Bobbi had been undercover before many times over the course of her time at S.H.I.E.L.D.
There was the time she had been undercover as a college student in Texas, the time when she was part of a team fighting the North Koreans and the time when she was a G.I. Joe.
However, none of them compared to being undercover as Chief of HYDRA Security.
Bobbi had been sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Phil Coulson to infiltrate HYDRA and she soon became the Chief of HYDRA Security in the HYDRA laboratories. It was the perfect position for her, as her job was to detect and expose moles, such as herself and fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Jemma Simmons, who was also undercover in the laboratories. Coulson had asked Bobbi to keep an eye on Simmons, which she was doing by watching her on the security cameras every once in a while.
Bobbi and Bakshi walked into the lab as the alarm went off.
"Everyone listen up." said Bakshi. "I want each of you to step away from your desk and put your hands behind your back."
"Keep everyone off their phones and tablets." Bobbi added. "We have a mole, ladies and gentleman. Right here in our very facility." Bobbi mentally acknowledged the irony of her words as she and Bakshi stopped in the middle of the room. She could see Simmons standing awkwardly by her desk, trying not to look guilty but failing. She pulled out a S.H.I.E.L.D. Flex Screen. "Someone has been sending S.H.I.E.L.D. messages under our noses." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Simmons glance down at her open desk drawer, which contained other Flex Screens. "I specialise in finding them. Bakshi here...well, he makes them suffer. Until that happens? No one leaves."
"HYDRA does not tolerate traitors." Bakshi reminded everyone, as HYDRA security searched everyone's desks. "Anyone in possession of contraband will be punished accordingly."
Bobbi looked down at her tablet, which had a picture of Simmons on it, hidden from Bakshi.
"Dr. Jemma Simmons." she said, walking slowly towards the young agent and stopping in front of her. "This is quite an impressive résumé. S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, top of your class. Two PhDs in very advanced fields. Even says here you spent time in the field as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Is that correct?"
"Only a short time." replied Simmons.
"No." said Bobbi. "You've only been at HYDRA for a short time. But it seems that you've been affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D. in one capacity or another for most of your life."
"To be fair, aren't most HYDRA agents ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives?" asked Simmons. Bobbi had to agree that she had a valid point.
"Who were working within S.H.I.E.L.D. long before it fell." she said, keeping her cover. "But there's no evidence you supported HYDRA while S.H.I.E.L.D. still existed. In fact, it seems that you're an exemplary S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Perhaps even still are." Simmons hesitated for a moment then looked up at Bobbi.
"My loyalties are with HYDRA." Simmons said. Bobbi was impressed at how Simmons had managed to keep her cool under heavy interrogation.
"I'll be the judge of that." Bobbi replied.
She moved over to Simmons' now closed desk drawer and opened it. She lifted the HYDRA file and saw that there were no Flex Screens.
"Ma'am." said the guard searching Kenneth's desk. "There's something you have to see." He handed her a Flex Screen.
"Wait, th-that's not mine, I've never seen that before in my life!" Kenneth exclaimed. Bobbi looked at him. "I don't even know what that is!"
Bobbi looked at the guard and nodded her head at Kenneth; the guard knocked him out and dragged him away. Bobbi walked after them, glancing back at Simmons, whose face was straight. When she was out of sight of any HYDRA agents, Bobbi smiled
You switched drawers without anyone noticing. Good move, Agent Simmons.
Bobbi spent the next few hours interrogating Kenneth. She knew that he wasn't the mole, but he was HYDRA, so she felt a bit better. Her interrogation skills were on par with Natasha's - whereas Natasha did a reverse interrogation to make her interrogator (or suspect) to reveal more than they were willing, Bobbi was able to manipulate the conversation so that Kenneth admitted to things that they both knew weren't true. She nodded to the guards and they dragged him off. She didn't want to know where.
After that, she went to speak to Bakshi about the mole problem. Bakshi was suspicious of Simmons due to her extensive background with S.H.I.E.L.D. Bobbi had to agree with him - to anyone who didn't know about Simmons' undercover mission, it was obvious that the young scientist was keeping something secret.
"Dr. Simmons seemed quite nervous earlier when you interrogated her." said Bakshi.
"I'll go and talk to her again." said Bobbi. "See what I can get out of her."
