Hi, everyone! Welcome back to the Spec Ops Team 2. First off, let me apologize for the amount of time it took me to get this chapter up. I had a problem with my computer and lost all my files as a result. From there, it was just a matter of rewriting the stuff and dealing with work and down-time for myself. Luckily, I'm back like Arnold Schwarzenegger now and ready with this chapter. I had to also change a few things, but I hope you really enjoy this. Anyways, this chapter will see the team try a new tactic as HYDRA prepares their own new recruit to deploy into the field. Plus, we'll meet a new OC, who I have to thank scrawlx1012 for, who will now be a part of Arthur's team. As always, reviews are appreciated. Also, I own NOTHING but my OC's. This is for fan-purposes only, so PLEASE don't sue! Other than that, enjoy! (A/N: there was a spelling mistake this chapter that I fixed. Sorry about that.)
The Playground…
Arthur and Katie watched as a black jeep pulled up into the compound. As AJ exited from the driver's seat, the passenger exited the vehicle and walked around so Katie and Arthur could greet him. He was a bald African American man with hazel eyes, and a clean shaven face. He stood at around 6'3 and Katie was quick to notice he had a tattoo on his right bicep which read 'blood is thicker than water.'
"Desmond Amartey." Arthur stated, "Thank you for finally taking us up on our offer. This is my young protégé, Katie Sheila."
"How do you do?" Katie asked, shaking his hand.
"Alright, I guess." He stated, "Still can't believe I'm actually joining up. It's just…when I heard about what happened…when I heard about my cousin's betrayal…what he was planning to allow to happen… I couldn't have that happen again."
"Sorry about that, by the way." Katie apologized.
"It's fine." Desmond assured, "Truth be told, if I were in that situation…well…I might've tried to find a way that didn't injure him so badly, but you were under pressure then, so I understand."
He looked at Arthur.
"Before we begin." He said, "Can I see him?"
…
Soon…
"Tyler."
Tyler turned around to see his cousin standing before his invisible force-field cell.
"Desmond." Tyler said, nonchalantly, "Why am I not surprised to see you here?"
"What the hell were you thinking, Ty?" Desmond asked, pulling up a nearby chair and sitting down, "Get yourself involved in HYDRA, you almost destroy the world…how did you think it would end? What about your mother, Tyler?!"
Tyler looked up at him surprised.
"Why do you think I asked she stay single and alone for years?" He asked, "I was protecting her! Getting her away from anybody who could hurt her!"
"And that sure turned out well for you!" Desmond replied, sarcastically, "You're missing a whole arm now as a result!"
He shook his head at the ground.
"Besides," He added, "Your Mom found out anyways."
Tyler looked up at his cousin horrified.
"What?" He asked.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. … or what's left of it now, told your Mom what happened, Tyler." Desmond elaborated, "You know what she did first? She almost ended up slitting her wrists in shame when she learned you were actually willing to let a majority of the world's population die just so you could get even with a man years after he did something to you."
Tyler's look of horror turned to one of anger.
"Did Arthur tell her this?" He asked.
"No." Desmond said, sternly, "I told her. S.H.I.E.L.D. came to me for recruitment. They told me about what you did, and so I personally went to your Mother to deliver the news personally to try and not let the blow be even more devastating. Clearly I was wrong. You were everything to her, Ty. Even after you left, you were always the thing that got her through each day without your father."
Tyler glared at him.
"I can see you're beyond help." Desmond stated.
"Oh, no." Tyler corrected, "When I get out of here, I'm going to fix everything that's gone wrong with me."
"Tyler…" Desmond groaned, annoyed.
"No." Tyler stated, angrily, as he pressed his one hand against the invisible force-field, "Me and my roommate know how we're getting out. We're just not ready yet."
"Yeah, sure." Desmond said, sarcastically, "Well, get some sleep over it, Tyler. I hope we can work things out in the future."
….
Later, Jessica's Room…
Jessica gasped as she snapped out of her daze. She had been drawing the strange symbols nonstop now, and it looked to be only getting worse as time went on. She had abandoned all hope on a cure long ago. It was apparent that whatever happened could not be removed by any normal means. She feared it was only going to end badly for her. From what she understood, John Garrett had the same thing happen to him, only he embraced the madness and it ultimately lead to his quick death at the hands of Phil Coulson.
That seemed like the only way out at this point.
Suddenly, she heard a knock at her door. Quickly gathering the pages she had been drawing and placing them on her bed, she answered the door. Standing there was a tall bald African American man wearing a long sleeve T-Shirt and blue jeans.
