author's note: i barely know italian so bear with me, curse at google translate if anything's wrong. + this chapter's kinda shite so yeah, deal with that too. 
trigger warning!: shite chapter bc it was rewritten in an hour bc wattshit being wattshit deleted the nearly finished draft. 

...

Kelda Mayfair had grown to take a liking towards Piper Coulson. 

Though a little overbearing in the beginning, Piper had become that one person Kelda felt like she could trust with almost everything. Perhaps an exaggeration, considering it had merely been a month since Piper had introduced herself to Kelda, but that was the way their relationship was built. 

Though Piper's presence gave her the warmth she'd been craving ever since she placed foot on Midgard, she felt a strange sense of fear everytime she exposed herself more and more to the younger Coulson. 

The last time she'd felt such sweet dread was when she'd familiarized herself with one of the pilots, back in Asgard, even after repetitive warnings from her mother. She'd learned her lesson when he'd treated her as if she were nothing more than a tissue for him to use then dispose of. She'd watched him move from lady to lady, cried herself to sleep each night thinking it was her that was wrong, that she were the reason she'd been feeling such pain, such agony. 

Well, he ended up learning his lesson when he was injured in battle, with Kelda by his side - the princess was perfectly fine. 

Frigga knew that Kelda had a hand in the boy's injuries, but she never said anything. 

Kelda, on the other hand, never learned her lesson of trusting people too easily. Not even after she were banished from Asgard, not after Fury had, time and again, poked at her vulnerable spots, not even when she knew that getting too close to Piper Coulson could only end with her being hurt. 

"You're cleared to assist Hill on the upcoming mission." Fury's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Steely grey eyes met Fury's dark ones, surprise evident in them.

"W—Already?" Kelda didn't bother hiding her excitement. "I thought you were going to keep me in classes in for a few more weeks." 

"Agent Coulson has, again and again, highlighted your achievements, quick comprehension, yada yada yada. She's assured that you're ready for a mission." 

"And that means you're assured that I'm ready for a mission?" 

"Oh, hell no." Fury sat back down on his big chair, sliding a file towards the lady in front of him. "All you gotta do is sit on the cams and look at how we get it done. And so we know you're not going anywhere you're not supposed to, you're gonna go to Hill and get that bracelet so we can track you." 

Kelda rolled her eyes and got up, straightening her leather jacket, "You've got trust issues."

...

"Soooo, I'm just gonna sit in this van with this guy who can not speak English whatsoever, and stare at the screen?"

"Sounds about right."

Kelda, for the millionth time that week, rolled her eyes. It wasn't the agent that accompanied her, that was the problem. It was sitting still and not being part of the action. 

"Mariaaaaaaaaaa, can I pretty please come help you on the mission?" 

Maria raised her eyebrow at the goddess's sudden casual stance, because God knows that witty remarks and stubborn exchanges were the only ways Kelda knew of convincing someone, "No." 

Kelda grunted and crossed her arms, pouting her lips and making the puppy dog eyes she'd been familiarized with because of Piper's frequent pleas of doing something fun. 

"Still a no?" 

"Still a no." 

"...Fine." Kelda looked out of the car, into the night scene of Helsinki, a pretty view for the moment. "I'll just stay here, with the Italian-only speaking agent." 

She could speak Italian — as she could with most languages — but she didn't wanna sit on her butt while others had all the fun. 

"Quindi qual'è il tuo nome?" she asked the agent, her ankles crossed at the dashboard. (So, what's your name?)

"Io sono Antonio." he replied, face passive and eyes glued on the monitor in front of him. His accent was thick, so was his facial hair, and he was quite tall, with a buff build. (I'm Antonio.)

"Shakespeare." she scrunched her nose. The Merchant of Venice wasn't her favourite, though she didn't mind Othello or Macbeth, or on occasion Julius Caesar. 

When the occasional whir of a car passing by had bored her enough, she gave up on picking her nails and looked at the monitor.

There were four agents, whose bodycams were accessible to her, so she could see whatever they could. Chunky headphones with a mic sat on her head, so that she could talk to them whenever. Besides the bodycams, they'd managed to hack into five other cams, — one for the north wing, south wing, east wing, west wing each, and one for the entrance. 

The mission was quite easy, at least that's what she assumed after reading the file, considering she'd never been on a mission. There were five American agents being held hostage by a Russian group, and a few files regarding personal information about agents had been compromised. 

The time ticked by on the flip clock beside the monitor, and she felt herself getting bored as the seconds flew by. 

"Kelly, you still up?" 

