Aura
Chapter 2
Harry arrived at the extraction point and noticed that the Quinjet was already there. He signalled the pilot to open the ramp and entered.
The Quinjet was an advanced high-tech combat plane which was more often used by S.H.I.E.L.D agents as transport. He acknowledged the pilot with a nod and the jet took off the ground towards HQ.
Harry decided to take a quick nap for the next several hours, knowing that he will be debriefed thoroughly once he reached Triskelion.
The Triskelion was built on Theodore Roosevelt Island in Washington which now served as the main HQ after the New York Invasion. Its central structure is composed of three tall, thin, columnar buildings supporting a shared circular top floor. On the outside of the structure itself, helipads and Quinjet launch bays had been built on the Island. All in all, it was a state-of-the-art masterpiece.
Once he reached the Triskelion, his Supervising Officer, Maria Hill was waiting for him at the landing field. She was most likely informed beforehand of his arrival.
Maria Hill is a level 8 S.H.I.E.L.D agent, known to be among one of the best operatives S.H.I.E.L.D has ever produced. She was often ignored when she first joined S.H.I.E.L.D because of her gender, but Director Nick Fury took notice of her hard work and dedication and took her under his wing. Now, she is known to be Fury's right-hand woman and enjoys a well-deserved reputation as tough-minded individual with a sharp mind.
Hill was currently dressed in her S.H.I.E.L.D assigned, well-fitted jumpsuit. She could be described as a petite woman, but it is better to not be deceived by her body size. It is true that her specialty isn't hand to hand combat, but she is better than most agents. Most guys found it the hard way not to mess with her.
Most of the time she remains busy and barely has the time to assign missions to him in-person, so he was a bit surprised that she was here. Last time he saw her up-close was nearly a year ago, just before the 'The Invasion'.
"Agent Potter" she greeted me with a nod.
"I am sure you are surprised to see me here. It's been three years since your last PE. So, you have been suggested to undergo a Level Seven Psychological Evaluation by Doctor Roberts."
Doctor Roberts was the guy who managed his first and the only Psych Eval. He is a bubbly and eccentric man in his fifties who offers candies to every 'patient'.
"I will lead you to Psychoanalysis Department after you've been debriefed. Follow me." she turned and briskly walked back to the building without bothering to see if he was following her.
Harry and Agent Hill entered the massive building with Harry following behind on her heels.
He thought the interior of the building to be moderate. S.H.I.E.L.D's spent billions of dollars for the construction of Triskelion. In his opinion, they could have invested this money in other worthwhile areas.
Agent Hill was quite popular in S.H.I.E.L.D. She drew eyes wherever she went to not only because of her attractive figure, but because she was one of the top dogs in S.H.I.E.L.D.
Many agents gave her a nod of respect as she passed by, but he was ignored as usual. It didn't bother him, because he preferred the anonymity. In fact, he would be bothered if most of them even knew his name.
She acknowledged their nods but waved off anyone trying to get her attention.
By the time we reached the elevator, she dismissed at least a dozen agents who tried to interrupt her stride to the elevator.
"Operations" she commanded to the voice automated elevator.
Because of her inaccessibility, Harry was mostly debriefed on different floors and offices by different agents.
But when Agent Hill was available, he would be debriefed in her office located on the Operations floor. She moved her office to that floor a few years ago, claiming that it'd be rather more productive to reduce the walking time in which she could do other things.
"I read the report of your previous mission in Istanbul..." she said, waiting for him to react in any way.
He remained silent knowing the brunette's reasons for starting the conversation with this particular topic and where it would lead to.
When he did not react, she continued:
"If the reports are accurate and I believe they are, it mentioned that you were injured during your confrontation with the mercenaries hired by the sex tracking ring leader, Emirhan Çelik."
When he still refused to talk, she continued:
"If my memory serves me right, you had a left shoulder subluxated and a grade 2 radial wrist sprain of your left hand."
Agent Hill moved her head discretely to watch him from the corner of her eye, expecting a reaction.
