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"What do you mean I can't come and see you anymore?" 

Nick Fury sighed, giving the woman an agitated look. "Ms. Avery, listen-"

The woman let out a loud laugh, shaking her full head of hair vigorously. "Ms. Avery, listen," she mocked in a condescending tone. "Fury, you've known me for over ten years! I wait outside your office every Wednesday so we can talk-"

"Torrance," he muttered, rubbing his chin. "It's not that I don't love our talks, it's just the fact that I have a job!"

She rolled her eyes. "Director of S.H.I.E.L.D must be a really hard job, considering I've been one of your longest lasting agents."

"There isn't a S.H.I.E.L.D anymore after what happened in Washington. I know you like to still refer to me as the director, and it's nice to hear it...it really is, but that's not my position anymore. Remember? Pretending to be dead? Plus, how long you've been an agent isn't the point," he groaned, unlocking his office door and pushing himself inside with his shoulder. She followed closely behind, plopping down loudly on the couch by his desk. His office was bigger than most, half the walls made up of floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the countryside. The new Avengers Facility was nicer than the last to say the least.

"The point is, is that this time I've come with information. Now, don't get too excited," she grinned, seeing his eye peek up from behind the file he had grabbed off his desk. "It's not a huge lead, but it's something."

"You said you have been working the city, correct?" he asked, leaning against his desk. 

She nodded. Of course she had been working the city, she had been for months. "Do you want to know about the lead or are you going to keep asking me questions?"

He motioned for her to continue and she smiled. 

"I didn't find this out myself per say-" she started, giving Fury a sheepish grin. "-Santiago found it actually-"

"Who the hell is Santiago?" Fury asked. "And please don't tell me he's your new guy for the week-"

Rolling her eyes, she mumbled, "I don't have new guy every week...I keep to myself."

"Who is he?"

"My neighbor!"

"Your neighbor?" he laughed, shaking his head. He pushed off his desk, throwing his arms out and shouted, "You hear that everyone!? She got the lead from her neighbor!"

"What's the big deal? He's a very credible source-"

"I'm sure he is."

"He is! I swear!" she yelled. "He said he's been hearing talk about a new target."

"Hydra?"

She shrugged. "Could be, but we can't be certain. But it's not such a crazy idea, since I've encountered a few more than I like in the past few days."

"Know how many more are out there? Or did your source not have that type of information?"

She rolled her eyes, repeating herself, "We can't be certain."

He gave her a skeptical look and narrowed his eyes. "You aren't telling me the entire story, what aren't you telling me?"

She shifted in her seat. "The Winter Soldier, sir."

"Bucky Barnes? What about him?"

"He's a ghost story," she said, sitting on the edge of her seat. "Captain Rogers had nothing on his location and my very credible source says there's been word that Barnes is back in New York."

Fury nodded, eyes glancing over her as her knee jostled up and down in a nervous tick. "But Rogers told us he was last detected somewhere in Europe-"

"You're not getting the point, sir. The Winter Soldier is Hydra's secret weapon, he has been for years, obviously. With him, Hydra can kill as many of our operatives as they want. They're going to kill her if we aren't careful. We need her, sir. We need her intel and if we can get to her before they do, imagine the information! We need Barnes to get to her-"

"I would love to trust your word," he sighed, sitting back in his chair. "But your neighbor isn't much of a credible source."

"Are you even listening to me?!" she cried, jumping to her feet. "When have I ever given you bogus info? My sources are always right."

"Your. Source. Is. Your. Neighbor," he groaned. "Not another agent here or even a goddamn superhero. Maybe bring your neighbor in and we can find out everything he really knows, maybe your neighbor has been Hydra all along? See, Ms. Avery, there are things we just don't know and I'm sorry, I just don't trust him. Besides, shouldn't you trust Rogers and the intel he gave us? Barnes is in Europe, Hydra won't be getting to him for some time, we're safe."

"For now." Scowling, she made a move towards the door when Fury called to her, "Where are you going?"

