A/N: The canon divergence begins at the end of this chapter. I won't be following Age of Ultron or Civil War plotlines. I'll still use a few events from the movies, but not necessarily in a chronological order, so the timeline might get blurry sometimes. But don't worry, it won't be too confusing.

Also, I'm happy to announce that I've finished pre-writing this story, and decided to stick to a weekly posting schedule from now on. Updates on FFnet will be on Wednesdays. There will be 17 chapters in total, and the total word count will be around 95k. I should probably start writing the sequel (which will focus on Shuri and Wakanda), but I'm also planning to start a collection of one-shots that take place in the series. Like, missing scenes, flashbacks, etc. But I'm not sure about it yet. If you're interested, or have an idea for one-shots, let me know.


Phil Coulson's name wasn't on the Wall of Valor.

It was odd, because every SHIELD agent who had died in the line of duty could be found on this wall, including those who had been killed by Loki, or one of his subordinates. Coulson was the only exception.

Ana had thought of asking her SO, Agent Weaver, but that would be a bad idea while she was still yet to prove that she trusted the system.

Trust the system. That was what they taught the cadets at the Academy. But if the system was so trustworthy, why was Coulson's name not on the Wall of Valor? Why, according to the SHIELD files, did Sigyn not even exist, while she and Fury clearly knew each other?

But Ana knew she had to keep her mouth shut. She had a plan. Play along, show that you are not an entitled brat, prove your genius without asking too many questions, rise in the ranks, and get Fury's attention. But the mysterious attack at the swimming pool wasn't helping her cause. Anyone who was smart enough to find a way to instantly freeze an indoor pool was a suspect. That was probably why Ana had been summoned to Agent Weaver's office. For questioning. So, she stopped staring at the Wall of Valor—she checked the Wall every day to see if Coulson's name had been added; it had almost become a habit—and went to see her SO.

Agent Weaver smiled when she saw her. "Hello, Ana. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine, Agent Weaver, thank you."

"Please, take a seat."

Ana sat down across the desk from her, and waited. She still wasn't sure what to think of this woman. On one hand, Agent Weaver was kind, brilliant, and seemed to care deeply about her students. But on the other hand, she treated Ana a bit harshly, just for the sake of proving that there was no favoritism here.

"What do you think about the incident at the swimming pool?"

"I think it seems more serious than a freshman prank."

"You're a freshman. Has anyone pulled a prank on you?"

"Of course. They told me there were the remains of an actual dragon somewhere in the campus. It took me three days to realize it was a prank."

"Did it bother you?"

"No. I saw too many evil pranks at the boarding school. There're no bullies here, and I really like that."

"And still, you haven't made any friends, have you?"

"No."

"May I ask why?"

"Ma'am, I'm taking six courses this semester, so that I can graduate early. I'll be here for only one year, why should I bother to make friends?"

True, there were no bullies here, but there was too much competitiveness. Competition came before friendship, and Ana found this quite exhausting. So, she kept her distance, didn't let anything become too personal. Yes, rivalry was inevitable among geniuses. Ana and Shuri challenged each other all the time, for example, but it was just for shits and giggles. They didn't really care who was actually smarter. The people here did.

"Do you consider yourself above the other cadets?"

"I never said that."

Weaver took out something from a drawer and gave it to Ana. "We found this in the filter of the pool. Tell me what you think."

Ana took the device from her an inspected it. It looked like the combination of two separate devices. One was a crystalline nucleator, and the other was a delivery mechanism. It was… faulty at best, like a poor attempt to replicate someone else's invention, but she decided to keep that thought to herself. She didn't want to sound like a snob.

"This is definitely not a prank. I think someone is doing a very dangerous experiment."

"Why do you think so?"

She handed Weaver the device back. "The components aren't exactly affordable. No one in their right mind would waste thousands of dollars on a prank."

"You could easily afford these components if you wanted, right?"

So, that explained why she was a suspect. "I could. But why would I do something like that?"

Weaver then flipped a folder on her desk open with a concerned look on her face. "This is your psychic evaluation," she explained. "It says here your meeting with Loki was a defining moment."

"So?"

"Every SHIELD agent has a defining moment, Ana. Some of those moments can be quite traumatizing. As Supervising Officers, it's our job to be concerned about those ones."

"You don't think I'm still under Loki's influence, do you?"

"No, no… It's not that."

"What is it, then?"

"Did you know that Loki was a Frost Giant, and not an actual Asgardian? According to Thor's debriefing, at least."

"No," she said, and that was true. "Thor told me that he was adopted, but I didn't know he was a Frost Giant, whatever that means. Wait, do you think I'm trying to somehow imitate his powers?"

"That would give you a reason to build an Atmospheric Moisture Freezing Device. Maybe you're feeling weak. Vulnerable. And you want to be prepared for your next encounter with an alien."

Yeah, you have no idea. "With all due respect, ma'am, I didn't know Loki was a Frost Giant, and even if I had, I wouldn't have cared. He didn't use his Frost Giant powers on me. You know what he did to me."

"I do. That's why I'm worried about you."

