I am so sorry this took so long, but I have a two chapter update for you to make up for it! These both take place during the events of the first Thor movie.
Enjoy!
The next few hours of the night drive was spent with little spatters of conversation between the young agent and her S.O, mostly drowned out by the tones of jazz.
It was a nice moment, a decent distraction from the rather horrid rollercoaster that had been SHIELD HQ in the past few days, what with the disasters of the Stark birthday party and Culver University, along with the fact that as far as the teen was aware, Stark was now reported to possibly be on deaths door and Banner was no longer on the SHIELD radar at the moment.
Tesla figured that after all that, Coulson could use an easier time whilst checking out this 084 in the desert. After all, according to the reports, it was just something of some strange metal that needed to be watched over before transport came in to take it away.
How difficult could that be?
Before the young agent could reconsider how much of a bad idea it was to ask that question, Tesla felt the car suddenly slowing to the side of the road. Worried on whether or not there was something wrong with the engine, since they were supposed to be at the drop off point sometime within the next few hours, Telsa leaned slightly into the sight of the review mirror with her best questioning expression.
"There's something you need to see before we reach the drop point, besides we have to meet up with Agent Barton here as well," Coulson answered briefly before he exited the now parked car. Tesla sat there for a moment, many questions now forming after her S.O's reply, before she heard a brief tapping on the window next to her.
"Are you coming?"
Oh, so she was supposed to exit the car?
Tesla's hand gently touched the car handle, easing the pressure to open the door as she thought over the implications. She was going to actually be outside, for the first time in years. The thought had her swinging the door open a little faster than she expected, the sudden blast of air from the outside surprising her for a moment.
It wasn't exactly howling outside, but there was certainly a tad more wind than Tesla was use to in the confines of SHIELD HQ. The desert around them was eerily quiet, apart from the few generic tumble weeds that sped past them and off into the distance.
Tesla let one foot move out from the car and land onto the ground beyond it, her feet feeling the inconsistency of the sand through her shoe. A small thrill ran through the teenager at the feeling, and she quickly followed the one foot with the other and stood out of the vehicle.
The young agent's thought process was interrupted by the sudden flash of light. Turning quickly to face it, Telsa found herself looking at a rather sheepish Coulson with a camera in hand.
"First steps," He reasoned, tucking the camera back in his coat pocket before the teen could ask to see the photo.
"So what was it I needed to see so ba-" Tesla began to say as she survived the area, before trailing off as she looked up to the sky, her question already answered before she was done asking it.
The skies were no longer a complete inky black, but instead were now lightening into a mix of deep purple and far away peach tones. However it seemed with every passing second the peach and lighter pinks were beginning to take over the skies, chasing the last few vestiges of blackness away, with the purples becoming the shadowing under particularly large clouds.
And from the East of all this, the large golden disc began to rise, spreading slivers of orange and yellow across the sky, turning the pinks lighter and causing the purples to disappear.
Tesla had been sitting on the ground, watching this event for what felt like an eternity, as though she were always meant to be here to see this and nowhere else. In reality she had been sitting in the same spot for at least a good hour or so, though Coulson seemed to have no need to break her concentration from this moment.
He waited until the sun was at least a bit higher into the sky before bothering to say anything.
"I knew you'd like it,"
She said nothing, still enthralled in this event that was happening around her and the fact that she was seeing it with her own eyes for the first time. It seemed like nothing as going to break her concentration away from this, or at least that was the case for another few minutes.
The peaceful sunrise observing was interrupted by the arrival of another car, and a quick look at the license plate told both of the Agents that it was another SHIELD rented 'civilian' car. Though what was different from this one to the one that Coulson and Tesla had arrived in, was the dark purple paint job of the car.
As its occupants exited the car, Coulson could only raise an eyebrow at them whilst looking at the vehicle, the shade of its metal exterior in particular.
"Really, purple Barton? This is supposed to partly be a covert mission for the moment," Coulson said, half amused as the archer shrugged as he approached the two.
"People have cars in all different colors now, I could have gotten the Mystery Van model if I really wanted to be inconspicuous," He smirked and Coulson looked as though he was ready to age ten years in one day at the thought of it.
"Thank you for refraining from your impulses this time Agent," Coulson stressed on that last word as he turned back to watch the sky, Agent Barton joining them.
