Alexandria looked up from her book as the slight clearing of a throat reached her ears. Seeing the half sleepy gaze of Jane looking at her she smiled softly and bookmarked the page she was on before putting it down. "Hey there kiddo. Come sit with me" she said patting the couch cushion beside her in invitation. Feeling the blonde girl curl into her side she wrapped an arm around the younger girls shoulders. "Whats up?" she asked.
Jane looked up at Alexandria and smiled sweetly at the elder witch. "Not much, I wanted to ask your advice on something. I don't know if you'll be able to help or not. I thought it couldn't hurt to ask even if you aren't able to help" she said resting her head on the other girls shoulder.
Alexandria raised an eyebrow slightly at that little comment but shrugged a shoulder. Her time in America over the summer had not been all fun and games, she & Natasha spent a fair amount of time together nose deep in every academic book they could find across the magical sectors of Las Vegas. Not only had she found that the stuff taught in Hogwarts was considered remedial pre-requisite reading for the national magic academy entrance exam for the most magically gifted but basic first years stuff for the American counter-part was leaps & bounds more modern and practical compared to the latter years at Hogwarts. "Well bring it on. Me and Natasha are pretty bright between the two of us academically speaking. If its a personal thing then I promise mums the word" she said making a motion like closing a zipper across her lips once she stopped speaking.
Jane laughed quietly as she let her eyes close. Ever since whatever magical weirdness had connected her, Michael and Alexandria she felt that she could trust the older witch with anything & everything. "Its a little... I don't know, weird I guess. Theres been a dream I've been having for the last few week ever since that weird magical link thingy with us and my brother. At least twice this week I've had this dream but unlike a regular dream where you barely remember the last few seconds of edge details its all there to remember when I want to think about it. Theres a small herd of animals that is all together and logically they shouldn't be in the same area" she said starting to explain.
"Nature is weird sometimes you know. What animals are they precisely anyways?" Alexandria said curiously. On the edge of her senses she could feel Natasha leaning out through their bedroom door listening to the conversation. Technically it was the redhead easvesdropping but their kids, the thought couldn't help bringing a small smile to her lips when it crossed her mind, knew their 'big sister' Natasha was always close by to her so they didn't try to be secretive about asking advice of one of them when they knew both she & Natasha would have their two cents given.
"Two rabbits, a fox, a female deer, three cats of some type but I can't be sure what type exactly and a wolf. Only the wolf isn't a regular wolf you'd see in a nature documentary or a National Geographic magazine. Its bigger and more muscled but lean. The weirder thing that stands out is despite the fox, the wolf and the cats appearing to all be predatory types they never hurt the deer or the rabbits" Jane said as she furrowed her brow slightly as she spoke. "In fact, the cats, the rabbits and the fox seem to be attached to the deer and the wolf. Kinda like they were their kids or something. Not just that but the deer and the wolf act strangely too. In my dream its not unfair to say the two act like they were in love with each other. I mean the deer will rub her head against the wolves side and the wolf will nip the deer back playfully rubbing its muzzle against the deers throat like a boyfriend or grilfriend laying attention on their significant other."
Natasha chuckled as she popped into the room fully and crossed to the couch. "If the wolf is bigger and more muscled but lean it sounds like a direwolf" she said planting her hands on the back of the couch. Seeing Janes head arch slightly and eyes open to look at her confused she continued to speak. "Direwolves were the predecessor to the wolves you think about and see today. Direwolves were bigger, stronger and faster versions of the wolves that roam the world now. They were more common in The States during much colder periods and even in Ireland up until the 1600s when people began to really hunt wolves to the brink of extinction. Unlike the wolves of today Direwolves were more peace keepers and guardians than hunter-killers. It isn't a stretch or exaggeration to say that if there was some dispute on their territories the Direwolf would not just be in the middle to keep the parties on either side from killing each other in frustration and keep others from being hurt or dragged into the dispute going on."
Jane nodded her head as she digested the tidbit of information. "I see" she said quietly. "I guess I just wanted to ask if either of you had any weird dreams lately that didn't make sense to you. Michael has had similar dreams and even Karen said she had a weird dream about a group of animals under the protection of a deer & a wolf."