She turned to face him, snarling out, "To find someone actually useful." 

Torrance Avery pushed her way out of Nick Fury's office in a rush of anger and even a little regret. She shouldn't have been rude to him, he was just trying to be helpful, but her temper always seemed to get in the way nowadays.  

It wasn't like she could help it, really. She was always short tempered growing up, at least she thought she was. Anything before the experiments were blocked away in a haze of distant memories. She had remembered telling Santiago about them, chest constricting and head pounding.

"I was young when it happened," she had told him, shifting in her in seat at the bar. "Younger than I am now. I had just turned twenty-nine when my condition worsened." She let out a laugh, feeling pitiful. "I had been hit with the known plague around that time three years prior. I was weak and dirty and disgusting and exhausted and I was dying. It was killing me, painfully slowly.

"My mother coddled me during that time, always crying and praying for some miracle cure. It was horrifying, seeing her begging people in our town for help, to hear her crying with neighbors. So, when she heard of a group of scientists who were conducting experiments to try and cure what was happening in the city, she signed my name on an application for a spot and sent it on its way. A few days after, my family got a letter saying I had gotten a slot in the next rounds of trial. I was so sick that I had no clue what I was being signed up. Mom told me it was just for a routine check-up because she knew if I had found out what it really was, I wouldn't declined the offer."

A routine check up, she had thought to herself. What bullshit. 

She had continued her story after taking another shot of tequila and wallowing in the slow burn down her throat as Santiago sat absorbed by the older woman's story. "I was taken to a treatment center which was just a facility to cater the sick off to the out of town location. I remember, through bits and pieces, that I was hauled off by these big men in white coats, their hands wrapped around my arms like I was nothing but some--some plaything. When we got to the actual center, they strapped me to this cold stretcher and wheeled me up and down a t least a dozen halls, like they were trying to confuse me, before taking me back towards to where they conducted the experiments."

мама! She had remembered screaming all those years ago. She remembered crying and pleading with them to take her back. мама! мама! пожалуйста! мама!

Mom! Mom! Mom! Please! Mom!

Who will help me if you won't? Who will find me once they're done with my body?

Santiago had been quiet as she had been telling him the story, which was unusual for him because he never stopped talking. Chatting about useless things such as the evening news report from a week ago, what the couple in the bar were talking about the night before, or even things as mundane as the weather. Yet, she remembered him watching her, his lips pulled taut and his eyes never leaving her face. He was lost in her words and in her fragmented memories.

"I was bound to this table with these large metal restraints that I remember would rub and cut into my skin every time I moved. The 'doctors' hooked me up to countless different IV's and unknown liquids, I think they had been blue or pink. None of them hurt like the one they used on me for the stages of the trail."

"What were the experiments called?" Santiago had asked her.

"The Rearrangement Project."

He had given her a confused look and proceeded to ask, "What the hell is the Rearrangement Project? What did it do?"

"It rearranged all the molecules in my body."

"It--what?"

She had sighed, taking another long sip from her new drink. "They wanted me to be like Captain America, except I was the first experiment. They hadn't figured out the correct serum for what they used on him, that's why they created the trials and experiments. At least, that's what I've been told." She placed her glass down on the bar and motioned with her hand for another drink. "The doctors or whoever they really were, wanted to give me superhuman powers. It was useless though, 'cause all the other patients had died after the first and second rounds with the serum."

"Then how were you able to survive?"

"Beats me," she laughed, shrugging. "I underwent seven of the ten trials before I died." He gave her a startled look, but continued with her story anyways, "They used the defibrillator on me, I think...twenty-three times before I finally came back."

"Twenty-three times? Torrance what the fuck. That doesn't even seem possible--"

She laughed, shaking her head with a slight shrug. She traced the cold rim of her glass, spreading the condensation. "The electric current reacted with the serum in my system and it basically rebooted me like an old hard drive."

Santiago had given her a puzzled look before asking another question. "What'd the serum do to you? I know it worked, because here you are and all, but what did it do to you when it first happened?"