Bobbi slipped quietly into the bathroom that Simmons had gone into.
"Everything will be just fine." she heard Simmons reassure herself, quietly.
The toilet flushed and Simmons walked out of the cubicle, gasping in shock and surprise when Bobbi stepped in front of her. Bobbi was much taller than Simmons and used this to her advantage.
"You know, you seem nervous." said Bobbi, leaning casually against the wall and folding her arms.
"Well, maybe it may have something to do with you lurking right outside of my stall!" exclaimed Simmons.
"Bakshi informed me that you and Kenneth were lab partners."
"We worked together on a couple of assignments, yes." Simmons was getting more nervous.
"Well, there are some who believe he may not have been acting alone." Bobbi paused and saw that the intimidation was working. "Are you colluding with him?" Simmons laughed nervously.
"No." she said, pushing her hair behind her ear.
"You plant the Flex Screen on Kenneth's desk?"
"No."
"Huh. Not a very good liar, are you? Maybe I should take a look at your hard drive, see what I find."
"Go right ahead. There's nothing but HYDRA files." Simmons tried to move past Bobbi but Bobbi blocked her path.
"Oh, there better be." she said, glaring down at Simmons. "I want you to keep something in mind, Agent Simmons. HYDRA is everywhere." Simmons nodded. "Carry on." Bobbi turned and walked out of the bathroom, leaving a very nervous and intimidated Simmons.
Bobbi headed straight back to Simmons' desk and went through the drawers. Her cover as Head of Security made it easy; no one asked any questions. She eventually found what she was looking for, Simmons' hard drive. She put it in her pocket then walked out.
She received an update from Coulson on her cell phone (which was untraceable, so it was safe from HYDRA). The message worried her.
Simmons' cover has been blown. Sending Trip as extraction team. Get to the roof of the building. He'll be waiting. Get Simmons out of there.
Bobbi put her phone away then went and gestured for two HYDRA agents to follow her, under the pretext of capturing Simmons.
As Bobbi walked down the hallway with two HYDRA security guards, she saw Simmons run round a corner and stop as she saw them.
Keep running, Simmons. Bobbi thought, but Simmons didn't. The young agent just stood there, backing away slowly. Bobbi felt sorry for her. Ok, screw my cover.
Bobbi pulled out her battle staves and hit the agent on her left. Then she spun and hit agent number two. She then hit both of them; out of the corner of her eye, she saw Simmons press herself up against the wall. Bobbi kicked Agent #2 into the wall, then hit Agent #1 in the face and knocked him to the ground. She turned and used her staves to block Agent #2's punches and threw him into the glass of the fire, managing not to set it off, and he fell to the ground. She sensed that Agent #1 had gotten back up and fought him, eventually bending down and tripping him up. Then she stood, spun and landed, left leg bent in front of her and right leg bent out to the side behind her, battle staves out like wings, and looked up at Simmons, who was just looking at her in shock.
"What...is happening?" Simmons asked. Bobbi picked up Agent #2's gun and walked towards Simmons.
"Don't worry." she said. "Coulson has a plan." She quickly pushed Simmons down a corridor away from the unconscious HYDRA agents.
"I don't mean to sound ungrateful because I am, truly grateful, but who are you?" asked Simmons, as they ran down the hallway.
"Bobbi Morse. Coulson sent me to infiltrate HYDRA and to keep an eye on you." said Bobbi.
"Well, you did a spot-on job. Really, quite intimidating!"
"Sorry about that. I had to assess other security issues that were at play."
"Yeah, like every HYDRA agent receiving an email blowing my cover."
"Yeah, that was a curveball." Bobbi admitted
"I'm afraid there's no way I'm walking out that front door." said Simmons.
"Don't worry." said Bobbi. "All we have to do is get to the roof, there's already an extraction team there waiting." She stopped. "Wait here. It's all part of the plan, alright?" Bobbi walked up to the HYDRA guard standing by the door to the stairs that led to the roof. "We've been compromised. You need to abandon your post and follow Protocol 685."
"That's her." he said, seeing Simmons behind Bobbi. She quickly punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground, and turned.
"I told you there was a plan!" she exclaimed.
