From The Foundations Up.
Title: From the Foundations Up
Series: Agents of Inception (#1 - After The Fall, #2 - Easing The Transition, #3 - Unexpected Losses, #4 - The Quiet Ones)
Author: Eustacia Vye
Author's e-mail: eustacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Rating: G.
Pairing: Ariadne/Arthur
Warning/Spoilers: Winter Soldier/AOS spoilers. Written in response to the Tumblr prompt "Did you know that no matter what you do, you drive me crazy?" for Still Worth A Shot, our AA Fest there. The AO3 Collection is here.
Summary: Someone is rebuilding SHIELD from the ground up. This is important, because this same someone wants to recruit Ariadne, Arthur, Eames and Yusuf.
Following the raid in Chicago, there were three more offices that the group of ex-SHIELD agents took apart. It was easier after the first one; the learning curve was steep, and they quickly learned the better ways to get into Cybertek offices. There was no getting into Vanadyne, and trying to approach AIM labs was completely out of the question. Yusuf stayed behind to coordinate from one of their hotel rooms, but otherwise was perfectly happy to stay out of the field. "I'll design the toys, you use them," he told Eames in a stern tone. "Keep your trigger-happy bravado shit to yourself, okay? I'm the tech, you're ops. Big difference in training."
Eames of course blew off his concern and teased him, saying he preferred an office because of his small bladder. "Look, even the lovebirds are willing to work on this, as dangerous as it might be for us…"
Ariadne flushed while Arthur looked irritated. "Look, you don't have to bully Yusuf. We do need someone to coordinate and be our eyes and ears."
Yusuf gave her an appreciative smile. "Thank you, Ariadne. I'm glad someone sees the point in what I do."
"We have to be careful," Arthur told them. "HYDRA is still out there. SHIELD agents are either getting absorbed into privatized companies or being arrested."
"Or killed," Ariadne said quietly, remembering one safe house they had tried to go to that had been splashed liberally with blood. Thankfully, the bodies had already been removed, most likely by the local police, who hadn't known where to look to find the hidden SHIELD equipment.
"We keep our heads down and keep going," Eames said firmly. "HYDRA might run us down hard, but we can fight them off."
"And when the money runs out?" Arthur asked.
Eames shot him an irritated look. "You enjoy knocking holes in my plans, don't you?"
"Someone has to," Arthur replied unrepentantly.
"So where's our next hit?" Ariadne asked, hoping to distract them from an impending argument. "We're running out of Cybertek labs to break into."
"The problem is, we're not going high enough," Yusuf remarked. "You know what they say: Cut off one head, two takes its place. We're wrecking their labs, sure, but there has to be someone higher up we can take down that will put a stop to more operations."
"Is there anyone else we can call for help? Saito or his friend? The one with the arrows?"
Arthur looked at Eames, a touch of uncertainty in his expression. "We can't be the only ones doing this. There are reports in the news of other potential HYDRA locations going up in smoke. We didn't hit the one in LA, after all."
"So other pockets of resistance exist," Eames said. "But that doesn't mean we can automatically trust them, either. Not everyone at SHIELD believed in their ideals. We don't know why they're destroying the labs. We know why we're doing it, but we can't assume every team wrecking a HYDRA lab is being altruistic."
"You may not trust them," Ariadne pointed out, "but that doesn't mean we can't work with them up to a point. We've gotten lucky with our hits so far, but we can still use the manpower."
Eames sighed and looked away. "I think I liked it better when you didn't have an opinion on ops business, Ariadne." He grumbled, but there was no heat in his tone. He wasn't angry with her at least, and sounded as though he would concede her point.
After a few minutes of contemplative silence, her phone rang, and everyone in the room froze. It was a burner, and the number dialing in was blocked. Arthur glanced at the screen, frowning a little. "It could be one of Saito's contacts," he said with a sigh. "It's a controlled risk. If we think it's HYDRA, toss the phone," he said, then gave her a short nod of encouragement.
Ariadne picked up. "Hello?"
"You have been pretty hard to track," a woman's voice replied. "But we found you, and we'd like to talk."
Ariadne glanced at Arthur, stomach doing flip flops. Saito's contacts tended to use a series of code phrases as a greeting. "Who is this?"
"Someone authorized to give you a job offer."
"Job offer?" Ariadne asked incredulously. "With who?"
"The new and improved SHIELD."
***
Over the others' objections, Ariadne took Arthur's car and drove to the meeting spot with Agent May. If anything happened to her, she had reasoned they could still continue in their mission. Plus she had the least experience in the field or as a specialist. Arthur would care if something happened to her, of course, and Ariadne had no wish to be harmed, but she wasn't going to think more of her skills than they actually were, though Arthur and Eames repeatedly advised her not to sell herself short.
Ariadne had no idea what Agent May looked like, and hoped that she wasn't on HYDRA's radar. She felt conspicuous sitting next the window of a diner in LA, but that was the requested meeting place. She dressed in a bright red jacket over a gray vest and white blouse, a bright yellow scarf with red flowers printed on it around her neck. Her outfit was rounded out with comfortable corduroys and well worn low heeled boots. She didn't look like an office type, which was rather the point. Her cappuccino and tiramisu sat in front of her, and was actually very delicious when she absentmindedly took a mouthful. Ariadne sipped at her coffee while she waited, occasionally playing with her phone to give her something to do, as well as let Yusuf know she was all right. He had installed a tracking app that would allow the rest of them to converge on her location via GPS if she stopped inputting some kind of data for five minutes.
She was typing a query into Google when creak of the door opening startled her into looking up. A young woman with dark hair, brown eyes and vaguely East Asian features entered the coffee shop, glancing around with an artfully casual air. She had a leather jacket on over jeans and a form fitting T shirt, hardly the look of a typical SHIELD field operative, yet Ariadne immediately had the sense that the woman was looking for her. That sense was confirmed when she made a beeline for the table Ariadne was sitting at. "You're in my seat," the woman declared.
