Moving Forward
Chapter 3
Rani gently rocked Purnima to sleep. She had asked her neighbor to return to feed Purnima while Rani packed their few belongings. She knew that it had confused the two agents as to why she hadn't fed Purnima herself, but she did not feel the desire to explain. Now, Rani realized with dread that she would not have another way to feed her until they reached their destination.
She only hoped that sleep would curb Purni's hunger.
Rani felt the man—she could not remember his name—watching her from the other side of the plane. She turned away so that her back would face him. She knew that she was being irrational—it was clear that these people had no intentions of hurting her. But she could not erase her body's natural reactions.
"We're almost there, Rani," Natasha called from the front of the plane. "A room is being prepared for you and your baby as we speak."
"Thank you," Rani responded.
As fearful as she was of what her decisions entailed, Rani could not resist the possibility of a better future for her daughter. Never again would she have to worry about finding food, let alone the money to buy food. She would never have to hear her daughter cry for something that Rani could not provide.
Within moments, the plane landed on a tall building and was pulled inside. Rani stood up slowly as to not wake Purnima and reached for her sack. Within a flash, the man was beside her, holding her bag. Rani refrained from shrieking and stepped back.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I did not mean to frighten you," the man answered, his own voice adorned with an accent. "That is my power, super speed."
"I see," Rani nodded slowly, though her heart was pounding in her chest. "Thank you for carrying my bag." She sidestepped him and followed Natasha off of the plane.
"Where are we going?" She asked Natasha.
"You're going to meet the rest of the Avengers," Natasha smiled. "Then we'll get you situated in your room."
They walked through several corridors before entering into a large room, seemingly made of glass. In fact, the hold building seemed to be made of glass. Rani gaped in wonder at the view of the city from the large windows. Never in her life had she thought that she would one day see such a view as this.
She turned as she heard multiple footsteps approaching. A woman and six other men (one "man" was completely red, so Rani wondered if he was truly a man) entered the room.
"Hey guys, this is Rani Kapoor," Natasha introduced her.
One of the men stepped forward, his hand reached towards her. She tensed up, which did not go unnoticed by Natasha and Pietro.
"Hi, I'm Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America," he smiled warmly.
Rani looked from his hand to Purnima resting in her arms. "It's…uh, nice to meet you, too," she answered.
Steve looked at her baby before pulling his hand back and blushing. "Oh, uh, sorry."
"Smooth, Cap," another, shorter man spoke. "Tony Stark, Iron Man."
Steve scowled at Tony before chuckling.
"My name is Vision. It's a pleasure to meet you," the red man spoke.
"I'm Dr. Bruce Banner," a soft-spoken man smiled towards her. "I spent quite a lot of time in India, myself." Rani nodded at the both of them.
"Which she would love to hear about another time, Banner," another man interjected. "I'm Clint Barton."
"And I am Thor!" The largest man in the room thundered, waking Purnima from her slumber. Immediately, the baby began to cry.
"Oh, my apologies tiny human! I did not mean to scare you!" Thor exclaimed. Natasha and the woman shook their heads at him while the others chuckled.
Rani rocked her baby, mumbling to her in Hindi. Instantly, the baby quieted, though she did not fall back asleep.
"Your baby is very cute," the woman commented. She had the same accent as the man who accompanied Natasha. Rani guessed that they were related somehow, perhaps brother and sister. "My name is Wanda, I am Pietro's twin sister."
Oh, right, that was his name.
"It's very nice to meet all of you," Rani nodded, managing a small smile.
"We'd like to run a few tests later on today, if that's alright with you," Tony stated. Rani had a feeling that he would "run" these "tests" regardless of her consent.
"Rani is going to her room, first," Natasha spoke pointedly.
"Right, right. After that then," Tony nodded.
Natasha rolled her eyes before gesturing towards the hallway. Rani turned towards Pietro for her bag.
"I can carry it to your room," Pietro offered.
"No, it's okay. I'll take it," Rani asserted. She freed up an arm with minor difficulties and took the bag from him. She followed after Natasha, aware that the others were staring after her.
"Doesn't like you much, does she?" Tony commented.
"Shut up, Stark," Pietro muttered. Pietro wondered why Rani had such an aversion to him.
"How was the trip, Pietro?" Wanda asked, resting a hand on his arm.
He turned to smile at her, pressing his lips to her forehead. "It was good."
…
Natasha stopped before a door. "This is your room."
The door slid open before Rani. She hesitantly stepped inside, looking around. It was a simple room, containing a queen-sized bed and a walk-in-closet.
"That door there is your bathroom," Natasha said, pointing at a door to the left. The wall to the right housed a large window. It was simple, yet it was the best room that Rani had ever laid eyes upon. She fought back tears of joy, clutching Purnima to her chest.
She turned to Natasha, grateful beyond belief. "Thank you, thank you so much."
Natasha smiled. "You're very welcome."
Rani walked over to the bed and gently placed Purnima on the soft comforter. She unwrapped her shawl, allowing the baby to move her arms and look around at her unfamiliar surroundings.
"What's her name?" Natasha asked, smiling down at the baby.
"Her name is Purnima," Rani truly smiled as she gazed at the child. "She is roughly two months old."
"You speak English well. Where did you learn?" Natasha asked, looking back at Rani.
The smile faded from her lips as the girl remained silent. Natasha looked away, pursing her lips thoughtfully. She stepped towards the door.