"Hello." He said, "You must be Jessica Smith. I'm Desmond Amartey."
"Hi." She said, nervously shaking his hand, "It's nice to meet you."
"Mind if I step inside?" He asked.
"Sure." Jessica nodded.
Desmond walked in, and instantly saw the drawings on the bed and motioned to them.
"Arthur told me about your…problem." He pointed out, "You mind if I take a look."
"Go right ahead." Jessica sighed.
Desmond picked up the pages and looked at them. He seemed intrigued as he viewed each page.
"So you have been doing this ever since your recovery from the incident with Professor Jenkins, correct?" He asked.
"I'm sorry." Jessica apologized, "Why are you doing this?"
"Look." Desmond said, "I read all about what's happened to you. I think you need someone you can trust on this team…and I'd actually like to be that guy seeing as how my cousin doesn't trust me anymore."
Jessica looked at him seriously.
"Then I need you to do something for me." She whispered, "I don't want to end up going crazy. So if I snap at any point, and I'm begging to be let go…I need you to kill me."
Desmond eyed her seriously.
He was about to say something when there was an announcement over the speakers.
"Attention All S.H.I.E.L.D. Personnel on Arthur William's team." The voice called, "Please make your way to Agent William's office for an important briefing."
Desmond looked at Jessica with eyes of regret.
"We'll discuss this later." He said.
…
Soon, Arthur William's Office…
Once his team had been assembled, Arthur looked over everyone.
"Okay." He said, "Now that we're all here, we can begin."
He pulled out an iPad-like device and pressed a few buttons as an image of a young tan girl with dark red hair appeared on the screen behind him.
"Recently," Arthur stated, "During our last assignment at San Diego Comic Con, a young girl went missing. Her name is Maya Katrina, an 18 Year Old with a perfect childhood and parents who could support her. Until that is, HYDRA kills both of them and drags Ms. Katrina away."
He pressed a few buttons again and an image appeared of a logo featuring a flowerbed.
"We just found out that HYDRA has gotten another front for themselves; Sally Knolls All-Girls School. It's a school that recruits girls off of the streets and helps educate them to get them out of poverty and making them successful in life. It seems like HYDRA's been trying to mimic what I did for Katie. This school has existed before, obviously. But until HYDRA got ownership of it, the amount of girl's they've have has never been this high."
"Question?" Rose asked, "How do you know that HYDRA's been getting these girls rounded up into this school?"
"It's classified." Arthur stated, "Plus, we have this proof that it's HYDRA."
He pressed another button and a commercial for the school began playing. Arthur fast-forwarded through the video until they were at a point where a bunch of girls were doing exercises. Arthur paused and zoomed in on one of the girls in the background who was jogging. It was then that everyone could clearly see the woman was indeed Maya Katrina. It was a bit fuzzy, but the picture matched that of the person who was in the video.
"If she's in there." Arthur stated, "There's a big chance that HYDRA has something big planned for everyone else as well."
He turned the screen off and pulled out four brown envelope folders.
"We researched upcoming events for the school and discovered they have a charity event planned for tomorrow night. Fortunately, I was able to secure some spots, so I will be taking Bruce, Sabrina, and Katie to infiltrate the place. Katie will serve as Bruce's stepdaughter, and Sabrina will serve as my daughter."
"What?!" Bruce and Sabrina asked, simultaneously.
Arthur looked at them seriously.
"The last time we went in." He explained, "I think we made the mistake of being paired with people we know best. We need to start adapting to throw HYDRA off their game. Our basic plan is simple, but I need to know if I can trust you two to get through this."
The two looked at each other and though they looked uncomfortable, they both knew they had to do it.
"All right, Arthur." Bruce said.
"Okay." He replied, handing them their brown envelopes, "Review everything in the packets and be ready for tomorrow…"
….
Later, Sally Knolls All-Girls School Fundraising Event, Miami, Florida…
Arthur stepped out of the white limousine wearing a navy blue wool tuxedo jacket and pants with a white buttoned down shirt and black bowtie. On his feet were a pair of black Oxfords shoes and he wore the recent-S.H.I.E.L.D. Standard communications glasses adapted from the Deathlok program files they recovered from the HYDRA incident a few months back. He looked back as Sabrina exited the car, wearing the same glasses, but dressed in a long golden dress and high-heels. Arthur showed his fake credentials to the Valet, who approved and let them inside.
"So…" Arthur whispered to Sabrina.
"So?" Sabrina whispered back.
"You know after this, it's the weekend, correct?"
"Yeah? What about it?" Sabrina asked.
