Across the Universe

“Whoa! Is that from last night?” Scarlett heard Jinx before she saw her when she turned the corner. The dark haired woman stepped out from behind her desk and rushed to the taller agent with worry in her eyes, sweeping her fringed bangs out of her face. There was something more than worry beneath her cryptic multicolored gaze and that was curiosity. If Scarlett had to take a guess she’d say that Agent Bennett was the type of woman who followed the tabloids a little too closely seeking adventure she didn’t get in her personal life. That, however, was just a guess from the very limited amount of time the two had spent together. Between the romance novels and the gossip rag she’d witnessed the other day, she was fairly confident in her assumption.

“So, everyone knows about that then I presume?” Stopping before she reached the desk, Scarlett shoved her hands into her pants pockets. Her jacket was draped over her shoulder but only because the wound was throbbing underneath the constriction of it. Once she got her mission and headed into the field she’d put it back on to hide it. Unfortunately gauze stuck out like a sore thumb outside of her tank top. Short of going topless for the day it was the only option she had and she assumed that would be bad for business.

“Not everyone, I don’t think. I saw it on the news! No one’s said anything about it to me well, except for Mickey.” Jinx pursed her lips but then smiled in remembrance of the earlier conversation with her friend.

“What news were you two watching? What not to do on a date? An expose on ambushes?” Scarlett rolled her eyes and walked past Jinx when the woman made an attempt to take a closer look at the wound. “What’s so urgent it couldn’t wait? You obviously know what happened last night so it must be important to call me in.”

“No! It was a magazine actually. That’s not important though. I mean… that looks really nasty. If you want I could perform a good luck ritual to help with healing? I’ve got these candles here at my desk.” Snapping her fingers, Jinx’s eyes were suddenly alight with excitement. “Oh! Incense! Plus these little charms…”

“If you dragged me down here just to throw good luck charms at me I’m going to be so mad.”

“What? No! Oh, I’m sorry. I get carried away sometimes…” Jinx hurried around the desk and offered a smile before turning more serious. “We’ve got a mission for you and your partner. We sent you a letter to let you know you were assigned one but never heard back from you.”

“That was yesterday. I got a letter yesterday.” Scarlett implied the impossibility of a response via postal service in less than twenty four hours.

“Was it? It almost feels like a week passed since then.” Jinx contemplated. When Scarlett realized she wasn’t coming back on topic she tapped her fingers purposely against the desk. Scarlett liked Jinx, she really did, but her head wasn’t in the game today. Every part of her was objecting to being at S.H.I.E.L.D. Ice cream was calling her name.

Tony was acting strange and it was constantly interrupting her thoughts. Stranger than usual of course, he was always a bit odd but that was part of what drew her to him in the first place. He was unpredictable, much like she was, but that same fact was also what worried her. Usually when she was going out somewhere he would drive her crazy to try and get her to stay home or distract her from her duties. Today he’d practically shoved her out the door! His eyes had gone cold when she thought they’d made progress.

Tony was going through some kind of crisis and he didn’t want her help with it. She had a feeling that was just how Tony operated and mostly because that was how she operated. They were both problem solvers. Sometimes it was not a great thing that they had so much in common. Whatever, Tony was a big boy and could solve his own problems. Eventually Scarlett was going to have to realize that when he needed help, Tony would ask for it. Even if she felt the need to take care of him and do what she could to comfort him she couldn’t help someone who didn’t want it.

Right now, working for S.H.I.E.L.D. would be an excellent distraction. Or at least that’s what she had hoped. So far it wasn’t going so well. Damn her rebellious thoughts.

“Can we get on with this? No offense, Jinx, but it hasn’t been an easy morning and the sooner we can get to work, the better.”

“Yes! Sorry, it’s been kind of a crazy morning here too. First things first! Your new partner.”