That was supposed to be the signal. "We could share if you like. It's crowded today." The coffee shop was actually fairly empty, but that was Ariadne's scripted response.
The woman slid into the chair across from her and pulled out a small device that she rested on the table between them. The indicator light changed color after she keyed in a sequence of buttons. "Okay. No listening devices will work within fifty meters will work properly. I know who you are." She said softly, then paused, examining her with a keen gaze that set Ariadne's gut roiling with uncertainty. "What I don't know is who you're working with. I mean, you're a level four analyst. No offense, but most people like that don't get all badass and storm HYDRA labs once they're out of the office. Most of them run and hide, keeping their head down until this all blows over."
"So what level are you?"
Grinning as if she knew a delicious secret, the woman leaned back in her chair a little, idly pulling out some of the sugar packets from the box that sat between them on the table, lining them up and sliding them back and forth with her fingertips as if she was running a Three Card Monte game. "Actually? I'm Level One. Never did get a chance to use the badge, though."
Ariadne blinked. "Agent May…" She started.
"Actually I'm not her," the woman interrupted with a bright smile. "She's pretty badass, though."
"But then, if you're not Agent May…"
"I'm Skye. I work with her. We're on a team together, and we're kind of the startup for the new and improved SHIELD, minus the HYDRA goons fouling everything up." She flashed Ariadne another smile, raising her eyebrows for emphasis. "Agent May would've been here, but we got word of HYDRA agents stalking some techies, and a lot of them can't defend themselves. So she and Tripp went out to save them." She spoke in a straightforward manner, and seemed to be very friendly.
Ariadne found herself warming to Skye, and hoped this was on the up and up. "So how did you find us? We've been keeping a low profile."
"It partly the sheer number of labs that were being taken out. One of them was run by Heinrich Braun, who was one of Garrett's subordinates." At Ariadne's blank look, Skye shrugged. "We’d taken out Garrett and a lot of his goons here in in LA. But we didn't know the full extent of his group. Braun was one of them. So we managed to dig up surveillance video, and caught a glimpse of you four."
"Wait… How did you do that? We took out all the cameras and disabled the network."
"I'm tech and all things internet, really. So I found the server you guys missed. From there, I tried to find out everything about you and dug up whatever footage there was of you and your friends. Awesome, by the way. The guys you're working with did a better job masking their presence, so they're harder to contact."
Wincing, Ariadne sighed. "It's a steep learning curve."
"Yeah, but as arrogant as it sounds… if I wasn't as good as I am in connecting the dots, I might not have found you at all. You have pretty good encryption on your phone and messaging, and you all have kept a pretty low profile.."
"Oh, that phone's from-" She cut herself off and nearly laughed at Skye's expression. "One of my friends is really good with tech stuff."
"And you're good at not naming names. One of your friends used yours, though, and there aren't too many women named Ariadne in SHIELD." At Ariadne's inquisitive look, Skye held up two fingers. "There's two. You and one stationed in Athens. So, that's how we were able to track you down." Skye shrugged and gave Ariadne a reassuring smile. "The job offer's for you and your friends. SHIELD is being rebuilt from the ground up. You've been going after Cybertek-"
"They're HYDRA," Ariadne interrupted.
"Yup. And your group's been taking down their cells on your own. It's impressive, and that's the kind of people we want to work with."
"You keep saying we…”
“Hello, Ariadne.”
A man’s voice suddenly broke into their conversation, causing her to startle and grab at her phone. Standing by their table was a Caucasian man in a dark suit and tie, a faint smile on his unassuming features. He had just seemed to appear out of nowhere with no warning, but while Ariadne was scared out of her skin, Skye simply beamed at him and gestured toward him with both hands, rather like a game show hostess displaying the prizes. "Meet Director Coulson," Skye introduced. "So how'd I do?"
Coulson sat down across from Ariadne when Skye scooted over. "Delivery needs work, but I think you're well on your way to being our PR person."
"Cool. Because I think I got this down," Skye replied, bopping a little in her seat, obviously pleased with the situation.
Ariadne looked between the two of them, hiding her confusion and the last of her shock. "So there's going to be a new SHIELD," she said slowly, trying to digest the situation.
"And we're going to make sure it's 100% HYDRA-free," Skye added helpfully.
Coulson managed not to sigh, though he looked as though he wanted to. "I would appreciate it if you and your colleagues would join us. We're trying to find like-minded individuals, ones with talents and skills that can get us up off the ground. SHIELD was compromised, but we can rebuild it and make it stronger than it was."
He gave her an unwavering, level look as he spoke, keeping his hands folded on the table, holding eye contact with her and a carefully neutral expression on his face. But the quiet force in his voice betrayed him: He obviously believed in what he was saying, and meant every word of it. Even after everything that had happened, with Cobb and Mal, meeting Arthur and forming their ragtag resistance to HYDRA, seeing the devastation wrought on agents in public and private; even after all of that, Ariadne wanted to believe him.
"I can't speak for the others," she said finally. "I'll have to get back to you with a decision. Is there a way for me to contact you with the answer?"
"I can mod your phone!" Skye said, sounding excited. Coulson shot her a quelling look, which had her subsiding as she held out her hand. "Or I can just add a contact number and you can call us whenever you're ready."
"Better," Coulson said in mild tones as Skye added the contact number to Ariadne's phone. "I would rather not scare away new recruits before we even talk with them."
"You tried your best to scare me off."
"Yours was not an ordinary hiring situation," he replied, unperturbed.
