Assembling

Performance reviews

"And that concludes your performance evaluation for this past year," Ron said, leaning back in his chair. "It shouldn't be a surprise how highly you rated, with 'role model' scoring on deliverables and 'exceeds expectations' on leadership. I personally feel you should be 'role model' on both aspects, but that kerfuffle with Stark sank that. I was informed that we expect a senior agent to be able to hold her temper regardless of the provocation, and that it is well-known that Stark has his little.... psychological quirks. Even though he struck you. You exemplify SHIELD's cultural beliefs." He sighed and sat up again.

"I did try to put some roadblocks in your transfer to the Avenger Initiative, at least get Fury to slow his roll, but no joy. Frankly, I'm concerned that the transfer will negatively impact your ability to do your normal job. You're seen with Avengers, you'll lose your ability to gather covert intelligence. Fury countered by saying that you don't have much time left in the field." He drummed his fingers. "And it's true that the end of your field career is not terribly far ahead of you. Your spine is great, but there's nothing that can compensate for age and reflexes, and the doctors show a slight decline over the past couple years that was more pronounced this year, and that spinal surgery has compromised your flexibility on a permanent basis. But Fury wants you with the Avengers team he's put you on for as long as you can handle it. How do you feel about all this?"

Anne bit her lip while considering what and how to comment. "Yes, Medical sat me down for the talk on how You Won't Be Able To Go Out Into The Field Like You Do Now Soon. So I've been enjoying the hell out of what I get. And frankly, while I love fieldwork and beating out everybody else who is after a thing or information, the day after is starting to weigh against the fun. So I might as well enjoy bigger ops now while I can, I certainly didn't get the opportunity to blow up a Hydra base before; I miss blowin' stuff up. Since I don't really get a choice, bar quitting. And I'm not quite ready to do that yet." Ron nodded thoughtfully.

"I'm glad you're seeing the end of fieldwork, but I'd also like to get you focused on your next steps, since this is kind of my last opportunity as your manager, Annie. Normally I wouldn't be concerned--SHIELD treats its former field agents well--but the Avengers Initiative has a way of chewing people up, only sometimes spitting them out. They don't do enough to keep the marquee players  healthy, let alone the unfortunates who work with them. And once you organized things so well over the outfitting mess on the quinjets, you were squarely on Fury's radar. You're going in there pretty defenseless, without the solid allies you have here. So always know that you'll be sacrificed if it becomes expedient to do so. They're ideologically cranked up to eleven over there, they run on adrenaline, ego, and service, and you're going into the heart of it on Rogers' team. Over here in SHIELD, we have good boundaries and frame our service in healthy ways. Make sure that you're not caught up in it. You're not going to be able to say no as much as you should be able to, so be sure to protect yourself. It will be hard because the shield and his shadow are incredibly charismatic and hard to say no to. My advice to you, for what it's worth, is to decide for yourself what you want to do when your field days are over. Do you want to advance into administration? SHIELD will always have a place for you, and it's possible that Fury has an eye on you for that in the Initiative, but you must make sure that it's your idea and something you want to do, because once you get into administration, it becomes exponentially harder to walk away. Decide if you want to go back to school, the same or a different field, before you move on to whatever's next for you because SHIELD and the Avengers Initiative will cover your education and that's not an inconsiderable benefit. Follow your personal SOP and make a whole alphabet's worth of plans and backup plans." She nodded, her face opaque.

"I appreciate your concern, I really do. You've given me things to think about." Ron noted that she hadn't said he'd given her a lot to think about and repressed a smile. She was usually precise with what she said.