A figure was flying high up in the air. Strong wind whipped her hair around, turning her cheeks a rosy red color. Her wings flapped wildly, keeping her balanced. She was the only one there. Clouds started to cover the sky, blocking out the sun. The girl shivered.
She looks down at the city below. New York City. Lights twinkled cheerfully, and she could faintly see people walking down below, going about their day to day business. She could see the Statue of Liberty from here as well. Freedom and Liberty and all that stuff. She certainly didn't feel free. She felt...heavy.
The wind pushes her again, growing more vicious by the minute, but her wings stabilize her. The sun comes back, and she sighs. The sunlight reflects off of tear streaks on her face. She feels empty.
The weight pushing on her increases, and the girl falls, her wings flapping wildly, trying to keep her in the air. She's falling fast now, and the gravity increases her speed.
She looks to the side and opens her mouth as if to call to someone, but then she stops. There's no one there. Not anymore.
She fell. No one was there to catch her. No laughing Gazzy. No chattering Nudge. No sweet Angel. No strong Iggy. And, worst of all, no Fang. There was a hole in her heart.
Maximum Ride, the strong, brave, beautiful Max, fell.
"Sir," Jarvis says, "Director Fury has requested that you head up to the helicarrier. Immediately."
"You know what, Fury can go fuck himself."
"Sir, he said it was important."
"Isn't it always."
"Something about a winged kid?"
"...winged, you say."
"Yes, sir."
"Would he let me study it?"
"Sir."
"Alright. I'll go. Anything else?"
"He said to bring Dr. Banner."
"Tell him to get to the quinjet. I'm going to fly over."
"Yes, sir."
Tony steps into his suit and walks outside to the landing pad. Bruce is already outside, climbing aboard the quinjet when he sees Tony.
"Flying, Tony?"
"Yep. I'll meet you there."
Tony takes off, flying up to where he knows the helicarrier is. He lands, steps out of his suit, and then instructs Jarvis to let nobody touch it until he gets back. The quinjet lands behind him, and Bruce gets out, walking over to join him.
They walk inside, and a waiting agent leads them to one of the many conference rooms. Inside they find Fury waiting, as well as Natasha and Clint.
"You're late," Fury says harshly.
"Yeah, whatever." Tony waves his hand dismissively. "I heard something about a kid with wings?"
"Yes, you did. I thought you would be interested. Yesterday, an object crashed into the helicarrier. The object was the girl. She broke through the hull, crashing through two floors before she stopped," he says.
"Sir," Natasha says, "She broke through the hull?"
"Yes," Fury replies, "She did. That is why we have called you in. We have never seen anything like her before. What if there are more like them? They could be a threat."
"Shouldn't Thor be here? This is his specialty."
"Thor is currently on a holiday with Jane. Besides, we believe that she is of a scientific origin, not a mythologic one."
"So," Tony says, "Can we see the crash site?"
Fury gets up and walks down more out, the rest of the Avengers following behind. He heads to a nearby meeting room, and opens the door. The meeting room is in ruins, the solid oak table smashed into pieces.
Tony walks to the middle of the room, carefully picking his way through the debris. He looks up at the holes in the ceilings, and he whistles. It looks like someone had taken a giant fist and punched through the hull. Some pieces of the hull are actually missing.
"Wow," he says, "That is some serious damage."
"Can we see the girl who did this?" Clint asks.
"She's in a holding cell," Fury says, and he starts walking again.
The Avengers follow Fury to the cell. It was a simple cell, with a cot and a bathroom. It only had one door in, and there was a one way mirror that they could see through. Inside, sleeping on the cot, is the girl. Her hair is a dirty blonde, but her wings are not in view. They're covered by the blanket.
Steve is waiting outside the cell, frowning. He hears them approaching and turns to Fury.
"This isn't right," he tells Fury, "She's just a girl. A teenage girl."
"She's a threat," Fury says.
Steve sighs. "She doesn't have to be dangerous. Maybe if you stopped being hostile towards everyone, we wouldn't have so many enemies."
"That's soooo sweet," an unfamiliar voice says, full to the brim with sarcasm.
They all turn to look at the girl inside. She's awake, and it seems that she can hear them, even though she's inside a soundproofed cell. She sits up, and her brown eyes glare at the one way mirror. It's almost as if she can see them.
"I would like you all to try to get some answers from her," Fury says.
"Good luck," the girl calls.
Clint walks in first.
"You're kidding me, right?" the girl asks, incredulous.
"I will have you know," he says, "That I-"
"NEXT," she calls, and then turns her face away.
Sputtering, Clint leaves the cell.
Natasha enters next.
"Well, look at this," the girl says mockingly, "Now we have someone who knows what she's doing. You know, if you could get me a real bed, and some real food, I would be happy and-"
The girl cuts off mid sentence, and charges at Natasha. Natasha dodges, and the girl tries to sweep Natasha's feet out from under her. Natasha dodges, but then a wing smacks her in the face. She stumbles back, and the girl charges at the door.
"Dammit," she swears under her breath when the door doesn't open.
She turns back to Natasha, and lunges at her, tackling her to the ground. Natasha falls to the ground, and then she feels a knife being taken from her.
"Nice try," Natasha snaps, snatching it back from her hand before marching out the door.
The girl pouts and sits back on the bed. Bruce is next, but he can feel a glare boring into him. His hand is on the door, and he has barely opened it an inch when a loud shriek sounds and the girl flings herself at the door. Bruce slams it shut and backs away. The girl inside the cell flings herself against the glass of the one way mirror, but it doesn't budge.
Steve enters in and starts off by saying, "Hello."
She looks at him curiously.
"I don't want to fight you," he says, "I just want to talk."
"About what?"
"Anything you feel comfortable answering."
"..."
"My name's Steve. Could you tell me yours?"
"You're a nice guy, Steve. It's a shame you hang around with people like that."
"I want to save people. They can help me do that."
"...Alright. My name is Maximum Ride, Max for short. But that's all you're going to get. Now, can you please leave? I really don't want to hurt you."
"Okay." Steve turns and walks out.
Then Tony walks in and offers, "Would you like a drink? We could talk."
"Really?" the girl -Max, actually- says, "You offer a drink to a minor, and then you expect that I'll talk. Did you not see what I did to the woman? I could kill you in three seconds flat."
"Want to test that?" Tony challenges, cocky.
She's just a teenager, after all. What could she do?
Max sighs, rolling her eyes. In an instant, she is up and charging for his legs. Tony starts to crouch, but the girl flips over his head. He hears the snick of a blade, and it's sharp tip presses up against his throat.
"If you want him to live," she calls out, "I suggest you release me. I'm talking to you, Pirate guy."
Immediately, Fury walks over to the microphone and starts talking. "Put the knife down. We can talk about this. No one has to die. Let him go, and there will be no serious repercussions."
The girl scoffs, but Tony has the chance that he needs. He discreetly takes out a taser, and then fires it. The moment he presses the trigger, the girl jumps back, but the taser electrodes catch her, and currents of electricity course through her body. The knife falls to the ground, and she falls unconscious.
"We need to move her," Natasha says
"We will," Fury replies.