(Four months ago) NOVEMBER 2010: TRISKELION
Katherine sucked down her ice coffee, praying to the caffeine gods that it would wake her up so she could focus on whatever files landed on her desk that day. Her neighbors had been in a screaming match all night, and the thin walls had Katherine hearing every decibel of it.
"You look like crap," Angie greeted her.
"Thanks," Katherine muttered. "I didn't sleep at all last night."
"It's my job as your best friend to tell you the truth," Angie shrugged. "Was it your neighbors again?"
"Yes, I wish they'd get evicted already. Or a divorce." The fighting had gone from sporadic to at least twice a week. At this point Katherine didn't even think couple's therapy would help.
Slipping in her ear piece, Katherine logged into her computer to see who she'd be working with today. She hoped it would be someone halfway competent. If it was Rumlow or one of his counterparts she wouldn't survive the day. Clicking on the task center, a familiar name popped on her dashboard, making her smile. Once again, she'd be helping Clint Barton.
"Word of warning: I'll be working below par today," Katherine said once she'd connected to Clint through the coms. If it was any other agent she would have waited until they contacted her for her tech expertise. But with Clint, she had started making contact well before she was actually needed after the first month.
"Hungover?" He'd have to make a note to talk softer if Katherine was dealing with a hangover. Nothing was worse than your brain throbbing against your skull after a night of over indulging.
"No, my neighbors were rehearsing for the Jerry Springer show last night."
"Definitely not as fun as getting drunk."
"I'm sure you've had your fair share of bad sleeping conditions." Field agents, especially specialists, had to make due with whatever terrain they were working in. She'd heard of agents having to sleep in a junkyard one time to throw off the scent of attack dogs.
"I just have to slip out my hearing aids and I sleep like a baby no matter where I am." Clint commented offhandedly as he adjusted his position. He'd been sitting on one of the rafters in an old warehouse for hours.
"I suppose that's one of the advantages to having a mute button for life," Katherine mused.
Around the tenth time they'd 'worked' together, Clint had mentioned he'd lost 80% of his hearing during a past mission. He told a fantastical story when she asked how it happened that didn't match anything in his file about it. Clint didn't seem phased when she called him out on it.
Clint was about to comment back when the squeak of metal below him drew the attention of two of the massive guards the warehouse had patrolling the building.
"Crap," Clint muttered under his breath, scattering to the next rafter over when bullets started flying at him.
Though he'd been spotted, he wasn't ready to give up the advantage of being out of their reach until he had to. Which was much sooner than he anticipated when a bullet grazed his arm as he gripped the next rafter, causing him to lose his hold and start falling. Pulling an arrow from his quiver, he launched it at the roof, grabbing hold of the rope attached to slow his momentum on the way down.
"What's going on?" Katherine asked as the muffled sound of a scuffle sounded on his side.
"Engaging the enemy," he grunted when he got kneed in the stomach.
"I thought you were going to just pick them off one by one." Clint was the best sniper SHIELD had. He could kill you without you even knowing he was targeting you. And yet, he seemed to get in physical fights more often than not. Katherine was starting to think he liked it.
"That's a lot easier when A, they don't know I'm here, B, I'm not shot out of my hiding spot, and C, there aren't so many of them."
"How far away is extraction?" Katherine asked, pulling up the details of his operation to try and see who she needed to signal for help.
"There is no extraction this time."
"What?" Katherine muttered. "No, there's always an extraction in place. SHIELD just can't leave you hanging."
"I knew going in that I was going to have to get myself out." Elbowing the man coming toward him, Clint reconsidered agreeing to no extraction when even more men in too tight black tees started coming at him.
"Wrong again," Katherine said, leaning further over her keyboard.
Opening a new window, she accessed SHIELD's archive and began typing in code until she broke through the security and had complete access to the redacted portions of Clint's mission. As soon as she knew his location, she canceled out of the file and began the process of gaining remote access to the warehouse Clint was playing WWE smack down in. It was, as she expected, much easier than hacking SHIELD's firewall.
Clint stumbled over one of the unconscious men when the lights went out in the warehouse. For a second he thought the power had actually gone out from pure luck.
"Head to the southwest quadrant of the warehouse. There's a door that leads outside there."
"How did you…I thought SHIELD blacked out the locations," Clint said, doing as Katherine said and moved towards the back of the warehouse. He needed to take advantage of the confusion while it lasted. Preferably before anyone started shooting haphazardly.
"You sounded like you needed help, so I removed the sensors on the redacted parts of the mission." Her nonchalance over hacking SHIELD for information she wasn't supposed to have had him smiling.
"Breaking SHIELD protocol, I'm impressed. I think that earns you a code name," Clint said, stepping out into the night. "Okay, where do I go now?" Even with his eyesight, it was hard to make out the different buildings in the dark.
"Keep heading south and you'll find another structure," Katherine instructed, pulling up the blueprints of the facility. Her fingers slipped on her keyboard when Clint had to engage more men with guns. Her palms were sweating and her heart raced as though she was there with him.