Tesla pouted to herself for a moment, and though she knew it wouldn't help the mission all that much, she still thought it would have been cool to solve this case with the Mystery Van. All they would have been missing was a dog.
"I missed the sunrise didn't I?" Barton said as he approached the youngest agent.
"Not really, I mean when does a sunrise… finish?" Tesla asked. The two agents paused, looked to each other for a moment before Coulson guessed an answer.
"…When the sky is blue?"
"Alright awesome I can still watch," Barton said as he sat a bit across from the teenager, and watched the spectacle of the sunrise for a bit longer. It was a peaceful moment again, one that Tesla felt she needed to hold onto for whatever reason.
But eventually it had to end as Coulson had to persuade the two Agents under his orders back into the vehicles.
"Where to now Boss?" Barton's voice crackled over the communication device once they were all back in the cars and buckled in.
"We're going to check out the area of the 084, and then go to the meeting point to rally the troops and close off the area from the locals. Then, some of the agents need to maintain a civilian cover for possible local Intel,"
"Does that mean-"
"Breakfast is on me Barton," Coulson replied with a deep sigh, one that gave the subtle fear that his bank account was going to be emptied a little more than necessary.
"Excellent, I haven't had waffles since Cairo,"
"Waffles?" Tesla's question caused a notable pause in the communication between the two vehicles.
"You don't… You haven't had Waffles have you?" Barton asked, and Tesla had to take a moment to wonder if it was socially unusual that she hadn't yet sampled the breakfast food, before deciding to be honest.
"…No…"
More silence followed by a sarcastic and dramatic sigh from Barton.
"Coulson please tell me you have spoiled this child in some way," His tone suggested that the archer was both expecting this outcome whilst also being sarcastically exasperated by it.
"She's had pancakes," Coulson defended, and Tesla could just imagine Barton raising his eyebrow in the other car.
"Let me guess, with strawberries and a fruit salad?" He was being sarcastic, Coulson wasn't.
"Of course," The older agent didn't look the slightest bit discouraged in his answer.
Barton's communication went somewhat quite, apart from another sigh and some mumbling that sounded like 'Helicopter Dad'. Tesla only smiled awkwardly and sat back a little deeper in her seat, wondering what waffles tasted like.
The drive was spent the rest of the time with Barton asking other different food stuffs that Tesla 'must have eaten' which after a negative response would be followed by 'my god Coulson how could she not have tried that yet?'. The younger agent didn't mind though, since it was entertaining to see her S.O getting overly defensive on how she hadn't eaten a jam donut before.
The amusing debate between the two vehicles had to come to an end as the cars slowed to a stop on a cliff face, overlooking a large desert field below.
Coulson released himself from the seat belt and before the teenager in the back seat could do the same, he turned to give her orders.
"Stay in the car for now Tessa, Barton and I are going to scope out the area,"
The young agent looked as though she wanted to argue, but instead let it go and nodded in agreement, slouching back again into the seat. As soon as her S.O was sure that she was going to listen to him, Coulson exited the car and joined the other SHIELD Agent on looking out over the area.
Tesla already knew the protocols for these situations, but that didn't mean she wasn't annoyed about being left out. After all, she had electricity at her fingertips, if anything she should be the one going ahead of Coulson and Barton to see if there was any danger.
But then again, Tesla guessed her recent poor health would be a defining factor in exactly why she couldn't do that anyway. Protocol or not.
With a small huff, Tesla turned back to the bag next to her, and with some apprehension, pulled out one of the Vita bottles.
Quickly popping the lid open and moving before her disgust could stop her, Telsa knocked the drink back much like she decided was the best way to take this horrid medicine, the acrid tasting liquid swishing down her throat as fast as possible.
When Coulson returned to the car, she was already half way through the bottle and felt like throwing up all her progress. The older agent had a look of sympathy for his trainee when her face twisted into disgust, since no amount of preparation and car could stop the Vita from touching her innocent taste buds.
"Maybe we should have waffles to," Tesla attempted a smile at Coulson's decision, but it was something of a difficulty since the acrid Vita taste was still in her mouth. Waffles sounded fantastic at that moment, the only worry on the teenager's mind being whether or not she could keep that breakfast food down.
