Chapter 1
Early on a Monday morning, a young woman sits in a window seat, watching the people bustling around the streets of San Francisco. She sips her hot chocolate leisurely and spares a glance to the inside of her wrist at the watch that is laced there. The woman stands and sighs. "Guess it's time for work," she grumbles as she moves way from the window and into her bedroom, tussling her long lavender hair.
After jumping into the shower, she peers at herself in the mirror, examining her odd features. She runs a hand through lavender hair that smoothly darkens into a deep violet at the bottom. Amber eyes meet their twin in the reflection. The woman sighs to herself, "Okay, Aria let's start another day." Aria slips into her work uniform, consisting of black cargo pants, a grey long sleeve shirt, and a black vest. On her way out the door, she snags a ball cap and throws on black converse. She steps out of the house and into the morning light to catch the closest street car to the ferry destined for the island of Alcatraz prison.
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In a conference room of SHEILD headquarters, located in the bowels of New York, Director Fury stands in front of one of his agents. "Agent Yakamura, I have brought you here for a very important mission. There is a new addition to the Avenger's Initiative," Fury intones as he turns to look at the agent. He flips through a thick file and pulls out a few papers. "The target's name is Aria Whiteraven. You are to collect her within the week. Use all means necessary; she is a stubborn one. Her location is San Francisco, California." Fury slides a photograph of the target across the table.
The agent in question casts a disdainful glance at the lavender-haired woman in the photo and sighs dramatically, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. He snarks,"Really. You are making me fly across the country for some girl."
Fury glares at the agent and cocks his head to the side in a don't-fuck-with-me sort of way, "Agent, she not just some girl. She is our secret weapon should there be another invasion. The current team barely made out with their lives on top of destroying half a city."
Agent Aiden Yakamura stares blankly at Fury and whorls a slim finger in the air, saying in a deadpan voice, "Whoop-di-damn-do. Why do I have to get her? You have closer agents. I know you do."
Intensifying his glare, Fury plainly states, "Do you remember the YouTube incident last week?"
Aidan sheepishly grins and scurries away to pack.
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Aidan leans against the side of the ferry as the boat makes its way to the island of Alcatraz. He sighs and adjusts his ponytail, smoothing his navy blue hair. He rolls up the sleeves of his crisp white button up shirt to his elbows as he watched the ferry approach the island. Standing on the dock is a tour guide/his target.
Aria watches as the ferry docks and surveys the group of passengers on the boat. She sees her regular historians that attend the tour weekly, tourists, families and children. She notices at the back of the group, a man of average height, lithe build, and lean muscle. She takes in the navy blue hair and green eyes. Making eye contact with the male, the first thought she has is, Shit, I told SHIELD to beat it.
"Ok, folks welcome to Alcatraz. Today we will go through the prison and I will tell of the prisoners who were locked up here and the history of the island. The island was turned into a bird sanctuary, so I will pass out umbrellas so you don't get craped on by the birds." Aria starts to hand out umbrellas as the group move toward the prison.
Aidan waits to the side for an umbrella, when several moments pass and he realizes that he has not received an umbrella. As the group moves further into the island, Aidan tries to catch the attention of the Aria before he gets craped on. "Um…Um… I don't have umbrella thingy."
SPLAT!
Aidan twitches uncontrollably as he glances at the fresh spot of bird poop on his shoulder and growls, "I hate nature."
Aria turns to look at the man and smiles brightly, "Sorry hun, I didn't see there. This is the last umbrella left." She hands him a small, pink, lacey parasol.
He sighs, "At least I get to be fabulous!" Aria just chuckles at his misfortune.
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Aria begins the trek home. As she walks she gets the feeling of being followed. The lavender haired young woman listens carefully and hears the shuffling of feet behind her. She stops walking and hears the footsteps stop. "You know, you aren't very discreet," she says as she turns to the man behind her. She cocks out a hip and rests her hand on it, "What can I do for you, Agent?"
"I don't have to be discreet..." He blinks in surprise as he trails off. "Wait, agent?" He laughs nervously. "I am not an age—" He cuts himself off with a frown when he realizes how pitiful his denial sounds. "Okay. How did you know?" He asks, crossing his arms.
"Well, the way you stand and carry yourself is a dead giveaway. And your hair is a weird color. Fury only ever sends the weird ones." She steps closer to him and cocks her head to the side curiously. "Normally they have abilities. So, what is yours?"
