Unofficially Official

Things went about as well as one could hope when your parents find out you've been lying to them for months. Just multiply it by five, and you have the hot water Mick and his friends landed in. Unfortunately, the only one that was truly removed from the equation was Laynie. She was pulled from Denham Springs High School before the turn of the next week, her family even moved out of state to get her far away from Mick Bellouve and his freakish powers. The two promised they'd stay in touch, using AOL Instant Messenger and whatever means they could, despite her parents. 

The Bennets felt a little more responsible, not forsaking Mick all together. His own father wanted him out of the house, which was pretty awkward. It lead to him moving in with the Bennets at least until Christmas. Mrs. Bennet also worked her compassionate side on the Hales so Mick wouldn't lose both Davis, and Patten who was living with them while his Dad was working out of town. 

Come Christmas break Mick was going to be heading up to New York with Agent Coulson. They wanted him to have a crash course in SHIELD training, and since his parents wouldn't sign off on him moving up there full time, he had no choice but to return before school started back. At least Mick kept his promise to Agent Coulson, staying off the radar by not masquerading as the vigilante, Recluse, like he wanted to. 

No sooner than Mick got off the bus with Jerren, there was the black SHIELD SUV in the driveway, both Mrs. Bennet and Agent Coulson stood outside waiting for the two boys. Much to his surprise, his own mother, Lina walked out of the house with a glum expression. "Mom?" 

"You didn't think I'd let you leave without saying goodbye, did you?" She asked, embracing her son. 

"So does that mean I'm staying up there?" Mick asked as his mom shook her head. 

"I'm not ready to lose you for good. I just wanted to let you know, when you finish up at SHIELD, you're going to be welcomed back home. Even if it means your father isn't," she said, tears filling her eyes. 

"Don't do that," Mick tried to hold back his own emotions. 

"We have a schedule to keep Lina," Coulson said as she released Mick. 

"Good luck," Jerren said with a smile. 

"See you next year," Mick winked as he climbed into the SUV. 

Mick was surprised with how quickly things moved when they arrived at the airport. There was no stopping at security, no stopping at baggage, no terminals. They simply walked straight through secure locations with the wave of Coulson's badge, all the way out to the tarmac, then up to a rather large black jet. "Just so you know, you're going to have to use your code name while your at the facility. No one is to know your real name, understood?" 

"Why?" Mick asked. 

"Do you know any of them?" Coulson asked. 

"No?" Mick was unsure of how he would, or why that mattered. 

"For all intents and purposes, they're spies, and could betray you. No one is to hear your real name. That's your first order as a SHIELD Cadet." 

"Cadet? I thought it was Agent?" Mick asked as Coulson shook his head. 

"You've got a long way to go before you earn the title, Agent of SHIELD," Coulson said as the jet lurched forward, Mick's face contorted revealing total anxiety. "Let me guess, you've never flown before?" 

"Nope," Mick clenched his the arm rest, trying his best to not break them under his strength. 

"Oh this should be fun," Coulson shook his head, leaned his seat back and reached for a newspaper that was on a table to his left. 

Mick's eyes opened, unsure if he passed out, or his drink was drugged. Either way he was grateful to not be flying anymore. He groggily followed Coulson off the jet, seeing dozens of people dressed in black suits just like Coulson. It made Mick feel quite underdressed. "Am I supposed to have a suit like that?" He asked as Coulson shook his head. 

"Your suit is in your room," he said as he led Mick through heavy glass doors with the swiping of his badge. "It's your SHIELD approved Recluse suit." 

"Oh," Mick was a little intrigued. Agent Coulson did mention they were going to get him a new suit, so it must've been ready now. 

"Through here is your dorm. You'll see your suit in there. Should fit your teenage angst pretty well," Coulson teased. "It's not as colorful as the one a few students at the Academy designed. Although, the red and blue color scheme could've been iconic, it just didn't seem to fit your personality." 

"You had people from the Academy design it?" Mick asked. "People like my age?" 

"Surprisingly, they are pretty close to your age. You guys are some of the youngest SHIELD recruits yet," Coulson shrugged, then swiped his badge to open the door. "Go get changed so we can get you a badge made. You won't be able to do anything without one." 

