And I don't know when or even if I will be able to face them, so you may be on your own with them for a while."
"Okay. I think I will hire them then. Better bad spies that we know, than someone more like you. And maybe I'll even be able to change how they feel about aliens if my secret ever gets out."
Daisy prevents the sigh from escaping her at that proclamation. She loves the optimism that Kara chooses to have all the time, but Daisy can't help but think that it is a lost cause if the years she spent with the two didn't change anything. All the same, Kara continues on.
"I can even have them work on the cloaking technology for the Stark version of the Quinjet that Tony is almost done with! I saw their names on the technical info you had on your computer, so if they invented it once they can do it again I think."
From there, the conversation moves on to the science that Kara is looking forward to working on in her new building with all her new inventions. Daisy is thankful for Kara moving topics so quickly, and she can't help but think that Kara did so because she knew that Daisy needed to not dwell on her demons for too long.
She can't help but fall just a little bit more in love with the wonderful Kryptonian next to her.
As they settle into bed that night, Daisy can't help but feel a bit frustrated with how the day ended. Still no progress on breaking through the Winter Soldier programming. She can't find the lead handler, Vasily Karpov, who would eventually be tortured for the trigger words that she could possibly use to undo the programming, as he is not in hiding where he would be killed but is instead an active member of Hydra and much better hidden currently. Finally, with her injury, her plans involving the Banker and his whole Hydra division have been put on hold for just a couple of days while she waits to heal.
Deciding that she won't end the day on such a bad note, Daisy retrieves the Vibranium dagger that was used to stab her, and places it on the bedside table. The Vibranium arm is in Kara lab, as she studies the metal and tries to unlock its secrets. Kara uses a bunch of words far too large and nerdy for Daisy to make use of to describe its contradictory nature, and instead just calls it 'bullshit magic metal' whenever Kara brings it up.
The frustration that radiates out of Kara at Daisy's ability to just accept that Vibranium doesn't make sense and move on, gives Daisy a little bit of guilty amusement.
Anyways, the dagger has been spared the tender mercies of Kara going full science on it for exercises just like what Daisy is doing now. It takes nearly a full hour, but Daisy eventually gets used to the metal enough to be able to fall asleep.
She won't be caught off guard with such a weakness again. She will make it back home to Kara no matter what.
May 19th, 2009, MCU
Natasha Romanoff, Triskelion Washington DC
It took a couple days to finish the extraction, which included medical care for the injuries the Iranian Nuclear Scientist sustained, but eventually Natasha was on her way back towards the USA. The strangest thing however, was that when in route on her call with Clint to give her debrief, as soon as she mentioned a 'feminine figure in a combat suit and led mask' he instantly told her to instead reroute directly to Shield HQ, the Triskelion in Washington DC, to give the full report in person. Something that DIDN'T happen when she had mentioned the Winter Soldier showing up.
Well Quake certainly is right about Shield's interest in her at least, so her paranoia has at least some bearing.
Even more shocking, when she did arrive instead of going to Clint's office (which most call his 'nest'), he instead directs her to follow him all the way up to Director Fury's office. Technically she has met the man a few times, but only had one actual conversation after she went from being a preliminary agent to a full time field agent. Even then that one conversation was short, with the main topic being his reaffirming of the deal of looking for her sister for the duration of her time as an agent.
But she had to say, the man was charismatic and was able to inspire the early seeds of loyalty in her. She's a spy, she knows when she is being worked, but even knowing doesn't make her immune to the techniques nor does it mean that the Director was in any way lying at the time.
But after her discussion with Quake… she just can't help but understand that even if he did mean his words back then, it doesn't mean he wouldn't act against her interests for the interests of SHIELD.
She would do the exact same thing in the reverse. Or maybe even, she WILL do the exact same thing if Quake's words are proven true.
Soon enough they arrive at the top floor, a floor dedicated to the offices of Shield Director Nick Fury and his direct support staff. After strict security screenings, Clint and Natasha are led into Fury's office, where the man himself is ready at the desk in the room.
Rather than just one or two chairs being opposite the desk like most offices, instead 5 chairs are set up with 3 of them already occupied. Assistant Director Maria Hill is at one end, with two open chairs next to her. On the other end are Agents Phil Coulson and Melinda May.
Clint speeds up his walk slightly, taking the seat next to Hill leaving her the open chair in the middle. All so she gets to be the center of attention for this talk… joy. Taking the chair and not letting her internal struggle leak through Natasha looks to the leader of the organization she has sworn to, meeting the gaze of his one good eye.
Looking her over, seemingly analyzing every detail of her, including the various healing scrapes on her face from the car crash, Director Fury takes a solid 30 seconds before finally addressing her.
