"I didn't care for it."

"Really?"

"Musicals aren't my thing."

Peter had to admit, if Mary Jane hadn't been playing the lead, he might not have enjoyed the show as much either. He and Jessica had just gotten back to her apartment from opening night of Empire State University's performance of Once Upon a Mattress, starring Mary Jane as Winnefred. Peter had been absolutely delighted by the performance. The role had allowed Mary Jane to have a great deal of fun and show off her particularly clownish style of comedic acting. Peter only regretted that he had to listen to Jessica's snarky commentary throughout most of it. Mary Jane had declined to join them back to Jessica's place afterward, wanting to get to bed early to be ready for the next performance.

Peter was wearing a nice new suit, dressed as sharply as Jessica had ever seen him. The suit was charcoal grey and complimented by a blue necktie. The suit fit him well too. He had made good use of the Van Dyne gift card Jessica had gotten him for Christmas. Jessica was dressed as usual, in flannel and faded blue jeans.

"I'm going to fix myself a drink," said Jessica as she walked into the kitchen, "You want anything?"

"No thanks," said Peter, noticing printed out news articles on Jessica's new desk, "You working on a case right now?"

"Oh," realized Jessica as she returned to the desk with a whiskey Coke, "No, this is something else."

"What is it?"

"You've heard about the Initiative?"

Peter nodded. It was all over the news. S.H.I.E.L.D. was running a massive recruitment drive. They had opened training facilities in every major city and had begun a nationwide PR campaign to promote it. An alleged leak claimed that this was part of some larger plan called the Initiative, but no one was sure what that meant. Still, the name stuck and had become the shorthand way of referring to the recruitment drive.

"Well," continued Jessica as she opened her laptop and began to type, "I'm looking into it."

"Why?"

"It's probably nothing," said Jessica, "but there's been more than one claim of people signing up for S.H.I.E.L.D. and not returning."

"That's unsettling."

"It gets worse," said Jessica, "the missing persons are all mutants."

"You think something is going on?"

"Maybe," said Jessica, "but I haven't found anything yet."

"This is great!" declared Peter.

Jessica looked at him in absolute confusion.

"Oh no," Peter corrected himself, "Not the disappearing mutants, but the fact that you're looking into them!"

"How do you figure?"

"You're perfect for this, Jessica!" said Peter excitedly, "You're smart, tough, and you balk in the face of authority. You're even doing this of your own accord! Not for a job or anything."

"I guess," she said.

Jessica knew that Peter felt strongly about helping people without asking for anything in return, but Jessica had to make rent. Maybe Peter could stretch his life across vigilante work, a job, and school, but Jessica wasn't about to attempt that. Although she did believe that if these mutants were really disappearing, she needed to help.

"So what's your next move?" asked Peter.

Jessica looked over her notes on her laptop as well as the various news articles about the Initiative scattered across her desk. She had read every possible publicly available account of the campaign. She had reached out to the families of the missing persons and not gotten a response. She sipped her drink. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like there was only one option for what to do next.

"I think I'm going to join S.H.I.E.L.D.," she said.

Jessica stood among the other recruits, waiting. She was bored out of her skull. She should have known this wouldn't be quick or easy. She had signed up for S.H.I.E.L.D. at one of their recruiting facilities, where she filled out some forms and was sent to a waiting room with other recruits.

The New York recruitment facility, called The Reel, was located in Manhattan and drew recruits from all over the nearby states. The place had a claustrophobic feel to it. Jessica found it concerning that she couldn't find any windows. It didn't feel dissimilar from a prison.

After what felt like an hour of waiting, a woman entered the room from the other side. She was a tall, fit woman. Her blonde hair was tied back in a short ponytail. She was wearing a standard S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. It consisted of form fitting pants and a long sleeve shirt made of a thick black material along with matching boots and a white utility belt. A patch with the S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem was displayed prominently on the left breast.

"Follow me, recruits" she ordered.

