TERRAN LIKED BEING AROUND PEOPLE HE DIDN'T KNOW. It meant he could practice being emotional, working to be as nice as possible so, when he went home, he could know how to work with the people living with him. There were a variety of different agents that he passed by in the building, though they all seemed to be surprised as to why a man who towered over all of them was randomly greeting them and complimenting aspects about their person.

"Do you just do that often?"

Terran turned, unsurprised to find Milo standing behind him. He had heard the man following him, but figured that he'd just wait until he said something, and now he did, and Terran didn't really have a plan after that, he wasn't that far ahead of a thinker. He didn't even think he would live this long.

"I figured that I could do this here. If I did it anywhere else, I might get killed or draw unwanted attention. Here, I can draw as much attention as I want, 'cause everyone's thinking about everyone else, but too busy to care," he explained, and Milo's lips twitched into a smile, a startled laugh falling from his lips, and Terran didn't know why Clint had never talked about this guy to him, he was nice.

"Sorry, but Fury wants me to keep you company, make sure you don't do something wholly stupid," he explained, and Terran shrugged, motioning for the man to walk with him; he always liked having company.

"It's fine," he said, the two making their way down a hall to a place Terran didn't know, "I figured he'd do something like that. He's kept a lot of tabs on me and my family."

"I thought you didn't have any family," Milo said, before ducking his head and flushing, having just proven Terran's own statement, "You mean your complex?"

"Hell, does everyone know?" he demanded, and he could genuinely feel a spike of anger; it was hard for him to feel emotions, but he would always get defensive at any mention of his family; he drew a line when it came to them.

"We know about Rhett Reiser, the Inhumans, and that one mutant," he said, and Terran knew who he was talking about, because Lily was a pretty big deal in the world if people knew how to ask about her.

"You know about Rhett?" he asked, because other than the one trip Fury made to visit, running into Rhett himself, he hadn't thought the man did anything to draw attention to himself.

"In theory we do," he explained, "But it's less about him and more on what he was a part of. We had actually...nevermind."

"What?" Terran asked, because Rhett was a part of his family, even if he wasn't as close as the others were, and he had to admit he wasn't the most trusting of S.H.I.E.L.D. given their little habit of weaponizing everything.

"There was a small little project based around the research and testing of the tests that he had underwent, we wanted to see what would happen. The project was shut down after some unforeseen circumstances. Somehow, everything still is perfectly fine, but..." Milo trailed off, and Terran didn't understand, but a part of his mind told him that he didn't want to know, because Milo was frowning too hard down at his shoes and there was something too somber, too upsetting about his demeanor to get him to ask.

So instead, he asked, "Natasha said you worked some missions with her and Clint?"

Milo nodded at that, his entire person going back into an agent neutral. "Yeah, it was an honor, honestly, they're the best S.H.I.E.L.D. has to offer, not to mention they tend to be their own little unit. Barton and Romanoff, the two sometimes go off on their own, but never with anyone else. Except maybe Agent Rivendell, but that's still incredibly rare. They have no extraction plan and take the ones that are most likely to kill them, and they make it out."

Terran felt some relief course through his veins, because if he was working with the best of the best-and he had worked with Clint before, and now he had some bragging rights-that meant that he would be getting home just fine.

"Must say a lot about you, that you could keep up," he said, and Milo shrugged, and he seemed rather shy about admitting it, but Terran could see in his posture and expression that he knew what he was capable of, even if there was a lot of insecurity to push aside to find it.

"Do you have any psychologists that work here?" he asked, after the two fell into a comfortable silence, Terran having been banned from poking his head into offices to greet everyone, because he nearly got attacked at one point, though the agent was the one to be escorted off, so it really wasn't his fault, Milo, come on.

The younger man hummed from where he was texting with a soft smile on his face, and Terran figured it was a significant other, what with the light flush on his cheeks and the way he mumbled to himself as he laughed and typed back, his fingers flying over the keys.

"Uh, I don't actually know, we get evaluated and some of us have psychologists assigned to us if they think we need it, so probably," he said, clearly half paying attention, and Terran decided to just think on his own, looking around to the different rooms, humming.

"Is there a way for me to recommend someone for that?" he asked, because Nicky was still in school, but he was still incredibly young and already in grad school, having finished his first four years in only two.

Milo raised an eyebrow, finally looking up from his phone to give him a confused look. "They'd have to be really good at what they do, and if we haven't heard of them..."

"Well, what if he's been a tech asset for the military?" he asked, because that was a story that took some time to explain, but Nicky had made something for them when they asked; it wasn't a weapon, he had made sure of that, but it was a tool, and something to be proud of for Nicky himself.

Milo opened and closed his mouth before pressing his lips into a thin line. "You're gonna wanna ask Fury about that, I'm not the last say on things like that, but I'm really curious as to who you're talking about, because we don't know anyone like that in your complex."

"Yeah, we're trying to hide from you guys," he said simply, because they were; there was someone else that they had close to them that S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't aware of, someone who was a lot more useful than Rhett, and he wanted to keep her hidden.