Ariadne was struck by the easy camaraderie between them. Here was the Director and a level one agent sassing each other back and forth, almost acting like family. She trusted her gut instinct, which had led her to follow Arthur and his friends without question. That same instinct told her that these two here were honest and telling her the truth. "I'll get back to you soon," she said between mouthfuls of tiramisu. Her appetite had returned after the anxiety of meeting Skye and the shock of Director Coulson’s arrival, now she was finishing off her sweet with gusto.
Done with the recruitment talk, Skye did suggest a few budget places to eat and sleep while she was in LA and waiting to answer. "Trust me, I know how to stay in LA on the cheap," she confided in Ariadne with a smile. Ariadne thought that it was a thoughtful touch, and that cemented her liking for Skye. Coulson paid her bill, stating it was the least he could do since she stayed to listen and talk with them. "Business expense?" she asked, lips quirking into a smile.
"Something like that. Ever hear of the phrase, 'Act how you want to proceed?'" Coulson asked. When Ariadne shook her head, he shrugged. "I want this to be a new organization. One that we can all be proud of, where we can turn to our fellow agents for help, where we can trust in those we work with. It's a coffee and dessert, Ariadne," he said, voice gentling a little. "Picking up the tab is something that friends do for each other. I hope we can be friends."
She couldn't help but blink at that. "Oh yeah, that will be different. My old SO was a stickler for the rest of us following rules he didn't. True, it turned out that Cobb was HYDRA, but still. He didn't really inspire warm or snuggly feelings."
Coulson actually cracked a smile. "Well, I've never been called snuggly, but we do try for warm."
Ariadne laughed heartily, and thought perhaps this was an organization she could be proud to be a part of again.
***
Ariadne knocked on the door before unlocking it, expecting Arthur to reply with his answering knocking code. It didn't come. She licked her lips to brace herself, and kept her hand in her purse, loosely holding the Beretta inside it. Walking into the hotel room she shared with Arthur, Ariadne stopped short. He was seated on the bed, and sitting across from him in one of the easy chairs was a lithe redhead with sharp green eyes that swept rapidly over Ariadne and missed nothing in the process. She was dressed in jeans, a tailored leather jacket and lace up boots that Ariadne would have cheerfully smacked someone in order to obtain. Arthur appeared nervous in the redhead's presence, but not in the sense that he had been caught sneaking around with her. If anything, the woman seemed familiar, as though Ariadne had seen her before.
"This is Agent Natasha Romanoff," Arthur said, voice calm. It was only his eyes that betrayed his unease, and Ariadne knew him well enough by now to see it.
"The same Agent Romanoff that testified on Capitol Hill a few months ago?" she asked, looking at the woman in question. When the assassin nodded, Ariadne gave her a polite smile. "Cool. Nice boots, by the way."
Arthur’s jaw tightened, looking as if he was ready to yell at Ariadne, but Natasha smiled. "Thanks. You're not as nervous as your friend here."
"Oh, I just met with Director Coulson. I figure you're not here to kill us, just see who the others are because Skye didn't know."
Natasha was still smiling at her blithe tone. "I might not have been sent by the Director."
Cocking her head to the side, Ariadne leveled an intense gaze at the redhead. Natasha returned it unflinchingly. "Nope," Ariadne said finally. "You're not here to kill us. If you wanted us dead, we'd never have known you were here, and you don't strike me as the kind to mess with heads before you kill someone. If someone needs killing, you'd just do it."
Oh, Arthur really looked nervous now, his face pallid and his eyes skittering between the two women.
Natasha laughed. "Is that the reputation that had filtered down through the ranks?"
Ariadne shook her head. "Nope. I was just an analyst. I've learned a lot since HYDRA decided to strike, and I trust my gut."
"Dangerous," Natasha commented.
"It's kept me alive so far. I think I'll trust it."
"You're not the only one that does that," Natasha said finally. "I wanted to see for myself who the new Director is trying to recruit."
"And?" Ariadne asked, tossing her purse onto the dresser. Natasha didn't even track it, keeping her eyes fixed on Ariadne. She found that flattering, actually; Arthur was the truly skilled one, yet Natasha was treating her like a viable threat.
"Skye couldn't find you because she's not used to being in the field. She doesn't know how to think like someone on the run, not in a situation like this. There's only so much you can do behind a computer screen, which is her forte."
"That doesn't answer what you think of us," Ariadne pointed out.
"Ariadne!" Arthur hissed.
Natasha smirked at Arthur. "Why don't you call your friends over? I think they might appreciate this a bit more than you. You're not used to this level of subterfuge."
Arthur frowned at her. "What do you know about me?"
"You were a level six operations agent, but you did straightforward retrieval or containment, usually taking point. Your friend Agent Eames, on the other hand, did more infiltrative work. And your other friend was R&D."
"If you know all about us…" Ariadne began.
"Exam results, field trial reports, caseload…" Natasha shook her head. "You can tell certain things from scores and paperwork, but that doesn't tell you who someone really is. It doesn't tell you how they'll function in the field, and a good agent is more than the sum of test scores and the ability to fill out a form."
"So your assessment is that we're worth keeping?" Ariadne asked.
"Your game plan over the past few months was proof enough of that."
"So what was the point?" Arthur asked, brows furrowed in confusion.
"Clint and I can't be the only ones double checking the potential hires." Natasha gave Ariadne an appraising look. "But I think you could help with that."
"I don't want Ariadne out in the field alone," Arthur blurted. "She needs someone to watch her six, just in case they're HYDRA agents..."
"She wouldn't be alone," Natasha said quietly. "I would imagine you'd be with her every moment," she added, kindness in her tone. Arthur visibly relaxed, eyes flicking toward Ariadne. "Now why don't you call Eames and Yusuf? I'm sure they'll want to discuss the possibility of rejoining SHIELD, too."
