SHIELD HEADQUARTERS, April 2007

Adelaide Laurence had been staring at the mostly blacked-out file so long that her eyes were beginning to strain. Ever since her run-in with the red-haired assassin, she could not help but be hyper-focused on who she was and where she came from.

"Please?"

The blonde shook her head, dismissing him, "I don't do parties, Barton."

Clint snatched the file away from the desk, mindlessly flipping through it, "It'll be fun, Laurie. You can finally talk to someone who isn't me."

"I talk to people," she defended.

"The action of being kind to people, and being friends with people is two very different things," he argued, "You've been here for nearly two years and I'm like your only friend."

Addy rolled her eyes, "Seriously? You're one to talk, name one other friend you have here."

The man narrowed his eyes at the younger woman, realizing she might have a point, "It doesn't matter, clearly we both need some socialization."

Adelaide sighed as the man tried to talk her into being his designated driver. The woman never did enjoy parties, not in high school, or even college. 

"If I agree to go will you at least hear me out about that file?" she crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair.

"You'll really go?" Clint asked, surprised it was that easy.

"Take it or leave it, Barton."

The man returned the file to her, "Fine."

For a few moments, Adelaide flipped through the file in search of what she had found, "Here."

"Why are we looking at a very blacked-out file from 1947?" he arched an eyebrow at his friend.

Adelaide sighed, "Because, unlike some people, I'm not a level seven."

"I can access the unblocked files-"

"Clint, focus. Just read it, God-"

"I am jeez!" he brushed her off, his eyes scanning over what little information was not blocked off, "What's so pertinent about an organization that was around in the late forties?"

Adelaide shook her head, "Just look at this," she pointed to the hourglass symbol.

"An hourglass?"

"That same symbol was on the woman who stole the hard drive's belt," she informed.

Clint looked up at her, and away from the file, "So, what do you think she might be connected to this organization?"

Agent Laurence looked at him, "I think that anything is possible, Barton. Which means we could have a much larger problem on our hands."

"What are the two of you up to?" 

Adelaide nearly jumped at the sound of Agent May's voice, "Hi, May."

"I talked Laurie into going to a party," Clint smiled.

May arched an eyebrow at them, "Addy? Going to a party? Is the sky falling?"

"You guys are so mean to me," she pouted.

Clint rolled his eyes, "You act like a child."

Discretely, Addy flipped him off and May shook her head at the two best friends, "But seriously, Adelaide, what are you up to now?"

She let out an exasperated sigh, "Why do you always think I'm up to something?"

May crossed her arms, "You've got that look on your face, the one that means you're up to something."

"I do not have a look!" she defended.

Clint raised his eyebrows, "You definitely have a look."

"Stay out of it! You're not helping!"

"Sorry," he held his hands up in surrender, "I'll shut up now."

"Adelaide," May said pointedly, and the younger woman held eye contact with her for a few seconds before begrudgingly handing her the file.

It only took May a few words on the mostly blacked-out page to look up at the blonde, "Addy, this organization is extremely dangerous."

She narrowed her eyes at the older woman, "You know something."

May nodded in confirmation, "Addy, I need you to stay away from this. You're not ready for something like this."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Adelaide crossed her arms.

"Just drop it okay?"

The blonde shook her head, "Not okay. That woman, she wanted out. I could see it, and no one is going to help her if I don't."

"You can't save everyone, Addy," she insisted quietly. 

Clint looked between the two of them, "Oh, Laurie, would you look at the time? We have to go do that- uh- thing."

"Yeah," Adelaide stood up, "Let's go do that, thing."

"Addy-" May started softly.

"Nope," she shook her head, "Let's go, Barton."

Adelaide uncomfortably, stood by herself watching over the partygoers, it hadn't taken Clint long at all before he had gotten drug into some party game. The room reeked of alcohol, which was one contributing factor to her discomfort.

She was quite frankly, tired of the party already, and since Clint seemed like he wouldn't mind her absence, she decided to leave. The blonde would just have to come back whenever the man was ready to leave.

The woman smiled politely at people as she slipped through the room to make her escape. Adelaide flipped open her phone ready to text her friend that she was leaving, obviously not paying attention to her surroundings as she rounded the corner.

That's when she collided directly into someone, and Adelaide stumbled back slightly tripping over her own heel.

"Oh my god- I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attent-" she stopped mid-sentence her eyes meeting the brunette's eyes.

The woman brushed off her apology, "It's fine, really. It was just a drink, you don't have to apologize."

"I'm sorry, I was just sending my best friend a text because he forced me to come with him and then left me-" she began to ramble as the brunette woman watched her for a few beats.

An endearing smile tugged at her lips, "You did it again."

"Shit, sorry," Addy's cheeks grew rosy with embarrassment, "I did it again."

The pretty brunette took this time to stick out her hand, "I'm Maria."

"Maria," Adelaide smiled, testing out the woman's name, "Nice to meet you."

With an arched eyebrow, Maria replied, "Nice to meet you too..."

"Oh right, Adelaide," she smiled.

"Pretty name," Maria complimented, with an ever so slightly flirty smile. One that Adelaide, despite being a SHIELD agent, did not pick up on.

"Well I know you said you were leaving," Maria started, "But did you wanna play a round of pool or two?"

A warm smile pulled at Adelaide's lips, "I would really like that."

Surprisingly, the blonde quite enjoyed the rest of her time at the party. Which the twenty-two-year-old never expected she would. Adelaide was admittedly bad at pool, and despite her competitiveness, she had fun with Maria.