16 Chapter 16) – Bones

After Mara had officially signed up to become a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Her and Natasha continued their tourism for the remainder of the day, until around 4pm when Tony contacted his assistant for her, well, assistance.

Since Natasha was driving back to Tony's mansion, she gave Mara the option to either go back with her, or to continue touring around on her own. After discussing with myself, we decided that it would be best to get a ride off Natasha part of the way back.

As such, when Natasha was making her way down the Pacific Coast Highway, we had her pull over and stop so that we could get out.

"Are you sure you want to get out here Mara? Other than the Malibu Beach, and the hiking trail nearby, there isn't really a lot of tourist-y thing's to do here."

Opening the car door and getting out, Mara turned back to lean with her elbows against the door, that had its window down, to reply to Natasha, "Yeah, it's fine Nat, thanks for the lift. I need to stretch my legs and sort some things out with El in peace, so we'll head up the trail for a while."

Not offering much resistance, the, now colleague, replied, "Well you don't have a phone yet, but if you need picking up or anything, use this for now."

Saying so, the spy grabbed something out of her driver's door pocket and handed it over to Mara. "This is a temporary phone I had Coulson bring when he came over for your recruitment. It only has three numbers currently: me, Coulson, and S.H.I.E.L.D. Emergency Response. If you need a ride back, please call either me or Coulson, and we can arrange transport. The emergency response is if, for whatever reason, something serious like terrorism happens and you need help with putting a stop to it, or any clean up after the fact. Unfortunately, being lost on a hiking trail is not an emergency so please avoid using that unless you believe there is a situation that warrants it."

Looking over the device in her hand - with Nokia written on the front, in white letters, above a small display screen and a built-in keypad - in genuine confusion as she had never used a non-touch screen phone before, Mara asked, "How does this thing work Nat? Do I press the green button?"

Slightly stumped before swiftly remembering that Mara was an 'amnesiac', the spy explained, "My number is assigned to speed dial 1, Coulson is 2 and S.H.I.E.L.D. ER is 9. All you need to do is press the number and then the green phone button to make the call. You can ignore all the other buttons. The phone is also linked to the S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite systems so don't worry about signal, not that you'd know what that is."

Nodding along in understanding, my host thanked Natasha, "Ohh that makes it easier, thanks Nat. I don't think I'll need to use it, but I appreciate it regardless. I'll see you tomorrow, sleep well!"

Receiving a curt, "You too." In response, Mara turned away from the car and made her way through the housing line, to the untouched land behind them.

Once we were out of sight, I donned our agent suit, to get more adaptation time with controlling our strength, before we bounded off deeper into the Santa Monica Mountain wilderness.

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<Head to the left over there, dear. We can make a hole in mountainside and use that boulder cover it up so we aren't interrupted.>

Following my direction, Mara slowed down her speed before changing direction 45-degrees to the left of where we were facing and stopping shortly after. We had been travelling for just under 10 minutes, but with our speed we could have easily covered the same distance in under 2. The whole purpose of coming to the mountain range was to find a hidden location where we could deepen our bond.

We could have done so at Tony's mansion or at the S.H.I.E.L.D. safehouse, but deepening the bond leaves us both vulnerable and neither of us wanted possible interruptions or interferences through the process.

Even isolated from humans in the mountain range there was still the possibility of being interrupted by various forms of Fauna. But, with what we learnt in the museum about the wildlife in the area, the main threats while incapacitated would be bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions and the southern pacific rattlesnake - as was is the only venomous species in the area.

In order to protect ourselves against said threats, the easiest method we came up with was to simply dig our own alcove and cover it up with a boulder, which was exactly what we were doing by taking our time and scouting around the area.

Stopping in-front of the 5-foot cube of giant rock, we found that the stone wasn't technically a boulder as it was still attached to the ground and so was still a part of a larger rock formation.

Leaving the rock for the time being, we first hollowed out a section of the mountainside large enough for us to stand up in while in our slightly taller agent form, and deep enough for Mara to lay down comfortably. We also made sure that the entrance was smaller than the rest of the alcove so that the slightly smaller, height wise, boulder wouldn't leave gaps too big.

This was done by using what we had learnt in the natural history museum, the animal knowledge already proving its versatility. By imitating the claws of the creature called armadillo, we were able to easily slice up the soil and rock to create the alcove without damaging the structural integrity of the ceiling.

