Chapter 2

The drive to Ruth Thompson's house was barely long enough to change into my plain black uniform. My driver kept an eye on the rear view the entire time, so when we arrived I was ready to bust some heads.

"Keep the car running. We have no reason to believe she's powered; I should be back in a few minutes," I told him, glad I was finally back to a high enough rank I could get this creep demoted to cleaning toilets when we got back. I could feel his eyes on me as I got out of the car and wished I had a less flattering uniform. I was used to skin tight, but this actually gave me shape. Whitehall had given it to me right before I left, and the fabric was stiffer and heavier than my old one, but it had tens of concealed pockets for storing weapons, so it wasn't so bad.

I spied an open side window, and rolled in before any of her neighbors had time to notice me. It was a little office, unimportant and unoriginal, so I crept over to the door to listen for the woman.

"Keep an eye out, that SHIELD team is probably looking for her too." A new voice whispered into my earpiece. "Orders changed. Grab the woman and send her back to base, return alone to James Beck's apartment and search it."

An hour later I stood in the window of an apartment across the street from Anna's room. Just as I remembered, it stood open. This family was horrible with security. I threw my hook, catching a window ledge above it and swinging easily over the road, tearing through the screen and landing quietly on her thick pink carpet. I picked my way over the smashed door, through the hall and into his bedroom. A quick search revealed nothing- no hidden compartments, no wall panels my equipment could detect, nothing in the mattress, floor, or closet. I decided whatever I was looking for wasn't there, and slipped into the living room. Which was crawling with SHIELD agents.

The room was a grey honeycomb design, and it seemed tough enough. I'd have to tell everyone when I got back that SHIELD was much stronger than we'd been anticipating. I wondered idly if this was my old S.O.'s team, though the odds were slim, and decided against asking as Phil Coulson walked in. it was strangely flattering, knowing the boss himself had come to question me, but I kept my face neutral, almost bored looking.

"Hello, Philip." I let my annoyance ooze out as he sat, wishing I could break my restraints and just kill him and leave.

"Hayden Emily Brown. That's your name, isn't it?" He plopped a file down on the table between us, fanning out the papers within. My transcripts, school ID, pictures of me, it documented my entire life. At least, the life Hydra had made available for them to see. "We were looking to recruit you when you finished college. Seems someone else got their first. Are you centipede? Hydra? Mercenary?"

"Sounds like you've got bigger problems than me, with enemies like that." I looked him right in the eye, making sure to give him no clues.

"I had my team do some research, and it turns out there was no Hayden Emily Brown on file, at least not until four years ago. Yet these papers seem like you've been trying to get yourself recruited for your whole life. My best guess, Hydra took you out of a bad situation when you were fourteen or fifteen, drew you in with the usual promises. They gave you food, shelter, a family, and all you had to do in return was kill whoever they asked. Sound about right?" I had to clench to keep from fidgeting, he was so close to the truth. "What were you looking for in his apartment?"

"Didn't you hear? Someone kidnapped that man, and his little daughter too," I sneered, sitting back lazily like I was falling asleep. A muscle ticked in his jaw, and I knew I was getting under his skin.

"I did know. Police recovered the girl's body about twenty minutes ago, shoved in a trashcan in an alley."

A lead weight dropped on my heart. "That makes no sense, " I whispered to myself, then quickly rearranged my face back to casual. Even that had been too much emotion to show, even though he didn't hear me. Something flickered behind his eyes, and it almost looked like he pitied me.

"The necessary sacrifices must be made to ensure our future. Hydra is willing to make those sacrifices, while SHIELD flounders in their love for one man."

"Yeah, because that didn't sound like a manifesto. What i still don't understand is why it was necessary. Risking yourself to go back for the woman made us think it was some kind of genetic research, and with a powered father, you're probably trying to learn whether powers are passed on."

"That's above my paygrade." A soft voice issued from his ear, meaning he was on coms with someone. "What'd your friend have to say?"

"My team has been through alot lately, and I don't appreciate you making things harder for them. I"ve got something to handle right now, but someone will be back. And for your sake, I hope you'll talk to her." Coulson almost smiled as he left, much more evilly than I'd ever pictured.

After a few hours, I was just about done with sitting still. The straps burned my wrists where I'd tried to twist them away, and the cold in the room made my toes and fingers almost numb. The discomfort was making me extra waspish, and I was ready to pull someone apart. Sadly I didn't get the chance, since they gassed me before transport. I woke up quickly, being carried down a dark corridor. Listening, I figured it was only one man, pushing me on a cart and humming.

Before he even realized I was conscious, I'd backflipped over his head and behind him, putting him in a sleeper hold. The chubby man, Kanig, by the look of his lanyard, didn't even have a chance to call for help, and I sort of felt bad for him. Shaking that off, I dragged him down the nearest stairway, taking off his lanyard and draping it over my own neck.

The cart had a bum wheel which left scuffs every few feet, giving me an easy path through the base into a large hangar, where an incredibly large plane rested. I barely had time to duck back as cars screeched in, and agents unloaded a hooded, struggling man, who I could tell was General Talbot, who SHIELD had previously worked with on occasion. Which explained why they had to move me.

A man walked toward me in fatigues, rolling his eyes and giving a jaunty wave over his shoulder to the Asian woman barking orders. The man moved overly confidently, and definitely had military training, and I could tell at a glance that the woman wasn't someone I wanted to mess with. I steadied my breathing like my S.O. taught me and slipped back into the shadows as the man passed. He didn't suspect a thing, and I finished my escape with almost comedic ease.

Until I got hit by a car.