They did. Jessica noted the white batons hanging off the woman's utility belt. Following behind the woman in somewhat of a messy crowd, the recruits made their way through the facility. The metal walls all shined silver, as if they had just been scrubbed down. The tiled floor was almost as clean. The tight, narrow hallways funneled their crowd into a single file line as they walked past other agents. Eventually they arrived in some sort of equipment room. Boxes of all sizes were everywhere, lining the walls and shelves. Another agent waited for them there, holding a large plastic bin.

"Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s basic training program," said the woman, "My name is Special Agent Barbara Morse, but you will all address me as ma'am. Is that understood?"

Several recruits responded "Yes ma'am" or some variation thereof, although apparently not enough of them to satisfy Agent Morse. She drew her baton and slammed it against the metal wall, creating a loud bang that caused most of the recruits to flinch or even jump.

"I said: is that understood?" she repeated calmly.

"Yes ma'am!" shouted the recruits, more enthusiastically this time.

Jessica hadn't said anything. She despised the idea of obedience without question, especially when it was demanded of her. If Agent Morse had noticed though, she didn't say anything.

"You will discard all personal belongings here," said Agent Morse as another agent approached the recruits with an empty plastic bin in his hands, "We will keep them in this bin until you leave or such a time as we determine that you need them. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Additionally," continued Agent Morse as phones and wallets were gathered, "We have prepared your uniforms here. When you hear your name, come up and retrieve your uniform. Then return to your place in line. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am!"

Jessica glared at the agent and took her phone, wallet, and keys out of her pocket and deposited them in the bin with the others. She didn't like being separated from her only way of documenting evidence, but she knew there was no way they'd let her keep her phone. She had to play along for now.

Next Jessica waited patiently as the recruits were called up one by one to retrieve their uniforms. Jessica was early in the list, shortly after a redhead named Angelica. Jessica approached the agent handing out uniforms and received hers, placed in her arms neatly folded. She returned to the line and waited for the last of them to retrieve their uniforms.

"You will now all change into your S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms," ordered Agent Morse.

"Here, ma'am?" asked one recruit.

"Here," answered Agent Morse, "If you are too modest to change in front of me and your fellow agents, then I recommend you leave now."

The recruits went about changing. This didn't bother Jessica too much. Over the years she had become extremely comfortable with her body. Some of the other recruits did seem bothered though. Some blushed as they hurriedly rushed to pull the uniform on once they were down to their underwear.

"I recommend you remove your underwear too," said Agent Morse, "The uniform has briefs built in."

"You getting off to this, ma'am?" asked Jessica, who had yet to start changing.

Agent Morse didn't immediately respond, but she did slowly approach Jessica and stare her down, her nose less than an inch away from Jessica's.

"Jessica Jones," said Agent Morse calmly, "of Alias Investigations."

"You recognize me," said Jessica, before adding a sarcastic "I'm flattered."

"Don't think your notoriety earns you an exemption," said Agent Morse, "You're a recruit here, just like everyone else."

"And what does that make you?"

"Your superior. I graduated years ago, top of my class. Now I'm one of the most decorated field agents at S.H.I.E.L.D., holding the Mockingbird distinction."

"So you're basically a giant nerd."

Jessica was expecting a laugh from the other recruits for that one, but apparently Agent Morse had intimidated them all into compliance already. Jessica looked around awkwardly and then back at Agent Morse.

"Do you know what the purpose is of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s basic training, Jones?" asked Agent Morse.

"To make you feel important?"

"To break down the recruits," said Agent Morse, "to remind you of your place as nothing more than a scared little girl so we can rebuild you into the agent we need you to be."

Jessica didn't blink, maintaining her glare. Agent Morse seemed impressed by this, offering a small smile. Then she leaned over past Jessica's face over her shoulder, practically breathing in her ear.

"You won't survive one day here, Jones," she whispered.

Now it was Jessica's turn to offer a small smile. She was more than ready for this challenge. People had tried to break her before; it didn't work out well for them. Determined now more than ever to prove her strength, Jessica maintained eye contact with Barbara as she tossed her flannel aside, pulled her shirt off over her head, unhooked her bra and let it fall to the floor, kicked off her boots, pulled off her socks, and finally pulled her jeans and underwear to the floor so she was facing Barbara completely naked. Then she pulled on the uniform. Her eyes still locked with Barbara's, Jessica had made it clear that this hadn't phased her.

