Line of Fire

2x01; shadows

All and all, the trip to the UK hadn't been bad. In fact, Coulson had actually enjoyed parts of it. The flight had gone smoothly and he'd even gotten to visit his favorite fish and chips restaurant. The only problem was the outcome, which was so far beyond disappointing Coulson wanted to hit something. (Well, he had, but that wasn't the point.)

"How many agents did you find?" May asked once she and Coulson were alone.

"Not nearly enough," Coulson sighed. He threw the information up on the screen, adding a total of six new data points to the map. As if that wasn't distressing enough, he continued, "Hydra got to most of them first. Those that hadn't already flipped sides were either turned or..." He trailed off, letting the words hang in the air. "We've lost a lot of good agents."

"Bring any back?" May went on, eyes fixed on the screen. She may have looked stoic as ever, but Coulson had worked with her long enough to know when she was trying to cover her emotions. The news wasn't exactly new, but that didn't make seeing just how bad things had gotten any easier.

"Most of them wanted to stay in place, so I had several stay behind to keep watch on what remaining bases and safehouses we still have," Coulson shrugged.

"And the rest?" May raised an eyebrow and Coulson smiled. She had always been so perceptive of him.

"Just one," Coulson answered. He was about to say more when the sound of his office door opening cut him off. Both Coulson and May turned to the door, effectively stopping their conversation.

On the other side, a young woman stood in the doorway, clearly growing more distressed the longer the other two occupants of the room stared at her. She was rather unassuming, despite her height, what with her figure being small enough to make it look like she was drowning in her ill-fitting pantsuit. Her glasses only served to make her dark brown eyes appear even wider as she stared and her brunette hair was pulled into a ponytail that shook as she glanced between Coulson and May.

"Sorry, am I interrupting?" The woman asked. Her voice had a unique sound to it; almost like a British accent, but not quite.

"Speak of the devil," Coulson was smiling once more, beaconing the woman. She moved towards them slowly, her steps unsure. The senior agent indicated that the pair should shake hands as he made introductions. "Agent May, meet the newest addition to the team; Mara."

"Melinda May?" Mara asked, expression turning from one of mortification to awe. "It's an honor to meet you. My name's Mara Aran-"

"I already know who you are, Agent Arany," May cut across her words coolly. From the way she said Mara's name alone, Mara was able to understand just what May was trying to say to her. She withdrew her hand as May turned to Coulson, completely disregarding the girl in front of her. "You and I are going to have a conversation later. Privately."

With that, May left the room, keeping a subtle eye on Mara as she passed through the door. That left Mara and Coulson alone in a long stretch of silence.

"I'm getting the sneaking suspicion she doesn't like me," Mara frowned. Her tone was vaguely sarcastic but mostly self-deprecating.

"That's just May. There's always more to it than that," Coulson attempted to assure her. He placed a hand on her back, ushering her towards the door. "She'll warm up to you eventually. The rest of the team might be a little quicker, though."

Mara shook her head, looking at the hand she had tried to use to shake May's. "May had her opinions decided long before she met me," The brunette heaved a sigh. "But I can't say I blame her. I probably wouldn't trust myself either, and it isn't just the whole matter of my disappearance. If May knows the reasoning behind it...But I suspect I'll be getting a lot of that. Hell, most of the people I know in S.H.I.E.L.D. spent the last three years thinking I was dead." She paused to give a truly impressive roll of her eyes. "Not like I could have helped it, but that's not something you can easily forgive."