two
-----
"What’s his name again?”
“Jimin. Park Jimin,” Jungkook repeated.
“And he’s with Fury right now,” Hoseok asked, finally taking a seat in the stool directly across from Jungkook as Jungkook nodded.
To Jungkook’s surprise, once Jimin had left to speak with Fury, he felt a strange sense of inanity, even though his entire time with Jimin hadn’t been more than a few hours. So he wandered through headquarters until he found himself on the fourth floor in Jung Hoseok’s laboratory just as the room was emptying so the agents could take their lunch, leaving only Jungkook and Hoseok behind as Jungkook did his best to retell his morning. “Do you still have his file?”
“Yeah,” Jungkook slid his backpack closer to him as Hoseok pulled a pair of wooden chopsticks out from one of the cabinets beside him and split them apart while Jungkook pulled out the folder and slid it towards Hoseok. “It has all of his information. Well, most of it-I think. But there's nothing about why he’s joining the team or what his job might be here.”
“Maybe as a researcher?” Hoseok wondered, flipping through the files with one hand while his other stirred the chopsticks in his microwaved bowl of ramen as it cooled down. “Or defense agent? He has tons of martial arts experience - it’s impressive. Acrobatics, gymnastics - wow, five languages. This looks like a resume. Namjoon hyung didn’t say why they wanted him here so urgently?”
“Nothing specific, no,” Jungkook sighed, leaning forward until Hoseok caught his eye and silently spun the chopsticks between his fingers before lifting them towards Jungkook, who accepted the bite with a satisfied hum. “He said that Fury’s had his eye on him for a while now - pun not intended,” Jungkook added, as Hoseok snickered quietly, still reading through the information as he ate. “But I’ve never heard anything about him.”
“Me neither,” Hoseok replied. “Is this him?”
Jungkook leaned forward and saw that Hoseok was on the last page of the folder, the old picture of Jimin visible in front of him and he nodded.
“Yeah.”
“He’s adorable,” Hoseok said fondly, slurping down another bite of his noodles as Jungkook nodded silently, unsure of what else to say, even though he had thought the same thing. “He might be in the system files. Have you checked?”
“What?” Jungkook asked.
“SHIELD files - the online system,” Hoseok repeated as if he was stating something obvious. Jungkook only stared and after a moment Hoseok sighed, dropping his chopsticks into his bowl before he stood and started walking towards the opposite side of the room, gesturing for Jungkook to follow. On the other side of the room was a square glass table, but when Hoseok tapped the corner of it, the screen lit up like a transparent tablet, asking for username information. “If Fury’s had Jimin in his sights for a while, then he might’ve already added it into the system, like he did with you.”
“Me?” Jungkook asked, pointing a finger at himself as his eyes widened and Hoseok laughed to himself, shaking his head.
“‘Spider-Man’ was in our database for weeks before you actually showed up to headquarters after those videos of you swinging around the city went viral. It was easy to track you. Your title was ‘Jungkook Jeon - Combat Agent, enhanced/special skills.’ Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Fury went out to recruit you,” Hoseok explained as he input the information on the glass and Jungkook watched as he listened, only mildly surprised that there might’ve been agents who knew of his arrival before he started working at headquarters. “If Park Jimin is someone Fury thinks will be a good addition, then there should be more specific information in our system or-or evidence of what he can do.” A red warning appeared on the screen but Hoseok typed in his ID number and it disappeared, replaced by a blue search bar as he quickly typed in Jimin’s name.
As a level seven agent, Hoseok had access to slightly more information than Jungkook did when it came to SHIELD business, not that it really mattered considering Hoseok trusted Jungkook enough to share any extra information he received that Jungkook sometimes didn’t. Hoseok had lived in New York for his entire life and started working at headquarters when he was 23, just a little before Namjoon. For the first two years, he worked in the administrative department with level three access, filing and sorting and organizing information. After his second year, he switched departments, and within a few months he was promoted to run lead in the Technical Design Department where they worked on modifying, upgrading, and designing suits and armors, most of which always reflected Hoseok’s bright and outgoing personality.
“Huh. Weird,” Hoseok commented when nothing came up, the only words on the screen being ‘file not found.’ “That either means Fury hasn’t put any of his information in, or he doesn’t have any, which-I don’t know. Maybe he just wasn’t sure about the recruitment.”
“Then where did they get the file they gave me?” Jungkook asked, and Hoseok shrugged.
“Maybe it’s not authorized information yet.”
“So...secret agent?” Jungkook sighed.
“I don’t think so,” Hoseok replied, crossing his arms with a small smile. “The way you described him sounds like he had about as much clue of what was going on as we do. He’s smart, he’s trained and he’s obviously important to Fury. We just have to wait and see. We have a briefing later on. It’s probably about him.”
“He was worried,” Jungkook added, thinking about the way Jimin almost panicked when Fury needed to speak to him alone and how Jungkook felt the need to comfort him. “I just told him that we wanted his help because that’s what Namjoon hyung told me, but I-I don’t even know if that’s entirely true.”