"I was figuring, you know, I'd let you take the night off with Bruce." Arthur stated, as they entered the building, "You two barely seem to be doing anything outside of the lab anymore, so I thought I'd give you the opportunity to do something else."
"Really?" She asked.
"Had anything in mind?" Arthur asked.
Sabrina thought for a minute.
"There's a nice little fancy restaurant a few blocks away from the base." Sabrina explained, "It's the basic fancy steak dinner with some seafood on the side, but I heard it's very quaint and romantic."
"And sorry for asking, but what kind of drink would you have with him?" Arthur asked.
She looked at him surprised.
"Again, just curious to make sure you and him won't be having any funny business." He assured.
"I heard they have a very nice sparkling white wine that I'd be interested in trying." She answered, as they entered the ballroom. They could see it was packed with thousands of people. Some were parents, some were daughters, and others seemed to be big business owners who wouldn't surprise Arthur if he found they were funding HYDRA just like the Hammer CEO's had tried to with his Mom. There was also a stage with a live band playing a quick jazz tune as some of the guests were dancing around on the dance floor. However, the two were quick to notice Bruce and Katie already on the dance floor. Katie was wearing a black gown and heels while Bruce wore a red velvet suit and tie with brown loafers. The two were moving around the room, twirling, dipping, and briefly spinning around on their own for a while, until they came back to each other. However, Arthur knew what they were really up to. Bruce had recently developed a new hidden device which he could tell Katie was placing on the left and right of the walls, since twice while dancing, he noticed that she went over to the far left and right walls, and was placing her palms tightly against there before coming back to Bruce. These hidden machines would soon take scans across from each other using a sonar-detecting technology which would cover every sound from within the building and capture it within the lenses, giving them all a full blueprint of the building which they could view from their glasses. Finally, the song ended, and everyone applauded.
"Ah!" A voice called out, "Mr. Howard!"
He and Sabrina turned to see a middle-aged woman with greying black hair wearing a bright pink business suit approach them.
"I assume you're Mr. Benjamin Howard, correct?"
"I am." Arthur lied, "This is my young daughter, Bonnie."
"Charmed to meet you." She said, shaking Sabrina's hand, "I'm Sally Knolls, the founder of this school. I was surprised to see you fund at the last minute. But very few get invitations at this time for donating that amount of money."
"Oh," Arthur said, "It was nothing. It was just something that got lost in the mail of my computer, and I found recently. I decided it's important to invest in our children's future and thus, here I am today."
"Well," Knolls replied, looking over the both of them, "I promise tonight we're going to show everyone how much their money has paid off."
"Thank you." Arthur stated, "I hope that this money truly does pay off as much as you say it will."
With that, Sally left as Arthur leaned into Sabrina.
"Okay," He said, "Time to liven things up. Follow Sally, but don't let her know you're following her."
Sabrina nodded and left. As she did, a nearby waiter walked up next to Arthur.
"Something to drink, sir?" He asked.
"Yes." He nodded, "I'll have a martini. Gin, not vodka, obviously. Stirred for 10 seconds, and my daughter just went to use the bathroom, but she'll have a Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon Red Wine, thank you."
….
Meanwhile…
Sabrina followed Sally closely. She saw her turn a corner and then briefly it looked as if she was going to spot Sabrina from where she was standing, so Sabrina ducked a corner and held her breath. She waited a few minutes before turning back to see the women's bathroom door close, so she got up and cautiously went over to the bathroom. Opening it, she was surprised to find nobody was inside.
However, she was then equally taken off-guard when a pair of fists slammed into the back of her neck, and Sabrina suddenly went down unconscious.
…...
Later…
Maya exited the storage closet, having made sure it was firmly locked. She had taken Sabrina's clothes and gear from her, so it would be impossible for the young S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent to escape. The suit looked kind of funny on her, but then she activated the holo-mesh that HYDRA had supplied her with, and within a few seconds Maya had morphed into the exact duplicate of Sabrina.
Making sure she had her hidden weapons ready, Maya walked away and back into the main ballroom until she found Arthur Williams, drinking a Martini.
"Arthur." She said, imitating Sabrina's voice perfectly, "We have to talk. Now."
"Nonsense." Arthur said, handing her a red wine, "I already ordered your red wine. After all, it's your favorite."
Maya looked at the glass, and took a drink, giving an approving smile.
"Thank you." She said.
"It is your favorite after all." Arthur pointed out.
"That it is." Maya replied, playing along, "Now can we please talk in private?"
