It was a new day at Stark Institute and a new beginning. Old friends had left and two others had come to take their place. Everyone had been sad to see Kole, Luke and Michael go but the young team would move on.
It was early morning when Alex awoke. There was a glowing box next to the bed that shone 6:30AM in green light. It was making a really annoying beeping noise and so Alex cut it in half with an ice blade he quickly threw from his fingers. The screeching died quickly and he snuggled unperturbed back into his soft pillow.
He was just about back into the warm fuzzy recesses of sleep when about an hour later there was another loud banging on the door. He tried his best to ignore it.
"Hey guys, you awake in there? Training started an hour ago—" There was more banging at the door and quite frankly it was grating on Alex's nerves. He raised his hand gathering ice for another strike. "That's it I'm coming in." Just as the door was opened Alex made to let go of the blade, he jerked his wrist—
"Wait!" Hawke yelled grabbing Alex's wrist, the blade went flying off course embedding itself into the doorframe just millimeters away from Clint's head.
"Holy mother of God," Clint choked out frozen.
"Alex what are you doing!?" Hawke demanded shaking Alex's wrist where he still held it in his hand. Alex blinked open his eyes slowly at the other boy. Hawke looked frazzled and his eyes were wide.
"He's noisy just like that stupid box," Alex grumbled and Hawke and Clint's eyes both went to the destroyed box. Hawke groaned and Clint laughed a tad bit on the hysterical side.
"Alex…you can't do things like that," Hawke told him.
"You guys get ready, Bennett you're coming with me," Clint said.
And that was how Alex made it into "time out" on his first day at Stark Institute. He had to stand in the corner for an hour before going to training. Once he was able to join in the training was already coming to its end. Black Widow was finishing up the class.
Noel couldn't believe that Alex the new mysterious kid openly attacked on Clint, it made him more on edge and he had this awful feeling that Alex is dangerous to them. But at the same time he could just be paranoid but his instinct never let him down before. But as soon as those thoughts left him, he felt a kick to his arm and he hit the ground.
Alanna gasped, "Noel, you ok?" Noel met her gaze and her eyes were filled with concern and he nodded.
"Yeah, sorry I dosed off there." Alanna helped him up.
"You never allowed yourself to break concentration that bad before, what's wrong?" She put her hand on his arm and he gave her a slight smile before gently removing it and walking away. Alanna yelled, "Noel!"
He left the gym trying to figure out what had happened back there.
Alanna saw Natasha out of the corner of her eye and she could tell that she seemed concerned. Alanna sighed as she walked over to her. "I don't know what happened."
Natasha nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe he's stressing out about the whole leader position, give him time." Alanna nodded and Natasha told her, "I'll be upstairs if you need anything."
Alanna watched Natasha as she left and she knew there was only one person who could help Noel besides her.
"Clint, can you do me a favor?" She knew Noel and Clint were real close and if Noel won't talk to her than maybe Clint can get through to him.
"Let me guess, want me to find out what's bugging Noel?" Clint asked her. He had seen the way he had thrown off Alanna's hand a minute ago and had already planned to talk to him about other things.
Alanna walked over to Clint. "I know you must get tired of me asking you favors a lot and I don't want you to think that I am taking advantage of you and Natasha. He is suddenly acting different and I am worried so please find out for me and tell me." She gave him a worried look.
"Yeah, no problem," Clint told her and then hugged her and then left to find Noel.
Meanwhile, Keira watched with interest, she somehow suspect that there might something between Noel and Alanna but what it was at the moment she really didn't have any idea until she thought of the perfect person to ask. Keira walked over to Evelyn.
"Hey can we have a girl talk?" She knew that she could be the one to get all of the info.
Evelyn beamed at the thought of talking with Keira, "Sure! What's up? Need me to show you around?" She asked. The night before Alanna had warned her to watch out for Keira, but Evelyn didn't see what was the big deal. Keira would just be another friend to her, maybe even a sister if it got to that point.
