This is a sequel to Gabriella Ackerly: Origins, and takes place during and after The Winter Soldier and the end of season 1 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. You don't need to read that to read this but I would recommend it. This fic contains death, some swearing, dark thoughts? and low self esteem. I'll let you know as the chapters go on about other warning.

Thank you for reading and enjoy!


The moment she knew S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised she knew her life was in danger. The moment she left Fury in the safe house she knew she couldn't return until it was over. She couldn't contact anyone; everyone was HYDRA until proven otherwise. What Ackerly needed to do was to find and enter the local abandoned safe house. But if S.H.I.E.L.D. was comprised then HYDRA would be there waiting for her. But not this safe house though. Hopefully. S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised and HYDRA rose from the ashes right under their noses. She couldn't believe it but she had to hand it to them the insurrection was well thought out. It happened right beneath them and they had no idea. Nick was fooled. Maria Hill was fooled. She was fooled. Everyone loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. was fooled.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised and they knew everything about her. Aliases, safe houses, past, and the O.R.B.S failure, all of it. She couldn't trust anyone. She had to blend in to the crowd which was hard because of her black prosthesis would alert security scanners and it wasn't that hard to miss either. It was currently hidden under her trouser leg but the foot was noticeable. It had some downsides after all. In the distance behind her, Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson took out the Hellicarriers with Hill, Fury and Romanoff being backup. She wasn't entirely sure what they were doing.

Ackerly was being chased by HYDRA. The five pursuing her were on foot as well as she, but she had the advantage. She had much better aim than them and had a superpower that didn't require reloading like guns did. She had no backup, as per usual, so relied on her own skill to take them out. She blast one of them over her shoulder, only taking a quick glance to get the aim right. Luckily the aim was true. The next shot, not so much, it hit a nearby shop window. Ahead of her, cars screeched to a stop as she thundered through the traffic to shake HYDRA off her trail. They weren't so easily fooled.

She continued down the street, firing at the agents when she got the chance. A black SUV skidded to a halt in front of her and she fired a large blast of energy at the vehicle sending it halfway down the street it came from. "Get out of the way!" She yelled at the pedestrians on the path. Shots from the HYDRA agents rang in the air and Ackerly tackled a woman to stop her getting hit by a stray bullet. She apologised and continued off down the street. Ackerly shot and hit another HYDRA in the chest, killing him.

Another SUV pulled in front of her; before she even blink they fired a tranquiliser at her chest. She rolled out of the way but it struck her arm and she stumbled back. Ackerly shook off the shot and fired a large blue blast at the inside of the vehicle; she sprinted away firing another shot at her pursuers. Her vision blurred and suddenly there was two of everything but fortunately, or unfortunately, she was used to tranquiliser effects and could hold off the looming darkness for a while. Most times.

She was already stumbling and staggering down the street at speed and the HYDRA agents were gaining on her. She tried with all her might to continue on but she couldn't. But she had to. To survive. Ackerly fired a blast at one of her pursuers but it disintegrated before it hit them. Stumbling over her legs, she quickly turned it into a shoulder roll but failed to stick the landing, she dropped to a semiconscious heap on the floor. Her palms tickled and sparks flew from them. The air temperature rose around her, a bright flash, then nothing. The sound of running footsteps sounded too close. They said something but it was too distorted; Ackerly swat at the direction of the voice but nothing came of it. She was exhausted and finally let the unconsciousness take over her.


Talking was what she could now hear. She couldn't place if they were friendly or not, but they were close to her. There were many of them and she hoped they weren't HYDRA. She was on the cold ground but her whole body was warm and no longer ached from the running for her life. "Oh my God!" An elderly woman shouted a few feet from her.

"What happened?" asked a man a little closer to her.

"Is she okay? Look at the place!" shouted another in disbelief.

Ackerly fought her way into the conscious world. Her eyes snapped open and she stared down at charred pavement. Breathing out heavily she sat up, rolled onto her heels and stared at the people around her. "Are you okay? What happened?" A woman asked who was kneeled next to her.

Ackerly rubbed her throbbing head and blinked a few times before answering. The sound of Hellicarriers fighting several miles away from them filled the air. "I... I don't know." And that was the truth. She had no idea what happened.

"I saw this, like, blue light and then there was nothin'!" someone told her loudly.

"Wait a minute!" piped a little girl, moving from her father's leg. "I know you! You were with the Avengers in New York!" The large crowd murmured in agreement as they all came to the same conclusion. Ackerly shakily got to her feet. These peoples' lives were in danger.

"You fought with the Hulk!"

"Stark too!"

"Don't forget Captain America!"

Ackerly's head spun like merry-go-round. "What was your name?" The little girl asked. God damn it, I need to get out of here. I'm gonna get you all killed. "Emit! That's it! Emit!"

The gathered crowd erupted in concerned voices and requests to take her to hospital. Ackerly shut her eyes and shook her head. The voices got louder and louder and louder. "Please!" She exclaimed. They crowd instantly silenced. "Please. Don't."

"Something bad happen?" The girl asked.

Ackerly nodded solemnly, and she gasped. She looked around at everyone with a heavy heart. Normally she enjoyed young children coming up asking her about the Avengers or have a picture taken but now was not the time for that. HYDRA propaganda would eventually surface and everyone who worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. would be branded as terrorists. Her included. She was an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. long before she was an Avenger and her bloody past would end up being revealed to the world. The poor kids... "Please just forgot about this. Don't believe the news reports either. Forget I was here." Before anyone could protest or question, she sprinted away. Away from the crowd. Away from the chaos. Back to the safe house where she hoped it was indeed still safe.

Ackerly darted into an alley away as a black SUV skidded around the corner. Taking the back alleys would be a better option than to run around in the open. She sprinted away again in the direction of the safe house, staying away from the eyes of the street. Her prosthetic leg spasmed, sending her face first into the side of a dumpster. She hit it with a loud thump and rolled onto the floor in a daze. What the hell was that? What made her leg go weird? She shook her head and rolled up her trouser leg and inspected the damage, if they were any. There was nothing. Perhaps it was a glitch but that couldn't be right, Stark gave her his word that nothing could damage this leg. It had the same weaknesses as his Iron Man armour, and it wasn't a long list either.

Ackerly tried to stand but her leg buckled again under her weight. She cursed loudly and settled herself against the cleanest part of the grimy wall. She rolled up the trouser leg again and inspected her prosthetic closer. Again there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. Perhaps it was her then? Maybe she was making herself weak? No, that couldn't be right... But what happened back there. What did that man say? "I saw this, like, blue light and then there was nothin'!" Hmmm.

Could that be what's making her like this? But no one commented on the state of the... HYDRA agents, where were they? When she awoke they were gone but they were right in top of her... Unless... No, they couldn't have. Ackerly rubbed her face. They couldn't have... disintegrated, could they? She was still learning new tricks about her alien abilities to this day, was that another one? Some kind of defence mechanism maybe? She had no idea. What she did know was that HYDRA was no longer after her, for the time being anyway. She also knew she had to get back to the safe house which was still a few blocks down. She couldn't crawl her way there; she'd have to run it walk at the very least.

Ackerly used the gag inducing, sticky wall to help her stand. She did not want to know what's been done to this wall, whatever it was, it wasn't pleasant. Continuing to move slowly, Ackerly used the line to dumpsters to get the strength in her leg back. It took a little longer than expected. She hoped a little on her left leg and swayed a few times too to kick it into gear. She was still a little shaky but it would have to do. She'd sort it out once she was somewhere safe- if there is such a thing anymore.

She half limped half ran the last few remaining streets to the safe house.