There weren't many times that Mark Fallon hated his job as Director of the Network. The volunteers had always felt like family to him, and once the Guardians were brought 'into the fold', most of the difficult parts of the job had been taken over by the beings who should have been doing those jobs all along.

Most.

Not all.

There was one job that Fallon knew that he was uniquely qualified for. The one job that, he knew, was going to be his and only his for a long, long time to come.

And on days like this, there was no job that he hated more.

Fallon's computer screen switched camera images as his daily video conference call finally connected with his boss, Homeland Security Director Diane McPherson. The older woman read the expression on Fallon's face as soon as she could see it clearly. "What's happened?" she demanded quickly. "What do you need?"

"That obvious, huh?" Fallon countered with a defeated half-chuckle.

"I've only seen end-of-the-world face a couple of times in my life," Diane explained. "But it's a hard expression to forget - and you've got it written all over your face right now. So start talking."

Fallon sighed, taking a moment to collect his thoughts before he continued. "There's an alien armada on its way to Earth as we speak."

"I...see," said Diane, letting out a nervous breath as she let Fallon's proclamation sink in. "I suppose I should be assuming they do not come in peace, then?"

"Most definitely not," Fallon agreed.

"How much time do we have?" asked Diane.

"Less than three days," Fallon replied with a weary sigh. He hesitated as the uncomfortable purpose for his call came to the front of his mind. "Director, I hate to ask this, but does the military have anything...?"

Diane shook her head. "Between Stark and the Guardians you have far better resources available to you than anything the military has on hand. Unless you need nukes, I don't know what they can do for you."

"I figured you were going to say that," said Fallon, his voice dripping with disappointment.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" asked Diane, forcing herself to try and sound encouraging.

Fallon could only shrug. "Brief the President. Try to keep the military out of our hair..."

"Maybe I could get them to invade Mexico," Diane joked half-heartedly. "They've been wanting to do it for years." The slight chuckle the joke elicited from Fallon worried Diane more than the aliens did. "Anything else?"

"Pray?" asked Fallon.

If Mark Fallon is asking me to pray for him now, after all of this...thought Diane. "I promise," she declared solemnly. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Fallon replied as he reached out to disconnect the call. "We're going to need it."

#

"So," Bucky announced as he walked into the bullpen. "Anyone have any ideas as to how we're going to find this Raina woman?"

Blair frowned. "I thought you were former HYDRA?"

"I was a weapon," Bucky explained. "Not an agent. Unless you think your gun knows how to do police work..."

"Point taken," agreed Jim. The group turned to May. "What did SHIELD have on Raina? Master Xiānzhī seemed to think that you guys knew exactly who he was talking about."

May sat herself down in front of one of the closest computers and pulled up an electronic SHIELD file. "We have had several run-ins with Raina...but we know very little about her."

"What do you know?" asked Steve.

May started to scan the screen for pertinent information. "She didn't really work for HYDRA, per se. Raina was more of an agent for the Clairvoyant, and worked for him right up until his death in Tennessee..."

"Did you say this Clairvoyant died in Tennessee?" asked Blair, his attention piqued.

"Yeah..." countered May, instantly wary of Blair's sudden spark of inspiration. "Why?"

Blair, for his part, sat down in front of a computer next to May's. "There have been an excessive number of UFO sighting claims in Tennessee this past week..."

May felt her skepticism being validated. "UFO sightings? Really?"

"Hear me out," Blair insisted, trying to ignore the sarcasm. He then read from the screen, "complaints included strange loud noises, odd lights in the sky and loud explosions in a town that hasn't had a major disturbance since the Robertson mansion burned down 'a while back'."

May's attention was fully captured as she fixated on Blair's last statement. "Did you say the Robertson mansion?"

"Yeah," asked Blair. "Why?"

"This wouldn't happen to all be occurring in Pioneer, Tennessee...would it?"

