"Change is not made without inconveniance, even from worse to better."
- Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language

---

"So what do you think?" said Bridge as he sat down in the chair, looking at the two women across from him. They were the two people who would be able to tell him something, without Jessica Drew being here. "Is he telling the truth?"

"I truly cannot tell," said the first of them, looking directly at him, the blue eyes staring as if they were trying to pierce his soul, and though her Russian accent had a very lyrical quality to it, it was also something he wasn't quite used to, even after all these years. Bridge had always been wary of telepaths as he had been of all mutants, as he was of Russians due to the way he been trained over the years so having a Russian telepath unnerved him. However the world was no longer big enough for the petty feelings of old. "On an empathic level, I think he might be, but I cannot get any deeper in to his mind."

"You can't tell?" Bridge's voice contained a mixture of scepticism and concern. Elena Ivanova was a telepath of great power. He had learned of her work with Wolverine from the old SHIELD files, and they had brought her in to SHIELD after she had tried to take on Sabretooth singlehanded, and failed, almost costing Elena her life. After she had recovered, they had brought her in and Logan himself had recommended her as an agent, and Fury had agreed to his old friend's suggestion. "Come on, Elena, how can you not tell?"

Elena shook her head. "His mind is shielded, but it is not through psionic means. It is as his mind is out of alignment with my own. Given more time and optimum conditions I might be able to break him, but it would take work to do, and they would need to have my level of psionic power." Bridge smiled. Her near death at Creed's hands may have wounded her body but she was still proud of her powers and with good reason.

"It would explain how he would have been able to fool Black Air," the other woman said. "They have telepaths who would have seen through any obvious rouse, and given his history, if he is…"

"Well, we know who we think he is," said Bridge, stressed. "DNA reads the an 80% match, though there has been certain things done to him that have altered it from what we had on file and we're not quite sure how. Plus there are other things that don't quite fit. His retinal scans, his fingerprints and voice modulation are all close, but slightly off." It was what they would have done if they had an agent they wanted to place in to an enemy territory. It fit with the SHIELD operational procedures - alter him to be a match, but not a close enough match that he was mistaken for the real thing. They'd learnt their lessons from the many LMD fiascos over the years. "Sam, you know him of old, is it him?"

"It could be him," Samantha Hasard said. "But as far as we know he is still behind the BMB…" She trailed a moment, sounding wistful for the family that were trapped behind the mystical black mass barrier that separated Europe from the rest of the world, and she remembered how much she missed them, but her family had lasted a long time and if there was one family that could take care of themselves it was the Destine family. "If it's a Martian trick, it's a damn good one. The details check out, everything about the message from Fury is legitimate."

"How thoroughly have we checked?" said Bridge, knowing it would have been to the best of their capabilities, but he needed to ask anyway.

"Very," said Samantha. "If it's a fake, it's been faked with precision far in advance of our technology, and using details the Martians could never have obtained."

"Unless they captured Fury," said Elena, softly and the others looked at her. "It is possible."

"It is." Bridge sat back, knowing that they'd all thought that at some point, and if so they'd have problems. Yet, if Fury had been captured then the Martians would have been all over them, he was sure of it, but the possibility still remained. "Damn it all. He's as likely to be telling the truth as he is to be lying."

"If he wanted us dead, he would have done it by now," said Samantha. "He broke free easily enough, and so far he's just sitting in there. Can we afford not to give him the benefit of the doubt?"

"The Pete Wisdom we knew of was not a nice man, however he had gone a long way to reforming," Bridge said. "If he is him, we could use him, but…" He had a reservation about this, he could feel it in his gut that this was not going to end well if he took the man at his word. Then again things didn't look like they were going well anyway. "But who wants to live forever anyway?"

"As I said, on an empathic level, I sense that he believes what he is saying and what he is doing here is for the common good," said Elena, trying to help relieve Bridge's concerns.