Harry winced for the effect because he didn't want her to take a sudden interest in him. His pain tolerance was high, but she didn't know that. She believed that the only training he received was from S.H.I.E.L.D which involved hand to hand combat, weapons training, surveillance and countersurveillance and so on, but that training didn't involve R2I (Resistance to Interrogation) and he wasn't subjected to pain during his training. If she becomes suspicious of him, she might start digging up his past.
He barely held a sigh of relief when she turned her head back.
"It also stated that you refused to undergo any treatment ordered by Agent Willis," she finished, her face stoic.
Agent Willis was the guy who debriefed him after his mission to Istanbul. Harry was diagnosed by a doctor and was ordered by Agent Cole to seek treatment from S.H.I.E.L.D.
"With all due respect ma'am, he wasn't in any position to order me to do anything. Only my S.O and the director could've ordered me to seek treatment. And he was neither," he said calmly.
She remained silent.
He knew that was the end of the discussion, so he stepped back to lean on the railing with a sigh.
After a moment, the elevator stopped, and Agent Hill strode towards her office with Harry following her closely.
Her office was a medium sized room. The desk was at the farthest wall. And there were several file cabinets placed against walls. Most agents expected her office to be bare of any personal items because of her personality. But surprisingly, her office had a nice personal touch to it. Her desk contained a picture of her family. They weren't close, so he never asked her about it.
She walked to her desk like she had done it a thousand times and waved him to sit.
After 35 grueling minutes later, she dropped the pen she was holding to write and told him to follow her to Psychoanalysis Department.
Harry didn't know what to expect from a Level Seven Psychological Evaluation. He's only been through a Level 4 which was quite easy to trick. He wasn't worried because he had heard rumors that a lie detector was involved in a Level 7 PE which he knew how to trick as well. But there must be something else he was missing; it wasn't named as a level 7 just for kicks.
Maria Hill entered the Psychoanalysis Department with Agent Potter in tow.
She remembered the last time she was forced to take a PE. It was right after 'New York'.
God, she still can't believe sometimes that Aliens exist. The first alien she saw was Thor, but not in person though, just a CCTV footage of him and he came in peace. Plus, she wasn't there to see the destruction the Destroyer brought on the town of Puente Antiguo. So, it was easier to accept the existence of aliens.
Then, last year, a portal opened above Stark Tower, now known as Avengers Tower, by Loki of Asgard. Thousands of people died that day, but in the end, Stark managed to carry a nuke through the wormhole destroying their mothership, killing every Chitauri soldier on Earth. Romanoff was able to close the portal and the Avengers won.
She underwent a Psych Eval level 5 after that on Dr. Roberts orders. It involved her being hooked to a polygraph test while answering some difficult psychological questions and personal questions. All in all, she hated Dr. Roberts who forced her to take the test. She could have evaded him easily by pulling her rank, but Fury cornered her, and she relented.
She gave Agent Potter a quick glance and concluded that he was a bit apprehensive, but mostly irritated.
She felt for him, but this was necessary.
She never wanted to become an SO. But it was required of her, by Fury's orders, who believed that she isn't socializing enough. At least, that was the reason she got from him. He suggested Romanoff or Barton or any other top agents they had, but they're quite a handful so she turned him down on his offer. She didn't have time to babysit them. So, she eyed the new recruits who just finished training, because all the older agents already had SOs.
After going through dozens of files, she chose Agent Harry Potter. He had somewhat average marks in Hand to Hand Combat, Weapons Firing and Countersurveillance and above average marks in Surveillance... All in all, he was an average S.H.I.E.L.D agent. He was chosen because she thought him to be more agreeable than the others. His instructor described him as a quite and reflective person, never questioning the instructors and an independent person. Just the agent she needed who wouldn't come looking for her for every setback he experienced in missions or in general life.
She won't lie, she was a bit suspicious of him at first. She read his S.H.I.E.L.D files and did some diggings on his past but found nothing odd. So, she gave him the benefit of doubt. She still doesn't trust him, but as most people claim, she doesn't trust anybody except few chosen people.