"I know that you are not used to giving mission debriefs in this manner, to this many people, or with me present either. But I think we can both appreciate the severity of the ongoing situation you've come across. There is a Shield initiative that I was planning to read you in on soon anyways, but I would like you to give your report before that. So, if you please." Although the tone of that last sentence certainly makes it known that it isn't actually a request.
Finally put to the test on her resolve, Natasha finds herself feeling too weak to not give in to the temptation. The temptation to give in to old habits, the temptation to hedge her bets, the temptation to distrust those she has spent the last year building trust with.
So Natasha gives her report, but she sticks to the deal she made with Quake and limits the details just ever so slightly. Instead of saying she had a good view of Quake's opening attack, she was taking cover from the Winter Soldier and only heard him get thrown away. Instead of arriving near the end of the fight and helping to finish it, Natasha says she arrived after it concluded and explains the discharged bullets by claiming she fired warning shots.
The following conversation is more or less told in truth, but obviously she avoids mentioning the deal she made, or the claims made by Quake that the Red Room is operational.
Throughout the whole debrief, no questions are asked by anyone in the room and no one writes down anything for a Shield report to get filed. Which is… strange, but not her place to question.
At the end, all the agents and directors in the room take a few moments to digest what she has said, before it is AD Maria Hill who asks the first question.
"You mentioned thinking she was like you, do you think she was one of the Widows from the Red Room?" From the corner of her eye, she thinks she sees Fury twitch. Is this confirmation? Is he just mad about what the first question is? Is she just imagining everything because she fears it to all be true?
Damn Quake and her claims.
"No. Widows are trained with seduction as being a key part of who we are, it permeates into the way we fight and walk and talk. I don't think Quake had that training at all, she seems to be a warrior and always seems to be ready to fight even when just standing and talking. Although I would wager she was trained by a woman, and not a man, from the way she held herself."
"Did she seem like someone you could work with in the future?" Coulson asks.
The question startles her a little bit, not sure exactly what prompted that question, but answers none-the-less. "She seems skilled, powerful, and good at the social aspect of spy work as well, not just a meathead. I would be fine working with her, but she did not seem to particularly trust Shield overall."
"Yet, this is the second time she has shown up when we have needed help. My mission in Bahrain was at least large and the mom and daughter may have already been on Quake's radar. But do you have any idea how she would know that the world's best assassin would be set to kill a Shield agent in the middle of nowhere of significance on the other side of the world?" May's question helps to confirm how much needing help from Quake on her mission has truly messed with her. Although the question IS a good one to ask.
"Best guess? The best time to kill trained killers is when they have someone else to focus on. So she was probably there for the Winter Soldier, not to save me, it just gave her the opening of him being distracted that she needed. How she knew he would target me then and there, I have no idea." It's how she would do it too, in Quake's position. Although talking with and saving her probably WAS a mission objective for Quake, not that Natasha will share that.
"Do you think she was telling the truth about the mind control? Seems like she has a type if we are to believe what Quake has said on both missions." Clint asks her. Although how mind control plays into Bahrain goes over her head, she answers all the same.
"…I don't know. I didn't see the man long enough before she attacked to see any signs, and he was out by the time I arrived. It could easily have been an excuse, or the truth." If she is being honest, she DOES believe Quake, but only because of how Quake shouted out at her when she almost shot the Winter Soldier. Since she cut that part of the story out, she can't use it as proof.
"Could you kill her if ordered to?" The question finally comes from Director Fury, and it throws her completely off guard.
"I'm sorry, what?" The question feels so stupid, she can't help but question him back.
"You are one of Shield's best assassins, despite your short time with us. So if you were ordered to, do you think you could kill her or would you fail?" For a second she thought it may have partially been a loyalty question, as if she was found out already, but it seems to be purely a question of her ability.
"She is incredibly powerful, I have no idea what her enhancements do or how they work, she was moving at speeds that make me think she has some kind of superhuman reflex, she is professionally trained, and I know nothing about her that she hasn't decided to show me. I would lose. Badly." That doesn't include the possibility of her being able to easily hack into Shield, which Natasha can't mention. And while something about the Winter Soldier's arm and dagger seem to affect her, nothing else did so she has no idea what made them special.
At that, Director Fury lets out a snort of amusement. "Don't worry, I'm not going to order that. Just wanted to be sure I had your number right. The fact is, right now, if Quake ends up being an enemy I have no idea how we will actually stop her. Aside from the team I'm looking to put together that is." At that, Fury motions to Hill to explain what he means, while Fury goes to his computer and types something else up.
What follows is an introduction to the craziest brainchild that Fury has apparently been working on for years, and has recently been given support from the World Security Council for it. A group of the enhanced, empowered, aliens, supersoldiers, or anyone else with abilities above humans to combat the biggest threats out there.
