I sat attentive to whoever had joined me. He still hadn't introduced himself, and I hadn't either. Clearly, this guy thought he knew everything there was to know.
"It's a ranking system," he started, grabbing the screen I had just put back. "It resets every six months, and it's based on how well you do during the rest of the year." He showed me his profile, which was much more bulky than mine. He had a large white 34 next to his name, probably his points, and clearance level, Level 6. I hid a smirk. This guy was talking big game, but he wasn't anywhere near Top 10. Probably near the middle somewhere.
"See these categories?" He pointed his out and I nodded, playing along. I loved playing stupid. It was so amusing.
"They're weighted." I figured that out, thanks. "You get points from missions, and the better you do, the more points you get. It's called your point average, or your PA. The more points you get, the higher rank you have. The better rank you have, the better team you get during drafting season."
Again, I knew all of that. Jeez, I was sixteen, not six.
"It's kind of like the Fantasy Football app, except it's a little more dangerous," he told me, pulling the screen away, probably before I could ask about his rank. He exited out of his profile and smiled at me. "You ever play?"
I shook my head. I didn't care about football.
"You'll get used to it, once you get in the system. Give it time," he said, and he looked at me the way an adult would console a sulking child.
"The teams are called units, sometimes, and they're split into three tiers," he moved on. "5-O teams are made up mostly of Level 5 agents. 6-O's are made of 6's, 7-O's...you get the idea," he trailed off, and I nodded again. "Sometimes, you can get on a better tier unit, if you're good, but it only happens every once in a while."
I remembered that he was a Level 6 agent. "What unit are you with?" I asked him, playing to my supposed ignorance.
"6-11," he told me. I was right, he was smack in the middle of the pack. I was suddenly taken over by a desperate hope to get on his team, so I could smack that egoistic grin off of his face. Figuratively, of course.
"What about S.T.R.I.K.E.? What level are they?"
He laughed. "Yeah, everyone loves S.T.R.I.K.E.. They're all Level 8 and up." He stared at me quizzically. "What's your name, kid?"
"Raven," I told him. "What about you?"
"Jesse, but everyone calls me Smith."
"That's your last name?" I clarified.
"Yep. It's easier to say in the middle of a fight."
I nodded just as someone called out to Smith from the center of the room. He turned and must have seen a friend, maybe from his unit, and he excused himself. "I'll see ya around, kid. Keep your head low."
I nodded and smiled sweetly, before we both walked away from the booth. He walked to his friend and I walked out of the Point Hub, nearly dying of laughter.
He bought every innocent word out of my mouth. Half of what he said, I already knew. Natasha had already told me plenty about Field. If only I could make it onto 6-11. That would be a blast, just from watching his face.
I was almost to the lobby of the Field Department when my phone buzzed. I stepped to the side of the hall and pulled it out, reading the notification from SHIELD. My paperwork had already been scanned and entered into the system. All I had to do was check out gear, and I was on the sub list.
Something Smith had forgotten to mention was the sub list. When agents are new, or injured during draft season, they get put on the sub list. Then, when agents on a team, or a unit, apparently, get injured or killed, the leaders select a sub to fill their place. If the sub is a good fit, and the dropper is out for longer than a week, the sub gets the spot, and the dropper gets put on the sub list. It was a pretty good cycle, from what I knew.
I walked out to the lobby and scanned around for the gear check out. It was on the other side of the room, next to the locker rooms. I walked over, noticing that someone was walking behind me from the Hub to the gear check out. Probably a coincidence, but always worth noting, according to Natasha.
The Gear Hall, as the sign read, was divided into three sections. New check outs, repairs, and weapons. I needed to pick up a new suit from check outs, and pick up a new gun, since my blaster from Fury wasn't regulation. I could keep it on me, but I needed this new one, too. I decided to get my suit first.
The line for suits was long, and it wasn't moving as quickly as the front desk. I scanned my badge to wait in line, then sat on a seat next to the wall. I saw the person who had been following me from the Hub, and older man, and he sat down not too far from me. This should be interesting.
"Smith give you a hard time?" He asked, in a voice that was calming to listen to. It was the kind of voice you automatically trusted, if you were a trusting person.
"Not really," I answered. "Nothing I'm not used to."
He chuckled. "Yeah, Smith likes to impress rookies. He doesn't mean any bad by it, but it tends to throw them off. Not you, from the looks of it. You played him like a piano."
I'm glad someone noticed. I grinned.
"You said your name was Raven?" I nodded. "Got a last name?"
Shaking my head, I answered, "If I do, I don't know it."
He nodded. Most people were startled by that fact, but whoever this was didn't seem fazed.
"Who are you, sir?"
"Agent Douglas, Level 7." He reached out a hand for me to shake and he scooted closer so I could reach it. "Call me Doug, when no one's listening. I'm the leader of Smith's unit."
So that's how he knew him. I took his hand and shook it firmly. "Pleasure to meet you."
He smiled good-naturedly and looked at the desk, where they admitted people for fitting. He didn't speak for a moment, then asked. "You're Romanoff's student, aren't you? You went on the Germany mission?"
I nodded. I didn't know how much he had been told about it, so I waited to be prompted.