***
Eames was absolutely tickled to meet Natasha Romanoff in person. "The renowned Agent Romanoff," he began, looking immensely pleased to meet her. "You are every bit as lovely as I had heard you are." He glanced at Arthur's sour look. "And I'm guessing just as terrifyingly capable as all the rumors say."
Natasha merely arched an eyebrow at him. "And what do they say?"
"The rookies usually piss themselves when your name gets mentioned or they hear about Strike Team Delta." He leaned in a little closer. "The most dangerous missions, the complicated cases, the ones that have no room for error."
"And no extraction plan, more often than not," Natasha replied.
"Most of the rookies are intimidated by a strong, capable woman." His eyes lit up, one corner of his mouth tilting upward. "I find it captivating."
"Do you now?" Natasha's voice carried only the barest hint of amusement, but that was more than enough to serve as encouragement for Eames.
"Intelligence, beauty, strength, determination… the perfect package, I should say," Eames said, using his most charming voice. He was rewarded with a light touch on the arm. "Perhaps after the particulars are sorted out, we could meet and discuss field tactics."
"I suspect you'll be kept very busy on active field missions."
"Hopefully a few will take place at your side."
Natasha smirked a little. "We'll have to see."
Yusuf, in the meantime, was looking over the weapons and some of the countermeasures she had with her. He was able to stop himself from taking them apart to see how they worked, but was still calling them toys to play with. For a while, the five of them discussed past missions or taking down the HYDRA labs, studiously avoiding the destruction of the Triskelion and HYDRA moles killing fellow agents all over the globe. Yusuf was the first to bring it up. "I miss having a decent lab," he sighed suddenly. "The field is interesting once in a while, gives me a sense of what field agents might need. But I'm not one for that kind of thing. Even coordinating's a bit much for me."
"So you'd return to SHIELD," Natasha said quietly.
"In a heartbeat," Yusuf agreed solemnly. Then he broke out into a wide, friendly grin. "So, when do I start?"
Eames had given him a playful punch in the arm. "Don't care about pay or benefits?" he teased.
"As if they'd skimp on that, especially if we're not a government agency anymore."
"Good point."
Natasha had just given them an enigmatic smile. "Arrangements will be made, not to worry."
Arthur had looked at her critically. "How many agents are part of SHIELD right now?"
"It's much smaller than it used to be," she replied. "Less than fifty agents are on board right now, but we're working on finding as many as we can before HYDRA does."
Before HYDRA kills them all went unspoken.
Following a pizza dinner, Natasha gave them instructions on where to go in order to officially confirm they were returning to SHIELD and get their paperwork in order. She finally left after making arrangements for them to meet with other agents. Eames and Yusuf remained for a while, discussing their talks with Natasha. Yusuf finally grew tired, and needed Eames to drive him back to their hotel room. "I don't think I could see straight. And you drove me here anyway," he pointed out. Heaving a dramatic sigh, Eames got up and headed for the door. "Fine, fine. We'll leave the two lovebirds alone."
Ariadne laughed, and waved them off as she shut the door. After putting on the chain, she turned around and saw Arthur staring at her. "What is it?"
Blowing out a long breath, Arthur turned to Ariadne. "You're going to be the death of me."
"Because I'm not as cautious as you?"
Arthur threw up his hands in frustration. "Did you know that no matter what you do, you drive me crazy?" He started to pace around the room in agitated, jerky steps. "I'm not better than Natasha Romanoff. If she had really wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't have been able to save you."
Ariadne went to his side and grabbed his hands, forcing him to be still. "It's not your job to save me, Arthur. I understand that you want to, but I'm a big girl. There are some things I can handle myself, you know." She pulled on his hands and had him sit down on the bed. Straddling him, she circled his shoulders with her arms and kissed him deeply. Arthur slid his arms around her torso and pulled her close.
"I don't know what I'd do without you, Ariadne. You drive me crazy, but I'd be even worse if something ever happened to you." He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her again, his tongue sweeping into her mouth insistently.
"Do you honestly believe it's any different for me?" she asked against his mouth. "That I don't worry when you're out of my sight? That I'm not afraid something terrible will happen to you?" She kissed him again, then moved to plant kisses along his jawline. "It goes both ways, Arthur. We need each other. We worry about each other." She kissed his mouth again. "That's love, Arthur. Somehow in the middle of all this chaos, we found it."
"So what are we going to do about it?" he asked with a serious expression. Honestly, sometimes he was like a terrier with a bone. That was fantastic when he turned that attention to making her body sing with pleasure, but right now was getting in the way of just that.
"Right now? Enjoy the hell out of each other in this hotel room," Ariadne said, moving to kiss his jaw. She pulled his shirt out of his waistband as he sighed in frustration. He wasn't the only one that could be stubborn, after all.
"Well, yes, that's a given. I'm talking about after that," he replied, helping her to pull off his shirt and start to get rid of his slacks. He raised his eyebrows when she only grinned.
"Arthur," she began slowly as she peeled her vest away, dropping her scarf the floor after it and shimmying out of her cords. "I plan to be very glad we're in different departments if they decide to try to enforce the no fraternization idea." She pushed him back down onto the bed and straddled him again. "Because if you think I plan on stopping this, you have no idea how I work yet."
He laughed and palmed her breasts. "I think I've gotten an idea," he murmured.
"Then use that brilliant brain of yours to figure out how we stay together."
"We make sure we're a team. They don't break us up. I'm sure there are clauses in our contracts we can insist on, especially if they're serious about sending you out into the field to recruit new agents…"
Ariadne covered his mouth with her hand. "Not now, Arthur. Right now, I have plans for that mouth of yours, and they don't include talking."
"Is that so?" he asked with a grin. He grasped her hands and rolled, tucking her under his body on the bed. "Then we'd better get started."
As his mouth moved to cover hers, Ariadne grinned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. It had been a rough road to get to this point, but she was glad they had gotten here. With a strong foundation like this, the future was bound to be a good one.