"Yes, Sir," Mick opened the door. The room was white, the bedding plain. A small TV, a chair, desk, and bed and a full bathroom. Atop the bed sat a black suit with designs just like what he had done with his hoodie, except much better quality. Even the pants were neat, with silver spiders stretching from the thigh to the calves. The material was thin, breathable, flexible. While it was a two piece, it fit like it was a full body suit. It was much more comfortable than he could've imagined. The best part, no riding up, no bunching, no chafing. He looked down seeing a mask, not something he wanted to wear, but he was quite curious. Once he got the goggles lined up, it was surprisingly comfortable. He didn't have trouble breathing through it, like most fabric masks, so that was already a plus. The goggles were high quality, no shimmering in the light, wide lenses, so there was really no blind spot. The silver spider emblem with webs surrounding it on the forehead was a bit much though. 

"You ready yet?" Coulson knocked on the door impatiently. 

"Yeah," Mick pulled the mask off, draping it behind his head like a hood. 

"What do you think?" Coulson asked as Mick couldn't keep his smile in check. "I figured you'd like that. "I'll have to let Leopold know you liked his design." 

"Leopold?" Mick grimaced at the weird name. 

"You two would probably get along great," Coulson said as Mick rolled his eyes. 

After getting his badge, Coulson led Mick into a rather large area with dozens of exercise machines, in the center was a boxing arena. Outside stood Director Fury, Ms. Hill, and a girl with blonde hair who couldn't be much older than he was. "You were right, it was a good idea to get the science kids to design the suit," Ms. Hill looked at Mick and nodded at Coulson. 

"Surprising, isn't it?" Coulson said. 

"Well, let's see you step in the ring kid," Director Fury said as Mick looked around reluctantly obeying. 

"Who am I supposed to fight?" Mick asked as the blonde girl pulled her hair back, then stretched her arms out in front of her. "You don't really expect me to fight a girl, do you?" 

"Don't hurt him too bad, Agent Thirteen," Ms. Hill said as the girl climbed into the arena. 

"So this is happening?" Mick asked, glancing between Director Fury, Coulson, and Ms. Hill, before setting his eyes on the blonde in front of him. "I'd hate to hurt such a pretty little girl, but I've gotta do what they tell me." 

"Oh boy," Coulson sighed shaking his head, as Mick took a quick glance, then raised his brow. The bell rang, and the fight was one. She moved fast, Mick smirked. Unlike before, he'd been actually using his powers every time Davis would come over, pushing himself, practicing, getting better. Hoping to never be trounced like he was against Arachnid. 

He dodged her leg sweep, sidestepped a kick, then tried to use his webs to pin her feet to the mat. It was then he realized that was exactly what she expected he'd try. She moved to the side, grabbing his outstretched arm. She pulled him off balance, using the momentum to jump onto his back, swing her legs around his head then flip him so he landed flat on his back pinned under her, his arms stuck under his back, and her hand on his throat. 

"And you call yourself a super hero? That wasn't even ten seconds," Director Fury teased as Agent Thirteen released him stood, then reached down offering him a hand up while Coulson and Ms. Hill laughed. 

"Lucky shot," Mick grumbled. "Won't happen again." 

"You really want to risk that again?" Coulson asked as Mick snorted. "Fine." 

The bell rang, she lunged at him, Mick tried to jump over her, only to have his legs caught and slammed back into the ground face first. He rolled as Agent Thirteen went to pin him, instead he webbed one of her hands, knocking her off balance. Mick then swept her feet out from under her. She surprisingly caught her balance, then hit Mick numbing his left arm. He, in his shock, tried to retaliate. She swiftly hit a spot in his right leg, it went limp, and he knew the match was over as he collapsed. She had him pinned without much effort after that, Mick biting his tongue trying to hold back his double humiliation. 

"That was pretty fun," the girl said as she sat down beside Mick with a big smile on her face. "It's not every day I get to spar against a hometown kid with powers." 

