Madness of the Serpent

Epilogue

Location: [redacted]

The Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division stared through the one-way observation mirror at the young woman on the other side. His singular eye watched her intently, his eyebrow creased as if his thoughts unsettled him – which they often did.

Nick Fury did not turn when the door behind him slid open, and Agent Hill strode confidently into the room to stand beside him, crossing her arms as she also stared at the prisoner contained within.

After several seconds of drawn-out silence in which Fury seemed to be too deeply buried in his thoughts to speak, Hill remarked, "Three puzzles left behind by the mad Asgardian, and I'm not sure which one is the weirdest."

"Hmm." The Director slowly came out of his reverie. "Toss-up. Has the medical team finished their initial analysis?"

"They have," Hill answered, handing him a manila envelope with a SHIELD emblem and the words LEVEL EIGHT ACCESS ONLY written in bold type across the face. Fury took the envelope without looking, and opened it while his single, intense eye stared at the woman beyond the glass.

The Director finally glanced down at the sheets of papers in his hand, followed by a spectrometer analysis, several X-ray copies, and a lengthy, complicated DNA analysis profile.

"Give me the Cliffs Notes' version," he commanded gruffly, staring with interest at the composite material analysis chart.

"Well... her scales are unlike any material on Earth, though they are confirmed to be biological and carbon-based. Similar in texture and composition of a reptile's scale, but the molecular structure is far more complicated than anything the team has ever seen – though none of them are exactly zoologists."

"Bring some of those in, we'll need them," the man instructed, though he still appeared distracted.

"...sir?" Hill prodded, intimately familiar with that offhand tone of voice which meant the Director was actively dissecting an enigma in his head.

"I want to know more about how she was able to hold on to the Tesseract without going up like tinder, and how she managed to play Loki for the fool with his own staff."

"We... aren't sure yet. But... you may want to see this," Hill added, pulling out a particular sheet of paper from the thick stack in Fury's hand, placing it on top. It showed a headshot of the woman, as well as a brief biography, places of education, and any notable affiliations. It also had an additional entry that was so odd it caused the Director to do a double-take.

"You've found her," the Director stated, pulling the certificate closer as he peered at it. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Yes it is, sir."

"Trinity Frost" had been born Sakura Tsukino on July 1st, 1985 and her last place of residence was in Sacramento, California. What was unusual was the additional date underneath.

It was an estimated Date of Death. And it was only four days previous to the current date, right around the time when the Tesseract was activated and Loki had stepped through the original portal to wreak havoc on the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility.

Despite the bizarre nature of the information, it went a long way towards explaining why they could not find the woman's identity despite having the largest information gathering system in the world. None of that had been worth a damn because they had been searching the living, not the dead.

"Missing and presumed dead by drowning? You verified this?"

"Tsukino slipped and fell from a boat she and her friends had rented on Lake Tahoe. Her body is still missing, and the County Coroner signed the Death Certificate in absentia."