Take Flight ↬ L. Fitz [1]

Chapter One

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Saying goodbye to Barton and Romanoff was as easy as Aurora expected it to be. With a duffle bag full of what few possessions she owned hung over her shoulder and her hair pulled into a tight French braid, she exchanged a firm nod with Romanoff and an almost friendly handshake with Barton before sliding into the back of the black S.U.V. sent by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Almost an hour later, Aurora arrived at the hangar, and her eyes widened at the sight of what must have been "the bus." It was impressive, and, stepping out of the S.U.V. with her bag still slung over her shoulder, she saw small groups of people in uniforms mulling around or carrying items onto the plane. The one person that caught her eye, however, was Agent Coulson. He was still wearing the suit. Huffing a breath, she met him at the base of the bus.

"Agent Auditore, good to see you," he said holding a hand out, she eyed it for a second before shaking it.

"Agent Coulson."

"C'mon, everybody's already on board. I'm assuming you already read the team's files."

"I have." The parts that weren't redacted anyway.

"Good, that'll make introductions easier," he said, shooting her a smile as she passed him going into the plane. "First introduction, and the most important. This," he gestured to a beautiful red Chevrolet Corvette parked on the ramp, "is Lola. Next, and right over here, is Fitz-Simmons' lab." Through the clear door, Aurora could see a woman, who she assumed was Simmons, wearing a pink button-up and a pair of blue jeans. The man in the lab with her, who must have been Fitz, was wearing a zippered sweatshirt over a button-up with a tie. They looked innocent to her, uncorrupted. Almost like kids. The door slid open, and she didn't understand a word of what they were saying. The sound of Agent Coulson clearing his throat caught their attention, and they turned their heads in sync.

"Agent Simmons, Agent Fitz, meet Agent Auditore." As Agent Coulson said their names, they waved, keeping their hands close to their chest.

"Agent Auditore! It is a pleasure to meet you!" Simmons said. Aurora could only describe her voice as "chipper," her light tone enhanced by the sound of her British accent. Her smile was wide too, and it made her whole face light up. She was cute, with her brown hair pulled into a ponytail. 

 Agent Coulson cleared his throat again. "They need to re-encode your comm receiver, so if you could," he gestured from her to Agent Fitz. She nodded, moving the duffle to rest on the floor at her feet, and pulled the piece of tech out of one of the front pockets. Straightening back up, she handed it to Fitz. Getting a closer look at him, she realized that he was just as cute as Simmons, with kind blue eyes and curly, light brown hair. Aurora wondered if he had a British accent too. Taking the tech from her, he immediately turned around and took a hammer to it. Her eyebrows shot up, and she couldn't mask the surprised expression that appeared on her face.

"He'll repurpose the I.D.I.S. chip," the other female agent commented, "and instead of the external receiver, we'll apply embedded sensorineural silicone matched to your D.N.A." As soon as she finished her sentence, Simmons was walking towards her with a swab. Instinctually Aurora snatched Simmons' wrist out of the air before she could force the swab into her mouth. The air around them was immediately tense. She made sure her grip was tight enough to prevent Simmons from moving her arm further in her direction but not enough to actually hurt. Simmons' shocked face glanced up at her, and they locked eyes. In her peripheral, she saw Fitz look back and forth between them and Agent Coulson as if he expected Agent Coulson to step in.

"I can swab my own mouth," Aurora said, her voice sharp.

"Right, of course."  Simmons tried to force a polite smile, and Aurora let go of her wrist. There was a beat, and Simmons offered her the swab, taking a step back out of her personal space. Aurora could feel Agent Coulson's eyes drilling a hole into her as she ran the swab against her cheek and passed it back to Simmons. She nodded, still smiling.