Gwen sat impatiently staring between Harry, Peter and Doreen. They'd come up to Harry's apartment, found seats in a rough square in the living room and then … nothing.
"Don't look at me," Peter protested, holding his hands up as if to ward her off, "apparently, I'm already in trouble for saying too much. It's Doreen's secret."
Harry, it seemed, agreed.
"It's up to Doreen to tell you," he said simply.
Now knowing where to focus, Gwen twisted her body slightly so that she was looking at the younger girl.
"Well," Doreen began, twisting her hands in her lap, "you know how Peter's Spider-man? And Tony's Iron Man? Well, I'm Squirrel Girl?"
Gwen stared at the girl, waiting for the punchline.
"O-kay," she said slowly when it seemed that Doreen wasn't going to say any more. "Interesting choice in name. What does that mean exactly?"
"Well, you see, it's like this," Doreen began as she stood up.
Gwen's eyes widened as the girl began unbuckling her pants!
"Hey! Stop! There's no need for that. Keep your pants on!" Gwen protested quickly, reaching out as though to stop her, only to freeze as something big and bushy and brown popped into view behind Doreen.
Doreen turned slightly as a three foot long tail curled around her and she grabbed it and began stroking it almost absently.
"I'm part squirrel," Doreen said quietly. "I've got a tail and claws and I can climb and jump and I'm really strong. I can even talk to squirrels."
"Talk to squirrels?" Gwen repeated, not sure why she focussed on that part, but figured that it was simply because it was the last thing that Doreen had revealed.
Doreen nodded eagerly. "I can. Really. Watch. ʆMonkey Joe, can you come out here please?"ʆ
Instantly, Monkey Joe's head popped out from inside Doreen's old, fur-lined bomber jacket.
ʆ"What is it, 'Reen? Are we telling your friend about us?"ʆ
ʆ"We are,"ʆ Doreen smiled at him before looking up at Gwen. "Gwen, meet Monkey Joe. He's my best friend."
"You can talk to him?" Gwen stated flatly, trying to take the impossibility of it in.
"Oh yes, but not just him, all squirrels and chipmunks and others in their family."
"That is … that is … nuts," Gwen finally said.
ʆ"Nuts? Did she say nuts? Does she have some for us?"ʆ Monkey Joes chittered eagerly.
Instead of explaining what the squirrel had said, Doreen reached into a pouch hanging from her waist and pulled out a nut and handed it to the squirrel.
"Wow! Just wow!" Gwen said shaking her head. "And here I thought having a boyfriend who could climb walls and sense things like a spider and swung through the city at night on webs he shot from his wrist was crazy!"
"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Doreen asked anxiously.
"No. No, of course not," Gwen reassured her. "Uh, just so I know, who else knows about you?"
"Just the Avengers," Harry replied. "That includes Peter here and Daredevil. Oh, and Pepper, too."
"So, I'm part of a very select group. That's cool," Gwen nodded, starting to come to terms with it.
And really, when one thought about it, how unusual was it when one considered what was already in the world? A man who could become a giant raging green monster; a full-on wizard; a billionaire who flew around in a metal suit for the fun of it; not to mention all of the mutants that had been reported over the years in the media.
"Okay," Gwen said, reaching out to grasp Doreen's hand and give it a squeeze while smiling at her. "Tell me more about what my friend can do."
The smile that lit Doreen's face was truly brilliant as she bounced over to sit on the seat beside Gwen. And then, almost faster than Gwen could take it in, Doreen began talking.
ooo00ooo
In lieu of their regular meeting place, the Leaders met in a darkened room in the heart of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s very headquarters, the vaunted Triskelion.
This room had one very impressive feature – one entire wall consisted of glass. Looking out from this vantage point, it was possible to see the three great helicarriers, so very close now to being completed. Below them, workers scurried about, moving equipment into place or running to do other important tasks. Quinjets were being attached to mighty cranes before being lifted high and across to the landing deck of the helicarrier that they were assigned to.
And the most delightful part of it all was the exquisite irony that S.H.I.E.L.D. was undertaking this massive Project at the very behest of their greatest enemies, the enemy that the agency was formed to protect the very world from.
"How long until Project Insight is ready?" the question was asked.
"We're right on track," the man who was identified when he leant forward into the light as Undersecretary to the World Security Council, Alexander Pierce, replied. "Seventeen days and those birds take to the sky."
"There are no problems? Director Fury still suspects nothing?" the lone female Leader asked.
"He's still alive, isn't he?" Pierce replied and, when that answer didn't seem to be enough, elaborated. "No. Fury doesn't suspect a thing. If he did, I would have had him suffer 'an accident'."
"Still, with the Project so close to completion, a little, shall we say, insurance might be in order," a shadowed man across the table suggested.
"You're thinking the Asset, aren't you?" Pierce asked. "I don't think we need him."
"Still, better to be safe than sorry, as the saying goes. I shall authorise his awakening," the Asset's handler replied.
"What of our other assets?" the Leader who had yet to speak asked.
"Project Sinister? Individually, they're ready. They've been … conditioned to follow our lead," the report came back. "However, they have yet to interact with one another. How they do so, getting them to work together, is the next phase of the Project."
"And when will that be started?" Pierce asked.
"Once Project Insight is complete, we shall begin their next phase of training," he was told.
"Is that really necessary? With my helicarriers in the air able to pinpoint anyone on Earth, will there really be a need for a group of individuals with such unique … abilities?"
"I believe so," the one in charge of Project Sinister replied. "Think of them as a 'response team', able to go in and assess a situation or deal with a situation when all of the facts aren't clear to us."
"Very well," Pierce conceded.
"We will meet again in three weeks to assess how the initial phase of Project Insight went and to determine if any adjustments need to be made," the Leader of the meeting stated.
"Until then, hail H.Y.D.R.A.!"
.
.
.
📖For everyone who wants to read it in full📖
👇🏼It will be available on my Ko-Fi👇🏼
‼️ko-fi.com/skyarc/shop‼️
—————————————————————
✅Subscribe now if you want to get all the PDFs available on my page.✅