“Oh, I’ve been wondering about this.” Scarlett actually hadn’t thought about it at all. She was nervous about having a partner to work with so she’d ignored that it was inevitable. Teaming up had never gone well in the past even when she’d had tagalongs. Natasha had always been an excellent person to work with because she operated in a very similar manner even if they had different strengths and weaknesses. Tony had even been a decent partner in impromptu situations. She wasn’t sure how well they would actually work together just because his lack of focus always seemed to become an issue when they were trying to accomplish even the simplest of tasks.

Working with someone new seemed a daunting task. She was doing everything in her power not to build up any preconceived notions of what it would be like. Compromise wasn’t exactly part of Scarlett’s repertoire and while she’d gotten better at it thanks to a life with a very picky and privileged boyfriend, she wasn’t sure how good she’d be at it on the field in her element. Scarlett liked being in control.

“You’ve met before, actually.”

“Really? I don’t know many people here. I was told Clint and Natasha were both off limits for me, for some reason or another.” Scarlett was well aware that reason had to do with Tony. She hadn’t argued with him about it because she didn’t see the point. If it really became a problem then she would argue about it then. They had more than enough to argue about without bringing that into the mix.

“Well, they are busy! They are also not your partners.” Jinx tapped away at her screen but then stood at attention when she heard footsteps. “Speak of the devil. Though not so much the devil, he’s probably as far from that…”

“I get it, not taken literally. Turn of phrase.” Scarlett rolled her eyes and waved Jinx away. Sure enough when Scarlett turned toward the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway she saw Steve Rogers approaching but he appeared far different than their last meeting. It took every bit of her willpower not to laugh at his get up. He was Captain America after all. She’d heard stories about him in the past and had even seen pictures but seeing him in his star spangled outfit in person was somehow much more amusing.

While it was far more subdued in the patriotic color palette than Tony had described it in the past, it still looked like the American flag had thrown up on Steve Rogers. She made a mental note to tease him about it later. The fears she’d had of whether or not she’d work well with her partner were suddenly alleviated. They’d worked together fabulously when they’d been thrust into an impromptu team in the building. S.H.I.E.L.D. had probably noted the same and had put them together for that exact reason.

“You’re my partner? Well, aren’t I lucky.” Scarlett hoped her smile wouldn’t betray her usually stoic demeanor. She wasn’t the type to wear her emotions on her face, she never had been. Usually she preferred to appear mysterious and dangerous if she could help it. Ever since she’d begun dating Tony that had been a much harder feat to accomplish. Emotional attachments sure came with some strange side effects. Excited wasn’t the word she’d use for her new partner, it was more that she was relieved.

“S.H.I.E.L.D. seems to think we’d make a pretty good team.” Steve sounded as proper as he ever did but the look he was giving Scarlett didn’t give her good vibes at all. “I’m not sure why.” With that Scarlett mentally deflated. Hadn’t she gotten along with Steve? Of course there had been a complete change in his attitude when Tony had shown up to interrupt their conversation when they’d finally gotten to exchange names but now Tony was nowhere to be seen. The only thing Scarlett could think of was that Steve had made some assumptions about her due to the nature of her relationship with Tony. What on earth could Tony have said about her that would make Steve behave the way he was? Either that or Steve was having a long day as well. She’d give him the benefit of a doubt.

“No ideas, hmm? Not a single one?” Scarlett cocked a curious eyebrow. Even Jinx seemed unnerved by the conversation. Then again, something about Jinx’s dual colored eyes made her always appear unnerved. “I suppose it couldn’t have anything to do with the way we handled that collapsing building the other day. That’s just my first guess.”

“People react the way they need to in emergency situations. It certainly doesn’t constitute their true nature.” Steve offered a cordial smile but Scarlett could practically feel the dread dripping off of him. He was too nice to tell her that he didn’t want to be partnered up with her.

