[IC] Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

[Natsu]

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Oliver Sullivan

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Location: The Moon
Skills: Superspeed

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Watching as his plan crumbled beneath him, he was quickly looking for alternatives, but then he received salvation from the most unlikely of sources. It felt like he'd taken some kind of drug, and now he was hallucinating a cat leading a charge of winged dinosaurs into combat against alien conquerors, but that was the world he found himself in. Thinking quickly, he leveraged the randomness of it all. Three of them were down or dead, and the circus that this fight had devolved into seemed to be a perfect time to enact their plan. Picking up some of the dust on the ground, he looked at Gamora and said, "Fun fact, since this moon doesn't have an atmosphere, the dust and dirt here is very sharp." He played with a bit of it, before launching it directly into her eyes. "So, have fun with that." He said, before speeding off to the Quinjet, stumbling at first, but maintaining his footing, as, in a blur, he grabbed the LMD, and marveled at it for what felt like a moment to him, before placing it in front of Gamora, and heading back to the ship.

There was still one more thing that needed to be taken care of. Flynn could take out the LMD well enough with his rocket launcher, but Goose would be caught in the cross fire. He couldn't let that happen, putting aside his love for cats, Goose had joined them for this conflict. Fluffy or not, he was a soldier, and he wasn't about to leave a man behind. Sitting at the controls for the Jet, he had an idea. If Fury was half as crazy as he thought he was, there was no way the director didn't teach his hyper intelligent cat Morse code. Firing up the speakers, Oliver set them to blast a message in an ultrasonic frequency, "GOOSE GET OUT OF THERE, ROCKET IN BOUND." With that, all that was left to signal Flynn that it was time. One thing he wasn't sure of though, was if their coms were being monitored or not, so he elected to be careful in his communication, broadcasting to his teammates. "Cass, get out of there. Flynn, it's time to end this, take her out with me." He put special emphasis on the last word, wanting to make sure he understood that he'd swapped out.

[Nallore]

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Cassandra Reed

Location: The Moon - The Kingdom of Attilan
Skills: N/A

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Cassandra rolled out of the way from Gamora's attack, she took a moment and looked at Oliver he was smart and capable but he was not her type at all really either. "Yeah, no not my type at all." She said, when Oliver decided to call in some Raptors out of nowhere as Strange opened up a portal back to the HUB as five of them came running through. Though they all seemed more focused on attacking her team then the members of the Black Order. Why they attacked her team she had no clue at all, and the weird thing they all had wings and they were all flying and trying to attack them all.

But luckily Goose came in for the rescue and seemed to pull the Raptors attention off of them and focused now fully, though the Black Order was slowly being taken out by the others as well. When Oliver called her over the radio, knowing that he was going through with the plan as Oliver blinded Gamora, she quickly took off in the distance from LMD Oliver and Gamora who was occupied by the Raptors as well.

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Maria Novikova

Location: The Moon - The Kingdom of Attilan
Skills: N/A

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Maria saw Flynn taking his rocket launcher out and fired it off at Nebula and smirked watching her go flying and then being taken out by Bonnie with ease seeing her daggers lodged into Nebula's head and chest. "Nice shot Bonnie." Maria said to Bonnie as Black Swan turned her attention to Tinley who was down and lasered her head off, her eyes going wide seeing that happen to her. When a portal nearby opened up and a group of Raptors came in, instantly one went for her feeling the wind getting knocked out of her and her bow being ripped out of her hand, its talon wrapped around her neck Maria started gasping for air.

Maria tried to get it off of her, when her wife managed to save her taking in a few deep breathes as she stumbled back to her feet turning towards Oliver. "You owe me a new bow now Oliver!" Maria called out to Oliver she looked over at Novi and gave her a loving smile. "Thanks love." Maria said, when Goose came out of the Quinjet and somehow managed to command the Raptors to calm down and attack Gamora, seeing Proxima's body on the ground and Black Swan as well they were doing pretty good.

[Morose]

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@Natsu

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The Kingdom of Attilan - the Moon: February 14th, 2021 - 12:10 P.M.

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Dominika Novikova and Bonnie Chase

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Location: the Ruins of Attilan
Skills: Russian

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"One big ass explosion coming up," Flynn responded as he grabbed a hold of the launcher again and reloaded it quickly, before he took aim and fired it off, before tossing the weapon aside and threw a massive fireball right when the rocket hit the area, and there was a massive explosion with a loud BOOM!

Gamora had narrowly avoided Flynn's hellfire. She rolled backwards, scooping up her sword arm. Black Swan had fallen to the ground not too far from her and she surveyed the wreckage, seeing no sign that Oliver had survived - that Thane had survived. Yet unlike the rest of the Black Order, Gamora was a person of honor. She spoke into her wrist. "It's done, father. Thane has been eliminated. Black Swan and I are ready to depart."

Bonnie held her breath anxiously. It was the moment of truth. Either Thanos would retrieve his remaining minions and retreat peacefully or he would rain destruction down on Attilan and the Earth, burning the planet that had resisted him to ashes. Her eyes flickered over towards Flynn, subconsciously noticing his prominent jawline. It could be the last time she ever saw him. Her heart broke realizing earlier may have been the last moment she had ever spent with Niah, that if they had failed here, then Niah's life would be cut tragically short.

Novikova thought only of her wife as they waited, the moments stretching out into an eternity. The two of them were trying to add another member to their family, having gone to the best sperm bank in California to get their "baby juice." Novikova had already begun bookmarking links to cribs and whatnot for the baby on her laptop, dreaming of painting the room every color of the rainbow and placing glow in the dark stars up on the ceiling.

"It's not working," Strange muttered. "Something's wrong." He held up a finger though, as if he were the leader of this ragtag group and not Cassandra.

The air around Gamora and Black Swan shimmered, before they vanished. The corpses of the rest of the Black Order were left behind like worthless garbage. Strange began preparation of a shield charm, to try to hold off some of the shots, but they never came. Thanos' ship withdrew, blinking out of sight. He and the Black Order were gone.

"We did it... We... Tinley..." Bonnie said, her heart sinking as she looked over at Tempest. Tempest was sitting wordlessly by Tinley's side, just staring down at her in shock. The raptors were pawing at the ground, looking a bit bored, but Goose's intervention seemed to have clued them in that the Secret Warriors and Strange were the good guys. "Oh god, Tinley..." Bonnie sobbed, before tears, hot and sticky rushed from her eyes.

Novikova stared uncomfortably at the body. She and Tinley didn't always get along - Tinley hadn't prevented her termination after all - but she never wished death on her. They were family. They all were. She didn't know what to say or do, beyond putting an arm around Maria and holding her close. They couldn't make skin contact, but even with the suits, they could at the very least hold each other. "Смерть забирает не старое, а зрелое," she said solemnly.

There wasn't proper time to mourn though. Three figures walked into view - Medusa, Crystal, and Lockjaw. "I see that you have succeeded in your efforts against the Black Order - well done," Medusa praised. "As promised, I will destroy our sacred mists... But I have a request. Let the inhumans of Earth know they have a home waiting for them here on Attilan. From Crystal's time amongst humanity, they fear those who are extraordinary."

Crystal shrugged. "Tell my ex-boyfriend I said hello," she then requested cryptically. Medusa pulled out an alien looking device and programmed it, before pressing a button. The lunar surface began to rumble and shake like an earthquake. A gigantic cannon of sorts came out of the ground, looking like some odd mixture between the classic weapon and a satellite - it was the sort of thing from Star Wars. There was a large whine of energy as the cannon charged and then it emitted a gigantic beam of light. The light hit the Earth's atmosphere and spread like wildfire, destroying the Terrigen Mists while leaving the rest of the world safe and intact. To those on the Earth, it would have looked like a million suns temporarily appeared before vanishing.

The world was safe, at least for now.

[Kirah]

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Location: the Ruins of Attilan
Skills:

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Matt would have been laughing at the absurdity of the situation if it also wasn't an extremely tragic one. He wanted to move to comfort Cass. That was an odd thought. He considered it as Gamora disappeared, and realized what that meant. Well, he'd have to circle back on that one later he decided.

"Uh, Strange, when you say that it isn't working what do you mean since they are leaving?" Matt asked. He was a little concerned that maybe Thanos and his people were going to give them a fake-out and come back and destroy everything cause they felt like it. So far the Secret Warriors were doing okay against the Black Order. They had lost people but they had done significantly more damage to the Black order than they had done to them.

Matt looked at the location where Oliver's LMD had been before Flynn had blown it up. He was a little impressed that it had worked out as well as it had. More surprising they weren't second-guessing why Flynn had done that. Or maybe that was why Strange was saying it didn't work.

[Nallore]

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Cassandra Reed

Location: The Moon - The Kingdom of Attilan
Skills: N/A

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Cassandra watched as Flynn launched a rocket and a huge wall of fire at LMD Oliver, when the explosion happened, and the fire started to go down now, and things were eerily quiet. Both Gamora and Black Swan were beamed back up to Thanos' ship, she was bracing for some more fighting or even the big guy himself as well. She looked at Strange at what he had said, when the ship disappeared Cass turned around to look at the others, her eyes going wide seeing Tinley's body there and looked away letting out a slight sigh trying to hold back the tears a bit as well.

Tinley was a friend of hers and former leader of the team as well, she didn't deserve anything that had happened to her at all today, she walked over seeing Bonnie starting to break down and pulled her friend into a hug. Cassandra turned her attention towards the three figures seeing that it was Crystal Medusa and Lockjaw again, she really wanted to punch the two of them in the face right now as she looked at them. It was not her position to ask, it was ultimately up to Hill really as well, as she shook her head slightly as they did keep the their word as they launched a massive light canon thing at the Earth seeing it light up and then things going back to normal. "Sadly i'm not in position to do any of that, but i'll see what I can do, but if you do anything that effects Earth itself inform us first." Cassandra told them, turning her attention back towards the others, she needed sometime to be alone by herself right now before making her way back into the Quinjet.

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Maria Novikova

Location: The Moon - The Kingdom of Attilan
Skills: N/A

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Once the fire and dust had settled Maria saw that there was nothing left of LMD Oliver, and then a few seconds later Gamora and Black Swan were both beamed back up to Thanos' ship. Maria closed her eyes and let out a slight sigh when the ship disappeared from view, her attention turned towards Tinley's body Maria leaned herself up against her wife. She had known Tinley since her academy days and she wished that there was something that she could have done for her. The threat was gone now, and they could now return things to normal, she looked at Novikova as she gently held her wife's hand as well.

She saw Medusa, Crystal and Lockjaw both coming over she didn't like the two of them, Lockjaw was a cool dog though which she didn't have an issue with really. It was Medusa and Crystal that Maria hated for unleashing the terrigen mists into the air, and creating M-Pox as well in the first place. Maria didn't say anything to them, but they did keep their word and removed the terrigen mists in the air as well which was good. Maria just wanted to go home now as well and continue to start her family as well now to with her wife back home.

[BlueSky44]

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Location: The Moon
Skills: N/A

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Sparky wasn't too sure what to think about everything that was going on around her as she landed on the ground with a bit of a thud, looking over at what was going on with Gamora and Oliver. When he yelled something about shooting both him and Gamora and causing an explosion or something, and she knew that odds were he'd switched with his robotic double, otherwise that would be just pure suicide. She was a little saddened to know that the LMD that she had programmed had essentially been made to blow up, but she knew that it was the only way for Thanos to potentially leave Earth alone without actually killing Oliver.

