"I think it's time you and I get to know each other a little better."
Aura startled from her desk, nearly falling off her bitter chair. She brushed her hair away from her face. Why didn't she hear the door open? Her eyes found the figure standing in the doorway. Swallowed. It was the one-eyed man.
The man still dressed in black kept his hands behind his back. Rose his right brow at her silence. "Did you hear my question? Is that okay with you?"
"Oh, y-yes." She glanced at her attempted drawing of the Captain and quickly turned it over.
"Bring that with you."
Her gaze flickered to him, but she nodded. Gentle fingers lifted the paper off her desk. Another nod, and she followed the new man into the corridor. Something felt…off. She didn't know what it was. Not that this place was ever full of noise, but it seemed even quieter than normal. Was Peggy not the only one who left?
She inclined her head when he held open the door to the interview room. Sitting in her designated chair without command. However, she kept her drawing in her lap. Ashamed of how it looked and how it somewhat resembled the dark-skinned man.
The man in question stepped up beside her on her left, holding out an expectant hand.
Keeping her breath drawn in, she surrendered her paper. Bit her bottom lip and left her head down.
He studied the sketch in silence for some time before he placed it on the table. Took a seat on the other side. "I am Special Agent Nick Fury, the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D. In your file, you're listed as A-001, but you have an actual name, correct?"
She nodded. "My name is Aura."
"Very well, Aura. You seemed to spend a great deal of time with Agent Carter."
Another nod. "She liked to see me as much as she could to make sure I was taken care of. Mr. Stark, too."
Fury sat back. "Under this new direction for S.H.I.E.L.D., there will be a council of eight members who watch my every move. I'm letting you know they will not know about you. I confiscated all of your records before I became official director. Only people I trust will ever know about you. So far, it's only Stark and I. And, of course, Agent Carter."
Her deep blue eyes lifted. "Really?"
"Does this surprise you?"
"Honestly, yes. The Colonel knew about me."
"And made Stark perform illegal experiments on you. I only trust people as far as I can throw them, and since I can't touch anyone on the council, I don't trust them at all. Personally, I find their presence redundant, but I don't have much say on the matter."
Aura studied Director Fury. Even though he kept himself completely closed off to everything around him, he didn't appear mean or evil. Stern, maybe. But not needlessly mean. And he did call the experiments done on her illegal. That had to count for something.
"Agent Carter didn't interview you much, did she?"
"Not very often, no."
"Then let's start filling in the gaps." Fury pulled out a slim device from inside his trench coat. Pressed a button and set it on the table. "I want to timeline your presence on the earth. You came during the Middle Ages?"
"The early 1400s, I think. It's been awhile."
His right brow rose. "I would say so. And this is how you've looked since you arrived?"
She looked down. "Well, my clothes have changed, but as far as my appearance goes, yes. I honestly can't tell if I've aged or not. Time is so odd here."
"Interesting. And what did you do when you first came here? Because I've found some legends regarding a figure known as the Woman with the Fire Hair, and I'm wondering if that's you."
Her cheeks reddened. To think she had legends surrounding her. Her…a palace servant having legends made about her? It made her giggle. However, she composed herself. The Woman with the Fire Hair could be someone different.
Subconsciously playing with her tri-colored hair, her brows scrunched with thought. "When I first arrived, I was in the middle of a forest. I was very afraid. I wandered for days until a knight found me. Then I stayed with the kingdom as a commoner. Until I healed someone. Then I became a renowned healer, traveling from kingdom to kingdom."
"So you held some prestige then?"
"Oh, I don't think so. I was just nice to people who needed care. But I made lots of friends. I had a whole party that traveled with me for a while. Knights for hire, bards and other performers, craftsmen, the like." She smiled to herself. "As afraid as I was trying to learn the rules of a new Realm, those were my favorite times."
"And all you did during this time was heal people?"
"For the most part, yes. I did menial tasks, too." Then she suddenly frowned. "But there were remnants of what they called the Great Plague. I knew I couldn't heal poisons, but I didn't know about plagues. I tried. I should've been able to do it, but I couldn't. I still don't know why. And that was when I learned about the fragile mortality of Midgardians."
Director Fury studied the girl before him. "Are you immortal?"
Aura's eyes searched the table before she looked at the man. "By your standards, I think so. But Asgardians can die, same as Midgardians, but it takes more to kill us. There was one time a group of bandits raided our traveling party's camp at night. They tried to stab me, but their swords couldn't piece my flesh. It's one of the most bizarre things I've experienced here."
"Are there swords in Asgard that can hurt you?"
She nodded very deliberately. "Oh, yes." She held out her right arm to reveal her scattered scars. "These are from a dagger made in Asgard."
He took a long look at the marks she showed him. "We'll discuss the story surrounding those later. I want to remain focused on your time here."
"Of course." She rolled her sleeve back down. "But with each passing generation, it became harder and harder for me to grow close to anyone. It was so hard to see them all die. And then weird times happened. These people dressed in all black with strange masks captured me and kept me as their slave."
