Triskelion
S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters
Washington, D.C.
September, 2011
Even in the pristine and cold hallways of the Triskelion, Bobbi couldn't seem to relieve herself of the overwhelming sensation of burning up. This always happened when she was nervous, fighting to reach a deadline, or preparing to make a speech. As it happened, she was facing all three situations wrapped into one and tied with a noose in the form of Director Fury himself - whom she hadn't actually communicated with in person since the day she was hired a full nine years prior.
And speaking of years, it had been nearly one and a half since she last stood in this building, one and a half since she packed up her belongings and moved from her joint apartment with her now ex-husband Agent Clint Barton. He continued to rise in the field while Bobbi continued to rise in the lab. Thankfully, he was in New Mexico and not waiting around D.C. for her to finish her inane meeting so that he could offer her company and an afternoon of reminiscing. Sometimes she wondered if he was lonely. Other times, she wondered if he was only being so kind because he felt some sort of guilt toward her.
Regardless, she was grateful for SHIELD's excellent timing.
New Mexico. Those are the orders. Working under Coulson as backup. It's a last minute thing, he had concluded. Top secret business never seemed to remain secret with Clint Barton when it came to Bobbi Morse. One day, it would catch up to him.
"Agent Morse? The Director will see you, now." A young woman, short and plump, smiled broadly at Bobbi from beside a desk outside of Fury's office. Her hair was carefully pulled back into a clean bun, thick-framed glasses resting easily on the bridge of her nose. Beneath the lenses, two different colored irises shone brightly from crinkled eyes. Heterochromia Iridis.
"Your eyes. Are they congenital or acquired?" Bobbi asked as she moved closer to the girl, brow furrowed as it tended to do when she was concentrating on something fascinating. And while not uncommon or of much interest, genetically speaking, she found it a beautiful occurrence nonetheless.
"Excuse me?" The girl backed away, her face turning towards Fury's closed door as if to silently ask for assistance.
"Your different colored irises. Were you born with them, or did they come about in time? Due to an injury or maybe certain eye drops?" She questioned, face moving in close enough to make the girl all sorts of uncomfortable. And in the process, the girl stopped moving.
"They… I was born with them…"
"Ah." Bobbi straightened, and looked at the lettering on Fury's door. Nicholas J. Fury. Director. She swallowed. "You have complete heterochromia due to genetic mosaicism. One brown, one hazel-green. They are very beautiful." She continued past the girl, leaving her dumbfounded outside the doorway, and entered Fury's office with ominous music teasing from the back of her mind.
"Director."
Nick stood behind his desk, his back to her as he looked out the window. His stance was that of a man in command, stoic, strong, and more than slightly intimidating. His hands were clasped behind his back, his trademark trenchcoat brushing the back of his calves before his combat boots swallowed up what was left. He didn't speak. Didn't need to. His presence alone could bring a room to attention.
"Mockingbird. Have a seat."
She obeyed, lowering herself gently into a well cushioned chair facing his desk, and presently, his back. The memory stick containing perhaps the most valuable information she possessed remained gripped in her hand. "I traded that moniker in a long time ago, Director Fury."
"And I chose not to listen." He countered, his body rotating to face her as his one good eye trained itself on her face. For half a second, he seemed to be gauging her, calculating every possible movement and reaction she would ever make. It was enough to send a chill down her spine. But the leering was gone in an instant, a suddenly warm and generous smile pulling at his lips as walked around the desk to seat himself beside her instead of in front of her. He pivoted the chair, the smile never leaving his face. "It's good to have you back in D.C., Morse."
Bobbi shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. With Nick happy and beaming like a proud papa or not, Bobbi couldn't hide her distaste at having to return to D.C. It was a test, she was sure of it. One that Fury insisted on when he refused to travel to The Hub to hold this mandatory meeting between himself and what he had once considered his 'most gifted scientific mind'. He was sizing her up. Telling her without so many words that he wasn't about to tolerate her dislike of H.Q. any longer. She was an agent of SHIELD and she would act like one, personal opinions and emotions aside. His point rang across loud and clear when he phoned for her and demanded she make the trip. To face him. Her past. All the things she was hiding from.
When the silence stretched on too long, Fury continued, a slight edge of annoyance in his voice. "I read the report you sent, though I'd prefer to have a more personal statement on the matter."
"Of course." She nodded. Her speech. The very one she had been practicing for the past week and a half since she knew she'd be making the trip back. It wasn't that it was difficult, or even that she was being forced to recite it word for word to the director of the entire organization. No, it was worse than that. It was what lay beneath her words, waiting in the technical jargon and medically sound knowledge. It was what she would be asking. Implying. Insinuating. It's what she'd be demanding in return.
