Chapter 29) – Working For The Weekend

As we boarded the Quinjet alongside our handler, I made sure to cover my host's face with our agent mask to protect her identity.

However, as she stepped foot onto the aerial vehicle, Mara was prevented from sitting down as someone already aboard the vehicle stood up from their seat and introduced themselves, "You must be Mara. I'm Clint, designation Hawkeye, nice to meet you. Sounds like we'll be working together on this assignment. I've heard good things so I'm looking forward to it."

Standing ever so slightly smaller than my host, Clint, as he called himself, was wearing a black leather jacket with the same-coloured fingerless leather gloves and tight-fitting combat pants. He had blue-green eyes and short, brown, hair with a light moustache and goatee. His skin was also a warm beige colour but had a slight tan to it showing that he had most likely recently been in a hot environment.

Punctuating his introduction, Clint offered his hand for the well-known gesture.

Not hesitating like she had with Fury, Mara accepted the offered hand, and fluidly responded, "Yup, I'm Mara. Don't have an official S.H.I.E.L.D. designation yet, I don't think, but nice to meet you too. Not sure exactly what you've heard, but glad you're looking forward to working with us. To be honest, neither May nor I have any idea what the assignment is, so if you could enlighten us with any details we would appreciate it greatly."

With both of them releasing hands, Clint then shook May's hand as he revealed what he knew, "I probably know about as much as you do, unfortunately. An 0-8-4 with Coulson leading the operation down in New Mexico. No details on what the object is, nor what it is exactly that we're meant to do over there. Considering I've been called in, I would assume there's an unobstructed view of the mission site from the surrounding area. The Hawkeye designation is pretty literal."

Nodding along to Hawkeye, my host affirmed, "Yeah that's about as much as we know as well. However, May has told me that this is more of an experience thing for me rather than a proper mission. Of course that's subject to change depending on the situation, but I would assume that for the most part I'll just be a spectator. It's you and the main team that'll be pulling most of the weight."

Shrugging his shoulders the agent replied, "Nothing new then. Besides, I wouldn't want to force all the work onto the new kid either. Especially when she's only been part of the team for a week at most. Before I forget, Natasha said to introduce myself to El as well. Are we waiting on somebody?"

As the Quinjet's VTOL engines fired into life, I created a head to answer Hawkeye, "That would be me, Clint. To cut a long story short, Mara has 2 consciousness in her body. Mara controls our body, while I control the bulk of our powers. Nice to meet you."

Like near enough everyone had up to that point, Clint just stared at my head with a blank expression for a few seconds before responding, "Nat did say that I would be surprised. But I gotta say, for the first time in a long time, I definitely didn't see that coming. Sorry for staring El, I'll get used to it eventually."

Bobbing my head at him once, I reassured the man, "It's understandable. Everyone that sees it for the first time is taken aback, so I take no offense."

Blinking a couple of times to stop his staring, Hawkeye said, "Sorry again. My eyes see a lot more than others and the way your head flows is pretty mesmerizing. Thanks for being so understanding."

Just as the Quinjet was about to take-off, we all sat down on the seats that lined the cargo space of the transport.

Keeping my head out, so that the new face could get adjusted to my appearance, Mara was the first to speak since the initial introduction, "So Clint, you said Nat told you about us? Did she tell you about my nickname habit? Are you 2 good friends since you also call her Nat?"

Chuckling at the barrage of questions as we took to the sky, the bowman answered them individually, "Yeah, she did tell me about you 2 and May. It was only brief information like the fact you have superpowers, you don't know who you are - and neither does S.H.I.E.L.D. - and a little about what she knows about your personality. She did tell me you might give me a nickname, but Clint is already a nickname since my full forename is Clinton. If you can't think of anything else you can just stick to Clint if you want? We are good friends, yeah. I've known her for nearly 2 years now. In fact, the first time I met Natasha was when I was sent to assassinate her if you can believe it!"

Leaning towards the man, Mara's interest was piqued, "No I can't! You have to tell me about it, please?!"

Continuing to chuckle at my host's actions, Hawkeye began his story time as he performed a calming gesture with his hands, "Alright, alright, you don't have to get so excited. It all started when Natasha was on a mission for the Red Room – A secret Soviet-Russian assassin and spy organization. After she appeared on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar, in a bad way mind you, Fury sent me to Russia…"

------

"What was Nat doing in a shootout?! She told me right before I left that she was only assigned to undercover work or assassinations! She's not a Black Widow, she's a vixen!"

Throughout the flight to New Mexico, Clint had regaled Mara with all of the stories about him and Natasha. Obviously a lot of the mission critical information - like names and accurate locations - was cut from the stories due to confidentiality. But, even with the missing information, Hawkeye's story telling abilities were impressive.

