FENRIR ※ Tony Stark [2]

1 - PROTECTED FACILITY

A SMALL FLASH streaked the sky, disturbing a quiet night, somewhere in the outskirt of Philadelphia. It only lasted a second, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it kind of moment and, already, the flash was gone.

Not one person was paying attention to the sky in this advanced hour of the night. But if they did, they would've seen the spherical, man-sized object slipping out of the beacon.

A small pod was free falling, only gaining in speed as it got closer to the ground. It was propelled violently in the middle of a field, just outside a residential area. The shock of the impact caused a small dent to form in the dirt.

After a few seconds, a lever creaked open and a mane of dark hair slid out of the flying vehicle. Angie — because who else could it have been — hesitated for a moment before taking a step on Earth's ground for the first time in four years

Her eyes closed instantly as she took the time to savour the cold breeze on her face.

Home, finally.

But Angie's moment was short lived as a lightheaded feeling took over the second she opened back her eyes. A churn rose suddenly in the pit of her stomach, making her nauseous. Before she knew it, she was leaning against the pod, spilling her guts on the field's grass.

The man who sold her the transporter had warned about the side effects of intergalactic travel but Angie hadn't expected them to be so sudden and so brutal. Quite frankly, she had shrugged them off, although it seemed like flying at the speed of sound would take a toll on anybody.

The horrible nausea wasn't going away; it got even worse when a set of flashlights beamed in her face. Her head was still throbbing and it took all her willpower to face the newcomers.

"Hey, you!" a male voice called out "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

She recognized the uniforms of police officers and opened her mouth to speak but the words wouldn't come out. Her tongue felt dry as wood and her breath came out in short huffs. Her vision blurred inexplicably, turning everything around her into a hazy mess. They still had their flashlights aimed right at her face, which made it feel like two darts raking holes in her brain.

Angie wanted to get close to the officers, and let them know she wasn't a hostile but her knees buckled the second she tried to take a step. The vertigo hit her like a ton of bricks and she fell brutally on the ground. Before long, her surroundings disappeared into nothingness.

⁂

It wasn't before many, many hours that Angie regained consciousness. Her eyes jolted open as soon as she became aware of her surroundings but the blinding light made her instantly regret it.

She found herself lying on an unknown bed, in a brightly lit room. The clothes she had landed in were gone, replaced by some strange white gown. A wave of panic quickly rose in her gut as she noticed the needle pricking her arm and the wires hooking her to a beeping machine by the side of the bed.

She quickly pushed away the covers before snatching off the electrode pads on her chest. The machine emitted a sharp, shrill sound as soon as she was unhooked. It felt like a jackhammer against her skull, and she let out a low moan, her hand instantly going to her throbbing temple.

Angie heard a commotion outside the room, like people had been alerted that she was awake. Before she knew it, the door burst open and in came a familiar dark figure. The last person she had expected to see at that moment.

Nick Fury. In the flesh.

Seeing the director made her freeze immediately.

"It's okay, you're in safe hands," he reassured, walking up to the edge of the bed.