"We're fourteen months into our research, sir, but we're already getting groundbreaking results on all of the lab rats." Her hand opened to produce the memory stick, lithe fingers working deftly to pull a year's worth of research from their files to hang mid-air over the holo table that doubled as Fury's desk. "The components of the GH.325 serum are unlike anything I have put together. It has shown incredible regenerative properties and proves the capabilities of science." She turned her focus from the shimmering blue notes and caught his eye."But I know next to nothing about the origin of the DNA samples I've been given, sir."
Fury shrugged. "Yeah, and?"
"I know it isn't human, nor is it any species of animal scientifically recorded."
This time, it was Fury's turn to shift uncomfortably. His hands steepled as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "What are you saying, Morse?"
"What I'm saying, sir, is that you are the director and therefore you know exactly what the men and women working in the lab with me are handling, yet you haven't considered informing us at all." Her brow furrowed, a look of genuine care crossing her features. She needed to drive her point home, but Fury was often a tough one to crack. "You wanted results, and I'm asking for answers."
"The components of the serum you created were harvested from an alien lifeform. And you knew the job had unknowns when you signed the waiver, don't bullshit me."
She didn't pause to consider his words because she knew the answer to her question before it even left her mouth. "Are you trying to play God, sir?"
He was quick to respond, his back straightening as he pushed himself up into a standing position. "You don't have the clearance for any further information, Agent 19."
"Then give me the clearance, Nick!" She shot up out of her seat after him, tiny hands reaching around his bicep (which somehow had gotten bigger in the past year, and that was a feat for a man his age) to stop him in his tracks. "Something big is about to happen, and you wouldn't have called me here if you didn't need me."
He watched her for what felt like an eternity but lasted no more than a few seconds. In the end, he raised his voice to fill the room, his gaze never leaving hers. "System update. Fury, Nicholas J. Bring up Doctor Barbara Morse. Agent nineteen. Mockingbird. Clearance Restriction Level 6 override. Clearance Restriction Level 7. Confirm."
"Doctor Barbara Morse. Clearance Restriction Level 7 confirmed." Called a voice from all around them. Artificial intelligence. Another perk of SHIELD's powerful engineers.
Fury took a moment to gather his thoughts while Bobbi stared him down. She knew it was coming before it was said, but that didn't stop the shock that went through her system. "We need to administer the serum on human test subjects."
"No." She shook her head with fervor. "We've only been giving the rats injections for six weeks. The extent of any known side-effects haven't even had time to register!" Another step closer, a look in his eye. Nothing was there. No remorse. No second-guessing. She could plead with him as much as she wanted, but he was already set in his ways. "We don't know what this could potentially do, Nick. If you have a downed operative, you have a downed operative. You dig a grave, and you let 'em rest. You don't pull strings. You don't cut corners. You don't mess with something that big."
"I'm not asking you to do my job, Bobbi. I'm asking you to do your own. If something happened to Agent Barton and you knew you could have saved him but chose not to-"
"That's a low blow, and you know it." She recoiled from him as if she'd been burned. She gave him her back, anger flooding her as she tried to contain herself. Of course he'd use Clint against her. She could say no all she wanted, but she'd never deny Barton's protection. Never in a million years. And SHIELD had gotten too familiar with her feelings on the subject. Far too familiar.
Back still do him, she clenched her teeth and didn't bother hiding the bitterness in her voice. "What do you want, Nick?" But she already knew. He'd gotten what he'd wanted. He'd gotten her cooperation.
"Work under Agent Coulson again. Take your team, relocate to the Guest House and lead the science division of Project TAHITI. You'll report to Coulson. He'll report to me. And every experiment will be carefully recorded, hourly if need be."
"When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow, if you can."
She pulled the memory stick from the hard drive and shoved it back into her pocket as she made her way to the door. Tomorrow. Hardly enough time to tell the members of her team that they would be leaving their families behind for however long it took to get the results Fury desired. And they'd be blindfolded in the process. Can't have the prisoners knowing where they are, after all. They might escape.
"Agent Morse."
Bobbi didn't stop at the sound of her name. She didn't bother turning to face him. Best she keep her distance. Best she continue her path out of his office and out of D.C. for a good, long while. If she looked at him again, the chances were high that she'd punch him right in that soulless eye of his. Blind him in an instant. Get her satisfaction the juvenile way.
"Thank you." She heard him say.
"Go to hell, Nick."