A/N: I will try to update as consistently, and as often as I can, but I am a very disorganised person so it may end up that I don't update for months and then suddenly post five chapters. If I haven't updated for a while please DO pester me because it will help me get off my arse and get on with it. I hope you enjoy the story and please review.

I rested my against the plane window, hoping to sleep through most of the long journey back from Japan. I'd been on leave there for just over a year after what happened in New York, but now SHIELD needed me back, so I reluctantly gathered my belongings and took the first available flight back to NYC. According to the agent I spoke to on the phone, most of it had been rebuilt, and I would be living in one of the newly built apartments with my colleagues and close friends Evelyn and Tommy.

Aside from the prospect of seeing them again, I was not all too happy to be returning home. I definitely could have done with another few months in Japan, and then maybe spent some time in Russia. But no, SHIELD decided that I had been given enough time to get over what happened, and that they needed me back at work. I hadn't been given any details about what I would be doing, but I hoped I would be placed back in my squad with what was left of my old teammates. My thoughts of work and home became less and less coherent as I fell asleep with my head still resting against the small aeroplane window.

I was standing in complete darkness, I couldn't hear or feel anything, it was like my consciousness was just there in complete nothingness. Suddenly, a bright blue light appeared, and it got bigger and bigger until it completely engulfed me. As the brightness grew, so did my panic, and then I heard someone laughing, loudly didn't even begin to cover the volume, and the laugh had a sense of darkness, it was not joyful, it was sinister and sadistic. The laughing continued, and my heart pounded against my chest, the light blinded my vision and…

I woke, instinctually tried to jump from my seat, but I was unable to, as I found a belt was holding me back. This reminded me of where I was, on an aeroplane, on the way back from Japan. I ran a hand through my messy hair and rested my cold, sweaty forehead on my palms.

"Hey, you okay?" I looked up to see a man probably in his late forties looking at me with concern.

"Fine." I said a little too quickly, giving him a small smile. "Thanks." Seeming satisfied with my answer, the man put his eye mask back on and soon began snoring lightly. I shifted in my seat, trying to loosen up my stiff muscles, and then reached into my bag to check the time on my phone. 2:48 New York time, we would be landing in about 45 minutes. I sat back and closed my eyes, although I had no intention of going back to sleep. I'd been having the same nightmares since the battle of New York, but they'd gotten worse since I found out I was coming home. They were always similar, with the light and the laughing, they didn't sound scary, but when I was in them it was the most terrifying thing I'd ever experienced. I seldom got more than a few hours sleep each night, and I would often evade sleep completely for fear of the dreams.

I elected to look out of the window for the remainder of my flight; the lights of the busy land below were lovely in darkness, mostly red and yellowish gold, but some blue. I tried not to think about the blue light, every time I saw any form of blue light in real life I would get a small start, the sort of unpleasant feeling you get when you think you have finished going down a flight of stairs but there is actually one more step. When I heard the co-pilot announcing that we would be commencing our descent, I pushed my dreams to the back of my mind and tightened by belt to prepare for landing. I always was an extremely paranoid flyer, I particularly hated taking off and landing, and whenever there was turbulence I would grip the armrests so hard my knuckles would turn white.

In actual fact, the landing, as aeroplane landings go, was not completely horrendous, although the man next to me probably thought I was crazy with the squeak I made when the plane touched down. I was thankful to be near the front of the plane, as I could get off as soon as possible. When the doors opened I swung my messenger bag over my shoulder and hastily made my way off the winged metal death trap.

Having cleared customs fairly quickly, walked into the arrivals zone to see two SHIELD agents whose faces I didn't recognise waiting for me. One was taller than the other, but they were both pretty massive and completely dwarfed me, although at 5ft most people did. If hadn't known better, I'd say they were on steroids too, judging by the fact that it looked like someone had blown them up with a balloon pump, but I knew that SHIELD had a rigorous training program, and also drugs tested all their field agents on a regular basis.

"Isabelle Jordan?" One agent questioned.

Oh great, these were the kind of agents that were basically robots, and only spoke when necessary. Too tired to answer, I jest held up my SHIELD ID badge for their inspection.

"There's a car waiting outside to escort you to your new apartment. Once you have brought your belongings inside and dealt with any other immediate necessities please report to SHIELD HQ."

"How am I supposed to get to HQ, my car was destroyed last year?" I asked irritably, really not in the mood to be dealing with these apparent fools.

"The car will wait for you outside the apartment." Agent #1 said as if he was completely immune to my exhaustion induced rudeness. I decided to call them Agents #1 and#2 because I couldn't be arsed to ask their names.

We walked out of the airport and quickly arrived at the sleek black car that was typical of SHIELD. Agent #2 held the car door open for me and I flopped down on the black leather seat without an ounce of grace. The car started up, and began the hour long journey to my new apartment.

A/N: Sorry, not much action in this one, but it was kind of necessary. Hopefully the next chapter will be more interesting, but it'll really pick up probably around Chapter 4 or 5. Thanks so much for reading, please follow and review!