The Unknown Enemy ∘ Marvel [3]

Chapter 33: The Face of a Friend

Miles and miles away in a second-rate hotel with squeaking banisters and a less than sublime cuisine, the oldest woman finally gained control of the questionably working remote to turn off the TV that still used flimsy antennas to pick up a few channels. Zerina sighed, firmly stating once again, "Absolutely not."

Layla Renning's wet hair was wrapped in a towel, but she was fully dressed in traveling clothes as she packed together her suitcase. She didn't meet Sprouse's eyes, "You don't have to go with me, but, you know, it'd be great if you did."

"No."

"C'mon!"

"No!"

"You can't tell me you would just let SHIELD fall apart." The blonde looked up to the former agent, standing and going across the room to fetch a hairbrush, "Especially when it's literally launching three huge helicarriers into the sky tomorrow?"

"The only reason you want to go back to the Triskelion is for Firman and her friends." Zerina set the remote down on top of the TV that's screen was now black after showcasing a news report from earlier that day about the successful capture of Captain America, Black Widow, and two unidentified criminals. It was easy to tell from the footage one was a battered Sienna, but the other man was a stranger. None the less, the report had charged Layla with a new idea that returning to DC was a good one.

"Yes. And you have to add the fact I have empathy for a couple million people." She went back to pack a few more essentials, "So, I'm going."

"We could do something else, anything else. You'll be caught before you even set foot in the building."

"I'm a genius. I'll find a way to get around their facial recognition software."

"How?"

"I don't know."

"So you have no plan?"

"Do I have to resay the genius part again? I'll come up with something."

"Resay isn't even a word."

Layla's head dropped down while she sighed, taking in another deep breath to stop her racing pulse from jumping even higher despite the exhaustion. She was drained and tired from the events of the morning, but she was sure the hotel's complimentary coffee that probably cost a few cents per packet would kick in soon enough, "Look, I can see where you're coming from. You and Sienna aren't the best of sisters, but you've got to be playing at some terrible joke if you're telling me you don't want to help your last living relative."

Zerina's jaw set upon her bringing up the topic, "Firman's a big reason why I don't have any family left. Sure, she's not a double agent like I thought, I'll give her that. Doesn't mean I'll risk my own life for her, or let you give yours. There's got to be a better option."

"How can you say that?" Layla's forehead scrunched together as her shock displayed itself.

"You want to do something? We could get a hold of someone, someone with the power to stop whatever the hell is going on. Homeland Security maybe-"

The blonde shook her head, "That's not going to work. The minute we reach out and mention SHIELD, everyone in DC will come for us. That's only if the government isn't already in on this!"

"If you're so sure of that, then we have no chance." Zerina reiterated, gesturing in front of herself, "If a few agencies full of thousands of trained agents can't stop whatever HYDRA is doing, then what makes you think we can?"

Layla really didn't have an answer to that question. She didn't know if she could do anything to prevent the catastrophe looming. She just knew she couldn't leave Sienna and her sister, with possibly a million more, to die, "I can't believe you. You're telling me you're going to let everything fall apart? Even after they gave you a job?"