Revamped!

[Welcome to, shall we say, season two of this story].


Chapter 59: Prince in Disguise

SHIELD Training Centre - 9:41 AM

Emily walks through SHIELD until she reaches the training centre. She takes a deep breath as she opens the door. She's been dreading this day for two months since her friends were on a mix of probationary leave and a leave of absence to recuperate from their serious injuries. Now that they were back, their first order from SHIELD was to train Emily properly since they didn't want her to die on the field for not knowing what she's doing.

Emily closes the door behind her and her friends all see her as she finishes applying her lipstick. They're all glaring at her. Well, they're all here except for Merida who got sent out to the east coast to examine a possible lead on an escaped prisoner. Merida believes she was sent instead of a fresh rookie because SHIELD hates her.

"What?" Emily asks defensively.

She knows what. She's nearly almost an hour late which makes no sense since Daniel got here on time and they live together. She didn't mean to show up at this time but it was all unintentional. Emily quickly claps her lips to blot them from excess lipstick.

"You know I hate waking up early," Emily tells them even though they already knew that. "Some of us like our beauty sleep but some of us don't need it."

They continue glaring and Emily knows why.

"Fine, that's kind of a lie," she admits. "I couldn't find my lipstick."

"I believe that," James says.

"So do I," Daniel adds.

"Me too," Xavier says.

Emily's glad she's now off the hook for her tardiness. At least she thinks she is. Xavier is still giving her a dirty look. Emily smiles innocently at him.

Angela laughs a little. "If Merida was here, she would kill you, saying something like 'you're training to fight, not date!'"

Emily shakes her head with a bright smile. "As if I need dating lessons." She waves her hand to show off her engagement ring which makes Daniel blush like a schoolboy. "Oh boy, how I wish I could teach that girl to date."

Emily rubs her hands together like a villain who's about to unleash a master plan to destroy the city. Back in the day, they would've been scared to see Emily with that face since it would've led to something stupid. Angela seems tempted to have the same idea which is different from teenager Angela.

"Maybe she hasn't met her match yet," Angela says, jumping on Emily's bandwagon.

"Where the hell can we find her match?" Emily wonders.

Xavier groans. "Can we not have a girl talk?"

"Besides, Merida's love life is fine," Daniel says.

"If non-existent means fine," James retorts.

"...good point."

Angela crosses her arms at them. "Look who's having the girl talk now?"

She raises an eyebrow at James and Daniel who immediately shut up. Emily goes over to the side and sees her training uniform which makes her cringe.

"I hate this training uniform," Emily tells them.

"We wore them all the time in The Academy," Xavier says.

"That's my point. It doesn't match my lipstick."

Everyone facepalms. This is only the start of a long training session.

-o-

Pier 39 - San Francisco - 6:54 AM

Merida strides across the street with the early sunrise just peeking over the horizon which forces her to lower the shades from the top of her head to avoid squinting her eyes. A fresh, salty breeze blows her curls back as she approaches a series of run-down docks. She isn't used to smelling the ocean but it's pleasant. By the edge of the water, she's greeted by a familiar and expected sight: a circle roped off by a yellow police tape and a huddle of grim officers. Merida pushes past them to get closer to the scene until she's standing right in front of a female corpse lying on the shore.

"Ah, hell…" Merida mutters under her breath.

According to SHIELD's dossier, Prisoner #101BZ4 escaped offshore confinement in the middle of the night. Hours after, some fishermen coming back from their morning haul found the body in their nets. The security cameras in the area had a 72% match of facial recognition between the body and the escaped prisoner.

Merida walks around the body to get a full view, but stops abruptly when a man in a dark suit steps out. He crouches down, looking at the corpse as he scribbles on a notepad.

"Sir, please back away from the crime scene," Merida orders politely.

"I would but then I wouldn't be doing my job," the man replies.

The man, with the blackest hair and fairest skin, stands up tall before her. His piercing blue eyes and chiselled features force Merida to straighten her posture without thinking about it. It's not like she hasn't seen men like this before because she has seen many. This one is just, wow. She watches as he reaches into his suit jacket pocket and flashes an FBI badge for her. Merida quickly glances at it before looking back at him.

"Are we going to have a problem?" He asks her in a tone that already knows her answer.

"Not at all," Merida replies snidely. She hates the FBI.

"Special Agent Blake Wilde," he introduces formally, offering a hand.

"Agent Merida Barton," she replies, reciprocating the gesture.

"CIA?"

"SHIELD, don't insult me."

He grins a little from the corner of his mouth as he looks at her. "Can I call you Mer? Agent Mer?"

Merida frowns. "You can call me Agent Barton."

"Well, Agent Barton, mind if I examine the crime scene?"

"Be my guest."

Merida steps back, opening an arm towards the corpse as though to welcome him to look at it. Blake gives her a grin and her mouth doesn't budge. He looks at her before kneeling down as Merida shadows from above.

"She isn't my missing prisoner," Merida confirms. "The percentage of their resemblance is remarkable, though."

"Must have one of those faces." He glances at her. "Unlike you which is a compliment in my book."

"If you have to tell me it's a compliment, then it's not good."

"True." He looks back at the body. "No marks on the neck so no signs of struggle or strangulation, likely no head trauma. Blood doesn't seem to be pooling extensively but I take that's from being in the water all night, moving around with the current and passing boats."

He catches Merida's shadow nodding its head.

"Clothes are neat," Merida points out. "She could've just drowned by the looks of it."

Blake looks over his shoulder and up at Merida.

"Look at us being a crime-solving duo," he says, smiling.

"We didn't solve anything."

"We were about to."

Merida rolls her eyes underneath her shades but his grin indicates he still saw that. "There are different people to take care of this."

Merida dismisses herself from the crime scene once she sees no use for herself, and some detectives arrive to take over. She crosses the street back to her car and heard someone following her. Merida turns around to see that Blake is behind her.

"Care to give me a lift?" Blake asks her. "I've done my work there and have to wait for the local precinct's detectives to show up."

"They're not already here?"

"Nah. I heard the cops say they're slow and wait for the forensic technicians to come up with theories. So, a ride?"

Merida studies him for a moment before nodding and opening the door for him. He gets in the passenger seat as Merida starts the car and drives off.


[Blake Wilde is an important character and Im currently screaming for joy because he's finally here. I was going to introduce him later but found it more fitting here. If you go to my profile and read through the Project: New Generation FAQ, specifically question #3, you'll know why I'm screaming].