“Okay, what is this? We’re going to have to work together so…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Miss Damien.” Steve wasn’t very good at lying. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Scarlett. The situation was far more complex than that. When they’d been working together in the building to save those children he had gotten a very distinct impression of her! Then he’d found out who she was and recalled the stories he’d heard from Tony Stark despite futile attempts not to listen in. Somehow he’d wound up feeling deceived about what kind of person she was.

“Sure, okay. I’m getting the cold shoulder from Captain America and he has no idea why. This sounds completely normal.” Scarlett scoffed and looked to Jinx who seemed just as flustered by the exchange as she was. While Scarlett had only met Steve the other day she knew enough about his reputation to realize that this was very much out of character for him. “Give it to me straight, Cap. I’m a big girl.” She saw Steve visibly wince at the nickname. That was what Tony called him. “What did I do? Did you read my file? Coulson should put a lockdown on that thing. It’s not going to make me any friends.” She turned her attention back to Jinx who was peering over the top of her desk with wide eyes, trying not to obviously spy on the conversation.

“Nothing like that. And I’m not being short.” Immediately Steve betrayed his words and turned his gaze away from Scarlett’s. He really was a terrible liar, Scarlett could already tell. From what she knew he wasn’t good with women to begin with and now here he was trying to brush her off. What on earth had she done? Maybe she should crawl back into bed. Was this all some bad dream of one annoyance after another? No, this was far too benign an instance to be one of her nightmares. It was Saturday. Why the hell did it feel like a Monday?

“Yeah, sure you aren’t.” Scarlett sneered and then took a step closer putting on her best sympathetic smile. “I thought you’d be looking forward to working with me. We got along really well the other day. I was glad to see you were my partner.”

“We did.” Steve nodded, but still didn’t say what was clearly on the tip of his tongue. How was he supposed to tell her that he’d gotten the wrong impression of her? After Coulson had told him he’d be partnered up with her he’d tried to get out of it. But as bad as he was at lying to her he was even worse at lying to Coulson. Phil Coulson was one of Captain America’s biggest fans and for some reason Steve couldn’t let him down by lying. It wasn’t in his nature! But it wasn’t in his nature to be nasty to women either. Instead he’d decided to treat this as a military operation and act like Scarlett was one of his soldiers. “I thought you were a civilian. This is all business, Miss Damien.”

“So if you had known who I was then it would’ve been different? Why do I doubt that? Is this because of Tony? I know you two don’t get along. You made that perfectly clear the other day.” Scarlett wasn’t about to let it go the way Steve was hoping she would. Conflict was not something she shied away from. She wasn’t going to be partnered up with someone who was going to have a stick up their ass the entire time. And she most certainly wasn’t going to be treated like a soldier who was only there to take orders. Scarlett barely wanted to work on a team as it was. Maybe working with S.H.I.E.L.D. had been a big mistake after all. Tony was likely going to ‘I told you so’ her to death when she got home. That was if he was even there when she got home. With the mood he was in, Scarlett had absolutely no idea what she’d find. What was it, national man PMS day?

“I wasn’t aware of your affiliation with Mr. Stark until…”

“Oh my god, it is because of Tony!” Scarlett laughed before Steve could even finish his thought. He was giving her the run around. If it hadn’t been Tony then he wouldn’t have addressed the matter first.

“That’s not what I was going to say.”

“It was what you were going to say. You were perfectly friendly until you saw who I was dating.”

“Can you blame me?” Exasperated Steve held out his hands but then turned his gaze away in frustration. “That man’s ego is… as big as that darn eyesore of a tower in the middle of the city.”

“Oh, grow up.” With a roll of her eyes Scarlett turned away. She was rolling her eyes so much today she was sure she was going to get dizzy. If Steve wanted to act like a baby when it came to her relationship then she was going to have to prove herself all over again. Working for S.H.I.E.L.D. was beginning to feel a bit high school to her. Obviously she wasn’t going to get anywhere with Steve so she’d go over his head. Before she could speak to Jinx about why she was called there in the first place and even before Steve could object to being spoken to like a child by a practical stranger a voice from down the hall interrupted them both.

