Director Nicholas Fury was waiting for me when I surfaced. The New Hope Moon Pool, my Moon Pool, was the choice of meeting place. Here, where several years ago I became a mermaid, where later it granted the same gifts to the man I love. The place where the shattered reflection of the full moon marked the breaking of Fury's promise to me. I didn't trust him, or his agenda. The letter hadn't specified the reason he wanted to meet, but I knew he wanted to recruit me. To put me on a leash.

"Jacqueline." He said in greeting, leaning back against the wall of the cave.

"Director." I greeted him back. With only the barest hint of grace, I pulled myself from the water, onto the smooth stone floor, and dried myself. He passed me a folder when I got to my feet, light grey with bolded print across the front. The Avengers Initiative, TOP SECRET.

"I'm sure you already knew why I'm here." I took the folder, making no effort to conceal my cautious stare. But, he was right. I do know why he's here. Why he contacted me. Now that I didn't need Pendragon to help me with school anymore, and now that he had full control of his abilities as a merman, he was ending his extended leave and returning to work as an agent of Shield. Well, a techie and scientist, but still an agent. And now Fury wants me to join officially as well. He wants to control me.

"You read my mind," I muttered in confirmation, carefully reading over the information inside. My fingers tingled as I traced an invisible line under the small text. My breath caught in my throat at what I found inside. I had no idea how they'd obtained this information about me and my past, but to be honest, I wasn't really surprised. I had an idea of Shield's power over the country, and that they had probably begun to dig as soon as they found out about my existence. Of the existence of my kind.

My heart sank when I flipped the page, and discovered that they had collected reports on me, on my behavior and temperament, and why I should qualify for the offered position. Natasha, Clint, Steve, even Pendragon. My hands trembled and my chest ached as the thought of Pendragon standing by my side only because he was ordered to passed through my head. No, he wouldn't do that, not anymore. Would he? I tried to push the thought from my head, but it stuck.

"Shocking, isn't it?" Fury remarked, shifting his weight. I scowled at his attempt to sympathize with me.

"What exactly do you want from me?" I asked tersely. The Director straightened up and faced me with his arms crossed.

"You're being invited to officially join the Avengers, and to work for Shield as a specialist and agent. The same as Steve. You would be given missions, gathering information, scouting, sabotage. The exact nature of the work you'd do is confidential. Should a serious assignment come up where subtlety is not required, we call in the Avengers, which would now include you and Agent Marbend." I nodded as he explained the offered position to me.

"Will I have to kill people?" I asked, my voice softer and shakier than before. Fury was silent for a moment.

"Not unless you have to," He took the folder and flipped through the pages, coming to a stop on the final behavior analysis. "Not recommended for assassination missions. But if the situation escalates, we'll expect to react appropriately." I nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. Fury pulled the folder away when I reached to take it back.

"When do you want my answer?" I asked, eying him warily. Fury smiled, but I could tell he was calculating every one of his moves, of his words. Maybe he was amused by my seriousness.

"You have a week," He answered, "I'll find you then." It became clear to me that I was to be the first to leave, and that he wasn't going to let me keep the file. I turned and dove into the pool, aiming for the dark, natural tunnel that led out to the Delaware River. As soon as my scales replaced my legs, I took off with the unnatural speed that being a mermaid granted me.

When I reached the brighter waters of the open river, I turned south. The long way around took me the entire length and a half of New Jersey to travel, but the Delaware was fed by waters that did not feed the Hudson as well. I would be unable to get home by water alone if I went north.

Luckily for me, if I swam as fast as I possibly could, it would only take about 3 hours to reach Manhattan. Nothing like a little mermaid magic to speed up the swim. The downside was that I was exhausted by the time I made it to the underwater entrance into the tower. No amount of cardio workouts can prepare you for that kind of marathon. The trip there had been alright, but to do it again so soon was miserable.

I drifted lazily through the tunnel, fighting the urge to yawn. My whole body was sore, down to the tips of my fin. It was dark outside when I arrived, probably some time after midnight. I floated to the surface of the pool at the end of the tunnel, too tired to try and climb out. Instead, I rolled over onto my back and closed my eyes. When I recovered enough energy, I would get myself dry and upstairs, but if I fell asleep here it would be alright. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Jackie?" Pendragon's voice was muffled by the water in my ears.

"Mmm?" I hummed, hopefully loud enough that he could hear me. I opened my eyes, when I felt the water beginning to lift me. Pendragon moved the cushion towards him, depositing me on the tiles. I yawned as he dried me off and he helped pull me to my feet.

"You should have gotten a hotel or something," He scolded gently. I leaned against him and grumbled unintelligibly into his shoulder. Next thing I knew, he had swept me off of my feet and carried me to the elevator.

"Pen?" I asked softly, clinging to his shirt.

"Yeah?" The elevator dinged at each floor we passed.

"I love you," My words slurred slightly with drowsiness. I closed my eyes, relaxed by his warmth.

"I love you too." He said. That was the last thing I heard before I fell asleep.

The noise in the auditorium was deafening as hundreds of families applauded my graduating class. I held my diploma close, gripping it so tightly that needle like prickles erupted in my white knuckled fingers. I scanned the crowd, looking for the people who came to support me, my family and friends. My mother, Pendragon, and Steve were seated far back enough that I could only just make them out. I repressed a giggle when I saw how lanky Pendragon looked compared to Steve.

