Agent Raven of S.H.I.E.L.D. (COMPLETE)

Taught Me Well

She swallowed, raising her chin as if her facade was failing. "It seemed to work for her."

"You think that just because she trained you, that you can take us down single-handedly? We spent years planning our attack on the President. He never saw it coming. Neither did SHIELD until you started poking your nose in other people's business. Imagine what will happen now that we know who you are."

Goldmine number one: 'Imagine what will happen now that we know who you are.' A lot to unpack from that. First, the collective 'we' definitely mean Brooks still thought of himself as a part of CROS and not an incarcerated prisoner. He planned to get out. How was still in the air. Two: the ultimate plan was still on but probably going to be amended. CROS was likely still operational confirmed. Three: Raven had been right. Brooks wanted to talk to her because he wanted to know what CROS was now up against. He wanted to scout out the new threat, and he thought he had already accomplished that in the past five minutes. 

However, that line had been a threat, so Raven widened her eyes and pursed her lips together, letting her chest rise and fall as her breath quickened. 

Brooks picked up on her body language. "You think you're in the clear, little widow? If we can't get around you, we'll go through you. You can't stop us. Romanoff can't stop us. Fury can't stop us."

Fury. Definitely something there. She couldn't ask about it now.

"It's just a matter of time. SHIELD is going to fall. The President is going to fall. You're a setback, but that's it."

Fury... SHIELD... all of a sudden, the four countries Brooks was funding made a lot more sense now. 

"I have worked too long and too hard to let a little girl like you be such a nuisance," he seethed, banging the table and lurching forward on 'you.' Raven recoiled in her seat right on cue. "Maybe you're good with a gun and that's why you beat Fairbanks, but without it, you've got nothing. No clues, no hints, nothing. You're just a girl in a suit, sitting in a chair that's too big for you." 

He leaned even farther toward Raven, who was all the way back in her seat now. "You want my advice, little widow? Go home. Forget what mamma told you and get out before it's too late."

Raven let her jaw drop just a little, and she saw Brooks smile before he sat back down in his chair, satisfied with his work. He nodded his head toward the door, thinking that the session was over. 

She let him have his moment. One last hurrah before she dashed his hopes and dreams. 

When she had waited long enough, she breathed out obnoxiously. "They don't let you shower here?"

All of Brooks's confidence dropped in a split second. Another quip? Those were supposed to be done!

After making a show of enjoying a breath of fresh air, Raven sat normally again and looked at the ex-senator. "Are you done?"

"Y-yes, I'm done," he affirmed, though rather hesitantly. "I told you, I'm not telling you anything!"

"I heard you. About this escape plan of yours: it didn't have anything to do with Hart, by any chance, did it?"

She could have heard a needle drop in the room. With one question, she took back power over the conversation. His expression told her the answer was 'yes.' Brooks hadn't directly mentioned that he was planning (or rather, hoping) to escape, and he was sure that he hadn't mentioned Hart, but then how did the girl know?

"A quick update for you, then," Raven told him, folding her hands on her lap. "I killed Hart the same day I exposed Fairbanks. If you're expecting him to break you out of prison and reunite you with what's left of your friends, I'd start working on Plan B."

Brooks's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. Just as Raven anticipated. "As for SHIELD falling, I'll be sure to let the FBI know that the money you've been sending to Japan, France, England, and Russia is likely funding other terrorist groups that plan to assassinate the members of the World Security Council. I imagine Director Fury would be upset if he found out that the council that presides over SHIELD had been destroyed."

He didn't say anything, but she saw him mouth out 'shit' and assumed she'd just hit the bullseye. "How did you-"

"Mamma taught me well," she answered, using Brooks's words. "CROS certainly going to have to go through me if they want to kill the President or take down SHIELD, but if you were expecting Hart to get rid of this particular nuisance, then you need a better assassin. Either way, Damian will have to do it without you, without Fairbanks, and without Hart."

Beginning to panic, Brooks clenched the armrests of his chair. "He can still do it. He can still finish what we started."

"Oh, I'm counting on it," Raven assured him. "My question is how quick he's going to be about it. How smart is he?"

"Smarter than you."

She smiled, but her eyes were drilling into Brooks's head. "Is he?"

"Yes! He's a King! He's a part of CROS!"

"Really?"

"Who do you think brought us together, kid? Damian is the mastermind behind everything!"

"I thought that was Fairbanks. She had the SHIELD experience, after all. Or maybe Hart, seeing as he excels at killing people. Let's be honest: you were never in the running."

"YOU THINK YOU'RE SO GOOD!" He screamed, banging on the table, but this time, Raven didn't move a muscle. "YOU THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING, DON'T YOU???"

"And this is why," Raven said to the imaginary person to her right, clearly amused.

"Listen here, you little bitch," he growled, pulling against the handcuffs to point a finger at her. "You can't touch him, you hear me? Not even you can get close to him. He won't let you! And when he destroys SHIELD and takes power, he's going to get me out, and we're all gonna kill you! YOU HEAR ME?!?"

She paused a moment before answering. "It's just the two of us. No need to be so loud."

"AAUURGGGHHH!!!"

Standing up, Raven pushed her chair in under the table. "We're done here," she announced, rather pleased with herself. She walked to the door before remembering her manners and turning around. "Thank you for your cooperation."

Brooks started cussing her out, screaming as she left the chamber. On the other hand, the FBI agents who watched the interrogation laughed and applauded Raven enthusiastically.