.
Kai was flown back to New York after her little show in New Mexico. There was a large SHIELD base there and they were waiting to talk to her. After nearly a day on a plane and then a long hot shower to get the remnants of mud off her, she was practically dumped into the lap of Maria Hill.
"You disobeyed a direct order."
"Is this all you have to deal with, Maria? Naughty agents? Because that's pretty-." Kai started.
"That's Agent Hill to you and I deal with the trouble makers." Agent Hill growled at her, leaning on the table. Kai felt like she was in an interrogation room…and she was probably was.
"I'm shaking." Kai told her sarcastically.
"I would show a bit more respect considering the trouble you're in-."
"I disobeyed one order! Come on! You must have bigger problems than me." Kai complained.
"Respect, Agent Grace. Learn the meaning of the word. And with new, cocky agents like you, disobeying one order snowballs into a lot more." Agent Hill told her.
"I have a feeling this isn't just about New Mexico." Kai told her. Agent Hill slapped a file down on the table in front of her.
"You're right. It's not. You don't crack under pressure do you?" She asked. Kai smirked proudly.
"Can't say I do."
"Let's see how you react to this… We thought you were just some runaway teen that got involved in things she shouldn't have. And, to a point, that's true. But you've been hiding something, Agent Grace." Agent Hill motioned towards the file and Kai hesitantly reached to open it. They can't know… Not the whole story, she assured herself. But as she opened the file, her heart jumped into her throat.
"Nervous, Agent Grace?" Kai didn't answer. Agent Hill grabbed the file and looked it over again for herself. She picked out one paper from it and slapped it down in front of Kai. For the first time in a long time, Kai flinched like she'd been slapped.
"You were behind the assassination of three German government officials!" Another paper was put in front over and then another. Kai squeezed her eyes shut to avoid looking at the pictures.
"I don't know what sick organization used a child to do these… But you gave your birthday as May 1st, 1993, correct?" Kai managed to nod.
"That means you were nine… eleven…thirteen for these."
"Agent Hill-." Kai started.
"And then, we have you going from an assassin to a lowly pick-pocket by the time you were fourteen. All over Europe… Maine… Canada… New York." Agent Hill put more papers, papers that showed pictures of her, in front of her.
"Agent-."
"Is this some scam, some game to you? Because if you're a spy then you've become a much bigger problem. And you won't like our solution to spies."
"No! I'm not!" Kai's voice rose to a yell without her permission and Agent Hill raised an eyebrow at her.
"Not anymore…" Kai amended her statement.
"Then what are you doing here? An assassin, a pick-pocket, a SHIELD agent… what's the point? Who are you running from?" Agent Hill demanded.
"I can't say."
"Can't? Or won't?" Kai didn't answer. If anyone knows, they're dead…and so am I, she reminded herself harshly. Hydra was coming after her, sure, but if she told anyone, let alone one of the top agents of a secret organization with the man-power to pack a punch in Hydra's defenses… She would be dead by morning.
"Agent Grace, I need an answer." Agent Hill commanded. Kai didn't answer. Agent Hill sighed and leaned across the table. Kai raised her eyes, daring to meet Agent Hill's.
"You're eighteen… You were seventeen when you started here. I really don't want to have to be hard on you, but… I really need an answer. Director Fury has taken this case upon himself. That's not a good thing, not for you."
"I… I can't tell you… Can't." Agent Hill sighed again; that was obviously not the answer she had wanted.
"You're a national security threat-."
"No, no! I'm not, I swear!" Kai cried, her head snapping up Agent Hill's words. She swallowed hard.
"I haven't done… that-." She motioned towards the pictures in front of her. "-in years and I won't again, I swear! I won't!" She was near tears now and Agent Hill looked away. Kai put her head in her hands. They weren't supposed to find out.
"And am I supposed to just take your word on that, Agent Grace? An assassin, a thief's word on that?"
"Yes. No… No… I… I won't, you have to believe me." Kai sputtered.
"You are not the agent we thought you were… First off, give me your badge." Agent Hill held out her hand. Kai, very slowly, drew her badge out of her jacket pocket. Agent Hill took it out of her hand and dropped it onto the other side of the table.
"You are not longer an agent of SHIELD, effective immediately. Secondly, we've talked it over with our superiors… You've got to give us some information if you want to save yourself."
"I can't."
"What organization did you work for? Why did you do these killings? Why were you so young when you did it? Are you still working for them-?"
"No! I'm not still working for them!" Kai yelled.
"Give us something else, something useful."
"It was an organization that brought kids in… They thought that the earlier they were trained, the better they would be. They took me and a dozen other children and trained us to be assassins… I… I did it because they gave me a place to stay, because…because they were so manipulative. I swear, I didn't even know what I was doing half of the time!"
"Were those 'half of the time'?" Agent Hill pointed to the pictures in front of Kai. Kai closed her eyes again.
"Are you trying to tell me you didn't know what you were doing then?!"
"No, I… I… I…." Kai trailed off and buried her face in her hands instead. Agent Hill snatched up the pictures and shoved them back into the folder before shutting it. Kai slowly looked up again. Agent Hill looked at her and then looked away. How could she have reverted to a scared child so quickly? Kai's legs were pulled up onto the chair, her knees against her chest, and she wouldn't meet Agent Hill's eyes.
"Agent G-… Miss Grace, we need more information than that."
"I can't. I didn't know the name of the organization. They never told me." Kai lied. How can they still have this hold over me? If I told them about Hydra, they would protect me… Why can't I give them information? Kai asked herself. But she knew why. Because I'm scared of Hydra. They were the only thing she ever feared anymore. They had a hold on her that she couldn't shake.
"Give us a location of a base. Something. Anything!"
"They never let me see where we were. I was blindfolded until we got to the place!" Kai cried. It wasn't a lie; she didn't know where the base was… not until she escaped it.
"What about the other children? You said there were more."
"I said they recruited more. I didn't say they survived." Kai told her coldly. Agent Hill looked at her, waiting. Kai cracked.
"They killed them, okay?! They thought that having children was too risky… They would reveal the organization if they lived! They got scared of something! I don't know what! They killed the rest of them!"
"And I'm supposed to believe that you only escaped and survived? Really, Miss Grace?" Agent Hill asked.
"I did!"
"Miss Grace-."
"I did! I did, Agent Hill! Someone helped me, someone on the inside."
"Who? Give us a name; give us a lead to follow!"
"I don't know his name!"
"You're telling me you don't know anything about the organization you spent six years in?"
"I don't!" Kai cried. Agent Hill was silent for a minute.
"You ever go knew any government official again… SHIELD will take you out, no matter your intentions. You don't know SHIELD's secrets and that is the one reason why you are walking away right now. If you go to Germany again-."
"SHIELD will take me out?" Kai asked quietly.
"You're catching on. Anything suspicious… SHIELD takes you out of the equation. You're lucky you're getting out at all. Agent Barton, Agent Coulson and I worked hard to get that much for you."
"Clint knows?" Kai asked.
"Yes." Well. Another friendship ruined, she thought bitterly.
"Get out, Miss Grace."
"Yes, Agent Hill." Kai nearly jumped out of her chair and sprinted out of the room, leaving SHIELD behind her…