Someone had already died, and despite her somewhat rocky relationship with Tinley, death was not something she'd wish on anyone. However, she was glad that seemingly Thanos and all of them were leaving, letting the group to be alone now, and it seemed like Medusa was keeping her word, and destroyed the Terrigen Mists on Earth. Now they could actually breathe fresh air and not worry about dying from a disease like that anymore. Her eyes wandered to the dagger in her hand, and her mind wandered to what might have happened to Raynor. "...I am going to find you Ray..." she muttered to herself, before she walked over to the others. "How about we see about getting out of here and back home," she said to the others.

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Location: The Moon
Skills: N/A

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If he was being completely honest, he hadn't been expecting the explosion to have been that spectacular, and he was a bit impressed to see the giant fireball that he created. Now came the hard part, just waiting to see if Gamora and Thanos bought the whole situation, that Flynn had actually blown Oliver up to smithereens and not just cause an explosion that didn't do much damage to anyone. Waiting was always the annoying part, and he wasn't too sure what else to really think regarding the entire situation. If they didn't buy this whole situation, then odds are that they would all then be swiftly killed.

Then came the great thing, when Gamora made a call to Thanos, and disappeared along with Black Swan back up to Thanos' ship, before the ship withdrew and vanished from the sky. "...Well that worked better then I thought it would..." he muttered, before he noticed the whole thing surrounding Tinley, and that Bonnie was crying. He never saw eye to eye with Tinley, and it didn't really seem to matter in this moment though, as he walked over and gave Bonnie a hug. "It's okay Bonnie..." Then there was Goose. The cat saw Bonnie crying, and so he nudged the raptor he was riding (Sasha) to walk over to Bonnie, so he was right next to her, and he started purring very loudly, as if telling her it was alright. "...Going to be blunt, I've seen some crazy things but the alien cat riding a raptor with big feathery wings definitely takes the cake..." Flynn added softly.

[Natsu]

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Oliver Sullivan

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Location: The Moon
Skills: N/A

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Sitting within the Quinjet, Oliver watched as the results of their plan were laid bare to them. For a few moments, he really didn't know if that had worked, and, for all he knew, the next few moments would be the last ones he, or anybody, ever lived. But, as the ship disappeared, he felt a bit of relief. He knew he wasn't in moral danger anymore, but the damage was done. A city was dead, and Tinley had been killed. Stepping out onto the moon, and rejoining the rest of the group, he made his way over to Tinley's body. It was appalling, for sure, but he looked down at her somberly.

Her loss would not be forgotten, and he looked at the rest of the group before saying, "I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for the efforts of each and every one of you." He started, "I will not forget this, and, I wish I had more I could say than thank you but... Thank you all." He knelt down next to Tinley's body, closing his eyes for a moment. He wasn't a religious person by any means, but he took a moment to thank Tinley in his head. Standing up, he looked over to the approaching group, raising an eyebrow, but saying nothing. They had endangered countless, even if it was meant well, and he didn't know if he could forgive them for that.

[BlueSky44]

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Theresa Sparks and Bonnie Chase

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It had been a few weeks since the whole M-Pox fiasco, and Sparky was in the robotics lab area, messing with a few things when she suddenly felt a wave of nausea come over her again. It had been happening on and off for the past few weeks, and she wasn't sure why, but now it was getting to the point where she thought that something might be wrong, and she set down what she had been working on and went to go look for Bonnie, figuring she might be able to help her. She had been working on robotics and anything electronic constantly since the thing with Thanos and the Black Order since it gave her a distraction from everything else that was going on through her head at the moment.

Bonnie was in the medical research laboratory, working on M-Pox cures. While they did have the sample from Cass that they used for the initial batch, they couldn't just take Cass' blood indefinitely. That just wasn't a sustainable process. Doctor Strange was helping from time to time with his stone, yet he also had his duties as Sorcerer Supreme to attend to. In fact, he had been gone for the last few days on a house call to the West Coast Avengers after a demon started trying to possess the Scarlet Witch. "Hey, Sparks," Bonnie greeted her with a smile.

"Are you busy? Or anything?" she asked, walking into the room and over to her. "...Cause I haven't been feeling the best lately, and I don't know why..." Sparky wasn't too sure what else to say about the matter, since she figured that Bonnie was working on stuff for M-Pox considering the fact that it was a somewhat slow process rolling out the cures for others and all, yup things definitely were interesting and all.

"I am busy, but I can make time," Bonnie said. When she wasn't working on M-Pox, she had been doing research on the vision she had experienced when the Black Order nearly killed her. Her preliminary tests on herself indicated that her body had been enhanced to some degree, similar to the impacts of taking a super soldier serum. "Have a seat," she added, gesturing to an examination table. She went and started off by taking Sparky's temperature, blood pressure, and pulse. "What are your symptoms? And how long has this been going on?"

"Uh... Nausea mainly... It's been coming and going off and on for the past few weeks... But sorry for interrupting whatever it was that you were doing..." she responded, sitting up on the table, her mind wandering a little bit.

Bonnie thought for a moment. "Well, you don't look like you have any symptoms of M-Pox... Your skin is fine, if not a little bit flushed. I don't see any signs of sores or hives... It could be the seasonal flu," she murmured, thinking over what she wanted to test for. She then reached under the counter and grabbed a plastic baggy with a small container inside of it. "Could you urinate in this for me? Make sure you don't touch the inside of the cup or anything, since that may skew the results."

Sparky took the cup from her before she left the room. A few minutes later she came back in and handed it to her. "Going to be blunt having the flu would really really suck not going to lie..."

"Did you get your flu shot?" Bonnie asked casually, as she accepted the cup and started to run tests on Sparky's urine. She wasn't looking for the flu however. To test for the flu, she would need to take a saliva sample from Sparky. She wanted to check on the urine sample first, then she would check the saliva, and then do blood work if things continued to be shrouded in mystery.

"Yeah I did..." she responded, falling silent as she just started fiddling with the ring on her hand subconsciously, not even really paying attention to anything in particular.

It would take a few more minutes for the results of the test to be clear. Bonnie reached out and took Sparky's hand gently, hoping that Sparky had washed her hands after peeing into the cup. "You know, not too long after I graduated from Sci-Tech, my husband was killed by an enhanced in the field. I didn't take it well. I ended up being hospitalized... Don't be like me. Talking about what's going on, going to therapy, it'll help. I promise."

"Yeah well... I mean there isn't much I can do about it, not right now anyway... I've been trying to figure out where he went, since that video showed the Quinjet taking off or whatever but I haven't been able to find anything..."

Bonnie nodded. "Have you considered asking Niah for help? Maybe if she touches Raynor's knife, she can catch a glimpse of what happened from another angle... Maybe she could see what the coordinates were on that quinjet," she suggested softly.

"That would also be assuming she'd be fine with touching a blade that doesn't exactly let anyone who isn't worthy hold onto it last I checked..."

"You won't know if you don't ask," Bonnie pointed out. She then got up and looked at the results as the test had finished running. One result caught her eye instantly. "Sparks... Congratulations. You're pregnant."

Her face instantly went pale upon hearing that, "You're joking right? P-p-please tell me you're joking." Her mind was racing as she instantly started panicking. Nope nope nope no! Sparky's mind was definitely in denial of sorts.

Bonnie shook her head. "I'm not," she said, trying to think of a way to comfort Sparky best. "When was your last period?"

"...A while ago..." she muttered, still panicking a little bit at the idea. "It's just... I-I-I don't know if I can be a mother or something... Especially since I-I-I don't know if Ray is o-o-okay..." she stammered. She wasn't too sure what to even think.

"You have options," Bonnie said. She put an arm around her and held her tightly. "You don't need to make any choices now, okay?" Bonnie put a kiss on Sparky's cheek. "We'll all support you here no matter what. And I know that Raynor's out there. He's too stubborn to die."

"Now see, you say that, and my brain is saying that he's way too stubborn to die, but a part of my brain is saying the exact opposite. That he's dead. That he's not coming back. And I don't know what to do. I-I-I just don't know," she said, before she just started crying again. It had been a little while since she actually had, since she typically distracted herself by working on robotics of some sort.

Bonnie put her other arm around Sparky, holding her in a hug now. It wasn't professional, but that didn't matter. Sparky was her friend. She trusted Sparky with her life and she knew all too well the sort of pain Sparky was going through. In some ways, it was worse. Bonnie knew that James had died. Sparky didn't have that sort of closure when it came to Raynor. "Just breathe. You don't need to figure everything out today. All you need to do today is breathe, eat some of your favorite food, and practice self care."

"...If you say so..." she mumbled, trying to stop the tears but they just kept coming. This was just bad, in so many different ways, and she just wanted to know what to do. She hated not knowing what to do, or really anything regarding this entire situation. It just was messing with her head, as her mind kept going through everything that was going wrong with her life right now. She didn't know what to do, and she really wanted someone to just tell her what to do, but she knew that was impossible.

"I do say so," Bonnie said quietly. "All you can do is take things one step at a time... Did you ever see the second Frozen movie? Anna sings about how she doesn't know where to go or what to do, but she realizes all she can do is the next right thing. Just keep moving one step forward, even if you don't know where the end result will take you yet. That's all you can do."

"...I don't typically watch too many animated movies... But I think I get what you're saying..." she said softly, thinking for a moment. "There isn't much I can do about it... All I can do is hope for the best, I am going to find out what happened, no matter what happens next. I am going to find Ray, and probably hug him, and then punch him or something for making me freak out..."

Bonnie giggled slightly. "That sounds like a plan to me, Sparks."

[Kirah]

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Maria Novikova
Fred Flynn
Niah Bautista

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Maria wasn't really sure what was wrong between Niah and Flynn for a while now, and it felt like things were always tense between the two of them. As she looked at one of the small containment units that were used to detain anyone with powers and started to get a bit of an idea. She decided to go and get Niah and Flynn together and lock the two of them in there so that they could work out whatever problems that they had. Maria took out her phone and sent out two separate texts to the two of them. Lying about locking herself inside one of them and needed some help putting a blanket and a pillow inside to make it look like she was sleeping in there for hours and hid in the far corner of the room waiting for the two of them to come.

Niah was confused by Maria's text. How in the world had she locked herself into one of the containment rooms? Didn't they lock from the outside? She sighed and made her way to the rooms. Until she found the one that had what looked Maria in it. She opened the door. "Alright, Maria I'm here. What in the world? How did you even do that?"

Flynn wasn't exactly one to typically just go off and help someone out of a cell that they had locked somehow managed to lock themselves in. Nope, he'd help them out after going down and cracking a few jokes at their expense first. He headed down that way and got there around the time that Niah was opening up the door. "And here I thought I'd be able to get a few good laughs in before someone let her out."

Maria stood in the corner of the room, and saw that Niah had come in first and smiled, then a few seconds later so did Flynn as Niah opened the door to the containment unit. She then ran forward, quickly shoving the two of them inside and closed the door shut locking the two inside she smirked and waved at the two of them. “Hi there, so I get the sense you two really hate each other for whatever reason. It’s annoying and awkward at times, and well we are apart of a team so time to work out your problems so you two aren’t allowed to come out until you hash shit out.”

Niah felt the hand on her back and tried to stop it, but instead found herself locked in the containment room with Flynn. "Tae. Seriously Maria." Niah sighed. "This is a me problem not a Flynn problem. I am sorry it has gotten to this point, but why I have a problem with Flynn isn't really in his control."

"Yeah, for the record I have absolutely no idea why she hates me or has a problem with me. And I don't really care if she has a problem with me," Flynn responded with an eye roll at the two of them. He honestly didn't care too much what Niah's problem was, since she randomly decided to start hating him or whatever, but he was used to people being like that towards him.

Maria walked over towards a chair that she had set up before sending a text to the two of them, she wanted to supervise this that way they wouldn't end up somehow escaping or lying to her that they resolved their issues. "Well, then I'll play Dr. Phil I guess and doesn't matter you two aren't getting out until you say whats all on your mind."

