I do not own anything from the MCU.
"Waking up just to catch yourself dreaming again
But you won't think outside the lines that hold you in
You say it's easier just to hide yourself away
To shut the windows, lock the door and disappear."
—Old Scars/Future Hearts by All Time Low
Will had heard about the rising tension in the Avengers. Who hadn't? It was all over the news that Captain America refused to sign the Sokovia Accords, and, while Will could understand the man's reasoning, she felt that he was opening a nasty can of worms. Maybe that was just her, though. Will wasn't really the type of person to stand up for herself. She was a people-pleaser most of the time. When the bombing of the UN came around, things got worse. That seemed to open another, even worse can of worms. They announced not long after the bombing that the man who did it was Sargent James Buchanan Barnes, now known as the Winter Soldier. This revelation caused an uproar. People were fighting over whether or not the Winter Soldier did in fact have something to do with the situation, and everyone was tense, wondering if they would be bombed next.
Oakland, California, was far away enough from Berlin to make Will think that nothing from the Avenger's business would come her way. She was wrong. Horribly, completely, utterly wrong.
In hindsight, she probably should have seen it coming. Ever since she was fourteen, Will had been doing some superhero-ing of her own. The young girl used to intern at a laboratory that was studying teleportation when a failed experiment blew up in their faces. Literally. Scout was the only survivor, and she was left with a broken arm and the ability to teleport. She had taken to fighting petty, back-alley type crime at nights.
There aren't any superheroes in Oakland, she had thought to herself. Why not become the first? So, with the help of her younger brother, Jackie, she got together a simple suit and mask so she could run around the town without people knowing who she was. It wasn't the best outfit, of course, but it got the job done. She wore a black suit that left her arms free, all black tennis shoes, and a mask that covered most of her face. Yellow markings decorated her suit, giving it an almost elegant look.
Things had been going well for Will. She found that crime fighting was actually not too hard (perhaps the ten years of martial arts under her belt helped), and she still had time for school and extracurricular activities, like track. Will had been running track since the sixth grade, and she loved every second of it. Now that she was in high school, though, she found herself not coming home until six in the evening, which was the exact time when things began to fall apart that day.
Will was beginning to wonder how Jackie was doing as she ran up the stairs of the apartment complex they lived in (the elevator had been broken for weeks now) and stopped in front of the door to catch her breath, adjusting her grip on both her backpack and her track bag. As she dug for the key, she froze. There was complete silence coming from inside the room. Usually, Jackie would be watching the TV, and Will could always hear it through the door.
Something's wrong.
Checking to make sure no one was around, Will hefted her backpack like a weapon and popped inside the room. Her eyes darted around, looking for—
"Jackie?" Will asked in confusion as she looked at her little brother, who was sitting calmly next to some white guy on their couch.
Wait. Was that Hawkeye? The Hawkeye? What was he doing here?
"Wilma Farai," Hawkeye said, staring at her intently. "How are you?"
"I am Will," she replied. "What are you doing here, sir?"
Hawkeye leaned into the couch casually. "Well, Will, a friend of mine has asked me to recruit a few up-and-coming heroes, and a special someone named Blink was on that list." He looked at her knowingly.
Will hoped her panic wasn't visible. She couldn't deny who she was right after teleporting into the room. "Why do you want me, sir?"
Shrugging, Hawkeye replied, "We're a little desperate, kid. Whaddya say?"
"I say, who's your friend?" Will asked, crossing her arms.
Hawkeye sighed, like he knew this part was coming. "Captain America."
At this, Jackie perked up. "Will gets to help Captain America?"
Will snorted. "Hold the phone, kid. I'm not helpin' anyone who's a friggin' criminal." She almost retracted her words when she saw Jackie's face crumble, but she knew she had to stand firm. "Besides, who's gonna look after your scrawny ass? And Mom?"
"We've already got that covered, Will," Hawkeye spoke up. "Jackie will be staying at a safe house, and we've gone through as many precautions as we can to make sure you don't get in trouble with the law." When he saw that Will was still skeptical, he added, "We'll also provide some money for your mom's hospital bills."
