Greetings o wonderful Readers!

I'm so thrilled that people are here! Thank you sooo much, you're all amazing people :)

I figured out the different pieces fit together, as such, I present this chapter! Hopefully it (the chapter) won't seem too 'typical OC' or Mary Sue-ish. I'll explain at the end.

Disclaimer: I own nothing save Gladys Scott. The 'prompt' comes from the 'Memos From Fury' tumblr (basically shove all that into the address bar (without paces) and then type 'dot tumblr dot com' and it should show up. Digging will be required to find this specific memo however, sorry about that.)

August 29, 2012

From the Desk of Director Nick Fury: Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division

Washington, D.C.

To Whom it May Concern:

Mr. Stark's work with carbon fibers is intended as a revolutionary new project that could lead to a space elevator; NOT a tow rope long enough to waterski from the Helicarrier.

On a related note, I expect Capt. Rogers' shield to be returned to him by the end of the day, or else.

- NICK FURY (Director, S.H.I.E.L.D)

On the bright side, I got to go for a swim in the ocean, I satisfied my vitamin D quota for the day, and I got the rest of the day off. On the down side, I hurt all over. At least my jacket was dry. And flying through the air was pretty fun too.

It all started a few hours ago. I was on my break, on 'my' beanbag in the rec room. It seemed to go quiet all of a sudden, and I looked up from my book to see Mr. Stark.

"You're the lightest person on the ship," he said, "You need to come with me because I didn't just spend fifteen minutes digging through personnel records for someone we can use for control."

"Okay." There wasn't room in my jacket for my book, so I wrapped them up and followed Mr. Stark.

He'd already left the room. I was torn. I knew better.

But no one else had to know that.

As far as the record would say, I happily gave up my break because I would be useful, and maybe help while I was at it.

He led me to a deck-level lab.

"Oh good," said Dr. Banner, "You came."

"I only had to ask her once," Mr. Stark said proudly- from the ground? He tied something around my ankle. Dr. Banner wrapped a cord twice around my waist, and Mr. Stark pulled my hair into a ponytail.

"What's-,"

"The uniforms are water resistant, right?" asked Dr. Banner.

"Dunno. Drag proof at least," shrugged Mr. Stark.

Dr. Banner put me in a vest and clipped it to my belt. He and Mr. Stark each took an arm and carried me outside.

"Hang on- what're you-,"

"Ready to go?" asked Mr. Stark.

Dr. Banner tugged on the vest and checked the cord again, "Yep."

Mr. Stark shoved Captain Rogers' shield into my hands.

"What'm I supposed to do with-,"

"He told you what we're doing, right?" asked Dr. Banner.

"No?"

Doctor Banner glared at Mr. Stark, "You were supposed to get her to agree to this."

"She did! Let's go!" replied Mr. Stark and pushed me off the Helicarrier.

"Get on the shield!" Doctor Banner called.

"What?"

"The Helicarrier's gonna start any second!" yelled Mr. Stark.

"Are you nuts?!" The cable and bungee cord around my waist and ankle were directly attacked to the Helicarrier. They were nuts. I pulled myself onto she shield and stuck my hands through the strap.

I heard the whirl of air blades.

All I could do was hold on for dear life.

I don't know how long I was out there. I'd gone airborne off a wave a million times, and of that, a quarter of the time I'd just kept going until I'd made a rather nice arch. If only I weren't upside down! It was during one of these flips that someone noticed the random Captain America sigil in the middle of the ocean and alerted the proper authorities. I started to hear 'Man overboard' and the engines slowly shut down, and then I saw a black blob- how could black blobs come across as imposing? It was like the light was swallowed- oh, never mind, that was a cloud.

I felt a tug on my ankle and my blood froze. I was jerked off the shield and into the maw of whatever horrible awful sea monster thought I was a turtle. It towed me backwards for another second, and then suddenly my chest tightened.

And then I was foot out of the water.

Oops.

Silly me and my overactive imagination, imagining scary things rising up from the…

Aw crap.

I'd stopped shivering a while back, but somehow or another I started to shake again. Badly.

Don't think of Jurassic Fight Club don't- oh crap.

The darker patches of water were suddenly megadolon sharks and giant sperm whales.

Giant squid writhed just below the surface.

Weeping angels massive spiders Loch Ness monsters Vashta Nerada…

Darkness. SHADOWS.

I slammed my eyes shut and anticipated stinky-fish breath.

The temperature leapt up a few degrees.

Oh, that's what happened. I swung back underneath the deck and came rather close to the mess of pipes and scaffolding that made up the back of the ship.

I couldn't do anything. I had to get up had to get up had to get up-

I came back out into the sun.

My hands (and more importantly, my fingers) were black, blue, and purple but so help me I was still going to haul myself up the cable. If only I didn't have this damn shield in my arms.

The ship's wall loomed.

I jammed the shield between two beams.

"Stop moving!" someone called.

"Get me outta here!" I shrieked. The activity on deck took on a more frantic vibe.

Oh my god it was going to come out of the water any second and I wasn't high enough and it was gonna eat me or something-

Something grabbed my arm, I screamed and threw myself in the opposite direction.

It had me by the scruff of my shirt.

It had my head- oh, that feels nice (A couple people were stroking my hair).

"You're OK Gladys, we've got you," someone said.

I saw something vaguely human-shaped crouch down before me and I latched on for dear life.

"It's forty feet down," I whispered to Director Fury. He gave my shoulder a pat and found I was kinda stuck, so he wound up carrying me to the gunnery and setting me down. Took a little longer to pry me off, but that wasn't entirely my (imagination's) fault. I literally could not move my arms. Within moments, the EMT had me out of the vest and into an oxygen mask.

"Take her away," the director ordered and returned to crew on deck. "All search teams in the water," he commanded, "I want that shield back before dawn." He turned his eye on the two Avengers, "And you two are joining them."

I rock.

And I have an idea for the next chapter! *dances* Comments, questions, concerns, or just want to say hi? There's a wee button down there begging for attention. One lovely reviewer (Saoirse Driscoll) told me you folks liked reading about the day-to-day lives of SHIELD agents, and I shall get on that, I promise.

Is there anything else anyone would like to see? A particular head-cannon, Survival Tip, or 'From the Desk of [SHIELD Employee]'? (Suggesting that stuff's allowed, right? It's not that I can't come up with anything original, I just want this story to relate to something).

Can't wait to hear from you guys,

- ALC