Hi, everyone. Welcome to another chapter of The Other Team. Sorry about the lateness, but I've been pretty busy with things here where I am now. Classes and certain disagreements with things have kept me busy and…well…unfortunately about a week ago…we lost a good man. In case you aren't aware, on Feburary 27th of this year, actor Leonard Nimoy passed away. I remember last year I did a whole 80's sort-of tribute of action scenes for Harold Raimis's passing in my Avengers: Superior to us fanfic, and this one I had written to hit close to home in terms of how we look at life and growing old, and when news came of Leonard's death, I wanted to rewrite this part so it tied in with the infamous lines that became the theme of the original Star Trek Trilogy that are still remembered to this day. Sometimes, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, while in other cases; sometimes the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many. I'm taking this moment to get it out as I'm still recovering from the shock and sadness, but I always wanted to meet Leonard one day (I already met his successor Zachary Quinto one time, and no matter what anybody says, I don't think the legacy of Spock could be in better hands,) and it saddens me I will never be able to have had the chance to meet such a beloved iconic actor. So now, this chapter is also dedicated to the man who helped make Mr. Spock a household name and who helped inspire generations both now and will continue to until the end of time. I hope this chapter reminds us all to look at life and live it to its fullest and to always live for as long as we can. It's what Leonard would've wanted. On that note, this is unfortunately a shorter chapter, but I did try to flesh it out the best I could, and there are certain plot points that will be revisited in this story later on, so try to remember that. With that said, I come bringing another chapter that hopefully you'll all like. So with that said, let's jump into this latest part in the story. Oh, and as always, I own NOTHING except my OC's. This is for FAN-Purposes ONLY, so please don't sue! With that said, enjoy!
Hammer Worldwide Systems, Los Angeles, California…
Justine Hammer was a much better CEO than her husband ever was.
Following the business with Ivan Vanko two years prior, Justine had taken over her husband's company as he was currently serving a good number of years in Seagate Prison, due to his part in aiding the Russian madman and almost destroying the Stark Expo, and the millions of lives that would have been lost if not for Stark's intervention.
Since then, Justine completely revamped Hammer Weapons Systems into Hammer Worldwide Systems. The company was no longer a weapon designing business, but rather a global network business, shipping out thousands of phones each day. Some would call this impossible, but even with Justin Hammer locked up in Seagate Prison, Justine was still a powerful woman with plenty of money and resources to get the job done.
Still, just because she owned the business, it didn't mean that she got bored with it every now and then.
Justine ran a hand through her black hair, the lines under her eyes showing a clear indication of constantly staying awake in order to sort out all this paperwork.
Suddenly, the doors to her office opened and in walked a young girl around 13 with strawberry-blonde hair and wearing a red business suit.
"Need any help, Mom?" Her daughter asked.
"No thank you, Sasha." Justine said, "I'm quite…"
Before she could finish, there was a large explosion that shook the entire building, causing both women to fall to their feet.
As they looked up, they realized two things. One was that the doors had been completely blown open and a fire was already blocking their way out. Second was that there was a new person in the room. She wore a full-body black latex bodysuit, a metal belt with different pouched, and a gun holster worn on her left side. She had short dark black hair and seemed to be around 30 or so, yet despite that had a pretty impressive figure even with the wrinkles on her face.
"You're coming with me." She said.
….
The Spec-Ops Plane…
Arthur and Katie sat on the couch having finished their little movie marathon. Arthur had to admit it was pretty good. He felt the better of the two movies he had seen was Goldfinger. Katie told him this is what she would imagine S.H.I.E.L.D. should be like when she joined, and Arthur couldn't blame her for having a bit of disappointment when she found out it was otherwise. The only real problems Arthur had was how Sean Connery's Bond would be able to get away with so much property damage both public and private, and not be made to suffer a considerable amount of paperwork, instead being imminently invited to have lunch with The President of the United States, following the success of stopping Auric Goldfinger from blowing up Fort Knox despite the amount of damage he had done inside the vaults and over in Switzerland. Still he liked the performance and even admitted to Katie that for him it was like an adrenaline-fueled ride and even indulged in joining Katie whenever she repeated a line from the film.