He doesn't talk much, mostly prefers to answer with a gesture. He is a lonely fellow with no friends, as far as she knows.
She always sees him sitting alone in the mess hall. Some new agents try to befriend him from time to time, but they quickly lose interest. Sometimes, his eyes gain a distant faraway look when he thinks nobody is watching. She wonders why but never comes to any conclusion.
She wasn't the only one who noticed it.
FLASHBACK:
The mess hall was located on the second floor of Triskelion. Long tables were connected from one end of the hall to the other with black chairs. The area was so vast that it could hold more than 600 to 700 people. Contrary to some people's beliefs, the food was quite delicious here.
She never sat at the same place she sat the day before. It was a habit she was taught by Fury who was the most paranoid person she'd ever seen, and it seemed like his paranoia was rubbing off on her.
She currently sat at the far-right corner finishing her grilled chicken when Coulson strode towards her with a tray in his hand. (A/N: Coulson didn't die. He was only injured by Loki and managed to recover.)
"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be with Fury at The Hub?" he sat with a sigh on the chair opposite her.
The hub was another S.H.I.E.L.D HQ located in Alaska.
"Fury got called off to something more important by the Council," she answered.
"I just came for a quick bite after debriefing Barton and Romanoff."
Maria looked around and found the two super spies sitting down the hall. Romanoff's right arm was wrapped in bandages and was glaring at Barton, while he was smirking at her.
Maria didn't know why he was telling her that.
"They came back this morning with Ricci D'Angelo in cuffs," he told her proudly like a father who was naming his kids' achievements.
Ricci D'Angelo was the leader of an Italian mafia organization who has been a pain for S.H.I.E.L.D for quite a while. Many agents had been sent after him, but soon after being deployed, most turn up MIA.
It was a relief the bastard won't be out in the world anymore killing innocents. She'll make sure that he never gets to see sunlight ever again.
"You want me to interrogate the bastard?" she asked.
Planning all the possible things she could do to make him suffer, but all her plans went down the drain when Coulson interrupted her:
"Well, he's already on his way to the Fridge where he'll be thoroughly questioned and will most likely spend the rest of his life there."
The Fridge is a S.H.I.E.L.D. detainment and storage facility. It is also one of the most secure building in the world.
Well, it looked like she wasn't the only one who wanted a piece of the Italian mafia.
"Why didn't we keep him here?" she asked curiously.
But the agent wasn't paying attention to her anymore. He was looking at something behind her.
She followed his line of sight and saw Agent Potter at the other end of the hall sitting alone. He was looking at the half-eaten apple like he wasn't really there. He had a distant faraway look on his face. But it was gone the next moment. He took a bite of the apple and buried his nose in a nuclear astrophysics book. She didn't know he was interested in science, let alone astrophysics.
She felt guilty by not really knowing the agent assigned to him. The only things she knew about him was what she read from his files.
She turned back to Coulson who was looking at her with narrowed eyes:
"You're his SO, right? What's his name again?"
"Harry Potter"
"Hmm….." he hummed.
Coulson's phone rung and he stood up.
"Sorry, gotta go," he waved her goodbye and strode towards the exit.
END OF THE FLASHBACK
After that day, she realized that he may be suffering from PTSD. Maria decided to use her authority as his SO and arranged a Psych Eval with Doctor Roberts.
She was cut off from her musings when they arrived at their destination.
It seemed like Dr. Roberts had everything set up and was waiting for them.
"Ah! Agent Hill, How are you doing on this fine day?" he didn't wait for her answer.
"I hope you don't hold anything against me since your last evaluation." This time she didn't bother to answer him.
He glanced at Agent Potter and greeted him cheerfully.
"Hello, young man, are you excited about your evaluation? Would you like a candy? You can pick anything you want," he shoved a jar full of candies in front of his face with an expectant face.
Maria observed the green-eyed man who was debating with himself if he should take a candy.