As Coulson continued to buckle himself into his seat and start the car engine again, Tesla felt her curiosity rising for the chance to know if they actually saw anything out there. And certainly she didn't want to leave just yet without hearing or seeing something about it if they did.
"Did you find the 084?"
"We sure did, probably the easiest 084 mission I've ever been on. It was pretty hard not to miss," Barton's voice crackled from the communication device. This only peaked the younger agent's interest all the more as she turned back to her S.O with the best pleading puppy dog look that she could manage whilst still tasting horrid medicine on her tongue.
"Can I see it? Please?"
"We're on a schedule Tessa we still have to wait for the other Agents and set up the perimeter," The teenager pouted for a moment in defeat at her S.O's words, before hazarding a guess at another chance.
"Okay... after that?" Tesla leaned a little closer in her seat, and Coulson finally relented.
"Alright, it should be secured by then anyway so at least it'll be safe," the older agent relented as he fiddled with the knobs on the communication device that they had been using to contact Barton from his vehicle. For a few moments there was nothing but loud static, which dropped only when Coulson spoke into the receiver.
"084 has been spotted. Set up camp, do not detain civilian observes. Awaiting meet up," The older Agent's words were quick and to the point, more than enough for the person on the other side of the communication not to find it necessary t ask any more questions.
In fact all the other person had to say was a quick confirmation and then hang up on their side of the communication. Leaving both Coulson and Tesla to wait in silence for the eventual arrival of the other SHIELD agents that they had driven ahead of.
It didn't take long to notice that the rest of the 084 collection team was arriving however, since they were a little... Well, 'subtle' was not a good description for them. Especially since they had SHIELD slapped on every side of large black vans and haul trucks.
Coulson and Barton's car started up again in order to drive in front of the very large convoy of the SHIELD vehicles. Seeing the near one story high truck easing on the road so that it was mere millimeters from her window, had Tesla sinking a little in her seat in intimidation.
It didn't take very long to make near the location of the 084, though Tesla only knew that for sure when Coulson seemed to suddenly pull back from the road and off to the side, allowing the other large trucks and vans to go ahead of them.
At first the teenager wanted to ask why, but she got her answer before having the chance to say anything. As only seconds later, several non government or military vehicles were suddenly pulling out of the area and speeding away, back in the direction of Puente Antigo's town streets.
Intimidation alone worked well on the locals.
Once it was clear that the civilians were completely gone, Coulson put his car into gear gain as they drove forward to rejoin the group, stopping short on the edges of the meeting spot, the 084 still hidden from the sight of the rather curious teenager by the trucks.
But it didn't hide the large growing mob of Operations and Science division agents of SHIELD.
Both of the groups were easily distinguishable by the use of white lab coats on one side and leather jackets that obviously concealed Night-Night Guns and normal automatics on the other. There was no doubt that the Communications division was also there, but instead of standing outside, were actually sealed away in their vans, setting up the tech and surveillance needed for this mission.
Tesla cringed a little in her seat when managing to finally see exactly how many other SHIELD Agents were included on this mission, the sight of the crisp, clean white of the Science Division had her especially worried.
Operations was a very cut and dry division. It was the one that housed Barton and Romanoff, and no doubt the other agents in their field were just as blunt and straight to the point as her trainers. The teenager felt that she could trust those agents to be professional, and avoid her without any comment on exactly what measure of danger she was on the scale of gifted individuals in the SHIELD database.
The Science division however… Tesla had already gotten a sample of what the leaders in their field were like. FitzSimmons, assistant creators in the gauntlets that were currently keeping everyone within the vicinity of her person safe, were a little… less subtle than most Operations Agents had been.
Even though it had been a few months since her little incident of being lost in the HQ, the teen could still remember the way that the lab partners had stared at her when figuring out exactly who she was. She could still recall near perfectly the way that Fitz had carefully pulled his associate closer to him when he arrived, his eyesight never leaving the gauntlets for a millisecond, as if waiting for them to miraculously malfunction.
And then there was the way Simmons had frowned in the edges of her eyes, doing her best to hide what she obviously thought and felt.
Their reactions made Tesla feel… awkwardly dangerous and yet at the same time… pitied.
Tesla couldn't decide if that made her dislike the Science division for their terribly hidden emotions, or worried that every division thought of her that way, Operations included.