“Miss Damien! You got here quickly, considering.” Phil Coulson was followed by Natasha, Clint, and Mickey who was bringing up the rear holding a pile of paperwork. She seemed flustered and nearly bumped into Steve who was still staring at Scarlett like a little boy who had just had his favorite toy taken away from him.

“You said it was urgent.” Scarlett directed her attention to the group. Natasha was giving her a look as though she wanted to ask her a thousand questions about what had happened the night before but didn’t actually do so. Clint on the other hand could sense the tension between Steve and Scarlett and was more curious about that. The assassins exchanged glances then both folded their arms across their chest as if to wait for an explanation.

“It is. Where’s Stark?” Coulson peered behind her, ignoring the behavior of his agents.

“Well he’s not behind me, if that’s what you’re hoping.” Scarlett offered a smile but no one seemed to think she was very funny. Except for Jinx, Jinx definitely hid behind her desk to stifle a chuckle. “I left him at home. Agent Bennett asked me to come in, not Tony. We’re not partnered so why would I assume we should both be here?” It was becoming increasingly difficult to continue being patient with her S.H.I.E.L.D. gig and technically it was her first day! This whole afternoon needed to be scrapped and started over on a higher note. If they were going to assume that she was coming in with Tony all the time then why the hell did she need a partner? It seemed as though Tony was her unofficial partner by default.

“I contacted Miss Potts to ask him to come in and I assumed you two would travel together.” Phil smiled, sensing the underlying tone of her words. Scarlett shrugged with one shoulder and then leaned against Jinx’s desk.

“I don’t know what to tell you. He didn’t seem eager to follow me. Why do you need us both? Is someone going to tell me what’s going on?”

“Agent Pierce?” Coulson addressed her without turning to face her. She stepped forward, still juggling the piles of paper in her arms.

“That gamma spike we located the other day during the incident across the street was broken down and studied by the best scientists we have. It’s a very specific arc in the spectrum of gamma but there was something different about it than the kind we detect on a normal basis which is why it jumped off the charts in the first place.”

“And what is so different about it?” Scarlett guessed the rest of the team that had been sent up was already briefed on the situation but it seemed to be news to Steve too. At least she wasn’t the only one standing in the dark.

“That’s the thing. It’s an unknown detection. Our signals are picking it up but we have no idea what it is. From what we can tell it’s not anything we’ve picked up before. We’ve called in some help to discover the source. Since it’s such a unique signal there’s a good chance we can detect it in its earliest phases to prevent such an event from happening again without warning.”

“How do we stop something we don’t understand? And undiscovered form of radiation seems unlikely.” Scarlett seemed skeptical and Steve nodded to agree. She knew he wasn’t exactly the most technological or scientific member of S.H.I.E.L.D. but even he could see that they were on the losing end of this discussion.

“There was another similar gamma spike detected right before we called you. This time it was a suburb in northern Pennsylvania. We have the readings analyzed and brought a specialist in to take a look at it but we were hoping Tony would interpret the data for us. As obnoxious as he is with his know-it-all attitude sometimes he somehow always manages to find something we overlook.” Coulson chimed in. Scarlett could practically see the chip on Steve’s shoulder worsen. Scarlett was still somehow disappointed that the two hadn’t become natural friends. It was that kind of day. Perhaps tomorrow would be better.

“You can call him again if you want. He hasn’t responded to my texts so I’m guessing he’s not very attentive right now. When he doesn’t want to be found he won’t be.” Scarlett pulled her jacket on over her shoulders when she caught Jinx’s gaze on her wound again. Out of sight, out of mind. Hopefully everyone would forget about it quickly. Scarlett was perfectly functional. “What am I doing here, then? I’m not Tony’s babysitter.”

“We’re sending you and Steve out via chopper to the coordinates in Pennsylvania. Once there you can investigate the spike on the ground and see if anything’s amiss.” Coulson nodded resolutely but with a serious smile. He had this way of delivering bad news with a positive spin on it. “We won’t waste too much more of your time.”