Arthur nodded and got up to go around the back with her. Maya had been briefed on the guy by Roger before they arrived. Arthur was the best man of S.H.I.E.L.D. and thus, Roger wanted him out of the game. They planned this party though while they had been training young girls, their training had been done in secret. They had been watching videos on proper etiquettes and the like, but hidden within the videos were a number of secret messages hidden within the videos to teach them how to become proper HYDRA Agents. Tonight, there would be a song playing with a hidden subliminal message underneath the music. When that song began, it would activate a trigger word within the young girls and they would murder everyone in the room, completing their HYDRA training. However, Maya had been instructed to lure some of Arthur's lower teammates into separate areas and pick them off one-by-one until Arthur was left and then she could kill him personally.
As much as she wanted to stab him in the jugular now and be done with it, she knew it would draw too much attention, and HYDRA didn't need that now.
Finally, they stood outside, and Arthur looked at her seriously.
"Okay." He asked, "What is it?"
"I've found out what HYDRA's been doing." She said, "They've constructed some kind of hypnosis signal that they're going to use to brainwash the girls so that they'll be killing the guests."
"Damn." Arthur swore.
"It gets worst." Maya continued, "I overheard Sally talking about there being mechanical security upstairs along with pleanty of guards. I think I'm going to need Bruce and Katie on this one. Think you can distract them long enough for us to get up there?"
"I think I can." Arthur said, "Okay, you wait up there. I'll contact Bruce and Katie and let them know what's going on."
Maya nodded and went back inside to head upstairs. Once gone, Arthur began sending out an encrypted signal.
…
Later, in the supply closet…
Sabrina worked quickly, to try and rig up her escape plan. She had woken up in this place a little while ago, only to discover that her clothes and her gadgets had been stolen. Furthermore, she found to her dismay that whoever had taken her belongings had made sure to lock the door, trapping the both of them inside. Fortunately, she had remembered coming up with an idea back in the Academy in an emergency should she ever find herself in this situation. She was surprised she actually was using this now, as she thought that a time might've never come where she could put this experiment to good use.
She had managed to unscrew the lightbulb above and had fortunately found a lightbulb which would have a higher wattage than the one she had removed. Additionally, she had found a simple aerosol can. Sabrina was simply going to overload the light and start a small electrical fire, then use the aerosol can to burn a hole through the door to make her escape.
Seeing as how everything was set, she screwed in the lightbulb and waited a few minutes. Soon, the light burst and a stream of flame was released. Sabrina sprayed the aerosol can and a large flame struck the door, blowing it off its hinges. Sabrina quickly exited and found a nearby fire extinguisher.
Wasting no time, she quickly used it to put out the fires, and then put the door back on its hinges once she was certain there was no more fire left behind.
With that done, Sabrina raced upstairs. It was her best guess as to find whoever kidnapped her, since she knew it was reserved for special guests only.
….
Soon…
Maya watched as Katie Sheila came up the stairs. However, she was surprised when no one was with her.
"What happened?" Maya asked, "Where's Bruce?"
"He got kidnapped." Katie replied, "Set off a small device downstairs that alerted all the HYDRA guards here." Katie explained.
Maya was confused as they had deliberately left the hallway upstairs more vulnerable for her to pick off Katie and Bruce easier. She knew there was something else Katie wasn't telling her, but played along with it for the time being.
"Okay." She said, "I'll lead the way."
With that, Maya directed Katie to the entrance to the room where the computer was in. Katie stepped forward and planted some kind of device on the keypad which covered it completely. Taking out her phone, Katie began typing away, as Maya saw the door was beginning to unlock itself.
Realizing this was going to be her best shot at taking Katie down, Maya crept forward silently, feeling ready for anything.
"By the way," Katie asked, as the next part of the code was unlocked, "I understand you and Bruce are getting ready to take your relationship to the next level."
"Yeah." Maya lied.
"So I take it you'll be going out to that little pizza place a few blocks away from the base." Katie assumed, as the final code was entered.
"Yes." Maya lied, "Just the two of us alone and together."
Katie smiled, as Maya made her move. However, before she could attack, Katie spun around as if she had known the whole time what Maya had been planning and slapped her in the face, sending her staggering back a bit.
"Except Sabrina hates Pizza." Katie corrected, "Oh, and Arthur wanted me to let you know; Sabrina also enjoys sparkling white wine. Not red."
Maya tried to raise communications, but Katie simply got her wristwatch and activated the small EMP which disabled any communications. Unfortunately, that meant Katie couldn't communicate with anyone else either, but she had a feeling she could take this imposter out and get back in time.
