Ladybug had enough time to grab the Director's laptop before a two agents ran into the room, guns at the ready. Ladybug quickly shoved the laptop into her purse before they could take notice of her, then pulled out the gun she had grabbed before, just in case.

She knew the agents of course, she hadn't been a total shut in. Alix and Kim, field agents and partners more often than not. She had worked with them once, gone to Lithuania to fetch a file from an enemy base. They had fought well together, whenever they weren't fighting each other. She was glad to see they were alright.

Alix caught sight of her first and dropped her gun, "It's the Captain."

"How do we know?" Kim scowled, and kept his gun trained on her, "How do we know she isn't one of them? They have all sorts of technology, whose to say they didn't just make us all think she was the Captain."

"Pulling her out of the ice, when I think about it, it does sound..." Alix trailed off and raised her gun again.

"What are you two talking about?" Ladybug asked, confused, she tightened her grip on her gun.

"What side are you on?" Kim demanded.

"Sides?" She asked, and tilted her head to the side, "I work for SHIELD."

"Yeah well, turns out there's more to working SHIELD then that," Alix grunted. She looked back at Kim, and they seemed to have a moment of communication through eyes online.

"Swear allegiance to Hawkmouth." Kim suddenly demanded, Alix and him both pointed their guns straight at her, kill shots.

"What?" Ladybug croaked, she could feel a cold sweat break out, was this just a nightmare?

"Swear. Allegiance. To. Hawkmoth." Kim ordered again, and took a step forward.

She was trapped in the corner of the room, halfway behind the desk. She could dusk underneath it, but it's other side was solid, not something she could climb out of the other side of. She still had her gun, but by the time she could lift it up Kim would have already shot her twice. She knew she could recover well enough from most shots, but she had never been shot between the eyes before, and there was a good chance it could mean her permanent end.

"No way in Hell." She said, prepared to die.

"Thank god," Alix said, and the two of them dropped their guns.

"Sorry about that Captain." Kim said, sounding almost embarrassed.

She sighed in relief, a test then, "I take it Hawkmouth has returned?"

Alix nodded tersely, brows furrowed, "It was crazy Captain, One minute we're at normal operations, then this lady with a silver arm walks in, easy as you please, and she's got the box the Director's been guarding like a hawk all month."

"So of course," Kim cuts in when Alix pauses to take a breathe, "We check to see if she has clearance, and then Alix notices-"

"That she was someone I'd met before! I don't know if we ever told you, but I'm a bonafide commie traitor, and while I was under them, I met her. They called her the soldier, or something like that, and we did like a mission together before Kim came along and dragged me out of that life," She frowned, "'Course it seems the big jerk dragged me right back into another criminal organization!"

"Things change!" Kim defended, "Besides, the only loyalty we need now is loyalty to the Captain, she'll lead us true."

Ladybug felt herself blushing, though it wasn't the first time someone had pledged loyalty to her. She was always surprised about it, that people wanted to follow little Mari who had spent her childhood drawing. If she had known the future, she might have devoted more time in preparing to be a leader, maybe read "The Art of War", or learned how to play chess.

"The Soldier, do you have any more information on her?" Marinette said, before Alix could reply.

"Not much," Alix shrugged, "She's quiet, and ruthless. Keep away from her arm, Captain, it's got tricks. I saw her melt a man's trachea shut, 'nough to get any sane person ready to run. I didn't want them turning me into that."

"You wouldn't ever be that." Kim scowled.

"Thanks for the advice." Ladybug said, and tried to ignore the way her stomach seemed to want to crawl out her throat, "I'll keep it in mind."

She made to head out, but was stopped by Alix's grip on her arm.

"Wait Captain," Alix asked, eyes pleading, "What should we do now? SHIELD is compromised, we don't know who to trust."

Ladybug felt helpless for a moment, at the trust the two had placed in her. Their lives were in her hands now, she was responsible for their survival.

But, she thought with a small gulp, they were trained super spies who played with knives and kicked ass on a regular basis, maybe it wouldn't be so hard to direct them properly. She just had to think of them allies instead of civilians. She thought hard, trying to decide where to direct them. Where she would send them if it was Chat standing in front of her?

"Do you know the Boulangerie Patisserie?"

"Sure," Alix shrugged, "Best pastries in the world."

Ladybug smiled for a moment, and tried to hold onto the warmth of that though over the coldness that had entrenched her so far, "Go there, tell Manon I sent you, I'll contact you later."

The two nodded, and headed off, allowing Ladybug a moment to focus on her other troubles.

SHIELD was compromised, and the two people she trusted most in this century both worked for it. She didn't know where Adrien was, and Chat... well, half the time she wasn't even sure Chat wasn't just a quirky robot. She had watched Star Wars, she knew what the new century could do.

So that meant it was just her again.

No, there was Alix and Kim. But she could she really drag them into her fight? Would they even understand why she needed to recover the Soldier instead of kill her? They were spies, sure, but what they had signed up for with SHIELD didn't necessarily mean they wanted to help her take down Hawkmoth, again. For all she knew, the only thing they wanted from her was a chance at surviving the fight, and she couldn't blame them for that.

Her thoughts were interrupted by another troop of SHIELD agents, though this time she had the luck of being close enough to the opposite door.

"Captain Ladybug," One of the agents said, unfamiliar to her, "You are to be escorted to a safe location. The security of SHIELD has been compromised."

"I'm aware," She said tensely, "Any reason I can't stick around to help out?"

The agents glanced at each other, eyes questioning, shoulders tensed, "It's for your safety Captain."

"Why?" She asked, "Because if I don't you'll shoot me?"

"If that's what we have to do Captain." One of the agents said, which was all the confirmation she needed.

It wouldn't be the first time she had fought her way out of a building.

AN: A short chapter because I'm awful and because college sucks.