A black Sedan arrived at headquarters to escort me home later that evening. My departure occurred late at night so my neighbors wouldn't think anything suspicious. It would seem odd to a normal person on the street that a house that was put up for sale should have someone walking into it.
The drive from headquarters to my house was very quiet, as I was escorted by two guards committed to silence. I leaned against the cold glass window of the back seat and stared at the groups of people walking down the street dressed to the nines, in their tight dresses and sharp suits. They carried glasses of liquor, swinging their bags back and forth and laughing without a care in the road. Further down the road, outside of the one of the more well-known nightclubs, I spotted a couple kissing, pressed against the brick road. Outside of the art gallery an older couple, a man and a woman, carried a large painting canvas with looks of excitement on their faces.
As the car continued to smoothly navigate Manhattan's streets, I felt a growing sense of melancholy watching people experience things that I never could. I never had the experience of being so intoxicated I can't even remember my own name, or experiencing feelings of attraction. As a quiet computer nerd, I spent my days at MIT in my dorm room, staring at a glowing screen for hours at a time. Against my will, I found myself working at S.H.I.E.L.D. doing the exact same thing, except for pay. In a way, I set myself up for this.
But it didn't lessen the heavy feeling in my heart.
Black sunglasses watched me carefully as I retrieved my backpack, which was deemed clean of major radiation, and shuffled my way up the creaky steps of my patio. Before entering I glanced up and down the street, hoping that no one was awake at this hour.
The familiar smells and sights of home put me at ease a little. My home was emptier than when I had left, as most of my clothes and other items were destroyed in the collapse.
Even though I only had two days bed rest, I appreciated being in my own home for once. I did feel a little sick the first night home but I downed a bottle of ginger ale like it was whiskey, hoping the feeling would soon past. I curled up in my mint green comforter and passed out the moment I hit the bed.
The next morning I was woken up by my phone ringing and I promptly ducked my head underneath my pillow, squeezing my eyes shut. I wish I could turn the damn thing off but I never know who's going to call. 24 hour cell phone.
Like usual, I nearly broke my alarm clock trying to find it, and then I pressed the screen to my ear.
"It's morning. Whoever you are, it'd better be important," I said through my teeth.
"Hi, Miss Elle!"
That shrill, excited voice caused my head to throb. "Hello, Kat. Do you know what time it is?"
"Seven a.m. sharp," she answered proudly. "Listen, can you open the door? I have some news!"
"Open the..." I trailed off, sitting up and hobbling to the window to see her standing on my deck, holding a touchscreen computer. "How did you find my house?" I blinked sleepily, trying to adjust my vision.
"Oh, you're so silly," she said with a giggle. "If I wanted to, I could find your social security number."
"That's alarming," I responded dryly, looking at my blue tank top and shorts, surmising that she wouldn't care about my attire.
When I opened the door for her she bounced inside like an eager kangaroo and hugged me tightly. "Are you feeling okay, Miss Elle? If you have food I can whip up some of my momma's soup. You'd love it, trust me," she added, sliding into my kitchen and setting a black bag and the computer on the kitchen counter.
"I'm feeling better, honestly," I responded, peeking outside to see if there were any curious observers. "Ginger ale helped. What news? Did they find the Tesseract?"
"Oh, no," she sighed sadly, running her hands through her hair. It was out of its usual bun today and fell to her shoulders. It always struck me with surprise to see my co-workers out of uniform. Kat was wearing a white sweatshirt, jeans, and scuffed black Converse.
"Georgia State?" I tried awkwardly, glancing at the red letters on the sweater as I walked to the fridge. "Um, do you want anything?"
"No, but thank ya kindly," Kat responded with a sad smile. "Georgia State's where I graduated from. I was on track to get my M.S. in computer science, but S.H.I.E.L.D. pulled me out."
"I'm sorry," I murmured, pouring myself another glass of ginger ale. "Was it a good school?"
"Oh, it was great. I'm surprised you didn't hear about me in the T.V. 'Child genius chooses Georgia State, all that stuff," she said, looking immensely proud of herself.
"I was probably too busy bent over a computer." I did the math in my head. "Wait...you're telling me that you graduated college at 14? Why are you a fresh recruit?"
Kat tilted her head. "Well, I graduated at 14 and I was in the middle of a masters program between Georgia State and MIT. So for four years I spent my time doing research, comin' up with my dissertation, final projects, things like that...everything was goin' real well until some guys in black showed up at my door and took me to New York. I guess someone got their hands on my research and thought I could be real useful."
