END-GAME

Theo had been reading a file on her tablet, her legs crossed across Tony and Wanda. Pietro was next to her, Natasha choosing the head seat as hers.

Tony had ordered espressos for them, seeing how this was an official visit by the Avengers, despite Theo telling them repeatedly that it wasn't.

“Is Parker still in Asgard?”,she asked, her eyes still on the tablet.

“Probably”,Tony sighed. “It's not a school night just yet”.

“Can't believe you let the poor child in Thor and Loki's hands...”

Tony smirked, but he didn't respond. There was still too much tension in the air, and despite Theo's attempts to act as if nothing had happened, things had. Tony in particular couldn't take his eyes off her. If what Natasha had told him was true, this meant that this marked her third day with no sleep,having only eaten what little portion of her father's meal and the breakfast they made Tony buy them.

Surely enough, as he figured, presenting herself in front of Navy officials wasn't the brightest idea at the moment.

“So, Fury wants us back on the field?”

“Yeah,I.. I never really pay much attention to what Fury sends us,so...”

Theo was about to come back with a snarky comment, when Natasha loaded the file on to a holographic screen. It was laid on the middle of the table; Wanda leaned in as if to see more of the details.

“He wants us to follow a possible assassin's group in Macao ?”,Wanda read though in the form of a question.

“Doesn't sound like our territory now, does it?”,Theo commented.

And surely enough, it wasn't.

Natasha scrolled through the file, until she reached the point where a few faces were shown. Mostly men, mostly disguised, and as Theo understood, with as little information as possible.

“We have tails on them for a while now. They really thrived during the blip, and now that half the population's back..”

“War is about to emerge”,Theo answered the unasked question. “Doesn't sound too bad though. Is Thor to be brought back?”

Pietro was looking out the window, his thoughts rather lost as he watched the clouds suffocating the sky. Wanda took notice of that; if she had to be entirely honest, she had grown just a little worried about him these last few days, this one in particularly.

He seemed distant, in a way only she would be able to understand. Surely, having Wanda back after five years of being blipped, should have a certain effect on him. But instead of making the best of it, Pietro acted as if it wasn't that bid of a deal.

“I'll be damned if I know what the hell Fury's cooking,Bennet. Ask him”,Tony shrugged.

“I doubt we're gonna need him anyway”,Natasha motioned her eyebrows. “Sounds like Fury just doesn't want us to get too rusty”.

Theo nodded, though she didn't care all that much about this mission. Her mind was deep into that email she had so abruptly received by Marcus. An old friend alright; Marcus had joined the marines alongside her, in the exact same unit as her.

It didn't take that long for them to arrive. Landing the jet on the HQ's roof top,after Theo informed about their arrival, they went inside. Natasha noticed just how Theo's posture had changed.

Her back straightened so much, she thought it must physically hurt to stand like that. Her footing heavy, measured. Going down the floors, Theo only stopped on the 35^th level.

She readjusted her utility cap,and took a deep breath. Everyone else was standing a few inches away from her, allowing Theo to take the lead, mostly out of courtesy.

She began walking a little faster, only stopping in front of man wearing a navy uniform. As Tony could tell, the medals hanging on his upper cloth suggested his rank. His hair kept short and dark brown, face clean shaved, looking like he was deep in his forties. Theo tapped her foot down,saluting with her right arm.

“Well,I'll be damned...”,he exclaimed,his eyebrows raised. “Theodora Bennet”

“Aye skipper”,she huffed out, her voice raised in coming out in a way none of them had ever heard it before.

He placed the folder he was holding down on a desk, motioning his fingers to the men standing behind him. They immediately tapped their feet down, preparing their stance.

“At ease, marine”,he told her.

Theo did as she was told, a faint smile on her lips. Tony could not hide the surprise on his face. She, as he thought, looked like she'd never belonged anywhere else, but in this room.

The man saluted her. “What're you doing there,marines? S'that how you greet a medal of honor recipient?”,he yelled at them, never losing posture.

Theo's lips parted, trying to form an awkward smile. Soon enough, and after exchanging a few surprised looks, immediately saluted her.

“There's no need for such formalities, skipper”,she exclaimed.

“Always modest, aren't you Bennet?”

He chuckled, motioning his hand to his marines. They all returned to their assigned duties, only the skipper there to speak to Theo. He placed a hand at her shoulder.