"Yeah yeah, I'm here." Maria's voice made her sit up straight. "It's been half an hour, get done with it already." 

"It's a big place." 

"Hmm, if only there were another agent free to accompany you." she rubbed her chin, as if in thought, then acted surprised after pointing at herself. "Wait! There is, me!" 

"You're not getting out of the van, Kelly." 

"Not even if it's on fire?" 

"Not even if it's on fire." 

Hill didn't say anything after that. Kelda was again, unfortunately, back to sulking by herself. 

Until she remembered the tune to a Queen song and started playing it by banging her hands on the dashboard. 

"Sai chi è così attivo alle 3 del mattino?" Antonio groaned from the driver's seat. "Il diavolo." (You know who's so active at 3 in the morning? The Devil.)

Kelda rolled her eyes, "Beh, spesso mi dicono che sono la progenie del diavolo." (Well, they often tell me I'm the Devil's spawn.)

"Hanno ragione." he sighed when she didn't stop her banging. (They're right.)

When Kelda stopped her jamming session abruptly, Antonio glanced over at her, only to see her chewing her nails while staring at the screen. 

"Che cos'è?" he asked, concerned at the deep frown on her cheery face. (What is it?)

"I Russi sono qui." she sighed through her nose, then said it in the mic, "Maria, Sarah, the Russians are here." 

When she didn't receive a response, she tried to see if it was her mic that wasn't working, for their bodycams were completely functional. "Hill, Martinez, the Russians are here." 

One by one, she saw the bodycams go off, static being all that was visible on the screen. She looked at Antonio, who seemed to be already looking at her, then at the screen again, only to see shots fired by the Russians, at whom she didn't know. 

She looked back at Antonio, "Shit." 

...

"Dovremmo contattare Fury." Antonio could think of no other plan, at least not one that involved both of them coming out alive. (We should contact Fury.)

For once, Kelda didn't mind contacting Fury. 

"Agent 001." 

"Our team's been held hostage, Fury." 

If Fury was surprised, or worried, he didn't show it. 

"How long has it been?" 

"As far as I know, 3 minutes." 

"There's a team of Agents in Saint Petersburg, they should be there in 20 minutes. You and Agent Rossi are to evacuate the van and reach Green Area before then, got it?"

Kelda hesitated. 

"Agent 001, I want your confirmation. Got it?" 

"Yes, sir." 

When the line went dead, she looked at Antonio, who already seemed to know what Fury said. 

Nevertheless, "Vuole che siamo nell'Area Verde prima che arrivino i soccorsi." (He wants us to be in the Green Area before rescue gets here.)

"Quanto tempo prima che arrivino qui?" (How long before they get here?)

"20 minuti - 19 adesso." (20 minutes - 19 now.)

"Che cosa stai aspettando?" (What are you waiting for?)

As if on cue, a scream sounded through the darkness, abruptly stopping after a bang! 

Kelda sucked in a breath through her teeth, only hoping that it was the scream of the Russians, not her agents, "Potrebbero morire in 20 minuti." (They could die in 20 minutes.)

"Quindi? Cosa vuoi fare?" (So? What do you want to do?)

"...Vai lì dentro." (...Go in there.)

...

"Non posso credere che lo sto facendo." Antonio tried to be as quiet as he could be as he crouched in the vents, an uncomfortable position for a man of his height. (Can't believe I'm doing this.)

"Spesso convinco gli altri a fare cose che loro stessi non sanno perché le stanno facendo e bla bla bla..." (I often convince others to do things they themselves don't know why they're doing and blah blah blah. . .)

"Stavo parlando della parte in cui sono bloccato con te, non della parte "infiltrarsi nella missione e fare l'esatto contrario di ciò che Fury ci ha chiesto di fare." (I was talking about the part where I am stuck with you, not the 'infiltrating the mission and doing the complete opposite of what Fury asked us to' part.)

He was lucky he had a pretty face, or Kelda was sure she would've bashed it in the ground already. To think she wanted to ask him out on a date. . .atrocious. 

Gun strapped onto Antonio, absolutely no weapon on Kelda, they continued onto their path for a good three minutes before a ringing scream pierced through the deafening silence. That was definitely Maria. 

The little sliver of hope that had been tugging her heart back into place had left, and a dark look settled in her eyes. Jaw locking in place, she hurried to the source of the sound, fury starting to build up within her. 

Hehe, Fury.

She neared a corner from where a faint bluish light illuminated the surroundings, and without taking a moment to think rationally (rookie mistake), blasted a fireball into the room. 

And all hell broke loose. 

gonna meet tony soon