"Alright recruits," said Barbara, finally breaking eye contact with Jessica and walking away, "Let's move out!"

Jessica sighed with relief. She was lying in her bunk finally wearing her own clothes again: sweatpants and a T-shirt. Following the long day of running from room to room, following Agent Morse's every command, and filling out form after form. her racing heart had finally calmed down a bit.

"Hey, bunkmate!"

Jessica looked over and saw Angelica, the redhead from earlier. She had changed into red pajama shorts and a yellow T-shirt. Her last name was Jones too (no relation). Since the bunks were assigned alphabetically, they had been assigned to the same bunk bed.

Not that it mattered who one's bunkmate was. The room must have had 30 sets of bunks to hold the 60 recruits. The space was cramped and there was hardly any room to navigate between the beds.

"Hi," nodded Jessica, "Angelica, right?"

"Yup," she nodded back, "That was brave what you did earlier."

"What do you mean?"

"Standing up to Agent Morse!"

Jessica scoffed.

"I'm serious!"

"She's a pushover."

"But she holds the Mockingbird distinction!"

" Do you know what the Mockingbird distinction is?" asked Jessica.

"No," admitted Angelica.

"It honors those who have 'mastered' several of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s higher education programs," said Jessica, "It's a training distinction, not a field one. Morse is an overachieving dweeb, not a real decorated agent. She's all talk. I'm not worried."

"If you say so," shrugged Angelica, climbing up onto the top bunk, "Either way, tomorrow will be a long day. We should get some rest."

Jessica turned on her side and closed her eyes. Sleep came in time, but not before some anxious tossing and turning. She was craving a drink, but there wasn't a drop to drink here.

Agent Morse woke them up the next morning by walking down the aisles formed by their bunks and banging her batons on the metal frames every chance she got, yelling at the recruits to get up, make their beds, and change into their uniforms. Once everyone was ready, Agent Morse marched them to the mess hall where they hurriedly finished a mostly tasteless breakfast before being led off to the training room.

The training room was the size of a basketball court. On the far end of the room away from them was a one way observation window. A large monitor hung from the center of the ceiling, displaying the time and temperature of the room. Jessica looked around at the other recruits. They were lined up in the same position and all wore the same uniform. Their uniforms were much like the ones the agents were wearing, but with metal cuffs around the wrist and no S.H.I.E.L.D. logo.

Jessica reminded herself that the training would be designed for normal humans, so it would pose no real challenge to a superhuman like her. She needed to focus on her reason for being there: investigation. She had to be on the lookout for anything that might be unusual.

"Recruits," said Agent Morse as she paced up and down her line, "This is where we assess you and determine your combat capabilities. Based on our assessment, you will be assigned a combat level between 1 and 5. 1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest. We will use this to-"

Jessica snorted.

"Is something funny, Jones?"

"Yes," she said, "The combat levels are very funny to me."

"Really?"

"Really. What dumb game did you steal that idea from?"

"Perhaps we don't need to assess your capabilities, Jones," said Agent Morse, "After all, I've already seen footage of your skills in hand-to-hand combat. Perhaps we should present it for the other recruits' reference? They may have something to learn from you, after all."

"Sure," scoffed Jessica.

Jessica didn't know what footage Agent Morse was talking about, but she was confident in her abilities. Not only did she have her enhanced strength, but her experience as a private investigator in Hell's Kitchen made her a half decent street fighter in and of itself.

Agent Morse walked over to the side of the room and opened a wall panel. She typed something into a keyboard inside the panel. The monitor hanging from the ceiling changed its image. It was now a computer desktop. The recruits all watched as Agent Morse pulled up a web browser and searched "jessica jones screwball."

Oh no… realized Jessica, feeling a hot pit of preemptive embarrassment in her stomach.

Jessica had had an altercation with someone named Screwball not long ago. Screwball was an internet personality. She had recorded her fight with Jessica to stream it to her subscribers. In an effort to make it more entertaining, Screwball had started the fight by giving Jessica an enormous wedgie. Now Jessica had to watch it all happen on the big screen. Jessica winced as she heard the other recruits laugh at her expense.

