A/N: Hello agents! I'm sorry for the delay. I send this chapter out very late to my beta reader, sweetwaterspice (thank you so much, sweetie, your help is highly appreciated) and I had some difficulties today with my internet connection.
A quick reminder: BetterInTexas Fiction Awards. I have two stories that have been nominated: "Covert Operative" for Favorite Crossover and "SHIELD 2" for Favorite Marvel. Voting is still not activated but as soon as that happens I'll let you know, even if it is a small Author's Note. I would be really thankful (as in i would say it a lot :)) if you would vote for me. If you are familiar with Agents of Shield check "SHIELD 2" out. And if not, well wouldn't be mad if you vote regardless *wink, wink*
Here's an extra long chapter for all you brave agents out there!
Chapter 4: The Inhuman Angel
"Over here," Coulson's voice is loud and clear. "Don't die on me again, Angel," he says softly.
"Don't worry, boss. I'm not doing the TAHITI crap again," Tris says with a slight grunt and makes the man sigh in relief. She has been shot and beaten up so many times she sometimes wonders if she actually still feels the pain or just imagines it. Thankfully, the pain is rather dull and she can heal quicker while in her angel-state which is a blessing in situations like this one.
"She's fine, guys," May says to the others.
"You scared us there, kid," Mack says. They help her up and Tris looks around.
"Casualties?" Tris asks, afraid of the answer.
"A few," Coulson says and Tris' immediately scans the room. There are a few bodies on the ground, but none that she recognizes.
"Where's my family?" she asks.
"Your sisters and their families, as well as your brother and both sisters-in-law are safe, but they took your parents, your in-laws and your husband," Mack tells her.
"Who did?"
"Hydra. We don't know why, but they took them," Daisy fills in.
"We have to find them," Tris says and walks toward the door. Fuck! This is can't be happening. Reaching for the door handle she hangs her head. She never felt this way before. But then again she never was in a situation like this one. She is a specialist, she knows the job and she knows the risks. But no one told her how hard it might be if her own family was ever used as bait. She needed to find them. Damn it. This was her fault.
"And we will," Coulson promises. Tris nods and they all leave the room before the local authorities come in to see what is going on.
"The quinjet is on the roof. Let's go," May says and leads the way up the stairs. Within fifteen minutes they are on their way to the Playground. The moment they land Tris immediately runs to her room and gets rid of her wedding dress and takes a quick shower.
"What am I doing? They are gone because of me. No, Tris. They're not gone; not until you see their corpses. But they might be hurt. Then you'll hurt the fuckers who did all this. But what will I tell everybody? Fuck that, woman. You are a SHIELD agent, trained by the Black Widow. You need to get your shit together. But they are my family. I love them. And I don't want any of them to die. And they won't. Have a little fucking faith. Easy for you to say. I'm you, you dumb bimbo," Tris thought to herself. Damn it. This is why she doesn't mix her job with her private life: it would be too complicated. As if it wasn't enough that she has an alias with wings, now her mind is split in two, arguing the pros and cons of her mission. Fuck! Just fuck!
She changes into her combat suit and walks quickly to the briefing room where she finds a tactical team ready to move out.
"We've located your parents," Jemma says. Without her parents' knowledge Tris injected them with a tracking chip designed by the science twins and programmed by her and Daisy. She always wished to know her families whereabouts. She has trackers for her siblings as well, but she never got the chance to plant them. She'll have to do that sooner rather than later.
"Where are they?" Tris asks deathly serious.
"A warehouse, outside of Chicago," Fitz answers.
"We ready?" Tris asks.
"Always," Uriah answers. A team made of May, Bobbi, Daisy, Mack, Uriah and Tris take one of the quinjets, while a second team, the back-up, follow them. Within thirty minutes they reach their destination and the team is heading out, checking the building and then establishing a perimeter. Tris uses her watch as a tracking device to get to her parents. Uriah and Bobbi are with her, while Mack, May and Daisy look for threats. They reach the office section of the warehouse and a group of six Hydra agents engage in combat with them. They expected as much, but suddenly the force and determination of these mercenaries seems overwhelmingly tiresome to Tris. Nevertheless, she needs to keep her head in the game, if not for herself or team mates, then for her family. They are innocent in all this.
