[center][quote=@Lord Wraith][b][color=#daa520]“I believe it is time for me to return home.”[/color][/b][/quote][img]https://i.imgur.com/ZfvPPwT.png[/img][/center]
[b]Triskelion, Washington DC[/b]

Sue bid Thor goodbye and watched as Agent Perry ferried the Asgardian into a transporter bound for wherever he called home. It was an amusing sight. She was so familiar with seeing the clouds part and Thor descending into battle with Mjolnir swinging above his head. Something about seeing Thor in a SHIELD transporter made him seem all the more human – and Sue wasn’t quite sure yet whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

She ran her fingers over the rune inscribed at the centre of the pendant that Thor had given her when Agent Perry made her approach. As if sensing that the Invisible Woman was in a world of her own, she waved one of her brown hands in front of Sue to catch her attention before speaking.

[b][color=#7b68ee]“Susan Storm, we haven’t had the pleasure to meet yet. My name is Special Supervisory Agent Perry.”[/color][/b]

Sue met Perry’s greeting with a smile. [color=#9fc5e8]“I’d say that it was nice to meet you, Agent Perry, but I think we’d both rather not be here. At least, not under [i]these[/i] circumstances.”[/color]

[b][color=#7b68ee]“Heh, you’re right about that,”[/color][/b] Perry murmured as the women shook hands. [b][color=#7b68ee]“But I think we did a good job all things considered.”[/color][/b]

There was some truth to it. Had Sue not left the Baxter Building in a huff early that morning, she would never have been there to help Thor subdue Creel. There was no telling much more destruction Creel could have caused if he’d not been forced to split his attention between the two of them. For that reason alone, Sue had reason to consider her visit to Washington a success.

Though thoughts of the Surfer’s true face were not far from her mind. It felt almost as if those weary eyes that seemed to stare straight into her soul were resting on her at this very moment. The help that the Surfer – or [i]whoever [/i]he had been before being infected by the power cosmic – had given her had allowed her to escape from Creel’s grasp. Why? Between that and Thor’s near-villainous turn, Sue’s mind was in a state of constant disturbance.

Perhaps that was clear from the look on Sue’s face because there was concern in Perry’s voice as she broke the silence. [b][color=#7b68ee]“You look worried.”[/color][/b]

[color=#9fc5e8]“Aren’t you?”[/color]

Agent Perry seemed to consider the question for a time. She didn’t rush to put Sue’s concerns to bed, as some might have, but seemed to truly consider the implication of each potential response she might provide. Her thoughtfulness did not go unappreciated by Sue – perhaps in large part because she was so used to Guy Gardner shooting from the hip. Agent Perry seemed minded to do anything but.

[b][color=#7b68ee]“He’s powerful, there’s no doubting that. He may even be the most[i] [/i]powerful metahuman on Earth – and from the little we know of him, he’s only starting to scratch the surface with those powers of his. But his intentions seem good – and if they’re not, well, I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”[/color][/b]

[color=#9fc5e8]“Jesus,”[/color] Sue murmured in appreciation at Perry’s sense of self-confidence. [color=#9fc5e8]"You even [i]sound [/i]like Hill.”[/color]

A wry smile appeared on Perry’s face and she turned to leave Sue stood there on the tarmac. One of Sue’s hands clasped onto Perry’s forearm and stopped her in her tracks.

[color=#9fc5e8]“You know about the Surfer, don’t you?”[/color]

Sensing Storm parsing her expression for answers, Perry did her best to suppress the truth. [b][color=#7b68ee]“I don’t know what you’re t-”[/color][/b]

[color=#9fc5e8]“You don’t need to lie to me,”[/color] Sue said as she produced Rachna Koul’s ID card. [color=#9fc5e8]“I saw him with me own eyes, Agent Perry.”[/color]

Perry plucked the ID card from between Sue’s fingers. She scanned the face and name and let out a heavy sigh, shoving it into the inside pocket of her coat, before sliding her forearm free from Sue’s grip.

[b][color=#7b68ee]“Our silver-skinned guest[i] [/i]was put on a transporter to The Raft within two minutes of Creel’s breakout.”[/color][/b]

A resigned Sue nodded in acceptance. [color=#9fc5e8]“For all of our sake’s, I hope SHIELD are ready for what’s coming – because when Galactus comes, there won’t be a prison on Earth that can hold him.”[/color]

Perry nodded grimly and then stared down at the watch around her wrist. [b][color=#7b68ee]“I suppose you’ll be needing transport home too?”[/color][/b]

Sue nodded and Perry let out a high-pitched whistle to a nearby SHIELD agent. Within minutes, Sue found herself being bundled into a SHIELD transporter bound for New York. She had hoped to speak to Maria Hill before leaving but was informed that the deputy director was, to no surprise, otherwise indisposed. Her farewell with Perry was brief, Thor’s attache showing all the professionalism she had in their brief exchange, and Sue was left to mull over the day’s events on the hour-long flight back to the Big Apple.

It had been a long day, and thanks to Johnny’s coming-out party she was sure there would be many more long days to come for the four of them, but Sue would be lying if she said there wasn’t a part of her that felt a strange pang upon seeing the Baxter Building on the horizon. 

She knew it wasn’t home – not [i]hers[/i] anyway – but it was the nearest thing she had to one. And she’d be damned if she let anyone threaten it.