"Yeah," Blair repeated. "Why?"

May pulled up a second window on her screen and hacked into SHIELD's old satellite imaging feed. "You were right to follow the lead of the UFO sightings," she admitted to Blair as she trained the satellite's camera on her target, "but I don't think that the good citizens of Pioneer were seeing evidence of little green men..."

"You're familiar with this town?" Steve asked May.

May nodded, then cursed when she saw the image that appeared on her screen. "The Robertson mansion in Pioneer, Tennessee was the home base for the Clairvoyant...until it got blown up by SHIELD and the Guardians several months ago."

Everyone's eyes widened as they saw the image on May's computer screen. "That don't look blown up to me," declared Tripp.

"And there's no evidence of recent major construction, either," agreed Jim.

Steve was starting to catch on to May's train of thought. "Which means that either Pioneer, Tennessee has some amazingly efficient master craftsmen..."

"Or Raina magically rebuilt the place and has been using it as her headquarters," said Blair, completing Steve's thought.

"Sounds like this is the place we need to check out," Bucky declared.

The group turned around and looked at Bucky like he had grown a second metal head. "Were you at the same battle we were at the other night?" asked Tripp.

Bucky nodded. "You know I was," he replied. "Why?"

"If this Raina is possessed by that fog," countered Blair, "do you want to have it ambush us unprepared?"

The idea stopped Bucky in his tracks. "So even though Raina and this...fog will be coming after us in less than twenty-four hours, you want to wait before we go after it?"

Steve motioned over to Beckett, who was passed out cold in the bullpen's "meditation corner". "No one's saying that we shouldn't take the fight to the fog," he insisted. "All we're saying is that when we go, we need to make sure we have what we need to be able to defeat it once and for all."

Bucky followed Steve's gaze until his own eyes rested on the unconscious Guardian. "And when she wakes up, she'll have the information we need?"

I hope so, buddy, Steve thought even as he confidently nodded. I really, really hope so...

#

Beckett crossed the length of the sun-drenched courtyard to warmly embrace her predecessor and friend. "Sister," Wangchuk greeted his fellow Guardian, "it has been too long."

"It's good to see you, too," Beckett agreed.

The younger Guardian then accepted the greetings of the rest of her team's predecessors before her counterpart interrupted the pleasantries to 'get down to business.' "Now then," he declared, "since you still have not found it in your heart to join us for a proper number of social visits, why have you decided to grace us with your presence this day?"

"We are about to face the fog again," she told the group. "And if we don't defeat it, we might be joining you up here sooner rather than later. For good this time."

"But you will not be able to defeat this being," Wangchuk insisted. "It is the very embodiment of evil itself. It cannot simply be chased from the world like one of your gods or dispatched like a dragon. Evil lives to bring balance so that the power of the light doesn't burn out all of existence."

Beckett sighed, clearly frustrated by her counterpart's answer. "That's not good enough. You're familiar with the infinity stones and their carriers?" When her fellow Guardians nodded, Beckett continued, "the last carrier has been possessed by the fog. If we can't find some way to get it out of her without killing her in the process, an alien demi-god and his armada are going to wipe out the planet."

"And where are my daughter and her soulmate?" asked Lobsang. "Why are they not working on a solution to this problem?"

Beckett eyes went wide, surprised as she was by the suggestion. "Skye's our solution? She can help us rescue the last carrier?"

Lobsang shook his head. "Alone, even my daughter cannot solve this problem. But a true Bǎohù, working on the side of the light, has the power to hold anything at bay. Even darkness itself. And if you need to reach into this carrier's mind to sweep out this evil..."

"Skye is the best person for the job," Beckett agreed.

The other Guardians all nodded. "You live in a wondrous age, my sister," Wangchuk declared. "But the Guardians alone will not always be enough to solve the problems of your world . The Dàfú will always provide an answer. You simply have to keep your mind open enough to recognize the gift once it has been given."