Afterwards, they watched the Indiana Jones series. While Arthur thought there were some good ideas such as trying to create an action scene in the time of World War II, he felt it could've been done without having the supernatural elements added to it. One of the things he didn't like about World War II Propaganda stories was how they would exaggerate certain elements. A good example he told Katie was when he was a kid, he found his Dad had vinyl's of the old Captain America Radio Show following the victory over HYDRA back in World War II. When he listened to it, he became imminently disappointed with how the actor portraying Cap seemed too cocky to be someone who embodied the spirit of everything a person could be. Worst yet was the inaccuracy of having a Peggy Carter stand-in (named Betty Carver,) was portrayed as being a helpless woman who constantly relied on Cap to come in and save her. This was one of the reasons he appreciated Goldfinger more than any of the Indy films since in that one, Bond had convinced Pussy Galore to help him with words rather than by force (although there were some action sequences where Bond fought her, but it didn't take anything away from the plot,) whereas the girls in the Indiana Jones movies seemed to usually end up relying on Indiana to bail them out.
Still, it was a good night, and Arthur admitted that he felt a little bit more better and relaxed after watching these films and even expressed interest in seeing more sometime.
Afterwards, he finished his paperwork and fell asleep on his desk.
He was woken up with a start early the next morning when his table communications began ringing.
Opening the link, he was met with a short greying hair and wearing an equally grey colored suit and stripped tie.
"Agent Blake." Arthur said, regaining his composure.
"Agent Williams." Blake replied, nodding, "How are you feeling?"
"Good." Arthur assured, rubbing his eyes, "Don't mind me. I was just closing my eyes while I had the chance to. Finished all the paperwork."
"Good thing." Blake said, "Because I have your next assignment being transmitted in. But I warn you, Williams; it may wake you up but it might disturb you at the same time. Good luck to you. Blake out."
Arthur nodded, as the information was transferred onto his table.
Then Arthur saw one of the images as his eyes widened, and he looked as if he had been kicked hard in the gut.
….
Later…
"I'm sorry," Katie asked, as the team stood in Arthur's office, "But what has you worked up so much about this case?"
"This woman." Arthur said, pulling up a larger hologram so the others could see.
It was a black and white image of a woman. She wore a full-body black latex bodysuit, a metal belt with different pouched, and a gun holster worn on her left side. She had short dark black hair and seemed to be around her mid-thirties, with wrinkles on her face, despite having an impressive body build.
"No…" Jessica said, "It can't be…"
"I'm afraid it is." Arthur said, "In case anybody else doesn't know, the woman in that image is Penny Gelt. This photo was taken earlier today at Hammer Worldwide Systems from their security footage. Apparently Ms. Gelt broke into the company and kidnapped current CEO Justine Hammer and her daughter Sasha. Intel says that the helicopter that picked them up was on autopilot and reports say a helicopter matching the same description as the one Gelt used was recently spotted in Rio. Specifically near the Tijuca Forest."
"So we're essentially going to the chopper." Katie said, "What's this all about that's got you all worked up, though?"
Arthur looked away regrettably for a bit as Katie now seemed really concerned.
"What?" She asked.
"I promised myself now that I'd let you in on all the details." Arthur said, "Katie…do you remember when Hill mentioned to you that I had an 'incident,' that had been completely omitted from my files?"
Katie nodded remembering what Hill had told her when Katie had been recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Well," Arthur sighed, pointing to the photo of Penny Gelt, "This woman is the incident. She's my first protégé."
Everyone looked astonished as Arthur looked at the ground regrettably.
"During the final months of my first year at S.H.I.E.L.D.," Arthur explained, "The World Security Council took interest in me and demanded that Fury consider giving me my own team. Fury said he'd give me a test first to see if I was worthy of leading one. Penny Gelt was assigned as my protégé, one of the brightest and toughest students we had at the time. Our mission was infiltrating a base in Egypt and recovering a new device that some bad guys there had stolen."