Alexandrias eyes looked up to Natashas and looked puzzled. She herself hadn't had any dreams like that and to her knowledge neither did her wife. "Perhaps I could be a little bother more. Was there anything else that stood out in the dream as weird besides contradictory behaviour of prey & predator type animals herding up together?" she asked turning her eyes back to Jane.
"Now that you mention yeah there is. The eyes." Jane adjusted herself so she sat up straight and rolled her stiff shoulders. "The deer had eyes like you big sister" her eyes turned to Alexandria "and the wolf like yours" she said as her head turned to lookk up slightly at Natasha. "The cats had eyes like the triplets, the rabbits had eyes like me & big brother while the fox had eyes like Karen. I thought maybe I was just projecting the details unconsciously because we all spend as much time together as possible with our class schedules permitting of course but honestly focusing right now its all crystal clear."
Natasha let out a soft but audible "Hmm" before lifting one hand to tap her chin. A wolf with eyes like hers, a deer with eyes like Alex, three cats like the triplets, a fox with eyes like Karen and two rabbits with eyes like Jane & Michael... "Its a long shot here but I think I have an idea. Be right back." Traipsing back to the bedroom she opened her trunk and threw a few books on the bed trying to find the right one.
"What is she looking for sister?" Jane asked with a quizzical look in her eyes while glancing at Alexandria.
"Beats the hell out of me. We spent a lot of time hitting the books together in the US while I was there over the summer but we did study our own separate interests in some afternoons apart. I preferred combat and self defense magics while Natasha showed more interest in the technical stuff like runes and transfiguration since she has a wealth of knowledgw how to defend herself from damn near every type of opponent there is to conceive. I don't know all the details but its some kind of James Bond kind of stuff" Alexandria said with a purposeful and playful wink.
Jane giggled softly and looked up when a triumphant 'Found it!' resounded from the bedroom. "I think she found what she was looking for" she said with a butter wouldn't melt in hell innocent smile.
"I have to agree with you. It does sound that way doesn't it?" Alexandria asked rhetorically.
Natasha came out of the bedroom with a rather small but thick tome in hand. "I'll spare you all the technical details because it can get a little confusing at first explanation but I think that your dreams are telling you there is the strong possibility you are an animagus" the redhead said.
Jane tilted her head head in a cute way that was reminiscent of a confused rabbit.
Alexandria nearly awed at the sight and instead hugged the blonde first year to her chest. "Animagus can change their forms into a specific animal that relates strongly enough to their magic. You said that the rabbits in your dream have eyes like you and your brother right" she said as Jane noddded her head.
"Woah woah woah, slow down Alex. Let me finish before you steam roll ahead without me getting what I want to say out in full" Natasha said bopping her wife lightly on the head with the book. The pout on Alexandrias face was utterly precious leaving her unable to resist the urge to lean down and kiss those pouty lips so she did. "Now, as I was saying this book talks about every known aspect related to animagus magic. The first step in having a hint you may have the potential to be an animagus is a dream corresponding to the animal. Usually the dreams are vague at first before you come face to face with something to hint at the identity of the animal. It could anything from seeing where that animal would sleep in the wild, the habit it lives in et cetera et cetera." Sitting on the arm of the couch she saw both her wife and their sweetest most naive child raptly paying attention so she continued. "The step after that is described to be going to a licensed potion master to get an animagus revealing potion and taking it before you go to sleep. The potion will bring you face to face with what your animagus animal is if you are indeed an animagus."
"What happens if its just dreams of animals and you aren't animagus? Will the potion be harmful to the person who drank it?" Jane asked with a thoughtful and worried tone.
"Not at all. The potion will act more like a dreamless sleep potion mixed with a strong calming draught ensuring you rest peacefully til the morning. It will not negatively affect your health or magic if you are not an animagus" Natasha said patting Janes knee to calm her. "If you are an animagus you will come face to face with the animal in a representation of where its in its element the most. The example that the author uses is her own experience finding out she is a falcon animagus. When she took the potion and met her animal form in her dream she was on a high mountain top in a nest with a falcon circling abve her head."