"But you could be wrong," said Bridge. He gave it one more consideration, weighing up the pros and cons of it all, and he made his choice. "The hell with it. Cut him loose." Samantha nodded and went to make it happen and Bridge looked at Elena. "It's simple enough - we need everyone we can get, and if he betrays us, at least we'll be ready for it, but try and break through his defences." She gave him the glance and he knew it too well. "Without trying to make him aware you're trying to break through them obviously."

"Colonel Bridge," came the call across comm and Bridge went to the panel on the wall.

"Go ahead," he said.

"Agent Drew is on her way. Our contact reports she almost at Victoria Falls."

"Understood," said Bridge as Samantha brought in Pen Dragon. "Good news, Jessica's on her way to make contact with Monroe. We could use the weaponry that he can provide, as long as we can get him out of Victoria Falls."

"Victoria Falls?" said Dragon. "Small town just south of the border at Niagara?"

"You know it?" said Bridge.

"Yeah," said Dragon. "Black Air intel said there was a lot of people disappearing from the town, and the Martians were suspicious. They've added new counter measures."

"What kind?" said Bridge.

"I don't know," said Dragon, "but if you've people there, then they'll be in trouble."

"Can we get them out?" said Samantha.

"We've a slot on the HERMES transporter system. We were going to bring in supplies, but this is more urgent," Bridge said, and he noticed that Dragon had raised an eyebrow. "It's an teleportation system we were developing before the invasion. It's nothing near completed, but it seems to work well enough without the final adjustments." Dragon nodded, in understanding and Bridge could have sworn he had a thin smile, but he wasn't too sure. "But I can't get word to Jessica without blowing her cover."

"So send me in," said Dragon, quickly. "I'll get her and get out."

"And Monroe," said Bridge, thinking that was too fast. "We need him to open the CSA bunker. However, I don't trust you enough to send you unchaperoned."

"Oh great," said Dragon. "I don't need a babysitter."

"Until I say otherwise, you do," Bridge answered, going eyeball to eyeball with him and Dragon, to his credit, didn't flinch. Bridge had seen a lot of brave men take a step back under his gaze before now, and it impressed him. Whatever the man was, he certainly had bottle. "Sam, you're with Dragon."

"Colonel?" said Hasard.

"Drew knows you, she might not trust him and, besides, I know you can handle yourself." She nodded.

"Teleporter control knows you're on your way," Elena said and Samantha nodded. "Good luck." She looked at Dragon and his mind he heard her speak to him and him alone. "Betray us and there is no place on this Earth we won't find you, 'Pen Dragon'." He gave a curt nod and then followed Samantha to the teleporter.

"I don't trust him," Elena said. "He is hiding something."

"Yes, he is," said Bridge, thoughtfully. "Establish a link with Samantha before she leaves and you don't get chance. I want to know what happens out there…"

---

"We'll need to move quickly," Pen Dragon said as they made their way down, and he stopped for a moment. "Couple of weapons would go down a treat too."

Samantha looked at him with no small amount of curiosity. "You've powers, don't you?"

"Yeah, but why play all the cards at once?" He looked about. "How effective are conventional weapons?"

"They work well enough," Sam answered. "Their bodies are no less fragile than ours, except they've had a lot of enhancements made to them. We also think there's been some exposure to the Terrigan mists."

"That would make sense," said Dragon, softly. "I'll take two shotguns. We cover them in our trenchcoats. And we'll need those as well."

"You're very accustomed to being in charge," Hasard replied, as she nodded to the quartermaster, who went to fetch the items.

"More like doing my own thing," he said. "I know you've no reason to trust me, and maybe one day I'll tell you everything, but there's a lot I can't say."

"Can't or won't?"

He grinned. "Either." The Quartermaster returned and they got their kit together. Dragon looked at her and Hasard seemed to be far away as she did it, and he knew that look. It meant she was being contacted by a telepath, maybe the Russian, maybe someone else. Either way, he figured that it was about him. "It's never easy, is it Kate," he muttered, then he looked at her. "Ready?"

Sam nodded. "Let's go."

