Finally! I've been wanting to start posting this for a while, but I wanted to make sure I'm a decent way through it before I did.
So here's the first chapter, I hope you like it!
Chapter 1: Fugitive
Arriving in the briefing room, a young woman stifled a yawn, and brought the hot cup in her hands up to her mouth to sip the coffee. She resisted a grimace at the bitter taste, and almost immediately lowered the cup back down as she took a seat.
"Rule One of this job," she jumped, and looked to the other woman who had taken a seat beside her. "Bring your own coffee. The stuff here is trash," she grinned, and the young woman blushed, smiling shyly at the friendly co-worker. "I'm Camilla Bianchi," she introduced herself, holding out her hand. "You must be new," she accused.
"Am I so obvious?" the young woman asked, her voice soft. "Penelope. Tournes," she shook the woman's hand.
"Well, we are trained to notice things," Bianchi smiled, leaning back in her seat. "But it was mostly the coffee," she winked, and Penelope's smile grew.
"Thank you for the tip, though I think I could have used it before I took this from the man offering it," her words made Bianchi laugh, and push her black hair from her face.
"Tournes. You wouldn't happen to be Garland Tournes' daughter, would you?" she asked, but her tone made it apparent that it was more of a statement than a guess. Penelope noted that the woman was much sharper than her casual attitude laid claim to.
"Yeah, that's me. You know him?" Penelope asked, keeping her tone polite, but the moment Bianchi had mentioned her father, she had grown uncomfortable.
"Of course," Bianchi nodded. "He's a smart guy. Too bad his smarts haven't helped us out here," she complained, and Penelope tilted her head slightly.
"Sorry, but what are we doing here? I was told to show up here, but I didn't-"
"Ah yeah, secrecy is SHIELD's shtick, that's for sure," Bianchi nodded in understanding, folding her arms. "We primarily handle tracking down minor threats to security," Penelope's brow furrowed at the woman's words. "And our current target has been evasive, to say the least," she sighed, a little irritated by it. Penelope's smile grew at it.
"For how long?" she asked.
"Almost half a year," her eyes grew wide, and she looked to the man sitting behind her.
"Eavesdropping, are we?" Bianchi asked, not looking around.
"You make it easy, with how loud you talk," he smirked at her, and she scowled. He then turned his attention to Penelope, his smirk softening into a more pleasant expression. "Word of advice, don't let Bianchi fill your head with crap," he told Penelope, and a few others snickered around them as Bianchi shot him a droll look.
"It seems everyone is full of advice," Penelope commented, amused by his words.
"You'll need it, being a newbie chasing this one," he replied, turning more serious.
"How has he avoided capture for so long?" Penelope asked curiously. "I thought SHIELD handled minor threats quickly," she commented, and he shrugged.
"We do," he told her. "Normally. But in this case it's a little tougher," he said.
"She is a Mutant with Super Speed," they looked to the front as the leader of the group spoke up in a thick Irish accent, dropping a file onto the desk in front of him before leaning on it. "And she doesn't just move fast. She has outwitted us every step of the way," Marcus declared, frowning at the team. "We are under orders to take her in, and the longer it takes us, the worse it looks for us," he warned them.
"What has she done?" Penelope asked before she could stop herself.
"Primarily breaking into labs and influencing anything mutant related," Marcus answered her gruffly. "But she has also broken into multiple SHIELD bases and compromised secure information," Penelope's eyes widened, stunned that someone would be able to do so. She'd seen the security, it almost seemed impossible. "Therefore, she has been deemed a threat to security, and we are under orders to take her in," he announced, not taking his eyes off Penelope. "And for future reference, Miss. Tournes, we don't normally ask," Marcus told her, and Penelope felt her cheeks warm.
"Sorry, Sir," she apologised quickly, making a few of the others chuckle quietly.
"So," Marcus moved on without lingering. "I'm all ears for suggestions on how to take in Ellis. Super Speed is a particularly difficult ability to bend to our advantage," he stated, finally taking his gaze off Penelope as she willed herself to stop blushing.
"What about Barton? He's had experience with her in the past," Collins asked from the back, his arms folded as he slouched in his seat.
"Barton is on another assignment," Marcus turned down the suggestion immediately.
"What about the Freedom Force?" Bianchi asked, rolling her eyes at the name. Penelope frowned, finding the name somewhat familiar, niggling in the back of her mind. "They've had dealings with Ellis, haven't they?" she added. "And they should be able to take her, with their powers," she said, and Penelope's eyes widened as she realised who they were. A group of Mutants who worked for SHIELD, mostly kept secret, who handled the more questionable missions.