"He's certainly got a long way to go," Director Fury clearly wasn't impressed at all. 

"But he does have potential," Coulson insisted as he, Ms. Hill, and Fury walked away. 

"Potential?" Mick grumbled. 

"If they didn't think you had potential you wouldn't be here," the girl said, letting her hair down. "My code name is Agent Thirteen. You can call me Sharon if you'd prefer." 

"Recluse," Mick said, which sounded odd to him. "I much prefer Mick, but you can't tell people I told you that." 

"I'm probably one of the few people here who already knew that," Sharon said with a smile. "I'm actually the one that's going to be your partner from here forward." 

"What does that mean?" Mick asked skeptically. 

"It means I'll be the one training and working with you," she said sternly. 

"And what did you mean hometown?" 

"We're both Louisiana residents," Sharon replied. "Your leg have feeling yet? I'm kind of hungry, and you probably have no idea where the cafeteria is do you?" 

Mick tried moving his leg, his toes slowly wiggled with a bit of focus. She helped him up, and he slowly put weight on it. "How did you learn to do that? You look like your my age?" 

"I'm seventeen," Sharon said as she helped Mick down from the ring. "My aunt was pretty amazing, she taught me all kinds of cool tricks growing up. Worked out well for me, being homeschooled, I graduated early. I applied to work for SHIELD, and got into the Academy, passed all the classes pretty handily. Now they want me to prove I can handle field work." 

"That's pretty awesome," Mick was quite awestruck with her. "How exactly are you supposed to prove yourself though?" 

"Remember how I said I'm the one training you?" Sharon's glanced at Mick who then had the harsh realization that if he now had to succeed in this training not only for his benefit, but for hers as well. 

Christmas break always flew by, but usually he spent it gaming with his best friends. Time seemed to move at such a rapid pace here. There was rarely any downtime, sleeping felt like a thirty minute power nap and you were right back at it. Despite her friendly demeanor, Sharon Carter was a hard trainer. She pushed Mick beyond his breaking point, several nights he ended up on ice due to severe muscle fatigue, then some miracle drug before bed had him waking up as if he were as good as new. 

The training was paying off though, after the first week, he was at least able to last the full two minutes in the ring, sure it's because he was using his powers to keep away from her, but it still counted. When they went hand to hand and he had to suppress his powers, he lasted around a minute before Sharon could outlast him. At least it was a clear improvement. As the two finished up training Coulson walked in with a deeply concerning expression. 

"Who kicked your puppy?" Mick asked as Sharon punched him in the side. 

"There was an attack in the city, it's all hands on deck," Coulson said as Sharon started moving quickly, until she realized Mick was still standing still, confused as to what was happening. 

"He said all hands on deck, what are you doing?" Mick stared at her as if she were speaking a foreign language. "Go get your suit on, we're going into the city to provide assistance." 

"I didn't think he meant me," Mick shook his head in disbelief. 

"Your powers could come in handy in a situation like this!" Sharon barked, then ran out of the room. 

"While she's right, your powers may prove helpful, you need to keep a low profile. You better keep the mask on at all times," Coulson warned. "I'll be bringing you and Carter up in a quinjet so we can get a better look at what's going on. You're both rookies, so you'll stay with me." 

"Yes, Sir," Mick replied, rushing off toward his bunk. 

Mick sat across from Sharon, she looked focused, quite intense really. She was in the full black SHIELD body suit, clearly the same material as his own suit, she had a black baton on each side and a pistol holstered on her right. Mick had none of the weapons, knowing his weapons were unique to him. "Listen, you cannot call me Sharon, or Carter while we're out there. It's Agent Thirteen, got it?" 

"Yeah," Mick nodded. 

"You're only going to be Recluse to everyone," she reminded him. It was the first time he would truly don the name, and it sounded serious. The quinjet rose, Mick didn't panic nearly as bad as he did with the bigger jet. It was a few minutes before they were flying over New York City, the sheer size of the building astounded Mick. Sure he'd seen it on TV, but it was nothing like seeing it in person. There were fires down in the streets, debris from destroyed buildings scattered about, several EMT's helping injured citizens out of cars that were in the debris field. 

