Agent Alex

Prologue:

I wake up to the sound of gunshots. I sit bolt upright in my bed, but not daring to get out. Every lesson on what to do in situations like this runs through my head, but my thought process is stopped by the sound of heavy footsteps coming to my room.

I quickly lay back down, covering my head with my blanket. I try to calm my breathing, terrified. What would happen if whoever was out there found out I was awake? I knew that those footsteps didn't belong to my parents, they were far too heavy. It sounded like whoever was walking down the hall had on big, clunky boots.

I make my breathing slow, constant, no matter how scared I am. I hear the slow creak of my door being opened, and hear the footsteps entering my room. I feel a tear slide down my face, but I don't move to wipe it. "Awww, they had a kid?" I hear a man's voice say, then the loud hushes of other people. I bite my tongue, trying my best to not make a sound except for my breathing.

I hear the footsteps shuffling around my room, and I assume the person was probably looking for something. What that could be, I didn't know.

Said footsteps soon leave my room, and I wait for several agonizing minutes before I hear the roar of a car, the sound of it receding into the distance. I wait several more minutes, just to be sure. You have to be paranoid when somebody breaks into your house.

When I decide it was most likely safe, that the people were probably gone, I slowly slip out of my bed, walking down the hall. "Mom? Dad?" I whisper, hearing how terrified my voice sounded. I slowly make my way down the hallway, the lights already on. I don't think I registered what I saw next for a few seconds.

I see my mom on the floor, a bullet hole in her head. I look up, seeing my dad by the door, two bullet holes, one in his chest, the other in his head. The shotgun that was always over their bed was by his hand, the shells scattered over the floor. I look down at my feet, and all I see is blood. That was when I screamed. I screamed until my throat was raw, and then I screamed some more, tears sliding down my face.

I hear footsteps running, and see our neighbor burst in, hurriedly putting on his robe. I look up at him, and he must have registered the scene in front of us almost immediately, because his face paled, his hand lifting to his mouth.

I see the neighbors wife run up behind him, right as I fall to my knees, barely able to feel anything but terror and anguish. "Oh my god." I hear the neighbor's wife say, disgust in her voice, along with shock. "Ho- Honey, go call the cops." the neighbor says, and I watch his wife run back to their house.

The next few hours were a blur. I was questioned no less than 3 times, all by different people, all of them police officers. I subconsciously remember being wrapped in a blanket and being checked over by a paramedic, but the only thing I could expressly remember at that time was how much blood there was.

"They're dead." The realization hits me after over 2 hours of sitting in the back of an ambulance, and the paramedic lady turns to me. "My mom and dad are dead." Each word feels like a punch to my stomach, and I feel the tears sliding down my face again. "I'm never gonna see them again." I say, my breath coming in hiccuping gasps.

"Oh, honey." I curl into a ball, not wanting to see the lady approaching me.

I hear the crunch of gravel signaling the approach of a vehicle, making me look up. The car looked faintly familiar, though I couldn't remember why.

A man with an eyepatch steps out of the car, looking at the police, paramedics, and vehicles surrounding my house. All eyes turn to the man when he slams his car door shut, the sound echoing through the woods that surrounded my house. The man surveys everybody, and probably feels my stares, because then he looks directly at me for a split second before climbing on top of his car and cupping his hands around his mouth.

"This is official SHIELD business! Please leave the premises now!" the man shouts, drawing insults from almost everybody.

"Go back home!" somebody shouts, and I hop down from the ambulance.

"Hey! That's mean!" I shout, hearing how small my voice sounded compared to the adults.

An hour later, I sit in the backseat of the man's car, listening to him telling stories about my parents. "They were my favorite agents. Too bad about what happened to them. They didn't deserve it." I nod, rubbing my nose on my sleeve. "You know, they always talked about you. They loved you so much." That makes me look up, staring at the man in the rearview mirror.

"I don't trust people unless I know their name." I say quietly, but the man must have heard, because he chuckled.

"Smart. I'm Nick. Nick Fury." I offer a small smile, even though I still don't trust this man.

"Alex." I say, and I watch the man nod.