Marvel's FBI?

"Oliver, you get any of that?"

"Nothing major. They said Skye's new supervisor is Agent Dante—Captain of the Star Team. Oh, and the Star Team got dragged off for special training by the Death Goddess."

The Death Goddess.

Just a few days ago, when Dante brought her down from Asgard to HQ, the energy detection system across the entire building nearly exploded.

Getting special training from that kind of monster—was that a reward or a death sentence?

"But still," Wade said, turning to Skye with actual envy, "you're seriously lucky. Dante's personally your supervisor. Even without his powers, he's still in the same league as Natasha Romanoff."

Skye didn't hear a word of that.

Her gaze was laser-focused on Dante.

He didn't have a mountain-of-muscle build—more like a lazy, streamlined leopard. The kind that seemed harmless until it pounced and shredded you before you could blink.

She instantly regretted going undercover in the FBI for the Rising Tide.

She could've just been a hacker. But noooo, she had to go chasing conspiracy theories…

And now the biggest conspiracy of all?

That the government had been hiding a snack like Dante from the public.

…

After greeting the entire Coulson Team, Dante finally stepped in front of Skye.

"Hey, Skye. I'm your new supervisor, Dante."

"Hello," Skye replied politely, reaching out for a handshake.

And that's when Dante yanked her into a sudden embrace.

She instinctively opened her mouth to curse—only to feel her shoulder strap flip up in that exact moment.

Her blood turned cold.

Tucked inside that strap was a microSD card containing sensitive FBI intel—data she was meant to pass to the Rising Tide.

"Coulson. Catch," Dante said casually, tossing the card across the room. "Didn't you say someone's been downloading classified data beyond their clearance level? It's hacker baby. Found it right here."

He didn't have X-ray vision. He just knew Skye.

And while this world's timeline was a little scrambled—Skye joined the FBI earlier than expected—Coulson and the rest were still in the dark about her identity.

Facing the silent stares of the others, Skye suddenly stopped resisting. Her brain flipped to 'screw it' mode.

"How are you going to keep the truth hidden? The truth is everywhere! The Rising Tide will rise! You'll never stop us! You'll never find our true faces! We are the tide, we are the resistance, we are the voice that speaks against the ones who silence truth!"

Skye shouted like she was halfway through a drama monologue about to roll into the "torture scene."

Dante just blinked.

He honestly felt like he'd watched too many two-person stage plays with overly dramatic lighting and one camera angle.

He gave her a soft, almost divine smile—so serene, it short-circuited her brain.

Then, without warning, he dropped a black hood over her head.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?! The FBI is a monster built to devour truth! The Rising Tide are the Guardians of knowledge! We resist your corrupt, fascist—"

"Blah blah blah, chirp chirp chirp—aren't you noisy?" Dante casually flicked her on the forehead, dead center.

"When did hacker orgs start branding themselves as heroes of justice? Sounds real cute on paper, but let me guess—you're aware the Rising Tide has been selling classified intel on the black market, right?"

"Lies! Slander! The Rising Tide is the embodiment of truth and freedom!"

"Fine. Righteous justice partners, got it." Dante sighed. "Now shut up. Say another word and I'll spank you. Be warned, I'm single and not entirely against doing something inhumane."

"…Wait, you're single?"

"Skye. I have never seen someone fall that hard, that fast, in my life."

…

In front of the entire team, Dante and Coulson tossed Skye into the mobile command center's interrogation room.

"Dante, confirmation just came through," Coulson said. "While the files she accessed weren't extremely sensitive, they were definitely outside a probationary agent's clearance."

"Also," he added, "latest intel says Skye was spotted at yesterday's New York explosion. She used the Rising Tide's account to post a video. A guy in a hoodie scaled a building, pulled someone out, then jumped off the fifth floor without gear."

Dante nodded, yanked off the black hood, and dropped into a chair.

Skye blinked hard as her vision returned. She was in a small, sterile metal room. Gray walls, dull lights, one table, two chairs.

Classic "you done screwed up" aesthetic.

"Am I about to get interrogated?"

"Eh," Dante shrugged, flipping through her file. "Honestly, your little drama doesn't even warrant a real interrogation."

"But you do have some information we're interested in. Namely, what do you know about yesterday's explosion?"

Dante had a general sense of where the plot was going, but the multiverse shuffle meant everything had already deviated.

Best to let it unfold naturally.

Especially since he couldn't just walk up and tell Coulson, "Hey, I'm really into this explosion because I know the script." That would raise… questions.

"Skye, we need a name," he said, suddenly serious. "That person in the video was a hero. And thanks to your little upload, he's now in deep trouble."

"Why do you think I know who it was?"

"You infiltrated the FBI as an undercover agent. You were at the explosion site. So yeah, we're assuming you filmed that video and gave it to Rising Tide."

"Uh-huh, but you just realized you can't crack the encryption on my laptop or my phone… so in reality, you've got nothing."

"You know, the FBI doesn't work like the NYPD—we don't need all that 'due process' stuff," Dante said casually. "So technically, we can still say you caused the explosion just to bait out the enhanced individual."

That hit a nerve.

Skye slammed her hand on the table and stood up.

"You think it was me?! You people are the ones who always cover things up with explosions! This isn't your first time! And what about the Centipede Project?!"

"…Centipede? What Centipede Project?" Coulson narrowed his eyes.

Skye's mouth dropped open.

"Wait… you seriously don't know?"

And then she cracked up.

Like, full-body, chair-shaking, villain-laugh cracked up.

"Hahahaha! You've got billions of dollars of cutting-edge tech—and you guys are still flying blind! I could crush your entire communications department with just my laptop!"

(To be continued.)