A SMALL FLASH streaked the sky, disturbing a quiet night, somewhere in the outskirt of Philadelphia. It only lasted a second, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it kind of moment and, already, the flash was gone.
Not one person was paying attention to the sky in this advanced hour of the night. But if they did, they would've seen the spherical, man-sized object slipping out of the beacon.
A small pod was free falling, only gaining in speed as it got closer to the ground. It was propelled violently in the middle of a field, just outside a residential area. The shock of the impact caused a small dent to form in the dirt.
After a few seconds, a lever creaked open and a mane of dark hair slid out of the flying vehicle. Angie — because who else could it have been — hesitated for a moment before taking a step on Earth's ground for the first time in four years
Her eyes closed instantly as she took the time to savour the cold breeze on her face.
Home, finally.
But Angie's moment was short lived as a lightheaded feeling took over the second she opened back her eyes. A churn rose suddenly in the pit of her stomach, making her nauseous. Before she knew it, she was leaning against the pod, spilling her guts on the field's grass.
The man who sold her the transporter had warned about the side effects of intergalactic travel but Angie hadn't expected them to be so sudden and so brutal. Quite frankly, she had shrugged them off, although it seemed like flying at the speed of sound would take a toll on anybody.
The horrible nausea wasn't going away; it got even worse when a set of flashlights beamed in her face. Her head was still throbbing and it took all her willpower to face the newcomers.
"Hey, you!" a male voice called out "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
She recognized the uniforms of police officers and opened her mouth to speak but the words wouldn't come out. Her tongue felt dry as wood and her breath came out in short huffs. Her vision blurred inexplicably, turning everything around her into a hazy mess. They still had their flashlights aimed right at her face, which made it feel like two darts raking holes in her brain.
Angie wanted to get close to the officers, and let them know she wasn't a hostile but her knees buckled the second she tried to take a step. The vertigo hit her like a ton of bricks and she fell brutally on the ground. Before long, her surroundings disappeared into nothingness.
⁂
It wasn't before many, many hours that Angie regained consciousness. Her eyes jolted open as soon as she became aware of her surroundings but the blinding light made her instantly regret it.
She found herself lying on an unknown bed, in a brightly lit room. The clothes she had landed in were gone, replaced by some strange white gown. A wave of panic quickly rose in her gut as she noticed the needle pricking her arm and the wires hooking her to a beeping machine by the side of the bed.
She quickly pushed away the covers before snatching off the electrode pads on her chest. The machine emitted a sharp, shrill sound as soon as she was unhooked. It felt like a jackhammer against her skull, and she let out a low moan, her hand instantly going to her throbbing temple.
Angie heard a commotion outside the room, like people had been alerted that she was awake. Before she knew it, the door burst open and in came a familiar dark figure. The last person she had expected to see at that moment.
Nick Fury. In the flesh.
Seeing the director made her freeze immediately.
"It's okay, you're in safe hands," he reassured, walking up to the edge of the bed.
Angie's breath was caught in her throat and it took a few second to compose herself "F..Fury?!"
"I know you're confused but stay down. I'll explain everything."
She did as she was told, sitting back on the mattress and pulling the covers over her legs. Fury sat on a chair by the side of the bed, observing her with a small smile that unnerved her a little.
She wondered if she was dreaming or if this was really happening... The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, right there in front of her, after four years.
"Glad to see you again," he finally said "After a while, we stopped believing you'd come back."
It was obvious he meant well but his words made Angie wince. It made it even more disheartening to think of how much time she had been away and the four awful years she just had.
"I... its..." she tried to sit up again but the quick movement only worsened her misery of a headache "Ow..." she winced bringing her hand up to her temple.
"You're still a bit disoriented," he remarked gently.
Angie's eyes landed on the needle pricked in her arm. It was connected to some sort of sack filled with a clear liquid.
"What is this?" she finally asked before blinking a few times "How the... am I dreaming?"
Fury chuckled "You've been out for a long time. Relax," he then pointed at her arm "You were dehydrated, we're just giving you fluids."
"W-what happened to me?"
"Your ship landed in Philadelphia," he explained "Some police officers found you and you blacked out."
"Yes, I remember that part," she then furrowed her brows pensively "But Philadelphia...? I was supposed to land in New York!" She rubbed her eyes tiredly before shaking her head "I triple-checked the calculations..."
"It doesn't matter," Fury intervened "We flew you over here as soon as we located you."
"I... thank you, I guess?" she let out, although she was still confused as to where 'here' was "How long was I sleeping for?"
A small smirk etched on his face "About nineteen hours."
"Bloody Hel..." she ran a hand across her face. How could she still feel so weak? Traveling at the speed of sound was really no joke.
