To Be An Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D (Marvel)(MCU)

Government documents. Project details. Names, codes, and signatures.

James snapped photos, then carefully returned everything to its place. There was nothing else.

He walked out quietly, closing the door behind him hopefully leaving everything as is with barely a trace to be found.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James returned to the car and began to think.

"First, the head of security's home is a joke. The place is full of holes."

He took a breath and continued.

"Second, there's nothing important there. Just some art and the intel I found."

"Third, he's clearly a bait. The financial company might be laundering money for someone, but the only thing that stands out is the former SHIELD agent. His house was practically left open so I could 'discover' that file. They're running a low-key insider trading ring, not some giant conspiracy. Still a risky job."

[The low-profile approach fits. These companies quietly use insider info to make money. Simple, effective, and hard to trace,] Cortana said.

"Yeah, but this isn't enough to build a full case. Forget it. Let's just finish the assessment. It's only been a day, right?"

James drove home and went straight to bed. The next morning, Frank Horman woke up, noticed nothing missing, and went about his day like nothing had happened.

James gathered his gear and headed to SHIELD's New York branch.

"Instructor, here's my report," he said, handing over a USB stick.

The examiner plugged it in and reviewed the files.

"This matches our records. Your assessment is complete. Wait for further instructions."

"Yes, sir."

With the first task complete, James returned home, prepped quickly, and headed out again. He went to the mall, bought a fresh set of clothes, and changed in the restroom. Then he applied light makeup.

The charming young face disappeared. In the mirror stood a bearded, slightly tired-looking middle-aged man in plain clothing. He held a newspaper in one hand, a hot dog in the other, and walked to a bench near the financial company.

He sat and began flipping through the job listings section.

A middle-aged man looking for work. Nothing suspicious. In a city like New York, that was common.

James watched the building carefully. Infiltrating from the outside would be obvious. Breaking a window would trigger alarms. If they caught wind of a break-in, the whole operation would lose value.

"We need the building's blueprint," he muttered, finishing the hot dog and brushing off his hands.

He left the area and made his way toward City Hall. Architectural plans were kept by the city's records department. Fire and police departments needed access to them, which meant there had to be a way in.

But getting a structural blueprint wasn't easy. It was considered a mid-tier security asset. Anyone using ID to request one would leave a trail. James couldn't afford that.

He loitered near the Municipal Office, watching people come and go.

[Target spotted. Brown-haired male, early 30s. Nine o'clock. Municipal Office assistant,] Cortana said.

James walked toward him and bumped into him lightly, his hand brushing the ID clipped to the man's chest.

"Ah, I'm so sorry," James said quickly, crouching down to pick up the card. "You dropped your ID. My fault."

"No worries. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Really sorry about that."

He handed the ID back and walked away. During the bump, his portable scanner had already copied the magnetic stripe. He duplicated it onto a blank card and entered the City Hall's public records area without raising any alarms.

Making his way to a computer, he swiped the ID, pressed a finger to the usb port, and whispered, "You can crack this, right?"

[Yes. Basic six-digit code. Nothing advanced here.]

A moment later, Cortana decrypted the login by sending tiny jolts of electricity through James finger. James accessed the structural plans for the Summer Building. Cortana recorded everything, and they were out in less than three minutes.

Back at the mall, James returned to the restroom, changed again, wiped off the makeup, and became himself once more. He picked up his car and drove home.

Sitting at his desk, he pulled up the blueprints via Cortana uploading it to his computer.

"Alright. Show me entry routes into the financial firm."

[Three routes: front entrance, building exterior, ventilation ducts.]

"The ducts, huh?" James leaned in, studying the diagram. "That's the only viable way. I'll have to enter from the rooftop and crawl through the vents."

Yesterday, he had observed the building's entrance security. It was tight. More importantly, the firm's system was separate from the building's general security. The line didn't pass through the main system. He couldn't hack it from the outside.

"I'll move tonight. But first, I'm checking in on Carlos."

James had come home late last night. Carlos had already gone to bed. This morning, James had left early and missed him again.

He drove to the flower shop. It was nearly 5 p.m., and offices nearby were closing for the day. Business was busy.

James stayed in the car and watched for a while. Inside, Carlos and Alice worked behind the counter, arranging flowers, handling customers, laughing quietly between rushes.

It made him feel something warm. Something whole.

After half an hour, the foot traffic slowed, and James stepped inside.

"Looks like business is good," he said.

Carlos looked up and grinned. "Yeah. Some people get off work, buy flowers, then head off to their dates and stuff. This location's been great."

James turned to Alice. "How's the job treating you?"

"Not bad," she replied, smiling. "It gets busy around lunch and dinner, but it's quiet the rest of the time. The vibe here is really nice."

"Glad to hear it. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner," James said. "Flower shops are great places to work."

He turned back to Carlos. "By the way, I've been a little busy. No need to wait up for me for dinner. I'll handle my own meals."

Carlos raised an eyebrow, but James gave him a wink.

"Use the free time to reward your employee," he said casually, then slipped out. Seeming to be completely misreading the situation, or is he?