Niah reached up and touched the bridge of her nose and let out a slow breath. "Look if he knew, if anyone knew. It doesn't matter. It basically didn't happen. I am one of two people in the whole of the multiverse who remembers. I will get better at being nice." She looked up at Maria. "Please let us out."

"...Okay now I'm confused, what do you mean it didn't happen? And mind telling me who the other person in the multiverse is that knows anything? Since now I'm beyond curious. You also act like I want to be locked in here with you."

Maria looked at Niah and shook her head slightly, she felt that this was a better way for Niah to resolve her issues. "Nope, not gonna happen better let it all out or it'll fester or something. You can hate me for this afterward if you want to." Maria said she was curious as well. "Might as well spill the beans now because I'm curious now too."

"I could just not talk. I could sit in the corner and not say anything." Niah crossed her arms. "And you're curious now?" Niah looked between them. "Why didn't you ask months ago?" She was evading the questions.

"Wow you are waaaaaaaay too obvious when it comes to avoiding questions, honestly. You never said anything about it, so why would we ask a question about something we had no idea about? Seriously you can be so dumb sometimes."

"Then I can just leave you two locked in here, and let Cass know to not let you two out until you two talk all of this out." Maria said, shrugging slightly and smirked a little bit as well, finding it mildly amusing to see the two of them locked in there. "And you never really said why you hated Flynn so might as well spill, and the sooner you do the quicker you two can leave."

"I am sorry for being a jerk Flynn. Okay, I'm sorry I've been rude and tense and cold toward you. But that doesn't give you the right to call me dumb. And do you honestly want to know? Do you really? Do you think knowing why I suddenly went from 'we're cool' to literally leaving the team will make everything better? And yes I know I'm back, but it is because I cannot stand by while my friends are in danger."

"Think I can since I've heard people dance around questions waaaaaaaay better than that. That probably was the worst attempt at it I've heard in my life. And yeah, I really really really want to know, especially since you think that I shouldn't know and are dancing around the issue so much."

Niah rubbed her face with hands trying to pull herself back together. She could feel herself cracking. Niah stood a little straighter and let her arms drop to her sides. "How is it going to change anything? It is something that can't be changed because it already has been. It is gone. Poof. Never happened. So knowing about it won't make anything different." She kept her voice level to her own surprise, but she did not want to stay in the room with Flynn until Maria decided they had worked through the issue.

"Like that makes any sense at all. Unless you give a reason I'm going to guess that Maria isn't going to let us out, so deal with it Niah. Since clearly this whole issue does matter if you think it doesn't."

"If it isn't an issue anymore then you wouldn't have any problem just telling him, and yes Flynn is right until you actually face it, I'm not letting the two of you out at all."

"Flynn that makes less sense. How could it matter if I don't think it does?" Niah shook her head. "Alright, if I'm going to tell him Maria please step away. Flynn deserves to be able to choose who knows. Other than myself and Doctor Strange." She added, letting Flynn know who else knew. She hoped it would give him an idea of what her issue was and maybe he would drop it.

"Wait, Strange knows? Then why don't you want me to know again? Since we all know Strange isn't exactly subtle, so he could have done something or whatever relating to it if he felt that it was a bad thing? Also how could I care if she knows if you don't tell me? Seriously, that makes no sense."

"Well not going to really leave the room I'll just be right outside out of earshot, just yell once you worked out your problems." Maria said looking at the two of them, a little bit annoyed that she didn't feel like she was trusted enough to know what was going on and left the room closing the door behind her, before sticking her head back out. "Oh yeah and if I don't feel like you aren't genuine that you fixed things I'm going to keep you two locked in there for a few hours." Maria said jokingly.

Niah took a long slow breath as Maria left. "Do you think that you don't remember what happened because Strange did do something about it? Do you realize how horrible that something could be?" Her eyes were starting to burn and she didn't want to cry in front of Flynn. She did keep her voice pitched down so Maria couldn't hear her on the other side of the door. "Tell me something honestly Flynn what was your plan when we went back in time?"

"Fix things no matter what and stop Ultron from being created in the first place since the world was screwed over and I was really pissed off at people since Bonnie ended up dead because of everything, why are you asking?" he asked her, crossing his arms as he looked right at her.

"Yeah, that no matter what is where you failed. You killed Pym. You burned him alive. You changed the world to a worse future and that is why I ran off to the 'bathroom'. I had already seen what your plan was and it was terrible." Niah was shaking and staring up at Flynn. Maria was right this had been boiling under the surface for her and it needed to be addressed, but she hated this confrontation.

He didn't respond immediately to what she had said, since he personally was more then a bit pissed off with himself over the dark place his mind had gone to in the Age of Ultron timeline. Flynn beat himself up over it, and he shook his head slightly. "Gonna stop you right there, since you really need to stop thinking that you are the only one in the world who is pissed off at me for even having those sort of thoughts, cause guess what Niah, you are talking to the one person who has been beating themselves over it. A lot. Especially since what happened when Wanda rewrote reality, you think I'm perfectly fine with having those thoughts. I called you dumb a little bit ago, but now I definitely say that it is the only word to describe you since you get caught up in your own thoughts to not realize that odds are I probably was beating myself up over it. Or were you constantly mad at me since you were sitting there thinking that you were always the better person. Assuming you know everything that goes through a person's head, and you thinking so little of me without even talking to me about it makes you a worse person than me."

"You egotistical ass. I didn't want to tell you so you didn't have to carry the knowledge of what you did do. You might have dark thoughts but you didn't need to know you actually followed through on them on an aborted slice of time. Yes, I realize I've been cold to you since then, but you want to know what I told Bonnie? She asked me if you were safe. I told her you were, that you would do anything for her. I stand by that. So I apologize for thinking you wouldn't want to know you had killed someone." Niah's hands at her sides, became fists as she tried to keep control of her emotions.

Flynn's hands burst into flames for a brief moment, before the flames went down. "...You have no idea what you're talking about Niah," he snapped at her, his mind racing through a few things. "You think I haven't killed people? Innocent people even? When I was in the Army, I killed people a lot, it was a kill or be killed situation, when I got back stateside, I heard that a town not far from where I grew up was essentially leveled in some weird unexplainable accident, or at least it wasn't something you could explain until I joined OMEN and found out what really happened there. Do you want to know what sort of things I did in that organization? Do you realize how many innocent lives I helped end? How many people I hurt when they begged for their lives? Yeah, sure, you didn't want me to know, but thought you would have understood even before then that I was a killer trying to do the right thing and fix things. I lost count of how many people are dead because of me, so do you really think I would have been upset by finding out in an alternate timeline that I killed one more?"

A flash of genuine fear crossed Niah's features as Flynn's hands burned. "Yeah, and I was right. Cause you haven't killed people in 'cold-blood' since then." Her voice was soft, and her shoulders relaxed. "Bonnie made you a better person. Losing her was the worst thing that could have happened to you." Niah let her face drop down so he couldn't see the tears that spilled from her eyes. "I know why you did what you did. I get it, and maybe that is why I hated you for doing it, but I couldn't bring myself to tell you that in order to bring back the thing you loved most you did things she wouldn't have forgiven you for. That's why I didn't tell anyone. When I saw you face-to-face finally in House of M it all came back to me. And I was scared, but I wanted the Flynn that loved Bonnie and would do anything for her." Her tears weren't hidable anymore as the came down her cheeks and she struggled to breathe around the sobs that threatened her.

"That's the person I am, and probably will always be apart of who I am. Yeah, I know there are a lot of things that I've done that Bonnie wouldn't forgive. Why do you think I don't tell anyone about it? Or why I kept getting more then a little annoyed whenever Barton referred to me being a former member of OMEN?" he responded, though the look of fear she had on her face before she seemed to relax and started crying even more didn't pass him by, but he didn't say anything about it, his arms crossed still as he just stared at her. "I don't deserve Bonnie, I know that, and one day I might be, and I might be able to tell her everything, but yeah. I beat myself up over every bad choice and don't need you to do that sort of thing for me."

Niah wiped away at her face and took some slow breaths trying to stop her crying when she finally had control Niah said. "Heh, you don't deserve her, but you get her. So if you keep trying to deserve her maybe someday you will. Can we end this now? Now you know. You can tell people or not. I'll try to keep myself in check around you, and maybe I'll get over it and stop being so angry at you for almost making everything worse."

"Yeah, well whatever, I don't need you to tell me that I'm not a good person, I knew that years ago. Find it ironic that my powers are over fire, and it isn't because of my temper, it's given the fact that it seemed like for a long time I'd just burn everything that I touched. So you telling me I'm a crap person also doesn't help. Fun fact, if you want to make sure someone stays on the straight and narrow, maybe don't act like they are the worse person in the world or whatever. And I'm fine getting out of here, so whatever."

"Goddammit Flynn I'm saying you can be a good person. You have a chance to be better every day." Niah shook her head and walked over to the door. "Maria let us out. I think we've cleared the air as much as possible." She shouted at the door.

Maria heard Niah calling for her, and opened the door back up to the room making her way over towards the cell looking over at Flynn and Niah. "As long as you two promise to not beat my ass or anything i'll let you guys out."

"Yeah yeah yeah Maria I get it, now can you please just let us out already? Since I might start developing claustrophobia if I'm stuck in here much longer."

"Alright then." Maria said as she typed in the code, before finally opening the door and took a few steps back looking over at the two of them and smiled slightly. "So, no hard feelings right?" Maria finally asked.

"No hard feelings, Maria. Things needed to be said and they have been." Niah said, and then she started walking away back to her room.

[Kirah]

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Matthew Moss & Cassandra Reed

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Date: March 6th, 2021
Location: San Francisco SHIELD HUB Headquarters -> Movies -> Dinner
Skills:

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Matt fixed his tie and gathered some items. He was a bit nervous. There was a very high possibility this could go badly, which Matt accepted and would not hold against Cass. He liked her but had no idea how she felt about him.

He still didn't know the rest of the team well, which felt weird, but everyone was so different. Matt was surprised a lot of them couldn't even stand each other as far as he could tell. After dealing with the whole Thane thing he figured he would know the team better. What he knew was there was a lot of anger issues, and secrets. So many secrets. Thankfully Cass didn't appear to have anger issues, which would work to his advantage if she said no. He could walk away from this with no injured pride.

He was satisfied with his appearance. Matt left his room and headed to Cass's, and knocked on her door. "Cass, can I speak with you?"

Cassandra sat on her bed with her tablet in hand looking over a few reports and whatnot that she needed to sign off on, she liked the tablet that Maria had given her back during Christmas it was a lot nicer as well. She then heard a knock on her door, and stood up hearing Matt's voice and made her way towards the door and opened it. "Sure, whats up?" She asked letting Matt into her room.

Matt entered Cass' room and with a soft smile said, "I was wondering if you'd be interested in going to the movies with me. Again. But like. Officially." Great he sounded like a moron. That was not at all what he had rehearsed. His face felt warm and he knew he had to be blushing. He was tempted to walk out of the room, but it was too late now the words were out of his mouth.

Cassandra looked at Matt and blushed a little bit, she hadn't dated anyone in a really long time and Matt wasn't bad looking either in her opinion either, and he was really nice as well. She wasn't sure how long he actually liked her, she smiled a bit more and nodded towards him. "Yes to both I'd love to, just give me a couple of minutes and get ready?" Cassandra asked him.

"Thank you." There was a lot he wanted to say, and a part of him wanted to kiss her cheek, but he decided to be chill. Or at least try for it. "Right, I'll meet you in the lounge." He said before stepping out of the room. His grin growing as he left the room. He took a few deep breaths and kept himself from shouting in the hallway before making his way to the lounge. He double-checked his pocket to make sure the tickets were there. And now he regretted not being more prepared. With like a card or something.

