"Sometimes it's the smallest decisions

that can change your life forever"

-Keri Russel

March 28, 2003

Abigail's P.O.V.

"This must be the place." I muttered, looking up at the tall building standing in front of me. "Stark Industries, better living through technology."

I always thought the reason Stark Tower was so tall was so it could intimidate the other buildings. That and the fact Tony Stark was the most arrogant man you could ever meet.

I wasn't sure if it actually did put fear in his competitors, but it was definitely doing a number on me because twenty minutes later I was pacing outside the building, wondering whether or not to go inside. I was probably late by now. "Okay, you can do this. Besides, they chose me." I took a deep breath and nodded to myself. "Okay, it's now or never." I mustered up all my confidence, within that moment, and pushed through the swinging double doors.

I stopped short once inside and observed my surroundings. There was no way I could do this. For one, everyone around me was in professional wear. Not a jean jacket or converse in sight, which was exactly what I was wearing. I probably should've planned my outfit a bit better, but the only thing I did this morning was throw on the first thing I pulled out of my closet. "Nope." I shook my head and tried to make a fast escape. Hopefully, no one had noticed the out of place 17 year old.

"Abigail Hienfield?" A sweet voice rang out.

I froze in place and contemplated on turning around or still making a run for it. Maybe if I acted like I hadn't heard the woman everything would be fine. "Well?" Who was I kidding. I was caught. There was no backing out. Before turning around I shot the doorman a look of desperation. The look I received in return was one of amusement. At least someone was enjoying themselves.

"Yup, that's me." I awkwardly swung my arms back and forth and smiled weakly.

"Great." The secretary looked relatively young. Heck, I could have been her slightly older sister. "You're a bit late, but I'll see that Mr. Stane knows your here." She was definitely kind.

"Thanks."

"Please, take a seat." She motioned to a row of chairs set up near a coffee machine.

I sat down and crossed one leg over the other, than uncrossed them and crossed the other leg, than uncrossed my legs altogether. I was beyond nervous.

I silently cursed my professor for talking me into to this. He had encouraged me to apply for the internship gig a while back, when it had first been introduced to the public. It was the first time Stark Industries had opened up to the public in such a way. Of course, I doubted I would even be considered because of all the people who would be pinning for the spot. But, somehow my professor had convinced me that it would be a tremendous opportunity, and that it would be a good working experience. The job would take me out of my comfort zone.

One cup of coffee and twenty minutes later I was called into a huge office.

"It's nice to meet you Abigail." Obadiah stood from his seat and offered me his hand. "Please, sit." I shook his hand and sat down.

"I apologize, but I believe there was an error in the application you sent me." He opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small folder. "I of course was forced to look past it due to your amazing credentials. Maybe you an clear the air though." He opened the folder and slipped on a pair of glasses. "Let's see." He looked the paper over, then slipped it to me.

Name Abigail Hienfield

D.O.B November 8, 1986

Social # 787878787

Education: Broomfield Academy for the Gifted, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Fields of Education: Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, Linguistics

I looked over the application and found no flaws.

"Do you see what I'm talking about?" Obadiah looked over at me expectantly.

"Well," I set the paper down. "I'm going to school to get my masters in Chemistry with a minor in a robotics, but I think I need to graduate before that can be counted for." I let out a nervous chuckle and watched his facial expression become serious.

"You do realize it says you're only seventeen?" I stared at him blankly. "You can't be just seventeen." He spoke slower as if that would help me process what he was saying.

"Okay?..." Surely my age couldn't be the problem. I mean it was easy to tell I was seventeen. There aren't many thirty year old's walking around in jean jackets and converse. At least, not to her knowledge.

"You can't be serious." He chuckled at me.

"Well, I hope so. Either that or I've been lied to for as long as I can remember." I wore a sober expression as Obadiah looked like he was waiting for me to burst out laughing and tell him this was all some big joke. "That's not a problem is it?"