As I Transformed the large claws back into the agent hand coverings, Mara spoke the next step internally to both myself as well as herself, [Now we just have to detach the largest part of the rock formation to create a boulder to use as a cover for the doorway.]

Saying such, we made our way back to the rock formation where Mara held her right arm out to the side of her as I wordlessly transformed the arm into a curved blade longer than she was tall. The blade itself was thinner than the ones I had previously created back in the Hawaii hotel. It was focused in one direction, rather than both front and back blades and since it was only on one arm, it was considerably longer, reaching a length of 8-feet in total.

With such a long, and impossibly sharp, blade it was no wonder that we effortlessly sliced through what became the bottom of the boulder. Mara's exact words were appreciative as usual, [Like a hot wire though polystyrene. Nice weaponry as usual, El.]

Instead of reverting the blade back into her normal agent covering, I made the fingers on both of her hands thicker versions of the Urumi's I had previously. This was so that Mara could drill into the freshly cut boulder and use both of her strengthened arms to drag it while walking backwards, as we made our way into our safe zone.

Pulling the boulder as hard as we could, the entrance of the alcove was sealed shut with the exception of tiny gaps around the edges of the entrance. These could have easily been closed up but considering the restricted space we were in, we decided it would be best to leave these open to allow for air ventilation. With the procedure elevating Mara's heartrate and essentially sending her body into pleasure overdrive, she would be using more energy than normal and thus more oxygen.

With all preparation made, Mara lay on the ground and informed me, "Ready whenever you are El. Is it the same as the previous times?"

I changed our agent form back into the clothes she had been wearing for the entire day and for the first time in a couple of days, I created a head to verbally speak with my host, "Yes it will be, so feel free to let go of your consciousness if it becomes too much. The bonds after this, however, will require you to be awake. Fortunately, they are also less intense so it should make it easier for you. I will start now."

Once I finished saying what I needed to, I pulled the head, as well as the clothing Mara was wearing, back into her body before starting the bond advancement.

"HaaahFUCK~"

As soon as the process started, my form dove deeper past her muscles and began to latch onto the outside of her bones. Mara's breath got stuck in her throat and she had to force it out with a pleasure filled moan.

"AHHHH~!"

Almost instantaneously she was already floating above the clouds with her first release. From the start of the process to her first orgasm she didn't even get the chance to string together words, with moaning being the only noise she could make. As my microscopic tendrils slid their way around each bone, agonisingly slowly scraping along the nerves and setting the neurons in her mind alight, Mara couldn't help but wail in ecstasy as her thoughts became mush.

"AAHN~ CUMM- OHHH!~"

When Mara was finally able to get a word out, it was cut off through no fault of her own. Her brain was simply overloaded with such rapture that words couldn't be thought, let alone spoken. If it were not for me already bonding with her muscles, there would be no doubt her body would be shaking and spasming without what remained of my form in her muscles keeping her relaxed.

Needless to say, since the process couldn't be slowed down or stopped at all, there were no breaks for her to realign herself. Even trying to make herself lose consciousness would not work as the pleasure would forcibly keep her awake as much as it would try and pacify her.

"Ugh…Ah…"

Mara somehow held onto her consciousness for well over an hour and a half, even as she could feel my very existence assimilating with each of her individual bone cells. That was only made more surprising when one considered that the pleasure was higher than the muscle bond, where she only lasted an hour. Well, if one could call drooling and making intermittent garbled moans still conscious.

As with the last bond we did, I happily lapped up all the fluids she excreted and what I couldn't immediately digest I stored amongst my cells for later consumption. Inevitably however, she eventually passed out. But this time, instead of staying out cold, she regularly woke back up only to mewl in pleasure before drifting out again.

Curiously, she also produced a lot more of her nutritious fluids during the procedure. Whether that was a result of my regular feeding, or a direct result of drinking more water throughout the day in preparation for the bonding, was unclear. Further investigation was required on the subject.

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"hhh…h…"

With raspy, laboured, breath being the only sound within the alcove, the bonding advancement was successfully completed after an exact 8 hours of torturous rhapsody for my host. As Mara took her time coming out of her reverie, I covered her body with my form and changed back into the clothes she wore throughout the day.

With all the physical enhancements she passively received from me, it didn't take her long to recover from the procedure at all. Within 5 minutes of the process being over with, she was sat up and able to speak verbally as opposed to only telepathically, like with the muscle bond.

"How long was that El? It felt never-ending and instantaneous at the same time."

Creating a head again I answered, "It was 8 hours Mara, so it would currently be between midnight and 1 am."