The End
Series: Agents of Inception (#1 - After The Fall, #2 - Easing The Transition, #3 - Unexpected Losses, #4 - The Quiet Ones)
Author: Eustacia Vye
Author's e-mail: eustacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Rating: G.
Pairing: Ariadne/Arthur
Warning/Spoilers: Winter Soldier/AOS spoilers. Written in response to the Tumblr prompt "Did you know that no matter what you do, you drive me crazy?" for Still Worth A Shot, our AA Fest there. The AO3 Collection is here.
Summary: Someone is rebuilding SHIELD from the ground up. This is important, because this same someone wants to recruit Ariadne, Arthur, Eames and Yusuf.
Following the raid in Chicago, there were three more offices that the group of ex-SHIELD agents took apart. It was easier after the first one; the learning curve was steep, and they quickly learned the better ways to get into Cybertek offices. There was no getting into Vanadyne, and trying to approach AIM labs was completely out of the question. Yusuf stayed behind to coordinate from one of their hotel rooms, but otherwise was perfectly happy to stay out of the field. "I'll design the toys, you use them," he told Eames in a stern tone. "Keep your trigger-happy bravado shit to yourself, okay? I'm the tech, you're ops. Big difference in training."
Eames of course blew off his concern and teased him, saying he preferred an office because of his small bladder. "Look, even the lovebirds are willing to work on this, as dangerous as it might be for us…"
Ariadne flushed while Arthur looked irritated. "Look, you don't have to bully Yusuf. We do need someone to coordinate and be our eyes and ears."
Yusuf gave her an appreciative smile. "Thank you, Ariadne. I'm glad someone sees the point in what I do."
"We have to be careful," Arthur told them. "HYDRA is still out there. SHIELD agents are either getting absorbed into privatized companies or being arrested."
"Or killed," Ariadne said quietly, remembering one safe house they had tried to go to that had been splashed liberally with blood. Thankfully, the bodies had already been removed, most likely by the local police, who hadn't known where to look to find the hidden SHIELD equipment.
"We keep our heads down and keep going," Eames said firmly. "HYDRA might run us down hard, but we can fight them off."
"And when the money runs out?" Arthur asked.
Eames shot him an irritated look. "You enjoy knocking holes in my plans, don't you?"
"Someone has to," Arthur replied unrepentantly.
"So where's our next hit?" Ariadne asked, hoping to distract them from an impending argument. "We're running out of Cybertek labs to break into."
"The problem is, we're not going high enough," Yusuf remarked. "You know what they say: Cut off one head, two takes its place. We're wrecking their labs, sure, but there has to be someone higher up we can take down that will put a stop to more operations."
"Is there anyone else we can call for help? Saito or his friend? The one with the arrows?"
Arthur looked at Eames, a touch of uncertainty in his expression. "We can't be the only ones doing this. There are reports in the news of other potential HYDRA locations going up in smoke. We didn't hit the one in LA, after all."
"So other pockets of resistance exist," Eames said. "But that doesn't mean we can automatically trust them, either. Not everyone at SHIELD believed in their ideals. We don't know why they're destroying the labs. We know why we're doing it, but we can't assume every team wrecking a HYDRA lab is being altruistic."
"You may not trust them," Ariadne pointed out, "but that doesn't mean we can't work with them up to a point. We've gotten lucky with our hits so far, but we can still use the manpower."
Eames sighed and looked away. "I think I liked it better when you didn't have an opinion on ops business, Ariadne." He grumbled, but there was no heat in his tone. He wasn't angry with her at least, and sounded as though he would concede her point.
After a few minutes of contemplative silence, her phone rang, and everyone in the room froze. It was a burner, and the number dialing in was blocked. Arthur glanced at the screen, frowning a little. "It could be one of Saito's contacts," he said with a sigh. "It's a controlled risk. If we think it's HYDRA, toss the phone," he said, then gave her a short nod of encouragement.
Ariadne picked up. "Hello?"
"You have been pretty hard to track," a woman's voice replied. "But we found you, and we'd like to talk."
Ariadne glanced at Arthur, stomach doing flip flops. Saito's contacts tended to use a series of code phrases as a greeting. "Who is this?"
"Someone authorized to give you a job offer."
"Job offer?" Ariadne asked incredulously. "With who?"
"The new and improved SHIELD."
***
Over the others' objections, Ariadne took Arthur's car and drove to the meeting spot with Agent May. If anything happened to her, she had reasoned they could still continue in their mission. Plus she had the least experience in the field or as a specialist. Arthur would care if something happened to her, of course, and Ariadne had no wish to be harmed, but she wasn't going to think more of her skills than they actually were, though Arthur and Eames repeatedly advised her not to sell herself short.
Ariadne had no idea what Agent May looked like, and hoped that she wasn't on HYDRA's radar. She felt conspicuous sitting next the window of a diner in LA, but that was the requested meeting place. She dressed in a bright red jacket over a gray vest and white blouse, a bright yellow scarf with red flowers printed on it around her neck. Her outfit was rounded out with comfortable corduroys and well worn low heeled boots. She didn't look like an office type, which was rather the point. Her cappuccino and tiramisu sat in front of her, and was actually very delicious when she absentmindedly took a mouthful. Ariadne sipped at her coffee while she waited, occasionally playing with her phone to give her something to do, as well as let Yusuf know she was all right. He had installed a tracking app that would allow the rest of them to converge on her location via GPS if she stopped inputting some kind of data for five minutes.
She was typing a query into Google when creak of the door opening startled her into looking up. A young woman with dark hair, brown eyes and vaguely East Asian features entered the coffee shop, glancing around with an artfully casual air. She had a leather jacket on over jeans and a form fitting T shirt, hardly the look of a typical SHIELD field operative, yet Ariadne immediately had the sense that the woman was looking for her. That sense was confirmed when she made a beeline for the table Ariadne was sitting at. "You're in my seat," the woman declared.
