10295/Adding an Arsenal

Adding an Arsenal
Date of Scene:	26 February 2022
Location:	Interview Room: Triskelion
Synopsis:	May interviews young Roy Harper about his desire to become a SHIELD agent. She's willing to give him an audition.
Cast of Characters:	Melinda May, Roy Harper

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Melinda May has posed:
Despite the challenges May has been facing lately, there's still some administrative work she's permitted to do -- providing someone else signs off on it. Interviewing a 19 year old vigilante from Gotham, apparently, is part of that. She enters the pleasant interview room, a tablet in her hands, just about on time. She's dressed semi-formally today, dark trousers, a pale blouse, and black blazer. No weapons. Her SHIELD lanyard around her neck.

She looks up as she registers young Mr. Harper's presence and gives him a faint smile and a nod of greeting. "Mr. Harper," she says, closing the door behind her. "Sorry if I've kept you waiting. Would you like anything before we begin? Water? Coffee?" She lifts the brown paper cup in her hand. "Tea?"

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy came dressed...well like a 19-year-old vigilante from Gotham. He's wearing stuff that might have fallen out of a Salvation Army delivery van. Next to him is a beat-up backpack that contains his Arsenal uniform and his collapsed bow. Security confiscated the arrows and various gadgets, promising to return them to him when he leaves.

"No thanks," he says. He's calm. He's easy-going. He's relaxed despite having been disarmed. But what he isn't is polished. He's just what you might expect: a young man who nightly fights for his very life against usually overwhelming odds in some of the worst neighborhoods of one of the worst cities. Someone like that generally doesn't know the difference between a dinner fork and a salad fork, or have the good sense to wear a suit. He showered and brushed his hair though! And that's...that's actually something for Roy.

Melinda May has posed:
May knows that spit-and-polish has its place. But so does raw skill and talent. After all, they recruited Daisy out of the back of a very stinky tinyhouse hacker's dream van. She nods again to him, setting her tea down and taking a seat opposite him. The light from outside spills across the table, highlighting the edge of her tablet, still held in her hand. "So, what brings you to SHIELD, Mr. Harper? I've got a note here that suggests you're looking to join us. Care to tell me about that?"

She's starting fairly casual. Thanks to her developing empathic gift, she's able to read and assess his emotions as they speak. The fact he's calm and low-key could work in his favour, providing it doesn't hide laziness and poor attention to detail. However, she highly doubts anyone survives the streets of Gotham with those two faults. So, that's likely not going to be his achilles heel.

Roy Harper has posed:
"I'm looking to step up my game," Roy says matter-of-factly. He seems earnest in his presentation, though the calm-and-collected thing is definitely practiced. "I recently parted ways with the Outsiders. I'm in the process of separating from the Titans. They're good people with important missions. I owe them a lot."

The young man shifts his position, giving away that he is about to say something that makes him somewhat uncomfortable. "But I think I've outgrown those missions. If I'm going to risk my life night after night after night, I want it to mean more than just keeping two shitty gangs from killing each other."

Melinda May has posed:
May can respect that. She even gives another of her faint smiles -- a look a lot of cadets would kill for in a training session. "You're Arsenal, right?" She glances again at her tablet. "It's quite the assortment of equipment you've got. Hawkeye would probably be impressed." She likes Barton. Good man, him.

And, as soon as the young man's app came in, SHIELD Ops went to work on his background check. There's not much that could be hidden from them.

"I see here you're in an NA/AA group," she notes. "Nine months. Congratulations." She sounds sincere about it. Her dark eyes lift from the screen to regard him, silently listening with the sixth sense for his reaction. "SHIELD is a pretty stressful job. In the past year alone we've gone from being considered one of the world's best law enforcement agencies to being considered one of its worst terrorist offenders and back again. And that's just what's pubic knowledge." It was all over the media, after all. US Secretary of Defense Denver Maelstrom was less than flattering of the organization for months. The new SecDef hasn't said much at all.

"Under normal circumstances, we're pretty wary about letting people with addictions into training -- for two reasons: One, the stress can induce a relapse, which isn't good for either of us and, two, a relapse can lead to a security breach." Her expression is grave as she says it. "You're young. You've taken active steps to deal with it, I can see. That speaks well you of you. So, tell me a little about it, if you don't mind." She's trying to get a feel for who he is now, and perhaps who he might become.

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy is no fool and there is no part of him that expected to come into an interview with one of the world's foremost actionable intelligence agencies without them knowing everything from his underwear size to his drug and alcohol habit. The question doesn't take him by surprise. He was expecting it.

"I mean, what's to tell. I'm a drug addict and I'm an alcoholic. I'll always be a drug addict and an alcoholic until the day I die, whether I work for SHIELD or for 7-11. The stress and the purpose keeps me off the drugs."

Roy exhales as he stands up and slips his hands casually into his front pockets. "Look, you know everything there is to know about my history. You probably literally know things about me that /I/ don't know. I had a shit childhood. I came up rough. Boo-hoo, cry me a river. Ollie Queen saved me in all the ways someone can be saved. And so now I honor my dead father's memory and I honor Ollie's trust by doing whatever I can do to make a difference. And /that/ is why I'm nine months sober."