"Certainly looks like a bomb went off," Sharon stated as she peered out the windshield. 

"That's not even the worst of it," Coulson stated. "There's reports of another attack in progress. Agents on the ground are saying the guy is a Meta Human fire starter." 

"Meta what?" Mick asked as Coulson sighed. 

"You play video games right? You've heard of the meta in a game, something that is more powerful that changes the game?" Mick nodded slowly as Coulson explained. "Well, some of our more brilliant naming conventions deemed people with powers, meta humans. Same principal. They're people, they have powers, changed the game." 

"Why not just call them super?" Mick asked as Sharon snickered. 

"Do you really want someone hurting people to be considered super, Mick?" Coulson asked as Mick thought for a moment and shook his head. "Didn't think so." 

"What's our plan?" Sharon asked as Coulson looked for a decent spot to land. 

"Well, there's reports of bombs all over Riker's bridge, and it's our job to get them disabled. The main crew can handle the city, but I needed a discreet team to help me find these bombs," Coulson said as he brought the quinjet down near the bridge, tons of smoke coming from the island across from it. 

"So that's why you wanted us? Discreet?" Sharon asked as she looked at Mick who pulled down his mask. 

"Exactly," Coulson said as the hatch opened. Several police officers met them at the base of the hatch. Coulson taking control immediately. "Sit tight, I'll give you the signal when to go." 

"You must be the guy they called in about the bombs?" The officers asked as Coulson nodded along. "They're all over the bridge, supposedly on the island too. Though we're not sure how they'd pull that off considering Rikers is one of the most secure prisons there is." 

"Right," Coulson nodded. "Is there something I can use to cross the bridge or do I need to walk?" 

"Every time we get close, a bomb fire ignites on the bridge, so we don't know if it's even safe to cross," the officer replied to Coulson's frustration. Coulson walked the officers to the front of the quinjet, then knocked on the body, hoping the two rookies inside would get the hint to move. 

Inside the quinjet Sharon and Mick heard something knocking. "Is that the signal?" Mick whispered

"Let's just assume, yes," Sharon said as she led the way down the hatch. She assumed based on the fact the knocking came from the front of the quinjet, which was pointing toward the bridge, that route was a no go. They'd need another route. An explosion rattle the bridge and the fence which let down to the bay, plumes of flames rose from Riker's Island. Immediately she knew that's where they needed to be, but how to get there? 

"What are we waiting for? We need to get over there, right?" Mick pointed at the island. 

"Yes, but unless you're secretly an Olympic swimmer and rock climber, we're not getting over there discreetly," Sharon said as Mick stared at her. He knew that the mask prevented her from seeing the annoyance on his face, but couldn't fault her. It wasn't every day she worked with someone with powers. He reached out his arm, flicked his wrist, and a web splat into the ground near her feet. "Oh no, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking." 

"That depends? How much are you really thinking?" Mick grabbed Sharon be the waist, shot a web up onto a branch to get over the fence, then let her toward the bridge. 

"Hey! What are those two kids doing?" Two police officers yelled from behind them, Mick shooting a web, as Sharon screamed. 

"You're absolutely insane, you do realize that?" She clutched him for dear life as the two swung underneath the bridge, seeing the red flashing lights from the bombs attached to the pillars. 

"Insane, or just incredibly lucky that this is actually working, whichever you prefer," Mick replied as he wasn't quite sure how to really land. He did what any child at heart would do, treated it like jumping off the swing on a play ground. The two crashed into the ground, Mick using his body to take the brunt of the impact. His legs and back stung a good bit, but it was manageable. 

"Don't ever do that again," Sharon ordered, then pulled Mick up after brushing herself off and recomposing herself. 

"It worked didn't it?" Mick popped his neck, then his shoulders. 

"Yes, but now we're on an island of dangerous convicts which apparently has bombs and no other way off," Sharon stated as Mick didn't consider that at all. He know what Rikers was, he didn't even know it existed until a few moments ago. 

