[to be brave]
Here's the thing about twins; they may be twice the fun, but they're also twice the trouble. "Pietro, stop playing keep-away with Brave. Wanda deserves a chance with her too." Sam was too old to play mediator in a superhero threesome. OR: Pietro and Wanda don't understand the 'issues' surrounding their relationship. Sharing is caring, isn't it?
[break]
Brave was sure she must have pissed off some sort of demigod in her last life. She had gone to college to become a doctor and ended up as one of the most infamous field medics the US Army had ever seen. She had saved more lives with a pen and some hot water than most ER Doctors had with a full team. So when a bunch of suits came and abducted her from her modest studio apartment in Seoul, South Korea, she was pissed. "Do you know who I fucking am? I'm like the double-oh-seven of medics. I have more soldiers in my pocket then the US actually has employed. People will notice my disappearance.", she hissed to the nearest agent. The eagle insignia tickled something in the back of her brain (laceration to the left bicep, contusion on the temporal frontal- shit, internal hemorrhaging starting to swell, need to ease it, need to fix, need need need-) She blinked.
"Your name is Brave Young. You've been working with Dr. Cho on project CRADLE." He was tall and buff and dark and swaddled in more leather than should actually be necessary. "I don't give a shit, pirate fucker. Tell your goons to let me go and maybe I won't sick my kids on you." No dice. The asshole wasn't even phased. "I am not a pirate fucker, as you so eloquently put it. I'm actually the head of SHIELD- Director Fury. Those kids you're talking about? I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you're referring to the couple hundred lives you have saved during your tenure as a field medic." She bared her teeth. "Charming. I'm not here to fight you or your 'kids', Ms. Young. I'm here to ask for your help. Right now, there is war for planet earth being battled in Sokovia. Thousands of civilians are trapped on the floating country, cornered in by mass-murdering robots. I have a team of specialized agents working on the situation as we speak. You may have already heard of them- the world calls them the Avengers." He paced forward, handing her a glass tablet. "I'm not foolish enough to believe they'll all get out of there unscathed. As it is, we've suffered more losses than acceptable in the civilian population." She gave a bitter laugh. "Oh? And how many casualties are acceptable to you, Director? A few hundred? A thousand?" His one eye bore uncomfortably into hers. "Zero. The acceptable number of casualties concerning civilians is zero."
He reached forward and undid the thick metal bracelets on her wrists. A familiar rush of coolness flooded her veins and a feeling like coming home came upon her. "Like them? Tony Stark designed them specifically to suppress genes in the DNA not similar to those of mundane origins." Her eyes widened. "M-mutant cuffs. You designed mutant cuffs." Her chest felt tight and something like electricity sparked at her fingertips. "That's right. The government has done its best to turn a blind eye at your abilities, seeing as how you've single-handedly saved more soldiers than any field medic since the conception of the Red Cross. But we need you. The world needs you. And I'm sorry to say I can't give you a choice. Brave Young, you are being charged with the murder of George and Rebecca Young." Her mouth went dry. She felt hot tears well up as she struggled to take deep breaths. The hellicarrier became stilled and hushed. "Let me guess", she croaked, "You're willing to forgive and forget if I commit myself to your little boy band." He gave her a thin smile. "I don't like doing this. But with what's at stake? The extinction of the human race, the destruction of planet earth, the ruin of humanity- I can't take any chances. The world needs you, Ms. Young. And I am burdened with the pleasure of fulfilling of its needs." His heavy boots clanked as she was escorted away to another room. Agent Hill fixed her eyes ahead of her and stoutly ignored the choked sobs coming from the young girl beside her.
[break]
Pietro gazed in wonderment at the floating aircraft before him. "This- this is SHIELD?" Natasha gave him a small smile. "It's what it's supposed to be.", Captain clapped him on the shoulder. Pietro felt a grin stretch across his face. "This is not so bad." And then he was off, rounding up civvies to herd them on a life-boat. Blink. The group in the supermarket. Blink. The children under the school pavilion. Blink. A family in their car. Blink. Wanda. "Alright, we need to change our plan. End game is the switch in the center of the city. If Ultron gets his hands on that, Sokovia is going for a joy ride. Do you copy? All Avengers, rendezvous at the church, stat!", Captain's voice called clear over the earpiece. Pietro blinked. At least he was the first one there.