“I’m sure it is. And it’s normal for him to be worried,” Hoseok agreed, shrugging as the door to the lab opened. The both of them turned as a few other agents walked in, returning from their lunch as Hoseok and Jungkook nodded politely in greeting. Hoseok swiped a hand across the table and it immediately cleared back into a transparent glass table, the information gone. “You were terrified when you were brought in, and you already knew who we were.”
“I-I was not terrified,” Jungkook scoffed, rolling his eyes as they walked back to their stools and Hoseok snickered, the room slowly filling with more workers. But even Jungkook couldn’t lie to himself. Fury was intimidating, and although Jungkook wasn’t surprised when he showed up at his doorstep a year ago, that didn’t make up for Jungkook’s instinctive panic that kicked in when Fury accused him of being Spider-Man.
“Whatever you say, Jungkook-ah. But I still remember seeing you walk back and forth outside my lab because you were too afraid to come in and introduce yourself,” Hoseok said as he walked Jungkook to the door, hurriedly finishing the rest of his food.
Hoseok was one of the few other agents at headquarters who Jungkook had grown close to in the short time he had been there, partially because Hoseok was Korean and because Jungkook developed a huge crush on him in his first few weeks of knowing him. But it faded quickly when he realized Hoseok was as close to him as Yoongi, and their relationship was too friendly to be romantic. Hoseok was born and raised in New York, but his first language was Korean, and he, like Namjoon, occasionally let his dialect or terms of endearment slip through when he was speaking to Jungkook. “Ah, they grow up so fast.” He said with a dramatic sigh and Jungkook rolled his eyes.
“I’m leaving now,” Jungkook mumbled, and he heard Hoseok laugh to himself as he closed the door after Jungkook. Jungkook walked down the hall, nodding to other agents he passed and trying not to let himself get distracted by the pulling curiosity he had about Jimin, who he was, and why he was here in the first place.
---
American Teen by Khalid
When Jungkook returned to his room, he realized he had been in Hoseok’s lab for more than an hour, which also meant that Jimin had either been talking to Fury for just as long, or he had denied whatever Fury was offering and might’ve been back at the cafe already, like he was never here at all. Though Jungkook hoped it wasn’t the latter.
He tossed his backpack onto his bed and pulled off his jacket, leaving him in his plain gray t-shirt that was two times his size as he sat on his desk chair and opened up his laptop, his entire right sleeve of tattoos visible now that he wasn’t wearing the sweater.
It was a collage of designs he had been adding onto ever since he had turned 18 - scattered stars, birds with their wings spread, his favorite quotes written in beautiful handwriting, and a pair of koi fish that were higher up on his shoulder as well as a bunch of smaller ones that filled in the empty space. Yoongi had commented that it was excessive at first, but each of them meant something important to Jungkook so it never discouraged him, and every time he came back, Yoongi stared at them in admiration until he ate his own words.
With his laptop open, Jungkook removed the web-shooters from his wrist and set them aside, pulling his camera out from its case and connected it to the computer, waiting as the collection of pictures uploaded one by one.
He was half-tempted to search for Jimin online in hopes of finding any piece of information that suggested what he was capable of, but he didn’t even entertain the thought, feeling that that was strangely more invasive than looking through the files Namjoon had given him.
Instead, he opened up the pictures he had taken the day before and began clicking through them.
Photography was one of the few hobbies Jungkook had that kept him sane in his unusual and occasionally overwhelming lifestyle. Being Spider-Man had its perks, but in the moments where the pressure became too much to bear, Jungkook went out to capture everyday life in all of its natural forms as himself, as Jungkook. It kept him grounded, reminded him that there were thousands of other people living a thousand different lives, and even if they didn’t have the same unbelievable pressures of being a superhuman, they fought their own battles, too, and Jungkook silently admired them.
He also had a few pictures of himself he took when he was just swinging around the city for fun as Spider-Man.
When he first went public after stopping a robbery at a local mini market, the pictures and videos that went around were the lowest quality possible, probably because he was in and out of the scene before too many people could get a better shot. But watching the videos and seeing the pictures helped him come to terms with the fact that he was Spider-Man. He didn't do it often, and the few pictures he had made it obvious that he was the one who had taken them - like the selfie he had taken mid-swing with his mask on, his fingers making a peace sign, and the Statue of Liberty visible all in one frame. He had almost lost his camera trying to get that one.
The other few, however, were action shots clearer than any journalists or new photographer had been able to capture, and there was a small selection of them framed around his room as a positive reminder of who he was.
Jungkook clicked on the folder once all the pictures loaded in and began looking through them one by one with his left elbow on the desk, holding his chin as his right hand scrolled away.
The day before, he had swung all the way to Central Park just as the sun was beginning to set after he finished drills with Namjoon, so all of his pictures were painted in the orange-red glow of the sunset. Some were wide angles with the scenery of the park, and others were simple shots of random strangers doing everyday things - pet owners playing with their dogs, people sitting comfortably on the benches with books propped open in their hands, runners zooming past with their phones taped to their arms and headphones in.
They all shared the same color scheme - the greens and yellows of the park that had a darker tint to it because of the time the photos were taken, but Jungkook clicked through them without much thought.
