warning: this chapter contains mature and explicit content that expands from violence and murder. references and contains gr*oming/sa

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⌖REPORT DATED:DECEMBER 16, 2009⌖

⌖WHEREABOUTS:LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA; NEAR A UNITED STATES UNITED NATIONS EMBASSY⌖

Who could guess that the self-titled "gambling capital" of the United States would also be an active hive for all kinds of crime?

Many, many people actually.

Agent Freefall's first mission since fully healing from the Wakandan protection fiasco is to walk directly into the pit of criminals from around the world.

A short, red rhinestone dress barely covers the agent as she makes her way through the casino. She smiles, waving drunkenly to several as she makes her way to her target. The tight dress leading all attention away from her face.

There's a voice in her ear feeding her as much information as the rest of Alpha Squad can get her from the air. The metal prosthetic is shifted, the lightweight vibranium metal reworked to transform into a skin-like appearance and feel.

Elizabeth makes her way to a table, swaying slightly as she walks with a drink in hand. A smile masks her features, as seductive as she can pull off. The blonde wig fitted tightly on her head hides the earpiece perfectly, and labels her as an entirely different person.

Then she spots him — Alexander Matthews. Her target. A thirty-four year old male, filthy rich from selling any and every bit of information that doesn't belong to him to any secret organization that bids high enough for it.

Except SHIELD doesn't know one thing that Elizabeth is acutely aware of. Matthews is Hydra. A high ranking officer, in fact. His capabilities include the usual for his type: gambling, drinking, sleeping around, and stealing top secret information from the United States government.

But Matthews screwed up, SHIELD noticed his unusually behavior and found all the leaks they had been tracing to nowhere.

Elizabeth takes a sip of her drink as she slinks her way toward his side of the table, putting herself in his direct eyeline. She tries not to make a face as she forces the alcohol down. She's technically not old enough to drink in America, only nineteen now but hasn't mattered before. It doesn't matter here either. And it's not like underage drinking is the worst thing she's done.

A sick grin covers the drunk man's lips as Elizabeth presses the glass into his hand.

"Aww thank you sweetheart," he drawls out. Elizabeth almost flinches as his arm wraps low around her waist and pulls her up to his chest, pressing a kiss to her cheek. His hand slips lower down her dress and it takes everything in her to giggle and lean into his touch.

The girls hanging around him, offering themselves up and trying to get laid begin to wander away glaring at her.

''Disgusting.'

Two hands grab her hips and Elizabeth gasps as Matthews lifts her up into his lap. She laughs it off, looking into his eyes as he grips her waist tight.

'Stay in character, stay in character.'

The other men at the table laugh, pointing or turning their attention to their cards. Some have their own girl or girls hanging onto them like they're a lifeline.

'You don't look old enough to be adult.'

Several drinks later and wandering hands getting lower and lower, Elizabeth is getting antsy. He murmurs in her ears, one more round angel. She knows all to well what comes next.

'Disgusting.'

A whine drags from her throat, shifting in his arms and twisting to reach his ear better. All it takes is a few words and Matthews sets his drink down with a slam, collects his winnings, and grabs her wrist in a trap.

The elevator comes upon them in seconds, Elizabeth giggling, drunkenly tells him to slow down. She grabs two more drinks from a tray as they pass a waiter before rushing into the elevator behind him.

He sloppily throws his back, taking the whole glass in one go. Elizabeth does the same, looking at him expectantly for the floor number with wide-doe eyes.

"Floor thirty-seven, angel."

Relief fills Elizabeth's gut as he releases her to press the elevator button. But the moment she has the floor selected he grabs her wrists and forces her up against the wall.

Matthews lips slams against Freefall's and she struggles against electrocuted him then and there. She struggles to pull away from him, gasping as her cheeks turn crimson red.

"Can, can't we wait til we're somewhere more private first?"

She pouts, eyes flitting nervously between his eyes and the elevator door.

"Aww, of course sweetheart."

His hands stay on all the wrong places as they ride up. Her back flush against him, one of his hands around the front of her waist, pining her in place.

She tries to steady her heart as it beats faster and faster the higher they go. He guides her to a hotel room door, swiftly fishing the key out of his back pocket. Elizabeth giggles again as he holds her by her waist, stumbling over her feet and depending solely on him.

Freefall's eyes catch the shift in his nature; the way that he loses his drunken looseness and the way that his eyes are drilling into her. He stalks into the room, pulling her in behind him.

The moment the door shuts, he slams her up against the door. Lifting her whole body up in one motion in order to gain leverage. His mouth goes to attack her neck.

Freefall's hands find his collar, charging up to spike him full of electricity. His hands roam, finding new, uncomfortable places to latch on.

And Freefall decides then and there that she's done. That she doesn't want him anywhere close to her anymore. Her hands at his collar shove his head away from her chest. One swift knee into his ribs has him dropping her with an angry growl. But the second her heeled feet meet the ground she kicks him even farther away.

His drunken appearance disappears completely as she settles into position. Her head is clear, adrenaline begging to overload her senses. But this is all that she's ever trained for.

