This wasn't going to be easy. Dealing with situations like these, situations with teammates, never was. Add to that the fact that it was Skye he was going to have to-
The ringing of his office phone stopped Coulson in his tracks. Here he was, trying to send away one of his best agents and someone was trying to call him. Wonderful.
Resigning himself by the third ring, Coulson shrugged on the second sleeve of his jacket and picked up the phone. "Hello?" He asked, annoyed tone bleeding into his voice.
"Oh, good, someone picked up," The person on the other end said. "This is SHIELD, right?"
A shot of adrenaline raced through him. Coulson frowned, "Yes. Who is this and how did you get this number?"
"You gave it to me, remember?" The caller certainly was chipper. And, no, Coulson did not remember. "I was actually worried you gave me a fake one, though. Oh, and this is Hydra, by the way." Coulson froze, a million scenarios running through his head until the person spoke again. "Your Hydra informant, I mean. The one who tipped you off about the weapons drop in Japan and the tail on Raina in Canada?"
"My Hydra informant...Is a teenager?" Coulson had a hard time not being incredulous. But how else would this person know classified information like that?
"Is that really what I sound like?" The person asked. "Guess that's what I get for picking out a voice modulating program at random. This is embarrassing."
Less than a minute into this call and Coulson was already rolling his eyes. It was hard to tell from just coordinates and one-sentence mission briefs in shorthand, but this guy certainly had an...interesting personality. "I'm going to make this brief because I have places to be," Coulson said. "Why the phone call? You've only ever sent written messages before. What changed?"
"Caught wind of something Hydra's been working on a week back. It's pretty big," The guy replied. "I managed to get myself involved in it by chance. I'm supposed to be in Tennessee right now chasing down a lead, but I'm in Middle-Of-Nowhere, Maryland instead sitting on several hundred pages worth of classified information on known powered humans. I'd like to drop them off in person."
"And you didn't send them electronically, because...?" Coulson trailed off. Was having this classified intel really worth it? Even if he was talking about enhanced individuals, this was probably going to be a mess.
The guy was laughing when Coulson tuned back in. "When I figure out a way to discretely mail almost a terabyte of data, in a short enough period of time to stop this mission, you'll be the first to know," He explained. "Please tell me you're close to Maryland. This intel's burning a hole in my passenger seat."
Coulson heaved a sigh. He really had to be going, not trying to to coordinate a drop with a man who, chances were, was going to cross them. "Alright, since this is on such short notice, it's happening on my terms," Coulson demanded. He didn't give the man a chance to reply, continuing immediately, "After you hang up, I'll send you an address. There, you'll find several SHIELD agents awaiting your arrival. Once they verify that you won't double-cross us, they'll be taking you back to one of our bases. Blindfolded. You will show up unarmed and without any communication devices. If you do-"
"Aye, aye, captain," The guy cut him off. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Go have fun on your mission. Or don't, it's up to you I guess. Bye for now!"
"Wait!" Coulson called before the man could hang up. "One last thing. I need your name."
~x~
Work had become pretty boring for Mara ever since Puerto Rico. Sure, life had thrown them all plenty of curveballs recently - what with Skye developing powers and memory-wiping alien to name a few - but work was dull. Ever since the revelation of the true meaning behind Coulson's writings, the Director had lost the compulsion to scratch them onto every available surface.
That left Mara with little to work on, not that she could've technically translated that map into a language anyway. There was the occasional radio chatter to decipher, but computers handled most of that these days anyway.
Mara found herself wandering the base a lot. She'd personally taken herself off of field assignments, so she wasn't handling those either. Aside from that one fight with Lady Sif, Mara hadn't even gone to physical training. She doubted her ability to kick someone across the room would go unnoticed if she did.
The agent in question let out an aggravated sigh as she stared through the window that led to the gym. Two agents tussled on the gym mat while a third looked on, ready to jump in at any second. As much as she wanted to be in there right now, Mara didn't trust herself not to blow the cover she'd spent so long trying to build. To protect.
"Gabi, hey!"
That single word cut through all of Mara's thoughts. She froze in place immediately. There was only one person who called her by that name, and it was spoken by a voice Mara could pick out anywhere. In an instant, Mara could feel her blood begin to boil under her skin, but she repressed it. The anger suddenly surging through her veins was hot enough already. Mara rounded on that voice, coming face-to-face with the man she already knew it belonged to.
Aiden was smiling at her the exact same way he used to on their missions together. Even his haircut was the same. "Oh, sorry," He added when Mara said nothing, only silently fumed in his general direction. "You're going by 'Mara' again, aren't you?"
It was the smile that really did it, but that last comment certainly didn't help. The fact that Aiden Park, now a confirmed Hydra agent, was in the headquarters of SHIELD barely even registered. All Mara could feel was her fury. It poured through her veins and fueled her steps as she advanced on Aiden menacingly. To his credit, Aiden didn't even flinch until she was already taking a swing at him.