Currently Mara was incensed at the fact that Natasha had duped her into thinking they wouldn't be assigned the same missions. The Black Widow didn't outright lie, as a lot of her missions were undercover work or assassinations, but she failed to mention that a lot of the time she was deployed with Clint as a part of STRIKE Team: Delta.

Through Clint, we came to discover that said STRIKE Team seemed to have a habit of being involved in shootouts. Shootouts that Mara and I would definitely be invited to, and thus work with Natasha again.

Clint, thoroughly enjoying the situation, laughed alongside my host's emotional outburst, "Hahaha, I'll have to remember that. Do you want me to tell you a secret?"

Piquing my host's interest, she nodded vigorously as the bowman continued, "I think she enjoys the shootouts more than she does the spy missions. Her favourite saying has to be: 'We don't need an extraction plan; we are the extraction plan.' I can't count the number of times she's redefined assassination to just mean that if everyone that witnessed the kill is dead, it's an assassination!"

Putting on an over-exaggerated shocked expression, Mara commented, "Really?! And she's not just saying that to cover her cockups?!"

Shaking his head, Clint replied, "Nah, Nat doesn't really make mistakes. Despite what I've said, she's ridiculously good at what she does. Which makes it even clearer that she does it intentionally. But, since there's no way to outright prove it, she can do what she wants and S.H.I.EL.D. just has to accept it provided the mission is a success. Ah, that's not to say she just goes around mass murdering people. During her undercover work she digs up dirt on everyone involved and thus has evidence that anyone she eliminates deserves it in some way."

As the Quinjet changed from flying using its jets, to using its propeller blades, May interjected into the conversation, "We've arrived."

Standing up from the seat he was sat on, Clint said to my host, "Well that's all the stories we have time for unfortunately. If we get time, we'll continue during the mission. I would have suggested we sit down after it, but I'm actually supposed to be on vacation. Fury didn't even let me have a full day to relax, and boy do I need a rest."

I absorbed the head I still had out back into our agent form and restored the form's facemask. I had removed it part of the way into the journey as Mara gave me the all-clear that Clint was fine to see her face.

Mara mimicked the bowman by also standing up, "Wow. Dick move Fury. You make sure that your vacation gets extended to compensate, Clint!"

Chuckling at my host, the man affirmed, "Haha, yes ma'am. It's not all bad though. 0-8-4's are a rarity, so at least I'm being pulled away from my vacation by something interesting."

In vehement denial, Mara stood in front of the bowman and countered, "Nope! It doesn't matter! You took vacation, so should get your vacation! Other agents should be able to fill in for you, even if it takes 100 of them! Don't give in Clint, fighting!"

Still chuckling, Clint began to cave, "Haha, alright, alright. I'll try and-"

Mara moved her masked face closer to Hawkeye as she interrupted him, "Fighting!!"

With a smile still on his face, Clint shook his head and fully caved, "Fine. I WILL speak to Fury after this assignment and inform him that unless it's a life or death matter I won't sacrifice my vacation for work. Better?"

Pulling her face back and puffing out her chest, my host nodded once in confirmation, "Better. And you tell Fury that if he doesn't agree, I'll… I don't know what I'll do, but it'll be creative and disruptive… probably."

Turning to face our handler as the Quinjet landed, Clint advised her, "Make sure you work on her threatening skills as well May."

As the Quinjet lowered its ramp, Mara sounded very convincing as she said, "Hey I can be threatening if I want to!"

Using a pacifying tone, Clint started to descend the ramp as he replied, "I'm sure you can, but it never hurts to have professional training. See you around kid."

My host shouted after the man, "I'm not a kid!" And then turned to May as she asked, "Why do people keep calling me a kid? First Tony and now Clint. Is it 'cause I look young May?"

Descending down the ramp herself, May trailed after the bowman with Mara following a beat behind her.

Not looking back at my host or hesitating in her movement, May answered Mara's question, "No comment."

Clearly not happy with the answer, Mara questioned, "What do you mean no comment? May?! Elaborate, please?!"

But our handler did, in fact, not elaborate.

Instead, she ignored my host's protests and ploughed on towards the command station of the quarantine zone that S.H.I.E.L.D. had erected.

------

New Mexico was a rather sizable state, so it was no surprise that the quarantined zone itself was in the middle of nowhere with the only visible things surrounding it were either desert or yellow, dead, grasslands.

During the relatively short walk to the central command station, Mara looked around the inside of the quarantined area after she had realised that getting our handler to answer her questioning wasn't going to happen.

Although the zone wasn't gigantic in size, it was still rather sizable and more than a couple of times we noticed that there were golf carts to transport staff around the circular closed off space.

