Ice Crystal

It was a cold gray evening as Crystal looked around for someone to pickpocket. Despite popular belief that every thief out there was common trash Crystal had no choice in the matter. She was cold ,hungry and homeless. She hugged her tattered hoodie closer as if it could offer any real warmth. Then as she peered above her tangled blonde hair with icy blue eyes a mysterious African American man in a long black trench coat walked down her alley.

Not only that but he was carrying a couple very heavy grocery bags. Man it looked as if that guy was going to feed an army! Crystal knew what do by now after all nobody expected a skinny little homeless girl to be able to summon arctic ice from her very fingertips. It had taken a good ten years to prefect the art of using her abilities to rob people of their groceries but by now at age nineteen she knew what she was doing. She inhaled and exhaled once to get into focus and before the man knew what was happening his feet were being gripped by ice fingers tugging at his boots.

This was it all she had to do was grab the groceries and run. Normally this would have been easy to do but she was very weak from lack of food and the bags were weighing her down. She ran as fast as her numb legs would carry her but whenever she stopped to catch her breath foot steps would echo off the tall buildings. She fell to her knees not able to run anymore and fell to her knees in exhaustion. She looked down at the ground were to expensive looking black boots with many shiny silver buckles appeared.

Her trembling hands let go of the paper bags and she looked up at the man with pleading eyes" Look I'm sorry, really sorry please don't call the cops man." The man looked down at her with an unreadable stare."How did you do that?" Crystal gave him a little nervous laugh" I took your grocery's and ran like hell." He shook his head" That's not what I meant a saw you hold your hand out next thing I know I'm trapped in the ice.

The homeless young women was terrified of the foreboding figure hovering over her so she dare not lie" I've always been able to control the ice ever since I was a kid I don't know why I do but I do." He knelt down revealing an old fashioned eye patch but used his good eye to make direct eye contact" my names Nick fury, Director of S.H.E. they can help you, train you to use your powers." Crystal knew better than to listen to a strange mans words

" I'm not going anywhere with you!" Still on the ground she used her knees to back away from him. He held his hands up in the air and stepped back" Hey I never said you have to come with me but if you become a recruit at S.H.E.I.L.D you'd have food, education and a roof over your head." The young woman had never been more suspicious in her life" Oh really and what's the catch?" Nick shrugged" You follow orders and you fight where you're needed."

Just as he turned to leave the desperate girl on the ground tugged the edge of his trench coat" I must be insane but alright I'll go with you." He helped her to her feet." My cars just down the street." To say it was a nice car would have been an understatement. It was a black mustang with the highest tech Crystal had ever seen in her life. As she got in the expensive car a warmth washed over her entire body. Nick had a sympathetic look on his face, god she hated when people looked at her that way it just reminded her what a pathetic case she really was.

"I was cold so I left the heater on." Was he kidding? Crystal was sure it was obvious that she had been in the process of freezing to death. Maybe he was trying to not be that obvious about the fact that he felt sorry for her but it was when they got to S.H.E.I.L.D that she truly realized she hadn't been lied too. It was a huge building like white house huge and swarmed by people in suits and shades carrying guns.

The inside was even more magnificent and full of technologies that Crystal had never seen before in her life. Everyone stared as the two walked by curious and stunned to see why Fury had brought a helpless homeless girl into their organization.

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