It wasn’t until he reached the last photo that he slowed down to take a better look at it. The picture was the last one he had taken just before he headed home for the night when the sun was barely hanging in the sky, its light reflecting off of the water as he walked on the ground across from the bow bridge to make his way back to headquarters.
He stopped to take the picture when he spotted a small figure standing at the center of the bridge, leaning over the railing to look (he presumed) at the water below, and the figure's shadow stood out against the orange sun. Jungkook snapped the picture just before the sun set completely, and then continued his way home before he could even take a second look at it.
Looking at it now, however, Jungkook felt a hint of pride at the beauty in the last-minute unedited scenery he had captured.
The image appeared as if it was split into two with the water in the bottom half mirroring the sun and bridge and the shadow above it. The water glowed with the reflection of the sun, shining and blurring the buildings and trees and the silhouette of the figure to the point where it looked as if the light was emerging from the figure itself, pouring and rippling out of the shadow like a red-orange fire, and Jungkook was amazed at how magical it was.
After deleting the ones he didn’t like and editing a few that needed it, Jungkook disconnected his camera and closed his laptop, putting them both away before he stood with his arms above his head and twisted his torso side to side, stretching his back with a few satisfying cracks, and then, deciding that he had kept himself busy long enough, made his way back downstairs after slipping his sweater back on, simply because his own curiosity got the better of him.
“Perfect timing,” Yoongi said when the elevator doors slid open, already waiting on the other side with his hands in his pocket, his brown hair messy around his head like he had just ran a hand through it, and Jungkook assumed he was just about to go upstairs to let him know they were about to start the meeting. “Fury wanted you down here.”
“Did he call everyone down?” Jungkook asked, stepping out of the elevator to walk beside Yoongi as a few other agents silently joined behind, seemingly all going to the same place.
“Not everyone,” Yoongi said, shaking his head. “Just a few of the other researchers who were at the site today. I was about to go get you.”
“Did you already hear about the new guy? Is that what this is about?” Jungkook asked and Yoongi nodded.
“Fury suspects that the guy he’s bringing in can somehow help with the incidents that have been occuring.”
“The attacks?” Jungkook clarified, and Yoongi turned to him and raised an eyebrow. “What? They’re recurring violent actions against specific places that end with destruction. That’s the literal definition of ‘attack.’”
“You're such a nerd," Yoongi sighed fondly, shaking his head. "We don’t know if there's malicious intent. There hasn’t been any casualties,” Yoongi reasoned, shrugging with his hands still in his pocket and Jungkook sighed dramatically, knowing Yoongi was only saying that because he didn’t want to make any assumptions.
The events that had occurred around New York in the past two months were no secret to anyone who worked for SHIELD, or to the public. After the first incident, however, when their agents returned with abnormal findings that suggested there was a lot more going on than machine malfunctions or electric problems, SHIELD immediately took it under their authority, and the government didn’t ask questions.
“Well, what did you find today? I mean it had to have been something important, because why-why would Fury suddenly bring in someone new-someone who doesn’t even seem like he has a clue about what’s going on here?”
“We didn’t exactly ‘find’ anything today. It was more of a confirmation. There’s been a common thread found in all three sites, but this was the biggest destruction with the most obvious signs,” Yoongi said, using a hand to gesture as he spoke. “As for the new guy, I don’t know any more about him than you do. He’s a new recruit, Nick thinks he can help us-it’s in here,” Yoongi added and Jungkook stopped, turning around to follow Yoongi in the direction of the door that was on the opposite hall.
“So Fury brought in a mystery guy who’s supposed to help us and yet, not a single person knows anything about him? He-he works at a coffee shop. He took a picture of the license plate because he was worried I was going to murder him, hyung,” Jungkook said, exasperated as Yoongi snickered and held the door open for Jungkook, ushering him with a wave of his hand.
“Just get inside.”
The first thing Jungkook noticed when he entered the large conference room was that it was empty, save for Hoseok who was already sitting at the end of the table with another SHIELD agent Jungkook was familiar with, Kim Seokjin. Seokjin ran the Weapons and Arsenal Department that was located in a separate building, and despite him being five years older than Jungkook, he was easily one of Jungkook’s favorite people. When Hoseok saw the two of them, he waved and gestured for them as the other agents filed in.
“Who’s Park Jimin?” Seokjin asked the second Jungkook sat down in the chair beside him.
“A new recruit, I think. He works at a coffee shop, he has pink hair, and he has no idea what he’s doing here at all. Neither do any of us.” Jungkook explained simply as Seokjin nodded along. “Fury hasn’t mentioned anything. Or Namjoon hyung?”
For the entire year that Jungkook had worked at SHIELD, Seokjin and Namjoon had had a painfully pining relationship, one that was constantly being put on hold because the both of them were responsible for so much of SHIELD business. But Jungkook knew that they still managed to make time for each other, and Namjoon often told Seokjin stuff he didn't tell everyone else, knowing he would surely share the information with the rest of them. But Seokjin only shook his head.
