With her arms crossed and her face betraying no emotion, Dr. Beckett was busy breaking into SHIELD's most secure files to access the details of Project Insight. Granted, it was a little more difficult doing it through a pair of HUD glasses, but she'd either get there or be called into the meeting room she was sitting outside of.

As her eyes flicked around the small screens, a crease appeared on her brow. It shouldn't have been that difficult to find the information, and yet there was no notice of the term anywhere in the system. And seeing as she had designed the system, it was off-putting.

With another brief look about the quiet waiting room, she rubbed her chin and tried a different route into the firewalls surrounding the online vaults.

An email talking about a potential project with no previous data was not something she came across often, and Madden didn't feel like going into the meeting with no information. But with all the available facts, it was more than likely that she was being offered a place on the project than anything else. Not that she could walk in there assuming she'd be getting the position – through plenty of experience, she had learnt that the less egotistical she was, the more likely it was that she would get what she wanted.

But she was going to have something to do with Insight, even if she didn't know what it was yet.

After another failed attempt at hunting, it down, she shifted with a twitch in her jaw. Better give up now and prepare her surprised face.

As a man rounded the corner, she smothered a smile. Just in time.

Standing up to face him, Madden Beckett smoothed down her shirt and nodded at Nick Fury.

"Good afternoon, Agent Madden. Follow me."

As they entered through a pair of dark doors, Madden removed her glasses and slid them into her pocket. A confident and sharp walk betrayed her history in the Air Force, as did her quick analysis of the new surroundings. The slate grey walls and secure doors told nothing of what went on behind them, but Madden could guess. Fury turned and opened a door, pushing it further with his fingertips for her to grab as she reached him.

Closing the door behind her, Madden watched Fury take a seat in an eagle-backed chair, staring at her intently out of his one eye. He looked at the chair in front of him and she moved forward to take it, setting her shoulders back and looking at him just as calmly.

The room was small – only a temporary one; main offices were found in the Triskelion – and held a thick desk and some shelves. It wasn't designed for permanent use, hence why Madden's chair was so uncomfortable. The air was thick and unused, and Madden could feel the prickle of tension around her.

Fury was leaning back in his chair, his index and pointer fingers dimpling his grizzled chin as he watched her look at him. Madden was made of strong nerves, but also a good amount of impatience, so she cleared her throat.

"Good afternoon, sir."

"Yes, it is. I hear that you've finished with your weapons study?"

Madden unstiffened her shoulders. Small talk, then. "I sent it over this morning. It would've been sooner, but the pieces were temperamental." She grinned, thinking about the past few weeks and the dangerous alien weaponry. "But my team and I are happy to report that we've created a cohesive file on the alien weaponry, and we've used some of the ideas found within for our yearly report."

"The Council is interested in these new ideas you've drawn up," Fury noted. "That must be the last of your major projects for this year, then."

"I still have to receive the Airforce's plans for the A-19, but I have already drafted them. But I suppose I won't be doing that for a while," Madden said pointedly.

"Would you like to hear our offer, then?"

Madden's eyes glinted, zeroing in on the file face down in front of Fury's.

"Would I ever."

"You are aware of the extensive developments in the foundations of our agency and the upheaval of decades of work in the recent months," Fury said, toying with the edge of the paper. "You have seen the reaches that this intergalactic event has caused on our organisation and its need to prepare ourselves lest another invasion happens – which we hope is unlikely, but in this day and age, we don't know anything anymore."

Not completely sure where he was going with this and with her mind flicking through potentialities and ideas, Madden slowly nodded her head. "Yes, I am, sir. The need for such a change in the basic structure of weaponry and protection was sudden, but I believe that the developments in it have been far beyond what we thought we could a year ago. I'm very pleased with my department's work."

"Yes. Your department has been very helpful in that aspect. And while they have been greatly improved, thanks to your work, the Council and government do still think that faster and bigger leaps must be made to cement the safety of both our country and world." Fury paused for a minute, still watching her intently. "Changes are coming faster than any of us expected, and our society needs to understand that our world needs to and can keep up with it – lest we get annihilated by bigger forces – forces we don't quite understand. We need to create a shield around us; something to protect the citizens from both inside and outside forces."