She was now panicking a little. What if Weaver started asking her questions about Extremis? Her dad had made sure no one would find out about what Killian had done to her. Very few people knew that Ana Stark had been mutilated. The generous donation seemed to have been enough to keep the hospital staff quiet so far. But SHIELD was also good at uncovering secrets.

"Then help me, Agent Weaver. You know I have a theory. But without the scepter itself, I'm stumbling in the dark."

"I've sent an official request to the Triskelion. Be patient, Ana. This is a government organization, not your father's private company. And even if they accept the request, you still have to show me you could be trusted with such a dangerous artifact. For now, prove me you didn't build this device."

"Okay, look… I might be a scientist, but I'm also a businesswoman. If I wanted to give myself powers, or threaten the fellow cadets for some reason, I'd find a cheaper way to do it. This device is… impressive, but it's not cost-effective."

"Speaking of business, I'd like to ask you another question… How did you feel when your father shut down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries?"

"I felt relieved."

"You didn't want to build weapons?"

"No."

"And what if we asked you to design weapons for SHIELD?"

"I'd design weapons for SHIELD."

"Aren't you contradicting yourself?"

"My father shut down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries, not because he thought the world no longer needed weapons, but because he knew it was almost impossible to make sure those weapons wouldn't fall into the wrong hands in a multi-billion dollar company. In SHIELD, I don't have to worry about that. I'm well aware of the fact that SHIELD is a government organization, and not my father's private company, ma'am. And I'm glad it's not."

"Your psychic evaluation also says you have deeply rooted trust issues. So, why did you choose to trust us? How are you going to make sure your designs won't fall into the wrong hands?"

"That's Director Fury's job."

"Do you trust Director Fury?"

"I trust the system," she lied.

"Very well," she said softly, then added, "I know your intentions are good, Ana. But I'm still not sure if you belong here. I hope you prove me wrong, I really do. That's all. You're free to go."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

Ana returned to her room after this interrogation. She had homework, and Pepper had asked her to prepare a presentation on their latest software upgrades and customer feedback. She didn't have much time to think about what Weaver had said.

The next day, all classes were canceled, because everyone wanted to attend the lecture of Agents Leopold Fitz and Jemma Simmons. Agent Weaver always said they were the Academy's finest, but Ana didn't feel like going. Still, it would be suspicious not to go, so she dragged herself to the lecture hall, and did her best to appear interested. Well, at least Agents Fitz and Simmons seemed like cool people. It was easy to understand why everyone here admired them so much. But the lecture got interrupted by another Atmospheric Moisture Freezing Device attack, so she returned to her room, hoping no one would bother her.

Contrary to popular belief, Ana Stark rarely got what she wanted.

A young, brunette woman came to see her. Even if she was a student here, Ana had never seen her before.

"Ana Stark?"

"Yes?"

"My name's Skye, I'm here with Fitz-Simmons. Can I come in?"

"Sure." Fitz and Simmons had been invited as guest lecturers, but they were probably going to investigate the attacks with their team while they were here.

Agent Skye looked around the room and smiled, but she seemed a bit nervous. Like, fangirl-nervous. Which was weird, because SHIELD agents normally wouldn't be fangirling over a Stark. Maybe she was a rookie. But she seemed nice enough, so Ana decided to make her job easier.

"What can I do for you, Agent Skye?"

"Oh, I'm not really an agent. I'm a consultant. Like your dad, right?"

Okay, this was weird, too. Not many people knew her dad worked for SHIELD as a consultant. It wasn't exactly common knowledge, even among SHIELD agents. Her dad had said only those who had been directly involved in the Avengers Initiative project knew about it.

"Right. So, am I getting court-martialed?"

She laughed. "What? No! I just wanted to talk to you. Why does Agent Weaver think you're the one attacking the cadets anyway? It's nuts. I mean, you're… you."

"Because the components of the Atmospheric Moisture Freezing Device are rare and expensive. I'm one of the few cadets who can get my hands on them without a problem."

"If that's the case, we can trace the purchases to find out who is really behind this."

Ana wondered if Skye was really a rookie. Maybe she was just pretending to be one to make Ana lower her guard. "I don't think I have the clearance to do that."

Skye grimaced. "Are you serious?"

"Things might be a bit complicated right now, but I still trust the system," she said dutifully.

Skye rolled her eyes. "Well, you don't have to do it yourself. I can. As a matter of fact, that's exactly why I was recruited in the first place."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm a hacker."

Ana then recalled something. "Wait… Are you the Skye? From the Rising Tide?"

"How did you know?"

"Weren't you the one who tried to hack into Stark Industries Central Database once?"

"Yeah, then I got locked out… embarrassingly fast."

"I was the one who locked you out."

"Okay, this is awkward," she said, but she was laughing. Well, the situation was indeed awkwardly funny. Ana had never been the outgoing type, but something had just clicked between them. For Ana, this was a rare thing. It had happened only once before, when she had first met Shuri at NYU.

"No hard feelings, right?"

"We're on the same side now. And in my defense, I was just curious."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to sue you for corporate espionage or anything. That would be ungrateful. SHIELD could've sent someone much less friendly to interrogate me."

"Thanks... I guess."