He closed his eyes trying to hold something back.
"Turns out they had found some kind of portal…a gateway to another dimension not unlike the Tesseract." Arthur said, "We were looking at it when there were reinforcements that arrived. I forgot to take them into account because I was busy on coordinating with my own team. One of them came at me with a knife while I was disabling the other and Penny…she…"
Arthur took a deep breath before continuing.
"She pushed herself and the guy into the portal." Arthur said, "She disappeared and the base collapsed. That's why I've been hesitant about being on a team. It's also one of the catalysts that made me want to push myself further. I wanted a Level 7 Position to be my own man, take on these cases without having to be overseen with pressure on me. I got Penny trapped wherever, and now I have to get her back."
"Arthur…" Katie said, speechless, "I'm sorry…I'm so, so sorry."
Even the others had to admit, it was difficult to imagine Arthur making a mistake, let alone admit that he might've caused the death of another person and felt remorse over it.
"It's quite alright, Katie." Arthur said, "That was in the past. Unfortunately it seems Ms. Gelt has buried her loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D. in the past as well. Therefore, it falls upon us to bring her in. We do this by the book; we must capture her whether she wants to be brought in or not. Anybody who does otherwise will answer to me. We only take the shot if there is no other option. Understood?"
The group nodded.
"Good." Arthur said, "Then here's the battle plan; Katie, you're assigned to be with Jessica. Jessica, I'm sorry that this'll be the first time you'll have to train with Katie, but I trust you to help her through this first mission so she knows proper combat and how to carry a gun. Understood?"
"I do, sir." Jessica responded.
"Good," He said, "So whilst we're out and about, Faye will be with me. We'll split up and cover the area of the forest. We need to catch Penny as quick as possible, and then ask her where the heck she has Justine and Sasha Hammer locked up in."
"And what about us?" Sabrina asked, "What will Bruce and I be doing while you're out and about?"
Arthur looked at her and sighed.
"You're going to try and figure out the most important question I have a feeling that Ms. Gelt won't be answering."
"Which is?" Bruce asked.
Arthur looked at the photo of Penny.
"You're going to try and discover why the hell she looks thirty-six years older in the three years since I last saw her."
….
Later, The Tijuca Forest, Rio…
The Area had been evacuated once Arthur had given the command and S.H.I.E.L.D. identification badge, so now the group was split up. Katie found herself now in a camouflage pants and shirt holding a special S.H.I.E.L.D.-issued rapid-fire gun, and trekking through the jungle with Jessica who was dressed in similar attire and carrying the same kind of gun. Normally, Katie would be excited and feel like she was in the movie Predator right now with all the tension coming about a mysterious force with unnatural abilities, but right now, she had her mind trained on the mission. The task was to get in, get Penny, and get the hell out of there.
Jessica had explained the gun to Katie. It was a newly-adapted model of the one created by two other S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents…Fitz and Simmons as she recalled. The original gun had been named the Night-Night Gun and was originally intended to put down people who had some unnatural abilities to sleep. This one had the option for stunning meta-humans, or normal people as well. Jessica had told her to remember that this gun was used in case of extreme emergencies, and Katie understood perfectly well. It seemed Arthur was intent on bringing his old protégé in to ensure that she would have another chance to put things right. Since Arthur had done this for Kate, she owed Penny that much.
Eventually, they finally came across the chopper which was empty. Arming their guns, the two women crouched down and crept over to the helicopter. Once close enough, they popped up and pointed their guns inside, only to find the transport was empty.
"Arthur?" Katie said, activating a walkie-talkie, "We've found the chopper, but it's empty. Do you copy, over?"
"Copy that." Arthur said, "We're still on the lookout for Penny. Rendezvous with us. Over?"
"10-4." Katie said.