That was supposed to be the signal. "We could share if you like. It's crowded today." The coffee shop was actually fairly empty, but that was Ariadne's scripted response.
The woman slid into the chair across from her and pulled out a small device that she rested on the table between them. The indicator light changed color after she keyed in a sequence of buttons. "Okay. No listening devices will work within fifty meters will work properly. I know who you are." She said softly, then paused, examining her with a keen gaze that set Ariadne's gut roiling with uncertainty. "What I don't know is who you're working with. I mean, you're a level four analyst. No offense, but most people like that don't get all badass and storm HYDRA labs once they're out of the office. Most of them run and hide, keeping their head down until this all blows over."
"So what level are you?"
Grinning as if she knew a delicious secret, the woman leaned back in her chair a little, idly pulling out some of the sugar packets from the box that sat between them on the table, lining them up and sliding them back and forth with her fingertips as if she was running a Three Card Monte game. "Actually? I'm Level One. Never did get a chance to use the badge, though."
Ariadne blinked. "Agent May…" She started.
"Actually I'm not her," the woman interrupted with a bright smile. "She's pretty badass, though."
"But then, if you're not Agent May…"
"I'm Skye. I work with her. We're on a team together, and we're kind of the startup for the new and improved SHIELD, minus the HYDRA goons fouling everything up." She flashed Ariadne another smile, raising her eyebrows for emphasis. "Agent May would've been here, but we got word of HYDRA agents stalking some techies, and a lot of them can't defend themselves. So she and Tripp went out to save them." She spoke in a straightforward manner, and seemed to be very friendly.
Ariadne found herself warming to Skye, and hoped this was on the up and up. "So how did you find us? We've been keeping a low profile."
"It partly the sheer number of labs that were being taken out. One of them was run by Heinrich Braun, who was one of Garrett's subordinates." At Ariadne's blank look, Skye shrugged. "We’d taken out Garrett and a lot of his goons here in in LA. But we didn't know the full extent of his group. Braun was one of them. So we managed to dig up surveillance video, and caught a glimpse of you four."
"Wait… How did you do that? We took out all the cameras and disabled the network."
"I'm tech and all things internet, really. So I found the server you guys missed. From there, I tried to find out everything about you and dug up whatever footage there was of you and your friends. Awesome, by the way. The guys you're working with did a better job masking their presence, so they're harder to contact."
Wincing, Ariadne sighed. "It's a steep learning curve."
"Yeah, but as arrogant as it sounds… if I wasn't as good as I am in connecting the dots, I might not have found you at all. You have pretty good encryption on your phone and messaging, and you all have kept a pretty low profile.."
"Oh, that phone's from-" She cut herself off and nearly laughed at Skye's expression. "One of my friends is really good with tech stuff."
"And you're good at not naming names. One of your friends used yours, though, and there aren't too many women named Ariadne in SHIELD." At Ariadne's inquisitive look, Skye held up two fingers. "There's two. You and one stationed in Athens. So, that's how we were able to track you down." Skye shrugged and gave Ariadne a reassuring smile. "The job offer's for you and your friends. SHIELD is being rebuilt from the ground up. You've been going after Cybertek-"
"They're HYDRA," Ariadne interrupted.
"Yup. And your group's been taking down their cells on your own. It's impressive, and that's the kind of people we want to work with."
"You keep saying we…”
“Hello, Ariadne.”
A man’s voice suddenly broke into their conversation, causing her to startle and grab at her phone. Standing by their table was a Caucasian man in a dark suit and tie, a faint smile on his unassuming features. He had just seemed to appear out of nowhere with no warning, but while Ariadne was scared out of her skin, Skye simply beamed at him and gestured toward him with both hands, rather like a game show hostess displaying the prizes. "Meet Director Coulson," Skye introduced. "So how'd I do?"
Coulson sat down across from Ariadne when Skye scooted over. "Delivery needs work, but I think you're well on your way to being our PR person."
"Cool. Because I think I got this down," Skye replied, bopping a little in her seat, obviously pleased with the situation.
Ariadne looked between the two of them, hiding her confusion and the last of her shock. "So there's going to be a new SHIELD," she said slowly, trying to digest the situation.
"And we're going to make sure it's 100% HYDRA-free," Skye added helpfully.
Coulson managed not to sigh, though he looked as though he wanted to. "I would appreciate it if you and your colleagues would join us. We're trying to find like-minded individuals, ones with talents and skills that can get us up off the ground. SHIELD was compromised, but we can rebuild it and make it stronger than it was."
He gave her an unwavering, level look as he spoke, keeping his hands folded on the table, holding eye contact with her and a carefully neutral expression on his face. But the quiet force in his voice betrayed him: He obviously believed in what he was saying, and meant every word of it. Even after everything that had happened, with Cobb and Mal, meeting Arthur and forming their ragtag resistance to HYDRA, seeing the devastation wrought on agents in public and private; even after all of that, Ariadne wanted to believe him.
"I can't speak for the others," she said finally. "I'll have to get back to you with a decision. Is there a way for me to contact you with the answer?"
"I can mod your phone!" Skye said, sounding excited. Coulson shot her a quelling look, which had her subsiding as she held out her hand. "Or I can just add a contact number and you can call us whenever you're ready."
"Better," Coulson said in mild tones as Skye added the contact number to Ariadne's phone. "I would rather not scare away new recruits before we even talk with them."
"You tried your best to scare me off."
"Yours was not an ordinary hiring situation," he replied, unperturbed.
