Feelins of inadequnecy
President Steve Rogers entered the Oval Office, having returned from debriefing the recovered Agent Seven at SSR headquarters.
“Send in Col. Hand, please.” He said over his intercom.
A few moments of waiting, the SSR deputy commander entered.
“You wanted to see me, Sir?”
“I’ve recently been given some reports dealing with CHIMERA agents getting past your security. Your operations seem to have more holes than swiss cheese…”
“I’ll have to have a word with Leopold…” She began before he cut her off.
“Mr. Fitz is a technically a civilian contractor in your employ. The safety and security of the SSR as a division of the United States Military is ultimately YOUR responsibility, not his.”
“I take it I’m fired, Sir.” Hand said.
“You could say that.” He said, as a shot rang out and, suddenly, Hand’s body was lying in a heap on the floor.
“Good work, Number Seven.” Rogers said “I think this is going to work just fine.”
Rodgers looked over the body, the bullet impacted right in the ear. He reached around his desk and picked up the face mask the shot had knocked off. He looked inside the head at the strange alien shapes and parts the mechanical replica of Hand was made out.
“One of these days she’s going to build one of these that will look TOO human.” He said reaching for his desk intercom again
“Get someone to clean this mess up before someone sees it. Tell the real Victoria I do want to have a word with her.”
“This was a machine?” Seven asked
“Yes.” Rogers said as two workers came in to remove the robot “had to be sure you’re willing to follow orders. I just didn’t want to waste manpower. Would have used Dr. Simmons appearance, but you would have probably sensed something was fishy.”
“Is it not in violation of the law for such a device to exist?”
“Of course not.”
“But the SCRA…”
“Doesn’t apply to us.”
-------------------
Meanwhile
Scott and Daisy returned to Zephyr Zero to find none of the others had returned yet.
“Hey,” Lincoln said “How’d it go.”
Scott stood still for a moment in the entryway.
“Fine… Just fine.” He said after a moment before entering the cockpit.
Daisy followed in after him.
“I though you said he wasn’t going to bother you.”
“Well I was wrong.” Scott said, plopping in his chair and pulling his legs up to his chest.
Daisy took a deep breath “You said it yourself, we’re not them. Our Lincoln is gone. I’d never though I’d be able to say this, but you’ve allowed me to move on. I’m not going to throw it away like the other me did for a quick bang.”
She sat down in the co-pilot seat.
“You know… I’ve been thinking” She said trying to change the subject “… about what we would name our kids, if we had any.”
Scott just sat there.
“Come on, talk to me” She said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
“OK” he sighed “I just feel like I’m forever going to be in his shadow. Everyone is going to know him as the guy you should have been with and I’m just the guy you settled for. Heaven help me if we find a Grant Ward…”
“Don’t even go there…” Daisy said.
“Daisy… I saw what happened to you. What you became after…”
He took a deep breath.
“Tell me the truth… Did you want to die?”
“No…” she said shifting in her seat. “… in a way… kinda… at first… I… But that was a lot of things happening at once. Getting pulled of sway, Dr. Gardner dying to save me…”
“That’s the root of my problem. I’m just a nobody who’s done nothing to deserve all this.”
“Nothing? You saved my life.”
“Only after you had to save mine.”
“I think you could have gotten out of there on your own. You had your human shield.”
“Yeah, if the coward hadn’t run off the moment I freed him… Terregin must have a sense of humor if it gave a thick-headed idiot thick skin…”
The two laughed quietly at that.
“Scott… Just forget he even existed.” Daisy said, getting up and moving to his side of the cockpit, climbing between him and the controls “I love you, screw what they all think.”
She leaned down and kissed him. He responded and within a few moments the two were making out.
“maybe they’ll be lucky enough to have a happy ending…” Jas said to Lincoln, the two having overheard Scott and Daisy talking.
“I hope so…”
Within half an hour, the others worked their way back, mostly only late from having gotten lost in the park.
“So where are we going exactly?” Barry asked Scott as the got the plane ready to fly.
“JFK.” Scott said as the plane lifted off “The S.H.I.E.L.D. of this earth has a support crew waiting for us with fuel and supplies. A gift from Director Fury.”
“And after that.”
“After that, well, that’s where things get interesting…”
“Morse is in the Lighthouse…” Daisy said to the Fitz and Jemma as the they flew over the city.
“The Lighthouse? Our Lighthouse?” Jemma asked, slightly shocked.
“Weird, ain’t it…”
The short hop over and the plane back on the ground, Scott and Daisy started down the stairs when the agent in charge walked towards them.
“Good Afternoon.” He said, cheerily as they froze in place.
“Something the matter?” Agent Grant Ward asked, looking up at the pair.
“Me and my big mouth…” Scott said.