A future chapter in year four kind of relates to the psych evals and I'm currently outlining that one.

Year Three: Ready, Player One

Group Chat - SA Babes
Members: Daniel, Merida, James, Angela, Xavier

Angela: When are your psych evals?

Daniel: Last appointment possible.

Merida: Seriously? You got it that late?

Daniel: Booked it the moment we could. Kinda regret it now that I can't get it over with.

Angela: I booked mine first TO get it over with.

Merida: Victoria and I plan to ask each other practice questions but it won't help lol.

James: I'm living for the day when I get to talk about myself.

Xavier: Your examiner will need an examiner after.

-o-

Common Lecture Room - 11:01 AM

"You five, stay behind," Agent Iyu orders.

The rest of the class clears out and Agent Iyu closes the door when it's just the six of them left, including herself. Her boots click against the floor as she walks back to the lecture room's front desk where Angela, Xavier, James, Daniel, and Merida wait. It had to be urgent in some way given that Merida didn't even try and sneak out.

"Alright, Avenger babies," Agent Iyu says with her hands at her hips. "I fear for your psych evals the most, even if Merida wasn't my subordinate. SHIELD know your lives, your experiences, strengths, and weaknesses, more so than any other SHIELD baby."

"But they can't ask us stuff they don't really know," Xavier asks, his tone now skeptical, "if there's anything."

"As SOs, we had to provide character profiles so there might be new things. Got something to hide, Rogers?"

Xavier shrugs, uninterested. "I don't have much about me."

Merida straightens. "What did you say in my character profile?"

Agent Iyu rolls her eyes. "Nothing concerning if you leave it alone. Look, the counsellors that handle the evaluations have done this many times over. They know their questions and your answers. They're interested in how you'll answer if you choose to. Never mind how weak you think your character is. Stick to the system enough to stay in the system. Play the same game cadets have played for decade-odd years, especially you Operations kids since they're tougher on you. Don't let the questions control you, define you, or set your limitations. If you manage the psych eval, then your field test will be a cinch."

Daniel looks away when Agent Iyu locks eyes with him.

-o-

Suttner Residence - 18:42 PM

Merida and Victoria sit crossed-legged on the floor of Victoria's dorm facing each other with a bottle of vodka between them. This isn't the set-up their real psych evals would have.

Since most cadets got an entrance psych eval before they were accepted in the Academy, Victoria's been down this route before. It would be in an office, the classic setting of a desk between you and the psychologist. No vodka. She doesn't remember everything they asked but they didn't have a whole repertoire of questions ready since they didn't know her. It was standard until they would personalize it based on the responses she would give.

"Earliest scariest memory?" Victoria asks.

"My parents are assassins," Merida responds flatly.

"That's a given on your file but not an answer. You're deflecting."

Merida rolls her eyes.

"Fine," Victoria says, moving on, "what's your number?"

Merida isn't surprised Victoria would ask that, only that she didn't ask it earlier. "Zero."

"Zero as in one guy, zero as in never had a dick in you, or zero as in zero."

"Zero as in zero."

Victoria nods approvingly, pouring their first round of shots. "Nice."

Merida can't believe the girl who sleeps around would be stoked to hear about her virginity. She's already drinking. "You think I'm lame."

Victoria takes the shot with no reaction. "I already thought that but it's odd you brought it up that way."

"Your question was fucking weird." Merida pours her own shot when Victoria's done. "Why is your hair silver? Aesthetic? Rebellion?"

Victoria pauses as Merida puts the bottle down. She didn't think she struck a nerve with Victoria but her face is loose, unlike its usual tight and snarky grin. If Merida has to guess, Victoria went silver to add to some ice queen persona she wanted.

"You know, they'll ask about your silver hair," Merida says carefully, almost regretting that she asked.

"They won't ask again since they got the story on my entrance exam. It was the first question."

Merida waits and the dorm is silent as she traces the rim of her shot glass. " … I don't know if you'll tell me."

"So I was at a nightclub with my friends and it got bombed. People I knew and loved, friends not blood family, died. Anyways, I was lying on the ground, fading in and out of consciousness. Then I saw this bright light coming from the police or American soldiers, whatever. Could've been smoke or dust from the debris. Anyways, against the light, it looked silver and then I blacked out."

"дерьмо..." Merida mutters as she pours Victoria a shot as well. They down them silently, not meeting eyes. "So is it a reminder?"

"Of how fucked up back home is and how I'm here to at least try to change the way things are governed over there."

"Kinda ironic you came here."

"Working outside in," she laughs a little, "my natural colour is black if you were wondering."

Merida tried to picture Victoria with black hair. It's not a completely strange concept since Victoria has black eyebrows, and it does make her bright eyes pop even more against her pale skin.

"For the record, it's not my story to tell but my scariest memory was my high school graduation when we saw one of our best friends lost control of his greatest fear," Merida says.

"That says wonders about you." Victoria pours them both another round. "For your best friend."

-o-

Howling Commandos Lounge - 20:33 PM

After Merida's pseudo-psych eval, she was still shockingly sober enough to head over to the Commandos Lounge where Angela, Xavier, Brody, Orchid, and Ashton were sitting on the couches in front of the fireplace. They had their field strategies textbook open on the common table but when she got closer, she heard them talking about the psych evals. If they didn't already see her, she would've bolted, but she ends up sitting beside Angela.