Standing up, completely recovered, Mara questioned, "I assume everything went without a hitch like both the other times?"

As she walked over to the boulder blocking the alcove's entrance, I informed her, "Technically yes, everything went fine as per usual. There are some details I do need to inform you about however, but we can get to that during the travel back. For now, you need some water and thankfully it sounds like it is raining outside, so I will create a funnel to collect some drinking water for you."

Standing in front of the boulder, I could feel her intention to change into our agent form and push the rock out of the way. I therefore informed her, "With your current muscle and bone strengthening, you should be able to push the boulder away on your own, without the need for any strengthening. Lifting it would be different but pushing it should be fine."

Slightly surprised given the tone of her voice and her facial expression, "Damn El, that's pretty strong. It wasn't exactly the heaviest since we could move it in our agent form, but I could tell it was still pretty hefty. Does that mean if I punch it, that it'll split apart?"

Unsure on what the result would actually be, I stated, "Most likely not, but we could probably do it with the additional strengthening of our agent form. It would depend on the type of material the boulder is made from, what the internal condition of it is, and how much force you put into the punch. At the very least, your bones won't break, so feel free to test it out if you want."

Not needing to be told twice, my host took a step back away from the boulder. I proceeded to return my head into Mara's body before then donning our suit form. Mara Jumped slightly on the pads of her feet while taking a couple of deep breaths. Then she placed her left foot forwards and her right foot back with both feet being in a slightly wider stance than her shoulder width.

On both of her hands, she curled her fingers into her palms, wrapping her thumbs around the first knuckles of her index and middle fingers. She brought both hands up to her face with her right hand touching her chin and her left slightly in front of her, while her elbows were tucked in, replicating what I came to know as a boxing stance.

Taking a deep breath in, Mara twisted her hips and transferred the rotational force from the motion all the way up to her shoulder before punching out with her right hand and making solid contact with the boulder on her middle finger's knuckle.

With her re-enforced body, picking up and moving the over 2-ton boulder would be impossible, but, while strengthened, punching it with enough power to fragment it was not. As soon as her punch impacted the rock, the force rippled through it and exploded out the back, essentially like a bullet, leaving a bigger exit than entrance wound.

What parts of the boulder that were left intact, even after the impact, were blown away a couple of feet giving Mara more than enough space to leave the alcove.

"Well fuck me sideways, that was badass! Never thought I'd see the day I could destroy a boulder with a single punch, even if it was with help. Let's make our way back to the mansion, El, and you can fill me in on the bond details you mentioned."

With Mara in an overjoyed mood, we set off back towards Tony's mansion. During the journey I used the time to inform Mara about the intricacies of the bond we had just performed and what would happen in the future.

With the wind blowing past her masked face, due to the speed we were travelling, Mara replied internally, [As easy to understand as always El. I'm not the most knowledgeable about biology so keep the rest of the explanation like this if you can, please.]

Receiving a positive answer, I pressed on, <Of course, dear. Now, I could always manually control the blood production and transport system, but it would obviously take my attention away from everything else, at least start until adapted. On top of that, since your cells be different, there is a very high chance body reject them. For normal human, this rejection in form body's immune system that attack foreign cells. However, have bonded with bones, thus production, wouldn't happen. The problem because are fundamentally to put vehicle terms like last explanation, fuel not match engine. It essentially running petrol fuelled car diesel.>

I paused for a few seconds to give Mara a chance to speak up in case something I had said didn't make sense to her.

When she didn't query anything, I continued, <Dilutions of diesel with petrol would allow the engine, your body, to run for a while, but damage still be done over time. Even if I were control blood, wouldn't able completely remove my influence, and therefore fuel never 100% pure again, meaning there always some no matter how small. As host, am unable harm you in any way, it goes against very existence. Thus, best solution was leave bone marrow now until have bonded organs. That even is insufficient by that point isn't needed. Since organs an extension they can use same as can, ergo fluids.>

Not faltering in her stride in the slightest considering the magnitude of what I had just told her, all Mara asked was, [So, does that mean we would be completely self-sustainable? Would I even need to breathe, or eat, or drink?]

