This is an Avengers fan-fiction. Sadly I don't own any of the characters or mos of the references made. Stan Lee is the true owner and I am nothing more that a fan. Please enjoy.
Comments are very welcome and appreciated. I've written up to page 31 but I'm only posting up to page 10 right now for the sake of inspiration and not feeling like I'm being rushed.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock. The clock on the far side of my room chimed loudly signaling my first day at the academy. There was a quick knock at my door before Bella, my best friend, rushed in.
"Time to get up Kat!" I rolled over and looked at her, analyzing her energy. She was currently pulling on a pair of faded jeans, and had a tooth brush hanging out of her mouth; she looked like a clown in a circus. She paused long enough to yank the covers off of me, and glare before resuming her hop-and-brush performance. Before exiting my room she turned back and gave me a warning look.
"Get up or else I'll start playing Fury's lectures over your stereo." Nearly choking on my yawn, I jump and and start tripping trying to get up as quickly as possible. Bella laughed as she skipped out of my room to finish getting dressed.
I rushed down stairs, still pulling on my blue and purple Cheshire cat jacket as Bella finished her pop-tarts. She looked at me with raised eyebrows and sighed melodramatically.
"What!?" I grumbled while pouring myself a large cup of coffee. She waited until I was done adding milk and sugar before she commented.
"Aren't you going to look nice for today? It's our first day at S.T.A.O.T., and you look like you don't give a crap." I rolled my eyes and poured myself a zip-lock bag of Honey-nut Cheerios.
"Well I don't really give a crap, I know I look like hell, I feel like hell. And what is staot?" Giving me a curious look, she handed me a small, heavy black brochure. I flipped through the smooth, glossy pages and landed on the page explaining S.T.A.O.T. or S.H.I.E.L.D. Training Academy of Tomorrow. It was a new system of training potential S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and scouting out a very limited number of people to apprentice for the Avengers Initiative.
Once I was finished reading she snatched the pamphlet out of my hands and gave me an analytical look.
"So?" She looked at me expectantly.
"So, I guess we better get going, or we're gonna be late." Pausing she pursed her lips but didn't argue. We step outside and had only just locked up when a jet black SUV pulled up to the curb. A young man, only a few years older than Bella and I, stepped out of the driver seat and opened the back door.
"Ms. Bella Rose, Ms. Kat Knightlok? I'm Agent Shackleford and I'll be escorting you to the academy." He gave us a dashing smile as Bella started for the vehicle.
"Wait." I grabbed her arm and tugged lightly.
"Kat?" She gave me a worried glance, but I just smiled.
"Not to be a bitch or anything Agent Shackleford, but I'm going to need some identification, stating that you are really you." Cocking his head to the side his smile widened and I narrowed my eyes, he stepped back from the opened car door as an odd, slightly fidgety middle aged man stepped out and greeted us with a gentle wave and an official S.H.I.E.L.D. identification badge.
He gave us both a warm smile.
"Congratulations girls, you've passed the very first exam, if you will?" He motioned to the SUV. He followed Bella and I into the surprisingly large car.
"That first test was to see whether or not you would go along with just anybody because of a cool car, or a good looking man." His lips twitched like he had just told a joke. I crossed my arms over my chest and pursed my lips slightly.
"So Agent..." he straitened his tie and realized we had never caught his name.
"Coulson, it's Phil Coulson." I nodded and continued.
"So, Agent Phil," his bottom lip twitched up into a very small smile.
"What exactly would have happened if we had gone with Mr. Hot-shot?" I vaguely motioned to the drivers seat were Agent Shackleford sat watching the road with a frightening intensity. Coulson tilted his head a bit, like a small child pondering the existence of the Tooth-fairy, until he seemed to come to a reasonable answer.
"We would have simply driven in circles for about an hour, and dropped you off in an empty lot." He shrugged casually and sipped some water from a small bottle.
"It isn't that a little cruel? To lead people on like that, and then to just abandon them without giving them a chance!?" Bella, who had been sitting quietly the whole time, listening, finally blew a fuse.
