Author's Note: This is set after the events of The Avengers.

Infinity

Chapter One - Protégé

A dark and imposing tower stood tall and proud in front of Darcy Lewis as she was ushered out of an unmarked black Acura. She squinted her eyes and craned her neck back so that she could take in the full height of the building. At the very top of the tower was a mysterious and prominent letter 'A' which ended with a long, slanting slash on its left side. Her dark eyebrows rose up towards her hairline as she next took in the city skyline of Manhattan, New York and the bustling sounds of the swarming and swollen metropolis.

"I'm definitely not in New Mexico anymore," Darcy said under her breath as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent ushered her inside the newly redesigned Avenger's Tower.

She was led through a grand reception area, her worn Doc Marten clad feet treading across exquisite marble floors as she took in beautiful fountains and tranquil sitting areas. She took in a sign that pointed out where several ballrooms and banquet rooms could be found, along with exercise rooms, tennis and racquetball courts, and several sauna, tanning, and weight lifting rooms. The place would have felt like a resort, if it weren't for the apparent lack of civilians. A lot of the people rushing through the lobby were clad in the same looking regulation black suits or white lab coats, and the people that were dressed like gym clothes wearing civilians had too much of a lean, disciplined look to their bodies to be anything but highly trained combatants. Darcy was really starting to get nervous about why on Earth she was here.

"This way, Miss Lewis," said the male agent that was guiding her around. He pointed to a sleek elevator that had a plaque in the wall next to it. The plaque listed several Non-profit sectors that were on the lower floors, but everything beyond that was mysteriously marked as the "Upper Levels." As they took the ride up, several people got off on these lower levels. It was just her and the agent that went onwards, and she found out that the elevator stopped at the point of the "Upper Levels," at which point a voice would come over the intercom asking for the agent and any visitor that may be with them to state their name and what floor they wanted to go to.

The agent with her stated his name as "Agent Danielson" and he said that he was here with Darcy Lewis to go to floor 79. The electronic voice granted them access and the elevator started to rise again. "Thank you, Jarvis," Agent Danielson said.

"You are very welcome, Agent Danielson," was 'Jarvis' polite reply.

Darcy started bouncing on the balls of her feet nervously while giving Agent Danielson a sideways glance. "So…are you sure you don't know why I'm here?" She'd been asking him ever since he escorted her out of her dorm room at New Mexico State University.

"Positive, Miss Lewis. I was assigned to bring you here and I have. I didn't ask any questions about why. It's not my job to ask why," he replied, sounding quite irritated with her at this point.

"Ookay," Darcy answered awkwardly, her gaze dropping down to her shoes. It quickly flew back up to the elevator doors when Jarvis' voice announced that they were at floor 79.

'Ohgodohgodohgod,' Darcy thought as Agent Danielson ushered her onto the floor. It was an open office space where dozens of agents sat at desks or walked around speaking to one another about God only knew what. It was like they were speaking another language as she passed by them, but she new otherwise. They were speaking English, alright, but it was heavily influenced by scientific jargon and code words. It made her feel like she was back at the brilliant and beautiful astrophysicist, Jane Foster's, lab and research facility again.

Darcy was led past the open office space to a hallway filled with doors. They went straight down the corridor and then turned to the right. They stopped in front of a large set of double doors that were labeled 'Conference Room.' Agent Danielson knocked twice and they waited.

On the other side of the doors Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff heard the two knocks. Natasha quirked a dark red eyebrow and asked, "Are you going to tell me what this is all about?"

Nick Fury gave her an evasive smile and rose from his seat to walk over to the doors. "Just taking care of a few loose ends."

There was a buzzing noise and then the double doors slid open. The first thing Darcy saw was a tall bearded black man with a wicked looking eye patch. He was dressed all in black and wore a long black leather coat over his ensemble. Darcy got the feeling that he was a very important authority type figure.

"Darcy Lewis, please, come in," the man said in a deep, assured voice that brooked no argument. "And thank you, Agent Danielson. That will be all."

"Yes, Director Fury," Agent Danielson said, and then he left down the corridor, leaving Darcy in this strange place.

Darcy hesitantly stepped into the large room after this Director Fury guy. The first thing she noticed was that there were no windows and the floor, walls, and ceiling were all glaringly white. In the middle of the cavernous room was a large rectangular table, also white, that could seat at least twenty people. One lone woman sat in a chair at the table. She had vivid red hair, wore a skin tight black uniform that hugged her every curve in the best possible ways, and she was staring at Darcy as if she were some particular breed of animal that she couldn't quite figure out.

