A/N: Due to some flames received in my PMs, just a reminder, this story is just for fun. If you're looking for a serious plot, I would recommend Hurston or Tolstoy. If you're looking for clueless mutants and an even more clueless author, then you're in the right place :)

Chapter Five:

"The Hell's a Sabretooth?"

Songs for this chapter:

" 'Cause I'm a Man" by Tame Impala

"Make Up Your Mind" by Florence + the Machine

-O-

Maren had her icebreaker joke planned out for her entrance into the conference room on the 43rd floor. When she saw graveness lined into Banner's face and the fresh stitches above Clint's brow, her mind blanked. Clint held an icepack to his forehead. She saw another one strapped to his knee. Instead, she said,

"Hi, sorry. I'm late. The other side of Manhattan was crazy,"

The chatter in the room stopped at her entrance. At her question, Banner frowned while Clint looked between Banner and another of the techs. She spotted Maria sitting next to Coulson while Lindh sat on the far side of the table, typing on her tablet. Oof, the big bosses.

Coulson cleared his throat, standing to his feet. Her eyes softened when she saw him.

"Doctor Bennet," he said, coming around to the table and shaking her hand. He gave a small, genuine smile. "Been a while,"

She returned the smile. "Too long." she lowered her voice. "What's going on, sir? Is my assassination about to…like…happen?"

"No. That's only if plan A-H fail,"

"Oh, ok." She laughed. Coulson returned to his seat before she stilled, "Wait, what?"

"Everyone," Coulson said, and the stilted conversation stopped completely. "If you will direct your attention to the holo-table,"

Maren sat next to Barton, aside from Coulson she knew him best. She tapped his ankle with her foot, leaning slightly. "What's going on?"

He readjusted his many ice packs. "Nothing good, kid,"

Barton looked ready to hand in his retirement letter then and there, but Maren thought he looked like that most days anyway.

"Doctor Bennett," Hill began, pouring herself another cup of coffee before sitting down at the head of the table. "We're sorry to bring you in earlier, but the situation is urgent,"

Maren chose to say nothing for a moment, instead looking between Hill and Lindh.

Hill continued, "It's come to our attention through some newly filed reports in your department that you have been delving into Oscorp." She said. Even though Maren had been given a heads-up by Lindh, her stomach still dropped. Made for conflict, she was not. "And because of the connection to some mutant politics, Dr. Lindh recommended that we contact you in place of the Xavier school for the time being. Even then, we apologize for bringing you into this meeting before our set appointment on Friday,"

"If given the clearance, I would like to see this through," Lindh put her tablet under her arm before crossing them, striking an imposing figure in a black blazer and leather pants with psychedelic stilettos. "I was not aware that there were ongoing investigations into genetics research, only into their arms manufacturing,"

Shaking her head, Hill interrupted, "Thank you, Doctor Lindh, you can go, but I can expect a full department communication audit by next week?"

Lindh nodded stiffly. Tilting her head upward, Lindh exuded disbelief to Maren. She was told no infrequently it would seem.

While audits are annoying, Maren thought, that still wouldn't explain Lindh's poor mood. Probably tell Dylan to start a new life in Costa Rica as a migrant coffee farmer.

Maren couldn't look at Lindh as she strode from the room, her heels reverberating against the glass walls.

"Doctor Bennett,"

At Hill's command, Maren said, "Ma'am?"

"You're being temporarily reassigned to a task force headed by Agent Barton,"

She tried to keep her head from spinning, "In what capacity?"

"Information and overwatch detail, as well as a liaison between SHIELD and some unknown relations in the mutant sphere, understood?"

She wanted to ask questions, but Maren nodded. "Yes, ma'am, whatever you need,"

Hill leaned back in her chair with her coffee and motioned for Coulson.

