After two too many summer camps, I decided to update this story. :)
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They left and Flame sat back down, staring at the picture of the Tesseract. She made no sound as the door closed behind them, but then rose and walked to a plain black door. She tapped a few times in a certain pattern and the door opened, revealing a black room.
She stepped inside and flicked on a light switch. A single chair was illuminated and she sat down in it, head in her hands, silent and waiting.
"Well, sis?" a familiar male voice asked.
"Well what?"
"If they ask, will you join?" a second boy said.
"Should I?"
"You could avenge our deaths," a young girl spoke up.
"But I could also harm so many in my bid for justice..."
"True. Weigh the pros and cons, sis. You always were the level-headed one," a third boy said.
She laughed a little and stood up. "I wish you were here in real life."
"So do I. But you'll join us on this side one day," the girl said.
"Is it bad that I'm rather anxious for that?"
"You're anxious for death? Are you sure the doctor gave you a clean bill of mental health?"
Now Flame laughed truly. "Actually, no, I'm not sure. After all, I'm talking to myself."
No more words were needed as she rose and turned to the door. "I've made my decision. Whether or not I'm standing next to you when the smoke blows over remains to be seen."
She left, and the door swung shut behind her.
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"So what do you think?" Natasha asked as they walked down the corridor after visiting the recovering Hawkeye.
"She's somewhat crazy. But then most people on this ship are," Stark said.
"Speak for yourself. I'm sane," Natasha said with a slight smirk.
"Yeah, right!"
"Let's discuss this at another time. Back to the subject matter at hand," Rodgers said pointedly.
"Right. She's crazy."
Natasha sighed. "Besides that."
"I don't know much about her. While her demonstration was... enlightening, it didn't tell us much," Rodgers said. "I'm not sure I trust her."
"If you want more info on her, I can get that to you," Natasha said. "I know some people."
"Thanks."
They split up, Stark going to fix his suit after being run through the engine, Natasha to get the information, and Rodgers to go back and possibly talk with Flame some more.
Rodgers reached the wall where her rooms were and suddenly realized that he didn't know the passcode to enter her quarters. He was about to go ask someone to let him in when the door opened and Flame poked her head out.
"Hi!" she chirped. "Back so soon?"
"Yeah... I'd like to know a bit more about your siblings," Rodgers said softly.
Slowly the smile vanished, to be replaced by a curious stare. She stepped aside and walked in to sit down.
"So... what do you want to know?" She asked.
"You called them by odd names. Like Life or River. Why?"
"Well, Project Element wasn't just a name. It was created to see if humans could stand having the power of the elements at their beck and call. Every Generation failed spectacularly or whatever they injected the people with failed. Generation 100- MY generation- was the most successful yet. We were the first to not explode, or go insane, or... well everything went wrong for everyone else."
"So you were..."
"Injected with a serum of sorts, correct. As I understand it, you're familiar with that particular technique."
He nodded slightly.
"We were all independent and different; each of us used a different weapon and tactic. Earth was the body-builder- he could muscle his way through a crowd and use his brute strength to strangle anyone. Wind was more swift and depended upon guns to take his target down. Life was the charmer- Lord knows how many boys I had to beat off of her as her older sis before she could reach her target and with a quick tap inject lethal poison. River was as big of a flirt as Life was and "a hit with the ladies" as he always said. A charmer with a bit of a bite- he preferred a blunt club in a back alley."
"And yourself?" Rodgers pressed.
"I wasn't a charmer, or strong, or anything like that. I was swift, and I knew the rooftops like the back of my hand. I had knives and that was all I needed."
"So no elemental powers involved?"
"Hardly. Earth could make himself stronger somehow- I never got a straight explanation out of him. Life could make the poison speed through a body straight to the heart through the blood. Wind never missed a shot. River- I have no idea... And me? Well... I used fire to speed myself up, kinda like rockets."
Rodgers suspected there was more to her vague explanation, but didn't push for more details.
"I think that's all the questions I wanted to ask you," he said quickly, rising from his seat. Flame rose as well and smiled a bit.
"Oh, right."
"What?"
"What were your real names?"
Flame paused, leaned down, and picked up the picture of her family. "Life was Cheyenne. I remember that Wind was Alex, Earth was Chase, and River was... Mark."
"And you?"
She paused. "I was... Katherine. Before everything changed I was Katherine."
