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There was only silence as you pulled up in the driveway. The motor of your car was completely silent too - an advantage of having an electric one, you supposed.
The Compound towered out of the ground, grey and white, and looked sullen. You weren't sure how a building could have this much emotion on the outside, but you were sure about the cause.
Thanos' snap had shocked the world. Half the worlds' population was gone, reduced to dust. Countries and governments were in panic disarray, and the UN was desperately trying to save the last bits that were left.
The US had stayed off grid, mostly. Their president was still alive, and most of the government had remained intact. People may be mourning, but the economy was thriving.
You huffed. One good thing coming out of the Snap was not merely enough. It wasn't enough to compensate for all your losses.
You reached up to your neck, where the white bandage still sat, tight against your skin.
The Snap had left chaos in its wake. Sadness, grief and destruction. There had been attempts to take over countries, and civil wars had already broken out all over the world. Here, far away from civilization, there were no signs of that. You knew better, however.
The remaining Avengers were mourning too. In their own way, at that. The public had tried to leave them alone, but eventually even the UN and several governments had tried to coax the Rogues in getting into their former statuses. There had been no answer.
You swallowed as you stepped out of the car, your eyes trailing on the door. And now Fury was gone, and Maria too... Where would you go after this? The last of S.H.I.E.L.D. had dissipated. As far as you knew, and as far as your resources went, there were only a few agents left. Barton, of course, but he had gone off the grid after the Snap, and Romanoff too, but she was no longer a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent for real. And then there were several others that you still knew from your old training; Summer Brown, Eve Miller, Sasha Morgan, Caleb Powell, Alex Simmons and Philip Sanders. A few agents that had gone MIA could be out there too, but none that you knew the name off, so it was no use looking for them.
According to your resources underground, there was quite a number of mutants still alive. Sunray, you knew, a vigilante, Deadpool, Jinx, Jumper, Piercer, and many more. You didn't know them personally, and most of them would probably be hostile, but in time, you would search for them and recruit them. For now, it was important to recruit the remaining Avengers first.
"Welcome, missus Collins."
"F.R.I.D.A.Y.," you greeted the AI politely as you hung up your coat next to the door. "Do you wish to speak to the Avengers, missus Collins? I could call them up for you."
"If you would be so kind," you answered, stroking the crinkles out of your neat skirt. You were dressed impeccably, as always, in a white blouse, combined with a red skirt, and your hair was pulled up into a bun on top of your head. You believed in first impressions, and you were sure that you wouldn't be able to get the Avengers to come with you if you showed up in your sweatpants or in your vigilante costume. There was no need for them to know who you truly were. Not yet, at least.
Barton and Romanoff would probably recognize you, but if they were even a bit like you'd heard, they wouldn't say a word.
"I asked them to come to the conference room. Do you wish for me to lead you there?"
You shook your head, looking around as you huffed out a breath. It had been a few years, but you were sure you still knew where the conference room was.
The conference room was still as you remembered it. Big, spacious, with a large glass table in the middle with plenty of seats, and huge windows from the floor to the ceiling on one side, giving everyone a view of the grass outside.
It had never been used much, as far as you knew.
"They are almost here, missus Collins. Do you want me to alert them of your presence?"
"I always like a surprise, F.R.I.D.A.Y.," you answered nonchalantly, taking the seat at the head of the table.
"Alright."
You tapped with your fingers on the table, waiting impatiently. For a group of (mostly) enhanced beings, they were surprisingly slow. But it shouldn't surprise you in the least. They had nothing to run for.
The first one to come in was Captain America. You knew that most of the remaining Avengers had already teamed up, and so you knew who to expect. Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, James Rhodes and Bruce Banner at the least. Carol Danvers was not in the Compound; neither were Thor, Scott, Rocket and Barton. You could only guess where they were - you didn't know everything. And Tony was still stuck in space.
He frowned as he saw you, but sat down nonetheless, three seats away from you. Well, you couldn't exactly blame him. You came into the Compound without the alarm sounding off for intruders, and he had never seen you before.
Next was Rhodes - when your eyes locked with his, you swallowed and looked away (he didn't recognize you, and you weren't sure if you liked it) -, with Banner trailing behind him. The only one left was Romanoff, but she would be there soon, you presumed.
You were right, as usual, when the Black Widow strode in after a few minutes.
You waited until she sat down across Steve, and then you got up, clearing your throat.
"I'll give you a quick recap," you started. "Half the world is dusted. Gone. Nobody knows where. Half your team is gone too. You're the only ones the world has left. Fury is gone. Agent Hill is gone too." Judging from their zero emotion faces, they already knew. "Captain Marvel is already here on Earth. Romanoff located Barton. Rocket is accompanying Thor, and Captain Marvel has released Scott Lang from the Quantum realm. But," you said, "you all know this already."
You didn't get a reaction, but you hadn't expected one.
"I located most of the living mutants that would be willing to work with us, and I will be contacting the six remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents soon." You looked at their faces. They looked tired. Exhausted, you might say. And torn apart on the inside. The Snap hadn't done anybody good. But you were here to fix that.
With your watch, you pulled a screen, where you showed the last video call from Fury.
"In case anything happens to me or Hill," he said, "you will take it over. S.H.I.E.L.D. is already lost, but I trust you to be able to pull it out of its grave."
You paused the video and turned back to the Avengers.
"The last bits of S.H.I.E.L.D. are under my command now. The agents know this."
You shot Romanoff a look, and you saw her eyebrows raise for a second, before she pulled her face back into a calm and dignified expression.
"I'm not Fury," you continued. "I don't have as much experience as my husband does in the field with these kind of world-altering things. But I am determined. I lost someone too." You looked at their faces. Their eyes were empty, devoid of any hope. You hoped you could give it to them.
"And I'm not going to sit on my arse and watch that bloody Titan destroy my life. Do you understand?"
They nodded.
"And as much as I loathe to admit it, I can't do it without you. I know you're broken beyond repair, and you deserve rest, but now is not the time-"
"Missus Collins?"
You looked up to the ceiling with a hint of irritation. "Yes?"
"It seems there are people entering the building. Do you want me to send them here?"
"Please do," you sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose.
You looked at the Avengers again.
"We might not be able to save this world. Hell, we are not even able to protect it. But we can avenge it."
There were a few minutes of silence.
Then, Rhodes spoke up. "I'm in," he said.
"Me too," Bruce followed.
Now Romanoff and Captain America were the last ones left. You turned to look at them expectantly. Captain America sighed.
"I'm in too," he said, and he shot Romanoff a pointed look.
Romanoff turned her head to you.
"I'm only in if you tell me who you are."
You smirked.
"Mirage," you told her. "I'm Mirage."
She visibly paled.
"Alright," she said, "count me in."