"What about my ship?"
"We retrieved it too, it's in our hangar," he cleared his throat, as if trying not to come across too fussy "It's nothing like any alien spaceship we know. How does it work?"
Thankfully, Angie was feeling her headache tone down "It's more of a transporting pod, one of the fastest vehicles in the universe. I was on the other side of the galaxy and it got me here in a matter of hours."
"It got really messed up during the landing," Fury remarked.
Angie cracked a smile. It was almost like she could feel the pain from the bruises covering her side spike up as Fury mentioned her rough landing. The pod was just big enough to fit a single person. It was designed to be fast, which unfortunately meant the space and comfort aspects had to be sacrificed. The trip had left her sore and bruised from being cramped up the entire time; not to mention that she was still recovering from the side effects of sound-speed traveling.
She had definitely seen better days.
"It's okay," she finally told Fury "I don't need the pod anymore. I'm not going anywhere."
The thought of finally settling on Earth brought a smile back on her face. After all, it's what she had been waiting to do for four years. The end-point of her long and endless travels... it was still hard coming to terms with the fact that all that traveling had been pointless and that she would've been better off never leaving in first place... But in that moment, Angie was simply too tired to think about it. All she wanted was to simmer down and breathe for a second.
Oddly enough, Fury's face fell slightly after her last words. It barely lasted a second before he returned to his usual impassible expression. She could tell he had something to say, but Fury being Fury, he kept quiet instead.
"You still haven't told me where I am," she said softly, finally breaking the silence.
He inhaled deeply, choosing his words with great care "You're in a protected facility."
Angie held an insisting look "Where?"
"New Jersey."
She cocked an eyebrow. It wasn't like she could place New Jersey on a map but even she could tell it was as vague as an answer could be.
"Is that all you're going to tell me?"
"For your own safety, yes."
This made Angie chuckle mockingly "My safety. Of course," as much as she loved Earth, what made him think Earthlings could ever threaten her safety? It was a ridiculous excuse, even for Fury "Good to know S.H.I.E.L.D hasn't changed one bit."
She should've known something wasn't right from the way he contemplated her; like he was apologetic and puzzled at the same time. It didn't make much sense to her because the only time she had seen Fury looking sorry was right before the battle of New York, when they argued about project T.A.H.I.T.I... This time around, he looked apologetic in a very different way. The way you'd look at someone before announcing that their loved one just died.
Angie could sense his inner turmoil and it unnerved her to no end. What could be so terrible that he had to mentally prepare before telling her?
Her brows furrowed, bracing herself, but nothing prepared her for the shock of what Fury said next.
"Angrboda... S.H.I.E.L.D as you know it doesn't exist anymore."
It felt like a punch in the face.
"What?!"
Of course she hadn't been the biggest fan of S.H.I.E.L.D. That was never a secret. But she wasn't naive either. S.H.I.E.L.D was a colossal organisation. It had enormous influence and resources with branches all over the planet... something harrowing must've happened for an organisation like that to be dismantled,
Fury ran a hand against the side of his face "You... You really have no idea what happened the last four years, do you?"
A bad feeling immediately rose in Angie's stomach "I was on the other side of the galaxy. I've had no contact whatsoever since the battle of New York!"
There were so many questions tumbling through her mind; most of which she was too afraid to ask. She preferred to wait for the director to start talking, but much to her surprise, he got up from his seat and began heading to the door.
"I-I think I should let you rest some more... You're not in the right mind to have this conversation."
"I've had plenty of rest!" she exclaimed, feeling increasingly more worried "Please, I need to know what happened."
Her thoughts quickly went to the Avengers, her team. If S.H.I.E.L.D was gone, what happened to them? Surely, something must've happened or else he wouldn't be so reluctant to speak... that thought alone made her stomach drop as her mind went to one person in particular... Tony.
The thought of him still made her heart flutter as strongly as it did four years ago. And yet... she hadn't seen or spoken to him once during that time. If something did happen to him, she'd be completely oblivious.
Thankfully, Fury closed the door resolutely and went back to sit on the side of the bed. He inhaled deeply as his piercing gaze finally met hers.
"The thing you have to understand, Angrboda, is that our world is very different from what it was four years ago."
"Then tell me everything," she encouraged "Start from the beginning. Right after the Battle of New York..."
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Hope you guys liked this first chapter! The first book in the series also started with Angie landing on Earth, I'm sort of going for a theme here lmao.
In case you haven't gotten it by now, Angie left Earth to find her brother right after the Battle of New York and she's back 4 years later, after the end of Civil War. This means she has no idea what happened during that time and it looks like Fury's about to update her on everything hehe. What do you think her reaction will be? Any prediction/suggestion?
-L