Finkle
Stupid ankle. It took me three days to get back to normal, and when anyone asked I simply told them it had given out. Nobody needed to know it was in front of the colonel, thank God. I iced it, glad I wasn't on the boards anymore—Mom still has the rink moves, but me? I prefer a life with all my front teeth.
Phil was the one person I suspected might know where I was when it happened; he's sharp that way. He didn't ask though, just gave me that quiet grin of his when I kvetched about the reports.
"It's the way he does things. Don't make the mistake of thinking the colonel isn't up on the latest technology, doctor—he's up to speed believe me. He just prefers face to face for the important issues."
"Be that as it may, it's just . . . unnerving," I shot back. We were having coffee in the infirmary kitchenette, and I was still trying to get used to the bitter tar that passed for coffee on the helicarrier. Half a bottle of creamer still didn't cut through it.
"He's good at that," Phil agreed, and then asked, "Are you going to that reception next week? The one Stark and the U.N. are throwing for that new island nation?"
I looked at him. "I don't know; should I?"
"It would be worth it," Phil shrugged. "The food will be good, and there's always a chance Stark will make an ass of himself. S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't get invited to many parties, so we tend to make the most of the ones that come our way."
"I'm not really a member of S.H.I.E.L.D." I pointed out reluctantly. I love parties.
"You're a member," Phil assured me. "Hill's bringing her significant other."
"How about you?" I asked him, and he shrugged.
"Stag. Holly's quartet is still on tour, and she's played at so many of these things she'd be bored anyway."
"Can I bring a guest?" I had someone I owed a favor to, and I knew he'd get a huge kick out of it.
"Sure," Phil told me. "Although we'll probably have to do a quick background check."
"He'll be thrilled," I smirked.
I was right; Doctor Harry Stern has been a buddy of mine from back when he was just Harry, the kid two doors down, and the idea of going to a U. N. party had him over the moon. He teaches Poly Sci at our old high school, and out of all the friends I've grown up with, he's one of the few who would know some of the attendees on sight. I was counting on him to fill me in on who we were chatting with.
Nothing romantic between us; Harry was between wives at the moment and in any case we'd known each other too long and too well to be anything but good friends. Still, he's handsome enough in a geeky professor sort of way. I couldn't tell him exactly why I was working for S. H.I.E.L.D. of course but he said he understood and didn't ask for details.
The party was the Rivington Hotel in Manhattan, and it was pretty high-falutin' for a girl from Perth Amboy, let me tell you. I was glad I'd gone with my dressy grey silk pantsuit and big ruby earrings. Harry and I circulated for a while, enjoying the canapés, and I even saw Mr. Stark zipping around, followed by the cool redhead who saved all those people in Flushing. Finally, way across the room I spotted Maria Hill, who was in her S.H.I.E.L.D dress uniform and standing with an exotically gorgeous man with a turban.
She introduced us to her date, Lieutenant Colonel Monty Singh Jatta, and we chatted a while. Harry knew what to ask; I just listened and nodded a lot. Right when we all were running out of things to say, I looked up and spotted Fury on the upper balcony, glaring down at me.
Yikes.
I couldn't figure out what I'd done wrong, and it was unnerving as hell, so after handing my champagne flute to Harry and making my excuses, I climbed the stairs and reached Fury, who didn't even turn to look at me when I approached him.
"Is something wrong, Colonel?" I wanted it to come out all cool and confident, but I squeaked a little, damn it.
"Parties," he replied in a growl, his big hands gripping the railing as he kept looking over it. "Large gatherings of important people are a dangerous temptation to anyone with a political agenda."
"Okay then, it's not something I did," I told him.
He finally did turn to look at me, shooting one of those withering stares he's so good at, but it didn't faze me now that I knew what was bothering him. I put my hands on my hips. "Well, have fun keeping an eye on things."
Shit. The minute that left my mouth I cringed. God, could I have been any more thoughtless?
