Author's Note: Okay, so personally, I don't like this chapter, and I can't seem to make it better. Ugh. I'm blaming it on the fact that I'm sick.
Anyways, enjoy, and keep in mind that the chapter after this one is going to be good. REAL good.
Born To Die
Truth Hurts
"Please don't freak out," Ana pleaded.
Tony laughed harshly. "I already have, trust me."
Thor, sensing the tense atmosphere, introduced himself to Steve and they both left to gather Loki and board the jet.
Tony was about to join them, when Ana caught his metal hands. "This doesn't change anything, right?" she asked. "I'm me, it's just that I'm an elf. Nothing else comes with that!"
Tony started walking again. "I know that, and I think you're finally telling the truth," he told her. "Just, give me some times to come to terms with everything."
"Okay," she promised. "Now, I'm going to deny we ever had this conversation, okay? Got to uphold my reputation," she added, smirking.
Tony wrapped a casual arm around her waist. "Girl after my own non-existing heart," he joked, before falling quiet.
They boarded the Quinjet in silence, Tony shooting glances at Ana every chance he got. He pulled off his helmet upon entering, taking a seat next to Steve, who was debriefing Thor. Anything to break the silence.
The ex-assassin slid into the cockpit seat next to Natasha. "If you don't mind me asking," she began, "what happened to you? I mean, back in the hotel room."
Natasha shot her an amused look. "You mean why didn't Barton kill me?" Ana didn't even blush; she knew the time for neatly evading asking the harsh question had gone. She simply nodded. "Hit that button over there," Natasha directed. She did so, and a previously unseen door slid shut and blocked the men from hearing their conversation.
"If it had been me, he would've done so," Ana pointed out.
Natasha gave a tight smile. "I know, and I'm forever glad it wasn't. I guess," she sighed. "This is difficult… I suppose he recognized something in me from within himself. I was young, remember? Early twenties, master killer, but I still cried when I killed. You didn't feel any remorse, as I recall."
Ana exhaled slowly. "I didn't, and I still am not proud of it. I was trying to make up for all the feelings I lost, I think."
"Are you ever going to tell them about the fire?" The redhead questioned bluntly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Stark deserves to know."
"I know," Ana conceded. "But I won't end up telling him; you know that."
"Just like you will never tell me where you're from? Or what happened to your family?"
Ana reached for Natasha's water bottle, taking a swig. "Not going to happen, Nat. You know that."
"But you're an elf."
Ana gestured for her to go on. "Your point?"
"Director Fury is going to want to know who you are."
Smiling, Ana activated the landing gear as the helicarrier came into view. "Well, then, I'll just have to keep him guessing." She swung around, standing and opening the small door to yell back to the boys. "We're landing!"
AAA
Natasha led Tony to the lab in which Bruce was working. She had seen his eyes light up when he met the Hulk, and she was interested to see how well they worked together.
After asking Natasha to point her to the nearest gym – or place where I can punch things and set stuff on fire without killing someone, as she had put it- Ana had disappeared, probably to disable the cameras and blow off some steam. To her surprise, only Steve had asked where she had gone after more than an hour. Tony had kept silent in his own way, which meant making random jabs at his teammates and laughing.
The first meeting went… terrible, if she was honest. They all had Alpha personalities, used to being the center of attention except for her and Bruce. It made them clash like crazy, and only Thor remained in the control room while the rest of them scattered: Bruce to the lab; Tony to put his suit away, then the lab; Steve to explore the helicarrier; and Natasha to find Anastasia.
"Why are you here?"
These were the first words out of Ana's mouth as Natasha entered the room, watching in carefully hidden awe as the brunette shot ball after ball of fire at the targets, always scorching the bull's eye.
Noticing Natasha's stare, Ana just shrugged as she artfully flipped, still hitting the middle in midair. "It's an elf aim thing; we can all do archery, if nothing else."
Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Clint would be so jealous; it took him years to perfect his skill with the bow." She shrugged, automatically blinking back tears even though her eyes were, and would always be, dry. "Now I have orders to kill him on sight."
"Do you love him?" Ana questioned, vaulting herself over the target, hitting it from the back too.
"He's my best friend," Natasha replied simply.
"Good answer."
They worked in silence for a while, Natasha soon making her way to the punching bag.
Fury soon called Natasha, and Ana quit with her, offering to walk her up. "I want to grab some lunch anyway," she said.
"Okay," Natasha replied, but before she could go, Ana caught her in a one armed hug.
"Barton's going to be fine," she whispered, "you know that, right?"
For a second, Natasha could imagine that they were back in the Academy, and Anastasia was simply comforting her after another kill. She shook the thought back; that wasn't her anymore. She was fighting for the good side now… right? "I know," she whispered back, realizing Ana was waiting for a reply.
"Good," Ana observed cheerfully, but Natasha could always sense the demon lurking beneath the happy exterior.
She called the brunette out on it. "No masks with me, please," she demanded softly.
Ana raised an eyebrow. "Of course." Tugging Natasha toward the door, she frowned. "Now let's go see what your boss wants."
When they found the director, he was pacing back and forth in thought. "Agent Romanoff, I need you to start working on a interrogation for Loki that will take place tomorrow morning. I want to find out why he allowed himself to be captured."