“Did you check SHIELD files,” Seokjin suggested and Jungkook nodded, using his feet to twist himself side to side in the chair.
“I did.” Hoseok replied, sitting up in his chair a bit more and Seokjin hummed.
“What about today? What did you guys find at the site,” Seokjin asked, speaking to Yoongi now.
“Just more evidence that confirmed a theory of ours. I’m gonna explain it in a bit, but Nick didn’t mention anything about Jimin to us. I know as much about him as you guys do.” Yoongi explained and Seokjin nodded slowly.
“So...secret agent,” he guessed and Jungkook immediately sat up in his chair, throwing a hand onto Seokjin’s arm as he grinned and Yoongi and Hoseok let out twin sighs of exasperation.
“That’s what I said!”
“He’s not a secret agent,” Yoongi pleaded, but Jungkook didn’t even listen. Seokjin leaned over towards Jungkook and began whispering nonsense into his ear about all the possible reasons Jimin was a secret agent, and Jungkook, though not believing a single word, listened intently and nodded along, laughing.
“You’re children,” Yoongi commented when Seokjin finished, suppressing a smile. Seokjin straightened himself in his chair, looking rather proud as Jungkook and Hoseok tried to suppress their laughter, and Yoongi only shook his head just as the conference room door opened.
Fury entered first, followed by Namjoon and, to Jungkook’s relief, a slightly less terrified looking Jimin.
“Agents,” Fury began, standing at the head of the table with Namjoon and Jimin on either side, his head tilted upward slightly as he examined the room. Every person in the room turned towards him and Jungkook felt a weird sense of relief wash over him on just seeing that Jimin was still here. “As many of you know, last night there was yet another incident at a coffee shop in the Upper East Side, which makes this one the fourth in total. This morning, our researchers went out to examine the site and came back with information that we will be discussing today. But, before we get into that, many of you would like to know that we have a new agent joining our team,” Fury said, tilting his head in Jimin’s direction as Jimin bowed his head. “This is Park Jimin. He will begin combative training as soon as possible and will assist in technical engineering. That means you, Dr. Jung.”
“Yes, sir,” Hoseok replied cheerfully and then he smiled in Jimin’s direction, waving him over to the empty seat that was beside Jungkook. Jimin’s eyes widened for a moment, but then he ducked his head and excused himself from the front of the table, seemingly relieved to be out of the spotlight as he slumped into the chair beside Jungkook. “Jung Hoseok, Head of Technical Design Department,” Hoseok said, offering a hand enthusiastically.
“Hi. Park Jimin,” Jimin replied timidly, but he smiled and accepted Hoseok’s hand before sitting back into his seat and taking a deep breath, glancing at Jungkook with a shy smile that Jungkook reciprocated. Jungkook thought to introduce him to Yoongi and Seokjin as well, but before he could, Fury continued.
“Agent Park has an extensive education in engineering and martial arts and I have already given him the necessary information he will need to listen to today's briefing. Starting today, he works as an official SHIELD Agent,” Fury said, moving his head so he could speak to each individual at the table. “Now, moving on. Dr. Min, if you will.”
Everyone’s attention turned to Yoongi as he stood from his seat and walked to the head of the table. Fury flicked off the lights before taking a seat across from Namjoon as he handed an Ipad to Yoongi. Yoongi slid it towards the center of the long table, and then, with one hand, tapped a few things on the screen and pinched his thumb and index fingers together just a little above the screen and pulled upwards until the image that was on the Ipad displayed in a transparent projection, hovering above the center of the table as Yoongi cleared his throat.
“For the past two months, SHIELD has been keeping track of the abnormalities found at each of the sites where an incident occurs. Fortunately, when our team went to clear the site this morning, there were no casualties reported. However,” Yoongi poked a finger into the projection and then flicked it upwards and the image of the destroyed coffee shop changed into a simple line graph with a single blue line. “At every site, we’ve managed to examine multiple samples of debris to check for any traceable levels of energy and space matter. This first line,” Yoongi said, tracing his finger along the line, “are points we measured at the very first site after testing different pieces of debris we found scattered around the area. Although the numbers are obviously higher than what we would see in an average piece of space matter, we weren’t extremely alarmed until we recognized a pattern occurring in the energy itself. If you take a look at the most recent reading-”
Yoongi repeated the poking and flicking motion and the graph changed into a similar one except instead of a blue line, this one was red.
“The energy levels that we detected were extremely higher than any of the numbers we’ve seen before.”
“What about the energy pattern? Is it an element we’ve identified before?” Seokjin questioned, sitting with his arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed. Yoongi nodded stiffly before turning towards Fury, who was seated in the chair across from Namjoon.
“It’s not an element any one of you have seen in your time here.” Fury answered and then he stood from his seat and joined Yoongi at the head of the table before he turned towards Namjoon. “Pull up the Mind Stone.”
Namjoon slid the Ipad towards himself and the projection momentarily disappeared as Yoongi walked back to his seat across from Jungkook. Namjoon pushed the Ipad back and mimicked the motions Yoongi did with his fingers until a new projection appeared in the center of the table.
