Hey so it's been a while since I have been on here, much less posted.
If there was any one interested in this fic, I have been working on rewriting it and making the all over elements more concrete.
Feel free to drop a review, or PM me. Feedback is always appreciated and if any of you read the original copy I hope you find this version much more fleshed out.
Updating will probably happen 2-3 times a month, as I have a lot written, but I am still going back and editing and cutting, and adding and all that Jazz.
If anyone out there feels like being a beta I also wouldn't be opposed to that!

-Bellaxmonster
_

It was quiet in the SOHO district of New York, well as quiet as New York could ever be. Roads were still buzzing with a steady flow of traffic, and bright neon signs lit up the night. Last call was beginning and hordes of people were exiting the many bars and clubs and beginning the trek home. Taxi's horns blared as pedestrians crossed without looking, and in return the intoxicated pedestrians would slur a couple of curses together, occasionally landing a solid hit on the hood before continuing on their original path.

A few blocks from all the commotion sat the residential district, small lofts all smashed together in the towering apartment complexes. A silent figure crept through the small artists loft in the dark, gently picking through the piles of clothing on the ground. They were careful not to make a sound as they tiptoed through the room.

Occasionally they would cast a wary glance towards the messy bed in the corner of the room. A lone man slept soundly, blankets scattered here and there. A car alarm tore through the quiet night, and they froze. The man in the bed groaned and rolled over. A moment later the alarm was shut off, and the sound of soft snores filled the room once more. Letting out a breath the shadow began to move once again, and bent down finally finding what they were looking for. Creeping away from the sleeping figure they quietly let themselves out into the dim hallway of the apartment complex. Clicking the phone in their hand on the number 3:10 am flashed back at the figure, and with a sigh they exited the building.

"You missed your appointment today Nessa."

Vanessa peered down the stairs at the man in the black suit, who leant casually against a light post. His short dark brown hair was in its usual state of disarray, from his nervous habit of running his hands through his hair. Light bags had begun to form beneath his brown eyes, but he still had a look of nonchalance, as if it were normal to be leaning against a pole at 3 in the morning. She took the steps two at a time, rolling her eyes as she passed the man, who pushed off the pole, and followed after her.

"You know me Agent Clark, I don't really do appointment's" The man chuckled, shaking his head.

"Well your free now, how about a drop in?"

"How about you get lost?" She seethed, spinning around on him. Most would have paused, or at least rethought their approach, but this wasn't Agent Clark's first round with Vanessa, and most likely wouldn't be the last. "Tell Fury that nothing's changed since last month's appointment. I'm done with his little physicals; they're a waste of time." Clark shrugged, and shoved his hands into his pockets while pushing past Nessa , who trailed after the man.

"Come on Nessa we do this every month. Could you for once make my job easy and just come in when we decided?" The brunette cocked a brow while snickering at his request.

"I don't do easy either."

"Really? I think you're fuck buddy back there would disagree." He teased and Vanessa's mouth turned into a snarl.

"Now you listen-ugh!" Clark held her body in his arms, waiting for the tranquilizer to fully kick in, before pulling the syringe from her abdomen. Vanessa crumpled over, and Clark hefted her unconscious body over his should with ease.

"Sorry Nessa, Fury's not in the mood today." Agent Clark apologized, walking the rest of the way to the black SUV down the street. He carefully laid Vanessa's body in the back seat before climbing into the front. The black SUV pulled out into the empty side street, before making its way back onto the busier roads. Agent Clark drove in silence, occasionally peering into his rear view to make sure that the tranquilizer was still in effect. That dose of sedative would have put any normal human into cardiac arrest, but SHEILD learned long ago that Vanessa wasn't just any normal human. So he kept a close eye on the girl, a second syringe full of sedative was in the center console, ready to go if she shook off the effects of the first one too early.

Soon he turned into a parking garage, one that looked no different than any other. The night guard slept in his booth, legs up on the desk, but Clark didn't waver. Pulling up to the call box he hit a small yellow button in the corner. With a 'click' the cover slid up revealing a small touch screen pad. His fingers flitted across the screen before a female voice spoke.