The imposter looked at Katie with a snarl unlike anything she had seen before. Without warning, she lunged herself forward, tackling Katie and sending them both into the control room. It was full of machines with little film reels inside and at the back of the room was a large keyboard attached to a large monitor. Before Katie had time to react, Maya got on top of her and pressed her thumbs deep on Katie's neck. Katie gasped as Maya leaned down to look at her with a sadistic grin on her face.
"I always wanted to kill you, you little bitch." Maya admitted, "Although truth be told, we're more alike than you think."
Katie responded by pushing her upper body forward with as much strength, grabbing the imposter's arms and then as quickly as she could, she dropped back down, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent threw the Sabrina imposter off her, quickly getting her bearings.
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Katie demanded, "I've never met you before!"
"No." The Imposter Sabrina admitted, "But we're both on the same coin. The only difference being is that you found a family sooner. I had to wait many years before I had something close to one!"
With that, she threw a punch at Katie who dodged, and side-stepped behind her. Katie slammed her elbows into the imposter, causing her to crash head-first into one of the machines with the film reels inside. With her opponent distracted, Katie got behind her and held both of her foe's arms behind her back.
"STAND. DOWN." Katie demanded, "Whatever's gone wrong with you, maybe I can help!"
The imposter responded with a kick to Katie's kneecaps and then head-butted her from behind. Katie staggered back which allowed the imposter enough room to slip free and deliver another head-butt. Looking at the broken machine, the imposter took some of the film reel out and then quickly wrapped it around Katie's neck, as began to continue choking the life out of her.
Katie gasped, her mind racing quickly for ideas on how to get out of there. She then realized that in order to beat her enemy, she would need to first catch her off-guard, then find a way to KO her quickly and efficiently, and therefore, would have to use anything in the environment to pull it off. Katie then saw not far away from where they were, was the broken door. Apparently, in their battle, one of the wires had come out, and was sparking electricity not far away from Katie's leg.
Focusing as much as she could, Katie used all of her might to stretch her foot out. Her vision was getting blurry, but she couldn't die.
Groaning as the imposter was focused on her face, Katie managed to get her foot on the wire, and then quickly brought it back to her. Katie then did something unexpected and bit down on the imposter's hand. She needed a quick distraction and this worked perfectly, as the imposter howled in pain and let go of her. With her enemy confused, Katie slammed the wire into her foe who screamed as millions of jolts were sent through her body. Taking the opportunity while her foe was distracted, Katie delivered a hard punch to the face, and the imposter Sabrina went down.
Flawless Victory. Katie thought to herself.
With that, she looked at the imposter and gasped. She suddenly realized that the imposter had been wearing one of the holo-meshes S.H.I.E.L.D. had, and it had morphed back into the form of Maya Katrina.
"Shit." Katie swore.
Focusing back at the mission at hand, Katie went over to the computer, and inserted her de-crypter drive. Soon, the computer was open to her, and she quickly searched through the files for anything to shut down this little signal. Unfortunately, when she did find the information on the signal, all she got was a countdown timer which could not be stopped.
"Great." She said, sarcastically, "It's one of those 'can't-turn-it-off' countdowns. Just perfect."
"Katie?"
Katie turned around to see Sabrina standing there in her underwear and looking like hell, with Maya nowhere to be seen. Not taking any chances, Katie quickly went over and looked at the hand where she had bitten Maya and found there was no mark in there.
"Good." Katie said, "You're still you unless HYDRA gave Maya some kind of way to heal quickly, which I doubt they did."
"Maya?!" Sabrina asked.
"It doesn't matter." She said, pulling her phone out, and contacting Arthur on the encrypted line, "Arthur. It's Katie."
"Kate!" Arthur declared, "What's going on?! Is Sabrina all right? What's going on with the imposter?"
"The imposter was Maya Katrina." Katie explained, "She somehow managed to get away but Katie's with me now. HYDRA set up some kind of signal to make these girls into killers but I think I have a way to fix it. I just need to talk to Bruce."
"And how do I know it's you?" Arthur asked, "What's the one thing Katie and I know that nobody else does."
Katie paused for a minute before speaking.
"You admitted to me that you found Sigourney Weaver to be hot after I showed you Aliens." She answered.
Sabrina looked shocked as they waited for a response.
"Sabrina's with you right now, right?" Arthur asked, finally.
"Yes."
There was another pause before Arthur spoke again.
"Okay, tell her she is not to repeat that line to ANYONE." Arthur said, "I'm putting Bruce on."
They waited before they heard Bruce's voice.