"Not to cut you off lovely but-"
Natasha bonked Alexandria lightly on the head again with the book. "Then don't. I'm getting to the point because I think something else in the book is possible here with the explanation Jane gave us" she said with a tutting teacher like finger wag scold aimed at Alex who pouted again. "Once you meet your animagus animal, if you have one, you have one of two scenarios on your hands. Scenario number one, your animal already wants to combine with you and you can either accept it as part of you or reject it. If you reject it you won't negatively affect you but you will find that somethings may be a lot harder for you afterwards when you wake up the next morning. The author points to a case where a witch with an obsession for all things beauiful found her animagus form was a... Goldfish. She was horrified and rejected it as soon as she saw it. After that swimming was damn near impossible without assistance and eventhe most stupid simple revival charm they teach after you stun someone was just as near impossible for her to perform."
Jane looked shocked hearing what rejecting your animagus form could do to you. It didn't make sense to her how you could reject part of yourself solely because you didn't like what it looked like. To hear you could be handicapping yourself for rejecting that part of you though, that was more than scary. "And scenario two?" she asked.
"You have to prove to the animal you are worthy of combining with it and reaping the benefits of that form. Like with the author she had to prove to the falcon, to herself, she was worth the falcons approval. So you know what she did? She swallowed her fear & her pride and took a leap of faith off the mountain top" Natasha said taking her cue from the question. "Instead of finding herself plummeting to her 'death', remember that this confrontation is happening in a dream, she found her self floating between clouds. Falcons are animals that know when to retreat but falcons also are hunters to know that fear and intimidation are not to hold you back. By swallowing her pride, fear and trepidation she proved to herself & the eagle she was stronger than she credited herself with being at that time. When she woke up there were immediate changes she noticed about herself. Her eyesight was stronger and sharper she could count indiviual cracks in her floor, she felt lighter, she was faster on her feet." She rolled her hand for effect to say there other things and the two nodded.
"So if you face scenario two and come on top with your animal combining you then you get the natural benefits of that animal" Alexandria said as she rubbed her hand through Janes hair.
"To a degree, yes. No human being can ever exactly have as sharp a sense of sight of a falcon or say a wolves sense of smell. That is not to say however generally if your animagus form has a particularly good sense like hearing, smell, sight et cetera than your regular human form will carry over a better than normal persons sense of that perception. Just like your magic you have to train it not to overload you but its doable and often leads to people with such senses being better witches and wizards because of it."
Jane nodded her head and smiled a serene little smile curling back up comfortably into Alexandria. "You said something else in the book made sense with my explanation" she said with a slight yawn. It was barely seven o'clock and she wasn't supposed to be this tired. 'Then again she is running her fingers through my hair and it is nice' the blonde thought butting her head up lightly into Alexs hand like a kitten or baby bunny enjoying being loved on by its mother. Maybe they could be a little late for dinner, blame it on her getting some reference help for her potions essay or something.
A tiny smile crawled onto Natasha lips watching Jane and Alexandria for a moment. The two of them truly were too cute like this. The blonde witch was so innocent and sweet like a child set on doing her best to do her mother, or in Janes case even though she did not know it yet mothers, proud and Alexandria was the loving doting mother who treated her child like the most precious thing in the world besides the love of her life. "Yes I did. Although it was stated expressly as theory she makes a strong case for the possibility of being able for the same signs to say you yourself might be an animagus, if you are closely enough to connected to others by bonds of affection love and loyalty you can potentially do the same for them. Its not nearly as accuracte and one hundred percent theoretical but if the bond is there, if you know enough about the person or persons and they actually have the same potential to be an animagus as you- it is theoretically possible for you to be their first indicator they could be animagus as well" she said. Scooting to seat properly on the couch next to Alex she lightly pulled on Jane a little so the girl could be comfy between them both.
"But how does that relate to what I sai- oh... I get it" Jane said after a second of thinking. She spent every possible waking moment with her brother and 'sisters', she loved them all and she knew they adored her too with how fiercely she was kept at the center of their group so no one got ro her. They loved her as much as much if not more than she loved them. "You think my dreams were a complete bypass of the steps and said 'Hey, everyone you consider family is an animagus and here is what you all are' kind of thing huh?"