"Voice recognition, Name please"

"Agent Clark"

"Voice verification passed, welcome back Agent Clark" The cover on the call box slid back into place and Clark sat back in his seat, rolling his window up as the slab of concrete beneath his car shifted and slowly sank below ground level. Once in the tunnels he threw the vehicle back into drive and slowly drove through the tunnels of SHEILD.

Parking the car he grabbed the syringe from the passenger's seat, shoving in into his vest pocket, before grabbing the still unconscious Nessa, silently thanking whatever higher power there was above that the sedative had held out.

A few agents gave him a nod or a raised eye brow as he made his way down the many winding hallways, though unfortunately this wasn't an uncommon sight. Finally he pulled out one of his key cards, sliding it into an electronic lock, before pushing into the room.

His breath came out in a fog, and he quickly deposited Nessa into a chair in the center of a room, which sat behind a simple metal table. They figured she wouldn't come in voluntarily so they had prepared a room in case she put up a fight. His teeth began to chatter and he quickly turned and left, securely locking the door behind him. Once outside he double checked the temperature gauge. -5 degrees Celsius, just below freezing, perfect.

Running a hand through his disheveled hair he sighed, pulling his phone from his pocket and hitting a speed dial. The phone rang once, before a voice clicked through.

"This is Hill"

"Clark, let Fury know I've got her." There was a brief sound of acknowledgement before the line went dead. Clark deposited the device back into his pocket. With one last glance through the small window of the door before him he pivoted and made his way down the hallway. He needed coffee, and pronto.

Inside the small room Nessa was just beginning to come to. She groaned, bringing a hand to her head where a small headache had formed. He mouth was dry, and she ran her tongue across her lips, trying to wet them.

Cracking her eyes open it took a moment for them to adjust. She already had an idea of where she was, judging by the god awful chill in the room. A small shiver went up her spine and she peered around the mostly empty room.

"Fucking Clark" she groaned,leaning back into the simple metal chair, getting as comfortable as she could. Her breath came in small puffs, and she brought her hands to her face cupping them against her mouth and breathing warm air into them.

A few moments later the familiar click of a lock sounded and the ever familiar face of Director Fury strode into the room, tailed by both Agent Hill and Agent Clark, who now nursed a cup of coffee.

"Vanessa, how nice of you to join us." Fury stated simply, yanking out the chair from across the table and plopping into it.

"Well you know, ask and you shall receive." She replied sarcastically. His single eye trained on her and she scowled back, crossing her arm. "Is this really necessary? I'm not gunna burn down the place, I just didn't want to come in yesterday for your dumb tests."

"That's too bad, but you know I'm finding it really hard to give a rat's ass." Was his terse response. He lifted a hand and Agent Hill moved forward, handing him a manila envelope. He tossed the folder across the table to Vanessa who raised a brow in response. With a nod of his head she reached forward and began to leaf though the documents within it.

"Last year Earth had a few visitors. Meet Thor, he's more from you're neck of the woods." Vanessa's blood orange eyes took In the blond that littered photographs attached to the many papers beneath her. She raised a brow and looked to Fury.

"He's no god I know of." She stated matter of factly and Fury chuckled, standing up and pacing a few steps away, before clasping his hands behind his back.

"He's referenced in Norse mythology, Thor god of thunder. I guess you could say he's the Zeus of Norse mythology." That caught her attention, and Vanessa began to leaf through the papers with a renewed interest.

"So what's he got to do with me?"

"Last year he visited Earth, and by the time he disembarked almost leveled a small town." Vanessa's eyes flickered across the pictures of said town. "We have begun to fund research towards protection in case him or others like him were to return, with bad intentions."

"So you mean you're making some new toys so you can blow their heads off?" Fury gave Vanessa the evil eye, and with a shrug she turned back to the folder. "Just saying, I'm not a kid, I know what you mean by 'protection'." She muttered, Fury continued on, ignoring her attitude.

"It's time for you to become a functioning member of SHEILD."

"Meaning what exactly?" She spat, not liking where this conversation was going. "May I remind you that I never wanted to be apart of your little club! I was picked up after my father dumped me on you and used like a guinea pig."