Ariadne was struck by the easy camaraderie between them. Here was the Director and a level one agent sassing each other back and forth, almost acting like family. She trusted her gut instinct, which had led her to follow Arthur and his friends without question. That same instinct told her that these two here were honest and telling her the truth. "I'll get back to you soon," she said between mouthfuls of tiramisu. Her appetite had returned after the anxiety of meeting Skye and the shock of Director Coulson’s arrival, now she was finishing off her sweet with gusto.
Done with the recruitment talk, Skye did suggest a few budget places to eat and sleep while she was in LA and waiting to answer. "Trust me, I know how to stay in LA on the cheap," she confided in Ariadne with a smile. Ariadne thought that it was a thoughtful touch, and that cemented her liking for Skye. Coulson paid her bill, stating it was the least he could do since she stayed to listen and talk with them. "Business expense?" she asked, lips quirking into a smile.
"Something like that. Ever hear of the phrase, 'Act how you want to proceed?'" Coulson asked. When Ariadne shook her head, he shrugged. "I want this to be a new organization. One that we can all be proud of, where we can turn to our fellow agents for help, where we can trust in those we work with. It's a coffee and dessert, Ariadne," he said, voice gentling a little. "Picking up the tab is something that friends do for each other. I hope we can be friends."
She couldn't help but blink at that. "Oh yeah, that will be different. My old SO was a stickler for the rest of us following rules he didn't. True, it turned out that Cobb was HYDRA, but still. He didn't really inspire warm or snuggly feelings."
Coulson actually cracked a smile. "Well, I've never been called snuggly, but we do try for warm."
Ariadne laughed heartily, and thought perhaps this was an organization she could be proud to be a part of again.
***
Ariadne knocked on the door before unlocking it, expecting Arthur to reply with his answering knocking code. It didn't come. She licked her lips to brace herself, and kept her hand in her purse, loosely holding the Beretta inside it. Walking into the hotel room she shared with Arthur, Ariadne stopped short. He was seated on the bed, and sitting across from him in one of the easy chairs was a lithe redhead with sharp green eyes that swept rapidly over Ariadne and missed nothing in the process. She was dressed in jeans, a tailored leather jacket and lace up boots that Ariadne would have cheerfully smacked someone in order to obtain. Arthur appeared nervous in the redhead's presence, but not in the sense that he had been caught sneaking around with her. If anything, the woman seemed familiar, as though Ariadne had seen her before.
"This is Agent Natasha Romanoff," Arthur said, voice calm. It was only his eyes that betrayed his unease, and Ariadne knew him well enough by now to see it.
"The same Agent Romanoff that testified on Capitol Hill a few months ago?" she asked, looking at the woman in question. When the assassin nodded, Ariadne gave her a polite smile. "Cool. Nice boots, by the way."
Arthur’s jaw tightened, looking as if he was ready to yell at Ariadne, but Natasha smiled. "Thanks. You're not as nervous as your friend here."
"Oh, I just met with Director Coulson. I figure you're not here to kill us, just see who the others are because Skye didn't know."
Natasha was still smiling at her blithe tone. "I might not have been sent by the Director."
Cocking her head to the side, Ariadne leveled an intense gaze at the redhead. Natasha returned it unflinchingly. "Nope," Ariadne said finally. "You're not here to kill us. If you wanted us dead, we'd never have known you were here, and you don't strike me as the kind to mess with heads before you kill someone. If someone needs killing, you'd just do it."
Oh, Arthur really looked nervous now, his face pallid and his eyes skittering between the two women.
Natasha laughed. "Is that the reputation that had filtered down through the ranks?"
Ariadne shook her head. "Nope. I was just an analyst. I've learned a lot since HYDRA decided to strike, and I trust my gut."
"Dangerous," Natasha commented.
"It's kept me alive so far. I think I'll trust it."
"You're not the only one that does that," Natasha said finally. "I wanted to see for myself who the new Director is trying to recruit."
"And?" Ariadne asked, tossing her purse onto the dresser. Natasha didn't even track it, keeping her eyes fixed on Ariadne. She found that flattering, actually; Arthur was the truly skilled one, yet Natasha was treating her like a viable threat.
"Skye couldn't find you because she's not used to being in the field. She doesn't know how to think like someone on the run, not in a situation like this. There's only so much you can do behind a computer screen, which is her forte."
"That doesn't answer what you think of us," Ariadne pointed out.
"Ariadne!" Arthur hissed.
Natasha smirked at Arthur. "Why don't you call your friends over? I think they might appreciate this a bit more than you. You're not used to this level of subterfuge."
Arthur frowned at her. "What do you know about me?"
"You were a level six operations agent, but you did straightforward retrieval or containment, usually taking point. Your friend Agent Eames, on the other hand, did more infiltrative work. And your other friend was R&D."
"If you know all about us…" Ariadne began.
"Exam results, field trial reports, caseload…" Natasha shook her head. "You can tell certain things from scores and paperwork, but that doesn't tell you who someone really is. It doesn't tell you how they'll function in the field, and a good agent is more than the sum of test scores and the ability to fill out a form."
"So your assessment is that we're worth keeping?" Ariadne asked.
"Your game plan over the past few months was proof enough of that."
"So what was the point?" Arthur asked, brows furrowed in confusion.
"Clint and I can't be the only ones double checking the potential hires." Natasha gave Ariadne an appraising look. "But I think you could help with that."
"I don't want Ariadne out in the field alone," Arthur blurted. "She needs someone to watch her six, just in case they're HYDRA agents..."
"She wouldn't be alone," Natasha said quietly. "I would imagine you'd be with her every moment," she added, kindness in her tone. Arthur visibly relaxed, eyes flicking toward Ariadne. "Now why don't you call Eames and Yusuf? I'm sure they'll want to discuss the possibility of rejoining SHIELD, too."
***
Eames was absolutely tickled to meet Natasha Romanoff in person. "The renowned Agent Romanoff," he began, looking immensely pleased to meet her. "You are every bit as lovely as I had heard you are." He glanced at Arthur's sour look. "And I'm guessing just as terrifyingly capable as all the rumors say."