"Magic is a fickle thing. Sometimes it is a kind thing, other times it is not. Look at it this way, if it is a complete bypass of a long process then woo hoo. Its straight to the potion and last step of confronting your animal. Learning to transform is supposed to hurt but thats onlynthe first few times or so I've read. If its merely just a dream, well I think you'd make the cutest little rabbit" Natasha teased with a laugh as Jane blushed a little but smiled a tiny little shy smile.
Tony Stark was a man worth more than money could be printed in a business day. Stark Enterprise was rife with new innovative products coming out daily for both civilian and military bodies. One would assume the multi-millionaire eccentric man of wonder himself was moderately happy with his life. Well that person would be wrong at the moment as he, mid battle with idiotic Hydra zealots, argued with Nick Fury through the com link in his Iron Man suit. "For the love of god Fury shut up! I don't care about your bloody fuckin issues at this moment!" The irritation in his voice was hard to miss as he blew an energy blast from an armored hand through the zealots chest not giving a damn it killed it the man in the process. He'd probably feel bad about it later, the man was a Hydra zealot but that didn't warrant dying because of his anger at Fury.
"Then you clearly don't care Black Widows gone MIA with your Iron Man upgrade she procured from 2R" Fury cut over the com in a calm manner. He'd been aware of Natasha going dark for nearly two and a half months ever since the incident in Vegas with Hydra & some black haired woman with her but beyond that he knew nothing.
"I TOLD YOU I DON'T FUC- Wait a second here chcolate thunder. Black Widow, wouldn't know a good time if it slipped a shot of happy in her drink Natasha Romanv is missing? Are we talking the same stick up her ass bossy kno-"
"Enough lip Stark" Fury said cutting off the stream of insults about the redheaded spy. "Black Widow has been missing for nearly two and half months. If you actually attended meetings like you're supposed to you would already know this. She was last seen in Vegas after Hydra attacked her after procuring the info we needed from the new director of 2R as wel as your information to make your automatic suits more capable of handling the augmented other Black Widow sleepers sent out before the Red Room was shut down. A young woman in her later teens to early twenties was seen with her after this happened."
Tony let out a rather low whistle as the stone fists rose out of the ground as one, clenched the Hydra agents and squeezed killing them all once in a meaty splat before the feed could properly located Natasha or the raven haired girls position again. "What do we know about what happened in the aftermath? What do we know about the girl that was with Romanov?" he asked as the propulsion of the suits thrusters kept him airborn.
"Beyond that the girl is foreign and the Hydra agents internal organs were little more than jelly filling, nothing." Fury pulled the audio file, isolated the track with the unknown girls voice, cleaned it up so it was clear and set it on a loop before send it through to Stark.
Tony grimaced as suspicious thoughts began to form in his mind. Something was wrong here. "You think the girl is a mutant like Scarlet Witch don't you?" he asked. There was something else nagging his mind and it took a moment for it to register as a flicker of his eyes against the GUI of Jarvis told him what he suspected. "Did you find any pings off her locator within the British aisle?"
Fury paused himself from what he was going to say and checked the logs. If there was one things as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. it was he kept damn meticulous track of his agents and assets. "One ping out of London heading twoards Scottland by way of Kings Cross Station."
"Whomever this mystery girl is is British. I have a base of operations out of London and Glascow so reason would dictate you disapatch me to find Romanov to make sure shes not gone turncoat" Tony said already adjusting his flight path within Jarvis.
"If I don't?"
"Fury, I can't hear you. Losing connection here pal. Going through a tunne-" Tony cut the com link and disabled it to for now as he snorted. Fury hadn't answered him about the girl who was with Black Widow which was all the amswer he needed. He heard rumorrs of the auxilery organizations W.A..N.D. and S.T.A.K.E. making way to Britain but now he was pretty sure he understood why. Whoever this girl was she was a damn powerful mutant of one sort or another, summoning the energy to pull off a stunt to kill that many men required A LOT of energy & control of it. If Black Widow turned on them for this girl she was threat to them all with everything she knew.