Keira smiled, "Yes please Evelyn, I get lost easily because I have a bad sense of direction." She lied because she just wanted Evelyn around and no one else. They left the gym area and as soon as they were in the hallway. "Well show me and tell me how well do you know Alanna?"
"I know a lot about Alanna, she's like a sister to me!" Evelyn exclaimed proudly. Keira was so nice to care about Alanna too. She wasn't a bad person after all. "We started at the Institute at the same time and we've been through a lot."
Keira thought that this was the perfect person to talk to then. "So, Alanna seems guarded towards me which I am not surprised, I mean I just show up out of the blue and it takes time to gain people's trust. Do you know her powers?"
"Yeah, Alanna will definitely be the hardest one to get close to around here. She barely trusts anyone but Black Widow and Hawkeye. She just started to trust Noel and the rest of us not too long ago. As for her powers, she controls kinetic energy, like psychic blasts and she has this really strange power…I think it has to do with her bloodline, but I don't know very much about it…" Evelyn trailed off. She vaguely wondered if she should be talking about the Blood line power, but since Keira was a part of their team now it was probably okay.
Keira's eyes shot up in shock and turned to Evelyn. "Bloodline power? You mean like she inherited a power, wow she must be strong." Damn it now Keira would have to be extra careful around her and make sure her plan to confront her to be flawless. "Ok so she has trust issues, are her and Noel an item or something? Also what is her story? I mean she seems damaged since she has so many trust issues." She hoped Evelyn won't become too suspicious.
"Whoa," Evelyn said at Keira's sudden bombardment of questions. She was really interested in Alanna, even asking about Alanna and Noel's relationship…could it be that she was interested in Alanna that way? Evelyn turned bright red, "Um, y-yeah Alanna is really strong but she can't control it at will yet. Also…she and Noel are a couple…sorry if you were interested. I would tell you about Alanna's past too but that's kind of personal and I'll leave it up to her to tell you herself," Evelyn said with a smile. She hoped Keira would be okay with that.
Keira put her hands up. "Whoa I'm not gay, I do think Noel is attractive though and it's too bad he's taken but hey if they are meant to be together than that's cool. I don't like the whole "love" thing but if you don't want to tell me about Alanna's past than that's cool too." Keira knew she had hit a dead end but she had a strong feeling that she was right but had to ask her one more question. "So did she work anywhere before she came here?" She smiled forming a plan in her head, maybe she can cause some trouble between Alanna and Noel.
Evelyn laughed, "It's okay. I don't have a problem with people who swing that way but you were just asking so many questions about Alanna so I assumed. Real sorry! Um, Alanna used to work for the CIA and they gave us a lot of trouble recently," Evelyn told her, "Say, wanna grab a bite to eat?" She asked tugging Keira toward the cafeteria.
Keira nodded. "Sure Evelyn." Keira smirked for she was right now that Evelyn had confirmed her suspicions and soon she would confront Alanna. They headed toward the cafeteria.
At that same moment Hawke decided to catch up with Alex.
"So, how was sitting out?" Hawke asked walking up to Alex.
Alex frowned, "Boring…" He answered with a frown and Hawke had to laugh a little at his pout. Alex was almost like an oversized kid.
"Well, you scared us back there. Not to mention you killed our alarm clock," Hawke laughed.
"Alarm clock?" Alex cocked his head, "You mean that box? It was alive?" Alex went pale.
"Um, yeah," Hawke said wondering if this kid was serious. What person hadn't ever seen an alarm clock before? "…"
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I don't like killing things," Alex fretted, he looked like he was really upset. Hawke really couldn't believe this. Hawke quickly put a hand on the top of his head to stop him from freaking out.
"It's okay, just be careful from now on. It wasn't actually a living thing I was just using a figure of speech," Hawke told him and Alex's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.
"A figure of speech…what's that?" He asked.
"Let's get breakfast, we need to talk about a lot of stuff," Hawke told him. He looked around for Evelyn because maybe she could help him out but she was already gone. Noel wasn't anywhere either and Hawke sighed. Looked like he would have to handle Alex on his own.
