The Devil's Keeper - Blackhill

Chapter 1 - The Web Thread

[June 16th, 2078 – New York City]

Claire Danvers was having a very good day. The art gallery she owned and managed had been through a rough month, but this was the week business went up again and on that Thursday she had sold three pieces. She couldn't even remember when the last time she had such a lucrative afternoon was. The day was coming to an end and she was talking with the woman who had just purchased a painting, when something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.

She turned around and saw, through the glass wall facing the street, a woman standing on the sidewalk. It took her exactly three seconds to recognize her; she had the greenest eyes and red hair that made her unmistakable.

Claire smiled to herself and raised a hand, tentatively waving at the woman and gauging her reaction, hoping for a flash of recognition in her eyes. The woman blinked once, twice, then raised her right hand, that a moment before had been firmly pressed to her abdomen. Her fingers moved slightly in a greeting gesture. She smiled back. A weak, sad smile, that made Claire's heart beat a little faster in her chest. Her eyes shifted to the woman's hand. That was the moment her smiled vanished, as she saw the red stains on her fingers, her palm, her wrist. Something was wrong.

She rushed to the door but could see as she opened it, the woman already starting to fall to her knees. She wasn't going to be able to catch her, she wasn't that fast. But even though her eyes stayed on the exact same spot while she opened the door and moved forward, the woman disappeared into thin air. She was there a moment before, bleeding and lost, Claire was positive she hadn't imagined the woman. And yet, a moment later she was gone, before her knees could even hit the ground.

- - -

[March 8th, 2007 – S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, location classified]

Nick Fury was having a very bad day. A very bad week. A very bad month, even. The council had been harassing him about some of his projects and had essentially ordered him to drop some of the ones that weren't showing results yet. Furthermore, Coulson and May had been stationed on the helicarrier for a week and they were already starting to get restless, while Hawkeye and Morse had been losing patience after three days. He was starting to envision a better future, a decade or something similar ahead, when his most promising agents weren't in their early twenties anymore and were actually experienced enough and patient enough to stop questioning his decisions and orders.

His phone started ringing and he picked it up swiftly, ready to hear about another problem, another failed project, another bit of bad news.

"Sir, this is Agent Simmons." The speaker announced herself, even though her unmistakable British accent left no doubt. "I'm calling about the Web Thread."

Ah, yes... Another project that wasn't showing results. He had just finished discussing that matter with the council and they would probably have to shut it down soon.

"We did it, sir." Her voice trembled slightly at the end, like she was carefully trying to hold back the excited note that Fury could still detect. "We caught her."

There was a moment when Fury thought maybe he had heard her wrong. Because he'd been having a terrible week – month, really – and this news was a game changer. This was what he needed to both show the council results and finally assign his most promising agents to a mission worthy of their time.

"Call the rest of the team assigned to this, I'm on my way." He hung up the phone and got up, exiting his office and marching towards the lab with a new-found bounce in his step.

Once he got there, he took a moment to savor the feeling of a much needed victory, the feeling that things were finally turning in their favour. But not even Nick Fury could have ever been prepared for what was waiting for him on the other side of the lab door.