Cassandra was smiling more and more to herself as she closed the door behind her, going over to her closet and started to search around for some of her clothes. Before finding a nice black dress, she didn't have much in the way of jewelry though since she rarely ever did buy anything like that. Cassandra started to do her hair a little bit as well. She grabbed her purse, as well as her keys, before coming out of her room and made her way down the hallway and towards the lounge. "How do I look?"

"You look stunning." Matt said honestly. A little bit of breath taken away from him as he looked at her. The lack of jewelry didn't even bother him. In fact, it seemed to draw more attention to her features like her face. It was stupid how nervous he felt. Just because he hadn't dated anyone since his fiance, and that had been three years ago. "How do I clean up?" He asked gesturing to his suit. Matt enjoyed wearing suits, there was something so pleasantly masculine about it.

Cassandra blushed slightly rubbing the back of her neck slightly, she wasn't really used to compliments either and smiled at him. "Thank you, you aren't bad looking yourself either." She said, as she adjusted her purse slightly not really thinking about it Cass went forward and kissed him on the cheek, he did look really good in a suit. "So what movie did you have in mind?"

Matt's face warmed as Cass kissed his cheek. He offered his arm for her and started walking to the motorcade. He had his motorcycle there, but it would probably be better to take a car. "There are a few in theaters. A horror film about escape rooms, but it is the sequel. I don't know how important it is to have seen the first one. Then there is a historical war film, which I like historical stuff. There is also a new M. Night Shyamalan film, but I have a hard time watching his stuff after he did Avatar the Last Airbender so badly. Oh, and the new Ghostbuster film." Of the ones Matt listed only the Shyamalan film wasn't up his alley. "I got the tickets you exchange." He explained pulling them out of his pocket.

Cass smiled and wrapped her arm around Matt's and started to follow him towards the motorcade she started to think for a moment on what movies that they could see. She didn't really like the newer Ghostbuster films and she wasn't much of am M. Night Shyamalan fan either, looking at him she wouldn't mind watching a horror movie, or seeing a historical war movie either. "Hmm, lets narrow it down to two and flip a coin maybe for which movie we should see, I'm leaning on a horror or the historical one." Cass offered.

"Good idea." Matt said. He put away the tickets, and then pulled out a quarter from his pocket. "Heads, the horror, and tails the historical." He then flipped the coin and caught it tails up. "Historical film it is. Next question, car, or my motorcycle?"

Cassandra smiled slightly and watched Matt flipping the quarter and landing on tails, she didn't feel comfortable wearing a dress while riding a motorcycle. "Car would be preferable, since dresses and motorcycles don't work well for me in my opinion."

"That makes perfect sense. I've never ridden a motorcycle in a dress. Mind you I was never fond of dresses in the first place." He grabbed a set of keys for one of the SUVs, paused, turned to Cass. "Want to drive? I'm not that great in cars, I prefer stick or my motorcycle. So I'm a little rusty. Especially, in the US." He had gotten his license here three years ago when he first transferred to SHIELD, but he had little use to drive SUVs in the time since.

Cassandra smiled for a moment if she did ride a motorcycle then it would just feel the wind going into places she didn't want, and anyone could probably see as well. When Matt grabbed one of the keys there she nodded, she had been in the US since she had been in college so she could drive pretty well on the American roads. "Sure thing." She said as Cass took the keys and grabbed one of the SUV's, signing off quickly as well so that way SHIELD wouldn't think that one of their cars were stolen, and got in to start up their ride.

Matt got into the passenger seat. He quickly punched in coordinates for the theater. He had no idea how San Francisco functioned. It was supposedly a nice grid pattern on paper, but in reality, it was a disaster of one-way streets and bus lanes. There clearly had been no planning done when the town was made, and any that had been done had been before the combustion engine.

He glanced at Cass as she started up the SUV and pulling out of the motorcade. She was very pretty, and that was even when she was covered in dirt and mud. Matt disapproved of workplace dating, he blamed his ex for that, and he had seen it cause issues on this team even. Yet, here he was going on an actual date. His heart skipped a beat and he swore to himself that he would keep his worry for Cass professional. Heck, she had beaten M-pox. "Favorite radio station?" He asked turning on the radio. He had his opinions on a couple of the local stations. He hated 107.7 the hosts for that show seemed like asshats.

Cassandra looked towards Matt and smiled at him, she was actually really happy as she pulled out of the motorcade and then eventually out of the HUB itself. She started to drive down the road, while paying attention to the GPS, when Matt asked for any radio preferences she didn't really mind. Cassandra focused on the road while occasionally looking back at him, she didn't really care if she was technically his superior on the team. She of course would be more professional while working, but she wanted to be happy as well to and hoped that she could make him happy as well. "I don't have any preference really, what do you like?" She asked and looked at her phone for a moment. "Or if you have music on your phone we could listen to that as well."

"I do have music on my phone. It is mostly rock and German music though. You can tell me if you don't like a song and I'll skip it." He offered and then switched from radio to Bluetooth. The first song that started was an Annett Louisan song 'Die Katze'. "This song is about a cat." He explained not knowing if Cass knew German at all. "Which of course is one of the least rock songs on my phone." He laughed.

Cassandra listened to the song that Matt started to play through his phone and looked at him for a moment and smiled a bit, though she wasn't really a german speaker the song was actually really good. "I didn't think you were into jazz or anything like that." Cassandra said towards Matt. "It's actually really catchy."

"Yeah, I got into her music when I was taking German. She is pretty easy to understand, and I got to go to a show of hers." Matt told Cass, they were soon at the theater. After they parked Matt went to the stand and exchanged the tickets. "Movie starts in ten, we made it at the perfect time." He told her. "Want popcorn or anything? I like Rasinettes."

"Well maybe for our next date we could go to one of her concerts?" Cassandra suggested it would actually be pretty fun to go out to a concert as well. She got out of their car and locked it, walking along side Matt until they entered the movie theater. "Popcorn with extra butter would be nice." She said giving him a smile.

Matt smiled as Cass suggested that they would have another date. "I'd be happy to take you to an Annett Louisan concert." At the counter he ordered a large popcorn with extra butter, a box of raisinets, a soda, and a bottle of water. He handed her the popcorn and offered for her to pick from the soda or bottle of water.

Cassandra smiled at Matt. "Then that will be our third date." She said as she stood next to him while her ordered what she wanted, once the order came through Cass gently took the large bucket of popcorn, taking the soda she did prefer having a soda while going to the movies. "Thank you Matt." She said as she took a sip from the soda.

"Counting the first one then?" Matt grinned. "Are we calling that our official date? Or today?" Matt asked. It felt a little forward, but at the same time, he had a feeling Cass was leading, which he was fine with. He would let her make the pace. Matt then went to the ticket taker and handed over their tickets and got directions to the theater room they were in. Once in the theater, Matt said, "Dead center seats?" Those were his favorite because it had the best view and sound.

"Maybe it was maybe it wasn't." Cass said teasingly at him, it was more of a little playful tease deciding to let him think which was their actual official date. She occasionally took a small handful of popcorn while she let Matt hand in their tickets, her hands being a little bit full at the moment. It was really nice to just get out of the base even if it was just for a little bit, looking at the screen as some ads played. "Center seats sound perfect to me." She said, before making her way up the aisle before finding a center row of seats, she remembered going to the movies when she was younger with her sister and they always found the backrow seats which was what her sister Carolina preferred.

Shortly the movie started. It was the basic sort of historical film, there were some inconsistencies, but overall it was a decent movie. Matt was the silent time during a movie, only offering occasionally commentary, and offering some raisinets to Cass when he opened the box. Most of Matt's commentary was about lighting or framing of a shot, which he explained was because of a semester he took a film class. Useless knowledge knocking around the back of the head.

After the movie, he offered his arm again and grabbed their trash to toss on the way out. Then led the way out to the car. "Dinner? I have reservations at a Chinese place that came highly rated. It is called R&G Lounge." He hadn't eaten there yet, but he had been told that the lemon chicken there was amazing.

During the movie Cassandra was for the most part silent while looking at Matt occasionally as well, her arm gently resting against his while she watched and would listen to him as he gave some little tidbits about the filming. Though she didn't understand film or making a perfect shot or anything like that she found it interesting regardless while taking the raisinets occasionally whenever Matt offered.

When the movie finally ended Cass still had about a half of the bowl left she wanted to save the rest and usually did bring the bag or bowl back home with her to munch on as well. Cassandra perked up a bit when Matt had booked a place for dinner as well, and smiled at him taking his arm in hers. "Dinner sounds perfect, I do love Chinese food as well." She said, she had heard of the place before but she hadn't gone there before either.

Matt grinned happy that Cass liked Chinese food. He seemed to have pulled off a good date. "I hear the lemon chicken is great there." He finished off the water and tossed it, leading the way back to the car. Climbing into the car he started up the music again. This time a song by Beware of Darkness "Dope". Matt got red in the face. "Ah, yes, a rock song."

Cassandra smiled as she walked alongside Matt until they were out of the theater and made their way back towards the car, she was enjoying the night so far. She climbed into the driver's seat, putting in the address for the restaurant, before pulling out of the parking lot as Matt started up another song. It was a band she wasn't familiar with but it was actually pretty good as she looked at him seeing his face turning red. "You know you are kind of cute when you blush right?"

Matt turned a deeper red. "I...uh." He was at a loss for words. It was a compliment but not one that you said thank you to. He cleared his throat. "It is just that I agree with this song. You're dope." He tried to keep a straight face. 'Dope' was not part of his normal vernacular and it felt weird saying it, but it was true. He agreed that Cass was badass. "Though the song might be going a bit farther than I would expect or want on a second date."

Cassandra smiled seeing his face turning a bit redder at her compliment as she continued to drive while listening to the song, dope was certainly a word that Matt never used really. Maybe her sister did when she was around her sometimes whenever she did have the time to visit her. "Thank you." She said while looking over at him and smiled, though she didn't really see herself as a badass she was just an agent that simply wanted to do her job.

Soon they were at the parking lot near R&G Lounge. San Francisco was a parking nightmare. Another reason Matt preferred his bike in most situations around town. It was fast and efficient and he didn't get stuck on the 101. Whoever invented that monstrosity needed to be put on the raft. Matt offered his arm again to walk from the car to the restaurant. Inside he checked in with the lady behind the hostess counter. They would have to wait a little bit longer but there was a bar behind the hostess. Matt ordered a lychee martini out of curiosity. "I don't know how you feel about any alcohol with driving, but this is tasty. If you are absolutely against it we will come here again and I'll drive the bike. Sadly that'll mean no dress." He offered Cass a sip of his drink if she was game.

Cassandra managed to find a parking spot after searching around, and parked the car once she got out Cass wrapped her arm around Matt's and followed him into the R&G Lounge, looking around the really nice restaurant. She wouldn't mind having to wait a little bit to be seated as she looked over at Matt. "I wouldn't mind having a lychee martini or two." Cass said she wasn't opposed to having at least one drink so long as she didn't get super tipsy she'd be able to drive well enough back to the HUB. She thought about teasing him a little bit about the dress comment, but she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable.

Matt ordered another drink this one for Cass. The bartender made a second one, sliding it to Cass. Matt held up his glass for cheers. "This honestly has been a pleasure. I look forward to more dates if you've enjoyed yourself."

"Mr. Moss, your table is ready." The hostess said. Matt nodded and started to follow the hostess. She went down a set of stairs and through a couple of rooms to a small quiet room with a handful of two-person tables. "Here are your menus. Your waiter will be with you shortly if you have any questions." She walked away, Matt set down his glass and pulled out Cass' chair for her.

