Cobra

Tony Stark plastered a frown across his face. He tapped his fingers on the glass-like surface of his desk impatiently as he leaned back in his chair. His eyes glared up at the tall redheaded woman standing in his spacious office.

"Pepper-" He started.

"No Tony." She interrupted, rolling her eyes at her boss. "We're hiring her. You can't run around and do whatever you want without any thought to your public image."

"I don't need a babysitter." Tony huffed childishly.

"I, and the entire board of directors, disagree." Pepper frowned.

"Do I get anything out of this- if I even agree to it?" Tony crossed his arms across the arc-reactor laying in chest.

"You don't need to agree, Tony. You gave me full hiring power- it's already a done deal; she's going to be here later today." Pepper crossed her arms defiantly.

"But Pepperrrr," Tony whined. "I'm a big boy now, I can take care of myself."

"We both know that isn't true, Tony. You wouldn't function without me." She smiled. "Come on, Bossman. Be a good sport and you'll see how good it can be."

"Fine." Tony grumbled. "Is she at least hot?"

Pepper rolled her eyes and turned to walk away her heels clicking as she went. She exited her boss' office and closed the heavy door behind her. She picked up the file laying on her desk and began to thumb through it. Unlike her boss, Pepper liked to have paper files laying around. She liked the feeling of paper between her fingers more so than she liked the feeling of a touchscreen, like Tony. She glanced down at the name on the paper in her hand, Nicole Annabel Lewis. Pepper had to admit it, the girl had an impressive resumé. Pepper was never happy with adding more people to be around her boss. Tony had taken her in and given her a job with numerous benefits- she'd never let him down by hiring someone that could hurt him. After Natalie Rushman from the legal department had turned out to really be Natasha Romanoff of SHIELD- Pepper was even less willing to hire someone new. But this girl had no flaws in her record. Pepper had run every kind of background check or search imaginable and nothing concerning had ever popped up. She rifled through the various papers in the file until she stumbled upon a picture of the girl. She had the darkest hair imaginable. Pepper had even found out that it was completely natural too… she may or may not have run test for drugs and such on a hair supposedly taken from the desk where she had her interview with legal. But Pepper would do anything to protect her long-term boss. He thought that he was invincible- but after countless brushes with death, Pepper was less than certain.

"Ohh Pepper!" Tony's voice called from her speaker phone.

"Yes Tony?" She said as she pressed down the button to patch her through into Tony's office.

"I'm going to take off." Tony said. "… Literally."

"Flying home are we?" Pepper chuckled lightly. "You can't just drive like a normal billionaire?"

"I'm not exactly normal, buddy." Pepper could almost hear the little smirk in her boss' voice when he chuckled.

"Trust me- I know, buddy." Pepper agreed. "Just make sure to be back here in a few hours to meet and brief with the newbie."

"Nah." Tony sighed. Pepper heard the unique soft clanging of the Iron Man suit conforming itself to Tony's body from the other room.

"Tony please," Pepper nagged.

"Just tell the chick to come by the house, I'll make her right as home." Tony chuckled.

"If I send her to your house- please try your utmost to not sleep with her." Pepper requested. "She's theoretically a good kid, Tony. Don't rob her of her virtue just yet."

"I shan't make promises!" Tony's voice rang out from the speaker in a singsongy tone. Pepper smiled at her boss's antics as she heard the suit's thrusters kick to life loudly.

"Please make sure to actually use the balcony, Tony. We don't need to replace another window." Pepper warned.

"Whoopsie." Tony giggled like a schoolgirl as Pepper heard the sound of the thick paned glass breaking.

"Those windows are shatterproof and bulletproof, they're expensive." Pepper groaned into the phone receiver.

"Cost is no issue, dearie." Tony's voice sang before the call cut out.

"Oh course, Tony." Pepper mumbled into the empty room and smiled softly. "You jackass."

- - - - -

Nikkita stood in front of the large mirror in the woman's bathroom in the lobby of Stark Industries and glared at her reflection.

"Nicole Annabel Lewis." Nikkita mumbled to herself. "I'm Nicole Annabel Lewis."

The previous night Nikkita had stayed in a room at SHIELD headquarters and repeated her new name until her voice was hoarse and her eyes tired from lack of sleep. Usually she was pretty good at developing her new persona and identity, but it was never easy to drill a new name into your mind. People have the same names from birth (or later in certain cases, but that's beside the point). It's become instinctual for you to respond to your name when called, to look up in a crowded hall because you thought someone may have said your name. Learning a new name is difficult- forgetting an old one can be easier. Even after months of being known as Corinne Havens, that name was out of Nikkita's mind in a matter of minutes. After assuming a new identity, sometimes reality can slip away. You really are a drug dealer or a conspirator, then after a dose of reality you realize that you are simply undercover- not at all the person you pretend to be. For Nikkita- learning was the hardest part. For some agents- the breaks from reality can drive them insane. But not Nikkita- she was blessed with a mind that could process multiple realities. Director Fury seemed to always choose her for long-term high stakes recognizance missions because all of the realities in Nikkita's head could coexist at the same time.

Fury had been worried about Nikkita multiple times and had sent her to see a psychologist that works with SHIELD. Granted, the psychologist hadn't bestowed Nikkita or her superiors with anything that they didn't already know. She was withdrawn, felt little-to-no emotions; especially regarding other people's emotions and mindsets. She could read people's faces and body language like a book- but that didn't mean she felt any sympathy or empathy for them.

But Nikkita couldn't really care less. If she ever felt guilt about the people she's betrayed or the friend's she's crossed while undercover- she'd just blame her upbringing. She was trained to not feel fear, to not feel guilt. Her parents were long dead. They died in a house fire when she was only an infant and thus had little-to-no recollection of them or what life may have been like when they were alive. Often times she would get small flashes of her parents in her dreams but other than that all she had were a few pictures. After their death she was taken in by a nice man who raised her- until they came for her and her sister. They forced her skills to develop; they trained her mercilessly. They broke her bones, cut her flesh, wore her mind down; but she never broke. Her "superiors" were impressed with her to the point where they made her break in new "recruits". Because of her impressive skill- they worked her even harder than the others. When her training was officially complete, she was to be set loose on the world to work in the name of the organization. But as soon as the metaphorical shackles were released- Nikkita ran. They thought she had been whipped into shape enough to have trusted them blindly- but she was anything but loyal to the organization. She was sent on a mission, but she fled to America. The organization told other governments that she was a mercenary wanted for murder- SHIELD somehow saw through it and recruited Nikkita to fight injustice, instead of being the cause.

Nikkita grimaced at the memories of her past- it wasn't something she embraced talking about, even to people as close as Clint or Coulson. No one in the universe knew the details of Nikkita's previous life that is- except for Nikkita herself. Clint tended to poke and pry until she got fed up enough with him to volunteer for some assassination or something just to get away from him for a while; but even Nikkita couldn't stay away from that doe-eyed heart-warming archer. Despite her constant annoyance with the man- he was her friend, or at least as close as anyone has ever gotten to being a "friend" to Nikkita; suffice to say that she didn't let a ton of people get close to her.

She tilted her head to the left and then again to the right, watching her reflection do the same. The motion earned an angry-sounding crack from between her vertebrae and she sighed.

"Well, Nicole Annabel Lewis" She muttered to herself with a small smile. "This will be a fun one."