Whoops. Monday's chapter seems to have gotten lost in the multiverse and reappeared on Wednesday.

Enjoy!

Alex peered through a gap in the scaffolding above the docking bay and watched Agent Hill slip back into the quinjet she'd flown in on. Two well armed shadows marched at her heels, taking up as much room as their bodies possibly could. Broad shoulders, heavy equipment buckled to every available surface of their uniforms, a hand on their guns at every moment. Even the way they walked was big. It was the loudest show of strength Alex had yet to see from anyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. and she trusted it about as far as she could throw it.

Which was apparently pretty far now. But it still set the back of her neck prickling.

Thank heavens they were leaving.

She knew she shouldn't be nervous. They were on the same side. These people were trying to help her. At least, that's what they said. Clint and Bruce, she believed–which still surprised her a little bit. As far as the whole organization itself… Well, organizations had a way of looking out for their own bigger picture. She had no idea how anyone could hope to control her now. They certainly didn't control Bruce. But she knew for sure that if Safeguard could find a way, they would jump at the chance.

Except Safeguard didn't exist anymore. Not the company at least. S.H.I.E.L.D. had all the dogs, herself included.

Was that the angle? They couldn't use her, but they had a buttload of highly trained shapeshifting pawns at their fingertips. Pawns she'd helped them get.

She grimaced out at the now humming aircraft. A moment later it whirred backwards out of view and she blew out a sigh. Her body slumped into the little cavern up on the upper deck and she blinked at the ceiling. She was saved from spiraling too far over the edge of threatening guilt by soft bootsteps she knew all too well by now.

Clint.

"Alex?" His voice was quiet, tentative. There was a hint of hesitancy to it that made her want to hunker down, but he knew this hiding spot already.

She poked her head out of the scaffolding and he glanced up from the dock below. The smile he offered made her stomach twist. Maria had told him something, something he didn't want to share. They were going to use her. She knew it. Every cell of her body screamed at her to run.

But she couldn't. It was Clint.

So she slid out of her hiding spot as he came up the ladder, perching herself on the edge of the catwalk with her legs dangling over the side. He sat down next to her with his elbows hooked into the railing. For a long moment, they sat there in a heavy kind of silence. Just say it. They had the dogs. They had her. And they were going to use that army for whatever they wanted.

Clint's shoulders lifted. He puffed out a breath.

"So," he said, ignoring her tiny flinch, "they figured out how Rayner found you and the others."

She glanced over at him, brows furrowing. That wasn't what she was expecting.

He kept going. "There's a little difference in your blood. Some tiny strand of DNA, I guess."

The nervous little chuckle told her that he felt as weird about this whole thing as she did.

"Banner says anywhere with a lab can test for it."

Her eyes fell forward, nodding. What was he getting at? What did he want? She swallowed.

There was a long pause before he cleared his throat. "Alex…"

She could tell from his voice that he wanted her to look at him. Reluctantly, she lifted her eyes. The stone line of his face made every hair bristle up and down her spine.

"Was there a doctor or a hospital you went to before… before you ended up at Safeguard?"

She turned away from him. "I-I can't remember."

It wasn't a lie. Not completely. That life, before all of this, was so far away that it might as well belong to someone else. If she looked back, if she remembered, then everything she'd lost was real.

"We can't stop them if we don't know who's helping them."

Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips, throat tightening.

"They'll just start all over again."

And so what? This wasn't even her universe. What did she care? Except that she did.

"Alex."

Tap, tap, tap on the railing. She swallowed. "I got sick."

He shifted behind her.

"Really sick. My par–I went to the hospital for it."

He nodded, voice soft. "Which hospital?"

Her eyes flicked up to him and down again. The world blurred in front of her.

"Saint Stones Memorial."

His body shifted a little taller. "Do you remember which doctor?"

Alex frowned. No. She shook her head. Wait. Her eyes scrunched closed. White lab coat. Dark stubble. He smelled like cheese and coffee. A little dribble of yellow mustard one his shirt. She'd thought it was kind of funny at the time. Because–because of his name.

"Dr. Heinz."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. Now that she thought about it, she'd been there nearly a week. Why were there no other doctors on call? Anger bubbled inside her. Because he was stealing her. That bastard. So many years. Too many years. All because of him.

"Alex?"

Her eyes flicked back to Clint. He nodded at her hand where thick black claws were starting to form.

"Maybe you should sit this one out."