Well Hello again, chapter two. Hope you enjoyed that little introduction to Terra but here we will get a little deeper into her history before we can more forward. As always I own nothing but my own character. Hope you enjoy.

SHIELD, their like the big bad wolf to my already terrifying nightmares. When my life fell apart they stepped in to "save" me yet some how they are just as scary as the forces that ripped my life away. "Talk about it" thats all I keep hearing but frankly I don't trust any of these damn people, I mean, would you? I trust inanimate objects more then then the people Im surrounded by but thats to be expected I guess. The only two people I truly knew in this world are dead, probably because of me. Not exactly any easy subject to just chat about with a stranger let alone a SHIELD stranger.

Again, when I try to think things through I feel like its all just bouncing around my skull. Some people go numb, the events blur...For me I feel like I know every detail and it wont let me rest. Every second of the worst day of my life etched into my memory forever...Thats where I am right now. I close my eyes and it all stats again. Maybe I should start from the beginning instead of trying to work through the flashes that flare when Im least expecting it.

When I left for school my parents were worried it was because I didn't enjoy the life I had. It took a lot of convincing that I just wanted to add to my life, when I did there was one agreement we all came to. I couldn't just leave my old life behind entirely so every summer I would take time off to come back and live the life I loved before I started back in the life I was building for myself. So this summer when I finished up finals I packed up and went home. Sure for most people that means the house where they grew up and the community they were raised in but for me that meant surrounded by the great big world with my parents at my side.

It all started so normal that, there was simply no warning. I woke up like any other day. I never slept better then when I was on the bus in the hanging bed my father had built me when I was young. With familiar ease I rolled out of it, wrapped my self in the wool blanket an old women from Mexico who had grown up knowing my mother had woven for me and wandered into the dew covered grass to meet my father where he was already cooking breakfast. "What would you say to a wander today?" I remember my father asking and the flood of excitement. It was something we always did when I was younger. Set out in the morning light with no direction simply wandering the country side and to save my mothers worry make sure to wander back before the next morning.

It was a great day the weather was mild and there was a breeze that shifted the trees above us. We never packed lunch to take, instead my father would use the time to show me how the earth could provide for us if only we knew where to look. After a meal of wild eatables we found a small clear lake and it was to perfect to pass up. Our swim in the cool water was refreshing and after we found a sunny spot and simply lay out next to each other.

When I close my eyes I can still see his face but I fear one day I will close my eyes and take a deep breath and nothing will come to my minds eye so even though it hurts I try to think about them, to see then every day. I remember beneath his thick dark beard he had the wrinkles of a man who always smiled. His blue eyes so bright and loving. His hands were always calloused from working wether that be carving or building a fire or fixing the never end problems with the bus, his arms strong and tanned from the sun.

We talked about my life ,about my school, about friends I had made or new people I had met that interested me. He told me of the markets I had missed, old family friends who sent their best wishes. I told him about my newest works and he begged me to read them that night around the fire which made me blush. He asked me about my plans and as any father would about my love life but there was really nothing to tell because wether he realized it or not I never let anyone close. I had to huge a secret to hide so even though I told him about Tracy who I roomed with or Kelly and David who I shared classes with I never let him know that frankly, I was a loner.

As we headed back to mom I felt the calm and peace of letting the stress of school evaporate. Expectations of a summer with my favorite summer markets and helping my mother collect for her jewelry. We walked in silence and for some reason that bothers me now. I wish I had told him everything I will never get to tell him now. He should have heard just how much I loved him before he died.

As we approached camp all I could think was it was so strangely quite. My mother was always moving, always humming or whistling or singing but there was always noise. I use to find fire so comforting but not any more. As we walked up we could both tell something was amiss. For one thing there was new comers in our camp, the fire was too big, verging on out of control and my mother, the free spirt who was always so full of life and moment was unnaturally still in the mans hands. It took me a split second to understand that my father screamed her name as he ran past me. That first call, the crack in his voice was something I had never heard before. The pain and fear that came from a man who saw the women he loved with every fiber of his being as she dropped from the strangers grasp. He didn't make it far before he simply froze in place his head dropping to almost stare in wonder at the knife that had found its mark buried to the hilt in the center of his chest I saw it leave the mans hand I saw every rotation it made before it slipped so easily into his chest piercing his heart. As he fell to his knees there was a scream and I honestly didn't know until much later that it was me. It felt like a life time as I watched him fall to his knees and then slump forward into the ground. "Get the girl" is all I heard from the man who had stolen my parents from me his voice sounded off to my ears and the flash and flare of the angry fire made the shape of his face seem other worldly, his men moved towards me and I did the only thing I could, I ran.