Pleased that my explanation was clear enough for her to completely understand without the need for further clarification, I answered, <We'll 75 be near enough there. As with anything energy related, there are always losses, so nothing is 100% perpetual. If I had to put a number on it, just the organs being bonded would about 50% self-sustainable. Including blood in that, it goes up 80%. You still need breathe, eat, and drink, but significantly less. That only necessary amount using my as substitute though. we kept currently, if anything, you breathe eat more, since your bodily functions require more due them enhanced.>

Confirming that she understood everything as I intended, my host asked, [So, basically, even though you've bonded with my bones and significantly reinforced them, technically you haven't completely bonded with them as it would do more harm than good at the moment. Am I getting that right?]

Finishing off the exposition of information, I notified her, <Correct. While I am on the topic as well, should mention that shapeshifting won't be negatively affected by type of bond. able to decrease your bone size, but increasing mass compact part bone, can increase size bones. It would take energy from myself imitate cells for a set period time, after which they revert back into my form, and you go normal. Basically, anyone bigger than you, we shapeshift into, smaller still just outer features without any changes.>

[Sounds all good to me then El. Thanks for the easy to digest breakdown.]

Noticing Tony's mansion in the distance - as it was rather conspicuous being the giant property situated at Point Dume and glowing in the void - Mara wanted to experiment with our maximum strength. She stopped moving on the top of a rocky outcrop.

[What do you think El, looks about what; 5 or 6 miles away? Reckon we could do it in a one-er?]

Evaluating our strength and the various conditions for said manoeuvre, I gave Mara my analytical answer, <Considering we're at a higher altitude, there is next to no headwind, the ground sturdy enough, and your bones can take more power than previously. I would have say that if we put 100% strength technique into it, we'd overshoot it by mile or 2.>

Feeling Mara's intention to speak openly, I removed her face mask and locked the agent form so that I could create a head from her shoulder again, "That strong huh. Do you think we'd break the sound barrier then? Or would the technique you mentioned be some sort of gliding?"

Clarifying I expanded, "The technique would be like the bullets humans use. By introducing rotation into our launch and subsequent travel, we could reduce air friction thus making us more accurate as well as increasing speed and distance. Doing such would more than likely allow us to break the sound barrier."

Before Mara could even reply, her excitement gave her desire away. I retracted the head and started the transformation of the agent form into our suit form, which was completed mid-way through her sentence. "We're doing it El, I've always wondered what it would be like to break the sound barrier. And what better time than the present?"

Mara crouched down as small as she could, compressing her legs like springs. In order to implement the spiral technique, I mentioned, I combined her hair tendrils into thicker trunks that further compressed against the ground. The tendrils also twisted and coiled around her form, such that it would act like the rifling of a gun to add rotational force when we shot off.

Without the need for words, when we both intuitively felt we were at maximum capacity, we simultaneously launched off at a 45-degree angle to the horizon in front of us. The result of releasing such compressive forces was noticeable immediately.

The ground beneath our feet exploded. Instead of an indent in the ground, it was as if artillery strike had hit the area. That was without considering that our form exceeded supersonic speeds instantaneously, resulting in a sonic boom that reverberated off the surrounding earth sending out a circular tsunami of dirt and debris.

"Holy Fuck!" Were the only words my host could muster as we rocketed into the sky.

The tendrils gave our combined body enough rotational force to penetrate the air while also not spinning so fast as to prevent counter rotation. Said counter rotation was also through the tendrils and was performed roughly 20 seconds after our launch, at the apex of our jump, to give Mara a decent view of the scenery as we sailed through the sky back to the ground, or rather the water.

As I had expected, we overshot the mansion by quite a large margin. This was probably more of a benefit than a negative, however. If we were accurate and heading straight for the abode, chances are we wouldn't have been able to stop in time. Even when we tried to slow ourselves down by extending my form and increasing our drag on the air, we were still travelling at destructive speeds by the time we hit the water roughly 45 seconds after our initial take-off, and a couple miles out from Point Dume.

Fortunately, I was not weak to water. As such, it was easy enough to jump back to the mansion by generating sufficient surface tension on the water through a strong enough force, as opposed to having to swim to the shore.

Additionally, since Mara was encased in my form, when we got back to dry land all I had to do was change back into clothing and the water fell right off. Leaving my host completely dry.

Once we made it back to the mansion, Mara walked through the front door, that J.A.R.V.I.S. opened for her, and headed straight to the bedroom the A.I. directed her towards, {Your room is on the top floor, the 2nd door on the right, Mara}

As she opened the bedroom door, I changed her clothes into pyjamas as she thanked the A.I., "Thanks Jarv, see you in the morning." Before she headed to sleep. Filled with anticipation for the following day where she would choose her handler and begin her official S.H.I.E.L.D. journey.

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