---

Jessica Drew walked through the desolate streets of Victoria Falls, taking care not to be obviously out of place.

"The information better be right," she muttered as she did so.

In the distance she could see the towering form of a Martian Ground Assault Vehicle, which the populace were colloquially referring to as Tripods, a formidable version of the Martian War Machines that had attacked the planet. The energy weapon seemed inert enough, but then again they could spring to life in a microsecond and eliminate any and all threats. The capability of the firepower at their reminded her of the way the sentinels had used to operate, but there while the sentinel program was inhuman in it's operation, the design of the Tripod was simply alien to them.

Skorpsman patrolled the area intermittently, and it reminded her that there was nowhere really safe in this place anymore. Her mission her was simple enough - find the missing hero who possibly held the key to the Resistance. It had taken them a lot of work to find him and the clues had led them, led her, to this place. Get him, get out, that was it, but it would be a miracle if it were that easy. She paused a moment to see the ruins of what looked to have been a school and she wondered about the students that had been there, wondering what they had been doing when the aliens attacked, but she shook those thoughts off and realised that the two letter Ss were showing.

They were almost a mirror of each other, mounted over the Roman numeral for three on top of the SHIELD logo. The third generation of SHIELD Super Soldiers, or what they would have been before the invasion. She pulled her overcoat close around her and hid the insignia beneath the folds. It wouldn't do to be caught sporting that, to be captured and sent to one of the Arena's aboard the Martian mothership, and she shivered and kept on walking, looking for the store that she needed, the shop that belonged to Peter Twaite, or as they believed him to be, Jack Monroe, former partner of Captain America, and former unwitting agent of the Commission for Superhuman Activities. He alone had the key to the vast store of weaponry and objects that had formerly belonged to the various villains, vigilantes and certain heroes that the CSA had confiscated. They had the ability to change the course of the war, as soon as they gained access to it all.

It wasn't long before she found it and if she was right that was Monroe standing there, looking at her as if he recognised her. It was time to make the move and she went in to the store.

"Can I help you?" he said, and she looked at him.

"Jack Monroe?" she asked, her voice quiet and low.

"No, my name is Peter Thwaite. You must have me confused with someone else."

"I see."

"Perhaps you have seen me before, I have done some travelling. Before I settled here I was quite… Nomadic."

She gave a slight trace of a smile and he knew she'd gotten the message, and she wandered around the store. As she passed him, she let her coat slip slightly and he could see the SHIELD crest with another insignia emblazoned on it. She was here as part of the resistance, he knew it and he could guess why she was here.

"Is everything you have?"

"Almost. However I have a very limited stock of handmade works."

"That sounds like what I might be interested in. Would you be interested in a trade?"

"Of?"

"Items. Though you might have to travel to collect."

"Far?"

"You could say that." She looked out of the window and what she saw was not good at all. "Oh hell."

---

"We're too late," said Dragon as they arrived in the middle of town.

"How do you know?" asked Samantha.

"Because those Skorpsmen are gathering together and they don't normally do that unless…"

"They're going for a target." Hasard knew that it meant they had figured out that Jessica was in town and if they figured out who she was then there would be trouble in itself. There was no capture order on her, it was an outright directive to kill on sight.

Dragon reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out his cigarettes. "So let's give them something else to focus on. Oh, for a motorcycle…" He sighed and then he lit up. "The more things change, the more they stay the same." He started to wander over to the Skorpsman, making sure the guns were in immediate reach.

"Hey, wait a moment," started Sam, but Dragon was quite far ahead of her and if he heard her he decided to ignore it. "Oh shit," she said and went after him, forming a sheath of metallic ectoplasm over her SHIELD uniform. It was not that long ago she used her powers only rarely, but ever since the encounter with Lenz, she had used it more and more often and now she was quite proficient. She'd had a long time to get used to her powers, having lived over sixty years and she still had the physicality of her woman in her late twenties. SHIELD had trained her as part of the third generation of super soldiers. Of those that had been on the programme, there were few of them left now, and the number seemed to get less and less every other month or so and she caught up to Dragon just as he got to the Martian militia..

