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This shouldn't be hard for you, you've done it plenty of times before. You pretend to be someone else, protect whoever the target is –or get what you need from them–, successfully complete the mission, and then go back home as if nothing happened.
Undercover long missions have never been your favorites. You know the undercover thing is important for your safety, but you don't particularly like lying to people's faces, especially to those who aren't the enemy and with who you end up getting along with.
However, it's clear why you're the best choice for most of these kinds of missions and why you're so good at them.
You're a completely anonymous superhero, kind of like Spider-Man. You wear a mask when you go out to fight and use your superpowers, so no one, except the Avengers team, knows who you are. You managed to convince them long ago that you would only be part of the team with the condition to be anonymous for the public, so you could have a “normal” life behind it, and you’ve made it work for years now.
And also, you have a naturally protective personality that helps you perform in these kinds of tasks.
Your powers and abilities are also an advantage for these missions. You were trained as a spy from a young age, and you reinforced that training when you joined the Avengers, thanks to Natasha (the Black Widow), which makes you good at this kind of work. Beyond that, the enhanced strength and reflexes that the super-soldier serum gave you, help a lot. You have an instinct that makes you sense you when something's off, allowing you to react quickly. And, most importantly, telekinesis: you can move objects with a gesture of your hand, sometimes even imperceptibly.
Given all that, all of your previous missions have ended successfully. Then why are you feeling so anxious now?
Oh, right, maybe you forgot to mention that this mission directly involves someone you've been pining and crying over for years.
Taylor Swift.
Yes, the one and only Taylor Alison Swift. Someone you also might have had a little crush on at some point. But like, who wouldn't?
You're sure that Nick Fury, your boss, wasn't aware of what Taylor means to you when he thought of you for this assignment. On the other hand, you're certain that some of your teammates knew exactly what they were doing when they insisted that you were perfect for this mission.
Taylor is your favorite singer. You've never really considered yourself an obsessive fan or anything like that, you don't tend to be parasocial. You know you don't know her at all and you don't know anything about her life other than what she reveals and what is said about her.
But you empathize with her. Maybe the fact of being who you are –even if you're not publicly known–, and being surrounded with your teammates, makes you better understand what a life like hers, full of spotlights, can be like. And that, at the end of the day, she's just a normal person who has to deal with the consequences of fame.
But her music has, in some way, been with you through some of your worst moments, and also through the best. You'll always be very grateful to her for that. And you'll always wanted to let her know.
So, maybe you're just a little nervous because you're about to meet her for real. And you're going to spend a lot of time with her.
You know you won't compromise the mission in any way just because you're a fan of her music, but that doesn't stop your leg from shaking in the backseat of the car they sent to pick you up as you head to the place where you're supposed to meet her.
Your thoughts wander to why you're here in the first place. Days before getting this task, the team received information from several undercover agents about a Hydra-linked terrorist group that has been having discreet meetings for some time. You don't know exactly what their target is, but you’ve discovered that Taylor has been mentioned in their conversations on several occasions.
The entire team thought it made sense that the artist of the moment, and what will possibly be the biggest tour of all time, would be a perfect target for whatever they plan to do to draw attention. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be the first time they've taken advantage of such a situation.
Your mission is to stay close to her and her surroundings during The Eras Tour to watch for any suspicious movements, perhaps identify a mole, or act quickly if you receive an alert without having to wait for the team to arrive and it be too late. You hope that last thing doesn't actually happen, it's almost never happened before on other missions. And you've never had to compromise your identity.
Initially, you would simply join as part of the tour security team, allowing you to travel with them for most parts of the tour and keep watching from the inside, keeping a low profile while observing every detail.
However, an unexpected situation opened an even better door for you: the opportunity to become Taylor's personal bodyguard.
Your boss, Nick Fury, didn't hesitate for a second to take advantage of this, giving you the perfect excuse to be closer to her, just in case. This means not only protecting her during the tour, but also being by her side in her day-to-day life, at every moment, on and off stage.
Taylor's regular bodyguard, a guy named Drew, who had been by her side for years, suffered an accident that put him out of service for a while. A broken leg and a harness on his back made him unable to accompany the singer for a long period of time, leaving her without her most important staff.
You'd expect Taylor to have chosen someone from his current team to replace him, but, apparently, although she's been rotating security at her public appearances since the Drew incident, he was the only permanent agent she fully trusted. And no one else on her team was available to take on the role full-time for a tour that long, with everything that comes with the job Drew was doing.
That's where you come in: this situation became the perfect opportunity for your mission.
But why would her team trust a complete stranger with such an important position? Well, Fury took care of that. He provided you with an impeccable fake resume, full of impressive references, –which doesn't mean you don't actually possess all the skills mentioned, and even a few more not listed on paper–.