Will sighed; they both knew he had got her now. "Alright. But if anything happens to Jackie or my mom, I swear to God, I'll—"
Hawkeye stood up and clapped a hand on her shoulder. "I promise, nothing will happen to either of them."
"Good." Will nodded firmly. "When do I start?"
"Now. Come with me, both of you."
After they put Jackie on a plane to the 'safe house,' Hawkeye, or Clint as he preferred, and Scarlet Witch, apparently her name's Wanda, stuffed her and this guy named Scott Lang in the back of a van. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but eventually, Clint was pulling the van door open.
"...had to put a little coffee in one of 'em," Clint spoke as he jerked open the doors, jolting Scott awake. "But... they should be good."
Will quickly clamored out of the van, stretching her stiff limbs.
"What time zone is this?" She heard Scott ask tiredly.
"Come on, come on," Clint muttered.
As Scott walked over to Captain America in awe, Will stood there, eyeing everyone.
Clint put a hand on her shoulder, nudging her forwards just a little. "C'mon, kid," he said. "No one here bites."
Scott stopped talking to look back at the young girl. "And how are you not tired?" He asked in disbelief.
Will just shrugged. "I'm a high schooler. My sleep schedule is already jacked."
Nodding, Scott turned to the dark-skinned man (Will was pretty sure he was the Falcon) next to Captain America. "Hey, man!"
"What's up, Tic-Tac?" The man replied stoically before nodding in Will's direction. "Kid."
Will nodded back, somewhat hesitantly.
"Look," Scott continued, "what happened last time when I—"
The Falcon laughed bitterly. "It was a great audition, but it'll never happen again."
"They tell you two what we're up against?" Captain America asked seriously, looking back and forth between Scott and Will.
"More or less," Will replied.
"Yeah," Scott agreed. "And, uh, something about some psycho-assassins?"
Captain America nodded a little in affirmation. "We're outside the law on this one," he continued. "So, if you come with us, you're both wanted people."
"Yeah, well, what else is new?" Scott asked quietly.
Everyone looked to Will, awaiting her answer. She found herself wondering what to say, too.
Finally, she found her voice. "As long as my brother's safe, I don't care."
That seemed to be a reasonable answer to the rest of the group.
"We should get moving," James Barnes spoke up stoically.
Clint nodded. "We got a chopper lined up," he replied.
Suddenly, a voice broke out over the intercom, speaking in what Will assumed was German.
"They're evacuating the airport," James translated.
The Falcon said grimly, "Stark."
"Stark?" Scott asked incredulously, only to be ignored.
Everyone looked to Captain America, wondering what they should do next.
"Suit up," he commanded them, a hardened look on his face.
Will waited next to Scott, watching the interaction between the Captain, Iron Man, War Machine, and the man dressed like a panther. When the one called 'Underoos' came out, she and Scott shared a look.
"That's your cue," she whispered. "Good luck."
Scott nodded. "You too, kid." Suddenly, he shrank down, and Will could no longer see him. But, she did see him knock Underoos across the face and return the Captain's shield. That was her cue.
She popped next to the Captain, ready in a defensive stance.
Captain nodded shortly at her. "Farai. Take the red kid."
Will locked eyes with Underoos and replied without looking away, "Yes sir."
As Underoos began to swing away, Will popped onto his back, grabbing him in a headlock with her legs. Immediately, they came crashing to the ground, struggling as they went. Underoos was shouting incoherently, and Will had to strain her ears to understand him.
"Are you tryin' to read me my rights?!" Will nearly laughed as she blocked a punch from Underoos and popped behind him, kicking him in the back.
He clocked her solidly in the jaw. "Yes! Now I gotta go!" He swung off to Barnes and the Falcon. He broke through the glass window, trying to attack them, when Will popped behind him. He caught her punches, but apparently wasn't expecting her leg, which kicked him to the ground.
Barnes nodded approvingly. "Nice roundhouse," he commented.
"Thanks," she panted.
Growing serious once again, Barnes commanded her, "Go. We've got this here."
Underoos tried to punch him, but he caught it with his metal arm, grunting a little.
