Elena walked into her room and immediately felt that there was someone else there. An object hanging on her bed headboard caught her eye and she went over.
Her cross necklace.
How...? she thought.
"Hello, Elena." said a familiar voice behind her.
Elena turned and saw a man leaning against the wall. He was dressed in a green top, black jeans and boots. Despite the full beard on his face, she recognised him straight away.
"Lincoln?" she asked. Lincoln smiled.
"I'm not dead." he said.
Elena moved towards him and gave him a big hug. Lincoln hugged her back and they stayed like that for a while.
"How did you get on the base?" Elena asked. Lincoln laughed.
"That's the first question you ask?" he replied. "I know how to get into places without being spotted. Besides, I might have tweaked the security cameras." She laughed.
"Of course you did." she replied. She pulled out of the hug and looked up at him. "How did you survive the explosion?"
"I teleported." Lincoln replied. "Is there a word for that in Spanish?"
"El telepuerto." Elena answered. "You can teleport?"
"Yeah, it's, uh...it's a long story." said Lincoln. "I'm trying not to use it as much so that I'm not tracked."
"Tracked? By who? S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"No, not S.H.I.E.L.D. Ultra. They're like the ATCU's anti-Inhuman mentality mixed with HYDRA's capture, experiment and kill mentality." He explained. "Look, could we keep this just between us? I don't want S.H.I.E.L.D. and Ultra to cross paths."
"Of course." said Elena, nodding. "Although Agent May will probably work it out."
"Yeah, that's true." agreed Lincoln. He looked to the door then back at her. "Mack's on his way here. I should go. Keep in touch?"
"Yes. Wait, how will we communicate?" asked Elena. Lincoln reached into his jean pocket and pulled out a burner phone, which he handed to her.
"Burner phone. My number is programmed in. It's untraceable, so S.H.I.E.L.D., Ultra, the ATCU...they won't be able to track it." Elena looked at the single contact.
"I'm guessing you're Roman?" she asked. He nodded.
"It's the alias I'm using to keep myself under the radar."
"Ok." Elena replied, nodding. She smiled and hugged him again. "Stay safe, Lincoln."
"You too, Elena." Lincoln replied.
He slipped out of the room and Elena watched him from the door. She didn't know how he had gotten out, what with the new Director's increased security, but she trusted Lincoln. She looked down at the burner phone and put it in her pocket.
"Mantenerse a salvo, hermano." (Stay safe, brother.) she said.