I sat next to Banner in the lab. He smiled as he taught me how to use these computers.
"I guess it's not too hard. I had several serums used on me. Five, actually. One Physical, one mental, one personality. The other two were mysteries. I'm not that far in yet." I say, tapping my journal, which was on the desk next to me.
"I'm guessing mental was for intellect and stuff?" he asked.
I nodded. "Pretty much. I can pick up any subject incredibly quickly, as I'm finding now." I said, typing quickly into the computer.
"What even are you doing?" he said, looking over my shoulder and smiling.
I shrugged. "Nothing really." I lied. Really, I was programming a game where the player shot at a picture of Tony Stark.
"Then why are you programming a game that means you can shoot Tony without physically killing him?" he chuckled.
"Hey, a 95-year-old woman's got to find fun somewhere." I shrugged, laughing.
"Did someone say my name?" Tony called from the other side of the lab.
"No…" I say.
"Of course you didn't." he says, and I can tell he doesn't believe it.
I stopped programming the game and I started up reading another entry of the journal.
'Thursday 26thFebruary 1942,
OK. Meeting Steve again after the operation wasn't completely dreadful. He was shocked because Peggy said 'There's someone I want you to… re-meet.' And he thought it was Bucky. No, it was me, sat there in army gear with a file in front of me. He was so confused, his face froze.
"Hey." I'd said.
"Uh….." was all he could reply with.
I laughed a little. "Yeah, it's me." I say.
"Alice?" he asked.
I'd laughed and he'd hugged me.
"How are you feeling?" I asked. Peggy was sat, watching our reunion.
"Taller, but never mind that! Why are you here?" he asked.
"I didn't want you to have to go through more serums than was necessary." I'd shrugged.
Steve looked down. "One serum was agonising… How did you go through several?" he looked worried.
"Two hour breaks in between." I'd smiled.
He looked at me as if I were crazy, but he didn't look like it was a bad thing. He looked at me with a smile of half admiration and half… well, I wasn't quite sure.'
I heard Steve come in with Clint. They exchanged a few quiet words with Banner and Stark, who looked over at me.
"You sure she's ready?" Banner asked nervously.
"Yeah. I think she's ready for her first mission." Clint says.
I closed my journal. "So, what are we doing?" I asked with an eager smile.
Clint looked at me. "Two possible threats headed towards us. One with a bad temper, the other… less hostile. We need to neutralise them one way or another." He says.
"I think I'm up for it." I shrugged.
Steve raised an eyebrow. "It's going to be you, Barton and I." he says.
"Is that a bad thing?" I tease.
Clint smiled. "No, but we best get going." He said.
I nodded and followed Clint and Steve to the weapons room, where I was given a suit of light-weight, slim-fitting white armour and given my choice of weapons. I picked out a few small guns and put them in the holsters on my hips. I picked out two long daggers and slid them into the small sheaths incorporated into the inside of my boots. Steve grinned at my choice of weapons, as he picked up his shield off a peg on the wall. Smiling, I turned to see Agent Barton pick up a quiver of arrows and his bow that extended when he flicked it.
"So what have they been doing to gain the title of 'threat'? Just so I know what we're up against." I ask.
"Taking out scores of our operatives in single strokes. They decided to send us instead of the regular grunts." Clint said grumpily while tying up his boots. I sighed. Steve looked uncomfortable with the use of the phrase 'regular grunts' and I understood completely. He'd always disliked the notion that someone was unimportant or run-of-the-mill.
We stepped into the helicopter, waiting to take us to the small base where the attacks were happening. From what I could remember, it had been a barracks Steve and I had visited during the Captain America campaign. The journey wasn't long, ten minutes at most and we devised strategies to either take the targets hostage or take them out. We came out quietly and quickly, ready to attack if necessary. Hawkeye stood behind Cap and I, since he was better at long range than us and could shoot the targets down if they came up from behind.
I walked into the barracks, hands by my sides, not too far from my guns if I needed them. Shouting echoed from a room down the corridor and I recognised it as a thick Scottish accent.
"We need to get moving!" a younger voice said.
"Memories take a lot of time. Give me ten minutes and we can leave." A voice that sounded somewhat older sighed.
