Disclaimer: The Avengers is property of Marvel. I do not own the characters. No money is made on this fiction.
High-heeled black boots clacked on the polished tile floors as the woman in a SHIELD uniform walked swiftly through the Stark Tower hallways. She was on a mission and there was nothing and no one who could stand in her way.
The glass door stood there attempting to taunt her with its impressive lock. It was nothing she could not handle. She made quick work of the lock interface making sure that her action did not draw the attention from the men within the lab. Under the key panel were a series of wires. Using the flat blade, she pulled up one of the wires, cross circuiting it with another lead and the door whooshed open. Getting was easy as that. Very few electronic devices existed that could stump her.
The two men in the lab were chatting easily, bantering back and forth. The words were meaningless to her but their sense of safety from the computer and electronic devices caused her lips to twitch in a smirk. They were lucky she did not intend them harm.
She cleared her throat, giving no sign of her delight when the pair jumped in surprise, simply saying, "Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner."
"Who the hell are you?"
"I am-"
"Better than that how the hell did you get in here?" Tony interrupted nearly shouting his questions.
"If you would, please, let me finish," the woman said ice frosting her words. "I am Agent Devon Donovan. I have been assigned by SHIELD-"
"What is it that SHIELD wants, Agent Donovan?" Bruce interrupted Devon this time. "We were told we weren't going to be monitored."
"The situation had changed," the SHIELD agent said bluntly. She had expected to be interrupted again and waited for the men to fire questions at her, instead there was only silence. "Nothing," she said raising a brow. "Okay, I know that I only have half the information that's a given when working with SHIELD. We have intercepted a plan to attack certain facilities, Stark Tower being one of them. The group behind this attack is called Enclave."
"Okay now we have some warning," Tony said rolling his eyes, "I doubt these guys are any worse than Loki and the Chitari. So, we can handle this if they show up. We really don't need a babysitter, so why are you really here."
Devon tried to hide the involuntary flinch at the mention of the aliens; instead, she crossed her arms and leaned back against the desk. "We'll try the honesty route, but it works both ways." Bruce nodded slowly and her eyes darted to the other man knowing that curiosity would lead him to agree as well. "The World Security Council believes you are dangerous. All of you. They meant to circumvent Fury with their orders to have each of you monitored. The Council thought that they could use me, but I'm not that damaged to ignore what they intended."
"So monitoring us," Bruce began his question cautiously, "what do they hope to accomplish with that."
"That's where the Council and Fury disagree. The Council wants to have each of you monitored so that they can either bring you in or take you out if anyone gets out of hand. Fury on the other hand is making it look like he's playing along by sending agents."
"To what extent does Fury agree with this Council?" Tony asked narrowing his eyes at her.
Devon sighed. She had to walk a fine line with the information she gave them. "Fury agrees that he needs eyes on all of you. What he doesn't agree with is that you are dangerous." She was staring at Tony not Bruce when she said the last word. "Personally I haven't decided which one is correct," she muttered under her breath.
Tony grunted at that. A sudden realization sparked on his face causing him to shout at the ceiling, "JARVIS, why didn't you give us a heads up about our intruder?"
"It's alright JARVIS," Devon said smirking at the genius.
"Sir," the computerized butler responded with a mimicked tone of cautiousness, "a program has infiltrated the system."
"Security lockdown the databases, JARVIS, and run a scrubber to remove this violation," Tony glared at her knowing that she was behind this attack on his computer system.
"The program has integrated its code into my program, sir."
"To try and remove this offending code without the proper key code you would lose your own remarkable program," Devon said the ice back in her voice as she taunted the engineer. "JARVIS really is an incredible feat of engineering. I got to see only a fraction of what it could do while you were hacking my system."
Tony's eyes narrowed at her fuming over her clear violation.
It was Bruce, who spoke up first, "What? What are you talking about?"
"The Helicarrier," Devon said simply.
Her simple answer created more questions for the two men. Devon enjoyed the looks on their faces. Tony was still glaring at her but the raised eyebrow made for an almost comical look. Bruce on the other hand seemed to be cautiously shocked. Neither of them had enough data to connect all the pieces.
