AN: This chapter's a little slow, but you get to know Leah a bit better and certainly learn more about her in the next chap. Enjoy, rate, and review, the good stuff.

Beaded Up

It had been only four days since the incident at HQ, and for the most part, Leah had been dealing with flight requests and some of the sub-directors even had the audacity to ask for her service for cargo transportation.

And as of right now, she was silently fuming on the way to the temporary office of the Director. Ever since the evening of the Director meeting her, he seemed to have shown a particular interest in her flight talents and spent some of his valuable time on referring her to multiple missions. But the second she saw requests for cargo transport, she was out of her seat with the file requests thrown on the table.

Her blonde locks bounced on her shoulders as she stomped through the hall and the looks from other S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives gave her no pause. Mustering what courage she had to not flinch before the Director, she knocked hard on the door and waited.

"Enter."

She pushed the door open and strode in, barely looking at Hill as she cocked a brow at the abrupt entrance.

"Barton, an unexpected visit. Can I help you?" Fury asked without looking up from the data on the screen in front of him.

Clearing her throat, she said, "Sir, I have some queries concerning my records." Fury looked up now.

"Such as?" he prompted.

"Was I not recognized as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most valuable combat pilot? With an outstanding reputation for high stress situations?"

Leah now had Fury's full attention, not to mention Agent Hill's, and the somewhat poorly hidden irritation on her face had them both raising a brow. Fury couldn't help but see just how similar her face was to Agent Barton's when she was upset.

"Yes, you were."

"And was I not also recognized for my outstanding duties in the line of fire during multiple operations in North Korea, Iraq, Iran, and several other hostile countries?"

Her demanding tone had Fury growing curious.

"Where is this going, Barton?"

"Sir, with all due respect, what the hell does my record have to do with me getting cargo transport requests?"

Hill stood from her seat and turned to Fury, the look in her eyes almost saying, 'I told you so.' That look was enough for Fury let out a huff.

"Clearly, nothing."

His gruff response had Leah stiffening.

"CA Barton, you are hereby assigned as Flight Assistance to the Avengers Initiative." He paused to gauge her reaction, but received nothing but the slight parting of her lips. "You are to report to either Agent Coulson or Agent Hill for all orders, and you are also free to a certain level of order interpretation."

Leah stared at him for a moment before shifting on her feet, her cargo pants making the only noise in the room at the moment.

"Avengers Initiative?" She choked out.

"Yes. Hill will explain. I have a few things to look after."

As Fury took his leave, Agent Hill came around the table in the center of the room to hand Leah a file. Looking up into Hill's face, Leah saw her softened expression. That was not something anyone normally saw interacting with Hill.

"This is your updated file, giving you access to any and all aircraft you choose to utilize. You will report to either Agent Coulson or me for orders."

The file was passed between the two women in the office.

"I referred you as a top candidate for an associate to the Initiative." This grabbed Leah's attention and her eyes shot up to the brunette.

"Ma'am, why would you do that?" She asked.

A slight smile graced Hill's usually hardened visage. "Despite your familial affiliation to Agent Barton, your record is quiet impressive." Hill turned away and began to pace.

"You've shown excellent responses to high stress situations that require, more often than not, multiple years of service. Considering your young age and impressive skill, I believed that whether or not you believed in the idea of heroes, you would be an asset to any high level team."

Leah stared at the file, her new security status, the paycheck, everything. It wasn't often that she found herself needing to express herself, but this was a moment that she felt she really that she should and she was unable to find the right way to do so.

"Um…" Her head empty of words.

"Coulson needs you for transport. You're going to be picking up Captain Rogers."

Still trying to find the right words, Leah looked up at her and felt supremely inferior. Whereas she was a shorter, curvier, blonde air-pilot with the physical prowess of a potato, Hill was the embodiment of the perfect Agent. She was tall, toned, brunette, and was always taken seriously.

Sure, Leah was taken seriously in the right moments, but not every S.H.I.E.L.D. associate was willing follow the orders of some 'hotshot pilot'. Not to mention that everyone saw her as an egotistical bitch because she never talked to anyone casually or had friends.

"We're a lot alike, I think." Hill's voice pulled her out of her reverie.

"Why's that, ma'am?" she croaked.

A smirk graced Hill's mouth. "Our jobs mean everything to us. We don't have associations with people outside of our work, and we certainly don't waste our talents trying to impress the people around us." She paused.

"Listen closely," Leah fixed her eyes on Hill. "I don't say this often, because sometimes it's better to be the 'lone wolf' so to speak, but you need to have a friend that will also be your advocate."

"But… I'm not very good with- I'm just…" She began to sputter, but Hill placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"I read the file and the police reports. I know about what happened after your brother left."

Leah's lips thinned, but not out of anger, and she felt her fingers grip the file a bit tighter. Not once had the incidents ever come up before, and she wasn't keen on letting it affect her, but she could feel the tell-tale signs of her anguish rising in her throat.

"Please don't…"

She didn't know what she did or didn't want to happen now, so she let the weak statement hang in the air.

"I'm not doing anything with the report." Hill stated firmly. "You are now part of our level. You're one of us. You pick up the Captain in two days, and until then, I want you to be familiar with your new chain of command."

Leah watched Hill's face for a moment. And with a curt nod she faced her completely, folded her hands behind her back, and was able to form a sentence that she was familiar with.

"Yes Ma'am."

For the next two days, Hill and Barton had spent a significant amount of time not only going over emergency protocols but also briefing Leah on the gravity of the situation. She had learned about the compromising of her brother and just how serious of a danger the Tesseract was posing.

She now knew about the Avengers Initiative, about the different people they were assembling, and for some reason, she felt like this was just another day at work. Although she wasn't exactly flying over hostile air space with the possibility of being blown to Kingdom Come, her new friend, she found herself thinking, wasn't so different from her. There would often be split moments of near humor throughout their days, and it surprised the both of them that they found moments in which they could share a slight chuckle or exchange a knowing glance.

Agent Hill was also surprised. She had worked for years trying to maintain a very serious façade, and somehow after reading the reports and meeting Leah, she had made a friend in two days more easily than she had tried making friends during her years of school before S.H.I.E.L.D. She found Leah very easy to get along with; generally even tempered, quick witted, and very reliable.

One thing about Leah in particular surprised her. Considering the pilots troubled past and lack of a backbone during those years, she found it interesting that the pilot trusted her so devoutly after such a short period of time. It wasn't that Hill wasn't flattered, but it made her curious that if her past had anything to do with the way she trusted people now, how would meeting her brother again affect her? Especially considering that Leah had intentionally kept her affiliation with S.H.I.E.L.D. secret from him.

At the moment, Hill was looking over the flight register for the next three hours. Leah was scheduled to leave in about half an hour to retrieve the Captain with Coulson. A voice pulled her from her concentration.

"Maria!"

Hill's head snapped up and met the blue eyes of the combat pilot she had learned to appreciate in such a short amount of time. But, had Leah just called her by her first name?

"I'm heading out with Coulson on Quinjet Foxtrot-Lima, exiting through Bay 2. We should arrive back on the Carrier in 0200."

Leah was standing in front of Hill, fixing the headset resting on her neck, while chewing a toothpick between her lips.

"You just called me Maria." The statement hung for a moment.

"You call me Leah." She pointed out stoically. Maria smirked at her.

"Touché." Was all she said in response, and with a curt nod, gave Leah the go ahead.