The Hydra agents shoot at them the moment they were made and it is thanks to their skills that the SHIELD agents avoid getting hit. Without voicing it, each of the three team members engages in close range battle with two Hydra agents each. Bobbi, as per usual, uses her electrified sticks to knock her opponents out. Both Tris and Uriah refrain from showing their powers just yet and go about the old fashioned way. Uriah, in his trademark exuberance, shoots at the Hydra agents, who at first duck behind desks or file cabinets until the young SHIELD agent gets close enough to knock the guns out of his opponent's hands. He punches and kicks, his movements precise and in contradiction to the humorous spirit of the otherwise deadly spy.
Tris struggles at first, her mind racing with thoughts of her parents and the Eatons tortured or worse killed. The thought of that ignites a rage within her she never felt. She doesn't like the situation everyone put her in by marrying the rich playboy, but she would never wish them harm. And in her experience, knowing what Hydra is capable of, she fears the worst might have happened to them.
Tris shakes her head of the disturbing thoughts and uses her whole body to disarm and knock her opponents unconscious. Using Red Room(1) fighting techniques she learned from Romanov the poor bastards don't even know what hit them when she lands her punches and kicks.
"Mockingbird(2), we need assistance in the south wing," Mack says over the com.
"Go," Tris says. "Flare(3) and I can do this," she adds.
"I know, but be careful, Angel(4)."
"I will."
They part ways and Uriah and Tris continue looking for her parents. They are nearing the signal and brace themselves for worst case scenario. The signal becomes stronger in front of a tall metallic door and Tris takes a deep breath. This is it.
"Ready?" Uriah asks.
"As ready as I'll ever be," she says. Uriah stomps into the door and it flies open. The moment the door is open more Hydra agents start shooting at them. When Uriah takes out his gun Tris yells and he realizes that by shooting back he might hit the hostages, who are all facing the two SHIELD agents. "We have to use other means," is all Tris is saying and before their eyes she lights up like a bright sun and incandescent wings form on her back. Uriah concentrates and immediately is enveloped by a huge flare. He engages the enemy, who was startled by the transformation.
"You messed with the wrong people, boys," Uriah says smugly.
"You motherfuckers hurt my family. Now I'm going to hurt you," Tris growls and those who are still standing after Uriah's initial attack back down. One of them made the incredibly stupid mistake of pulling Natalie up and using her as a human shield.
"Dude, you don't want to do that," Uriah says almost laughing. With deadly accuracy, he takes out four out of five guys that were watching the hostages.
"Back off, you freak, or I'll kill her," he threatens.
"Let them go or I'll end your miserable life in a way your tiny brain could never comprehend," Tris says with a growl and walks closer.
"Back off," the man holding Natalie yells, but Tris keeps walking forward. "Stop right there or I'll slice her throat, you fucking bitch."
"No, you won't," Tris says and pulls her gun out, aims and shoots. The bullet hits the enemy's forehead and he falls backwards to the ground with a loud thud. The women scream and all the men look shocked. Just then May, Daisy and Bobbi enter. Tris transforms back and looks over her family. "You alright?" she asks them and they nod their heads shyly. "May, could you please go back to the quinjet and prepare for lift off?"
"Sure," the older woman says.
"Thanks," Tris whispers. She feels herself tearing up. She never felt this way before. She was in worse situations before, but this is the first time her family was at risk. She always made sure that they were safe and sound. And now, not only had they been kidnapped because of her, but they found out in the worst possible way that she works for SHIELD. And not to mention her other secret.
"Tris," she hears her father call.
"Yes?" she asks, but doesn't turn around to face him, any of them.
"What is going on?" he asks.
"We don't have time now. We'll get you to safety first and then we'll talk," Bobbi says sternly and Tris was never more grateful for her friends. They all leave the warehouse, Tris and Bobbi in the front, Mack walking with the kidnapped victims, while Uriah and Daisy are in the back. They all keep silent even after they board the quinjet and May takes off. The secondary tact team will take care of the situation on the ground.
"Angel, could you come please?" May(5) requests, more politely than Tris ever heard the scary Asian woman ever talk.
