X marks the spot

Meet the New Boss

"How many of you were there?"

"In HYDRA?"

"In HYDRA."

"Well, there were 49 fucks ups before me. And probably 49 more fuck ups after. So, at least 50. Other than that? I wouldn't know."

"Thanks for doing this." Rebecca said as Maria and her walked down the road to the alleyway where Aaron's van lived. The two carried coffees in their hands, two in Maria's case, one in Rebecca's.

"Sure thing." Maria said, giving the agent a small smile. Rebecca met it for a moment, before looking away, out to the streets of New Orleans at the start of it's day. The sun was out, but it wasn't the warmest, it had to be said.

"How long have you known him for?"

"Aaron?" Rebecca nodded, "A while now. Thought he'd died, to be honest with ya. Then he just...shows up. We sorted our shit out, don't worry."

"How bad did it get?" Maria laughed at the question, seemed Rebecca knew how the two would be.

"We had some scuffs. But, we got there in the end. Sort of forced to."

"How come?"

"Old debts came to bite us in the ass. Whole reason we came back here. Safest place from a whale is inside it's own belly."

Rebecca nodded. Although not entirely sure if the statement was true or not.

"You're gonna want to take a step back from him when we get there. He can be a bit of an ass in the mornings." Maria warned as they turned down the alley-way.

"Didn't seem that bad when we had him." Rebecca said.

Maria paused for a moment, "Huh. Guess you guys had a bigger impact on him than I thought..." She admitted, before leading the other woman to the van and knocking on the door. At it, they heard shuffling.

"What?" They heard Aaron's muffled and tired voice say.

"Come on, dickless. Let's go." Maria said, looking at the door, Rebecca looked between the two.

"Fuck off."

Rebecca rolled her eyes, slamming her arm against the door, "Don't be an ass just because you drunk too much. I did warn you." She said the last part in a smug, teasing voice.

The door opened, with Aaron messily dressed for the day, but he was at least ready, "There he is." Maria said, handing him a coffee, "Come on, gotta get you to your regular stop. Thought I'd bring your new bff."

Aaron looked to Rebecca, finally noticing her, "Hey." He greeted, not meeting her eyes.

"Hey." She replied, softly, looking at him with a sense of pity.

"Alright," Aaron said as he got out of the side door, shut it and took the coffee from Maria, "Let's go."

They had driven for a bit, with not much chatter. It was still early-ish, after all. The only time someone spoke, it was Maria giving directions. Other than that, the only other sound was a phone vibrating. Rebecca tried to ignore it.

Finally though, they reached their destination, a run down shithole of a shack. It was barely holding together, splinters in wood, broken glass, and the wood that wasn't splintered was rotting. Still, Maria barely seemed fazed, and knocked on the door. It opened, revealing an older man, one who had a few missing teeth, "Hey Frankie." She said, smile on her face. The man smiled back as best he could.

"The usual?" He asked.

Maria nodded, "The usual." The door shut, and Frank got to work. Rebeca approached Maria, leaving Aaron to try wake himself up some more, looking out to the city and taking more of his coffee.