Nomad | Hawkeye FF ✓

A ROOKIE IN A SEA OF AGENTS (𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒏𝒅)

    THE following weeks were tiring and in all honesty, boring. Sophie was hit with test, after test, after test at SHIELD. First, she had to attend a week of grueling freshman orientation, and would so rather be at school instead of having to listen to a monotoned agent, who dragged her around the building with a group of other newbies. Freshman orientation began the week before school started, and had to be taken before the actual training. Luckily, today was the last day of her orientation.

     She felt sluggish when they entered the Hall of Fame room, and wished she wouldn't have stayed up reading till midnight. Her eyes wandered and surveyed her surroundings, even though she had been in this part of the building before, in fact, it was one of the first places she saw, when she arrived at the Triskelion for the first time. A sort of nostalgic tranquility flowed through her veins. An abrupt smile slightly weaved its way to her face. 

     In that moment, she longed to have Clint at her side; missed their talks. She would give anything to see the faces of the Avengers during her tests, and interviews that were protocol to join the organization.

     Fury seemed to have kept them all wrapped up in work these days. Once in a while, lifting her spirits, she would see the end of Thor's red cape passing a room or hallway, the shimmering of Steve's shield around a corner, the mop of brown curls of Banner in a white lab coat inside a high tech environment, Tony's shady sunglasses glancing around a place as he spoke with someone, and the swish of Natasha's fiery red hair.

     She was sick of seeing her friends from afar, but Fury wanted to push Sophie, and the weeks ahead showed signs of no easy tasks.

     Luckily for her, she had someone on the inside to help her; give her little tips and tricks. A small part of her felt guilty that she received information by way of Clint, when the others had no help whatsoever, but if she were being honest—which most of the time she was, she didn't want their weekly routine of training to stop.

     Not only did their training involve combat, but likewise, the knowledge part was entwined into their sessions. A memory flickered back to her mind of their training last night. Breathless, sweaty, and tired, she blocked all his incoming punches except for one, and still managed to ask him questions. Over the past two weeks of their training, Clint had gone over the many things new recruits go through, when joining SHIELD.

     He started with the face-to-face interrogation interview in a windowless room, being hooked up to a polygraph machine. He eased the worry that enveloped her stomach, when he gave some rough questions they'd be asking her, and to her relief, they weren't as hard or scary as she thought. Some of the questions were simple ones, such as: 

    Why do you want to work for SHIELD?

    Tell me about the expectations that will be asked of you by working at SHIELD?

    Share an example from your recent professional or educational experience, where you successfully navigated an ambiguous situation.

     That sample question had Sophie smirk, and immediately think about her first encounter with the Avengers. 

     Later that same night, as Clint wrapped up their training, and stuffed his jacket in his gym bag, she couldn't stop thinking how the questions were far too simple, and straightforward for one of the most elite organizations in the world. She had asked him why that is as they packed up, and he told her to consider the difference between SHIELD, and other employers, on how much value they put on the answers—not on the questions being brilliant, or different.

     She was in deep thought then afterwards. That night, when she came home from their lesson, the phone rang and it was for her. She had her very first interview over the phone, and more information regarding her next test was given. She'd meet with an agent in a week for the windowless interview Clint had mentioned, but first they wanted to do a physical examination, one that showed her abilities, speed, stamina, strength, and fighting skills. If she were to pass the physical, she would move onto an intelligence test, where SHIELD observed how a person coped with certain situations, and dealt with strategies.