The Kids in the Dark

Introductions

Ed heaved a sigh as he approached the gigantic glass doors that lead to SHIELD Agency. It was surprisingly smaller than he expected. NASA was a lot bigger. Then again, SHIELD wasn't sending astronauts into space. The size was right for its purpose, he supposed.

This was the first time he'd ever worked away from home. Well, if his senile grandmother's house counted as home. He could still feel her puffy lips puckered against his cheek. Somehow, that was considered an appropriate way to say goodbye. He was pretty sure that there wasn't anymore lipstick on him, but he ran his sleeve over his cheek anyways.

SHIELD had been asking Edward for almost two years to take a job in their technology departments. It was only expected. Not only had his renown spiked SHIELD's interest, but his parents had both worked at SHIELD their entire lives. Worked them to their deaths, more like it. They were both field agents. One horrible mixup in the intelligence and boom, there went his mom and dad.

Maybe that's why he finally agreed to take the job. He could prevent agents' deaths within his jurisdiction, stopping children who had to grow up on their own like he did. One less miserable child, thanks to him.

Of course, that doesn't change how nervous Teddy was to actually go inside the building and start his new life. He'd been standing outside the doors for almost ten minutes, caught up in his own conflicting thoughts. Two of the patrolling officers just inside the doors were giving him funny looks.

Sadly, they probably won't be my last, Ted thought, a feeling of dread sinking into his stomach. Ted finally screwed up his courage, adjusted his laptop bag on his shoulder, and pushed the heavy glass doors open.

Inside, the entire lobby was like a bee hive. Swarms of people were dashing from place to place, doing their jobs and not really thinking about anything besides that. Within two minutes in his new environment, Ted was nearly knocked to the ground by a secretary, yelling into her headset.

Relax, Ted, he ordered himself, trying to calm his nerves. He wasn't sure which way to go to get his keys. He was lost in the traffic of the lobby. When he felt all hope had failed, a front desk appeared from behind a large security guard eating a donut.

Scurrying to get out of the bustle, he dashed in between the lines of agents, janitors, and visiting school groups to get to the oasis of the front desk. When he arrived, the lady behind the desk looked at him confused.

"Are you lost? What school are you from?" She asked in a syrupy voice, like she was talking to a first grader and not a former NASA employee. He shifted uneasily from one foot to the other.

"Edward Carling. I'm the new Quartermaster," Ted said softly, rubbing his forearm. The woman gave him a skeptical look.

"Yeah, alright, sweetie. We are a federal business and we don't appreciate jokes while we have work to do, so, go on now-"

"Check the ID tag for the new Quartermaster you are supposed to give me," Ted mumbled, wanting to turn invisible. The woman rolled her eyes, but he watched her pick up the laminated tag that he took pictures for the day before. Her eyes flicked between the picture and the boy before blushing deeply, giving him a sheepish smile.

"So sorry, Mister Carling. I didn't expect you to be so.....young," she said, her childish tone of voice dropping away as she turned about as red as a tomato in shame. She held the ID and a file out to Ted. Ted took it from her, tucking the file under his arm.

"It's fine, I understand," he said, his eyes hiding behind his brown bangs. He left before she had the chance to make things worse for him.

He made for the door to the real SHIELD at the speed of light. He scanned his new card in and the door unlocked for him. Clipping the card to his shirt pocket, he grasped the door handle and pulled it open to greet whatever was beyond it.