"Of course not. It's very impressive." Obadiah grimaced. He stood up from his seat. I rose from my seat when he offered me his hand to shake. "It was nice meeting you Abigail. I will take your application into serious consideration." I put on a sugar sweet smile and shook his hand. "Go down the hall and take a left, it should lead you to the exit."

'geez' I thought to myself as he ushered me out. 'rude' "Thanks." I gathered my jacket and bag, then exited his enormous office. I followed his instructions, but somehow ended up in a strange part of the building. I slowed down as I noticed that I was now in a hall full of conference rooms. One of which were full of people with fancy suits and Bluetooths. They all subsequently turned their gaze in my direction. I didn't exactly enjoy like how it gave a matrix type of feel. 'Nope.' I decided to get out of there as soon as possible. I turned on my heels just to walk into to someone.

"Hmph." The man stumbled back a few steps and the papers he was holding flew everywhere. I immediately knelt down and collected the papers as they landed on the floor. "Watch it kid." The man muttered in an annoyed tone. He dusted off his suit like I had some type of virus and grimaced down at the mess.

"Watch it?" I stood up and shoved some papers in his hand before leaning down and gathering more. "You ran in to me." I collected the last of the mess and held them out to him. The man was holding the papers I handed to him before tightly against him. A few pieces were out of place and stuck out, the man himself looked very uncomfortable. He looked down at the stack I was offering him and frowned deeply. "I don't have all day. Are you gonna take them or not?"

"I don't like being handed things." He said in a tight tone. He wasn't serious? I rolled my eyes and shifted my weight to one foot.

"That is most ridicules thing I have ever heard."

"It's a pet peeve. I could have went through a very traumatic experience."

"Didn't mean to hit a soft spot, geez." I shoved the papers into his hand forcefully. "I need to find the exit." The man let all the papers drop out of his hand.

"I'm not picking that up."

"Who are you?"

"Abigail. Pleasure to meet you." I gave him a smirk and two finger solute. "You are?"

"Tony." He said like it should be obvious.

"Okay," I raised an eyebrow at him. "Tony, like I said, trying to find an exit."

"Go down the hall and take a right." A woman cut in. She stopped directly behind Tony and grimaced. The woman was petite, with strawberry hair twisted in a tight bun, she was holding a clipboard close to her body. "Mr. Stark, everyone's waiting for you inside." She motioned towards the conference room. Through the window it was plain to see everyone's attention was on us. I shuddered..

"I'm just gonna go now." I made a haste getaway not bothering to look back. Only when I was outside did everything hit me like a brick. I had just ran into Tony Stark. As in owner of Stark Industries. A uneasy feeling welled in my stomach. I huffed, leaned against the outside wall of the building, and closed my eyes. I enjoyed it, until my phone began to buzz. I slid my hand in my jean pocket and pulled it out. It was Emily.

Emily was a close friend of mine. In fact it was safe to say she was my only friend. It was hard to befriend much people when you moved from place to place for the past three years. Sure, there were the people that I went to school with, but seeing that no one seemed to appreciate, or even like for that matter, the fact a person who was 4-5 years younger, was ahead of them in every class. It was safe to that no one fit under the 'school friend' category. In fact, Emily herself was five years older than me. It was by chance we happened to run into each other when I was running late to one of my classes. Emily was a bit of a loner. She didn't seem to much for surrounding herself with people. Which was perfectly fine to me.

Emily had recently came into town and invited me to meet her a small shop called, The Twisted Cafe. We had visited there once before when Emily had helped me with moving into my apartment.

I wasn't a native to New York. I had actually grown up in Chicago. My father's company was rooted there. After I had graduated high school, I wanted to go to MIT, so I moved to Massachusetts and stayed with some old family friends. After I graduated, and spent some time traveling around, I decided that I missed the city. I was certain I wanted to go back to school though. I found a nice University here in New York so I could continue my studies. New York wasn't like Chicago in a lot of ways, but it resembled the life I was accustomed to.