"Wow," smiled Agent Morse smugly, "That's quite the maneuver there. Do you think you could explain to us how to defend against that technique, Jones?"

More of the recruits laughed.

"Oh, so now you're funny?" asked Jessica angrily, face red, "You think you're tough because you Googled me?"

"No," said Agent Morse, "I think I'm tough because I didn't get a wedgie from a D-list supervillain."

More laughter. Jessica gritted her teeth and let out a quiet growl as she clenched her fists.

"Alright then!" she yelled, having had enough, "If you're so confident, how about you and I go a round? One on one?"

"If you insist," smiled Agent Morse.

Jessica was pleased with that response. Apparently no one had told Agent Morse about Jessica's enhanced strength, or she would never have accepted the challenge. Jessica would lay her out in seconds flat. That would finally shut her up. Jessica couldn't wait.

"The match ends when one of us yields or is unable to continue," said Agent Morse as they both walked to the center of the room, "Are you ready?"

Jessica nodded. She brought her fists up, ready to fight.

"Very well. Agent Sitwell!" shouted Agent Morse to the observation window, "Activate the power dampeners."

"Power dampeners?"

"Begin!"

Jessica heard a quiet beep come from both of the cuffs on her uniform. She looked down at them and had barely a moment to consider what had happened before she caught a fist to face. It was a quick punch, but it hurt a lot more than she thought it would. She shook off the disorientation and threw a punch. Agent Morse grabbed Jessica's fist and held her arm in place. Jessica's eyes widened. Her strength was gone. The cuffs were power dampeners that negated special abilities. Jessica was only as strong as the average person now. Agent Morse, on the other hand, had trained and built her strength far beyond average. She twisted Jessica's arm behind her back. Jessica let out a gasp of pain.

"Not so tough now, huh?" taunted Agent Morse.

Several of the recruits began to laugh again. Agent Morse kicked the back of Jessica's leg and buckled it, forcing her to her knees. She grabbed a fistful of the back of Jessica's hair pulled back tight and hard, smiling as Jessica bit her lip to hold in a scream.

"Yield," said Agent Morse, "and you can be done with this."

"Go fuck yourself."

"Have it your way, Jones."

Agent Morse threw Jessica's head down forward. Jessica cried out as it slammed into the hard floor, ringing through her head. Before Jessica could get her bearings, she felt Agent Morse grab the back of her uniform's utility belt.

"Oh no…" whispered Jessica.

Agent Morse yanked upward, forcing the tight pants and the uniform's internal briefs up into Jessica's butt. Despite her efforts to remain silent, Jessica let out a high pitched yelp of discomfort. Agent Morse lifted her completely off the ground before throwing her onto her face. Jessica indignantly got to her feet and readjusted her pants. Almost every recruit was laughing uproariously by this point.

"See?" teased Agent Morse, "You really need to find a way to defend against that technique. It seems to be your weakness."

"Shut up!" shouted Jessica over the laughter, face bright red.

Jessica couldn't let her win. Not after that. Jessica was determined now more than ever to prove herself. The two women ran at each other. Jessica went to tackle Agent Morse, but was quickly outfought by Agent Morse's superior understanding of martial arts. Soon Agent Morse had Jessica on her knees again, this time in arm bar.

"Yield."

"Go to hell!"

Agent Morse had lost her patience. She forced Jessica face down onto the ground again, pressing her face against the floor. Jessica gasped in pain as Agent Morse put more and more pressure on the arm bar.

"Yield!" yelled Agent Morse again.

"No!"

Jessica gritted her teeth as Agent Morse put more and more pressure on her arm. The pain was growing insurmountable. Jessica started groaning, then whimpering, and then shrieking. She fought against every fiber of her being screaming at her as the pain grew and grew.

"Okay!" begged Jessica, on the verge of tears, "I yield! I yield!"

Agent Morse released the arm bar and backed off, allowing Jessica a sudden relief as the pain suddenly subsided. She found herself gasping and coughing at Agent Morse's feet, clutching her arm.

"Remember this, Jones," said Agent Morse, "I'm your superior."

Jessica glared up at her.