"I was watching your cracking software work," Devon bit her bottom lip and returned Tony's glare. "Let's just say I took that a little personal. I was the senior program designer on the Helicarrier. You didn't know this, but I was the one co-engineering the designs with you, Stark."
She let her words sink in, plastering a smug smile on her face. All three of them had trust issues. She knew that her little play with JARVIS was necessary but it did not help with the trust. She would have avoided tampering with the advanced program except she needed a way to monitor both of them. Her program would inform her when either of them left the tower, however they did not need to know how simplistic her program really was.
"That's part of why the Council contacted me. What they didn't count on was the fact that as much as Fury and I don't see eye to eye, I still went to him with my dilemma."
She was telling the truth. Even after years of working with SHIELD and Fury, she still did not trust either. The past few months had not helped with her ability to trust the illusive organization.
"His suggestion was to go along with the Council's plan but we'll work the reports over before sending them on. The others are being monitored by Fury's people also."
"Right," Tony said drawing out the i in the word, "how the hell does Fury think he's going to spy on two master spies."
"Very carefully," she said shrugging. "From a distance and not nearly as open as I am with both of you. But then again I got to choose who I followed."
"Why would you choose to spy on either of us?" Bruce asked skeptically, with a touch of paranoia seeping into his voice.
"I'm no spy. I am an engineer and applied physicist. I knew I would fit in around here. You can call HR if you want but I officially start work for Stark Industries tomorrow. I only broke in tonight so that I could give you both a heads up."
"Well I'm sorry to tell you, Donny," Tony said crossing his arms angrily, "but your services won't be needed in my company."
"Oh Mr. Stark, but it's not your company anymore."
"I'll warn you that it's hardly wise to threaten Pepper," Tony snarled.
"I'm not threatening," Devon said raising her hands trying to pacify the irritable man. "I was hired by Ms. Potts. I was using my real credentials not some SHIELD ploy. The only thing I had to push for was higher clearance."
The genius glared at her, and she returned his stare adding her own frosty touch. In all her years with SHEILD, Devon had learned how to work with stubborn men. Men who looked at her and thought she could never do what they did. Others told her that she should find work in another field. Her family was the only ones that had supported her.
"That's not going to happen," Tony said finally. "I can't trust you with my classified information. You do realize that SHIELD is a military spy organization."
"Yes," Devon said cocking her head. She could hear the unasked question in his voice, but she had no reason to tip her hand yet. She needed to know exactly where she stood with this unique group of individuals. They were good but she was better. "Besides if they were all that bad then why did you all work with them too?"
"So then why SHIELD?" Bruce asked.
"I wanted to work with the best," Devon said. "Shouldn't be surprising seeing that my work got me here. Your secrets are safe as long as I report back that I am monitoring the situation here."
Before Devon could explain, the door to the lab slid open. Captain Steve Rogers came marching in, a stern look on his face. Devon's back stiffened as the soldier neared them. She could feel the icy armor that had become her defense slide back into place, the momentary cracking gone.
She had reviewed all of their filed before accepting this mission. She had to be aware of all the challenges that she might face. Folding her arms across her chest, she watched the man approach curious what had brought him to the Tower.
"Did you two know about this," the Captain said in a firm controlled voice. He looked between the two men but had yet to acknowledge Devon's presence.
"Know about what, Cap?" Tony said with a smirk playing a game with the other man.
Steve looked behind him, confusion evident on his face as he looked for something or someone.
"Son of a gun, where the hell did he go," Steve cursed under his breath. "SHIELD has agents watching us. For days, I have been trying to shake him and now finally he is gone. I would have come here sooner if I knew that would get rid of that pest."
"Steve," Bruce said giving the captain an understanding smile, "this is Agent Donovan."
The soldier eyed her carefully studying her appearance, his eyes narrowing slightly at her uniform. Devon returned his gaze unblinking at the scrutiny.
"I would assume Agent Taylor is waiting outside the tower," Devon said no warmer than she had spoken to the others. "While in the tower I am the agent in charge."
"Ms. Donovan," Steve said holding out a hand to her. Reluctantly she took his but regretted it when he gave her a quizzical look. "Donovan," he repeated as though the name was familiar to him. "Did you have family in New York?"