"Sure." She gets up from where she was sitting next to Uriah, avoiding the looks her family is giving her, but just as she passes Marcus something happens. Her eyes light up golden like they do when she gets visions or glimpses of the future. She looks at him and sees a strange aura surrounding him. She takes a step closer, reaching out to touch his cheek.
"What are you doing?" Uriah asks.
"Can't you feel it?" she asks.
"Feel what?" Uriah asks confused.
"I didn't realize it at first, I thought it was coming from you, but it is coming from him," Tris says and finally touches her father-in-law's cheek. "Don't fight it, I won't hurt you," she says and her eyes sparkle golden. One of Tris' abilities is to recognize others like her and it seems like Marcus Eaton is special.
"Is he like us?" Uriah asks unbuckling and coming closer to her.
"I don't know. He is different, but I can't detect any active ability," Tris answers.
"ETA 10 minutes," May says.
"What is going on?" Evelyn asks.
"I don't know yet," Tris says and let's go of Marcus' cheek. She goes to sit next to May in the cockpit and Uriah resumes his place.
"What was that? What did she do?" Marcus asks surprised.
"She scanned you. I don't know how it works, actually she doesn't either, she just can do it," Uriah explains vaguely.
"Scan for what?" Evelyn asks.
"A hidden ability," Daisy answers her.
"It felt so strange, but at the same time I felt happy and at peace," Marcus says rubbing the place where Tris touched him.
"I know. It's amazing. It's like you are home and safe. That's why we call her Angel," Uriah says smirking.
"What is she? What are you?" Evelyn asks, not knowing how to react to all this.
"We'll talk about this when we get to the Playground," Mack answers.
"Playground?" Tobias asks. Are they joking?
"It's the name of our base," Uriah offers as explanation.
"Who are you people?" Andrew asks.
"We are with the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division," Mack says.
"SHIELD, for short. You know the guys behind the Avengers," Daisy says smirking.
"Wait. Tris is a SHIELD agent?" Tobias asks. He looks toward the cockpit where Tris is currently talking to the pilot, oblivious to what her friends are telling them.
"One of the best," Mack says proudly. "Our little Angel is a jewel."
"That's not possible," Andrew says incredulous.
"Yeah, it is," Uriah says. "Tris and I were in the same class at the Academy."
"Academy? What Academy?" Natalie asks.
"SHIELD Academy of Operations," he answers.
"That's impossible. Tris went to Oxford," her mother says disbelievingly.
"I think Tris should be the one to tell you what she did or what she didn't do," Mack offers.
Tris is a SHIELD agent, but she is also something else. Is she alien? Did Tobias marry an alien? Her parents don't seem alien and they look genuinely surprised by what they all learned about the young woman. At least now he is sure he didn't hallucinate when Tris changed into an angel at their wedding reception. Hang on. She got shot. How did she survive?
"Tris got shot," Tobias says and Andrew's and Natalie's heads snap in his direction. "At the reception," he adds.
"Yeah, but Angel can heal herself quicker than normal people. At least as long as she can maintain her angel state," Daisy explains.
"Is she an alien?" Tobias blurts out.
"Of course not," Andrew says, but Daisy tilts her head.
"Some humans have a mutant gene that they inherited from their ancient alien ancestors. Recent events caused some dormant genes to become active and we are now searching for these special individuals," Daisy explains.
"This is so unbelievable," Evelyn says.
"You have no idea," Uriah says smirking.
After that they remain silent. They soon land somewhere and they are escorted out by the agents. Upon exiting the quinjet Tobias, his parents and Tris' parents look around in awe. The base is huge and everyone runs around, performing small tasks to keep the place running. Their gaze falls on Tris' boss who is approaching them.
"Good, I'm glad my agents were able to recover you safely. Any problems?" Coulson asks.
"We have a situation, sir," Tris says walking past her family.
"What is it, Agent Prior?" he asks serious.
"Can we talk in private?" Tris requests. Coulson nods and the two of them leave.
"Beatrice, what is going on?" Andrew asks his daughter angrily, sick and tired of her stubborn silence and ignoring them as if she didn't know them.
