4. September 21
She had been released from the hospital two weeks after visiting S.H.I.E.L.D. and being told about her past.
A young agent had taken her to her flat, only to find the door pried open and her small apartment in a chaos. She had to wait by the door, terrified, while Agent Wright searched the two rooms for intruders.
"This is quite a rough area, you know," she said meekly when he came back. "It might not have anything to do with… well…"
Agent Wright shook his head. "We'll relocate you," he said. "I'm sorry, but you might not be safe here anymore. You should get inside and start packing" This being said, he took out his cell phone and started dialing.
The rooms had been torn apart, thoroughly so. All the drawers had been torn out, her clothes lay on the floor, the mattress of her bed thrown to the floor and ripped apart. Her pulse running, she pulled her suitcase from the wardrobe and started to sort through her clothes, throwing the pieces that looked whole into it. Then she rummaged through her documents, putting everything important into the suitcase as well. She had just started looking for her laptop when Wright entered the room.
"I'm almost done," she said. "I mean… there really isn't much left, you know…"
"I'm sorry," he said sympathetically. "But I got you a new flat. We can go as soon as you're ready"
"A new flat? How did you manage that?" she asked, completely surprised. It had taken her weeks to find an affordable apartment, even in this area of D.C.
"It pays, working for the government," he grinned.
"I think they got my computer", she said.
"Anything important on it?"
"Not really, it was quite new," she answered, striding through the room to the darts board on the far wall. She took it of, turned it around and reprised a flat metal object. "Looks like they didn't find the external hard drive", she said, smiling this time.
"We should go", he said. "You want me to take your suitcase?"
The car stopped in front of an old building in a small side street.
"There's no elevator, that's a minus," Wright began, heaving her suitcase out of the trunk. "But it's in a better neighborhood, closer to S.H.I.E.L.D. and we can keep a better eye on you"
"I'm sorry, but I can never afford this", she said quietly and stopped in front of the building.
"Don't worry," he replied. "The rent's gonna be taken off your salary"
"Begging your pardon? Salary? What do you mean, salary?"
"Come in," he said and opened the entrance door. "What I mean with salary? Your salary from S.H.I.E.L.D., of course"
"But I'm of no use," she said bitterly.
"Of course you are. Or will be. This way, follow me"
They climbed three sets of stairs and then went down a narrow hallway, tinted in the brownish shade of green she associated with the late 1950's. The linoleum floor was a weird shade of yellowish grey, but otherwise it looked very clean. He stopped after passing two doors and put her suitcase down, then fumbled in his pockets.
"The apartment is empty at the moment, which means that every agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. can enter it with their ID card and a code. You will be picked up tomorrow morning and brought to the HQ, get your own ID and have the apartment written on your name. That means that no card but yours opens the doors from the outside." He pulled out his card and swiped it through the reader on the wall next to the door, then entered a code. She heard a soft clicking noise, and he opened the door. "After you," he said in a friendly manner.
She found herself in a living room about the size of her old apartment. At the far wall was a modern-looking kitchenette, along with a table and four chairs around it. There was also a small sofa with a matching table, and even a small TV set.
"Bigger and better than the old one, I hope?" Wright grinned.
"Much better" She shook her head in disbelief.
"The bedroom is over there" Wright said, pointing to the left, where a small hallway led the way to a doorframe without a door in it. She could see part of a bed through it. "Bathroom is right next to it. Of course you can buy new furniture whenever you want," he added. "Just tell someone from headquarters before you throw the bed away, you know?" He made for the door.
"I don't know what to say", she said. "Except for, well, thank you…"
"You'll be fine", he replied. "But before I forget, here" He handed her an ID card. "It's only valid for a day", he explained. "The code is 69646358, it's written down here…" He gave her a piece of paper with said code written on it. "Well now, I gotta go to work. Enjoy the rest of your day, ahm…"
"Jo", she said.
He smiled and opened the door. "Bye, Jo," he said.
"Bye," she said and watched him walk down the hallway, keeping a foot in the open door. A figure passed him as he went down the stairs. They seemed to exchange a greeting, and the figure drew nearer.
"Josephine?" It was Steve. He was wearing sports gear, his dark blonde hair a sweaty mess. "What are you doing here?"
"Looks like I just moved in", she said.
"I thought you had an apartment?" he raised his eyebrows at her.
"Note the past tense," she said. "When we arrived there today the door was pried open and the rooms were taken apart, so Agent Wright decided to… wait, what did he call it?, ah yeah, to relocate me. And well, here I am…"
He smiled wryly. "I'd say it's nice to have you here, but given the circumstances…"
She tried to smile back, but had the impression that it was a rather crooked smile. Nobody said a word for what felt to her like much too long a time. "Well, I should start to… well, get my stuff sorted. Unpack, you know?" she stuttered.
"Yeah, right, I… I should really take a shower, I'd say. Before I get really smelly and… yeah"
"So, I… I'll see you, okay?"
"Yeah, sure, okay. Ahm. Yeah"
He turned around and made for his door. She started closing the door to her new flat. Her new, very alien, very empty, very silent flat. She opened the door again, glad to see him still fumbling around with his ID card.
"Ahm, Steve? I mean, I know I'm being really brash now, but… I can't be alone tonight… And I excel in ordering pizza"
He smiled. "Is seven all right?"