Devon pulled her hand back sharply, but instead of crossing her arms again they hung limply at her sides. The muscles in her jaw clenched tightly as her gaze dropped to the floor.
"Yes," she finally responded the word hissing out through gritted teeth.
"Jonathan Donovan and Elizabeth Donovan-Hawke," Steve said solemnly remembering the names.
"My father and sister. How did you-" her voice trailing off with the question.
"I'm sorry for your loss." The soldier attempted to reach a hand out to her but Devon quickly took a step back out of reach.
Devon did not need his sympathy. Her father and sister had been in New York during the attack. While making repairs she listened to the reports as they came in. The devastation had seemed bad but it was so distant at the time, so removed when it was happening. She focused on the problem that was before her. Of course, she had been worried about her sister; Elizabeth had been five months pregnant. Devon dreaded the news that she would have to give her sister when this was over. She worried about her father, too. However, on the Helicarrier there was nothing she could do except keep on working.
Steve's brow furrowed in thought before he spoke again, "There was another Hawke on the Helicarrier."
Devon nodded slowly, her mind only half in the moment as the pain of the last few weeks crashed down upon her. "Damien, my brother-in-law."
There were explosions. Bulkheads buckling and ripping themselves apart, while sparks flew from electronics as her creation was slowly being destroyed. The first blast was bad enough but secondary systems began to overload with each subsequent explosion cascading through the systems. She had designed the carrier to handle attacks but this attack came from both the internal and external. There were "superheroes" rampaging around on her ship; tearing it apart. She gave orders focusing on the problems she could fix. The overload was not something she expected. It came from a completely different system one that had not even been hit in the attack. She rushed over to the interface trying to stabilize the engine 3, power control system. There was too much going on; she had not seen the warning on the other panel. Damien pushed her away from the system just in time but he was too close when the system exploded. His last action was to save her life.
Devon's silence had not gone unnoticed by Bruce and Tony. For those moments, she was back in the moment and had not seen the shared looks between the men. The pair stared at the other two as the gears seemed to shift and her icy attitude suddenly made sense.
"Well," Bruce said, he pinched the bridge of his nose frowning, "no wonder you seem to hate us."
Devon's head snapped back at that comment. Her eyes glazed as they focused beyond the table in front of her. Her mind reeled for a moment. She knew she had been cold but she needed distance. Distance that she was not being afforded while on assignment in Stark Tower. She was grieving. She never intended for them to think she hated them. Quite the opposite she relished the opportunity to work with the best and brightest just as she had told them. That was the very reason why she had first started working with SHIELD.
Shaking Devon let out the breath she had not realized she was holding. Forcing her lungs to take in gasps as her head began to swim. She had not been herself since the attack.
"Earth to Donny," Tony called out to her, waving a hand in front of her. "Nice going Banner, I think you broke her."
"Ms. Donovan, are you alright?" Steve asked softly, pushing Tony's hand out of her face.
Devon only half heard their words but she nearly jumped when Bruce laid his hand on her shoulder. Blinking a couple of times, she came back to the here and now. She still could not bring herself to look at any of them.
"No," she said in a small raspy voice. She heard herself and cleared her throat before attempting to speak again. "No, I don't hate you… any of you."
"Please, Ms. Donovan," Steve said guiding her to a chair, "you should take a seat."
"Call me Devon," she said shaking slightly while sitting down. She was cold; it felt as though she had been dunked in ice water. She had never intended to breakdown like this. Life had taught her to be strong and she was most of the time. There was something going on here that broke down her defenses. "Sorry," she whispered barely audible as she tried to reign in her emotions.
"Sorry," she repeated a little louder. The thick fog that her emotions had created began to dissipate, not completely but enough that she could think again. "My losses, as you said, were the other reason the Council came to me. They probably thought that I would blame you all, just as you had." Devon rolled her shoulders, she was coming back to herself but she needed a way out. She needed to get some space so that she could gather her wits again. "I'm used to having to impress people. Somewhere in my twisted mind, I thought breaking into your lab would be impressive. I really do want to work with you, if we can look passed the fact that I will also be monitoring any of the Avengers while they are in the tower."
Devon did not wait for a response before she turned on her heel and marched to the door. It would not matter whether they liked it or not but she was there to stay.