"I understand that in the past you have been treated sub par-"

"Sub-Par!"

"But," he snapped quickly cutting off Nessa's rant who in turn scowled, and crossed her arms. "we are dealing with beings other than this world, and as of right now you are one of our only defenses."

"And what if I say no?" She asked.

"Then you risk the destruction of the free world on your shoulders." With a roll of her eyes she slammed her palms down on the table, scattering papers from the packet. The legs of her chair screeched as she stood abruptly and stalked towards Fury.

"What makes you think I care about the free world huh? What have they ever done for me? The free world doesn't even know I exist."

"You know, you sure like to act tough but we both know that it's exactly that. An act." Fury called her bluff stepping forward. Vanessa refused to back down, glaring up at the man who in turn glared right back. Finally she scoffed and with a roll of her eyes she turned away from him.

"Fine, I'll join your little club. On my terms."

"Name them."

"First, I want a raise in living expenses."

"Done"

"Second, No stupid uniform."

"You'll have to take that up with Coulson." Vanessa groaned thinking of the agent and his love of vintage Captain America. With her luck she would be dressed in a spangly jumpsuit by the end of the week.

"Third, I work on my own terms. You know I don't play nice with others." Fury smirked and turned away from me.

"Well unfortunately that's where your terms end." Agent Hill stepped forward from her place beside Agent Clark, and handed fury another packet. In turn he handed it to Vanessa who held it as if it would turn around and bite her.

The words 'Avengers initiative' stared back and her. Setting the file atop the already scattered pages of the first file she began to browse the pages full of pictures and bio's.

She paused briefly on a picture of herself. It was taken upon her release of SHEILD's custody, and she quickly turned the picture over. Her eyes flitted over her outline and her lips quirked up into a smirk.

"Subject is childish and has no sense of well-being for those around her. She lacks the skills of a leader and her irrational tendencies make her an unstable candidate for the Avengers initiative," she read aloud before throwing a catty grin over her shoulder. "Looks like even YOU don't me in your little club. Why the change of heart?"

"Things have changed. At the time of your evaluation the Avengers was a distant and unlikely possibility." She shrugged, turning to the next file in the folder and groaned aloud.

"You have got to be kidding me!" she cried in dismay. Fury raised a brow in question and she held up the picture of Tony Stark with his ever present shit eating grin. "There is no way your sticking me and him in the same room." Clark chuckled softly and Fury turned abruptly to him.

"Agent Clark, is there something you would like to share with the class?" Fury asked him and Clark instantly straightened up.

"Sorry Sir, I just forgot that Nessa and Stark had already met before and things didn't end well." Vanessa pouted, throwing the picture back into the folder and flipped to the next Bio.

"He's an inconsiderate, chauvinistic pig." She finished as she stared down at the familiar photo of Natasha Romanoff. She had met the assassin turned agent many times, and when she was younger even went through many training operatives with the woman.

"Be that as it may, Stark is still a candidate. However, this team has not yet been cleared by the board and as of now you are acting as a solo party. You will be kept up to date in matters involving other worldly contact, and in return I expect you to begin your training once again. Your last evaluation was less than superb."

"I was a little hung over, what can I say?" Clark sighed at her non chalant response, shaking his head and Agent Hill wore her ever present scowl. The two agents were shivering in their corner of the room, and Clark scowled when he went to get a sip of coffee but had found that it had frozen solid in his Styrofoam cup.

"Agent Clark here will take you to update your clearance level and outfit you. I expect to see you logging at least 5 hours a day in the training facilities." Vanessa gave a mock salute and without another word Fury turned and left, Agent hill following quickly after him.

"Well Clark shall we blow this popsicle stand?" Vanessa asked gathering the files back into neat stacks, before tucking them beneath her arm.

When she exited into the hallway she found Clark furiously rubbing at his arms and trying to warm his extremities.

"You humans are so fragile. A little time spent in a freezer and your turning blue."

"Well not all of us run a normal body temperature of 105 Fahrenheit." He teased and Nessa gave him a tight lipped smile.

