Avengers/X-Men One Shots - The Blood/White Phoenix Saga

ONE-SHOT XXVIII: A Potential Solution

Set just before Blood Phoenix 6

Adelaide Lehnsherr

I sat in Fury's office, waiting for him. Tapping my toe nervously. My breathing was rapid as I wondered what on earth Fury wanted me for. It could have something to do with the incident that was filed last week on a small reconnaissance mission with Steve.

'It was just a small incident. Really,' I remember telling Steve.

'You have to get help,' he'd said back. Then we had argued for a good deal of time, and I had been annoyed with him for the rest of the day, escaping to Natasha's apartment to talk with her, after which we went for coffee. My thoughts were interrupted by the clicking of shoes against the tiled floor of Director Fury's office. I turned. Fury was standing there with a mildly upset look on his face.

'Agent Lehnsherr. I see you've already made yourself at home.' I went to stand and we shook hands. 'Please sit.' I looked at my very cold coffee cup and I put it on the desk.

'Sorry, sir. The coffee got cold. Been thinking.'

'You know why I wanted you in here?' he asked, ignoring my earlier statement.

'Yes, sir. I screwed up. Big. But it was only a minor incident.' He stared at me with his one good eye, leaning forward on his desk, propping his elbows up.

'You're one of our best agents, Lehnsherr. Rogers told me of your incident. Your trigger words were said, you snapped, and you injured Agent Romanoff in the process. The council and I convened with Secretary Pierce two days ago, just after the mission report was filed by Captain Rogers, and we have come up with a solution.' He slid a file towards me, leaning back in his seat, putting his feet up on the desk in front of him.

'What is this?'

'You'll see.' I flipped through it, my blood starting to boil with anger. I felt the heat in me rise with the growing frustration in my body. I looked down. My right hand was starting to glow a reddish-orange. 'Agent, I would rather you not burn that. That's an official SHIELD file, the only one we have on your - situation, and the person who has been chosen to help you.' I growled and threw it on the desk.

'I don't need help. What is this: some kind of sick joke?'

'No, Agent Lehnsherr. You clearly need professional help. This is the way to go.'

'I don't need a psychiatrist, or a psychologist, or whatever this person is. I don't need this kind of help. Am I really that insane to you?'

'You are not insane, Agent. You just need to step back from the field for a little while, take it easy, and work more on your head than your fists. As I said, you're one of our best. I would hate for you to be discharged on an account of having a serious mental condition.' I shook my head.

'This is ridiculous. Do you think I'm just gonna turn up to a psych office and sit there for two to three hours when I could be helping make the world a better place with Steve and Nat? Is that what you think I am?'

'I don't think you are anything. You're an agent of SHIELD, with skills. Good skills. And we will have need of you in time. We will. You just need to step back, take a break.' He stood and began to walk away.

'Director, please,' I said, standing and turning to him as he was walking to the door. He paused, stock still, and turned. 'Director, this job gives me purpose. This purpose is taken away; I have none.' He looked me dead in the eye.

'You need to find something other than your current purpose. Maybe, in this, you will truly find yourself. Have a look at the file, perhaps without burning it, and I will give you two days to make a decision about whether you truly want help.' He left.

'What does that mean?!' I was met with no answers. Picking up the file, I left, following the Director.

I sat in my little reading nook in Steve's apartment that night, the news blaring out on the TV while I read the file that Fury had given me on the psychologist that was offering to treat my post-traumatic stress, as it had been labelled.

SFN (Subject File Name): Amanda Elizabeth 'Mandy' Parks

Age of Subject: 23 (born in November 1991)

First place of residence: 27 Maple Street, Langley, Virginia (lived there for five years)

Affiliations: SHIELD (Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division), United States Marines (rank: Colonel; honourably discharged)

Went to school: Duke University (North Carolina); studied psychology and English 101

Character profile:

Written by Director Fury of SHIELD (dated 6 February, 2011)

Amanda Parks is brave, a little stubborn, but altogether a worthy candidate to be a psychologist on the SHIELD staff. Agent Hill recommends her for her caring nature and her understanding of military-induced post-traumatic stress. While battling her own demons, I have no doubt that she will manage to care for our other agents who come to her frequently with their own struggles. Well educated; her integration into SHIELD this Friday will prepare her for her work.

I flipped through a couple more pages, looking at whatever else was on this woman and what she had to offer. If Director Fury recommended her himself, then she might be worth it, I thought. She really might be worth a shot. I sipped my coffee, which was now quickly growing cold, and sighed, putting the file down and rubbing my temple, which was now aching from the constant staring at the file. Standing up, I pulled out my phone and checked the time, then opened up my contacts and scrolled through to find Director Fury. Then I called him. He picked up on the second ring.

'Agent? I assume you've come to a decision.'

'I have. I'm gonna give her a shot.'