"I mean seriously! What kind of sick, twisted bastard would do something like that!? I'll tell you what kind! The same exact kind of people who are stupid, and moronic enough to freakin' experiment on another living, breathing human being!" Without realizing she had begun to stand, she sat back down with a huff and brushed stray curls out of her eyes. I quickly glanced at Coulson's absolutely shocked and terrified face to know that not only had Bella yelled at him physically, but she had also yelled at him mentally too.
"Sorry Phil, but I'm guessing she read the bio on Dr. Banner."
It took a while before Coulson had somewhat recovered from his mental invasion, I remember when Bella had first done it to me. It had been the first year of high school and I was good at fighting; teachers, students, parents or other faculty, it didn't matter. One day I had tried to start a fight with Bella's Movie Club president when she snapped at me. It had felt like being hit in the head with a metal baseball bat,and having the ground fall from under you, all your past mistakes drawn up to the surface to judge you, then having all the air knocked out of you. I felt like I'd been out for months, but when I had woken up only about 45 minutes had past and I was in the schools infirmary. I had a migraine and a sprained wrist. Apparently when I passed out I had fallen and hit a desk on the way down, and Bella helped me to the infirmary, she sat with me until I woke up.
"Ohmygawd Kat, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." She had almost fainted when I woke up, and now she had begun to tear up.
"Don't worry about it Bella, I've gotten worse than a migraine and a sprained wrist in a fight before." I gave her a small, reassuring smile. She tilted her head slightly making her auburn red curls bounce around her face.
"How do you know my name?" Her eyes searched my face curiously and seemed to analyze my movements.
"Oh, we've been neighbors for almost 5 years." I laughed nervously trying to relieve some of the tension in the small room.
"Really!?" She couldn't seem to hide her shock, her crystalline blue eyes widened and her lips parted like she wanted to say something.
My attention snapped back into focus as the SUV pulled up to a large beige building that looked like it was trying to be professional and intimidating but homely and welcome at the same time. With his focus finally returning Agent Coulson gave Bella and I a proud grin.
"Welcome to your new school, and living facilities." The SUV cruised to a smooth stop. Agent Shackleford opened the door, Bella and I followed Coulson out and the humidity hit instantly. Everything felt sticky and gross, and Bella's hair began to frizz and crackle with static electricity. I glanced over and started to laugh, Bella looked like a ball of copper wire with arms and legs attached. Coulson loosened his tie and began fanning himself with a thick manila folder.
"What's that?" I asked gesturing to the obese folder.
"Oh, this? It's your file." He held up a much thinner one.
"This is Bella's." It was Bella's turn to laugh, I just rolled my eyes and let my embarrassment boil.
The windows on nearby buildings rattled and a high pitched squeal emanated from Agent Shackleford. Coulson looked around frantically with his hand hovering precariously over the standard issue 9 millimeter hand-gun. Agent Shackleford's head began twitching and convulsing uncontrollably while smoke billowed slowly out of his mouth and his eyes sparked dangerously. Then suddenly it all stopped. Taking a deep breath I slowly looked around. Coulson stood on full alert and several people had come rushing out of the building, probably for fear of it crashing down around them. Agent Shackleford was still smoking but looked otherwise dead or broken. Bella, on the other hand, looked like a child, she had got down in the fetal position, and was looking around in awe and fear.
"Bella?" I asked cautiously as I knelt down to her level, she jumped and looked at me with wide eyes.
"Bella? Are you okay?" Nodding slowly she grabbed my hand for support as she stood up.
"What was that? It felt like a bomb went off, I thought it was just me until everything started shaking." She held on tightly to my arm as security teams rushed around us to survey the damage and threat level.
~What the hell is going on!? Damn it! The fucking campus police!~
There was a crisp, dark voice that echoed in my head. I glanced over at Bella and came to the quick conclusion that she hadn't heard the voice. No one had...no one but me. Normally I would have shrugged it off as my imagination, but not only had I heard the voice, but I had felt it. It felt like having lemon juice squeezed down your throat, but also like having the best pain killer and a massage.