Upstairs in the tower, Natasha arrived to see Tony and the others relaxing and Tony turned to her. "How was training with the new kids?"
Natasha smirked a little, "Well, it was just Keira since Alex was in trouble from this morning. But there seems to be tension going on between them at the moment but Keira's skills need some improvement but otherwise she's pretty good."
Tony nodded. "I guess Robin Hood got a wakeup call."
Natasha rolled her eyes and Steve said, "Well maybe Alex was just nervous or something, I'm sure he didn't mean it."
Tony snorted, "Well, it was funny to see his reaction."
Natasha huffed, "Watch it Stark or else I will threaten you and see how funny your reaction will be."
Tony smirked, "It's really cute on how you defend bird-boy there widow." She got up and he got scared at that moment. "Alright geez, you win." Steve and the others just shook their heads.
Meanwhile, Noel was outside in the park area sitting on a bench thinking about what happened "What is going on with me?" He just hoped that Alanna and his relationship won't be affected, he worked too hard on getting her to trust him. But at the moment he just felt lost and confused.
"Hey, penny for your thoughts?" Clint asked as he came over and sat down on the bench next to Noel. He saw that Noel had been in deep thought and knew a lot was on his mind. He hoped Noel would share it with him.
Noel turned to see Clint sitting next to him on the bench and he sighed. "Let me guess Alanna sent you to talk to me after I just pushed her away back there. Well I'm not sure you would believe me if I told you..." He got quiet.
"A kid tried to kill me with an icicle this morning. I think at this point I would believe anything," Clint told him, "And yeah Alanna was worried but I also wanted to ask you to keep an eye on Alex. He seems like he might be prone to trouble."
Noel didn't really feel comfortable talking out his feelings but this was his closest friend and mentor. "I had already promised Michael and Luke I would keep an eye on Hawke so I'm sure looking after Alex will be easy. Also I'm sure Alex didn't mean to attack you, but promise me to keep this between us ok?" He asked him.
Clint nodded, "Of course now spill it punk. Is it too much pressure being leader?"
Noel sighed "Not what I wanted to talk about but honestly when I had told Michael that I didn't feel fit to lead this team I wasn't lying. I don't seem myself worthy of leading us and I have a feeling that accepting this position had just complicated Alanna and mine relationship. I feel so lost Clint..." He admitted and he felt like he was opening his soul to him for the first time since they had talked about his dad.
Clint had thought Noel would say something like that. "Noel, being the leader is definitely a tall order. I know Michael made the right choice, but if you feel like you aren't ready we can appoint someone else. Alanna would support you as leader, she believes in you as well. She would actually be the next candidate for leader if you declined the position," Clint told him.
Noel stood up and took a deep breath. "I don't know Clint, I feel like I have to do this because I don't want Alanna to stress out, she has her own problem at the moment and if I ask her to become leader, she won't be able to handle the stress." He was silent gathering his thoughts. "Clint, I have a feeling that once Alanna and I leave here and return to S.H.I.E.L.D as a team it will be hard for us to be a field team. I am worried on being found out about Fury. But what is bothering me, Alanna's bloodline power, I'm scared it could kill her Clint. I don't know how to help her and I can tell she's afraid of it. Also my instinct tells me that Alex is a danger to all of us and I might be paranoid but my instinct never let me down." He turned back to his friend.
"Noel you worry too much," Clint told him, "Of course those are all valid points though, but you should only worry about the things you can do now. If you know Alanna can't handle being the leader then you have to be strong and take on that role. The S.H.I.E.L.D missions are a ways off so don't worry about it for now. Alanna's bloodline power is something only she can train herself. You can't help her with that only encourage her. And as for Alex, I've noticed it too. He moves like a trained fighter but he has the brain of a child…some weird disconnect. Leave him to me just watch him for anything suspicious." Clint took a breath after his long speech. Now what would Noel say? He waited for the boy to talk.
