Thanks for Trying

by Alva Moondancer

A short oneshot about the death of an agent returning from space. All details are confidential. Only Director Fury has permission to access any details. If you are not Fury, don't ask any questions about Mission 394.

"Good bye, mission control. Thanks for trying. I know you did all that you could. Would you mind telling Agent Coulson that he can have my Captain America trading cards? I know he's always wanted them. I'll see you later, I guess. Bye. Open my safe deposit box. Distribute the stuff around according to my will." With that, she clicked off the com device and stared at the flashing lights on the control panel. One by one, all the remaining green lights changed to red, starting blinking and then faded out. A warning flashed across the nav screen. Total Power Loss. The words stayed on the screen for a few moments before they too faded out.

So, she thought, this is the end. Staring out the viewport in the cockpit, she watched as the Earth spiraled closer and closer. This wasn't the way she imagined she would die. Ever since she joined SHIELD, she had always thought that she would die on the battle field, fighting for what she believed in. Before she joined SHIELD, she knew she wouldn't die of old age. There were way too enemies in her life for that to happen.

She hit Earth's atmosphere in uncontrolled descent. The spacecraft slowly heated up as the friction and gas compression burned away the insulation. Only the manual controls worked.

Grabbing the controls, she wrestled the controls. It would be catastrophic if she hit a city at these speeds. If she could just hit an ocean, the land would be safe.

The heat increased exponentially as she got closer and closer to Earth's surface. As her last conscious action, she ensured that her course would land her in the ocean. Even the serum couldn't save her now. The heat was getting so intense that all she could see was flame.

Glancing out the viewport one final time, she sat down in her chair and closed her eyes. Preparing for death was terrible.

The small, one-woman spacecraft was completely engulfed in flames when it splashed down. It was less than a hundred miles from Sydney, Australia. Only the most avid astronomers observed the landing of Mission 394 and its destruction. They weren't entirely sure what they were seeing, but SHIELD knew. The mission control station watched in agony as the ship landed. Multiple rescue and evac teams were rushed to the site, hoping for something to be good. Anything.

Only the burned and mutilated wreckage of the craft was found. Only ashes remained of Agent Andrea Cohen.