Chapter Nine
This chapter i suggest you listen to the one and only "Hellicarrier" by Alan Silvestri. ENJOY :)
Shying away again, I returned to my seat. Phil continued to converse with Rogers about the Avengers, explaining each person bit by bit. When it came to Stark, there wasn't too many nice things to say.
"Stark is well...out there."
"If he's anything like his father, I might have a clue."
After another tedious half an hour, I could make out a dot in the water. We were here; the hellicarrier!
"Everyone in their seats before landing," the pilot instructed, "Don't want any accidents."
Fastened in our seats, the jet began to lower and maneuver its way onto the landing, subjecting us to minor turbulence as it went down. Rather than let my anxiety get the better of me, I starred at the ground and not out the window. Not that I was afraid of planes or anything. It was just that I had this re-occurring fear of dying that took hold often. Lately though, albeit it was a small improvement, I had attempted to rationally think situations through. Attempted being the key word.
With a tender plonk the engines came to a halt and the Quinjet was safely and firmly on the top deck of the hellicarrier. With a silent awareness, everyone began to unbuckle and wait as the back door lowered. There was a small light, the sun rising on the horizon. I hadn't slept in a day and had lost track of time. Wandering off, Phil led Rogers over to where an unfamiliar figure stood,conversing lightly with a crew member. From what I could see it was a women with curly red hair cut short above her shoulders
"Agent Romanoff." Phil addressed. Ah, thats who it was. Finally someone who I actually respected around here. I stood were I was as my company left me and greeted one another. The sunlight was blinding, but refreshing. I had spent my last few months holed up inside a bland concrete facility and being out in the open was just what the doctor ordered.
There was a frantic rush, everyone was hurrying to fasten down all the planes or put them away. We were going to lift off any time soon. The event being placed in my tablets memory and giving off a gentle vibration and alarm until I pulled it out of my pocket. I really hated things that vibrated, no pun intended. That day when the beeper went off in the laboratory still sent shivers down my spine. I quickly stopped it and changed the settings so that it would only ring an alarm. Much better. While starring at it I wondered if I could open the Avengers file Phil had. In the recently opened file there it sat. Tapping it sprung it to life, the video of The Hulk reappearing on the screen. I didn't have earphones so the tablet trumpets roars and car smashes. Embarrassed, I quickly hid it away to catch the glimpse of a lost looking man. I smiled politely, only realizing that I was smiling at the very man I had just screen on screen. The infamous Bruce Banner.
"Didn't know I was that photogenic," he joked coming closer, attempting to dodge the machinery in his way, "Bruce Banner."
"Nice to meet you, name's Emily."
"Dr. Banner." called the Captain from a distance, I thought I'd lost him.
"Oh hi, they told me you'd be coming." Bruce mumbled.
"Word is you can find the cube."
"Tesseract." I interrupted, returned by a few odd stares, "I have to be somewhere..." I lied stalking off.
"Well we all should be heading inside, it's going to get a little hard to breath out here." Agent Romanoff joked. Only I understood. Met with the same glares that I had shared, she pointed towards the edge of the plane.
"Is this a submarine?" The Cap asked. Nope, I thought to myself. There was a whirring and loud sound of water rushing; the engines were starting. Banner and Rogers leant precariously near the side of the hellicarrier and from their silence I deduced they hadn't seen anything like this before. I joined them simpering to myself. It was grand.
Once inside the four of use were directed straight towards the bridge, where Fury was waiting to brief us. Actually to brief the actual Avengers, not the rookie in training, but I tagged along anyway.
"Reflectors engaged." said a Maria Hill, popping out her little control nest to greet the guests.
"Welcome gentlemen," Fury addressed, unaware of my presence brushing past and extending his welcome to Dr. Banner, "Thank-you for coming."
"How long do I have to stay here for?" Banner replied abruptly
"Once we get back hold of the Tesseract, you in the clear."
"We'll where are you with that?" he asked, Fury pointed over a banister and I saw Phil ready for action.
"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, Laptops. We just connected to a satellite. We'll have it in no time."