“Been a while since we last saw you here,marine”.

“Sure has been,skipper”,she smiled.

“What're you doing here?”

Theo raised her eyebrows. Her eyes wandered a bit, though there was no sign of whom she was searching for. The skipper narrowed his eyes at her, and only then did he notice the others standing behind her.

“Is this an official call on the Avengers, Bennet?”

“No sir”,she assured him. “I'm responding to a call made by Marcus Anderson,skipper”.

The skipper huffed and puffed, a faint chuckle escaping his lips.

“Gunny called you in?”

“Gunny,sir?”

“Anderson is now a Gunny, Bennet. You'd know of that, if the SEALs hadn't snatched you from us”.

Theo pulled her lips to a stiff smile. The skipper turned his head to address the others.

He walked past Theo, offering a hand, firstly to Tony, then everyone else.

“An honor to have you here”,he said.

“Thank you for having us”,Natasha replied quietly.

“Well.. How about we make arrangements for you to get somewhere a little more comfortably?”

“Deeply appreciated,skipper”,Theo motioned her head at him.

The skipped nodded, and went ahead to make preparations and of course allow Marcus to know of his guests' arrival.

Pietro had his hands in his pockets, looking around like a lost child. He,for one, didn't exactly like being in places like this one. For sure, other than Theo herself, he didn't exactly like military officers, or any other military unit's official. For fair reasons, as per say.

“You seem like you are the shit here, Bennet”,he noted.

But Theo didn't respond.

She wasn't sure of what to say anyway. To accept that she was being honorably greeted, or to say she had missed being in her uniform would be something out of character for her.

A marine was ordered to take them to a room. As soon as she opened the door, her eyes fell on him. A man wearing his naval uniform, his cap on his grip and hands tied behind his back as he waited.

A rather tall man, with deep brows eyes and gentle, calm features. Marcus let his shoulders fall down, throwing his head behind as he let his lips open and form an awfully bright smile.

“Oh boy..”,he exclaimed. “Oh boy,oh boy... Hot stuff's here,ain't she?”

Theo rolled her eyes and scratched her temple a little. She crossed her arms, waiting for him to have it his way. Marcus walked towards her, still smiling as he pulled her into a tight hug.

“Feels like a decade there,Bennet”.

“Sure does, Gunny”.

Marcus' lips parted for a while, but then he motioned his eyebrows at her. “They ratted on me,didn't they?”

“Who the hell would have thought lil scrawny Marcus would be promoted in such a short time..”

Pietro looked at them with arms crossed against his chest. He walked over and grabbed a chair, making quite the noise. It caught Marcus and Theo's attention, though they both chose not to address the matter for the time being.

“Not gonna lie, Bennet. Feels damned good; bet you'd get to know that feeling hella faster than I did. You were on their list, Skipper told me ya know. Shame you got yourself into SEALS,Theo. Real shame”.

“Not all of us can handle a desk job, Anderson. My ass would get too itchy, you know that”.

He laughed at her; felt awfully familiar, a little too much perhaps. Almost erased the past years they hadn't seen each other.

Marcus turned around to greet the others,

“Well, sorry she brought you all in, I specifically asked her in for a personal favor. I'm Marcus, please sit down”,he motioned his hand towards the chairs around the round table.

Tony walked down the room, sat next to Marcus,whom was seated on the head of the table. Noticed how Marcus' eyes were stuck on him, measuring him up and down. Tony arched an eyebrow at him.

“Ah, sorry,sorry”,he raised both palms. “I'm a big fan,y'know. I even got some figurines of you”.

His enjoyment and excitement were cut short, after realizing just how both Theo and Tony's looks changed. He coughed,scratching the back of his head.

“Anyway, as I said- Bennet shouldn't have dragged ya all in here. This's a personal favor ima ask her”.

“It's mostly a matter of convenience,Marcus. We gonna head over to the Avengers' Compound afterwards so.. Speak up,Gunny”.

Marcus' face seemed to change for a second. Perhaps Theo was on the wrong here, as she thought so herself, seeing how this might actually be a tad too personal for Marcus to share in front of everyone.

Marcus pressed a button placed under the table; Theo needn't ask about it. Her entire body stiffened, her back straight all the way as the windows began closing. Soon enough, the entire room was blocked from anything coming from the outside.

“This isn't all that ominous..”,Tony muttered, pointing out the sarcasm in his voice.

