I don't own Avengers
Cassie examined the cut on her arm. The wound required a few stitches, but wasn't anything fatal. I can still fight. She thought picking up a wet rag and clearing the blood off of her skin. The medical ward was completely silent, no one bothering to speak or spark a conversation. Only the sound of the light air conditioning and the medical personal working on patients resounded in the room. Looking at her own wounds, Cassie had gone off with minor scrapes. Some cuts, minor bruising were nothing to be concerned about. The wounds were no different than the ones she would get when she had been living on the streets.
The redhead observed the rest of the room. To her left was Max. His face and neck were covered in bruises and he had gauze wrapped around his head. From the appearance of the wound and his eyes, which were clenched shut in apparent pain, Max had more than likely suffered a concussion. Looking a little further down, her gaze landed on Annie and Alanna. Annie looked extremely uncomfortable, flinching whenever a doctor came near her. It seemed that the only reason the pink-haired girl didn't run away was because of Alanna, who seemed to be whispering calming words to the smaller girl while she herself was being treated. Like Cassie, their wounds weren't too severe. Annie only had a few scratches and bruises adorning her small figure. The youngest team member was also sporting a couple bandages wrapped around her arms. Alanna was a bit worse. The blonde had scratches on her face, a few deep gashes and large bruises covered her body. There were some burns on her hands, from when she had used her forcefield to shield Max and Annie from an RPG shell. To top if off, Alanna had some blood dripping from her nose. Whether she was suffering from a broken nose or not, Cassie could not tell. Cassie scoffed a bit.
Finally, Cassie turned her gaze to Adam. His injuries weren't too serious, though he did have a larger number of them. The worst of his injuries was a deep cut on his shoulder that was currently getting stitches by one of the medics. He was also sporting some larger cuts on his chest and stomach, which were already wrapped in bandages. Looking at his injuries, Cassie thought back to the person who gave the wind user his injuries. The thought caused her face to contort into a sneer. Next time I see her, I'll make sure to melt the Ice Queen The redhead quickly shook her head to relieve herself of those thought and looked back up to Adam's face, catching his gaze with her's. Their eyes stayed locked on one another for a moment before Adam broke the connection, setting his sight to the cut on her arm, then moving back to her greenish-gold irises with an eyebrow raised, silently asking her if she was okay. Cassie shrugged, her cuts weren't as bad as they appeared. Mimicking the wind user, Cassie turned her gaze to the gash being stitched up, silently asking how his shoulder was. Adam gave her a light grin, answering that his shoulder was fine. Cassie nodded in response before looking away, already starting to get lost in her thoughts.
Looking back at the relationship they shared, Cassie didn't really know what Adam was to her. It had been a long time since Cassie had found someone to call a friend and those friends ended up killing her family. She hadn't, no, couldn't trust anyone after that. Although Adam had done nothing to warrant her suspicious and distrustful behavior, she couldn't afford to trust him. At least not yet. He's...he's just someone I talk to sometimes. Yeah, that's it. Nothing more. That's what he must be. Someone to complain to about the horrible food or the unreasonable wake-up schedule. Not a friend, just a companion.
A quiet meeting was taking place, various agents were sitting around a large glass table with a gray eagle covering the top. A single man stood, pacing back and forth briskly.
"Agent Howe report." he turned a sharp one-eyed stare on a lanky, mouse haired man.
"Operation Magenta is recovering quickly in the medical center along with some of our own personel. They should be able to continue training tomorrow." his voice bounced off the silver walls of the room as he flickered his gaze to the man
"Good." he muttered then stopped turning to the agents while the screen behind him flickered to life with a video "MUF. Mutant United Freedom. They were able to shut down our defenses and bring a task force to attack." The screen behind him started showing scenes from the battle that took place on the helipad. "While this battle took place, our systems were hacked and top secret files were stolen. SHIELD has the most advanced form of security on this planet. If they were able to bypass our defenses, that either means that our security detail is lacking OR someone within our control room shut down our defenses and let them in."
A few of the agents around the table looked shocked for a few seconds, though hid it quickly. A serious looking, tanned woman spoke up, "Are you saying that there is a traitor among us? What files were stolen?"
