This particular writing piece was written as a starter to a Maria Hill to formally initiate her into SHIELD as it presently sat during the aftermath of Winter Soldier and during the SHIELD television show's run. It was a part of the multi writing journey I was taking with my interpretation of Gwen Stacy's character and role in the world had the TASM universe and MCU were within the same universe. This was written after Gwen's initial recruitment which was spoiled by the events of The Winter Soldier as I had imagined she was present during the initial events of the Hydra uprising.
"Good morning, Alice," Gwen Stacy said with a smile as she waved to one of the young women that manned the front desk of the Avengers Tower. The Avengers Tower was the focal point of not only the group of individuals that the world knew at large as the Avengers, Earth's mightiest superheroes, but it was still one of the main operation buildings for Stark Industries, where she had been gainfully employed.
The young brunette waved back at the perky, yellow sundress and burgundy cardigan clad blonde as she pressed a finger to her headset, answering to field one of the many calls that Stark Industries would be receiving that day. "Thank you for calling Stark Industries, how may I direct your call?"
It had been nearly two years since the brainy blonde had first stepped foot into Stark Tower. She was nervous, unsure of herself and very much so intimidated by the sights around her. Scared she would not get the internship she had applied for in the research and development department, she was in awe of the sheer fact that she was there. Then after several interviews and a meeting with the CEO of Stark Industries, Pepper Potts herself, she had gotten it, triumphing over all the other candidates.
It was a dream come true for her as she had dreamed of working for Stark Industries, the former weapons company ever since it transformed their focus onto research and development for the better of mankind. Their then CEO Tony Stark and decided to do so after his personal discovery of his weapons being dealt and used by the wrong hands. Gwen had left her previous job as a research officer at Oscorp a few years prior due to her own discovery of their shady dealings and questionable methods and then spent a year studying abroad in England at Oxford. When she returned form her year of studies there, she returned to Empire State, which had one of the top courses for her bio-science major.
As an R&D intern for Stark Industries she flourished working under some of the most esteemed researchers and brilliant scientists the world had to offer, such as Dr. Betty Ross and Dr. Bruce Banner. She had loved working under Dr. Banner, who was also known as the Avenger teammate the Incredible Hulk, when her intern round placed her as his lab assistant. Being an avid fan of the Avengers, it was rather amazing for her as she had gotten to know the green goliath as a real person. It was not a hidden fact that she was a bit of a fanatic about superheroes, as her Stark Industries locker was adorned with snapshots of them, most of which were of the wall-crawling Spider-man.
Nearly a year ago that had all changed though. Gwen had been pulled out of the assistant pool, no longer assisting in lab experiments and important research for an interview. Not entirely sure what she was being interviewed for, it came as a surprise for her to see that it was the Tony Stark conducting the interview. He offered her a full time position as his personal assistant while he was at stark tower. She of course took the job, as it was a high honor to be personally asked by Iron Man to assist him in his day to day affairs while in New York.
Admittedly she was not immediately overjoyed at leaving the R&D research labs, as she did greatly enjoy the work and studies she was performing, but working directly under Stark did prove to be interesting and challenging. She found working for him especially engaging when he got himself involved in the companies research, developing new technologies, or even when he got the wild ideas to create new enhanced armors. She very soon grew to love her job and what she did, in spite of the occasional menial tasks.
Holding her messenger bag close, she approached the executive elevator and slid her clearance card that offered her the privilege to enter the more sensitive areas as well as the areas reserved for those that were considered important within Stark Industries. No sooner had she boarded the elevator after the doors had opened, the reining security chief, Harold "Happy" Hogan, joined the young blonde.
"Good morning, Happy," she greeted with a cheerful smirk as she tucked her hands in the front of her waist, looking up at the former boxer.
Happy didn't return her cheerful expression, but instead looked down at her with a stern, joyless expression and muttered only two words while raising a questionable eyebrow. "Badge, Missy."
"Seriously?," Gwen asked, her cheerful expression nearly instantly replaced with one of a bemused bewilderment. She couldn't believe he was asking her yet again. It was almost a daily ritual. She began to find it rather annoying. "You've seen me nearly every day for two years and we're still doing this?"
The security head only tapped his own badge as he pursed his lips awaiting for the tiny blonde to offer her identification. Gwen offered a sigh in return as she quickly dug out her own security badge which offered her name, position, serial number and clearance level as well as a depiction of her usually cheerful visage. She continued her stern, annoyed expression as Happy's softened up and slowly turned into a smile.
"Thanks, Blondie," he said with a wink as his infectious smile finally lead to Gwen's own lips finally curling back into one herself. "No donuts today?" There was a slight disappointment that laced his words. Nearly every morning it was part of Gwen's daily ritual to pick up a box of glazed donuts for Tony and every morning she does, she is sure to pick up one for Happy as well, a jelly filled one just for him.
"No, Tony's not going to be in today," she said in a rather matter of fact tone and then continued on before she was asked why she was still coming in if he wasn't going to be there for her to assist him. "I have a few projects he's been working on that he wan't me to take a look at today."
Happy nods in return before continuing on "Alright... How's that boyfriend of yours? Uh... Parker?"
"Peter?" she replied in a questioning tone. As the name rolled off her lips she could feel her cheeks becoming flush at the mere thought of him. That girl was so hopelessly head over heels for that boy and she had a hard time hiding that fact. "He, uh, he's good." A dreamy expression washed over her face as he thoughts dwelled on the masked superhero as the doors to the elevator opened up.
Happy just smiled in return as he walked off onto the executive floor. "Well tell him again sorry for the mix up. I didn't mean for it to get physical like that."
"I will," Gwen assured him as reality crashed back down, reminding her of where she was as she too quickly left the elevator, catching her stride. "Have a good day Happy," she said with a wave, parting towards Stark's office.
"You too, Blondie," he said in a farewell reply before harassing another assistant about their badge.
Gwen hadn't made it very far before Bambi, the elder executive secretary stopped the young woman from proceeding too much farther. She lifted herself up from her desk once Gwen was in view and called out to her, "Gwen, good morning dear."
"Good morning, Bambi. How are you today?" she asked, beaming. She really enjoyed the company of the elder secretary who has worked for Stark for a very, very long time. The two bonded over talking about Tony's odd mannerisms and such, puzzling each other as to why he did such.
"I'm well, Gwen, I am well," Bambi said in reply, offering a smile before moving right on to business. "Uh.. Ms. Hill wishes to see you first thing. She asked me to send you to her office the moment you got here. It sounded urgent."
"Oh?" Gwen said with a questioning expression as her thoughts filled her head with questions of why and her brow furrowed in puzzlement. "I wonder why. I guess I'll head right over. Thank you, Bambi."
It did not take long for Gwen to reach the office of the human resources officer that Tony had hired in the wake of the SHIELD fiasco. She suspected the slender woman might have had some ties to it as she did overhear Tony mentioning the former agency, that once stood as a first line to protect the Earth, once or twice when concerning Maria Hill. She didn't believe what the news outlets were saying, calling it a terrorist organization as she was once very nearly recruited into their ranks. Not for one moment did she believe that the few Agents she had encountered were working on some nefarious world domination plot. It was all Hydra.
The young blonde knocked and pushed open the door to Ms. Hills office only to find it empty and void of anyone else other than herself as she entered. It wasn't the first time she was sent to an empty office to meet with some sort of fate here at Stark. It was almost how she was promoted within the company every time. Gwen waltzed on over to Hill's very empty and tidy desk and took a seat, pressing the ends of her sundress down as she crossed her legs at her ankles awaiting for what was to happen next.