"Don't feel pressured to share anything that you don't want to," Natasha spoke. "Just know that we're a team and we support each other, no matter what."
With a sincere smile, Natasha headed towards the door. Rani once again felt indebted to the woman for her unconditional care.
"My father," Rani blurted before she realized what she was saying.
Natasha turned back around to face the young woman, an eyebrow raised.
"My father was a school teacher. He taught me everything that I know," Rani explained.
Natasha smiled at her softly. "Get some rest," she murmured. "Tony will be bothering you soon." With that she walked out of the room.
Rani surveyed the room, walking around and examining things that caught her eye. The closet was a spacious room itself, housing all kinds of articles of clothing, both for her and Purnima. The bathroom contained a tub with a shower and the most pristine toilet that Rani had ever beheld.
A large screen of some sort was mounted on the wall across from the bed. A couch and two arm chairs framed a coffee table by the window. Rani curiously headed towards a large box-like object in the corner of the room, beside a countertop. Another smaller box sat on the counter. Rani opened the larger box on the floor, the front swinging open like a door, and was instantly greeted by a chilled air. A light turned on inside of the box, showcasing bottles of water and…milk.
Rani gently reached into the box, the cold raising bumps under her sleeve. She removed a bottle of milk and stared at it. She could not suppress the tears that welled her eyes this time. She tightly gripped the bottle as her other hand covered her silent sobs. Rani felt overwhelmed with joy and relief; she knew not what else to do besides cry.
Rani heard a knock at the door and, hurriedly dried her eyes. "Come in."
The other woman, Wanda, entered, along with the red man, Vision. "I see you've found the fridge," Wanda smiled. She noticed the bottle of milk in Rani's hand.
"Did you want to feed her?" Wanda asked her.
Rani looked from the bottle to Purnima on the bed. "Yes…it's just…the milk is too cold."
"Oh, let me show you the microwave then," Wanda said, walking over to the box on the counter. She taught Rani how to use it and warmed the milk for her.
"We're here to take you to Mr. Stark's lab," Vision informed. "He would like to run a few tests on you to—"
"She has time to feed her baby first," Wanda interrupted, sending Vision a pointed look. She smiled back at Rani, handing her the bottle of milk.
Rani smiled back as she walked over to Purnima. After feeding her, Purnima promptly fell back asleep. Rani laid her head on one of the pillows, placing two other pillows on either side of her. "Do we need to go right now?" Rani asked them. She did not want to leave Purnima alone.
"I could watch her, if you would like," Wanda asked.
Rani said nothing, biting her lip.
"Do not worry, you will not be gone for very long," Vision smiled.
"Okay," she whispered. She lightly kissed Purnima's forehead before leaving the room with Vision. She kept a slight distance from him as she followed him down the corridor into an elevator.
This was not the first time Rani had ridden an elevator but she could never get used to the claustrophobic feeling of it.
When Rani and Vision entered the laboratory, Tony, Steve and Bruce immediately turned around. Rani felt tension in the pit of her stomach until she saw Natasha as well. She felt herself relax some, but not completely. Vision nodded once at her before turning around and floating out of the room.
"Ah, welcome to my not-so-humble laboratory," Tony announced. "Let's get right to it."
"We'll be doing some primary scans first, just to create your file," Bruce said, looking at a glass screen in his hands while adjusting his glasses. "If you would please stand right here," he motioned towards a spot in the center of the lab.
Rani nodded and stood where he directed. Natasha sent her an encouraging smile.
A line of light ran up and down Rani's form before disappearing.
"Rani Kapoor, female, five foot four, blood type, O…" Tony went on, reading off of his own glass screen.
"Now, for the fun part," Tony grinned. A cart wheeled into the room, a pile of books sitting on top of it.
"Hey…aren't those my—" Bruce began, his brows furrowing.
"For science, my friend, for science," Tony cut him off. "Rani, I would like you to concentrate on this pile of books and try to move one of them."
Steve and Natasha watched silently and solemnly.
Rani concentrated on the pile, willing one of the books to move. Her forehead creased as she squinted, her hands tightening into fists.
BANG!
The books flew five feet across the room, crashing into something that looked expensive.
She turned around, her hand flying to her hammering heart. Tony stood a few feet behind her, a hammer in hand. He had hit one of the tables with the hammer, creating the loud noise.
"Tony, what the hell?!" Steve shouted.
"Language, Cap," Tony responded. "I assumed Rani would need some kind of push in order for her to make anything happen. I was right, of course." He smiled to the others, who didn't seem as amused. "Oh, my apologies, Rani," he added as an afterthought.
Steve walked over to one of the books, lifting it from the ground pensively. "So, she has some kind of telekinesis?"
"Not quite," Bruce answered, peering at one of the larger screens. Natasha walked over to him, intrigued.
"Look, the computer picked up some sort of radiation concentrated here," he pointed to a blob of light on the screen. The light was lightly outlined by Rani's form. "That's Rani. When she moved the books, the books began to radiate that same light, causing them to move."
"Your point?" Natasha asked, still confused.
"It means that she's not just pushing the book with her mind," Tony clarified, his face just as grave as the others' faces. "If that were the case, the book wouldn't emit that radiation. It seems as though she sent her own energy or evoked the energy within the books, causing them to move."
"She's manipulating energy," Bruce added, the words slowly leaving his mouth.