“No offense but this seems like a bad plan to me. You don’t know what we’re looking for but you’re sending us out to look for it anyway?” Steve interrupted. Scarlett pointed to him and with wide eyes at that. She more than agreed with him on the matter. “This sounds like more of a scouting mission.”

“And a waste of talent.” Natasha chimed in from behind Coulson who gave her a dirty look though the spy paid it no mind.

“We know what we’re looking for.” Another male voice chimed in, sounding out of breath. He joined the group and leaned against Jinx’s desk next to Scarlett, leaning over to catch his breath. “Sorry, I ran from across the building. I hoped I could catch you before you sent out your team.” Once he caught his breath the newcomer stood up straight and ran his fingers through his disheveled dark hair. He held out a hand to Steve who shook it firmly but seemed as lost as Scarlett was. “Captain America?” He was of average height but standing next to Steve he seemed dwarfed.

“How did you know? Was it the whole red, white, and blue thing that gave him away?” Scarlett spoke sarcastically and could practically feel Steve becoming increasingly annoyed. Jinx again giggled from behind the desk.

“What do you need, doctor?” Coulson interrupted once more before the sas-feset could continue any further.

“Here,” the doctor handed Scarlett a small device about the size of a cell phone. “If you flip this here on the side…”

“Super fancy Geiger counter.” Scarlett finished, looking impressed. The stranger’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“Yes, but only for Gamma and the unknown signal. I’ve broken down the data from the last spike and while it’s experimental it should lead you to the source. When you’re near that same radiation it’ll alert you and send a signal back to S.H.I.E.L.D. That way you won’t be flying completely blind.” He pointed to the screen and ran another nervous hand through his hair that was just long enough to fall annoyingly in his face. “Other than that we need to know what you see in the area the spike is detected. Unfortunately during prior incidents there was nothing left to investigate. Whether an object or a person is causing these spikes we need to understand how they’re doing it in order to get it under control.” There was something like sympathy in the newcomer’s eyes. Scarlett took a look at the device in her hands and fiddled with a few of the buttons.

It was rudimentary but got the job done, something obviously built on the fly. Somehow it reminded her of work that Tony had done in a pinch and the Tesla glove she had already equipped on her way over. Originally the Tesla glove had been something she’d built to add an extra defense for herself against MedCo but it had since evolved. The power generated by the glove, loosely inspired by Tesla himself, was enough to fire several different types of charges. Since its inception she’d added several attachments and developments to it. Currently it was a rather bulky weapon to carry with her but it was still being tested and streamlined.

“So this is a scouting mission.” Steve overlooked the technical jargon and brought it down to its bare bones.

“Yeah.” Scarlett nodded her head. “Which should make it easy enough.” She wouldn’t argue, not with her shoulder in the state it was in.

“After what happened last week across the street we can’t take any risks. We need to get to the bottom of this before anything worse happens.”

“Or before lives are lost.” Mickey piped in from behind her pile of papers.

“It was awfully convenient that it happened across the street from superhero central.” Scarlett sighed, pocketing the machine that had been handed to her by the stranger. “Almost like someone wanted to warn you. Or threaten you, depending on how you look at it.” The group stayed silent and stared at her. She looked around her, then down at herself in confusion. “What? What did I say? Is my fly down?”

“What makes you think it was a warning?” Apparently the powers that be hadn’t considered that it wasn’t mere coincidence because understanding seemed to dawn on Phil Coulson at once.

“Like I said, convenience. Come on, do you really think there’s some big super villain out there who doesn’t know S.H.I.E.L.D. is set up by the harbor? Honestly, sometimes you super organizations forget the simplest things.”

“She’s right. It’s felt wrong since it happened. Someone was trying to get our attention showing up across the street.” It had crossed Natasha’s thoughts several times but she hadn’t thought it was her place to interject. On top of that she’d been busy since the incident and her mind was in other places on other things.

