Chapter 2
Immediately, Leya sprang into action. She flew around her little apartment, throwing items into a suitcase as she hurriedly tidied, called a taxi, and booked airplane tickets. She called a couple classmates to alert the instructor that she would be taking a leave of absence from college for an undetermined period of time.
A mere half hour later, Leya was completely packed. She double checked her single suitcase and purse, headed towards the door, then hesitated a moment with one foot over the threshold. After a moment, she dropped her bags and walked back inside to her bedroom. There, she pulled open her closet doors and parted the hanging clothes. In the back, Leya felt around until she felt a particular spot in the wall. She pulled up, and the wall slid in and to the right to reveal a safe, which Leya punched in the code for. It swung open with a shrill beep to reveal a medium-large sized brown box with a silver lock. The key for box was a simple silver one that Leya wore on a chain around her neck at all times, which she now pulled out from under her shirt to unlock the box. Inside, among other seemingly random items, was a pitch-black bow and a dagger. Leya looked at them for a moment before removing them and relocking the box and safe and replacing the false wall of the closet. Then she closed the closet doors and went back to her luggage, placing the bow and dagger inside her suitcase.
Leya locked the door to her apartment, headed down the stairs, and got into a waiting taxi. She briefly glanced back up at her apartment building, saying a quick farewell as the taxi took off toward the airport.
Leya rushed through security and made it to her gate just in time. She boarded, then sat down in a middle seat between an official-looking businessman and a young girl who couldn't have been more than six years old or so. During the flight, Leya waited until both her flying companions were asleep, then took out a laptop. She had modified the piece of equipment to show the location of almost every S.H.I.E.L.D. base and aircraft carrier they had. Despite their best attempts, S.H.I.E.L.D. had failed to keep her out of their system, and they had finally given up. However there was definitely an unspoken agreement that her hacking would not be permitted to go too far. For now, Leya was content with the info she could garner.
Leya scanned the screen until she found what she was looking for. A certain S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft carrier, special because it carried a (supposedly) impenetrable prison onboard, was currently in motion and had just passed over Germany. It was now headed to the U.S. Leya's current flight was headed to a tiny town on the farthest east coast of the U.S., the closest she would be able to fly to the carrier. Leya sighed. It looked like another few hours until they reached the destination, so she put her earphones in and settled in for the flight.
The plane touched down right on time, and Leya departed into the sleepy little town feeling tired herself. But now was no time to let that tiredness sink in. She shook herself and headed to a local coffee shop. After getting some caffeine pumping through her body, Leya sat down on a bench with her luggage and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through her contacts until she reached one labeled, simply, "P.C." Leya pressed the number and waited while it rang. She heard three rings before someone picked up.
"Hello, Rivers," a man said in a knowing voice.
Leya couldn't suppress her smile; it was good to hear that voice. "Hello, Coulson. I need a ride up to your carrier," she replied.
"What carrier?" Coulson asked.
"You know what I'm talking about."
Coulson sighed on the other end, "I suppose I do. All right, we'll send someone down. Be at Oliver's Italian Restaurant at 7 pm sharp."
"Thanks, AC," Leya jokingly replied. Talking to Coulson always made her feel better, which was somewhat ironic since she never talked to him except for during stressful or dangerous situations.
Leya could almost hear Coulson rolling his eyes on the other end.
"Don't mention it, but you know you're racking up a lot of favor points for me. You'll have to pay them off someday," he told her.
"Of course I will," Leya assured him, smiling, "See you soon." Then she hung up the phone.