I was let go that evening. An agent named Daisy Johnson agreed to take me in for the night and see how things go. If I don't try to kill her I can stay longer if needed. Sounds fair enough.

Ghost Spider was present when I was dropped off at the young woman's house. "Hi, Daisy," she greeted. "Ghost Spider," Agent Johnson replied, a faint smile on her lips. "Is this the girl?"

"Yeah, this is Carmen," Ghost Spider confirmed. "Nice to meet you," Agent Johnson nodded to me. "Come inside, I'll show you the guest room."

Agent Johnson lead me into her house and to a comfortably furnished bedroom. "Here we are. Will this be okay for you?" She asked. Is she serious? This is more than I've ever had aside from the occasional temporary stay for assignments, but even then I would rarely if ever get to actually stay in the room.

"It is more than enough," I inform Agent Johnson, smiling slightly to show my genuine appreciation. "Thank you." "No problem," Agent Johnson replies with a nod. "Doors and windows are all locked, so don't try anything. Bathroom's just across the hall, first door on the left. I'll check up on you in the morning. You go get some rest, okay?"

"Yes, domina." I head into the room. Agent Johnson closes the door behind me, then I hear the sound of a lock turning. Guess that means no bathroom break, I quip in my head, not that I needed one anyway. I'm happy enough to just lie on the soft bed after such a long day.

I never had a mattress at the Scholae, but what with my hospital stay I've grown a little more used to their comforts. This one is much nicer than the one in the hospital; it's a little less firm and doesn't reek of disinfectants like everything else in that white sensory nightmare. Everything about this room is so much nicer and more peaceful than the hospital, actually.

It doesn't take me too long to fall asleep.

~•~

A knock at the door wakes me. Probably Agent Johnson. I snap my head up and look to the door... wait, why is it upside-down?

Actually, the whole room's upside-down. What the hell? Am I on the ceiling?!

The door opens, Agent Johnson entering. She paused when she saw me with my back pressed against the ceiling, my eyes wide. Am I gonna be in trouble for this?!

"... I... genuinely have no idea how this happened..." I mumble, trying to peel myself off of the ceiling, but having no luck. I'm honestly starting to panic now, but I make sure not to show it to Agent Johnson. I don't know how she's going to respond to me for this.

She's currently watching in shock, but when I spoke, she shook her head, snapping out of it. "Okay, uh... can you... try and get down?" She asks me uncertainly. I try again to pull my arms or legs off of the ceiling, but to no avail. "No, domina..."

Agent Johnson frowns and climbs onto the bed, taking my hand. She pulls, trying to yank me down, but it doesn't do anything other than hurt my arm. I think she caught my accidental wince, because she quickly lets go. "Sorry... hold on, I'll call Ghost Spider."

She leaves the room hurriedly. I can hear her in the other room, dialling a number.

"Hey, Gwen? It's Daisy, something happened with Carmen... we're both fine, she's still in the room and nobody's hurt... she's stuck to the ceiling... I don't know, I went in this morning and she was up there, we can't work out how to get her down... okay."

Agent Johnson returns, a mobile phone in her hand, which she sets to speaker. "Okay, you're on speaker."

"Hey, Carmen," Ghost Spider's voice greets me. "It's Ghost Spider. Everything's okay, alright? I just need you to relax and you should come unstuck. Try relaxing one part of your body at a time. Can you relax your hand and tell me what happens?"

I do so, relaxing the muscles in my hand. Almost immediately, it unsticks from the ceiling. "It came off!" I announce for Ghost Spider's benefit, though I quickly dial down the enthusiasm and relief when I hear it in my voice, coughing lightly to cover it up. "It came off of the ceiling, domina."

"Good!" Ghost Spider praises, matching my previous tone. "If you tense your muscles, you'll stick to pretty much whatever you touch, and if you relax them you'll unstick. Try and climb down the wall, okay? But be careful not to hurt yourself."

I try and follow Ghost Spider's advice, moving my free hand closer to the wall and tensing it. I carefully test it, relieved when it sticks. I continue to stick and unstick myself until I'm slowly, carefully, making my way down the wall and back onto the bed.

"She's down," Agent Johnson sighs in relief. "Thanks, Ghost Spider." "No problem, but I'm coming over," Ghost Spider insists. "If she got my powers, I need to help her work them out."

"Got it, I'll keep a closer eye on her until then in case it happens again," Agent Johnson agrees, then ends the call.

