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“I’m keeping this one,” was all Bobbi’s apparent soulmate had to say to get his way. He took her from the bastards who’d captured her, tossed her in the back of a car and drove off. As he drove, one hand reached back to break the bonds on her wrists.
Sitting up, Bobbi clicked her seatbelt “Did I say your words?”
“Yes.”
“Not a big talker?”
“No.”
After Hunter’s endless chatter, that would be refreshing. “Where are we going?”
“Wherever you want.”
“If you got a safehouse, that’ll work.”
His grin bordered on feral for a fleeting moment before his blank expression took over. Noticing the moment of recognition, he asked “Got a name?”
“Barbara Morse, my friends call me Bobbi.” He nodded and she made a mental note, clearly she’d be the boss in this relationship which suited her well. “Do you know what just happened?”
“They had something of mine,” one glance at her in the rearview made it clear what that something was. Bobbi made another note, possessive. Stilted conversation filled the drive as she tried to figure him out and he kept all answers brief.
In the safehouse, he kept his distance until Bobbi asked “What’s the problem?”
“No problem.” She glanced between them then raised an eyebrow. He admitted, “You don’t want what I want.”
The last piece clicked into place “You’re submissive in public, dominating in private. Am I right?”
“Yeah.”
“Perfect,” she closed the distance “And you’re impossible to hurt, physically at least.” He picked her up and hauled her to bed. He was literally purring with satisfaction as she drifted off to sleep, exhausted.
The next day, he was gone before she woke up, leaving a note. Bobbi made breakfast while she waited for him to return with supplies. Victor ate while his soulmate got dressed and called her team. She joined him for breakfast afterwards, “My team’s going to trace the phone. My boss agreed to let you skip some of the procedures for getting on base, if you’re coming.”
“Sure.”
Bobbi warned “My ex-husband’s part of the team and he’s not the only one who doesn’t know when to shut up.”
“Understood.” She knew he really did, he wasn’t going to lose his head when her friends ran their mouths off now that he’d been warned.
May flew the Quinjet to retrieve them, taking the opportunity to size Victor up. She was surprised by how calm the savage Sabretooth was, not that she let it show. At the Playground, the women gave the new guy appreciative looks before congratulating Bobbi. Victor stayed close to her, nodding to people as they were introduced. Upon being introduced to Director Coulson, he uncrossed his arms to accept the man’s offered hand in the most social gesture they’d seen yet. Noticing the gaping expressions, he shot off a quick salute in a silent reminder that he was a soldier.
Using the excuse of a tour, Bobbi led him out of the room and explained what everyone did as she showed him around. Victor stayed close to her until she asked him to sit with one of the Koenigs for his orientation while she debriefed Director Coulson. Sizing the man up, Victor asked “Is there a handbook I can use?” The agent handed him one, letting him read in peace. Agent Morse had told everyone her soulmate wasn’t much of a talker and he sure proved that. He glanced up as his hand hovered over some stationery and Agent Koenig handed it to him, watching as the mutant began taking notes.
When he finished, Agent Koenig traded the notes for a stack of forms, “Fill those out then you can leave.” Some of the forms appeared standard while others focused on his powers, for the SHIELD Gifted Index. Koenig handed him a notebook as he neared the end “Sorry, but we actually also need a rundown of enemies and associates, just to be safe in case any of them find out you’re here.” Creed nodded and continued working on the forms.
After he was dismissed, he found his soulmate and sparred with her for a while. The other agents in the room stopped to watch the match, which was intense. Being a baseline human, Bobbi broke away first. Stumbling towards her water, she asked the others “Anyone else wanna try?”
Daisy asked “Can I use my powers?” Both soulmates smiled at the prospect, though Victor didn’t know what powers she had. Seeing an opportunity, Daisy hit him with varying amounts of power to see the effect on a live body. Her SO watched for the same thing, recognizing Creed as a safe way to fine-tune the younger agent’s control.
After Deputy Director May called an end to the match, Victor followed Bobbi to move his few meager things into her room. His habit of following her around like a giant shadow certainly threw a wrench in Gonzales’ plans. Victor broke away from her and hauled a choking Mack in front of Coulson, who ordered “Let him go.” Creed dropped the other man as if burned then snatched his phone and showed the Director his messages. Looking them over, he said “Creed, my office. Hunter, take Mack down to Vault D. Daisy,” he handed her the phone “Check to see if these are real but do not go further, we don’t need our systems compromised.”
At his order, Creed saluted “Yes, sir.” Hunter drew an ICER and did the same while Daisy hurried to check the messages.
In the Director’s office, Creed stood at attention as Coulson said “You can’t just go dragging people around like that. I want to know why you thought that was an appropriate response.”
Giving it some thought, his newest agent responded “I heard a few things that implicated Bobbi. Mack has seniority so I doubted you would take my word over his.”
“What kind of things?” Coulson won some points in Creed’s book by taking him seriously.
“Sounded like she might have been involved in a coup before we met, I heard Mack muttering about the loss and went to confront him when I saw the messages.”
Sitting down behind his desk, Coulson sighed “And if she was involved then it’s unlikely she’d back your play and risk exposure. Your behavior is still unacceptable. I understand you have enough control to ensure Mack didn’t suffocate in your hold but you could’ve grabbed him by the shoulder.” Looking at him, he realized Creed would not voice his opinion on the matter unless told to. “Is there a reason you couldn’t?”