[break]
Brave stared blankly at the uniform before her. A black kevlar suit with the SHIELD insignia plastered on her right breast. It was tight and flexible and honestly looked like someone threw a bucket of paint on her and called it clothes. "This is an intercomm. It's already tuned in on the correct channel. Through this, you may make contact with anybody also wearing one.", Agent Hill passed her a small, clear chip. She shoved it in her ear and shivered as it expanded to fit snugly. "Based on what you've been equipped with in previous missions, I've taken the liberty to pack this utility belt for you. Sedatives, pain controllers, disinfectants- it's there. There should be a built in holster for two guns and and three slips for knives. Are you comfortable being offensively equipped?" Brave scowled. "I'm a field medic. What do you think?" She ripped the belt out of Maria's hands and clipped it on to herself, grabbing the weapons laid out before her on the small table. She checked the magazine, grabbed two extra and loaded herself up. One knife went into her right boot and the others were tucked on her right shoulder and outer left thigh. (Don't you see, sweetheart? You were made for this. You're a tool. You belong to us. So stop fighting it-) She blinked.
"Will Director Fury be supervising my work in the field? Who am I reporting too? Civilians first or do I make the Avengers my priority?", her blank eyes bored holes into Maria's. The elder agent refrained from shifting uncomfortably. There was something...odd, about the way she just...shut down. Like a doll. "Captain Rogers will be your superior on the field. Delegate questions henceforth to him. Priority will be the civilians, but keep in mind the worth of America's first and only Super Soldier." (Know your worth, sweetheart. Know who you belong to. Know who you are obligated to follow. Stop fighting it-) She blinked. "Understood. ETA on Sokovia?" Brave stood straight with a deceptive elegance- as if silk threads were bound at her joints, allowing her grace and measure in her previously clumsy and ungainly steps. "We'll make contact in five. I'll take you to the dock. Director Fury says you can make your way down?" A nod. "Alright. Prepare yourself. We're dropping you right into the belly of the beast."
[break]
Captain Steve Rogers had never seen anything like her in his ninety something years of living. She had dropped down from a jet with speed he could barely track. She couldn't have been older than twenty, all deadly grace and poise. As if Natasha had shrunk down to five feet and rocked black hair lightly curled. "I need an eye on the unknown enhanced. Hill, are you seeing this?" He slammed his shield into one of the bots, taking out three others with it's momentum. "One of yours now, Captain. Code name Blurr, she's a genetically modified mutant. Long story short, she can manipulate cell structure. She's the best certified field medic this side of the galaxy. She is at your disposal." Steve frowned. The blank look in the girls amber eyes struck something in Steve. Every move she made was calculated, not one iota of energy wasted. Where had he seen such emptiness before? Such agility, such focus, such mindless determination? (Who the hell is Bucky? Who the hell is Bucky? Who the hell is-) He shuddered. "I don't know what game SHIELD is playing, but mark my words, Hill. We don't dabble in Winter Soldier protocols.", he hissed into his intercomm. Whatever response Maria planned to give was lost in the rise of Ultron and his army. The girl disappeared from his line of sight. "Blurr, I need you to keep evacuating citizens. Is everyone making their way to the church?", he threw himself over two cars, landing a solid punch on a bot. "This is Blurr. Parameters accepted." The rest of his team echoed similar agreements.
He could investigate the unknown enhanced later. He had a job to do.
[break]
When the dust settles, the world will not remember the small half-asian girl darting through the streets. She will exist only in the memories of children, who dare to burn the image of her dancing figure into their fragile hearts. She will become folklore. A ghost in the night to ease the terrors this war will surely give rise to.
When the dust settles, the world will remember red and gold flashes and the throw of the american flag. They will remember the awesome power of the green beast. They will remember a a soaring falcon and a perched hawk and a weaving widow and a figure of steel with war at its fingertips.
When the dust settles, the world will remember the crater of Sokovia. They will remember the floating haven, the gentle hands of Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, true sons and daughters of the Motherland. They will remember the bright light of home shooting up like fireworks on the fourth of july and for once- they will cheer Tony Stark's name.
When the dust settles, the world will not remember Brave.
[break]
AN: BEEN A HOT MINUTE SINCE I POSTED HASN'T IT? Age of Ultron got me catching some feels so here's the start to a hopefully long-ass Pietro/OC/Wanda fic. Love me some twins. As always, drop a review! But if it's about the whole twincest thing going on, I'd save my breath and skip it. Peace assholes.
****BONUS:
[...hacking SHIELD FILES...]
WELCOME MR. STARK...|
...ACCESSING FILE Project B.R.A.V.E...|
...ACCESSING FILE Code Name BLURR...|
[Hello sir. JARVIS speaking. Here is what I've managed to pull so far from SHIELD databases.]
Name: Brave Young
Age: 23
Guardians: George and Rebecca Young
File Notes: Subject is able to manipulate cell structure. Seems limited only to 'human flesh' as put in lay-mens terms via Dr. Astrada. Experimentation paused as of 2003. Subject as been field tested. See file [****] for more.
Tony paused. "Keep digging, JARVIS. I smell gold."
[...Understood, sir.]