~Hello!?~ I tentatively ventured out towards the voice in my mind. I could feel the shock on the other end of whatever psyche line I had come across.
~Hello?~ The reply sounded hesitant and cautious, with good reason.
~How are you doing this?~ I felt stupid for asking but the curiosity was besting me.
~You know I could be asking you the same thing. I'm a Reader, it means I can read anything from minds to dead languages. What are you?~ The connection seemed to be getting stronger and clearer.
~I don't know what I am. What's your name?~ He stopped for a while but the connection was still there.
I was about to ask again was Coulson, Bella and I rounded a sharp corner and I ran face first into a strong chest. Electric currents ran over my body making my hair stand on end.
"Ohmygod, I'm so sorry, we didn't see you there." Bella gave me a sharp jab to the ribs and I quickly recomposed myself.
"Oh, it's quite alright." A suave British accent broke through, though he tried to hide it. He gave Bella a kind smile then turned to face me.
"How are you?" I just looked at him, most likely with a derp face, because he gave a slight chuckle.
"You." It was barely a whisper but I knew he had heard me.
~You, what's your name?~ His green-gray eyes widened.
"It's you!" He scooped me up into a bear hug and spun me around.
~The name's Alex.~ I could hear the grin in his voice.
~Kat.~ He laughed out loud. Bella gave me a quizzical look.
"So, uh, how do you know Kat?" She crossed her arms expectantly and looked in between us.
"Kitten and I have never met before. We've just been talking for the better part of 20 minutes. Right after the building shook." She raised her eyebrows but said nothing.
"Hey Coulson! You giving Kitten and her friend the tour?" Coulson gave him the go-away look which only made him laugh.
"Well why don't I help." He got a playful grin and wrapped an arm over my shoulders.
"Right this way ladies! Over here we have breakfast and lunch, though dinner isn't much better." he gestured to an old, broken down vending machine.
"To your left is the academy's training room, also known as the Hell Room. Upstairs are the bathrooms and dorms, both are gender friendly." He leaned down and whispered loudly in my ear.
"My room number is B66, and the key is under the mat." Coulson cleared his throat and Alex winked slyly.
"To your right is the hang-out spot, or parking lot. Downstairs is the basement, enter if you dare. And across campus are all the classrooms that make you feel like your back in high school." He spread his arms wide and did a circle that looked like he was basking in the sunshine.
"So who are you anyway?" Bella seemed amused with the tour.
"I thought I told you..." He paused, mulling it over.
~Or did I tell you?~ He gave me a knowing glance.
"Well little miss, I'm Alex Blighton" Smiling she politely shook his outstretched hand.
"I'm Bella, Bella Rose. Obviously, you've met Kat." His smile widened a bit.
"Yes, I've got Kitten's first name, but her last name and phone number still elude me." He grinned and patted the small, wild tufts of hair that slightly resembled cat ears. Trying to hide my irritation, I swatted his hands away.
"Kat Knightlok, and my phone number is 1-800-go-to-hell." He chuckled, if only to himself.
"My, my, what a feisty Kitten." His eyes flashed jade green for a moment.
Coulson sighed, obviously fed up with Alex and his joking around.
"Girls, we must go see the director with your transcripts and files. He doesn't like to be kept waiting." He glared at Alex until he was satisfied that the boy was not going to spontaneously com-bust. Bella and I followed Coulson as he practically jogged out of the building. A phone rang, it wasn't 'Suit and Tie' so it wasn't Bella's phone, it wasn't 'Super Psycho Love' so it wasn't mine, it was the 'Star Spangle Banner'. Without too much hesitation, Coulson accepted the call on his shiny Blackberry.
"Coulson...yes sir...yes sir...no sir...on our way...no sir Miss Rose and Miss Knightlok got distracted...Blighton sir...yes sir, goodbye sir." His pace quickened and Bella and I had to almost run to keep up with him.