Melinda May has posed:
Harper's attachment to the Queen CEO is certainly documented, as are references to Queen's own interesting history. May nods again, suppressing a chuff of amusement, turning it into a soft grunt of understanding instead. After all... her preferred method of dealing with stress is hitting the bad guys, too. She can't fault the kid for that. Lots of agents have that motivation.

"Okay," she says, setting the tablet aside. "So, tell me what's not in my questions. I've got a list of them. A whole lot more I could go through -- why the Titans? Why the Outsiders? Why Gotham and not Starling City or New York? I've got a bunch of them and we both know they're both pretty standard and not really what's going to sell SHIELD on you." A beat. "Sell *me* on you." Because she's the gatekeeper, here. "Tell me who you are, who Arsenal is, and why SHIELD? But think about this as you do: Every SHIELD agent is here to make a difference in some way or another. All of us want to fight the bad guys and make the world safer. Tell me why you think SHIELD is the best place you personally can do that -- instead of trying to get into the Justice League or the Avengers or GCPD or the FBI or ARGUS, the DEO, Checkmate..." She could go on, but he's probably gotten her point by now. "Why SHIELD specifically. And why you?"

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy turns around. His hands come out of his pockets as he sits again. "Why me? Psh. I'm /nobody/. SHIELD doesn't need me. I got nothin' to bring to the table that you don't already have ten of." He looks Melinda directly in the eye. A straight-shooter, this one. "I can beat a dozen guys and walk away. Captain American can do that if he had the flu. I can put an arrow into an arrow into another arrow on the bullseye. Hawkeye can do that while wearing a blindfold. I make some pretty clever gadgets that get me out of jams. Tony Stark's rejects are better than my best stuff."

Crossing one leg over the other, Roy sits back in his seat. "All I have for SHIELD is an understanding that I ain't got nothing for SHIELD that it doesn't already have a better version of. All I can offer is to shut my mouth, learn, and work every day to show that I /want/ to be a part of the team, that I /want/ to have the privilege of helping to make a difference on the scale that SHIELD does." He shakes his head and shrugs. "That's all I got for you. That and I make pretty good chili."

Melinda May has posed:
It's a good speech. And one May can tell is sincere. She was always good at picking out deception, before. Now, she's one of the best SHIELD's got. She studies him for a long moment. It's hard to trust her gut these days, as angry as she is. She's always having to draw on calmer emotions held by others to be able to see straight. He's calm. That helps. But she reaches out beyond this room to other agents in nearby so she doesn't run the risk of reflecting too much of his own desire in her decision.

It doesn't change her gut reaction at all.

"Okay, Harper. Here's the deal: You've got experience under your belt. We know that. You've got skills. What you don't have is SHIELD procedural training. While that could make you a liability, your profile says you're smart, when you don't let your temper control you." She actually allows a bit of a bitter smirk to touch her lips. "I know all about controlling temper. So I'm going to give you a chance to prove yourself. A field test. You'll an NDA and accompany a team of agents on a field mission. You'll be assigned an SO whose orders, in addition to the team captain, you'll need to follow. And who will give me an assessment when it's over. If all goes well... we'll bring you on board more formally. Deal?"

Roy Harper has posed:
If Melinda is empathic than she can feel the relief fill Roy Harper. He was sure that he had too many strikes against him. But maybe that speaks to something about his character that he tried anyway. There's something to be said for people who are willing to put themselves out there and be judged.

He nods. "I agree," he says with a smile that chases away that too-cool-for-school thing he usually has going on. "And thank you. I'll give it everything I have, and if you guys decide I'm not right for the organization then I'll go on my way and not make any hassle."

Melinda May has posed:
May rises and extends her hand to him. "I'll hold you to it," she says seriously, though there's a glint in her eye. "Welcome -- *provisionally* -- aboard, Mr. Harper."

She'll have to let Carter know what she's said, of course. And hope the Grand Dame actually accepts her recommendation. But chances are very good she will. Peggy trusts Melinda.

"And good luck."

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy reaches out and takes Melinda's hand, squeezing firmly enough to show that he understands the gravity of the situation. "Thank you very much..." Melinda never introduced herself so Roy adds, "ma'am."

"Will someone from SHIELD reach out to me when my tryout is going to be held?"

Melinda May has posed:
"'Agent May' will do," the commander replies. She hates 'ma'am'... though not nearly as much as she hates 'The Cavalry'. "Or Commander if you really feel you must, but... May is just fine."

She nods. "We'll let you know. It won't be long. Do you have any other questions?"

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy's face breaks into a grin. "Yeah, can I get my stuff back? It's pretty expensive. They took it at the security checkpoint."

Melinda May has posed:
May actually does laugh at that, though it's a quiet sound. "Yeah. Talk to security on the way out. They'll give it back." And make sure he leaves once they do. But that's just normal for an armed visitor. Especially one that comes in looking like a punk kid from the wrong side of the tracks. "Good luck, kid."