Flatlining. Beeping of machines. Echoes, lost under a fog. Drowning. Underwater, head clogged. Waking up feeling like the air smelled different. Hearing conversations clearly, the fog was lifted, the headaches and pain now dulled. 

"No one knew it worked," she explained, sloshing the contents around in her glass. "I mean, I felt different but I had no clue what was going on. The doctors ran a series of tests when I was able to stand on my feet. It's funny," she smiled, "I hadn't been able to stand on my own ever since the plague hit me, so, it was a miracle to be standing there with my own two feet. To walk, to move, to run, it changed everything. After that, the tests never stopped. I was hooked back up to machines monitoring my heart rate and blood flow and made sure the serum wasn't actually killing me. By the time my so called 'powers' showed up, it seemed like the doctors already had a plan for me--" 

She stopped talking, eyebrows furrowing together before she looked back at him. 

But is that what you really remember? Is that what actually happened or what they want you to believe? Little girl with her false memories, her make-believe thoughts. What's real and what's not, little godling? What're the lies?

She gave him a sheepish smile and continued, "That's where everything becomes fuzzy. I don't remember much of my time between nineteen-o-six to around nineteen-forty."

"Has S.H.I.E.L.D found any way to bring back those memories? Unblock them from your mind?" he asked, taking her drink and placing it on the bar. He had always been conscientious about her drinking, and although she couldn't get drunk, it still didn't stop him from taking precautions. She guessed he wasn't used to someone being able to take down ten shots and be able to stand and speak without a toilet. 

She nodded. "Wanda Maximoff, you heard about her, right? Scarlet Witch, involved in Slovakia?"

He nodded, shaking a finger at her. "Ah, I remember that one. She's hot--"

Laughing, she said, "You're disgusting." She began to trace the ring her cup left on the table once the bartender took it back once her laughter died. "Wanda can do a lot with her mind, said to be able to unlock fears you didn't even know you had. I'm thinking my brain had been blocking those memories out because they probably traumatized me."

"Will you ever see her though? Don't you want to know what your brain had been blocking out?"

She shrugged. "I'm not going to dwell on the past, Santiago, you know me. I like to live in the present, now how about we get a round of shots?"

After telling him about her past, he didn't seem to bothered by it. She had thought if she told him, he would be gone the next day, but he wasn't. He was still in his old apartment, waiting for her so they could get coffee to cure their hangovers. 

~

When she did eventually make it back into the city from her ride out to the New Avengers Facility, it wasn't until late. She parked outside her usual bar and made her way inside, smiling at the bartender who knew her way too well by now.

"How's it going, T?" he asked, wiping down the bar. 

She shrugged. "Boss is a dick and I'm not even buzzed yet."

"Your usual then?"

She hummed in response, a warm smiling falling across her lips. He poured her a glass of scotch and her smile widened when she got hold of the glass. 

"I still don't understand how you can stand that stuff," he mumbled, as he wiped the table quickly as more people came into the bar. "It's disgusting."

She rolled her eyes. "It's good for the soul, Donnie."

He laughed, throwing the towel over his shoulder as people sat at the other end of the bar. "Talk to you later?"

She nodded, placing her lips on the rim of the cup and downing the liquid. When she had finished her first drink of the night, barely even close to being buzzed, someone bumped into her. 

It wasn't a small little 'excuse me I'm trying to get past you' type of bump, it was a full on 'get the fuck out of my way or I'll move you myself.' 

Although she was the type of person to snap at people 'move or be moved' but she had learned from the very best, even when the whole world  is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say 'no, you move.'  

Her body was pushed forward and her chair physically moved closer to the bar to the point her stomach was pressed into the table. She looked over at Donnie who was glancing at her with a slightly worried expression before he nodded and simply turned away.

She pushed her chair away from the bar with a loud screeching noise, got out of her seat and spun around to see who had just rammed into her and made her day even worse. She wasn't very nervous or scared of the man who stood before her. 

