"How do you-"
The woman smiled. "Congratulations, you've passed the test."
It was my turn to stare. What test?
"Excuse me?"
She began walking back to the street. I wanted to know why she knew my name. It's a big city, with tons of creeps, so I try not to make a habit of giving my name out. And what test was she talking about? Had that whole fight back there been an act? If so, I would probably be involved in a few lawsuits within the next month or so.
The woman had made it around the corner, so I ran to catch up. I came up beside her.
"What's going on?" I asked simply. If I bombarded her with all of the complicated questions running through my head, she may not want to answer.
She continued walking, and said, "My name is Natasha Romanoff. I'm an agent at S.H.E.I.L.D., which you've probably never heard of. We like to keep things low-key."
She was right, I had never heard of it. I guessed it was an acronym for some kind of agency like the CIA. That was pretty exciting and all, but it didn't explain why I "passed the test" and why Natasha knew who I was.
"How do you know who I am, and what test did I pass?" I asked, stopping in my tracks. Natasha stopped too and turned to me.
"We have a very good source of intel at S.H.E.I.L.D. And since you took out those men back there, we know that you're exactly what we need."
"Exactly what you need?" I parroted. No one has ever really needed me, and I was just fine with keeping it that way. Besides my little gift of being able to turn into a fierce bird-lion hybrid monster, I was normal.
Okay, maybe I wasn't normal. But that still didn't explain why this agency needed me for anything.
"We know about your power. It will be helpful for our next mission, which is going to be a big one. So Director Fury sent me to make sure it was you, and bring you to our temporary HQ here in the city."
"What if I don't want to help? You seem pretty capable, I'm sure you've got enough agents, or whatever." I really wasn't sure if I wanted a part of this. My power wasn't something I liked to show off. But apparently these people already knew about it, even before the fight with the thugs.
"Well, of course it's your choice," Natasha said. "Just keep in mind that if you don't help us, you would be single-handedly causing the downfall of the human race."
I certainly didn't want to do that.
Still, I had no idea if I could trust Natasha, or if S.H.E.I.L.D. was even a real thing. Maybe this chick had escaped from the looney bin and was going to murder me if I didn't go with her. Or maybe she was going to murder me either way.
"I'm just going to be frank here. I don't trust you," I stated. She sighed.
"You don't have to. And you probably never will. That doesn't change the fact that we're counting on you to do your part in saving humanity," Natsha replied, her voice turning harsh.
"Ok," I said. "I'm in."
She gave a half-smile. "Great."
-
We ended up in front of an old run-down apartment building. Several windows were shattered and had been boarded up, giving the place a very eerie air. Natasha approached the front door, but I hesitated. She rolled her eyes and pulled me into the building. I was surprised at the interior.
The lobby was bright and people bustled about. Several bunches of wires ran every which way across the floor, leading to computers and monitors and other machines I didn't recognize. No one acknowledged our presence until someone came down the stairs.
"I thought you'd gotten lost, Agent Romanoff," the man said as he reached the bottom of the stairs. He was wearing all black and had an eyepatch. I assumed that he was pretty badass.
"Just had a little trouble convincing Blakeley to come to an unknown location with a stranger," Natasha said with a slight note of sarcasm in her voice. The badass turned to me.
"I apologize for the strange setting," he said. "After our last little adventure in New York, we thought it best to keep out of sight."
I had just recently moved to New York, so I wasn't present when that whole thing took place. But it had been all over the news. Then it hit me.
"Oh!" I exclaimed. "The Avengers Initiative! I heard about it on the news."
"We tried to keep as much information hidden as possible after that episode, but when you destroy a good section of New York City, well, it's kind of difficult," the badass said flatly. "If you'll follow me, I was just about to brief the others."
He started up the stairs, followed by Natasha and me.
"That's Director Fury. He's the boss," Natasha whispered. I nodded. We followed said boss into a large room, where four men sat at a table. Another was leaning against the wall, looking very bored.
When we entered the room, they all turned, looking me over. I awkwardly stood, keeping silent as Fury introduced me.
"Gentlemen," he said, "this is Blakeley Devon. She'll be assisting you with your next assignment. And Devon, this is Agent Barton, , Captain Rogers, Thor, and Tony Stark." They all looked at me expectantly.
"Um. Hi."
The one leaning against the wall, Stark, crossed his arms. "Fury, we're all dying to know. What exactly is our assignment?"
Natasha led me to the table and I took a seat next to her. Fury didn't speak for a moment, then gestured to the muscular man, Thor. He glanced around the table.
"Loki has escaped his prison in Asgard, and returned here. For his ultimate revenge."
