Monster

Two

After SHIELD fell, I had difficulty finding another job. Tony Stark offered me a position almost immediately after the event, and I'd considered it. But I wasn't ready to leave DC just yet, and I wasn't sold on the idea of being handed a job out of charity. Accepting the position would mean I'd have to move to New York, and thus, be closer to my sister. It was easier to pretend that my life was going just fine when there was distance between us.

I still had a mortgage to pay, though, and a car and all the other things that came with being a semi-responsible adult. And even though the remains of the triskelion was swarmed with military personnel and construction crews, I decided to go back for what was left of my stuff. If only because I needed my laptop to find a new job. Or at least that's what I told myself when I got the idea.

I managed to make it through the interrogation process only because I was a level one agent, openly fought against Hydra with a sparkly pink knife, and had a history with Colonel Talbot of US Special Forces. I'd been cleared quickly, but part of me suspected they were keeping an eye on me just in case it was a lie.

The triskelion was in shambles. The front courtyard was empty. I remembered how the sunlight would sparkle through the glass ceiling in the mornings. The place would be crawling with agents and office personnel. It felt so lonely when the only other lifeforms were the birds that made their way through the shattered ceiling to nest in the debris.

Two uniformed soldiers were standing in the front lobby when I let myself in. I made a move for the elevator bank, and one jumped forward to block me. I was half a foot shorter than him, and he stood with his hand hovering over his gun as if he meant to intimidate me.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" he asked.

"To get my stuff."

"What stuff? There's nothing left. How'd you get cleared?"

I was far from intimidated, and I was running on coffee and a single packet of crackers. I'd barely slept, and the caffeine only ever made me jittery and irritated. I'd waited long enough to collect my things, and I had nothing to hide. I may have done Hydra's dirty work by filing reports, but I hadn't done it intentionally.

"I'm former agent Johanna Hayes. I'm also Special Forces, and I served under Colonel Talbot. That's who cleared me. That's also who gave me the okay to come collect my personal belongings. If there's a problem, you can go ahead and give him a call. I'm sure he'll be very thrilled to find out I got all my family photos out of my cubicle."

He huffed and turned to the companion still stationed behind the desk. We were the only three people in the entire open front lobby. And since this was no longer SHIELD, the man was lounging behind the desk with his legs propped up like he was about to take a nap. He shrugged with his arms crossed over his chest. He hadn't opened his eyes since his initial once-over. I didn't find them intimidating, and they obviously felt the same about me.

"Hayes, right?" he asked. "Talbot cleared her this morning. Let her go." The soldier took a few steps back, looking down his nose at me.

"We'll be watching you–Agent," he said, like it was a dirty word. I held my head high and pushed past him.

Even though I had the most boring desk job SHIELD offered, my office was still hit hard. A good chunk of the files were compromised, and the CIA had swept through to assemble everything they could link to Hydra. Paper was scattered across the cubicle floor, and the office was eerily silent. Even on its quietest days, this open space had been noisy with footsteps, coughs, and the consistent tapping of fingers on keys.

Sunlight poured in through broken glass, disturbing the dust already beginning to settle over the once spotless cubicle banks. I had to hop through the rubble and mess to find my way to my designated desk. The nameplate for "Agent Hayes" was still proudly in place on the particleboard wall. I remembered the joy I felt the first time I saw it. When I thought I was lucky to get a spot so close to the windows, and a view of the atrium below. It was my first real job outside of the military. I felt like I was finally doing something right with my life.