Inheritance of ash

day three - part one

Kate rolled her invisible eyes so hard it hurt.

The woman hesitated, then Pietro cracked a joke so ridiculous she actually laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. By the time she opened the door, he was holding it like a gentleman, muttering something about paperwork swallowing his life.

She slipped inside, and—completely off script—gave him her number.

The invisible three slipped in right behind them, silent as shadows.

When the woman disappeared down a hallway, Wanda dropped the invisibility on Pietro and smacked him in the back of the head. Hard.

"What?" Pietro muttered, rubbing his skull. "It worked."

Kate snorted. "Idiot."

Yelena didn't say anything. She kept her distance from Kate as they walked—nothing like the pressed-in closeness on the motorcycle. They headed to the elevators in silence, Kate punching the button with steady confidence. She'd been here before, after all.

The elevator arrived empty, mercifully. No awkward company. They rode up, the hum of the lift filling the void of conversation. Kate led them off on the right floor, straight toward the room she remembered.

And then—impact.

Kate collided with someone coming around the corner: a SHIELD agent, mid-thirties, sharp suit. The man jolted back like he'd been hit by a ghost, spinning around and scanning the hallway in confusion. Kate stumbled, almost tripping...

But Yelena caught her without hesitation.

The two froze—Kate still in Yelena's arms, staring up at her with the same raw intensity as before on the motorcycle. The air tightened. Yelena's hands were steady, her eyes unreadable.

And they flicked once to Kate's lips.

The agent muttered, "Jesus Christ, I'm losing my mind," brushing down his pants before stalking off. Muttering something about his mother's schizophrenia.

Yelena lowered Kate carefully back on her feet, her touch gentler than Kate expected.

Pietro exchanged a glance with Wanda. It was knowing. Too knowing.

Kate cleared her throat, as if to erase the moment. "Right," she muttered, pulling the key from her pocket. She checked the door, peeked in—empty. Good.

They slipped inside.

The room was chaos. Files stacked on shelves in no order, papers spilling from boxes, folders leaning like tired soldiers. Some old looking books on old looking shelves.

"Wanda and I take left," Yelena murmured. "You two, right."

Kate nodded and moved. The place was worse than last time—no alphabetical system, no updates, nothing touched in weeks.

"Are you sure this is it?" Wanda asked softly, skimming the shelves.

"Yes," Kate said firmly. "This is the room."

Meanwhile, Pietro had stopped searching. He was holding a file with Clint's name on it, biting back laughter.

Kate narrowed her eyes. "Read it."

Pietro grinned and did, in full dramatic detail. Kate cracked up, hand clapped over her mouth to stifle the sound.

"Focus," Wanda hissed, shooting them both a look.

Yelena muttered, "This is pathetic. I thought it would at least be challenging to sneak into SHIELD."

Wanda, surprisingly, agreed. "Too easy."