"Darcy Lewis, I'm Nick Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and this is Agent Romanoff."

The beautiful redhead tipped her head in Darcy's direction by way of greeting.

"Um, hi," Darcy said to them both, awkwardly standing next to the table.

"Please sit," Nick Fury said, motioning for her to a seat across the table from himself and Agent Romanoff as he sat back down in his own seat.

Darcy sat in the chair and noticed that it was the swiveling kind. She had to refrain from spinning back and forth in it in her nervousness. What am I *doing* here?

"So you are probably wondering what you are doing here," Nick Fury said, mirroring her thoughts. He steepled his fingers together and looked at her from across the table. Darcy's stomach was in knots. Both S.H.I.E.L.D. members were staring at her. It was like she was in an episode of 'The Twilight Zone'…or was being interrogated for crimes against her country. A thought occurred to her.

"Look, if this is about me running over Thor… I like, totally, am sorry about that. I didn't know he was the God of Thunder at the time, and we were in the middle of no where and it was really, really dusty. I could hardly see and-"

Nick Fury motioned for her to stop talking. "No," he said with slight amusement. "It's not that." His amusement dried up and he gave her a serious look. Darcy sat on the edge of her seat while she waited for him to speak. "You're actually here, Darcy Lewis, because you know too much."

Darcy blinked several times behind her thick, black framed glasses, trying to process the meaning of his words. I know too much? What does that mean? Like, about S.H.I.E.L.D.? Wait a minute… This is like in those secret agent spy movies when a civilian knows too much, isn't it?! Her dark blue eyes grew wide and frightened. "Oh God, please don't kill me!"

Nick Fury's dark brows furrowed down into a frown. "We're not going to kill you Miss Lewis. You're here because I'm offering you a position here at S.H.I.E.L.D."

There was a long moment of silence and then, "I'm sorry," Darcy laughed in total disbelief. "I must have misunderstood you. It sounded like you just said-"

"I did," Nick Fury interrupted her, his tone very serious. "Now that your internship is over with Dr. Jane Foster, we at S.H.I.E.L.D. have decided that it'd be best if you stayed within the company. And after assessing your aptitude, character and abilities, I've come to the decision that you'd do best under the tutelage of Agent Romanoff." At this last part, he motioned to the redheaded woman who sat next to him. The woman, who had been silent thus far, gave Nick Fury a long look before settling her gaze back on Darcy. "She'll teach you everything you need to know to be a good agent," Nick Fury continued. "You will be debriefed and start your training tomorrow. For the remainder of today, however, you can get settled into your new apartment. You'll find an agent outside these doors who will show you to your place. All of your personal belongings are already there." He gave her an expectant look, clearly signaling that he was done with her and she was dismissed.

Darcy stayed where she was, dumbstruck.

Nick Fury smiled tightly. "That will be all, Miss Lewis."

Darcy tried to snap out of her stupor. "W-wait! My things are here? As in, someone took them from New Mexico and put them here an-and this whole S.H.I.E.L.D. thing is a permanent gig? Don't I get any say in this? I feel like my rights are being violated!"

"Darcy," Nick Fury chuckled while shaking his head, as if he found her naivete charming. "Let me get real with you." His smile dropped completely and his face took on a grim mask of determination. For the first time, Darcy felt like she was in a room with someone she didn't want to mess with. "When S.H.I.E.L.D. wants something…we get it, one way or another. Your rights are secondary when it comes to S.H.I.E.L.D. Understood?"

Darcy flashed back to that time when S.H.I.E.L.D had come in and taken everything from Jane Foster's lab. And she meant everything…even Darcy's iPod. They had just made all of the equipment and research disappear. Darcy felt a shiver of fear go up her spine. She suddenly knew that if she didn't do as they wanted, they could just as easily make her disappear as well.

She shakily stood up from her seat. "Understood, sir," she said, and dazedly made her way out of the room.

The doors closed behind Darcy, leaving Nick Fury and Agent Romanoff alone once again.

The redheaded agent turned to Nick Fury, a hard set to her jaw. "So what, now you're pushing a sidekick on me? This is ridiculous."

Nick Fury shook his head. "Not a sidekick. Think of her as more of a…" He looked toward the ceiling as he thought of the right word. "Protégé. You're my best agent, Natasha. I could use more like you. Especially after everything that's happened in the past few months."

Agent Romanoff's expression softened a little. "…What are her qualifications?"

"She knocked out Thor with a taser."

The normally calm and collected Agent Romanoff was nonplussed by this. Despite herself, a grin spread onto her lips. "Are you serious?"

Nick Fury grinned and slid documents over to her. "Here's her file."