"And for the record," added Agent Morse, "those of us with the Mockingbird distinction have all mastered S.H.I.E.L.D.'s higher level training, including martial arts."

Agent Morse returned to the chuckling recruits, leaving Jessica in a curled up ball of pain. Jessica couldn't bear to open her eyes. Agent Morse had gotten the best of her. She felt pathetic.

Jessica lay silently under the covers in her bunk. The day had only gone downhill after the fight. Jessica became the only recruit designated combat level 1, the lowest level. She was also punished for her insubordination with three weeks of bathroom scrubbing duty. That chore comprised most of the rest of her day, during which time Agent Morse had taken every opportunity to taunt Jessica. Now it was lights out again and everyone was asleep.

This was mind-numbingly humiliating. How was Jessica supposed to focus on finding out more about the mutant disappearances when Agent Morse had her under her thumb? At this rate, Jessica felt as though she'd be lucky to survive this process, let alone find anything useful.

"Jessica?" whispered Angelica.

Jessica peered out from the covers to see Angelica squatting beside her bed with a serious look on her face.

"What is it?" asked Jessica quietly.

"I'm sorry about what happened in the training," whispered Angelica, "I had no idea they could negate our powers like that. That's crazy!"

"Our powers?"

"Aren't you a mutant?"

"Something like that," muttered Jessica uncomfortably.

"Me too."

Angelica looked around to make sure everyone was still asleep. She leaned in close and held her hand out to Jessica. The hand slowly began to glow red and Jessica could feel the heat resonating off of it.

"How hot can you go?" asked Jessica.

"I'm not actually sure," said Angelica, her hand cooling off, "I was hoping S.H.I.E.L.D. could help me find out."

"I'm guessing those power dampener cuffs blocked your powers too?"

"They did," nodded Angelica.

"Don't you find it concerning that they're making us wear uniforms that suppress our powers like this?"

"Maybe it's better for training this way."

"You can't be serious."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. keeps people safe," said Angelica, "They may not be perfect, but they do it. I want to be a part of that. I can't afford to be picky about it. Anyway, we both need to sleep. Good night."

Angelica climbed back up and into her bunk without saying anything else. Jessica sighed and turned over. She could feel herself trembling and her mind racing. She wanted so badly to have a drink. Then she reminded herself why she was there. The power dampening cuffs were evidence that the claims of mutant disappearances may be legitimate. She was onto something. She just had to tough it out long enough to find it.

Jessica grunted as she finished scrubbing out the last toilet. Agent Morse had ordered her straight to the bathroom that morning while the others were sent to the mess hall for breakfast. Jessica was to go to the mess hall right afterward and clean up after the others before being allowed to eat herself.

Jessica had just put away the scrub bucket when she saw the recruits pour out of the mess hall. They quickly marched down the hall to their warm-up drills. Jessica thought it was curious that Angelica wasn't among them, but did consider the possibility that she had finished eating early.

Jessica was still gathering dishes to clean when her concern for Angelica became too much to ignore. She had to at least confirm that Angelica was alright. Jessica waited for an opportunity to slip away. The moment she was sure there wasn't an agent in the room with her, she bolted for the bunks.

Jessica rushed in and found the room empty. She rushed over to her bunk and grabbed her standard issue duffle bag. She changed out of her uniform and back into her old hoodie, jeans, and boots. She didn't want anyone dampening her powers again.

Jessica checked Angelica's bunk and saw no duffle bag there. Now Jessica was concerned. What were the chances Angelica had been transferred so soon for no apparent reason? Jessica was sure she had been there before breakfast.

Holy shit, realized Jessica, They really are kidnapping mutants…

As far as Jessica knew, she could be next. She might not have technically been a mutant, but she somehow doubted that S.H.I.E.L.D. would make the distinction. None of this mattered without evidence though, so Jessica had to focus on that. It seemed like a strange coincidence that Angelica had disappeared the day after she came out to Jessica as a mutant. Had someone heard her say it and ratted on her? They had been pretty quiet. Someone would have had to be right next to the bunk to-

"Wait a minute," realized Jessica aloud.

