I lashed out as soon as I felt consciousness returning, attacking anyone nearby in the same way that I had the armored man. A surprised 'hey!' in a voice I remembered from somewhere gave me pause. I opened my eyes and sat up.
A man who was a few years older than I, with glasses and a reedy build was standing next to the bed I was resting in. The room was hospital-like except without weird machines and no curtains around the single bed. Glass windows were covered by thin canvas curtains.
I sat up, rubbing my neck which felt numb. "How did...where am I...what are you doing here Dr. Banner?" Of course I knew his face, I never could forget a face, and looking around had given me time to remember his name.
He sat down in a chair next to the hospital bed, looking defeated with his head in his hands. Before he spoke he lifted his head and gazed at me levelly. "You aren't attacking me. That was kind of the point, I suppose. Nick Fury wants an audience with you."
The name did not bring a face to mind, but I knew instantly who he was talking about. Everyone with powers had heard that name before, or would in their lifetime, multiple times.
"S.H.E.I.L.D.," I cried, "I'm at S.H.E.I.L.D. base? Those egotistical over-theatric...Couldn't he have come talked to me without kidnapping me? He ruined my hiding place! If I want to go back there I need to devise an entirely new mask, fake ID, driver's license, birth certificate..."
"You are still hiding from him?" His face was now wearing a concerned frown.
"He does not know how to take no for an answer. Nobody says no to someone with that much power. My leaving the mansion made him think I was free for the taking. I have a feeling Fury is going to be of a similar mindset." I crossed my arms, furious that the first masquerade life I had determined as safe enough for me to live in weeks was sufficiently shot to sunshine.
"Nick Fury is not keen to have you on the team, but he wants someone who can control the other guy when I don't switch of my own free will," Bruce explained tiredly.
I laughed harshly. "People think Hulk can be controlled by an illusionist?"
Bruce looked ashamed. "I mentioned how we met."
"That was a one-time thing. I panicked and accidentally took you with me to my happy place. Replicating a fluke of that measure...it is...well, exhausting at the very least. You seem to have your temper managed," I scowled.
"Only as much as I usually do," he grumbled back.
"Start talking," Fury demanded, pushing through the door. In the blink of an eye I had his face memorized. It was hard to tell if I noticed his eye-patch or the fact that the hair above his ears was pure white first. He was wearing what I assumed was regulation for S.H.E.I.L.D., similar to the lackeys who had captured me.
I stared at him. "Excuse me?" All of my illusions were down, I had a feeling he would see through them after long and would be upset about it. Also because I had not been tricking Banner's eyes and the director's entrance surprised me.
"Drop the illusion first; your looking like a freak is not going to faze me," he added, ignoring me.
I smiled at him with midnight lips, knowing I had been right. "This," I said, gesturing to myself, "I what I look like without an illusion covering myself. I'm a mutant you know. Some of us look a little strange."
Fury did not believe me and looked at Bruce, who looked tense and nodded curtly. S.H.E.I.L.D.'s director analyzed me briefly, slightly unsettled. I admit some would find me frightening. My skin was satiny grey with harsh black markings everywhere like tattoos, I had a mouth and lips like a black mamba, and one eye was icy blue and the other was rich purple. The hair on my head was my only normal feature, straight, black, and unremarkable. I wore an illusion mask for a reason.
"Actually I think you should be the one to speak first. Why is it so important that you have me on your team?" I asked. "Do you want me so badly that you capture me like a villain would?"
Fury sighed crossly. "Your skill set is potentially useful to this organization. I'm told you can face the Hulk without harm befalling you, which I take to mean you could face about any raging monster we set you on and live to do it again. Being a member of the Avengers might not be where we assign you, but you are still an asset."
"Avengers or release Director Fury. At least if I'm part of their group your control over me will be limited. I will not be a puppet for you, especially after you sent some 'Robinhood' and five of your goons after me." The man with the arrows had thrown me off; usually pursuers had guns or used powers. Being surprised that way was almost more offensive than my captured state.
Bruce looked startled. "You sent Hawkeye after her?"
Director Fury regarded him. "I would have sent you but I wanted proof that she can do what you say she can." With one fluid motion, Fury pulled an energy gun on Bruce and pulled the trigger.
Working quickly out of instinct, I numbed his sense of touch as the energy struck and returned it quickly. Unfortunately it was not the feeling of being shot at but the sight of it I should have blocked. Bruce's eyes turned green and wild and his lab coat shredded along with everything put his pants.
