Prologue
Kim Frost sat with her head balanced on one hand, staring aimlessly out of a window as a maths teacher babbled on and on in front of her making no sense whatsoever. The summer sun was torture to see, the grassy field sprinkled with strikingly white and pure Daisies, and students doing PE. There was a buzz in her ear and she sighed, turning on her comm to listen to what Coulson had to say this time…
"Frost?" came his smooth voice inside her ear.
"mm?" she replied, trying not to make it look like she was talking to herself in front of her fellow year 11's.
"There's been a slight development in Hydra's movements. They're retreating to Europe and closer to you. I'm coming now with May to pick you up. Watch the skies and I'll see you soon." He sharply said before the line went dead.
Oh Jesus. They're coming and they're going to land in the school field again. There goes my social life.
Kim tried desperately to ignore her ears which were straining desperately over the annoying noise of her immature classmates to find any trace of an aircraft coming over her classroom as she worked on her algebraic formula.
A=πr2
Was that a helicopter blade?
Shut up!
36⁴=
Is that an aircraft engine?
Go away!
"Kim! Can you tell us how to calculate the length of the hypotenuse side of a triangle?"
Her teacher's annoyingly shrill voice jolted Kim out of her frenzying thoughts. She jumped and looked around wildly for a second.
"Sorry what was that?" She asked, her eyes widening as she tried to send a signal to anyone: HELP!
"Oh my God is that a helicopter?!" Came a voice from just in front of her.
Kim turned rapidly towards the window where she saw a sleek, black helicopter descend onto to the school field and a man with a dark suit and sunglasses jump out.
By now the entire class had gathered by the window, pointing and shrieking as the headmaster strode along the playground and onto the field to subsequently yell at the man in sunglasses. Something was quickly agreed as soon as the man showed a badge of some kind to the headmaster and was led away with another woman in the direction of the school.
"What the hell just happened?" shouted Paige Roberts from the window, staring angrily around at the class, trying to find someone to blame.
"D'you reckon it was those Hydra guys from the news?" shouted Casper Clark from behind her
"Oh my God are they here to kidnap us?" Came Olivia Lawrence's voice from the crowd, hints of panic in her voice.
"Not likely, maybe Mr. Fullmun is conspiring with them!" came the cocky voice of Jamie Gregg
"Everybody sit down now!" Their teacher's voice shouted across the classroom at them. The class slowly made their way back to their seats immediately; getting on her bad side was not something anyone wanted to do. "I can promise that Mr. Fullmun is not conspiring with Hydra. And I don't know who those people are so shall we stop asking and get on with some work? You can all stare at the helicopter at break."
Kim closed her eyes and sighed… it wouldn't be long before they came for her, or sent someone for her. Coulson could never learn to be discreet when it came to things like this.
There was a knock on the door, and a year 8 scuttled into the room, holding a green note. Everyone knew what that meant. Headmaster's office. She handed it to the teacher then rushed back through the door.
"Kim? It's for you." Said the teacher, raising her eyebrows jokingly. "Bring all your stuff, I don't think you'll be coming back."
"No I defiantly won't be." She joked back, putting her blazer back on and swinging her bag over her shoulder.
"What did you do Kim?" shouted Paige, her eyes alight with malice.
"It's probably about my job." Said Kim casually as she got up and started to walk towards the door.
"Where do you work?" Cameron shouted back, his voice already preparing to laugh at her.
"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." Said Kim with the most serious look she had ever pulled on her face. She swung open the door and walked out, laughing hysterically as she walked down the corridor… she finally got her James Bond moment.
"So you understand sir, Kim needs to be taken away for her own safety as well as that of the school's."
Mr. Fullman nodded thoughtfully, staring intently at Kim with his piercing green eyes.
"Miss Frost, are you sure this man is telling the truth? If you leave now, you won't be able to take your GCSE's here. Are you really sacrificing your future to go back to the United States?" he asked in the most patronising voice Kim had ever heard.
"I'm sure sir. The states are the best place for me now. Besides, I can take them over there; my tutor will be able to get hold of the papers easily."
"Alright then. If you're sure. It was nice knowing you my dear." He said, shaking Kim's hand before she was lead out by Coulson and May.
"What. The. Hell. Coulson?" Asked Kim, her voice getting more dangerous with every syllable as they walked through the playground and towards the helicopter.
"It's for your own safety Kim. Hydra will surely target you next if you stay here." Coulson explained, his voice full of pity.
"How can you be sure of that?" She snapped, striding ahead of the two agents as they passed her maths classroom. There were catcalls when they saw her and she glared as she strode past, wishing she had her gun on her.
"I'm sure because it's happened before. You've heard of Laura Stark?" asked Coulson, his voice becoming even more serious.
"Of course, she's only Tony Stark's illegitimate daughter who just so happens to have dated Steve Rogers and she was a S.H.I.E.L.D agent… but she's, well, dead isn't she? How does that apply to me?" Kim suddenly got curious. She had read Laura's file when she was last at the Playground; killed at the hand of Agent Ward in Washington a few years ago.
"She's not dead. Very much alive actually and a pain in my neck at the moment, but she was shot, kidnapped and brainwashed to do Hydra's bidding. You're just as deadly as she is, and we don't want someone like you falling into the wrong hands."
"She's alive?" Asked Kim incredulously, turning around to face Coulson and May, walking backwards to talk to them.
"Very much so." Muttered May, exchanging a smirk with Coulson.
Kim nodded thoughtfully as she clambered into the helicopter.
"Please tell me we're not flying to the states in this thing?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.
"Of course not. The bus is at some airport near here and we'll rendezvous with the rest of my team there. They're currently on a mission in Paris, should be back within the hour."