"Some surveillance first, then Sitwell," Alexis said. "The better we know our enemy, the better prepared we are, the better things will go." But she definitely agreed that Sitwell needed to be taken care of.

"As much as we can without HYDRA realizing it," Autumn pointed out. She knew that HYDRA had a very good chance of finding them while they were doing surveillance, since the remaining SHIELD resources were quickly dwindling.

"We'll just have to wait and see how that goes," Alexis said with a shrug. "But we'll all have to be careful until we know how deep this runs overall and how big they've gotten."

"Yeah." Autumn was quiet for a moment. "Anyways, you go on and talk to Tony, see what he can do. Keep me posted on what Clint and Natasha end up doing, so I can warn everyone here not to get in their way."

"Will do. I'll update you this evening as to what's going on." Alexis was already headed down to the lab to see if she could talk to Tony rather than at him.

"Thanks," Autumn said. "You go on, then. I should probably try to stretch out my leg and get myself off this stupid crutch already."

"Good luck." Alexis hung up and went to go bug Tony.

With a sigh, Autumn stretched her leg some (until it turned from a shooting pain to a good ache) and then went to check in with Charles and let him know what was going on.

Charles looked up from the news when he heard her coming, and he had the door open for her to make things a little easier.

Autumn still knocked politely on the doorframe before she walked in.

"It's still a mess out there," she said as she went over to him.

"I know," Charles said, nodding to the news. "I doubt things will quiet down any time soon."

"I just talked to Alexis," Autumn said, sitting down. "She said she'll have Stark look into freeing up my accounts and personal assets. I need to figure out what to do from there."

Charles nodded, considering. "You could just stay here," he offered. "No one here minds. There are ways you could help other than being an agent. Besides, you do give us information on what's going on, which is much better than the news reports."

"Thank you for the offer, Charles," Autumn said, looking at him. "But I'm still an agent. And HYDRA is SHIELD's problem to deal with. We need to take HYDRA down, or at least stop them enough that they can't hurt anyone."

Charles nodded his understanding.

"Keep in touch, then," he said. "We will all be very upset if anything happens to you."

"I promise I will," Autumn said. She made a face. "Not that I'm going to go far until I can get rid of the crutch, though."

Charles nodded. "Of course. You are always welcome to stay, whenever you need to," he told her with a little smile.

"Thanks, Charles," Autumn said. "I really appreciate all the help you've given me so far."

"Of course." Charles smiled at her. "Just let me know before you go, whenever you decide to go."

"Of course," Autumn said. She stretched a bit, making sure to stretch her healing leg muscles. "I shouldn't be grounded for too much longer."

Charles nodded. He knew that was true, and he also knew that she wouldn't be going alone when she left, which was why he wasn't so worried.

A couple weeks later, Autumn was finally back on her feet fully and in regular contact with Alexis. She was trying to keep track of what was going on, and she somehow also ended up being an intermediary for several other in-hiding agents who needed to get in contact with others. A network of agents was slowly forming, which Autumn was glad for. It meant they had at least a little support.

Alexis somehow ended up being mostly in charge of Clint and Natasha, Tony was still helping her with things, and she heard from Coulson fairly regularly, as well as Autumn. She was glad for the small but loyal network of agents reemerging. It would make things easier when they went to take out HYDRA. Especially with Clint and Natasha bringing in new intel.

"So, what have you got for me this time?" she asked as Clint and Natasha returned from another surveillance.

"Potential bolt-holes for some of the ones pulling the HYDRA strings," Natasha said. "This one seems promising."

"That's a good start," Alexis said, smiling a bit. "Would be nice if we could get the drop on them." She looked at the two for a moment. "But for now, Steve ordered dinner and movie. You got back just in time."