"Where did you study computer science? MIT? Stanford? Harvard?"

"Uhm, I actually dropped out of high school."

"Oh… So, you've been trained by the Rising Tide?"

"Yep."

Ana had never thought someone who had been trained by one of those hacker groups could be this good, but apparently, she had been wrong.

Skye's smile faded when she spotted the framed picture on the desk. It was a picture of Ana with her dad, Pepper, and Rhodey; it had been taken at the Forbidden City in Beijing, before her dad's surgery.

"Nice family," she commented, with a hint of longing in her voice.

"Thanks. I'm trying not to take anything for granted."

"That's good."

Ana felt a sudden urge to ask Skye about her family, but she had met this girl five minutes ago, and thankfully, she usually had a good brain-to-mouth filter. Not everyone was comfortable discussing their families with strangers.

"Well, I think I'll just go to the Bus, and start tracing those purchases."

"Do you want me to come with you? I can give you a list of the potential dealers," she offered. Ana was now quite familiar with the market.

The offer had made Skye visibly uncomfortable, though. "Uhm, there's no need for that. I'll just ask Fitz-Simmons."

"Okay. Good luck, Skye."

"You, too, Ana."

Then, another thought occurred to her. No one knew who the leader of the Bus Team was. A response team like that had to have a leader. A leader who was experienced in both combat and bureaucracy. Fitz-Simmons were obviously Team Science, Ana was now convinced that Skye was indeed just a consultant, they had a specialist whose name she couldn't remember right now, and rumor had it a legend known as "The Cavalry" was the pilot, but no one had ever mentioned a team leader. And now Ana had a guess why.

Screw this, she thought. Keeping a low profile wasn't getting her anywhere. She needed to stir up the hornet's nest if she wanted to get Fury's attention.

"Skye…"

Skye paused in the doorway and looked at her. "Yes?"

"Tell Coulson his secret is safe with me."

An expression of panic crossed Skye's face, confirming Ana's suspicions. Good, she thought. Otherwise, this would have been really embarrassing. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on, Skye…"

"Okay," she relented. "How did you…"

"It's not your fault. I realized something was odd when I couldn't find Coulson's name on the Wall of Valor."

"So, is this what it's like to be a genius?"

Ana chuckled. "I'm not normally a walking polygraph, I swear. But like I said, Coulson's name wasn't on the Wall, you knew my dad was a consultant, and the identity of your team leader was a secret, so I just connected the dots."

"I'll let him know."

"Thanks."

Later that day, an unnatural storm over the campus led her to think that someone had built a much bigger version of the Atmospheric Moisture Freezing Device, but thankfully, it didn't last long. Maybe Coulson's team had intervened, or the idiot behind the attacks had failed. The device Agent Weaver had shown Ana wasn't exactly an engineering marvel anyway.

When someone knocked on her door again, she wondered if she had done a terrible mistake by sending Coulson a message.

But she changed her mind when she found Coulson himself standing right before her.

She had figured out that he was alive hours ago, and she knew she should maintain a professional relationship with him, but it was still such a relief to see him. A hug was in order.

To her surprise, Coulson hugged her back.

"It's so good to see you here, Coulson."

"Hello, Ana… May I?"

"Yeah, of course." She let him come in and closed the door.

"Not your usual type of accommodation," he said, looking around the tiny room.

"I'm adaptable."

"I can see that."

"Am I in trouble?"

"No. I just thought I should pay you a visit. I owe you that much."

"What about Skye? Is she in trouble?"

"Why would she? Her job was to find out who was behind the attacks. She did."

"Why did SHIELD recruit a Rising Tide hacker, anyway?" SHIELD didn't like those who refused to play by the rules. They could barely tolerate her dad, for example.

"It was actually my call. SHIELD needs people like her."

"So, are you going to tell me what that superstorm was about?"

"Do you know Ian Quinn?"

"Only by name. Stark Industries has never done any business with Quinn Worldwide."

"He was the one who funded two cadets to build the weather machine."

"I'll tell Pepper to add him to the blacklist."

"Good. I'll leave the rest for you to figure out," he said insinuatingly.

"Hey, I can't help what my mind does."

"I know that."

"What happened to you? How did you… survive?"

"To be honest, that's what I'm trying to figure out these days."

Ana nodded thoughtfully. She had a feeling that this was all Coulson would tell her. Nevertheless, Ana found his presence comforting. If people could come back from the dead, maybe growing a new pair of hands wasn't such a big deal, after all.

She didn't remember what it had felt like, to grow a new pair of hands. She had been heavily sedated during the procedure. When she had woken up, the Extremis in her system had been stabilized, she had hands, and she was wearing a pair of special microfiber gloves because her new hands would be extremely sensitive for the first couple of days. And of course, her dad was there with her.

Ana still wore the microfiber gloves while sleeping. She sometimes had nightmares about losing her hands again, and when she woke up, she would find bleeding scratches and nail marks on her hands. The gloves kept her from unintentionally hurting herself in her sleep.

"Coulson?"

"Yeah?"

"Look, like I said, your secret is safe with me, but I think the Avengers deserve to know the truth. They care about you. We all do."

