Archive of Our Own

013: Afterlife

They met at the usual place: a little hipster café several blocks from the SHIELD Archives building. And as usual, Director Fury didn’t beat about the bush, merely slid a manila folder towards her when she took her seat at their quiet corner booth, tucked safely away from the windows. Dr Seren Griffiths obediently accepted the file without a word and flicked it open. She skimmed the proposal for what had been named the ‘Afterlife Project’ before leaning back, shooting Fury an arch look from behind her black-framed glasses.

“I take it there’s some kind of problem?”

“Astute as ever,” said Fury dryly, taking a swallow of his coffee. He replaced the mug with a clink and fixed his single eye on Seren. His expression was as unreadable as ever, but that eye glinted shrewdly. “Care to take a guess?”

Seren glanced down at the open folder again, attention catching on the two photographs included. Both were of Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. The first: his post-serum self in military uniform; the second: a colour shot of his angular face, pale and glistening with ice crystals. She briefly wondered if her old mentor, fanboy Phil Coulson, had copies of both.

“You don’t agree with the Council’s directive, to ease him into the twenty-first century,” concluded Seren.

“I think stringing the Cap along in a cage gilded with forties décor is the wrong way to go.”

“And how do I fit into this?”

“Afterlife has already been given the green light,” said Fury, joining his hands on the table in front of him. “I can’t do anything to stop it. Not openly. But if we could plant some incompatibilities into the program… Things the Council wouldn’t be able to identify, but would set alarm bells ringing in Cap’s head…”

Seren’s mind raced with possibilities. Clothing styles out by a year or two. Songs not released until after Rogers’ disappearance. Even the wrong colour wall paint. She needed to do some research. Scrap that. Lots of research.

Her little historian heart tap-danced with excitement.

“Did you put my name forward for setting this project in motion?” asked Seren eventually, somehow managing to sound oh-so-casual.

Fury almost smiled. “Congratulations, Dr Griffiths. As of Monday, you’ll be Afterlife’s Chief Researcher. Make me proud.” That said, he drained the last of his coffee and departed, leaving Seren with the Afterlife file and her thoughts.