Her expression softened. “I heard that, Victor darling.” She scraped her nails a little against his skull. “Shhh now, I’m only teasing. Let the SHIELDies alone.” Slowly she stroked his hair, ruffling her fingers up into it.
He turned and kissed her. “I know…and I will,” he paused a moment, “so long as they behave.” He turned a little more so that he could look her in the eye. “What exactly do you do for SHIELD? I’ve heard of them, some of my friendly rivals are employed by them but I don’t really know what’s what there.”
“I can’t say a lot,” Summer began slowly, searching his dark eyes. “I can tell you what /I/ do, but not much more.” She paused, eyes going distant. “Mostly, I do search and rescue. Because I’ve got such a wide range, and I can identify people’s mental signatures after having spent some time with them. So in a crisis situation, a crash, a building collapse, a hostage circumstance, I can tell who’s in trouble and sometimes what kind of trouble. Then I can use my magic to clear a safe path. Sometimes.”
“That sounds interesting, and don’t worry, I know all about confidentiality. You think they’ve got room for one more assassin? I’m virtually indestructible.” Victor added half jokingly. He’d been thinking of a little more legalized version of his occupation, or rather one that was a little more sanctioned. “It must be nice, putting your gifts to use helping other people,” he said almost wistfully while he stroked her hair.
“Well, I’d never be able to do what you do, but I’m not as happy as I could be.” She sighed. “I’m a consultant, on purpose, so I can turn down missions that bother me, and so I can offer my services like when Sandy hit. I was down in New Orleans for almost a year after Katrina. But honestly there are times when I’d rather be in combat instead of having to hang back and wait. I’m only useful when things are at their worst, and it’s a pretty thankless job.”
“What would you rather be doing love?”
“Being a consultant does have it’s ups I suppose. Yeah, I’ve unique skills I suppose. Even before my vampirism I could rival most of the assassins out there. I agree though, the most important jobs are those that are rarely thanked.”
“Oh, hell, I don’t know. You?” Summer smirked.