Finally, he put his hands in the jar, glancing warily at him and took a snickers bar with a 'thank you'.
The old man beamed at him and went to offer her a sweet as well but she sent him a glare which stopped him in his tracks.
"Uh…Alright no sweets for you. Let's get started, young man, go sit in the Chair."
Maria glanced at the chair and realized that 'the chair' was a lie detector.
The Lie Detector.
It measured galvanic skin response, oxygen consumption, micro expressions, biofeedback brainwaves, pupil dilation, voice biometrics and other ninety variables.
It was designed by Fury himself, who wanted a lie detector Black Widow couldn't beat. But Fury never told her if she beat it or not and Natasha was ordered to not to disclose that information.
Well, she admitted, that level seven PE was intense, but she wasn't going to back off now. This test was revealing. She admitted that she got lucky with her evaluation.
She looked at the brown-haired man and realized that he didn't know what it was. To be honest, she would be bothered if he knew about it. This was a top-secret information. His face varied from curious to amazement and finally to apprehension.
After a pause of a couple seconds, he stepped warily towards the chair and sat uncomfortably on it.
"That's the spirit!" exclaimed the evaluator.
Doctor Roberts hooked him with several machineries, and they were ready to go.
Suddenly, the doctor was not the eccentric guy anymore, he acted as a professional doctor would.
She saw the messy haired man blink and smirked. She remembers she was a little shocked by his change too in her evaluation.
The doctor stood opposite him with a table between them and Agent hill decided to stand beside the Doctor during the test.
The table had various screens on it which showed his pulse and brain waves frequency, his green eyes for pupil dilation. Most of the data presented on the screen was gobbledygook to the senior agent.
The old doctor opened a file on the table and started the questions.
"I'm gonna start with some easy questions and establish a baseline. Can I have your full name?"
"Harry Ares Potter"
"Ares, like the god of war?" he asked curiously.
He shrugged.
"Try not to move much, it's gonna effect the results" he gently chided.
She saw the agent stilling.
"Your eye color?"
"Green"
Most screens lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Emerald Green" he reaffirmed.
"Married?"
"No" he replied negatively.
"Please list your immediate family?" he questioned with a frown.
"…"
"You must verbally answer the question. Let me ask you again. state your immediate family?"
"I'm an orphan and don't have any relatives."
"What's the difference between an egg and a rock?"
"There are innumerable differences…"
"Just answer the first thing comes to your mind."
"Egg can be used as a means to stay alive, while rock can be used as a weapon to survive."
Maria was curious about the difference between staying alive and surviving, but the doctor moved on to the next question.
"Why do you think 'New York' changed the world?"
Maria saw the young agent take a couple second to reflect the question.
"We tended to think that we're the most powerful creatures in the universe, but we didn't have anything to compare ourselves to except animals, but then we saw whole swarms of aliens descending from skies. That was the day we saw beings who challenged our own sense of priority in the universe. That was the day we learnt that we are just one among other life forms."
"Why did you choose to work for S.H.I.E.L.D"
The senior agent saw him furrow his eyebrows.
"To be honest…..I don't know."
"You wash up on a deserted Island alone. Sitting on the sand is a box. What is in that box?"
"Tools"
Maria raised her eyebrow in question.
"To help build a boat," he replied to her unasked question
"Ok, it's the last question. Do you think that the Avengers have too much power and should be stopped?"
Maria thought it to be a weird question and by the expression on agent Potter's face, they were on the same page.
"Human beings have a habit of following people with great powers that leads down to huge transgressions against mankind. The Avengers' power isn't their skills, super serums or their brains. It's the symbol they represent to the world. You can destroy them, but you can't destroy that symbol."
"You didn't answer the question?"
Maria saw him pause for a moment.
"Would you feel comfortable to tell a grieving mother that the Avengers could have saved your son, but we didn't let them?"
There was a silence after it.
It was broken by Dr. Roberts, who asked, "Would you like another candy?"