The Twisted Cafe was a nice cozy coffee spot. It sat on a corner and was usually bare. Honestly, it sold stale, tasteless coffee, that resembled boiled dishwater if anything else. The place had a feeling of comfort, however. It was nice and homey. There was even a small booth installed for open mike, how fun? I quickly replied to Emily, agreeing on meeting her there at 12. Which was two hours from now.

Half an hour later, I was opening the door to my apartment. I tossed my bag on the love seat centered in the living room and pulled my hair into a loose pony tail. After, I grabbed my laptop and went to the bedroom. I had to finish a research paper that was due soon and also check my bank account. Funds at the moment seemed tight, which was abnormal. Last week I had to take from my personal account to pay for some class fees. The company, Hienfield Co, was supposed to take care of costs like that. After all, my father had owned the place. I wasn't certain what was going on, but if the problems continued I was going to have to call Felicia.

Felicia Waters, the woman my parents left the company to. Scratch that, my father left the company to. I loved the man, but his judgment had been poor at times. Felicia was a supposed family friend, but I didn't see her as friendly, or family. Every childhood memory, or memory in general, I had of the woman was bittersweet. It left a sour taste in my mouth just thinking about it. I shuddered slightly then pushed those thoughts aside. I really needed to start on my paper.

The Twisted Cafe

I sat at a lonely table in the corner with the seat propped back on it's hind legs. I had been rearranging the sugar packets set in a in-orderly fashion on my table, but that had gotten boring. Emily was an hour and a half late. It wasn't like her to stand people up, she would have a least called. I was beginning to worry, a lot.

"You've been here for almost an hour. Are you going to order something or what?" I glanced up to find a waitress standing over me with her hands on her hip. I gave the waitress a bitter smile.

"Sorry, I'm sure you're probably going to need this table for some other customer." I titled my head up towards her. There was nobody else insight. Excepts for a man sitting in a booth. He was reading the newspaper and sipping on a cup of coffee. Judging by his clothing, he was probably worked for some type of business. Which was normal seeing that they were in the middle of New York.

The waitress huffed. "Fine," She rolled her eyes. "take your time." She turned and began to walk away.

"Actually, I'll have a cup of chai." I called after her. The waitress pulled out her notepad and turned back to me.

"Anything else." The waitress wrote furiously on the note pad.

"Nope."

"Good." She sucked on her teeth and narrowed her eyes at me before retreating to the kitchen. I turned to the window finding nothing better to do. It was difficult to make out the figures walking past the cafe through the dirt and grime that mucked up the clear glass.

"The customer service has to be one of the best things about New York." The man sitting in the booth remarked. He let out a chuckle. I looked over at him. "New York to your liking so far?"

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Your accent. Far from New York. Chicago maybe?" He stole a glance at me before flipping a page in his paper.

"You know, people say Chicago people have an accent, but I don't hear it."

"Of course you don't." He paused momentarily as he scanned over the page he was reading. "So, Chicago. How'd you end up here?"

"School." He nodded approvingly. The entrance bell of the coffee shop dinged signalling a possible customer. I turned my attention to the door and watched a group of men strut in. The man cleared his throat and turned another page.

"Here." The waitress set down the cup of piping hot tea down in front of me with a clank, and made her way to front of the shop to greet the group. I took a sip of my tea and gagged. Disgusting, as per usual. I watched as the waitress lead the group to a table adjacent to mine. One of them turned and looked at me and immediately I found my cup of distasteful tea the most interesting thing in the world.

"What can I get you?" I gagged at the sugar sweet voice the woman was now using. The waitress shamelessly flirting with the group was a frightful thing to see. I turned to the window and took a big gulp of my tea. As the waitress turned to leave, I heard the sound of a cup being set down harshly. I glanced over at the man in the booth to see him folding his paper and setting it down. He looked at me as he stood up and dusted off the arms of his suit.