"And what exactly are you proposing, Director?" Madden asked, leaning in, and narrowing her eyes slightly. Fury seemed to be rambling, something that rarely happened. The guy was as quick to the point as Madden was. "I understand all of this – more than most, obviously – but I still don't follow. I know all this already."

"Our agents need a security blanket," Fury said after a pause where the air felt heavier, and the slate grey walls seemed closer. "They need to see something and know that they're protected. We're losing agents like flies, and nothing is keeping them here because they are scared. And for a bloody good reason. We were attacked by aliens from outer space, and yet they're still expected to work in a job where they're on the front line."

"There are going to be risks and people need to understand that, Director. What, we build a shield around the Earth? Hide the agents away in a bunker? Arm everyone with missiles?"

"Something not unlike that," Fury said. "Arming ourselves is important. And as the head of that specific department, I assumed you'd be more excited about it."

"And I am sir, of course, but the probability of people accepting large-scale weapons is depressing low; and with your experience, you know that. If you look at how well it went last time, Director, you'll remember that we knew that we shouldn't have messed with those HYDRA weapons."

"It will work in this case." The Director sat up and pulled out a piece of paper with the signature SHIELD logo imprinted on the top. "And here is a proposition for a protective and offensive piece of weaponry that the Council believes could be our saving grace."

He then passed her the paper, but before she looked at it, she gave him a long stare with her pale, sharp eyes that had intimidated men more powerful than him. They were the colour of hard ice, fringed with pale lashes that only added to the effect of the eyes. Fury had to fight the urge to involuntarily shiver under her gaze. She could be equally as terrifying as him when she wanted to be. "And what do you believe, Director?"

"I don't know what to think anymore, Madden. We were attacked by aliens not half a year ago," Fury said calmly. "This could be our last chance at arming the world against the enemies we don't even know about yet."

Rather off-put but his depressing news, Madden looked down at the paper, her eyes flicking over paragraphs detailing aerial bases designed to annihilate enemies of the state. Her confident look vanished, replaced by a wide-eyed gaze.

Helicarriers, and big ones at that.

Helicarriers capable of defending the country.

Helicarriers that were bigger than anything ever built before.

"Helicarriers – that you want me to build?" Madden flipped over the page, but nothing was on the other side, so she dropped it back on the table. "Project Insight is the resurgence of the armed bases?

She let out a long breath, intelligent eyes scanning the project. Her brain almost whirred out loud.

"Fury – Director, sorry. I understand the organization's need to have a security blanket, but is this not a bit unnecessary? Helicarriers are great aircraft, and they are useful, but their upkeep is incredibly laborious."

"And that, agent, is where we will have Tony Stark come in. His work in repulsion energy and arc reactors is quite unlike what the world has seen – an immaculate source that can run continuously is quite the catch, and if we were to have them on our ships…" He trailed off, looking up at her transfigured face.

"Repulse engines – of course. You would just need to replace them with the original turbines, and they could – they would, if what I'm thinking is correct, stay up indefinitely," Madden said quickly, eyes starry, her qualms already forgotten in the face of an interesting idea. "But Tony Stark? He's not a fan of SHIELD and you know that. He's made that quite well known."

"He will understand the need for them. Mr. Stark will jump at the opportunity to help people, which comes in handy when we need him," Fury said, fingers still toying with thefolder in front of him. "But that is not the point I want you to focus on, Agent. Have you considered the position?"

Madden opened her mouth and closed it, eyeing both the folder and the director. "It'll take me a while."

"We understand that."

"I'll need help."

"Teams are already gathered and at your disposal."

"And are you sure that this is the best option?"

She seemed to finally make him think the answer over, as Fury settled back again, tapping the manila folder. "The Council and Secretary Pierce seem to think that it is, so, yes, Agent Madden, I do think that it is the best option."

He fixed her with a look that told her not to argue.

"I accept the position then, Director Fury. I assume my consultant's work on the last Helicarrier project convinced the Council to give me a chance on this one?"

"As I knew you would." Fury leant back in his chair. "The Council was impressed by your work, and your ladder climbing these past few years has strengthened their reasoning that you should be the one to be offered Project Leader. Secretary Pierce was quite vocal in his want for you on the team. You can tell that this is a high-profile project, one of our most anticipated, and we're having only our highest and most adept agents work on it."