"Hello?" He asked.
"Okay, Bruce." Katie said, "I have a plan to reroute the system, but it needs to be very precise and I'm going to need your help for it, okay?"
"All right." Bruce said, "Explain the machine to me."
….
Later, the Main Ballroom…
Arthur looked at his watch. It was almost time for the 'big celebration' on the brochure he was given, and he felt it would no doubt be the final part which would make these girls HYDRA agents. It had been a full thirty minutes since he last spoke with Bruce who had left to be in a more private area in order to walk Katie through the steps for whatever her plan was, and he was beginning to get worried.
Finally deciding to check up on them, Arthur began to rise from his seat when he saw Bruce re-entering the room, followed by Katie.
"Where's Sabrina?" He asked.
"She's taking the back entrance around to the car." Katie told him, whispering in his ear, "I also did a quick check. No sign of Maya anywhere. What do you want to do about it?"
"We'll deal with that later." Arthur said, "Is everything set up?"
"Yep." Katie nodded, "Speaking of which, we might want to leave now and then watch from a good distance."
Arthur nodded as they all left the building. Upon exiting, they found Desmond, waiting for them in a black car with Sabrina sitting in the back.
"Time to go." Arthur said, as they piled in and drove off.
As soon as they were out of sight of the building, Katie pulled out an iPad-like device and covertly hacked into the building's cameras. Instantly, an image of the stage appeared with the various students lining up onstage. A young petite woman with black hair and a purple dress took the microphone.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," She announced, "I am sorry to say that Sally Knolls had to leave unexpectedly, but now, let me introduce to you the students who will perform something very special after our school song has played."
With that, an orchestral music began playing in the backgrounds. Suddenly, the girls turned to each other…
And they began to kiss.
Arthur looked amazed at his recruits.
"Katie…" He said, lost for words, "What did you do?"
"Oh, nothing much." Katie replied, "I figured if I couldn't stop the signal, then I'd just overwrite it with another one to make people extremely nice to each other instead of having them rip each other's throats out."
Arthur shook his head, smiling.
"Katie Sheila…" He said, "Have I told you that you keep finding new ways of surprising me?"
….
Later, The Playground…
Arthur sat at his desk, going over the paperwork. Maya Katrina had gotten away, but it was clear that HYDRA had done something to her. Coordinating with Phil Coulson, Arthur learned that HYDRA made some kind of brainwashing device that completely overwrote a person's mind and made them believe anything the controller wanted them to. Arthur could not imagine a fate worse than death itself, but this seemed to hit pretty close to that idea.
He would have to have the team keep an eye out for Maya in the near-future. Especially since after they left, they eventually discovered the body of the REAL Sally Knolls. She had her throat sliced and was left in a dump buried underneath a pile of metal. The handwork eventually proved to be the work of Maya after some fingerprint tests on the body. HYDRA apparently wanted S.H.I.E.L.D. to know she was a killer now. For whatever reason, Arthur didn't know why HYDRA was taking these great lengths other than under speculation that they were doing this just to re-create what Arthur had done for Katie; take someone with very little experience outside of pop culture, and then morph them into the ultimate super spy. Except while Arthur had worked with Katie and vice-versa, HYDRA was apparently robbing a young girl of any good memories to make her their weapon.
Arthur promised that if and when they captured her, he would have his team do everything they could to give this girl her life back as much as humanly possible.
As he sorted through the file work, he heard a knock at the door. Looking up, he saw Katie standing in the doorway.
"What's up?" She asked.
"Nothing much." Arthur said, "Things have gone quiet all of a sudden."
"And that's never a good sign." Katie pointed out.
"Correct." Arthur nodded, "Right now, HYDRA's gone dark on our radar, so Phil and his team will tell us when they find something out. However, our main concern now boils down to two things; finding Nick Jones, and curing Jess of whatever's been making her draw these mysterious things she's been doing recently."
"And word on what it all means?"
"Skye thinks it could be a map, but if it is, it could be in a million different places. Or possibly not on this planet, considering we live in a world where we know aliens exist."
"True." Katie nodded, "But that means until then, we're basically just waiting?"
"Yes." Arthur stated, "Therefore I let Sabrina and Bruce have that little date night I promised them. It's the least I could do after sending Sabrina out like that in order to draw the imposter out."
"Actually…" Katie sighed, sitting down in a chair in front of Arthur's desk, "That's something I wanted to talk to you about."
"I know." Arthur sighed, rubbing his hands through his hair, "I'm sorry. It's just…I'm S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new best agent."