"What do you want, human?" a Skorpsman demanded as Dragon approached.

"To go home, but that's never going to happen," said Dragon. "So I'm just going to do... this." In one swift movement he pulled the shotguns out, hearing the distinctive noises as they loaded and he pulled the triggers, and though they boomed as if shells were fired, booming was all they did. "Oh, crap…" A Skorpsman smacked him, and sent him flying back and he could taste blood in his mouth. "Ow," he said, as Samanha helped him up. "Blanks?"

"We didn't trust you that much," she said, apologetically. "Sorry."

"Heads up," he said, as the Skorpsmen came and Samantha formed two blades from the backs of her armour and she went to work, while Dragon shook his head. He didn't want to reveal himself just yet and he slammed his fist in to the first Skorpsman he could find. It was like punching a wall "Motherfuckahhhhh" he said shaking his fist as the Skorpsman laughed. "Bollocks to that." He didn't want to do this so soon and though he had no real choice, it was more down to the fact he was pissed off. In a flash his hand reached out, and his hot knives flared to life, fired and pierced the Skorpsman, who fell dead as the knife sliced through his head as if it were butter. The Martians were suddenly aware that this wasn't quite what they had thought he was and now he had their attention.

"It is you…" whispered Sam, as she realised what she had just seen and she seized on the opportunity to take out a few more of the invaders and within moments they were all dead at the feet of the two SHIELD agents.

"So, what side do you think I'm on now?" Dragon said.

"I'm sorry," said Sam. "It was just… Look out!" The Tripod had turned and there was already a glow about it and the energy weapon fired and Sam turned the blade in to a bubble shield that protected them from the blast. The ground around the bubble was charred and burnt, almost liquefied by the heat and Dragon could do nothing but look on as Sam grasped her arm in pain.

"Jesus," he said holding her and ensuring she didn't fall over, knowing the armour was also like a second skin and she would have felt a lot of the heat through that. Much would have been channelled away, but at the same time she was going to be severely burnt. "Let me see."

She shook her head. "I'm fine, I'll heal," she said, though her voice was strained and they shared a look, telling each other that they were on the same side and dispelling any lingering doubts. . "I've the call in for us to teleported out…"

"SAM!" shouted a voice and they turned to see Jessica Drew and the man they could only assume was Jack Monroe.

"Hey Jess," she said. "Came to get you out of here."

"Who's your friend?" she said and she Dragon turned around. "You?!" she said, in amazement.

"Pen Dragon," he said quickly. "Any resemblance to someone else you might know is purely coincidental."

"Elena says we've a couple more minutes to transport," said Sam. "And we've got more company…" More Skorpsmen had appeared. "They're here to keep us busy, until the Tripod recharges."

"How long?" asked Dragon.

"Another minute, maybe less," said Monroe. "Guess my cover's shot now."

"Then let's take care of business," Dragon said, "and hope we get out of here before it can fire again." Then he and Nomad went to work, Jessica not too far behind. The two gentlemen did well and then Jessica unleashed a bio-blast of her own and the Skorpsman exploded in a shower of cybernetics and body fluids. "What the hell was that?" shouted Dragon.

"My bio-blasts have that effect on the Martians," she shouted back. "There's something special…"

"I'll say," said Dragon, shaking his head. Now he knew why the Tripod had fired at her right away in the original version of events. Finally it made sense to him - she was as deadly as anything on the planet ever could have been. "That is so cool…" Then he realised that the Tripod was tracking her, and the glow came again and he knew she hadn't seen it. "JESSICA!" he shouted, but instead of alerting her, it served more as a distraction and a Skorpsman managed to nail her leg and she dropped to one knee, and he knew he only had one choice. He ran, and jumped, shoving her out of the way, then turned his head away and shielded his eyes with his arm as the Tripod fired and he was bathed in the full fury of the Martian energy weapon as the blast engulfed him…