Jaq

"The target is in position."

"Eliminate."

*Gunshot*

I snap awake, panting heavily and staring at a wall. It is dawn and my partners sprawl everywhere across the floor of the warehouse, one looking out of the window, one reading a newspaper and the last drinking from a Styrofoam cup of coffee.

"You okay?" Lukis asks me, passing me his cup.

"I'm fine." I breathe. I drink from the cup and hand it back. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." Alexandra frowns, glancing at me.

"Shut up." I snap without much heat, and stand up.

"There you are! I was wondering what that other person did to our Jaq." Nina laughs, putting down her newspaper.

"Do we have a mission?" I roll my eyes.

"Yeah. Hydra arms dealer, supplying the chumps in Hell's Kitchen with superior ammunition." Luk passed me a blueprint. "That's his place of business. The Avengers are hitting this place later, since he's Hydra and all."

"So, lemme guess, we're hitting it first?" I grin.

"It would be our greatest joy." Alex smirks. "This is our turf, after all. So let's get dressed. We've got an arms dealer to hit first."

A half-hour later, we are creeping around the back of New York. Me in all white, Luk in all black, Nina in grey, and Alexandra in a brilliant shade of royal blue. When we wear our colors, no parts of our skin show, not even our hands or necks. We all wear masks.

I wear a full face white mask, Alexandra's is a blue New Orleans style masquerade ball half-mask complete with feathers, Nina has an grey old west bandit tie-on mask, and Luk's is a Phantom of the Opera-type black mask covering the entire face except for his mouth and right cheek. We all have weapons tucked everywhere. Once we reach the arms warehouse, Luk looks around. He points out a camera on the tip of the roof. I leap and run, parkour style, up to the camera and spray a masking agent of our own invention on it.

I give them the thumbs up, and Luk strolls majestically across the lot to the door, his knee-length black Phantom cape blowing out behind him. Nina creeps along, using her shadows to hide her, and Alex just struts, wind ruffling the feathers of her wings in their folded position, whistling an unidentifiable tune. We have a flair for the dramatic, not to mention that Luk is completely obsessed with Phantom of the Opera. I come down from the camera and Luk kicks the door open. The warehouse is empty.

I look at Nina and she shrugs. Alex draws an AK 47 from…somewhere on her person, Luk pulls a sawed off shotgun, Nina a box of poisoned darts, and I unsheathe a Beretta M9. We move cautiously through the building, until we get to the largest room in the place, the loading bay. The enormous doors are open and it looks like there's some kind of deal going on. Obviously, it's our civic duty to crash it.

I steady the pistol in my hand and fire a single shot from our corner, knocking the gun from the nearest Hydra boy's hand.

"Cease and desist, or we will be forced to shoot you all." Luk calls out dramatically in his deep, clarion voice. I bite my cheek to keep from laughing. The Hell's Kitchen thugs grab their pants and take off, running away and the Hydra dealer sighs dramatically.

"It's the Shadows." He rolls his eyes. "Find them. Find them and kill them."

Luk grins back at us and we fade away. The Hydra footsoldiers put out a lockdown/all call and more of them pour out of the woodwork like roaches. They pass right by us, and we stand there, watching them run around like chickens with their heads cut off. Finally, (finally) two of them find the crate we are behind, but a combo move from Luk takes them down.

I almost hope more will come out, but next thing I know, there is roaring slamming clanging explosions arrows fire rocket booster sounds red mist blue blurs lightning screaming FIRE!

Luk crouches down, I hop on his back, and he runs out of the building like his butt's on fire, which considering the state of the building, it very well could be. Alex can fly, (duh! She has wings, people) so she grabs Nina and whistles outta there like a bullet. And we are stopped by a partial Avenger's cosplay. Just kidding; it's the real thing, and boy, are they pissed.

"Who the hell are you and what were you doing in there?" A woman asks us as Luk lets me down. She is pretty. Pretty recognizable, too. It's the Black Widow.

"We are the Shadows." Luk smiles benevolently, piping his words in that sickeningly stuck-up British accent he has perfected. In real life, he has a faint Russian accent, like me, but the difference is; he actually hails from Russia. Son of immigrants. I'm not Russian, just raised there. Nina is from Colombia and Alexandra is from Britain. "And we're doing your jobs, obviously."

"Don't be a smart Alek." Hawkeye warns, four arrows notched and pointing at our faces. Impressive. "What were you doing there?"

"I'm not being a smart Alek." Luk insists, though I know he was. It's in his nature. "We were busting that arms dealer."

"Oh really?" Tony Stark says, the face plate of his Iron Man suit flipping up. "Why? When did Hydra become your business?"

"He's supplying Hell's Kitchen with more weapons than they have already." Alex frowns. I know this, not because I can see it; but because I know her voice. And I'm an empath. "It's hard enough saving people in there as it is. Besides, Mist has a very personal vendetta against Hydra."

"So do some of us. Get in line." Captain America says with a small smile.

"We know your stories." Nina takes over coldly. "But given the size of each of your grievances, we still think Mist's vendetta is the most urgent, rivalled only by that of the Maximoffs."

"How do you know us?" Pietro demands, zooming up to us. Nina doesn't even flinch at the rush of air and person invading her space.

"We know all of you." Luk smiles down at him from next to Nina; but it isn't a friendly smile.

"Can't 'Mist' speak for…himself?" Stark rolls his eyes. There is a wall behind me. I put my hand to it experimentally, testing the texture. It is a good wall for what I want to do. I turn around, ignoring the puzzlement of Hawkeye, the only Avenger who can fully see me around my friends. I put my left foot onto the wall and push off with my right, launching myself off of the wall and over Luk and Nina's heads. I backflip through the air and land squarely on the front of Stark's suit, driving him to the ground. I sit cross legged on his chest and he is too shocked to do anything but gape. Alex smirks.

"She doesn't like it when people mistake her for a man." She grins down at me.

"You're a girl?" Stark croaks at me, and I ignore him, instead accepting Luk's hand up.

Meanwhile, the rest of the avengers have arrived; Thor, War Machine, Falcon, the Vision, Scarlet Witch, and a pale, shaky Bruce Banner.

"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to come with us." Captain America says.

"Why?" Luk demands imperiously.

"Because he said so." War Machine opens his faceplate and says, pointing his shoulder cannon at us. "Let's go."

"Don't snap at us." Nina growls. "Your weapons mean nothing."

War Machine rolls his eyes, shutting his helmet and fires off a quick round, much to Captain America's consternation. I can practically feel the bullets coming, but Nina and Luk are there. Luk stands in front of me, shielding me from the bullets, while Nina sends them flying into the spacial dark matter she has collected around herself. Alex is nearly vibrating with fear, and I place my hand on her shoulder. She is deathly afraid of bullets. At my touch, she stops quivering and Luk draws himself to his full height.

"If you ever do that again," He growls, stalking over to War Machine. "I will kill you myself."

He grasps the cannon on the suit and rips it off with one fluid motion. He tosses the now useless piece of metal across the lot. Nina straightens, Alex unfolds her wings, the Avengers get into defensive positions and it looks like we are about to rumble; but Captain America gets between our team and his and looks Luk in the eye.

"Please just come." He says quietly. Luk looks back at me, an unspoken question in his mask's eye slits. I nod once, and Luk turns back to the Captain.

"Fine." He sniffs. "But if anyone else tries to shoot us, we will not be responsible for our actions. We did not come to fight you; only Hydra."

"Alright." The Captain nods desperately. "C'mon."

We follow his beckoning hand, but we get more than a few dirty looks as we follow the Avengers to their jet.