"Please tell me you're joking."
"I wish I was, Fury."
I sighed and leaned back in my chair, propping my feet up on the large conference table. I heard footsteps and the door behind me open, letting me know that the Avengers were back on the helicarrier.
"So what are we up against?" Fury tried a different tactic.
"A tough bastard that's what."
I turned to find that none other than Tony Stark had entered, shortly followed by Dr. Banner, Steve Rodgers and Agents Romanoff and Barton.
Tony glanced in my direction and looked at Fury, "Who's she?"
I sighed, pinched the bridge of my nose and counted back from 10. Fury watched me with a stern eye until he was sure I wouldn't burst then answered Tony for me.
"That's Elizabeth Taylor, you and the others will be working with her and her team to help bring this guy down."
Tony sized me up disdainfully and I resisted the urge to slam his head on the table.
My friend and partner in crime, Toni James, entered the room, placed a stack of files on the table and came to stand behind me, placing her hand on my shoulders and leaned over to talk to me.
"I've called everyone, their all on the way here now." She said.
Fury caught the sentence, "All of them?"
I looked up, noting the slight worry in his eyes, and smirked, "Yes, all of us. This is a team effort; Jack will take you out one by one if you're not careful, so you need us."
"Who's Jack?" Tony looked like he didn't like being out of the loop.
"Jack is the tough bastard who just kicked your arse." Toni replied.
"Are those the files?" Fury inquired, pointing to the manila folders on the table.
"Yep, the only records we have of our existence at the moment." Toni answered.
"Ooh, gimme." Tony reached to take them but he ran into an invisible wall. Confused he tried again, only to fail. The look on his face was enough to make me laugh; it's not every day that the great and powerful Stark looked as confused as a tiny ten year old not getting a grownups joke.
He looked at me and the confusion slipped from his face, replaced by anger and was that respect?
Toni picked up the top file, mine, and read the first little blurb to the room, introducing me properly.
"Subject 0: Elizabeth Taylor: 33, 5'7'', Forest green eyes, black hair, genius IQ, Telekinetic and a pyromaniac of sorts. Can't particularly control her anger very well and loses it fairly quickly, when she does she can destroy with a thought, also has a tendency to push people out of windows." She looked pointedly at Tony when she said this, giving him a fair warning of what I was capable of, I also smiled when she omitted the part about having to drug me to stop my 'episodes'
When she finished I reached for her file, "May I?" Toni nodded and I introduced her.
"Subject 1: Toni James: 31, 5'8'', Hazel eyes, purple hair (changes with her mood) genius IQ, handy with an axe. She doesn't have a recognisable superpower per say, she is just has really quick reflexes and insane strength that she uses to completely overpower her opponents."
"What's with the subject numbers? More importantly why are you even here?" Tony looked a little frustrated.
"We are here to help you, because you can't do it on your own." I was upset, Tony had rubbed me the wrong way, and here I thought we might actually get along, "And the subject numbers are there, because we are, in fact, test subjects, as in grown from a test tube."
By the time my little rant was over, I could feel Toni gripping my shoulders painfully tight with one hand, the other no doubt holding a syringe, and Fury staring at me as if I was going to explode.
I almost did.
"You good?" Toni whispered in my ear.
I nodded slightly and I felt her relax a little, taking the seat beside me.
"You were grown from a test tube?" I turned to find Dr. Banner had moved a little closer and was eyeing myself and Toni with a very curious expression.
I smiled at him and nodded, "Yeah, we all were."
"Can you explain it to me? It sounds interesting." He asked again.
I nodded again, "Have a place we could talk? A lab or something, I need to work on some things before the cavalry arrive."
Fury decided he needed to hear his voice again, "Show her to the lab Dr. Banner, go with them Stark and don't blow anything up Taylor. Ms. James, I need you to come with me, I need to know the arrival times of the rest of your team." With that he strode out the opposite door we all came in, Toni followed behind him, throwing one last Don't screw anything up look before she left.
Meanwhile (Somewhere in Italy.)
"You need to divide and conquer."
"I know that and I'm working on it, have you decided who shall have the pleasure?"
"I'm working on it."
The second man sighed and rubbed his temples, feeling a headache beginning to form. He could be a patient man, but Max was starting to really push it, and his snarky comments didn't help him.
It didn't help that he had revealed himself too early and that the Avengers may already be aware of who he was.
No, no, they can't, to them I don't even exist.
Jack rubbed his temples again, the headache getting stronger.
He just had a few pieces left of the puzzle before he could meet the Avengers properly.