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When Loki came through the portal and then sped away with one of the foremost astrophysicists and a deadly former assassin now turned SHIELD agent under some kind of mind control spell, all while collapsing the PEGASUS project on his way out Fury knew the time had come. The time he had both prepared and feared for, hoping that it would never be necessary but knew in his spy goonies it probably would be.
He gave the nod to Coulson to pull the Widow out of deep cover in Russia knowing she would do anything to get Barton back. Coulson gave him the chilliest stare when he asked him to bring Stark in, he matched it inwardly smirking. Being the boss meant he didn’t have to deal with smart arses like Stark or wild cards like Banner. Half-listening in as Coulson gave the Widow her mission to bring the ‘the Big Guy’ in and the subsequent Russian swear.
No being the boss meant he had to go recruit the worst of the worst. The most dangerous of all the individuals he had tagged for something like this. He almost whimpered and asked Coulson to swap, because hell he would take Stark’s bratty personality over this next visit any day. But a visit from anyone but him would be seen as an insult. And god forbid they insult this one.
Earth, Avengers Dimension, 1989, World 257
Overview: Junior SHIELD Agent Fury, Nicholas J investigates an anomaly marked by SHIELD code #389.
Mission: Investigate anomaly and contain if necessary. Feed back any relevant information.
Agent Fury had only been an official SHIELD field Agent for over a year now. He had worked himself to the bone to get the necessary commendations that allowed him out and about by himself. Unlike other covert agencies partners weren’t not necessary depending on the code and mission in SHIELD. This may seem irresponsible but in order to maintain its secrecy and covert status SHIELD found it useful to not use the traditional model. Two agents in black suits from an unknown agency is harder to forget then one in plain clothes. One person can more easily blend in and disappear than two. Plus SHIELD required higher results and more mandatory training than any other covert agency so one agent was practically equal to two any way.
Despite the glamorous accolades that came with field agent and solo status sign off, it was a lot of loose ends. Drudge work to be exact. Things that needed to be followed up by an actual person but the higher ups didn’t want to waste too much manpower on what was likely to be a dead end. But bureaucracy demanded they dot all their i’s and cross all their t's. That was why Nick was in middle of the Sahara in the ass end of nowhere dying under the hot dry sun and losing all appreciation for ancient architecture for the bloody temples and other crumbling structures offered no shade at all.
A code #389 meant something had been detected that didn’t add up to the lab techs upstairs. In this case it was a surge of energy of some sort where there was no apparent technology basis for it or human occupation. Nothing but sand Nick thought in disgust. The equipment SHIELD had given him wasn’t picking up anything either as he wandered around waving the large heavy device that was apparently supposed to pick up foreign energy. It hadn’t blipped once so Nick was debating whether it was a dud or the call was another dead end.
After three days of nothing Nick was going to pack it in and call for extraction. Extraction was scheduled for 0600 the next day so he would have to stay another night in the desert. He had enough supplies so it was not really a hard ship. Until this day Fury would never know what caused him to tense but he put it down to instinct. Like the books say the hair on the back of his neck prickled and goosebumps rose on his skin. The wind picked up suddenly and then the detector that he had left on out of duty rather then real expectation of finding anything started going nuts. Nick slowly palmed his weapon as his gaze darted around the horizon.
Then not 100 meters from his camp an awful sound came. Like breaks slammed on too hard in a truck. Like the world’s loudest vacuum cleaner. Like something being torn in half.
Suddenly something appeared where the noise was. The only way to describe it was like a gap in the very fabric of the world. a tunnel or a tear in the air full of light. The edges seemed to ripple and pulse with green, white, gold and blue.
Nick knew protocol and leapt for his communicator as soon as the sounds had started, only to find it dead. The detector was also dead, looking fried. Frantically he tried to recall his training about threats of unknown origins. For one was stepping through that very portal.
It was humanoid in shape as far as he could tell. It seemed to glow with an otherworldly light as its whole body was shining white. Its eyes glowed gold and its hair? Whipped around its head in a dance of colours – gold, green, blue, pinks and purples. He watched the being from his cover while training his weapon on it. It seemed to take a quick survey of the terrain before turning around and with some complex gestures seemed to close the tear in some way. The portal thing swirled shut with a sound similar of a water going down the drain. Now all that was left was the silence of the desert and the wind.
Nick was sweating, wondering what his next step should be. Confrontation? Observation? If the…being had any kind of intelligence it would most likely find him as his camp was kind of obvious. He was still furiously debating his choices when he froze in shock as a voice echoed in his head.
We know you are there, please come out. We mean no harm to you.
The voice had an almost dual quality as if two people spoke as one. Realising that hiding was obviously useless Fury slowly made his way down to the being, his gun on evident display. The beings glow seemed to dim as he came into view and slowly its visage settled into that of woman who’s ethnicity wouldn’t be strange in this country. She was clothed in a strange dress that seemed tailored for hot weather being white in color threaded with delicate gold.
“Agent Fury with SHIELD, please identify yourself."
“Do you mean our name?”
“For a start and what precisely you are and how you got here. More importantly WHY are you here?”
“There’s no need to be hostile Agent Fury. Like I said we mean no harm. As to who I am, I go by Ishtar these days. What I am well” she smirked “I’m afraid that’s my little secret. I’m not totally human as you can see.”
“No kidding”
“I got here through a dimensional portal of my own creation. As to why I am here, well I like to visit different worlds and dimensions.”
“How do we know that others aren’t going to come through said portal?”
“You saw it collapse yourself. Its only intended for one way travel and its been coded to my specific genetic signature. No armies are coming through here, Agent Fury.”
“And what is your reason for your visit?”
“What does any tourist want when they visit another destination? Sights, culture, worldly experience.”
“You expect me to believe you crossed dimensions to sight-seeing?”
The being smirked, “Well when you have power like mine travelling around the planet becomes a bit mundane especially when you’ve seen it so many times.”
Fury didn’t know what to say to that.
The being sighed. “Let’s be frank Agent Fury. You can’t keep me here, you couldn’t detain me even if your whole agency was here. So I’ll be straight, I mean no harm to this Earth, I'll even lend a hand if a situation becomes dire enough. I’ll be residing here for the foreseeable future, you will be my contact within SHIELD. I’ll find you if I need to talk to you”
The being turned and started to glow again.
“And if we need to contact you?”
A knowing smile graced the beings face “I’ll know” and flew off as bright as a shooting star.