He was taller than her, bigger than her, and most definitely weighed more than her. His tight leather jacket, large cowboy boots, and crooked hat told her he wasn't someone to be messed with. But little did he know, he shouldn't have messed with her either.

"Hey!" she snapped, tapping him on his shoulder so he would turn around. He was so much taller than her, she had to stand on her toes to slam her finger into his shoulder. 

The man turned, the tattoos across his face inched closer together as he scowled. 

"Next time you bump into me that hard, say you're sorry!" she shouted, angry. She wasn't going to let this asshole think he was better than her because of his physique. 

"What's a lil' pixie like yourself gonna do 'bout it?" he snarled, turning to glance at his friends and laugh heartily. 

"This," she smiled, grabbing his shirt in her hands tightly and bringing her knee up with all the force she could muster and striking him right into the groin. The older man let out a squeal and his knees buckled. He didn't fall though, until she grabbed his head and brought it down quickly as she rammed her knee back up.

His head came in contact with her kneecap and she watched him crumple as blood sprayed from his nose like a small waterfall. He landed face first onto the ground and over the loud thump, she could hear Donnie whistling to himself as he tried not to laugh as she beat the man up. As she brushed her hands off on her shift, she felt the usual tingle in her fingers and the surge of energy as her mind flooded with new information.

Rick-Rick-Rick-Gina. Gine, mmhmm, I love her, love-love-love-promised to pick up a six pack after the bar. Fuck, no-no-left the stash of cards-cards-credicards at home. 

Maybe I'll pick one up after the match tomorrow, the match-fuck-boxing-boxing-the ring is too small. I won't win-win-win with a small ring. I need-need-want the money. Good thing I remembered the guns for later-later-the gas station will have to do. Lots of cash there, I'll do it when I get the beer. Gina-Gina-will be so happy-happy-

She ignored the rest of the information and focused on the strength surging in her fists. So, he's a boxer, she thought to herself, smiling. I might just have a little fun with this. 

"You can't just beat up our friend like that, you little bitch!" one of the men snapped, stepping forward and eyeing her up and down like she was a piece of meat. Like she was a prize to be won and strung up on a wall.

"I'm guess you're one of Rick's friends?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips as she stared at the group.

He stopped short, giving her a confused look before stuttering out, "H-how do you know his name?"

Michael. Michael the dumbass-stupid-stupid-in love with my girl. 

"I know all your names, Michael," she grinned. "Which one of you is Gina?"

She looks so fuckoing good in that red lingerie. That bra-red bra-cost me a fortune but her tits-holy-

A woman from the back raised her hand, and Torrance could see the fear in her eyes. Sure, she should feel bad for making these people scared but they shouldn't have messed with her today. Not today. 

"I see you're wearing the red lingerie Rick picked out for you," she told the other woman.

Gina looked startled, pulling at the sleeve of her shirt as if to try and cover up her red straps underneath. "How-how do you know that?"

"I know everything about you all," she grinned, stepping over Rick's unconscious body and towards the group. "I'm not messing around here. I know about the robberies, the guns, the credit fraud. I know everything."

The group of people stood huddled together when on the ground behind her, Rick began to stir. She sighed, "Looks like playtime is over." She stared down at Michael before turning and grabbing Rick by the collar and hauling him easily up to his feet, holding his entire body weight in her hands. 

He was looking at her in a daze but she could still see the fear. She could sense it. Snarling, she told him, "Next time you bump into someone or are rude to a woman, you better apologize or I'll come after your sorry ass."

He nodded weakly, rushing out, "Sorry! Sorry, ma'am!"

Rick and the rest of his group ran to the doors, stumbling over one another. She heard laughter and someone clapping from the doorway and she turned, trying to suppress her grin.

Santiago stood with a brilliant smile on his face as he clapped for her. "Wonderful show, Tor! The Shifter puts on another show, striking the fear of God into her victims!"