"I'm not the only one you need to convince."

"Fury?"

He nodded.

"Well, orders are orders. Trust the system, right?"

Coulson nodded again, but almost reluctantly. Strange. He was supposed to be one of those who had absolute, unyielding faith in the system.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out. "About what Loki did to you. He hurt me, too."

"I know." He patted on her shoulder before leaving.

Sorry, Dad, Ana thought. But I still need to earn Fury's trust.

Ana must have got Director Fury's attention, because one day, when she returned to her room after another long and exhausting day, she found Agent Barton sitting on her bed.

"We're going on a mission," he simply said. "Fury's orders."

"What mission? Where are we going?"

He rose to his feet and shrugged.

"But this is just a temporary thing, right? I mean, I'm still a cadet, not a field agent."

"See, this is why I hate babysitting scientists. You guys ask too many questions… Pack everything you think you might need, meet me on the roof. Wheels up in ten."

After he left, she put her phone, her tablet, a flashlight, and spare batteries in a backpack. What else would she need? If she needed a weapon, Barton would probably give her one. Was there going to be a fight? She was now very glad that she had decided to take that self-defense class as an elective. It was tougher than any other self-defense classes she had had before, which made her realize how easy her dad, Rhodey, and Happy had been going on her. And that class was just for the Sci-Tech cadets. She could only imagine what kind of training specialists and field agents received. Ana had always considered herself lazy; not eating much was easier for her than hitting the gym on a regular basis. But after everything she had been through, martial arts helped her gain confidence and kept her motivated.

Barton was indeed waiting for him on the roof. Ana followed him into the quinjet without a word.

"Why did my SO not tell me anything about this mission?" she finally asked once they were in the air. She knew he didn't like questions, but she had to ask this one.

"Agent Weaver doesn't know. Fury wants to keep this one off the books."

Weaver had told her who had caused the superstorm at the campus. Seth Dormer and Donnie Gill. The former was dead, and the latter had been taken to the Sandbox. Ana didn't feel bad for either of them. The idiots had staged the attacks to lure Agent Fitz into the Academy, so that he would fix their crappy machine for them, and were almost going to get everybody killed just to impress Ian Quinn. As for Weaver, she now knew Ana had had nothing to do with the attacks, but she still seemed to think Ana wasn't cut out to be a SHIELD agent. Well, now that Fury had sent Hawkeye himself to take her on a mission, what Weaver thought was irrelevant. It was still hurtful, to know that your SO didn't have much faith in you for some unclear reason, but Ana tried to focus on the big picture. SHIELD was just a means to an end.

"So, this is not an official SHIELD mission?" she asked.

"Relax," Barton said with a reassuring smile. "We're just going to retrieve something from a storage facility. I don't expect any trouble."

"Thanks."

"Still, take this. Just in case." He handed her a Glock 26. "And turn off your phone. What else have you brought?"

"Just my tablet. And spare batteries."

"If you're going to use the tablet, make sure it's offline. We're going dark."

Ana noticed that Barton was enabling the stealth mode. As far as she knew, only the helicarriers were equipped with retro-reflective panels. "I thought SHIELD quinjets didn't have a cloaking system…"

"This one does."

Five hours later, they landed on a small island somewhere in the North Atlantic; Ana wasn't sure if the island had a name, or could even be found on a map. But there was indeed a secret facility.

There was a security camera at the gates, but no one welcomed them, warned them to stay away, or shot first and asked questions later. There was also what looked like a retinal scanner. Barton decided to give it a try.

ACCESS DENIED

He turned to Ana. "Can you take care of this, or am I going to have to blow the doors open?"

"Let me see." She approached the scanner to inspect the panel, but when she did, it automatically scanned her eyeball, too.

ACCESS GRANTED

Just like that, the heavy metal gates clicked open.

His face was priceless. "What the…"

Ana shrugged. "Don't look at me, I'm as clueless as you are."

They entered the bunk. It was mostly empty. There was an elevator, but Barton didn't take it. Instead, he located a secret hatch on the ground—Fury must have given him very specific instructions—and led her through a long, winding tunnel with a metal door at the end.

"You go ahead," he said once they reached it.

"Are you not coming?"

"I'll stand guard here."

"I don't even know what to do!"

"Fury thinks you'll know what to do."

"Why are you not coming?"

He let out an exasperated sigh. "It's called compartmentalization, Ana. Go ahead, it's completely safe."

Slowly, Ana entered the room, and closed the door behind her. This place looked like a lab, but none of the standard lab equipment looked worthy of a shady mission like this. Except for what stood on a desk in the middle of the room. It was something that both terrified, and delighted her. She was terrified, because she was almost going to kill her dad because of that thing. But she was also delighted, because Fury had finally chosen to trust her with it.

Loki's scepter. Or, Thanos'… Whatever.

Still, she had a feeling that there was more. Her retinal scan was in the system while Barton's wasn't, and he clearly had orders to wait outside while Ana was in the lab. There had to be something else here, something that was for her eyes only.

Ana decided to find out what it was.

