Tian Cai
By mkusenagi2
The story concept © 5-19-2006
All Marvel characters are © Marvel Comics.
All DC characters © DC Comics.
Kim Possible and other Disney characters
are © Disney Co.
Level 4: Jian (Mage)
Part IX B
5-18-2006
Condor 1/SHIELD
Helicarrier flagship
Officer's Country
Special Agent Sheila Goble-Baux'
Quarters
0432 hrs
A world weary Sheila sat before her isolated workstation and ran through the reams of data from an old NATO experiment…
She'd caught a redlight back and had quietly gone to her quarters. Dugan had filled her in on recent developments… She'd barely been able to keep it together.
Now she sat before her computer's screen. Bathed in hellish light as a nightmare unfolded…
One in which a little girl had lost her mommy…
And she wanted answers.
What happened? Who killed her? WHY?
Time can never mend
The careless whispers of a good friend
To the heart and mind
Ignorance is kind
There's no comfort in the truth
Pain is all you'll find
Should've known better , oh yeah...
(sax solo)
Oh oh oh
I feel so unsure
As I take your hand and lead you to the dance floor
As the music dies, something in your eyes
Calls to mind the silver screen
And all its sad good-byes
'Nick said the datakeys are the answer… The SecGen's involved… He was there years ago… I thought he was a nice guy…' she read Dr. Monod Abad's file. 'Ok… he's from Namibia… huh, to think I almost jacked 'em when Nick caught up with me… Hmmm… ok, he fits the profile of a 'good guy' but he's present when the HYDRA/HEW scandal hits… Cleared of wrongdoing… went to all the best schools…'
I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool
Should've known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I've been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you
Time can never mend
The careless whispers of a good friend
To the heart and mind
Ignorance is kind
There's no comfort in the truth
Pain is all you'll find
Her blood ran cold.
I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool
Should've known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I've been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you
Never without your love
'He… cloned cells from Mom… Viper… she's a clone… received a batch of faulty Rebirth serum during NATO's attempts to create new supersoldiers… Dad evolved, and vanished. She killed Mom… the other clones and escaped…'
"CRACK!" The plaz face of her station cracked.
Bones in her fist ached.
Time can never mend
The careless whispers of a good friend
To the heart and mind
Ignorance is kind
There's no comfort in the truth
Pain is all you'll find
I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool
Should've known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I've been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you
Never without your love
Subzero tears ran as she checked the tags on her mother's file and the clones'.
'The space on this drive is full… but the number of files doesn't account for it…' she activated a tool and parsed the data.
She looked at the datakeys… the 'patient's' again. Each key was based on DNA and immunological variants.
Tonight the music seems so loud
I wish that we could lose this crowd
Maybe it's better this way
We'd hurt each other with the things we'd want to say
We could have been so good together
We could have lived this dance forever
But now who's gonna dance with me?
Please stay
And I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool
Should've known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I've been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you
'Damn you Nick.' She thought as she found what he'd hinted at.
(Now that you're gone) Now that you're gone
(Now that you're gone) What I did so wrong, so wrong
That you had to leave me alone
Careless Whisper
George Michael & Wham
A group of ghost files popped up with Nick's suspicions, and evidence.
The SecGen… SHIELD's boss…
Was dirty…
For starters.
Had been for years. 'That's how Braddock was turned… Sublime got UN funding through their Black budget… This IS big.' She collapsed the files onto a mined drive keyed to her DNA and hid it.
And now she knew what had happened to her mother… their mother.
Ted's. Hego's.
The twins: Alvin and Marcus. Wego's.
Patrick's. Mego's.
And who was directly responsible.
Herr Smith. Strucker. Zola.
A silent… cursed vow was born.
After tears; a bottle of cognac and several cheroots…
'I'll call 'em later… glad the link's broken. I can't tell them yet. If ever. Thanks Nick.'
She went to bed…
And dreamed of her Mom.
Maria Goble. Captain, USAF.
A woman she'd barely got to know.
End Part IX B