August, 1996 - New York City, New York

I was being followed again. I had slipped my headphones over my ears, but it hadn't deterred the man following me in his car.

I eyed the car in a window nearby. The classic black van followed me from a distance, tinted windows glinting in the sunlight.
They were pretty good at covering their tracks. But I was better.

Spying an empty bus stop nearby, I made my way toward it, keeping a lookout for cameras - and for the car. Sure enough, it continued to follow me.

I sat at the bus stop and pretended to be absorbed in the 'music' still glancing around warily through the corners of my eyes.

The car had stopped.

Two men, predictably dressed in black, strode confidently toward me, glancing over their shoulders and talking to each other.

Why were they following me?

I felt a tap on my shoulder and quickly steeled myself, glancing up and taking my headphones off, pausing my music.

"Are you, by any chance, Melissa Price?" the first man asked. It was only then that I realized he was in a suit. I hadn't been paying too much attention to their clothes, so don't blame me.

"Who's asking?" I replied, moving to place my headphones back over my ears.

"S.H.I.E.L.D." I froze. S.H.I.E.L.D. had found me? How?

"And why would S.H.I.E.L.D. want to know Melissa Price?" I asked, glancing quizzically at the two men.

"Let's just say… research purposes," the other man mentioned. He had an eyepatch over one eye. What the heck? He put a hand to his ear and glared at me. "Turn the cameras back on, Miss Price."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I replied, stuffing my music in my pocket. They didn't need to know what it did.

"We have an agent watching the cameras, Miss Price. Turn them back on." The look in his eye screamed 'or else'.

"What makes you think-"

"You're a tech expert," the first man said, his gaze never leaving me, analyzing. "We can't track it, so it must be you."

"I think you've got the wrong person," I replied, standing up and starting to walk away. "Good luck finding her."

The two men didn't follow me, but the first put a hand to his ear, staring grimly at me as I walked away. I quickened my pace, pulling my music out and pressing play. I wish there was actual music playing so I could distract myself.

I wasn't paying attention when I bumped into someone.

Stumbling back, I felt my eyes widen. He was also dressed in black and he had a gun in a holster. More S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

His arms were folded, eyes - hidden as they were behind sunglasses - accusatory.

"Yeah, I've got her," he muttered, still standing there.

I couldn't help it. I ran. S.H.I.E.L.D. had no business following me. It was bad enough that I'd been caught up in their work. They thought they needed me, I think.

I scoffed, nearly tripping over my own feet as I ran. They had Stark for that, didn't they?

But it occured to me just as I was tackled from behind that Tony Stark was not under their control.

Of course the agent had been following me.

I tried to twist in his grip, but his hold was tight.

"You know, you could make this a lot easier for yourself if you would just let the Director explain," the agent mumbled near my ear, causing me to stop in shock. I shook my head to clear it, scrunching up my face.

The agent sighed, releasing me enough that I could stand up. I tried to make a break for it once he let go, but he grabbed me again, hugging me to his chest as he carried me, kicking and - well, I wasn't screaming since his hand was over my mouth - back to the two men.

I glared at them with all the hate I could muster, but I was kind of getting tired. I really need to go to the gym more.

"Miss Price, we meet again," the one with the eyepatch said dryly. "We're going to have a little chat."

And the agent carried me to the black van and strapped me in one of the seats before he took the driver's seat, leaving me alone with eyepatch and suit.

An hour later… S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ

"No! Absolutely not!" I protested, standing quickly from my chair. The agent who had kidnapped me stood by the door stoically. I had expected him to move his hand toward his gun or something.

"Miss Price, your concerns are understandable," the first man said. "However, this has more to do with you than you think."

"Look, I don't know you. You already know I want nothing to do with S.H.I.E.L.D. but you obviously don't care because you've been stalking me for months and don't you dare think I haven't noticed!" My voice was rising in pitch, I had noticed. I really needed to calm down. "I just want a normal life away from all of this 'secret agent' thing," I growled, using air quotes liberally. "It wasn't my fault that I got dared by some idiot to hack you all! It wasn't my fault that your firewall is really weak! And it certainly isn't my fault that you weren't prepared for this sort of thing and left top secret information lying around! I just want to forget this all and go home and I swear I won't tell anyone!"

