The Captain (The Attolian #1.5)

Chapter 1

I look up and see bright lights shine down upon me and my sister Margeratha. Her eyes full of hatred as she has flames dance around her hands. I feel the familiar warmth greet me in my arm, out of the corner of my eye I see the glowing purple slowly move around my hand. She runs at me at high speeds and slams me to the ground. She smirks that evil smirk as she raps her hand around my neck.

"Please don't do this!" I try to say but her grip becomes tighter around my neck.

A bang fills my ears and I feel time slow. I look over and see a man with a blurred face holding the gun where the bullet came from. The bullet flies through the air and hits Margeratha in the chest. Her grip loosens and I hear myself scream.

I fly up from my bed in a screaming fit, drops of sweat cover my face as I try to catch my breath. Tears begin to stream down my cheeks and my heart begins to race. The lights turn on and a woman comes running into my room to try to calm me down but it doesn't work. I feel myself begin to scream every time I breath, my heart beats quickly as a lump fills my throat and I try to hold it down for the thousandth time in the past year but nothing stops it. I feel the building begin to shake and through my blurred eyes I see purple surround my arms. I feel tears stream down my cheeks as the nurse holds me trying to calm down with words I can't understand through the ringing in my ears, but my racing heart, my tears, everything continues on.

I see a figure in dark clothing enter the room which causes me to cry even more. I feel awful because they had to move me out of the hospital wing I was in due to me screaming from my dreams. I begin to whisper apologies between sobs as the nurse hands me tissues to stop my running nose. Through blurred eyes, I see Director Fury walk over to me and kneel down to be eye level with me as I shake on the bed.

The ringing in my ears begin to subside as I wait for what Fury is going to say. Out of the corner of my eyes I see the purple flames begin to disappear.

"Breath, Grace." He calmly says. Grace was the name he had given me about a month after I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., my full name is Grace Margerate Moriarty. I began to cry during that time too due to the fact that my new middle name had a tribute to Margeratha. "Just breath, in and out."

I feel my heart begin to slow and the blurriness in my eyes begin to disappear. I look over to the alarm clock and see that it is only 3:52 in the morning, I look back at Fury and smile.

"Do you ever sleep?" I ask between heavy breaths and in response he sighs to my question.

"Yes I do." He says smiling slightly. "Now, get some rest, I will have a nurse check in on you every few hours." He then leaves.

I nod and lay back down, the nurse that ran into my room got up from the bed and started to tuck me in. I feel myself slightly shake from my nightmare as tears stream down my cheeks. The woman dries them with a tissue.

"Are you OK?" She asks and I nod back. "This was the worst one so far this month."

I nod again and she sighs, getting up from the bed.

"Hey Grace, if you need me just press the call button." She leaves me alone with that.

The lights shut off and I lay there silently crying over my dream, over my sister and over Chicago. I eventually slip off into sleep.

________________________________________________________________________________

Day 365 6:30 A.M.

I wake up to my alarm blaring some kind of annoying beep. I hit my clock and get out of bed, I walk over to the wardrobe that was given to me as I stay here. I open it and see all of my exercise clothing hung up. I shuffle through them and stop once I feel the familiar coldness of metal. I separate the clothing to find the uniform that was given to me by Odin. As an apology for not helping me, Odin sent a messenger explaining how Margeratha had created a new reality to pretend that we were still there and how Thor was going to be crowned king. I guide my fingers across the smooth metal of the shoulder blades when I hear a knock at the door.

I quickly pull out a pair of shorts and a light grey shirt to cover what I was doing before I respond with "Come in." I walk over to my bed and lay the clothes onto it as the door opens. I turn around and I am met with Agent Coulson, a middle aged man with a receding hairline and a nice, expensive suit on. He smiles as he sees me.

"Hello Grace." He says as he struts in.

"Hey Agent Coulson." I respond as I walk back to my wardrobe to grab sneakers and a pair of socks.

"I heard what had happened last night, and I wanted to see if you were OK." He says as he folds his hands in front of him.

"Yes, I'm OK Coulson, it was just a little panic attack." I say as I grab my clothes to change in the bathroom. "And it's not as bad as the ones I've had for the past week so I think there is a small improvement coming."

He scoffs and I close the door. I quickly change into the clothes I had chosen. I then brush my teeth and hair and I put my hair up into a high pony tail. Once I finish freshening up, throw my pjs into the hamper and walk back out to my room. Coulson is still standing there awkwardly as I put my shoes on.

"But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't stop talking about it." He says through sad eyes."You do realize this is serious right?"

"Yes, yes I know this is serious," I move on to my next shoe, "and I know that the brain therapy or whatever is helping."

I stand up and walk over to Coulson who doesn't respond to my comment. I was about to pass him but he stops me and takes something out of his pocket.

"Today marks the day you joined S.H.I.E.L.D. a year ago and I believe someone deserves at least one day for them." He says smiling as he hands me the gift. "So S.H.I.E.L.D. has made today your 'official' birthday." He says while making air-quotes. 

I smile and take the gift, which is wrapped in some sort of pink paper with a bow on top. I look at him for his consent to open it and he nods. I take the bow off and unwrap the gift slowly. On top of the small box is a small card and I open it.

'I can't believe that you are 'officially ten years old' today! I hope you enjoy your birthday and this gift that I got you! Sincerely Agent Coulsen'

I close the card and hug Coulson, and whisper "Thank you."

"You haven't even seen the best part." He says with a large smile on his face. I move the card and see a box with the words 'iPod Shuffle' printed across it. I look up at him confused and he realizes that I am not caught up yet with the technological advancements. "Oh! Right. It's a device that lets you play music that you download from a computer. I already downloaded some songs that were popular within the past few years and when I was a kid."

"Thank you." I repeat as I look down at the gift he had given me.

"Alright, so let's set that down and bring you to your first lesson of the day." He says handing me a granola bar as he walks me out the room.