He also arranged for extensive testing and several interviews with Taylor's publicist, Tree Paine, and Drew himself, making sure your entry into the team seemed completely legit.
Since then, you've been studying how the singer's bodyguard behaved around her. He's literally her shadow, always sticking by her side in public, unless, you imagine, she asks him to. Even at concerts, you've seen videos where you can see him following her around the side of the stage, being discreet but present.
You feel sorry for someone who has to live so protected just because they have a certain level of fame.
Of course, you're used to your life and the lives of your teammates being in constant danger, but you think that having skills that allow you to defend yourself is what makes the difference, none of you need a shadow following you around and protecting you almost every minute of the day, as she does.
You also suspect that this is something more recent, probably related to her growing fame. You know that a few years ago Taylor didn't need so much security around her all the time. But now, being constantly in the spotlight, everything has become too dangerous not to take precautions. You can never be too careful.
Your train of thought is cut short when the car stops and you are told that you have arrived at your destination. The driver himself is the one who escorts you into the building, and when you arrive at the right office, he leaves. You take a short moment to relax and get into the role you’ll have to play from now on.
As you enter, you see that there are already a couple of people inside. One is Drew, sitting in a chair and looking almost as bad as the first day you met him, because of the accident. The other one is a man in a suit who you don't know. Your instincts don't alert you, so you figure it must be someone else from Taylor's team and you don't need to be worried about him. At least not yet.
You greet them politely and a few minutes later Tree Paine, the publicist, comes through the door with a bunch of papers in her hands. She greets you with a handshake as well and explains that these are the NDA contracts you will have to sign. You already knew this, you had been told about it in the interviews and you could tell it was something essential in these cases. It's not the first time you’ve signed one of these either.
You approach the table and lean over to review and sign all the documents, with the men watching you closely. Without needing to watch, you've already noticed that as you go through the pages, Tree has left the room again. And you're almost sure what she's left for.
When you finish with the paperwork, you leave it organized on the table, the man standing there picks it all up to put it into a folder, while you return to your upright position with your hands intertwined and just wait.
The next time the door opens, Tree appears accompanied by a man you recognize as Scott Swift, Taylor's father. Immediately after Taylor herself enters, and you feel your heart skip a couple of beats from excitement, but you quickly recover knowing that no one has noticed your slight hesitation.
Her presence in the room is vibrant, she draws attention without seeking it, you're sure this aura accompanies her everywhere she enters.
Scott is the first to approach, introducing himself and offering you his hand which you politely take in greeting as you introduce yourself. You notice he looks at you suspiciously, but you understand he doesn't trust you yet. No matter how much the evidence and papers say, he is entrusting his daughter's safety to a complete stranger. You don't stop being nice to him for it while you have a few words of welcome.
Next to approach is Taylor, of course. You've noticed the look she gave you while you were talking to her father, those things don't usually escape your sight. You also notice how she cautiously approaches you and offers you her hand with a polite smile. You think she is even more beautiful in person than you thought she was.
“Hi, I'm Taylor.” Her hand is soft as you take it gently. You smile briefly at her as you introduce yourself, but don't let go of your professional side.
“Hi, my name is Cassie Fields. Nice to meet you Ms. Swift.” Saying your fake name at the beginning of missions always feels strange and awkward to you, though you end up getting used to it quickly. But this time, you feel guilty you're lying to her face specifically.
After the initial greeting, Tree explains that although the tour doesn't start for another three weeks, they’ll need you around starting in the next few days for rehearsals. You'll be alongside other guards who will be rotating so you won't be starting out alone on the job at first. She doesn't need to go into detail about what the rest of your job will be like because they've done it before, and they'll explain more when you start.
Taylor, who has been standing behind watching you all this time, steps back with one last curious look before following her father and Tree out of the office after saying goodbye to you. Drew watches you with a mixture of exhaustion and something you can't quite decipher, as the man in the suit picks up the documents and waves a curt goodbye. When they both leave the room, you find yourself alone there, with the echo of their footsteps fading down the hallway.
You allow yourself a moment to breathe, to process what just happened. Taylor's closeness, her voice, her presence... all of that has hit you a little harder than you expected.
But you can't afford distractions, not when you know what's at stake. Your mind repeats Fury's words: “The tour is most likely the target. We need to find out what they want. Stay alert, and don't give yourself away.”
You know that a group like that might want to use Taylor's fame for their own ends, though there are no clear signs of movement yet. For now, your mission is simple: protect her, gain her trust, and wait.
As you adjust your jacket and prepare to look for the exit, you can't ignore the spark of something that has ignited inside you. And you wonder, for the first time, if you'll be able to hold the line between your duty and your emotions for that long.