Cass accepted the drink once the bartender had given it to them as she looked at Matt and smiled cheers as well before taking a quick sip from it. "I am having a lot of fun, thank you." Cassandra said as their hostess came over, and she followed shortly behind them and down the small flight of stairs she blushed slightly when Matt pulled out a chair for her. It wasn't really something she was used to really but it was really nice as well.

"Good." Matt said taking his own seat across from her. He took a sip from his drink, then opened his menu. Very shortly there was a waiter there asking them if they wanted any other drinks. Matt ordered a pot of tea, jasmine, and water. Several things looked delicious and Matt glanced at a near-by table to determine that this place did serve family style. That meant it would be best for them to pick two to three dishes that sounded good to both of them and share them. They would have leftovers for certain.

When the waiter finished taking their drink orders and left Matt asked, "Do you like Hong Kong-style chow mein? And how do you feel about soups? When this place was recommended to me I was told the Lemon chicken was the best dish, so I want to get that and a soup. Not the Bird's nest though." He winced at the idea of eating bird's nest soup.

Cassandra smiled softly at Matt for a moment and hen looked towards their waiter, and ordered herself a water she turned her attention back towards Matt when he asked her a question. "I've never had Hong Kong-style chow mein before actually." She said towards him, as she started to look through the menu and thought about what she wanted to order. "The lemon chicken sounds really good soup would be nice too." Cass looked at the Birds Nest Soup, she hadn't heard of it before but seeing the price was really crazy in her opinion. "The West Lake Minced Soup would be nice."

"So, what made you want to join SHIELD in the first place?" Cassandra finally asked, deciding to change the subject a little bit she didn't really get to ask him when they had gone on their little movie date from before.

Matt thought for a moment deciding how he was going to tell Cass about his past. "Well, I was part of the SBS when I underwent Terrigenesis on accident. They had no idea how to deal with an Inhuman. I was on some time off and my fiance broke up with me. We had been in the SBS together. After that, I just couldn't go back. So I requested to be let go. I didn't know what I was going to do after that, but SHIELD put in an offer and I took it. That was three years ago. I've since been on a few missions and teams." Matt had just finished speaking when the waiter came over delivering their drinks.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

Cassandra leaned forward as she started to listen to Matt as he told her why he had left the SBS, and joined SHIELD in the first place and nodded, it would have probably been really awkward to still be working with an ex on the same team. "Do you still keep in contact with any of your friends from the SBS?" Cass asked him while looking over towards their waiter and smiled a little bit and nodded as she looked at the menu for a moment once more. "For an appetizer, I'd like the Salt & Pepper Calamari, and a Fresh Crab Meat Winter Melon Soup?" She asked while looking over at Matt.

"I'll have the Hot & Spicy soup please, for my appetizer. The Calamari sounds good." Matt nodded. The waiter wrote down their order.

"I'll put that in," He said leaving them alone. Matt looked at his menu.

"Yeah, there a couple of them I still talk to. Obviously, I don't talk with my ex though." Matt frowned. "Him leaving me like that, it felt like. It felt like this one girl I dated before I had come out. When I came out she dumped me saying she was a lesbian and I didn't meet the criteria. So like because I was different from what they expected I wasn't worth their time." It felt weird being this honest and open with someone about the breakup. He hadn't talked to many people about it. His mother, and his therapist. And only his mother because she had insisted on it.

Cass watched as their waiter went away before turning her attention back over towards Matt as he answered her, and nodded not to many people talked to their exes really in her opinion. She reached over and gently rested a hand over Matt's and gave him a soft loving smile, while looking over at him. "Well your ex is missing out then. But that's good that you still keep in contact with some of your other friends back then." She said smiling.

"Thank you. And I'm glad too.' He smiled back at her. The complement felt good. He wanted her to feel good too, and wanted to tell her what he thought. "I'm sure any ex of yours is kicking their own butt for letting you get away." Matt asked, putting his free hand on top of Cass'. "So, why did you join SHIELD?" He wanted to understand Cass. He liked her, a whole lot, and wished to understand her. What he felt was different then it had when he had been with his ex. With his ex things had just been casual and then they just kept being together. With Cass he wanted to take his time and make it all count.

Cassandra blushed slightly feeling his hand on top of hers, her hands were surprisingly soft despite them being bullet proof, as she met his gaze and smiled. "They probably are." She said with a slight laugh, when he asked her why she joined SHIELD in the first place, it really did feel like a lifetime ago actually when she was normal and didn't have her powers. "I was fresh out of MIT graduated at the top of my class that year, when some agents approached me offering a job at SHIELD. I was kind of young back then and felt like it would be cool, so I signed up right away. I went through the Communications Academy, worked mostly behind the scenes originally with computers before being assigned to Agent Coulson's team for a while. Then my assignment with the X-Men for a few months, that was all before the Phase Three Experiments."

"I only know a little bit about the experiment. What I've picked up, from the water cooler chat if you will, -" Matt was interrupted as the waiter at that point arrived with their appetizers. "Would you like to order your main course?" He asked them.
"Right, can we have an order of Hong Kong-style chow mein and Lemon Chicken. Anything you want specifically?" Matt asked Cass.

"I could maybe pull a few strings to get you some files on it or something if you'd like. Though I am curious what you have heard." Cassandra said giving him a smile, when their waiter came over she looked down at the menu for a moment again. "I'll have the Soy Sauce Chicken please." She said looking over at their waiter and smiled.

The waiter nodded, wrote their order down, and disappeared into the back again.
"I'd appreciate it. Honestly, I don't know much. I know that's how the team originally was created. I know there is some resentment toward it. Even though everyone was a volunteer. I know some people were lost during the experiment. I saw Niah's face when someone mentioned it once. She got that haunted look she does when talking about the time travel stuff. I do know that you, Maria, Novikova, Sparky, and Niah are what remain. At least I think it is just the five of you. I heard something about a simulation, but I don't know what happened with that. And of course, I know about an alternate reality and Ultron. Cause those happened right before I joined the team. But that isn't important when talking about the experiment itself I suppose." Matt told Cass, then took a sip of water. He had some suspicions but very little had been officially shared with him.

"There were more of us at the time, one of them turned out to be a HYDRA agent, some were killed on a mission and I believe two were reassigned to another team." Cassandra said, as she took another drink before setting the glass down and ran a hand through her hair slightly. "Why the Phase Three Experiments were started, was because groups like The Avengers, The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, all of them have their own things they have to deal with, and can't be everywhere all at once. If something like New York were to happen again then we would be better prepared to handle it."

"You've had a few HYDRA agents in the team, right? Not just the ones from the original group. That makes sense. And spreading it out so not everyone is clumped in the same area. I wonder if there have been more attempts with it." Matt wasn't a very scientific person but he suspected the team had been heavily tested and with the information from them they might be able to tell with people who hadn't had any sort of mutation at all if they had the potential for it. He didn't like the idea of that. Felt a lot like the road to eugenics. His own exposure originally to the Terrigian mists had been accidental, and technically his secondary exposure was on accident. If predicting who would change was possible then it was even more possible to be used against the general population. "I hope it doesn't happen though. If we play God too much we will suffer the consequences."

"Yeah there were two who wanted to blow up the Playground who we thought would have been new additions to the team, but they were dealt with rather quickly." Cassandra said as she leaned back a little bit a part of her didn't like the fact that they had more then one HYDRA agent trying to get into the team. "Phase Three was funded by HYDRA hoping that they could turn us to their side, but I'm pretty sure SHIELD won't be doing that again. I do agree with you though."

"HYDRA did not think that through. I mean two of the team are married to each other...in a very gay way. That's not very HYDRA of them." He grinned at the idea and thought of it. He didn't know everyone in Phase Three's leanings but at least two of them were not and could not be actual Nazis.

The waiter brought them their dinner and refilled their drinks. Matt thanked him then looked back at Cass when they were alone. "If given the choice would you do Phase Three again. Like say you restarted your life with all your memories back in time to just before you made the decision would you do it again?"

"Yeah, that probably wouldn't even go well for them." Cass said with a slight laugh as she took another drink when their waiter came back with their food. She looked up at their waiter as he refilled their drinks and smiled towards him. "Thank you." She said when they were alone again Cass started to think for a moment. "If I could do it all over again, I would I think it has made me better as a person from what I was before." She answered as she reached forward and started to eat the chicken.

"Personally I would have my accident again. I am happy with all the people I've met since then. They are good people. And some of them are hot." He said the last part with a grin and a wink. They chatted some more over dinner about random things. When the bill came Matt paid for it. They made their way back to the car, Matt opened the door for her. "One last kiss, may I have a question?" He paused, laughed, and asked "One last question, may I have a kiss."

Cassandra blushed a little bit at Matt's compliment tucking a stray strand of hair out of her face. "You aren't that bad looking yourself." She said giving him a loving smile once dinner was done, Cass smiled at his question and leaned forward and gave him a loving kiss. Letting it linger there a little bit longer and smiled before taking a step back.

[Nallore]

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Maria Novikova & Dominika Novikova

Location: San Francisco, Saint Francis Hospital
Date: April 2nd, 2021

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Maria had taken her wife over to the Saint Francis Hospital for a medical checkup, she was really happy to find out that Novi was pregnant. She gently held her hand in Novikova's and smiled at her, waiting in one of the examination rooms she had taken the day off for the appointment as well. "How are you doing?" Maria asked looking over at her for a moment and smiled at her.

Novikova was about two months pregnant. They had spent a lot of money in order to get a baby together, looking through catalogue after catalogue of sperm donors. Novikova was the one carrying the child as Maria's absorption powers could prove dangerous for the baby. She had morning sickness and she couldn't stand the sight of seafood. Whether that indicated anything about the health of their future child, she had no idea. "Could be worse," she told her wife with a coy smile.

"Want to get some seafood after this or something?" Maria asked teasingly, even though she knew that Novi couldn't stand the sight of seafood at all at the moment. She did end up going out at odd times in the morning for any weird cravings that her wife had as well, and did anything that she could think of to make her feel comfortable.

"Do I get to puke on you at the restaurant or do I have to wait until after?" Novikova quipped. Her voice was even and steady, to the extent that those who didn't know her would have assumed she was completely serious. When she and Maria first started dating, she never would have imagined puking on Maria. But now, pregnant and married? Vomit warfare was fair game. How things changed.

"Eww god no, only if I get to return the favor." Maria quipped back jokingly, she of course wouldn't eat any kind of seafood around her at all, she would have gotten some in the HUB's food court. "Soooo, any ideas for names?" Maria asked, she hadn't really thought of to many at the time but she was open to suggestions.

Novikova smirked a little bit. Her own name was rather basic - Dominika. It was the Russian equivalent of naming a baby Karen. She preferred going by her surname for that reason, plus it just so happened to match the culture of working at SHIELD. Almost everyone went by their surnames. It was only close friends that used first names with one another. "I was thinking something traditional... Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way for instance."

Maria gave her wife a weird little look, the name didn't sound like a traditional name to her really, it sounded something more out of a fantasy book. "Sounds like something out of a Lord of the Rings book." Maria said teasingly, her name was just really basic and simple she had been named after her grandmother, and her middle name was her mother's.

Novikova's eyes widened, although it was difficult for someone to tell with her shades. Most of her facial cues and expressions came from her mouth and eyebrows, as her eyes just weren't an option anymore. It made her wonder about how some costumed heroes could emote with a complete mask on, like the minor hero Spider-Man out in New York City. She had seen videos of some of his stunts on Youtube. He was funny. "Have you never read My Immortal, the greatest literature work of our time?"

Maria looked at Novi for a moment, and shook her head slightly the title sounded more like the Evanescence song that was released years ago when she was little and growing up and listening to it all the time. "Nope, never have actually." Maria said looking at her wife seeing the surprised look that she was giving her.

