Author's Note: Sorry for the late update. Hearing about the CT shootings really put me out of the writing mood. My heart goes out to anyone affected by this tragedy.

I have decided that I will be updating once a week at the least. I have another story brewing up. I just have to draft a few chapters until I publish it.

Shout out to my two reviewers, 'guest' and HoneyGee08! I really appreciate it.

Chapter 3: Awakening

"Director Fury, the subject has now regained consciousness," said a voice in the ear of the director himself. Today had been an extremely busy day. He had received and answered calls from governments all over the world, all questioning last night's findings. Each call had ended when Nick had slammed the phone down in frustration. Nobody was taking this as a serious threat. Most even doubted that aliens existed and thought this was all one big hoax. Did they not see what happened in New York? Innocent lives do not exist any more all thanks to a power-hungry maniac from outer space. All he could hope for was that this one was at least sane.

"Let's get me in there ASAP," responded Nick into a little speaker. He has to sort this potential disaster out.

He opened a metal drawer of a file cabinet to his left. It was the top drawer and high enough up that he could not see what was in it. He lifted his arm up to the drawer and scrimmaged around, his hand gliding over staplers and bullets. A very strange combination to keep in an office drawer, but around here, it was all too common. At last, his hand came across what he was searching for. He pulled it out and brought it down to eye level. All it looked like was a small black plastic stick about the size of a pinky finger. It was really a little recorder with just a record/stop button and a tiny microphone hidden at the top. It was old fashion considering all the new-age technology around him, but it was his preferred style. That way, it would be less complicated. The last thing he needed around here was unnecessary complexity. He slipped it into a pocket in his black pants.

Just one last thing. He turned around to the side of the room. With quick strides, he went and snatched up a black trench coat from off its hook. He rushed out the door while putting it on. He checked his hip for his pistol. He felt the handle in the holster just where it should have been. He was ready.

The florescent light strips that ran down the hallway produced harsh artificial light that bounced off the freshly polished floor. It bounced into Nick's remaining eye causing him to look up from his black leather boots. The corridor was usually teeming with agents and scientists bustling about doing their jobs. Now, it was eerily vacant.

Shortly after they had detained the girl and brought her to S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, Nick order for an evacuation of the facilities. This order excluded Doctor Selvig, high-ranking agents, and the Avengers. This was for if everything turned for the worst. No more lives had to be lost to extraterrestrial beings due to human neglect.

At last, Fury got to the dead-end wall. Most people thought it was to keep unwanted people out, but the true purpose was to keep them in. He searched his pockets for a small platinum card. Everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D had one. Normally, on the front was identification and amount of access the person was allowed. Unlike all the other cards, Nick's card was blank except for a small number five in the top right hand corner. This card gave unlimited access to its beholder. S.H.I.E.L.D had only ever issued two of these cards. One belonged to him and the other once to Phil Coulson. Phil was the only one Nick ever trusted with it. Phil was extremely loyal and always followed orders. He fought to save humanity no matter the cost. The cost was his life. Nick let out a sad sigh. Phil was more than an agent to him. He was a comrade and friend. Nick snapped out of his sorrow and slid the card into the slot.

A strange circus of people met his eye as the wall slid open. Two master assassins, a demigod prince with an insane half-brother, the one and only genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, a soldier out of his time, and a man with major anger issues. Not what you would call normal, but to Fury it was as normal as things got around this place.

"Greeting Director Fu…" began the God of thunder.

"Excuse me, but I think we should know what the hell is going on," cut in Tony.

Yes Mr. Stark, I was getting to that if you could give me a minute," said Nick, who was obviously at his end with the man. Tony opened his mouth to protest, but stopped himself. "As you have seen, we have a visitor," he began. "Around 9:30 pm last night, an unidentified flying object was sighted over a farm in Kansas. At 9:41, S.H.I.E.L.D intelligence picked up on a call to the Bloomsburg police station. The caller claimed to have seen something on fire crashing into his cornfield. He went to inspect it and to his surprise, he saw a girl in the middle of the massive crater. From what he could tell, she was seriously burned, presumably from entering the atmosphere," he paused and took a deep breath. "Right before his eyes, he saw the burns 'healing themselves'. After that, he called local law enforcement. Before the police could arrive, one of our helicopters in the area picked her up and brought her here."

The group remained silent, deep in thought. "I'm going in there now to question her," Fury stated. He walked over to the window. The girl looked fully awakened. She had just noticed the restraints and was tugging at them to get free. She gave up with little success and looked out the glass at her onlookers. Her eyes stopped as they met Nick's one eye. A smile crept up on her face. It was not a welcoming one, but one that a murderer makes before they slice of somebody's head. Chills ran down his spine. He broke eye contact and slid his card in a hidden slot. Yet another secret door opened and led into the room.

Boots clicked on the solid concrete floor. They did not stop until they came within five feet of the bed. The girl took no notice of her new visitor. She gazed off straight ahead at a blank white wall as if it was the most interesting thing in the universe.

"Looks like you've got a lot of explaining to do," Nick told his uninterested audience. When he got no response at all, not even a noticing glance, he continued. "Let's start with who you are." Still no response. "Why are you here?" Nothing. "Where are you from?" Silence. "You're going to have to coöperate sooner or later," he said. He was long past annoyed with this girl. He turned to walk out.

"I am Nero," whispered the girl with an icy tone. It was so quiet that if he had not been listening for it, he would not have heard her. Her voice was drenched with a foreign accent. It was unlike any on Earth.

He stopped immediately and turned to face her. She must have turned her head to look at the dark-skinned man. All Nick saw was her moving back to her original position faced towards the wall. It was obvious that she was not planning to speak again.

Nick noticed black on the floor that hadn't been there earlier. It took him a moment for him to realize it, but it was the straps that once restrained her. She had gotten out of them with no clear struggle. What a little escape artist she was! An evil grin lit up her face once again as she noticed out of the corner of her eye that the man was staring at her latest accomplishment.

He was done with this insanity. He quickly marched back to the hidden door. "By the way, I'm Director Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D and welcome to Earth. It was a pleasure to meet you," he said over his shoulder sarcastically as he left.

The question was left unspoken. "She calls herself Nero," Fury said as he stormed past the Avengers.

A thunderous boom rocked everyone's souls. They spun around to find the source of the deafening sound. What they saw was Mjolnir on the ground and Thor frozen in place with his mouth gawking. His eyes were widened with fear and skin ghostly pale.

"What did you do th…?" Tony stopped when he saw Natasha give him a threatening glare. It was best for him to shut up.

"It tis she. The Darkest of the Outer. The bringer of evil," he stammered in a voice way too timid to be recognized as his own. "She has the power to destroy us all…"

Author's Note: Oh, so Nero is playing the cold card. Things are about to get heated…

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- Pandora