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Coulson shook his head a bit. "Compartmentalizing," he murmured, nodding to Callie. "She's good at it, but she's not far from crashing. That's not going to be pretty, when she does."
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"Well, she's back now," Clint said. He tilted his head towards the Kingsmen. "They'll take care of her." He sent Coulson a bit of a look. "Not that you wouldn't find a reason to leave Callie here for a while to look after her, too."
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Coulson smiled a little. "Not like they're lacking in room," he pointed out. "Besides, something about this has been nagging at me, I want to look into it further myself."
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Clint raised an eyebrow.
"Something, sir?" he asked. |
"Too soon to say," Coulson said. "But something is off here." He shrugged a little. "I'll let you know once I have a more definitive answer."
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Clint considered that for a moment.
"Check with Nat," he said with a small shrug. "Bet she's noticed something, if you have." |
Coulson nodded. That was fair advice after all.
Fortunately, it didn't take long for everything to get packed up after that and back on the way to the mansion, where Coulson fully planned to dive into whatever felt off about this mission. |
Valerie stayed with her sister the entire time, fussing over her and glaring off everyone who tried to get close.
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By the time they got back to the estate, Callie was ready for a cup of tea, a very hot shower, and a long nap. After debrief. Merlin met her gaze and she huffed but nodded, getting up carefully.
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Valerie was right there with her, helping her up and staying close. She was going to fuss until she was absolutely certain her sister would be alright.
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Merlin herded the two of them into his office before he shut and locked the door.
"Callie, isn't it? Let's have a quick look at you, then." Callie turned a startled look on Valerie. |
Valerie held up her hands.
"I didn't tell," she said. "He figured it out." |
"Well damn." Callie grimaced. Merlin gave her an unamused look, and she made a face right back at him before she rattled off a catalog of her injuries, and then promptly reported to him the same way she'd have reported to Coulson. Merlin looked rather pleased with that, actually.
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Valerie waited through the debrief. It was very similar to a Kingsman debrief, so she was sure Merlin would accept it. While Callie spoke, Valerie rooted around in the desk for some tea. She knew everyone would want some.
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"Thank you," Merlin murmured when he spotted the tea. "We're almost done, lass. Anything else of interest?" He refocused on Callie.
Callie was quiet for a moment. "Some of the higher-ups knew about things they shouldn't," she said after a moment. "Not Kingsman exactly, but they knew there were agents in England. One of them mentioned SHIELD once. I didn't get the context, unfortunately. But the goons didn't know, it was just on the occasions that the bosses visited." |
Valerie stopped and listened as Callie spoke. That was definitely worrisome, and she was going to have to let Coulson know as soon as the debrief was over and Callie was taken care of. Coulson would definitely want to know about that.
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Merlin nodded, already turning that information over. At least one of the goons was still alive that he knew of. Time to get some information.
"For now, report to medical and get some rest," he told Callie. She nodded and stood, blinking a few times. |
Valerie went and put her arm around Callie's shoulders.
"Come on," she said softly. "Let's get you settled. I'm sure you want to be in something more comfortable than one of my suits." |
"At least it fits," Callie said with a little grin. "But yeah something comfy sounds much better." She let Val help her to medical. Medical which was awesome and she liked a whole lot more than SHIELD medical.
Which is where Coulson found the two a few hours later, having dug up some interesting information. He'd summoned Merlin too, to go over everything. |
"You bet your ass it fits, that is a bespoke suit," Valerie said, grinning a bit. Once she had Callie settled in medical, she made them both a pot of tea.
When Coulson came in with Merlin, she paused. "Sir...?" she asked cautiously. Her eyes flickered to Merlin, and then back to Coulson. |
"Relax," Coulson told them both. "Good to see you again, Callie." He even addressed the correct twin.
"You too, sir." Callie looked rather sheepish. "Was there something else we need to discuss?" Her gaze flickered between both handlers. |
"There was," Coulson said, nodding. "First off: nice try. Bet you thought we wouldn't notice. But we did."
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Callie shrugged. "Honestly, sir? Sorry not sorry."
Merlin snorted at that. |
"I'd say it was her idea, but it was both of us," Valerie added.
"I'm sure," Coulson said. "On to the next order of business: Merlin managed to find something rather disturbing about this most recent situation." He looked at them both. "Callie wasn't kidnapped at random." |
Callie straightened at that. "What."
"The group believed you were Valerie," Merlin said. "They know about Kingsman, and about SHIELD. We're not sure if it was luck that you were there, or if we have a leak. I'm looking into it." And the very idea of someone within his organization leaking information clearly visibly pissed him off. "Because of the information we've found, Agent Coulson and I had an idea that we believe will benefit everyone in this situation. Killing multiple birds with one stone, as it were." |
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