Line of Fire

2x12; who you really are

When Mara said she wanted time off from the field, she thought she was going to actually get time out of the field. She should've known better than to hope.

Well, if it was really like Coulson said, all they needed her for was translating. And it was a trip to Portugal. Mara liked Portugal. (Even if the last few times she'd been there, she'd left a wake of destruction in her path as Crossfire.)

Given all that, Mara was more quiet than normal on the trip over. Instead of talking with the other agents, she busied herself with brushing up on her Portuguese. It had been a while since she'd spoken the language and that was her purpose on the mission, after all.

Good thing, too. The moment they landed, Coulson sent her, Bobbi, and Skye to the hospital where the attack had been reported to collect evidence and speak with witnesses. Bobbi was actually the first to reach out to one of the locals, asking him if he knew where they could find rooms and all in Portuguese. The man just nodded, running off to find someone that could help them.

"Your Portuguese is just fine, Bobbi, why did you insist on bringing me?" Mara asked once Bobbi had rejoined the group.

Bobbi sighed, rolling her eyes at Mara for eavesdropping on her conversation. "Come on, Mara, you're the linguist here. Besides, I needed to see you outside of the base after..."

"You both speak Portuguese?" Skye cut in, looking between her two senior agents.

"More or less. I'm not fluent, but Mara is," Bobbi responded and Mara could only shrug. It wasn't a lie. "Speaking of, just how many languages are you fluent in?"

"About a dozen, I think?" Mara said, not trusting herself to try counting them in her head properly. "There are a couple more I'm conversational in." Realizing the look Skye was giving her, she quickly added, "I'm a linguist, it's nothing special for someone in my field, trust me."

"But like...How do you keep them all separate?" Skye made a face.

That question made Mara pause. It wasn't really something she really thought about. "I, um, I played the viola a lot when I was younger. Perfect pitch - I can tell you what note is being played by any instrument. I guess it's a little like that," Mara explained. "To me, languages are all songs. It's just a matter of remembering which lyrics go with which piece."

"Wow, Mara, I didn't know you were a poet," Bobbi teased, earning a playful smack to the arm.

A moment later, the man from earlier appeared, nervously wringing his hands together. "We're sorry it's taking so long to get back to you," He explained. "Our attendant fell ill suddenly and we're understaffed."

"Would that be her over there?" Bobbi asked, pointing down the hallway.

Skye and Mara followed her line of sight and spotted a woman on a stool, surrounded by several other hospital workers. She looked like she was repeating something over and over, staring into space in a way that was both hysterical and subdued.

"What's she saying?" Skye asked.

"Reading lips from this far away is a little difficult, particularly in another language," Mara muttered, hand unconsciously moving to adjust her glasses. Not that she needed them. "But it looks like 'Onde estou...Eu não me lembro do meu nome.'"

"Where am I?" Bobbi translated. "I don't remember my name."

"He's here in the hospital," Skye concluded. The realization hit all three women at once. "The guy we're looking for, he's-"

The simultaneous ring of three cellphones cut Skye off. Bobbi picked up with a curt, "Morse."

"We've found what he's after," Said Hunter's voice from the other end of the phone. "Nitrogen gas. Looks like he's using it to power some kind of camouflage device."