A/N: Guess who's back... back again!

YOU GUYS. We have reached the third installment of Marvel 2.0 holy crud monkeys! I couldn't have done this without you and everyone's support. Disclaimer, this one is definitely my favorite so far. You thought the plot twists and canon divergence was bad before? You ain't see nothing yet honey.

A huge welcome to my new beta who is the best grammar police and reviewer ever: SomeRandomHuman001! Welcome to the nut house, it's a wild ride.

I rebooted this due to my life changes and to make it more fair to you guys. Expect an update every Wednesday yay!

If you haven't read the first two novels in this series, I highly suggest reading them first so you're not completely completely lost. To all of my new readers, welcome. To all of my returning readers, welcome back. I've missed you terribly xoxo

The End of the Line Spotify Playlist: open dot spotify dot com /playlist/3otox4s9jNOJmKaom3en0u?si=S6hiPeFMTkC7WkuIEt-8_g

THE END OF THE LINE

PANDORA

Update, I still hate planes.

If I had known how many planes I was going to have to continually jump out of when I signed on to become a SHIELD agent, I might have said no.

Okay, maybe that's not entirely true.

Take today, for example. I was in a bad mood when I woke up, and today was not the day to be cranky. After all, I was supposed to take the lead on my first solo mission. However, people pissed me off, per usual, and here I was: irritable and crabby.

I practically felt Natasha Romanoff breathing down my neck as I examined the screens in front of me, attempting to figure out our best course of action. She had way more confidence in me than I did in myself, and while I loved it most days, today was a different story. Today, if I didn't pull off this mission… well, I wasn't entirely sure what happened to agents who failed their final test to be perfectly honest. I didn't want to find out.

"What are the coordinates?" I snapped, tapping the LED screens in front of me rather aggressively.

The agents gathered behind me all turned to face each other, nervous to speak up around me. I spun around, raising an eyebrow as I got no response.

Finally, one of them stepped forward, clearing his throat anxiously. I wished I could remember his name, so I could make some sort of pun with it. "I'm afraid you're going to need to be a little more specific," he said slowly.

"What are the goddamn coordinates?" I retorted. "How about that?"

My headset crackled in my ear, and I resisted the urge to reach up and fiddle with it again. "Calm down, Agent Whitman," came the stern English voice I knew was watching my every move. "I'm sending them to you now."

I was still adjusting to having Peggy Carter back in our lives in this era, and so was the rest of SHIELD. She and I trained most of the new recruits over the past year, and while I mostly screamed at them, Peggy had done a number on them. They respected her even if she wasn't allowed out of SHIELD headquarters just yet. That was a lot more than I could say about myself.

"I'm sorry," I apologized to Peggy, feeling the connotation of the words heavier than ever. I had a lot to apologize to her for. I turned to where the agents were still staring into my soul, shaking my head. "I'm just a little stressed right now."

Natasha reached over and clapped a hand on my shoulder, beaming down at me. She was like a proud mother whose kid had just scored the winning goal. "You'll be fine," she reassured me. "You know, this is only the test that determines whether you're a qualified agent or not."

I took that back.

She was more like an older sister who was waiting to see when I was going to steal her Barbie dolls. Or in this case, her fancy Russian guns.

I shot a glare in her direction. "Really not helping."

"Hey," she said with a smirk. "You may already be a level seven agent, but I'm still your supervising officer."

"I wish Clint were still here," I responded just as quickly. "He would remind you what an ass you're being."

I turned back to the screens displaying my mission in front of me, shaking my head at Natasha as I did so. Tilting my head to one side, I read the coordinates of where the plane was taking us, still not comprehending what we would be doing in the middle of the ocean.

Before I could make another smart comment towards Peggy, however, Agent Rumlow stepped forward, folding his arms across his chest.

"Target is a mobile satellite launch platform called the Lemurian Star. They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them 93 minutes ago."

I wasn't sure how I felt about Brock Rumlow. From the first day that we met, he was nothing but dodgy. Still, he was a good agent, and for now, at least, he was on my side.

"Any demands?" I asked him.

"A billion and a half."

I wished I had a billion and a half dollars. And even if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't give it to pirates.

"Why so steep?" I questioned.

Agent Jack Rollins stepped up beside his partner, giving Rumlow a sideways glance. "Because it's SHIELD's."

I raised a careful eyebrow. "So, it's not off-course," I observed. "It's trespassing."

"I'm sure they have a good reason," Natasha responded casually.

I suppressed an eye roll as I turned away from the agents gathered behind me. "You know," I said. "I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor."