Every agent around the table was casted in a dim yellow glow from the image that was being projected. It was about the size of a fist, jagged and oval shaped, rotating slowly and emitting a bright, almost yellow glow, and Jungkook stared in awe.
“This is the Mind Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones that exist in our immediate universe. Most of you are aware of these already, so, for the sake of keeping things simple, what you need to know is that the energy patterns our agents have found at each site is identical to the frequencies the Mind Stone emits, which means the destruction is being caused by the stone.” Fury leaned onto his palms, lifting one to tap the Ipad as the graph reappeared in the projection beside the stone and then placed it back onto the table. “The Mind Stone has its history at SHIELD, one that we’ll get into when the time is right. For right now, however, the information we have tells us that someone or something is in possession of one of the most powerful creations in the universe, and they’re using it against Earth.”
“Why?” Jungkook asked, and then, upon realizing he had said it out loud as every agent turned towards him, he sat up straighter and quickly shook his head so it didn’t come across like he was being disrespectful. “I-I just mean...why-why would someone suddenly be attacking? Why now? And the locations they chose? Random, uncoordinated, all without actually hurting anyone. It-it just-how do we find out what they’re looking for?”
“Those are all very good questions, Agent Jeon,” Fury replied sincerely. “All of which we have no answers to at the moment. What we do know is that the attacks are not coming from earth. There is no evidence at any site that suggests the explosions start here.”
“The energy is coming from space, hurtling into earth at times when no one can spot it, hence why all the attacks have been happening at random hours of the night. Then the targeted area is ruined so badly that no evidence is left behind, nothing that could tell us what or why they were there.” Yoongi added and Fury nodded as Jungkook sank further into his seat, relieved that the attention was off of him even though he could still feel Jimin’s eyes on him.
“Our plan is to study the stone in as much detail as possible, break it down and find out everything we can - its potential powers, its weaknesses, and how to detect it before it hits another point on earth. Business here for our other agents will continue in the same way it always has because as of right now, that’s all we can do.”
There was a tense silence that settled over the room when Fury finished as all the agents quietly processed what they had just discussed and Jungkook glanced over at Jimin, his eyes stuck on the projection until Fury swept a hand across the screen and the image disappeared as he flicked the lights back on.
“That’s all for today.” Fury said finally, giving the agents in the room a quick dismissive nod as the agents stood and swiftly left the room, Seokjin and Yoongi included. “And Agent Jeon,” Fury called just as Jungkook was under the doorway and he paused, Hoseok and Jimin right behind him. “You’ll be in charge of getting Agent Park situated for the time being. Dr. Jung will of course show him around the science labs, and Agent Kim will help in getting him situated, but your role is to train him, show him around the facility, get him used to how we work around here. Once upon a time you were the new guy, too, which means this should be your easiest assignment yet.”
—-
Someone New by Hozier
As someone who was still struggling to learn his own way around headquarters, Jungkook felt like a complete fool trying to show Jimin around the huge facility when he returned the next day.
The night after the meeting, Fury had sent Jimin home with another SHIELD agent, telling him to sleep on the decision and then gave him Namjoon’s number if he decided to come back. Surprisingly, Jimin sent a message back bright and early the next morning, saying that he had his shift at work covered, and a SHIELD agent brought him back to headquarters by the time it was the afternoon, this time wearing black jeans and an oversized white long-sleeve, his pink hair styled loosely around his head, and Jungkook almost swooned.
He had spent more time than he’d like to admit trying to figure out what to wear himself, but eventually settled on a gray pullover and jeans tucked into his boots and then rushed downstairs after Namjoon had let him know that Jimin would be arriving.
Now Jungkook was walking Jimin back to the main building after doing his absolute best to explain what each of the structures scattered around the lawn were for all without giving too much away. There were multiple of them surrounding the area, each with their own floors, labs, and purposes, and Jungkook recalled as much information as he could while Jimin listened attentively and patiently. He was relieved, however, when they reached their last stop at the main building, because it was the one place he knew inside and out.
“This is the main facility,” Jungkook began as he held the front door open for Jimin, feeling like he had been talking for hours. “All of the main research labs and practice rooms are in this building but you can only access them if you have clearance. The living quarters are on the fifth floor, and the cafeteria is down the hall on the right, but every floor has smaller kitchens because it-well, it’s kind of annoying to come all the way down for food.” Jungkook added, catching the way Jimin’s mouth twitched in amusement as he scanned the open first floor and the agents who were sitting at the front desk.
“What do they do down here?” Jimin asked as they walked straight towards the elevator.
“Mostly management work,” Jungkook replied. “They don’t keep super important information down here because it’s open access to everyone. Things like accounting, inventory, and filing so it’s not as classified. The second floor is open to everyone, too, but you can’t use the computers or get into the offices if you don’t have a badge. It’s a lot of miscellaneous information. Record-keeping, mostly. But it’s more private information.”
