Hailey's 14th birthday came faster than she realized. She was too caught up in a web of lies and problems to enjoy it properly and so she kept it simple. Hermione had gotten an internship this summer and Ron was on a family trip. Peter had not responded in months and sometimes Hailey caught herself watching clips of him on YouTube over and over again. Bloody hell, he was getting much better but his suit was still a bit of a problem.
Either way, he couldn't come either so it was just Kate and her.
Mr. Barton and Yelena dropped by frequently and then all the adults would lock themselves into the basement which was obviously out of bounds to Hailey. She of course attempted to listen in once or twice when curiosity got the best of her and she repeatedly heard a name: The Ronin.
After cutting the cake, Hailey and Kate locked themselves up in their room to do research on both Jack and The Winter Soldier because that name had been brought up in this house more than once.
They found nothing on the internet about the Winter Soldier except for a Russian movie under the same name so they moved on to Jack.
Apparently, Jack's uncle had been found dead a few days ago after Kate had heard him threatening her mom. And can you guess what he was killed by? A sword, precisely the kind Jack had shown interest in buying at the auction. Kate had also found a buttercup in Jack's possession that his uncle kept in his study.
That was evidence enough for both of them but not for Kate's mom so they needed to gather more evidence.
And for that, they needed another plan.
"His Office," Kate said after pacing around for a hot minute.
"Come on Kate, it's not possible for us to break into his office. It's probably secured in many ways," Hailey reasoned as she petted Lucky on her lap.
"You're right. YOU'RE RIGHT!" Kate exclaimed. "Not his office, we need to get into my mother's office. She has all the security data. He couldn't be doing all of this alone, he has to have allies, workers."
"I'm sure if we go through everyone he is affiliated with, we will find someone. The lower they are the easier expose and track. This is bloody brilliant," Hailey said.
"My mom is leaving in three days for a business trip and she won't be back for well over a week," Kate said. "I can get her ID card too and we sneak in just like last time. My penthouse has too much security. We'll use my aunt's apartment again to avoid any questions,"
"And you can take Lucky from there on," Hailey said in relief. She had been sneaking out under her cloak, many times a week to take Lucky out to pee and poop. Every time, her heart pounded against her chest as she rushed to make it back in time.
"Yes, yes," Kate agreed immediately.
"It's a miracle I haven't gotten caught yet and I am not willing to risk it any further," Hailey said and Kate nodded sympathetically.
Their conversation shifted entirely as they talked about other topics which unfortunately included Kate's 'lessons' with Mr. Barton. It was annoying to hear how much fun they had together. Kate even got to visit the countryside where Mr. Barton stayed with his family.
"I don't know why but he's being a little distant right now. Training has kind of stopped and even though he's here so often we never talk about upcoming missions." Kate complained.
"I know, he has not been very friendly for the past few days. It's not like Mr. Barton to resist passing sarcastic remarks and now that I think about it, everyone has been a little off," Hailey added.
"It's probably about S.H.I.E.L.D. That's where all of them used to work and now without S.H.I.E.L.D, they're working on reforming a new agency," Kate said sounding more like Hermione than ever.
It shot a pang of bitterness through Hailey. She lived with two agents and yet they told her nothing and Kate knew so much more than her through Mr. Barton. Kate fell asleep before Hailey who decided to write back to her godfather and her friends because she missed them dearly right now. Then, Hailey too reluctantly fell asleep, hoping that tonight she was not plagued by a nightmare.
~-~-~
Hailey put on her old black robe with a concealment charm she had learned from Snape's lessons. It was so that even if someone was staring right at her, they would not recognize her unless they had seen the charm being performed.
There was also a warning attached to that page of the textbook in Snape's writing.
'Do not attempt to use this spell in your tomfoolery Potter, any wizard with half a brain will recognize it instantly'.
Hailey had decided that she would use it no matter what and see if Snape recognized her.
They left Lucky at Kate's Aunt's apartment and walked down to the office building which was only a short walk away from the apartment. This time around, everything went smoothly and Hailey barely had to lie. Natasha even gave her permission instantly- probably due to her asking the day after her fourteenth birthday.
Even trespassing into the highly secured building was easy. Mrs. Bishop's access card allowed them to override all security measures and get into the building easily. Kate led her to Mrs. Bishop's room and they logged into her computer.
"After S.H.I.E.L.D.'s data breach, we have so much dirt on everyone," Kate told her excitedly.
"Data breach?" Hailey asked. "Cause S.H.I.E.L.D. was taken down?"
"Mhm," Kate nodded. "They cleaned off the internet instantly but we are a security company, of course, we got everything. I'm sure a lot of people did that is why so many gangs are suddenly active,"
Hailey nodded.
They pulled out notepads and began jotting down everything as they searched Jack's name and then searched his associate names. Everything seemed legitimate and in place except for one organization:
'Tracksuit Mafia'
It was an unofficial affiliation but they knew that any company or group that calls themselves the mafias could not be deemed as innocent. They looked through the profile and BINGO! It was the same gang that was after them the night of the party.
Hailey even recognized some of the faces.
They noted down the information and were about to shut down the computer when Hailey decided to search up a few more names.
She typed in 'The Ronin'
'Many people over the years have used this name but the most prominent one is identity unknown. Ronin was a part of the underworld. Ronin decimated the criminal underworld of the city, almost completely annihilating the status and power of the head of organized crime.'
"Why does it 'identity unknown'?" Hailey asked Kate.
"We don't know who he actually is. Check affiliations," Kate prompted. Hailey clicked affiliations.
The first one was 'Agent 19'. Hailey clicked on it and it led her to a S.H.I.E.L.D. page. There were a bunch of achievements listed and then just a few lines.
'Agent 19 was accused and tried of affiliating with a known criminal turned vigilante: Ronin. All charges later dropped,'
"That's weird, there is nothing on him. We usually have much more than that on S.H.I.E.L.D. agents," Kate said going back and checking other affiliations.
"But see after the Ronin trial, he had no more achievements. It makes no sense, he had to be so successful and compared to the year graduated, still active,"
"Probably fell in love and decided to raise cows on a farm," Kate joked. Hailey rolled her eyes, this Agent 19 or Ronin did not sit right with her.
"Oh wait look, 'The Ronin' is associated with some of the same organizations as Jack," Kate said highlighting the organizations that were similar in both of them. There was a pizza chain, a charity, and another restaurant chain.
"That is such a weird set of organizations," Hailey commented putting her pen down and leaning back in the chair.
"Yes. I don't get it either. Let's dig deeper. Why did you even want to find out in the first place?" Kate asked.
"I don't know. I heard Natasha talking about it with Steve and Mr. Barton and Yelena," Hailey said.
"Search Yelena. It will be easier to find something on her than the Avengers," Kate said and Hailey really wanted to but she also did not want to snoop around in Natasha's life. It felt like an invasion of privacy.
"No, Let's look through Ronin further," Hailey said and Kate agreed. They scrolled down the large list and found Black Widow's name. Hailey's eyes widened as she clicked on it.
'Ronin and Red Room affiliate: Identity Unknown were charged with a bombing in Budapest. Charges later dropped,'
When Hailey read 'Red Room' she quite literally saw red. She could barely breathe as the flashbacks of that horrible place kicked in. Kate hurried to get her a glass of water as suddenly a searing pain on her forehead caused her to fall to the floor.
The last thing she saw was Kate standing over her.