Summary: A young woman is trained to be a fighter. She's tough but kind and Dr. Banner can't seem to keep away from the dark-haired beauty. Love, however, is a fickle thing and life isn't always easy. Bruce/OC
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC. This story is to take place after the movie ends and kind of just be its own little world from there.
Bruce Banner/OC
Chapter 1: Things Set in Motion
Bruce's POV
I had stayed. For some unfathomable reason, after Loki's defeat, I stayed. Things had been relatively quiet in Avengers Tower since then. I took Tony up on his job offer and now work in his R&D department. I work on anything Tony or the company needs and study my own...condition. The other Avengers had also decided to stay. Of course Tony and Pepper are here. Steve, Clint and Natasha (when they weren't on missions), and Thor were all here too. I've found that I rather like interacting with people who understood me and the Big Guy. I'm able to keep to myself but I also have, well, friends. What can be better than that?
Anastasia's POV
I never meant for things to be this way. It wasn't my fault my Dad owed too many gambling debts to the wrong people in town. It wasn't my fault that those people came to collect when I had just turned 17. It also wasn't my fault that my abilities also began to manifest themselves as the hired thugs kicked in our doors and killed both of my parents. I screamed and ran. I didn't know what else to do but as I tore through my house and the adrenaline began to pump, my body began to change. I felt my muscles begin to surge with strength. I made it to my bedroom and slammed the door shut behind me. As I pushed to hold the door closed, I noticed my nails had grown into long talons. I jerked back in shock and screamed again. My back began to burn and I couldn't help but scream again from the pain. I felt skin tear and muscles and tendons stretch. What was happening? My mind and heart raced but as large feathery protrusions became prominent, I could see what was happening. Wings. Wings were now sticking out from my shoulder blades. I had essentially become a bird.
Unfortunately, the thugs who were in my house, busted down the door at that moment and stopped short with their mouths hanging open. After a few seconds of stunned silence from all of us, one decided to fire his gun. I closed my eyes as he aimed directly for me. This was it. I closed my eyes as I heard the discharge of the gun and a soft pop against my forehead. I opened one eye a few seconds later to find the four men staring at me in confusion and awe. My skin had just deflected a bullet meant to end my life. I felt shock settle into my limbs and a state of disbelief set in. A large bald man pulled out a cell phone and quickly dialed someone. I only caught parts of his whispered conversations as all of them stared at me.
He slammed his phone shut and stalked toward me. I backed away as far as I could but couldn't escape him. "You're coming with us," he growled. He jerked on my arm and I lunged and scratched him. After lots of scratching, punches, kicks, and screams, they wrestled me into a van and slammed the door. I had no idea what was going to happen and what had happened to me to result in my strange transformation.
One long van ride later, I found myself kneeling in front of the head boss. He smiled as if happy to see me. He then calmly explained how things were going to work. One of his main attractions was an underground fighting club. He captured and trained people with special abilities, and people paid to see them fight or kill each other...and I was to become his newest attraction.
And so that became my life. I had no other relatives and no more family. This was it for me. I despised the man that had my father killed but I knew I had to choice. As he put it for me, "Fight or die." So I chose to live albeit under restrictions. As I got older and became more trained, I also rose in popularity. I really did become his star attraction. I was known as the Raven because the wings that I could produce when needed from my back were completely midnight black with a violet sheen.
I also gained more freedom. The boss wanted us to be educated so I finished high school curriculum and then began to attend college in the city. I loved science, particularly genetics, and I excelled at it. So, school by day and fights by night. Though I yearned for freedom, I spent almost 5 years of my life this way. Though not happy, I wasn't entirely miserable because I knew one day my escape would come. I just didn't realize it would come in the form of the Avengers.