"Everyone," Coulson said, and the stilted conversation stopped completely. "If you will direct your attention to the holo-table,"

"This happened yesterday morning," Hill lifted a hand over the holo-table, motioning for a video to play. The 3-D image showed Doctor Banner outside his apartment, a rough place in Queens it looked like. Three men in black appeared from an alleyway, throwing a bag over Banner's head. Maren looked at the man on the other side of the table out of the corner of her eye, searching for any sign he might turn green around the gills. He remained impassive, watching the video again. His arms stayed stiff at his sides, Maren noticed. She jerked her head when he looked at her.

In the video, Banner seemed to be all patience and pleading to be left alone, until he suddenly wasn't. Maren felt the change in him as she watched when the other guy wanted out to play. She felt sorry for the number of clothes that he must go through every month. The anger was palpable of course, but surprise lined her face when she felt the fierce need to protect. It swelled within her chest to the point where she was forced to take a deep breath.

She felt Banner stare at her. The man knew nothing about psychic guards. His worry poured off him, terrified she was afraid of him. She winced when one of them pulled a cattle prod, jabbing it into Hulk's back. The Hulk roared and shoved the man, propelling him into a car windshield.

She pulled her eyes from the video, asking Banner. "Were you checked by medical, Doctor Banner? Any residual injuries?"

He huffed a self-deprecating laugh. "No need." he said, but his eyes were grateful, his shoulders relaxing. His grin turned a bit wry. "The cattle prod was a nice touch though, wasn't it?"

"A little too dramatic for me. To each their own," Maren shook her head, and Clint snorted.

Clint sat up with a groan, moving the ice pack on his knee to his shoulder. "Just wait. I think you'll find this next part interesting,"

Her brows drew together as he reached for the hologram, twisting his hand, speeding up the frames. A few seconds of watching the Hulk pummel half a dozen men before another massive figure appeared in frame, leaping down from the fire escape. Both his clawed hands outstretched while his body twisted in a feline manner.

"Wait," Maren said, leaning forward, overtaking the holo-table controls from Clint. "Freeze it there," she manipulated the hologram, isolating the man's figure just before he attempted to rip Hulk's eyes from his skull. "Oh, heck no,"

"Watch the street language, Bennett. You'll wreck your image," Clint said dryly. Maren ignored him as she ran the image through facial rec.

Banner frowned. "You know that guy? When he knocks the other guy down, it definitely wasn't for show,"

"Yeah," she sighed. "I know 'im. Wish I didn't, but I do. I ran into him a few times in…" she chose her words carefully. "In, uh, school,"

Banner blinked. "We had very different high school experiences."

"Well, at least it wasn't the traveling circus," Clint said. "What's his story?"

Maren blew up the photo and data. All photos were surveillance photos or photos taken by CCTVs during attacks, assassinations, and the occasional mutilation. "Victor Creed, a.k.a, Sabretooth. He's a freelance sadist who does the worst for the highest amount of money. He's worked with Magneto and a few other contractors like weapons dealers in Third World countries,"

"Stats?" Hill said.

Maren flicked her hand, extending the line of information along the length of the table. The squares showed videos of Sabretooth in combat, government memos, witness statements, possible indictments, financial records.

"Want in thirty-seven countries on charges ranging from espionage, assassination, larceny, sexual assault, murder, and treason. From my last conversation with some sources at the Xavier mansion, he's since been upgraded to Adamantium bones as well,"

Barton said, "Like the Wolf guy?"

"Wolverine," Maren replied. "Yeah, it looks like he got a little jealous of the new iOS,"

Banner raised his hands, capturing pieces of information before sending them back to the middle of the table. "And he survived this operation?"

"Pretty obviously since he just tried to crack your brain open yesterday," Clint threw back.

Hill cleared her throat, "Barton," she warned, and the man only shrugged.

"But, yes, Dr. Banner," Maren continued. "Creed is a beta-level mutant with advanced regenerative abilities. The pure size of him also helps. He's a feral, edging in the feline direction,"

Banner shook his head. "Explains the claws at least,"

"No, but it doesn't explain why he targeted you. I know his neurons are sparse, but attacking someone like you and your… friend is drastic even for him." Maren looked toward Hill and Coulson. "There's something else, isn't there?"