I was met with silence. I had been intensely glaring at the three men in the room, and I felt my anger draining away only to be replaced with exhaustion.

I slumped in my chair and took a shuddering breath.

"Miss Price, if you noticed us following you, then you probably noticed other people following you as well," eyepatch said. I glanced up at him, wondering how he knew that.

"I did. I thought they were your people for a bit, but I realized they were different after one of yours and theirs started fighting about three blocks from me."

"They are part of the KGB. I'm going to assume you know who they are."

I nodded slowly, my lips parting in shock. The KGB was following me? Why?

"You have information on S.H.I.E.L.D. that the KGB wants, Miss Price," the other man said. "And they will stop at nothing to get it. Taking our deal will ensure your safety."

"Really?" I asked, cursing the shaking in my voice. "Because I'm pretty sure that the internet is not a safe place."

"But you can make it safe, Miss Price," said eyepatch, standing and walking toward the door. "We'll give you some time to think about it."

The two men filed out of the room, followed closely by the agent.

I pulled my music out and was just placing my headphones over my ears when the agent returned.

"I'm going to need that," he said, holding his hand out.

"It's an music," I responded. "Why would you need it?"

"We both know it's more than that," he said. "It's how you paused the cameras, so it's obviously some sort of miniaturized computer." I cursed internally. Of course they figured it out.

"You won't be able to use it," I finally said, glaring at the agent. "It requires a lot of recognition for it to work and you don't have it."

"Just hand it over. Once you make your decision you will get it back."

"How do I know I can trust you to give it back?" I asked, folding my arms. The agent moved to sit across from me and mimicked me.

"You don't."

"Then I can't give it to you."

"I won't leave until I get it."

"Then you'll be here for a long time. You might as well try to convince me to join S.H.I.E.L.D. while you're at it," I replied dryly.

"Okay," the agent responded, leaning back in the chair. "What do you want me to tell you to convince you?" I gazed at him, shocked at his willingness to answer. Thinking for a moment, I stared him dead in the eyes as I finally spoke.

"What is the Avengers Initiative?"

"I don't know."

I huffed a little, glaring at the agent. He rolled his eyes at me, staring at the ceiling.

"I really don't know. I'm not high enough clearance."

"That doesn't stop most people."

"I'm not 'most people'. Unlike you, I know when to take orders."

"But what if that information could save your life?" I asked, willing him to look me in the eyes. Surely he knew when to not take orders. "What if that information could be used to finish a mission. What if not having that information could have been the cause of your death because you didn't know enough to do something important? What then?"

I let out an involuntary gasp as the agent slammed his chair on the ground and leaned across the desk, staring me down. I tried to control the fear, the beating of my heart, but I couldn't.

"I have had to make that choice. But until that time comes again, I won't question it," the agent said lowly.

"Why?" The word came unbidden, no more than a mere whisper.

"Because I know that whatever S.H.I.E.L.D. does with that information will be best for the world. I've been with them long enough to trust them."

"And just how long have you been with them?" I asked, my breath slowed to a normal rate. The fear was fading.

"About 18 months," he replied.

"18 months? That's not a very long time."

"No, but it's long enough for me. I go with my gut on the important stuff."

"Stuff like this?" I asked. The agent nodded. "I suppose it's smart to go with your gut."

"Yeah. It's gotten me out of a lot of trouble," he said with a wry smile.

"Being an agent is tough?"

"Always. Especially if you're a field agent. You're out undercover or sneaking around, having to know the language, the culture, just enough that you can complete the mission."

"What sort of agent are you?"

"Me?" the agent asked, looking a little surprised. "I'm a field agent, but I'm mostly," he hesitated, not looking at me. "Cleanup?"