Fury cocked his head and I covered my face with my hands. "Damn it, I'm so sorry. I just wasn't thinking-"
Fury
It took a hell of a lot not to crack a grin; woman didn't mean it, I know, and seeing her blush amused the hell outta me. I cleared my throat to make it clear I didn't take it personally.
She looked confused, so I waved a hand as well and this time Finkle got it.
After that, I wasn't sure what to say, so I let my gaze drop to her shoes. Black suede heels that sure as hell were going to land her on her ass again. "How's the ankle?"
"Functional."
"You know what you've got on those feet is going to end up killing you, right? You're aware that heels in any sort of firefight are dangerous?"
"It's a par-ty, not a war zone, Colonel."
I wanted to point out that the change from one to the other would happen, could happen in seconds. I knew that, so did my team. People like Finkle though, they're not in the business of looking for trouble, so they stay naïve and trusting.
They need people like us to keep them that way.
"If you say so," I told her, and turned back to the railing. Good as my people are, I like to see what they're seeing. I expected Finkle to head back down and rejoin her escort, the civics teacher with the dubious credit history. He'd downed enough drinks that I considered having Phil cut him off so he'd be safe to drive once this shindig was over.
No point in losing the good doctor to a DUI or worse.
"Well okay then," she mumbled and moved to go. Then she stopped and looked back at me. "Tell me, do you ever have fun, Colonel?"
That hurt. The eye patch thing, I'm used to that, sure. Get it all the time. But an intimation that I may have lost touch with the core of humanity inside myself? That's harder to deal with, especially since I've had to ask myself the same question occasionally.
I deflected it. "What do you think, Doctor?"
Anyone else would have given up and walked away; I've been told I'm intimidating at times.
Not this time, apparently. Finkle came over and joined me at the railing.
Kinda liked the way she had her hair up.
"Me, I think it's been a long damn time since you did," she murmured.
She had me there. Back in the day when the world was younger I did have time for other things besides making sure aliens stayed off the planet and dictators didn't level any nations. And yeah, it had been a long damned time. Years. Decades more like. Not feeling sorry for myself; I knew what the job entailed when I signed up.
We were quiet for a moment.
"You ought to get back to the party," I told her. "Be careful on the stairs."
I watched her head back down.
Definitely liked her hair up.
It didn't take long for Stark to take center stage and make a big noise about welcoming the new nation. Little woman in charge of the place looked kinda amused by him and let him dance with her out on the floor. More drinks, more good times. Felt a little like Barton up here watching it all, but as long as everything was normal I didn't mind.
Much.
By midnight it was pretty clear that Doctor Civics teacher wasn't in any shape to operate heavy machinery so I gave Coulson the go-ahead to make sure the man got home safely. Finkle was coming back to the helicarrier with me since we were due for a rendezvous with Special Technician Sigyn-Laufeyson in the morning. Luckily Finkle knew that before we climbed into rotor squad transport and didn't make a fuss.
Trip from Manhattan to the helicarrier took about forty minutes all told and in that time the woman fell asleep. I didn't hold it against her, long day and all, but when Finkle ended up leaning against my shoulder I didn't exactly move, either. Since it was dark, I figured it was nobody's business if I chose to be a pillow or not.
I nudged Finkle right before we landed; enough to wake her without making it obvious it was me. One thing I've learned over the years is that nobody's ready for my face when they first wake up, especially in the dark. She sat up and went a little stiff when she realized where she'd been but I didn't say anything until we were crossing the flight deck.
"We'll be in Canada by morning so I suggest you get some sleep. Goodnight, Doctor."
Then she does that sleeve thing again. Just a little touch this time, on my forearm.
"Good idea. And thanks for making sure Harry gets home safely—I think he was a little overwhelmed tonight. Goodnight, Colonel."
I went up to the bridge and spent a few hours reminding people who was in charge, and thinking about nothing in particular.
Especially not about anyone.
