Chapter 1
"Mama, Mama, I've come home to you and Papa!" a small eight year old proclaimed to her mother, as the girl had just found her parents for the first time in her life.
"Baby, hide in the closet! Go, now!" A strikingly beautiful woman was gently nudging the girl inside a hidden closet. Just then, a muscled man in all black, with a strange emblem of an "E" and a "V" intertwining, stalked into the room as she shut the door, unnoticed by the man, and grabbed her.
"Alex!" the woman shouted, "They're here! Et elle aussi!" Her voice sounded desperate, but for what, the girl couldn't figure out. Suddenly a grungy-looking man came bursting through the door, his brown hair awry as he franticly scanned the room for that small crack through which he could see his young daughter.
"Jamie," the man, Alex, said, as he moved to stand next to his wife and in front of their hidden daughter, never letting his sight stray from the mysterious man, who was now advancing quickly. Though Alex and Jamie tried to defend themselves, this man was trained way past their expertise. The young girl stood shaking violently as she watched the man's knife pierce her father's chest as his scream pierced the silent night. Then the poor girl watched as the man proceeded to tie up her mother and set a gun to her head…the girl shut her eyes…BANG! Then a small thud as her mother's body fell lifelessly to the ground. The man chuckled a deep, throaty chuckle as he sauntered to stand next to Alex.
"Never forget, Alex Grace, that Ero Vere will always be watching. And that I, Jacque Valjean, was the cause of the mighty Alex Grace's downfall." The man, Jacque, had a slight French accent but what caught the girl's attention was the ugly scar that was etched across his right eye all the way down to underneath his lip. He viciously stomped on Alex's bleeding chest, spat on him, and walked out of the house. Once the girl heard the sound of a car engine become fainter and fainter, she came out of the closet, approached her father, and sat next to him. Just by looking at her battered father, lying stiffly in a pool of blood, she knew no matter what she did, he would die.
"Papa? Papa please don't die, I only just met you. I-I-I need you Papa! I need you now and forever!" the little girl begged as tears rapidly ran down her face and into his now blood red shirt in which she buried her face. Suddenly Alex gave a choking cough followed by another bloody one as he slowly opened his eyes for the last time.
"Be strong, Emily! Always stay strong and never give up no matter what! I love you my sweet Emily Grace, my dear rose!" Alex's voice echoed in the young girl's mind as his last words escaped his mouth. With all of his remaining strength, he reached up to cup her small face in his hands and wiped away her tears. Finally with a weak smile, his head relaxed and arm fell as the light left his eyes. The silence was deafening.
"Papa? Papa? PAPA! No! Please don't leave me, Papa! I need you! I need you so badly, Papa! Please don't leave! Please!" the girl begged as a waterfall of tears cascaded down her face, mixing with the blood of her father, now dead.
"Noooooo!" Emily shot up, drenched in a cold sweat, the memory of her parents' deaths still haunting her after eleven years, even though she killed Jacque Valjean years ago. It was pitch black in her room and she couldn't see a thing, but she heard her door open and footsteps rush towards her. She was on the verge of tears as she felt the familiar strong arms encircle her in a comforting hug. She burst into tears as she numbly wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck.
"Shhh, it's ok, shhh," Clint whispered in her ear as he stroked her hair in a comforting manner.
"I had just met him, just met him and that bastard took him away from me! It's not fair! It's just not fair, Clint!" Emily cried into him, speaking in a whisper. "And I'm constantly afraid that he's going to find me and-and hurt me."
"I know, I know, but think of it, now Valjean's dead and he—"
"Don't say his name!" she shrieked. "Please don't say that damned name!"
"Sorry, now…He is dead and can never, ever harm you. And if he even comes close, I won't let him. As long as I'm here, you'll always be safe."
"He's not the only problem, Clint, it's James…I fear he's looking for me, and when James looks for someone, he always, always finds them. And what he'd do to me? Oh gosh, Clint, for the second time in my life, I'm afraid, so afraid of him."