We walked/ran into a gray building, he nodded a quick greeting to the receptionist and made a b-line to the elevator.
"Coulson? Can we take the stairs?" I didn't like elevators, not since I was eight and got stuck in one by myself for 13 hours. He snorted in slight irritation.
"Miss Knightlok, there are no stairs to where we are going, now please, come on." I backed away from the opened doors as I began to tremble.
"You guys go, I'm gonna stay here." Coulson didn't seem to like my answer.
"We need to leave now!" I could tell he was losing his patience with me.
~Go on Kitten, I'll be here if you need me.~ Sudden confidence and relief flooded through me as I felt his presence.
"Kat come on, you'll be fine." Bella gave me a warm smile and held her hand out.
~You better not leave me, I'll kick your ass.~ I could hear Alex's laughter as I took Bella's hand and stepped inside the metal death trap.
~Wouldn't dream of it Kitten, I'll always be here when you need me.~ I got a mental image of him making a low sweeping bow with a handsome grin on his face.
~Promise?~ I hugged the elevator walls, hoping that by becoming smaller maybe the elevator wouldn't plummet and kill us all.
~For you Kitten, the world.~ I could see his mischievous grin and a playful look in his green-gray eyes, slightly hidden under his shaggy, onyx black bangs.
The elevator chimed and the doors slid open to reveal what looked like a very busy open-office. People were sitting at very large computer monitors, and others were bustling around with files and documents, it looked like a few temps were passing out coffee and bagels. Coulson steered us to an office that not even the temps dared get close to. I was afraid to find out why. It didn't matter though because within a matter of minutes, Coulson, Bella ad I were standing in front of the menacing black door and Coulson was lightly knocking on it. The door flew open with a loud bang and I could hear the work increase behind us.
"You're late." A very deep and agitated voice boomed out of the door.
~Wow. First day and you already get to meet Mr. Magic-8-Ball.~ I heard him snickering and walked in behind Bella. There was a large desk and behind it was an equally large, dark an wearing a long, black trench coat and an eye-patch.
~Magic-8-ball?~ This man did not look like any kind of Magic 8 ball you would want to mess with.
~Yeah, if you drew a white 8 on the back of his head he could pass for one.~ He chuckled as the large man faced us.
"Coulson, give these girls a place to sit." Within seconds there were two overly plush, leather chairs.
"Take a seat." Quickly we obliged the terrifying man.
"Good..." he checked his silver watch.
"Good afternoon, now, I'm Director Fury. Normally no one gets to see the head director until their second year. Luckily for you two, we see that both of you have a very large amount of potential. He was pacing behind his desk with his hands folded behind his back.
"By no means are you two normal."
~By no means is he ever going to get laid.~ I couldn't help it, I ended up laughing at Alex's comment. Fury looked at me and scowled.
"Do tell Miss Knightlok, what is funny?" I blanked for all of a second and found my answer.
"If someone painted a white 8 on the back of your head, people could shake it and you could predict their death." I could feel Alex smirk.
Fury gave a low chuckle, and had a frightening smile tugging at his lips.
"Funny. You have the same sense of humor as an egotistical, genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist that I've had the pleasure of hiring." I laughed to myself.
"Anyway, as I was saying, neither of you two are normal, not even by S.H.E.I.L.D.'s standards. You two are special and will be trained alongside others like you." The connection I had with Alex dimmed a bit.
~Alex?~ I didn't know why but was worried.
~Don't worry Kitten, I'll still be here, but the connection drains me bit, and haven't had any coffee.~ I could hear his faint chuckle the the connection went silent.
"Others like us?" Bella inquired quietly.
"I mean, I know my ability, but Kat doesn't seem to have an ability." She was hesitant like she was afraid that I might get mad.
"Bella, I'm not gonna tun big an green if that's what you're scared of." She laughed nervously and tucked a copper curl behind her ear.