“That would’ve given him the opportunity to delete the messages.”
Coulson agreed but he couldn’t allow this behavior to continue, “You realize I have to investigate Agent Morse’s involvement?”
“Yes, sir. Soon.”
Coulson was surprised by that, most men would want to delay the investigation. “Do you have reason to believe Agent Morse is a danger to SHIELD?”
“No.”
“Then what is your hurry?”
“As I said, it appears my presence has cost Mack’s superiors Bobbi based on what I overheard. Your investigation will clear things up, I hope. Agent Mackenzie has a problem with my kind, if I’m not mistaken.”
“You think that whoever’s behind this conspiracy is a threat to your species?”
“Yes as well as anyone else classified as Enhanced but I doubt they’re HYDRA if that helps.”
“It does.” Coulson sighed before saying “You’re dismissed for now.” He saluted before leaving the office, passing May on her way in.
“What are you going to do about Creed?”
“First, I’m going to wait for Daisy to verify the messages. I need you to talk to Bobbi, Creed indicated that Mack implicated her leading to the confrontation between them.”
“Implicated how?”
“Most likely complaining under his breath about added work.”
“Alright. Have you barred Creed from Vault D?”
Coulson looked at her “Creed doesn’t have clearance to begin with and he’s military, I dismissed him temporarily. What do you think I should do about him? We can’t have him pulling this in the field.”
“So tell him that.”
“I already told him it’s unacceptable behavior but he did have a reason for his behavior.”
“What reason is that?”
“He didn’t want Mack deleting the messages because then it’d be a case of hearsay with a senior agent.”
“And you’re sure he wasn’t like a cat with a bird?”
“Wouldn’t he drag someone toward Bobbi for that and not share the implication that Bobbi might be a traitor?”
“Traitor? We don’t know the facts.”
“True. We’re waiting for Daisy, I’d like to confine Bobbi to base and have someone go through her things for more messages, see if there’s any merit to this but I think Creed would be more likely to cover for Bobbi than blame her so,”
“Right. I’ll go do that. Hunter wants an explanation.”
“Of course. Send him in.”
May saw Creed was awaiting the Director’s decision when she sent Hunter in. “You heard all of that, didn’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am.” With a nod of acknowledgement, she went to confront Bobbi and deliver the requested tech to Daisy’s office.
A few hours later, Daisy went up to the Director’s office and gave her report, both Bobbi and Mack were indeed working for another faction that was not HYDRA. Calling May in, Coulson asked his second in command “What do we do about Creed?”
“Extend his probation while we clarify expectations. I need him to work with Daisy on her control.”
“Agent Creed, come in.” Coulson didn’t bother with the com, waiting for a few minutes as the mutant made his way to the Director’s office. “You understand we will have to interrogate Agent Morse?”
“Yes, sir.”
“May will supervise the remainder of your probation and decide when it ends.” No response, figured. “Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
May could appreciate the way Creed kept to military regulation as much as possible. Director Coulson studied the other man for a moment “Dismissed.” Creed saluted them both before leaving. Agent Morse was searched, stripped of anything that could be used as a weapon or a pick and placed in the Cage aboard the Bus while her fellow agents sorted out the mess the coup had become. Agent Creed seemed almost shy when he asked about a room change, having noticed the relaxed, unregulated atmosphere SHIELD had.
One of the Koenigs told him “Your room is at the end of the hall, we just gave you access to both.”
Creed nodded, sipped his soda then decided to take a chance “Chores shouldn’t be so regulated.”
“Excuse me?”
“HYDRA has their pick of agents to take or kill just by staking out the grocery store.”
Coulson, who was in the room working on something else, looked up “Let’s take it one disaster at a time.”
Creed moved to the chair across from him “May I?”
“Sure.”
“If you’d like I could find ways to improve security on this place, probably use stuff you already got but keeping the base secure is pointless if the agents are easy marks.”
“I look forward to hearing your suggestions once you have compiled a complete list, and I’m sure the Koenigs do as well since they are the base managers.”
Creed nodded, his gaze flicked to the Director’s work before making a suggestion. “A lie detector is standard procedure for new agents, right?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t use standard questions.” The Director looked up, giving Creed his full attention. “Make files before you let anyone in to take the lie detector. Throw in random questions with everyone and add a few specific questions for each individual person. If someone like Mystique wanted to get in here, impersonating a recruit would be the most obvious way.”
“Specific questions ensure we’re talking to who we think we are.” Coulson looked Creed over, “Your mutation makes you a living polygraph, correct?”
“Not exactly. I can smell a lie, something to do with chemicals in the brain or so I’ve been told.”
Coulson nodded “Once May clears you to leave the base, you’re going to shadow me when I meet with some agents I’ve been having trouble getting a read on.”
“Will do.” Creed stood and got a Gatorade for the Director, who didn’t bother arguing with him.
Once they understood the situation with Morse and Mack, the former was reinstated on restricted duty and the latter was let go. Victor proved invaluable in scoping out potential agents and joined Daisy as SHIELD’s resident powerhouses. His power set was quite versatile, his senses made him an asset for interrogations and the rest of his mutations augmented his skills in combat. When New SHIELD made its debut as a legitimate agency, it made quite a splash.