With that, she shut the walkie-talkie off and began walking back along the path with Jessica. Truth be told, Jessica was impressed with Katie. She had no longer believed that Katie wasn't a spy looking into the team. She was proud of how far along she was coming. Of course, after this Katie would be tasked with the other basic S.H.I.E.L.D. tests to prove her worth to the organization. She only hoped Katie would be able to accomplish all of that without her help.
….
Meanwhile…
Arthur continued to walk along the path with Faye. He felt that he couldn't wait for the others to catch up, and began picking up speed. If there was ever one thing he regretted in S.H.I.E.L.D., it was how his mistake had ended up supposedly costing the life of a young and promising agent. Since then, he was determined not to make a mistake ever again.
As they turned a corner on a widing road of the trail they were on, Faye took this opportunity to speak with Arthur.
"You're handling this well, all things considered." She pointed out.
"Am I?" Arthur asked.
"You felt okay enough to admit you weren't the perfect agent we all thought you were, so that's something." Faye pointed out.
"It's not just that what's bothering me." Arthur said, stopping and looking away, "It's what happened to Penny. Last time I saw her she was young, but she looked as experienced as I was then. She had a whole future ahead of her, and I ended up taking that future away from her. Even if it wasn't me who knocked her into the portal, I'm still responsible for this current predicament."
He looked at the ground.
"What if my mistake changed her, Faye?" Arthur asked, "What if my actions are what caused her to do something this insane? Not to mention she managed to get through a series of high-paid security guards and systems. True, she was good, but nobody can be THAT perfect? What if something happened to her and she's changed physically as well? What am I supposed to do, Faye?"
He paused and realized he wasn't getting a response.
"Faye?" He asked.
He spun around and saw to his amazement that Faye was lying on the ground unconscious. Standing over her body was none other than Penny Gelt herself.
"You could ask me, Arthur." Penny suggested, sarcastically, "Even after all this time, you never asked me how I felt about the mission, or even shared such personal details about yourself with me."
"Penny…" Arthur declared, amazed, "Is it really you?!"
"Of course it's me, idiot." Penny spat, "You look good, Arthur. How long has it been since Egypt? Three years?"
"How did you get back?" Arthur asked, "Why do you look so older, and why have you kidnapped Justine Hammer and her daughter?"
"This is what I mean." Penny said, her sarcasm clear in her voice, "That's all you ever did, Arthur. Your priorities were always about your mission. Never to your team."
"I'm a different person now, Penny." Arthur assured, "But I believe deep down inside, you're still the brave and loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent I knew back then."
"Then your beliefs are sadly wrong." Penny told him, "After I was knocked into the portal, I waited there. I waited praying you would come and rescue me. But nobody ever came. Time moved differently where I was, and I spent thirty-six years waiting. Turns out someone else managed to get me out in what was only three years here. I spent a lot of time in there thinking and I realized S.H.I.E.L.D. never cared for me. Thus, I joined up with the people who saved me. They have plans for you, Arthur."
"Who are they?" Arthur demanded.
"You can't know." Penny replied, "But they will come for you when they are ready. However, I can only tell you the codename of the person that helped bring me back and offered me my new job. It's someone you know, Arthur."
She shot a look at him.
"Her codename's Igraine."
"I don't know anybody of that name." Arthur admitted.
"Exactly." Penny told him, "You'd never know if you did things besides work. Mother to King Arthur of English lore? Also the mother to his evil half-sister, Morgana Le Fey?"
"Sorry." Arthur apologized sarcastically, "I spent all of last night with my team making amends for my life, so I'm kind of tired, but I still want to offer you the position back at S.H.I.E.L.D. Please, Penny…come back to us."
"No, Arthur." Penny said, "I'm never going back. But if you're wondering where the other Hammer Industry Family members are…you're about to find out."
"I'm sorry, Penny." Arthur admitted, "I assume once we get you into interrogation, you'll be willing to tell us where they are."