Slamming the door closed on the next warehouse he came across, Clint threw his weight against the door in an effort to keep the men with guns outside. Thankfully Katherine hadn't killed the lights in that sector. Glancing around, Clint found it wasn't just another warehouse, it was a hanger.
"How are you at flying?" Katherine asked. She really hoped he could pilot a plane, or else her escape route wasn't going to work to well.
"I can get her off the ground. No promises on the landing," Clint muttered, picking out a model he was semi-familiar with and sprinting towards it.
PRESENT DAY: TRISKELION
Katherine stood just inside the doors leading to the landing pad, her bag beside her on the floor. She'd gotten the call early that morning to be packed and ready to go into the field. They hadn't told her where she was going, or what she was going to be doing. She would be briefed in the air to prevent any information from leaking.
"Agent Lee, we're ready to board," the pilot said as he stepped in from the landing pad.
"Just a few more minutes." Katherine glanced down the hall behind them. She was starting to think Angie wouldn't get her message in time. It was their day off, and Angie tended to sleep in whenever she could.
"I've got orders to get wheels up as soon as possible."
Sighing, Katherine reached down for her bag when the sound of footsteps echoed around them. Turning around Katherine found Angie running full speed down the hall, looking disheveled in sweatpants and a loose tee. She slid to a stop before Katherine, pulling her into a hug, her breathing heavy.
"You made it." Katherine hugged her back.
"Of course I made it. I can't let you fly off to your possible death without saying goodbye." She'd woken up about a half hour after Katherine's message. Not even bothering to dress, she'd grabbed her keys and hailed a cab. Although she ended up abandoning the cab three blocks down when it got stuck in the weekend tourist traffic and ran the rest of the way here. She'd even taken the stairs.
"Just because it's a field mission doesn't mean it'll be like the James Bond movies. I'll probably be in a van the whole time on a computer."
"Just promise you'll be safe wherever it is they're sending you." Angie refused to release her grip on Katherine until she promised she'd do her best not to die.
"Man the fort while I'm gone. And don't let Trevor use my desk," Katherine said before slipping out the doors to the landing pad.
She looked back just before boarding the jet, waving goodbye to Angie. In all honesty, she was nervous. She hadn't known what to expect when she'd gotten the call from Agent Johnson that she was needed in the field, top priority. It had to be something big to have him pulling her in on her day off.
Since he couldn't tell her how long she'd be gone, or where she was headed, she had to pack for various weather conditions. She'd worn layers for the flight: jeans, a sleeveless loose fitting cream blouse and a black leather jacket. Her bag wasn't big enough for a winter coat, so she hoped they wouldn't be going anywhere like the artic. As much as she loved her black heeled boots, she'd chosen her black gym shoes in case, for any reason, she had to be active for any portion of this assignment. Running was a lot easier in sneakers.
Following the pilot onto the plane, Katherine took a seat closest to the cockpit and clicked her buckle into place. She had to wait until they were at cruising altitude before she could boot up her tablet, and she spent most of the flight familiarizing herself with what little information SHIELD had put together on the assignment. Based on the file, it seemed to be an impromptu mission for all agents, not just her.
A black car and an agent in a suit and tie were waiting for her when the plane landed in a cloud of orange dust. With the sun bright above them, he had to be burning up in it, and yet he hadn't rolled up his sleeves or loosened his tie.
"You must be Agent Coulson," she greeted holding out her hand. "I'm Agent Lee."
"I know who you are. I hand-picked you myself for this. I hear you're one of the best." That caught Katherine off guard. She had expected SHIELD had sent her because she was one of only two data analysts at the Triskelion who had field training. "We better get going."
He took her bag, opening the passenger door for her before stowing her bag in the trunk. Katherine slipped out of her jacket and folded it over her arm before taking a seat. The drive to the site was long and silent. Katherine wanted to text or call Angie, but she'd already signed the papers agreeing to no contact with anyone other than those involved on the assignment. When she signed she was still in a state of shock over being called into the field. She hadn't really thought about the no contact thing. She told Angie everything. Not a day went by when they didn't communicate in one form or the other. It would be a struggle not telling her everything now.
"How long do you think I'll be needed out here?" Katherine asked, breaking the silence between her and Agent Coulson.
"A few days, maybe a few weeks. It's hard to tell with 084's." Normally they'd bring unknown objects back to a SHIELD lab, but no one had been able to move this one. So they built their own lab around it and flew in the personnel needed.
"Is there even wifi out here?" Katherine asked as they passed through a tiny town that looked as though it hadn't progressed past the 60's.
"We've adjusted some of our satellites, you should be covered," Coulson assured her.
Leaning her head against the passenger window, Katherine watched as the buildings of the town faded away to dry, desert wasteland. About a half mile after that they passed what seemed like a highly unnecessary sign: now leaving Puente Antiguo, New Mexico.
A/N I'm back again with an update. I hope you enjoyed it! I'm having fun writing it. Don't worry for those who read my other Marvel fics, I'm working on those chapters too. Thanks to everyone who is reading this, who followed/favorited it and who reviews. All of the above keep me motivated to write.
Rach
xoxo