"People with strange masks?"
She shrugged, shaking her head. "They always spoke in hushed tones, but even when they spoke to where I could clearly hear, it was a language I didn't understand. But I could tell what they wanted from me. I guess servant expectations are universal. They pushed me enough one day, they discovered my fire. I didn't mean to reveal it; it just happened."
"You don't have much control over your fire ability, do you?"
"Not at all. It just kind of happens, and I have to deal with it."
Fury pressed his fingertips together and slowly nodded. "Carry on with your story. We'll address your fire another time."
"But those people must've done something wrong, because all of a sudden, we were fleeing the United Kingdom area and heading to America. And then they got worse than they already were."
"And made you burn the witches?"
Her gaze lowered as she nodded.
"You can skip that since you told Agent Carter the summary of it."
"I woke up one night to the sound of gunfire. The masked people were dead, and these colonists freed me. I was afraid they would kill me, too, but they were reasonable and let me live among them for some time. And then the Revolution happened. Talk about a scary time."
"Did you pick a side?"
"How could I? There were so many hurt soldiers. I was in a constant state of panic because I wanted to help everybody. I had to be careful, though, because I got pegged a traitor by both sides, and then everyone wanted to kill me. I had to flee until the war was over and a few generations died out. And then there was another war."
He somewhat chuckled at her exasperation. "The Civil War?"
"Yes. I felt so bad for everyone involved. Brother against brother, father against son. I had never seen the same people fight each other like that. Yes, Asgard had their wars, but it was against other Realms and didn't happen much during my time. Odin wouldn't let Asgard fight itself. I guess that was one good thing about him."
"Oh, don't worry. We'll get to Odin, as well."
Aura's eyes flickered to him. "I can try my best, but I don't know much about him. I hardly ever saw him, honestly. He didn't like me."
"What did you do after the Civil War?"
She blinked. "I went into hiding. After that war, things became strange. The wrong type of people were interested in me. And then the World Wars broke out. I think I would classify those as the scariest time. And then the S.S.R. found me. I'm honestly not sure how. I thought I was being kidnapped."
"So it seems like the bulk of your power usage happened during the Middle Ages?"
"Oddly enough, people were more open to them, despite their high paranoia and fears. But I also used healing versus fire. Aside from the Witch Trials, I didn't use that half of my magic much. It came out again during the Civil War when I was trying to light an underground pathway, but it kept itself hidden for the most part."
Director Fury sat wordlessly for a long time. Evaluating the information she told him.
Aura played with her fingers. She didn't know what else she was supposed to say. Those were the major events she experienced since being on Midgard. Did he want her to go into more detail? It would be quite a bit of detail. But he wouldn't quite staring at her with his one eye. What else did he want?
She dropped her eyes to her lap. Stole a glance back up. He was still looking at her. She didn't quite know what to make of the man. He still didn't seem ruthless, but he wasn't exactly happy, either. Had he gone through a turbulent past, too? It made sense. But there had to be a reason he was the new director.
Fury finally reclined back in his chair. "I'm sure you want to ask me something."
Her gaze returned to him. "I'm not sure if you can answer the questions I have. But how do you get to this position?"
"I can't give you exact details, but I originally worked my way up through the ranks in the Army. Do you know about the Army?"
"Vaguely…?"
"It's a branch of America's military. I became an officer then I was recruited by the CIA, where I stayed for many years."
Aura's face blanked. "CIA?"
"It stands for Central Intelligence Agency. I was a spy, and a really good one, too. Now, I'm with S.H.I.E.L.D. Hopefully, I can do some good here. But we'll see what the council lets me do. It's a good thing I'm used to having to deal with superiors who haven't actually worked in the field."
Her eyes brightened. "What's it like? Being a spy?"
He released a small laugh. "Not as glamourous as you're probably picturing. It has its moments, sure, but it also had its consequences. And decisions you don't want to make but are forced to. I've seen my share of people I care about die."
She softened. "I'm sorry."
"It's something you learn to move on with." He tapped the picture on the table. "Can we talk about this?"
"Oh. Uh, that was meant for Peggy. I was trying to draw the Captain, even though I haven't seen an image of him."
"The Captain? You mean Captain America?"
"Is that his full title?"
"It was his full title. He died back in the 40s. Gave his life to protect his country. Well, to protect the world, really. Is a drawing of him what you want to send to Agent Carter?"
She nodded. "I think Peggy liked him."
Fury checked his watch, grabbing the silver recording device and rose. "I'm out of time for today. But the next time I come, I'll bring you a picture of Captain America so you can send a picture to Agent Carter."
Aura followed his lead and walked back to her room. "Thank you."
He inclined his head. "I can't promise you when I'll be back next, but I will return."
She watched the door to her room close, plunging her back into cold and dim light. He didn't know when he would be back, and he was only one of a few people who was allowed to see her? How long would she be alone before someone returned to interact with her?