Revamped!
Chapter 62: Duty Calls
Sweeties - San Francisco - 8:03 AM
"Let's play darts," Merida suggests.
"Are you sure?" Blake questions. "We're both a bit tipsy."
"I have perfect aim."
Blake scoffs. "Confident much or cocky?"
Merida spins in her barstool and sees a drunk man sleeping on the bar with his martini still in its glass. She takes the toothpick that has two olives on it. Merida eats one olive and leaves the other one. She keeps her eyes on Blake as she whips the toothpick. Blake looks over and sees that it landed right on the bullseye across the room. Blake pulls out his glasses from his pocket to get a better look and shows his praise for her as he puts his glasses back.
"Shit," Blake says. "I didn't think you could impress me more, Agent Mer."
Merida grins. "Don't tempt me."
"Really, that target's out of my line of sight."
"Please," she taps his glasses' frame, "you have no sight."
"Wow, okay then."
She laughs a little to avoid being in pain. Blake acknowledges the fact that he's tempting for Merida. Merida gets up and heads over to the dartboard. Blake follows and Merida hands him some darts, keeping the rest for herself. It takes Merida a second to realize that she doesn't have a guard up when talking to him. She feels like although she could resist him with her bitter charm, his responses keep her interested in having a conversation with him which is something she has never felt. She wants to trip him up for once and she's got him less than he's got her.
"I gotta get back to work by 9," Blake says.
"We're both on the clock and tipsy," Merida tells him. "We gotta get sober before going back."
"Please, I read mopey love letters for a living. I need to be intoxicated."
Merida laughs again, this time disregarding her ribs. "Come on. Let's go a few rounds of darts and forget about our jobs for a while."
-o-
SHIELD Training Centre - 11:07 AM
Angela and Xavier return all the training materials they were using. They could've trained Emily for longer but she was just getting on their nerves. Emily may or may not have been extra irritating on purpose since she didn't want to train. She's just happy that it's all over. Besides, if they're on the field with Emily, her will to survive is superior to their combined double-digit years of training at the Academy and on the field.
"You could call this whole session a failure but I prefer the term 'learning experience'," Emily says sparingly.
Angela and Xavier are even more annoyed than before which they didn't think would be possible, holding grudges that will probably last forever. Daniel and James suddenly get an alert from SHIELD. It makes the sound that says they have a task with their names on it.
"What kind of mission is it?" Xavier asks them.
"I'm not so sure," Daniel says.
Daniel shows Xavier the alert they got and Xavier is taken aback. He nods, understanding what Daniel meant when he said he has no clue what the mission is.
"Makes sense why SHIELD would send us," Angela says. "Not only are we the best they have but they're also the first ones they would throw into a chasm of the unknown - which is literally what they're doing."
"It's just a set of coordinates which, at first glance, seem to be located somewhere in the Scandinavian countries," James says.
Xavier nods. "We'll suit up and gather some weapons we may need. James, get our jet set up a course to San Francisco to pick up Merida just before we head off."
"God, I hope this one won't need my busted leg."
-o-
Sweeties - San Francisco - 8:34 AM
Merida hears her phone vibrating against the bar counter. She picks up her phone and sees the text for the mission from her team. Usually, Merida would be psyched for a new mission especially one like this but when she looks up and sees Blake she just sighs. She'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy his company. Maybe she could skip this mission and lie, saying that she's caught up here but she can't do such a thing.
"Oh, shit…" Merida says.
"Early hangover hitting you, well, early?" Blake questions.
"No, no, this is worse."
"Worse than a hangover? Unbelievable. What is it, Agent Mer? We were just starting to have fun."
"Duty calls," she says regretfully.
"What does SHIELD want so early?" He asks.
"I have no idea."
Blake smirks a little. "The whole point of lying is to have a lie. Unless that's some tactic then it's a stupid one at that."
"No, I'm serious. I have no idea what they want."
"You could just tell me 'it's classified' if it is. I'll understand."
Merida takes a glance at the message on her phone. She turns her phone around and slides it across the counter to Blake. He takes out his reading glasses to put on and picks up her phone to read it. Besides, what's on her screen is information that she could post online if she wanted to.
"0-8-4?" Blake questions, handing the phone back to her. "What does that mean?"
"An object of an unknown origin," Merida responds.
"Sounds cool."
"Or deadly."
"Still cool. Were you even allowed to tell me that?"
"Probably not but now we're even."
He removes his glasses and raises an eyebrow. "Even?"
"I could arrest you for collusion and you could expose me for relaying classified information to a civilian."
Blake grins. "Three numbers are not juicy enough for an exposé but you're implying we'll see each other again."
"If you're lucky."
"Good because I'd like that. I know you would too."
Merida smirks before getting her jacket and heading towards the exit. She opens the door and her still-slightly tipsy eyes since and the sunlight so she brings up a hand to block it.
"Hey, Agent Mer," he calls.
Merida turns around to face him again.
"Aren't you going to pay for your drink?" He asks.
Merida grins. "Be a gentleman and put it on your tab."
Blake laughs a little. Merida lowers her sunglasses and walks out.
[Blake Wilde will return. It won't be for a long time but he will be coming back]. [2020: I've written the chapters he comes back. As I'm revamping, they're coming out soon. To be exact, Blake Wilde returns in chapter 132 and stays in the story more from that point forward].