She examined every square inch of the bunk. Both mattresses, the entire frame, each individual pillow, and the blankets before finally beneath the whole thing. That's where she found it. A small black box in the corner of the underside of the bottom bunk. Jessica tore it from the bed and took a closer look. There was indeed a small microphone on the side.

Suddenly Jessiac remembered what Agent Morse had said to her during the sparring match: "Those of us with the Mockingbird distinction have all mastered S.H.I.E.L.D.'s higher level training, including martial arts." That's how she knew Jessica's comments on the Mockingbird distinction; she had been spying on them from the start!

But the real question is, thought Jessica, what do they want with the mutants?

Jessica left the bunks, heading straight for the storeroom where they had deposited their personal belongings. Jessica was in deep now; she couldn't afford to leave without concrete evidence. She broke the lock on the door and walked into the room. Jessica found the plastic bin filled with their personal belongings. She rummaged through it and grabbed her things, most importantly her phone, and left before anyone noticed.

Jessica reminded herself that she didn't need to tackle this alone. She had someone who could and would help her. She pulled out her phone and began texting Peter.

Something is definitely up she typed, if I don't text back in the next 20 min or so come back me up

Good. Now she had an exit strategy if nothing else. Peter's powers would make getting out of here possible even if they arrested her.

Jessica was walking briskly down the hall when she saw an agent she didn't recognize walking toward her.

Stay confident, Jessica told herself, If you look like you're supposed to be here, they won't question it.

"What are you doing here?"

Fuck.

"Hi!" said Jessica, pitching her voice higher than usual and feigning confusion, "I was in the group of recruits earlier, but I'm dropping out. Agent Morse told me to meet her at her office to discuss the details. Could you point me to where that is?"

The agent obliged. Jessica thanked them and headed for the office. If Agent Morse had been spying on the bunks, she was probably involved in the conspiracy somehow. Jessica knew that breaking into her office was risky, but Angelica disappeared in just one day. Jessica didn't have time to lose.

She reached the other end of the facility, where she found the door to the office. She gripped the doorknob, looking around carefully, and then forced the door open as she walked in. The lights were off, indicating that Agent Morse had been out for some time, but Jessica wasn't sure whether she would stay away for much longer. It seemed like a standard office. There was a desk with a computer and a filing cabinet in the corner. The walls of the room were mostly bare, although Morse's framed doctorate degree in biology hung in the back.

Jessica started looking through the filing cabinet for anything that looked like it might have been of use. She was not having a lot of luck. Most of the files were named in ways that Jessica found completely unhelpful or useless.

She finished checking the cabinet and made her way over to the desk drawers. It consisted mostly of office supplies, but the bottom drawer did have a bottle of wine with a ribbon on it. Jessica took it out and looked at it closer. It was expensive stuff, the kind Jessica would never buy in a million years. The ribbon indicated it was a gift from someone. Jessica figured it must have been a coworker, since she couldn't imagine this woman making actual friends.

"Fuck you, Morse."

Jessica smiled to herself as she unsealed the bottle and began chugging. When she had finished about a third of the bottle she placed it back down on the desk. That felt good. Her heart rate had calmed down. Suddenly, this seemed a lot more doable. There didn't seem to be any physical evidence here, but Jessica had another idea.

She sat at the desk and turned on the computer. She silently cursed as the password selection screen came up. She had no idea how to get in. If she had planned ahead of time she might have looked into their network or something. As it was, the only way through was to know Agent Morse's password. She had to try something.

Password she typed

INVALID PASSWORD displayed the screen.

"Worth a shot," muttered Jessica quietly.

She tried something else.

Mockingbird

INVALID PASSWORD

"Damnit!"

Think! she thought to herself, What else could it be? Wait...

Jessica spun back around and looked at the degree again. Class of 2014. Assuming Agent Morse was the average age for someone receiving a doctorate, that would have made her 31 years old. Which meant she was born in…

Mockingbird88 typed Jessica.

WELCOME BACK, BOBBI displayed the screen.

"Bobbi"? thought Jessica with a smirk, She has her computer programmed to call her "Bobbi?" She really is a fucking dork.

