Welcome to my first Avengers fanfiction! I hope you enjoy my musings about a certain agent and a 'nobody' from Boston. Thing is, in the best of stories, 'nobody' becomes somebody very important faster than you'd think possible.
Chapter 1 – Desiring a Life of Adventure
Jill breathed in deeply. She breathed out, trying to clear the ringing in her ears.
This might have not been the best or brightest idea she could have come up with.
Some might have said that it was foolish and naive making the call that she had, especially considering the people she was dealing with. If he had made anything clear, it was that these people were dangerous and not to be trifled with, but was out of options and time. But what if she was wrong, and that this wouldn't change the way things were no matter how much she might wish it? Was she fooling herself into holding onto a long-lost hope?
No!
The trail led her here, so she would follow through with it, no matter how much in reality she was screaming on the inside in fear of where she could be. There was no determining that, however, due to the thick dark cloth covering her eyes. She did not speak a word, and every second that passed felt like an eternity, her agitation increasing with every tick of the second hand of the lone clock that she knew to be in the room. She tried to come up with something - anything - to distract her from the hopelessness and despair that dwelt just underneath the surface, but the irritating darkness and silence in the room continued, keeping her below the surface of the relief that another person's presence could bring.
Wait! A soft scraping sound reached her heightened sense of hearing. A scuffle of a pair of shoes making their way across the floor. Coming towards her.
"Hello? Is anybody there?" Jill's voice echoed in what she now assumed to be a fairly small stone room of some sort. Receiving no reply or scuffling sounds, Jill began to wonder if the lone person had simply left the room without her noticing. That was, until, a small click reached her ears, and the blindfold was pulled away from her eyes. Immediately she was assaulted by blinding white light. Jill blinked and squinted until her eyes began to adjust and the after-image of the light from what she now recognized as a small lamp began to dissipate.
A sharp bang sounded as whoever had turned the lamp on and removed her blindfold had already disappeared back through what she saw to be the only door into the room, leaving the metal portal to slam shut behind them.
Jill was left alone in the still somewhat dark room, though now at least, she had an opportunity to begin to survey her surroundings.
From what she could tell, the room as some sort of cellar as there were no windows or other openings on the walls, and the air felt unnaturally cold. The chill she felt run down her body made her jostle involuntarily, shaking from the chill she felt in the small dank room. To distract herself from the cold, Jill continued to look about the room, her eyes settling upon a lone mirror opposite her leaning against one of the grey concrete walls. Catching her reflection, she had a chance to look over herself like a profiler would a suspect.
Late twenties. Messy, disheveled dirty-blond hair. Squinting light blue eyes. Seated at a metal table. Handcuffed to a grey metal chair. Face dirty and cut. Her clothes consisting of a shredded jacket and torn jeans. Ha! She wasn't even sure she could classify what she wore now as clothes anyhow! The term dirty rags just seemed to describe them so much better.
Her quiet examination was then interrupted when she heard a series of locks grate against the metal door as they were disengaged and a screech that made her want to claw her ears out when the door swung inwards to reveal the silhouette of a man who slowly stepped toward the light and into her view for a second. Out of instinct, she initially coiled back, keeping her head down. The man was undoubtedly staring at her, at her worn and travel-weary form, with those dead black eyes of his.
Jill once again heard his footsteps. Coming closer. Closer.
She heard him pull out the chair on the other side of the table. Felt the vibration of the metal legs scraping across the floor as he pulled the chair back in behind him. She hears a soft smack after he throws something on the table. She glances up. Her passport, and beyond, the man who was holding her prisoner.
After another moment, the man spoke, his Italian accent rich with sophistication, but Jill was not fooled. It's always the snake who speaks with a silver tongue.
"Jill Stevens," he stated simply.
Jill straightened up, fortifying her resolve before speaking.
"Yes. And you are -"
Before she could finish, she was interrupted when the man pulled a silver pistol from a holster within the confines of his beige leather jacket and pointed the barrel towards her. Then he spoke with a tone of cold calculation.
"I ask. You answer. Understand?"
Jill nodded her head slowly.
"Why exactly are you here?"
Jill cleared her throat after the anxiety at having a weapon drawn on her.
"Honestly? I'm not entirely sure. It just felt like something I had to do."
The man rolled his eyes and shook the gun at her signalling her to emphasize the question.
"Who is Clint Barton to you?"
"You don't know how many times I've asked myself that question this week. I mean, I just bumped into him at an airport. I mean, the chances of what actually happened, happening, are completely-"
The man, apparently having grown tired of her rambling, shoved his chair backwards so that it screeched across the floor. He came quickly to Jill's side of the table and raised the gun to her head, causing her last sentence to die in her suddenly parched throat and her body to tense up, the cold metal digging into the skin of her left temple. Jill squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled sharply at the sensation.
