Hunter
“So you used to be a mercenary?”
“Yep. Made a pretty good living at it, too.”
“Then why’d you join S.H.I.E.L.D.?”
“I followed a friend,” Hunter said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. It had taken a lot to get him away from Bobbi’s bedside, and Andrew knew he was anxious to get back to her.
“Agent Hartley?” he asked, and Hunter nodded.
“What happened to her?” Of course, he knew of the horrible fate both Agent Idaho and Hartley had suffered, but getting Hunter to admit it out loud was important.
“She died,” Hunter said quietly, eyes on the floor. “In a car accident.”
“That must’ve been hard,” Andrew said gently, hoping Hunter would take the statement as an opportunity to open up.
“It was for a while,” he admitted. Bringing his head up to look at Andrew, he continued, “Izzy was one of the few people I trusted.”
“Is trust something you have a hard time with?”
Hunter rolled his eyes. “Hard to trust people when everyone you’re close to is either a traitor or a super spy, mate.”
“By super spy, I assume you’re referring to Bobbi.”
“What was your first clue?” Hunter asked, the sarcasm in his voice obvious. He was closing off fast, and Andrew still needed to get him to talk about one thing before their session was over.
“Tell me about your marriage.”
“Not much to tell, really. Bob and I met on a mission, fell in love as much as two people like us can, got married on a whim, then had a couple months of ignorant bliss before it all went to hell,” Hunter replied, managing to sound nonchalant about the whole thing.
“Why’d it end?” Andrew asked.
“Because she was a demonic hell-beast,” he answered, almost as if it was an automatic response.
“Is that the real reason? Or is that just what you tell everyone?” Andrew watched as Hunter’s face took on a tired expression, the stress of the past few days seeming to have taken a heavy toll on him.
“Look. Bobbi and I… we were never really going to work out. I was a mercenary with trust issues, and she was a secret agent who kept secrets for a living. You do the math.”
“So you blame your trust issues for the divorce?”
“I blame a lot of things,” Hunter stated, raising his voice slightly. “I blame our jobs. I blame the fact that the only reason we met was for a mission. I blame the way we jumped into things too quickly. I blame the fact that we never talked about anything. But in the end, I just don’t think we were ever really going to work out. Our marriage was a complete nightmare, and I don’t think any one thing in particular was to blame for that. Us being together was just… well, it was just never going to last for long.”
“So why did you go find her? Why walk into a situation that you know is a trap to rescue Bobbi when your marriage was such a disaster?” Andrew was laying it on a little thick, and he knew it, but there was one thing he really needed to hear Hunter say.
Hunter just looked at him like he was crazy.
“Just because things didn’t work out between us doesn’t mean I ever stopped loving her,” he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “That’s the thing. No matter what she does or how many times we fall apart, I will probably never stop loving her.” He looked down at his lap, then spoke softly, “Funny how they do that to you, isn’t it?”
Andrew smiled sadly as he closed his notebook. “It sure is.”