Fury gave her a quizzical look, them turned to me.
"Miss Knightlok, we don't appreciate comrades lying to each other at this academy. Now why doesn't Bella, your best friend, know?" I narrowed my eyes and gave him a dark look that he seemed to find amusing.
"Sir, pardon my audacity, but I figured you of all people would respect the process of lying to keep someone safe and keeping secrets from people. Like say your real name is Nicholei Francene Colarsury." His eyes darkened, but I held his gaze, challenging him. Coulson dropped the clip-board he had been taking notes on, it had landed on the shiny, hardwood floor with a clatter.
"Where do you get your information from?" I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly.
"Coulson!" He barked out with a sneer.
"What is Miss Knightlok's personal history?" There was a deep, impatient growl as Coulson began frantically looking through my file.
"S-s-sir, other than several fights at school her file is clean, no arrests or anything. The only police report filed with her name on it is her parent's file. It says they were both killed, shot in the throat and the head, it states that 'Mr. Johnathan Knightlok and Mrs. Cassandra Knightlok/ Romanoff were both killed executioner style, while their four year old daughter Katarina (Kat) Knightlok watched from a closet they had hidden her in. Kat describes the killer as a one-eyed dragon with boots on. No arrests were ever made."
"Romanoff? Cassandra Romanoff? Now that name sounds familiar, wasn't she a Russian spy that was trying to infiltrate the Pentagon?" Fury tapped his chin in thought before looking at me.
"She wasn't a spy for the Russians. She was your partner! You killed her and my father after she had been assigned the task of investigating your loyalty to our government!" It came out so suddenly, this burst of concentrated anger, that I started seeing black spots enter my range of vision. I couldn't stop.
"She was just following orders from your superiors, and you murdered my mother and my father. They were my only family you prick!" The black spots were getting bigger and closer together.
"You're a no good murdering bastard! Oh, and you killed my little sister too, yeah, that's right! She was 3 months pregnant!" That was it, and I was falling. The darkness was clouding my vision and I was gone.
~Kitten!?~ There was a small light cutting through the darkness.
~Kat! Where are you? Tell me now!~ Panic, that's all I could read from the words.
~Fury's office.~ It hurt to think, like I was speaking with a dry throat. A few minutes, or maybe it was hours, and there was a crash far away.
~Kitten!~ The small light grew, almost blinding me. Warm arms wrapped around me and I was lifted into the air, and out of the darkness. There was a faint light surrounding me.
~Don't worry Kitten.~
"I'm taking her to Banner." The rich, British accent wasn't trying to be hidden, I could feel the anger slowly saturating the thin connection Alex and I shared. I carefully opened my eyes only to see Alex's chest, tilting my head, the room around me became clearer. On one side, Bella and Coulson were standing by a window with shocked expressions on their faces, and Fury was standing in front of them with a hardened, icy glare.
"You're not taking her anywhere but a maximum security prison cell." On the other side of the room was Alex and a still dazed me. We were definitely out matched.
"Under what charges!?" Fury grinned with a sense of superiority that sickened me.
"Under the charges of conspiring with a national traitor and terrorist." He lowered his eye to look at me.
"And she threatened the life of a government agent with technology that has yet to be witnessed, even by her own house-mate." Struggling, I squirmed my way out of Alex's arms, but still held onto him tightly for support.
"Alright, fine. Mr. Blighton as an American citizen it is your duty to escort me to said 'maximum security prison cell'. I won't resist, I just need your help getting there." I searched Fury's face for a reaction, his features said pleased, bu his eyes said shocked and disappointed.
~Kitten!? What in Odin's name are you doing!?~ I glared darkly at Alex's worried expression.
"Look, they're either going to arrest and interrogate me thoroughly, or I could run and be shot in the back. I would like to live as long as possible. Besides it's not like they're gonna get anything from me they don't already know."