Something about possibly being both feared and pitied… didn't rest well in the teenager's stomach.
Coulson exited the car first, but before doing so once again gave his trainee the look that said she needed to remain where she was until he specifically said otherwise. On this occasion however the teenager felt no need to disagree or argue. Since a crowd that large and a growing anxiety that they might be secretly judging her, did not make Tesla feel in any way sociable.
So instead the youngest agent of the crowd watched through the window shield of the car as Coulson walked towards the crowd, Barton catching up with him seconds later and handing him a megaphone. The S.O then stepped up onto the bonnet of a nearby car, which with the assistance of the megaphone, managed to gain the attention of the large group of Agents.
Tesla watched her superior give his speech and orders on what was going to happen next, how they were supposed to go about the collection, and the order of near to nonexistent contact with the civilians of Puente Antigo.
With the orders sent out and understood, the divisions of SHIELD scattered to their areas of expertise, and yet they managed to work in a sort of harmony all the same. It didn't take long for the temporary headquarters and containment area of the 084 to be set up, which was mostly thanks to the use of tent like materials and a truck trailer that doubled as an office on the inside.
The young agent had watched this progress still from the back seat of Coulson's car, idly picking at her fingers as she waited for her S.O to return and tell her what to do next. Of course the first thing the teenager hoped he would say, was that it was cool to go look at the mysterious object now, since it had been plaguing her mind ever since she had received the mission outline in her room.
"Alright Tessa you can come out now," the S.O barely had the time to finish his sentence before his trainee was practically traipsing out of the car in order to see what it was that he wanted to do next. This did result in her getting her foot caught at some point and a rather embarrassing stumble at the end that looked a lot like nearly falling over. But at the end of it she was by her boss' side, a little rumpled if anything.
"So what are we doing?
"Well we have to go through the Safety Regulations and rules to follow while you're out of HQ,"
"…and after that?"
"Then we'll do some rounds of security simulations and maneuver plans,"
"…ok," Telsa scratched at the back of her head as she followed behind her Superior Officer as they walked around the new HQ compound, the large tent like structure now hiding the 084 from sight. By this point the young agent accepted her fate that this mission might be spent with her more indoors and out of sight than she had first hoped.
"But first we're getting waffles,"
Or not.
Tesla took the moment that her S.O's back was turned to punch the air in victory. She was about three quarters on her way to dancing about it when Coulson interrupted her.
"Professionalism Tessa, remember we're on a mission," The younger agent blushed to herself at her supervisor's words before straightening her back and climbing back into the car as Coulson buckled himself in.
The diner was the most wonderful place she'd ever been in.
Her past experiences with food outlets was mostly just the dining hall in SHIELD HQ, which was a drab and colorless place, the food being only a slight step up from that description. But this place, with its vibrant 50's red and white stripes on the chairs, the pictures of famous musicians on the walls and the juke box in the corner that blasted a song about having breakfast at Tiffany's or something.
It was colorful and alive, the people there also looked much happier than the usual SHIELD agent in the dining hall, who were always attempting to outdo each other on how fast someone could down a coffee shot without tasting it. Here also the food looked and tasted incredible, unlike the usual government issued food that the teenager was use to.
Coulson certainly seemed to enjoy the place, especially the pictures of vintage cars and strange little napkin dispensers that were in their booth in the shape of vintage jukeboxes. They ate in relatively comfortable silence, Tesla being too busy making sure to catalogue every notion of this experience in her mind, whilst also being blown away by the magic that was the waffles she was near inhaling. Eventually however her S.O cleared his throat in a way that the teenager knew meant that there was something he wanted to talk about.
"So, how has training with Garret been?"
"It's ok, he's as hard as Romanoff but not as… " Tesla struggled to think of a word that wasn't as harsh as the one she had in mind. After all, just because she didn't like the woman didn't mean that Coulson shared her view. Coulson obviously caught on to her struggle and stepped in with his own word.
"Cold? Romanoff is a little lacking on the social side. But she's the best in her field,"
"Trust me I know she is. To be honest though…" Tesla bit her lip again, unsure of speaking up about another agent that was obviously more elite than even Romanoff. Coulson however had caught wind of her apprehension and sought out the problem like a bloodhound on a scent.
"What is it?"