Noel sighed, "I know I shouldn't carry a lot on my shoulders but I just feel like I need to be perfect. I don't know about Alanna wanting to train her power, she might want to turn it off for good. Her expression of when we had talked that day in the medical ward after the final fight, I will never forget. She seemed so helpless and I feel like she still really doesn't trust me." He sighed in trying to relieve some of the tension in his shoulders. "Do you think I am a good leader?" He asked him.
Clint smiled at him, "I think you will be a great leader you just have to start believing in that yourself. Be strong to protect Alanna and the rest of the team."
Meanwhile, Alanna entered the main living area in thought and Tony knew something was up. "Alanna, what is going on?"
She snapped out of her thoughts than. "Nothing Stark, don't you know curiosity killed the cat." Tony gave a look to Natasha than back at her.
"Well, we know you guys are all tense around the newbies and all I have to say is cut them some slack. I mean yes you lost your friends but make friends with them."
Alanna yelled, "You don't know anything Stark, so just stop!" She sat down on the couch and Natasha turned to them.
"Leave her be for now."
Alanna sat there trying to figure out what was Keira up too and she was a little nervous on finding out about Noel.
Tony sighed," Alanna, I am sorry ok. I know all of you guys will be ok in time."
Steve nodded. "We have faith in you as a team."
Alanna whispered, "Thanks guys." Natasha walked over and sat down next to her.
Natasha turned to Alanna. "Hey, what is it? You seem distracted." Alanna turned to meet her gaze and she noticed everyone paying attention to her.
"It's nothing, I am just tired and going to go eat. I will talk to you later Natasha." She gave her a smile before heading toward the cafeteria and as soon as she got off the elevator she heard voices. She opened the door to the cafeteria and saw Hawke there with the new kid Alex "Hey guys, can I join you?" She grabbed some breakfast and coffee with sitting down at their table.
Upstairs Natasha sighed as thought about Alanna. "I have a feeling that things are about to become more complicated."
Tony nodded, "Well, they are just adjusting and after our last great battle they are just trying to find themselves on who they are."
Steve was in shock. "Well that was deep Stark."
Tony shrugged. "It's been known to happen."
Thor smiled. "Worry not Lady Natasha, Lady Alanna is a great warrior she will be fine."
Natasha was silent she had a feeling that the secret that she was hiding was about Keira or her bloodline power, she will have to ask her about it soon.
"Hey Alanna, how are you?" Hawke asked. He sighed in relief at having another person to help him out with Alex. Alanna was someone even Michael had admitted to going to for advice at one time so Hawke knew he could count on her.
Alex meanwhile frowned and pushed his food around on his tray not really eating it. "I should really apologize to that noisy one…Clint," He said suddenly, "I didn't mean to scare him. I was just sleepy."
Alanna smiled at Hawke. "I am fine thanks." Then she turned to Alex. "What is bothering you Alex? You seem down and know that we are here for you. We want to be your friends." She hoped that this had encouraged him some.
Alex raised his head and looked at Alanna. She seemed really nice and it would be nice to have a friend since he had never had one before. He smiled back at her, "I've just never been around so many people before and I already messed up on the first day. My mentor would be really disappointed…but I would like to be 'friends'." He told her.
"Well, it's fine, I'll help you apologize to Clint and we all make mistakes," Hawke told him and ruffled his hair, "We're a team here and we look out for each other after all."
Alanna smiled. "Alright guys, I'm going to leave so you two eat up ok?" She stood up and left but once she entered the hallway and headed toward the elevator she saw Evelyn and Keira coming off it. Alanna was in shock. "Evelyn what are you doing?" She gave her a look.
Keira smirked. "Back off, you don't have to go all guard dog on us. Evelyn has the right to hang who she wants." Alanna gave her a glare than turned back to Evelyn.
"I-I was just showing Keira around," Evelyn stammered. Alanna was sending her a really scary look. "I know you told me to keep away from her but I just wanted to make her feel welcome. We're all going to live together so we should be friends." Alanna would probably be really mad if she knew what Evelyn had told Keira about her. She was just surprised at the outright hostility the two of them had for each other already.