"And I'm one of them?"

"You know your intelligence, Agent, don't attempt to pretend you don't."

With a tilt of her head, Madden grinned, accepting the folder he was offering her from across the concrete table. She knew her intelligence. "You're quite right, Director Fury. I feel that it will be quite useful for Project Insight. Your naming has improved since the Avengers."

"I could always have someone else work on this," Fury said, the shadow of a smile on his face. "Drop the attitude."

"And you're smart enough to know that I'm the only one who knows enough to do this, Director."

"You and Stark. But as you can tell, Mr Stark doesn't have the best track record with keeping his contract with SHIELD clean," said Fury. "I do hope that if we get him on board, you two won't bite off each other's heads."

"Me? Never. I'm sure Stark and I will get along just fine."

"He won't be your assistant, Madden, I hope you realise that."

"No? Well, I refuse the position then," Madden said. "Iron Man, bested by a lowly engineer."

"Again, the self-deprecating track does not work for you," Fury reminded her. "But we've gotten off track. It doesn't matter if Stark agrees or not, because Director Pierce and I do not doubt your skills. Stark is just for advice and the engines. You won't work together full time – at least unless he is pursued to offer his lab in the Avengers Tower during the design of the engine."

"The Tower? Why would you want me to work there?"

"I will leave it at the fact that Tony Stark is above the law and SHIELD is not," Fury said purposefully, watching her rub the thick envelope paper between her fingers as she read.

Madden had flipped open the folder and was reading it as she spoke, eyes greedily eating up the words. The plans for the original one were slipped between the pages, along with notes dating back to the sixties. She hadn't been allowed access to them last time due to security reasons. Basic programs and requests were written by the Council and lists of contracts were drawn up and stuffed inside the pressed pages.

"The original helicarrier was kept?" She asked suddenly, lifting a page to show Fury her point. "I wasn't aware that it was even used for scraps, let alone kept for attempted reuse."

"It was placed there as we hoped to revive it once the dust of New York had settled. But in the face of this project, it will likely be dismantled. You will be allowed to visit it and take ideas from it, but the plan is to have as little as the original in the new ones as possible because the more improvement and change we can have, the better."

"Director," Madden said after a few moments of silence. "Do you think this'll work?"

Fury looked as troubled as he could with his impassive face. "I hope so, Agent."

Nodding, she fixed the papers again and let them rest on her lap. "I'll begin then, sir. I accept the position as head of Project Insight. And what about my other projects?"

"You will be removed from any continuing work in the interest of this one, as we hope to have them completed as fast as possible."

Madden knew better than to argue.

"No problem, Director. And I'm sure you're not actually worried about my workload," Madden said, with a glint in her eyes as the pair stood up from their seats.

Fury ignored this comment and pushed his chair in. "Thank you for agreeing – though, I didn't expect anything less from Hyde Beckett's daughter."

She stuck out her hand, tilted her head slightly, and ignored his comment. "Nice doing work with you, Director Fury. I won't let you down, of course."

They shook on it, and Fury looked at Madden meaningfully.

"One more thing." Fury paused, straightening his leather jacket. "This project has an abnormally high clearance, meaning that anyone working on it needs to have a seven or higher level. You, as far as I know, are only a level six."

"The carrier is also eight, sir," Madden said, but a smile had crept onto her face.

"We'll discuss that later. Pick up your new badge tomorrow at the front office." He opened the door for her, and once he had closed it, she let out a silent whoop, spinning around and holding the folder close to her chest.

She then walked back down the dim hallway, into the waiting room. Sending a nod and a beaming smile at the receptionist returned it in confusion, she swung into the hallways of the New York Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division headquarters.

Heading down the high-roofed hallways, Madden flipped back to open the folder and ran her finger over the pages. They were thick and cool, with Project Insight engraved on the top of every paper, slotting them all together nicely. It was very even and very organized and very expected of Fury, who never did anything half-assed.

Her mind was busy, and she was lost in the abyss of thoughts about the programming-related ideas and plans for the project, so much so that she had already ended up on the biochemical floor of the building before she even processed her surroundings and realised that she should've been heading in the other direction.