"Cleanup?" I echoed, gazing at him incredulously. "What, so you're a janitor?"

"No," the agent replied calmly. "I'm an assassin."

"Great. Wonderful. Which tech agent told you that my music is my computer, then?" I asked, leaning forward just as he leaned back. He raised an eyebrow at me, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"None of them. Some of us are smart without the tech agents, you know?"

"So only you?"

"Sure, we can go with that," the agent laughed.

"Sounds good to me. What's your name?" I asked curiously. The agent met my gaze quizzically. "Come on. I know you know mine so I might as well know yours."

"Agent."

"Yeah, I know that's not it. I'll just do my research later if you don't tell me." The agent sat up in his chair, eyes widening. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me that scares you."

"No, no. Not you. The Director wants your decision," the agent replied grimly. "Yesterday."

"That's kind of impossible?" I muttered weakly.

"Well, decide quickly," the agent muttered back.

A few moments later, the door opened and eyepatch and a third man came strutting in.

"You must be Director Keller, then," I said as he opened his mouth. "You buried everything pretty well. I could only find a little bit about you."

"Miss Price, your decision?" eyepatch replied, glaring at me with his one good eye.

"That's enough, Fury," the man stated, waving eyepatch aside. "I'm impressed you know my name, Miss Price. Though, you're wrong about one thing. I'm not the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore."

I stared at him, wondering where this was going.

"You must have been switched out since I last checked. Who's the new Director?"

"I am," eyepatch growled. "Now your decision, Miss Price?"

"What happens if I don't?" I asked, biting my lip. "Because we both know that I know too much."

"We can't let you retain that information."

"So the best choice would be for me to join so that you don't have to do something you'd regret?" I summed. "So I don't really have a choice if I ever want to keep any freedom at all."

"Basically."

"Miss Price," Keller said, finally speaking up again. "You do have a choice, but you have to realize that you can do a lot of good at S.H.I.E.L.D. All we ask is that you give us a chance to prove it to you."

"Fine," I said after a moment. "Fine, I'll do it. But I have a few questions."

"So do we," the former Director replied. "But by all means, ask away."

"First question: do I have to live here?"

"That might be best for the time being with the KGB after you," eyepatch said, a little kinder than before.

"Okay," I replied, working hard to keep the disappointment out of my voice. "Okay. Next question: what would I be doing?"

"We'll have to evaluate that, but I'm going to say that you'll at least be a tech agent."

"At least?"

"You show some value in the field. We want to put that to the test."

"There won't be any torture, right?"

"If you don't fail," the Director returned unflinchingly. I couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. "Now, further questions can wait. I need you to pull up your computer. You need to cover our tracks. If the KGB finds HQ, we've been compromised."

I slowly slid my music out of my pocket and placed it on the desk, flipping it over and pulling the back off and grabbing my computer. I set my computer aside and replaced my music in my pocket before turning my computer on.
"That's your computer?" the agent asked. "There's no way."

"Watch and see, agent," I replied. "Watch and see. And you still need to tell me your name."

"Nope."

"Focus, agents!" the Director barked.

Pinching at the surface of my computer, I pulled up and expanded the holographic screens and keyboard. Searching quickly through the internet, I found any evidence of my arrival at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ and destroyed it.

"Good work, Agent Price," the Director hummed. "Five minutes. I'm impressed."

"It could have been shorter if I hadn't had to hack you again to gain access to Agent Barton's file," I muttered, skimming his file. "You've got quite the record. No wonder you trust S.H.I.E.L.D. so much," I said, glancing over at Agent Barton as I shut down my computer with a flick of my hand and pocketed it.

"So much for me withholding my name," Agent Barton said with a shrug. "I rather liked keeping that mystery from you."

"Agent Price, you'll gain access to anything you need… with a few exceptions."

"It'd be faster to just give me complete access," I replied. "You never know what you're gonna need me to do."

"We'll give you what we think you need, Agent Price," the Director said lowly. "Nothing more."