Line of Fire

2x01; shadows

"I don't know. I'd like to think I have some experience with coming back from the dead," Coulson gave her a knowing smile. "People are a lot more accepting than you would think."

"Really?" Mara raised a wary eyebrow. "Because if I suddenly showed up again after my own funeral, I'd probably want to punch me in the face."

As they headed for the lounge, someone stepped out in front of them. When he spotted Coulson, Trip stopped walking immediately, flashing a grin at his boss. However, when his eyes landed on Mara, his expression changed completely.

"Trip," Mara breathed, fighting the tremble of her lower lip. Oh, this was so bad. She'd been expecting more time to establish herself before seeing the people from her past again. Particularly someone she had been so close with.

The aforementioned agent headed in Mara's direction, unreadable expression firmly fixed on his face. Mara braced for an incoming punch, but Trip's reaction completely took her by surprise. Instead of a blow, Trip embraced her in a bone-crushing hug.

"Man, Mara, I never thought I'd be seeing your face again," Trip finally said once he had pulled back. "What happened? We all thought you were gone."

"Well, I hope I'm not dead or this would be pretty hard to explain," Mara replied, drawing a laugh from her old friend. She sincerely hoped he couldn't see her working to avoid his question. "It's good to see you again, Trip."

"I think I'll be leaving you two to catch up then," Coulson told the pair, adding to Mara. "And don't worry, you're probably safe from bodily harm for the time being." The director nodded at them, walking off. Trip called a hasty 'sir' after him, Mara a second behind.

"So what have you been up to?" Mara asked eventually. "I can't imagine the last three years have been dull."

"Oh, yeah," Trip shook his head. "Faced a homicidal cyborg, had a possible close encounter of the third kind and survived the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. Now I'm here." He paused, that brilliant smile of his fading for a split second. "You heard about Garret, right?"

"Yeah," Mara replied, features twisting into a grimace at the sound of the man's name. She could practically feel her blood boiling at the thought of him. Betrayal didn't even begin to cover it. "Can't say I'm sorry to hear what happened to him after all that."

Trip was silent for a long while and Mara felt as though she couldn't begin to understand what he was going through. He had been there for the end - for the reveal. That, combined with Trip's close relationship with his mentor must have made everything that much harder for him to accept. Trip's always been a better person than me, Mara thought, and he probably wasn't struggling with whether or not forgiveness was even an option the same way she was. He deserved so much better than this.

"Sorry," Mara shook her head. Her friend's expression told her he was trying to cover a frown and she couldn't help but feel partially guilty for it. More than anything she wanted to see him wearing a different expression. "I forgot-"

And then he was grinning once more. "Nah, come on," Trip said, nodding his head down the hallway. "How about I give you a tour of the Playground? I can introduce you to the rest of the team."

"Lead the way," Mara said, finding Trip's smile infectious. He slung a broad arm across her shoulders and led her down the hallway.

"So, Mara," Trip began. They'd finished their walk through the kitchen and were headed towards the rec room, which Trip assured her had more than enough versions of Mortal Kombat and Halo to keep her plenty busy. "What brings you back to the states? You were gone a pretty long time."

"Coulson mostly," Mara answered neutrally. At least that time Trip caught her attempt to avoid his question. "Fine, the Director tracked me down for my talent with linguistics. I did specialize in it at the Academy, you know."

"Oh, I definitely remember that," Trip laughed, memories playing out across his face. "You know, I missed having you at my back in the field. It's good to have you around again."

At that, Mara hesitated, struggling slightly with the words. "I'm not...I'm not going back into the field," She said finally. "I can't. Not for the time being."

"What? Why not?" Trip sounded shocked. Mara paused again and Trip added, "And don't tell me it's classified. There are no secrets around here anymore."

"It's a long story," Mara heaved an overdramatic sigh. "How many hours do you have?"

Trip made a face, but at that moment, Coulson walked back into the room, cutting him off. "Break room, we have a mission to debrief," The director said, nodding at Trip. Then he nodded to Mara as well. "You're needed as well, Arany."

"Perfect timing," Mara whispered to herself as the pair left the room. She followed after seconds later, but not before adjusting her glasses.

~x~

Well, that had been disappointing. All Coulson wanted was for her to work some linguistics program so that he could replicate General Talbot's voice. At least she had some time before she was needed upstairs, so she decided to run back to the labs Trip had pointed out early. She had something to drop off.

The labs aren't terrible, Mara thought, taking in the glass windows for a moment before throwing them open. Actually, now that Mara was actually inside, they were even nicer than she'd thought they'd be. S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't even supposed to exist anymore and here they were looking like they had never suffered any kind of defeat in the first place.

"Woah, excuse me- What are you doing here?" A low voice sounded, cutting off Mara's train of thought. The speaker, Mara realized when she spotted him, towered over her and wore a similarly imposing glare. Mara didn't enjoy the way he was staring at her and she immediately adopted a defensive posture. "Better question; who are you? I haven't seen you around before."

"I suppose that might have something to do with the fact that I just got here," Mara arched a lone eyebrow. "Mara Arany. Linguistics expert."

"Mack," The man replied, similarly disgruntled. Ah, yes. Here was that distrust Mara had been expecting - she'd just thought it would be coming from someone who knew her from before. "What's a linguistics expert doing in the lab?"

"Dropping off some of my medical supplies," Mara replied, pulling the bag from her purse. "Not too much of a hassle?"

"Go right ahead," Mack said, indicating to some of the drawers halfway across the room.

"Thank you," Mara's words were curt as she cut across the room and deposited said bag.

As she left the room, Mack watched her leave warily. He turned to the closest person and muttered a low, "I don't know about you, but there's something strange about that woman."

That person turned out to be the engineer he'd seen around the lab quite often in the last few weeks. He'd been mumbling to himself when Mack had spoken, immediately looking up in surprise when Mack addressed him. To answer Mack's question, he gave a noncommittal shrug, throwing a glance at the woman's retreating form.

"You're right, I'm probably just judging too quick," Mack sighed. "Probably."