With that, he took out his pistol and fired a couple of rounds from his own Night-Night Gun at her. Then something unexpected happened. Much to his surprise, a black-opaque hole opened up beneath Penny's feet and she slid down inside, almost as if she were riding an elevator. The shots fired missed her completely.
"What the-?!" Arthur asked, astonished, "Where'd you…"
"Right here, Arthur."
He turned around only to be met with a punch to the face by Penny.
….
The Spec-Ops Plane…
"Oh, dear this is not good." Sabrina said, as she watched Arthur being dragged into darkness, and the signal to his secret camera being lost.
They had all made sure to install hidden cameras on each of their fellow agent's shirts so they could see what was happening if something went wrong. Things had not just gone wrong, they had gone horribly wrong.
"Guys." Bruce asked, "You saw that?"
There was a pause as Jessica and Katie looked at their phones and checked to review the footage from Arthur's camera that had been sent to them.
"Copy." Katie said, "How the hell does a girl do that?!"
"Well," Sabrina said, pulling up a file, "The good news is that I might just have an answer to that. It appears that Ms. Gelt seems to be emitting a destabilization of molecules around her by splitting them with a signal sent out from cerebral signals that escape her body…"
"Sorry." Katie asked, "In English please?"
Sabrina sighed.
"Basically, she's creating black holes with her mind that she can control with her brain." Sabrina said.
"What?!" Katie asked.
"I think it's because she had so much exposure to that other world." Sabrina explained, "At least from her side. I think part of it managed to somehow bond with her cells, allowing her to pass through portals of her own creation. Her cells in the video feed being filtered through our scanners actually show them becoming unstable."
"Copy that." Katie replied, "It's still scary that she spent thirty-six years in another world, while only three years passed here."
"That's a story for another day." Bruce replied, "What we do have, at least I think, is a way of stopping her."
"Okay." Katie replied, "Go on."
"Basically, her emissions are similar to that of the tesseract. It is possible that we can close her portals. We have some tech here which was based on Loki's staff that he used to both open and close the portal. Given to us before S.H.I.E.L.D. took the staff away for safe keepings. I think we can rig up something that should help neutralize her, but it means that we'll only have a 50/50 shot of this idea of mine actually working and subduing her powers. The best-case scenario is that we disable her powers and she make the choice to either aid S.H.I.E.L.D. again, or remain in prison."
"What's the other scenario?" Jessica asked.
Bruce sighed.
"The other scenario is that since this is Asgardian technology we're dealing with, something that's beyond anybody's comprehension, there is a chance that we could end up accelerating her power and wind up killing her as well as everything else on the planet."
Jessica took a deep breath.
"Have it ready for us by the time we get back." She finally said.
"Okay." Bruce said, "Come on, Sabrina. We've got work to do."
….
Soon…
Eventually, the two picked up Faye and brought her back to the Spec-Ops plane. Upon returning, Faye regained her consciousness and imminently, the three went to the labs.
"Okay." Bruce said, as he handed the agents their new guns, "These modified weapons have been infused with a gamma-like wave blast. This has been modified so if you shoot it into one of her black holes, it'll create a feedback loop that separates her powers and realigns her molecules to how they were before."
"Basically, we're giving her a banquet of energy that'll hopefully overload herself and thus cause a sort-of small, but effective nuclear fusion split that shouldn't destroy us. Hopefully."
"On the plus side," Bruce pointed out, "We managed to locate Arthur and Penny."
….
Later…
Arthur awoke with a groan.
He got up and realized all of his gear had been taken from him. Quickly checking his surroundings, he realized he was inside a cave of sometime.
"It's just like old times, isn't it, Arthur?"
He got up and saw Penny standing not too far away from him with her back and one foot up against the wall. Next to her was a giant opening of some kind, but it was covered by a black cloth which hung from the ceiling.
"Remember how it was when we infiltrated that base? The building had that underground tunnel to store the device we were called in for?" She reminded him, "Well, time to have a little trip down memory lane."