Will ignored the red-and-blue-twerp. "You sure?"
Suddenly, the Falcon flew at Underoos, carrying him away from Will and Barnes.
"I'm sure," he replied, a ghost of a smirk on his face. Looking over at the airport, he added, "Go help Steve."
"Yes, sir."
Before she could pop off, Barnes called out, "And kid?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Call me Bucky."
Will smiled, even though Bucky probably couldn't see it from under her mask, and popped away, seeing Captain America fighting the panther dude. She also saw War Machine coming at the Captain with a big, dangerous-looking stick thing. Quickly, she popped into the air, grabbing the stick thing and wrenching it out of War Machine's hand. Popping into the air, she grabbed onto the stick thing, ripping it out of War Machine's hands. She screamed in pain as the stick electrocuted her, but she ignored it in favor of slapping War Machine with it, sending him flying.
She landed on the ground, groaning a little as she watched Captain America and War Machine fight. Suddenly, two arms wrapped around her throat, lifting her into the air.
"None of you will stop me from getting to Barnes," the panther dude said. "He will see justice for what he did to my father."
Will grunted. "Sir, I think it's time for you to hop off the Revenge Train."
"And why is that?" He asked, tightening his grip.
"First of all," Will popped out of his grip, sending a solid kick to his back. "Pretty sure the dude's innocent." She barely blocked his next hit and popped a few feet back, raising her arms to protect her face. "Second, if he did do it, sinking to his level ain't gonna help."
Panther Man swept her legs out from under her. "I will avenge my father. You know nothing of my pain; you are just a child." He punched her face, faltering a bit when Will began to laugh bitterly.
"Sorry to burst your bubble," Will grunted, grabbing his arm, and using it to pull herself up and flip him onto the ground. "But my dad got a bullet to the face when I was thirteen. Saw the guy who did it again when I got my powers." As if to demonstrate, she popped to the side, narrowly avoiding his claws. "I wanted to kill 'im, I really did. But I turned him over to the cops instead. He's servin' for life now."
Panther Man said nothing as he continued to try and claw at Will. He was on top of her when he suddenly went flying across the room. Looking around wildly, Will saw Captain America standing over her, extending an arm to pull her up.
"Thanks, sir," Will muttered, reaching under her mask to wipe away a bit of stray blood.
He chuckled a little despite the situation. "No problem, Farai. Call me Steve."
Nodding, she replied, "I can do that if you call me Will."
His smile grew a little. "I can do that." He looked over her shoulder and pointed to a large jet in the far hangar. "That's the Quinjet," he said. "Can you teleport yourself there and start it up? We'll be right behind you."
"I can do that, Steve," she said, nodding sharply.
"Good." He grabbed her shoulder. "Once you get there, don't come back out. The fighting's over for you. I can't risk you getting hurt."
"I understand," Will said solemnly. She popped into the Quinjet without another word, and began pushing buttons, trying to find the one that turned it on. She did after a few minutes of experimentation, and she widened her eyes happily. Looking up to cheer, her smile fell when she saw that both sides of the fight were lined up, staring each other down.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come in?" She asked Steve over the comms.
"Positive," he replied. "Your brother needs you in one piece."
"What do we do, Cap?" The Falcon asked.
"We fight." The Captain replied shortly.
The real battle had begun.
A/N
So, I saw Black Panther on opening weekend, and let's say that my expectations were no where near what they should have been. Marvel definitely outdid themselves, and I absolutely loved it! That's where Will and Jackie come in. Their story is going to go through all of Civil War, parts of Black Panther (I'm still working out how they're going to fit into that movie), Infinity Wars, and I'm going to give Will her own original story at some point. Will is going to go through some major character development throughout this story, and I'm still deciding on who she's gonna get paired with. Right now, I've got it narrowed down to Shuri (aka a true goddess) and Peter Parker (the most adorable man to walk planet earth). Let me know your opinions on that!
If you enjoyed this, please review, favorite, and/or follow, and check out my Polyvore (my username for that is also candyappleredd), which has sets and collections for my original characters.
Love,
Nell