"Come on, let's get you some breakfast. You don't have any allergies, do you?"

~•~

"Hey, Carmen. How are you doing?"

"I am fine, domina. It is good to see you again," I reply to Ghost Spider. "It's good to see you, too," she returns. "Carmen, we need to talk about what happened to you this morning, okay?"

Crap, this'll be it; this'll be where I'm punished. "Of course, domina," I reply emotionlessly, though inside I'm worrying again.

"Carmen, since the plane crash, have your senses been, uh, better than normal?"

I pause, then think for a moment, not anticipating such a weird question. Bright lights and colours, sounds and smells have been bothering me more lately, but I assumed it was just because I had a concussion or something from the plane crash and because I'm not used to a lot of sensory input in that way.

"I... believe they might be, domina..." I admit. Ghost Spider nods and turns to a sofa, then casually lifts it over her shoulder. I watch in shock. How is she strong enough to do that?!

She sets it down again, then beckons me over. "I want you to try and lift this, okay? Just trust me on this."

Confused as I am, I obey her and crouch down, grabbing the sofa as best I can. I'm shocked when it comes up much easier than expected, causing me to stumble slightly and nearly walk into a coffee table. How am I lifting it so easily?! Since when have I been so strong?!

Ghost Spider and Agent Johnson exchange a look, then Ghost Spider gestures for me to put the sofa back down. I do so carefully, setting it back in the same spot as it was originally.

"Carmen, sit down."

I once again obey Ghost Spider, who sits down beside me. Agent Johnson leaves the room for a minute. "Carmen, I'm guessing you haven't heard of me before the hospital?" Ghost Spider asks me, seeming to be trying to work out how to tell me something. "No, domina," I reply, confused.

"Well, I'm a superhero. I have powers and... it looks like you've just got my powers as well..."

"... I... don't think I understand, domina..."

"I was bitten by a radioactive spider and it gave me powers; I've got super strength, I've got heightened senses, I can heal faster than most people and I can stick to things, to name a few."

I don't really know how to respond to this. Is she serious? Well, I guess she is since I've seen these powers in action, but still.

"... Can I ask... how I got these powers...?"

"When I found you after the plane crash, you'd lost a lot of blood. You needed a blood transfusion as soon as possible and... I found out we were both a match, so I gave you some blood. I guess...the blood could have carried my powers over to you...? I don't know, I never thought that could happen."

She saved my life? And gave me these powers? Oh god, and I contemplated killing her when I first properly met her...

"Carmen... I'm going to help you work out how to control your powers, okay? I've helped people learn to use their powers before, I know I can help you."

I nod slightly, glad for Ghost Spider's willingness to help me with this. "Thank you, domina. I appreciate that."

Agent Johnson chooses that moment to make a reappearance. "Rayshaun just called, he's been told about Carmen. Looks like it's been put down to the Secret Warriors what to do with her since she's not been any trouble and you've been so involved with handling her. The others are asking to meet her now."

Ghost Spider turns to me. "Does that sound okay with you? It's just a few people, they're all pretty cool."

"That sounds fine, domina," I reply, admittedly rather curious about these 'Secret Warriors'. "Good, then let's get going," Ghost Spider nods, standing up. She and Agent Johnson lead me out of the house and to Agent Johnson's car. We're promptly off.

"So, Carmen, how do you feel about having powers?" Agent Johnson asks me carefully. I hesitate to answer that. Is it a trick question? Am I supposed to answer a certain way?

I feel a hand tap my knee and immediately look to Ghost Spider. "You can be honest, it's okay," she assured me. "We asked because we want to hear your opinion, not what you think we want you to say."

"... Well... I'm mostly still shocked by it all, to be honest, domina," I answer slowly. "That's understandable," Agent Johnson nods, keeping her focus on the road. "Almost all of the Secret Warriors have powers as well, so you don't have to worry about hiding them or anything. For now it's probably best you keep them a secret from everyone other than our group, though."

"Of course, domina," I agree. I don't want to cause a fuss about all this power stuff, I doubt it'll be good.

It isn't long before we arrive wherever we're going and the pair lead me to an underground base, in which a few other people are waiting. Just as they turn to us, however, a large dog about the same size as me charges towards me. I immediately back up, expecting the dog to attack me or something. I've met a few dogs before and they've always been pretty vicious, to say the least.