My earpiece crackled again, this time accompanied by a small chuckle. "What do you think SHIELD agents are, Agent Whitman?" Peggy commented.

I wished she was here so I could wipe the smirk off her face. Mark my words, she will never let me forget that she has outranked me since before I was born.

"Touché," was all I said, choosing not to start a fight today.

I felt a strong hand on my arm and glanced over to see Rumlow giving me a sympathetic look. "It won't be too complicated," he assured me.

Immediately shrugging out of his grip, I gave him a disgusted look. "I don't need your comfort, Agent Rumlow," I reminded him. "I need to smack some pirates in the face."

See, sleazy.

"How many are there?" I questioned, moving my gaze off of the shady agent in inquiry.

Rollins gave his partner another look before shifting his eyes towards mine. "Twenty-five top marks led by this guy." He paused, swiping the screen in front of me to the left, displaying a burly-looking man. Correction, an ugly burly man. "Georges Batroc."

"I know him," Peggy said through our comms. "He's ex-DGSE, action division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Flag notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had 36 kills. Pandora, this guy has a rep for maximum casualties. You have to be careful."

"So now, you're worried about me?" I countered. Smirking, I turned to Natasha beside me, shaking a piece of red hair from my eyes. "Tell me," I continued, "why my test to become a full-fledged agent is an actual mission?"

"Hey, good news is that if you lead us to our deaths, we had a good run."

She really was the worst.

I rolled my eyes, although I couldn't keep a small smile from appearing on my lips. "Still not helping," I managed to spit out. "What about hostages?"

Glancing back over my shoulder, I made eye contact with Rumlow who was still looking at me like I was a piece of meat. Something was not right with that man.

"Mostly techs, and one agent," he said, reaching over my shoulder to swipe the screen in front of me again. A familiar face appeared. "Jasper Sitwell. They're all in the gallery."

Natasha frowned beside me, shifting her suspicious gaze to Rumlow. Thank God I wasn't the only one who found him shady. "What's Agent Sitwell doing on a launch strip?" she asked.

Rumlow and Rollins exchanged an awkward glance, and I had a feeling I was about to have a mutiny on my first mission. Clapping my hands together, I gained the attention back, breaking up the tension surrounding the agents around me. "Alright then," I said. "I'll sweep the deck and find Batroc."

"Are you sure you-" Natasha tried to interrupt, but I cut her off almost immediately, reminding her who was supposed to be in charge. The older sister needed to take a backseat today.

"My mission, Agent Romanoff." I paused. "You kill the engines and wait for further instructions. I have a feeling I'll need you on the ground. Agent Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages and get them out using the life pods or whatever else you can find." I pressed a hand to my ear, making sure I still had my favorite English woman with me. "Peggy."

"Director," came her only retort.

"I'm sorry, that's still too confusing for me," I said, not answering her. "Be the eyes and ears of this operation. If anything goes wrong on your end, I want to know immediately."

"Already on it."

I turned to the less shady agent of the partnership, nodding towards him. "Agent Rollins, take the STRIKE team and do what you do best."

"Copy that," Rollins said, turning the rest of the agents around him. "You heard the lady. It's time to move out."

As the agents moved to their positions around me, I tried to calm my heart from beating out my chest, but right now, nothing was working. I couldn't fail today. I couldn't let all of this be for nothing.

I closed my eyes as I grabbed my gear, throwing on my backpack. I double-checked the parachute this time, trying to calm my shaking hands as I fastened the straps around me. Natasha snorted beside me, watching me steady my breath.

"Remember the first time you jumped out of a plane?" she asked, bringing up the exact memory I was trying my hardest not to recall.

"I'm still not too fond of it," I replied through gritted teeth.

She laughed harder as she swung her backpack on easily. Leaning against the wall of the jet, she let her laugh fade into a soft smile. "You know what they say, practice makes perfect," she countered.

"Only this time, if I don't get this perfect-"

She didn't let me finish my depressing train of thought. "Hey, don't think about that," she encouraged. "Seriously, you got this. I believe in you. These agents believe in you."

"Do they?"

I saw the way they all looked at me when they thought I wasn't looking. I didn't ask for this life, but here I was, the youngest highest-ranked SHIELD agent in history. I felt like a cheat.

I pushed the button to open the back of the plane, watching as the rest of the agents jumped easily, pulling their parachutes at the last moment to ensure a safe landing on the deck of the ship. Closing my eyes, I took another deep breath, barely hearing Natasha's response.

"You saved the world, Pandora. That counts for something."

It shouldn't.

I couldn't think about this now. It was not the time or the place if I wanted to do this.