Matthews' pants as he laughs, his words still slurring together, "ha ha ha, look at this... the Freefall Rogue? Hydra's wittle pet coming out to play with all of it's teeth and nails. Don't worry angel, once I'm done with you I'll take you home."

Freefall's vision darkens, the buzz of her earpiece turns to dead silence. She straightens, a grin spreading across her features.

"Oh sweetheart, you just don't understand do you? You see, I'm running with a different crowd these days."

She watches as his nerves flash across his face and his eyes widen with fear as she takes a threatening step forward. In a split second every part of her nature has changed.

Ten minutes. Ten minutes and SHIELD could know the truth. The truth about her, about Hydra. But she doesn't need more than three.

"And this crowd, well they want your information at any cost. Even sending me in as an underage seductress."

"Let me guess, you need me alive?"

"Oh no, SHIELD needs you alive."

He takes a trembling step back as Freefall's arm shimmers, the tiles glimmering as they slowly transform plate by plate into the metal arm that makes Hydra's soldiers so identifiable.

"You're a liability to me."

"They don't know about Hydra— they don't know what you are."

Freefall kicks him in the chest, smiling as he nearly screams. She could feel the way his bones seemed to dissolve at her touch. Her metal fist connects with his nose and the vibration that flows back through the vibranium feels wonderful. A kick to his kneecap and he really screams, collapsing to the ground in anguish.

Elizabeth picks his head up by his hair, blood beginning to trickle consistently from his nose. Her signature smirk takes its place on her lips as she leans in close to his ear, mocking him as her tone shifts into that of the girl beginning for his touch.

"Unshockingly, I'm not the only one who wants you dead, angel. You've just been acting too — rashly as of late. And well, now SHIELD won't know a thing. See, you've become a liability, sweetheart."

Her hand wraps around his throat, flesh on flesh, and in seconds his body bends backwards over itself as he dies. Freefall shakes her hand, sparks of leftover electricity flicker between her fingers as she sets the scene.

Her com reactivates a second later.

"—Lizabeth!"

"Coulson!"

"Are you alright, we lost you there?"

She can hear the worry in his tone, can practically see the other two at his shoulders, listening as intently as they can for a sign of life. It brings tears to her eyes. All of the nights emotions flooding her senses as she breaks for only a moment.

"I'm alright. I have the drive."

She knows that he can hear it in her voice — how close she is to shutting down.

"Okay, good. That's good. Take a deep breath, okay? Finish your scene, double check everything. You know what you need to do."

Her eyes flutter closed. Elizabeth takes the next few minutes to create a beautiful crime scene. A busted door, drugs spilled over the bed, lingerie scattered across the room.

Freefall sets his corpse. Removing his shirt and shifting the tie around. An obvious murder, marking it with other signs of another killer she knows SHIELD has been tracking recently.

"Ready for extraction, Alpha 0."

She grabs the handful of flash drives she discovered, placing all but one into a secure pocket in her dress. Freefall looks at the lone flash drive in her hand, guilt threatening to swallow her then and there before she opens the compartment in her prosthetic and stashes it.

Elizabeth pries open the balcony door with her metal hand, slamming it closed behind her and smiling as she sees the lock click back into place. Her eyes scan the city, smiling sadly at all of the lights and places in a city meant to be a happy, carefree one. Both of her shoes are in her hands now, the heels too risky to wear for what she has to do now.

She leaps over the railing. Falling for only a few seconds before sticking her landing on top of a quinjet. Tears pricked at her eyes as she fell, forcing the few she was holding back to slip past her defenses.

Elizabeth shuffles over to the opening hatch, slipping through the small door. She is immediately attacked by Natasha, grabbing her tight in a hug and checking for injuries. Elizabeth let's her worry and fuss, smiling past the red head to tell Clint and Coulson that she's fine.

She's fine.

She's thankful for the three as Natasha hugs her again. Her heart pounds against her ribcage. A breath slowly leaves her lungs. Guilt pours into the never ending pit in her stomach.

She's fine.

She's only shaking without an ounce of control.

⌖REPORT DATED:JANUARY 5, 2010⌖

⌖WHEREABOUTS:NOT REPORTED⌖

"You don't seem fine."

Elizabeth releases a heavy sigh, looking up from her tea to his worried eyes. The pair are hiding away in a small, private room of an odd restaurant in Spain. It's one of the few places that she has diplomatic immunity — and she knows that he does as well.

T'Challa waits expectantly, knowing that she usually tells him what she holds back when he points out just how "not fine" she is. Elizabeth surprises him this time though, shaking her head.

"This isn't like my nightmares, T. I can't tell you about missions."

"So something did happen?"

"Yeah..."

He had been shocked when she had asked if they could meet in person. They had been talking for the past few months since meeting, but they hadn't seen each other face to face.

Her feet tap out a nervous beat against the floor. Doubting her decision on asking him to meet. 'He's the crown prince of an entire country, he doesn't have time to console me about things I can't tell him.' Maybe this was a mistake—

T'Challa goes to take a sip of his coffee, deep in thought when Elizabeth finds her voice again.