He stood up and looked at the wall he had been sitting behind.
"It's a lot of responsibility to have." Arthur continued, "And after what happened with that incident at the convention and now almost being infiltrated, it's made me rethink my strategies. I can't keep doing the same thing over and over, I have to improvise."
Katie was silent, but nodded.
"I understand…kinda." She said, "I'm just curious…how did you know there was an imposter?"
"When I shook 'Sally's' hand," Arthur explained, "It felt much stronger for a woman of her age. Plus, her eyes didn't show a reflection of me in there on my glasses. Usually that's a sign of a hologram."
"Okay." Katie said, "Well, since you brought up the idea of trying something new, I actually wanted to ask if you'd mind…helping me with something."
Arthur raised an eyebrow at her.
"What's that?" He asked.
"Shut the door and I'll tell you." She said.
Arthur did so, and Katie sighed.
"Would you mind…dancing with me? She asked.
Arthur looked at her amazed.
"Dancing?" He questioned.
"I've been under a lot of stress also." Katie admitted, "And I read somewhere that sometimes dancing is the best way to relieve tension and get your mind off of some negative thoughts. So perhaps you and I could…"
"Katie…" Arthur said, "As much as I'm a good agent, I'm not that well-versed in dancing. I mean…I saw you dancing with Bruce perfectly and…"
"It didn't feel right." Katie admitted, "Bruce is a great guy, but he had some trouble keeping up when I explained it to him. Truth be told, it's a miracle that we didn't end up making fools of ourselves on the dance floor. I think I feel more comfortable dancing with someone who I owe a lot of thanks to."
Arthur looked at her and sighed. It was probably going to be a bit tiring, but he knew it'd be something new and it could perhaps ease tensions with everything that was going on.
"Alright." He said, "I'll dance with you."
Katie smiled.
"Does your screen play songs?" She asked.
Arthur pressed some buttons on his iPad-like device and handed it to her.
"Take your pick." He explained, "And we're sound-proof, so don't worry."
After scanning through the list of songs, Katie settled upon her choice and selected it.
"Okay." She said, pausing before the music could start, "Let me just get you into position."
She then helped Arthur so that he had a hand on her back and on hand on her hip. After hitting play, a soft slow song began playing and Katie leaned her head on his shoulder while having one arm around his neck, and the other on his back. Katie then proceeded to lead him with slow steps from left to right until Arthur got the rhythm down perfectly. From there, he proceeded to dance with her slowly.
"Thanks again, by the way."
Arthur looked at her confused.
"For what?" He asked.
"Everything." Katie said, "I told you at times I watched action films to help myself relax. There were other times when I didn't know what to do and I just prayed for a miracle to happen. I prayed I'd get a real family to take me in, and you've become that family, Arthur. You're like the awesome father I never had. Even if we didn't meet eye-to-eye on everything at first, you've taken care of me in a way I don't think I'll ever be able to repay."
Arthur nodded. He was still feeling a bit guilty about not telling Katie that he might've met her real mother. He wasn't completely sure still if it really was her mother, or some insane woman with delusions of being Katie's mom. In the end, none of that mattered to him. What was important now was that there was a psychopath who felt she deserved Katie, when she might not have even given birth to her. If she had though, Arthur couldn't allow her to get close to Katie. Everything Katie told him and the way the woman acted to him indicated she had not seen her daughter in a long time, and therefore wasn't an appropriate parent to be around.
Arthur made another promise as they danced. He would keep Katie safe. No matter what happened.
"Thanks." Arthur simply replied, as they continued to dance.
…
Meanwhile, not too far away…
Sabrina sipped her white wine as Bruce sat across from her. Bruce was wearing a dark blue suit and tie while Sabrina wore a sleeveless red dress as they sat in the restaurant located not too far from the Playground base. It felt nice to finally take a break and she was willing to forgive Arthur a little for making her get caught. True, she was a bit pissed, but she was sure Arthur had his reasons.
In the end, she was alive and with Bruce, which was all that mattered to her now.
"This feels really nice." She said, as a waiter stopped by with their main course; a nice steak dinner for two.
"Thank you." Bruce nodded to the waiter, as he looked back at her, "And you're right, it really is nice to be away from all that craziness we've been dealing with recently."
Sabrina held her glass up and Bruce toasted with her.
"So you're not upset about me dancing with Katie?" He asked.
"I was just wondering how you managed to not fall over repeatedly." Sabrina joked.
"Well," He chuckled, "It was all Katie's idea. Trust me, Sabrina; you mean so much to me. I feel that ever since we've bonded over the course of the…events that happened months back, we've grown even closer."