Ana spoke up. "About that, Director Fury." She began walking toward his four screens at the front of the control room. "Why on earth did you let Loki come back to the helicarrier in the first place? Especially if you suspected he was planning something."
Fury tensed. "I'm not about to inform you of my every damn move, Adramela," he shot back.
The brunette's eyes hardened. "I no longer go by that name, Director Fury, and you'd do well to remember that." She paused, but when he attempted to speak, she began again. "I do not work for you. And for that matter, if I were you, I'd be far more worried about little… bugs finding out your every move than little old me doing so." She shot an amused glance toward the small device locked tightly onto the backside of the fourth screen, casually running her fingers over it. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I will see you when you figure it all out." She winked, and then took off in the direction of the lab.
Fury turned to Coulson. "I want Thor here. Stat." Coulson nodded, pressing his comm unit and walking quickly out. Leaning over to talk to a few workers in Logistics, he commanded them to search for security breaches. Of course, if it were whom he suspected –which was obviously Stark- then they wouldn't find anything. Well, it was good to check, at the very least.
Thor arrived, hammer protectively held in his hand. Fury knew he was still wary around them. "You wished to see me?" he asked curiously.
Fury brought his hands down on the table, staring Thor directly in the eye. The god shifted uncomfortably.
"I want to know who Adramela really is, and we're not leaving this room until you tell me everything."
AAA
"I thought you might be hungry."
Before Loki could even look up, a sandwich was tossed in front of him and the door was shut again, securely.
"That is… nice of you," the demi-god thanked her, pulling out the mortal food and bringing it up to his mouth. Then he paused. "It's not… poisoned, is it?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow at her.
Ana brought a hand to her chest in mock offense. "You think I would do that to you?" she asked. "And anyways, Fury would be beyond, well, furious if I killed you. You still haven't told us where the Tesseract is."
"Do you even know what the Tesseract is?" Loki shot back.
Ana shrugged. "Sure. It was originally in the possession of Thanos, and he was planning to use it to enslave all other races. It was taken by Odin during the Great War, and now is in your possession… sort of."
Loki was reluctantly impressed. Finishing off the sandwich, he made his way to where Ana was standing, so they were face to face. Through glass, of course. "You know more than the humans know," he observed.
"Well, now they know," Ana replied innocently. "This room has some pretty high surveillance on it. By the way, Fury definitely nailed you with that whole 'if real power needs a magazine' comment. I thought you were swifter than that."
Loki frowned. "I've noticed," he began, "that Midgard has begun dulling my senses. I suppose yours are that way also."
"My senses are perfectly fine, thank you very much," she retorted.
Leaning towards her, palms resting on the glass, Loki smirked. "Have I hit a nerve, my dear?" he questioned gleefully. "Or perhaps, some senses are actually heightened. Or feelings, more like."
Ana spun on her heel, nearly running out of the room. "You cannot run from love, Adramela, however unrequited it might be," he called after her, laughing.
Tony Stark was attempting to find the kitchen when Ana rushed past him.
"Hey," he greeted. "By the way, I just wanted to let you know-"
But she had already passed him, barely sparing an unnerved glance.
"-That I forgive you?" Tony finished, watching her in confusion as she moved down the hall. "Okay?" He looked around for a hint of what had caused the ex-assassin to seem so upset when his eyes landed on the door she had come out of. The door that led to the containment chamber that held everyone's favorite God of Lies. "Oh hell no."
He rushed into the room, only to be face to face with a pleased looking Loki. "What did you say to her?" He accused.
Loki tilted his head. "I am afraid I haven't the slightest idea of which you speak."
"Like hell you don't, Reindeer Games," Tony spat. "Look I don't know what connection you have with Ana, but I will not let you-"
"Would you like to know?" Loki interrupted, a look in his eye that Tony could not decipher.
"Would I like to know what?" Tony didn't understand.
"Why Ana and I know each other," Loki clarified smoothly. "Who she is."
Tony forced a laugh. "What, you're just going to tell me?" Tony asked disbelievingly. Trying not to show his nervousness – though he was sure Loki was picking up on it – he began to pace. "And besides, I already know what she is: she's an elf." He gave a shuddering sigh. "And I'm getting past that. I am. Though, do you know why she doesn't have pointy ears? That was sort of irritating me."
"What else did she tell you?" Loki questioned. "About being an elf, I mean."
"Why would I tell you?" Tony retorted.
"Humor me?" Loki pleaded. "I am incarcerated here, after all."
Tony crossed his arms. "Fine. She told me there was nothing else to worry about. There, now I'm leaving." He turned to go, when the annoying sound of Loki's laugh hit him. Against his better judgment, he turned around. "What?" he exclaimed.
"I'd say you have quite a few things to worry about, Stark."
As Loki spun his tale, Tony felt anger bubble up inside him. Soon, his vision was red.
Loki sat silently after he finished. He watched Stark stalk out of the room, fists clenched tightly. He wondered if this stunt would make Adramela hate him.
Probably.
AAA
Okay, so both Fury and Stark are about to blow up on Ana, and it won't be pretty. At all.
And Steve and Ana are about to do something that Steve has wanted to do all his life, but never got the chance… Any guesses?
Review, review, review!
-lala