"I know, sorry, but..." Simmons replied, gesturing behind her. Bobbi pulled her round the corner, whilst looking out and seeing Bakshi and two HYDRA guards walking towards them.
Crap. she thought.
"Ok." said Bobbi, understanding the situation. "Go get to the roof, go."
Simmons ran off as Bobbi walked round the corner, pulling out her battle staves and walking towards the three HYDRA agents.
"Southwest corner!" Bobbi called into her earpiece as she ran onto the roof. "Repeat, southwest corner!" A HYDRA agent started shooting at them. "Get down!" she called to Simmons.
Bobbi pulled out her own gun and fired back whilst Simmons took cover. When the agent was dealt with, Bobbi told Simmons to run. They ran towards the edge of the roof, Bobbi firing at the agent as they went.
"No one there!" Simmons exclaimed.
"Jump!" Bobbi shouted.
Simmons screamed as they jumped off and landed on top of the invisible Quinjet that was waiting. Bobbi pulled Simmons up and they jumped down into the jet as it de-cloaked and flew off.
"Welcome back, Agent Simmons." Trip said from the pilot seat.
"Trip." replied Simmons, smiling. "So good to see you." She turned to Bobbi. "You certainly know how to make a first impression, Agent Morse."
"Please, just Bobbi." Bobbi corrected her.
"Forgive me for asking, but if you were able to infiltrate HYDRA, why even bother having me go in?"
"The cover gave me access to HYDRA's security but not its high-level projects." Bobbi explained.
"Then I'm afraid I came up empty-handed."
"Not entirely." Bobbi pulled Simmons' hard drive out of her pocket.
"My hard drive."
"I took it after our conversation in the bathroom. Seemed like it might provide useful intel."
"I like you." said Simmons, smiling shyly. Bobbi smiled back.
"Cargo's on board, clear HYDRA airspace." said Trip, as Bobbi climbed into the co-pilot seat.
"Copy that, S.H.I.E.L.D. 218. See you back at base."
The Quinjet flew back to the Playground and landed in the hangar. Bobbi, Simmons and Trip walked into base and were greeted by Coulson and May.
"Welcome home, Agent Simmons!" Coulson said, as he and May walked towards them.
"Director Coulson." she replied, smiling.
"I'm glad to have you back."
"I'm just glad to be alive. If it hadn't been for Agent Morse, I..."
"Bobbi." Bobbi reminded her.
"...Bobbi, right." said Simmons. "If it hadn't been for Bobbi, I would never have made it out. Probably be brainwashed, happy to comply to who knows what." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "She's amazing." Bobbi lowered her head in modesty, smiling.
"That's why I've asked her to join the team." said Coulson.
Simmons smiled and looked up at Bobbi, then her gaze went to the lab where saw Fitz sitting by himself. Her smile faded.
"Go ahead." said Coulson. "Agents Triplett, Morse."
The four of them walked off as Simmons went to see Fitz.
Bobbi went to Coulson's office for debriefing whilst May and Trip went off to the common area.
"Thanks for the debrief and the intel." said Coulson, holding up the flash drive.
"No problem." said Bobbi. "I'm impressed with Simmons. No field training, yet she managed to keep her cool under my...rather intimidating...interrogations. Although the intimidation worked, she was able to hold up under it."
"I'm glad to hear it." said Coulson. "How's your family?" He, May and Hunter were the only members of the team who knew about Bobbi's family, and they had agreed to keep it that way.
"They're good." said Bobbi. "They're coping with the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. Clint, Nat, Lettie, Abby and Peter were at the Triskelion when it happened."
"They were?" Bobbi nodded. "That must have been tough."
"It was. Oh, and Abby's now got telekinesis."
"How did that happen?"
"The stress of being on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the reveal of HYDRA. It's been interesting being in the Tower with her. Tony had to make the building telekinesis-proof."
"I'm not even going to ask." said Coulson.
"Yeah, we didn't either."
"So what else have you been up to?"
"You know Clint's undercover mission with the IMF?" asked Bobbi. Coulson nodded. "Well, we were recently in Europe fighting HYDRA and we came across Agent Hunt and his team."
"Did Clint manage to keep his cover?"
"Yeah, although Hunt eventually found out who he was. He was ok with it. Kind of freaked out about Tasha, though."