"I would rather train with her again than Garret. He was very…"
"Over-friendly?" Coulson's reply was more understanding than she was expecting, which in a way she was incredibly grateful for. Perhaps it was his small token of agreement that had the teen over sharing in what she thought of the older agent.
"He was getting too close. It was like he wasn't scared of being hurt like everyone else is," Tesla bit her lip after speaking, worried that she had perhaps divulged too much of what she was really thinking. Coulson raised an eyebrow at her words, his reply was something that she was expecting and was already ready to shoot down before he finished sounding it out.
"No one's scared you'll hurt them Tessa,"
"I see veteran agents push themselves against the opposite walls in the hall just to avoid me every day. I know they're scared of me, it's not like they don't have a good reason to be," Tesla said, her fork gently prodding at the mushy mess of what was left of her waffles. Her S.O looked as though he wanted to argue his point further, but the teen could tell there was a part of him that already knew this to be fact.
After all, it was the same part of his conscience that caused him to keep his hands on his side of the table.
There was another period of silence, this time ruined with the aftermath of their conversation. The awkwardness was broken a little by a somewhat relieved sounding S.O.
"I guess I shouldn't have to worry about any boys then?" His joke helps to lift the atmosphere a little, not that Tesla was in the mood to help him out with that task.
"No chance there, even if there were boys,"
"What makes you say that?" Tesla cringed a little as Coulson replied, knowing that once more the atmosphere was sinking back into awkward territory. She dropped the effort to move around the mushy waffles left overs, moving the plate itself to the side before she continued on.
"I'm just… not interested," It's not a very good excuse, and Coulson sees through it almost immediately.
"Tessa," His tone was pressed with the subtext of 'I know you're not telling me everything'. Tesla hated that tone a little bit, mostly because it had her spilling all of her thoughts out without pausing.
"I just don't think people like me are supposed to be with anyone," She paused and looked out the window of their booth, suddenly finding the random civilians outside more interesting as she continued, "I'm not exactly safe to be in a relationship with someone. It's better for me anyway if I don't get into things like that."
He gave her a look that said he wanted to debate this point, but at the same time the teen knew he was having a tough time coming up with an argument good enough to change her mind. He could disagree with her all he liked but it wouldn't change her mind. It was plainly obvious to Tesla that she was supposed to be alone.
There was an awkward fall into silent, in which Tesla could only blame herself for. After all her S.O had been attempting to lighten the mood with his questions, but she could only feel a little down at the subjects he was bringing up. The young agent looked up and for a moment decided on apologizing for her bleak outlook overall.
However Coulson beat her to it with another calm smile and suggestion that made things feel better.
"Let's get milkshakes before we get back to base ok?"
"You're cheating Barton," Tesla glared at the archer from across the table, arms crossed and an empty bottle of Vita clenched in her hand. The older man feigned a look of innocence at the teenager as he sat up straighter, his tone reflecting his light hearted sarcasm.
"How is this cheating?" Tesla glowered at the agent's response and countered it with a further accusation.
"Because Pawns can't escape after being captured. It's not in the rules," The youngest agent gestured towards the board that lay on the table between them, the pieces spread far and wide across the field of squares. Evidently this game had been going on for quite some time, partly from Tesla taking far too long to make a decision, and because Barton liked to say that he was going a little easy on her.
Or at least, easier than he went on anyone else in this particular game.
"Sometimes you gotta go around the rules to get what you want,"
"Ugh whatever, just hand me the 200, I passed go already," The teenager glowered as the paper money was handed into her small pile of monopoly money. The pile was smaller than the one on Barton's side, which again was only more evidence that the older agent wasn't going as easy on her as he would like to claim.
It was at this moment that Agent Sitwell entered the small Rec-room that the two agents were sitting in, and had the exact reaction a normal person would have when seeing the odd mutation of a board game that they were both playing.
"What… Never mind. Barton, you're needed for extra security night watch," Barton nodded with the bald Agent's orders, handing another few paper notes to Tesla's side of the table before walking out of the room to his place.
Tesla watched him leave before standing to approach Agent Sitwell. He wasn't someone that she had met before she left the pink room, so his personality was still something that she was attempting to get a read on.