Clint sighed, now fully realizing why the girl who never cried was sobbing. It was all because of her adopted brother, the only person who could ever overpower Emily and hurt her, and because of that, she was terrified to the bone of him.
Every time James' name was mentioned, Emily would stiffen up and get a far-away look in her eyes, and that hurt Clint deeply, not because he had romantic feelings for the girl, but he cared deeply for her; she was like a twin sister to him, they were that close.
"Emily, I swear to you, I will never let that man come near you and if he dares to, he will regret it," he whispered in her ear as he held her tighter, "I swear. Now lie down and go back to sleep; everything will be alright."
"Thanks Clint," she said as she kissed his cheek and laidback down in her bed, very much comforted by Clint's promise. Clint smiled as he turned away to leave, but turned back when he felt a small hand grab his wrist.
"Will you stay with me tonight please? I don't wanna be alone…" Emily asked a pleading look in her eyes. Being as he had jumped out of bed himself to comfort Emily, he was already wearing what he sleeps in: boxers and no shirt, so Clint sighed as he walked to the other side of the bed and laid down next to her, covering both of them with the blankets.
"Goodnight Emily," Clint said before he drifted off into a dreamless slumber.
Emily woke up to a small sliver of sunlight shining on her face as she stretched out and found that Clint wasn't there. He must be making breakfast, Emily thought as she wrapped herself up in the blanket and headed downstairs. As she stood in the doorway to the kitchen, she smelled eggs and heard Clint softly humming, which made her giggle, ruining her stealthy entrance. Clint looked up from his eggs at her, a slight blush on his cheeks from being found humming.
"Oh sit down and quit giggling, or else," Clint said, not very menacing in only a pair of guys athletic shorts.
"Or else what?" Emily challenged.
"Or else I'll burn your eggs."
"No! Not the eggs! Please, anything but the eggs!" Emily teased.
"Fine, since I'm feeling unusually merciful, I won't burn your eggs…but they are ready," Clint said as he set down a plate of delicious eggs in front of her. She inhaled deeply and dug in. After a fun breakfast that resolved in bits of egg being thrown at each other, Emily left to shower, and get ready for the day, wondering what she could do with her time. It was a relaxed day, seeing as her company had no missions for her today, unlike Clint who had a job with S.H.I.E.L.D as a dead-shot assassin, so she changed into teal shorts and a red and white Coca-Cola tee.
Though as she was brushing her hair, the brush got snagged on her necklace, which she forgot she had on. She fingered it and sat down, realizing that it was the gold heart-shaped locket embedded with a rose that her father gave her when she was born, since she was as beautiful as a rose; that eventually became her nickname. She opened it for the first time in years to see a picture of her parents holding a beautiful baby on one side and on the other was the quote "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly." As she stared at it, she felt sad yet hopeful and happy at the same time. Sad, because her parents weren't there to watch her grow up and live life, but hopeful and happy because they loved her enough to give her the locket with a quote to keep her going and a picture to remind her what for. She heard CIint shout a "goodbye" and the door slam, signaling he had left for "work". She grabbed her bag and went outside their mini mansion and hopped in her yellow Jeep Wrangler, a destination finally in mind.
The dance studio. Or better called her dance studio. After saving for years, Emily finally bought her own dance studio a couple of years back and seeing as she graduated college early with a Master's in dance from Juilliard, it seemed an appropriate buy.
After her parents' deaths, Emily ran away from the orphanage she stayed at until she was eight, to submerse herself in mixed martial arts and weaponry. To pass the time, she also danced, sang, and played various instruments, though her favorite would always be the piano. Once she turned thirteen, she learned that her father was the founder and CEO of the infamous Grace Industries, a company that owned nearly half of all minor companies, created new technologies, and rivaled the as-infamous Stark Industries. Since her father was dead, that made her the new CEO of the entire company, not to mention she was then finishing up her final year of earning a Master's in business from Harvard, as well as a Master's in engineering from Harvard, and a Master's in dance, music, and singing from Juilliard. So Emily was a very gifted girl with smarts that exceeded the infamous Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, and she was very, very, very rich indeed.
