Chapter 8

Back in Russia again! The next day.

The first thing I noticed as my eyes opened was the throbbing in the back of my temple, the next, that I was not somewhere good. I tried to be aware of my surroundings, but like immediately after my fall, things were a little hazy. Think, what's the last thing you remember. That was always the best way to start. I'd fallen off that bloody ledge... Found the orb, it was in a glass box, left the mountain... But when I left the mountain I saw Hydra agents everywhere. Oh shit. I silently cursed, my game was off on this mission, I was getting sloppy, never before had I unintentionally got captured by the enemy, and never before by an enemy as strong as this.

I tried to move but let out an involuntary moan when pain seemed to stab at me from every direction, what the hell?

"Ah, you're awake." A man with a light Russian accent said, I couldn't look to see from which direction the voice was coming from because I couldn't lift my head no matter how hard I tried. This probably annoyed the Russian, I knew what people like him wanted, they wanted you to look them in the eyes, they wanted you to, well, kneel - for some, not just figuratively - and submit to them, they wanted you to admit they had won, after all what was a villain if not an attention seeker?

When I didn't reply I felt a hand firmly grasp my hair and yank it backwards, bringing my gaze towards the man glaring at me. He wasn't anything special, so very like the people I'd seen on earlier missions, stiff posture, an air of arrogance - because how could I, a child be any threat to them? - and ultimately, someone who was in my way. Their arrogance was always their downfall, always thought they were superior yet I could snap them in half like a twig, and the look on their stupid little faces as they saw who their killer was, the shock that would register on their faces as they look up, the last thing they see is my face, that I am responsible for their downfall! That I am not helpless, not ignored, that I am worthy. These thoughts were way to deep for someone in my state, any way I was on the job, focus damnit!

"What are you doing here? Who sent you?" The man demanded in a firm tone. Of course, he knew I wasn't going to answer, no one ever pulled back the curtains on their plan so hastily. The man glared at me as I tried to look as relaxed as possible, my vision clearing now. I held his gaze and eventually it was him that looked away, was I getting to him already? Ha, this would be a breeze.

"Answer me." His voice getting louder as he walked towards me, placing a hand on each armrest of my chair, he was right up in my face. Still, it didn't phase me, whilst I had the answers to his questions I was in control. So, I just looked at him, staying as silent as a mouse.

When he saw the intimidation wasn't working he changed his tack. Straightening again, to stand his full height he walked over to the table that was in the centre of the room and casually leaned against it.

"You know, I've heard of you, quite infamous among our crowd." I seriously doubted that, I hadn't really done anything that would make any sort of impact on the criminal community, only small things here and there, small things I thought I covered up well enough. The only thing I couldn't stop was people, people and their tendency to talk and gossip. If they'd heard anything about me it could only be through word of mouth. Lets hear what he has to say of me then, what reputation have I got now.

"They say you are like a dark angel. Silent, deadly but innocent looking. I can see they were not right about everything, there is nothing innocent about you... No, you'll join us soon enough." Okay, not what I was expecting, what the hell was he sniffing if he thought I was going to join their side. See, even the bad guys think you're on their side! Maybe you should just do as everyone expects. Was what the voice in the back of my mind whispered, I ignored it though, I wouldn't ever do something like that, would I? I wanted to tell him this, that he was obviously deluded but that would be giving in, I would not talk to him, that was what he wanted, this Russian guy was only trying to get to me.

"You may pretend to be SHIELD's little lapdog, but I doubt they would take on a girl like you." He said, putting a finger under my chin and lifting my head which was still hung a little. He almost seemed to be studying me, could he see something I was missing? It felt like he was gazing right into me, like the wall that stopped him looking into my soul was gone, it was the most unnerving sense I'd ever experienced. Before I just had to be angry, that wouldn't so much as mask the rest of me it would dominate me, but now I was uncertain, he seemed to be voicing some of my deepest thoughts and worries, I didn't like it.

His skin was rough, no doubt because of the Russian climate. The man looked to be in his late twenties, Michael's age maybe? He had pale skin and now that I looked at him closer - more because I needed to focus on something rather than the woozy feeling I felt - he had a scar above his left else? Concentrate. His face was angular, chiselled features, Not half bad. I laughed.

