Disclaimer: I own nothing from the Marvel Universe. The only characters I own are Emma, Nazli, Malik and Ezekiel. Also, if anything offends anyone in the story, please know that it is not intentional. This story is written for entertainment purposes only. If nothing else, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Seven
"What is this, Legolas?" asks Tony as he appears in the kitchen with a mock hurt look etched onto his face. "You're having a bonding session with foxy and I wasn't invited?"
Emma glances up at Tony and rolls her eyes. "Don't call me foxy."
Tony smirks but ignores her statement nonetheless. He walks over to the coffee machine and waits rather impatiently for it to fill with coffee, tapping his fingers incessantly against the kitchen table counter.
"Would you stop that?" demands Emma with a glare in his direction. Frankly, she is rather exhausted after her morning shooting session and talk with Clint so Tony's antics were grating on her nerves much more than usual.
"Nahhh…I like it. Besides, you look hot when you're angry," teases Tony with a wry smile.
If possible, Emma's face turns ten times redder and she looks ready to incinerate Tony right there and then.
However, given the circumstances, she settles for the next best thing. Knowing that Fury would have her head for killing Tony, Emma decides to disintegrate the cup of coffee in Tony's hands instead.
She focuses on the object and just as Tony is about to bring it to his lips, the cup disappears and the boiling brown liquid within splashes all over him.
"Fuck!" howls Tony in pain as he glances down at his brown stained shirt. "What the fuck just happened?"
Clint chortles in laughter before he turns to Emma for a hi-five. "Nice one, Em."
Scowling in both pain and annoyance, Tony glares daggers at the five foot two redhead as he attempts to alleviate his pain.
"First of all, why the hell did you that?"
Emma cocks her head to the side innocently with doe eyes. "Just be glad I missed your crotch, Stark. I wonder how it would have felt had the target been different."
"Y-you psychotic bitch," roars Tony in fury while pointing a trembling finger at Emma. "You depraved psychotic lunatic, I wonder why you aren't in the asylum."
His words do not have its intended effect on Emma and she merely shrugs her shoulders in indifference. Clint, on the other hand, stands up in front of Emma protectively.
"Watch it, Stark," warns Clint with a cautious arm held out towards Stark. "You were being a nuisance. And besides, count yourself lucky that Emma decided to play nice. She never misses."
"And since when did you and depraved lunatic over there – " motions Tony with a jerk of his head, " –get so chummy with each other? And must I remind you that she is the one who instigated the attack on moi?"
"Stark – "
"I could have lost my manhood, Barton!" rambles off Tony in defence. "It would have been a travesty!"
"For the love of all that's holy – "
"It would've killed Pepper! She could've been deprived of a piece of moi forever! Can you imagine either of us remaining celibate?"
Emma groans exasperatedly and covers her face with both hands in horror. "Oh god, I do not need to hear about Stark's sex life and celibacy. It's bad enough that he's mentioning his penis but damn, my condolences to his girlfriend or whoever chose to get themselves acquainted with his dick."
Clint snorts and covers his mouth to hold back his chuckle. "Get used to it, Ems. That's Stark for you – all about drama and theatrics."
"I can tell," acquiesces Emma wryly.
Tony shoots her a dark glare – but any trace of real anger has vanished, and he looks more amused than anything. In fact, he looks rather smug than anything. "If you don't want to hear about my sex life, don't attempt to assassinate my sexy ass."
Emma coughs but is held back from retorting when Natasha, Bruce, Thor and Steve stride in donning casual clothes. It seems so out of character for them as Emma for the past few days, she has gotten used to seeing them in skin tight suits or lab coats.
"Nothing about you is sexy, Stark," deadpans Natasha as she makes her way to the fridge to pull out a bottle of mountain dew.
It seems that Natasha is voicing out what everyone, but Tony himself, is thinking as Emma looks around to find everyone but Tony and Natasha throwing their heads back in laughter.
Even Thor, who is unused to their slang, understands that Natasha just insulted Tony's masculinity. The culprit herself has a stoic look upon her face and she heads to the door to leave.
It eggs Tony on as he happily shoos Natasha away with his hand just as she leaves the exact same way she came. And the moment she is gone, his big mouth opens again.