At that moment Hawke and Alex came out of the cafeteria when they heard a big commotion.
Alanna sighed than turned to Keira. "What are you doing to Evelyn? Did you manipulate her?"
Keira smirked. "You know you have a lot of issues and no I didn't. The last time I checked it was a free country and I could make friends with whoever I wanted so go away."
Alanna yelled, "You bitch, what is your problem with me?"
Keira laughed, "Who said I had one, I thought I could get to know you all better. So what is up with your bloodline power?"
Alanna eyes grew wide and turned to Evelyn, "You told her didn't you? How could you hurt me like that Evelyn?" Alanna was stunned and Keira snorted.
"I suggest you leave her alone, you clearly need some help."
Alanna walked up and slapped Keira in the face. "You have no right to talk, I hope you enjoy your stay here because I, right here and now don't claim you as a teammate or friend."
Before anyone else could move Hawke pushed his way in between the two of them to break up the physical violence.
"Knock it off or I'm going to call Clint and Natasha," Hawke warned them. Evelyn's eyes watered and she turned to Alanna.
"Alanna I'm so sorry, it just kind of slipped out," She told her friend but even to her the apology felt like not enough. Alex didn't know what to do so he just continued to watch the scene curiously.
Alanna sighed and turned to Evelyn. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, it's ok I understand that it just slipped out and you are still my friend." She walked over and hugged her. Then she turned to the ceiling. "Jarvis call Clint, Noel and Natasha here now."
Jarvis answered, "Yes miss Alanna."
Soon Natasha showed up to the sight of Keira and Alanna showing down and asked, "What is going on?"
Keira smiled. "Alanna is losing her mind."
Alanna turned to her mentor. "It's just a misunderstanding."
Natasha sighed. "I'll wait until Clint and Noel show up." Keira and Alanna were silently glaring at each other.
It didn't take long for the rest of the team to show up and Clint was shocked at what he was seeing. Hawke standing between Alanna and Keira who look like they might murder each other, Evelyn about to break down in tears and Alex just…watching in shock.
"What the heck's going on here?" Clint demanded. He looked at Natasha for an answer.
Natasha shrugged. "Honestly I have no clue, Alanna asked us to come here. Noel you have to do something."
Noel couldn't believe what had happened. "Shit, what the hell did you two girls do now?" Alanna backed off some and turned to her boyfriend.
"Keira started it, she thought she could threaten me."
Noel stepped up. "Hawke move please, don't worry I got it." He took Hawke's place and turned toward both girls. "Alanna tell me the truth!"
Alanna felt betrayed, "Oh yeah take Keira's side, you think I would lie to you Noel? I am your girlfriend."
Noel sighed. "Alanna look I have a feeling that you started this."
Keira nodded. "Well you are definitely right there Noel, she came at me all because I was hanging out with Evelyn and apparently she doesn't trust me!"
Noel turned to Natasha and Clint. "Well, even though I am the leader, you two are still our mentors, what do you guys think?"
Natasha sighed. "I know Alanna has trust problems and she must have a good reason to act this way." She turned to Clint to wait to see what he had to say.
"All of you are acting ridiculous. You guys are a team. Start acting like one," Clint told them with a frown then he turned to Hawke. "You're someone I know that won't take sides so tell me what really happened here, Hawke."
"I didn't see the whole thing, I was with Alex in the cafeteria when we heard shouting. We came out and saw Alanna yelling that Keira was trying to manipulate Evelyn. Then Keira denied it, but then goaded Alanna by mentioning her bloodline power…that's when Alanna slapped Keira and I got between them to stop it from getting worse," he explained and Clint's expression turned to disbelief at the slapping part. He turned wide eyes on Alanna.
"Alanna did you really just attack a teammate?" He asked.
Alanna turned back to Clint and Natasha. "She is not my teammate or my friend, she is trying to get to me through my friends and I won't put it against her to try to make a move on Noel."
