Author's Note: Hi, you guys, and welcome to what I hope will develop into a decent story! I fell in love with the Avengers as soon as I saw it, and I knew I had to write something. My time is freed up a bit because of summer, so let's get on with it!

I will be updating this as I finish up Sweet Disorder, so if you also read that, don't think I'm quite done with it yet!

Disclaimer: This is for the entire story: I do not own The Avengers, nor do I own RDJ or Chris Evans, complete opposites, but both whom I'm in love with.

Born To Die

Chapter I

Prologue

I remember when everything was perfect: when I was a child, and my mother and father were alive, as were my sisters. The universe was content, and all lessons were regarding peace and harmony. My mother passed these teachings onto my sisters and I, and my father would watch us from the balcony, a smile on his face.

One day, my mother took me aside. I was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, she explained, and my purpose was greater than waiting in line for the throne of my father, which my older sister would take after she married. I always knew I had power, of course; it would come on my twenty-first birthday. My two eldest sisters had already been through that.

My mother nodded patiently; she had to be, after all, I had only seen ten summers. She led me to a tall tree in the center of the courtyard. This tree has been here for centuries, she told me. It has the ability to take from the rest of the life in this courtyard, yet it does not. It is wiser, and it knows that some of the younger trees do not have the strength to make it, so it takes their sun from them. Then the tree gives the sun to the plants that can grow and bloom to be beautiful, strong trees. It must be harsh, but it still must care.

You are wiser than the others, my dear, she had said. It is easier for you to make decisions, but you must be careful. Do not let your lack of caring shade your perception of right and wrong.

I agreed, like a ten year old would. I left then, to play with the brothers of a neighboring kingdom, unaware of what was coming.

I do not think even my father, the king, was aware of what was coming.

Chapter One

Fear. That was the first thing that The Academy taught us.

I was paired with a boy my age; we were both eighteen, and we had both been in the system for a longer time than we cared to admit. I had lost more people than I cared to admit.

We were told to always fear each other, fear the next fight. The boy across from me laughed. He told them that he could never fear a tiny devushka like me. They turned to me.

That same boy walked out of the room with a broken leg, a dislocated shoulder, and bruises all over his body. They applauded.

I think I was a sort of prodigy to them, especially to the one they called Le Sova. He reminded me I was special. I always knew I was.

I learned languages quickly. I was fluent in Russian, English, French, Chinese, and my native language before the rest had even become more than bilingual. I fought better, I moved faster, and I tired slower. I rarely showed my feelings, while the rest of them flinched when they killed. I had forgotten the lessons of my mother, because I could not let go of my grief. The other students at The Academy had learned to be wary of me.

The scientists that worked there attributed my enhanced memory to my usage of brainpower. They explained that the average person used ten percent of their brain, but I used more. They guessed around twelve percent. I was called a human phenomenon. I never bothered to correct them; they didn't need to know I wasn't human. At least, not exactly.

I never took much to other people, because having relationships guaranteed hurt. However, there was one girl. I taught her everything, and I wanted her to survive more than anything. She was like a younger sister to me, and I had never had a younger sibling before. It was a wonderful, heartbreaking feeling. I wanted her to be better, to learn not to kill.

She was brought in at the age of fourteen years; she was small and cunning. We quickly became known as a team, and not even The Academy would dare split us apart during missions. I was fiercely protective of her, which most did not understand. Neither of us ever seemed to show any emotion. But they did not hold a small redhead in their arms at night as she cried for every person she had killed.

We were partners until one mission. She was twenty-two; that would make me twenty-seven. We were being chased by a very good assassin. He had suddenly come out of the woodwork; no one in The Academy knew who he was, never mind whom he worked for.

I left her in the Moscow apartment we were staying in to go get some food; we had just killed a businessman who had crossed The Academy. We always liked to eat after. It seemed to wash away some of the pain. This one time wasn't as bad as some of the others, when we were asked to go after the children or the entire family.

When I got back, she was gone.

I searched everywhere for her until I was required to come back. She didn't show up in the allotted year they gave to straggling assassins, and so they marked her as dead. I never believed it, but they told me to give it up and gave me a new partner. His name was Alexander, but he is a story that requires more space. Maybe later.

My power also came in while I was at the Academy. I was afraid my heritage would desert me; I was not following any advice anyone had ever given me, never mind the advice that my mother had so wisely bestowed upon me. At the same time, I almost did not want a gift; I did not deserve one. I had killed more men than I could count.

But my gift did come. I spent the night before my twenty-first birthday writhing in pain, as my sisters had. I was thankful that I was a good enough assassin that I had my own room, courtesy Le Sova. He had watched my training over the years, and I knew he was attempting to get me as his personal assassin. I knew the rest of The Academy would not give me away so easily, and in a way I was thankful. I did not want to belong to a single person; in another life, I was royalty, after all.

I woke up on the morn of my birthday, glancing around to see if anything had changed. I would not know my power unless I could figure it out, or it would manifest, most likely in a public area. I was oddly dedicated to The Academy, for saving my life, but I did not want them to see my power. They would use it against their enemies, and I didn't think that fair. Guns and knives fighting something that humans could never understand? I would respect my mother and father in that regard, at least.

I requested a few days off, for prayer. In truth, I did not worship at all. Where I grew up, we did not put much stock in faith, or life after death. We lived quite a bit longer than humans, anyways, if we so chose.

However, I knew my steps would be tracked nevertheless, so I went to a church. I snuck upstairs, and tried everything I could to get my gift to show itself. Three days later, I gave up.

Walking down the steps that led to the middle of the church, I felt defeated, until I heard a creak on the stairs behind me. I spun on my heel, a knife already poised in my right hand.

But the man was staring at my left.

I stared too. My entire forearm and hand were covered in fire, but it wasn't hurting me. We both paused for exactly five seconds –I was counting- and I recovered first. My knife slid up into his heart before he could even blink, and the fire on my arm died away.

For the first time in five years, I allowed myself to think of last words my mother had said to me. I still did not dare say them aloud, but by thinking them, I had already begun breaking away from The Academy. Yet, the meaning of the words is still unclear to me; she told me that one day, I would understand.

Adramela, my daughter, you were born to die.

Did you guys like it? I'm afraid the first two or three chapters are going to be annoying like this one, but I'm trying to establish a little bit of a background before I delve into the real story.

Please review!

~lala