Thankfully, her tablet had been equipped with X-Ray receptors, which she was now using to scan the room. She spotted a hidden vault in the corner. Ana put the tablet aside and went to open it. Inside the vault was a cryo chamber. When she swung the lid open, it made a hissing sound, and the cold, white steam didn't let her see anything at first, but once it cleared, she instinctively staggered backward.

You gotta be shitting me…

A part of her had, in fact, expected to see this. But it didn't make the sight before her any less gruesome. Ana looked at the body of her future self in absolute stillness for some time. Sigyn's illusion must have worn off, because like Shuri had said, she looked in her mid-30s now. Ana's initial shock was now being replaced with pity, for even in death, there was a tormented expression on the time-traveler's face.

This wasn't just a mission to retrieve the scepter. This was a message. From Fury.

There was no visible sign of decay. The future Ana must have been put into the cryo chamber shortly after she had been killed, which meant that Fury had known about her all along.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she heard Barton's voice. "Ana? Are you done in there?"

"Just a second…"

"We don't have time, this place is rigged to blow!"

"What?" she cried. "Are we under attack?"

"No, it's a failsafe mechanism. There's Semtex all over the bunker. We have less than five minutes, come on!"

"Just give me 30 seconds!"

"Okay!"

With trembling hands, she took pictures of the body. It was proof, after all, and it was about to be destroyed in less than five minutes. She was going to send them to Shuri later. At least the body had been dressed in white hospital scrubs. She couldn't believe she was actually worried about that right now, but she was very glad that she didn't have to send her BFF some creepy nudes.

Then, she came up with an idea. This body could help her see if she had broken the time loop. Extremis had altered her DNA for good. She could take a DNA sample from her future self to see if she, too, had been through the same thing.

She actually took three samples, just to be sure. Then she closed the vault door, grabbed the scepter, and got out of the lab.

"Where have you—Oh… That."

"Yeah, I know."

"Come on!"

She followed him out of the bunker, then into the quinjet. Ten seconds after the take-off, the facility exploded with a deafening blast.

"Hey, are you okay, or am I going to have to call an exorcist?"

Only then, Ana realized that she was sitting in the co-pilot's seat cross-legged, staring into space and holding tightly onto Loki's scepter.

I just had to take DNA samples from my corpse. I'm most certainly not okay. "Sorry." She gingerly placed the scepter on the floor. "I need to speak with Fury."

"There's a safe house. Fury will meet us there."

Ana nodded. It was a good thing Barton didn't ask too many questions. Or maybe, he had just misinterpreted her silence.

How much did Fury know? How had he even found the body? Who else had he told? Why was the scepter also there? The endless queue of questions was melting her brain.

The "safe house" turned out to be a farm where Barton's wife and two kids lived in peace. This was definitely not what Ana had expected. Mrs. Barton didn't seem to be expecting a guest either. But she was very kind to Ana, and didn't make any fuss when her husband said they would be staying here until he heard from Fury again. The kids were a bit disappointed to see that it wasn't "Aunt Nat" their dad had brought along, but they liked Ana well enough. Lila was especially delighted when Ana repaired her broken MP3 player after the dinner.

Something was definitely wrong with SHIELD. But Ana would worry about that later. For now, all she wanted was to speak with Fury, and then find a lab and analyze the DNA samples. But that was going to have to wait. There was nothing she could do about it.

Once she was alone in the guest bedroom, Ana connected her tablet to the satellite, and sent Shuri the pictures. Barton had told her to keep it offline, but Ana knew Stark tech was 100% untraceable. Otherwise, she wouldn't have taken the risk. There were kids here.

Shuri's reply came in less than five seconds. "WTF?"

"Fury knows."

"How?"

"He sent me on a mission with Hawkeye. He must have wanted me to see that body. And secure Loki's scepter. I think something is wrong in SHIELD."

"You have the scepter?"

"Yep."

"What about the body? What if someone else finds it?"

"The whole facility is gone now. Fury isn't one to leave his secrets lying around. Btw, I took DNA samples from the time-traveler."

"You ARE a genius." That was the best part of having a smart best friend. You never had to do much explaining.

The next day, she woke up with red scratch marks on her hands. Damn, she should have remembered to take the gloves with her. Still, considering the circumstances, she had had a remarkably peaceful sleep. Maybe because everything was so peaceful here. Barton's homestead had made her realize how much she had alienated from nature. Her habitats mostly consisted of chrome, glass, and concrete. She had never been much interested in zoology, or botany, so it didn't bother her. But she could see the appeal of the farm life.

She found Barton outside, chopping wood. He seemed pretty upset about something—probably the fact that Loki's scepter was now under the same roof with his wife and kids—so Ana wasn't sure if it was a good idea to approach him, but he smiled when he saw her.

"You're up early," he said.

"So are you."

"Yeah, couldn't sleep much last night."

"Any word from Director Fury?"

"Not yet." He put the ax down. Gosh, Ana still felt a bit uneasy when she saw an ax… "Look, about the scepter… I know you said it was harmless, but can you make sure that thing doesn't mess with our heads?"

She thought for a moment. "Well, Bruce once told me the blue gem emits a low amount of gamma radiation. That's probably how it affects the mind."

"Alright. Just give me a list of the materials you need."