"Oh and Clark?" The man gave a 'hmm' of acknowledgement before the neck of his shirt was tightly gripped in an olive colored hand and he was slammed back into the wall behind him. "Tranquilize me again, and I won't be so forgiving am I clear?" She threatened, fiery eyes burned into his earth toned ones and he gave a sheepish smile.

"Crystal." She released him and spun on her heel, heading down the hall.

"Good, now let's get this done with. I'm exhausted and really don't want to be here any longer than I have to." Clark adjusted his tie against his shirt and shook his head at the retreating female. Childish and irrational was just the tip of the ice berg with her.

The next two hours were spent flitting through the many halls of SHEILD as Nessa updated her fingerprint scans as well as went through the process of receiving a new I.D., programming her voice for recognition, and mapping out her eye for occipital scans.

When all was said and done she had a new folder to go with the other two, and a raging attitude from her lack of sleep.

"Can you take me home now? You've kept me out way past my bed time." Vanessa complained and Agent Clark chuckled, steering back towards the underground parking garage.

The ride back to her small flat was quiet, with Clark's eyes on the road and Vanessa's on the folders in her lap. By the time she recognized her street her eyes were heavy, and her head was full of big words and 'what ifs'.

"You know, being a part of something isn't a bad thing." Agent Clark broke the silence as they pulled up next to the curb. Vanessa looked to the man and offered him a small smile.

"For you maybe, people like me, if there even are people like me, we don't thrive by relying on others." Vanessa unlocked the door of the car and pushed it open. Clark reached across the center console, setting a hand on her forearm.

"You know, you're not alone Nessa. If you ever need to talk or anything or if you're lonely…" Vanessa carefully shifted her arm from Clarks grasp.

"Sorry Clark, but I keep work and home separate. It's kind of a rule I follow. Keeps things simple." Agent Clark gave her a small smile, sitting back in his seat.

"You're many things Vanessa, but simple isn't one of them. Have a good night."

"Night Agent Clark." She slammed the door shut and watched the SUV pull away from the curb and disappear down the street. As much as that man annoyed her she knew that dee down she had a soft spot for him. He was one of the only agents who had ever treated her like a normal a sigh she looked up to the sky to see the early rays of morning peeking over the many buildings of New York.

She tromped up three flights of stairs, finally coming to her flat. With groggy eyes she felt her way to the lock, and after a few misses finally got the door open.

The flat looked exactly how she had left it early last night when she had left. Her small open concept kitchen still had a stack of takeout boxes, and plastic trays left from microwaveable dinners littered upon the counters. The small living room sat untouched, small box T.V. turned off and the couch had a simple red blanket thrown over it.

Down the hall the door to her office was left cracked open, and a small sliver of light from the window left a shadow in the hall way.

Vanessa stepped into the house, closing and locking the door behind her. She made her way to the kitchen table, which had various other papers already scattered about it and set her new stack of folders down. She slipped off her heeled boots and left them laying haphazardly in the hall as she made her way towards the bathroom. Pushing open the first door on the left she looked at her self in the mirror and groaned.

Her once intricately pinned hair hung down around her face in loose ringlets, and her eye makeup had smudged throughout the night, leaving her looking reminiscent of a raccoon. She grabbed a small blue toothbrush out of the drawer, and lazily set to work brushing her teeth with one hand, while digging out a make up remover wipe from the drawer with her free hand.

She didn't bother brushing her hair, rather pulled out the many pins that were no longer doing their job, and bundled the mass of dark brown locks ontop of her head, securing it with a black elastic.

She peeled off her jacket and then her jeans as she walked across the hall to her room, not bothering to throw the articles of clothing into the hamper, and instead flopped face first onto the queen sized mattress that sat on a box spring upon the floor.

Her room was simple, with out any homey touches. A plain wooden dresser sat in the corner by her closet which was stacked high of shoes and accessories. A floor length mirror was propped against the adjoining wall, and was littered with necklaces and other jewelry around the edges and base of it.

Looking up at the small bedside table Vanessa groaned. It was already 7 in the morning. Plugging her track phone into the outlet she grabbed a pillow, covering her face. Today was not going to be a good day.

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