Agent of Chaos: A Captain America Fanfiction

Chapter 9: The Unexpected

          "So I'm not getting kicked out of S.H.I.E.L.D.?" I glanced at Hennessey from the top of my bunk I had been escorted to after the botched training incident. She threw her head back and laughed.

          "Why the heck would they kick you out?"

          "Other than the fact that I couldn't even make it past introductions in training? Because I freaked out and injured a fellow candidate or whatever. Besides, I've already got one professor here working against me." I shuddered as I thought of Agent Nickelson. Surely our altercation and now this meant it was bye-bye Terri.

          "Well, that sounds like a story I want to hear!" Hennessey was leaning in closely to my bunk now.

          "First, why don't you go ahead and tell me why I'm not kicked out of S.H.I.E.L.D. since you seem to know. That's what a good bunk buddy would do."

          "Woah, who said anything about me being a good bunk buddy?" She winked playfully and then carried on. "You definitely freaked out, but you didn't hurt Nolan physically. It was his freaky empath powers. I think you overloaded what he was able to register when you had your little PTSD attack. I'm sorry about that by the way. I wouldn't have asked all those questions if I knew they were going to do that."

          "Hennessey, I didn't even know they would do that if I'm being completely honest."

          "You didn't know you have PTSD?"

          I shook my head violently. "Let's call that a fascinating new development."

          "Well, shit, I'm doubly sorry about asking my questions. Thank god Cap was there to help you out! I gotta say, I wouldn't mind having another PTSD episode if it meant getting to put my hands on that hunk of man meat." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, and I laughed weakly.

          "Did you say you wouldn't mind having another episode? You have PTSD?" Her smile melted slowly off her face as she sighed.

          "I had it after the assassination attempt. I got shot once in the thigh and again in the shoulder- that's not something you recover from without having some emotional scars." Her inky eyes looked distant as she stared at a spot on the wall behind me. A new worry began to envelope my thoughts- what if having PTSD disqualified me from becoming an agent? I'm sure S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't exactly dying to get their hands on damaged goods. Obviously it didn't make Hennessey ineligible, but she wasn't going around and having emotional breakdowns.

          "Well, you seem to be doing more than okay, so maybe...maybe you could help me?" I asked weakly. It felt incredibly foolish to ask such a big favor of someone I had known for only a few hours, but Hennessey was proving herself to be my kind of people. Although she could never even begin to repair the tear that was left by my missing, scratch that, dead best friend. That thought tore at my chest a little more and suddenly it hurt to breathe. Someone might eventually replace Jamie. It didn't seem possible, but there was the potential for it, and that only made his demise much more of a bitter pill to swallow. He was truly gone. I clutched at my chest tightly and was rewarded with the thin band of Jamie's ring pressing back into my skin.

          "-rri. Terri, you're crying." Hennessey's wavy face filled my teared-up vision. I put a stunned hand to face to find the cheeks completely wet. "Hey, I don't know what happened to you out there, but I've seen enough videos to know that anybody would be rightfully messed up after that. I'll help you the best I can, but you might consider getting professional help. I'm sure if you get help, they won't disqualify you from being an agent." The smile she offered was so full of genuine kindness it stopped the flow of moisture from my eyes.