"Come on boys! Once you get out of here, there's a whole new world of freedom you can't even imagine!" The man's thick Brooklyn accent amused Mick, adding into his odd promises of freedom despite the heavy police on the other side of the bridge. 

"We can't let them leave the island," Sharon said as Mick nodded. 

"Two of us against a whole army," Mick shook his head. "I don't like those odds." 

"Prisoners usually don't band together," Sharon said as she started to move up. 

"Usually doesn't make me feel any better," Mick grumbled, following using his webs to scale the rocks to Sharon's annoyance. 

"What's with the costume and the kid?" A guy wearing a black leather jacket, a grey tee, black hair with a fiery red streak in his unkept bangs. Even his facial hair was ragged looking. 

"My costume or yours?" Mick taunted as Sharon covered her face in embarrassment. 

"Stop talking, and take this guy down," Sharon ordered as the guy laughed. 

Fire blazed in the man's eyes, then he jumped back. Several of the mans cohorts began to charge at them. "Go ahead and have some fun with them," he taunted turning his focus back toward the bridge. 

"Recluse, you can't let him get to the bridge!" Sharon called out as the prisoners surrounded the two of them. 

"You're not getting to Solar sweetheart," one of the criminals called out. "But we'll treat you real nice." 

"Ugh," Sharon scoffed. She pulled the batons from her sides, handing one to Mick who stood back to back with her. "Don't play around too long." 

"Fine by me, Thirteen," Mick nodded. With that, the two lunged. Mick felt like a real version of Scorpion from Mortal Kombat, the way he webbed his foe, and jerked them toward him before unleashing a barrage of slashes from the baton. 

It didn't take more than four men being taken down before the allies turned to cowards. "Uhh, Solar, they're all yours pal!" One of the smaller prisoners ran back into the facility as as Sharon threatened to hit him. 

"They're just little," Solon looked to see several unconscious men at the feet of the two of them, and the webbing must've caught his eye as well. "That's interesting. Who's little trick is that?" He pointed at the webs on the guy near Mick. 

"Mine," Mick stepped forward, brandishing the baton to attack Solar. 

"I knew a guy who could do that," Solar smirked. "Went a little mad a few years ago when after his wife and kid died. He was here with me not that long ago, actually. Apparently he's not here anymore." 

"Small world?" Mick growled. 

"Bout to get smaller," Fire ignited at Solar's outstretched hands. 

"Thirteen!" Mick called, diving at Sharon and using his webs to pull them out of the range of the blast from Solar. 

"Things are about to heat up real fast now kids," Solar pulled some kind of device from his pocket. 

"That's got to be the detonator!" Sharon pointed. 

"Got it!" Mick shot webs without hesitation. The impact knocked the device out of Solar's hand, sending it careening onto the bridge. 

"You little punk!" Solar's temper flared, fire swirling around his wrists, scorching his jacket sleeves. "Now I'm good and pissed off!" Solar blasted a searing beam of fire, following Mick across the road, melting the asphalt before he tried to duck behind a concrete structure. 

"I'll deal with Bic Lighter, you go get the detonator!" Mick yelled as Sharon nodded. She raced toward the bridge as Mick continued throwing webs and keeping Solar's focus glued on him. Mick's heart raced as he sprinted hard as Solar worked to pin him between the two beams of fire coming from his hands. Mick found himself backed into a corner, with his lack of paying attention to his surroundings. He quickly looked for a way up, shooting a web and jumping as the two beams collided just where he had been standing. 

Before Solar could blast him he was sprayed with a firefighter's water hose, the water pressure slamming him into the building he backed Mick into. "Not so hot now are you?" Sharon taunted, unrelenting in her aim as Solar struggled to try and escape the torrent. Mick dropped down, just as Sharon stopped spraying, slamming Solar in the temple. The man collapsed on the ground as Mick sighed in relief. 

It wasn't that much longer before the two were escorted back across the bridge in a black SHIELD car and returned to Coulson's custody. He seemed quite impressed, beside the burns and tears on Mick's suit. He lead them back on the quinjet, Sharon giving a full rundown of the night. 

"Not too bad kids," Coulson nodded. "A little messier than I'd prefer, but not bad."