I kept my breathing shallow, ready to attack. Walking slowly down the corridor, with Cap by my side, Hawkeye stayed utterly silent. I guess that was an aspect of the bird of prey that gave him his code name. I looked at a scorch mark on the wall, confused. Come to think of it, there were a lot of burnt areas, especially around door frames. The whole place looked like a small supernova had been wreaking havoc along the hallways. I would have kept walking if I wasn't confronted by an arrow streaming through the air.
"Clint it's me!" I hissed.
"Negative. Not me." He whispered.
"Stop, or I'll shoot ya where ya stand! It'll go right through your pretty little skull, in between your eyes." The younger voice said, and sure enough there was a woman, on the petite side of average, with a tousled mess of light ash blonde hair pointing an arrow at my forehead. I stopped breathing for a moment.
"Drop your weapons ma'am. We mean you no harm." Cap says.
"Or this'll go right through your pretty little skull too." Hawkeye goaded, and in the corner of my eye, I saw his arrow pointed at the side of the girl's head. She swivelled on the spot.
"You! Ye nasty piece of-" she began.
"That's enough, Brigid!" the older voice snapped, and out of the shadows stepped another woman. She was older, in her late thirties with dark mahogany hair tied up behind her head in a loose bun. So that must have been the less hostile one.
"But mum!" Brigid moaned, not taking her eyes off Hawkeye.
"Brigid… Bow down. In my opinion, a princess shouldn't have weapons anyway." The older woman chided.
Brigid scowled. "I'll put mine down if he'll put his down." She glared at Hawkeye. A bubble formed around the two archers and I stepped back.
"I'm sorry about Brigid. She's a bit hot-headed at times." The older woman apologised. "I'm Danu, and that's Brigid, my daughter."
I looked at Brigid and my eyes widened. Hawkeye had been trying to restrain Brigid and her fists were on fire. "Touch me again, and yer dead. Got it?" she asked.
Hawkeye looked terrified. "Ok." He replied, his voice trembling.
The bubble evaporated as they both lowered their weapons.
"It's ok." I sighed.
"Yer English! Ya little prissy bi-" Brigid began, but Cap cut in.
He stepped in front of me. "That's beside the point ma'am. What we're here to discuss is why the heck you've been killing dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D operatives."
Danu sighed. "I told you not to do it, Brigid." She sighed.
"Well it got their attention didn't it?! Stupid wee pansies." The younger scot muttered.
"We needed to talk to your leader. We have news… On Loki." Danu's expression darkened.
Cap nodded. "Taking out vast amounts of operatives out isn't the way I would have done it, but-"
Brigid interrupted. "You questioning my methods, Yankeedoodle?" she taunted. Her hands set on fire as she glared at my friend.
"Don't call him that, miss." I say defensively, stepping in front ofHe' Cap.
Brigid grumbled quietly. "Fine, madam." I felt old when she addressed me like that, but then, to face the truth, I was.
"Let's go. You can tell Fury your 'information' when we get there." Hawkeye sighed.
"That would be a good idea…" Danu sighed. A group of mercenaries came around the corner.
Hawkeye grabbed onto Cap, who was about to start attacking the grunts. "Let Alice handle this." He said.
I stepped out, pulling my guns up and shooting the mercs. Each one cried out as I shot them. I cursed as another group came along. A few bullets into this wave, I ran out of ammunition. I grabbed the knives from my boots, and as one came near me, I threw it into his side. I pulled it back out again. No point wasting a perfectly good weapon. I flipped one of my assailants over my hip, and heard his back slam into the ground. One of them almost had me pinned down, but with a grab at his throat, the tables turned and I was pressing him against the wall. He panicked and scrambled away. A few others of the hired muscles looked at me, fearful.
"There's more where that came from." I say, brandishing my knives.
They sprinted off and I turned around to the rest of the group. "Shall we get going?" I asked, pulling my hair back away from my face.
Hawkeye was looking at me, almost admiringly. "That was amazing."
Cap examined my face for a moment, as if there was something wrong.
"What?" I asked, confused.
A moment later, he was wiping a cut on my forehead. I blushed. "I'm fine… Nothing, really." I muttered.
"If you say so…" He said, looking at the mercs. I followed his gaze.
"No insignia." Cap sighed.
"Er… Can we maybe possibly get going?" Danu asked, her face barely concealing her nervousness.
