Tracey was in her home in Las Vegas, when she heard a knock on her door. She was a little hesitant to answer it, she still didn't trust too many people in this city. However, she figured that she might as well, give whoever it was the benefit of the doubt as she got up from where she had been sitting and walked over, opening the door, and seeing someone that she had thought long dead.
Jim stood on the doorstep, just grinning as he saw his sister for the first time in several years. Between two tours and joining S.H.I.E.L.D., it'd been a while since he saw his only living family.
"You got bangs, sis...They look good," he greeted softly.
"...And if you're wondering, none of the world religions got it right. The afterlife was bought out by Chuck E. Cheese's, so it's all animatronics now..." "B-B-But how? You died years ago!" she responded, before she pulled him into her arms for a tight hug. Her brother, her twin brother that she had been told had died several years before was standing in front of her. Tracey had hugged him to make sure that he was really there, and not just a figment of her imagination.
"H-H-How are you here?" she said, before she stepped out of the way to let him in, and shut the door behind him.
He shook his head, spotting Tracey's couch and sitting down on it, making room for her to sit next to him.
"I didn't die, Tracey...But I was supposed to," he explained quietly.
"It was a covert op in Eastern Europe...I can't tell you too much, but I don't care anymore. I was hit with some weird experimental weapon - the nerds later explained to me it contained what they liked to call Isotope E...It made me...different..." He stared at his hand, before it turned to stone and he held it out to his sister gently.
"Wow... How is that even possible? And I don't care, I'm just glad you are alright," she said, though she had a few tears in her eyes as she took his hand in hers, looking at the stone. It was strange, but she doubted it would be the weirdest thing she'd see in her lifetime, but still. Seeing her brother back from the dead was getting to her, and she didn't know what else to really say about it.
Jim just shook his head. He still didn't understand the science behind it. All he knew was that he went into that mission human and when his body was dragged out, on the edge of death, he had become something else.
"I wanted you to know the truth, Trace," he said, his hand turning back to normal as he pulled his sister in and kissed her forehead.
"The world isn't safe for people like me...But I'm gonna change that. I'm gonna take care of the world, just like I always took care of you..." "Ok, I understand... But what exactly do you mean by that? What are you going to do? I don't want to lose you again..." she said softly,
"I don't know what I'd do, if I was told twice in my lifetime that you had died or something..." "I work for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division now...We're working on the name..." Jim answered. He then hesitated.
"I'm not supposed to be here now, but....Screw them, Trace. I'll come and see you this day every year, alright? Just the two of us...Just like old times...And relax, it's hard to kill someone who can do this," Jim said almost cockily, turning his entire body into rock.
"Thinking my superhero name could be the Boulder or something..." Tracey let out a small laugh, she was smiling.
"Alright, whatever you say," she said, looking at his body that was entirely made of rock. It was a little weird to see him like that, but she figured she could get used to it, he was her brother after all, and she'd always love him.
"And I don't think you need a superhero name... Though it would be nice to see you once a year at least... So I know you're still around at least and haven't forgotten about me." "How could I possibly forget about my dorky little sister?" Jim asked with a laugh.
Present Day - S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy: August 14th, 2020 - 9:15 A.M.
Dominika Novikova
Location: Sci-Tech Building 4 - Phase Three HQ: Medical Ward
Skills: Dimensional Energy Perception (Passive)
Novikova smirked, hearing Maria's voice. It was a greeting she was not entirely unaccustomed to hearing. They weren't romantically involved...but they were
involved, so to speak. She turned her head in Maria's direction, opening her eyes only to have her senses flooded with information again. There was Maria, kissing a corpse. Maria, screaming as she ran from what looked like an army of the undead. And in the split second before Novikova managed to tear her gaze away, she saw Maria patrolling a dark facility with Clint Barton, better known by his codename, Hawkeye.
"Good to know I've still got my looks," Novikova joked to Maria quietly.
"Sanity...Jury's still out on that one," she then said bluntly. She had been placed in the bed next to Maria, which was fortunate as it allowed her to keep her voice down. Fury didn't let on if he had heard them or not.
"Maybe if you weren't busy flirting with Agent Novikova, you wouldn't need me to raise my voice," Fury warned, leaning over to speak directly into Maria's ear, loud enough to make her jump. He then rose back to his full height and chuckled at the ones getting out of bed.
"Just where do you think you're going, agents? Sit your asses down, Agent Fitz is coming to us - unless you also share Agent Smith's hearing problem, in which I'll gladly go buy stock in Miracle-Ear as it'd be an epidemic." Agent Ridgeway was going around the room, removing the I.V.'s one by one. Given Emilia's expressed discomfort, she took hers out first. She paused when she got to Cassandra's, seeing that the plastic catheter in the vein had snapped. She took a breath, grateful that they had foreseen this type of scenario coming into play. The plastic the catheters was made from had been designed by S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists to degrade harmlessly if trapped inside the body in such a manner. Still, she didn't feel like fielding off questions from the scientifically illiterate agents present and so she glanced to both sides, before she quietly moved onto the next patient as if nothing was wrong.
Jim laughed, only to get a stern warning glare from Fury. But given how long he had been working for S.H.I.E.L.D. - over a decade now - Jim wasn't afraid at all. In fact, when he heard Cass request a beer, he gave her a wink.
"Anything for you, dear," Jim teased.
"And I did lobby for the ice cream and games first, but no dice." He then made a bit of a face, motioning towards an increasingly angry looking Fury. As everyone started to become more aware and alert, Fury's extensive and recent injuries would come into view.
Novikova snorted, finding herself quickly charmed by Jim's ways as well. She took a glance at him, only for her vision to almost fade or duplicate - she wasn't sure which was better - before she saw Jim hugging a young boy with scruffy hair. The kid had a genetics textbook in his hands that looked well worn.
"Mission objective is as follows," Fury explained, just nodding at Theresa.
"This simulated mission is based on one that Agent Reed knows well - as she lived it. However, we've made some modifications...At any rate, the Brotherhood of Mutants has obtained the means to release a virus on a civilian population that selectively targets anyone that isn't a mutant. They've taken the X-Men, an all mutant team, hostage. Your objective is to retrieve the virus, destroy the Brotherhood's means of producing more, and rescue the hostages. All of these are top priority - understood?" Fitz-Simmons, easily the two brightest minds currently at S.H.I.E.L.D., walked into the room soon after.
"He only gives that speech on special occasions," Simmons mused, giving Emilia a kind smile. Agent Fitz nodded in agreement. He was pulling a cart behind him, on which there were dozens of sleek black helmets. The pair split up, passing out a helmet to each agent, aside from Chloe, Fury, and Jim.
"Once you put the helmet on, it'll send you into the Framework," Fitz explained, his voice thick with a Scottish accent.
"If there's any bugs, blame freaking Quicksilver...He smashed the finalized models a week ago and Agent Stark is off playing X-Men, so I was up twenty four seven for days finishing the coding....again."
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