"Arthur was joking saying he wanted to make sure we wouldn't do any funny business." Sabrina pointed out.
"Well," He said with a grin, "The night's still young."
Sabrina looked at him amazed.
"Bruce!" She proclaimed, quietly, "You're not actually thinking about…"
"What…?" He asked, "No! Oh, god no! I was only kidding."
"Oh." Sabrina said, calming her nerves, "Well, it's great having you here with me."
"Great to be here with you." He smiled.
"Promise me one thing." Sabrina asked.
Bruce looked at her suspiciously as she spoke.
"Promise me you'll stay by my side no matter what. Okay?"
Bruce held his hand out and she took it as he gave her a light squeeze.
"I promise." He said, "From the bottom of my heart. I'll never leave your side."
"Good." She said, "So, let's go back to having this wonderful meal, shall we?"
"As you wish." Bruce replied.
….
Meanwhile, an unknown HYDRA Base…
Maya Katrina was sitting in her room. She had failed in her mission and HYDRA had lost a whole investment due to her failure to kill Arthur's team. She had greatly underestimated Katie Sheila and now instead of the girls killing everyone at the party, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent had somehow rewrote the signal so instead they ended up kissing each other.
With that action, Sally Knoll's School had lost all their funds, and HYDRA had to abandon it. They were now relying on Dr. Whitehall and any other HYDRA heads for what little funds they could receive now.
A failure like this would not go unpunished, and Maya feared what they would do.
She heard the door turn and in entered Roger Smith, who looked at her with regrettable eyes.
"You failed your mission." He said.
"I'm sorry, sir." She apologized, tearfully, "I have failed HYDRA, and I have failed you."
He nodded with a sigh.
"I have spoken with Whitehall." He said, "He is willing to give you one more chance to succeed. But first I need to know…did you feel anything wrong when you went in?"
Maya took a minute to think, but shook her head.
"No, sir." She replied.
Roger nodded.
"Very well." He said, "Your punishment will hurt a little, but rest assured, it will be as though it never happened."
He got up and opened the door stopping briefly to look at his protégé.
"Hail HYDRA." He said.
"Hail HYDRA." She replied.
With that he closed the door, and she sat down on the bed in her room, trying to figure out what punishment she would be facing based on her SO's words.
Before she could begin to think, a green gas began filling the room and she began to feel light-headed. Before Maya could even think about what had happened, she was out cold like a light. A minute later, the gas was cleared and some HYDRA agents began to take her body away as Roger followed closely behind. Soon, they were back in the Faustus Device Room, where Maya was chained back into the machine. As Roger entered behind the other agents, he noticed Whitehall was there, looking not so happy with him.
"So you still wish to salvage her?" He asked.
"Yes." Roger replied, "I feel perhaps I can take your advice of experimentation. She will be given the same memories, only now she will have had an… incident that will make her loyal even if she is taken from us. She will work for us because it will be the only thing she will have."
"And what might this incident be that could make her do such a thing?" Whitehall asked.
"You will see." Roger replied, as the agents told them everything was set.
Whitehall took out a waking stimulant and waved it under Maya's nose. Her eyes opened and then the agents forced them open as the Faustus Device began playing again.
"Take a deep breath." A voice told her, "Calm your mind… Compliance will be rewarded."
Maya then dropped into a deep trance. Instantly, images in her mind began playing of her past.
Being abandoned by her family who wanted a boy instead of a girl.
Being put into an orphanage where people teased, bullied and made fun of her.
Taking her rage out, and continuing to do so even after she was told it was wrong.
Being taken in by Roger Smith.
The HYDRA Training. The most grueling part of her life. Time spent training, failing a couple of times before rising above it.
Meeting with Roger Smith about having a procedure done to prove her loyalty.
Being wheeling into an operating room on a gurney wearing a hospital gown.
The surgery which prevented her from ever having children.
Roger made sure that the brainwashing was high enough so her body would believe itself to have been sterilized years ago. Something the Red Room had done would now come into handy in ensuring that Maya Katrina showed no regrets in her role.
If she was to have a family, she would only share her future with HYDRA. She would not share it with anyone else, but him.
To be continued….
So there you go! Apologies again for taking so long to get this up, but I hope this is good enough for all of you. Next time, the team gets some down-time and Arthur joins Coulson in learning how to make a deal with the government. Plus, Tyler prepares for his great escape with Ward. I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible. Once again, I own NOTHING but my OC's. This is for FAN-Purposes only, so PLEASE don't sue!