“'Xcuse the manners mister Stark, but this is extremely confidential”.

“I thought it was a personal favor”,Natasha said in a sly smile as she leaned forward.

Theo crossed her arms against her chest. She had a pretty good idea about where this was heading towards. After all, Marcus was only ever so serious in a number of occasions, counted on two fingers top. One was if there were to be an immediate terrorist attack, and the other was about...

“It's about Jenny. Isn't it?”

Marcus gulped down. He placed his elbows on the table, pressing his chin on his fists.

“We got information-”

Theo slammed her fist against the table, forcing Wanda and Natasha to flinch. It seemed rather irrational for her to act so out of line in a place that was all about discipline. As Natasha figured, either Marcus and her were intimate enough for her to show such nerve freely, or this case had more in it than they knew.

“I'm done chasing ghosts, Marcus”,she stated, her voice coming out like an order if nothing else.

Marcus took a deep breath. He opened a folder he had placed on the table, and put a few photographs on the table,spread them out for her. At first,Theo didn't mind the pictures, her eyes glued on Marcus', as if to participate in an awfully tense starring contest.

Marcus motioned his eyebrows at her, his eyes pleading. Theo breathed in,her eyes finally falling down on to the photographs. At first she didn't seem to think anything of them, but after a while her attention was caught alright.

She picked it up,brought it closer to her face as if to take a better look at it. A young woman was in it, with long dark hair and piercing blue eyes. She had a distinct tattoo along her neck.

“..Semper Fi, till Valhalla..”,Theo whispered.

“It's her”,Marcus whispered. “Tis Jenny, Rosie”.

That name calling made Theo flinch a little. Marcus realized it, and pulled his lips to a thin line. It was easy to slip his tongue, too much on an occasion such as this one.

“Mind explaining us who that Jenny is?”,Natasha spoke,leaning back to her chair.

Theo raised her glance to fall over at Natasha. She was still holding onto that picture,her lips stiff and her jaw clenched. Eventually she let it down on the table.

“Jenny is an alias”,Theo breathed out. “Her name was Petty Officer Marina Dalton”.

“She was with us,on our last mission together in Iraq, seven years 'go”,Marcus chimed in.

Tony picked his nails, pursing his lips. “That was after you got your juice, right Rosie?”

“Yes”,she said quietly. “And don't call me that”.

Marcus pulled a remote control, pressed a button. Soon enough, a file with many red markings as confidential was spread out on a screen.

“We were tailing leads on an enhanced terrorist group, targeting villages in Iraq. We thought they were looking for ways to smuggle themselves into the States”.

“Enhanced?”,Wanda repeated the word.

“Yes,ma'am”,Marcus affirmed her. “Enhanced as in..y'know,you”.

“Jenny was undercover, the only one of our marines that got too close. She was our link”.

“Meaning she was a spy”,Pietro noted.

“Correct,Maximoff”.

Marcus pulled some images, and footage showing interrogation techniques forced on Marina. A few pictures contained a chopped ear, and some toes.

Wanda flinched at that sight.

“They somehow blew 'er cover”,Marcus sighed. “We never got th' body, but we 'ssumed she was dead. That was 'til-”

“Just cause she's alive doesn't mean she's on our side, Marcus”.

Theo's voice came out as strict,awfully so. Made Marcus clench his teeth.

“I know”,he said quietly.

He stood up, got closer to the screen.

“We been tailing their movements ever since, but.. all we got is a blood trail. Jenny was our first 'n last hint s'far as their operations went”.

Theo took a deep breath. She didn't really want to look at those pictures, a feeling equally shared by Marcus as well.

She didn't like where this was going. They were to just go on a mission, and for her to act as an agent of SHIELD helping out a navy mission would be too much to ask of the higher ups; in both agencies, that is.

“What do you want me to do here,Marcus?”,she shrugged. “I can't do more than I did sever years ago, can I?”

“We joined the marine together,Bennet. Same units for three years”,he spelled out. “Y'even asked for my assistance in Iraq after the SEALs got your ass. Y're the only one I can trust enough for this one,Rosie”.

“You mean I'm the only that won't rat your ass the second I realize your motives aren't exactly pure or objective on this one, don't you?”,she shouted at him, slamming her hand on the table once again.

Tony and Natasha both arched an eyebrow,sharing a mutual look.

