Chapter Text
Shaw paused outside the hotel room door, and agitatedly rubbed her forehead. Usually she wouldn't give a damn about what she was going to say, but this was Cole's friend. She couldn't just barge in there and get down to business. People usually didn't react well to learning that they'd just lost someone they knew.
Oh screw it, she didn't have time for this.
She knocked determinedly on the door. It opened a few seconds later to reveal a tall slim woman, dressed in a pencil skirt and blazer combo. Her curly brown hair was clipped back to keep it off her face, making her scared uncertain expression very easy to read.
"Hello Veronica."
The woman's brown eyes widened for a moment, pupils completely blown, before she moved aside to give Shaw access to the room. "Come in".
Shaw stalked into the room, taking in the cheap hotel decor, including the fake plastic flowers on the table. Oddly enough there was an iron plugged into one of the wall sockets, the blinking orange light indicating it was on.
"You're Sam right?" Veronica had her hands clasped in front of her. "Mike talked about you. He liked you".
There was a nervous uncertain energy to her, that set Shaw's teeth on edge, but she was actually pretty hot if you went for the whole timid librarian thing. Shaw placed her gun on the table, hoping that would put the woman more at ease.
"What happened to him?"
"He was killed". Shaw answered bluntly and Veronica dropped her eyes, her face falling. "On a mission", she softened the tone of her voice. "The less you know about that the safer you will be".
Shaw carefully shrugged out of her coat, trying not to pull the still healing stitches in her side. "But I do need to know what he talked to you about". She looked up to see Veronica's gaze fixed on a point way below her eyeline. As Shaw lowered herself into a chair, she glanced down quickly to make sure that she wasn't bleeding through her sweatshirt.
"Mike sent over details over of wire transfers made to a nuclear engineer named Daniel Aquino". Veronica's wavered slightly as she took the chair opposite Shaw. "The payments appeared to be affiliated to accounts linked with Hezbollah, but when I double checked the information, I found that someone had electronically spoofed the transfers."
A tapping noise had Shaw frowning in distraction. She glanced in the direction of the closed bathroom door. Veronica continued to speak, completely oblivious to the sound.
"I was able to track the original accounts, and they were out of a US government agency".
Shaw immediately focused her full attention back on Veronica. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like the answer to the question she was about to ask. "Which part of the government?"
"A group called the Intelligence Support Activity". Veronica's face was solemn, her eyes showing her worry. "Have you heard of them?"
Shaw's jaw clenched in response. She'd been setup by her own employers. "You could say that".
The tapping noise happened again. Shaw hadn't stayed alive as long as she had in the job she was in, by ignoring something like that. "Stay here". She grabbed her gun and rose to her feet. "And keep away from those windows".
She carefully pushed open the door, and only had time for a brief glimpse of the woman tied up in the bathtub, before her muscles seized as thousands of volts of electricity arced through her body.
Long arms caught her and cradled her against soft curves. "Sorry about this sweetie, but there really wasn't any other option. You see, Veronica and I already had a little chat before you got here".
Gone was the scared timid sounding woman that had answered the door. Instead there was a teasing lilting cadence in the voice close to Shaw's ear. "She tried really really hard to answer my questions, but unfortunately she didn't know anything".
The arms wrapped around her tightened their grip, and Shaw's limp body was dragged across the carpet to a nearby chair. She was propped up in the chair, her legs sprawled out in front of her. Shaw tried to move her fingers, and they twitched slightly. The rest of her body was still unresponsive, as fine tremors continued to sporadically wrack her frame.
"I read your file, and I'm kinda a big fan". The Veronica imposter used a couple of zip ties to secure Shaw's hands to the chair armrests. Her entire body language had changed, and she now moved with a lazy confidence. "I really didn't want to hurt you, but there was an added complication that I hadn't anticipated at all."
She knelt between Shaw's legs and quickly and efficiently started unzipping her hoodie. "And unfortunately we're on the clock".
Shaw's head lolled against the back of the chair as her eyes followed nimble fingers. Normally she wouldn't be averse to a woman as hot as the one kneeling in front of her, undressing her, but there was a little too much psycho in the mix for her to fully enjoy it. She also figured she was being prepped for some sort of torture, and if her guess was right it was going to involve the plugged in iron. She decided to go on the offensive.
"One of the things they left out of my file, I kinda enjoy this sorta thing." Shaw growled out the words, her mouth feeling like she'd been eating sand.
"I'm so glad you said that." The imposter grabbed the hem of her tank top and pushed it upwards, exposing the bare skin of Shaw's torso. "I do too!"
There was a sudden sharp intake of breath from the woman as she took in the white dressing and surgical tape covering the bullet wound on Shaw's left side. "I take it the ISA is responsible for this." The playful tone was gone, replaced by sharp anger.
Shaw just glared back in response, confused with the woman's reaction.
The woman shook her head, seemingly to clear it, and moved her hand to Shaw's right hip. "Wilson's men started looking for Veronica three hours ago, so I'm sorry Sam, we just don't have time to take this slow."
What the hell was the perky psycho after? Shaw was finding it difficult to get a read on her. First she tases Shaw, and then she gets angry that she's injured. Who does that sort of thing? It just didn't make any sense. Shaw's thought process suddenly stalled.
No. It couldn't be.
She rewound the initial conversation at the door. The generic nature of the words on her soulmate tattoo meant that Shaw barely registered anyone saying them to her anymore. Her eyes widened in sudden realization as black painted fingernails hooked onto the waistband of her pants.
Shaw could only watch in angry disbelief as the flowing script of her tattoo was revealed on her right hip. The black ink consisted of just two words, 'come in'.
The woman smiled widely and gently tugged Shaw's tank top back down, taking extra care to not disturb the dressing on her side. "Well then, since you showed me yours, it's only fair that I show you mine".
Shaw's mind was curiously blank as she watched the still kneeling woman unbutton her own blouse. Those black nail polish covered fingernails tugged at a collar, exposing a pale shoulder, with a very familiar untidy scrawl on it. It too consisted of only two words: 'Hello Veronica.'
There was a shrill beeping alarm from the phone on the table, and the woman got to her feet to check it. She buttoned up her blouse as she moved.
"We're going to have to cut this short, Sam. I'm afraid we have company". She pulled out a handgun from her purse, before slinging the bag over her shoulder. "Most of them should follow me, so you'll only have two or three to deal with. Just a minor inconvenience for you of course. I'm especially impressed with how your right hand is already nearly free." A black coat was snatched up and draped over an arm, as she headed for the door.
"And don't worry, we'll do this again soon". She winked flirtatiously over her shoulder and then she was gone.