"I'm filing for divorce," Novikova deadpanned. "What did you have in mind for a name then? Do you want to honor anyone? For example, Kool-Aid Man Novikova-Smith I think sounds rather regal and would turn every head in the classroom out of awe. It's also hard to make funny names out of it, since it itself is pretty stupid. Anything you do to it just improves it or won't make sense."

"You'd miss me way too much if you did that." Maria teased back, as she thought about names growing up she thought of all of the books that she read the most growing up. She was really into Rick Riordan's books growing up as well, as she thought about some names, and thought of two in mind. "What if she's a girl, cant name her like the Kool-Aid Man, that just doesn't make sense." Maria said as she shook her head slightly and giggled a bit. "I was thinking Diana, or Artemis maybe."

"I thought Kool-Aid Man was gender neutral," Novikova teased. "Hmm... I like Diana. She might be teased with the name Artemis, but at least Diana is a bit more normal sounding. Do you have a middle name in mind?" she asked, rubbing her belly a little bit, as if to see if baby Diana or baby Kool-Aid Man liked the idea. "If you want the mythological trend, Cynthia was another name for Artemis."

"Not if it has man in it." Maria said jokingly as she gently wrapped an arm around her wife and hugged her tightly as she gently rested a hand on her wife's belly as well giving her a loving smile as she thought of a middle name. She started to think for a moment and looked at Novi as she thought, Niah had been one of her closest friends since the academy and her friend had gone through so much as well. "Niah maybe?" Maria asked looking at her wife.

Novikova's knee jerk reaction was to object to Niah being the namesake of their child, but then she hesitated, rethinking it. Yes, she hadn't gotten along with Niah during her time at the academy. But if it hadn't been for Niah, Maria would be dead. Novikova would be dead. The world would have been destroyed. Their baby never would have been born. "Alright, Diana Niah Novikova then."

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Cassandra Reed & Bonnie Chase

Location: The HUB, Virology Lab
Date: February 18th, 2021

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It had been four days since they had fought on the Moon against The Black Order, and they were successful Cassandra made her way towards the virology lab. She hadn't really left the base just in case they needed more blood samples to synthesize more of the cure from her, and just another health check in case there was any other ill effects left behind by M-Pox. She also wanted to check in on Bonnie as well and how she was doing as well, Cass thought for the last couple of days on who she wanted as her second for the team.

Tinley had been a good leader, even though Director Hill had demoted her before her untimely death, she knew that Bonnie would be a good choice and she completely trusted Bonnie to be her second. Cassandra knocked on the door to the virology lab and stuck her head in seeing Bonnie there and smiled. "How are you doing Bonnie?" Cass asked as she walked into the lab.

Bonnie glanced up from her work. She was currently meticulously pipetting using a multi-channel pipet into ten wells at a time. It looked fairly simple, but the real difficulty came in ensuring that each of the ten wells received the same size aliquot. Bubbles were a commonplace frustration, as well as simply losing track of which row one was working with. "Could be better. Can I do something for you?" she asked.

Cassandra made her way over and sat down across from Bonnie and shrugged slightly. "Needed to get another medical checkup, I guess and also to see if you wanted to hangout or something get you a break from this place to." Cass said looking at the setup she was working with. "What are you doing anyway?"

"Oh, just working on an assay," Bonnie explained. "Let me finish this up and we can go grab a coffee?" she suggested. She couldn't really wait and finish this up later, it was time sensitive and the cells needed to incubate at room temperature for at least an hour. She picked up the pipet and quickly went about finishing her work as methodically and exactly as she could, until all of the wells were complete.

"Sounds like you said essay to me." Cassandra said with a slight laugh and nodded towards her. "Coffee sounds good to me, my treat." She watched what she was doing, but looked wasn't sure what it was all that she was working on. "Is there anything I can do to help or anything?" She offered.

Bonnie shook her head. She picked up her tray and took it over to a rotating plate, setting it down. After a few minutes passed, she took it off and set it on her work space. "All done. That needs to incubate at room temperature for at least an hour, more is better, so I'm all yours. Where do you want to go get coffee? The cafeteria? Or somewhere outside the Hub?"

Cassandra thought for a moment, on where they should actually go for coffee the HUB did have a nice cafeteria but she really did just want to take some time away from the base for a little bit. "Lets go somewhere outside the HUB, would that work?" She asked, and nodded they could have sometime away while the thing incubated.

Bonnie grinned. "Definitely. Are you kidding me? This place can get stuffy sometimes, especially with... Well, you know, things have just been tense lately," she admitted. Tinley had died up there on the moon. While Cass was her best friend and she was happy Cass had been promoted, Bonnie did miss Tinley. She hadn't had much of a chance to lead the Secret Warriors. Barton had begun mentoring Tinley just for the rug to be pulled out under her.

Cassandra smiled and nodded towards her, things had been really tense and she did feel really bad for Tinley's sudden death, sadly there wasn't much that she could do about it really. "Oh yeah things have been really tense around here, and i'm kinda tired of being cooped up here all the time." She said, Cass really did get tired of the constant medical check ins as well. She got up as she thought about how Bonnie would react to being promoted as well as she started to make her way towards the vehicle depot.

"I'm sure someone somewhere will cause a weird enough crime that Hill'll have you lead us to glory, Captain," Bonnie teased Cass gently. While Cass was her superior, they had been friends for ages. She looked back fondly on when the two of them had been the science geeks on Coulson's team. It must have been five or so years ago now - maybe four, time was a bit blurry sometimes.

Cassandra smirked and giggled slightly and nodded. "I'll be sure to lead everyone, you can totally start calling me Captain to." Cass said smirking back, she hadn't ever expected to become the leader of their team at all. It felt like a lifetime ago when they were on members of Coulson's team. "It feels like it was a lifetime ago we were just on Coulson's team." Cass then found one of their cars and climbed into it after she was given the keys to it, she turned to look over at Bonnie. "So, any particular coffee place you want to go to?"

"Hmm... Cafe Roma is pretty good?" Bonnie suggested, getting into the car. She didn't get off base as much as she should have. Even when it came time for dates with Flynn, they generally ended up just hanging out in her room or in his. The base had a foodcourt as well so they didn't even need to leave in order to get a hot meal.

"Café Roma sounds perfect to me." Cassandra said giving Bonnie a smile as she started the car up and started to pull out of the vehicle depot, and out onto the streets again. She looked over towards Flynn for a moment, she was curious about how Flynn and Bonnie were as well. "So, how are things with you and Flynn?" Cass asked.

Bonnie blushed, her cheeks bright red. She had always been a rather private person when it came to romance. It was mostly a defense mechanism after James' death. If she didn't talk about her emotions and desires, then she could just knuckle down and focus on her work. Of course, her therapists at the hospital had tried to break her of that habit, but Bonnie hadn't completely changed. For instance, she had been incredibly flustered when Niah gifted her lingerie for Christmas. "They're good - I think," Bonnie answered. "I, um, let him spend the night in my room on Valentine's Day... Not sex or anything like that, just cuddling and watching movies."

Cassandra looked at Bonnie when she told her that they had been hanging out in her room more, which was a big step for her and smiled. "Thats really good to hear, I'm really happy for you guys." She said, knowing that her friend still had a hard time moving forward after James' death she was happy Flynn was making her happy. They eventually made it to the coffee shop, Cass got out of the car and locked as soon as Bonnie got out and made her way inside. "So, what were you craving anyway?"

Bonnie bit back a smile, although it didn't really work - her happiness was clear in her eyes. "After this is all over - and by this I mean M-Pox - we should go do a museum day again," she interjected, perhaps a bit randomly. She loved going to museums, especially air and space ones, though she also adored art museums. She hadn't gotten to draw professionally very much since joining SHIELD, usually just sketching the members of her team for fun. "I'm thinking... a cappuccino sounds good today."

Cassandra gave Bonnie a smile, she certainly did like the idea of going to some kind of museum with Bonnie. "We should drag Flynn along as well, that'd be fun to." She teased her friend as she entered the café and thought for a moment, she was craving just a regular coffee and nodded towards her as she started to make her order, and then got her coffee and paid for it and made her way over towards an open table. "So, I was thinking ever since getting promoted any suggestions for anyone to be my second?" Cassandra finally asked, she of course was going to ask Bonnie but she was also curious who she'd suggest as well.

She raised a bit of an eyebrow. Bonnie figured she knew who Cass was going to pick for her second in command, but she decided she would bite and play this game. "Well you need to think of it logically. Your second should be someone with tons of experience. They also should be someone you can interact with easily and work with well, perhaps someone you've been partners with before. They need to have a good sense of strategy and leadership, as well as be able to show off physical prowess... Now for experience, the person with the most is... me. For who you get along with, I've been your best friend for over seven years now, so that's also me. For strategy and leadership, I l-like Flynn but he doesn't have that. I have the most of it. Maria's also liable to quit soon to join the Avengers I imagine. Oh and for physical prowess? I killed a member of the Black Order single handedly a few days ago."

Cassandra leaned forward slightly as she listened to her best friend, giving her a smile as she listed her opinions, she wasn't going to pick Maria knowing that she could most likely join her wife Novikova with the Avengers which was understandable. Flynn was an alright choice, she is friends with him, but his temperament wasn't really that good. Bonnie had been her friend for years and she got along really well with Bonnie as well and smiled some more. "I am picking you obviously, we have known each other and have been with SHIELD the longest out of everyone on the team. And you deserve it as well. That is if you do want the job I cant think of anyone else who is qualified enough as well and I want you by my side to since you are my best friend after all and we have to stick together, and you are a total badass to."

"Of course I want the job. My Hogwarts House is Slytherin after all. And my Avatar the Last Airbender Nation is Fire," Bonnie pointed out. "If we're talking Riordanverse Books, I'm a child of Athena. Ambition runs through my veins. In fact, that's actually what the blood type A+ stands for - ambition positive." She grinned at Cass and gave her a tight hug.

"I thought you were more of a Hufflepuff, the job is completely yours then." Cassandra said teasingly as she hugged Bonnie back, she knew that she was making the right choice and knew that she could easily rely on Bonnie. And if the event were to ever happened in the field or if she wasn't in a condition to lead Bonnie would step up.

[Morose]

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@Natsu

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The Triskelion - Washington D.C.: May 17th, 2021 - 1:00 P.M.

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FROM THE DESK OF DIRECTOR HILL

THE FOLLOWING IS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY:

1. ALL SUPERHEROES MUST REGISTER WITH SHIELD AND REVEAL THEIR SECRET IDENTITY

2. SUPERHEROES MUST BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD

3. SUPERHEROES MUST PASS SHIELD TRAINING - EXCEPTIONS INCLUDE TRAINING FROM THE X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, AND AVENGERS

4. ALL SUPERHEROES ARE SUBJECTED TO THE SUPERVISION OF SHIELD

VIOLATION OF THESE WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE EXTRACTION TO THE RAFT. MINIMUM SENTENCING IS THREE YEARS HOUSE ARREST. JUVENILE OFFENDERS WILL BE TRIED AS ADULTS. REPEAT OFFENDERS HAVE A RECOMMENDED SENTENCE OF TEN YEARS IMPRISONMENT.

ALL VIGILANTE ACTIVITY KNOWN TO SHIELD PERSONNEL MUST BE REPORTED TO THEIR SUPERVISOR OR LEAD IMMEDIATELY.

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!

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Bonnie Chase

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Location: the Triskelion - Conference Room
Skills: Blessing of Athena, Perception, Intuition

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Bonnie's eyes scanned over the memoranda as they waited outside of the conference room at the Triskelion. Director Hill had ordered the Secret Warriors to come to Washington D.C. late the previous evening, giving them just enough time to find a place to board Flynn's dog before taking off in the quinjet to fly across the country. The memoranda had been released just minutes before Hill had sent Cass their marching orders. She had no doubt that whatever Hill wanted, it had something to do with these Hill's Laws.