Surprisingly, all of the facilities were covered in white sheeting. That made the entire site extremely noticeable from a distance, but we later found out the reason for that.

In the centre of the site, was a giant cube which anyone could safely assume was where the 0-8-4 was located.

The facilities of the zone were surrounding the giant, central, cube and there was a perimeter fence encircling the entire zone.

Denoted by the fact that it was the biggest building, May led the quiet, yet still pouty, Mara into the central command unit.

Once they had entered the building, they immediately spotted Coulson speaking with Clint.

Since he was pre-occupied giving the bowman the details of the mission, as well as what was required of him, Coulson called out to another agent we had met before, "Sitwell. Would you give Mara and May a quick run-down of the operation. Nothing above level 5, got it?"

Looking at the agent in charge, Jasper questioned, "Level 5 sir? Are you sure?"

Nodding in return, Coulson answered, "Director's orders. The higher her clearance, the higher the value of missions she can be sent on."

Because our clearance had been designated by Fury himself, Jasper didn't argue, "Whatever you say sir. Agent Mara, agent May, lets show you around the command centre while you wait."

Falling in line behind the agent, Jasper did as Coulson had instructed him, "The command centre as well as the quarantine area are S.H.I.E.L.D. standard equipment. Obviously it's not strictly limited to 0-8-4's, like it is currently being used for, and is more a general-purpose quarantine zone. While the equipment being used is specific to quarantining a set area, the staff present on site aren't. For any investigation, not just 0-8-4's or quarantine, there is an operation lead, a second in command, analysts, researchers, security, external experts, etcetera. The structure is similar to a pyramid. The lead is typically the highest clearance level, with the subsequent staff being lower in clearance, but higher in quantity. Coulson is clearance level 6, so his second in command would either be the same level as him or a grade lower at 5. For this assignment I am his second in command, and I've recently been promoted to level 6. The rest of the pyramid would follow the same pattern, but with each subsequent clearance level the quantity could double or triple depending on the mission. Does that make sense?"

May nodded her head, as it was knowledge she must have already been aware of, while Mara spoke aloud to confirm she understood, "So in this instance, since Coulson is level 6, the second in command could be 6 or 5. The staff below them would be 5 or 4, then 4 or 3, etcetera. Have I got that right?"

Bobbing his head once, Jasper answered, "Correct. Let's move onto the monitoring systems since that has been where I've been focusing most of my efforts and it's located within the central command unit. It's also been the most active department other than the researchers."

Jasper walked us over to a very technical looking area that mainly consisted of server blocks and various screens, all showing different images or radars.

Pointing to the various blocks and screens, the second in command narrated, "The stacks are an amalgamation of various electronic systems, but the end result is flight, weather, and satellite radar as well as any imagery. We don't want eyes coming anywhere near the site, so we redirect all the flights, blur or loop any satellite footage, and the weather radar is to complement those methods. It's much easier to redirect a flight by saying there's a storm, when the weather shows that the excuse is plausible, rather than claim that a storm is in the way when there's no clouds in sight. There are also various security cameras situated all around the quarantined zone. Unfortunately, we only have standard issue cameras, but at some point tonight we are expecting the delivery of infrared cameras to cover the lack of visibility during the night. The quarantine zone was created in a rush, and has only been in place for half a day thus far. So not all of the equipment we needed, considering the area we're in, was available to us."

Digesting what the vice-leader was saying, May spoke up for the first time since the tour started, "Were S.H.I.E.L.D. the first responders or did you have to remove civilians from the premises? Have you had any potentially curious eyes thus far?"

Shaking his head, Jasper replied, "Unfortunately we were not. Some locals, from a town called Puente Antiguo, were the first to arrive at the scene. They had no idea what the object was, but decided to try and interact with it. We don't know what material the object is made out of as none of our early analysis seems to be able to identify the elements within it. From the size of the crater and the estimated velocity from the telemetry, the material shouldn't be too heavy, but for some odd reason nobody can move it. Well, none of the locals could anyways. For obvious reasons, we haven't physically interacted with it yet since if we can't even identify the metal, there's also no evidence that we could identify any harmful pathogens on it. We have agents keeping tabs on the locals that returned to Puente Antiguo, just in case their condition changes."

After completing a loop of the monitoring system department, Jasper led us back towards where Coulson was previously talking to Hawkeye, "Let's check to see if Coulson is free before we move on to the research department."

As we re-entered the main area of the command unit, Clint was just heading out of the main door and the now free Coulson turned to us, "Thank you for keeping our guests occupied agent Sitwell. Sorry about that you 3, but the mission takes priority - always."

May just nodded in understanding, and Mara gave a verbal reply whilst appreciatively smiling, "It's no problem, don't worry about it. Besides, Jasper was doing a pretty good job of hosting us while you were preoccupied. Thanks Jasper."