Jungkook stepped out onto the second floor, walking Jimin down the halls and pointing to specific rooms and offices as Jimin followed close behind, mostly quiet because Jungkook had answered so many of his questions the day before. They passed the conference room they had met in the day before, as well as Fury’s office before Jungkook decided to head back to the elevator because, although Jimin had access to the entire floor, he figured most of his work would be done on the upper levels.
On their way around the other buildings, Jimin had told Jungkook that he was granted level five clearance, the highest level a SHIELD researcher could get (normally), which meant he had access to almost everything in the building, except slight restrictions on the fourth floor.
“This is the training floor,” Jungkook gestured with the wave of his hand when they walked out onto the third floor. It was structured like a large office building with long corridors that were lined with doors that led to separate rooms instead of cubicles. It was a quick walk-through, however, because there was nothing more to see than the few rooms, the bathroom, and the kitchen that were both on opposite sides of the back hallway. Once they made their way around, Jungkook led them back to the elevator. “So, everything above the fourth floor is the most secure at headquarters. All of our classified information is kept here. Your level five clearance will get you into most labs, but some information online and in the files is still restricted.”
When the doors slid open, Jungkook stepped out into a small gray room that framed the elevators, making sure Jimin was following as he turned towards the door on the left wall. Beside it was a silver device built into the wall that was at Jungkook’s chest level and had two small black dots above it. Jungkook lifted his hand and held it against the blank screen until it lit up and a bright blue line scanned up and down his hand.
“Jungkook Jeon,” the voice said in the exact same automated English voice as the one at the main entrance. “Access granted.”
There was a quiet electronic beep noise after the voice spoke up, and one of the dots above the device lit up bright green as the door slid sideways, revealing the hallway that was busy with SHIELD agents in their navy blue jumpsuits and lab coats, and Jungkook swore he heard Jimin take the slightest inhale of breath.
The fourth floor was easily one of the most grand parts of headquarters. The ceilings were higher than the other floors and the walls were lined with thick glass windows that let the natural light in during the day, making the dark gray and silver colored floors and pillars appear shiny and polished. It was a single floor, but there were short staircases against some of the walls that led upwards, connecting to catwalks that hovered above the main floor and extended from the balcony that held a few more rooms and labs, including Hoseok’s. As they walked across the main floor towards the staircase on the opposite wall, Jimin seemed to scoot closer and closer to Jungkook, his eyes wandering upwards and around the big space as they passed the rows of desktops and cabinets that were busy with agents.
“Dr. Jung’s lab is all the way at the end of the hallway,” Jungkook said once they were up the short staircase, his stomach fluttering when he realized that Jimin was practically glued to his side, and he pointed to the room in the corner that had its blinds drawn. “The door right beside it is for his personal office, but he’s hardly ever in there.”
“Do I need an ID to get inside the lab?” Jimin asked as they approached the door, eyeing the small device that was built into the wall as Jungkook shook his head.
“The ID is mainly for the elevators and to access the rooms on the third and fifth floor, but everything on this floor requires a handprint and then a four digit code.” Jungkook explained, lifting his hand in the same way he did when they stepped off the elevator. The blue scanner lit up underneath his palm, and when he removed his hand, instead of the door opening, four square boxes appeared on the screen above a keypad. “Hoseok’s code is 6600.”
“Is it different for every room?”
“Yeah.”
“Why is his 6600?”
“He says it looks like the word ‘bbobbo’ in Korean,” Jungkook laughed, remembering when Hoseok had given him the code to his lab and giggled about it like he was the smartest person in the world. "Like, like the word kiss."
“Bbo-bbo,” Jimin repeated, smiling. “Cute.”
“He’s very proud,” Jungkook replied as the lab door slid open, and he heard Jimin giggle quietly as they stepped inside. Jungkook glanced around for Hoseok, and then, before the door could even close behind them -
“Jungkook-ah!”
Almost immediately, Jungkook spotted Hoseok standing from his stool, dropping whatever he was working on to rush over to the two of them by the doorway with his glasses still on, his light brown hair pushed back by the black headband he was wearing and he was smiling brightly as he made his way over.
“Hey, hyung,” Jungkook sighed when he approached, smiling in return. “You remember Park Jimin.”
“Of course. Mr. Kim told me you’d be coming back today. It’s nice to see you again, Jimin.” Hoseok said kindly, removing his glasses and folding them into the pocket of his white lab coat as Jimin bowed his head. “ Come on. I’ll show you around the lab.”
For the next hour, Hoseok took his time enthusiastically showing Jimin anything and everything he could inside the large lab while Jungkook followed behind, feeling like an overprotective chaperone. He had half a mind to stay behind and let Hoseok take over for the time being, considering the lab was literally his , but when he mentioned the idea, Jimin quietly asked if he would stay with him, and Jungkook almost melted, the idea forgotten completely.
Hoseok happily introduced Jimin to every agent who was in the laboratory - granted, there weren’t more than ten people because on most days they spent their time running from one department to the other, consulting ideas and theories with one another, but Jungkook stayed by Jimin’s side the entire time. The few agents that he did get to meet, however, were kind enough to welcome Jimin with open arms and spoke to him as if he had been working at headquarters for years, and Jungkook could see the visible relief wash over Jimin as he continued exploring Hoseok’s lab with polite curiosity.
