CHAPTER 5

JUNE 13, 2002

Later that night...

The girl looked at herself in the full sized mirror. She made sure every strand of her long wavy hair was in place as she tied it up in a loose ponytail with a black ribbon. She smoothed out the creases on her white dress. The top was short sleeved and had a modest cut around the neckline. The skirt of the dress flared out like a tea cup and ended at her knees. When everything was up to her standards, Alexandra exited her room and walked down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she found Rumlow sitting on the couch flipping through magazine. She looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 4:37 pm. The girl smiled to herself and slowly walked up to the man and cleared her throat.

Rumlow averted his eyes from the magazine to the girl that was now standing in front of him. He looked down at the watch on his wrist and sighed. "Alright, but this is your last one."

Alexandra thought for a moment. "When I asked you earlier about how you joined S.H.I.E.L.D., you said my father recruited you. My father doesn't just recruit anyone personally unless the person of interest is impressive. What about you caught his attention?"

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "What is this, kid? An interrogation?" He watched her bite her bottom lip. A light bulb flickered in his head. "You're seriously interrogating me?"

"Profiling, actually," she corrected.

Rumlow was shocked. This kid was going to be more of a handful than he originally thought. "Where the hell did you get that from?"

"Phil taught me," she replied.

"Coulson taught you how to profile people?" He was amused.

"Stop stalling and answer the damn question," she said, annoyed. "We had a deal."

He scoffed at her. "I was the best in my self-defense class when I was around seventeen, so my teacher had me help instruct his class," he answered her. He stood up from his seat and towered over her. "Will you stop asking fucking questions already?"

She grinned at him, "That's all I need. Thank you."

A few guests arrived before Alexander Pierce came home from his meeting. Alexandra took it upon herself to entertain her guests for the time being. She greeted every person who entered her home and forced herself to engage in conversation. She didn't even know most of her guests but pretended to remember them and their first meeting. She tried her best to keep a smile on her face and to remain polite, just like her father expected. When everyone seemed convinced by her acting skills, Alexandra took her cue to excuse herself and hid in the kitchen with the servers and cooks.

She always felt out of place with the successful and the rich. She preferred hanging out with normal people, or what she considered normal. She played cards with the one of the cooks while she waited for her father to join the party. The cook was in the middle of teaching her how to play Texas Hold 'Em when a man interrupted them.

"I see you're enjoying your party."

The girl looked up at the man with a large grin on her face. "Phil!" She backed away from the kitchen counter and hugged the man tightly. "I'm so glad you came."

Coulson hugged the young girl back, "I wouldn't miss it for the world." He let go of her and backed away to take a look at her. "I still can't believe you're thirteen years old. Time has been creeping up on me."

"Do you really have to leave tomorrow?" She asked sadly.

"I do, but I got you a gift to make up for it," he said as he handed her a small box.

She smiled widely at him and immediately opened the box and pulled out a Charleston Chew candy bar. She looked up at him in confusion.

"It's my favorite candy bar," he answered her unspoken question. "Thought you would enjoy it."

She shook her head and giggled. "I'm going to miss you."

Coulson watched her eyes water and stopped the water works before they happened. "Hey, now. No crying on your birthday." He wiped a tear that escaped her eye with his thumb. "Why don't you tell me your assessment of your new bodyguard."

She sniffed and swallowed down the tears. "Well," she began. "His name is Brock Rumlow, age thirty-three. He doesn't like to be questioned and absolutely hates me."

Coulson raised his eyebrows. "What made you come up with this conclusion?"

"His answers were short ended and his body language suggested his resentment toward me."

Coulson chuckled, "Don't take it personally. I am not sure if it's possible for Rumlow to like anyone. Let's join the party, shall we? Your father just arrived."

When dinner ended, everyone said their farewells and the hired help finished their cleaning and left. Exhausted, Alexandra walked toward the stairs to get some sleep.

"Alexandra," her father called out.

While her face was turned away from him, she rolled her eyes dramatically. Before she turned around she put a blank expression on her face. "What?" He gave her a hard look. She looked down at her feet and cleared her throat before she corrected herself. "Yes, father?" She tried her best not to sound snarky.

Pierce kept his eyes on her as he took a sip from his scotch. "There's someone I want to reintroduce you to."

"Who?"

"Come on out, now," he ordered someone from the kitchen.