"Dad," Tris says sighing but keeps facing her boss. She isn't ready to look her old man in the eyes and have to explain this life she chose behind her family's back. She knows full well that they deserve to know the truth; doesn't make much sense to keep it from them any longer. "I need to talk to Coulson first, debrief him and then we all talk. You must be tired and hungry. My teammates will see to your needs."
"Tris, sweetheart," it was Natalie's voice, broken and pained that brought tears to her daughters eyes. With new found stubbornness Tris remained with her back turned to her family. She couldn't face them, not yet.
"Mom, please," Tris says in a whisper.
"Please, Mr. and Mrs. Prior, Tris needs to give me her report. Agents Morse and Johnson will escort you to the guest quarters for you to freshen up and then we'll all meet in my office," Coulson intervened, knowing that Tris wasn't ready and the hangar certainly wasn't the right place to discuss sensitive information.
Andrew Prior reluctantly nodded and watched his baby girl walk away with her boss, wondering how on earth he never saw this side of her. Was he so blind?
Bobbi and Daisy escort the Prior's and the Eaton's to some guest quarters where they are provided with a change of clothes each. Tobias waits for his turn to go into the bathroom and take a quick shower and keeps thinking of the events of the past few hours. Just as he finishes in the bathroom and exits, Daisy comes into their room and asks them to follow her.
While walking through the dimly lit corridors the newcomers watch in awe how the agents work and live. Every now and then they get glimpses of what they think is classified tech. Daisy takes another turn and leads the small party into Coulson's office where Tris sits on the window sill.
"I'm sorry I called you here before offering you something to eat. You must be famished. I've already ordered the kitchen staff to prepare some sandwiches," Coulson says smiling.
"Why are we here?" Tobias asks.
"Daisy, could you please leave us alone," he asks, but actually orders. She nods and leaves, closing the door behind her. "Tris, why don't you explain a few things to your family?" Coulson asks looking at the young agent. Tris nods and looks over to her family without leaving her place on the window sill.
"I've had it!" Andrew yells and stands up facing the director of SHIELD. "I understand that you are some secret spy super master, but that's my little girl," he says pointing at Tris.
"Secret spy super master," Coulson mutters amused and cracks a smile, eliciting a groan from Andrew.
"Honey, please, calm down. Think of your heart condition," Natalie tries to soothe him.
"No, Nat. I've had it. We get kidnapped, we find out our daughter is a spy and then that other thing. I'm done waiting for answers that never come. I demand them right now," he yells.
"Mr. Prior, as I was saying, I will allow your daughter to fill in some blanks. Feel free to ask any questions afterwards," Coulson says politely, unfazed by what just transpired. Natalie pulls her husband back, urging him to sit and allow their daughter to give them the answer they all were waiting for.
"As you know by now, I'm an agent of SHIELD. When I was sixteen Coulson here came to me and recruited me." Natalie gasps audibly and Tris fights the urge to look directly at her mother. Andrew puts his arm around his wife, not truly believing what he is hearing. The Eatons look shocked at the young woman as if she is something peculiar on display in an already odd freak show.
"But you went to Oxford," her mom says barely above a whisper, trying to convince herself that what she heard couldn't possibly be true.
"SHIELD came up with a back-up story saying I won a scholarship to go to Oxford where I would start my studies early. What actually happened is that I was sent to a non-disclosed base for young individuals recruited by SHIELD, the Academy. There are three branches: Communications, Science and Operations. While I had aptitude for communication I opted for Operations," Tris explains. She deliberately looks away from her family, not wanting to get carried away. She needed to tell her story or at least parts of it, so that her parents would understand her silence and devotion to this organization. "My training concluded after two years and by the age of eighteen I was sent on my first team mission. I got good, like really good and then I got solo missions. After the Chitauri(6) invaded New York and the Avengers saved all our asses things changed," she says and turns to look at them. "We had to adapt to this new world where everyone knew about aliens. After the revelation of Hydra's existence within SHIELD things changed yet again. We didn't know who was friend and who was enemy. Remember when I called and told you that I was going on a spiritual journey?" she asks her parents and they nod. "I was sent deep under cover to gather intel and report back."
"WHAT?" Andrew yells and stands once again. He is directly facing his daughter, rage, anger and hurt evident in his eyes. Where could he have gone wrong to raise a child so reckless and disobedient?