"She's just jealous she can't get a piece of my ass," refutes Tony in a state of denial.
"Rightt," drawls Emma with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "And my name's Bella Swan."
"Bella Swan?" questions Steve and Thor in confusion. Bruce stifles his laughter while Clint mouths the words 'movie reference' to them in response.
"Shut up, foxy. For all we know, you might actually be her with your virginal ass and all," bites out Tony with a smug smirk sent her way.
He is sure it will embarrass her.
However, Tony is wrong.
Instead, Emma's expression completely becomes void of any emotion as she mutters, "Yeah sorry to disappoint but that ship sailed a long time ago, Stark."
Ignorant about Emma's change in mood, Tony's eyes widen. "Really? With those bat-shit crazy Nazis and all, I never thought you'd have time to lose your virginity."
Being the gentleman he was raised to be, Steve steps in front to stop Tony from speaking any more. "Okay, enough is enough, Stark. We're here to take down Hydra, not disrespect a dame."
"I agree with friend Steve, Man of Iron. Lady Emma seems most uncomfortable and I feel that it more apt for us to discuss matters of importance – like perhaps your progress with locating the enemy camp?" adds in Thor seriously.
He throws Emma a bright smile in reassurance and she can't help but think about how much Thor resembles a giant teddy bear at that moment.
Bruce gives Tony a serious look and both Steve and Thor's words finally sink into his head.
Tony looks over to the redhead and finally notices her hunched posture.
His gaze softens. He might be a jerk at times but he knows when to back down – especially since the pained expression on her face is one that resonates within him.
He doesn't push and instead, turns his attention over to Bruce.
"Brucey, why don't you let Capsicle know what locations we've narrowed everything down to?" asks Tony as he changes the topic.
Taking the cue, Bruce starts his explanation to Steve while Emma just sits there in silence, half listening.
The atmosphere is still awkward and tense, but Emma is ever grateful for the change.
Nick Fury hastily rushes into the control room to have a look at the emergency. Countless agents are furiously typing away on their keyboards in frenzy and his sight narrows in on the brunette at the main panel.
Rushing over, he asks, "What's the situation?"
"Yes okay, I'll let him know," says Maria Hill into her com before she swivels her chair around to face the Director. "It's not good, sir."
Standing up, Maria leads Fury over to a series of monitors and signals to the agent in front of them to show Fury the visuals they are getting live from intercepting FBI channels.
On the screen, Fury sees a group of unfamiliar teenagers carrying bags of objects – what they are, Fury can't tell. But that is not what alarms him.
What alarms him the most is the fact that any cop who attempted to stop them got blasted with a string bolts by one teenager. Fury watches as cop after cop falls to the floor convulsing. It is a horror.
"Another gifted," muses Fury. "What are they stealing, Hill?"
Maria Hill glances at him from the corner of her eye. "Diamonds, sir."
"Somehow, I highly doubt a bunch of teenagers would risk their lives for jewellery, especially if one of them is gifted. What do you think that boy can do?"
"Our sensors detected high levels of pure unadulterated energy coming out from him minutes ago, sir. So it seems like he is able to conduct and control electricity."
Fury does not reply and instead, watches on as the raid proceeds without anyone stopping them. Any cops within range are hiding behind their cars and steering clear of the three teenagers.
When the trio finally seem to have gathered all that they are looking for, a van seemingly appears out of nowhere and swerves to a stop in front of the store. Wasting no time at all, the kids jump into the back of the van after hauling their loot in and within seconds, they are gone.
"Wait, pause the tape here – " orders Fury as he narrows his eyes on the screen.
The agent in front of the monitors glances at him from his peripheral vision questioningly but does what he says all the same.
Maria nearly gasps at the symbol etched on the bottom of the van – it small and nearly unnoticeable. Well, to everyone but Fury it would seem. And that man only has one good eye.
"The Hydra Flame Division," murmurs Maria contemplatively.
"Like I suspected," says Fury. Then he turns to the agents within the vicinity and starts barking out orders at them. "I want all eyes and ears on these people. When they strike again, the Avengers will be ready."