My mind drifted from the valedictorian's speech to the moment that led to all of this. To the car that drove through the puddle, that Steve had been there, that I had been there. A single second off would have meant that I never would have met him. I would never have met Tony, or Pendragon. I would never have met Cleo, or Rikki, or Emma. I would have never helped to save the world twice. I snapped back to reality as the audience began clapping again.

When the ceremony ended, we filed into the hallways to join our families. Luckily, I was able to find mine quickly. My mother hugged me close, congratulating me on managing to survive what had been a very difficult year of school. Steve gave me a subtle, casual salute. Pendragon handed me a small teddy bear that wore a graduation hat and cap. I threw my arms around his middle and gave a light squeeze, thanking him for his help. Without him, I doubt I would have been able to make it.

As we exited the school, I glimpsed a familiar face. Directory Fury and I made eye contact for a moment, though none of the others noticed him. When I blinked, he had disappeared, blending in with the crowd of people leaving the building. I wondered if I had imagined him there.

"Jack?" Steve called out, catching my attention, "Let's go." I nodded, and hurried to join them. I contemplated about telling them about the job offer. Pendragon hadn't asked me about the meeting, he likely knew already. Steve hadn't said anything to me about Shield or the elusive Director, he probably hadn't been made aware that I'd been approached. He had to know that Shield would come for me at some point. My mother didn't know about Shield, she knew that I had inadvertently joined a group of heros and saved the world, but she wasn't aware of the man who pulled the strings.

We opted to take the subway to get back to the tower, as none of us had driven to the ceremony. Steve donned a sweatshirt, and pulled the hood up. Paired with some sunglasses, most people would glance over him without realizing who he was. I uttered a silent thank you to the universe for all the evidence of my involvement with the Avengers being so blurry. We joked and laughed as we clung to the rails, passing time until our stop.

It was harder to slip unseen into the secret entrance, but we managed to do so without attracting attention to ourselves. While the others went ahead to the large lounge, or party room as Tony liked to call it, I stopped by my room to drop off the cards and gift from Pendragon. I paused to look at the empty envelope sitting on my desk. I had no reason to keep it, but for whatever reason I hadn't gotten around to throwing it away. The truth that I kept to myself weighed on me, making me feel like I was caught in a net, sinking slowly.

Swallowing my uncertainty, I rejoined the others. With a smile on my face, I could at least pretend that I wasn't conflicted. As I took a sip of rather bitter champagne, I made up my mind. I had to tell someone. Pendragon already has so much faith in Shield, and in the Director. He would tell me to accept it without thinking. Mom would tell me to follow my heart, do what I think is right. Steve would understand my struggle, I recalled that he had gone through a similar one. When the opportunity arose, I nervously pulled him aside.

"There's something I need to ask you about," I said, fidgeting with the hem of my dress. "Fury offered me a job." Steve's smile faded as I continued. "A specialist, and an agent, but never an assassin…"

"He can't promise that you won't ever be in a situation where you'll have to make a choice like that." Steve said seriously. I nodded as he continued, "If the situation escalates…"

"I'll be expected to respond appropriately." I finished, "I want to help people, I want to protect them. If I join, I'll be able to do that, I can stop them before they have a chance to hurt anyone. But it's never that easy. It's not black and white. To do good for the ones I want to save, I'll have to do evil to others." Steve placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Jackie, you're a good person," He said earnestly, "Your heart is in the right place. You're strong, inside and out. I trust that you'll make the right call." I smiled, feeling the weight slip off of my shoulders.

"Thank you," I said, wiping away an emotional tear. He held out his arms and I hugged him tightly. I pulled myself together and we rejoined Pen and my mom. In my heart, I made my decision.

When the get-together ended, and I was alone in my room, I asked Jarvis if he could send a message to Director Fury.

"What would you like the message to say?" He asked.

"Tell him that I have thought things over and I accept his offer." I said, feeling confident enough that my voice didn't waver.

"I'll send word immediately." The AI replied in his quick and overtly polite manner. I dropped down onto my bed, my eyes closed.

I wondered what my first mission would be. Would I be called Agent Thompson, or would I get a code name like Natasha and Clint? Tony, and Steve both took their hero names before signing on to the Avengers. Dr Banner's alter ego obviously would have another name, Thor was Thor, and Pendragon was a budding agent and techie prior to his swim in the Moon Pool.

My daydreaming was interrupted by a yawn so I decided it was time to turn in and take it easy. The time to relax would be now, especially with all the tasks on my mental to-do list checked off. There would be some time in between my answer and actually having to work. A small vacation while the paperwork processes. Thoughts of the things I wanted to do comforted me as I slipped contently into sleep.


Fun fact: The wiki for H2O states that a mermaid can speed swim 600 kilometers an hour. That's over 300 miles per hour, and just over 6 miles in a minute. Even the fastest fish in the world maxes out at 68 miles per hour. So, I decided to diverge from mermaid canon and cut the speed down to 200 kilometers, or 100 miles instead. Which makes the trip between the tower and the Moon Pool take about 2.5 hours, for roughly 300 miles swimming distance (estimated with a ruler and google maps).