“And you’re both waiting until now to bring that up?” Coulson pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I’ve been offsite until this morning.” Natasha shrugged.

“Does it look like I’ve been thinking about that afternoon all that hard?” Scarlett rolled her eyes but then turned her attention to her wayward partner who was unusually quiet. “We should head out. I’ve obviously given you some food for thought but Captain Rogers here looks anxious.” Steve barely realized he was being included in the conversation before nodding his head to agree that they should go.

“Yes, yes, we’ll discuss it when you get back. There’s a chopper waiting on the roof to bring you to your location. You’ll be dropped off and either one of you can call for backup or summon the chopper back with these.” Coulson nodded to Clint who handed Scarlett an earpiece then did the same for Steve. Both put the small electronic device in their ears nearly in unison. Scarlett immediately heard a buzz of confirmation and then her name being listed. But there was something more in her ear and she turned to find that Jinx was whispering their personal information to them from behind the desk. Upon realizing she was being watched she gave a curt wave to Scarlett then turned back to her computer. “Any questions?” Opening her mouth to speak, Scarlett stopped when Natasha pulled two handguns from her holsters and handed them to her.

“Nope. I think I’m good.” Scarlett smiled successfully before checking the weapons for ammunition. On Jinx’s desk were several more clips of ammunition for Scarlett to take and while she hoped there would be no need for them, she took them and hide them within a latch on her belt anyway. Steve lifted his round iconic red, white, and blue shield and nodded his head. From what Scarlett understood that shield was an impressive one. If Steve would ever stop giving her the brush off she’d ask to take a look at it.

“Are you alright?” Coulson noticed Steve’s wayward demeanor and took him to the side to speak to him in private.

“Ready for your first mission?” Natasha wasn’t smiling and once again had her arms folded over her chest.

“This is child’s play Tasha.” With a smile Scarlett shrugged her good shoulder. “If you mean am I ready to run a mission without breaking the law then yes, I am a little nervous about that. If you mean am I okay after what happened last night, I swear you are turning soft.” Scarlett pointed accusingly toward the redhead.

“The second one.” Natasha nodded after weighing her options.

“I’m fine.” Scarlett shoved Natasha away and the redhead stumbled but corrected herself with a smile before heading down the hall where Clint followed behind shortly after waving to Scarlett. Steve was still chatting away with Coulson, seemingly disagreeing about something or another because Coulson was red in the face.

“Miss Damien? I hate to take up anymore of your time.” The stranger, who Scarlett had forgotten entirely, stepped in her line of sight distracting her from her attempts to read Steve’s lips.

“What can I do for you?” Partially annoyed and partially grateful for the distraction, Scarlett tried to recall where she’d seen this man before. His face was familiar and he looked beyond his years. She could tell that he was around her age, in his late thirties, but he somehow seemed older.

“I’m Dr. Bruce Banner and I never got to introduce myself what with the whole Avengers fun squad set up there.” He held out a hand for her to shake. Scarlett knew the name immediately and the story that went with it. “I’m a fan of your work, Miss Damien. I’d heard of you years ago and there had been promise in your career after work you did in Senegal with mirror imaging. But the enormity of scientific developments and discoveries that have been published under your name in the last two months alone are absolutely astounding.”

Flabbergasted, Scarlett simply politely shook his hand and then furrowed her brow suspiciously. He’d died in a lab accident years ago, or at least that’s what the official reports had claimed. Hadn’t she just discussed him the other day with Tony when they’d first realized that the radiation had been Gamma? He’d been the first and foremost in his field at the time of the incident and while his body had never been recovered he had been presumed dead. They’d gone over the file together. He should’ve been dead.