We traveled up a maze of stairs and took three excruciating elevators until we reached the roof of a tall brick building. There was a landing pad and emergency agents at every corner and possible exit. Fury made a quick call and within minutes a black helicopter touched down on the landing pad. Fury got on first, followed by Coulson, me, Alex and Bella. We sat silently on the surprisingly comfortable seats and watched as the helicopter lifted us farther and farther from the brick building.
"We're going to a heli-carrier about 20 miles from here." Fury spoke curtly answering my unspoken question.
"What are you going to do with her when we arrive?" Alex sat stiffly next to me, almost like he couldn't decide whether to protect me or yell at me. I could feel the tension rolling off of him, it felt like being battered by waves in a riptide. Fury turned and scowled.
"We'll put her in a cell block, interrogate her, and treat her like a threat to national security." He sounded so matter-of-fact about it, like it had already been decided.
Our small black helicopter soon caught sight of the large, black, flying barge. It was larger than a football field, and looked to weigh more that a cruise liner. It was intimidating. We touched down on a landing pad, similar to the one we had left to begin with.
"Welcome to your new home Kat." Fury sneered as he roughly snapped heavy metal cuffs around my wrists. He grabbed them harshly and pulled me from the helicopter without bothering to be gentle. The pull jerked me from my seat and out of the helicopter, before I could catch my footing I felt myself hit the landing pad with a hard thump, there was a loud pop. I cried out from the searing pain that radiated from my left wrist.
"Oh, sorry dear." The fake sincerity that rolled off of Fury's tongue made me want to smack the smirk right off his demeaning face. He deliberately grabbed my throbbing and now swollen wrist, it took all my will not to black out from the immense pain that went shooting through my arm.
The others scrambled out of the aircraft, but stood away from Fury and his victim, me. I was beginning to see stars and was getting dizzy. There was a loud commotion going on around me, I couldn't see anything, but whatever was happening was getting louder. Then everything just stopped, I thought maybe I had passed out but I was still fully aware of m surroundings. Before I had time to process what happened, it was as if the world had hit the play button. A man with graying, curly brown hair and wrinkled clothes ran up, almost out of breath. He removed his glasses to reveal chocolate brown eyes.
"Sir, may I ask what you're doing to this girl?" I looked up at him, wanting him to just leave.
"What I do to national spies is my business, Dr. Banner." Fury didn't look like he wanted to be having this conversation.
"A national spy? But she's just a kid!" Dr. Banner laughed at Fury's outrageous accusations.
Fury sneered resentfully and yanked on my quite obviously broken wrist, I screamed, a blood curdling sound that left me gasping for air.
"Sir! Dr. Banner, please take Miss Knightlok to the infirmary to be treated." Coulson looked like he was drenched in a nervous sweat, and couldn't watch much more of Fury's abuse. Fury glowered at him but released my throbbing wrist, instinctively I cradled it against my chest protectively. Without hesitation Dr. Banner scooped me up in his arms and began hurriedly walking away. Alex just stood there like a statue the whole time, and I could tell he wasn't mentally there, because the psychic connection between us had been cut.
Dr. Banner was soon walking me through a large door frame and into a very white and blue room. He sat me down on a stiff bed that resembled one from a hospitable. He quickly checked for any other injuries, other than the broken wrist. Once he was satisfied I had no other wounds he quickly went to work on my hand.
"Miss, you wouldn't happen to have the keys to these handcuffs, would you?" When I shook my head he gave a frustrated smile and nodded like it was a stupid question. "But," I started nervously.
"I do know how to pick the lock." He looked at me with wide eyes and grinned.
"I just need my bobby-pin and a long, thin piece of metal." I unclipped my hair, letting the black curls fall past my shoulders and he handed me a small piece of copper wiring.
With the bobby-pin in my mouth I made quick work of the handcuffs and they soon fell to he floor with a loud, metallic clatter. He wrapped my wrist tightly in bandages and a splint, put some ice on it and gave me some medication for the pain. After making sure I swallowed the tiny yellow pills he sat down across from me in a rolling chair (like in a doctor's office) and took his glasses off to look at me in the eye.