"You're letting them go just like that, sir?" asks Maria warily. It is not like Fury to let Hydra run off without stopping them. She thought he would've at least sent the Avengers in.
The corners of his lips turn up slightly and he responds, "For now. That's only because they're leading us to where we want them to go, Hill."
Fury gestures to another monitor in front of them and Maria sees a blinking red dot on a map.
It is moving rapidly and realisation dawns upon her that Fury has somehow managed to get S.H.I.E.L.D agents to put a tracking device on the van. She gapes stupidly for a second before composing herself.
"I doubt they're going back to the Hydra facility yet cause I bet they still have a helluva lot more things left to steal on their itinerary. But it is one step closer to getting what we want," says Fury as he makes his way towards the door, striding slowly.
Maria follows behind him.
"What if they abandon the van?" she asks.
Fury smirks and clasps his hands behind his back, walking slowly down the hall. "Well then, Hill. That's why we're sending the team in before they can do that."
"The Avengers are a ticking time bomb ready to explode, Fury – even more so with the addition of Emma Mayer! I don't think it's wise to make them work together now when they're all clearly still on tenterhooks with her."
"Well, then there's no time like the present to learn then, isn't it?"
"For a place supposedly housing a bunch of Hydra recruits, it sure looks normal," comments Tony through his com device as he hovers over the picket fenced house in his ironman suit.
"Well, we can't all be rich billionaires with big flashy signs pointing out our locations, can we?" retorts Emma with a roll of her eyes as she lands on the roof with Natasha following behind on a grappling hook.
They both land quietly and give a thumbs-up to Clint – who is piloting the Quinjet above.
He chuckles and then turns on the cloaking device, staying out of plain sight. Bruce is with him only for backup whereas Steve and Thor are currently at the front door of the house.
"I take offense to that, gingerhead," drawls Tony.
"You might want to rethink that statement, Stark," deadpans Natasha threateningly.
"Right, you're a redhead too. I never did ask but is your hair colour natural?" wonders Tony aloud.
"Stark! Focus!" hisses Steve as he and Thor walk towards open the door.
"My bad," apologises Tony unapologetically. "But you're all clear. There's no one near the vicinity which means that they're most likely inside."
"We're going in then," says Steve as he knocks on the door in three short raps.
Emma touches the roof and closes her eyes in concentration. Soon, the permeability of it is increased and Natasha marvels at how the ground beneath them gives way to a transparent see through platform. She can see clearly all the rooms in the house and she wonders if it is like a one way glass panel.
"We can see everything now, but they can't see us," explains Emma as she crouches down to scour the house for any signs of life.
The corner of Natasha's lips quirk upwards but otherwise, she does not say anything and continues on observing.
The wooden door opens and a blonde guy steps out warily. "Can I help you?"
Steve and Thor are both dressed casually in plain shirts and jeans to avoid suspicion and are holding tool boxes in their hands each. Of course, Steve still has his shield strapped onto his back while Thor has Mjornir hanging by his back pocket.
"Yes actually, we're with the sewage and piping company and it has come to our attention that there's been a toxic leakage around this neighbourhood. May we come in to inspect the house?" asks Steve politely.
The blonde man eyes them up and down warily, not saying a word.
"Just a routine check, sir," assures Steve with a small smile.
"Can I see some ID then?"
Luckily, Steve and Thor are prepared by S.H.I.E.L.D and they both lift up their fake IDs to show the man.
He scrutinises it like a hawk.
"Donald Blake and – " reads out the man as he looks at Thor before he turns to Steve. " – Ben Stoner?"
"That's us," assures Steve with a false smile.
"Okay, this way then," acquiesces the blonde as he steps aside to let them in.
Emma watches as the blonde Steve and Thor were talking to comes into view and she takes a sharp breath.
"You alright?" asks Natasha quietly.
"Yes," answers Emma before she gestures to the blonde figure in the house beneath the roof. "That blonde Steve and Thor were just talking to, I know him."
"Who is he then, foxy?" asks Tony through his com.
"That's Byron Fieldwood. He's the gifted who can manipulate electricity!" says Emma before her gaze turns worried.
