Cassidy Scott has been living a pretty normal life since the fall of Shield. But, when she receives a letter from the Director, it's impossible for her not to answer his call. She wasn't too sure what to expect when she found herself meeting with Coulson, but it wasn't Captain America requesting someone to help his best friend. Now she's getting whisked off to Africa to help the same man who might as well be the reason she is still alive today.

Oh, and one more thing. She's not exactly a therapist.


Chapter I.

Cassidy liked to consider herself a pretty normal person. She had a normal job, lived in a normal place, grew up normal. Sure, her life itself hadn't always been, well, normal. But, that was the past and this was the present. A present where she lived only for herself and the stray cat that liked to hang out on her fire escape. Not for some super secret organization who sent her on weird, suicide missions, and asked her to experiment on weird alien type things.

She wasn't a Shield Agent.

Yet, the letter burning a hole in her pocket told her differently. According to it, she had never actually left, and they were allowed to call for her anytime they like. That wasn't what it actually said, but she got the gist of it. The strange man who had dropped it off had made sure she got the gist of it. She shuddered as she thought back to the slicked man sitting at the counter sipping on a cup of stale coffee. If she could go back in time, she would warn her past self to not make friendly conversation with the man as she busts the tables because it wasn't going to end well.

She stared up at the antique shop letting a lone chill run up her spine causing her to slightly shudder. She was still in her work clothes, a green shirt and a khaki apron, with regular blue jeans, and she smelled like baked goods. Why couldn't she of checked this place out on a weekend? Well, because the letter had said in case she was bored and Monday nights were always boring. She slipped a hand into the front pocket of her apron and brought out the letter. She didn't open it. She just fingered the material as she looked through the store window. In thick letters, the address of the shop was spelled out: '1759 Willow St.' Exactly where the letter told her to go. She took a deep breath and entered the small store.

There was an older woman standing behind the cash register. She greeted Cassidy with a small nod and continued whatever it was she was writing. Cassidy took a few moments to herself to look around the store before going up to the cashier.

"I'm a bit rusty at this," she admitted the woman. The woman looked up from what she was writing and smiled warmly at her.

"That's alright."

Cassidy was relieved she had finally told somebody what she had been thinking her entire journey to the shop. She wasn't an Agent anymore and she hadn't acted as one in over two years. She had found a nice, over expensive apartment, opened up a small business and settled into the somewhat peaceful life of a New Yorker. She was rusty at everything when it came to being some highly trained person. She even stopped working on her never ending thesis.

"Okay," Cassidy said. "Now that I've gotten that out of the way." She glanced around the store once more to make sure no one else was present and then with a big breath spoke, "I'm looking for a certain antique."

"We have lots to choose from," the woman said reaching for something behind the counter. Cassidy, for a small moment, panicked. At first she imagined the woman pulling out a gun, but then she rationalized that would be a little to showy and there might just be a button alerting some beefy dude hiding in the back of the shop.

She just walked into the trap.

Her fears were put to rest when instead the woman pulled out a small catalogue. "We also have an online store." Cassidy exhaled in relief as she grabbed the small catalogue.

"World War Two memorabilia, that's what I'm looking for."

"We have a great selection to choose from. Anything in particular?"

Cassidy mentally cringed as the next words left her mouth, "Captain America memorabilia." Coulson had, with no doubt, written the code. It had his uniqueness all over it.

"You're one of those, huh?" The woman chuckled. Cassidy smiled warily as the woman turned and disappeared into the back. She came back with a box in her hands. "This is all I have." She placed the box on the counter and slid it over to Cassidy.

Cassidy stood on her tiptoes so she could get a better look into the box. Okay, she thought to herself. What was she looking for again? There were an array of toy shields and helmets, trading cards, and were those underpants? She slipped the letter back into her pocket and reached a hand into the box sift around. She was looking for a small box. She pushed the toy shields aside, bingo.

"This is perfect," she said pulling out a small box covered with comic strips. She opened the small box to reveal a watch. She snorted to herself and set it down on the counter.

"Great choice," the older woman said grabbing the box and setting it down on the floor, behind the counter. Before she knew it, the wall to the back was sliding open revealing a huge eagle emblem. Apparently, they still weren't huge on subtleties. Cassidy breathed out as she turned to look at the woman. She gave Cassidy a reassuring nod before going and closing the front door blinds and locking the door. Cassidy took a deep breath and took a step towards the opening, but she faltered. Did she really want to do this? Her life was pretty good. It was sometimes boring, yes, but it was actually pretty good. Her fingers gripped the sides of her apron as she stepped closer.

She knew, deep down, she couldn't resist answering their call.

The door slid shut as soon as Cassidy stepped into the opening. A light appeared and scanned over her body before a beep sounded out. The floor began to rumble and the wall with the eagle slid open. She wasn't sure what to think when she stepped into the underground facility. People were milling around the place, all with their heads hung low and their minds probably on some specific task. She was certain they had noticed her but decided not to pay any attention to her sudden appearance.

"Hey," A voice greeted her. She turned to see a woman with short brown hair approaching her. The woman wore a mission suit and weird arm braces. "Did you just come out of that wall?"

Cassidy turned to see the wall had slid back into place. "Uh." She was trying to let everything soak in. "Yea?"

"Huh," the woman remarked stopping a few inched from her. She examined the wall with interest before turning to Cassidy. "Coulson sure knows how to plan a entrance."

"Yes, he does." Cassidy agreed nodding. The facility reminded her of the early years of Shield. Hiding in plain sight with store fronts and secret passage ways. Given, there had been a few of those during the more recent days as well. The walls were mostly brick, and the place seemed close knit, but open. Coulson had good taste.

"You look lost," the woman remarked kindly. "I'm Skye."

She was lost. She didn't even know why she was here in the first place. She remembered the letter she had received earlier that day and pulled it out of her pocket. She didn't know who this woman was, but she was the first one to notice Cassidy and she seemed alright.

Cassidy tried to explain herself but it came out in a jumble of words and unfinished sentences. "Just here," she said giving up. She held the letter out towards the woman who took it from her and unfolded it. The woman read it in silence, her lips moving as she did so.

"Let's get you to Coulson." The woman handed her the letter and motioned for her to follow. "He's going to want to see you."

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! I've had this story for a while now and I'm excited to finally be posting it. Anyway, I'll be posting the next chapter shortly, since I feel those first two are mainly set up and then a schedule will be set.

What do you think?...Let me know by reviewing! Lillyxxx