Shadowed Past

Chapter 2: Under Oath

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Alex got lost in Steve's eyes. She'd never seen irises so blue. He was so mesmerizing, between his ocean-like eyes, warm smile, blonde hair, perfect body-

"Alex!" Piper called, sliding through the door into the training room. "That was amazing!"

"You saw all of that?"

"Yeah, Maria let me watch with her! This place is amazing, Als! We have to move here, we just have to, can you imagine? We'll be-" Piper froze as soon as she saw Steve. "Whoa, you're-"

"Steve, just call me Steve." He smiled.

"Steve?" Piper gasped. "Wow. That's hot-"

"Piper-" Alex groaned, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, she's just-"

"Alex, relax, I'm sure it's nothing he hasn't heard before."

Steve was blushing, and he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "She's right. But, thank you, I guess."

"Good work, Miss Cooper." Maria spoke up from behind. "Would you mind coming with me for a few moments?"

"Um, sure. It was nice meeting you, Steve." Alex grinned.

"You too, Alex."


Alex sat with Nick and Maria for what felt like hours, just talking everything over. They told her everything about the initiative that had quite literally assembled the Avengers, and gave her a brief history of each of the heroes. They still wouldn't open up and tell Alex why they needed her on the team so badly.

"You'd said you show me why you needed my help if I showed you a few things." Alex snapped. "So, talk, or the deal's off."

Fury let out a small sigh of defeat before leaning forward and crossing his arms on the table. "Our monitors have been picking up reports of all the robberies and minor crimes all over the city for months now. Recently, the amount of crimes rose dramatically. We didn't think anything of it until we saw this."

He turned to the large television hanging in the front of the meeting room, the screen now showing footage from a security camera. Alex watched closely as the robber, a young man, broke into the corner store only moments after the cashier had locked the door. The cashier whipped out a gun to fire at the intruder, and the two talked a little before anything went down. When the young guy kept walking towards the cashier, he fired at the attacker. The gunshots did no harm to him, there wasn't even any blood. The young man proceeded to kill the cashier and then shoot the security camera.

"What is he, some sort of robot?" Alex commented.

"Close." Maria began, "He's a genetically modified being. These people have all the lifelike qualities of any regular human, except they can't be killed by any of us."

"The only thing that can stop them is you." Fury added.

"Me?" Alex gaped. "How?"

"There's a special molecule in your abilities that can instantly wipe them out. Doctor Banner has been doing research on these things for weeks. He's very confident in his work. Mr. Stark even double checked it to be safe. You're our only hope, Miss Cooper."

Silence fell over the room. Alex was still trying to process everything she'd just been told.

"So, are you in?" Maria spoke up.


"What do you mean you said you'd think about it?!" Piper shouted as her and Alex left the tower and vanished on the dark streets of Manhattan.

"Piper, please don't yell. Calm down."

Piper took a deep break to lower her voice. "But give me this much, what is there to think about?! Isn't this everything you've ever wanted?! You can finally use that stuff pumping through your veins for something more! You can work with the Avengers, you can save people!"

"It's more than that, Piper. It's not just a one time gig. So what if I stop these freaky robot people, then what?! Another alien attack? A robot army? The end of the world?!"

"It doesn't matter what comes next because you won't have to do it alone! I'll be there, so will they!" Piper motioned back to the tower. "They already know everything about you. If you say no, they'll just keep spying on you. It's not like saying no will make all of this go away." She paused, thinking. "Think about your mom. What would she want you to do?"

"Don't you dare bring my mother into this." Alex snarled.

"Sorry."

Alex thought about her mother. She never got to know her, but everything that Piper's parents told her made her sound like the greatest woman that ever lived. She was strong, smart, wise, everything. Alex wished she could've gotten to know her, at least just a little. "We've talked enough about my day, for now." Alex sighed. "What about you? What did Maria show you?"

"Well, she showed me all of the quinjets, so that was pretty cool. And she introduced me to Tony, and Clint. It was weird meeting them, after seeing them on TV and all."

"Yeah, it was pretty weird beating up Captain America and not even knowing it."

"Speaking of, I saw you two having a little stare down going on."

"Oh no, please don't say it-"

"I think he likes you."

"Piper, he's literally Captain America. He could have any girl he wants. He's not gonna waist his time on me."

"I haven't seen him look at any other girl the way he looked at you."

"Piper you act like you see him everyday or something. He might have something going on with Black Widow for all we know."

"No way, her and that Clint guy are probably engaged or something."

Alex chuckled. "Okay, sure."

"I'm just saying, Als. You never know."

"Yeah, I guess not."


Alex was tossing and turning on the couch all night long. She couldn't rest with so many thoughts running through her mind. She ran the business card with Maria's number on it through her fingers gently as the moonlight shone in through the window. Alex took a deep breath, laying out all of the pros and cons of the situation in her head.

By the time the sun rose, she was dialing Maria's number on the phone.


A couple of days later, Alex found herself calling out of work "sick" and heading down to the tower again.

Her heart was racing, palms shaky and nerves on edge. This was a big decision to make, and she was afraid that she was about to make the wrong one.

When Alex arrived to the tower, Maria greeted her in the lobby.

"It's nice to see you again." She smiled.

"You too." Alex muttered, her throat now constricting.

"I suppose we'll be seeing a lot more of you now, yes?"

"Yes." The words fell from her lips before she could rethink anything. There was no turning back now. "I accept your offer."

Maria held out her hand. "Welcome to the team."


Alex felt like she was doing paperwork for days on end. In reality, it was only an hour or two. They ran multiple tests on her, getting readings for all of her abilities and basic vitals.