"Yes, there is a traitor in our midst and I want him found. The files that were stolen were the personal profiles on Operation Magenta along with very classified documentation." The Director responded, the screen behind shifted screens, showing the Avengers "Banner is secure. We're lucky he didn't lose control this time. Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton fought along side us at the battle. Agent Barton was able to place a tracking device on the MUF attack ship before it left. We must act quickly before the opportunity is lost. Most of your teams from now on will be working on the infiltration plan, once the coordinates processes we need to be ready to attack."
The Director turned and walked out of the room.
Once their injuries were tended to and they were cleared to leave, the team of Operation Magenta returned to their shared living space. Max moved past his teammates, walking towards the room he shared with Adam. Alanna and Annie plopped down on the sofa in the living room area while Cassie headed to the small kitchen, grabbing a glass cup and filling it with water. Glancing at his team mates, Adam's lips fell into a frown. Never has he seen his team look so exhausted, so defeated. Deciding to give them a little pep talk to lift their spirits, Adam opened his mouth to speak. He was cutoff before a sound could be muttered by the sound of their door opening. Adam turned to face the entrance of the room.
"Director Fury." He muttered.
Stepping in behind the Director was Agent Clint Barton. Agent Barton turned his gaze to Adam, silently taking in the state of his apprentice. Adam nodded reassuringly to his mentor before turning his attention back to Fury. The others heard Adam mention the Director and slowly left their areas of comfort to stand before him. As the young recruits stood before him, Director Fury examined each individual thoroughly with his one functioning eye. From the injuries that were visible, he could tell the teens had bean beaten. By a large margin no less. To top it all off, they all looked like they were ready to give up. The only recruit he saw that looked ready to move forward was Adam. However, the fact that his team wasn't as exuberant and ready to move forward as the wind user was showed just how poor Adam's leadership skills were. Deciding that he'd remained quiet long enough, Nick Fury closed his eye for a moment to gather his thoughts.
"After seeing your wounds, observing your attitudes and checking out the number of MUF operatives we managed to capture alive, I have to say that this is the worst display of teamwork and camaraderie I have ever seen." He said heatedly, shaking his head lightly and giving the team a stern, intimidating look. The recruits flinched at the Director's harsh tone but kept their eyes on him, knowing that looking away from a figure of higher authority was considered disrespectful and a call for even more harsh criticism. Fury turned his attention to the shadow user.
"Maximodo Comono. You did well. You managed to incapacitate a decent amount of enemies and allowed us to capture them for interrogation." He began, his tone containing less venom than before. "However, you also greatly endangered the lives of your comrades."
"I don't see why I should worry about th-"
"You will not speak until I say you can!" Fury interrupted, his volume causing Annie to flinch slightly. Though seemingly unaffected by his tone, Max shut his mouth after the loud scolding. A brief moment of silence ensued before Fury's vehement gaze turned to formal once again. "You go off and perform actions yourself when you should have asked for assistance or reinforcements. What's worse, you stubbornly refuse their help and grew angry when they did!"
Max's posture tensed after the scolding he received from The Director. The orange-haired punk grit his teeth and clenched his fist in suppressed anger, knowing well that if he tried to harm The Director he'd find himself sunk into a much deeper pit than he'd already fallen into. Saying all he must to Max, Fury directed his attention to the hot-tempered redhead.
"Cassandra LeBranch. You weren't exactly terrible. However, you were incredibly reckless on the roof of the Helicarrier." Cassie's eyes narrowed a bit at the light jab, but stayed silent, not wishing to receive the same scolding as Max had.
"You strayed away from the group and used your powers without any regard for the safety of your comrades." The redhead raised her eyebrow in question at the last message. "Oh, you didn't know?" The Director said, almost mocking the young teen. "When you were off blasting fireballs everywhere and electrocuting everything, you managed to accumulate A LOT of collateral damage! Many of our agents in the medical wing are there from your lack of control or restraint over your highly destructive powers!"
Cassie held her gaze with The Director's momentarily but the fire and strength held within Fury's single eye was enough to deter her. Gazing at the ground, Cassie reflected on what she had done during the attack, attempting to recall whether any of what Fury said had been true. Adam glanced briefly at the redhead, but quickly returned his gaze forward, knowing how disrespectful it is to look away from a higher ranking officer. Finished with the two most defiant recruits, Director Fury turned his attention to the two youngest recruits.
