Jessica

Expectations Part Three

Doctor Essex made his way to the research facility as soon as he was called. Once his car finally freed itself from traffic and arrived at the location, he found the facility overran by doctors of the staff and security guards, thankfully none of them were S.H.I.E.L.D. Its dissolution was overall a victory for them, they may have worked for them at first but they could have proved worrisome after their deal was dissolved. That alien invasion revealed itself very helpful, something that not many, for example the entirety of New Jersey, can say.

He found his colleague, Dr Miller, in a lab looking like she just lost everything she ever cared about. Knowing how superficial she was, it was hard figuring out if that was truly the case. Even when she noticed him walking in the room she didn't look any less distressed, just slightly grateful for his presence.

"Nathan, thank god you're here!" she said as she held her aching head.

"What's going on?" he asked with his typical monotonous voice.

"It's a disaster, Nathan. Someone broke in and..." and then she lowered her voice "they stole the MGH."

"Is that all?" he asked, leaving the woman baffled.

"Can't you see how serious this is?!"

"Honestly, no, not really. It's just some missing super drugs, it doesn't concern me." he replied, as calm as ever

So Layla grabbed her chin and breathed in before turning to Nathaniel again, "Think about the implications just for a second! Someone, somehow, broke in and eluded our security."

"Just a bunch of petty thieves, judging by what they took."

"Exactly my point! We can fool the best of the best just to be beaten by a bunch of nobodies."

Essex thought about an explanation for a few moments and only then he shared his theory: "They must have been helped by someone from the inside."

"Well, I— I feared the same thing, or at least something like that, I just don't have the proof. Do you?"

"I have my suspicions but I must verify them on my own." he answered stoically.

"Oh, Nate, thank god." she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around him. He didn't respond in any way, even his eyes stayed unmoving and so she eventually backed off

"What was that about?"

"It's just that— you're the only one keeping this whole thing from crashing down—!"

"And there's no place for what you just did. Understood?"

Just as silently as he walked in, he left without saying anything else. How sinister does one need to be in order to make even a monster like Layla Miller feel hurt?

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Lana's life had gotten much better ever since she found her new purpose. A group of well meaning friends now directed her gifts to more productive goals. Sometimes she found these people a little self righteous but even she recognised that being good made her feel good. So why stop now?

She certainly wouldn't have stopped when, on a walk, she noticed three good for nothing hooligans trying to rob a small store in broad daylight, all wearing the same studded leather jacket with a weird snake on the back. She wasn't one to judge someone by their looks but they didn't even try to look inconspicuous.

So she walked into an alley just to enter the store in an attire that could match their strangeness.

"All the cash, now!" yelled one of them at the cashier, oblivious to Bombshell's presence