Aquila Belmonte

> ***"I'm not a mind reader or anything like that. I just... I see those things sometimes. I can imagine exactly what people went through, where their happiness and hurting comes from. Often it's painful, yes, but it helps me to understand."*** *- Toni about her special ability*
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Antonia Sofia "Aquila" Belmonte is a former Air Force sniper and pilot of Italian heritage with the ability to "read" people's memories. She caught the attention of Claudia Donovan during her time with the military, and was eventually hired by the Caretaker as a Warehouse Agent in late 2036. She joined the team around the same time as her partner, Yoshiko Kamara.

## Aquila's Story

Antonia lost both of her parents at such a young age that she doesn’t even really remember them anymore. Her uncle, Sergeant Marcello Belmonte , and his wife took her in and raised her as if she was their very own child. The couple had always wanted kids, and when Antonia was four, they introduced their daughter Fabiana to the world. With that, Antonia practically had a younger sister. The girls grew close despite their differences, and for fourteen years, they stood by one another’s side whether it was needed or not. Her cousin’s safety and happiness became a priority to the older brunette.

In 2029, shortly after Antonia turned eighteen, the family’s annual vacation to Myrtle Beach rapidly went downhill when a bombing left hundreds of people dead. Within them were Fabiana and her mother, who had parted ways with Marcello and his niece barely an hour before. Losing her aunt and especially her cousin this way hit her hard. She had been too young to realize what had happened when her parents died, but that didn’t apply anymore. At age eighteen she was almost an adult, and grief didn’t take pity on her. As it was typical for her, she focused solely on her frustration and aggression and pushed down her sadness and fear.

But it did inspire her too: Only days after the funeral, Antonia approached her uncle to tell him about her plans to join the Air Force. At first, he wasn’t particularly thrilled. He vividly remembered his time overseas, and the idea of the one ‘daughter’ he had left following his example there wasn’t exactly reassuring. But no matter how much it scared him, he knew he couldn’t stop her. And it wasn’t like she wasn’t tough enough. Eventually, Marcello accepted it and even supported her. He introduced her to people on various steps of the food chain of the Air Force and helped her to prepare during her years in college.

Antonia became a skillful pilot and sniper, tenaciously climbing up the ranks. She proved over and over again that she was hell-bent on becoming one of the best. It was never easy, but she devoted all she had to the job and earned the respect of (most of) her teammates. They nicknamed her “Aquila”, which is the Latin word for eagle.

In 2036, Aquila got a call from the Hospital in Lincolnville. Marcello had passed away during a simple surgery, which turned out to be more complicated due to an older injury he carried away from his own time with the Air Force.

Since her uncle had been her last real connection to her childhood, Aquila decided not to dwell on the past. She needed a fresh start, and the evening the mysterious Claudia Donovan showed up in her apartment and offered her an invitation to a “world of endless wonder” proved to be the perfect opportunity.

TBC*...*

## Physical Appearance

Aquila is 5’8”/1.73 m tall and has light olive skin, due to her Italian ancestry. Her brown hair was naturally curly, and her eyes are a brown-ish shade of hazel. However, because of the dark birthmark in her right iris, that eye appears almost black in comparison to the other. Since Antonia has been active all her life, she’s athletically built. A chain can be found around her neck pretty much every day, with her dog tags and a charm of Fabiana’s favorite bracelet as pendants. It’s usually hidden underneath fabric.

## Skills & Powers

Aquila is a skilled sniper, pilot and combatant. When she was a child, she learned how to sew and participated in a lot of sports including swimming, kickboxing, basketball, floorball (hockey) and volleyball.

She’s fluent in English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and French.

Toni also has a skill that sets her apart from most people. She watches others closely, and when she sees a detail (like a scar, for example) she instinctively knows how it came to be. It has even happened that, when she touches someone, she sees single images or flash-like memories out of their mind. That ability has proven its worth throughout her career as a Warehouse Agent, although most people chalk it up to her being observant or trained in psychology.

## Personality & Habits

Aquila has always been the kind of woman who never gives up. She’s incredibly ambitious and determined, and always focused on the task on hand. In general, those traits serve her well when she’s chasing a goal. However, they’re not always so positive. Her stubbornness also makes her almost incapable of admitting that’s she’s not always right, it makes her hold onto grudges and become overly eager in competitions.

She’s clever and can easily adapt to changes. If something doesn’t go the way it’s planned, she isn’t afraid to improvise. That’s actually one of the reasons why she took charge so often while she served overseas. She’s a skilled leader, but doesn’t always realize when it’s time to stop giving orders. At worst, she turns into a critical micromanager with a rather short temper. Her choices might logically make sense and get them out of tricky situations more often than not, but the line between being a strong leader and a bossy bitch is easily crossed when something or someone pushes her too far, disrespects her decisions or underestimates her. She had to deal with a lot of teasing comments and critics while she served her country alongside a mostly male group of soldiers, and can’t quite switch off the ways she trained herself to bite her path through that time.

Antonia is full of energy, honest and independent. She doesn’t back down from a fight and practically dares life to keep coming up with new challenges for her, which ended up being one of the main reasons she accepted the “invitation to a world of endless wonders”.

While she’s rather withdrawn when things get personal, she’s proven that she is a loyal and reliable teammate. She’d do pretty much anything to protect the people she cares about.

When she’s distracted or trying to reassure herself, she plays with the chain almost constantly found around her neck and its pendants. Nervousness causes her to play with the nails of her thumbs, and to keep her annoyance or rage in check, she instinctively crosses her arms and sinks her nails into the skin just above her elbows.

## Relationships

### Sergeant Marcello Belmonte (uncle, deceased)

Marcello was Antonia’s paternal uncle, but he was always like a father to her. He was the one who tucked her in at night when she was a kid, and he taught her to be loyal, brave and kind. The former soldier also inspired her to join the US Air Force. Now, his death is another crack in her aching heart.

### Fabiana Belmonte (cousin, deceased)

Fabi was Marcello’s only child, and therefore Antonia’s younger cousin. They grew up like sisters and did everything together as kids. Toni was never the same after the other girl’s death.

### Claudia Donovan-Jinks & Steven Jinks (employers)

Claudia and Steve are the Caretaker and Special Agent in Charge of Warehouse 13, and therefore Antonia’s bosses. While the agent prefers to keep her relationships at work professional, she can’t deny that she’s never gotten along with her employers this well before she worked for them.

### Yoshiko Kamara  (partner)

Junior Agent Kamara is Antonia’s partner in the field. They’re two very different women, but at the end of the day, they balance each other out and work well as a team.

## Trivia

* Her paternal grandparents were immigrants from Italy, while her mother's family originates from Portugal and Spain.
* The origin of her unusual ability is unclear, but according to her uncle, she inherited it from her mother.