"All I have ever been is a spy, T'Challa. And on top of that, I used to work so deep under cover that I didn't have friends. But one thing that I do know, is that now, whenever something shakes me during a job, the very first thing that I want to do is talk to you."

He prays to his ancestors that she can't see the blush rising in his cheeks at her confession. At the way she leans against his shoulder before taking another sip of her drink.

"How many times have you been to Spain?"

"Just a handful, for missions though. This is my first time as a "tourist" of sorts. Why?"

She looks up at him, confusion evident in her tone. But her confusion only grows as he grins widely, taking her hand and dragging her out of the booth with a quick "come with me".

Within five or so minutes of Elizabeth chasing after him through the streets, T'Challa stops in front of an odd shaped building with small children running in and out of its doors. The neon sign over the doors reads "arcade" and Elizabeth sends him another confused look as he grins at it proudly.

"T?"

"Yeah?"

"I have no clue what this is."

"No," the prince says, almost gasping as he meets her eyes and knows instantly that she's not joking.

"Oh, I'm definitely bringing you in now."

And with that, the Crown Prince of Wakanda drags his secret agent, American spy friend into an arcade in Spain. He immediately pulls her from game to game, teaching Elizabeth how to play and watching as her uneasy smile turns to pure joy. From shooting games to electronic mazes to dance challenges, T'Challa and Elizabeth played every single game that they could.

"What's this one?"

He looks over her shoulder, spotting the air hockey table and his smile grows.

"Air hockey. I don't think you'll like it as much as the racing games, but it's fun?"

"Let's do it!"

And suddenly, he's swept up in her smile as she drags him towards the table. His cheeks burn all over again, nearly stumbling over his feet as he follows her. He's been like this all afternoon, losing himself in her victorious grins and sarcastic comments. Getting lost in seeing the real Elizabeth for the time that they have.

She's beating him, again. But he doesn't mind... much. T'Challa has a feeling that she needed this a lot more than he knows. It's strange for him, seeing her have the joy of a little kid over a place he hasn't thought about in years.

"So, why did you bring me here of all the places in Spain?"

"My father brought me when I was young. He used to have meetings with the U.N. in the next city over, whenever he brought me, he would bring me here after as a reward. It helped me look forward to the meetings and I paid really good attention to what was going on."

"Really? That's so sweet, T."

A feeling bubbles up in her stomach. She can't tell if it's nostalgia or jealousy — all she can wonder is what it must have been like to be a part of a real family.

"And thank you for this. Especially since this place is special to you. I feel, so much better."

"It's been my pleasure. I honestly think that I needed the break from responsibility too."

She smiles, really smiles. Elizabeth always feels this way around T'Challa. She doesn't know what it is about him that makes her feel like this. She doesn't wear her masks with him. Her memories don't surface when he's around. She doesn't have to have an alibi. She's never on edge, looking around for another target or warning. She just lives.

She knows she hasn't truly gotten that before. But she's glad that it's with him.

That night, she walks him through the airport to his gate. His flight leaves first, and she's much happier getting to say goodbye to him here than anywhere else.

The two can see a pair of the royal guards waiting by the gate's walk down to the plane. T'Challa looks into Elizabeth's eyes, knowing that their time together has come to an awfully abrupt end.

It feels like it's going to be imposible to let him go. He hugs her first, surprising Elizabeth with such a sudden display of affection. Only her arms wrap around him tight. Almost scared to let him go now. Because she knows, when she lets T'Challa go, it's going to be goodbye.

They both know that they hugged for too long to really try to pretend to be friends. After their day, she can't picture him the way she did before.

T'Challa boards his flight, the plane slowly transforming into a private jet, built of his home's secret technology.

Elizabeth takes a quinjet into Northern France where her next mission is taking place.

The pair leaving Spain with unspoken feelings lingering in their chests. With secrets weighing heavily on their hearts. With rules dictating just how they're supposed to feel about each other.

But they had broken a few rules by seeing each other that day. Except T'Challa felt a true relief from his crown and the pressures he wears. And Elizabeth found herself easier to live with, even for a few hours.

For every rule they had broken that day, they both felt deep in their hearts, that the other was worth it...

⌖𝙒𝙤𝙤𝙃𝙤𝙤! 𝙃𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙮'𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙛𝙛 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙬 𝙞𝙣. 𝙄 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝.⌖

⌖𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮'𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙨𝙜𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠!!⌖

⌖11-15-2020⌖

so... that's a very heavy chapter to have to read through to get to T'Challa and Elizabeth's unofficial first date... BUT we're crawling ever so slowly closer to them deciding that they want to try to be a couple AND even closer to the Avengers. believe me, there aren't many original chapters left before I pull the Avengers together and you get to see them meet Elizabeth (and I know that so many of you are VERY ready for that)!!

I do hope that you enjoyed the chapter <3

I love you all to Asgard and back💕
11.27.22