I will say this because I think about it every moment of the day as soon as I no longer felt life I was in a race for my life. Only once in my life have I felt I have been in any real danger. I was walking from my car back to my dorm and a man approached me with less then honorable intentions. One minute he was lunging to grab me and the next he was on the ground unconscious with a fractured hand and a dislocated shoulder. I don't remember how I did it, I just remember thinking I needed to protect myself and...I did. My hands that I used to weave daisy chains found pressure points with painful accuracy and the long legs I often tripped over brought themselves up and sent the man flailing. He was down and I was safe and when I came back to myself I was horrified with the violence that had come from me, the flower child...I never told them. I never told my parents because how could I. How would the two most gentle people react to knowing the child they had raised could so easily hurt another living soul. Could I have protected myself that night against these men...maybe but when the thought came that I needed to protect myself all I knew was that my feet carried me away quickly, very quickly.

My gift is not something I can always control no matter how hard I try so when I took off running I didn't know if I was just going to be a girl running from the men who had just killed my parents or a freak using her curse like a coward. Turns out wether I wanted to or not I was going to use my gift and time seemed to speed up around me as I ran faster then anything that could be chasing me and after several minutes of hard running my body glowing a pale green light I found myself nearly fifty miles from my camp. I remember blue flashes of crackling light coming from their weapons as they tried to stop me but once I was going there was no stopping me. When I slowed down there was silence and thats when I broke. Time stopped for me again, something about having your world ripped away makes you forget about everything else. I spent an hour...or maybe several hours, I never really knew or cared to know. It took everything I had to get enough control to run back to them and when I did...

The fire had already taken half the camp, the bus was gone, my blanket that smelled of my mother, my fathers guitar, the chair where my mother sat every morning drinking her tea or sat and worked on her project with rapt attention. I walked forward and every step felt like I was crawling through mud until I was standing next to the shell of what had been my father. I slowly rolled him onto his back and pulled the dagger from his chest. It stayed in my fist like I couldn't let it go. My other hand was shaking so bad that it took me a few tries before I could reach up and slide his eye lids closed. With the dark of his shirt hiding the blood stain I could pretend he was sleeping. I wanted to stand and go to my mother but she was to far away and where she had fallen was still burning and it was like I knew I would never survive seeing her corpse destroyed like that so I stayed with my father just sitting beside him.

Now that I think about it it seems a bit surreal...a few hours prior we had been in the exact same position and yet they feel like completely different days, hell, they feel like completely different lives. Every day I close my eyes and see that light I always saw in my father fading. I think about how scared my mother must have been standing there in her gossamer skirts that always swung and shifted around her ankles when she walked as these men stormed into camp. How she must have screamed for us or begged for her life as they took her head in their hands and how her last seconds before they snapped her neck must have felt as she died alone. The therapist says I will learn to cope with that...that they will lose their vivacity in time, maybe two weeks is a bit much to ask for that to start maybe it will be years, maybe it will be never.

I sat there next to him for the rest of the night unmoving, I simply had no where to go, no one to call. The sun must have come up at some point because when I felt something behind me those instincts kicked in and I swung around with the dagger still in my hand catching the man across the leg making him stumble I stood taking hold of his neck and bringing the blade to hover over his throat. They said I looked feral with a snarl that was down right animalistic. "Terra! Terra Starr were here to help but we need you to let him go" The first words that reached me after a fair amount of yelling and I came to myself dropping back but still...I couldn't drop the dagger...It took my fathers life, it wasn't just some pointless weapon. It had a dark importance to me... The man who was talking kept his voice low like I was a cornered animal and perhaps I was.

They had to carry me to the medics because as soon as I remembered what was happening my brain just went off line. If these people were going to kill me then they could just go right ahead and do it. Instead I was patched up for injuries I don't remember getting and I was carted off to some secret hell hole (aka my current location) where I was dressed, and debriefed. I was attacked, let me say that again, my parents lives ended because people tried to attack me. SHIELD, they found me, they already knew who I was...what I could do and apparently while I was off trying to find my place in the world others, dangerous others, were deciding how to find me, take me, and use me...I haven't decided how to feel about that yet.

