The Unknown Enemy ∘ Marvel [3]

Chapter 24: Unexpected Guest

I ended up, literally, wearing someone else's face.

Layla had made a prototype of an adaptive mask. My whole facial structure changed, and even the pitch of my voice differentiated from my own. It was quite incredible, and I was glad SHIELD wasn't aware of it just yet. My friend had never even turned in the basic designs, so the organization didn't even know of its existence. They didn't know that I used it to get past a checkpoint at the edge of DC, and they wouldn't know about it when the time came to use it again.

After we got out of the city, Layla input the coordinates to Bradley's safe house to the car's navigation system. It was a several hour drive, and she insisted that I sleep, especially after my hectic escape involving weird healing and a damaged bike. She sounded so much like Meredith it made my regret of letting the doctor go flash in a fresh new wave.

She didn't know her sister was most likely SHIELD's captive. She didn't know how much she was sacrificing.

I leaned against the window, the cool glass against my temple as I watched the scenery blur by us. My steady breath began to fog the window and I shifted, my elbow against the base and my cheek rested on my closed fist.

I had to tell her about Meredith. I'd learned my lesson about keeping secrets regarding family members. It had ended up in a death and damaging any hope of repairing a relationship. While I was pretty sure such drastic things like that wouldn't occur in this instance, I wasn't taking my chances. I slowly exhaled, turning my head towards Layla, who's eyes were trained on the road, "Thank you again for this."

The blonde smiles, gazing at me for a second before returning her focus to driving, "It's my pleasure. It's been awhile since I took a road trip."

My small grin comes and disappears in the same moment, still not exactly sure how to approach the situation. Blurting out that I pretty much was the reason her sister was going to lose both her career and any credibility to her name along with being captured by a rogue SHIELD wasn't a good idea. How to say it in softer terms was proving difficult.

Layla instead let her shoulders relax,
surprising me as she turns off the freeway, "I know about Meredith."

I watch her closely, seeing her grip on the steering wheel tighten and her sight stay fixed on her path of travel. Tentatively, I ask, "How?"

"She left me a voicemail explaining almost everything in under twenty seconds right before Natasha called." She elaborates, swallowing, "The forged medical files, changing state records, talking with Fury, SHIELD being behind it. Then it got cut off."

All I hear is the engine underneath us, whirring under metal as the blonde pauses. I don't interject, still not sure what to say. Within a moment Layla smiling glance, a small grin that she pulls to try and reassure me of the emotions so painfully easy to read in her voice alone, "I told you that you weren't dragging me into this. They took my sister and killed my boss and kidnapped you. I'm happy to go all 'rogue agent' right about now."

I let myself nod slightly, sucking in a breath through clenched teeth as I pensively answer, "And I'm glad you're doing this for me. I just wish it didn't have to happen like this. Maybe I could've convinced her to come-"

At this, she snorts. It's not a manufactured response like the positivity she had desperately been faking the past few minutes. It's a genuine laugh as she shook her head, "Convince Mere? Take it from the little sister, but the last time Meredith was convinced of anything she was a teenager and I was maybe seven or so. I managed to get her to believe that she was adopted as a joke. Of course it wasn't true and later she realized I was full of lies, but besides that story, that is the only time I can remember that woman be convinced of anything. No one 'makes' Mere do something. No one stops her from doing something. So her deciding to take on a team of armed men to slow them down so you and the Captain could escape? You couldn't have dragged her away if you tried."