Ana smiled. "Fun fact: Almost anything can be used to block ionizing radiation. Even dirt."

"Are you saying we should just bury it?"

"Three or four feet deep will be enough. For extra protection, you can cover the gem with tin, copper, or aluminum. How do you think fallout shelters are built?"

He shot her a skeptical look.

"What?"

"I don't know. I just expected something… fancier."

"You know my dad built his first suit in a cave, right? Being a genius involves being resourceful."

"I'll start digging after breakfast. It's cold out here, let's get inside."

Soon, Mrs. Barton and the kids were up. After breakfast, Barton went to dig a hole in the backyard for the scepter, and Ana decided to help his wife clean up the table.

"Relax, dear," the woman suddenly told Ana as they placed the dishes into the dishwasher. "Clint would've never brought you here if he didn't trust you."

"Thanks, Mrs. Barton."

"Please, just call me Laura."

"It's just… the whole thing seems a bit funky. I don't want to give you guys any trouble."

"Actually, I'm glad you're here. Clint told me Loki used that scepter on you, too. I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but... What Loki did to Clint, it changed him. Even Natasha doesn't know how this alien thing works. I thought, if there's anything I can do to help Clint, maybe you could tell me."

Ana sighed. "If I find a way to… undo it, I'll let you know," she promised, not knowing what else to say. She just didn't think there was a way to fully undo whatever the scepter did to its victims.

All of a sudden, Cooper's voice interrupted their conversation. "War Machine!" the boy cried and started bouncing up and down excitedly.

Ana and Laura looked out the window. War Machine was indeed outside, arguing with Barton. Ana went out to see what this was about, with Laura trailing behind her.

"Rhodey?"

The War Machine suit opened up to reveal no one other than Tony Stark himself. She knew he wasn't supposed to be here, but damn, she had missed him. She didn't even try to hide her joy.

"Dad?"

"Hey, kid."

"How did you find this place, Tony?" Barton asked angrily, then turned to Ana. "Did you turn your phone on?"

"I, uhm—"

"I don't need her GPS to track her," her dad said quickly, saving her from a lot of trouble. "SHIELD's cloaking tech is mediocre at best. And I have a surveillance satellite. Whose sole purpose is to monitor my daughter. JARVIS said you took her on a mission, and you came out of that bunker with Loki's scepter, so I thought I could borrow Rhodey's suit and see what this is about."

Well, Ana couldn't say she was surprised. This was so typical of him.

Barton started to laugh hysterically.

"I don't expect you to understand, Barton."

"You don't? I got two kids, man!"

"Really? Are they your kids? Is this not some sort of… cover?"

"No, Tony, this is not a cover. This is my wife, Laura. And these are my kids, Lila and Cooper. Are you happy now?"

"You guys should start a Dads' Club," Ana teased.

"Look, Stark, your daughter is going to be a SHIELD agent, so get used to it. You can't do this every time she goes on a mission."

"Come on, Barton! We both know this is not a standard SHIELD protocol. One way or another, I'm going to find out what's going on, so let's not waste each other's time, okay? What are you guys doing with Loki's scepter?"

"I made a request," Ana blurted out. "To study the scepter. I was hoping to find something that would prevent mind control." Her dad wasn't going to give up. Maybe Agent Weaver was right to think she would never be a SHIELD agent. She had a father who could build a satellite just to watch over her. She didn't blame him, though. She knew he still hadn't forgiven himself for what Killian had done to her. Yes, maybe it was a bit embarrassing, but such things didn't matter anymore. She didn't know how much time they had left. She didn't know when Thanos would come, and what he would do to them when he did. Nothing in this world was worth breaking her dad's heart over.

"You know what, I'm calling Fury," Barton announced. "This is getting out of hand."

"Let's get inside," Laura suggested. On their way back to the house, Ana shot her an apologetic look. Laura just smiled in response. She was a patient woman.

They gathered in the living room. Barton pulled out a flip phone and dialed a number. "This is Agent Clint Barton. Voice command, Emergency Protocol One. I repeat, Emergency Protocol One.

"Hello?" the man on the other end of the line said.

Barton frowned. "This was supposed to be a secure connection to Director Fury's personal line. Who the hell are you?"

"Director Fury is dead."

"What?"

The other man hung up without saying anything else.

The deafening silence in the Bartons' living room was only broken when Tony Stark's phone pinged. He took it out, and looked at the screen in utter shock for a moment.

"Someone turn on the news," he muttered, passing the phone to Ana.

JARVIS had notified him of the currently trending hashtags on Twitter, some of which were as followed:

#shieldra

#datadump

#projectinsight

#worlddomination

#wherearetheavengers

When Laura turned on the TV, they saw the footage of the Triskelion being destroyed by three helicarriers. Ana immediately recognized the design of the new repulsor engines. It was her dad's. And somehow, it had apparently fallen into the wrong hands. The reporter was saying something about SHIELD being compromised by HYDRA.

Even something as shocking as the return of a Nazi death cult seemed quite mundane after what Ana had seen in that vault. She wasn't even sure how to feel about this. Why had her future self not warned her about HYDRA? To preserve some of the original timeline? Or was it because there hadn't been enough time to cover that part? Or maybe, SHIELD was simply irrelevant to the endgame. Ana had been wrong to think otherwise.

