The doorbell rang out through my mainly empty apartment, waking me up from my deep, dreamless and content slumber. Rolling over, I looked at the clock on the table next to my bed; it was roughly eight in the morning. I had just graduated from college a month ago, and I was soaking up not living in a dorm and not having to be at classes at any particular time. I liked my New York apartment, despite the fact that it was incredibly empty with the small amount that I brought from my dorm. I had a job set up in a museum and that started in another month; and I wasn't entirely sure why someone was at my front door right now.
Getting out of my large bed, I grabbed a light blue bathrobe that came to my knees and wrapped it around myself. I didn't know who it was and I had a feeling it wasn't someone I knew very well. All my college friends had gone to the different corners of the United States. Preferably, I didn't want a stranger to see me in my bachelorette pajamas. That consisted of black shorts and a white tank top.
The doorbell went off once again.
"I'm coming!" I yelled, hoping that the person outside of my apartment was ringing the doorbell could hear me from my room. Raising my arms up above my head, I stretched myself to my full four foot ten and a half inches. Going to the table, I grabbed glasses and slid them on; letting out a sigh.
I made my way down the hallway, letting out a soft yawn and glancing in the mirror between my bathroom and the bedroom. There wasn't much I could do about myself; I definitely looked like I had just woken up.
My long hair is slightly curly and the darkest shade of brown possible without it actually being black. As it always was when I woke up, it was piled up on top of my head in a messy bun. There wasn't much I could do with that at the moment, when it was down right after I woke up it stuck out in odd places.
My dark hair contrasted sharply with my pale skin. Through my entire teenage hood, my mom had tried to convince me to dye my hair a color that didn't make me look permenantly ill. But I had always liked my hair, and I had always liked the way that it had looked; so my natural hair color was there to stay.
Unless you have glasses, you may not entirely understand this; but glasses take away all attention from the color of the eyes and anything else that you may have under them. I preferred contacts, but I didn't have the time to put them in. My eyes are a bright blue color; people usually comment that they can't believe that they are really that blue.
I scooted fast down the hallway, not wanting to keep the person waiting. Standing on the tips of my toes, I glanced through the peep hole that would allow me to see who was standing out there. Immediately, I recognized who the woman was. I'd only met her once, but she was one of those people that stayed in your mind for a long time after. Especially the reason behind why I knew her.
Natasha Romanoff, a red headed spy that I had met momentarily when I was a freshman in college. I knew that she worked for S.H.I.E.L.D and I knew that her showing up here was not a pleasant visit. Letting out a sigh, I unlocked the three locks that were on the door.
"Hello." I said, looking up at her and trying to keep the frown off of my face. It was true that I didn't have what it takes to be a member of the Avengers, so I did wonder why she was there. With my telekinetic powers, I was good for some background help; but I didn't have what it took. That's what Fury had come to tell me when the Avengers had first begun.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is in need of your services, Bronwyn King." Natasha said, being very formal about her being there. I could never imagine Natasha Romanoff being the type of person to relax and chill out during… Well, ever.
"With what?" I asked, my interest had definitely been peeked. I moved out of the way so that she could come into my apartment, which she automatically did. It was probably not the best idea to discuss this where one of my new neighbors could walk by and overhear us. They may not understand it, but it would probably scare the living crap out of all of them.
"A corpse was found in a crypt." Natasha said, shutting the door behind her and looking over at me. I raised an eyebrow slowly.
"This is news?" I asked, trying not to let out a laugh. I was making a joke, but I knew that I would not be called in if it was just a regular corpse inside of a crypt. Clearly this was something more delicate than just that.
"Archeologists found the corpse in a pyramid in Egypt." She said, glancing down at her phone, probably to check the facts that she needed. "The crypt hadn't been able to be accessed in roughly the same year that the body was put in there. It has been checked by the best. Let's just say that it goes under calling you to duty."
Listening to her, it was fairly clear why they had brought me in. I'd spent my entire college years learning about human history, art history and everything that I could possibly learn about. I had graduated from high school at thirteen years old, and I was currently twenty-two years old. So basically, it had been all I had done for most of my life. This was something that I could enjoy, and it was something that I was good at.
"I'll go get dressed and ready." I said, nodding my head eagerly at being able to help out. I let my hair down and made my way into the bathroom. "Professional meeting, I take it?" I asked, because even though she was a little bit rough around the edges, she was still definitely a woman.