She suspected it was an obvious opening move, and Aiden knew her well enough to dodge just about everything she could throw at him. Didn't stop her from trying, though. He never tried to hit back, which struck Mara as oddly discomforting. All Aiden did was dodge and weave around Mara's heavy swings. The look on his face said he wanted to say something, but Mara refused to let him get out more than a stammered syllable or two.
Mara's onslaught was brutal in her single-minded determination. Somewhere, she was vaguely aware of someone yelling at them to stop, but it all sounded so distant when her heartbeat was thrumming so loudly in her ears. All of her focus was directed at Aiden and how to throw a hit he couldn't dodge.
That moment came when she finally managed to sweep his legs out from under him. Aiden landed flat on his back, wind mostly knocked out of him, and Mara was immediately on him. She straddled his chest, knees pinning down both arms. Her arm was drawn and ready to strike when the sound of someone calling her name made her hesitate.
"Mara!" Someone shouted again and Mara blinked, her eyes shifting focus. When she looked up, she looked right into the eyes of the Director of SHIELD.
"Coulson, sir-"
Coulson cut her off. "Mara, what are you doing?"
"Sir, I don't want to state the obvious, but my former partner here is a Hydra agent," She gestured to Aiden, who looked fairly calm for a man who was an ace away from being punched unconscious just a moment ago. "I was going to knock him out and restrain him so I could bring him to you. He was just wandering the halls when I spotted him. Do you know how he even got in here?"
"So it's kind of a funny story," Aiden started and Mara sent him a warning look.
"I let him in," Coulson explained. Mara could practically feel the floor drop out from under her. A million scenarios began running through her mind before Coulson spoke again. "Mara, meet the Hydra mole who's been feeding us information for the last year."
That last sentence left Mara's mouth hanging open. Aiden, still pinned under her, had the audacity to throw her a wink. "Hi, there."
~x~
"You're joking!" Mara shouted. It was the sixth time at least. Aiden almost wished he'd been counting, because it probably would've become hilarious after some point. "You're joking, right?"
"Unfortunately, no," Coulson sighed, pinching his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Aiden mock winced and let out a quiet 'ouch' in the space between Coulson's pause and when he started speaking again. "Agent Park here's just hand-delivered several hundred files on powered people from the Hydra databases - and that's on top of doing some top-notch work feeding us intel on all the Hydra missions we've intercepted in the last few months. Your former partner maintained a cover in our worst enemy's organization for the better part of a year. That's impressive."
"Aww, you're gonna make me blush, sir," Aiden grinned, sounding not at all modest.
Mara did an amazing job of ignoring all his comments, and just him in general. "And you're sure we can trust him?" She asked. "No offense, sir, but I'm not sure I trust your judgement on that call. He nearly killed me several times in the last few months-"
"Ooh, sorry about that," Aiden interjected. At least this wince looked a little more sincere. "But, in my defense, you never actually died because of those-"
"You locked me in a room with an explosive!" Mara cried, cutting him off. She finally turned to him and suddenly Aiden wasn't so sure he wanted her to acknowledge him anymore. "It takes a lot more than that to kill me, but that doesn't mean it didn't-"
"Enough!" Coulson shouted over the brewing argument. Both Mara and Aiden fell silent at once. "You're right, Mara. I'm still not sure how much I trust Agent Park, despite all he's done - probably in spite of it, actually." He rounded on Aiden, getting an over exaggerated gulp out of the agent. "Acting as a mole wasn't a SHIELD sanctioned mission, it was one you picked up on your own. That makes me suspicious enough as is."
Under the SHIELD Director's fixed gaze, Aiden found himself flinching. "Well, you see," He muttered, making a face. "I kinda fell into it...It's a funny story, really."
"One that I'm sure I'll be hearing at a later date," Coulson frowned. Aiden opened his mouth and Coulson held up a hand. "A later date. For now, I have other matters I need to attend to. And because you're still under probation, you're going to need an agent on you at all times until you're verified." He glanced to Mara and she found her mouth dropping open at the knowledge of what was coming next. "Agent Arany, you know Agent Park the best. Also, you're one of the few agents I trust to bring him down if he tries to make a break for it."
"And I'm not on active duty?" Mara guessed.
Coulson shrugged, instantly knocking Mara's self-esteem down several notches. "So you probably won't be called away for a mission any time soon, yeah," He confirmed, and Mara sighed. "I'm sure there's an interrogation room open somewhere. Take him there and we can hand him to Bobbi when she gets back from...wherever she is. That's all."
"Yes, sir," Mara gave a small salute, almost surprised when Aiden followed her lead.
Well, today had certainly taken a bizarre twist. And if the swirling pit in her stomach was anything to go by, Mara definitely did not like it.