"Are you really a national spy?" He raised an eyebrow like he was expecting an honest answer. I shook my head insistently and he held up his hands to stop me.
"Alright, alright, calm down. Let's start off easy. What's your name?" I sat there quietly for a few minutes, but he didn't force me to say anything.
"My name's Kat Knightlok."
He smiled approvingly.
"Now Kat, that sounds like a nickname, what's your full name?" I brought my legs up to sit criss-cross-apple sauce.
"Katarina Seraphim Knightlok." He smiled, this time a warm and trustworthy smile.
"That's a beautiful name. I need to get some work done down in my lab. But you are, of course, welcome to join me if you would like." I slowly nodded and quietly followed him to a large room with metal tables, computer screens, holographs, tools, and an old looking, green couch with matching coffee table. I looked between Dr. Banner and the couch.
"Really? Green?" I raised and he laughed.
"Yes, I'm glad you find the humor in it, Tony bought it, he said it 'gave the room color'." I felt my lip twitch up into a partially hidden smile. He nodded approvingly and motioned to the couch and multiple stools positioned around the lab.
"Sit anywhere you'd like. I'll be working on that monitor there." He gestured to a large, holographic screen with equations I didn't recognize.
He walked over and began working on the screen dutifully, so I sat down on one of the chairs near him and watched him work.
"So, what exactly are you working on Dr. Banner?" I leaned over far enough to look over at the screen.
"Oh, it's a new formula to see if I can separate my cells from 'his' cells. I f I can do that then maybe I could control him better without risking people's lives. I thought that maybe there was a direct chemical link between my normal atoms, molecules and genes and the 'other guys' atoms, molecules and genes. If I can find the link and decipher the chemical code then I maybe able to separate he and I completely."
I watched as he added onto the equation and sat back to examine his work carefully. He ran a hand through his ruffled hair.
"I'm sorry if this is boring you Katarina." He gave me a lopsided grin that nearly reached his eyes.
"No, no! It's actually fascinating. But..." I quickly got up and rounded the lab table and did some quick calculations, after erasing and re-writing some of the variables I set down the electro-magnetic pen and stepped away from the screen. Bella had apparently walked in before I had finished writing and was sitting on my abandoned seat. Banner examined the work and laughed like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"How did you do that!?" He frantically looked from me to the screen and back again, I shrugged and dragged another stool next to Bella.
"How did you come up with sch a substantial conclusion?" I looked at Bella and she gave me an encouraging nod to explain. I took a deep breath.
"Well if you take the amount of gamma radiation you were exposed to and divide it by the number of dark matter ions still present in your body, than you can roughly predict the amount of gamma ions that the Hulk uses to protect himself. Once you know that, you could, theoretically, bypass his his neurons and electrical impulses so that you maybe able to inject a plasma disrupter directly into the 'other guys' heart, with thermo-nuclear regulators of course, and you maybe able to monitor and study the 'other guy' until you're comfortable controlling him or getting rid of him." I stared at my hands, wisting my fingers into knots.
"You...are amazing!" I looked up, startled to find a very impressed Tony Stark.
He read and added onto the equation over Banner's shoulder.
"Tony, what the hell are you doing?" Banner glanced back at him as Tony continued to write.
"I'm just checking her work and how she got her thesis." He held out his hands up defensively. Banner rolled his eyes but quickly saved the strain of equations to the holographic server's system. He and Tony froze and I felt shivers run down my spine, I turned to look at the labs open glass doors to see fury standing there with a dark smirk on his face and his hands placed firmly behind his back.
"Miss Knightlok, seeing as how you are classified as a national threat, you are not authorized to be in this or any other facility." He took a few steps into the lab and looked around in disinterest. Dr. Banner walked over and calmly stepped between Fury and I.
" , may I remind you that as someone who is under universal observation, you have no right to defend someone under our security watch. Now if you would like to back away from my prisoner, I might consider not arresting you as well." He gave Banner a dark look, who in turn chuckled and squeezed the bridge of his nose.