She holds a finger to her earpiece and calls, "Steve, Thor, be careful around him. If he's here then the others are bound to be around."
"Roger that," murmurs Steve quietly.
"What was that?" asks Byron suspiciously as he turns to look at the two muscular men behind him.
Startled, Steve scrambles for an excuse.
"Oh I was just telling Donald that your pipe leakage seems to be coming from over there!" lies Steve as he points a finger over to the kitchen pipes.
Thor nods his head in agreement. "Yes, we must have a look at this leakage of the pipes."
"Really? It looks fine to me but have a look if you want," says Byron as his head follows their every movement warily.
"Man, big guy and Capsicle have got to be the worst liars I've ever met, no offense point break," comments Tony in exasperation.
"You have a better plan, Stark? Your suit would malfunction the moment Byron sends a bolt at you," retorts Emma in annoyance, not taking her eyes off the trio in the house.
She notices two unfamiliar teenagers emerging from the stairs and walking towards Byron, Thor and Steve and she is immediately on high alert.
At the same time, Natasha sees what Emma is seeing and speaks into her com to warn Steve and Thor. "Cap, looks like there's two more teens closing in on you. Be careful."
Instantly, the two of them stiffen slightly. They turn their heads towards the resounding footsteps and are met with the sight of a brunette girl – at most eighteen years of age, and another blonde boy – probably in his teens as well.
"Byron, who are these people?" asks the girl as she eyes Steve and Thor up and down flirtatiously. It makes Steve uncomfortable but he tries to remain composed.
"Some pipe workers or something. They said there's some leakage around this neighbourhood so they're for some routine checks," replies Byron offhandedly, not taking his eyes off Steve and Thor – who are currently taking apart the pipes without having an actual clue as to what they are doing.
"Ma'am, sir," greets Steve as he looks up with a polite smile before returning to his work.
"Such gentlemen," purrs the brunette.
The other blonde narrows his eyes and walks next to Byron.
"They seem shabby to me," he hisses to Byron.
"Yeah but they showed me their IDs."
"Dude, there's such a thing called fake IDs," curses the blonde as he roughly shoves him to the side before turning his attention back to Steve and Thor. "You're done here fellas, get out. Now."
"We don't want any trouble," says Steve as he holds both hands up in surrender. His eyes flicker over to Thor's for a second and Thor follows what Steve does – backing way slowly.
The blonde's eyes flash dangerously as he whips out a gun from his back pocket. "Get out."
"Cap, they're the only chance we have of infiltrating Hydra. You can't leave yet," says Clint through Steve's earpiece.
Sighing, he decides to throw all caution to the wind. "Right, we're neutralising the threat then."
Without further ado, Thor and Steve charge towards the three Hydra recruits and start fighting them.
Thor dives right in for Byron and it becomes a battle of thunder against lightning. Byron sends bolt after bolt of electricity at Thor to which he repels which the swing of his hammer.
Thor heads straight for Byron and swings his hammer towards him. It lands on its intended target and sends Byron flying to the wall.
"Thor! Don't kill him, he's not himself!" says Emma in horror before she scrambles to stand up on the roof.
"Where are you going?" questions Natasha.
"To help Steve! I don't know who the other two teenagers are but I highly doubt Steve can take down two gifted individuals," replies Emma in a rush before her form starts to sink into the roof of the house.
Natasha watches as Emma disappears right before her eyes and appearing in the kitchen alongside Steve.
Steve ducks as the blonde tries to land a punch on his face and he uses his shield to push him away. Without a minute to catch his breath, Steve finds himself attempting to doge the swift jabs the brunette is currently aiming at him.
She might have been flirting with him at the start but boy, she is lethal now. The brunette is merciless and agile as she finally manages to scratch Steve in the leg with her dagger.
It causes him to fall to the ground but he quickly throws his shield to delay any further attacks upon him. And just as he is sure he is done for, the girl is swept to the side by a huge force.
Steve looks up and is eternally grateful to see Emma's face. She offers him a hand and pulls him up.
"Two against one, it hardly seems like a fair fight. You alright, cap?" asks Emma, concerned.