"None of them possess powers to capture her," Marcus looked irritated at the suggestion. "So how about we come up with something that we, the team assigned to this mission, can do," he raised his voice slightly, and they all fell quiet. He then looked to Penelope, who was drumming her fingers on her arm, silent. "Tournes, you look like you might have something to say," he accused, making her jump.
"Oh, I-I..." she stammered, her blush returning full force.
"Take a breath," Marcus told her, his tone softening, and Penelope did so, closing her eyes. She was quiet for a moment longer, aware that they were all watching her, before she finally spoke.
"Catch her off guard," Marcus blinked, standing straighter. "Leave it to the last second, and catch her before she knows we're there," she suggested. When nobody spoke, she blushed even harder and lowered her gaze to the coffee on the table growing cold.
"It would be tough, getting the element of surprise," she looked up and around as Collins considered from behind her.
"But possible," another spoke up from the front. "She can't dodge what she doesn't know is there," she smiled slightly as she considered it.
"Then let's get to work on planning that. The minute we find her, we need to move," Marcus told them, and gave Penelope the slightest of nods. She lowered her head again, this time to hide her pleased smile.
A blue light filled every part of her vision, and no matter where Ciara turned, it was there, continuing to grow brighter, seeming to pulsate.
"This is really starting to get annoying," her voice echoed as if she stood in an empty room, but if she was, she couldn't tell. Forced to cover her eyes as the light grew too bright around her, Ciara's frustration took over, and she crouched, not knowing what to do.
'You will soon enough,' Ciara's eyes shot open and she looked up at the three shadows that fell over her, speaking in unison.
"What?" she demanded,finally able to see again. "What is this?" she shouted.
'You need to focus on what's in front of you,' the voices spoke together again, not echoing like Ciara's did. 'Or else you will miss the most important thing of all. And you of all people, cannot afford to do that,' they warned.
"What are you talking about?" Ciara asked,confused. "Tell me, what is this light!" she pleaded.
'Patience is a virtue you will need to learn, Eir,' Ciara froze at the use of the name that had been long forgotten. Her fists clenched, and her anger grew as it dragged buried memories back to the surface.
"Don't call me that!" Ciara roared, launching at the three shadows. They faded, and the light grew even brighter.
Waking with a start, Ciara sat up quickly, her heart hammering against her chest even faster than normal. She shook her head, trying to clear it, and it pulsed in response, forcing her to put a hand to her head as she winced. The young woman sat there for a moment, waiting for the pulsing to fade, and when it finally did, she let out a breath.
She cast a glance around the room; a rundown tip that she had found abandoned and had taken shelter in for the night, to avoid the storms outside. It wasn't much, but it made for somewhere to sleep for a while.
Ciara frowned, thinking about her dream, but when she did, the pulsing returned and she flinched, letting out a small whimper. Berating herself, Ciara dismissed the dream, only able to remember the blue light – as always – and got to her feet. She stumbled, unsteady, and cursed herself as her stomach growled. So that was what she'd forgotten.
"I guess I can risk it for something to eat," she murmured to herself. Grabbing a pair of black boots with mismatched laces, she pulled them on, grateful for the heavy duty design that didn't allow them to wear down very easily, and then grabbed the cloak that she'd used as a blanket, clipping it on. Ciara pulled up the hood to hide her silver hair, which had grown past her shoulders but still curled out messily. After checking around the room, she began to run, moving at an unnatural speed and leaving nothing but a black trail of an after-image behind her.
Darting through the streets, the only telltale sign Ciara left behind was a strong gust of wind, too fast for anyone to see her. If they'd been paying attention, they might have seen the black blur that followed close behind her. She stopped only when she was out of sight of anyone, hiding in an alleyway.
"SHIELD really need to find something more interesting to focus on than me," she complained, taking a seat and sticking a fry into her mouth. She let out a moan of delight, not having eaten in a while. "It's sad, what I've been reduced to," Ciara said, finishing the fries quickly and pulling a burger out from under her cloak. As she bit into it, she felt something buzz in her pocket. The speedster pulled the phone from her pocket, having swiped it from an unsuspecting man.
'How's life on the run going for you?' Ciara chuckled, always amused by Gadget's contact with her. With one vague message online, he was able to figure out how to contact her.
"More fun than I thought it'd be," she admitted aloud, not bothering to answer the text or call the young man. A moment later, the phone buzzed again as another message came through.