There was no logical way that the man in front of her was Bruce Banner. Then again, in the last year she’d seen weirder things. A man she’d shot in the head had been brought back from the brink of death as a monster and had come after her. Bruce Banner, however, didn’t seem much like a monster. Standing before her was the foremost scientist in radiation study and he was saying what a fan he was of her work! Also he was supposed to be dead! Scarlett wasn’t sure which to be more astounded by. It was turning out to be a really, really weird day.

“I think I’m flattered. Sorry, but I read you were no longer with us.” Scarlett couldn’t avoid bringing it up. It wasn’t everyday she met a dead man. Twice in one year, Scarlett was on a roll.

“That’s a very common misconception.”

“I’m pretty sure there was a funeral and some kind of memorial for you…” Squinting she tried to recall what she’d read in the paper years ago when it had first happened. When she’d looked it up with Tony she’d brushed off most of what they’d discovered. After all, what use was a dead guy anyway? Short of finding a super hero who could contact the dead there wasn’t much they could do about it. Scarlett was going to have to change her opinion on dead people. “Wait…”

“No, no it’s a very long story which I will be happy to explain to you.” Bruce looked over his shoulder to make sure Steve was still preoccupied so he wouldn’t hold Scarlett up if she needed to leave. “However, I know you have to get going. Perhaps we could do lunch sometime? I would very much like to discuss some of your latest developments with prosthesis. I’ve never seen anything quite like it and while I’m here I might as well see what some of the best minds in the field are up to.”

“I’d be honored.” Scarlett blinked in surprise, though she was still finding it quite odd that a dead man had asked her out to lunch. Wait until she told Tony that she’d talked to Bruce Banner after only a handful of days when they had discussed his death.

“Hey, Miss Damien?” Mickey reappeared out of the corner of her eye. Scarlett had forgotten the woman was there she’d been so quiet.

“Scarlett. You don’t have to keep it all formal. We’ve met enough times now.” Scarlett waved her hand in front of Mickey who looked flustered though it could’ve been from the enormity of files she was carrying in front of her. It seemed S.H.I.E.L.D. was keeping her busy these days and she wondered if it had anything to do with her mention of Mickey’s skills being underused and offering to partner up with her. “What is it?”

“I just wanted you to know that if Tony doesn’t show up I’ll make sure that the files regarding today’s incident and the day before will be faxed to his lab. By the time you and Mr. Rogers have returned he should be all caught up.” Mickey then turned her attention to Bruce. “I’ll fill him in on your recent arrival too Dr. Banner. If that’s alright with you.”

“He’ll like that.” Scarlett smiled politely but checked the time on her phone. Only a few minutes had passed by. This day was crawling. She had thought working with S.H.I.E.L.D. would somehow be more engaging. It was like an office job where she got to carry a gun. Maybe things on the field would be more her speed. Then again, if Captain Crabby-pants was going to be in a mood the entire way it could be just as frustrating as paperwork. “Thanks, Pierce.”

“Oh, you can call me Mickey. It only seems fair.” She nodded with a smile on her face. For awhile Scarlett was sure Mickey had been intimidated by her. Maybe trying to push her further in her career had given her some favor with the younger agent. It killed Scarlett to see those with potential being held back and even though Mickey seemed busier than the other day she was still holding piles of boring old paperwork. Later Scarlett would have a talk with Natasha to see if maybe they could push Mickey in the right direction. Mickey Pierce was becoming quite the entertaining side project for Scarlett.

“You could let Mr. Stark know that I’m very much looking forward to meeting him as well.” Despite his words Bruce almost seemed nervous at the idea of meeting Tony. Scarlett wondered if it was because Tony could be such a handful or if Bruce had something of a celebrity crush on him. Either one would’ve been amusing but if she had to take a guess she’d say it was the former. Even in her head she wouldn’t let Tony’s ego win.

“I can do that Dr. Banner, definitely.” Mickey smiled once more before nodding her head and hurrying down the hall. Scarlett was astounded that Mickey hadn’t yet dropped any of the files in her arms. The pile looked considerably weighted.