"Do you need me for anything sir?" The teenager wasn't exactly sure what she could honestly be needed for, but it still felt right to ask just in case. Sitwell responded first by sending her a somewhat stagnant and emotionless look that had the younger agent falling completely silent.
"If you were needed Agent I would have said so. Remain in the Rec-Room for now," His tone was flat and quick, and he was gone seconds before Tesla could manage to create a reply back.
The teenager gave a look of frustration to the wall that Agent Sitwell was standing in front of only seconds before. Of course Tesla knew there was little that she could have helped out with anyway but surely anything was more productive than having her practically sitting at the kid's table and waiting for the adult supervision to come back.
It was as the teenager was going to sit back down and possibly wait for Barton to return and finish their mutated board game, when her eye caught sight of the centre of the temporary base. The 084 that had brought everyone out into the New Mexico desert was sitting in the centre of the loop of steel and plastic, keeping it safe and secure from civilians.
The object certainly was strange, but not impossible to describe. It was an oddly engraved hammer that was near molded hammer side down into the desert rock around it. But there was something else about it that piqued Tesla's interest, as no doubt it did the same to anyone else who saw it.
There was something the 084… gave off in a way, a feeling it emitted into the atmosphere that caused people to inspect it. It was an alien feeling and a lure that certainly no teenage mind could withstand.
Perhaps she could afford to just walk over to the rails near the object, just to have a good look at it. There was no harm in that surely? It wasn't that far from the Rec-Room she was in anyway and she could always just take the ten or so steps back into the room if she saw someone like Agent Sitwell coming from around the corner.
As soon as Tesla was sure that no one was coming around the corners, the teenager walked the ten or so steps to the rail and looked out into the centre where the hammer was sitting. She leaned against the rail and took up the relaxed stance of someone who was certainly not doing anything wrong.
It was as the young agent was taking part in the rather boring hobby of hammer watching that she felt a few raindrops on her scalp, and figured that it was going to rain soon.
Her next thought however was cut off by the sounds of sudden blaring alarms and Agents rushing about the once reasonably quiet base. Tesla had a moment of unthinking panic that wanted her to run straight back into the Rec-Room nearby in the hopes that she could stay out of trouble.
However, A few moments of deep breaths and actual thinking later, Tesla realized that this emergency protocol taking place was specifically for intruders.
She knew this, as Coulson had spent the past few hours after the diner drilling that into her head. Not stopping until the sun had actually set. Of course he also said that no matter what happened that she was to remain out of the situation unless ordered otherwise.
But if someone (or realistically, a group of people), were breaking into this base, that meant they were after the 084. And Tesla already knew that despite the awkwardness of her situation, she had the same orders as everyone else here when it came down to it.
Keep the 084 out of civilian hands.
Tesla looked back to the hammer, inspecting the rock matter that it had solidified straight itself to, and decided in the end that it was no doubt not going to move from where it was for now, and that the other agents needed her help more at that moment.
She was a little too late in her endeavor however, a fact she was aware of when one of the strongest Tactical Agents was flung right out of one of the entry ways, hitting their head against the railing.
The young agent pushed herself up against the plastic sheeting that was serving as temporary walls, just as the intruder stepped through into the inner corridors.
One of this intruder's main features that Tesla noted when seeing his back for the first time, was his long hair that reached below his shoulders. It could be described as a blonde shade, but at the same time there was a sense that there was real gold in those strands just from how bright and shining it was.
His build was something that perhaps other people would mention on with a slight drooling after effect, but Tesla was not un-use to seeing overly muscular men. And while he was certainly one of the bigger people she had ever seen, his hair however was a whole new sight altogether. It almost made her self-conscious of the mud shade strands of hair that had been freed from the loose ponytail.
The intruder must have sensed her hair-loving self in the room and turned to face her. And if the hair was anything to be jealous over his face was certainly a chiseled tribute to shut down her small ego.
Red flushed across her face as she stood up straighter and drew herself into a bigger stature that was meant to look ready to fight. Certainly she wanted to be the last person to dent such a face, but still her job was her job.
However the intruder didn't fight her, instead he just turned back and walked towards the 084. Tesla wanted to take personal offence to that, since he was seemingly totally fine beating the tactical agent into an unconscious pulp, but it was hard to when seeing his hair getting wet in the rain.
