8 | Control

1.01 - Recruitment

Exhausted was the only thing she felt as Mina Brady sat up in bed and swung her legs over the side, bracing her arms against the edge of the bed in preparation of standing up. But she didn't stand, not yet. She had gotten a decent eight hours of sleep just like she did every single night, but the exhaustion that hung in her bones made even the thought of standing up a daunting task.

Finally mustering up the strength to stand, she shuffled to the other end of the room, grabbing her robe from the closet and slipping it on before heading for the bedroom door. Remnants of nightmares played out behind her eyes, a sliver of fear running through her veins in response to the horrific images.

The apartment was small, with only three rooms total— the bedroom, the bathroom and the main room. The bedroom itself was only big enough for the bed, nightstand, dresser and the necessary room to get between those things. The bathroom was similar, the bath, sink and toilet crowding the small room. And the main room wasn't much better, only leaving one small corner just big enough for a small table and chair as a dining area, the living room and kitchen squished up against each other.

But the important part of the apartment was that it was unassuming. It was a bit of a dump, and so was the apartment building as a whole. They'd told her it was all they could afford with the stipend she was given, but she was actually pretty thankful for the small apartment. No one would recognize her here.

While the people around perhaps weren't the nicest or the best people, none of them bothered her. And, if one day for whatever reason, someone did, she could flash them one simple look and they'd never go near her again. The cackling in her head as she did it sending a chill down her spine as if it was the first time she was hearing it all over again.

And sure, it was a lonely existence, but she didn't mind so much when she knew what the alternative was. There were few people who would come and visit her, none of them more than an acquaintance at best, but it was enough to keep her from losing her mind and her control.

Oh, and the control was the hardest part. Carefully ordered control that took every ounce of her willpower and drained her of all the energy she could muster. She had to keep it controlled every second of every day or there would be another incident. And this time, she had been told, they wouldn't be able to hide the news from the world. Or maybe they just wouldn't try at all.

Mina began frying up some eggs for her breakfast, ignoring the voice in her head saying awful things and telling her to do even worse ones. She always ignored it. Once the eggs were done, she sat down on the couch and flipped on the tv, settling down to watch while she ate.

That was how most of her day was spent, going around her home from task to task, not really knowing what to do. She cleaned out her fridge, finished a season of her favourite show, reorganized her dresser, finished another season of another show, made and ate her lunch, did her dishes, and by the time it was getting dark, she had run out of things to do. She made her dinner, sat down in front of her tv once more, and once more wondered if this was going to be her life.

Oh, you're life doesn't have to be this meaningless existence, the terrible voice in the back of her head told her, we could do so much more if you just gave in.

Been there, done that, Mina thought, never going to happen again.

After her dinner dishes were washed, Mina headed back towards the couch when there was a knock on her door. For a moment she hesitated, wondering who it could possibly be. She crossed to it, standing up on her toes and looking through the peephole. She let out a breath of relief as she recognized the man on the other side, opening the door to let him in.

"Director Fury," she greeted.

"Miss Brady," he greeted in response.

"What can I do for you? Has something happened? Usually you just send an agent to come check up on me. And never this late at night," Mina said.

"Something has happened," Fury told her.

He sat down on her couch and she sat next to him. He placed a file on the coffee table and flipped it open, showing her the contents within. There was a picture of some kind of cube, blue and glowing with some kind of energy, sitting atop all the other papers in the file. Mina was drawn to it, and she had to hold back her hand before she reached out to grab it.

"Several hours ago, this was stolen. It's called the Tesseract and we believe it holds the key to limitless power, something the world sorely needs," Fury explained.

"Who took it?" she asked.

"He's called Loki. He's... not from around here," he continued.

"What do you want me to do?" Mina questioned.

"Help me get it back. Use your abilities to get Loki and get the Tesseract," he said.

Mina stood suddenly and paced away from him. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Director Fury. I... I haven't used my... powers, as you put it, since before you guys caught me. If I lost control, or if I couldn't stop her..."

"You won't be alone," Fury said, "there will be others there. And if you think that we haven't been working on something to help you, then you'd be mistaken."

"Director Fury, I—"

"I'm not asking, Miss Brady," Fury said as he stood to his feet. "It's time to but your powers to good use, whether you like it or not."

Mina didn't answer, just bit her lip and looked down. She wasn't exactly in a position to refuse, though, was she? They had stopped her, saved her, and given her a place to hide, covered up her crimes so that she could live a somewhat peaceful life. She owed them everything.

"Okay," she said softly, not looking up.

"I'll leave this file here for you. Read up so you know what you're walking into. Get packed and a car will be here for you in a few hours," Fury told her.

"Okay," she said again, watching as he walked to the door and then left.

As soon as he was gone, she sank down onto the couch again, letting out a breath. This was not going to go well, she could already tell. Mina reached forward and grabbed the file, looking at the picture of the Tesseract once more. Limitless power, Fury had said. What could someone possibly want with something that had limitless power? Mina grabbed the picture and sank back into the couch, staring at it.

Something, she didn't know what, was going to go terribly, terribly wrong.