"Of course he was." said Coulson. "She's the Black Widow. She's got a reputation. Speaking of which, all of the information on her past has been released. How does she feel about that?"
"Well..." Bobbi hesitated, wondering if she should tell Coulson that Natasha was the one who released everything.
"Bobbi? What happened?"
"Tasha was the one who released all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files." she told him. There was a brief moment of silence. "From what she told me, it was the only way they could expose HYDRA. Besides, Steve agreed to it." Coulson sighed.
"Did you use the Steve excuse so that I wouldn't be as mad as I would normally be?"
"Yeah, and it's not an excuse, it's the truth."
"Well, I'm glad they're alright." said Coulson. "Let's go and see the others."
"Sure."
Coulson and Bobbi walked into the common area.
"Hey." She looked up and saw Mack coming towards her, smiling. "Long time, no see, Barbara." She laughed.
"We need to talk about that again." she said, hugging him. Her friends all knew that she hated being called by her full name, but they would often call her that just to annoy her.
"What you been up to?" he asked, as they pulled out of the hug.
"Oh, you know. Working undercover at HYDRA, acting all uptight and evil." She smiled at him. "You know what I could really go for right now?"
"Three olive martini?" he asked.
"Three olive." they agreed in unison.
"Bobbi?" came another familiar voice
Still laughing, Bobbi and Mack turned and saw Hunter standing in the doorway, looking shocked. Bobbi's laughed died down.
"Hey, Hunter." she said, turning to face her ex-husband. This should be interesting. "Nice suit."
"Nice suit? Really? That's what you're leading with?" asked Hunter. "What did you do to your hair?"
"Ever heard of undercover?"
"I prefer you blonde."
Coulson looked between the two of them, smiling. He was obviously enjoying this.
"Well, I didn't do it for you." said Bobbi. "Two seconds in, there's already tone."
"This isn't my tone! This is my voice when I'm upset with an unreasonable person!"
"What's the deal there?" Trip asked May.
"Hunter ever tell you stories about his she-devil ex-wife?" asked May.
"All the time." Trip replied. May nodded towards the bickering couple. "Damn."
"Anyone mind telling me what the bloody hell she's doing here?" asked Hunter, looking at Coulson. Bobbi crossed her arms.
"Bobbi's one of our best agents." said Coulson, walking forward and standing beside Bobbi.
"Oh, that's rich!" exclaimed Hunter. "And mind telling me what I'm doing here?"
"Seething." said Bobbi. "I vouched for you."
"Why the hell would you do that?"
"Play nice." said Coulson, going up to him before walking off.
He was like a father telling off two children. It reminded Bobbi of the times when Abby and Andy argued. She gave Hunter "the Barton look" and also turned away.
Oh, this is definitely going to be interesting.
Later, Bobbi was on the phone with Natasha, although she knew that the call would be on speaker so she'd be talking to Barney and Clint as well.
"Hey, Bobbi." said Natasha.
"Hey, Nat, Barney, Clint." said Bobbi, knowing that all three of them were there.
"How's the undercover op going?" asked Barney.
"Simmons' cover got blown, so I had to get her out." said Bobbi.
"How's Simmons coping?" asked Natasha.
"Very well, actually. I'm very impressed with her undercover skills. Despite having no field training, she was able to hold up under my...rather intimidating...interrogations. She also managed to slip her S.H.I.E.L.D. Flex Screen into her HYDRA lab partner's desk without anyone noticing, and she was surrounded by HYDRA agents and I was only a few feet away from her."
"And you didn't see her do it?" asked Clint.
"No."
"Wow, that's impressive."
"It is." agreed Bobbi. "Luckily we're both out of HYDRA now, so we don't need to worry about possibly getting killed. Anyway, I should go check that Hunter is behaving himself." Natasha, Clint and Barney laughed.
"Good idea." agreed Natasha. "You do that. Talk to you soon, Bobbi."
"You keep an eye on Barney and Clint as well." said Bobbi. "Bye, Nat."
"Bye, Bobbi."
Bobbi hung up and went off to make sure Hunter was behaving himself. As she walked along the corridor, Bobbi thought about S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers. It was good that S.H.I.E.L.D. was back, even if it was secret, and knew that they and the Avengers were going to cross paths at some point.