Chapter Three

"I'm sorry," said Lance. "Can we assume for a moment that one of us hasn't been reading top secret SHIELD files, or doing magical math? What protocols?"

"It's not magic!" The Thinker protested, more exasperated than angry. "I don't know why everyone always says that."

"The agreement SHIELD came to with the Thinker," Daisy explained. "We trade question for question- until he poses one that we can't answer."

"Indeed," said the Thinker. "These little conversations are my main way to correct my calculations. There's only so much you can learn from what SHIELD allows to be published in the newspapers. So, my first question- Mister Alvers, is for you. Is SHIELD paying you for your involvement here?"

"I've been promised payment- but as far as I know, I'm not officially working for SHIELD. As best I understand it, I'm going to paid out of Fury's top secret black ops slush fund."

"Interesting." The Thinker turned and made a mark on the wall. "Your turn."

Lance glanced at Daisy who shrugged, and gestured for him to ask the question himself.

"Where's Baron Blood?" Lance asked, deciding that the best policy was to cut directly to the chase.

"My best estimation is that he is within a three mile radius of the Arc De Triomphe, in Paris, although he won't be there for long. Agent Johnson- how many field agents are currently assigned to the Costa Verde bureau?"

"At my last count, seven on semi-permanent assignment and another three rotating in on a monthly basis. Where is Baron Blood's base of operations?"

"He has been operating primarily out of Castle Actherliek, outside of Hassenstadt, in Latveria. Mister Alvers- where is Raven Darkholme now?"

"I- I don't know that," Lance said.

The Thinker sighed. "A pity," he said. "And you haven't even had a chance to ask what the Baron is doing in Paris, yet."

Daisy stepped forward. "Listen," she said, "You must know that that vampire was here to kill you. It's in your best interests to cooperate with us fully."

"No!" Shouted the Thinker. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to account in predictions for my actions as a result of my predictions? This is the reason we have rules! If I don't follow the rules, the whole system falls apart!" He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I get a little excited sometimes. In any case, we don't have much more time. By now SHIELD will have realized that they're lost the security feed from this institution. . A response team has already been dispatched, and will arrive here within the next twelve and a half minutes. I presume that the two of you will wish to be gone by then."

"He's right," said Lance. "If we're as far off the grid as you said-"

Daisy nodded. "At least make sure you don't give away any information that could identify us," she instructed the Thinker.

"I shall be the soul of discretion," promised the Thinker. "Unless, of course, they think of the correct questions."

"That'll have to do," Daisy conceded. "Let's move it, Alvers. Miles to go before we sleep."

The miles turned out to stretch between the Dunwich Asylum and an empty farmhouse on the outskirts of town. "This used to be a HYDRA safe house, during the planning stages of an assault on the Asylum," Daisy explained. "It's legally owned by one of them, who is in jail now. Theoretically, that should mean that no vampire can enter without an invitation from him."

"And what if a vampire makes someone their freaky mind slave?" Lance asked. "And by the way- not impressed with SHIELD being infiltrated by those guys."

"That was a crude form of mesmerism," Daisy conceded. "There are infinitely more subtle varieties. The exact nature of a vampire's power seems to vary widely from individual to individual. I've seen some agents don't realize what they're doing, even as they're leaving lists of SHIELD agents in dead drops. On the other hand, some vampires can't gain any measure of control without leaving you in a madhouse, bleating about the master and eating flies."

She pushed open the door. "There's no electricity or hot water, but there's a cistern on the roof if you want to shower."

The interior of the house was full of debris- furniture that had been smashed into sticks, broken glass and piles of old clothing. "SHIELD tore the place apart, looking for documentation on HYDRA," Daisy explained. "Looks like they left it a bit of a mess."

Lance, though, had a frankly goofy grin on his face. "Looks like home," he commented. He tossed his duffel bag on the couch, and sat next to it. "Throw in a few empty pizza boxes, clear out some of the fliesflies, it'd actually feel lived in."

Daisy sighed. "Look, there's should be enough water in the cistern for one shower. No offense, but I vote you."

Lance glanced down at disheveled and bloodstained clothing and shrugged. "You might have a point there. How do you know so much about this place, anyways? I thought you said you'd never been in Dunwich before."

"I read the files," Daisy said. "You'd be surprised what SHIELD keeps track of."

"I never was much for homework myself," Lance replied.

Daisy chuckled. "Believe me, I know. I read your file, too."

"Yeah? Somewhere along the line we're going to have to have a talk about you knowing so much more about me than I do about you."

"Maybe," Daisy said. "But not before you take a shower."

When Lance emerged from the shower, in clean clothes, toweling off his hair, he found Daisy in the front room, alternating between cleaning and checking an array of firearms, and peering out the front window into the darkness.

"You think we're likely to see more trouble tonight?" Lance asked.

"I hope not," Daisy said. "I could do with a little rest myself. The hope is that Vicaris came here alone- the old ones get cocky like that sometimes- and that they won't be able to get anyone else out here tonight."

"You're not sure, though," Lance said, sitting down on a pile of ripped open sofa cushions.

"If I were sure, we wouldn't still be here. We've got far enough to go- but I don't want to risk an ambush on the way out of town. We stay put for tonight, try to get a little shut-eye, leave at sun-up. One of us should stay awake, keep a watch. You want the first or second?"

"Funny thing. After all the excitement, and running around, and bloodshed and whatnot, I'm not feeling all that tired. I'll sit up first."

Daisy nodded, sat down with her back to the wall, and was asleep almost immediately. "Huh," said Lance, quietly. "Neat trick." He stood up and peered at the darkness beyond the window. "What the hell have you got yourself into, Alvers?"

The next day, back in the car, he made some effort to answer the question. "So you're a mutant? Or what?"

"One of the others, I suppose," Daisy said. "Don't get me wrong- there's definitely something cockeyed in my genetics, but it's not the X-gene."

"That have anything to do with the way you tensed up when the Thinker mentioned your dad?" Daisy's jaw clenched for a moment, and then relaxed into her secret agent poker face.

"Didn't think you'd picked up on that," she said, her voice carefully neutral.

"I've had some practice," admitted Lance. "You're not the only one with some baggage. I still don't know what all will set some of my teammates off. All of which kind of brings me to my point- I may not be SHIELD trained, but I'm not a goddamn civilian. You don't want to talk about your father- fine. God knows that's not anything new. But if you're keeping things from me that I need to know, things that could make the difference in a fight- you get why that might piss me off."

"I understand that," Daisy said, "And I can appreciate it." Her voice took on its dangerously soft tone once again. "And I hope that you can appreciate that when it comes to matters of secure SHIELD information, your feelings aren't the first subject I take into consideration."

"Just so we understand where we stand, then," Lance said. "Before we get to the airport and take off for Europe."

"I think we do," Daisy said, turning the car onto a long, empty, straight stretch of road. "And in the interest of things you should know- we're not going to an airport. My car can fly."

Lance took a moment to absorb that as Daisy floored the accelerator.

"Your car can what?"