The Lives of Two 19 Year Old S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents

Chapter 28 - We're Almost There

Today's the day, the day of the mission, the 26th July. I couldn't believe it. Chloe and I drove to base at 5:00am to meet the others. We would take the plane to Barcelona, Spain at, 9:00am. We were taking a commercial flight so as not to attract attention to ourselves or alert the Hydra base. They would already be on high alert today because of a large shipment of explosives and weaponry coming in, the biggest I've ever seen at one time. However, their forces would be spread thin making the base itself vulnerable.

On our way to tactical room 6, my new diamond gleaming on my finger, we stopped to chat to Steve Rogers.

"Hey, haven't seen you in a while," he said, giving us both a hug. "Did Natasha tell you?" he asked, probably in reference to the Clint/Steve/Natasha dating issue.

"Tell us what?" asked Chloe. She didn't know about the mess I'd gotten them into and I hadn't heard any developments on the story myself, for months.

"She chose me," he answered. "Clint asked her out just after SRM Day and she said she was taken," his unconscious, uncontrollable smile was so pure.

"Congrats, I guess," I said.

"OK, what the hell is going on?" asked Chloe, clearly very confused.

Steve and I laughed.

"A while back, before SRM Day, I got myself and Natasha into a bit of a mess by telling Steve to ask her out, then, giving Clint the same advice a few days later just as Natasha said yes to Steve," I replied.

"Yeah," said Steve, "a right mess."

"Ah, I see," Chloe replied. "I don't have anything against Clint, but I definitely ship you and Natasha more. Romangers? No. Roger... noff? Stevetasha?"

"You 'ship' us?" questioned Steve, very confused.

"Google it," I said with a smile. "We should go."

"Good luck on your mission," he said, back to his serious self, "and congratulations."

He nodded at the ring on my hand, entwined with Chloe's, and walked off. Now it was my turn to smile unconsciously and uncontrollably.

A few minutes later, Chloe and I arrived at tactical room 6 to see that mum, dad and Talon were already there with 12 year old Sienna in tow. She would stay with Connor and Fury at the base until we got back.

"We're just waiting for Natasha," said Connor.

"What about Nick, I mean, Director Fury?" I asked.

"He's preoccupied right now," replied Connor. "He'll be here soon."

At that moment Clint knocked on the door and came in with Natasha.

"I wanted to wish you all luck on your mission. I knew Tayla and I know that this mission is very important to all of you. I hope you get her back," Clint announced and, for a moment, I thought I caught a glimpse of something in his eyes; something that those unfamiliar with the feeling would most likely misread: a look of grief and longing, unknown to others, hidden for many years. Did Clint have a crush on Tayla? I was too young when Tayla was alive to have noticed then but now I wondered, were they ever involved?

He left the room.

"Now that everyone's here, let's begin," announced Connor. He had really settled in here at S.H.I.E.L.D. I doubted he would fail to become Head of the Tech department very soon. After his official S.H.I.E.L.D. training of course.

"First of all, you're all wearing casual clothing, that's good, but you know the drill. You need to leave personal artifacts - wedding rings, jewelry, etc - here, in your respective lockers and rooms to protect your cover," Connor continued. He really was taking charge. I had always seen him as quite a passive guy who was only ever confident in front of a screen.

"You all have your cabin suitcases ready, I see. Anaiya and Chloe, you two have packed together, right?" We nodded. "Good, then Anaiya, you will take this case," he held up a dark grey cabin case. "It has in it, all of the anti-sensor suits, and a spare, incase of any issues."

"Also - OH MY GOD!" we all stared at him.

"What?" Talon asked.

"I just realised, Anaiya, your ring!" he looked at Chloe, "did you...?"

There was a round of hugs and congratulations and lemme-see-the-rings, even from Talon. Soon after, we all left to put our things away and collect our passports. We were using aliases incase Hydra had access to our system and were watching the airports.

I left Chloe in my room and went to the bathroom. Slowly, I took off the black bracelet on my wrist. It seemed to have almost bonded with my skin so was difficult to remove. Once it was off, I could see a distinct colour difference in the skin. I ran water over the scar. It felt strange, cooler than it should. And I stared at it. I hadn't seen it in over 9 years, never truly seen it. My parents told me to wear the bracelet before it had even fully healed. I had never seen the scar. The memory of the day suddenly came rushing back to me, as if someone was flipping the pages of a book in my face. I swallowed and took a deep breath. Keep it together Anaiya, you're almost there.

I left the bathroom.