SHIELD says they don't know why I have my gifts or why anyone wants me, apparently even they don't know exactly where I was before the Starr's adopted me. They want to train me...they say they want to teach me to protect myself...Im not so naive anymore, they want me as a weapon just like the murders who destroyed my life they just found a nicer way to force me into it. The doors may not be locked but it still feels like a prison. I don't know what will come of this but...when you have nothing left to go back to you can only move forward...Thats all for now I guess...I have to go for first day of training...sigh...wish me luck.

There was a stern knock on Terra's door and she quickly powered down her computer pulling her long dark brown hair into a pony tail as it slide open on its own accord making her roll her eyes

"Agent Barton will be waiting for you in the training center" She said crisply and Terra didn't even bother to answer as she followed. They walked in silence and Terra felt like she was on parade, every one had the same expression, the same military walk and the same uniforms, something she flat out refused to to wear. Most people in the hallways gave her an indifferent nod mostly because from what she had gleaned from the interaction she had observed, Agent Hill was relatively high ranked.

"So is this going to be a daily thing or is this some sort of test?" Terra asked needing some break from the silence.

"Barton will gage your abilities then there will be a meeting about how best to structure your training regimen so that you can be brought to the appropriate level as quickly and efficiently as possible" the agent answered levelly.

"Ok...is this a meeting I will be involved in?"

"The meeting will involve information you are not yet cleared to hear"

"A meeting about me...that I cant be in...because Im not important enough to know...about myself?" Terra couldn't keep the sarcasm from her voice and she honestly didn't care to try. They returned to silence for the rest of the trip.

Inside the training room was like a meat heads dream. You had your average work out equipment but it didn't stop there with handing bags, several areas for sparing and in the back a parkour course and for once the room was empty save for one man who stood in the central sparring zone. He nodded to Hill and she turned to leave while Terra looked him over. He had thick arms and short blonde hair. He was small in stature but when he turned his blue gray gaze on her she saw a sharpness there she had never seen before.

"You have ten minutes to warm up then we start" He walked a few steps away and Terra froze not exactly sure what was even expected of her so she managed as few basic moves, touched her toes a few times and shrugged looking to him for a clue.

"We'll start with the treadmill" His comments were short and gruff and something told Terra he was about as excited to be here as she was. He looked younger yet some how like he had lived more life then most. She recognized the haunted look in the dark circles under his eyes and she was instantly curious. She stepped up to the machine and started on an easy jog.

"So, what do you do here for SHIELD?" She was terrible at small talk but if this was her life now she figured she should make some sort of effort. He didn't answer as he reached up and cranked up her speed till she felt like she was nearly sprinting, the pace didn't allow for conversation as she fought to keep from tripping and making a complete fool of her self. Less then five minutes later and gasping for air she gave up hitting the emergency stop, she didn't miss the disappointed frown. The next tests were the same as she went through pull ups, push ups, elementary basics until he asked her to do a hand stand to test her balance which made her laugh but he didn't join in...Her attempts only made his frown deepen.

When they finally got to sparing he was down right mad so when he got into position to fight her she began to wonder if this was their plan to kill her all along. His first strike took her by surprise and three seconds after his go she was on her back trying to get back the breath that had been knocked from her lungs.

"Again" he barked and Terra puled herself to her feet. He gave his go and again she was on her back. The third time she rushed him before his mark but it didn't matter he simply stepped out of the way and kicked her legs out from underneath her. Her knee throbbing she simply laid flat on her stomach for a few breaths

"Again" he growled and she shook her head.

"That wasn't a question Starr, I said again" She huffed managing to stand.

"What do you want from me Im not some machine, I cant fight you because your damn boss thinks he can make me into a killer. Thats not who I am, Im done" she spun around to walk away and he grabbed her arm to stop her. She saw it happening this time and didn't try to stop it, the flash of green light that started in the middle of her chest where if glowed brightest spreading down her body running along her veins and time slowed around her. The word protect roared in her mind and her fist snapped out catching him in the nose. Slowed by her gift he couldn't move to avoid the kick to the back of his leg that sent him to the ground her foot pressed into his throat. The green light faded back to her chest leaving her panting as time came back to speed and Clint could move again if it wasn't for the pressure on his wind pipe.

