You Called, I Answered (Salvatore Shield)

1.32 | SHIELD

~~~~~

The agents found their seats again, some exchanging cautious glances as they waited for everyone to reconvene for the briefing.

The room was large, but it somehow felt too small for the tension in the air, especially after everything that happened with Penelope.

Coulson cleared his throat, sitting at the opposite head of the table as Hope, with his usual composed demeanor. "I hope you all have had a chance to look over the mission report. But before we go any further," he began, tapping on the stack of papers in front of him, "we should go over contracts.

As he said this, Coulson's eyes scanned the room, lingering on each agent for a moment before continuing. "With these contracts, you'll officially be working for a government agency. Which means there are certain protocols and rules we'll need to follow."

Hope's eyes narrowed at that. Her voice suddenly cut through the air, "We're Shield agents, not government weapons."

Romanoff leaned back in her chair, arms crossed as she asked, "How do you expect us to work together if we're on two different teams?" She didn't sound confrontational, but Hope could sense a hint of challenge.

Hope didn't cave in though. She responded firmly. "Looks like you'll be joining Shield, then."

Coulson sighed, tapping his fingers against the table before adding. "We have to adhere to some level of government interference. It's not negotiable."

Without hesitation, Hope's voice was firm as she began to stand from her seat, "Then we're out–"

"Wait." The room suddenly fell silent. Coulson's expression shifted slightly, and he glanced toward Romanoff, who raised a brow at him. Coulson finally spoke again, "Get Director Fury on the phone."

Romanoff nodded her head a single time, before rising from her seat and leaving the room to make the call. Tension thickened in the air as the remaining agents exchanged uncertain glances, but no one dared break the silence as Hope sat back down.

The agents were just glad to have Hope there looking out for them.

A couple minutes later, Romanoff returned, her expression unreadable as her eyes landed on Coulson. She extended her phone out to him, "He wants to speak with you."

Coulson stood, about to leave the room to take the call, but Hope's voice stopped him in his tracks. "Take it in here," she ordered, her blue eyes steady as he turned back to look at her.

Coulson hesitated, then nodded. He was about to bring the phone to his ear when Hope ordered again, "On speaker."

Coulson understood her suspicion. He would likely feel the same way in her position. Plus, she has an entire team to worry about, not just herself. With a nod, he sat back down in his seat and laid the phone on the table, turning the speaker on, and he greeted, "Director Fury."

Suddenly, the commanding voice on the phone echoed through the room, "I was unaware this contract was up for negotiation. If I would've known that, I would've added in a personal smoothie bar."

"Ooh, can we do that?" Lizzie suddenly perked up in her seat, her eyes lighting up at the mention of that. And Josie could only pinch the bridge of her nose, trying to stay calm and collected.

They all heard a sigh through the phone. "We cannot abandon all government supervision and funding. But...I will talk to Alexander Pierce on the World Security Council. If I can get the Council on board with this, that might be all the government support we need."

Coulson looked to Hope, giving her a moment to process Fury's offer. The decision, as it seems, rests on her shoulders, and the entire room seemed to hold their breath in anticipation.

After a moment of thinking it over, Hope only nodded her head.

Coulson confirmed, "Do we have a deal, Agent Mikaelson?"

Hope glanced around at the other agents in the room, silently asking for their approval. Then her gaze shifted back to Coulson. "We have a deal."

Director Fury's voice came through the phone again, "Looks like we should start rebranding. Agents, welcome to SHIELD."

As the call ended, Coulson leaned back in his chair and let out a quiet breath of relief. "Alright, that's settled," he said, handing the phone back to Natasha. "Now, let's discuss the contracts–"

Josie suddenly straightened up in her seat, her focus shifting to the documents in front of her. She gently placed her hand on Hope's, gaining the auburnette's attention. But Josie only siphoned a small amount of magic, casting a small spell to summon one of the files to look over it.

She opened up the folder nonchalantly before she realized everyone's eyes were on her, including Hope's. She muttered softly to the Tribrid, "I'm sorry."

Hope only shook her head, a proud look in her eyes, "No, go ahead."

Josie's gaze lingered on the Tribrid for a second longer than necessary before she nodded her head. "Vision," she called the robot, knowing he could hear her.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and the robot rolled into the room, making a beeline for the brunette. Coulson's agents all sat up in their seats, confusion evident on their faces as Josie spoke to the robot with the metal arm. Josie picked up the folder and handed it to Vision. "Could you run this through a scanner for us?"

Vision's metal arm took the folder from her, "Yes, Agent Saltzman." With that, Vision zoomed out of the room with the folder, presumably going to Hope's workshop to run the scan.

While the contract is being scanned, Coulson addresses Hope again, "We'll also need all of you to visit our training campus to perform some tests. Nothing too extreme," he assured them, "but we won't worry about that until after this Hulk mission is complete."

Before any agent could reply, the door swung open and Vision zoomed into the room again, going straight to Josie. He handed over the folder to the brunette, "Shall I summarize some of the important points for you?"

Josie nodded, her eyes never leaving Hope. "Go ahead. Anything we should know before signing?"

Vision assured them, "There are no major discrepancies. However, there are a few clauses worth noting. One, no disclosing mission information with unapproved agents. Two, agents must not disclose supernatural powers with unapproved agents. Three, no intimate relationships between agents..."

The room suddenly fell silent, and eyes darted between Hope and Josie. Hope's gaze instinctively flickers toward Josie. But Josie, lost in her thoughts as she gazed at the contract in front of her contemplatively, didn't seem to notice.

After a moment in thought, she let out a small sigh and picked up her pen. She clicked it open, the tip hovering over the line on the page as she hesitated briefly.

But then, she sighed the document in front of her and set her pen back down.

When she looked up from the page, she finally noticed everyone looking, though they all quickly averted their gazes. Everyone except Hope, whose eyes lingered on the brunette still as Josie met her gaze,

For a moment, neither of them said or did anything. Until Hope turned back to the contract, and the other agents' eyes were on her this time, waiting for her final decision.

The Tribrid took a breath, clicking her pen open and signing as well, making the other agents follow suit. Even Coulson and his agents signed after that.

With that, Coulson stood up, "Now that we're all officially on board, our first official SHIELD mission begins now."

~~~~~