Fury was a different story, though. He must have seen this coming somehow. He must have wanted to send Ana a message and secure Loki's scepter before things went south. Still, Ana didn't really believe he was dead. If the whole world thought Nick Fury was dead, he probably wasn't dead.

"Can you fly that quinjet?" Barton asked her dad.

"I can. But is it a good idea to fly around with a SHIELD quinjet right now?"

"Technically, it doesn't belong to SHIELD."

"Do you think Fury knew this would happen?"

"Well, it all makes sense now. This place is kept off the records, so even HYDRA doesn't know about it, and you're one of the few civilians who has the means to secure an alien artifact."

"We'll take the scepter to the Avengers Tower, then."

He called Pepper, who was, as expected, worried sick, and let her know that they were safe, then sent the War Machine suit back to Rhodey before they went to the unofficial SHIELD quinjet waiting just outside the farm.

"Maybe Thor will want to take it to Asgard," Barton said as he gave them the scepter.

"Maybe. But until then, it's our problem."

"Wait," Ana cried before they boarded. "There's something else you guys should know."

She was tired of secrets. She already felt terribly guilty about all the lies she had to tell her dad; she didn't want to keep other people's secrets as well. From now on, she was going to be as honest as possible.

Everyone looked at her expectantly.

"Coulson is alive. There, off my chest…"

"What?" they cried.

Ana then proceeded to tell them how she figured out Coulson was alive and how she met his protégée at the Academy.

The data dump was massive, and most of it was still encrypted, but the Starks knew where to start: Project Insight. Apparently, HYDRA had been planning to start its reign with a purge. Everyone who posed a potential threat to HYDRA would have been killed by the Insight helicarriers. An algorithm to decide who would be a problem someday… It sounded crazy, yet it actually made perfect sense. And the guy who made this algorithm, Arnim Zola? Before his death, he had transferred his consciousness into a computer. Back in 1972.

"And I thought you were a mad scientist," she told her dad.

"Not mad enough for these bastards, apparently."

Of course, as expected, he was blaming himself for not seeing HYDRA coming. Ana decided to do him a favor and admit her mistake. "Go on, Dad. Say it."

He let the auto-pilot take over, and then turned in his seat to face her. "Say what?"

"Don't you want to give me the 'I told you so' speech?"

"I want to make sure you're okay. Are you still scratching your hands in your sleep?" he asked, inspecting her hands. He wasn't judging her, no. As always, he understood her better than anyone else. He knew what Killian had really wanted to take from her. It wasn't just her hands, it was her life. He knew how much precision an engineer's job required, and that no prosthetic hands would be good enough for someone like her. That was why he had done the impossible and found a way to give her her life back. And he also knew that she didn't have self-harming tendencies. On the contrary, the scratches only happened because her subconscious was desperate to make sure her hands were where they were supposed to be.

"Sometimes. I left my gloves at the Academy."

"That's alright, I'll make you a new pair. Anyway, if it's going to help you feel better, yeah, I told you so. Oh, and you should've told me about Coulson."

"Well, I just did, didn't I?"

"You should've told me before SHIELD was torn apart," he said sharply.

As honest as possible, she reminded herself. "If it's any consolation, I had my own agenda when I was at the Academy. I was hoping to earn Fury's trust and become a part of his inner circle."

"Why?"

"Because like you said, his secrets had secrets. And some of those secrets could help us protect ourselves better. If I'd told you about Coulson, you would've told everyone else, and they would've realized I was more loyal to you than I was to SHIELD."

"Is this supposed to make me feel better?" he asked, but his face had softened. "Your plan to rise to the ranks of Fury's Angels?"

"Fury's Angels?"

"Hill, Romanoff, and who knows what other ridiculously attractive femme fatales he has at his disposal…"

Sigyn, she thought. Sigyn was the third Angel, indeed. Ana tried to picture Hill, Romanoff, and Sigyn sitting in front of a speaker box, and saying "Good morning, Fury!" in unison. Okay, she was never going to be able to unsee that now.

"I don't blame you, kid. This world needs protection. You were just trying to do your part."

"And you were trying to do yours. Those repulsor engines…"

"I designed them, yeah. Looks like I was helping HYDRA murder 20 million people…"

Ana felt awful for her dad. No matter how careful he was, someone always found a way to use his own inventions against him. It was almost like a curse. "You couldn't have known, Dad."

"I should've. You and Pepper were on Zola's algorithm, Ana!"

"So were you! You thought you were helping the good guys. We needed SHIELD, Dad. Everyone keeps saying how much the world has changed since the Battle of New York, but it hasn't changed enough if you ask me."

"I know exactly what you mean."

"Are you still having nightmares about aliens?"

"No. I know the threat is still out there, but I'll find healthier ways to deal with it."

"So, what will happen now?"

"We'll take reigns. Privatize global security."

"Does that mean you're going to build a new Iron Legion?"

"Yeah, but this time I have something different in mind."

"Will Pepper be okay with that?"

"She's a realist. She'll understand."

