Line of Fire

2x15; one door opens

This might very well have been the worst day Mara ever had since coming to the Playground.

Not the worst day of her SHIELD career, and definitely not the worst day of her life in general, but this still sucked. Here Mara had been complaining about boredom. Then who should waltz in but her former partner - the one who had apparently up and joined Hydra - only to reveal that he was working on his own orders as a mole the whole time. Apparently. And now she had to be the one to chaperone him.

At least Aiden seemed to be having a good time. He waved to every SHIELD agent or scientist he passed, reveling in all the shocked his expressions thrown his way.

"Someone's having fun," Mara muttered over the sound of Aiden's laughter when one man did a particularly impressive double-take. "That makes one of us."

"Hmm?" Aiden hummed. He glanced at Mara before resuming activities. "What? Out of everyone on this base, I was hoping you'd be smiling the most about my return. No love for your former partner?"

"No love for the man who tried killing me," Mara shot back quickly, adding after a pause, "Several times."

Aiden breathed out a sigh. "That question was rhetorical, but...I promise you, I've never tried to kill you."

"Oh, really?" Mara stopped in her tracks, forcing Aiden to do the same. She sent him a glare that could melt steel. "We can do this chronologically, if you want. Remember that time you had a knife to the back of my neck in Bruges?"

"Yeah, and I said that someone called for all Hydra agents to leave the premises," Aiden picked up where she left off. He paused and it was clear that he was waiting for Mara to pick something up. When she only continued to glower at him, Aiden went on. "There was never a retreat order. I said that to maintain cover and give myself an out."

As good an excuse as that was, Mara knew that it was just as likely he was lying. "Then what about Canada?" She asked, knowing that nothing would come from questioning him about the truth of that claim. "When you threw a grenade at me?"

"Come on," Aiden actually had the nerve to grin. "That was nowhere near you, or the agent you were with."

"Well, there was always that time you locked me in a room with an explosive!" Mara shouted, then sighed. And here she was, trying not to lose her temper.

Just like the last time she'd brought it up, Aiden's composure slipped. It was only for a moment, but it was there. "Listen, that was an accident, like I mentioned earlier," He explained - or tried to under Mara's burning stare. "Besides, I knew you could survive it anywa-"

Before he could finish that sentence, Mara was clapping a hand over his mouth. "No, don't you dare," She whispered dangerously.

"Keeping that a secret?" Aiden asked, once he could speak again. Mara did note that his voice had dropped several decibels though. "I thought SHIELD was done with all that confidentiality stuff now."

"I made it confidential myself," Mara said in a low voice. "I'm done with Crossfire and anything that had to deal with that project." Her emphasis making the implication even more clear. There was a brief pause, where Mara almost turned back to their route, but then she was rounding on Aiden once more. "And then you had to go and bring it back!"

Aiden held up his hands in a show of innocence, staring down at the accusatory finger Mara had pointed under his chin. "In my defense, I was kind of out of the loop on that whole thing."

"Yeah," Mara growled. "Because you went and joined Hydra!"

"Not before you up and left the damn program without a trace!" Aiden fired back.