Well, my robot dog Shi's friendly enough to me, but I don't know if she counts. I'm pretty sure she broke during the crash, anyway, so unless I find a way to rebuild her there's no hopes of getting her back. Too bad.

Instead the dog stops in front of me and starts to lick me happily. I freeze at first, then gently try to push them away from me. Sweet as they are, I'd prefer to be able to keep an eye on everyone at the moment.

"Lockjaw! Down!"

The dog whines, but backs away, sitting down just in front of me. "Sorry about him, he's just friendly," a young woman apologises, coming over to stand beside the dog. "You must be Carmen. I'm Ms Marvel."

"It is nice to meet you, domina," I nod, for now keeping my eyes cautiously on the dog. I'm surprised when some much smaller creature pops up on the dog's head. I don't know exactly what it is, but it's brown-red and fuzzy with a big bushy tail. It chitters at me, almost as if in greeting.

"Tippy says hi!" A redhead with a matching bushy tail grins energetically. "Hello, dorine," I greet the creature, smiling slightly. It's pretty cute and I might as well be polite.

The redhead pauses when I say this. "How did you know...?"

"She uses titles to address people, I'm pretty sure that's one of them," Ghost Spider clarifies quickly. "She didn't think it was your name or anything."

"Oh, cool," the redhead smiled, seeming relieved. "You can just call us Tippy Toe and Squirrel Girl!"

"And there's also Patriot, America and Inferno," Ghost Spider introduced the other three people. "Iron Heart's taking care of some other business right now, but she'll be here at some point," Agent Johnson adds.

Patriot approached me, looking me up and down carefully. "So you're the assassin? You don't much look like one," he comments.

"The decision to use young girls was made for precisely that reason, domine," I reply, causing him pause. America snickers at this. "I already like her. So what are we supposed to do with her?"

"We need to keep watch over her and make sure she isn't going to escape or assassinate anyone," Agent Johnson answered bluntly. "She hasn't done anything like that," Ghost Spider pointed out. "For all we know, she's playing the long game," Agent Johnson stated simply. "I don't want to risk it, even if she's been fine so far."

"Guys, she's right there," Squirrel Girl points out, everyone looking to me. I stay still as usual, not reacting as I haven't been addressed.

"Everything okay, Carmen?" Ms Marvel asks me, seeming a little concerned. "Everything is fine, domina," I reply. "Then why don't you come and sit with me and Squirrel Girl?" She suggests, taking my hand and leading me over to sit between the pair.

"So Carmen, what made you want to be an assassin?" Squirrel Girl asks right off the bat. "SG!" Ms Marvel warns, but I answer anyway. "I had no choice in the matter, domina; I was raised within the organisation that trained me. This is the first time I have been free from them. I much prefer it here."

Silence fills the room at my answer. "Carmen... I'm so sorry..." Ms Marvel says quietly. "You have nothing to be sorry for, domina," I assure her, a little confused as to what she's sorry for, but deciding not to ask.

"At least you're free from there," Inferno murmurs. "How did you escape?"

"I was travelling for an assignment, but the plane crashed. My handlers died. Ghost Spider saved my life and chose not to dispose of me."

"We wouldn't dispose of you, chica," America assured me. "No matter what you've done." "Thank you, domina," I smile slightly to her. "Just call me America," she replies. I nod in response.

Agent Johnson's phone then beeps. She looks at it, her eyes widening. "We need to go; there's something going down a few blocks over."

"What about Carmen?" Patriot looks down at me, frowning. "If Lockjaw drops us off and then comes straight back, he and Tippy could watch her," Squirrel Girl suggests. "A squirrel and a dog watching an assassin?" Patriot questions pointedly.

"Well do you have a better idea?" America shrugs. Ghost Spider then approaches me. "Carmen, if we go do this, you can look around but you need to stay here and not do anything... well, assassin-y. We're trusting you, okay?"

"Yes, domina," I nod. I have no plans to try anything, so this'll be fine. While the Secret Warriors all hesitantly leave me here, Tippy hops up onto my shoulder, chittering to me. I smile properly for the first time since the plane crash. "Hey."

I use my finger to gently pet Tippy's head, making him grin and chitter in what I believe is a happy manner. I chuckle, then stand up, careful not to let him fall. He still scampers back down to the sofa, watching me.

Since Ghost Spider told me I was allowed to look around, I decide to do just that. Their base is really interesting, after all.

Tippy follows me around dutifully, which amuses me. Best I give him a glowing report for the Secret Warriors.