A voice crackled out of the communications device on the unconscious agent's belt, and Tesla recognized it as being Coulson's. The teen slowly sidled across the wall until she was standing near the body and picked up the device, knowing she wouldn't have long before it exploded in her hand from electric overload.
"Coulson, it's Agent Tesla, I'm standing on the ground floor do you want me to…" Tesla wasn't even sure what she could do in that moment, but once again it felt right to ask overall. It wasn't as if she was going to attack him after all, especially since the intruder was not interested in fighting her.
"Stand down Tesla, I want to see this," Coulson reply crackled through the device before it fizzed out completely and a small curl of smoke exited the device. Tesla placed the now broken device down on the floor, and noticed what her S.O was talking.
The intruder was standing in front of the hammer 084, looking down on it with such a strange array of emotions, certainly more than she'd ever seen the closed off agents around her portray before. There was pain, sadness and genuine regret that within seconds flickered across his face. It was apparent that this foreign object that had brought Tesla out into the desert, belonged to him.
He confirmed this point by grabbing the handle of the object, attempting to lift it out of the melted rock that it had become fused to. However it didn't take long for him to realize that he could not, and for whatever reason this only upset him even more to the point of crying out.
Tesla watched this happen as no doubt a few levels above her; her S.O was doing the same. Their reactions were no doubt different, as the young agent felt a wave of sympathy pressing against her chest. It was then that she was absolutely certain that she could not fight this person if she was ordered to.
Not that it mattered as seconds later it seemed the show was over, and agents crowded into the area and brought the broken hearted man down to handcuff him, not that he put up much of a fight anymore. The teenager watched this go on with a feeling of sickness in the pit of her stomach.
For the first time she wondered if SHIELD was incorrect in their decision to lock this guy up and keep him away from the hammer that was his.
She didn't get to reflect on this feeling for any longer as an obvious attention grabbing cough had her turning to face a very unimpressed looking Agent Sitwell and tired, wet Agent Barton.
"I thought you were ordered to stay in the Rec-Room?"
Tesla didn't stay in the Rec-Room, as instead she was far too busy pressing her ear against the interrogation room walls to listen to Coulson interrogating the intruder.
So far it seemed that only Coulson was doing the talking, the other man in the room remaining eerily silent. Tesla already knew her S.O would only be more annoyed by the lack of co-operation from the intruder to the point that he might end up in the Cube by the end of this.
Eventually Coulson left the room, not noticing his protégé flattening herself against the wall to remain unseen. Since he was now outside, she was sort of stuck where she was and left to keep listening into the interrogation room. And it might have been her, but she was sure she had heard somebody else speaking in the room.
"…What are you doing here?" Tesla strained her hearing to try and pick up whomever it was that could also be in the room for the intruder to speak too, but she heard nothing. For a moment she wondered if the man was speaking to himself, which wasn't a totally unreal possibility, but still it didn't feel right.
The one-sided conversation continued.
"What?" And then later on, "Can I come home?"
Tesla bit her lip and tried not to feel even sadder for this guy. It wasn't an easy task and she failed it almost immediately. She was going to lean her ear against the wall again when she saw not only Coulson returning but Agent Sitwell as well. Thinking quickly she got up from her place and walked counter clockwise from where they were.
She walked back through the main part of the base, sparing a look towards the hammer once again as she did so. Tesla stopped for a moment and looked again, blinking to clear what she supposed was dust or something in her eye. It might have been her imagination but she could have sworn she saw someone standing in front of the hammer, someone who wasn't a tactical or science agent.
And for whatever reason she thought it was someone dressed in a deep shade of green…
The teen shook her head from the ridiculous notion and continued on out, preferring to take the long way across the building so that she might not be caught by Barton, Coulson or Sitwell since they wanted her to remain out of the way. She wanted to obey those clear yet unspoken orders, yet still the young agent found that she could not.
There was something about that intruder that was different from everyone else here. Different like her, and that was worth investigating to Tesla.
As she rounded a corner into a clear glass hallway, one that let her see out into the uncovered grounds. Where she got the luck chance to see not only the intruder again, but note that he was leaving with another man that she had seen before.
This man was Dr. Erik Selvig as the pre-mission info had told her. It was easy for Tesla to conclude then that the mysterious intruder must be a friend of Dr. Selvig's, but that did not explain how he was able to just break the guy out of SHIELD's interrogation room so easily and with no fuss.
