10/29/2013-Yay for breathing new life into a story. Agents of SHEILD has given me a new perspective on my Avengers fic from a bout a year ago and I've found new inspiration! I've also got a pretty awesome Beta now, so that helps in so many ways. Anywho...enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC. Yep, it is pretty sad.

Prologue

They were coming.

Marley didn't know who they were, but she could feel their sense of determination a mile away.

The sound of heavy boots pounding on the metal stairs outside hit her ears like the faint sound of an approaching tornado. She knew they were surrounding the apartment building, but her body refused to move. They would be ready for a fight, but she knew she'd be outmanned if she tried.

Marley sat quietly on the floor of the master bedroom, letting her fingers walk along the soft white carpet fibers. Let them come, she thought bitterly. She'd already destroyed every piece of technology she owned; every piece of potential evidence they could gather, the only thing left for to do was wait. Fighting them was pointless; they needed to complete their mission. Whether she was dead or alive.

Her fingers continued their dance with the carpet, with her watching the way each finger left an impression in the tiny braids of thread. Her fingers instantly froze when she heard a soft click at the front door, followed by multiple footsteps.

They were in her apartment. Marley's fingers instinctively curled into fists as she heard them come closer. She didn't realize she was holding her breath until the burning in her lungs became painful. Her heart rate spiked as fear settled in her stomach and she pushed her glasses up with a shaky hand noticing, her now sweaty palm.

The door suddenly flung open and a blur of black surrounded her. They were shouting something, but her mind was too slow to process the angry voices.

Before she could think, Marley's face was shoved into the white carpet she was just admiring. The hand holding her down was rather large for someone as small as her, but she doubted the guy cared. Her black-framed glasses were pushed against her face and her straight red bangs began poking her in the eyes, causing them to water. Her hands were pinned at the small of her back, making her wince from the force. The distinct rattle of metal cuffs filled the air, but before they were even slapped on, she started to struggle out of pure instinct. With one leg free, Marley kicked out, only stopping when a new voice enter the room.

"Marlene Brackett, it would be in your best interest not to struggle." Her body stilled immediately at the use of her name. It was a male voice.

She attempted to look up from her current position, but the only thing she could see was a nice, shiny pair of black boots. She could only guess at what branch of government they belonged too; FBI, NSA, CIA…Hell, if the people from the IRS were here she would not be surprised.

"Girl's got to try, right?" She joked, making light of her current situation. Marley tried to force her face into a more comfortable position, but all that got was another push into the floor.

There was a soft chuckle from the booted voice, "Then you're gonna love trying my next trick out."

Marley opened her mouth to respond was, but the weight holding her down lifted, allowing her a decent breath.

She inhaled deeply, bringing herself to her hands and knees, "Thank god, 'cause I was-" A stinging sensation in her neck effectively cut off her rather sarcastic retort.

"Damn-" Was the last thing she managed to get out before falling back against the floor unconscious.

Marley slowly came to, finding herself cuffed to a metal chair.

"This cannot be good," She whispered. With a small grimace, she lifted her sore neck from its awkward position. She discovered she was now in what looked like a hangar bay of a private airport. She knew little of what government facilities were like, but she knew this was too clean and bright to being to any of them. The walls were pure white and it had a multitude of windows; way too many to be a government-owned place.

Marley sat quietly for a while as she waited. She allowed her mind to drift outside, beyond the pristine walls, feeling for anyone nearby. There were people, but they were too far to get anything off of. She let out a loud, impatient and intentional sigh. The chair she currently occupied wasn't as comfortable as she thought when she first woke up; her butt was now effectively numb.

"Can I least have an introduction?" She yelled to no one. The only person that answered was her own voice echoing back off the walls of the large empty space. There was a sudden creak of a metal door opening behind her. Turning her head sharply to the right, she could barely make out the shape of a tall black shape approaching her.

He spoke as he came into full view of her, stopping right in front of her. The deep voice belonged that of a tall, black-leather clad man with an eye patch. "Ms. Brackett, I am Nick Fury, Director of an organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D, Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. And this-"

"What the hell?" Marley gasped at the sudden stinging sensation that started up the back of her hand, followed by a slight burn. She looked to her left to find a skinny redhead standing next to her, pulling a needle out her hand. To her surprise, she didn't even hear the woman come up beside her. Her eyes started to lose focus almost instantly. Flexing her fingers, Marley struggled to shake the burning traveling up her arm.

