I: Adelaide Fleming

If pressed to answer, Adelaide Fleming would tell you that being a SHIELD agent wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. It certainly wasn't what she had expected for herself; and even after getting used to the idea, she'd thought that at this point in her career, she'd be a little further along.

Adelaide Fleming had always, after all, succeeded in all she tried. It wasn't so much so that she was the type that picked things up easily, but rather her resolve to never quit until she was satisfied with her success. Her mother had always expected much from her, as she had with all her children. All Fleming children had gone on to do great things. The Fleming matriarch was always proud to tell anyone who would listen that she had churned out a politician, a lawyer, a doctor, a decorated marine, and even a respected playwright.

And she'd had no doubts that her youngest daughter would go on to achieve great things. From a young age Adelaide had impressed her teachers with her thirst for knowledge. She was always hard pressed to find answers, and her curiosity was her drive. Children often find themselves at odds with their parents for forcing past times upon them, but Adelaide was always ready to try something knew. Most importantly, Adelaide was never quite satisfied with a simply scratching the surface of a subject.

When her mother had wanted her to learn French, Adelaide had done some and more. She had studied French history, read French literature, courted French music, and learned French mannerisms. When her mother wanted her to learn how to ride horses, she had learned everything from how to help a mare give birth to how the saddle and tack were made and properly cared for. Her mother had expressed regret that her generation knew nothing of classical music, and so Adelaide had learned how to play the piano and violin, and how each instrument functioned and was cared for.

Yet unlike her older siblings, it quickly became clear that Adelaide had no personal ambition of her own. Adelaide wanted only to continue learning, anything and everything, something that worried her mother. Mrs. Fleming's children had all exhibited their callings at a very early age and yet, if asked, Adelaide simply answered that she enjoyed learning and might spend all her life doing so.

Mrs. Fleming decided that it might be best to marry her daughter into prestige, if she could not create her own. This was not an unfamiliar practice to Mrs. Fleming, who had orchestrated the marriage of her oldest son, which was still quite well and respectable. She thought that Adelaide would be easy; though not ambitious to her standards, Mrs. Fleming approved of Adelaide's looks. She found no guilt in admitting that her youngest was also the most the prettiest of her three daughters, and so she believed a suitable match would be easily found.

It was not so. Adelaide proved to be rather headstrong when it came to the opposite sex. She was honest in a sense her mother found rude, and excused her actions on account of being 'bored'. Adelaide had no interest in the boys her mother introduced her to, and her would-be suitors sensed this easily. And so despite how well Adelaide proved to be in her classes and extracurricular activities, Mrs. Fleming worried for her daughter's future.

Mrs. Fleming was not appeased until her youngest daughter received her college acceptance letters and was debating between Yale and Harvard. There, Mrs. Fleming was sure, Adelaide would meet her perfect and appropriate match. This too was not so.

Adelaide had not thought twice when, after accepting early admission to Harvard University, she had been contacted by her new college and invited for a freshman orientation. It was not until she had been led to an old office and met an unsmiling man who told her that a private organization had taken an interest in her potential that she realized the invitation had been false.

That had been the first time she had ever heard of SHIELD, and it had been her insatiable curiosity that had led her to accept the offer given her. She hadn't been told exactly what SHIELD was—that would come later, if she passed her exams and tests and training. And so while her family believed her to be a journalism major at Harvard University, Adelaide, not yet eighteen, was taking a gamble on her education for an organization that technically didn't exist.

Her gamble paid off. Her dedication to fulfilling her curiosity was her greatest asset, and she quickly rose amongst the ranks of trainees as one of the best. Her life became dedicated to drills, to learning combat training, to learning world politics, and everything she could about the elusive SHIELD. She was expected to do well once she became an agent, and she graduated training with honors. There was one thing that impressed some of her superiors and concerned few others: her loyalty. Adelaide had been taught all her life to follow a direction once given by her mother, a habit that carried itself over into her interaction with her superiors. If told to jump, she would ask how high.

It was this keenness to trust and follow orders that ruined Adelaide.

Nineteen years old and fresh out of training, Adelaide was given a Level Three Clearance and stationed at SHEILD Washington DC HQ. Her family believed she was writing for a mediocre political magazine (one owned by SHIELD and the cover for hundreds of agents), and Adelaide was happy. Her ambition was still rather lax, her only hope to fulfill her desk career quickly so that she could become a field agent.

Her CO had assured her that if she continued on the path that she was on, field work would come quickly. She hadn't expected that to come in the form of HYDRA revealing itself within SHIELD, and she hadn't expected to make such a grave mistake. Adelaide had trusted her CO blindly, and when he had told her to shoot at another commanding officer because he was HYDRA, she had not thought twice. She had followed orders.

It quickly became apparent then that her CO was not on the side of SHIELD, and by then it was too late, and he had escaped. Kevlar had proved to be a blessing in literal disguise, and relief had swelled in her when Adelaide realized she had not murdered a SHIELD CO on behalf of HYDRA. Yet when all was said and done, Command wasn't quite thrilled with her, and they viewed her blind trust as a weakness rather than a respectable trait in an agent.

There went her rise through the ranks, and there went her dream of being a field agent. She was offered either an early dismissal from SHIELD, or a year on probation with cut pay as she was reviewed. Repulsed by the idea of quitting, and feeling a fiery hatred towards HYDRA, Adelaide stayed, vowing to prove herself. That had been a year ago, and though her probationary period had been just recently lifted, her Level Three Clearance had been revoked and substituted with a Level Two Clearance.

Given the unfortunate start to her SHIELD career, the tumultuous future speeding towards her was something that Adelaide never saw coming.