Milo snorted, but he nodded in understanding, and Terran figured that his file mentioned his agreement with Fury and, possibly, all the times he had tried to get the man to leave, only welcoming Clint into his complex.

Maybe he'd let Natasha in too.

"Hey, can I make a phone call?" he asked, and Milo nodded, leading him down the hall, weaving in and out of other halls until they landed in a secluded room with couches and other smaller areas that people were standing in, their mouths moving, but no sound coming out.

"That way you can't be tracked, most of our phones have a chip implemented, but that in of itself isn't always safe unless they're calling someone else who has it, and since you have neither, I suggest going in there," Milo explained, pointing towards the far room that was rather spacious, and Terran nodded.

"Thanks," he said, nodding towards the man who plopped down onto one of the communal couches, "Also, my guy would make sure that the chip wasn't conditional."

Milo snorted, already glued to his phone. "I'm sure he would."

º º º

"I totally could, put the guy on the phone," Nicky complained, Terran laughing as he sprawled out on the couch, his head and legs dangling off the two edges, since he was too large for his full body to stay there while spread out.

He had tried to call Janelle, but she was busy trying to keep the complex from burning, so while he waited for her to call him, he figured that he could drop in and see how Nicky was doing, especially since the man was interested in working for S.H.I.E.L.D.; Terran also figured he could hook Nicky up to all the files that they had, but he'd need more preparation for that.

"How've you been?" Terran asked, and Nicky hummed, and he could hear the man spinning around in his chair.

"I'm good, just catching up with homework, Rhett and I might have movie night tonight, I don't know," he said, and Terran took a moment to think as he imagined Nicky and Rhett just hanging out and watching movies.

Ever since he had offered Nicky's services for the prototypes that the military was looking for, he had started to regret his actions. Nicky had always been making gadgets, but he primarily wanted to be a psychologist.

The idea of him being the reason why Nicky would never have a regular life ate him up at night. He was already worried when the young man had moved into the complex and, even when they moved out, he and Rhett were still separated, and it bothered him more than anything else.

Nicky didn't want a regular life, but Terran didn't think he knew what he was talking about.

"Hello?" Nicky called, and Terran realized he hadn't responded.

"Sounds fun," he said brightly, because it did, and Nicky made a sound of agreement, and Terran couldn't think of anything else to say, the two now just waiting for the other to speak or hang up.

Nicky picked the latter. "I got some more work to do, I'll talk to you later?" he asked, sounding more hopeful than anything, and Terran felt a pang of guilt; the kid still wasn't over him, apparently.

"Yeah, I'll call you soon as I can," he said, and, without anything left to say, he hung up, knowing fully well that Nicky wouldn't do it himself.

He sighed as he stared down at his phone, waiting for Janelle to call. He didn't even know what to tell her. He had so much to say, yet nothing at all.

He couldn't just call to let her know what happened, that he had nearly blown their cover, that he was terrified of the Wolf Spiders, that he didn't want to do this mission anymore because he was a coward who didn't want to face the ghost of his past.

He couldn't tell her any of his concerns either. He couldn't tell her anything about Natasha and what he found out, he couldn't tell her about how much he needed to do this to keep the complex safe, how he hated that there were files on them. How much he didn't like his inability to feel anything, how guilty he felt whenever he did anything that upset them, because no matter how hard he tried he always made things worse. How he wanted Nicky to have a normal life, not the kind that he wanted, because he wasn't going to want it for very long.

He didn't want to tell her anything, but he had nothing else to say. He didn't even know why he wanted to talk to her so badly, because he wasn't missing the complex, he wasn't feeling anything. He was just blank.

Even his concern was only in his head, not in his heart.

He sighed as he shifted around on the couch. He had to think about what was best for the complex, and this was it. Once they caught Constantin, the files would be erased and they would be left alone. They could live perfectly hidden, the way they wanted to be.

But before he could go forward, he had to go back. He didn't want to do that, not at all.

But he couldn't tell Janelle. She couldn't know any of it, because he told himself he didn't want her to worry, but, if he was being honest, he didn't want to actually say it. He didn't want to know. Because if neither of them knew, he wouldn't be afraid, but he was. He was so, so afraid.

His phone rang, startling him badly enough that he was shaking as he looked at the caller ID. Janelle. He took a deep breath, shifting around on the couch as he answered, trying to calm down.

"Hey. Yeah, everything's fine, just wanted to say hi."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 09.21.18 )

I really wanna get this fic done, ya'll, not gonna lie, but I'm having fun and it'll pick up speed soon, I promise.

Also, Terran and Milo were talking about Rhett and what "he was a part of" and that is an allusion to my Peggy Carter fic that's gonna be dropping in the upcoming months, so I just figured I'd set it up right now since there's a perfect time to slip it in. Also, if I didn't mention it last time, Milo is gonna be a main OC in my Sharon Carter fic,there's gonna be two OC's.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!