She was seated on a bench, her knee bouncing up and down in agitation. Bonnie was uneasy about the new SHIELD policy towards superheroes. From an intellectual perspective, she agreed that vigilantes often brought about more harm than good... but their world had evolved to a point where it needed groups like the Avengers to save the day. SHIELD was still fighting a losing war against HYDRA. They hadn't managed to save the people of Cardiff. The more good people there were out there fighting the good fight, the more lives could be saved.

Yet then her eyes flickered over towards Oliver. There were people all over the world with new abilities thanks to the Terrigen Bomb, inhumans now reaching similar numbers to mutants. They were largely untrained and untested. Oliver had attended SHIELD's academy, he was one of the brightest people in the world, and even he had made mistakes. She shuddered a bit at the idea of the colossal failures a civilian Oliver might have made.

Was the only argument she could make for superheroes not being vigilantes an emotional one? The registration aspect was unsettling, but it wasn't the Mutant Registration Act. It wasn't everyone in the world with powers and the information was kept within SHIELD, not given out to the public. Little kids with powers wouldn't be on the lists. Only those who chose to put on a mask and fight crime would be. What reason would they have to hide who they were from SHIELD? No matter which way she looked at things, it didn't sit right with her.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting, my 12 o'clock just finished," Hill said as she stepped outside of the conference room, holding the door open for the group.

Bonnie knew everyone present except for one girl with bushy hair and a vibrant, toothy smile. She got up from her seat on the bench and moved into the conference room, her eyes widening a bit. The glass wall was completely shattered. She quickly observed that there was no glass on the floor, meaning that whatever had happened, something had gone out of the conference room rather than in. "Who was your 12 o'clock?" Bonnie asked.

"Steve Rogers."

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Amelia Baptiste

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Location: Triskelion - Conference Room
Skills: Air Manipulation

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Amelia whistled appreciatively at the broken glass wall. A slight breeze flew into the room and she couldn't help but grin slightly. She didn't know any of these people, giving them basic nicknames in her mind, but she had been assigned by Director Hill to join them. They were one of the elite squads of SHIELD and according to the rumors, their last mission had been to space! SPACE! She could become the first black female pilot to fly in SPACE! "One like and I'll free fall from here," Amelia said. Her voice was energetic and spunky, making it a bit difficult to tell if she was serious or not.

She then did a double take. "Crikey, that was Captain America who did that? That's straight up furphy, mate."

"This is Agent Baptiste," Hill introduced, not phased in the slightest with the barrage of Australian slang coming out of Amelia's mouth. Amelia had on khakis and an aviator jacket, making it plenty easy to guess what sort of role she fulfilled here at SHIELD, especially with the delighted grin on her face at the prospect of jumping out the window and plummeting at least sixty stories to the ground. "She's been reassigned to your unit, since your pilot is MIA," Hill explained. Her eyes darted over towards Sparky. Raynor had been the pilot.

"Pleasure to meet you all," Amelia said with a wide grin. She was an incredibly cheerful person, despite her adrenaline junky tendencies. "I can fly everything and anything - including a few things that don't exist yet," she bragged. "Oh, and I'm a proper air bender too, 'cept I don't have the tattoos."

She conjured up a ball of air and jumped upwards, landing on it and riding it like a top - the signature air scooter technique of the main character from the popular Nickelodeon series. Hill cleared her throat slightly. Looking a bit like a dejected puppy, Amelia hopped off of the scooter and it vanished. She took a seat at the table.

"This mission is highly classified. Everything stays between us. If anyone else asks you about it, you never received these orders. This includes certain members of the West Coast Avengers," Hill began. She was looking at Maria now. "Steve Rogers has gone rogue. I need you to bring him in. No use of lethal force. He's a national hero. But even heroes aren't above the law."

[BlueSky44]

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Location: the Triskelion - Conference Room
Skills: N/A

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To say that Flynn was more then a little pissed off over the whole Hill's Laws thing was a bit of an understatement. His mind was racing like crazy, remembering a lot of everything that had happened while he was with a different organization that tried to do something similarly to that. It had been OMEN, and a lot of people knew how that ended, poorly. He was practically watching what he felt was a replay of everything, it was like watching a movie sequel, knowing that everything that was happening was a bad idea, but being unable to really do anything about it. Flynn had thought that SHIELD was different from OMEN, that they were better, but at this point he was questioning if they weren't one and the same. Not to mention most of the time the sequels were hardly ever better in most ways then the original.

"I hate this whole thing Bonnie," he whispered to her under his breath when they went to the conference room. There were so many things going through his mind, like how a friend of his and the Mutant Underground in DC had just disappeared entirely. He wasn't too sure what to think regarding the glass wall being shattered, which Hill explained was done by Steve Rogers. Her words though are what got to him, he didn't even really acknowledge Amelia as he stared straight at Hill. "...Okay, going to be blunt... You want us to go after fucking Captain America? You are worried about him being a national hero, but what's to say things won't end badly, or the public wouldn't turn against you if something like this get's out? No wonder you want it kept a secret, the whole idea sounds beyond stupid!"

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Location: the Triskelion - Conference Room
Skills: N/A

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Sparky still wasn't doing the best emotionally, as she still wanted to head out there and truly try and find Raynor despite there clearly not being enough time to. Not to mention she wasn't too sure still about the idea of being pregnant, but slowly she had come around to the idea and had decided to keep the baby. She still was determined to track Raynor down, even if she had to travel to the ends of the universe in order to do it. Walking into the conference room and seeing a new face, Sparky wasn't too sure what to think regarding Agent Baptiste, but she figured that she might as well be nice about it.

Hill didn't exactly try to hide the fact that the reason why Agent Baptiste had been assigned to the team, because Raynor had been their main pilot before, and with him gone it made sense for them to get a new pilot. That didn't make the knowledge hurt her anymore. She nodded her head towards Amelia, giving her a small smile. "Hi there, Agent Theresa Sparks, but most people call me Sparky, it's nice to meet you," she said with a slight wave towards her, before her attention turned back towards Hill. The fact that they were told that they were going on a mission to bring in Captain Rogers didn't really sit all too well with her, but she couldn't help but have more questions about why and what had happened in the conference room before they had entered it.

[Kirah]

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Location: Triskelion - Conference Room
Skills:

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Niah was happy to be back on the team, but she did not know how she felt about the decree in front of her. Hill's laws sounded...well fascist. Having grown up in the Philippines she knew what that looked like. She had pursed her lips sitting there waiting for admittance into Hill's office. Niah wasn't one to make waves though, she wasn't going to stand up to Hill, at least not alone.

"Hello and welcome to the team I'm Agent Bautista." Niah said introducing herself to Agent Baptiste. It felt weird to call herself Agent again, she had been going by Doctor over the last few months during her temporary transfer. A part of her saw pre-Phase three Niah in the new Agent. She remembered having a huge smile on her face and being happy and trusting. Niah let the thought pass over her and made a mental note to go over that later, in therapy.

Things got super weird when Flynn started yelling at Hill, that part was normal, what wasn't was she found herself agreeing with him. Niah blinked confused. Yeah, they had had their heart-to-heart but that didn't change his choices. Niah cleared her throat and got some nerve. "Why has Rogers gone rogue?"

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Location: Triskelion - Conference Room
Skills:

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The articles in Hill's law made sense. You shouldn't have untrained people out there fighting people. Hell, trained people were dangerous enough. The collateral damage Matt had seen, before and after joining SHIELD was no joke. He frowned at the papers though. He could see how this could go badly, but Hill was the big boss.

What Matt wasn't certain was how he felt about Captain America. Matt was British so he had his obvious preferences, especially after the attack on Cardiff. He didn't know what could drive Captain America to go rogue so he was glad that Bautista of all people asked. She didn't seem like she had much of a spine, and that was just a guess from the few interactions he had had with her. Matt considered it her fault that Dalisy had gone missing, and Niah had made it clear she blamed him saying that the inhibitor had been faulty. Matt assumed she had somehow tampered with it.

Matt wasn't surprised by Flynn's reaction and just turned his attention to Agent Baptiste. "I'm Agent Moss." he said introducing himself. "The hothead is Flynn, and yes he is always like this, but it kind of grows on you."

[Nallore]

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Cassandra Reed

Location: the Triskelion - Conference Room
Skills: N/A

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Cassandra sat in one of the chairs just outside of the conference room, she took a moment to read over the memo that she had recived from Director Hill. And then assembling everyone over to the Triskelion on short notice, Cass didn't really like the whole Hills Laws thing that were sent to her. Logically it did make sense, but she had concerns Cass enjoyed working with SHIELD but with HYDRA still around and them fighting against each other, anyone from HYDRA could probably use it and recruit them as well. But having untrained people out and around was concerning to with them taking the law into their own hands, it felt more like the MRA version for superheroes in her opinion.

Cassandra looked over towards the new face that she didn't really know and gave the woman a friendly smile, when Hill opened the door and allowed them into the room, when Hill introduced the new girl to her team. "I'm Agent Cassandra Reed i'll be your team lead, it's great to meet you, and happy to have a new pilot as well." Cass introduced herself, she didn't mind piloting though she wasn't an ace pilot and could do some basic maneuvers and the basic controls of a quinjet as well Cass gave her a smile watching her bending the air around and making an air scooter like Aang did in Avatar which was pretty impressive. She looked at the shattered glass wall and raised an eyebrow when she heard that it was caused by Steve Rogers, having met him a few times before and most recently at Guin's wedding.

They were asked to go after Captain America since he had gone rogue apparently and Flynn being his hotheaded self going at Hill, she didn't like the idea of having to bring him back. "Flynn, calm down please." She said looking over towards him before turning her attention back to Director Hill, Niah did have a point she did want to know why he had gone rogue. "Not trying to question our orders we'll get it done. But shouldn't it be better if the other members of the Avengers went to bring him in, like Agents Romanoff and Barton?" Cass asked.

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Maria Novikova

Location: the Triskelion - Conference Room
Skills: N/A

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Maria hadn't said to much during the flight over to DC, she hadn't heard anything from her sister in the last couple of days which worried her a little bit, and also thinking about Novi and their baby as well. She had read over the memo that Director Hill had sent out to all of the agents. Maria didn't like them at all one bit, she didn't agree having SHIELD knowing everyones identity for those who decided to pick up the mask and cape around the world. Her attention turned towards the conference room as it opened and Director Hill allowed them to enter, she got up and made her way inside looking over at the new girl who had been sitting outside with them as Hill introduced them to her.

Maria gave Amelia a friendly smile and nodded towards her as she watched Amelia showing off her powers and made her smile a little bit which reminded her of her sister who could fly as well. "You should totally get the tattoos now then you'd make a perfect air nomad, you'd get along pretty well with my sister I think, i'm Maria Novikova by the way." Maria said, when Director Hill told them their orders, and she didn't like them one bit at all and she had to agree with Flynn as well, it just wouldn't end well in her opinion and then Hill looking at her somewhat.

"Okay it was just one time my wife came to the HUB during M-Pox, and she came at a good time, the HUB would have probably been destroyed and you probably wouldn't be here chatting right now either." Maria said crossing her arms over her chest, she had been really thinking of just joining the West Coast Avengers to be closer to her wife and with her baby on the way as well.