Jessica quickly looked through the folders on the drive, taking more gulps of wine as she did. It took some time to find what Jessica was looking for, but eventually she found a folder under recruitment entitled "applicants." Jessica opened the folder and saw that profiles on each of the applicants had been divided by geography and start date. Except there was one folder entitled "The Initiative." Jessica opened it up.

"Holy shit."

She had found it. There were a few profiles in that folder: Jessica's, Angelica's, and the other mutants that had disappeared. There were profiles of other superhumans and vigilantes as well: Jennifer Walters, Felicia Hardy, Bruce Banner, and a handful of names that Jessica didn't recognize. Each profile contained excerpts from news stories of S.H.I.E.L.D. mission logs detailing the nature of their abilities. Jessica pulled out her phone and took pictures of all of this.

"Jones!" shouted Agent Morse.

Jessica sat up straight as she saw that Agent Morse was now standing at the door to the office, staring down Jessica from across the room in the dark. This was it. Jessica had been caught. S.H.I.E.L.D. would never let her go now. Her only choice was to escape.

"Wait!" began Agent Morse, but Jessica wasn't about to do that.

Instead, she grabbed the bottle of wine and hurled it at Agent Morse. The agent swiftly drew one of the batons from her utility belt and swung it, smashing the bottle in midair and sending red wine and glass shards flying. Jessica had hoped that would accomplish more.

"Just listen to me!" shouted Agent Morse angrily.

Jessica didn't. She vaulted over the desk, ran right at Agent Morse, and shoulder checked her. Agent Morse flew backward into the hall, landing on her back and sliding along the floor. Jessica slowly approached her, relishing in the fact that she had the advantage of her strength once again. As Jessica got close, Agent Morse rolled forward and struck Jessica in the leg with one of her batons. Jessica winced as the impact rang through her leg. It probably would have leveled any normal human to the ground, but Jessica was back to being superhuman.

She grabbed Agent Morse's baton and ripped it out of her hand. Agent Morse went to swing the other baton and Jessica did the same with that one, tossing both of them aside. Agent Morse tried to attack Jessica head on next, but Jessica just gave her a sharp shove back to the ground. She placed her foot on Agent Morse's chest and began to press down.

"What do you want with the mutants?" demanded Jessica, "Why do you have so many profiles on superhumans? What really is the Initiative?"

"It's…" coughed Agent Morse, her chest tightening more and more as Jessica pushed farther down onto her ribcage, "It's not what it looks like…"

Jessica scowled. She wasn't going to get any information out of her. Still, Jessica was enjoying this. She was going to make the most of it.

"Not so tough now, huh?" said Jessica, "Are you afraid of what us superhumans can do if you don't get rid of us?"

Agent Morse said nothing, just gritting her teeth as Jessica pressed down harder and harder on her chest. The ribs were starting to strain and Agent Morse was starting to run out of breath.

"Yield," ordered Jessica.

"No…"

"I said yield!" repeated Jessica pressing down as hard as she could without crushing her.

Agent Morse let out a strained scream. Jessica watched her face contort in pain for a moment before finally lifting her foot. Agent Morse gasped for air as she rolled onto her side, curling inward.

I'll be damned, thought Jessica, She would have let me kill her before she gave in.

"Freeze!" shouted someone behind Jessica.

"Shit."

Jessica spun around to see several S.H.I.E.L.D. security agents facing her with their sidearms drawn, pointed directly at her. She froze in place. She wasn't bulletproof. If they fired, she'd be through. If she let them arrest her though, there's no way they'd let the evidence of the missing mutants get out.

"Wait!" called out Agent Morse, "Hold your fire!

That was Jessica's chance. She bolted down the hall. If she tried to escape, there was at least a small chance of getting the information out there. She had just rounded the corner and smiled with relief. He had made it.

"Jessica!" yelled out Spider-Man.

The web slinger flipped down from the ceiling of the hallway, landing on the ground beside her.

"You're okay!" he exclaimed, "I saw your text and 20 minutes had passed, so I-"

"Freeze!" ordered the security agents.

"You got this?" asked Jessica.

"Right, on it!" shouted Spider-Man.

He fired two seperate webs at two of the agents before yanking and slamming them all into each other, leaving them groaning in pain on the floor. Spider-Man quickly fired more webs at the security agents that arrived as backup, webbing them to the wall before they could do anything.