After doing so and rerouting herself, she arrived on one of the many walkways in the middle of the New York base. A series of complicated walkways hung over a large training court, and each walkway connected to a series of offices and labs. Madden was heading somewhat distractedly to the green block, where her lab was and where she would probably get so lost in work, that she'd spend the next three days there.

And she'd been promoted. To a level seven. She'd been a level six for almost a year now, after being promoted for the same reason over another project. This meant that she'd been progressing every seven months since her initiation, which was just about as good as you could get. Grinning she ducked her head and flicked through the pages again.

The sky outside her showed the late afternoon, and the walkways were busy. Agents walked about her, talking to each other or running towards an emergency. Madden strolled along, reading as she headed off the walkway, into her wing. She absently ran her fingers through her light hair, teasing out small knots.

Project Insight could be – would be – revolutionary to not just SHIELD, but the world at large. The first helicarrier had been explosive in the government world, so only God knew how ground-breaking three new ones would be.

And with her in the lead – with her building and designing it. Of course, there would be others, but her name would come first, be known as the creator of it. Madden grinned to herself, showing off a dimple on one cheek that gave her smile a lopsided, teasing look.

Passing a one-way window, she caught sight of herself, smiling in her lab clothes with her sun-streaked hair down her back and her eyes glowing. She looked if she said so herself, quite brilliant. Maybe not pretty, but she had a look.

Others would say so as well; her nose might be too bumpy, her height just a bit too much on the tall side, and her eyebrows just a little bit too messy, but no one could deny that there was something about her. It was the eyes. They were so sharp and calculating, so very ice blue, with a glint that betrayed her ever-present sense of humour.

But as she would say, the rest of her wasn't that extraordinary. She dressed neatly and precisely, as per her training, in white button-downs and black pants. Between her collarbones rested a silver chain with a simple lightning charm. Nothing to betray what went on in her head.

She didn't waste movements, and didn't stutter over words. She was direct and pointed and always on her game. To see that loping walk that was always so purposeful, and the pale blue eyes that were always so pointed and analysing would tell anyone all they needed to know about her.

The rest of her physical appearance was that of a typical twenty-something who had been in defence. She was quite tall, with a sinewy, athletic build that had held up through her transfer to SHIELD. Long, shaggy blonde hair that wasn't really bothered with but was still sun-streaked and natural. In any other world, she would've spent her whole life on the beach, fitting right in with the sand and the waves.

But in this world, she was a SHIELD agent and a busy one at that. Pulling open the door to her workspace, she twisted the knob that turned on all her area preferences. The lights were dimmed, the temperature cooled, and Madden pulled her hair up into a bun as she set to work.

The lab was a large and airy space, with smooth benches spread around and a window looking out onto the walkways. It was neat, with most of the tables sporting completed projects. As she grabbed a coffee thermos from the bench next to the door, she swung around in a slow circle and made her way to the closest table, already reading.

… The original helicarrier was designed to be capable of sustained, independently powered flight, via four, massive turbine engines that provide the lift needed to keep it in the air, though it was able to retain seaborne capabilities (unnecessary for the next model) …

Madden flicked over the page, looking for something a little more substantial, and she took a long drag from the coffee. She'd forgotten all about lunch.

… the project requires to have the aircraft stay in the air indefinitely, and we believe the use of repulse and arc reactor technology will be able to complete this with the help of Tony Stark…

"Here we go," Madden murmured under her breath, picking up the page and bringing it closer to her. It detailed the need for an indefinite power source provided – hopefully – by Tony Stark, adapted for four repulsion engines on each carrier. It looked like the Council had already planned out what they wanted, but they couldn't figure out how to build it, which is where she slotted in.

Sitting down on a stool slowly and turning around absently, her eyes flicked over the small print. There were pages upon pages of things she could and couldn't do with the building – yet did anyone knows how to build this except her? She had been right when she said she was the only one with the right skill set to complete the project. No one else understood the way mechanics fit together and worked as she did – except for maybe Tony Stark, and he wasn't even on the payroll.

There was to be a team, already assembled. She liked most of them and had worked with or met them on other occasions. But the thing with engineers is that, more often than not, they work alone.