"Nobody here is a real sociopath," Brody says, "despite Orchid saying her roomie freshman year was one. It would've shown up on their entrance exam."

"What happened at yours, if you don't mind my asking," Ashton says, "I'll tell you what happened at mine."

Brody shrugs casually. "Nothing really. We just spoke about my past education and my life back in Australia. They wanted to know some good sites to visit for a future vacation. It was like catching up with an old friend, oddly enough. Looking back, I think it was mostly to see how much of a team player I am."

"Same. I got asked the same backstory questions and asked why I wanted to go to SHIELD Academy. Basic things."

Orchid's jaw drops. "Are y'all serious? I got asked to recount the most traumatic experience of my life and explain how it shaped me."

"Wow, they just went there," Xavier states, sucking in a breath.

"By the way, I was thirteen and one of our goats, Tilly, was giving birth when nobody knew she was pregnant," Orchid tells them. "She was just lying on the ground and we thought she fainted since it was a sunny day. I had to go check on her and saw a baby goat head sticking out of her rear. Anyways, it was a hard birth and we couldn't call the vet to perform an emergency C-section, so I had to grease up and stick my hands in there to match the contractions and guide the kid out. It wasn't that the baby died. I've seen many stillbirths on the farm. It was that the mother goat stood above her dead baby and kept licking it as if it was alive. Cows and horses kind of just ignore their silent newborns but that mama goat stuck around. I don't know, that moment stuck with me because it made me want try and save lives."

Orchid's face goes blank for a moment until Brody and Ashton rub her shoulders. Xavier wraps his arm over her shoulders to squeeze her comfortingly as Angela and Merida hug her.

"I had shots with Victoria and it's hitting me now," Merida tells Angela. "I forgot my room key."

Angela nods. Recently, they made a code about when to leave situations because of an emergency. Forgetting the room key was one of many. They say they'll catch the others later and see Orchid back at their dorm.

"Okay, I really had shots with Victoria but that's not what I had to say," Merida mutters once she and Angela leave the lounge. "Her first question for her entrance exam was to recount an experience like that."

"Did you plan an answer?"

Merida shakes her head. "I deflected at first. This is the alcohol talking but I'm actually terrified."

Angela puts her arm around Merida as they continue walking. "Me too. But it's like your SO said, play the game right."

"But I don't know how to play."

Angela shrugs with a small sigh. "You know who that question made me worry for?"

"Daniel? Because same. But if it's on his file, they wouldn't ask it."

"The file is SHIELD's interpretation, probably with his testimony but not his story."

The past always matters. People can't forget the things they did or else they'll never learn from them, like Orchid and Victoria. SHIELD had their whole lives on record and some of their lives were more eventful than others. In that examination room, sitting with one other person who can read everything, asking them to recall their most traumatic memories when reliving it in their heads was hard enough. Telling someone when they have the text in front of them was a living nightmare.

-o-

The Boiler Room - 3:12 AM

Well past midnight and the underground Sci-Tech club was still wide awake. Cadets were having drinks and playing games of pool or darts, or sitting in booths studying or chatting. Club music still plays above them but it isn't blasting their eardrums. In the booth by the empty bar, Daniel sits, lying on his arms on the table, unsure if he's about to sleep. James is next to him texting while Keith and Naomi are working on some homework.

"I'm glad I picked the last possible time slot for the psych eval, but I'm regretting it," Daniel mumbles into his arm before sitting up and readjusting his glasses. "Angela had a point when she said she wanted to get it over with. I can't even reschedule mine now."

"I think it'll be fine," Naomi says. "Play the game, that's what you said you'd do, right? Tell them some stories."

Keith scoffs. "Not all of us have eventful lives."

Naomi shrugs. "Neither do I. But maybe that's the point. Your life is so boring so you're here to stay and have some fun, make some memories."

"That's very optimistic of you."

Naomi smiles sweetly at him. "I'm here to stay, aren't I? But if you don't know a lot about me, how would they?"

"That's what Xavier said," Daniel states. He remembers when Xavier told him that his psych eval will likely mention Britney and football. His two personality traits that ended at the same time.

James puts his phone down. "Ever have those moments where you have those moments when you think - this would be a great story to tell my therapist? Those stories."

"Exactly."

"I heard they're brutal this time," Naomi says. "It's someone intruding on your peace of mind, speaking words they won't take back just to exploit our fears and feelings, stooping so low just to fill out a report that goes to adjudication. It's alarming and by design. Kinda fascinating."

The boys are silent as she closes her notebook to focus on them.

"During my entrance exam," Naomi continues, "my counsellor said this - 'I'm going to ask you a question and you have to tell me the first thing that comes to mind.'"

"Sounds easy," James says.

"What'd they ask?" Keith questions.

Naomi opens her hands, palms up to emphasize her point. "'Why?'"

" … and you said?"

"Equals mx+b."

Again, the boys are silent. For a second, they think she's joking and they laugh, but her straight face shuts them right up.

To read about Merida's scariest memory:

Emily's Counterpart - Chapters 285-287: Graduation Parts Four-Six
Britney's Counterpart - Chapters 283-284 (Britney Braun) Graduation Parts Four-Five