"Dress professional." Natasha said, for the first time in the fairly short amount of time that I had known her she actually sounded a little bit amused.
Going through my closet, I packed a few things that I knew I would need; clothes, a couple books and an assortment of random things that I expected would come into use while I was there.
I quickly brushed my hair, styling it into a better bun than the one that it had been in. It was much sleeker and much better looking. I grabbed myself a black pencil skirt that reached my knees, a light pink sleeveless blouse with ruffles around my cleavage and black high heels. This was about as dressed up as I could get in a hurry, but I knew that it would work out fine.
I made my way out to Natasha, who was beginning to look a little bored in front of the door. Smiling a little bit, I nodded and we left my apartment fairly quickly. We walked in silence, a few of the people coming upstairs gave us looks; but they didn't know me well enough to notice anything bizarre about this situation.
I took in a deep and slow breath, leaning back against the leather seat as the plane began to descent towards the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. Gripping the arms of the seat I was in, I let out a soft sigh as the plane began to bounce on the tarmac. The wheels of the plane began to slow down, until it went down to a standstill. Quickly running a finger under my eyes, I tried to get some of the black eyeliner back into its place.
"Let's go." Natasha said, unbuckling herself and getting up from the seat as the back of the plane opened up to let us out. I followed after her as closely as I could, thankful that I had kept my hair up. The wind was brutal outside and it was freezing out there.
In a matter of five minutes, we made our way towards the nearest door. I had been notified that the first thing that Director Nick Fury wanted me to do was to meet the Avengers. I'm pretty sure that he was using them in hopes that I would do it for free and there is a high chance that I would be willing to take that as payment.
I grew up with my dad constantly talking about how much Captain America had done for their country in World War Two. If there was anyone I could call for this moment, I would have called him. But my mom and my dad had passed away three years ago in a car accident, if I was positive then I suppose that my father was with me and seeing what I was seeing.
"Hello Miss King." Nick Fury said, sounding in charge of the entire situation. He didn't stop to talk; he just continued to walk down the hallway in the direction of where I assumed the Avengers were. Anxiety came over me and I let out a gentle sigh, freaking out a little bit as I walked after them.
"Hello, Director Fury." I said my voice calm and as professional that I could make it. I stood behind the both of them as the door opened in front of me. That's when I began to freak out inside, walking in and looking at the five men that were inside. I've never been in a room with so many ridiculously attractive people in my entire life. This counts all the classes I've had in college.
"This is Bronwyn King; she is going to be taking care of Corpse Doe. She is the best in the field and she will be taking over the lab." Director Fury said, giving possibly the most evil look I have ever seen to these guys. I noticed that he was mainly focused in on Tony Stark and Doctor Bruce Banner.
It seemed that they hadn't been as pleased to giving up their lab to a complete stranger. This would probably explain why I was there at this exact moment. It was to soothe the scientist's worries about their lab that it would be in good hands.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Bronwyn King." Thor said immediately and sounding rather cheerful. I don't know why, but looking at his face made me think of a happy puppy that was super excited to meet someone new.
"Let's cut the crap." Tony said, standing up and making his way over to me. He circled me and I immediately felt like a scuba diver that was being surrounded by a shark. "You don't look old enough to do a job this important. How many labs have you been in? Do you know how to use a computer for this kind of job?"
I sighed quietly and looked at him, giving him a weak smile. "I've been in quite a few labs, and I have been studying and doing this since I was thirteen years old. History and archeology is pretty much my entire life."
Tony looked over at Banner; the others in the room looking over at the two of them. Tony went back to his seat and then Banner stood up, making his way over to me. Reaching in his pocket, he handed me the keys to the lab.
"I promise that I won't break anything, and that I won't touch any of your super sciency stuff." I said, wiggling my fingers a little bit as I spoke. Thor and Captain America both let out surprise laughs, I don't think they really expected me to have much of a personality. I was rather pleased with this.
Natasha led the way towards the lab and I held the key tightly in my right hand. I unlocked it and frowned a bit as I walked inside. It was filled to the brim with Stark Industries equipment. Heading inside, I looked at the large object in the body bag on the top of the table.
Grabbing gloves from my bag, I slid them on and opened the bag. Instantly, I knew that they had picked the right person when they picked me.