Agents of S.H.I.F.T. - The Rookie

This post idea came to me during a walk. It was originally going to be a one-off but I realized that wasn't possible. I began thinking of the lore behind the universe, different characters and scenarios, interconnecting plots. I couldn't wait to get some privacy to write it. Let me know if you want more in the comments, along with ideas for future missions. I will be happy to oblige!

Agents of S.H.I.F.T. info page!

Alright, keep your cool Riley you're a field agent now, you trained your entire adult life for this moment, you're doing fine, Riley reminded himself. A few seconds ago he had been attending a dinner party downstairs. Riley chatted among the guest, he drank every drink, complemented the chef, and kissed the host. Everything, even this moment was going according to plan. The host we by Anthony Garland, but he had many other names: Jamie Hewitt, Cameron McCormick, Taylor Brennan, and so on. He was a man of many lives, meanwhile Riley was the man of many faces.

Shapeshifters, body hoppers, and many other "specialized humans of interchangeable forms" as they were called by their stagnant acquaintances, have always been masters of deception and secrecy. For centuries they had lived among us and nobody the wiser, until Interpol that is.

Interpol had discovered these specialized humans in the 1960s, and formed the Specialized Humans of Interchangeable Forms Task-Force or S.H.I.F.T. to take down criminal empires and terrorist cells. Every member was compensated generously for their talents.

Riley was the newest shapeshifter recruit. His first solo mission was to find Antonio Cruz's contacts in the Los Zetas drug cartel. Cruz had retired well from the Zetas years ago and had been hiding under the alias Anthony Garland.

As far as Cruz was concerned, this was his first night meeting Alexis, the facade Riley assumed. She was a young twenty-six year old woman who had moved north to escape her conservative family and begin a career in modeling. Alexis had six exboyfriends, two of which had physically harmed her, one who loved her but passed away in a car crash, and the other two were forgettable. She hated chocolate and loved cherries, and would rather sip on wine and watch TV all night than go out to a bar. Oh, and she had a bra size of 32C, and was really really into BDSM. She wasn't real, she was none other than months of trial and error of becoming the perfect woman for Cruz. Riley had succeeded, he had gained entry into Cruz's house via invitation to his special dinner party.

Riley stumbled about the hallway, he wasn't drunk he had shifted his body to neglect alcohol, but he couldn't do anything about the adrenaline. After performing so well downstairs this moment right here felt like the main act: find Cruz's computer, install a backdoor virus on it, and get out. At this point his cover meant nothing, hot woman or not if Cruz found Riley tampering with his computer it could be the death of him. To Riley he was feeling stage freight.

Five doors later Riley found the drug lord's personal office. It was well furnished with a bookshelf taking up an entire wall, a wooden desk fitted for a king. Behind the desk was a huge mirror to make the room appear larger. He removed a flash drive hidden in a tube of lipstick and inserted it into a USB port. A LED loading bar appeared on the side of the drive, it began inching at a snail's pace. His heart was pounding beneath his breast, his eyes danced between the door and the LEDs. Back and forth, back and forth.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Footsteps! There were footsteps. "Fuck," Riley said beneath his breath. Riley reached into his purse and gripped the handle of his tranq gun, his grip growing tighter with every step. The taps became clicks, and the clicks became stomps, and the stomps became silence. The loading bar was at 70%.

Suddenly an idea came to him. He hastily picked up the tube of lipstick and turned his back to the door, facing the mirror.

On the other side of the door stood Peter, a man he had flirted with at the party to make Cruz jealous. Peter was a skinny man in his early thirties, kind of a dork, which is precisely why Riley had flirted with him. Cruz was the jealous type, and nothing would make him more jealous than the woman of his dream flirting with Peter.

"I'm so sorry," Peter said his speech was slurred a little, "I thought this was the bathroom," Riley pretended to be focused in applying his makeup. "Do you know where I can find it?"

"Would a lady like myself be touching herself up in here if she knew where the bathroom was, Peter?" Riley said turning to face the man.

"I suppose not. I'm sorry miss, uhh, what was your name again?"

"Alexis," Riley glimpsed at the flash drive: 90%. "How could you forget my name Peter? I thought I made an impression on you, like you did to me."

"No no, it's not that. You certain have, you're very pretty Alexis, I'm just bad with names."

"Obviously I haven't made that big of an impression," the flash drive read 100%, Riley quickly snatched and shoved it in his purse with the tube of lipstick. "How about I fix that for you?"

"H-how can you do that?"

Riley made his way towards the man and caressed his shoulder. "How about we begin with that bathroom you were looking for."

Riley's first mission was a success, now he needed a little celebration.

And the two made their way down the hallway.