"What are you laughing at girl?" He interpreted my laugh as something directed at what he said not at my thoughts, well obviously he would do that. "You may sneer, you may look down at us now but I can see the potential. I have seen the future you know, and I must say it looks like you won't be on the good side for much longer." Seen the future? The scepter, it had to be. Clint had told me when he was 'possessed' by Loki's magic and the power of the tesseract that it almost seemed to show him a vision of the future, same as it had with Eric Selvig, that was my confirmation the scepter was here. But if he'd seen the future, well then it was the future no doubt so it could be nothing but true? No. I wouldn't do that, it was just a possible future, one in some alternate universe, not here, something would really have to piss me off to make me go that far. Nonetheless, it wasn't good to know that if I made a bad decision somewhere down the line I'd end up fighting for the wrong side, I'd never lower myself to the level of this scum! "You will do great things." He nodded his head in agreement with himself. Of course by great he undoubtedly meant villainous.

"Still silent? Well, you are the raven after all." Raven, I'm no raven. The young Russian saw my befuddled expression and elaborated. "You are the Raven, that is who you are." He pointed at my chest. "In there, you are the raven." Now he was going all philosophic on me, I was in no state to make sense of riddles, he'd just have to give it me straight. The man sighed in frustration when I showed no signs of understanding him. Firmly he said, "You are the raven, that is what we call you. Your dark hair puts even a black king snake to shame. You silently go just as a raven can silently stalk it's prey..." He said a few more things but I wasn't listening. Raven? Maybe that's what I was. A raven; the lone creature, someone who's seen as an ill omen, a bad sign, the first to leave, to some a raven is even a beast. Yes, it seems fitting, or if this predicted future is true, it will then be very fitting.

I didn't know why I always had such self-loathing, I guess I always felt like I didn't fit in, the outsider of the Avengers. Always silently following in their shadow, fixing their messes, now fixing a much larger mess. The lone raven. Yes, I'd keep that name. Wasn't sure how much it'd work for a good guy though, oh wait, except I wasn't a good guy, for the next week or so I was 'the enemy' then I'd go back and get to be regarded as a hero, not sure how much a name like that would work then, oh well, I'd make it work. Stop getting off point!

The Russian could probably see I was losing focus, he almost looked concerned. It was only now he noticed my injuries, I presumed they'd not bothered to treat them before but now I could see that wasn't intentional. They couldn't have me bleeding to death on them, how would they get their information if I was gone? He barked something in Russian to one of the guards by the door to the interrogation room and I found that he was then lifting me in his arms cradling me as I lost consciousness. Well this was an unexpected change, he really wasn't very smart was he? If I had been faking this - which unfortunately I wasn't - I would just have to wait a few seconds them I'd be able to escape. It was most likely because he thought I was 'on their side' so why would I destroy one of my own? Ah well, I'd go with it whilst it was an advantage. This was certainly the most unique interrogation I'd ever had.

"It's okay young Raven." The Russian accent was actually quite comforting as I slipped in and out of consciousness. I wasn't quite sure what went on next. I didn't know how long I'd been in that room, what day it was, how long I'd stayed in the room I was in now, I only hoped it hadn't been too long and Michael would soon try come and get me. I could probably break out alone but to do that I would first need to heal enough to stay awake for more than two minutes at a time.

When I finally awoke, properly this time, I was in a healing tent, a very simple place, just a bed and a couple other necessities. The young Russian was sitting at the foot of the tent, next to the way out staring intently at me as I tried to sit up. He still unnerved me and he seemed a tad bipolar, not good for me. I could see a gun poking out of his black, jacket pocket. That was the only weapon I could see but no doubt he had one or two more tucked away somewhere.

"Ah, you've awoken." He stated. Well duh, I knew that I was the one awakening. He sat, legs leisurely crossed, he seemed at ease except he was guarding the doorway. That meant he didn't see me as enough of a threat to be on guard but enough to guard the exit to stop me from escaping. At ease enough to get information from him? He'd had his chance now it was mine but I'd have to start with innocent enough questions to make it seem as if I was actually showing some sort of interest in joining them, no, not that because they thought I had already joined them, interest in... Taking the lead? Oh I didn't know.

"So... Do you even know my real name, or does everyone just think of me as 'the Raven'? How did you even know me I've never seen you before." I asked, only occurring to me now that he knew who I was though I didn't know him.

"I do now I have seen you. You are Danielle Rogers-Stark. I watch out for my enemies you know, of course I'd know the daughter of two of the Avengers. But yes, everyone knows of you as the Raven, just as you knew of Schmitt and only the Red Skull. How did I know that you Danielle was the Raven? Like I said the tesseract has shown it to me, shows that when the Ravens fly chaos will come." Ah yes, of course they would keep a close eye on their enemies, me included I guess.