Jungkook did notice, however, that they avoided the armor room all together, which was the room directly below Hoseok's on the main floor. In it were all of Hoseok’s suit prototypes, including Jungkook’s, as well as failed armor and weapon designs and pieces that were in progress. As a level five agent, Jimin would have access to the data and scientific part of what they did, but for now he would remain unaware of what they actually used the data for.
“Now, this is my private office,” Hoseok said as he opened the door to his office. “I don’t ever actually do any work in here, but there’s plenty of research books, old files, and experiment records that are stored here if you ever need them. The door requires my handprint, but if I’m not around, you can just bypass it with the same code you used for this lab.”
“6600,” Jimin recalled, wandering towards the bookshelf that was on the back wall behind Hoseok’s small desk as Jungkook slumped into the chair that was across from it and Hoseok nodded, leaning against the armrest beside Jungkook.
“Bbobbo,” Hoseok emphasized with a grin, and Jungkook let out an amused groan as Hoseok and Jimin snickered.
“It’s very clever.”
“Thank you. I thought so, too.”
“He also thinks that holding his breath for ten seconds a day is enough to stop global warming. Don’t trust his judgment,” Jungkook teased and Hoseok scoffed dramatically as Jimin did his best to suppress a laugh, carefully pulling out a book and flipping through a few of the pages.
“I’ll kick you out of my office right now,” Hoseok threatened, pointing a finger at the door with a face that was supposed to look angry, but Jungkook could see him fighting a smile as he raised his hands by his head, feigning fear until Hoseok's fake frown crumbled and he laughed. “You’re a pain in the ass.”
“I know,” Jungkook sighed happily, but then he took a deep breath and stood from the chair. They had spent almost an hour touring with Hoseok, and Jungkook still had to show Jimin the entire fifth floor and then report back to Namjoon because he was still unsure on the details of Jimin’s arrangement. He was still unaware of what Jimin was allowed to know and what he wasn't, not that Jungkook was much higher up in ranking, but him being Spider-Man meant he had a lot more insight than most. “We better go before he threatens us with changing the passcode to his lab.”
Jimin snickered as he slid the book back into its spot and Hoseok rolled his eyes, shaking his head because he knew as well as Jungkook that there was no way in hell he would ever change his passcode unless he found something else he thought was as amusing or clever.
“Thank you, Dr. Jung. Your lab is very nice, and I’m excited to work with you,” Jimin said on their way out, and Hoseok scoffed good naturedly upon hearing his name said with such respect.
“Jungkook-ah told me you’re Korean, and there’s very few agents here who actually speak the language so you can call me hyung,” Hoseok said, smiling kindly when Jungkook and Jimin reached the doorway, and Jungkook watched fondly as Jimin’s smile grew and he nodded.
“Thank you, Dr- h-hyung,” Jimin corrected, and Hoseok grinned as he pulled out his glasses and slipped them back, shooting Jungkook a quick glance with his eyebrows raised before they turned and the door slid shut behind them. “I like him. He’s very nice.”
“He can be,” Jungkook mused, smiling. “He was one of the first people I talked to when I started working here,” Jungkook replied as they walked down the steps.
“Really? It sounds like you guys have known each other longer.”
“When I started working here a year ago, his department was one of the few I really knew anything about. I used to wander outside of his lab, like, five times a day just to watch what they were doing,” Jungkook admitted shyly as they stepped into the elevator, and Jimin stifled a laugh. “When I was finally brave enough to go inside, he acted like he had been expecting me and showed me everything he could. He was extremely welcoming, and I-he just...he made me feel like I belonged here before I even believed I did. An-and now I just spend all of my free time in his lab. He’s probably sick of me.” Jungkook said with a grin, his heart warming at the memory of when he had first come in with his thin handmade fabric suit and mask that Hoseok had been ecstatic to upgrade for him.
“Well, pretty soon he’ll be sick of us both,” Jimin said with a happy smile, and Jungkook’s stomach swooped.
The fifth floor was a startling difference from the fourth. Other than the shockingly quiet atmosphere, it had shiny marble floors and long corridors that surrounded the entire level so that the walls of the rooms weren’t up against the windows. It closely resembled a hotel with doors that were spaced out enough for privacy, and far enough apart to suggest that each of the rooms had at least two bedrooms (most of them did). Most agents preferred to live at home and drove in to work, but for younger ones or biologically enhanced ones like Jungkook, staying at headquarters felt safer, especially knowing he could jump out of his window for a swing anytime he needed it.
Jimin’s room was located near the backside of the building, only a few rooms down from Jungkook’s, though Jimin didn’t know that when Fury let him choose the room he wanted the day before. Outside of Jimin’s door was a small scanner just like the one outside of Hoseok's lab, and when they reached the room, Jungkook instructed Jimin on how to use it.