"I said Im done" she growled before stalking off, this time he didn't try to stop her as he wiped away the blood pouring from his nose.

Holding a towel to his face Clint walked into the conference room.

"Wow what happened to you bird boy" Stark leaned back in his chair smugly with his feet propped on the table.

"I ran into something hard" he answered sarcastically

"Harder then your head? impossible" Tony gasped dramatically and the archer rolled his eyes as he took his seat next to Natasha who passed him a bottle of water. Banner sat across from them trying to not look as nervous as he still felt when in SHIELDs walls.

"Put your head down between your legs" he suggested and Clint nodded taking the advice. Fury came in with Steve beside him taking his seat at the head of the table, Agent Hill came behind them handing tablets to each of the members.

"Look the band already exists and were getting along so well why cant we just do this at the tower?" Tony huffed annoyed and the director ignored him. Banner was taking the time while Tony did his usual posturing to read the material. The information on the tablet all involved a young women who he had never seen before and by the picture looked like she had no idea she was being photographed.

"Terra Nova Starr has been on SHIELDs radar since she was twelve and disappeared from for her sixth grade classroom. She has abilities SHIELD considers potentially dangerous to civilians but with non threatening tendencies. She was classified as a resource that could be reevaluated at a later time" Fury began

"That is until two weeks ago when her home was attacked and we had to step in. It is no longer safe for her to roam free. Since its creation she has been on the list of potential recruits for the Avengers initiative but since SHIELD had stayed mostly uninvolved in her life until now she was left out. Things have changed"

"You want to have her join the team?' Steve asked ignoring the information in front of him preferring to just ask what he needed to know for now.

"That is the plan" Fury nodded

"Clint evaluated her today to check for potential problems we may have"

"She's average on most fronts. She has no endurance, minimal muscle mass, and abysmal reflexes on her own but once shes riled up and her powers kick in its a whole different story. She could put Tasha to shame with her right hook and I was useless against her. Physically we could build her up, emotionally she's still reeling."

"Our team is already a stew of emotional bullshit, whats one more" Stark added sarcastically as he flipped through the info till he could get to what he wanted.

"Can we really afford that kind of stress on this team?" The red headed woman asked seriously.

"She just lost everything, at the least some of use can relate to her maybe..."

"Holy shit she can stop time!" Tony interrupted.

"She can alter the passage to time but from what we have seen she can only speed it up or slow it down and only in her immediate area but the potential is there" Clint shrugged.

"She needs our help and she could be a powerful addition to the team" Steve added

"How the hell do we expect to help this chick...have you seen us" Tony bit at the captain.

"We can try" he answered tightly.

"She still has several phycological evaluations to complete before this will be decided" the director concluded standing to leave.

"In the mean time prepare for the possibility"

"Has anyone asked her?" Banner spoke up, his chocolate eyes looking concerned.

"She is aware she has no where else to go" Was the answer he got but he didn't seem to like it.

"Thats not what Im asking, has anyone asked her if she wants to do this?" The dark skinned director sighed narrowing his eye.

"We are doing everything we can to protect this world, sometimes that means making the hard decisions and hurting someones feelings" He left on that and Bruce met Tonys eyes both silently agreeing they didn't like his reasponse. Clint and Natasha seemed to agree.

"The kid is hurting, that was pretty clear today" Clint sighed a little more relaxed now that is boss was gone.

"She's letting this situation get the best of her. She just needs to toughen up" the assassin answered blandly

"Yeah she's probably not the heartless Russian agent yet, give that another week and Im sure it will grow in nicely" Tony snarked earning him a hot glare from the woman

"People die, dwelling on it doesn't make you a better person"

"No but it does make you human"

"Enough you two. This girl is likely going to become one of us. Frankly I hope she does because we can probably do her a lot more good then being stuck in this place will...No offense" Steve nodded to the agents and they both shrugged in agreement. There was silence in the room but Tony Stark was never much for silence.

"So...any suggestions for move night?"

Well that went longer then I anticipated... Any who hope you enjoyed chapter two. If you have anything you want to say please feel free to review. This time we learned a little more about Starr and the team made an appearance. Hope to see you in chapter three. Thanks

-Thieves