"Penny…" Arthur said, seriously, "I don't want to have to hurt you, but if you think that I'm going to let you get away with kidnapping Justine Hammer and her daughter…"
"Tsk, Tsk, Arthur." Penny smiled, "Don't focus on the future now. Like I said, this is about reliving the past."
With that, Penny walked over to the curtain and a black hole opened underneath her which absorbed the curtain. Now Arthur could see what was behind there. Hanging from above the ceiling was both Justine and Sasha Hammer. Both were suspended above the ground by a series of chains.
"I believe you already know about Mrs. Hammer and her daughter." Penny smiled, "Now it's time for you to choose."
"Choose what?!" Arthur asked, "What do you want from me?!"
"To understand the insanity I felt when you abandoned me!" Penny declared, "You have to live with the guilt now that your actions caused me to be stuck in a living hell until years later!"
"You don't think I asked to try and retrieve you?!" Arthur asked, appalled, "I wanted to rescue you, Penny! I did!"
"But you didn't." Penny pointed out, "And now, I'm going to make you realize that it isn't as easy as closing the case and writing off the person who went missing as 'deceased.' So now you choose, Arthur Williams. Who stays and who goes? Is it the CEO of one of this planet's most trusted worldwide communications projects, or is it the innocent daughter who got caught in all of this madness just because she got involved with being a protégé to her better? Who do you choose to kill? You have thirty seconds."
"What?" Arthur asked.
"Oh, please." Penny grinned, "It's hardly the first time you had to choose between what was and wasn't important."
Arthur stood there, soaking in everything that she was accusing him of. Despite her insanity, Penny was right in every sense. He had abandoned her after asking only once to try and plan a retrieve and rescue, and when told no, gave up instantly.
"Twenty seconds…" Penny reminded him.
"What if I refuse?" Arthur asked.
"Then they both die." Penny answered, "But it's your call."
Arthur suddenly realized something. In the corner of his eye, he could see two shadows creeping across the room. He didn't show this to Penny and instead realized what he needed to say.
"Ten…" Penny said.
"Thank you!" Arthur declared.
"…I'm sorry?" Penny asked.
"Thank you for showing me how you were right." Arthur said, "You're right. I wasn't a good man then. Hell, I don't even think I can forgive myself for what I did even now."
"Arthur what are you doing?" She demanded.
"You spent the good majority of your life being stuck in that limbo dimension for nearly your whole lifetime, and I understand now!"
"What the hell are you talking about?!" She demanded.
Arthur grinned.
"It's regret. It's regret that you never got a chance to live the rest of your life! Just like I never had the chance to try and find you."
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" She declared, pointing her hand at him, "WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE ME?!"
Then Katie came up from behind her, pointing a gun to her head, at first Arthur thought she was going to fire, but instead, she just held the gun there allowing Penny to notice and begin to open a black hole to pull them both down. Arthur was going to scream out in shock and horror, but then Katie fired as they began to fall into the hole. Then a bright white light rose out of the black hole, pushing the two out, and causing them both to fall on their backs as the hole closed.
Penny got back up and raised her hand, attempting to create a new black hole, but to her horror, nothing happened.
She looked up at Katie horrified as she got back up, grinning.
"Who the hell are you and what did you do?!" Penny demanded.
"My name's Katie Sheila." Katie introduced, kicking Penny in the head, knocking her out, "And I'm your replacement who just gave you your resignation."
Arthur was left speechless as he approached her. Without saying another word, he did something Katie never thought he'd ever to.
He quickly embraced her into a hug. She held her hands out awkwardly, before returning the hug back.
For the first time, Arthur felt he could put his past behind him now.
Well, after one last thing.
….
Later, on the Spec-Ops Plane…
Arthur entered the plane's holding cell where Penny was being held in. She was now wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D. Prisoner Uniform as they were bringing her to a S.H.I.E.L.D. Prison where she would live out the rest of her days in.
"I just want you to remember something." Arthur told her, "My teammate let you live."
She didn't answer him and just looked away.
Arthur sighed, trying to make his apology.