"Oh."
"But enough about me, Miss Elle, the news!" She clapped her hands excitedly and set up the computer. "Something big is happening. Apparently Fury has decided to gather a response team to find the Tesseract."
I swallowed a large gulp of ginger ale. "Do you know what the team is going to do?" I managed, feeling the bubbles stick in my throat.
"No, but they're going to find the Tesseract. Word is Stark is in on it, too."
So he's reactivating the Avengers Initiative, I thought. This might be good. Especially if they have Dr. Banner on his side, he's an expert in gamma radiation. I relaxed a little, setting the glass down on the counter.
Last night my curiosity got the better of me, and I read through the files on the Avengers Initiative. I do remember hearing about Dr. Banner and his accident a while ago, because I was there. During that period of time, though, I was working on a computer in the basement and kept in the dark, so I actually wasn't there to witness his destruction of New York City. What surprised me the most is that I didn't hear it.
"Some agents went back to P.E.G.A.S.U.S. to salvage what was left of the complex and they didn't find a thing," Kat continued. "Lots of bodies, though."
"I've heard."
"But, even better news," my associate squealed, clapping her hands together enthusiastically. "We're being reassigned!"
Again? "To where?" I blurted out, sending my glass down. "Where now, haven't they realized that reassignments will get us killed?"
"Something called the Helicarrier. It's a big ship." Kat turned the computer screen around to show me pictures of the flying aircraft carrier I'd seen in the files. The screen showed a 3-D projection of the ship. "Fury is trying to get everyone who knows anything about the Tesseract on that ship. The response team might need some help."
"You didn't work on the Tesseract, though, and neither did I."
"Yeah..." she trailed off, playing with the strings of her hoodie. "But we read numbers. And you knew Dr. Selvig-"
"For all of two hours before he was kidnapped," I added sardonically, staring at the bottom of my cup.
"Is that what happened to him?" Kat asked worriedly. I raised my eyes over the glass to see that her blue eyes were wide with fright.
I sighed, feeling stupid. "I wasn't supposed to say that."
"What happened to him?" she repeated again, leaning forward. "Who kidnapped him? What happened down there, Miss Elle?"
"Kat, I'm not supposed to talk about it. It's...it's protocol," I lied, not meeting her expectant gaze.
"Miss Elle, now don't you lie to me," she demanded, pointing her index finger at me. "Before I worked at S.H.I.E.L.D. I read through all 1543 pages of information on S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol. Did someone specifically tell ya it was classified? No?"
Listening to her snap at me in her accent made me smile. "Are you sassing me, Kat?"
"I guess I am! Now it's not fair that we're all kept in the dark!"
"Are you throwing a tantrum, Kat?" I asked teasingly. "You can't expect things to always go your way."
"They always have," she muttered darkly, slouching in the chair she sat in. "I could have gone to any school I wanted without a worry."
"Well, this isn't college," I said frankly, pouring another cup in ginger ale in my glass. "All I'm saying is that he disappeared, and S.H.I.E.L.D. thinks someone took him. I'm not saying anything else on the subject, so don't ask me anymore."
Kat's face, which had fallen, suddenly became cheery again. "Well, alright. I hope they find Dr. Selvig, though! Such a shame. Oh, yeah! There's another piece of news."
"Is it good?" I asked dully.
"Not really," she said slowly, her eyes cautious now. "Remember that tracer you sent, and the email you got? Well, that email was fake. The guy doesn't exist."
"Well, that sucks," I said with a frown. "It was probably a prank." I was used to them; sometimes conspiracy theorists who believed that we killed John F. Kennedy sent us viruses in an attempt to shut us down. It usually took us 2 minutes to get rid of the virus.
"But here's the catch. Someone looked at that email again. And his name." She turned the touchscreen to face me and I stared at the email address on the screen, as well as the name beneath it. "Funny words, dontcha think?"
"I guess," I said in agreement, not sure where she was going with this. I watched as she rearranged words on the screen, and then turned it to face me. I looked at the information but it took me a while to absorb it.
"I...I don't understand," I finally said, not understanding what was in front of me. The name beneath the email addressed had changed.
"Miss Elle, look closer," Kat said with frustration, bringing the touchscreen towards me. "Alberik Gesilv. The last name rearranged spells 'Selvig.' Miss Elle, Dr. Selvig's middle name is Alberik. It's a clear message. Dr. Selvig sent that virus into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mainframe."