I'm intrigued when I discover what appears to be a training room, though rather than any traditional training it gives me the idea to test out my new powers I got from Ghost Spider.

I approach an empty wall, setting my hand against it. It sticks when I tense it. I hear Tippy chittering curiously, so I turn to him. "Ghost Spider gave me a blood transfusion to save my life after the plane crash," I explain, feeling I can talk more freely to Tippy. It's nice to be able to talk to someone without worry.

"It gave me her powers. I woke up on the ceiling of Agent Johnson's guest room this morning. Maybe I can..."

I carefully begin climbing the wall, Tippy watching almost eagerly. He seems to want to know how far I can get.

I'm halfway up the high wall when a flash of light startles me. I slip and fall, but luckily I land on something soft and warm. Crap, I fell on Lockjaw! When did he get back?

"Sorry!" I get off of him quickly, but he just licks me, not seeming to mind. I sigh in relief, glad that he isn't going to attack or anything. I pet him, my smile beginning to return. Tippy squeaks at him, probably explaining what I've been up to.

He then rolls over, so I begin rubbing his belly. I programmed Shi to act just like a real dog, so I know what Lockjaw is after.

Lockjaw yips in delight, his stubby tail wagging happily. I chuckle at his antics. "I like you. You're a good dog, aren't you?"

He barks, as if agreeing with me, making me chuckle again. After a few more pets, I get back up and turn back to the wall. "Let's see if I can get this right this time..." I murmur, setting my hands to the wall once more.

I manage to climb up to the ceiling this time. "I got all the way up!" I call down to my two animal bodyguards, both of which seem impressed. I perch upside-down on the ceiling, taking care to keep my body tense so I don't fall. Blood is rushing to my head, but oddly enough I don't mind it. In fact, it's quite relaxing, somehow. Is this a side effect of my powers or something?

After a minute or two, I climb back down to the ground and sit with Tippy and Lockjaw, who seem relieved to have me back down safely. I pet them both, much to their evident pleasure.

I chat to them every once in a while, enjoying their company. They let me ramble on about all the new stuff I've seen and learned and what I think of the Secret Warriors and my powers and how great they both are without seeming to care. I can't express how good it feels to be able to just talk openly and without fear, so I just allow myself to ramble about literally anything I can think of and make the most of this chance.

"You two are both really nice. I like you both," I state, smiling still. They both chitter or bark based on their species, not that it's hard to guess which is which.

"Glad you like them, Carmen."

My head snaps around to see the Secret Warriors watching from the doorway. Crap! I immediately rise, standing straight and rigid. "Domines. Dominas," I greet flatly, falling back into my old habits in their presence.

For some reason they almost seem slightly disappointed by this, but I can't work out why. "How's she been, Tippy?" Squirrel Girl asked. Tippy chittered to Squirrel Girl for a bit, making her smile. "Really? That's great!"

Tippy then added something that confused Squirrel Girl. "What? Hey, GS? Does she have the same powers as you or something? Because Tippy just said she was practicing climbing walls."

Ghost Spider explains to the others how I got my powers, much to the apparent interest of the group. "I told her I'd help her learn to use her powers, but I guess she's doing it herself."

Ghost Spider approaches me, causing my heart to hammer in my chest. Is she mad about me doing it myself? I keep a poker face on, but as she nears she seems to see through my facade.

"Hey, it's okay. You're not in trouble. How high did you get?" She asks me gently. "I got to the ceiling, domina," I answer reluctantly, not wanting to test my luck with a lie.

"The ceiling? You're learning a lot faster than I expected," Ghost Spider comments, sounding pleased. "Can you show us?"

I nod and turn to the wall, climbing back up again. This time I'm able to go a little faster as I'm more used to sticking myself. I've worked out that using only the pads of my fingers and my toes is the quickest way to go and, luckily, they have a slightly stronger grip, as if that was the idea all along.

Once I'm perched on the ceiling, my long blonde hair appearing to be the only part of me effected by gravity, I hear them cheering for some reason. I look down, seeing Ghost Spider climbing up to me. She's so agile and skilled in this I wouldn't be surprised if she'd been practicing her whole life.

She perches beside me, looking to me. "You've done amazing!" She praises, her pitch rising a little. She's genuinely this pleased? The best compliment I've ever got from a handler is that I've done something adequately and she seems more like a handler to me than an assignment.