Curving the corners of his lips up into a noticeable, but small, smile, the agent responded, "It was my pleasure agent Mara. I regret that we couldn't become a unit and all the good we could do. But I do understand your decision and know that you won't receive any resentment from me regarding it."

Widening the smile on her face, Mara replied, "I appreciate it Jasper, and just Mara is fine. You don't have to be so formal since we already know each other and I'm informal with you."

Before the second in command could head back to the monitoring department, Coulson double checked where we had gotten up to, "Did you just show them around the monitoring department?"

Getting a nod in response, Coulson angled back to us and picked up where Jasper left off, "Let's show you around the research department and on the way I'll inform you what we know about the 0-8-4."

Stepping out of the command centre, we made our way over to the research unit while Coulson followed through with his statement and the sun began to set, "I'll be blunt with the both of you. It's a hammer. The 0-8-4 is a really strange, inexplicable, alien hammer. There is some etching on the side of the hammer's head that 1 of our researchers likened to Nordic culture and mythology. After further research we believe it may be a more ancient version of the engravings seen on Earth, so we've made a few calls to try and bring in 1 of the leading Norse mythology experts. Most of the Norse myths were recorded using an older variant of the language, so an expert in that field might be able to decipher more than we can from the style of the markings. The other angle, and the 1 I don't expect either of you to know, is to determine if this is the Norse mythological weapon Mjolnir."

May scoffed and opened her mouth to most likely call Coulson crazy for thinking it could be a mythological weapon, but Coulson prevented her from speaking, "Before you say anything May, I know it sounds ridiculous, but all myths have some truth sprinkled in them. If a hammer of unknown origins, with unknown symbols - that are eerily similar to what was seen in ancient Nordic culture used on Earth - and is made from unknown materials, drops from the sky, I think we can be forgiven for thinking it might be something from fairy tales."

Taking the moment of silence after Coulson had finished speaking, Mara played into her amnesiac role again – not entirely sure she wasn't being tested – as she enquired, "What's a Mjolnir, and what is the fairy tale?"

Stopping just before the research unit, Coulson turned around to face my host as he responded, "Right, I forgot you don't have any memories. Sorry Mara. In Norse mythology - which are tales about gods and other deities – Mjolnir was the hammer used by the thunder god Thor. It was used as a devastating weapon to defeat his foes and as a divine instrument to provide blessings. The simplest way to describe it would be that it was a weapon used by a god. As with all mythology, it is believed to be purely fictional. Of course, all myths probably have some basis. There may have been a man called Thor a millennia ago that got hit by lightning while holding a hammer and survived. Said hammer might have then been used to fell some animal or presumed to be blessed from the heavens. That could have been the origin of the story because there is no distinct proof that any of the gods depicted in myth were ever real. However, even if this hammer isn't Mjolnir, it could open the avenue for a very real discussion about if the gods and other deities mentioned in myth and legend were actually some kind of alien life forms that originated from outer space and visited at an early point in human history."

Pretending like she was digesting everything that Coulson told her, Mara commented, "So does that mean it can control electricity if it was used by the god of thunder, or would it just be loud noises since that's what thunder is and lightening is the electricity part? And is there a mythological reason why the locals Jasper mentioned couldn't move it? Can it only be wielded by Thor?"

Shaking his head the agent answered my host's barrage of questions, "That's where the discrepancies between real life and myth start to crop up. The researchers immediately got to work understanding all the myths related to Thor once we theorised that it could be Mjolnir. What they found out was that Thor always wore magic iron gauntlets as without them he wouldn't be able to grasp the hammer's powerful shaft. Either this is a contradiction in that if someone wasn't wearing the gauntlets they would die due to the hammer's power and since the locals are still alive, that part of the myth is inaccurate. Or it would mean that the magic gauntlets are what allowed him to lift the hammer in the first place, and it is impossible to lift it without them. Expanding on that, we also aren't sure if the lightning powers, or the fact that it returns to the owner after it has been thrown, are accurate either. If we can't lift it, then we can't use either of the powers."

May was the next to speak up, "I assume you've had the agents, that are watching over the local townsfolk who came into contact with the hammer, scour the town for anyone going by the name of Thor and happened to have misplaced his hammer?"

The mission lead confirmed May's assumption, "Correct. In mythology, Thor is almost powerless without Mjolnir. Like what I mentioned previously however, the myth may be incorrect and Thor himself could have all the power. Either way, we're on the lookout for a humanoid, or obvious alien, that is out of place. For now, though, I'll show you the research unit since they have more information than I can remember. Afterwards, we'll do a general tour of the zone."

Ending the conversation, both women nodded their heads at Coulson's words and followed after him as he led them into the research unit.