Emily was currently dancing a newly choreographed modern dance to Uprising by Muse and was getting so immersed in her dancing that she never noticed Clint sneak in to watch her until he turned the music off and said hi, making her jump.
"Clint!" she gasped, "never, ever do that again! Geez, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Clint just chuckled and handed her a cold water bottle which she gladly accepted. Suddenly conscience that she was wearing only tight, black boy-shorts and a tight, black tank, Emily slipped on an off-the-shoulder shirt and yoga pants.
"So why are you here? Not to be rude or anything…" Emily asked as she took a much-needed drink of water.
"Director Fury told me to bring you in, he never mentioned why though." Hmmm, why would Fury need me when I'm not even part of S.H.I.E.L.D? Emily thought.
"Ok, I guess I have no choice but to come."
"Good because I didn't want to have had to take you in by force," Clint said with a smile.
When they arrived on a huge aircraft carrier Emily ran out of the helicopter, she was never one for heights. Clint met up with some agents who then escorted both of them into what seemed to be the main control room. In front of her was a horse-shoed table with seven chairs around it and a pedestal where the circle didn't fully connect. There were five people already in the chairs, in order there was a woman with short, red hair who looked like someone not to be messed with, two empty seats, a strikingly handsome blond man with amazing blue eyes that looked a little out-of-date, a man with black hair who looked very cautious and maybe even a little afraid of something, another blonde man with longer hair who was wearing a strange armor and looked very…regal, and a man with messy black hair wearing a Black Sabbath tee shirt with a weird glowing circle under it. The man at the pedestal was black and wore a long, black trench coat with more black clothing underneath, he also wore an eye-patch over his left eye; he looked in-charge and stern. She was most surprised when Clint took a seat at the table and when Patchy nodded at her to sit down as well.
As she sat down in a seat between Clint and the handsome blonde, Patchy started to talk.
"Ms. Grace, welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D—" Fury started.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Grace? As in Grace Industries, Grace? As in the eighteen year old Emily Grace who is currently rivaling my company, Grace?" the Black Sabbath-glowing circle guy said in awe.
"Nineteen actually, about to be twenty. And yep, that's me. Emily Grace, proud CEO of Grace Ind. which is actually currently beating Stark Ind. I assume you're Tony Stark himself then, judging by your reaction and glowy-thingy." Emily answered. Tony mumbled an incoherent minor insult and sulked in his chair as everyone else snickered and a behind-the-hand 'pwned' was said, making Tony slouch even lower.
"As I was saying Mr. Stark, welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D's headquarters, I am Director Fury. These are the Avengers, Natasha Romanoff or Black Widow, you already know Clint Barton or Hawkeye, Steve Rodgers or Captain America, Dr. Bruce Banner or the Hulk, Thor, and Tony Stark or Iron Man. As for why you're here, I would like you to join the Avengers." Patchy, or Fury, was very to-the-point when he talked and never smiled or showed a hint of emotion. As for the offer, Emily was shocked, and so was everyone else apparently, since they were all looking at Fury as if he were crazy.
"Director Fury you can't let her join, she'll be killed!" Clint said, being ever-so the protective "brother" when it came to Emily being put into harm's way. She sighed.
"Ok, first of all Clint, I can and have fought before, and, hang on…yep, I'm still alive. So don't even hint that I can't take care of myself ever again. And secondly, sure, what the heck, I'll join your little 'superhero' group," Emily said, leaning back in her chair.
"I'm thrilled. Do you have an alias you'd like to be called?" Fury said, with no hint of thrill in his voice or face.
"Hmmm, Blood Rose. Since my dad's nickname for me was Rose and his blood has stained me forever." Emily said. Fury looked at her approvingly.
"Welcome to the Avengers Rose."