It looked like it was time to train the two of them properly—so that next time he wasn't around, they could at least hold things together for a while, instead of the agency grinding to a halt like now. Raymond rubbed his chin, studying Skye and David as he thought this over.
Being stared at like that made both Skye and David uneasy. They both had a bad feeling.
The last time Raymond had looked at them like this was right before dragging them off to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s academy.
For rookies like them, life at the academy had been painfully tough.
By rights, David should have done better than Skye—after all, he had several abilities and great potential.
But Raymond had already given him strict orders: no using powers to cheat.
If it were Skye, she might have tried to cut corners. But David was too honest. Since he had promised Raymond, he would never break that rule halfway.
So both of them had endured purely through willpower.
Compared to the other students, they had been at a huge disadvantage—latecomers starting completely from scratch.
Luckily, both of them were talented, especially Skye, who slipped into the role quickly.
David wasn't as naturally suited for the training, but seeing Skye stick with it pushed him to grit his teeth and hold on.
By now, the two of them had adapted to the high-intensity training, catching up with the others. They didn't even find it as hard anymore—in fact, they had started to enjoy it.
But when they saw that look on Raymond's face again, they still felt a chill down their spines.
"You two can skip the academy for now. I have a task for you," Raymond finally said after keeping his gaze on them.
"A task? What task?" They glanced at each other nervously.
"Find a woman named Jia Ying…" Raymond said slowly.
"Jia Ying? A Chinese?" Skye's Chinese wasn't great, but as a Chinese-American, she instantly recognized the name.
"That's right," Raymond nodded.
"There must be lots of people with that name. If you want us to find her, do you have more details? Like a photo?" Skye asked.
"If I had a photo, I wouldn't need you to search. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s face-recognition system isn't for show," Raymond shook his head. "But I can give you more details…"
He then told them everything he knew about Jia Ying—except for the part connected to Skye.
This was both a test and training. He didn't want Skye getting too emotional and messing up her performance.
"Inhumans?" Skye frowned at the strange word. David also looked blank.
Even though he was a mutant and counted as a superpowered being, he wasn't familiar with the broader world of powered people.
What's more, most of the Inhumans now lived on the moon. Before the obelisk—the Terrigen Crystal—was triggered, there weren't many bloodlines awakened on Earth, so very few people even knew they existed.
Still, there were many people who carried Inhuman blood. Skye, standing right in front of Raymond, was one of them.
Her mother, Jia Ying, was an Inhuman—and one of the oldest still alive, having lived for hundreds of years.
Her ability was life force absorption, but her combat strength was extremely weak—basically useless in a fight.
Seeing the three of them look so lost, Raymond didn't go into detail about the Inhumans' origins. The backstory was long and complicated, not something that could be explained quickly.
Besides, revealing everything too early would take the fun out of it. So he only said:
"You can think of them as a group similar to mutants, but not exactly the same. Their powers don't come from the X-gene."
"But that's not the point."
Raymond waved his hand. "I'm giving you one month to find her. If you can do it, I promise each of you a reward that will absolutely satisfy you."
"Ok!" Skye and David nodded quickly.
Raymond then turned his gaze to Beth, smiling as he asked, "Are you interested in joining them?"
"Me?" Beth blinked, pointing at herself as if to make sure she hadn't misheard.
"Yes, you."
"But I don't know how to do anything, and I don't have powers. Wouldn't I just be a burden to them?" Beth looked tempted, but still hesitant.
Of course she was tempted. Sitting in the office all day was boring.
The reason she wanted to follow Raymond back to D.C. in the first place was because she didn't want to return to that bland, ordinary life. Deep down, she longed for something different.
That was why she had given up a stable, high-paying job to come here and work for Raymond.
Granted, Raymond paid her well—actually better than her old salary—but what she really wanted was to see more of the superpowered world, not just stay in the office doing chores.
Still, she knew she couldn't compare to Skye and David.
She'd seen David's powers before—powerful enough that even someone like her, with little knowledge of the superhuman world, could tell he wasn't weak.
And Skye, as one of the world's top hackers and the former ace of Rising Tide, could be useful even without powers.
But her? Sure, she had her skills as a therapist, but in this kind of mission, would that really help? Jumping in blindly might just make her a burden.
She trusted that Skye and David wouldn't look down on her, but she herself didn't want to be dead weight.
Raymond saw her worries and chuckled. "Who said you can't do anything? You know what the other two are like—one grew up in a psychiatric hospital, the other's a shut-in nerd."
"In this kind of investigative mission, you'll be dealing with people a lot. Having a professional therapist with them means they'll make far fewer mistakes."
Skye and David didn't argue. What Raymond said was true. Neither of them were exactly smooth in social situations.
Even Skye usually relied on quick thinking and improvisation to get by. Sometimes it worked, but often her true nature as a shut-in showed through—and she could make some pretty basic mistakes.
David was even worse—quiet, honest, and unwilling to talk to strangers at all.
Together, he and Skye would definitely run into trouble.
With Beth's social skills and her insight as a therapist, she could make a big difference.
So the two quickly agreed that she should join them.
Beth didn't fuss about it either. She could tell Skye and David were sincere, so she nodded and accepted.
Just like that, the three of them slipped into work mode.
Skye started digging online, filtering intel that matched the details Raymond had given, while the others prepared to follow up on leads.
"I wonder if Beth will be able to trigger the 'gift' John left in her last time," Raymond thought as he watched them busy at work.
Back when the John Constantine sub-personality had fought the Shadow King, he had sealed the enemy's final spiritual energy inside Beth.
According to him, Beth might one day awaken psychic powers because of it.
But when, and what exact powers, no one could say.
That was part of the reason Raymond had thrown her into this task—maybe a little push would help.
Besides, after this mission, Skye's Inhuman bloodline would likely be awakened too.
At that point, Beth would be the only ordinary person left in the agency, and that wouldn't feel good for her.
Better to nudge her forward now. Who knew—she might even awaken before Skye.
After assigning them this training, Raymond left them to it and opened up the case files Beth had compiled while he was away.
She had carefully recorded every commission that came in, along with contact details, waiting for him to review them.
Since Raymond hadn't advertised at all, every client had come through referrals—either from Vincent or Tony.
And those two had wide networks. A single mention at a party was enough to send clients flooding in.
So, in less than a week, there were already seven or eight cases lined up.
Raymond skimmed through them and found most were small, simple matters—things any normal detective agency could handle.
He marked those for Beth to politely decline later.
Only two cases really caught his eye. One of them came from someone he knew—
Ren Yan, branch leader of the North American Hongmen's Washington Lodge.
The same person who, through Vincent's introduction, had helped Raymond get his private detective license.
Since it was from someone he knew, Raymond would accept it no matter what. Even if he wasn't interested, it was still a matter of keeping good relations.
Not to mention, this particular commission did interest him—he could already smell profit in the air.
With that, he picked up the phone and dialed Ren's number.
Hearing that Raymond was back in D.C., Ren was delighted and immediately suggested they meet at the same seafood restaurant as before—Dongliu Seafood House.
Raymond agreed. After letting Beth, Skye, and David know, he headed straight for Chinatown.
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