Torrance rolled her eyes, grabbing her glass from the bar and draining the remaining contents of her drink before slamming the glass back down with a laugh. "Serves him right. Trying to push me around in my own bar?"

"Your bar?" Donnie laughed from behind the counter. "You mean my bar, honey."

"Oh, come on," she smirked. "I'm here enough, it's practically mine."

"You're here no matter what, you live upstairs, you lazy ass," he muttered, trying to hide his smile. "See you tomorrow?"

She nodded, taking Santiago and making their way up the stairs to the apartments. She climbed the stairs two at a time as she usually did when she was shit-faced drunk, finding comfort in the old wood as she made it to the apartments. Donnie had been nice enough to let people live above the bar if they were able to help pay the rent for the bar space. Torrance and Santiago were the few people who happily agreed, mostly because they would get free booze or the leftover alcohol from large parties. 

It was a simple life, for the most part.

With her full time job at the New Avengers Facility and as a special agent for what was left of S.H.I.E.L.D she wasn't home too often. When she was though, she made the most of it. Drinking, partying, and finishing up her reports, of course. As much as she loved a good drink, she valued her job even more.

Santiago got out his key for his apartment and looked to her with a question on his eyes, "Did my lead help?"

She shrugged, leaning again the wall as he opened his door. "Not exactly." She pointed inside, "Can we talk in there?"

He nodded.

She took one last look around at the hall, always afraid it would be bugged one day and she would be arrested for sharing secrets with her alcoholic neighbor. 

They shuffled silently over to Santiago's couch and sat down, exhausted. 

"So, did the big man in charge like the lead or what?" he asked, giving Torrance a slightly worried expression.

She shook her head. "Said it wasn't important. Said he wasn't a threat anymore."

"Wasn't a threat? The guy has over two dozen credited assassinations in the last fifty years!" he huffed, crossing his arms. "And didn't you say that Natasha Romanoff got shot by the guy, too?"

"I know you worked really hard on finding the lead--"

"Damn right I did!"

"But my boss said it's not enough to believe that Hydra is really back," she explained in a softer voice. She knew how invested Santiago got in things and knowing that all his hard work had gone to nothing must have crushed him. "But that's not going to stop me. It might stop him and the rest of the agency, but I'm not going to stop looking."

He looked up at her and a small smile played as his lips. "You'd really do that?"

She nodded. "Of course. I don't want your hard work to go to nothing, now do I?"

"So, on another note," he mumbled, pulling something out of his back pocket. He held out his pack of cigarettes, offering one to her. When she declined, he took one of the cigarettes and placed it on his lips as he reached for his lighter on the coffee table. "Beating up people in the bar again? It's kinda like you're doing it more often, what's up with that?"

"I think it's because I'm an angry drunk," she said, before breaking out in a smile and shrugging. "I'm not really sure, just feels right. Besides, I'm not going to stand by while some jackasses shit talk me or are rude to other customers."

"Having the Shifter come out and make an appearance is well over due," he muttered. "I was beginning to miss that wild side of yours."

She laughed loudly, shaking her head. "I didn't know you loved that side of me so much."

He shrugged. "When the Shifter comes out to play, I usually end up with money and a good show."

Rolling her eyes, she reached for his pack of cigarettes he had placed on the table. She took out one of the smokes and placed it on her lips with a lop sided grin. "Pass the lighter, will ya-" 

A loud sharp bang! went off outside, cutting her off in shock. She watched in horror as something flew threw the window facing her, glass shattering. Blood sprayed across her face and all she did was scream. 

_________________________

Notes:

The quote "even when the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say 'no, you move,'" is from the Captain America movie, Civil War (2016), said by Sharon Carter at Peggy Carter's funeral. The quote doesn't mean that the story is taking place during/after Civil War, it's just there to indicate that maybe Torrance knows either Peggy or Sharon.

Set during the period before Civil War and right after Age of Ultron.

Characters such as Nick Fury, Wanda Maximoff, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, and Bucky Barnes mentioned are not mine. They belong to Marvel.