After all breaking into SHIELD was not something that a person got a slap on the wrist and nothing more for.
Tesla quickly ducked out of sight into yet another plastic sheet corridor and quickly made for another exit out of the main base building. She watched the two men drive out into the direction of the civilian town nearby, and could only wonder as to what they were up to.
Apparently she was not the only person who thought this as five minutes later a rather familiar purple civilian cover up SHIELD rental car drove out after them. But covertly of course.
Tesla watched this until the spectacle was nothing more than a speck in the distance, at which point the cold of the night seemed to finally reach her and she turned to go back inside. Only to turn and get a face full of annoyed Agent Sitwell.
"Why do always sneak up on me like that?" Tesla complained after the initial scare had left her system. The older agent said nothing at first, but pointed back into the base, waiting for her to comply.
"Why was Dr. Selvig picking up the intruder? Why did Coulson just let them leave?"
"That is none of your concern. You are not here because you're a real agent; you've barely even finished basic training. Coulson regards you with more sentiment than he should; perhaps that is why he lets you off the leach in a place like this. But that is ill advised and you of all people should know that by now. Now, do as your ordered and return to the Rec-Room," Sitwell's tone never shifted from its neutrality and for whatever reason that was the worst part of it all, that the insults didn't even matter to him.
Tesla didn't break eye contact as she walked back into the base, at least not until she had rounded a corner and returned back to where she was ordered. His harsh words did not stick to her mind however, as there was more important things for her to focus on.
After all, that man was different like her, and for whatever reason she felt the need to really meet him. And that need was far more important than anything that Sitwell could order her to do.
In the early morning there were a few agents out to inspect the area but it was not considered overly important. The night watch was more concern since intruders… like recently, could sneak in with the cover of the night.
The sun was barely rising but still there was light enough that an intruder around this tie could be definitely spotted before even entering the inner grounds, people exiting from the base on the other hand…
A small, heavily clothed person might have the chance of not being spotted amongst the jeeps and trucks if they knew the rounds of security watch, and could certainly have the added bonus of being unexpected. After all, nearly everyone was supposed to be in base by this time so no one was expected to leave.
And yet, a small heavily clothed person managed to do just that, as it took until the sun was a little higher and brighter in the sky before someone, namely Agent Sitwell, noticed that one of the younger agents was nowhere to be found.
By that time of course Agent Tesla was well out of the sights of the base and in the town of Puente Antiguo , looking for a certain blonde mysterious man and his friend Dr. Selvig. Every once and a while pulling down on the hood of the jacket she managed to find on base before she left.
After all it was important that she kept her skin covered just in case she managed to bump into anybody, as well as having the added bonus of being concealed from other agents in the town. Of course it did look strange for someone to be wearing a hoodie in the middle of a New Mexico summer, but at the same time it was still a very sort of chilly early morning outside, so no one would be overly suspicious of it.
Tesla wandered here and there, her overall plan to find the mysterious intruder now seeming more and more ridiculous as time passed. This small town was a little bigger than she had previously thought, so her search might take longer than she would like to think.
At the same time however, it wasn't as if she could call this little plan of her's off and just return to the base like nothing happened. She was going to be in massive trouble regardless of if she stayed or left, so it was probably no more skin off her nose if she stayed and strayed across the streets of Puente Antiguo.
Luck seemed to gleam in her direction for once as she looked up to the building at the end of the main street that might have been a radio station once, and saw the exact man that she had been looking for.
He was watching the sunrise, much like she had done on her first real morning outside of containment. Whether it was intentional or not, Tesla felt even more of a strange connection with this man in their odd differences from everyone else.
She hurried up to the radio building, whilst still trying to remain unimportant as she did so, and knocked carefully on the glass door of the building. It took a few minutes but thankfully she was still in luck that scientists rarely passed up a quiet morning to work, as finally someone came to open the door for her.
Tesla recognized her as Jane Foster, the woman that had been researching the strange lights in the sky, the name of which was hard to remember at that moment. Still, that wasn't a major importance on the teenager's mind as she greeted the scientist.
"Hi, I'm sorry to bother you so early in the morning but I'm here to see the man that's standing on your roof? There are a few things I want to ask him,"
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