Recruited - Chapter Nine

WARNING: Minor "AVENGERS (ASSEMBLE)" spoilers ahead.
Hints and information leading to the first twenty to thirty minutes or so of Avengers footage.

Anna slipped back into the interrogation room, sliding into the chair beside Steve Rogers. She caught his eye and forced a smile, watching him carefully. Opposite the two, Coulson and Hill finished their debriefing. The two SHIELD agents explained the coming events and procedures leading to the arrival of the foursome upon SHIELD's very own helicarrier. It was three o'clock in the morning - no wonder Tony had looked so haggard, realised Anna.

The next few hours passed by in a blur.

Coulson and Hill left her in the charge of Agent Yale, a sixty-five-year-old grey-haired agent with a penchant for one-liners and menthol cigarettes. Yale led Anna out of the holding room and along the familiar corridor leading to her makeshift apartment. The agent waited outside as Anna grabbed her bags and belongings, and he then called for two agents to collect her luggage.

Yale then left Anna outside a room named REGALIA. She was ushered inside by two female agents who proceeded to hand her a mass of black material. Her uniform.

The SHIELD uniform was uncomfortably tight. Anna was certain the only thing in her Chelsea apartment similar to the shape and fit of the uniform was her one-piece bathing suit.

The black uniform hugged her hips, accentuating her slim waist. The material crept toward her neck, and a zipper was placed conveniently at the front of the bodice. It bit at her creamy white skin, and fit her like a glove.

In short, she hated it.

Another hour passed. Anna was allowed to shower and change back into the uniform, making herself look presentable for her first day of work. Upon the helicarrier, she would start her role as SHIELD's new analyst, the replacement of Dr. William Daly.

She met with three other SHIELD agents - two women, Agent Jones and Agent Reed, and an eighteen-year-old male, Agent Harris. The women laughed at her complaints regarding the uniform, whilst Harris stared at her chest and body with a perverted smile.

It took everything in the analyst to not smack the grin off of his face.


She was reunited with Steve at seven o'clock in the morning. He was dressed in the tan leather jacket she had seen him wear upon their first meeting, a white shirt tucked underneath it. He wore his blue denim jeans, and his tan boots completed his look. The soldier eyed Anna's attire with obvious surprise, and focused his eyes upon her face. Always polite, she noticed.

"You look… different," commented Steve, clearing his throat. His clear blue eyes raked over her face. "Your hair," said Steve. "It's up."

Anna tried not to laugh, and she fingered the high ponytail with a shrug. "I didn't want it getting in the way."

"It looks nice," complimented Steve, an awkward blush colouring his cheeks.

Anna could only imagine the comments Stark would make if he was with them, but she responded to Steve's words with a hesitant smile.

The two walked along the narrow corridors, peering in through the windows and doors they passed. Numerous rooms holding computer and tracking equipment caught Anna's attention, and she eyed the collection with mild appreciation. She had missed her computers, she realised.

"It must be strange," mused Anna out loud, choosing her words carefully as they reached the end of the corridor. "All this technology. Even I don't know what half of this stuff is." A lie.

Steve laughed, bashful. "Yes, Ma'am. I'm not up to date on all of this tech stuff." He waved his arms to gesture to the computer monitors and wireless connections.

Anna smiled, keeping the casual yet friendly conversation flowing as she looked up at the soldier from the corner of her eye. As she voiced her next words, she changed direction and stared ahead. "I can imagine. 2012 must seem so strange to someone from the thirties and forties."

"Yeah," said Steve, responding instantly. "It's been tough, but-," he broke off, not finishing his sentence. The soldier turned to his right and stared down at the analyst, surprise and confusion etched into his features. "You know," stated Steve, his voice low with an emotion Anna couldn't recognise. It was a mixture of bewilderment with disappointment.

Anna smiled. "I know," she confirmed, still not meeting his eyes.

Steve swallowed and continued the walk down the corridor toward the double-doors. Like Anna, he kept his eyes straight. "How long have you known?"