"Dad, relax, I'm fine," Tris says sighing.
"Fine? You are fine? You were sent by these people to spy on their enemies," Andrew says pointing aggressively at Coulson. The latter ignores the outburst, full aware of how all this looks to a civilian.
"Yeah, dad, I'm fine," Tris says a little exasperated and tired. "I am a spy, you know," she adds mockingly.
"I know that, young lady, no need for that tone," Andrew scolds.
"Well, if you know then stop acting like Coulson did something sacrilegious. It is my job. And for the record, I was allowed to refuse," Tris says. A total lie, but they didn't need to know that. It was hard on them as it was. "Now, would you please let me continue?" Reluctantly, Andrew sits down. Natalie, on the other hand, is desperately trying to hold on and not break out in tears. She is thankful that she is sitting next to Evelyn, who offered her support by holding Natalie's hand.
"The mission was supposed to be easy, but something went wrong. A third party interfered and I had to aboard. But something else happened. While I was fighting my way out of the Hydra compound this third party released a strange fog. Uriah and I were mostly unaffected and by that I mean we didn't die," she says and leaves the information hanging. Her mother and Evelyn gasp at that and the men look at her shocked.
"What happened next?" her father tentatively asks. He is so angry with her, but one thing he knows of his daughter, if he pushes her she will shut him out and that's the last thing he wants. He needs answers and he needs to understand why his little girl chose such a dangerous life.
"We got extracted and brought back to base. We were in quarantine for several weeks until we could control our powers and the SHIELD scientists could figure out what the fuck happened."
"What happened?" Tobias asks both curiously and apprehensive. All he's heard so far about his wife astonishes and scares him. He isn't easily scared, but anyone lacking a military background would look like a damn coward compared to her. Tris looks at him for the first time since he entered that room.
"Millions of years ago there was an alien war between two races, the Kree and the Skrull. The Kree established a station between the two empires, on Uranus. There, the Kree discovered sentient life on Earth that had genetic potential. They began to experiment on early humans and helped them evolve. These experiments where twofold – the Kree wanted to find a way to evolve as a species, since their own evolution stagnated, but also create mutant soldiers to fight their enemies, the Skrull. The experiments were successful at first, but it soon turned out that the new mutant race wasn't planning on helping the Kree. The Kree eventually abandoned their mutants here, for reasons yet unknown. The hybrids are called Inhumans and all are equipped with certain abilities. The abilities themselves are not alien, they exist in every human's DNA sequence, however individuals with Kree ancestry can handle it better. What Uriah and I experienced in that compound, that fog I told you about, it's called Terrigen Mist and has been used since ancient times to activate a dormant Kree gene in Inhumans. The Mist only works on Inhumans, whereas normal humans are turned into stone and obviously die. So, yeah. Somewhere in my genetic background I had an alien ancestor. But to be fair, most people have. But not all humans are Inhuman. It's still very new and confusing really," she finishes seeing the confused look on everyone's faces.
"So, you are alien?" Evelyn asks. Tris jumps down from the window sill and stands next to Coulson.
"No, I'm Inhuman and so is your husband," she states. At that all their heads snap toward Marcus.
"What?" he asks in disbelief.
"The gene is still dormant, but I can definitely feel it. I don't know how, but I can detect other Inhumans. The signal is weak, but it's there," Tris assures.
"Does this mean I'm like you?" he asks.
"Genetically speaking, yes. But whatever your ability is I don't know. Until and only after you go through the change the gene will remain dormant. But yes, you are Inhuman. You can choose not to change."
"However, we think Hydra must have found a way to identify Inhumans as well. Inhumans are gifted and a valuable asset, as you could see," Coulson adds.
"What does my dad have to do with Hydra?" Tobias asks.
"At first I thought they were after me. While my identity is well hidden someone might have spotted me and ratted me out or maybe they found me because I'm Inhuman. But unlike other Inhumans I can camouflage myself. SHIELD developed a sort of scanner to detect the carriers of the Inhuman genome versus non-carriers, but to run the scan the individual is brought back to base. All Inhumans working with and for SHIELD were tested and I'm the only one who can hide her Inhumanity," Tris explains. "I really thought they took you to get to me, but after I sensed it in Marcus things made sense. I was attacked and they tried to terminate me, while taking you all prisoners. I was confused by their actions."