"Yeah, all good, but what do they feed these kids at Hydra?" mutters Steve as he stands up, dishevelled. His eyes flicker over to the unconscious forms on the floor.
Emma smiles wryly and walks over to the now unconscious brunette and lifts the girl's arm to look. Just as she suspected, a large centipede like device is etched onto her skin.
Steve does the same to the other unconscious blonde and is met with the sight of the same device.
"What is that?" he asks.
"It's something like the super soldier serum they used on you. Only, it's temporary for them," says Emma as she turns to look at Steve.
Thor appears in their view, dragging a beat up Byron behind him and then throwing him onto the floor alongside his unconscious teammates.
"Byron," murmurs Emma.
He glances up at the redhead through tired hooded eyes and smirks. "I never thought I'd see you again, Amaris."
"Where's Hydra's facility, Byron? Where's Ezekiel?" asks Emma seriously as she crouches down in front of him.
Byron's face morphs into a huge scowl. "Like I'd tell you anything, traitor."
"Please, Ron. This isn't you, Hydra brainwashed you. Fight it and help us," pleads Emma.
Byron spits out spatters of blood into her face. "Fuck off."
Enraged, Thor lifts Byron up and slams him into the wall painfully. "You do not speak to a lady like that."
Even though he is wincing in pain, his glare is still hateful.
"She is anything but a lady. And I will never ever help you. My loyalties are with Hydra."
"Jeez, who is this guy? An ex-boyfriend?" comments Tony through Emma's com.
"Something like that," she says dryly before walking over towards Byron.
She takes over from Thor. Using her gift to lighten his mass, Emma then slams Byron's head hard against the wall, knocking him out completely. As such, his body slumps to the ground, unconscious.
"Nice job, foxy. Now you just knocked our only suspect unconscious," congratulates Tony sarcastically.
"This time I agree with Stark. Why'd you do that, Em?" asks Steve stoically as he glances at her.
Emma rolls her eyes and shrugs. "He was annoying me. Besides, there's something called cognitive rehabilitation. It's a theory I have so hopefully by the time he wakes up at S.H.I.E.L.D HQ, he's himself again."
As soon as Emma's words escape her mouth, Steve's eyes widen in realisation at the familiar term. He recalls the time when Natasha did the exact same thing to get Barton back and can't help but nod his head in approval.
"Alright then, but how can you be sure that he is indeed under mind control and not acting out of his own free will?" asks Steve, slightly apprehensive.
Sighing quietly, Emma murmurs, "Byron was my teammate back then, Steve. And unfortunately, I happened to witness them brainwashing him. You'll learn that almost every gifted kid there is under their mind control."
Sensing her need to drop the topic, Steve starts to give orders to the rest of the Avengers to help bring the Hydra kids to S.H.I.E.L.D and to round up all the stolen goods along with any other useful items they could salvage.
By the end of the mission, the Avengers have gathered almost fourteen million dollars' worth of diamonds and technology as well as the laptops the trio have been using to communicate with their superiors.
Bruce administers heavy doses of tranquilisers to the three Hydra recruits to ensure that they do not awaken whilst Tony happily begins to slap on power inhibitors and cuffs on them.
When that is done, the two of them join rest of the Avengers near the front of the Quinjet.
There is a heavy silence in the room amongst the Avengers from both tiredness and discomfort, but of course, it is Tony who speaks up first as always.
"So Emma, you told Steve that almost every gifted under Hydra was under their mind control. I'm curious to know how you escaped their mind control!" muses Tony curiously.
Everyone's interest is piqued and they glance at Emma in unison.
She glares at Tony before muttering incoherently.
"What was that?"
Exasperated, she rolls her eyes.
"I wasn't under mind control."
"Wait what, did they threaten your family then?" asks Tony as he throws in other plausible explanations. "Did they monitor your every movement?
But quickly, he is shut up by the hard look upon Emma's face.
A realisation dawns upon him but Emma speaks up before he can utter the very words that are going through his mind at the moment.
"I joined Hydra willingly."
Author's note: Hey guys thanks for reading :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
You don't have to but I'd really appreciate it if you guys could leave a review just to let me know how you find the story!
Till next time!