“Well, I better get to work on those lab reports before you get me more information to analyze. Good luck out there.” Bruce awkwardly shuffled his feet.

“Speaking of luck…” Jinx, seemingly out of nowhere, appeared behind Bruce holding a small bag in her hands.

“No! No, we’ve been through this.” Scarlett laughed, holding up both her hands in objection.

“Through what?” Thoroughly confused, Bruce looked back and forth between the two women. Clearly he did not know much about Agent Bennett.

“Don’t worry about it Dr. Banner. You go ahead and get started on your work. I’ll be just fine, trust me. I don’t need any luck.” Scarlett pointed threateningly at Jinx who didn’t seem at all bothered by her distrust or apprehension.

“Okay…” Skeptical that was true, Bruce decided it wasn’t worth trying to understand what the women were on about. Clearly there was history there he wasn’t meant to understand. So with another polite nod of his head and a weak smile Bruce turned and walked down the hallway presumably to do some lab work.

“Just a small token to take with you, Miss Damien. Please?” Jinx held out a small coin with a square hole in the center and offered it to her. “Even if you don’t believe in luck it certainly can’t do any harm to have it with you, right?”

“I don’t need it, really.” Scarlett laughed, holding her hand up to stop Jinx from pushing the coin toward her.

“Well, if that’s not your thing then what about a cross? Are you religious? I don’t do rabbit’s feet but it’s better than nothing…”

“No! No. Look, Jinx. The gesture is really sweet but I don’t do the luck thing. I know you’re worried about me for some odd reason.” They didn’t really know each other but Jinx’s attempts to keep Scarlett safe came off endearing instead of pushy. There was something about her demeanor that was truly caring rather than annoying. She didn’t want attention or anything of the like, she truly wanted to keep Scarlett out of harm’s way.

“I see bad things in your future.” Jinx furrowed her brow and offered another small blue rock, a token Scarlett didn’t recognize. “It can’t hurt to carry around something little to ward it off a little longer, can it?” She held out the rock in her palm in front of Scarlett hoping that the taller woman would take it. Instead, Scarlett forced Jinx’s fingers to cover the rock and shook her head no.

“Thank you. But I’m really okay. You’re in my ear the whole time and that’s all the luck I need.” She wasn’t exactly sure that was the truest sentiment but at this point Scarlett would say anything to calm Jinx’s nerves. For it being her well being Jinx was concerned about Agent Bennett was awfully shaken by the idea of it. Much to her surprise Jinx wrapped her arms around Scarlett in a hug. Instead of returning the embrace Scarlett stood stiffly while she got it out of her system. Scarlett wasn’t exactly into the whole strangers touching her thing. In fact, it only served to put her on edge.

“Just be safe.” Jinx patted her on the back in the hug but then didn’t let go.

“Okay… Okay, I’ve got to go now. Captain Rogers is waiting for me.” With an awkward pat on Jinx’s head Scarlett pried her hands away from her and then started down the hallway where Steve was waiting and avoiding eye contact with her. “Ready?” Maybe once they were on the ground in Pennsylvania things would be less awkward between them.

“Let’s go.” Steve held out a hand to indicate that he would let the lady walk in front of him. Even if he wasn’t excited to be her partner he still seemed to be a true gentleman.

“Sweet and all but you know your way around here better than me. Lead the way.” Nodding down the hall, presumably where they would take the elevator to the top floor, Scarlett offered a hopeful smile. Steve returned it warily but it was strained.

“Yes, of course.” Without another word he began down the hall and Scarlett followed behind him. There were about three thousand things swirling around in Scarlett’s head as they made their way into the elevator.

What the hell was wrong with Tony? How was it that Bruce Banner survived that radiation incident against all odds? Why was Jinx so insistent upon protecting her? Who had attacked her the night before? What was causing the anomaly that had leveled a building the week before? Most importantly at the moment, Scarlett wondered what she’d done that had put Steve Rogers on her bad side?

All those questions and Scarlett didn’t have a single answer.