THE GRIM REAPER

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I feel a sense of attachment towards this little girl. She already calls me her uncle which I was hesitant about. Becoming attached to something, or someone, isn't in the job description, especially with Pierce. He forbids such affections, and I can see why. Dammit...I feel like, like she is my little sister. Every day she grows stronger and becomes the fighter my boss is looking for. But the thought of her working for him brings bile to my throat. Light cannot mix with darkness. One is weaker than the other, one has more faults than the other, more hope than the other; they're both unequally different. They just can't clash.
-Evaluation Notes, Owner, Unknown.

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THE TRISKELION SHIELD & AVENGERS HQ | WASHINGTON, D.C. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

SHIELD stirred with agents hustling the ground of the building's headquarters. Sophie roved her owlish eyes too many times for one person to count. Her steps even so, gradually desisted as she escalated down the hall to the upper level of SHIELD into the lounge area.

A large marble wall caught her eyes before she rounded the corner into the main lobby. Clint and Natasha were ahead of her going straight to the secretary to check in. The woman's glossy, gray eyes spotted the two Avengers and forcefully pushed a smile. The two former assassins did the same, but their smiles never stayed.

Intrigued, Sophie passed through a door into another room where more agents rushed about their duties. The huge wall became more distinctly clear as she walked over to it and stood in front of the large piece of memorial. "Wall of Valor," she whispered the title carved into the marble that which crowned the wall. "Huh..." She murmured, eyebrows colliding together in interest.

Half the room flooded with tall glass windows, touching from the floor to the ceiling. The pure light coming in through the windows, clashed atop the silver plates, engraved with names of superior agents of the ages.

The Wall of Valor was created as a memorial to honor every member of SHIELD and the Strategic Scientific Reserve that died in the line of duty. Every SHIELD facility had one of these walls, especially the SHIELD academy, where young cadets were trained to become full-fledged agents, and where the walls were used to make the students understand the legacy of the agency.

The softness of Sophie's fingertips grazed the top of the names, the coolness tingled her warm skin. Suddenly though, Her fingers lurched to a stop upon a certain name, her heart thudded a little quicker. "Bucky Barnes..."

"You know what this is?"

"The Wall of Valor," replied Sophie, not bothering to peer up and away to the voice whom accompanied it. She could pick out the gruff huskiness of the tone from anywhere, and even being blindfolded could distinctly cognise who the single person was.

"So you've heard of it?" Clint slid in next to her, hands on his belt and eyes trained on the young girl who bore no respect to give the same attention back.

"Every SHIELD facility has a memorial to the agents lost in the line of duty," she pointedly told, straightening up and giving a bored glare his way while raising an eyebrow, and stating very matter-of-factly. "Everyone knows that."

Clint held a chuckle, and hid the humor with an amused smile. Scratching the side of his cheek, earnestness was evident in his incoming response. "Poses perspective in what we do."

Having his eyes on the young woman, he awaited a smart, sarcastic remark from Sophie. Instead, staring at the silver plates scribbled with names of all agents killed in battle, she humbly uttered, "Must make you guys proud."

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