Janine Hadley Legal Investigator

Sadie knocked on the door to the agent's office. - sadiebrin

Janine of course had read all the material she could get her hands on in relation to Sadie Brin; old shield files mostly, plus a report from Fury and agent Ellis from a fairly recent mission. She was definitely curious to meet the woman herself.

"Come in," she called from her desk when she heard the knock, quickly finishing up a note she'd been writing.

Sadie had finished up a coffee prior to the meeting, but with her metabolism she knew better than to blame it for the anxiety rippling over her. Her gaze flickered up to the investigator’s. “...Hi.” Now was not the time to clam up. Speak. “I’m-I’m Sadie.” She eyed the chair across the woman’s desk, but hovered awkwardly. Her hands felt out of place, shoulders tensed. She was all too aware of her body language, suddenly. 

"I know this isn't easy," she said in what she hoped was a gentle tone. Another reason to wish her colleague was present; Janine was not as good at the whole 'gentle' thing. She preferred professional- facts, evidence, practical things.

"I'm going to be honest. It may not always be what you want to hear, but I don't mess around with false hopes. That being said," she gestured to a file on her desk. "I've read your file; I've worked with worse before. But, they aren't going to just let you walk back in like nothing happened."

Janine nodded. She’d heard similar from other agents involved in the Canada rescue too.

“The agent is ‘Harry Crawford’, from the Science and Tech end of SHIELD. Footage shows Ward’s accomplice making physical contact with Crawford before he accesses a locked cabinet, room and computer for them. Ward stole some SHIELD gear as a result,” Janine sighed. “An ICER rifle was the most notable. The other problem is that we aren’t entirely sure what they accessed on the computer. Crawford was brought down for questioning, but doesn’t recall what he accessed.”

Janine helped herself to an empty chair, sinking down into it. She couldn’t exactly rush in and out of the office anyway considering the situation and she did need the rest.

“Oh, and not entirely ‘casual’, but I know you have an interest in it- Bancroft has finally been sentenced and transferred to the Raft. He’s no longer on base here.”

Sterling let out a sigh of relief when it seemed Crawford wasn’t taken or hurt by the intruders. It always made it that much harder when one of their own was threatened or killed. Abducted agents came with their own set of problems as well. Figuring out how to get the bad guys and keep them alive was a mission that always came with heavy prices. Agent Weiss had been one such failure on Sterling’s part. 

“Covered their tracks well.” He said to himself. If they were able to keep them from figuring out what they had accessed it couldn’t have been anything good. “So Crawford doesn’t know. They take out security cameras too? Keep us from getting a clear shot of the screens they were on?” If they could reconstruct the inside of a room that was blown to pieces from the sounds that echoed in it, they could enhance a screen on  security footage enough to get a peek, right? But Janine was no amateur. She would have thought to check that. An ICER rifle though. Wasn’t the worst thing they could have taken. Non lethal at least. Who were they planning to use it on? 

Sterling was distracting himself with the file, barely noticing her finally sit. He didn’t look up again until he heard the name Bancroft. 

She had given the situation a lot of thought already, so Janine didn't hesitate to offer her opinions. "My thought was he was looking to use it to frame one of us for anything he does with it. Or draw less attention to what he's doing by not killing anyone."

Intelligence Analysis

@agentsterling

“Agent Sterling! I’d welcome you back over a casual chat, but unfortunately I’ve come to deliver some work for you,” Janine said as she stepped into the office.

Straight to the point, she dropped a file onto the agent’s desk. It was labelled ’Base break in’ and decorated with a High Priority stamp.

“We’re in need of some analysis. And some discretion to avoid panic…”

Rather than waiting, the Legal Investigator opened the file to a set of photos. Some were the images printed directly from the security footage, some were zoomed in on the culprits, text on the side from SHIELD’s database as it had identified faces.

One was over 90% matched to the former SHIELD agent Grant Ward; only lower as he looked a little older and more worn than the records data knew him to be. And the whole ‘should be dead’ thing.

The second, a more feminine appearing person, was unknown.

“We don’t have a name for this one,” Janine said carefully. “But… they seem to match a loose description Hartell gave from what he recalled of Canada… Even in the way they make contact with our agent.”

She put down another photo, of the figure holding onto the SHIELD tech’s wrist.

The other could wait. He wasn’t quite the same level of concern.

“You could certainly try both.” Sterling greeted her as she stepped into the room, hand already out to receive whatever she was about to hand him out of instinct. He caught the file as she tossed it onto his desk and instantly scanned the cover. His brows furrowed and he glanced up at her as he flipped it open. 

When Janine flipped to the photos Sterling instantly let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his mouth a moment as he stared down at the file. “Ward.” He whispered. Of course it was Ward. It always seemed to be Ward or Bancroft lately. Sterling flipped back a page or two to see what base this was taking place in and nodded. He wondered a moment if he would have to travel to the base, but Janine wouldn’t be coming to him if she didn’t want him personally on it. That meant a full investigation. That meant leaving his family for a while. 

“Mmm… Nope. Don’t recognize her but there were a lot of people pulling the strings behind the scenes in Elysium. People I still wish we had taken in, especially now.” But they had made a deal for Bancroft. It still pained him to think that they had. The families of the agents they had killed breaking Bancroft out needed the closure. Not that any of them got the truth behind their deaths. Spy organizations and all. It was a tough business, especially when it came to loss. 

"The agent is 'Harry Crawford', from the Science and Tech end of SHIELD. Footage shows Ward's accomplice making physical contact with Crawford before he accesses a locked cabinet, room and computer for them. Ward stole some SHIELD gear as a result," Janine sighed. "An ICER rifle was the most notable. The other problem is that we aren't entirely sure what they accessed on the computer. Crawford was brought down for questioning, but doesn't recall what he accessed."

Janine helped herself to an empty chair, sinking down into it. She couldn't exactly rush in and out of the office anyway considering the situation and she did need the rest.

“I didn’t say it works every time… And that is confidential, okay?

I doubt I even have enough time for that sort of thing.”

“Time is relative. My darling, you just need to carve out a proper work life balance. I always make time for one glass of wine a night, and a delicious dinner. That way I know if I choose to spend that time with someone, I’m already free.”

“I’d say that doesn’t work on me, but…

He’s not even my type, but damn it, that smile is charming.”

“Oh Janine … I knew you had a flaw.”

“I didn’t say it works every time… And that is confidential, okay?

“Starts with a ‘H’. Oh wait. That could be one of two, but let’s be honest, it’s both.”

At least before Banner had control anyway….

“For a man with discernibly no powers, he is far too much trouble.” Ainsley shook her head, “And that smile when I have to interview him, he’s like a 10 year old who thinks he’s king of the playground.”