"Is Agent Natasha Romanoff." The intimidating man continued, acting as if nothing had happened. Marley stared down at the man's boots, recognizing him immediately; at least recognizing his footwear.

"You. You're the man from my apart…apartment." Her words were becoming a bit harder to form, almost in a drunken way.

Her vision began to fog, making the white walls of the hangar, even whiter. Her thoughts were somehow muted, as well as her feelings. A small panic grew as she found herself no longer able to sense anything outside her own brain. Her breath came out in small huffs as she attempted to sense the two others in the room with her.

"Deep breaths, it is only temporary." The redhead said, no lightness in her voice.

"What did...you…me?" She managed to slur out. She knew she was missing a word, but couldn't put her finger on it. Marley scrunched her face as she tried to remember the word that was missing. After a minute or two, she finally looked up to discover the large blurry man with an eye patch and the skinny redhead looked awfully pissed as they both stared at her.

Agent Romanoff lowered herself to Marley's level, grabbing her chin and tilting her head. "A small amount of something similar to THC." She said causally. She simply stared at Agent Romanoff. There was something in what was said that she recognized, but she could not process the words properly. If her mouth was open, she would have drooled. That's when what she said made sense.

"Weed? You...gave me…weed?" She couldn't help the small giggle that erupted from her mouth. She wanted to be outraged, but the idea was just too ridiculous.

Fury smirked at Marley's expression, "It's just something to dull your senses for a bit. With someone with your kind of ability, I wanted to take precautions. Romanoff?"

"She's good."

It took her a couple of minutes to digest what Fury had said when her blood ran cold. He knew? Marley done a lot of work for several crime organizations, but she never once gave away how she did her job. Her panic spiked again at the uncertainty of what was about happen. She let out a small hysterical laugh as she thanked the universe she couldn't feel much in the brain department.

"Now, I know what you might be thinking: how? Right?" Fury asked, the smirk still visible on his face. She nodded.

"Well, let's just say we make finding gifted people a profession. You, Ms. Brackett, are a first for us. Psionics are a new one for us."

Marley snorted out of habit. You didn't discover a new breed of dog.

"And you seem to have gotten yourself in a bit of pickle. Working for Damien Lancaster? Heavy stuff, Ms. Brackett, heavy stuff," Fury said, ignoring her attempt at an eye roll.

No shit, that's why it's considered a federal crime, she thought bitterly.

"So, what…you...from me?" She forced her words out carefully, knowing it sounded like a riddle. She gave a slight groan at the effort it was taking.

"What do we want from you?" Fury asked, correcting her. "Well, we have two options for you at this point." She merely nodded in response. Fury looked over to Agent Romanoff.

The fit agent stepped forward, "We know Lancaster has employed other people with certain gifts for the past few months, but we haven't been able to discover what he's planning. You still hold a contract with him, so…"

Her eyes widened at what was being implied. She knew what Damien was capable of; there was no way she'd make it out alive if he found out she was playing double agent.

"That's where you come in," Fury added. Marley started to shake her head my head, but Fury held a hand up, stopping her objection. "Option two is you go into one of our facilities."

"Facility?" Her breath hitched as her mind caught up with his words. "I…" She couldn't finish her sentence; the idea was finally hitting home. She either risk her life working for man who could kill her in several unimaginable ways without another thought or become a lab rat prisoner.

"You have already proven people with your abilities need to be watched. Anyone else would be immediately locked up upon discovery, not to mention the long list of federal offences you've racked up," Agent Romanoff concluded.

"This doesn't…feel like much…of a choice." She mumbled. There really was only one choice. They sat in silence for what seemed like a life time before Fury interrupted her thoughts.

"It's now or never Ms. Brackett. Unfortunately this is a time-sensitive matter."

With a final defeated huff, she cleared her throat before attempting to say the words that would seal her fate. Fury and Agent Romanoff were staring at Marley so intently she thought she were going to burn under their scrutiny alone.

"I'll do it," She forced out. Even without the drug in her system, she knew those three words would have been hard to say. If she could have cried, she would have. The one time in her life she wanted to feel something and she couldn't. She refused to look up at her new boss and co-worker.

Fury just smiled while Agent Romanoff quickly made her way from Marley. She dimly heard the door slide open then shut just as quick.

"Good choice, Agent Brackett." She finally looked up at him at the sound of her new title. Agent? She hadn't even done anything.

All she could think was everything had to work itself out, right?

Please remember to review! They are my ray of sunshine on a cloudy day! Not really, but they do make me happy. :)