#maythebadass

SHIELD had asked Henry McCoy personally to aid in their recruitment of Dahlia Hsiao. It made sense, given that he was an experienced teacher of superhumanly gifted people as well as her significant other. For many reasons he had been reluctant at first. Despite having worked as a SHIELD consultant on the past, Hank knew that the espionage organisation did not have the cleanest record. However with the threat at hand, Earth and the rest of the universe could use all the help it could get. Once they had identified her as a powered individual, they saw her as an asset. The X-Man had not wanted to get Dahlia involved in this part of his life. While she had every right to know about it, he also wanted to protect her. She trusted him and the genius geneticist did not want to break that sacred bond. He decided to be as open and forward about it as possible in order to maintain their relationship. The best way to keep her safe was to keep her totally in the loop. Hank made it clear to Dahlia that she did not have to do anything she did not wish to. Allowing his girlfriend to exercise her agency may piss off SHIELD, but McCoy honestly did not care. They did not provide sparkling conversation, nor did they demonstrate some outstanding cuddling techniques. Besides, blindly turning someone over to a government entity, regardless of whether they were a loved one or not, was something the mutant activist was highly wary of. There would be no way he would let them treat her like a pawn to be used in the war to come. And so the couple found themselves sitting in the Headmaster’s Office in the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning on a Friday afternoon. Dahlia had already become a familiar face here and it was the safest location Henry could think of. As unlikely as any SHIELD funny business was in this case, they surely would not dare on the X-Men’s home turf. Since taking the position of headmaster, Dr. McCoy had not even bothered to move his things into this office. He kept his own office for working and meeting with students, while this space served for larger gatherings such as this one. Seated across from them on a couch were Director Melinda May, Rachel, and former head of SHIELD himself, Nick Fury. Hank had been honestly surprised that Fury had shown up. He supposed they wanted to make a statement, what with the current and former directors of SHIELD being there. And Rachel was likely there to be their “success story.” The spy agency had recruited the young woman some months ago. She and May had been on the Bermuda mission too. Clearly they saw a time traveler as being useful. While that may have been the case under these circumstances, it did not exactly put Beast at ease. His gaze was stern and scrutinizing as he looked back at the agents.  On the night that the super scientist discovered Dahlia’s abilities, he offered her help her control them better. It was something he had been doing with his regular students for quite some time now. Their training sessions had not yielded much in the way of results and having her be part of the superhuman community at large was not something he had expected though. SHIELD wanted them to continue the work that they had started. The thought of being on the Avengers alongside his partner was an odd one. Not necessarily unpleasant, but strange. He had briefly been romantically entangled with the SHIELD agent, Shae Wiley, but that had been different. It was a fling, born out of the heat of the moment. They had only worked together in the field a few times. Afterward, the two of them had a friendship at most and eventually became estranged. She may have been still be out there somewhere. Jolting himself back to the present situation, Henry broke the silence. “Shall we begin?” Hank inquired rather formally. “I have explained to Ms. Hsiao the extent of your offer as you chose to reveal to me. I would like these proceedings to be as open and transparent as they can conceivably be. Now, you appear to be quite fervent in your desire to enlist Ms. Hsiao, so you may make your proposition.” While his tone was not hostile, it was more stilted and rigid than his usual warm, rumbly way of speaking. It was a tone that said they could make their case, but no matter what Dahlia decided, they would have to live with it. maythebadass

maythebadass

Feeling slightly better about this, Jock stuffed a piece of his cinnamon roll into his mouth and let the goodness of the baked treat soothe his fractured nerves as much as baked goods could. He kept his eyes on the front door of Albert’s, waiting for Agent May’s arrival.

[Text—-Encrypted]: Tell me who you are and why I should trust you and I will meet you. Somewhere in public and during the day.

Abigail let herself into the safe house, an unassuming brownstone building in Brooklyn, and made herself comfortable while she waited for May. Comfortable was a loosely used term. She sat on the edge of her seat in the kitchen, her arms on the table in front of her, her hands clasped together so tightly her knuckles were white. The silence in the house was unbearable, letting her mind race through her anger and grief. May had to get there soon or Abigail was going to something irrational, like going after Thanos alone.

There was an air of grimness about them all. Silence permeated the Quinjet throughout most of the flight. It came as no surprise really, given the nature of their mission. They had been tasked by SHIELD to find and board a derelict vessel spotted in the Bermuda Triangle. From the cockpit, Dr. Henry McCoy filed through the members of the team that had been assembled for this mission in his mind.  First was a young superhuman that had been introduced to him only as Rachel. He made a mental note to ask later about whether or not she was a mutant. Regardless, he wanted to look after the girl. She was a civilian and untrained as far as he knew. Beast was uncertain as to why she was present for this undertaking. Hank had met Agent Rory Hendricks once before. They were a proficient engineer, so their place on this mission was clear. More than likely, Rory would be able to repair any damage that the missing ship had suffered. As for the remaining two, the mutant doctor had only heard tell of both of them. Melinda May was a legend among SHIELD agents. His good friend Shae Wiley had mentioned her once or twice, which was a good sign. Agent Wiley was tough to impress. Evidently May was a regular badass. Genis-Vell on the other hand, was a whole other story. The son of Mar-Vell, Kree warrior. From the way Eros had spoken of the young man, it was evident that the Titanian cared about the young man. His being a Kree-Eternal hybrid also boded well in terms of Genis being a powerful ally. As for McCoy himself, it was only logical to have a physician on the boarding party. If any survivors were found on the ghost ship, they would almost certainly require medical attention. Yes, all and all it was a well-rounded group for a search and rescue mission, Hank thought. He just hoped that they could work together well when it came down to it. {Next up: maythebadass}