So… second one… this fanfic takes place DURING the series.
I own nothing but the OCs.
EDIT*: Story is going through a MAJOR REWRITE! Rhiannon won't be quite such a Sue.
Rhiannon was sitting down for dinner. As she usually did, she cooked up a quick meal before sitting on the couch in front of the television to watch the news. Today, the blaring headline was, 'IRON MAN SAVES UNITED NATIONS FROM HYDRA!'. She rolled her eyes.
"Why is it never anything interesting?" Rhiannon muttered as she flipped through different channels—all of them featuring the flying metal man's savior of the UN. Everything else was down because of recent storms. Rhiannon yawned, stretching her arms above her head, and then put her dishes away, preparing for the evening ritual.
After she had washed up and changed into her bedclothes, she got out the book she was currently working through—it was about a boy and his dragon, saving the world—when she heard a knock on the front door. Frowning, Rhiannon put her arms in her sweater and went to answer it. If it was one of those guys again…
She opened the door. On her front porch, dressed in a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent's catsuit, was a woman, barely the height of Rhiannon herself—who, though not really short, wasn't exactly tall—with slightly dark skin and close-cropped dark brown hair. The woman held up a card. "Agent Maria Hill from the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate. Are you Rhiannon Creel at 128 Oak Drive?"
Shocked, Rhiannon nodded. "What does S.H.I.E.L.D. want?" she asked.
Maria Hill glared. "You'll see. I'm afraid you'll have to come with me, Ms. Creel."
"Rhiannon. And I'm afraid you'll at least have to give me a hint as to why you're taking me on such short notice. And you'll have to let me change—unless you're wanting all of S.H.I.E.L.D. to see me in a nightgown?"
Maria smirked. "Five minutes."
Rhiannon nodded. Five minutes was enough.
She went back into her room and changed into her normal outfit—black jeans and her favorite faded dark blue tank top—and grabbed her tan leather jacket off of its hook in the kitchen, slipping her feet into the tall boots by the door. Rhiannon opened it to the surprised look of Maria Hill.
"Unlike you, I don't lie just to escape," Rhiannon told her. The agent glowered.
Putting a finger up to her earpiece, Hill ordered, "Stand down." Around the house, Rhiannon heard the subtle sounds of agents lowering their weapons.
"Brought the whole entourage?" she muttered under her breath.
"Director Fury knows what you're capable of, Ms. Creel. We don't take chances," Hill told her.
Rhiannon sighed. "I know that Fury knows. He's the one who made it somewhat possible for a life here."
"Then be grateful. He doesn't often show that much generosity to someone who hasn't saved the world at least once."
Rhiannon was grateful. Grateful that she had seen the gigantic Helicarrier before and knew not to panic—too much. She always had the feeling she had seen something like it before, yet different, but when she tried to remember it, her mind drew a blank—as it had with any memory, big, small, or insignificant, since before about six or seven years ago.
Fury and a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had found Rhiannon lying unconscious in the woods of Canada almost seven years ago, shivering in the winter's chill. When she had awoken on the Helicarrier, it had been to no memory of who she was, and only a palm-sized silver locket with nothing but a folded note inside.
Rhiannon had read the note a hundred thousand times, and now knew it by heart:
Dearest Rhiannon,
Don't forget me! I will come back to you, even if I have to lose an arm and a leg to do so! I love you, and will always think of you.
Love, J.B.B
Well, it seemed that whoever J.B.B was, he had broken his promise—and she hers. Rhiannon couldn't even see the faintest shadow of a memory when she thought of the name J.B.B.. Director Fury, sympathetic in his own way, had reasoned that the mysterious author of the note was in the military in some way. He had searched through the Army, Marines, Air Force and Navy, but none of the J.B.B.s he found were missing a Rhiannon. The only ones who looked up at the name were those who knew their friend, sister, sister-in-law, sister-in-law-to-be, daughter, niece, cousin, wife or girlfriend were safe at home.
Occasionally, she remembered brief moments—a flash of blue or red, a faint scent of fresh roses and grass, the echoes of laughter. Once, a kiss.
Rhiannon was shaken back to the present as Agent Hill said, "Ms. Creel, we're here."
Rhiannon nodded and stood up. The shuttle ride to the Helicarrier had been long. Far too long.
They disembarked the small shuttle-plane, and Hill led her to the Helicarrier's bridge. Fury stood there, glowering underneath his eyepatch, as usual. He turned as Hill called his name.
"Ms. Creel. Glad you could make it," he said.
Rhiannon said nothing as Fury continued. "As you well know, S.H.I.E.L.D. is just that—a shield, a defensive system of the world. We work hard to protect our world, both from out-of-town invaders to supervillains and the bad guys among us. I called you here to offer you a chance to join our system. Your abilities are unique, and should be used to—"
"Hold up." Rhiannon held up a hand. "First of all, I don't care that you rescued me from certain death. That's your job. I don't exactly owe you a debt just because you did it right. Second, I have a distaste for the word 'use'. And third… well, third would be that I can't use my abilities. Occasionally, I can get them to do what I ask, but not all the time. And even when I do happen to get it going, it always blows up in my face. So, the answer to your offer, however nice, is no."
Fury bagan to protest. "We have people who could hel—"
"Don't need it. Don't want it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be going." Rhiannon turned, headed for the door.
"Creel!"
Rhiannon stopped, looking back. There was fire in her violet eyes; a fire so bright it hurt to look at.
Fury glared right back. "Ms. Creel, I'm afraid you don't quite understand the situation."
"Too bad. I'm going." And she went.
Well? How is it so far?
Please review!
FF