I took a few deep breaths, I was feeling better already.

"And you, what is your name?" Names were power, he already knew mine so I would know his. He hesitated for only a millisecond before answering.

"My name is Viktor." Was his short, curt reply. Definitely sounded Russian, didn't think this 'Viktor' would have been dumb enough to give me his real name, or perhaps it wasn't his real name, who knew? What to ask now? My priority was the scepter, I needed to know where it was so I could get it when I left. It would be logical to keep it close to the main tent, close to the leader of this group - whoever that was. First though I would ask where they'd put my things.

"Viktor." I paused. "Where are my things?" I asked. Viktor didn't reply, merely nodded towards the back of the tent. I turned to look over my shoulder and just as he gestured my bag as well as other things seemed to be there. I only hoped they hadn't gone through my bag, not that it would be easy to do since it was another thing made by my dad, sort of bonded to my DNA in a way so it would only open to me, that was the sole reason I'd chosen it, and it was a bucket bag? Who could say no to such a cute thing, it matched a lot of outfits.

Walking over to my stuff I found that the bag was indeed intact which insinuated they didn't know of it's contents - the orb and my older set of throwing knives. Even most of my weapons were there though I noted the absence of the grenades, gun and 'stick', but I didn't really mind I could get a replacement it was my sword and knives that I really wanted, sentimental, and what would Michael say if I lost his present after but a few days? My katana sword really was one of a kind, I still couldn't remember where I got it from only that one day I didn't have it and the next I did. To me, I liked using it, it was an elegant weapon but it wasn't my favourite for that, I favoured it because of it's quality and craft, because of the beautiful little dragon on it, because of the leather bound to the grip... The knives were definitely my preferred weapon, and perhaps they would become my favourite weapon overall, because who couldn't admire the beauty of these too? The way the green shined, the way-

"Those are some unique blades. May I see?" Viktor cut across my thoughts. He'd probably already had a look at them but I picked them up and went towards him regardless. I was happy to know I still wore my special gloves so if he tried anything funny I could call the knives back, as for the katana sword...

"Uhh, sure." I said, handing him the sword first. Remember, for some stupid reason he thinks you're with them, nothing will happen. Viktor took the blade out of it's sheath and held the sword up skyward, walking outside the tent to admire it in the light. I smiled, feeling pride for my baby sword. Wow, did I just call the sword my baby? Well, I guess it made sense, it was one of my pride and joys.

"Yes, very beautiful." He let his fingers travel over the engraving of the Japanese dragon. I'd often wondered what the dragon would look like if she - I'd decided it was a she - was real, in her full glory, quite a sight to see. Viktor started doing a few sequences. I watched him as a master would a student, mentally critiquing him. Certainly the best swordsman - granted one of the only swordsman - I'd seen in a while but he still lacked that finesse. He wasn't suited for a blade like mine, he was fractionally too slow in his movements for an eastern blade, slightly too heavy on his feet, didn't have that grace, the sword was not an extension of his arm like it should be. In spite of that, he had a good technique. I walked slowly in a wide circle around him, I was mildly amused by the the relaxed atmosphere of this camp so very different to what someone on the outside would perceive the villain's camp to be, so very different to how things at S.H.I.E.L.D. were. It was surprising that they let me, someone who was supposed to be a captive walk freely around. Except you're not a captive, are you? My subconscious taunted, reminding me of the possible future that lay in my , lies! He was bluffing! He's saying that, their acting this out to make me think I should side with them, that it's inevitable!

A few of the people stopped to watch Viktor before carrying on with their task. After a while Viktor finished one of his sequences, ending with swinging the blade to a high guard position followed by a descending cut and finishing in middle guard. Viktor stood, clicked his heels together and placed the sword back in it's sheath, walked over to me and traded the sword for two of the knives. I was more hesitant about letting him have those, already I had an attachment to them, I knew that in the future they really would be very dear to me.

I wasn't quite sure where he was going to throw the knives because there were no targets here only tents and ammunition. Just as he was about to throw the knives - at God knows where - another young man came up to him and whispered something in his ear. Viktor grunted in frustration and then yelled something in Russian - a language I didn't know, I was only fluent in English and Welsh, two pleasant languages - but whatever it was I could tell he was not happy. Viktor walked over to me and asked.

