Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers, no matter how much I want to...Santa didn't bring them this year...just like he didn't bring me Harry Potter last year...
The Piper Plays the Tune
Piper landed lightly on her feet after the 25 foot drop off the roof of the dilapidated building. After glancing quickly left and right down the alleyway, she snuck swiftly around the corner and through a broken door placed over a ragged hole in the brick wall.
Several other teenagers lounged in the old warehouse room-turned- home. They looked up as Piper entered and nodded in greeting, some calling out. The room was covered in blankets and pillows to sprawl on and converse with friends. Of the two rooms in the back, one was a makeshift kitchen and the other was filled with mats and blankets for the gang to sleep on at night.
Piper picked her way around the prone fingers and toes of the others and climbed a ladder to her usual position on the beams of the ceiling. A boy, about eighteen, caught her eye from across the room. He leaned against the counter – a wooden board placed on two crates – with a drink in hand.
"Something hold you up?" he asked, meeting her eyes.
Piper raised an eyebrow and looked away, surveying the room. "What do you mean, Alec? I'm back early today." She narrowed her eyes, glancing his way again. "Why?"
Alec shrugged, turning away to refill his drink from a root beer gallon behind him. "Nothing."
Piper sent him a feeling that said 'yeah right'. "Alec, do I need to give you every reason why it is obviously not nothing? We've known each other for almost twelve years and I know you like the back of my hand. This is most unlike you."
Alec grimaced in his thoughts. "Well…." He faced Piper again. "Two agents came here today…looking for a certain Piperijanay. I don't know how they found this place, but- "
"Just show me." Piper's expression grew grim and dark, her skin turning white at the mention of the name.
There was a pause and Piper felt the memory pathway open. Closing her eyes, she let it wash over her.
She was Alec in the memory, at his post. He was the lookout for anyone approaching the gang, be it enemy gangs, cops, or madmen. Now, it was agents.
They came up as if they were meant to be here and called out to him. "Alec Germaine Wheeler!"
How they knew his full name was beyond him at the moment, but Alec appeared from his hiding place among a fallen building and greeted them, if not very politely.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, hostile in every word and look.
The two of them, dressed in nice suits and armed, ignored the question. "We are looking for Piperijanay. The leader of your gang. Where is she?"
Alec was puzzled at the name. "Who?"
"You know her as Piper. Where is she?"
Alec smiled and shrugged. "Don't know her."
"Tell her to go to the Stark Tower and 9:00 am sharp. We'll meet her there." The smaller of the two ordered. "And I suggest that she should come. It would be good for everyone involved."
They left without another word, a very concerned and confused Alec behind staring after them.
Piper started a little as the memory ended and she came back to herself. In real-time, it had only lasted an instant, but she felt as if she had been with Alec for all those minutes.
"Now what are you going to do?" Alec's thought-voice came through again.
Piper sighed, closing her eyes. "I don't know yet, Alec." She changed the subject. "How's Maggie?" Piper looked once again at Alec.
He tipped his head to the left and she followed his gaze. Piper's eyes and face visibly softened.
A little girl, maybe six or seven, lay among pillows and blankets, listening to a story one of the older kids were telling her. She had blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a cheery demeanor. She was Piper's greatest love. Piper would do anything for her, even if it meant dying. Maggie laughed, played, and loved like the innocent child she was. But she was being killed every day. She had an unknown disease that caused malaise, hemorrhaging, and fever.
"How was today for her? No episodes of fever?" Piper asked her best friend.
"A good day."
Piper sighed again. If she went to the agents tomorrow, it might mean leaving her huge family behind….and that was all she had ever really cared about.
"I'm going to bed. If I see you tomorrow, I'll tell you my decision." Piper sent the thought before closing the line. 'If I make one.' She thought silently to herself.
"Why do we want her again?" Director Nick Fury asked his top agent. "She is sixteen, the head of a streetgang, and has no formal training or schooling. Why is she special?"
"Sir, in truth, she is no ordinary streetgirl. Piperijanay is an almost truly perfect human. She is capable of using her full brain capacity, making her the smartest person on the planet and giving her incredible abilities." The agent informed him.
The Director leaned forward. "I'm listening."
"Piperijanay had a form of the supersoldier serum injected into her as a child, and was genetically enhanced for more efficient use of her senses. Her known abilities include telepathy, telekinesis, and she appears able to manipulate matter."
"How do we know this?" Nick Fury inquired forcefully.
"She was a science experiment. Her original creators were all killed by her but they kept records of her. And there is still more that we don't know."
"Bring her in." came the affirmation.
Many thanks to all who took the time to read this and I just realized that it must have been a very confusing read, because it wasn't separated as I had had it. Sorry about that! this makes much more sense! Please Read & Review and Follow & Favorite! PiperijanayAlex, out!