“I mean y're the only one who won't shoother first,ask questions later,Rosalind!”,he shouted back at her.

Theo leaned back,pulling her hand back as she heard him say that. She closed her eyelids slowly as the images began unraveling, yet another trip down memory lane.

She spoke much more quieter, her voice coming out hoarse. She knew just how much this mission meant to Marcus, and just how much were at stake, both for his mentality and career.

“It's been seven years,Marcus.. If she really thought anything of you- she'd return by now”.

“You of all people should not have said that, Rosie”.

That starring contest had began annoying both Tony and Pietro by now. Tony himself had found this to be a tad too interesting, too tempting for him to sit this one out. He clapped his hands, drawing all attention on him.

“You have the Avengers' support on this one, my friend”,he hummed.

Theo knitted her eyebrows at him, stood up with a tilted head.

“Excuse you? Who died and left you in charge?”

“C'me on,Bennet dear. My guess is you got a really annoying phone call to make,don't you?”

Theo clenched her jaw.

“Fury won't allow this”,she raised her voice as she continued speaking, “we're supposed to report in Macao in two days-”

“Macao?”

They all turned to look at Marcus' confused stare.

“This picture of Jenny- of Marina was taken in Macao a few days ago..”

Theo raised her chin. It was too convenient to be considered a coincidence. Natasha thought so,Tony did, everyone in that room shared that feeling. Theo let a curse escape her lips.

“I'll go make that call”,she muttered.

Marcus pressed the same button under the table, unlocking the door, and Theo walked out,slamming it behind her. Tony pursed his lips,swirling his chair around.

“It's not a coincidence,is it?”,Marcus asked them.

“Let's hope it is..”,Natasha breathed out.

“So”,Tony exclaimed, “You joined the marines same time Bennet did,right?”

“Aye sir. As I said, same unit for three years. 'Lthough Theo had been training for that job since she'was a teenager. When I asked, simply said she always knew she wanted to b'come a marine. Weird one, but a nice fella”.

Pietro found that to be quite interesting, although he had to admit that the things they'd come to know about her in just one day were too much to ask for.

“If she liked it so much there, how come she went ahead and became a SEAL?”,Tony continued his questioning.

He figured this was a rare chance.

Marcus huffed out,pumping his cheeks.

“Ah, think you got it a lil mixed up. Our seargant at the time, real scumbag by the way, he messed up big time. Pushed our unit to an unauthorized mission; our ship,and mission, were both compromised. T'was a case of ol' good piracy, as you call it. Bennet managed to turn the ship around and capture the hea dof the operation”.

“Sounds like the marines would like to keep someone like her to me”,Natasha noted, arching an eyebrow.

“Like hell they did. Theo didn't leave the marines to join the SEALs, ma'am. SEALs specifically requested her transfer. Know how extremely rare that shit is? For them to spot a marine that good to the request they become a SEAL?”

Marcus let out a faint chuckle as he said that. He shook his head, if only to emphasize his point. Wanda leaned in closer.

“Really? Was she that good? She never mentioned that..”

“Never noticed how navy officers treat her,ma'am? Always salute and call her ma'am? Her rank alone isn't high enough for her to get that treatment”.

“Yes, that's because she received the medal of honor, right?”

“Aye ma'am. At her last mission in Iraq,things got real bad. T'was when the explosion happened, y'know. Theo was the first one to realize something was fishy, and she evacuated the entire building, essentially locking herself inside. First bomb gave her the juice, that's how she survived, but there were at least three more bombs in there,ma'am. Bennet here saved our troops on that day; four units in total. Managed to break down one of Al Qaeda's branches on her own. Received the medal of honor, for god's sake! Only Vietnam era soldiers got those medals.. It's 'nsane, I tell ya..”

Tony clicked his tongue. Now that Theo wasn't in the room with them, Marcus certainly seemed hella more chatty than he was before.

“If that woman wasn't so stubborn , bet my ass, she'd be a Colonel by now, I tell ya”,he mumbled to himself.

Marcus had his reasons for calling her in specifically. Trust was one thing, but having fought side by side with her, the list of reasons didn't end just there. They went back, quite a lot.

“By the way.. how's she? Y'know, with you 'n all”.

“She's tough”,Pietro answered for them, not leaving much space for anyone else to speak.

Marcus chuckled.

“Yeah.. I figured that much..”