'I'm not surprised. You were feral to begin with,' the technopath's response came through as if he was talking with Ciara face to face. It made things easier for the impatient young woman. The phone buzzed before she could speak, arching an eyebrow at him calling her feral. 'How goes the big plan?' he asked, and she rolled her eyes.
"And they call me impatient. Quit nagging. I'll tell you when it's done," Ciara answered, irritated by his question.
'After it's done? You don't trust me enough to tell me when it's happening?' Gadget asked, and Ciara could tell that he was a little hurt at the idea. After all, he had been the one to tell her about what was going on in New Mexico, not to mention helping erase any research on better ways to identify mutants, and he'd been the one to tip her off that SHIELD were after her.
"Don't take it so personally Gadget, I don't trust anyone," she told him, sounding bored, but something stirred in her stomach; uncomfortable and vaguely familiar. She shoved it away, but lowered her burger, suddenly not hungry. "I do appreciate the help though. I'll be in touch soon," Ciara dropped the phone and crushed it with the hell of her boot. She knew that once again Gadget would be unhappy with her destroying technology, but dismissed it, and took a deep breath.
"Ciara, maybe you should sit down or get that looked at," Jane suggested, aware of the blood that was sticking Ciara's hair to her face. The young woman glanced up at her, seeming a little confused, and for a moment Jane thought she had hit her head harder than she let on.
"I'm fine," Ciara insisted with a shake of her head, though she still looked confused. "It's just a scratch. Nothing a shower won't fix," she said. Ciara watched Jane for another moment, before looking back at the markings on the ground, and Jane realised that it wasn't that she was confused about what was going on, but by the concern shown.
"Get out of my head," Ciara hissed, shaking her head quickly to rid herself of the mildly blurry memories from almost a year ago. The uncomfortable feeling in her stomach returned, and she took a deep breath, her fingers brushing the two scars she'd gotten from the fight against the Destroyer, lying just above her eyebrow. Ciara slid to the ground again, leaning against the wall as she cursed herself. "Goddamn nice people," she muttered, taking a rough bite out of the burger. She chewed, frustrated, forcing herself to think of what she had planned instead to rid herself of the thoughts. "I guess there's one way to forget," she muttered as she stood up, and smirked, cracking her knuckles.
Starting to run, Ciara forgot about the guilt she'd been feeling, and her smirk widened as excitement took its place.
Night fell and Ciara was sprawling low on the top of a hill, watching the guards patrolling and making a note of when they went by. She chuckled to herself. Like clockwork. That made it so much easier to get by them. Her blue eyes swept over her view, trying to memorise what she saw.
The base was massive; far larger than anything she had expected to see. Armed security was posted everywhere, keeping an eye on every entrance and exit to each building scattered around. Cars came and went, as even at night it was bustling.
Ciara didn't move from her spot, but she was almost buzzing with excitement. The base was off the grid, and draining a lot of power, meaning there was something there that SHIELD wanted kept secret while they understood what it did.
She wasn't entirely sure when she'd made the transition from breaking into labs to stop people from threatening mutant-kind, to sticking her nose in everywhere it didn't belong just to get a peek at something new, but she knew that was why SHIELD wanted her caught. They were a secret organisation, and to have a mutant threat breaking into their bases and compromising their information was not good practice. But, Ciara thought to herself, she didn't care. She was searching for something, she didn't know what it was, but she wasn't going to give up until she found it.
"I'm fine," Ciara swatted Thor away as her vision swam. "I can handle a bit of blood," she insisted, and he smiled.
"I don't doubt it. You would make a fine warrior," he told her, and she frowned.
"I fight for myself, nobody else. I'm no warrior," Ciara told him, heated in her words, but Thor's smile just grew.
"Someday you will find something, or someone, to fight for," he told her confidently, and pushed her back lightly.
Shaking her head, Ciara sighed and rolled over to look up at the black sky. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and even now there was a warmth to the air.
"So much for coming back, big guy," she murmured, not moving as she lay on her back. "I'm forced to make my own entertainment," Ciara complained, closing her eyes as she waited for the right moment. Taking a deep breath, she let herself relax, despite the looming excitement of what she had planned, to calm herself and keep herself focused.
The calm, quiet air was shattered, as a loud wailing sound began to echo from the base. Ciara's eyes flew open, and she leaned forwards, staring at the base as lights began to flash, and people started to rush about. Their shouts were too far to understand, and Ciara tilted her head, wondering just what had happened.
Hope you like it!
I'll hopefully have another chapter written soon, so I'll update when I do.
Let me know what you think!
Please review!