"If I'm really Inhuman, why didn't you sense it earlier?" Marcus asks.
"As I said, I usually detect Inhumans who went through the change. You didn't. My best guess is that the situation was extreme and your body reacted to that. I can't be sure. But if Hydra wanted you for being Inhuman then this might mean they will try again," Tris answers.
"What can we do?" Evelyn asks worried.
"You, not much. But we can. I was assigned as your security detail, since in the eyes of the public I'm already your daughter-in-law. I know we decided this to be a one year thing, but I'll stay until we can neutralize the threat. It might be sooner rather later. After that we can get a divorce and I can continue looking for the ones after you," she says.
"Tris, you can't do this. These people are dangerous," her mother pleads.
"Mom, I'm dangerous. I'm a trained agent. I can take care of myself. These thugs are just wanna be mercs with minimal training. SHIELD takes its recruitment and teaching very serious. "
"I can assure you all, that Tris is one of SHIELD's finest agents. I am more than confident that she'll handle the situation perfectly. I also assigned a back-up for her," Coulson says, trying to defuse the tension as best as possible.
"Back-up?" Andrew asks.
"Yes, dad. Uriah. He is a trained agent and also Inhuman. He will work with you at the office as your bodyguard. It won't be odd given that we all got kidnapped. Uriah will follow you around wherever you go and don't worry, he is silent as a tomb. Well, when it comes to secret keeping anyway. Otherwise you'll have to duct tape his big mouth," Tris says with a smirk and Coulson shakes his head.
"I'll leave Tris here to tell you some more," Coulson says and leaves his office.
"I know this is strange and new, but trust me I'm used to this and I'll protect you all."
"But you are so young," Andrew says and gets up. He walks to his daughter and hugs her.
"I am, but I'm also the most qualified person to do this. I've done it before. But this time I will work twice as hard and fast to get to the bottom of this. Now it's personal. They messed with my family. Because even if we agreed on the fakeness of it all," she says pointedly toward Tobias, "you all are my family now. So, any questions?"
Sneak Peek Chapter 5: Who we are
"It was supposed to be an easy mission. My target was supposed to be a middle aged man who expressed his desire to overthrow the government of his country. He initiated several terrorist attacks, usually using suicide bombers. He announced all over that he himself will make the ultimate sacrifice to show the infidels that justice is on his side and he'll bring down all those who are against the true God and his teachings. We got intel from one of our spies that he was planning to detonate a bomb that he himself was going to wear in a crowded mall, killing hundreds of people. There was a small window to intercept and eliminate the threat. Easy peasy. But then my heart stopped when I saw who was actually wearing the vest." Her eyes start to water and Tobias can tell that this is very hard for her. He decides to gather her in his arms and hold her. If she tells him the rest of the story fine, if not that's okay also. He can already tell this is going to be bad. "That fucking bastard strapped the vest around his own seven-year old son. The boy had a bruised face and he was crying. I could tell he was scared, but he was wearing the bomb and his finger was on the trigger. The moment he would lift it he would detonate the bomb killing everyone in its path." Tris takes a deep breath, as to brace herself for the next part.
A/N: Please review. If any of you has questions regarding certain words I'm using i will explain them either in a PM or if you are guests at the beginning of the next chapter.
1 Red Room is the name of the secret Soviet project that trained the Black Widows. The Red Room is known for many horrors the Soviet scientists inflicted upon innocent little girls, training them to blend in everywhere, be ruthless and precise; killing machines with pretty faces. Among close range combat training the Black Widows were trained to be everything from spy to mistress. Using brainwash techniques to ensure the success, only Natasha Romanov is known to have survived the Red Room; but there is no clear evidence of that.
2 Bobbi's codename
3 Uriah's codename
4 Tris' codename
5 Melinda May is a dedicated SHIELD agent, but during her long career she has seen and done things that marked her forever. She is not very talkative. Where it would take a person an entire ten minute rant to express thought, she conveys with only a stare. She is stern and fierce, but also the Mama Bear type (undercover of course)
6 Alien race who attacked New York and where defeated by the Avengers