Struggling To Adjust (Book Three of The Bad Wolf Chronicles)

Agents of SHIELD

 Oliver Morgenstern was still recovering from the alien attack a few hours later. He had returned to work at the hospital, frowning when he didn’t see a fellow student. “Have you seen Martha?” he asked Swales.

She shook her head. “No, I haven’t,” she admitted. “I thought she might have taken the day off.”

“Dr. Morgenstern?” an American voice asked. “Dr. Swales?”

Morgenstern turned at the same time as Julia. An official-looking man stood there in a suit and tie, putting sunglasses away. A woman of Korean-descent stood behind him in all black, an insulated vest over it. “Yes?” Morgenstern asked.

The man gave a grim smile. “I’m Phil Coulson, and this is Melinda May. Agents of SHIELD. If you don’t mind, we have a few questions over what’s happened in the last many hours.”

Morgenstern shook his head. “Of course not,” he said, wondering what SHIELD would exactly want with them. He gestured towards the sitting area. “Please.”

Coulson nodded and sat. May, however, remained standing. “SHIELD tracks alien activity,” Coulson said. “It’s our job to record anything that happens.” He raised an eyebrow. “Being taken to the moon is definitely something.”

Morgenstern took a shaky breath. “And there were rhinos.”

May quirked an eyebrow. “Rhinos,” she repeated.

“Yeah,” Morgenstern replied, shaking his head. “They were called, ah . . . ” He snapped his fingers, thinking. “Juhoon, Jaboon . . . ”

“Judoon,” Swales corrected. “At least, that’s what the man with Martha called them.”

Coulson seemed to sit up straighter. “This Martha, is she here?” he asked.

Morgenstern shook his head. “No, sir,” he replied. “I haven’t seen her since yesterday. She had a party last night. It was her brother’s 21st.”

“You said there was a man with her?” May asked.

“And a woman,” Swales added. “They were even calmer than Martha was.”

“What did they look like?”

Swales tilted her head, squeezing her eyes closed. “The woman was blond,” she began slowly. “I’d say in the mid-twenties. Australian,” she added quickly. “She was Australian. And she knew how to fight. Got quite a mouth on her.”

“A gob?” Coulson asked.

“No, lots of witty comments, though.”

“And the man? What did he look like?”

Swales blushed a little. “Rather good looking. Southern London, blue suit, hair stuck up all over the place – ”

Coulson took a photo out of his pocket. “Is this him?”

Morgenstern peered at it, and his eyes widened. There was a photo of the exact man in a different suit, looking like he was having the time of his life. With him was a girl around twenty, her dark hair tied back, freckles dotted across her face. “Yeah, that’s him,” Swales confirmed. “He didn’t have that girl with him, though. It was just the blond. The two of them checked in as John Smith and Johanna Rossini.”

“This man is called the Doctor,” Coulson told them. “Almost anything alien on this planet happens, he’s somewhere around. It’s because of him that this girl is dead.”

Swales’s eyes widened. “Was she close to you?”

“She was a partner,” May replied tightly. “We should have let his box rot.”

Coulson stood. “If you see Martha again, tell her to give us a call,” he ordered, handing them a calling card.

“Yes, sir,” Morgenstern agreed, taking the card. “We will.”

Swales was still looking a little dazed as the two agents left. “Jules?” Morgenstern asked.

Swales shook her head. “That girl in the photo,” she said. “She had just the same confidence level Johanna did.”

 ***

“Jemma, Fitz,” Coulson said into his phone later as they exited Royal Hope Hospital. “We’re staying in the area.”

“Yes, sir,” Fitz replied. “Did you find him?”

“No,” Coulson admitted. “But we have a lead. Can you do me a search real quick?”

“Sure,” Jemma replied. “Who are we looking for?”

“Johanna Rossini,” May enunciated. “Possibly the Doctor’s latest companion.”

There was a moment, and then Fitz’s hesitant voice came on. “You’re positive that’s her name?”

“That’s what the doctors said.”

“Sir, there’s no Johanna Rossini on any database.”

“She’s Australian,” Coulson began to rattle off. “Blond. Mid-twenties.”

“Still nothing, sir. I’m sorry.”

Coulson gritted his teeth. “Keep searching. We owe it to Jessie, Skye, and Saleen to find the Doctor.”

“Of course,” Jemma agreed, her voice hard. “Anything.”

Coulson hung up, looking up at the sky.

The chase had begun.

***

Yeah. SHIELD really hates the Doctor right now. I thought it was about time for them to get in here.

They're starting a hunt for the Doctor, and when they get him, it's not going to be pretty.

How do you think they should end up finding him? They'll make an appearance in the interlude after "The Lazarus Experiment" and talk more to Martha's family about her allegiance to the Doctor, but I want to give them a sole area where they confront the Doctor themselves. When do you think that should be, and how?

I might be able to start writing "The Shakespeare Code" soon. And something's going to happen in there . . . something big. And it involves our new favorite Aussie Wolf. :) Aussie Wolf. That's nice. I like it.

Anyway, have fun reading!