"Hey, at least you kept your promise to her."

"What do you mean?"

"You had to borrow Rhodey's suit to go after me. That means you really don't have a suit stashed away somewhere."

"Yeah, having a sidekick has its perks."

"Don't let Rhodey hear that. He hates being called a sidekick."

"What about you?"

"What?"

"Maybe we should build you a suit, too."

The sudden offer had caught her completely off-guard. She started to laugh hysterically.

"Kid? Are you okay?"

She took a deep breath to steady herself. "I'm okay. It's just… I thought you'd lock me in an impenetrable vault or something after what happened today. Instead, you want to give me a suit. Why?"

"Do you know the definition of insanity?"

"Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?"

"I've been trying to keep the world at bay since I found you on my doorstep, but it doesn't really work, does it? You're a Stark, Ana. You were born to shape the future. That means you'll have enemies. I taught you how to be a scientist. Now it's time I teach you how to be a hero."

"Why do you think I want to be a hero?"

"I think you made it pretty obvious when you faced Loki alone. Or when you tried to rescue Pepper."

As honest as possible, she reminded herself. "I've never told you how Loki's scepter works, have I?"

There was a moment of stiff silence, but he didn't freak out. Maybe she could tell him now. If she broke it to him really, really carefully, he might be able to handle the truth.

"It shows you a vision," she continued.

"What kind of vision?"

"I don't know what the others saw. But I saw Pepper. She was dead. And then you said it was my fault. You wanted to kill me. Loki saved me from you. That was what I saw."

"I should've never let Thor take him back to Asgard. Not alive, at least…"

"I didn't tell it to upset you, Dad. I just thought you deserved to know. You're not the reason I tried to save Pepper. I let that vision get to me. Not you. Not even Loki. As for Loki, don't blame yourself for what he did to me either. I didn't decide to meet him after your speech about understanding gods and magic. I'd made up my mind long before that. I just… had to."

"Why?"

"To see the big picture. Have you ever wondered how Loki might have got himself an army?"

"You thought he wasn't alone… That he was working with someone else?"

"Or maybe, for someone else. Unwillingly. That vision I'm talking about wasn't entirely convincing. I mean, you were trying to kill me with a spear. A part of me knew that it was absolutely ridiculous. Loki was slipping. Someone else was pulling his strings, and he wasn't very happy about it. And I know—Dad, are you okay?"

So much for healthy coping mechanisms, Ana thought. She had never actually seen him have an anxiety attack before, and now she wished she didn't have to see it now either. The fear in his eyes, the way he struggled to breathe… Perhaps for the first time, she actually realized, contrary to popular belief, he wasn't larger than life. It scared her. She didn't know what to do with herself while he looked so powerless.

"This is not… supposed to… happen… Not… anymore."

Even now, he was putting up an admirable effort to comfort her, instead of focusing on himself. It was heartbreaking. "It's okay, Dad. It's been a long day. It's okay. We're okay. I'm so sorry, I wasn't—"

"Come here."

He pulled Ana into a hug, and held her in his arms tightly, as if Thanos could come to take her away any moment. He knows, she thought. He didn't need a warning from the future to know that someone was coming for them. Was it because of his paternal instincts, or something he had seen in that wormhole, Ana wasn't sure.

Her presence was clearly helping him calm down, so Ana just closed her eyes and let him hold her as long as he wanted. She, too, needed this. But to be honest, she didn't feel guilty about lying to him anymore. On the contrary, she was glad that she had kept her mouth shut. It was the only way she knew how to protect him. The only question was, for how long?

He pressed a kiss on her temple before releasing her.

"I don't know what came over me. This doesn't happen anymore, I swear."

"I'm sorry, Dad."

"For what?"

"For what I said earlier. It was ridiculous. I was sounding like one of those conspiracy theorists."

"No, Ana. It's not a conspiracy theory. It's the endgame. Everyone thinks I'm paranoid, but now I know I'm not. There's someone else who sees the big picture. My own daughter. My greatest creation. And if she can accept the truth without losing her mind, I should be able to do the same."

But you can't, can you? "Here, Dad, have some water," she said, and went to fetch him a bottle of water to avoid meeting his gaze.

He took a sip of water. "Don't leave me again, kid."

"I won't. I belong at Stark Industries, I know that now."

"Why? Did something happen at the Academy?"

"It's not such a big deal, but my SO said—"

He almost choked on the water he was drinking. "Your WHAT?"

"Supervising Officer," she explained. Okay, they were having a rough day, but it didn't change the fact that his reaction was hilarious. She wished she had recorded it. "Anyway, she said I didn't belong in SHIELD. Deeply rooted trust issues… That's what's written in my personal file. Now it's somewhere on the internet."

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure mine is worse. And what about their trust issues? They didn't let you bring JARVIS in!"

Much to his frustration, when she had first arrived the campus, Agent Weaver had made her remove JARVIS from her laptop, tablet, and phone. JARVIS had a bad reputation in SHIELD after what her dad had done on the helicarrier. As for Ana, getting separated from JARVIS had bruised her pride, but she had tried not to think much about it. It didn't matter anymore, though. She was going home.