"Stop!" I cried.
Having gathered the Hulk's attention, he glared at me instead of Fury.
First I wiped away the scene around him, giving his eyes an expansive beach with nothing to destroy in sight but me. Trying to fill his ears with calming sounds while my heart was beating furiously was too difficult, so I gave up on that. In regard to touch all I was able to manage was something like sand beneath his enormous feet. Affecting the other senses would wipe out my concentration and energy in seconds so I focused on making sight and what little feeling I could instill work without flickering.
The Hulk roared at me, confused, but I held my ground.
"There is nothing to be angry about, calm down Banner. What made you upset when there is nothing here but you and me? Are you cross with me? I'm sorry if I did something wrong, okay."
He glared at me, trying to figure out what had happened, trying to keep up his rage, but finding nothing to take it out on but me. The green monster picked me up with one hand and grumbled.
"THIS NOT REAL!" he yelled stupidly, smashing his other fist into the sand. The grating sound of abused metal followed.
I grimaced but put up a kinder mask. "No honey, it is a daydream. I'm sharing it with you to calm you down. Do you feel better now?"
Hulk looked uncertain and growled, "Hulk okay." His green skin became muted and he slowly shrunk back down into Bruce Banner. I caught him as he stumbled and propped him up against the bed. The illusion disappeared and Fury came back into view, looking impressed.
"Welcome to the team," he said somewhat proudly.
Bruce stirred, rubbing his head. "What...happened," he moaned.
"This idiot shot you and I cut your rage short so you wouldn't kill him." I glared at Fury. "I saved your life and a lot of damage from happening to S.H.E.I.L.D. I ought to have at least given him the satisfaction of punching you in the face you scum!"
Nick Fury looked amused and a little ticked off that I had the guts to yell at him. "I'll give you the option to call your friends and tell them you will not be coming home while Dr. Banner recovers." He walked out the door confidently, tossing in a jacket for Bruce and a cell phone for me.
"Sometimes I hate that guy a little bit," he said calmly.
"He had better count himself lucky I'm not going to show him what I'm thinking," I said, dialing the Mansion's number. While the phone on the other end rang I focused on calming down. They would think I was in trouble if I sounded upset.
The line crackled as a voice asked, "Hello, Shadowcat speaking, who is this?"
"Hey Kitty, I need you to give a message to the professor for me."
"Lena! You haven't called in weeks! Do you need help? One of the adults could come get you in the blackbird wherever you are!" her voice was panic mingled with relief. "Here, I'll give the phone to the professor."
"No! I don't want to talk to him, just give him a message for me." Kitty was silenced. I grumbled incoherently. "Is there anyone else I can talk to who is going to be more reasonable?" As much as talking to her would be nice, once she calmed down, I needed no extra words exchanged.
I heard the phone shifting from different sets of hands, a voice with a Louisianan accent saying, 'Remy's not going to talk to her'. Finally the shuffling stopped and I hoped they had not given the phone to the professor.
"You better have a good reason for going AWOL like that, everyone's been worried sick about you kid," a gruff voice growled into the phone.
I exhaled. Of course they would make me talk to the person second most likely to make me come back. At least Kitty hadn't given the phone to Cyclops, who would have given me a lecture. "Hello Wolverine. I've been fine on my own...well, mostly. Tell professor and the others I won't be coming home anytime soon. Please respect my decision and don't come after me."
"There's always a place for you here." A muted argument broke out in the background and I heard Wolverine say 'why don't you make me, bub'. A feminine voice started scolding the people arguing. Another voice told them to be quiet and the background noise ceased.
The phone shuffled around again and a voice I dreaded hearing spoke. "The first time you contacted us your message was the same. Why are you repeating it Lena? We can help you."
"Look, I just wanted to let you know I was okay without this happening," I said, shutting the phone off before Professor X could speak again. Hanging up on him was rude and he did not deserve it, but I did not want to follow reason.
Bruce pretended he hadn't heard the conversation, or maybe I had unconsciously blocked his sense of hearing. "Are you ready to get out of here? Stark's holding some sort of meeting."
I had finally pushed aside the start of the headache I had given myself in surrounding something as powerful as the Hulk with illusion, and talking to the X-men, by giving myself the illusion I felt no pain. It would wear off and hurt tenfold later, but I wanted to be clear-headed when I met the Avengers, whoever they were.
We were about to pass by a sizeable mansion when Bruce told me to turn into the driveway. I was driving because Banner's temper was still liable since it had been shut down so abruptly, and because he insisted that driving was a bad idea for him anyway.