“The system will read and save your handprint to this specific room,” Jungkook explained as Jimin lifted his hand, almost flinching when the light came on underneath. In an automated voice, the device stated ‘unknown entry’ and then ‘please enter file information,’ so Jungkook took a few minutes to type in Jimin’s name and then used his own ID to confirm that a certified SHIELD agent was inputting the request. After a moment, the four blue squares appeared on the screen. “Then you just choose whatever four digit code you want. And it-it doesn’t have to be the same as Hoseok's.”
“Damn. There goes my great idea,” Jimin sighed sarcastically, shaking his head.
“Ha-ha,” Jungkook replied stiffly and Jimin snickered, scooting closer to the device to type in a code as Jungkook turned around for privacy until he heard the small click and the green light above the screen lit up as the door slid open, revealing the room.
Much like the rest of the facility, the rooms were hardly anything special. To most people, they were considered bland, but Jungkook actually enjoyed the dark grey and blue color scheme and the simply structured layout. The small L-shaped kitchen was to the right of the entryway with marble countertops and all of the basic kitchen necessities up against the wall. In the center of the space was the living room, the short dark brown coffee table in between the couch that was against the left wall and the TV that was installed into the other, and on either side of those walls were doors that led to the two separate bedrooms.
Jimin didn’t spend more than a few moments exploring the room, and Jungkook knew it was because Fury had already shown him the space the day before, so once Jimin seemed satisfied, they headed back downstairs to the entrance, where a car was already waiting to take Jimin back home. It was already late evening, and Jimin had been there the entire day.
“Mr. Fury said I could get my ID the next time I come in,” Jimin said, watching as Jungkook slid his badge through the elevator scanner. “But I don’t-I mean, he didn’t exactly give me a schedule.”
“Mr. Kim will most likely reach out,” Jungkook replied, remembering exactly what Namjoon had did when he was recruited. “They probably just want to be sure that you-you know, that you’re still interested in working here.”
“I am,” Jimin said firmly, confidently. “I-I was worried, at first. I was scared yesterday, but then...then Mr. Kim and Mr. Fury spent the few hours I was here just trying to get me to feel comfortable. They kept saying I could leave if I wanted to, that if it sounded like it was too much, then I didn’t have to be involved, that I didn’t have to stay or come back.”
“But you did,” Jungkook replied softly and he saw the corner of Jimin’s mouth twitch as they walked towards the front doors. He had been walking Jimin around headquarters almost the entire day, and this was the first time Jimin mentioned anything about what Fury had told him, or the shock he had felt on finding out that SHIELD wasn’t exactly what he thought it was, and Jungkook couldn’t help his curiosity.
“I almost didn’t,” Jimin replied honestly, shrugging.
“What...what exactly did they tell you?” Jungkook asked carefully, wondering if they had told Jimin that Jungkook was Spider-Man. His stomach almost flipped at the thought.
“They told me that SHIELD doesn’t actually work for the government. That it’s more of a separate branch, and it-it deals with more than international affairs, like space.”
“And you’re not freaked out about the fact that SHIELD basically hides its identity from the public?”
“No, I was. I-I had a total meltdown when Mr. Kim tried explaining Infinity Stones to me,” Jimin said with a small exhale that sounded like a laugh. “I studied things like physics, engineering. I thought I had seen it all, you know? It still-I mean, I can’t completely wrap my head around it. It feels like a lot of what I used to think is all wrong in a way. But...then they offered me a cool job, good pay, and a very cute personal tour guide. Couldn’t say no.”
“Yeah, it just-w-wait, what?” Jungkook sputtered, but Jimin only grinned and pushed open the front door, letting himself out as Jungkook forced himself not to blush like he was still in middle school, even though hearing Jimin call him cute felt like a confirmation because, up until now, he wasn’t entirely sure if Jimin’s casual compliments had been intentional or not. But he pushed the thought aside as he joined Jimin outside, clearing his throat. “You’re handling this surprisingly well.”
“SHIELD has obviously been doing something right,” Jimin mumbled. “No one would ever suspect a thing, and I guess-I don’t know. I figure if someone is hiding something like its identity from the public, it must be for good reason.”
“Yeah, that...yeah,” Jungkook replied quietly, the words surprisingly comforting. There wasn’t a single person outside of headquarters that knew Jungkook was Spider-Man - at least, not that he was aware of-but something about the way Jimin was speaking suddenly made Jungkook wish that he knew. He had only spent two days with Jimin, and already he wanted to share more with him than he had with most people.
Jungkook only realized he was staring when Jimin cleared his throat, and Jungkook felt his face heat up.
“Um...well, I-we-we are really glad to have you on the team, Agent Park,” Jungkook said awkwardly, offering a hand to Jimin.
Jimin’s mouth quirked slightly as he eyed it, and then he smirked as he accepted Jungkook’s hand and shook it. “Thank you for being my very own personal tour guide.” Jimin said with a grin, and then he released Jungkook’s hand and turned to walk down the stairs. He only made it about halfway before he stopped and pivoted. “You can call me Hyung, Jungkook-ah.”
And then he continued down the stairs, disappearing into the car before Jungkook’s mind could catch up in time to respond and drove off, all while Jungkook stood rooted at the top of the stairs as the sun slowly set, casting the entirety of headquarters in its fiery orange glow.