Line of Fire

2x17; Melinda

Hanging out in safe houses was never meant to be fun, but this one deserved a special mention for inspiring boredom. Safe houses weren't supposed to be exciting, but usually they carried at least a few books. The selection of books at this one was dismal. Aside from solitaire, playing cards meant talking to Aiden. Mara was going to hold off on that conversation for as long as possible.

Actually, avoiding Aiden had gone fairly well that morning. She managed to snatch the master bedroom the night before and Aiden wasn't up yet. And now she was reading through a field guide for the local forests. Kind of dry, but it wasn't exactly like Mara had time to grab reading material while fleeing the Playground. Well, she could've bought something on the way to the safe house, but she was a little preoccupied at the time.

And she was a little preoccupied right now. Ever since she'd woken up that morning, Mara had been feeling...off. She knew exactly what it was; she hadn't taken her medication in a while and a flare was on it's way. Mara was willing to bet her temperature was above one-hundred degrees - not by much, but enough that she'd cracked open the windows and stripped down to her EVS suit on top. (A change of clothes, that was another thing she'd completely forgotten about. Hopefully they wouldn't be staying there much longer.)

"Wow, it's colder than Dante's hell in here," Aiden's voice cut through Mara's clothing lament and she nearly groaned. She dropped the book in her lap just in time to make eye contact with Aiden. "Did you have to open every single window in here?"

"I run hot," Mara shrugged. She didn't feel the need to elaborate. Aiden already knew what she was talking about anyway.

"A jacket for me it is," Aiden replied, stepping over to a closet. There wasn't much to look through, but Aiden studied each one while he continued, "I didn't get a chance to check, but I'm guessing the fridge is empty." Mara made a non-committal hum. "Looks like we'll have to take a trip into town for groceries, then. It's that mission we took in Oaxaca all over again."

Oh, perfect. Bringing up Oaxaca made it sound like they would be staying there for a while. A long while. Mara was so not up for that. "And maybe a stop by the town bookstore," She added, pushing the thought from her mind. "I'd rather torch the bookshelf than read 'A Geologic Survey of the Grand Tetons'."

Aiden laughed, finally selecting a jacket and slipping it over his shoulders. "Sure, we can fit that in after a trip to the nearest electronics store," He said. "Gonna need a burner phone if we want to contact your team."

Instead of a proper response, Mara just found herself staring at Aiden's choice of coat. It was a bit too large for him, but that wasn't much surprise. He may have been tall, but Aiden was also pretty lean. "That jacket's not exactly your size, is it?" Mara mentioned as Aiden sat down across from her, in one of the wicker rocking chairs.

"It was the only one close enough that didn't have a Hydra logo on it," Aiden replied, relaxing back into his chair.

"Fair point," Mara agreed. "About the burner phone too. I might be able to contact Fitzsimmons if this place has decent reception. Then again, who knows if they're even on our side..."

"Kinda reminds you of that day, doesn't it?" Aiden didn't need to specify which day he was talking about. "Hard to believe it was almost a year ago."

"Hard to believe that was the day you chose to swap sides," Mara fired back. It wasn't any more venomous than her usual remarks, but that didn't mean she said it gently.

Aiden just let out a sigh. "That's because I didn't swap sides that day," He explained, leaning forward to better look Mara in the eye. "I made the choice that saved most members of my team. Plus, it gave me the chance to become a mole for SHIELD." He paused to see if Mara was following him. "It's a bit of a long story, which you'd know if you stayed on the team, but I'm sure we'll have time to talk about it now."