A knock sounded at the door, and Mike stopped talking as both he and Heidi looked toward the entrance.
“Come in,” Heidi called from the bed.
The door opened, and a man and a woman stepped into the room.
The moment they entered, both of them looked toward Mike, who was standing at the foot of Heidi’s bed.
Mike looked back at them, though most of his attention settled on the woman.
For some reason, she seemed familiar.
It didn’t take long for him to realize why.
“Tyler, Sharon, this is my brother Mike.
Mike, these are Tyler and Sharon, my colleagues.” As Heidi sat up and introduced them, Mike immediately understood why the woman named Sharon had looked so familiar.
Sharon?
Sharon Carter?
Now that he had the name, Mike compared the woman in front of him with his memory of S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent Sharon Carter.
And the match was obvious.
Internally, Mike drew in a sharp breath and glanced toward Heidi.
How had she just introduced Sharon?
As her colleague?
Sharon Carter, the S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent known as Agent 13, was Heidi’s colleague?
Which meant…
Was Heidi a S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent too?
Jesus Christ.
Holy Mary.
Mike’s thoughts were in turmoil, but none of it showed on his face.
Before awakening his Cosmo, he probably wouldn’t have been able to hide such a reaction so completely.
But now that his five senses and control over his own body had been pushed to an extraordinary level, not even the slightest change slipped through.
Once Heidi finished the introductions, Mike extended his hand to the man first.
“Nice to meet you.
Mike, Heidi’s brother.” “Tyler, Heidi’s colleague.” “Sharon.
Same as Tyler, I work with your sister.” “Nice to meet you.” Mike shook hands with both Tyler and Sharon, then noticed the look they exchanged and immediately understood.
He gave them a friendly smile before turning back to Heidi.
“I’m going to find the doctor and ask when you can be discharged.” Heidi smiled.
“All right.” Mike gave Tyler and Sharon another polite smile, then left the room and closed the door behind him, giving the three of them privacy.
Once the door shut, Sharon Carter looked away from it and exchanged a glance with Tyler before turning toward Heidi.
Meanwhile, Mike walked to the stairwell and began sorting through what he had just learned.
So Heidi had never actually been an FBI intelligence analyst.
She was a S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent?
The revelation shocked him, but at the same time, it didn’t feel entirely unbelievable.
Now that he thought about it, neither Mike nor their adoptive parents had ever personally seen Heidi working inside an FBI office.
They had only heard her say she worked for the Bureau and had seen the federal credentials she carried whenever she came home.
After all, who would have thought she had been lying?
Then again, maybe “lying” wasn’t entirely accurate.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
agents were part of a classified organization, and using FBI credentials while operating in public was practically standard procedure.
From that perspective, the federal credentials they carried were still genuine enough.
But even so…
Heidi was really a S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent?
Mike stood in the stairwell with mixed feelings while his enhanced hearing picked up the conversation taking place inside the hospital room.
Sharon Carter and Tyler had come to investigate the apartment explosion on East Twenty-Third Street.
Since Heidi had been present when the explosion occurred, they wanted to know why she had been there.
Her answer was exactly the same as what she had told Mike.
She liked the coffee shop beneath the apartment building.
Ever since returning to New York half a month ago and discovering the place by chance, she had bought her coffee there almost every day.
Sharon and Tyler were only there for a routine interview.
After listening for a while, Mike decided there was nothing more worth hearing.
He left the stairwell and went to find Heidi’s attending physician.
By the time he returned from the doctor’s office, Sharon and Tyler had already left.
Mike had no intention of exposing Heidi’s identity as a S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent.
For one thing, if Heidi wanted him to know, she would eventually tell him herself.
For another, Mike had no reasonable way to explain how he even knew S.H.I.E.L.D.
existed.
The Battle of New York had already happened the previous year, but S.H.I.E.L.D.
was still a highly secretive organization that ordinary people knew nothing about.
So Mike walked back into the room with his expression completely normal and glanced at Heidi, who was leaning against the bed and using her phone with her left hand.
“Huh?
Where’d your two colleagues go?” “They left.” “That fast?
They came all this way just to look at you and leave?
Doesn’t sound like you’re very close.” “I’ve only been back for half a month,” Heidi replied as she put down her phone.
“Besides, Tyler and Sharon aren’t even on the same team as me.” Mike knowingly asked the obvious question.
“Then why did they come?” “What else?
The apartment explosion.” “Does it have anything to do with you?” “Not a damn thing.” Heidi rolled her eyes at Mike’s faint smile and didn’t bother hiding the truth.
“I just happened to be there, so they came by for a routine interview.” Mike frowned slightly.
“You’re not going to have any trouble because of it, are you?” Seeing the concern on his face, Heidi laughed.
“What kind of trouble could I possibly have?
All they have to do is check my purchase history.
I go to that coffee shop all the time.” With that, Heidi ended the subject and looked at Mike.
“Anyway, what did the doctor say?” Mike smiled.
“Nothing serious.
I just need to pick up the paperwork and finish the discharge process, then we can go home.
But the doctor said you should rest for a few days.” Heidi looked down at her right arm, which was still suspended in a cast, then looked back at Mike.
“Does this count as taking a vacation?” Mike decided that question didn’t deserve an answer.
He walked to the bedside, grabbed the chart hanging there, and headed for the door.
“I’m going to handle the discharge.” Heidi smiled and acknowledged him.
She watched Mike leave the room again, and once the door closed, she lowered her gaze to the phone in her hand.
After thinking for a moment, she typed out a short message and sent it.
It contained only one sentence.
“Failed specimen successfully recovered!” …