Coulson nodded. "Start the footage again, Barton,"

Maren watched as Sabretooth lunged for Hulk, claws outstretched. The claws took a chunk out of Hulk's chest and shoulder. She winced again. Her eyes flickered to Banner, and he discreetly pulled down his collar, showing no visible wounds. She offered a tiny smile, and he nodded. The next part of the battle lasted a few more seconds before a battered Sabretooth escaped from the alleyway while the other men caused a new distraction by setting off pre-set explosives around him. When the smoke cleared, only Hulk remained. The footage stopped as Hulk reached to his shoulder, looking at his bloody hand.

"So he got away?" Maren asked. "Nothing? We have nothing?"

"No, not totally. We caught footage of him at John Street getting into a limo at the Methodist church," Clint said.

"That seems high dollar of him," Maren looked at Hill and Coulson. "What was the point of all this? I've never found any connection of Sabretooth to Oscorp,"

"Just watch," Hill nodded at Coulson, who plugged an external drive into the table. CCTV footage of Sabretooth played. He had removed his tattered overcoat, leaving him in a pressed black suit. He blended in with a menagerie of brokers and bankers. Maren watched as Creed examined his bloody claws. No one around him batted an eye as he pulled a glass vial from his pocket and deposited a bit of blood and tissue into the container.

Maren looked up at Banner sharply. "They weren't after you,"

"No, just a DNA sample,"

"A hell of a dramatic way to get one," Clint said.

"We need you to find out why he needed it so badly," Coulson told Maren.

"There's something bothering me that I can't-," Maren trailed off when the video flashed in front of her.

A limo stopped on the curb near Sabretooth, and a woman inside opened the door for him. Blonde, striking blue eyes, with one telling scar running from her right eye across her cheekbone. She greeted Sabretooth with a passionate kiss that made Maren want to gag. Maren recognized her immediately.

Alena Garzo, geneticist for Oscorp.

"It looks like Sabretooth has found a new employer,"

-O-

Maren spent the next two hours explaining the mammoth that was mutant politics and the ramifications of Oscorp conducting illicit genetics testing. Everyone grew quiet when she told them about the children that had been taken. Hill arched a brow when she explained the testing site she and Kitty had uncovered earlier in the morning but said nothing against her. She ordered for additional information to build a better case against Oscorp before leaving the room to scare other unknowing agents into performing great acts of justice.

She left the meeting cold and exhausted, feeling a desperate need for a nap but knowing she wouldn't get one. Coulson told her that her things would be moved from her current office to an upstairs suite before ordering her a renewed badge and credentials.

She forgot about getting homesick for the sublevel floors when she spotted the full coffee pot in the breakroom closest to her office door. She darted for the coffee machine. She turned for a coffee mug when one was thrust into her hands.

Doctor Lindh offered her dry coffee creamer next. Maren nearly dropped her mug.

"Doctor Lindh? What are you doing up here?" she tried to play off her surprise by pouring coffee into the mug Lindh offered her.

One side of Lindh's mouth curved into a smile. "Just saying goodbye,"

"Oh. Well, I don't think it's a permanent reassignment. Uhm. You can decide whether that's a good or bad thing," she placed the coffee pot back on the heater.

Lindh chuckled. "Coulson also passed me on the way up." she held up Maren's updated badge. "He asked me to give you this,"

Maren smiled, saying, "He missed his calling as a professional pickpocket,"

"Or street magician,"

"That too."

"I'll be interested to see you expand your abilities in this assignment. I know there have been moments where you feel like you have to hold back." the angles of her face were sharp, her eyes even sharper. "Don't."

Maren took the badge, hanging it back around her neck. Lindh's eyes lingered too long, and Maren went back to making her coffee, pouring in far too much sugar.

Lindh turned on her heel. "Let me know if you need anything while you're away. I'm sure we'll all miss seeing you in the hallways downstairs,"

Maren waved as Lindh disappeared behind elevator doors.

She took a sip of her coffee. "God. She scares me,"