"I'd get down if I were you." The sound of a bunch of guns being cocked filled the small dining area. I turned to see the group of men standing up from their table and aiming their guns in the man's direction. The man smiled and buttoned his suit. "I'm sure those aren't necessary."

He motioned for me to move out the way. I complied and found myself crouching under a booth table. I could only really seat the feet of everyone, but heard several gun shots go off. I winced and scooted back into the wall. One of the men fell down in front of the table. The man's face was facing me and blood was coming from his temple. The sounds of guns going off and crashing came from above until I saw three more guys fall.

"You can come out now." I cautiously crawled out from under the table to find the booth guy was the only one left standing. The waitress was crouched behind the front counter and her whimpering was loud enough to be heard.

"Who were those men?" I breathed heavily.

"I'm not sure."

"Do you at least know why they came after you?" I examined the damage the cafe had suffered with wide eyes and then looked at the man who had done it.

"I'm not the one they were after." He picked up the newspaper and grabbed a couple bills from his jacket. "I'm not done reading the sports section." He set the money on the table and stuck the newspaper inside his jacket's inner pocket. I stood there in shock and watched as the man exited.

He re-entered and look at me expectantly. "Are you coming?" He held the door open with an why-are-you-still-standing-there expression on his face.

"Uh-" My mouth hung open.

"I know. It's a lot to take in." He gave me a calming smile. "I'll explain on the way. I'm special agent Coulson by the way." He held out his hand to me. "It's nice to finally meet you Abigial."

"How do you know my name?"

"Like I said it's a lot to take in. I explain on the way." The guy from the booth was beginning to look a whole lot more interesting.

"I'm with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division." We slowly made our way down main street. I snorted in disgust. "You familiar with the agency then?"

"Very." I was familiar with the Shield because they had been keeping an eye on me since I was a child. It all started when I was born. My vitals and blood tests came back abnormal, but the doctor who delivered me decided to keep that information private, according to my mother. There seemed to be no signs of powers, or abnormalities, until I was six. I had frequent occurrences of what can be described as deja vu.

My parents began to worry when I began to talk about events that would happen hours, days, even weeks later. That's when they were contacted by Shield. According to what I was told by my parents, when I had these instances of 'deja vu' high energy levels would emit off of me. That's how Shield got involved. My parents weren't sure what to do. They were afraid. So, they decided to work with Shield to find a 'cure', if you will. They passed away before any progress was made, but they did create a medicine to help control them.

"We're here to help you."

"Which means?"

"We'll be keeping our eye on you." I sighed.

Coulson' s P.O.V.

Coulson stopped at an old brick and mortar building and turned to Abigail. "In the mean time be careful." Abigail looked up to the building and instantly recognized it. They seemed to only be walking for a few minutes. Yet, here they were right in front of her apartment. She gave Coulson a suppressed smile.

"Sounds like the usual Shield business." She skipped up the steps and entered the building. Coulson stood watching her as she did so. A few moments later his phone began to ring.

"Hello."

"How did it go?" On the other line was the one and only Nick Fury.

"You were right. They tried to attack."

"Of course."

"Any news on Agent Brown?"

"Not yet. I'm sending my best agents as we speak."

"If you don't mind me asking. Why are they attacking now?"

"I don't know, yet. You read her file correct?"

"Of course."

"Then you know how imperative it is we keep her safe."

"I have to say. I was skeptical, but the resemblance is uncanny."

"It is." There was distant chattering on Fury's end. "We'll continue this conversation later."

"Of course. Until then director." Coulson hung up the phone and stole one more glance the apartment building. He felt sorry for the girl. She had no idea what was coming her way.

A/N: So, here's the new chapter! It did take a while to write, and I apologize. I changed some things which may affect the story later on. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to Fave and Follow!

What did you think? Let me know by reviewing...Lillyxxx