"Alanna Lydiksen. Anneliese Gover. You both performed exceptionally. However, I do see some flaws." Alanna and Annie mentally braced themselves. "Though you work well together, you both lack the necessary combat skills to fight enemies of S.H.I.E.L.D. I will be adding more combat training to both of your schedules." Director Fury gazed directly at Annie.
"As for you, Anneliese. You are going to have to drop your pacifism and fast. There are no responsibilities in our organization that keep you from going into combat. You are a great asset to S.H.I.E.L.D., we cannot afford weakness due to fear of combat." Annie looked away, feeling guilt rise in her from the words the Director spoke to her. Finished with his team, Fury turned his attention to the leader of the team. Prepared for a lecture, Adam faced the Director with the complicity of a soldier facing an officer of command.
"Adam Slater. You responded to the threat very well. What's more, you managed to hold back one of the most skilled operatives we've seen of MUF. You did an excellent job as a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative." Despite the praise, Adam knew Fury was preparing for a lecture of his flaws. "But, you failed as a leader to your team. As leader of your own team, you need to be able to direct them. You have to be able to gather your team and be the voice of reason. You need to be able to analyze a situation and direct your team accordingly to a combat the situation. Rather than gathering your team and planning, you went directly into the battlefield rather than attempt to analyze the situation and come up with a best course of action. Because you failed to act as a leader, your team members were injured and the attackers got away." Adam took this criticism from his commander to heart. He knew he mess up as a leader, but he'll make sure that doesn't happen again.
Fury turned to walk out of the room, but suddenly stopped. "We are launching a counterattack on MUF. I will brief you on your objectives later." He said before leaving the room.
Annie sighed as she walked down the lonely, gray SHIELD hallways. After Director Fury left them, it wasn't long before Max started yelling at Alanna, which lead to Adam yelling at Max. Annie knew she shouldn't have left after that, but she couldn't stand to hear them argue. The young girl knew that the fighting would eventually turn to her and she didn't want to be there to witness it. Nobody had said it, but they all knew. Annie was the weakest link. Everybody else had amazing powers, but Annie struggled to still change her whole body into someone else's. The young girl always thought it must have been due to something her parents did to her, but maybe she just wasn't strong enough.
The pink-haired girl sighed again as she kept walking, not really knowing where she was going. Until suddenly, there was someone walking beside her. Annie looked up to see an older boy with black hair and steel eyes.
"Hi, Alex." She said giving him a small smile.
Alex frowned, "Now why is it that every time is talk to you, you're so sad?"
Annie looked down at her feet, "I'm not sad."
Alex stopped moving. He grabbed Annie's hand and pulled her to him. Annie looked at him, his eyes were full of concern. "What's wrong? Is it Max again?"
Annie blushed and shook her head. She moved over to the steel wall and slid down until she was sitting on the floor. Alex slowly sat down next to her. "It's just... everybody has these amazing powers and skills And I can hardly do anything." She said, not looking at him.
Alex grabbed her hand and Annie looked up at him. He was smiling softly at her. "They can't be that great." He said softly.
Annie shook her head slowly, "They're amazing! Cassie can light herself on fire and control lightning, plus, she knows how to use a gun! Adam, well, not only does he control wind, but he's amazing with a sword! Max can do anything with shadows!" Annie exclaimed, her voice slowly rising.
Alex frowned, "What about the blonde girl?"
Annie smiled softly at the mention of her recently made best friend. "She's amazing! She stopped a bomb from exploding on me today with her force fields. I never really have to worry when we're fighting, because she's always got my back."
Alex squeezed her hand, then let go. "I need to go, I have training to do. I hope you feel better soon." He said then walked away.
Once he was out of the young girl's sight and hearing range, he pressed down on the small bud in his ear, "Is the weapon ready for use?"
"Yes."
Alex smiled, "Perfect, I know exactly who to use it on."
A/N: Apologizes for the long wait, really it was so long. Not dead, promise. But hopefully more chapters will be posted more frequently.