Hello there! Yet another update :D It seems like I can't keep all of these ideas in my head for too long :S but that means more chapters for you guys!
Sorry this chapter is kinda short; I thought I better end it before the actual briefing begins so that I would have an entire chapter dedicated to it. I think it would make the story flow more easily :)
Thank you to FutureOscarWinner94 for being my first reviewer.
Chapter 3: Ill At Ease
As much as it worried you to admit it; being on the Helicarrier again felt weird. Yes, your room was exactly the same and yes, you had been on several hundred assignments before, but after a few heated discussions with yourself, you came to the conclusion that it was possible because there were new entities on board. This, for any S.H.I.E.L.D agent's life was a both wary and exciting time. It was exciting because new agents meant new recruitments, and new recruitments meant the operation and standards of S.H.I.E.L.D would rise, and your life on board would become that much better. It was wary because frankly if those new agents turned out to be better than you were, all hell would break loose in the cafeteria resulting in an either triumphant-looking you, or a custard-covered you.
Perhaps it was because the new crew members weren't agents at all, thus meaning they have no prior experience to the life of a government spy. You wondered if having some outsiders on the Helicarrier would make life more interesting for you – either that or more difficult.
You sighed heavily. Having so many different viewpoints at one time clouded your vision and made you less able to think clearly. You had paced around your room for over an hour before collecting your thoughts and heading to the briefing room early. You always preferred to be punctual, but when you had nothing better to do, you might as well turn up early.
Your pace was slow; giving yourself time to soak in the familiar surroundings of your portable home. The long hallways of the living quarters made walking anywhere an extreme hassle; stretching almost the entire length of the craft in order to store as many rooms as possible. A brief thought passed through your head if the 'great' Tony Stark would be living in the same room layout as yourself. You smirked. Now that would be funny to see. Strolling through the corridor, you only passed about 3 of your fellow crew members; giving each a curt nod as you walked by. The décor of the Helicarrier never failed to impress you. Everything was extremely modern; nothing more than 2 years old was present on the ship, meaning the walls in the living quarters were a sleek grey, the floor carpeted with a lush coffee colour and impressive modernist paintings hung from different points on the wall. The main level of the Helicarrier, where all of the specific types of government work took place was a completely different matter. Every piece of technological equipment was state of the ark; every room filled with motion sensors to detect any unwanted presence, touch screens and voice activated commands were inbuilt into every computer and outside some particularly covert rooms would be a retina scanner for specific access only. You enjoyed the fact that the Helicarrier was practically impenetrable. It made you feel a lot safer when it was in flight-mode.
It didn't take you long to get to the main terminal. After all, you did know this place like the back of your hand. After scanning your S.H.I.E.L.D card in the door and being escorted in by two heavily armed men, you sat down at the large table that overlooked the main flight-pit of the Helicarrier. Why they chose to have the briefing here escaped you. The room was filled with important flight controls and people working on precise cases that required a lot of attention, so to be discussing and perhaps arguing in a room like this was not the best of ideas. Still, you did get a good view of the ocean. Being the first one there, left you with two options:
1. Patrol the area until more of the required people arrived or
2. Sit down and try not to cause any trouble.
After considering what happened last time you chose number 1, which ended with a few people getting shot and you being suspended for four months, you thought you better pick number 2 this time.
It wasn't long before Clint turned up. He sat down to your left and shrunk into his seat.
"How long have you been here?" He asked, turning in his seat to face you.
"About ten minutes. Why are you so early?" You shot back, irritated by the noise level already.
"Well, I could ask you the same thing," You threw an undeserved glare at him, "But I won't." He smiled down at the table before continuing, "I always like to arrive early for important meetings. You of all people should know that." If your memory served you correctly, everytime you were sent on a mission with Clint, he would always have all the right details and all the right information. Mainly because he actually bothered to turn up to the briefings and you didn't. After a few minutes of awkward silence, the door opened again and Natasha stepped in, Steve right behind her, with an awkward blush on his face. Natasha took the seat to your right and you noticed that she was exactly on time. You didn't really expect anything less from her to be honest. Steve sat down next to her, his eyes focused on the table in front of him. He whispered an apology to Natasha before she curtly nodded and he resumed staring at the table. You frowned and leaned close to her for an explanation.
"He got lost." You smiled slightly, remembering when you first were acquainted with the Helicarrier and how much of a pain it was to learn its blue-prints, "I had to pick him up on the engine floor." Steve looked thoroughly embarrassed already, so you thought you wouldn't humiliate him further and just nodded understandingly.
You waited for another half an hour for the one and only and it irritated you to the nth degree that he didn't show up on time. Lateness was one of your pet hates. With each minute that passed, your anger seethed and flared until finally, after fifty-eight minutes of waiting, Tony Stark swaggered into the room. You had had enough. You stood so sharply that your chair fell back on itself, making Clint jump.
"You!" You hissed, pointed an accusing finger at Tony, "Why must you always be late, you arrogant prick!" You were pretty sure your eyes were almost all the way closed with the epic death-glare you were shooting him. His face twisted into a confused and disturbed expression at your disposition – clearly thinking your anger was overstated. He shrugged, a playful smirk finding its way onto his lips as he mischievously tossed his expensive phone from one hand to the other, watching you as you got even more irritated.
He inhaled loudly before smacking his gums and saying a simple "I was busy." He caught his phone and sat down. The entire group looked at you warily; scared encase you decided to explode again. One of your eyes was twitching uncontrollably; probably from the fact that it was taking all your strength not to jump over the table and attack him. Against your better judgement, you slowly slid back down into your seat, glowering eyes never leaving the rich playboy at the end of the table.
Natasha was eyeing the both of you with caution before she stood and made her way round to where everyone could see her.
"Right, if you two have quite finished," at this Tony put his hands up in innocent surrender which provoked a growl from you; making Natasha interrupt the both of you, "then I believe we should begin." She began handing out thick documents to everyone, while passing round sheets and various other assortments of information and you had a feeling that with Tony present, this would indeed be a very long night.