"Sir, if I might be so bold-"
"Get bent Jarvis. Activate Silent Protocol Alpha One" Tony said with a scowl. He didn't need his own AI to voice his own concerns. "Romanov, you'd better have a good explanation for all this or I swear that I'm going to torch you alive for this." The remainder of his flight was spent with his own murky thoughts. Things were not adding up too well and he would find out why. Romanov was not one to go off the rails of a plan without damn good and earthbreaking reasons.
Back at .I.E.L.D. headquarters Nick Fury glared at the dead com screen as his eyebrow twitched. Working with an egotistical madman like Tony Stark had this happen far more than he would like to admit. If it wasn't for the mans abuse of the American legal system and his constant future tech now advancing S.H.I.E.L.D. capabilities to protect the United States & its global interests he would throw the man in the darkest cell in the lowest dungeon never to be seen again. "Activate the tracking beacon in Starks bloodstream and keep me up to date on his location as well as the actions he takes."
"Sir."
London
"Jarvis, tell me you have something from scanning every data source around us." Seated in the Kings Cross train station coffee shop sat a mildly annoyed Tony Stark nursing his third latte of the past hour as the streams of data flashed before his eyes across the lenses of his 'glasses'. The data stream paused the video feed curently playing as three exclamation marks and a circle appeared on top of the feed. Within the circle were Black Widow and the black haired young woman. "Ok good, this footage is... Two weeks old Jarvis. This doesn't help us nearly as much as you seem to be hoping."
"On the contrary sir. Keep watching the feed. The two of them enter carrying enough luggage to suggest they were going somewhere. You might also see the man with them. The feed goes blank as they hit area near the boarding areas for platforms nine and ten."
"Still doesn't tell us what we need to know about who the girl is, where she and Romanov are & the biggest question of them all: why is Black Widow so invested in this young woman" Tony said as he brought a hand up to adjust his 'glasses' and brush strands of his hair away from his ear subtly switching the setting on the ear piece nestled inside that Jarvis was connected to. No one could hear what he was saying from his perch at the back of the coffee shop but if he looked more like he was adjusting a hearing aid then the eyes that looked over to him would be less likely to continue to do so.
"It actually does sir. Well, it answers one of the questions anyways. What is the one thing that almost always short circuits or malfuctions electronics that would otherwise normally work right as rain?"
Tonys eyebrows knitted together pondering the question for a moment. What would make surveillance of the electronic kind not work? What made... "Magic. That girl isn't a mutant, shes a witch" the man said as the thought of a recent encounter with Asgardians and the catastrophic failure of his Iron Man suits electrical system came to mind.
"My thoughts precisely sir. I also suspect from the audio file Director Fury sent us that there is more to the connection of Agent Romanov and this mystery girl than the surface would suggest. No one would react that way to a stranger being harmed if they were as you called them 'pansy bleeding hearts'. No, the tone used and the spikes of what can only be a desperate plea denotes there is much more to be discovered and understood" Jarvis finished as he cut the data stream clearing the 'glasses' to fully clear 'glass'.
Tony regarded his half full mug for a minute before movement out of the corner of his eyes registered. Black uniforms, the insignia of a pentagram and two wands super-imposed across each other in an X shape, and miliary style throat mics. "What are W.A.N.D. S.T.A.K.E. doing here?" he muttered. The patches could be explained away as gothic chic, the agents were young and in their twenties with a look like they suffered through the latter haf of the goth trend, but the throat mics usually seen on spec ops operatives around the world would be completely suspect.
"I imagine given their organizations specialties they are investigsting high levels of magic and supernatural energies either here within this train station or extremely close by."
"Well lets find out then Jarvis. They may point me in the direction to find Romanov if the girl with her is a witch then W.A.N.D. can point me in the direction of the abnormally high magic source." Tony left the mug still half full and a fifty pound note on the table. On the way out the waitress tried to chasd him out saying he had change due back but a flippant 'keep the change' silenced her. What was a few pounds change when his global net worth was hundreds of millions of dollars nearing the billion mark? As far as he was concered the thirty pounds change he was due in change was piss money he wouldn't miss if he was stranded in the middle of the Sahara Desert and had no water to drink.
