The Lost Agents

5

Quinn was silent.

Then, "that must have been hard, going through all of that at once." He was a good listener; he hadn't asked a single question throughout the entire tale, only sat quietly in rapt attention to every word she said.

"The hardest thing I've ever done." She shook her head. "Eight months is not a long time to be married. Two years..." Her eyes hardened as she looked at him. "Two years isn't nearly enough to carry that pain away. I don't know if any amount of time is."

He dropped his eyes to the floor. "But even two years later," he said, "there are bad guys to catch. People to be avenged." He looked at her once more as he uttered the last sentence. She could see what he wanted. He assumed the thought of avenging her husband would prompt her to return to her old employment. But it wouldn't. Because the villains of her story had already been caught, and her husband already avenged.

"Like I said earlier." Londyn leaned back against the couch. "You can't beat them all."

"But we could stop these ones," he almost begged. "All we need is your help, Ms. Justice. Please, come back, even for just a little while."

But her green eyes were already sealed coldly with finality. "No. Tell Fury my answer is no."

"But—"

"Get out."

"Excuse me?"

"Get out of my apartment." Londyn stood, looking down at him with a glare. "I don't ever want to see another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent here again. Tell Fury not to send anymore. I won't work for him ever again. Now leave."

Quinn also stood, obviously disappointed. "As you wish." He took a few steps backward towards the door. "I'm sorry for any pain I may have caused in coming here. Thank you for your time, Ma'am." With that, he left.

Londyn waited for a moment, then walked over to the side table where she had left the picture of Will. She picked it up, brushing a fingertip over his face. "I know you would be disappointed in me," she whispered, tears beginning to fill her eyes. "But I just can't do it." She put the photo back into the drawer, closed it, and walked away.

Several days later, Londyn strode down the hallway leading to her apartment. She had just gotten home from her shift at the computer company she worked for. David had noticed something had been upsetting her for the last few days, so he had left a coffee and a doughnut on her desk before she got in that morning. He was a good friend, and the one who had gotten her into the company years back. She had thanked him several times for the kind gesture already and they made plans to go to lunch tomorrow to have a nice chat. She never had to be worried about him trying to romance her, he was already married to a lovely wife named Helen, and even if he wasn't, they were too good of friends and went too far back to consider a love interest.

She unlocked her door and walked inside, stopping short when she saw someone sitting on her couch. "Hey," she barked before she even registered what was happening. Then her eyes fell on his face. Composing herself, the woman shut the door and straightened her back. "Fury."

"Londyn," he greeted her, standing. "Sorry that I showed myself in, but..." He held up a lock pick. "I had a key."

"You always were one with the jokes." Londyn allowed herself a little smile. "What are you doing here?" She set her purse on the counter and joined her old friend in the living room. They shook hands and sat down before he actually said anything.

"It's been too long, Londyn," he started off. "I haven't seen you in two years. Of course, we checked in on you now and again."

The woman nodded. "I've had my suspicions about that."

"So, I know that you're physically fine. But I wanted to check on you emotionally." He leaned forward. "How are you? I know that Will's loss was very hard. You closed yourself out from everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D., and I happen to know you had several friends there. Speaking of which, Barton and Romanoff wanted me to say that they miss you." His one good eye was sad, she knew the message was from him as well.

Londyn took a slow breath. "To answer your question, I've been okay. I have a job and a home, and I have accepted the past because I know I can't change it. I miss the life I had sometimes, but where I'm at is much safer. I have new friends, and a new life. I appreciate that you have all respected my request to stay back from me. Well, you've respected it until now anyways." She narrowed her green eyes at her old boss. "Why did you send Agent Kitt to ask me back?"

Fury sighed heavily. "Didn't he explain to you? We need your help. Badly. You were—"

"The best mystery-solver you've ever had." She raised her hands. "I know. He said that. But how could you ask me to come back after..." Her eyes mysteriously began filling with tears. She hadn't even realized she was on the verge of crying. "After what happened to Will?"

"Because," Fury said, "I think you're the only one that can help us. More people are in danger. More bad guys need stopped. You used to live for this, to help people. We have an entire force that still does, but we can't help people if we can't find where they are." His voice began to rise. She knew he wasn't angry at her, he got excited when speaking about the evil in the world and his plans to conquer it. "Their lives depend on us to save them, and I'm doing the best I can to do exactly that! But the best I can do is ask you back." His voice dropped again. "The Londyn I once knew would never want people to get hurt because of her. And I think she's still in there, somewhere."

Londyn sighed softly, looking into his eye. "I'm sure she is. But I'm afraid to let her back out. Her heart has been hurt... badly. She's scared that people are going to get hurt again. Like they did last time."

His shoulders slumped. "Yes. People will get hurt. People always get hurt. But that's all a part of life. I can't tell you how many friends I've lost, how many people I've seen in pain, but I get through it because I know there are always more who need help. If I gave up, there would be so many more who would lose their lives. So, I go on. And I want you to do the same. You've already taken the first step and put the past behind you, but I want you to keep taking those steps and walk your way into the future." He looked at his hands, then back at her. "I was hoping that the future would hold a trip to S.H.I.E.L.D."

The woman's eyes filled with tears as he spoke, knowing how much he hurt as well. She wasn't alone in her pain. "I don't think that being an agent is what I want anymore."

"I understand that," her former boss agreed. "I'm just asking you to come back for one day tomorrow. Help us get through this tough spot in the case, then we'll part ways again. Please. We really need you." His eye was so soulful, it was something that she loved about him. He only fought for what he truly believed in and she could see that every time she looked in his eye.

She hesitated a moment. Then, with a small, thin-lipped smile, Londyn drew her phone out of her pocket. She clicked on a contact number and held it to her ear.

"Hey, Londyn, what's up?"

"Hi, David. Unfortunately, I can't make it to lunch tomorrow." She glanced at Fury. "Something just came up."

I'm so glad you're still reading! Let me know what you think of the story! The next part is the end, so start voting if you've enjoyed this!

Stay happy!

~AJ.