It took her barely ten minutes to read all the papers in the folder twice. Her mind spun with the information and possibilities surrounding the idea of aircraft carriers that doubled as robot snipers and bases. Things like these were mere dreams, wisps, or ideas in late-night stints – at least, they had been this morning.

The ideas were quite infinite, and the next time Madden looked up from her papers, dusk had fallen on the base. The lights were dimmed, and a few agents were walking around, but it was quiet. Soothing, and almost distracted her from her mind.

Her chin was propped up by a calloused hand, the other holding a thinly sketched blueprint near her nose. The coffee, long abandoned, sat precariously on the edge of the table. The lights were out in most of the lab, save for a desk lamp sitting next to her, angled on the sheets of paper and many pens.

Madden, seemingly coming back to life, looked up at the clock on the wall, which read seven-o-five. She'd been working almost six hours and it hadn't felt like a single moment had passed. It was as if precious grains of sand were slipping past her in the mere moments she didn't focus. It was like this in every project she had – all or nothing, all the time, every time.

A sharp ring from her phone awoke her from her blank stare at the clock on the wall. Fumbling for the phone in her back pocket, she swiped to answer Director Fury's call.

"Sir?"

"Hello, Madden. I'm calling to inform you that Mr. Stark will be meeting with you tonight. I apologise for the short notice, but as I didn't know until five minutes ago when he triggered the security alarms, I'm not really at fault."

"Ah." Madden turned to look at the closed door, grinning. Fury's annoyance at the temperamental Stark was always entertaining to listen to. "Have you already told him about Insight?"

"I mentioned it to him. Once. That was enough for him to break through our firewall and access the project details."

"He broke into the firewall?" Madden's eyes narrowed, thinking through how she had designed it and potential holes. "Did he mention where the break was?"

"Does it sound like I would know, Agent?"

"No. Sorry, sir. Continue."

"All I've called for is to say don't be surprised if –" A quick series of knocks made Madden tune him out.

"Talk later, Director." And she hung up on him without thinking. Standing up slowly, she smoothed her hair down and checked herself for oil stains. Because Tony Stark was standing on the other side of that door, and Stark was one of the most incredible engineers to have ever existed. He had been her role model for most of her childhood, and he was –

Impatient, apparently, because he was knocking again.

Before she could hesitate further, Madden strode forward and pulled the door open, hoping she didn't look too excited.

Because in front of her, as real as the pen mark on her chin, was Tony Stark, decked out in a dark suit and red sunglasses. He looked her over once as she did the same, then settled on a nod.

"Dr. Beckett, I suppose?"

"Mr Stark. My pleasure," she replied, opening the door further. "I was told about your arrival by the director. I assume you set off the elevator fingerprint test?"

"Thought that might've happened. But I did still break into SHIELD, so I'll still take the win."

"You didn't just break in, Mr Stark. We let you break in. I've been expecting you ever since I heard about the project."

"I'd like to think I did, but I guess you lot are overly cautious," Stark replied, coming in and glancing about. He whistled, looking out the window. "They do fit these places well."

"Comes with being the Head of Tactical and –"

"Offensive Weaponry, yes. You're a little bit of a genius, aren't you?" Stark said, fingers lightly brushing a wired gun on her desk. "Fury's little prodigy, with not one, not two, but three MIT degrees of various engineering, a fully qualified pilot, and almost five years at SHIELD to your name."

He looked over, eyebrows raised to see if he had gotten it all right, before continuing. "The only thing I can't figure out is why you're called Madden and not Marlene."

"No one calls me Marlene. It's a callsign from the forces. And the reason for it is a story that's never passed my lips." Madden grinned. "You have been doing your research, Mr Stark. And I do have four minor degrees, just by the way."

Stark was flipping through the file now and had evidently either not heard. "Project Insight. Fury mentioned it to me – dangled it in front of me and expected me not to hack into your firewalls and get the details. That man either has a very wry sense of humour or none at all."

"I'd go for very wry. But then, I assume you know enough about it to know Fury's request to you?" She followed his eyes to the engine designs on page eight.

"I do, actually. That's why I came to talk to you, to see if you were particularly annoying or not. And from that look in your eye, I can tell you I don't despise you. Yet."