"We're taking you to a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. Prison." He explained, "You'll be buried there for the rest of your life even though you don't have any powers anymore. But I can help speed up the time you serve if you tell me who this Igraine person you're working for is. Tell me that and I'll use whatever power I have to help make it less painful for you."
She remained silent and Arthur sighed. It was a lost cause by this point.
"Suit yourself." He said, turning to leave, "Just one thing; I'm not going to be coming back to see you now, and don't expect me to send you a Christmas card either. Because you put yourself in this position. Katie helped me realize that S.H.I.E.L.D. is not built on strengths or skills, but the ability to risk it all for people they don't even know, or will even know S.H.I.E.L.D. again afterwards."
He left Penny alone in there.
….
Later…
After dropping Penny off, Arthur began to do his paperwork again. There was a knock at the door.
"Come in." He said.
The door opened and Katie stepped inside.
"Mind if we take a few moments again?" She asked.
"Not at all." Arthur answered.
She sat across from his table as he finished signing the last document.
"There is one thing that's bothering me." Arthur said, "Penny said she was rescued by someone else. This person had a codename of 'Igraine' and she said this Igraine knew me apparently."
"Do you know anybody that it could be?" Katie asked.
Arthur sighed.
"No." He said, "There's a long list of people I can think of that would want revenge on me or S.H.I.E.L.D. in general, that if I wrote it down, it could take me the next five hundred years to finish."
"So what's the plan?" Katie asked.
"Well," Arthur explained, "I put in a call for Director Fury if I could visit the Triskelion and do some more research, but he said no as he's keeping a tighter grip on security there. However, I did manage to get a way to investigate the next best place that would hold possible information; The Hub."
"You guys have names for everything, don't you?" Katie smirked.
"Yeah." Arthur shrugged, " Basically, all you need to know is that it's a classified location where other worldwide missions are coordinated from. You'll be taking your actual first group training mission if all goes well with how you're doing now."
"Yeah." Katie said, flexing a muscle to show some definitive shape in its early stages, "Faye and Jessica have had me training so much, that I wouldn't mind putting on a mask like Captain America when the time came."
"Oh, leave the normal-yet-super-heroics to those like Barton, Romanoff." Arthur smirked, "Hell, I think even Moorse could give you a lesson or two when she's not so busy."
He smiled, before looking at her seriously.
"You know," He said, "You had me really worried today. I thought I was going to lose another protégé, another teammate. But instead you ended up impressing me more than you realize."
"Of course." Katie smiled, before being serious, "I'm sorry about what happened to Penny, though."
He sighed.
"You know…" Arthur admitted, "Even though she's a lost cause, I keep asking myself if I had tried harder, could I have saved her from ending up the way she did? Was really finding her now worth it?"
"I think it was," Katie admitted, "You know what the cost would've been if she came back?"
Arthur shook his head.
"The cost would've been your soul breaking, never knowing whether she had truly lived or not."
Arthur thought about it and nodded.
"That was….very poetic of you, Katie." He admitted, "Where'd you learn that?"
"From this." Katie said, pulling something out of her backpack.
She pulled out another DVD which surprised Arthur. It was a 3-Disc Set of The Star Trek Trilogy.
"Surprised you have that on you." Arthur pointed out.
"Yeah." Katie admitted, "Admittedly, I'm not that big of a sci-fi buff, but these films do have some action in it. But moreover, they have important lessons that we can both learn from. In fact, before me and my sister escaped, I brought this with me because I figured when I could, I'd try and watch it again if I was ever having doubts about my life."
She looked at him.
"Want to find out more about it?" She asked.
"Sure." Arthur shrugged, "Why not?"
"Perfect." She replied, popping out the first disc 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan' and putting it in.
….
"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" –Leonard Nimoy, 1931-2015.
….