"Why. Are. You. Here?" His tone now low and deadly.
After releasing a shaky breath, Jill miraculously composed herself enough to begin to tell the most ridiculous and insane story of her life.
"You'd have to go back to Monday..."
One week earlier…
A blaring alarm tore Jill out of restless sleep. She tried to pull her pillow over her ears in a futile attempt to block out not only the sound of the alarm, but also the same perpetual cycle she'd been trapped in for the past four years. She hated it, and yet there was nothing she could really do – within reason – about it. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she threw the light blue comforter that shielded her from that mundane life that she lived and reached over to turn off the alarm.
She really needed to get out of here. Not just to get to work. That was a given. She was tired of this day-to-day attitude she was stuck with because of the choice she'd made. Maybe she'd been wrong about Jeff. Shaking her head to try to restore some sense of reality, she kicked the last of the covers from her legs before jumping out of bed and started to stretch her arms towards the ceiling before letting them drop back to her sides.
"Enough moping around," she murmured to herself. "Besides, things will work out. Right, Muffy?"
Muffy, the calico feline in question, after glancing briefly in her direction, turned around to ignore her once again, and merely headed out the bedroom door.
"Yeah, who am I kidding?" she said dejectedly, shaking her head.
She then made her way to her closet. Her shoulders shook slightly from the small sensation of chills she had before she opened the closet's sliding doors.
Rows of shoes and accessories all meticulously organized was the sight that greeted her. She let another low breath before starting to pick through her clothes, trying to find another tasteful yet inevitably bland outfit. How usual. How typical. How…boring.
Shaking her head once again, finally deciding on a white and blue plaid button-down and a pair of slightly worn jeans. She then headed off to take a shower and get dressed before moving swiftly down the stairs, swiping her small brown leather purse of the end of the banister before heading out the door.
Twenty minutes later, she was walking out of a local Boston coffeehouse, balancing a tray of coffees in one hand and several bags of muffins in the other. Of course, with her luck, Mother Nature decided to take a crap on what was already sizing up to be a lousy day and she found herself looking out from underneath the awning she was taking shelter beneath at a sizable downpour. Even though a part of her knew it was futile, she started to run faster through the falling drops to try and reach her car without getting soaked. A few soaking wet seconds later, she found herself inside of the car, swinging the door of her silver Toyota Corolla before placing the muffins and coffee on the seat beside her.
She took a moment to glance at herself in the rearview mirror. She let out an annoyed grunt as she struggled to fix her now disheveled hair.
"As if things couldn't get any worse?"
Oh, but they did! After being stuck in traffic for an additional hour, she finally pulled into the parking garage next to her workplace. It was a good thing she'd left early enough for her to at least make it on time. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to worry about the rain again, at least until she got home unless it somehow cleared up.
She got into the elevator and pressed the button for the ninth floor. A short ride later, and she walked out into the currently vacant office that was her everyday habitat at Fidelity Investments. Jill then started to zigzag her way through the huge bullpen of cubicles, placing coffees and muffins in the corresponding ones. She then came up to the corner glassed-in office of her supervisor, leaving a black coffee and low-fat blueberry muffin on his desk, and straightening some of the papers scattered about.
Jill made her way back to her own workspace, placing the last coffee down on her desk and plopping down into her chair. She inched forward towards the edge. Just as she was about to log herself into the company computer, she heard a harsh ding and the overall noise of the morning crowd, bustling loudly into the office.
And thus, my moment of peace is shattered.
As her coworkers came to their 'battle-stations', those that found coffees waiting for them peeked over the top of their plain cubicle walls.
"Thanks, Jill," one of her work-friends, Steve, said.
Jill just continued to tap away on her keyboard, offhandedly replying, "You're welcome."
A few others walked by holding their newly acquired breakfast and gave their monotoned thanks.
"Thank you!"
"You got it."
One actually held up his muffin in question. "Hey Jill–"
"It's fat-free, sugar-free," she replied without even having to look up. Even after the two years she'd been running coffee and breakfast for these people, he still asked every single freaking morning!
"You rock, Jill."
Jill kept working her way at her computer, images of exotic cities on her wallpaper like Paris, Rome, and Dubai – a.k.a. 'places Jill will never see in her lifetime'.
She was brought out of her musings when she heard her boss, Gary Hearn, call her name in that annoying, snooty, and high-pitch voice of his. She quickly stood up and turned to face him.
"Jill? Coffee?"
Jill nodded. "On your desk."
"Video conference?"
Jill nodded again. "All set to go."
"Toner cartridge?"
Jill was about to nod simply out of habit, but stopped herself when she realized she didn't remember that one for some reason.
