AN: Welcome, folks, to the new and improved The Piper Plays the Tune, now called Weavefinder! All of my author's notes will from now on be found at the bottom of each chapter, though I'm sure there won't be anything too important in them. I know you all skip them anyways. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original character Piper.

WEAVEFINDER

The hand that ran through Piper's hair was dirty and scratched from climbing all day, where rough concrete blocks and bricks had scraped the skin from her knuckles and palms. The hand dropped as she crept quickly through the gathering darkness of New York City alleyways, dim light from curtained windows catching dark hair and flashing in wary eyes. Footsteps thudded irregularly as she hurried and her stealth was lost in the sound of her light, quick breathing.

She was being followed. She had known since that morning, but she had yet to see her tail and he was closing in. And when she was so close to home...Piper couldn't risk him finding what was hidden there, so she was stuck trying to lose him in another part of the city. It didn't seem to be working.

Her breath caught as she rounded a turn and came face-to-face with a brick wall. She swore silently, heart beating furiously beneath her ribs and its blood roaring in her ears. A slightly breathless chuckle floated into hearing range and she pivoted, eyes wide and body tensing in anticipation of a fight.

"Are you done yet? I'll say, girl, you try hard but you can't lose me that easily," A dark shape, a man going by the voice, strolled into the alley and blocked off Piper's only escape.

Piper's dark green eyes narrowed at his tone. "What do you want? You've waited long enough to talk."

The slight quaver in her low voice made the man grin in disgusting amusement and he came closer. The faint light finally reached his face and revealed a strongly muscled, tan man with short, dark hair on his head and face.

Piper retreated, the hand stretched behind her brushing against bricks. This seemed to encourage the man, who's grin became almost wolfish.

"That's all I want to do. To talk. No need to be scared, girly," At the man's patronizing tone, Piper's fist shook.

"You were the one hiding...sure you aren't scared yourself?" Piper taunted, breathing easier. Sarcasm was her natural defense and an angered enemy was a reckless one.

The man's grin seemed more a snarl now, and he bore down on the smaller girl with a vengeance. "Of a puny thing like you? Never," He spat, "I don't even know why we're bothering to look for you! You're nothing special after all."

The man was close enough that Piper could see the color of his eyes. "Of course I'm special," Piper mocked, lip curled in derision, "So the real question is why you were sent. I'm obviously too good for the likes of you…"

As she trailed off, Piper was pleased to see the man's face turn purple with rage. 'Make them blind with hatred, so they can't look ahead and see what's coming.'

"Now you listen here, you mutt! I am an agent! I didn't come to play word games with you!"

As Piper heard 'agent', the blood drained from her face and her wide, dark eyes stood out starkly against the pale skin. Then she gave a silent laugh as she caught the insignia on the agent's gear.

'Well folks...show's over.' Piper thought with amusement. Shrugging apologetically to the man, she kicked off from the wall and flew into the air.

The agent's angry tirade had stopped at Piper's gesture, but he froze as her leap carried her over his head. She landed behind him, barely making a sound as she rose gracefully to her full height.

"Running away, are you girly? So soon?" The man got over his surprise rather quickly, Piper gave him that, but the uncertainty of the situation had made him wary. Finally, he was learning.

Piper stood tall, as well as she could, arms held loosely by her sides and feet spread apart, the ragged brown hair falling in her eyes only serving to make her look more menacing. The frightened facade gave way to a confidence bordering on arrogance and extreme disregard.

The man hesitated, clearly unsure how his prey had suddenly became predator. As he opened his mouth to speak, probably another attempt at a witty retort, Piper cut him off.

"Drop the act. I don't have any more time for this," She glanced at her watch. "I have somewhere to be, so make it quick."

The agent laughed, bewilderment underneath the forced humor. "Girly, what are you -"

"I'm talking about the message you were sent to deliver to me, you know, the one from S.H.I.E.L.D? Oh, don't give me that look," Piper stepped toward the man, her unconcern and certainty in every movement. Annoyance tinged her otherwise conversational tone. She wasn't taking him seriously at all. "A secret agency who has someone tailing me? It's not the first time, girly."

The man bristled at the insult, but stayed silent as Piper continued, her low voice carrying even though she was speaking quietly. "Were you even told about what I can do? Did you even think about how I knew you were following me? I never saw you. You were good at staying out of sight at least."

The trepidation that had begun to prickle under his skin when Piper had first turned the tables turned into outright dread. She was right, he had never given away his position but hadn't questioned how she knew he was following her. And her pretense at being frightened, that was -

Realization dawned as the agent saw the trap he had sauntered into, hook, line, and sinker.

"I could sense you. Did you think you would be safe if you stayed more than twenty feet away?" Piper laughed at the thought, shaking her head at the man's arrogance. "You were too easy, sweetheart. But don't be too hard on yourself - I'm just a little girl, after all. It's easy to fool all of you agents."

Anger overtook the fear the agent was hiding. "Really? Well, how do you do with THIS!"

As he shouted the last word, he lunged with his Taser Rod, aiming for the girl's heart. It would have hit home, except for a tiny problem: She wasn't there anymore.

As he attacked, Piper sidestepped effortlessly, sticking out a foot to trip him up. As the agent's face hit the pavement, Piper disarmed him with a kick and twisted his arm in a hold that could break bone.

The man's groan of pain was muffled by the ground, but Piper got the gist of it. Lots of swear words were going through the guy's head, so she had a safe bet.

"Look, you're making this too hard on yourself - just tell me what you need to and - AH!" Piper suddenly clutched her head, releasing the agent and falling on her knees. He scrambled away, ready for a fight, but none was coming.

Piper shut her eyes against the pain, but it didn't abate, the sudden flood drowning her. Her confusion was lost in the overpowering agony, but as oblivion crept from the edges of her consciousness, Piper had one thought. 'Something's wrong with the Tesseract.'

Well, that's it for the first re-vamped chapter! Please tell me what you think, especially if there are any misspellings or grammatical errors. I love to hear from you!

Thanks for stopping by!

curlyhairedfriendsr0x