Line of Fire

2x10; what they become [pt. 1]

An hour after Hydra tried blowing the Bus out of the sky and Mara's heart still felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. That had been the closest she'd come to dying in a long time. Even those encounters with Aiden hadn't been nearly as frightening.

Control, that was the answer. In all those encounters with Aiden, she always had the chance to escape somehow. There was always a distinct possibility she would live. Barreling towards the ground in an airplane with heat seeking missles aimed right at them? Sure there was a chance they would survive, but their rate of success wasn't something Mara had control over. All she could do was clutch onto the bottom of her seat and put her faith in May's piloting abilities.

Thankfully it all worked out. Looked like there was a good reason everyone put so much faith in May and Mara was definitely one of those people.

In the confusion of the aftermath, everyone was scrambling to get ready for the upcoming raid on the underground city. Mara's hands shook as she rooted through the boxes, trying to find the correct magazines for her glock. She'd shown up several minutes after everyone else had, but no one really seemed to take notice, which was all the better.

Mara was nearly convinced she'd gone invisible somehow, but then Trip appeared in front of her. Wordlessly, he picked up a single clip and handed it to her. No shaking, no hesitation, just a single action and a small smile. "Thanks," Mara murmured, accepting the magazine from Trip.

"No problem," Trip nodded back. "Looked like you were having some trouble. Are those cold feet from going back into the field?"

The linguist shook her head. "I've actually been back in the field a couple of times now," Mara told him. "So, no, it's not that."

"And here I thought you were off active field duty," Trip cocked a questioning eyebrow.

"Says the man who should've been on bed rest for the last week?" Mara replied, echoing his expression and pointing to the bandage wrapped around Trip's arm. "And the retirement thing was never meant to be permanent, per say. They wanted my reintegration to be a slow process, so they could judge how I was handling before I was out once more, but it's looking like we're going to have to speed up that process a bit."

"See how you were handling?" Trip repeated, eyebrows rising further. Oh, crap, Mara was hoping he hadn't caught that. "Mara, did something happen while you were gone?" There was a compassion in his voice that almost compelled Mara to answer, but she found herself hesitating again. When finally she opened her mouth to respond, Trip cut her off. "Ah, ah, ah. Don't you try to tell me it's a long story again. And SHIELD got rid of it's levels and secrets, so I know it's not classified."

"I know," Mara said with a sigh. "And it's not classified anymore. I'm just...I'm not ready to talk about it yet I don't think. You don't really go on a deep cover mission for three years without bringing back some baggage."

"Oh. Yeah, okay," Trip nodded in understanding. "I can respect that."

"But," Mara added quickly, nearly running over the end of Trip's words. "When I'm ready, you'll be the first one to know, okay?" The smile was back on Trip's face. "You're my closest friend on this team."

"Girl, any time you need to talk," Trip smiled, pulling Mara into a one-arm hug. "Look at us. Going out in the field together again. It's just like old times, huh?"

"Just like old times," Mara agreed, though she knew that things would never again be what they once were.

~x~

By the time Mara made it into the abandoned theater, the fight was already underway. Bobbi and Hunter stood about five paces ahead of her, easily sniping Hydra agents before they could even get a shot off. For her part, Mara was trying to keep up. Unfortunately, she only managed to take out a cement pillar and not the man standing behind it.