[Natsu]

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Oliver Sullivan

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Location: the Triskelion - Conference Room
Skills: Super Speed

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It'd been a bit of a trip, these past few months since everything has happened. Superpowers were great and all, but something in him was kind of broken, he was twitchier, not often getting the amount of sleep he needed, and almost paranoid about everything. Between not knowing who was and wasn't a skrull, nor knowing when the next calamity would strike, it wouldn't be inaccurate to say he was almost a different person now. His hair had grown out a bit, but there he was, sitting at the table, fiddling with a cube as Maria Hill kept them waiting. As he was working on solving it, he blinked for a moment, and he switched on his speed, something he was slowly getting better at, finding toying with the cube to be a good way to practice effort and control over his speed.

As he solved, a thought crossed his mind, and he twitched his head, tears forming, as he finished, and the cube nearly fumbled out of his hand. He knew he didn't have much longer at this point. His mom would be dead soon, it couldn't be more than a few days, she had called him last night, before he was about to go to bed. So that shot any potential plans he had about courting Morpheus for the evening, instead, he spent the whole night crying. As he wiped tears from his face, Director Hill walked in, and proceeded to announce that they'd be hunting down Steve Rogers, a plan that sounded like the last thing Shield would do before losing all public support and funding.

"Not to speak out of turn," Oli said, as he proceeded to blatantly speak out of turn, "But even operating on the theory that we can take down the leader of the Avengers in total secrecy without killing him, people are going to notice when Captain America isn't Captain America-ing anymore." He was in a bit of a no fucks given mood right now, and there were a million terrible ways this could go wrong, "And even past that, has he actually done anything yet? Don't we need to wait for him to engage in vigilante justice before we arrest him? I know this isn't my country, but I thought your constitution had some things to say about that form of preventative detention of American citizens." He then tacked on quickly, "Respectfully, of course."

[Morose]

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@Natsu@Trainerblue192

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The Triskelion - Washington D.C.: May 17th, 2021 - 1:10 P.M.

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FROM THE DESK OF DIRECTOR HILL

THE FOLLOWING IS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY:

1. ALL SUPERHEROES MUST REGISTER WITH SHIELD AND REVEAL THEIR SECRET IDENTITY

2. SUPERHEROES MUST BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD

3. SUPERHEROES MUST PASS SHIELD TRAINING - EXCEPTIONS INCLUDE TRAINING FROM THE X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, AND AVENGERS

4. ALL SUPERHEROES ARE SUBJECTED TO THE SUPERVISION OF SHIELD

VIOLATION OF THESE WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE EXTRACTION TO THE RAFT. MINIMUM SENTENCING IS THREE YEARS HOUSE ARREST. JUVENILE OFFENDERS WILL BE TRIED AS ADULTS. REPEAT OFFENDERS HAVE A RECOMMENDED SENTENCE OF TEN YEARS IMPRISONMENT.

ALL VIGILANTE ACTIVITY KNOWN TO SHIELD PERSONNEL MUST BE REPORTED TO THEIR SUPERVISOR OR LEAD IMMEDIATELY.

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!

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Bonnie Chase & Amelia Baptiste

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Location: the Triskelion - Conference Room
Skills: Intuition

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Amelia wasn't really sure what to think - going after Captain America? She stared at Hill, wondering if the woman was off her rocker, if the stress of the job had finally gotten to her. She was from Australia and even she loved Captain America. His name was synonymous with punching Nazis and defending liberty. Being asked to bring him in... it was like being asked to bring the embodiment of good in the world to justice. He was up there with Obama in her list of favorite people.

She gave a smile to Sparks and Niah. "Nice to meet ya. You can call me Amelia." Even if Hill was giving crazy orders, Amelia wasn't about to start off on the wrong foot with her teammates. "And that's s'alright, lotta cunts back home act like this to be tough and all, but I bet he's got a point."

Bonnie glanced at Flynn. It didn't take a great sense of intuition to tell what was wrong. He struggled with his past as an agent of O.M.E.N. - much like Bonnie was certain those in the Phase Three experiments grappled with the truth that they were children of HYDRA and not S.H.I.E.L.D. She bit her lip as he lashed out at Hill. She didn't want to see him fired for something like this - or worse. Yet at the same time, she did agree with him to an extent. Going after Captain America was problematic to say the least... He was an adored national icon.

What had he done to merit this?

"I was hoping that Agent Asokho would have joined us before I explained more specifics - but it seems he is running late," Hill stressed. "Rogers declared himself an enemy of SHIELD. He refused to abide by the new mandate, saying that he trusted his hands more than anyone else. I understand that this is hard and Agent Flynn, you can walk out the door now and I won't punish you for it... One of our operatives, Agent 13, believes that Rogers' objections tie back to a war criminal he's harboring called the Winter Soldier." Those in Operations would be familiar with the name - the Winter Soldier was a ghost in the intelligence community, the deadliest assassin in the world.

"I'm heading to New York as soon as this finishes to speak with the Avengers - and god help me, talking to Stark won't be pleasant. But it needs to be done. We need compliance. No more vigilantes." Hill paused, before eyeing Oliver. "I would say harboring the Winter Soldier, assaulting the Director of SHIELD, those would qualify. But respectfully this isn't your call, Agent. And if I were you, I'd keep my head down. The council isn't exactly thrilled to have the son of Thanos on Earth."

"Who is Thanos? Some sort of criminal mastermind?" Amelia whispered. She didn't know much of what had happened back in February. Her main focus had been suddenly developing amazing powers after waking up inside of a cocoon like a human butterfly. There was a lot more lore that came with this new assignment than she had realized. Still though, it was blowing her mind to know that apparently Steve Rogers was best friends with assassins. Could they even take on Captain America? She had seen stories about him defeating entire Nazi armies by himself. He and the other Avengers had stopped the Chitauri in New York single handedly.

"An intergalactic warlord," Bonnie told Amelia. If Amelia was going to be on their team, things would have come to light eventually. Maybe she should've let Oliver answer the question, but Bonnie's mind was so focused on the moral dilemma Hill had presented them with that she didn't think about it. If they went after Captain America, then they were going against arguably the moral pillar of the country and one of Earth's mightiest heroes. If they didn't, then they were giving him special treatment because he was Captain America.

"I'll go on the mission," Bonnie decided. If it hadn't been Captain America, they wouldn't have questioned it. They had gone to Latveria for far less, just with rumors of illegal arms dealing. She trusted Director Hill. She trusted SHIELD.

[Trainerblue192]

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Kwassi Asokho

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Location: Conference Room
Skills:

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Agent Asokho entered conference room as quietly as he could. He doubted that his presence wouldn't go unnoticed given that this facility was run by people meant to see the unseen. He slid his way past a few people, landing next to Amelia as it appeared to him that she was as new to some of this information as he was. The idea of going after and capturing Captain America was wild. He stood for Hope, Justice, and the American Way. He was a war hero and beloved through time. Kwassi knew that Agent Sullivan was in the right. By arresting Captain America, the world's faith and hope in their heros might faulter and cause unrest. Surely he hadnt done anything yet to warrant such actions, but Director Hill had said what she said and already issued this manhunt. Anyone would be crazy to go and defy her and S.H.I.E.L.D. so openly. Well at least it would be crazy for him. He was new to all this and didn't fully have his footing yet, he couldn’t afford to step on toes now, not with his higher ups.

Agent Asokho took a sip from his Iced Guava Passion Fruit drink. The cooling and smooth beverage making its way down his throat before he dared to speak up. "Pardon for speaking up but Director Hill has the right of it. If Captain America truly has branded himself as an Enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D. and chosen not to align with the mandate then we must bring him in. Not only because of his position but because of who he is. If we bring in Captain America we are sending out a message to all those who oppose this that we are united and we will bring them to Justice. It will bring out those who waver still and have them align with us as they see that even Captain America couldn't avoid this fate." He took another sip from his beverage before giving Agent Sullivan a polite smile.

[Kirah]

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Location: Triskelion - Conference Room
Skills:

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Niah felt a bit better when Hill didn't yell at her, but she was upset about the situation. It seemed like a surprising amount of the team was against the mission, and against Hill's laws. There definitely had to be a process for this kind of thing. She couldn't just make these laws and expect the whole of the US to follow it. Niah glanced at Bonnie when she said she would do the mission. Both Bonnie and Cass seemed alright with the mission. That was enough for Niah for now.

"Alright. I'll go." She nodded, then looked to Cass. "We're going to need a good plan for this. We can't just go running after him and hope to bring him in quietly."

Mentally Niah was still trying to get passed the laws that Hill had given them. What if someone was caught up in the middle of an alien invasion? Could they not defend themselves even if they were capable of doing so just because of this? She got limiting who could actively search out trouble. But who was going to tell Spider-man he couldn't patrol his little corner of the world just because he wasn't 18? Though Niah didn't even know if SHIELD knew who Spider-man actually was.

She did acknowledge the new person who entered the conference room, Agent Asokho, with a nod. Names could be exchanged when Hill left and the pressure her presence made left with her.

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Location: Triskelion - Conference Room
Skills:

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Matt winced at the mention of the Winter Soldier. There was a black mark on SHIELD's history it didn't like attention paid to. He could make a few logic leaps from what Director Hill said. Matt nodded that he was going to go on the mission as well. He adjusted in his seat.

"Hello, Agent Asokho I'm assuming? I'm Agent Moss. Welcome to the team. Agent Reed here is the leader." Matt said to the man who joined them late. Matt figured the new guy would get at least a small reprimand for being late and saw no reason to be the one to say it. Both new people would have a lot to learn about the group and its dynamics. Matt was a little concerned about two new people joining right now.

Matt did want to tell Hill to stuff it when she harrassed Oliver about his parentage. That wasn't Oliver's fault, and Oliver had proven that he was willing to fight Thanos. As long as Thanos didn't find out Oliver was still alive Earth would be basically safe. Sure the guy was insane and might come back for fun, but he had left after Oliver's faked death. If Earth was lucky he would forget it existed since it had no space-presence.

[Nallore]

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Cassandra Reed

Location: the Triskelion - Conference Room
Skills: N/A

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Cassandra still wasn't to sure about the mission, as Oliver spoke a bit out of turn directly to Director Hill's face really wasn't a smart move she could easily stuff him into a dark cell or something. But he did have a good point though they needed a good reason to actually go after him as well. Cass didn't like the way Hill spoke to Oliver really either but she didn't say anything as she remained quiet for the most part. Captain America had some sort of contact or protecting someone by the name of the Winter Soldier she had heard of before but didn't know much details about him when a newer face came in.

Agent Asokho came into the room, as she looked at him who was late for some reason to the meeting which was a bit odd since if you were called by the Director to come in you had to right away. When he spoke though Cass was reminded a little bit of the kid James in Wanda's House of M reality that she had made for everyone. Luckily she didn't remember anything that she had done in that reality and just theirs which was probably a good thing she didn't want to know what she did while working with the Red Guard. Cassandra gave Agent Asokho a friendly smile however and nodded towards him as Matt introduced her, before turning to Director Hill. "Any kind of leads on where Captain America is currently?"

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Maria Novikova

Location: the Triskelion - Conference Room
Skills: N/A

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"Thanos kind of destroyed Cardiff, and one of the reasons the Inhumans suddenly got their powers to." Maria whispered towards Amelia as she turned her attention over towards Oliver for a moment as he spoke out. Maria didn't like it but Hill had her reasons why he had gone AWOL though she didn't like the idea of going behind her wife and not telling her the specifics of what they were actually going to do. When Hill mentioned the Winter Solider Maria heard some of the stories that he had done and was one of the worlds most deadly assassin's as well.

"I'm in." Maria finally said, since Niah, Bonnie and Cass were in she trusted the three of them easily. Even if she really didn't like their mission at all it was what they were tasked to do as well, when a new face showed up turning to look over at him. He was really late for the mission briefing, though she wasn't sure if he was really new and just didn't know where things were or he had just come in late. Maria gave him a friendly smile and nodded towards him though but didn't really say anything else towards him.