Epilogue…
Hammer Worldwide Systems, Los Angeles, California…
Justine and Sasha sat down in their seats after everybody had welcomed them home, and thanked S.H.I.E.L.D. for bringing the two back alive even after everything that went down with the last CEO. Soon afterwards, the two began preparing work for a new announcement that would be held a few days later. The two would explain to their employees that with the rising costs of cell phones these days, Hammer Worldwide Systems would have a once-in-a-lifetime event where they would give out ten billion cellphones worldwide, to the population for free.
While this would surprise everyone, they would've been even more surprised if they noticed that Justine and Sasha had identical scars on their arms.
…
Earlier…
Justine and Sasha suddenly found themselves in a rather lavish dining hall. It didn't make any sense. One second they were in their company which was burning down around them, and the next thing they knew was that they were in this rather pristine room. However, they noticed it was dimly lit, and that there was another person in the room, her face hidden by the shadows. It was a female, who had auburn hair, but apart from that, they couldn't make out any other facial features.
"Ah!" She said, noticing the two, "I'm glad you two finally made it. Let me apologize for the surprise, but I had to get your attention somehow."
"Well, you certainty got it." Justine said, sarcastically, "Who are you and what do you want with us?!"
"All in good time," The woman in the shadows replied, "Come! Sit!"
The two sat closest to her, and then Justine got a better look at the woman's face and gasped.
"Wait!" She said, "I remember hearing about you! You worked for my husband at one point but you're…"
"The rumors of my demise are false." The woman answered, "But yes, I did do an internship for Justin Hammer back when he was just starting the company out."
She held up a wine bottle and Justine nodded. The woman poured her a glass and then offered it to Sasha who replied with a nod as well.
"Okay." The woman in the shadows declared, "So, here's what's happening. When I was interning for your husband, Ms. Hammer, I had a theory about an idea that I wasn't ready to share yet. So when I graduated, I moved away and had a good life. But then something happened which made me share my idea with other people who listened with the utmost interest."
"What was that idea?" Justine asked, taking a sip of wine, sheepishly.
The host sighed.
"It was that when last I checked, the world had too many secret kept locked away. Those in power couldn't be trusted. And so many years later, the government politicians have shoved their heads so far up their asses that I ultimately decided to fake my 'death' as you pointed out, and come up with a better idea to our world problems. War, famine, pollution, unemployment…it's not going to be solved with money."
"Then what do you propose?" Sasha asked.
The woman smiled.
"I require your consent first." She explained, "I assure you that you two are vital in my plans to save the world from lying to the point where we ultimately kill ourselves. All I need is for you to back me up on my idea and I assure you, when the time comes, you will have your own places in the new world that will be left once my proposal has become a reality. It's not about saving the world, it's about making it the much more desired place we hoped it would be one day."
Sasha and Justine looked at each other and then back at their host.
"And you swear nobody will be able to trace it back to us?" Justine asked.
"By the time we've succeeded," The host replied, "They will hail us all as the group that saved Earth."
Justine thought and then sighed.
"All right." She asked, "What is it you have planned Ms…."
"Oh," The woman said, putting her hands up, "I'm sorry. I don't go by that name anymore."
"Then what would you like to be called?"
The woman smiled again.
"For now, call me Igraine." The host replied, "Now, let's talk about saving the Earth…"
To be continued…
…
So there you go, folks. Our first little sneak peak at Igraine! Next chapter, Arthur and the team head to the Hub during the events of the titular episode of the same name in Season 1, to try and discover anything about who Igraine might really be. Hope you all enjoyed and again, I hope this episode struck a meaning about what life means to all of us. The quote is actually from Lenoard himself, and was his final tweet he posted on the week of his death. I decided to use it because it represents what I was trying to convey here with Arthur and Penny; life can be good, but it can't last forever so we should remember the good times while we can and try not to obsess too much over what could've been. Leonard Nimoy…wherever you are…I hope that I did you right by this chapter. Live long, and prosper. Until next time. As always, reviews are appreciated but no flames. Also, I own NOTHING but my OC's. This is for fan-purposes only, so PLEASE don't sue! Hope you all enjoyed!
