Summer paused, one hand on the edge of the room, looking at Nero. “I worked that cleanup too. And the battle,” she told him quietly. It still wasn’t a pleasant memory. “As for my empathy, right now I’m only reading what you’re openly sharing. For all that you control your face very well.” She gazed at him for another moment, assessing for real this time. “I think we’ll be meeting again. But thank you for now. Abby is here. I won’t take up any more of your time.”
He cleared his throat, setting a grim tone to his voice. “I’d be surprised if you hadn’t, ma’am.” It had been a first, seeing just how vast this organisation’s branches reached out. Openly sharing? Taking a deep breath, he tried not ‘share’ the tiredness and stress he felt growing each day, and now he had to guard himself even more from people like her. Great. “I wouldn’t be good at my job if I couldn’t. But I’ll take that as a compliment.” The corner of his lips twitched. “You’re welcome, ma’am. Enjoy your work out. And I’m sure we will meet again. Until then…” A polite nod of the head and he started making his way back to the office.
“I didn’t catch your name,” Summer called after him. “And I’m not a ‘ma’am.’ Only Summer.” She sighed, jerking the door open, and wondered if Abby could tell her any more about whoever that was. Maybe it was just a SHIELD thing, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something festering down in there.