Another deep breath later, I opened my eyes, forcing myself back in the present. As soon as I did, however, I saw the smirk on Natasha's face as she reached out with one hand and shoved me out the plane.

"Just in case you were worried!" she shouted after me as I free-fell towards the ship below me.

I barely even thought about the jump as I pulled my parachute, landing square on the wooden deck of the ship. Ditching the parachute, I glared in Natasha's direction as she landed directly beside me. "I really hate you," I spat, although there was appreciation behind my words.

Deep behind my words.

"Hey," Natasha replied with a shrug. "All you needed was a gentle push."

"I will never get used to that."

"I'm just trying to help."

I shot her a knowing look. Every time she tried to help me, it only made things worse. Okay, that wasn't entirely fair – in the long run, I wouldn't be here without Natasha. Not that I would ever let her have the satisfaction of knowing that.

"Secure the engine room and help me later," I said, shaking my hair out of my eyes.

Natasha laughed as she leapt over the nearest railing, heading towards her location. "I'm multitasking," she called out. "I'm your SO!"

Hey, I asked for it.

"Asshole," I muttered lovingly into my headset.

I laid eyes on a few suspicious-looking men in front of me, and I didn't even question before I sprinted over to them. The first one was down in a blink, never seeing me coming. The second, third and fourth men, however, took a few shots to the chest before they were down for at least a couple of hours.

I examined my gun in my hands, reloading it again as I leaned against a nearby pole. I had to thank Coulson one of these days for the ICE guns. They certainly came in handy when I wasn't busy battling aliens.

Stop.

Not today.

"Targets acquired."

I was never thankful to hear Rumlow's voice, but I was thankful for it at that moment. I needed to get out of my own head.

"STRIKE team in position," Rollins immediately responded, and I waited for Natasha's confirmation. It never came.

Frowning, I glanced around the pole I was hiding behind, seeing if she was in my view. She wasn't. "Natasha, what's your status?" I questioned. Still nothing. "Natasha?"

"Hang on!" I heard her call out before I heard a loud scrimmage in my ear. Wincing, I resisted the urge to pull the piece out of my ear. There was one more loud bang and then, Natasha was back. "Engine room secure."

I didn't dare breathe or move as I took in the moment. This was my mission.

"Okay," I said softly. "On my mark." I paused, taking another deep breath. "Three." Inhale. "Two." Exhale. "One."

I stood up, moving around the pole and towards the front of the ship as I heard a mixture of commotion in my ears. I couldn't see anything in front of me, and that worried me. I was expecting more of a fight.

"Peggy!" I called out. "What's happening?"

"I'm catching activity on the bow of the ship," she responded. "It seems Batroc is looking for an escape."

I immediately took off in that direction, thanking whoever was listening that the mission was going as planned so far. I was off to a good start.

"Well," I uttered. "He's not going to find one."

I was almost to the bow of the ship before I heard the piece crackle to life again. It wasn't the person I wanted to hear.

"Whitman."

I was proud of myself for not groaning when I heard Rumlow's voice.

"Romanoff missed the rendezvous point," he stated. "Hostiles are still in play."

"Get them off the ship!" I practically screamed at him, trying to catch my breath as I continued to run across the wooden floor of the ship. I was definitely going to have shin splints later.

I paused, leaning against the mast of the ship, searching for Batroc. "Natasha," I whispered. "Batroc's on the move. I got him. Circle back to Rumlow and protect the hostages."

Dead silence.

"Rumlow?"

There wasn't even a crackle.

"Peggy, what's going on? Anyone?"

I yanked the earpiece out of my ear, tossing it across the ship angrily. Stepping out of my hiding spot, I shook my head at the turn of events. "Dammit."

"And here I was expecting Captain America."

I spun around, angry at myself for letting the pirate sneak up on me. No one snuck up on me anymore. At the mention of Steve, however, my blood froze where it stood, my fingers twitching towards the gun holstered on my belt.

"I suppose you must be disappointed," I said casually as if Batroc and I were two friends catching up.

He took a few steps closer to me, letting his eyes flicker up and down my body as if he was assessing how I was planning on taking him down. I looked like an easy target, but boy, he was in for a fight.

"Are you stronger than the man with the shield?" he asked, trying to get a rise out of me.

It was working.

I tossed my gun to the side and held my fists in front of me. If it was a fight he was itching for, it was a fight he was going to get. My only hope was that he replayed this moment over and over in his head when he was in jail, regretting the moment he pissed me off.

I smirked, my muscles longing to be back in combat. "We shall see."