"Thank you, domina," I reply, unable to help a slight smile. Out of nowhere, Ghost Spider lunges towards me, causing me to further tense up. Since I count her as a handler, I can't defend myself, just let her do as she pleases to me.

Instead of hurting me, however, she wraps her arms around me gently. Confused, I slowly return the gesture. The hell's going on here? Is she trying to pickpocket me or something? She surely knows I don't have anything on my person, unless she thinks I took something while Tippy and Lockjaw weren't watching.

"I never took anything."

"What? Oh, no, I wasn't checking your pockets! I was just giving you a hug, that's all!"

Oh... that's all? She really was just giving me a hug? That's... actually quite nice...

I hesitate a moment, then hug her a little tighter. She makes a soft sound of surprise, but then returns the gesture, gently patting my back. I don't know why, but I like this.

I feel myself starting to slip from the ceiling and quickly tense up again, silently reminding myself that if I relax my body I won't stick. "How about we get down from here?" Ghost Spider suggests with a chuckle. We head back down from the ceiling, returning to the ground with the others.

"Told you she'd be fine here," Squirrel Girl smirked to Patriot, who nodded. "You did, you did," he admitted. "It's still good to be cautious, though. Especially when we don't know her."

"How about we just get some lunch instead of worrying about that?" Ms Marvel suggests. "Sounds good to me!" Squirrel Girl grinned. "Let's go!"

~•~

America and Agent Johnson went out and bought food back for everyone since they were least conspicuous. The bags they returned with were brown and had a yellow 'M' on them. I've seen this from another assignment. It was a lot less... formal, than previous ones and the target - who's child I grew 'close' to - bought this for us once. It was really good.

"Food's here!" Squirrel Girl yelled excitedly, leaping up when she saw the others were back. Agent Johnson and America set the bags down on the coffee table and everyone immediately scrambled to get certain cardboard boxes and containers out.

"Here, this one's yours," Ghost Spider handed me a box, a container and a drink. "Thank you, domina," I smile slightly, admittedly quite hungry. She nods, then pulls up her mask a little so her mouth is exposed and takes a bite of her burger.

"So Carmen, is this your first time eating McDonalds?" Squirrel Girl asks me while stuffing her face with chicken nuggets. "I had it once when on an assignment, domina," I answer. "I never did tell the handlers."

"Nice," Ms Marvel chuckled. "At least you weren't missing out the whole time!" "I agree," I nod, amused. I quite like Squirrel Girl and Ms Marvel, they have a good dynamic with each other and are pretty cheery and excitable.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn to see Lockjaw. He barks happily, so I pet his head.

"Tippy!"

I snap my head around in time to catch Tippy in the act; he stole some of my food and used Lockjaw as a distraction. Clever little guys.

Squirrel Girl grabs Tippy, setting him on her shoulder with a warning glare. "Tippy, you know better!" She scolds. Well, there goes Tippy... too bad, I quite liked the little guy.

"Sorry about that, Carmen."

I look to Squirrel Girl in confusion. What is she apologising for? What did she do to me that would warrant an apology?

"No harm done, domina," I reply after a moment, unsure what else to really say. She then holds out Tippy towards me. "Now you aplogise, too!"

Tippy guiltily squeaks at me. I reach over and gently pet him with my finger, earning a chirrup in response. He's really cute.

"There," Squirrel Girl nodded, satisfied. She returns Tippy to her shoulder and goes back to her food, so I do the same. That was weird... or is it just me not knowing the purpose? I don't know.

The group goes on to have their own chat. There's a lot of jokes and references, most of which I don't understand but don't question. There's also a fair share of 'memes' being shared, whatever that means.

"We'll get her in the," Ghost Spider assures at one point upon the realisation that I'm completely lost. "If I introduce her to Spider-Man just one time, she'll be able to work out the 'snake-in-my-boot/is-this/free-real-estate' meme."

I decide not to ask what in the blue hell that means, but the others all seem to understand perfectly. Is this some kind of other language or something?

"Are you planning on introducing her to Spider-Man at any point, then?" Agent Johnson asks Ghost Spider. "I've been thinking about it," she admits, though she sounds apprehensive. "Can I... talk to you for a minute? Alone?"

"Sure," Agent Johnson agrees. The pair leave the room, so Squirrel Girl automatically puts on some music, making sure the volume's up loud enough to drown their conversation out.

This music isn't like any I've heard before; I mostly hear classical music, but this is a lot more lively and energetic. I listen to it curiously, trying to decide whether I like this difference or not.