"And I've been told you change your mind quite quickly."

"Ah, there it is again," Stark said, grinning as he shook his head. "You've been spending too long around Fury, kid."

Kid. Madden rolled her eyes absently. She had turned twenty-five the month prior and now considered herself quite old, but Stark couldn't see that. But she was used to being underestimated. She knew, at least, that she was smarter than Stark - and wondered if he let himself admit that.

She watched as he picked up a sheaf of paper, and read it over, shrewd brown eyes picking out the details she knew he was invested in, even if he didn't show it.

"Some project, isn't it?" She asked him, the question holding many layers. Watching his face for the smallest changes in temperament, she walked to the other side of the table.

"I'll tell you. I've never seen anything like it, and I ran a weapons company for almost two decades. But Dad was always one step ahead – did you know that he drafted the first blueprint of his idea for the Helicarriers?" At Madden's head tilt, he grinned, straightening up. "Of course, you do. You've only had this for a couple of hours, tops, and you already know everything about it. I want to know how you've flown under my radar for so long."

"My long career in secretive departments?" Madden asked, bemused. "You should know that SHIELD likes its secrets."

"Mm, a taste of an ego. One of SHIELD's secrets, are you?"

"I do believe that if I've been chosen for this project then I am entitled to an egotistical touch, Mr Stark," Madden said smoothly, brow uncreased by any signs that she was quite enjoying this interaction.

"First of all, that sarcasm did not escape me. Second of all, my name is Tony, and," he faltered for a second, spotting the sunglasses on the bench next to the papers. He picked them up, eyeing them carefully, before sliding them onto his face.

"Third of all, these are holographic sunglasses. Mine are a pair of similar design."

"I developed them for a past project. And I kept a pair for myself to modify."

"Ingenious. How did you…?" Tony muttered under his breath, sliding them off and gazing at them. "I guess you use them for something a lot more interesting?"

"Of course. They're very useful to help hack into databases. As you did to ours."

Tony grinned. "Put out by that, aren't you? Well, you've got all the mechanics right – but changing the colour of the glasses, helps distract from flashes on the face. I have quite the range," Tony said, patting his glasses pocket.

Storing this information carefully away, Madden nodded evenly. "Thank you, Tony."

"Much better." Tony turned back to the pages, forgetting about the glasses, and there was silence for a moment as he read them.

Madden wondered if he was ever going to bring up the request, or whether she would have to. She didn't know why he was sticking around for some reason. He was building up to it, somehow, seeing if it was worth his time. Watching him carefully, he slid out a page detailing the engines and held it up.

"Got any theories so far, kid?"

Madden grinned. Finally. "Would you like to see them?"

At his nod, she selected her blueprint and notebook and slid them over to him, watching as he looked closely. He muttered occasionally, looking from the pages to the blueprint, and eventually came to a decision.

"You're on the right track, I can tell you that." At this, Madden made a face he didn't see. She knew she was on the right track. "You've got the adiabatic wall idea down to a point and the thought about the conservation of mess is straight on – pretty good for a few sketches. Have you ever seen an arc reactor in person?"

"No."

"You've got to, of course. You'd understand them in a second, and you'd be impressed too. You know, seeing as I created them."

"I was under the impression that they existed before your time, and you just utilised them for your suit."

Tony winked at her. "That might be true as well."

"What about the vector displacement?" Madden asked quickly, not wanting the moment to slip away. "I don't understand how that works, nor how it effectively balances out the weight of the carriers. The previous models didn't have them."

The best thing about meeting someone almost as smart as you was that you didn't have to pretend you knew everything anymore. You could ask questions.

Tony looked up, rubbing his decorative goatee. "The distance. It's got to double the distance on all sides to keep it in, of course. And in these carriers, you'd only need to four to power it – if you did it correctly."

"Of course, it would." Eyes glinting, Madden tapped the blueprint. "But I'll need some help, Mr Stark. You're the man for arc reactors, and it just so happens that Fury trusts you somewhat, otherwise you'd never even know about this project. Can you help me create these repulser engines?"

"Ah, I guess I've stalled long enough," Tony said, straightening up. "Yeah, I'll help you. I'll help you build Project Insight."