"Are you with us or against us Raven?" Was he really asking me this?

"Well I would say yes but I only serve myself." I laughed, for once I was being honest. I served S.H.I.E.L.D. while it was in my interests and to help the Avengers but in the end I would do what was needed to survive.

"I would not expect you to do anything else, you answered correctly, I would have known if you had lied." Well, he thought a lot of himself didn't he? I happened to be quite a good liar, not that I was about to mention it. Like I'd mentally repeated, I would pretend to be with them while it remained an advantage and a way to get information, these fools were trusting enough that it would be even more of a doddle than my homework. We made our way to the largest pavilion, which was bigger than it had looked, it fit multiple rooms, it was more like a temporary house than a tent really.

I made a mental note to learn Russian because at the moment I really didn't know what was going on, everyone was shouting over each other in Russian. I just stood in the background awkwardly, not that I let them see how uncomfortable I felt. From what I could the young Russian was actually the boss of these lot, who also looked to be leaders of their respective troops, so having him not see me as a threat right now was a good sign - for me.

From the gesturing and the commotion it was obvious something was amiss, someone taking... Ammunitions? Someone, attacking! That meant Michael! Wasn't sure how he was managing all this single handedly though... I would certainly ask when all this was done.

The scepter would be somewhere in this pavilion, there was a corridor and five rooms including the one I was in. Maybe when I got the scepter I'd get to do some magic blast things, oh that would be fun, explosions! I was the closest person to the door and with everyone important bickering and arguing I could probably slip out unnoticed. And that was exactly what I did, but not before grabbing the portable memory block that was sitting on the desk by the only computer in the room to my right.

I didn't have long before one of the people would glance back to find me gone. Since this was a tent the doors were more like slits where the material was cut, all I had to do was push the material to one side, it really wasn't a very secure 'building'.

In the third room was what I was looking for and with the distraction outside everyone from here was now gone. Really, these people were so cliche, everything was remarkably easy! Okay, falling in the mountain was didn't count as 'easy', not as such but... Oh, why was I being picky about this of all things? Slipping inside I headed to the other side of the makeshift lab to where the scepter was being held. It was the main exhibit of the museum that was this laboratory. However there did seem to be a few other things of interest, nothing that I recognised, knowing they must have been of at least some importance I stuffed them in my bag before heading over to the scepter and grabbing it.

The scepter felt heavy in my hands, the gold refreshingly cold to the touch. The blue gem, which was part of the power from the tesseract was mesmerisingly beautiful, it reminded me of the seas in the Caribbean. However, there was no time to admire it in any depth now, right now I'd have to find whoever caused the distraction - hopefully Michael - and get to them. The shouting from the room had risen to a whole new level a few second ago but now it was eerily quiet in here, the shouting still at full force outside.

Slitting a hole through the back of the tent, one large enough for me to step through I tried to listen to what was happening around me but all I could hear was gunfire and Russian. Did everyone know Russian but me?

The next few minutes was spent running, hiding behind things whilst getting shot at. I didn't really think anyone really knew what was going on, they were just shooting wildly in any direction at anyone they saw, they were killing each other off. Luckily no one had brought out any of dads big stuff, I would know if they had because we would most likely all be dead.

At one point I finally got a chance to use my throwing knives, and gleefully use the gloves to call said knives back. It probably should have worried me that I was enjoying a battle so much, that I had enjoyed throwing a knife at that woman's stomach but it was all normal to me. I really was following in Natasha's footsteps, even getting the animal nickname! Except she probably didn't enjoy doing this in the same sense I did... She did it because it was what she knew I did it for the fun of it.

Finally I saw Michael and we seemed to have one of those telepathic conversations through expressions and gestures:

-So it was you!

-You're okay?

-Fine. Let's get out of here.

-Yeah. Got the stick?

-Do you even have to ask?

Michael could handle himself so I headed off in the direction where the jet was, it was going to be a long run especially since my leg was still painful, but a lot better than it had been immediately after the fall.

I stayed at a flat out sprint for as long as I could before slowing to a relaxed jog, no one was following me now. In the distance behind me I could see a figure heading my way. Michael. And not surprisingly, there was no one tailing him either. Reaching my hand inside the bag I felt that the glass container with the palm sized orb was still there as were the other things I;d picked up. The scepter was in my other hand. Mission accomplished.

So here's the chapters I've already done, will try get the new chapters up asap. :)