"Does it matter?" confronted the analyst, trying her hardest not to roll her eyes. "It's nothing ground-breaking. You're only America's first superhero. The celebrated Captain America." The sarcasm was strong and it seeped into her tone.

"Dr. Wellington," said Steve, seemingly fighting for words. He opened his mouth and closed it, his lips forming a thin tight line.

"Captain," retorted Anna, an emotionless visage trapped upon her face.

"Look," began Steve, frowning. "I'm sorry if my not telling you about who I was upset you, but I never lied to you. I just didn't think it was important-"

"You mean SHIELD," clarified Anna, shaking her head. She sighed and backed away from Steve, holding up her hand to stop him when he made to move closer. "SHIELD didn't think it was important."

"No, I-"

"It's OK. We both have orders to follow. We have to meet Coulson at the helipad to be transferred to SHIELD's new mobile base. Let's not complicate things." The woman moved forward again, striding toward the doors leading out to the helipad. A three-hour journey awaited them. "Coming, Captain?"

Steve said nothing. He merely followed her lead, a frown replacing his carefree smile.


The flight to SHIELD's helicarrier was uncomfortable. Upon being shepherded into a jetplane with Coulson, Rogers and two other SHIELD agents, Anna buckled herself into her seat and was surprised to find the third agent, a blonde female, holding out a small MP3 player. Anna accepted the device and switched it on, the pink iPod Shuffle contrasting greatly with her black SHIELD uniform. Anna turned the music player over in her hands and looked down at the engraving.

To calm your nerves. - T

Smiling despite herself, Anna placed the earbuds in her ears and clicked through to the first song, the sounds of Ludwig van Beethoven soothing her nerves. Looking up from the iPod, Anna caught Steve's eyes as he stared at the bubblegum pink square in her hands. Anna pocketed the player and spent the rest of the flight ignoring Steve's constant glances, and his conversation with Coulson.


The helicarrier, she learnt, was one of Stark Industries' greatest achievements. Upon exiting the jetplane, she, Rogers and newly introducted Dr. Bruce Banner had been shepherded inside the flight-carrier. Black Widow, a red-headed woman named Natasha Romanoff, escorted them to SHIELD's main base where Fury and the rest of his team waited.

"Welcome, Dr. Wellington," said Fury, greeting the analyst with a proud see?-you-can't-defy-me smile. "We're happy to have you aboard."

Anna's smile was grim. "I'm fairly certain this counts as kidnapping by government agency," she muttered, ignoring Banner's troubled stare.

"You were kidnapped?" asked Banner, stepping forward, looking between Anna and Fury behind his wire-framed glasses.

"Dr. Banner," interrupted Fury, trying to diffuse the situation, "no one upon this aircraft was kidnapped. Please," instructed the director, "there is no need to be alarmed. Or angered. Dr. Wellington is the best this side of the country has to offer in technical analysis. We needed her. We called her in."

Banner turned to Anna. "I was called in, too," he said, and for a moment a mutual truce passed over the two. Both upon the helicarrier against their wishes, realised Anna.

"Dr. Wellington," commanded Fury, demanding her attention. "Agent Hill will show you to your workspace and office. We need you to pull everything you can on Loki and the tesseract. An agent will be with you shortly. Maybe even Banner."

Anna turned away, passing a solemn looking Steve Rogers and placid Agent Coulson.

"And Dr.?" called Fury, causing Anna to turn back to face him. "Contact Stark. Maybe he'll listen to you."

The analyst rolled her eyes. "I very much doubt that."


AN: Ahh, again, thank you for all the reviews and feedback! Whenever I get a lot of feedback, I try to update ASAP. Hopefully this chapter is up to standard!

A little more Steve/Anna action in this one, and there will be a lot more to come once Tony Stark gets in the picture. I have a lot of great scenes coming up, so keep your eyes peeled for those (and future chapters)! One more filler-ish chapter to come (introducing the rest of the cast), and then it's more action based!

I also realised I've nearly hit 100 reviews before posting my tenth chapter! It would be amazing if I hit that before posting Ch. 10!

Please Review!