By the time everything was done, it was around six in the evening. Alex was ready to just go home. She still needed to break the news to Piper anyways.

"Miss Cooper," Fury's voice caught her attention from behind. "You're still here. There's a briefing with the rest of the team in five minutes, and I suggest that you join us."

"Is that an invitation or an order, sir?"

"Depends on how you look at it." He said, walking away. "The meeting's in room 24C!" He called back.

"An order, right." Alex scoffed as she began her march to the meeting room.


When Alex swung the door open, a room full of heads turned to look at her. She felt her muscles tense as she let go of the door knob.

"Speak of the devil, there she is." Fury broke the silence. "Please, take a seat."

Alex's eyes quickly scanned the room and saw that the only seat left was the one between Tony and Steve. Wonderful.

"Now, I've called you all here today for two reasons. A, Miss Cooper's arrival to the team. I suggest you all give her a warm welcome." He looked at Alex. "And B, accounts of the genetically modified vermin are coming in faster than ever. We need to go review a few things before sending you all out into the field."

"What about dinner?" Clint asked.

"Agent Barton, please."

There were a few small suppressed laughs that echoed through the room. As Fury started to review the information about the gene-people, Alex quickly realized it was the same stuff he had already told her about.

Her first meeting with the Avengers and she was already bored. She was starting to regret her decision.

After ages of listening to Fury flap his jaws and few more outbursts from Clint, his rant was finally over.

"Any questions?"

"So what are we supposed to do-" Tony began, "Just watch her back while she wipes 'em out?"

"To put it bluntly, yes. And these things can only be held off for so long. Efficiency is key."

"So that's it?" Natasha was next to speak up, "We're just supposed to trust this girl with no history of doing anything with her abilities?"

"Yes, Romanoff." Fury spat. "I don't want any attitude from any of you about this mission. Cooper is our only option and that's been finalized. If that's all, then you're dismissed."

Everyone seemed to rise at once, like students leaving class when the bell rang.

"Somebody's cranky today." Tony muttered to Alex.

She simply smiled as she joined him and Steve in pushing in their chairs.

"Well uh, welcome to the team." Steve began.

"Thanks," Alex smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "It seems like you're the only one who cares."

"Don't let Natasha get to you. She's got some trust issues. She'll warm up to you."

"I hope so."

"Alex, is it?" Bruce approached you once you were out in the hallway.

"Yes, hi-" She replied shaking his hand.

"I'm Bruce, it's a pleasure to have you working with us."

"Thank you."


"See?" Steve said after Bruce walked away. "It's not so bad."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, it's just, first-time jitters, y'know?"

"I completely understand."

"Well, I guess I'll see you around, Steve."

"Yeah, you too."

Alex awkwardly broke away and started down the hallway, but was stopped by Steve calling out her name again.

"Um," He began, uneasy. "I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to, talk, maybe? Not, just talk, but, nothing more than talking! I just wanted to-"

"Capsicle's trying to ask you out on a date, in case you were wondering." Tony said as he walked by.

Steve sighed in defeat, his cheeks bright red. "Don't worry about it, I'm-"

"I'd love to." Alex blurted out, just as nervous as Steve was.

"Really? Wow, that's, great, thank you-"

"No, thank you." Alex grinned.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, do you have a phone I could call you on?"

"Yeah, um, here-" He pulled out an IPhone. It took him a few tries until he finally got the password right and the phone unlocked. "Sorry, technology's crazy now. I'm still getting used to all of this."

Alex noticed he was squinting, and she peeked over his hand to see that the brightness on his phone was all the way down.

"Do you need some help?"

"Um, yeah..." He sighed. "How do I make it bright again?"

"Here, you just swipe up, and then slide the little dot across the line." Alex showed him the steps, and smiled when she saw Steve's eyes light up.

"Thanks!"

"Not a problem." Alex laughed, quickly typing her number into his phone. Her fingers were shaking so much it took her three tries to get the number right.


"YOU'RE GOING ON A DATE WITH CAPTAIN AMERICA!" Piper yelled at the top of her lungs. "I can't believe this...AND YOU JOINED THE AVENGERS? ALL IN ONE DAY?! THIS IS...AMAZING!"

"Piper, keep yelling and the noise complaint bill is coming out of your paycheck this time." Alex remarked.

"I DON'T CARE!" Piper began cheering, and she ran over and picked her roommate up in a huge hug. "I'm so happy for you, Als. Honestly. This is like a dream come true."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Why?"

"So far it seems like half the team has given me the cold shoulder already, and I'm the only one of them who can stop those things. I don't know, it just doesn't feel right."

"It will. Trust me." Piper smiled. "Y'know, if you're hanging out with Steve then you need something to wear."

"No, Piper-"

"Yes! Come on! I'll let you borrow whatever you want!"

"I don't like your clothes!"

"Too bad!" Piper laughed, grabbing Alex and dragging her into the bedroom by her arm.


Later that night, Alex laid awake in the bed this time. She made small, violet bulbs with her hands that lit up the entire room upon their birth. Even after the big decision of the week was over and done with, she still couldn't sleep.

The entire city was counting on her, a girl they had never heard of before, to keep them safe.

The entire world was, in a way.

You'll never do it.

You'll never save them.

They'll die and it will be all your fault.

Coward.

Monster.

You can't do anything right.

Alex shook the voices from her head as she turned to lay on her side, tears in her eyes. She wiped them away and tried to think of something good.

She immediately thought of Steve's crystal blue eyes.