A/N

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Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel

The hallway is just as bland as the two S.H.I.E.L.D. bedrooms I've encountered, if not more. I see a few agents scurry past me, only sparing me a single glance. So far, no one's seemed to question my presence, which relaxes me a little.

I keep my eyes peeled for any other junior agents, hoping to blend in with them. Taking a left, I find myself in a gym-like area, with a group of ten or so agents, along with two instructors, huddled around several sparring mats. I slip into the back of the group, going unnoticed while everyone's attention is focussed on the two leaders.

"Alright," the female instructor begins. She ties her black hair back into a messy pony tail while her blue eyes search the group. "Pair up and find a mat."

My eyes widen as I examine the group of junior agents around me. I have no fighting experience whatsoever, and one look at the muscles on these kids sends a surge of fear sweeping through my body. I'm going to get absolutely destroyed.

"Lyla!" I hear a voice, full of surprise, hiss from behind me. I whip around, my sights setting on Calum who towers before me.

"Hey…" I trail off. "Partner?"

We take the mat nearest us, while Calum seems to be trying to process my sudden appearance.

"What are you doing here?" he says lowly, glancing around to make sure no one is listening.

"I found another portal, to a girl's room this time. I snagged a uniform and found this place."

Calum lets out a frustrated sigh as we bow to each other, preparing for a fight. I try to follow his lead, but I can't seem to get the gist of this fighting thing.

"Go easy on me, hey?" I suggest. Calum agrees, but the smirk on his face says otherwise.

I get knocked the ground repeatedly, until finally an idea pops into my mind. God, I'm so stupid for not doing this earlier.

I keep getting thrashed until the perfect opportunity arises, and I get a perfect kick to Calum's nuts. Bingo.

He falls to the ground, wincing in pain as my victory laugh echoes through the gym. They should really invent suits with extra padding for the men.

"You, blondie," I hear the tall male instructor shout. I spin around to face him as he stalks toward me. I take a tiny step back. "You're not in this class."

"Umm…" I bite my lip and avoid to make contact with his icy stare.

"And by the looks of you, you're not in Operations either."

"Umm…"

Calum scrambles up from his pitiful position on the floor to stand in front of me, blocking my view of the mean instructor. By now, the other students had stopped their sparring and gathered to see what the commotion is about.

"Lyla's new, sir," Calum says confidently. He shouldn't be doing this. If they find out he's lying, he could get in serious trouble. But instead of contradicting him, I stay silent.

"I wasn't informed that there were any new recruits," the instructor counters.

"She's…brand new, sir. Director Coulson recruited her himself, sir." Calum's monotone voice begins to scare me a little.

"Well if that's the case, I'm sure the Director would love to come down and see how is special little recruit is doing."

I gulp as a knowing smirk grows on his face, my eyes widening with every word. The other instructor, the female, already has Coulson on the phone. Surely he's too busy to come down here, right? He's the Director after all.

Unfortunately for us, Coulson saunters through the gym entrance only minutes later. As soon as his eyes land on me, a shocked expression crosses his face only briefly, before a mask of calmness replaces it.

Both Calum and I stand stiffly, which probably gives us away. I swallow back the lump in my throat, preparing to be exposed as an intruder before the entire group. But Coulson seems to have another idea.

"You two, walk with me," he says, turning his back to us again and leaving the room. Calum and I share a worried glance before scurrying after him. We walk in silence, until we take a sharp right turn into a dark room; an interrogation room by the looks of it.

Coulson separates us, having me sit before the table on left side of the room, while Calum is sent to the right. The Director follows Calum, but not before tapping a few buttons on a small panel by the door, bringing up a wall between us. I groan. This is awful.

It's a painful thirty minutes waiting for Coulson to come interrogate me, but eventually he enters the dimly lit room and sits opposite me.

"Lyla, is it?" he asks. I nod rapidly, looking him dead in the eyes. My heart races, pounding in my chest so loudly I'm sure Coulson can hear it.

"Who are you, Lyla? Are you HYDRA?" His tone verges on threatening, but never loses his scarily calm edge.

Before I can answer, he speaks again. "And Calum, is he HYDRA too?"

I can't even lie to my teachers about my incomplete homework, let alone to the director of a spy agency. The best thing I could do right now, both for Calum and myself, is to tell the truth. So I do.

I start from the beginning, with my unpacking of clothes and falling into the wardrobe, all the way to my finding a portal to a girl's room and trying to pass as a junior agent to see what things are like in S.H.I.E.L.D..

For a while, the fear of him not believing a word I'm saying burns in my mind, but towards the end of my story, Coulson seems convinced.

"You're a Traveller," he states, a fascinated tone in his voice.

"A what? A Traveller? What is that?" I question.

"I don't know much about your kind, but I do know that you're supposed to be extinct."

"My kind? Extinct? Are you saying I'm some sort of alien?!" I can't keep the shriek out of my voice, despite my best attempts to remain calm.

"As I said, I don't know much. Maybe your parents could tell you more, I don't know," he replies. "But for now, we're going to put you through a lie detector test with Agent Koenig, and if you pass you're free to go."

"Oh," I frown. He doesn't know. "Thanks, sir."

"Oh, and one more thing, Lyla. I'd keep the Traveller thing to yourself. If word gets out, you could be in trouble. Just stick to the story Calum gave me and you'll be fine."

"What did he say?"

"He can tell you that one."

I nod and stand to follow Coulson through a door to find one of the many, many Koenig brothers sitting before his fancy lie detector, the one even Black Widow can't beat.

Coulson's right. My mind flashes back to moments in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., like when Jemma would itch to take blood samples and run tests on people with inhuman abilities. Her and other agents' curiosity could be dangerous to me.

I sit through the quick lie detector test, answering all the questions with full honesty.

After all that is finished, I get escorted back to Calum's room by Coulson himself and I enter the portal without a second thought.

I'm met with the same view as I had leaving the Marvel Universe this morning; a fogged up window and a very angry, very disappointed mother.