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I am glad you enjoyed the last chapter.

Disclaimer: I still don't own AOS or Marvel.
Trigger warning: Allusion to past abuse.

Chapter 14: Planes and Calls

While packing again for the flight to Puerto Rico (she would simply use her suitcase, it was not as if she had unpacked much in the meantime anyway), Xandra mused how unlucky the constellation of the teams had turned out for her: All the people (but Fitz) she knew at least a little were on the other team and she was stuck with a man (director) she had heard a lot (mostly good things) about but who was now apparently re-emerged from the dead. That was somehow fishy. Then there was a blonde bombshell who definitely didn't want her around, add a tall quiet man she had no idea what to make of.

Well, she told herself, trying to stop her wallowing in self-pity, it could definitely be worse. At least, they had a common goal they could work towards. 'You don't need friends, you need allies. And you need them to respect you,' a part of her brain that sounded suspiciously like Maria Hill argued. The strategist in her knew this, lived by the rule, influenced people to get where and what she wanted. The idealistic part of her however wanted people to like her for who she was and cared genuinely about others. Most of the time Alexandra wasn't even sure which part had the upper hand.

She met the others at the hangar, just in time to say goodbye to the other group. While Simmons simply nodded (what was wrong with her?), Fitz gave her a small smile and May even something that could be mistaken as a lifting of the corner's of her mouth. Skye pulled Xandra into a big hug.

"Take care Edvardson. Alexandra, sorry," she corrected herself when she saw the other woman's frown at the use of her last name.
"You too Skye," Xandra smiled.

"You still owe me that ride in your car," Hunter reminded her while embracing her.
She rolled her eyes at his antics.
"I won't forget it Lance Take care and don't get yourself killed."
"Same applies to you sweetheart,"he replied before ruffling her hair and making her screech in indignation.
"Oh I wanted to do that since I have first seen this perfectly straightened hair of yours," he laughed.
"You are such a dick,"she grumbled,"and they are not straightened but naturally sleek!"

"Now if you two are done flirting we might be able to go," a very pissed Agent Morse argued.
"Sure," Xandra answered, grinning at Hunter and raising an eyebrow in challenge. There seemed to be more between the two of them if the reaction was that extreme.
He simply stepped forward to hug the tall blonde woman.
"Don't get yourself killed Bob."
"You too."

Finally everyone was on the jet and Coulson told Xandra to get as comfortable as possible.
"Will do," she agreed, stretching out on a couch before pulling out her laptop to check whether the code had evolved or was still as she had left it.
Luckily, it was still in order. Suddenly, a phone rang and then all eyes were trained on her.

"Is that your phone?" Morse asked harshly.
"Uhm, yes," she answered, guessing now was not the time to be uncooperative.
"Why do you have it?"
"Well, Skye gave it back to me before I left."
"You know, this jeapadizes the whole situation!" the other woman all but screamed.
"Calm own,"Coulson intervened,"though this is indeed unfortunate, Shield Tech" - he motioned to the gadget - "should also not be traceable that easily. Especially a phone that is very unlikely to be known to HYDRA. Do you know who just called you?"

She nodded. When the team kept staring, she sighed.
"Ex-boyfriend, calls me once a week at exactly that time."
"What are his intentions?" Mack asked, "can it be a way to keep track of you and to have control over you?"

She snorted in a very undignified way.

"He wished he had control. But yes, he wants to keep track of me."
"A stalker?" Agent Morse asked, looking concerned rather than angry for the first time.
"No, he just wants to make sure I am okay as he doesn't believe I will stay out of trouble. Well, apparently he is right." Xandra motioned at everything around her. "Also, it gives me the chance to check that he is fine, so I appreciate it. We might not be together anymore but we still look out for each other. On that note, I should call him back before he worries too much."

To the agents' surprise, Coulson nodded. "Do it, before your boyfriend gets us all in trouble."

Xandra made her way to one of the seats in the back of the plane, she had no illusion that someone would eavesdrop but at least she could pretend to have some privacy. Without hesitation she called the so familiar number that was not saved in her phone anymore. He answered after the first ring.

"Xandra?"
"Hi, you are calling to an unusual time," she started.
"Well, I have seen you have moved again."
"So you do stalk me!" she was slightly amused, she had expected him to know. He sounded slightly flustered when he replied.
"Well, I have an alert that notifies me when something changes so..."
"All right, I expected that actually," she cut him oof. It wasn't as if she didn't do the same with him anyway.
"What is the new job like?" he wanated to know, sounding genuinely curious.
"Good so far. Quite a challenge actually."
"More than what you are used to?"
She laughed heartily. "Well, different. People are less...excentric for the most part but it also doesn't pay that well. And it doesn't have dental."
The man snorted. "As if you were in for the money. You don't care for it and you know that I know."
"True, but it was an opportunity to get away again, I had been in Munich for too long."
She could hear him clench his teeth.
"Again?"
"Not that bad. But it's never good, you know," she admitted calmly.
"One day, I will kill him. If he ever touches you again..."
Not worth the trouble," she chided him, "especially not given the current situation."

She heard him sigh and she knew that he knew that the topic was pointless to argue about. They had been raised far too differently, with him fighting against what he thought was wrong and her being told to suck it up, behave and smile through the pain. Though this did not mean she was any less dangerous, only more subtle. She had plans, ambitious plans to ruin that monster's life and it had been going very well so far. Her ex-boyfriend would probably not approve, therefore she had never told him about it. By God, how she still cared about his opinion, it was ridiculous!

"Alright, I've got to go now. You take care!" she said lightly.
"You too," he replied, "you know, you could maybe we could meet up at some point."
"Maybe," Xandra only replied courtly, before hanging up on him.

After sitting a few minutes in silence to let her thoughts wander, she walked back to the others, just to meet Coulson's inquiring gaze.

"All good?"
"As good as can be expected," she replied evenly, gaining a nod of approval. Xandra was fairly certain he had figured it out by now, or maybe he had known from the beginning. It was a mixture between awkward but also kind of funny.
"Try to get some sleep, we have a full schedule," her boss commanded before walking off.
"Yes Sir," the woman murmured to herself before getting changed into designer sweatpants and making herself comfortable on one of the leather seats. She could sleep everywhere, curled to a ball and tucked away into a corner and that was exactly what she was planning to do now.

Thank you for reading! Any guesses about the mysterious (or not so mysterious, I suppose it is getting rather obvious) boyfriend?