Avengers Contagion

This has got to be the longest elevator ride ever. I must have gotten on the wrong one, I thought to myself. I looked up at the light slowly moving behind each number. Come on, come on. The elevator sensors must have sensed my anxiousness and changed the music to more up-beat tempo. It still wasn't passing the time.

The music stopped and so did the elevator, but I was nowhere near the top floor. The shiny doors opened in front of me and there stood Barton and the Cap, deep in discussion about flappers.

"They're probably nothing compared to the dancers of this generation?" Barton commented. "Hey Carmilla. No wait, it's Thanasee now right?"

"Yeah, hi." I answered back. I stepped to the right of me and let the men take a stand on my left. I tried to get as far into the corner as I could. Barton stood quite close to his corner across from me, but the Captain stood near the middle. It probably wouldn't affect him. I hope. I'm sure it wouldn't.

Barton must have looked down at my arm when he asked me how it was.

"It's pretty sick." I replied, giving him a slight smile. He gave me a knowing smile back and let out a laugh. The Captain was a little confused, but let it slide.

"Looks like Tony'll have to tweak it a little." Barton said while pointing at his Avenger friend. I looked up and saw Cap's forehead dripping with sweat, and he was swallowing hard. "You ok there Cap?"

"Umm, yeah. I'm fine." He took a deep breathe in, and the Hawk grabbed his arm and pulled him against the elevator walls.

"Sorry, it just, sort of, happens." I apologized to him, to both of them. I noticed Hawk was looking a little green too.

"Jarvis…" Barton exclaimed. "Hurry it up."

"Yes sir." Jarvis had managed to make the elevator move much faster. Within a blink, we had arrived at our destination. The doors opened and the men quickly stepped out, more like ran out and I took my sweet time walking out of the elevator. Why didn't I think of that?

The last time I was at Stark tower, I was in the basement with all of Tony's suits. I was sitting on a table, waiting, remembering how I had gotten there.

Hawkeye and I were hiding in a closet. I was there first, gathering intel on where my mother was and I heard a noise. I quickly jumped into the closet and managed to climb up the walls to the ceiling and hang on for dear life. Hawkeye, Barton came rushing in quietly. Apparently he had the same idea, but probably not about looking for my mother. He was about to climb up when he noticed that his spot was taken.

"Sorry" I mouthed to him. More noises were being heard from the adjacent room. He decided to stand facing the door with his bow and arrow at the ready. I wasn't just nervous about the people on the other side of that door, but I was lethal. I had just started to learn how to control it. I had only killed one person before, and that was a complete accident. I really didn't need another name on my list. Barton was knocked down to one knee. It wasn't looking good, neither was he.

Just as he couldn't take it anymore, the other room went silent. This was it, my… our moment. He went out first and I slowly made my way down. Barton came back in and held out his hand. I didn't want to infect him more than I already had so I ignored his helping hand and jumped down.

"Umm, ok. Need any help?" He asked me.

"Nope, I'm good." I retorted. I tried to keep him at bay, but I guess I was too much of an oddity that I was in the room, that I had gotten there before he had.

"Are you looking for this?" Barton held up a USB stick at almost to eye level, but he couldn't hold his arm up any longer. He was getting sicker by the minute. I had all the information I wanted, I just needed to leave the room, leave the building and get home.

I ran out of the room, but he had managed to follow close behind. As sick as he looked, I had to give him credit.

"Can you just leave me alone? I don't need whatever it is you think I need." I yelled back at him.

"Who are you?" He slowed his pace when we reached the elevator. I really did a number on him.

"Look." I stopped and turned to face him as I pressed the down button. "You need to stay away from me. I'm toxic." He was leaning against the wall, catching his breath and looked up at me. "I'm serious. Take the stairs. Or wait for the next one." He laughed at me. "Really? Look at you. You're sweating buckets, your eyes are bulging out and you're having a hard time keeping up. You're sick Hawkeye."

"So you know me?"

"Yeah, everyone knows the Avengers." I guessed I had managed to persuade him and he stood up and held his hands up. "I work with SHIELD, sort of."

"Ok, you win. I'll back off." He dropped his hands and headed back to the stairwell we had passed on the way here. "Have a nice ride down."

"Thanks. And it won't last long. You'll feel better in no time. Just… keep your distance." I warned him. He had disappeared out of sight when the elevator finally arrived. I turned to it, just in time to see three security guards materialized. They had reached for their guns, but I had already run down half the corridor. I turned the corner and saw the stairwell door closing. I managed to get to the door before it shut. Barton was down a flight of stairs and I was quickly catching up. I took it three steps at a time. Barton heard all the noise I was making and turned to face me.

"Decided to take the stairs?"

"Run!" I yelled. He hesitated until he looked up the stair case and saw them. He took my advice. We were almost on the twelfth floor and Barton took that exit. It made sense, I thought to myself. They weren't after him. And I was right. I sneaked a peek after reaching the ninth and saw they had completely ignored good ol' Robin Hood.

I don't remember much after that. Everything happened so fast. Banner and Tony were trying to piece together what had happened. The seventh floor had caught on fire somehow, and I was the only survivor. I wasn't at the time. I guess Barton felt bad for ditching me and came to save me. He found me on the ground, my arm reaching toward the window. Maybe I meant to smash it and jump out. He carried me out. But I was dead. I'm still confused at how I got to Stark tower though. What we know now is that I have a filter in my trachea so I can withstand smoke, and my eyes are very reptilian, as though I have a lens that appears when it's cloudy. I knew so little about my powers that all I could do is sit in his little laboratory and stare at his suits.

Banner and Tony had gotten together to make a gauntlet to help me control my stinger. Well, I call it a stinger. My left arm leaks out a toxin so strong that it can kill a room full of men, maybe. I wouldn't dare try. One death was enough for me. But what else would you call it?

I had gone through many tests to find out what I can and can't do. I already knew I was adopted and my mother created me. I think they call it genetically engineered immunity to all toxins: biological, chemical and nuclear. I won't go into details about all the different tests, believe me, it was horrible, but worth it.

Now I'm upstairs. What do they need me for? The view is magnificent. I walked over to the enormous windows and had passed Pepper.

"Oh, hi Thanasee. What are you doing here?" Pepper Potts asked me. She was sitting in the lounge.

"Tony asked me to come. He told me he'd meet me here." I answered her.

"Oh right. He told me to tell you to head towards his lab. I can show you…"

"I know where that is. Thanks." I headed back to the elevator. Clearly something was going on, or Barton and Steve wouldn't be here. I couldn't really care less right now. It's not my problem. Probably some Avenger thing with Hydra. Still looking for Bucky. Maybe Loki's back.