Cap smiled comfortingly. I missed when he'd used to smile at me like that. "Sure. Best get going before more of them come." He said, turning around to go towards the helicopter. Danu and Brigid followed Hawkeye and I. We arrived at the helicopter with no trouble and got buckled in. Danu and Brigid sat on one side of the aircraft, opposite the three of us. I crossed my legs as I was sat there. Cap pulled his mask back and his blond hair un-squashed itself. I smiled at him. He looked so cute when his hair did that.
He looked at me, confused and I looked away, red.
"You ok?" he asked, oblivious. I laughed a little and I could see a flicker of recognition in Brigid's face as she groaned. She could tell that I liked 'yankee-doodle' as she'd called him. I gave her a look that said 'do it and die' and she smirked, returning my glance and silently mouthing at me.
'Don't worry.' I lip-read. I smiled.
"Yeah, I'm ok…" I said quietly.
I ran a hand through my hair casually. Soon enough, we arrived back at the Avengers tower, where I'd been revived to begin with.
"That was a successful mission, Alice." Steve said as we stepped out.
"Thanks. It wasn't too bad, getting back into the swing of things." I shrugged a little. Fury greeted us.
"I see you recruited the threats." He sighed coldly.
"They have a skillset we thought would be beneficial to the team." I say, defending them.
Fury shook his head. "Fine. But if they become destructive, it's your responsibility, Williams." He walked off. Danu looks at me, a little perplexed.
"He didn't even look us in the eye…" she muttered, her thick Scottish accent turning sour.
"It's ok. We'll get you all introduced to the rest of them. Although… Stark's a little shit." Clint laughed.
Danu frowned. "Who is this Stark?" she asked.
"Tony Stark. Iron Man." Steve and I said in unison.
"The toaster?!" Brigid laughed, just as Tony came up behind her.
"I'd rather not be called a toaster, if that's ok." He smirked. "So who's this beautiful bi-" he began, but Brigid's glare cut him off.
"Ok. Who are you?" he asked, intimidated.
"Brigid. And this is my mother, Danu." She snapped.
Her mother sighed. "Brigid… Calm down. Let's not have another fight…"
"I'm hungry… Let's go eat." Clint grinned.
Brigid's stomach grumbled in response. "Oh god yes please." She said as they walked off to the cafeteria.
I laughed quietly. "I'm going to go train." I said, turning in the direction of the training room. My stomach let out a similar sound to Brigid's and I sighed.
"Sounds like you're going to eat then?" Steve called after me and I chuckled.
"Yeah, I think so." I turned back and walked to the cafeteria. Steve and Danu followed me. Stark had already gone with Brigid and Clint. I picked up a plate of mac and cheese and smiled, taking a glass of apple juice.
I sat down next to Banner and grinned. "It's a little less awkward next to you." I laughed.
He smiled silently. Danu was sat across from him, eating haggis and mashed potatoes with turnips. Clint and Brigid were opposite each other, laughing about archery puns. Stark sat down next to Clint.
"Hey Legolas." He teased. "How are you and Merida?"
Brigid looked up from her plate. "We're good, tin man." She retorted.
Clint comically inward whistled and said "Ooh… burn."
"want some cream for that burn?" Natasha chimed in, sitting next to Brigid.
Banner laughed and Danu joined in. Tony acted as if there was nothing going on.
"So Brigid. I hear you're one of the new recruits Capsicle brought in." he said.
"Yes I am. Problem?" she replied, stuffing her face with pizza, laden with prawns, tuna and anchovies.
"No…" he said quietly, but smirked. "Brigid's a nice name. Named after anyone?" he asked.
"No. People are named after me." She said. The whole table became silent. Except Tony.
"Ego much?" he exclaimed.
"Says the man with a building that has his name plastered all over it?" she retorted.
Danu sighed. "We're goddesses. Ok?" she muttered.
"Oh… That's pretty cool." Tony shrugged. Clint looked at Brigid, confused.
"Woah." He mumbled.
"Yeah…" Brigid replied. "I apologise for everything I said when I was hungry by the way. Sorry, yankee-doodle."
Steve smiled. "It's ok. It's good to be brought down a peg or two occasionally." He said.
Clint finished his burger. "So, you're a goddess?" he asked, still shocked.
Brigid smiled and nodded. "Yes." She replied simply.
"Damn…" he sighed.
Natasha looked at her. "Seems legit." She shrugged.
Tony laughed. Banner looked at Danu, smiling.
Everything was at peace… for now…