Hawkgirl #2 (Sequel to Arrow)

XVIII

Nick,after being busy with Steve for a while,was now guiding her through other corridors on higher levels of the building.Literally this whole thing was huge,like an actual maze.

And the man beside her seemed to know it inside out.Good,because alone she would be staring at the ceiling with no idea where to go."Most agents work here,office jobs.Levels lower than six usually are found here.There are a lot of exceptions though.Many agents train in the underground arena of this building or are sent to other S.H.I.E.L.D. HQs.The engineer part is also at the lower levels."he explained to her as they made their way slowly to another big room.

"How many floors has this thing?"
Valerie asked,her voice once more muffled from her half face and hood on.

"Too many to count,too many to care."Nick snorted lightly."But you can try to count.It will take a while."

Valerie smiled lightly under her mask as her steps were synchronized with the man dressed in black beside her.There were still many questions she needed answered but as she reminded herself,even walls had ears."Director,why does the Head of S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to see me?"she asked quietly hopeful that he could hear her.

"I told you,he wants to clear your name."Nick turned to her,his one eye having a hard stare while his mouth had turned into a kind of forced smile.This meant she had to not use words anymore.Then she did the thing she knew best.She used sign language.Not a lot of people knew it.

'Stark had said my file was empty,how is he going to clear my name if there's nothing there?'she motioned his way.He appeared relieved for a few seconds knowing that he would be able to communicate with her more easily like this.

'Something's fishy here,kid.Keep a low profile.'Nick motioned back to her before motioning for her to follow him inside an office.A well dressed woman in a tux looked at them up and down before questioning Nick of their whereabouts.

She didn't pay attention to the rest of their conversation as she looked straight at the glass wall in front of her,that was separating the room in two.A man dressed in a gray three piece suit was moving around talking to four people,or so it looked like it.The woman from before walked up to him,stopping the conversation all around the group of people.

"They are holograms.Face-to-face meetings are much more uncommon these days."Nick said beside her as he put his hands in his pockets."That or they are bored out of their bloody minds to actually come here."he scoffed lightly.So S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't absolutely perfect,interesting.

The man behind the glass wall followed the woman and the holograms,as Nick had explained disappeared,leaving an empty room behind.

"I work forty floors away and it takes a hijacking for you to visit?"the man asked as he entered the office.The well dressed woman exiting the room as well leaving the three alone.

"Well,a nuclear war would do it too."Nick replied as he shook hands with the man.From up close she could notice the saginess of his old face,while the mop of blonde hair falling on his kinda cold eyes."Busy in there?"he nodded his head to the glass door.

"Nothing some earmarks can't fix."the blonde man answered as he placed his hands in his pants pockets.Nick laughed faintly,she had almost missed it.

"I'm,uh...here to ask a favor."he sounded hesitant for a few seconds."I want you to call for a vote.Project Insight has to be delayed."Valerie's eyebrows furrowed slightly,what was Project Insight?

"Nick,that's not a favor,that's a subcommittee hearing.A long one."the man in front of him raised his eyebrows slightly.

"It could be nothing,probably is nothing."Nick appeared hesitant once more.Apparently asking for help from this man was difficult.A question formed on her head,one that she didn't felt the need to ask before.Was this the Head of S.H.I.E.L.D.?Her brain was working very slow today."I just need time to make sure it's nothing."