Currently the only 'members' are Clint, the captain of the team, and herself, the vice-captain. What a way to learn about her possible future assignment. Other possibilities are a former pilot who gained powers but is on another planet, Tony Stark's Iron Man, Bruce Banner's Hulk, Captain America if he still lives, the mother from the Bahrain mission, Supergirl, and Quake. Although not a single person on that list has actually been approached about the initiative or works with Shield in any way currently.
So it is the concept of a plan at this point, and nothing more, but at least she learns what exactly DID happen in Bahrain from Coulson and May, along with getting the news that Director Fury isn't planning on attacking Quake anytime soon.
During the explanation, Fury had finished whatever he was typing, and then just a few minutes later got an annoyed expression on his face from a notification on a different terminal on his desk. Soon the reason for why is explained, as in walks the Secretary of the World Security Council, Alexander Pierce.
While not a name or position that is known to civilians, the fact is the position is a very political one to Shield so most agents have at least heard the name, even if only a few have met him.
And the man walking in does NOT look happy.
"Mr. Secretary, if I had known to expect you I would have prepared better, rather being in the middle of a debrief with Romanoff. I can't help but notice you arrived with just enough time to read the report I sent you, rather than travel here from your office." Fury's annoyance is not even being bothered to be hidden from the man who is his boss.
"I have my own sources of information, Nick, didn't I teach you that? I knew something big happened with Agent Romanoff's mission, and made sure to be nearby when she came in, and I'm glad I did. This is one of the most concerning reports I've read since you became Director." Secretary Pierce responds.
"Concerning how? We have better confirmation that Quake does not intend to fight against Shield, and she continues to take out our enemies while saving our Agents. While we haven't found her to recruit her, things are still positive from the way I see it." Looking around, it seems like Natasha is not the only one who thinks they should have been sent out of the room for this, yet neither have ordered them out, so they remain where they are.
"Or Quake is beating you at your own game. As far as we can tell, she is putting together her own group of 'Avengers' and possibly has control of and immunity to a girl who can mind control everyone Quake tells her to. Or do you have any proof that I am wrong?" Pierce asks with a tone that conveys what everyone knows, what Pierce is saying is not something that can be disproven…
Clenching his jaw hard for a few seconds, Fury eventually grounds out a response. "While I believe otherwise… No, I have no proof that you are wrong." It obviously pains Fury to admit it, as Fury has a reputation for being someone who follows his gut.
"Then the World Security Council already voted to give me discretion over orders regarding Quake, and in light of this report I am issuing a kill or capture order against Quake. No more making nice, either she is taken in or she is taken out."
Fury stares back, glaring with his one eye, while his hand clenches into a fist fighting off the anger at being overridden in such a direct manner in front of his subordinates. But Shield is an Agency of rules, and rules even apply to someone as high as the Director.
"Understood, Mr. Secretary. I will put out the order by the end of the day." Fury says, with true coldness in his voice.
With that, Alexander Pierce turns around, and walks out of the office, not even sparing the rest of them a glance. After a few moments for the change in reality to settle, Fury finally turns to Natasha and goes to dismiss her.
"That is all for now Agent Romanoff. Not how I wanted to end the day, but that just means we need to be sure to capture Quake the next time she shows up, to make sure Shield doesn't become her enemy when someone else tries to kill her."
As Natasha gets up to leave, distracted by what she THINKS she saw, Fury has one last surprise for her. "And by the way, welcome to Level 7." Clint walks up with her new badge, displaying her new clearance level proudly on the ID card. Natasha makes sure to display the appreciation and thanks expected of her, even as she feels her head spin a little bit.
As she walks out of the office, she can't help but think over what she saw in Secretary Pierce. The fear is expected, he is here under the idea that Quake is assembling an anti-avengers team.
But if that's all it is, then why did he look… angry as well? Is Alexander Pierce who Quake is weary of in Shield above Fury? And how the hell is she going to investigate this, her sister, or even the Red Room without committing treason or looking like she is defecting?
Despite gaining more peers and prestige today, Natasha can't help but feel more alone than she has since joining.
What the hell is she going to do?
Notes:Author's Endnote: A day late due to work, but here all the same! Hope you enjoyed this chapter with more feels and discussions, as I feel like I have been a bit more action focused for the last few chapters. I had originally planned to give a peek into the next scene, but decided not to leave things on a cliff hanger like I did last week.
Next week we have another needed discussion from one of our two leads, along with Daisy finally making her biggest move against Hydra now that Bucky has been secured. I said in this fic she was waiting to move against Hydra so she could get Bucky, which would help her get Captain America on her side, and she didn't want to butterfly effect away the one mission that she knew the Winter Soldier would be at. Well now that that is complete… time to go squid hunting!