"It's…wait, what?"
Gary sighed and held up a clipboard with something written on it. He was waving it around so fast with those idiotic hand gestures of his that Jill couldn't even make out what was on it.
"The inkjet color toner cartridge? The one my printer needs? The one I told you about?" he asked exasperatedly.
Jill just shook her head in bewilderment. "When?"
"On the way here. I emailed you. I said I needed it take care of before I got to the office!"
She could have blown up in his face about it, but surprisingly Jill was able to keep her tone civil, thank whatever greater forces there be! "I'm sorry. I haven't had a chance to check my email in the last few minutes. If you had only told me sooner, I could have–"
Then of course he had to go and let out a disappointed sigh, as if it was here fault he'd thought of it that last minute! Although, what he said next caught her a bit off guard.
"Jill, do you know how replaceable I am?"
"Huh?"
"There are at least five hundred thousand people out there who could do my job better than me."
You think I don't know that?! she thought to herself.
"So, I need everyone here," he paused to wave his hands around for emphasis for some reason, "to be on the ball and do their jobs well 'cause it makes me look better than I actually am. Understand?"
No surprise there. "I think so."
"Good. Because, Jill, we're all replaceable."
Jill just shook her head tiredly and said dejectedly, "I'll get the toner cartridge."
It seemed that he couldn't resist the little comment of "Yeah, you do that" in that infuriating condescending undertone of his that just made her want to hit something. When Jill turns back around, she finds that everyone in the office is staring at her. Thankfully, they quickly turn back to their work, embarrassed.
Jill made an effort to simply avoid Gary after that, and thankfully, the rest of the day went pretty much as it usually did. After she packed up her few belongings at about 6, – being the last one to leave – she made her way to her car and called up her mom as was her habit.
After three rings, the call connected and she was greeted by her mother's kind voice on the other end. Honestly, this was the best part of her day.
"Jill, honey? Is that you?"
"Yeah, Mom. It's me. How are you?"
"I'm doing alright. Just packing at the moment, so I've got you on speaker."
Jill's brow furrowed at that. "Packing? Mom, what are you doing?"
"I'm heading out to Nevada."
Seriously, Mom? Vegas? You gotta be kidding me!
"Mom, you can't keep doing this to me. I worry about you when you just take off like this!"
"I'm not doing anything to you, Jill. I'm just living my life. You should think about trying it."
Jill bit back her immediate response, which would have been to yell some sense into her, and just retorted sharply.
"Look, just because I don't choose to live my life on the edge like you always seem to doesn't make it any less satisfying."
Her mother didn't even miss a beat, coming back with a reply just is quickly.
"Some people are perfectly happy being an assistant at an insurance company their entire lives, and that's fine. But you're not one of those people," she stated matter-of-factly.
Why all of a sudden am I on the witness stand?
"How would you know?" she shot back.
She heard her mother sigh and then pause, her tone becoming more caring as she quietly said, "Because you're my daughter. There's got to be some of me in there somewhere trying to get out. Just try something different when I'm gone. Ooh, I know! Date an exciting stranger. I saw this great commercial for a dating site on–"
That's when Jill burst. "Mom! Just stop! Okay? I am not doing the internet dating thing! Look, call me when you get there, alright? I love you."
Her mom sighed again on the other line, but seemed to concede the argument. "I will. I love you too. Goodbye, sweetheart."
"Bye," Jill said as she hung up. She dropped her phone in her purse and brought her palms up to her face.
"I really need a vacation – wait! That's it!"
She then rummaged back through her purse and pulled out her phone. She searched for a travel site and put in her details for a getaway trip to a resort in Miami. She stopped when she reached the final checkout page.
No. You need this. And with that, she made the payment. The confirmation email popped up with her flight details and she had a moment of feeling uncertain, as if she had just made a decision she would never be able to retract.
Flight from Logan International Airport to Orlando International Airport.
Flight departing at 9:30 AM Local Time.
A part of her hoped she wouldn't regret taking such a leap on short notice, but another part of her thought that maybe her mom was right.
Maybe she really needed to live on the edge for once.
Clint knew that he didn't have much time before his pursuers caught up with him. He had to get a flight out of Boston fast. He pulled out his phone and made sure that his connection was encrypted before hacking into Logan International's flight schedule, he scrolled through the flights, looking for a good destination to lie low, preferably someplace with a high population density so he'd be more difficult to find, and a temperate climate wouldn't hurt. They also might expect that he'd try and flee the country so he'd have to pick somewhere in the States.
As he came across one of the flights in particular, a smirk crossed his face.
Perfect.
Thoughts? Critiques? Non-stop praises? Haha. Let me know! I'd love to have readers' feedback!