Natasha merely arched an eyebrow at him. "And what do they say?"
"The rookies usually piss themselves when your name gets mentioned or they hear about Strike Team Delta." He leaned in a little closer. "The most dangerous missions, the complicated cases, the ones that have no room for error."
"And no extraction plan, more often than not," Natasha replied.
"Most of the rookies are intimidated by a strong, capable woman." His eyes lit up, one corner of his mouth tilting upward. "I find it captivating."
"Do you now?" Natasha's voice carried only the barest hint of amusement, but that was more than enough to serve as encouragement for Eames.
"Intelligence, beauty, strength, determination… the perfect package, I should say," Eames said, using his most charming voice. He was rewarded with a light touch on the arm. "Perhaps after the particulars are sorted out, we could meet and discuss field tactics."
"I suspect you'll be kept very busy on active field missions."
"Hopefully a few will take place at your side."
Natasha smirked a little. "We'll have to see."
Yusuf, in the meantime, was looking over the weapons and some of the countermeasures she had with her. He was able to stop himself from taking them apart to see how they worked, but was still calling them toys to play with. For a while, the five of them discussed past missions or taking down the HYDRA labs, studiously avoiding the destruction of the Triskelion and HYDRA moles killing fellow agents all over the globe. Yusuf was the first to bring it up. "I miss having a decent lab," he sighed suddenly. "The field is interesting once in a while, gives me a sense of what field agents might need. But I'm not one for that kind of thing. Even coordinating's a bit much for me."
"So you'd return to SHIELD," Natasha said quietly.
"In a heartbeat," Yusuf agreed solemnly. Then he broke out into a wide, friendly grin. "So, when do I start?"
Eames had given him a playful punch in the arm. "Don't care about pay or benefits?" he teased.
"As if they'd skimp on that, especially if we're not a government agency anymore."
"Good point."
Natasha had just given them an enigmatic smile. "Arrangements will be made, not to worry."
Arthur had looked at her critically. "How many agents are part of SHIELD right now?"
"It's much smaller than it used to be," she replied. "Less than fifty agents are on board right now, but we're working on finding as many as we can before HYDRA does."
Before HYDRA kills them all went unspoken.
Following a pizza dinner, Natasha gave them instructions on where to go in order to officially confirm they were returning to SHIELD and get their paperwork in order. She finally left after making arrangements for them to meet with other agents. Eames and Yusuf remained for a while, discussing their talks with Natasha. Yusuf finally grew tired, and needed Eames to drive him back to their hotel room. "I don't think I could see straight. And you drove me here anyway," he pointed out. Heaving a dramatic sigh, Eames got up and headed for the door. "Fine, fine. We'll leave the two lovebirds alone."
Ariadne laughed, and waved them off as she shut the door. After putting on the chain, she turned around and saw Arthur staring at her. "What is it?"
Blowing out a long breath, Arthur turned to Ariadne. "You're going to be the death of me."
"Because I'm not as cautious as you?"
Arthur threw up his hands in frustration. "Did you know that no matter what you do, you drive me crazy?" He started to pace around the room in agitated, jerky steps. "I'm not better than Natasha Romanoff. If she had really wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't have been able to save you."
Ariadne went to his side and grabbed his hands, forcing him to be still. "It's not your job to save me, Arthur. I understand that you want to, but I'm a big girl. There are some things I can handle myself, you know." She pulled on his hands and had him sit down on the bed. Straddling him, she circled his shoulders with her arms and kissed him deeply. Arthur slid his arms around her torso and pulled her close.
"I don't know what I'd do without you, Ariadne. You drive me crazy, but I'd be even worse if something ever happened to you." He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her again, his tongue sweeping into her mouth insistently.
"Do you honestly believe it's any different for me?" she asked against his mouth. "That I don't worry when you're out of my sight? That I'm not afraid something terrible will happen to you?" She kissed him again, then moved to plant kisses along his jawline. "It goes both ways, Arthur. We need each other. We worry about each other." She kissed his mouth again. "That's love, Arthur. Somehow in the middle of all this chaos, we found it."
"So what are we going to do about it?" he asked with a serious expression. Honestly, sometimes he was like a terrier with a bone. That was fantastic when he turned that attention to making her body sing with pleasure, but right now was getting in the way of just that.
"Right now? Enjoy the hell out of each other in this hotel room," Ariadne said, moving to kiss his jaw. She pulled his shirt out of his waistband as he sighed in frustration. He wasn't the only one that could be stubborn, after all.
"Well, yes, that's a given. I'm talking about after that," he replied, helping her to pull off his shirt and start to get rid of his slacks. He raised his eyebrows when she only grinned.
"Arthur," she began slowly as she peeled her vest away, dropping her scarf the floor after it and shimmying out of her cords. "I plan to be very glad we're in different departments if they decide to try to enforce the no fraternization idea." She pushed him back down onto the bed and straddled him again. "Because if you think I plan on stopping this, you have no idea how I work yet."
He laughed and palmed her breasts. "I think I've gotten an idea," he murmured.
"Then use that brilliant brain of yours to figure out how we stay together."
"We make sure we're a team. They don't break us up. I'm sure there are clauses in our contracts we can insist on, especially if they're serious about sending you out into the field to recruit new agents…"
Ariadne covered his mouth with her hand. "Not now, Arthur. Right now, I have plans for that mouth of yours, and they don't include talking."
"Is that so?" he asked with a grin. He grasped her hands and rolled, tucking her under his body on the bed. "Then we'd better get started."
As his mouth moved to cover hers, Ariadne grinned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. It had been a rough road to get to this point, but she was glad they had gotten here. With a strong foundation like this, the future was bound to be a good one.
The End