Noel stood there in shock. "Alanna, please stop. Your emotions are out of control and that is dangerous because you can unconsciously activate your power and hurt someone. Plus, you are the only girl for me, I love you."
Alanna was silent and then turned to Keira. "You will be found out one way or another."
Keira smirked. "Paranoid aren't you? For your information I don't want Noel but it's a shame he chose a girl like you." Alanna glared at her as she tried not to do anything stupid.
"If you make one move toward us again, the next time I won't hold back."
Keira nodded. "Ok than."
Noel sighed and walked over and embraced Alanna. "Calm down, you are the only one I care about more than anything." He leaned in and kissed her but she pulled away.
"You still chose Keira's side Noel, congrats on that." She walked away and stood next to Natasha.
Noel sighed. "Everyone just go do your own thing for now while Natasha, Clint, Alanna, and I talk this out in private."
Once it was just the four of them Noel said, "Let's go outside and talk." He escorted Alanna out with Natasha and Clint following them. Once outside Alanna faced her two mentors and her boyfriend.
"Well?"
Natasha sighed. "Alanna what is wrong, you know you can tell us anything?" Alanna was silent. Natasha turned to Clint and Noel with worried eyes.
"You do know that physical violence is unacceptable, right?" Clint said crossing his arms, "I know you're better than that Alanna. Is there a reason why you think Keira is out to get you?" The truth was that Clint was getting a little frustrated here. Why was the new team having problems on the first day, it was starting to give him a headache. "Or are you just upset about Kole leaving and taking it out on the new girl?"
Alanna didn't understand why she felt so enraged at the moment. "I know I am sorry for the physical violence part, I lost it when she mentioned my bloodline power. It has nothing to do with Kole or the others leaving trust me. I don't ask for anyone to understand or to be forgiven but I am grateful that Noel reminded me to settle down before it was too late."
Natasha sighed. "Please tell us why do you have hostility toward her."
Alanna sat down on a bench and Noel joined her putting his arm around her. "Alanna I'm sorry too, I must have gave you thoughts of abandonment."
Alanna met his gaze. "You have no idea on how right you are at the moment, I know you have responsibilities as a leader but I felt like I lost the only person who can keep me grounded. We will have to work our relationship around the team and just focus on being partners and teammates who only focuses on friendship, our future depends on it in S.H.I.E.L.D and now will be good to practice."
Noel nodded. "I know it won't be easy but that doesn't explain Keira."
Alanna turned back to Natasha and Clint. "Well yesterday when she entered the institute I felt threatened by her ok." She waited for their reaction.
Natasha nodded. "I noticed by the look you gave me that you sense something was up."
"Is it because she is another girl…? I still don't understand," Clint told her. Did Alanna just suddenly decided she didn't like Keira on woman's tuition? Clint felt like he was in the twilight zone. "Was there something in particular that she did to make you feel that way?"
Alanna sighed and stood up in which she started pacing. "Look I can't explain it alright, I have this feeling that I had met her in the past and I have a feeling that she is using Evelyn's kindness to hurt me. I warned Evelyn to be careful with her, but one way or another I will find out the truth. If you guys don't want to believe me fine, than I guess I will do this on my own." She never felt so determined before.
Noel shook his head. "Alanna just promise me if you want to fight, just spar with her in the gym and not go overboard."
Alanna said, "I can't promise Noel but I will try."
Natasha nodded "So did you get your answer Clint?" She asked him.
"Yeah, I did, but I can't do anything about 'feelings'. I'll keep an eye out for anything suspicious concerning Keira but you need to all work together until we get some actual evidence that she is bad news…" Clint told Alanna. That was all he could do for her. It seemed this team would have a really rocky beginning.
Alanna sighed. "Well at least you somewhat believe me and I don't care how long this lasts either. If she thinks she can take me on than she will be sorry she ever met me." She walked away and Noel sighed.
"Damn it, the next time I hear from Michael I am going to tell him how I feel."
Natasha just turned to Clint. "Come on we have to talk, see you later Noel."
Natasha led Clint away to talk.