"Are you serious?"
"Tony Stark is on the team, so yes. Pull in." I sighed and stopped as we approached and parked the car with unease. We got out and Bruce opened the front door like the mansion was his home. Tony Stark's mansion was different from the one I had known, mostly because strange techy panels were scattered around the walls.
"Welcome home," a computer made voice announced. I tried not to jump or look visibly startled.
A well-built guy in khakis and a white t-shirt walked down the steps. "Dr. Banner, who is this?" he asked. Though he tried not to look startled at my appearance, I could see that he was, a lot.
"Nick Fury collected me for your team. I'm a mutant, if you were wondering," I said brazenly before Bruce could explain.
He looked confused. "A...mutant?"
I gave him a strange look. How was he not aware of what mutants were? People like me were plastered all over the news throughout debates and crime reports. "Like you, I would guess, except I was born with powers."
Another man paused at the second floor railing. He looked arrogant, but handsome. "Who's the freaky chick?" he wondered. "Wait, let me guess, captured super-villain?"
"That isn't very polite, Stark," the naïve man said sternly. So the arrogant one is Tony Stark, I thought.
Bruce rubbed his forehead. "Aren't we supposed to be having a meeting?"
"Thor is out at the moment," the computer voice said mechanically. "Everyone else is present. Should I send for him Sir?"
"No Jarvis, we're fine at the moment," Stark said.
"Very well Sir," it answered.
The first man looked at me and smiled. "The house talks, you get used to it eventually."
Stark led the rest of us to a room with a conference table where several people suited up for battle were waiting. The air went still as I entered. "Have a seat next to Cupid," Stark said.
I took that to mean the man fiddling around with an arrow with a weird cylindrical head. "Wait a minute..." I said, remembering arrows like that. "You're one of the people who abducted me!"
He looked confused. "I would remember seeing you. Must be a mistake..." My face altered to the mask I had been wearing the previous night and he faltered. "Oh. I was under orders, sorry."
The chair farthest from him seemed like a better place so I took that one instead, leaving Stark to sit by the archer. I would forgive him later, for now the grudge was too fresh. The seat I had chosen was between the blond guy I saw first and Bruce.
"Okay, who are you miss?" the blond man asked once everyone was seated.
I grimaced, not used to giving anyone my real name. "Lena Eidolon, also Reverie."
He proceeded to introduce the others. The one Stark had called Cupid was Clint or Hawkeye, a petite girl with a pixie cut was Janet or Wasp, a man with sandy hair who was playing with an ant on the end of a pen was Hank or Ant-man, I already knew Bruce, had already heard Tony Stark's name, and the blond guy introduced himself as Steve Rogers.
"Are you telling me you are Captain America...like from the 1940's comic books?" I asked.
Stark looked vaguely annoyed. "He's the only one you've heard anything about? The rest of us are on the news plenty, and the news from today, not seventy years ago."
I crossed my arms. "Where I used to live we kind of focused on our own problems and enemies. The only time any of us bothered with superheroes was when Nick Fury asked Wolverine for a favor several times."
"Ah, mutants," Stark grumbled. "Are you with the good kind or did you leave the bad kind?"
"I lived in Xavier's School for the Gifted. Some other mutants targeted me because I have a power popular for a bad guy to have," I replied tersely. Mentally I was already running, executing a backflip out of my chair and crashing through a window to get away from the cruel judgment. I knew better than to actually do what I desired,
"Let me guess, you control magnetic fields," Hawkeye said sarcastically.
It was funny enough but I kept a straight face. To show them I transformed the table into a giant pink crocodile. Some recoiled and Wasp gasped. "Illusion actually," I said crisply.
Hank's eyes went wide and he touched the croc gingerly. "It is still the shape of the table underneath but it really feels like I'm touching something scaly! Incredible, how does that work?"
I shrugged; what I knew about my ability he would be able to guess in seconds, unless he was the type to assume I was a telepath and literally messing with his head, not just his senses. Just to be safe and avoid unpleasant accusations I said, "The neurons that transport feeling, sight, taste, hearing, smell, I cut off what is actually being sent to the brain and replace it with whatever I imagine. I'm limited because I cannot manipulate mass and I can only affect so many people with certain degrees of effect."
The illusion was shattered as I receded from plucking at their neurons.
"Uh, welcome to the team," Captain America said, rubbing his eyes and staring at the table.