Re: Open to SHIELD
Maria watched from the Helicarrier, hovering majestically low over the harbor. Other nations could have a fleet review by someone with impressive bloodlines: America had a Helicarrier. Maria liked to think that it was what was right with the world.
There wasn't much for SHIELD to do: this was the jurisdiction of the Secret Service, the FBI, the CIA, and the rest of the alphabet. Every so often, there was an incident - mostly reports that someone was in two places at once, which was duly annoying but not illegal - but managing the communication between the organizations and the heroes on call and the occasional flash of something in their jurisdiction still consumed her, even as she listened to the speech.
Tomorrow, she would need to stand in front of this man and read him into highly classified missions, the informal transfer of command from some nebulous cloud of outgoing-president and pre-Inauguration. Tomorrow, she'd have to look him in the eye and take whatever orders he'd give her for the betterment of "the People" who had presumably elected him, and probably even thought the talk of being their own heroes was inspiring.
She was cynical. She did not believe in the Avengers, not as they currently were, but she believed in Luthor less. The Avengers had proven that they could, in fact, save the world. Luthor was angling to when it didn't need to be saved from alien invaders.
He would be a strong leader, the way she was. Law and order, protocol. That she knew from his reputation. If he tried to impose his will on SHIELD, she would fight him with all the red tape in her desk. That's what SHIELD - her SHIELD - did.
Feed from War Machine popped up, and Maria had to comment. "Didn't Prometheus end badly? Eyes on the perimeter."