"Excuse you! You're one to talk when it comes to funky hair color, sister!" The agent snapped, narrowing his eyes. "That is need-to-know information and you don't need to know," He sniffs indignantly.
"Hmmm…" The lavender headed woman circles the man, "I would guess empathy of some sort. Can you influence others, Aidan?" She asks this while standing behind him."
"You are a psychic!" He exclaims, pointing at the smug woman.
"Umm…no. Just a good pick pocket." She says while wiggling his SHEILD identification card in the air. She casually looked over the details on the card. "Only a class 3 Beta mutant? Kinda low, don't you think?"
Aidan sticks his hand out, silently demanding his ID back with an irritated look on his face. Aria grins evilly as she hands it back, "By the way, I'm Aria, but you already knew that."
Aidan slings his arm around her shoulder and begins to direct Aria down the street, "You're right. I did know that. Fury sent me here to collect you. So why don't you -," Aidan suddenly gets a weird, kind of strained look on his face. "What are you?" He whispers, disbelief and suspicion in his voice.
Aria cocks her head to the side in confusion, "What do mean?"
Aidan just stares at her at a loss of words. He begins to poke at random bits of Aria. "I can't influence you very well. I can usually influence people quite easily, but you…" He trails off with a look of concentration as he continues to poke Aria.
Aria bats at his hands to stop poking when he started to aim for more inappropriate areas, "Stop it, you weirdo. I trained with Professor Xavier."
At this point, night had fallen as the couple continue walking down a mostly abandoned street. When they round the corner, they run into a person. Aidan begins to apologize when he bumps into the person, but abruptly stops as his fingers lightly brush the bare wrist of the man he had bumped into. He backs up slightly and says casually, "Never mind. I don't really apologize to muggers."
"Give us all of you valuables," the lead mugger commands as two more step out of the shadows.
"We can't do that," Aria replies, "But we can give you something else."
"What?" the mugger asks
"A fist to the face!" Aria decks the mugger to the ground with enhanced strength. Aidan round house kicks one of the muggers behind them in the face and focuses on the last. He wraps his hands around the shoulders of his assailant and sends extreme sadness and devastating images into his mind, causing the mugger to burst into tears and sob uncontrollably, completely breaking the man's mind.
"Well, that's that, I guess," Aria say, "I have to go pack now."
Aidan stares at her strangely, "…OK"
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Aria stands uninterestedly in front of Fury. She idly braids her hair as she waits for him to speak. Aidan stands next to her in a relatively relaxed stance waiting for the same thing.
Fury begins to explain why Aria was taken into SHIELD custody, "Miss Whiteraven, you have caught the attention of SHIELD and we feel you would be a good addition to the Avenger's Initiative. The Initiative is a pro-."
"Nicky, sweetie," Aria interrupts him, "I have already heard the schpeel when you sent Maria for me last year. The only reason I am here now is because of Aidan. I have a debt to him." She throws the braided hair over her shoulder, "Is there something new to add, One Eye?"
Fury glares at Aria, "So are you in or out?"
"In."
"Good. Now, why don't you demonstrate your ability?"
Aria whines, "Do I have to?"
Fury just stares at her.
"Fine," Aria begins to change her physique into a large form of a male. When the process ends, Fury looks at a mirror image of himself. "There. Happy?" The former female asks in a deeper voice.
Aidan stares at Aria, "So you are a shape shifter."
Aria begins to turn back into herself, "No. My abili-."
Fury returns the favor and interrupts Aria, "She has the ability to manipulate molecules. She could anything."
"To an extent, I am limited," Aria interjects "I am not a god. I can only manipulate my own body. So I can change shape to an extent, alter strength, speed and other things."
At this an unknown agents breaks in, "Director Fury, the car has arrived to take you to Stark Tower."
Fury looks at the agent, "Good." He turns to Aidan and Aria, "You two, come with me." Fury turns swiftly; his coat flaring out behind him, and marches out of the room.
Aria leans over to Aidan and whispers, "He just loves the cape flip, doesn't he?" Aidan chuckles in return as the two scurry after the director.
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Author's Note:
This is a story done jointly with BadWolf1993. And we do plan to continue The New Life but we got a little lost on the path of life. Any critics, reviews, flames and praise are welcome and will be greatly appreciated.