"Look, Director, I don't approve of your method of discipline or interrogation. This is my lab, and she is under my care until all of her wounds heal." Fury looked over Banner's shoulder and glared at me before he sighed angrily.
"Fine, but anything she does is on you Banner." He stalked off and everyone in the room seemed to visibly relax.
Tony left a few minutes later, mumbling about brandy and scotch, and left Bella, Banner and I alone in the lab.
"So Katarina, I suppose I need to ask you a few questions before I decide to hand you over to Fury or not." I felt myself stiffen, hopefully he wouldn't turn me over so easily.
"So, ask away doctor." I could tell I was on the verge of an anxiety attack. He nodded and motioned to the old green couch. Bella and I sat down and the musty scent of Hawaiian breeze and aged coconut rum filled the room.
"Alright, so I have gotten your name, how old are you?" I kicked my yellow spade flats off and brought my feet up, crossing my legs.
"25." I wanted to answer simply and truthfully, because maybe this man could get me out of this crappy situation.
"Got any parents? Siblings?" I shook my head ever so slightly.
"No, both my parents were killed."
"By who?"
"Nick Fury." He stopped and gave me a curious look but continued on.
"What were your parent's names?"
"My father's name was Johnathan Knightlok, my mother's name was Cassandra Knightlok/ Romanoff." He stopped completely and stared at me with shock and horror written on his face.
"Did you say Romanoff?" My face paled, so it was true, my mother was a Russian spy. He looked like he couldn't decide whether to talk about something or not, finally he gave up on the internal debate.
"Follow me." He sighed and exited the lab with Bella and I hot on his heels, Banner walked briskly into a room with 3 padded walls and a floor to ceiling mirror. It was a two story room with weights, punching bags, ropes and an array of weapons, some I couldn't even begin to name.
" , what's going on? Where are we?" He looked at me with a very apologetic smile and continued to one of the mirrored walls. There was a slight indentation, he stuck one finger in and opened he mirror to reveal a room. The room held four plush love-seats, a glass coffee table, a mini-fridge, a bar, and in the corner a flat screen t.v. with a variety f movies scattered underneath.
"Wow." I had almost forgotten Bella ad come with us, apparently so had because he flinched and looked at her warily.
"Doctor?" It was the first female voice other than Bella's since facing Fury in his office. We turned to face the voice and saw a tall slender woman with fiery red hair that resembled Bella's and jade green eyes; she was wearing a black tank-top with S.H.E.I.L.D.'s insignia on it and loose sweat-pants.
"Hello Natasha, I would like for you to meet someone."
He stood behind me with his hands on my shoulders, he pushed me forward slightly.
"Natasha, this is Kat Knightlok." He sounded excited, hopeful even.
"Hello, I'm Natasha Romanoff." She held out her hand politely but I completely ignored the apparent gesture of kindness. She coughed, obviously irritated by my rudeness.
"Sorry." I mumbled and lightly shook her hand. She turned to walk away.
"Do you know if you're related to a Cassandra Romanoff?" It came out as barely a whisper, but it was loud enough for her to hear. Natasha slowly turned to face me with eyes that said she was.
"Yes, why?" Banner gave my shoulders a reassuring squeeze and explained for me.
"Natasha, Kat's mother was Cassandra. How are you related?" Natasha looked me over for the first, time scrutinizing every single detail, from my hair to my clothes and my shoes.
"Cassandra was my aunt. My mother's sister, you look nothing like Cassandra. Besides, she never had a child, you must be lying."
Natasha glared at me darkly and quickly turned on her heel and left. It felt like my wold was crumbling. I had family and they didn't even know I existed. They left me to the mercy of foster care and abusive people looking for a tax write-off, a free maid, or an easy lay. I felt myself begin shaking and warm tears slide silently down my cheeks. Bella quickly hugged me, but couldn't move, I was in utter shock.