"Um, Spider-Man…" said Jessica nervously, turning around.

Over a dozen more heavily armed security agents had arrived from the other way and were approaching them. Jessica wondered if there was anything they could do. There was so many of them. That's when Jessica looked back the other way and saw as many agents coming from that direction too. They were surrounded.

"I'll take the ugly ones!" quipped Spider-Man, getting ready to fight, "You take the stupid ones!"

"You really think we can take them?" asked Jessica, raising her fists up as she and Spider-Man stood back to back.

"...no," admitted Spider-Man quietly.

He was right. Maybe if Spider-Man were alone he could do this. His spider sense would help him dodge the gunfire, but with this many heavily armed hostiles there was no way Spider-Man could stop them before they made swiss cheese out of Jessica. This was it. She was through. The least she could do was go out fighting. She only wished she had gotten the truth out to the public. Maybe Spider-Man would be able to get away and-

"Agents, stand down!" ordered Agent Morse, forcing her way through the security team.

The agents complied, lowering their weapons. Jessica and Spider-Man turned to Agent Morse.

"Jessica," said Agent Morse, pointedly not calling her by her last name, "and Spider-Man. It's a pleasure, by the way."

"Do you know her?" whispered Spider-Man to Jessica.

"There's someone I think you'd like to speak with, Jessica," said Agent Morse.

"Whoever it is, you can tell them to stick it up their- Angelica?!"

Angelica Jones made her way past the security agents as well, walking up to Agent Morse's side.

"Jessica," said Angelica, "Don't worry. This is all a misunderstanding."

"It's a hell of a concerning one!" countered Jessica angrily.

"You don't understand," said Angelica, "They're not abducting superhumans, they're recruiting us."

"...for what?" asked Jessica after a moment.

"Come with me," ordered Agent Morse, "Both of you."

Spider-Man and Jessica exchanged glances before complying. They walked with Agent Morse down a number of halls before getting into an elevator, which took them down to the basement. There they saw what appeared to be a military operation, with tactical maps and high ranking members of the armed forces walking around.

"Agent Morse," said a woman loudly, "What are you doing down here?"

A stocky woman with a short, black haircut approached the three of them. She had an intense face and a stiff but firm stance. She was shorter than most of the others in the room, but commanded authority that eclipsed any notions of weakness.

"This is Secretary of Intelligence Maria Hill," introduced Agent Morse, "Officer Hill, I would like to present two recruits for the Initiative: Jessica Jones and Peter Parker."

Both Spider-Man and Jessica tensed at the sound of his real name. Jessica immediately grabbed Agent Morse's throat and pinned her to the wall. Jessica heard the sound of countless guns being readied from behind, no doubt pointed directly at her. If she harmed Morse, she'd be dead within the second. Still, she couldn't let this go.

"What did you just say!?" demanded Jessica.

"Jessica…" whispered Spider-Man worriedly.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is the most advanced espionage organization on the planet," said Hill, who was the only agent in the room who hadn't drawn her weapon, "You didn't think we'd figure out that the same skinny boy who hangs out with Jessica Jones and takes all the pictures of Spider-Man was the one wearing the mask?"

"We… won't… tell anyone…" choked Morse, "Please… Believe us…"

Jessica let go of Agent Morse, who keeled over panting while clutching her throat.

"What the hell is the Initiative?" asked Jessica.

"Are you sure about these two, Agent Morse?" asked Hill, "They lack discipline."

"I'm sure," said Agent Morse, standing up straight, "Just tell them."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is putting together a strike force to deal with a serious threat," explained Hill, "I've been tasked with putting it together. Agent Morse has been assisting me with this."

"What kind of serious threat?" asked Spider-Man.

"Several months ago S.H.I.E.L.D. broke up an A.I.M. terrorist cell," explained Hill, "While searching the facility, the agents learned that A.I.M. had been sending signals containing incredibly sensitive information directly into space."

"So?" said Jessica.

"So," continued Hill impatiently, "they got a response."

Jessica and Spider-Man looked at one another in concerned disbelief.