"And you're switching to Field, now? Got tired of Records?"
I shrugged. "Just getting some exposure, sir. It seemed like it would work better for me."
He nodded. "Still in Espionage?"
"When I'm needed. It doesn't happen very often."
He leaned back against the wall. "You might find that changing in Field. Even the 5-O teams get some action every week or two."
"Don't I have to be on a team first?"
He waved my concern off. "Someone with your track record isn't going to have a problem getting on a team. Even normal subs get on within a month or so."
I nodded. Why couldn't Smith have explained some of these things instead?
The front desk called out my name. "I've got to go," I told Doug. "Thank you for talking to me, sir."
"No problem, Raven. Good luck in Field." I nodded, and he stood up to leave.
I turned and was admitted past the gate into the back. A fitting agent took me into a room, where I stood on a pedestal for ten minutes while she measured every part of my body possible, and then some.
~
Half an hour later, I had my new suit, and a new gun. It was a little heavier than I was used to working with, but the style was all right. I dropped my suit off in my room and took the gun to the target practice rooms in the Espionage Department.
I could have gotten used to my new weapon in the Field practice rooms, but I wasn't comfortable there yet. Besides, Natasha had trained me up here for years, since it was closer to her workplace. It was much emptier than Field, and everyone knew me there. I didn't have any more hotshots trying to walk me through things I already knew about.
I checked into the target room and grabbed a pair of earmuffs and glasses. I stepped into a stall that was open, and released the safety. All of the firearms Natasha had focused on with me had been small, sleek, and easily concealable. This new one was bulkier, and when I fired it, it was clear that this one had more power to it. It could hold more ammunition, though, which was nice. With the smaller blasters, I had to keep refilling the magazine, especially when I was fighting in Kentucky with the Avengers.
As I got accustomed to the aim and the kickback of the gun, I thought about Fury's offer. I knew that part of what joining Field would do was prepare me for larger, more dangerous firefights. It was different from espionage, although there was a lot of overlap. The biggest difference was working in a team. I didn't think it would be a problem, but what I thought wasn't important. Not really, anyways. It was up to Fury and Natasha.
Speaking of, I heard a knock on the window, observing the firing room. I turned and saw Natasha behind me, and I grinned. I activated the safety again and replaced my earmuffs and glasses. I walked out to meet her and shouldered the gun.
Natasha nodded at the strap running across my body. "Get your gear for Field?"
"Yep. Everything is good to go. I should be on the sub list tomorrow morning, if not tonight. Now, all I gotta do it let Evans know that my desk is free."
"You might want to do that tonight, just in case," she told me. "Leave a note on his door, he'll get the message."
I nodded. "How's your back?"
She scowled as she sat down, and I joined her on the bench. "It's fine, but it's still restricting my movement a little. The worst is when I'm lying down."
Natasha had taken some serious burns in Germany a little over a month ago. It had been some nasty stuff. She only got cleared a week ago.
"You ready for Field?" she asked in a low voice.
I looked at the target I had been shooting on earlier. "As ready as I'm going to be. I think the people are going to be a bigger problem than the missions."
Natasha smirked. "General rule of thumb: Don't judge people based on how they act in the Point Hub."
I laughed. Of course she already knew.
We talked a little more before we went back to our quarters. Both of us live on site, instead of off campus. I don't know why Natasha does, but I don't have anywhere else I could go. I go back to my room and drop off my new weapon by my Field suit.
The Field suit is bulkier and more armored than my Espionage suit, the one I wore to Germany and Kentucky. It was padded around the vital organs, but still allowed for a lot of movement. Hopefully, after wearing it more often, I would get used to it, just like the gun.
I changed into my pajamas and was about to crash for the night when my phone went off one more time. I reached over to my nightstand and looked at it, unsure of what it would tell me. I knew my profile had been activated, it had gone off while I was practicing earlier. The notification on the lock screen was classified, so I unlocked it.
Someone had chosen me for a Field team.
I sat up straight and opened the file for the Field team. How had I been chosen that quickly? Surely, there had to be other subs who were waiting their turn.
My temporary team was 6-11, lead by Agent Kenneth Douglas.
~
Agent Douglas POV:
I leaned back on the wall I was sitting next to, staring at the girl's profile.
It was impressive, especially for someone as young as she was. No last name, trained by Romanoff, went on the Germany mission. I knew all of this, but it seemed more impressive on the computer than out of her mouth.
It was risky, bringing a 5 on a 6-O team, but she seemed up for it. She had handled herself when Smith had tried to impress her, which said something in and of itself. Her assessments by Agent Hill were all positive and passing, which was a good sign. She was definitely physically ready.
One of my agents had been injured on our last assignment, the other day. Explosion burned her, and she was admitted to the ER for a week. I knew she wasn't going to come back soon. She didn't have boosted metabolism, or special regeneration. I had put off pulling a sub on to fill her spot, until now.
I wanted to see what she could do. If she was a good fit, I was more than willing to give her a spot on 6-11, but she was going to have to prove it.
Even if she didn't, though, it was going to be hilarious when Smith saw her on his team. A puny little 5 playing up with the 6's. This was definitely going to be interesting.