Then Banner began to speak... science. Phil seemed to slightly understand while I was left flabbergasted by technical jargon someone had forgot to put in the memo. I wasn't needed here and I was just going to get in the way.
I left the bridge without notice, Phil had gone to stand with the Captain while everyone else got to work. I knew he must have been asking about the trading cards. The hallways were busy, but a lot more deserted than I imagined. I needed no escort this time, I could remember every turn and door. To be perfectly honest I enjoyed some parts of my new brain. But I felt like a stranger in my own body. As much as I tried to deny it, I was changing each and everyday. Learning and growing. It had been so long since I had taken an honest, good hard look at myself. I had forgotten what I looked like, truly to myself. Inside my room I entered the bathroom and starred into my own eyes through the slightly un-even mirror. Blue. My eyes were blue, that I had always known. They didn't stand out and I was never told they were particularly unique. But they were mine and I would recognize them from anywhere. But they seemed different, worried. They reflected how I truly felt. I could never hide my emotions; I was transparent when it came to lying. My face was abnormally pale, my few odd freckles standing out on my washed-out flesh. Placing my hand on my cheeks I felt somewhat flustered, must have had to do with all the running around I was doing. My hair, was an absolute mess, of tangled strawberry blonde locks. It was sitting loosely at the bottom my neck in a thick doubled over bun. I took it out and began to brush it out, clenching my teeth together as the knots tore small strands from my scalp. It took longer than I expected but once I was done I cleaned my brush of the the clumps of hair I pulled out and plaited it to sit over my shoulder. I looked much more civilized now. There were small cuts and gashes on my forehead that stuck out of place along my hairline, nothing serious enough to scar, but on my bottom lip there was a deeper cut that had begun to scab over. That would definitely scar. My nails, which I examined briefly, were bitten down to the skin; when I wasn't twiddling them I was eating myself alive. No wonder people had given me funny looks and tried to stay away from me, I looked like your average homeless person down the street, nothing too impressive.
Vain things like beauty had no precedence in my life now. I knew who the 'scary man' was now. His name was Loki, the actual Norse mythological God, or so sources claimed. To be perfectly honest I was unsure whether to be grateful or vengeful towards him. On one hand if he didn't arrive I would most likely be walled up in a cell awaiting testing, S.H.I.E.L.D seemed to need me around for now. Hunting him they could use all the people in their resource bank. On the other hand he was the reason Paris died and the reason why Clint was now a blind and faithful zombie servant. I missed Clint dearly. I missed our sarcastic conversations and I missed his company. He was a loyal ally. No, dare I say it, friend.
Playing with the end of my plait, I walked back into the main room and laid down, face to the ceiling. This Loki guy was only just starting. I could feel it in the air, his plan wasn't even in motion yet. 'Loki Laufeyson - Norse God of mischief' read his file, nothing more, nothing less. I couldn't be certain but my access to all things Loki was very brief and one sided. S.H.I.E.L.D (as usual) wasn't sharing the bigger picture.
I wouldn't let it bug me though, I had bigger problems then to worry about a mischief maker. He would be capture and dealt with tomorrow, no biggie. What I was really concerned about was how I was ever going to learn to control these powers. Urgh... it sounded so stupid. Powers, special abilities, my new assets. Either way, it didn't matter what you called them, I was a freak. Everyone knew it. From my advancing mental capacity to the occasional telekinetic movements I caused. Even my appearance suggested the worst. I'm not one for self-hypocrisy but I was having a wake up call, and it wasn't to good news. I didn't have anyone's respect. I didn't sign up for this, so it wasn't an honour like 'Captain America'. I wasn't a humanitarian looking to right my wrongs, like Banner. Heck I wasn't even a good agent, I got my all my partners kidnapped and killed. I could compare to Phil. He was a super agent. He didn't look like much but everyone knew there was more than meets the eye when it came to him. He earned Fury's trust and approval which was impossibly hard, but he did it. And somehow I ended up with the powers.
There was only one thing I could do. Earn their respect. Earn everyone's. Shoot for the moon, land amongst the stars and all that jazz. There was only one drawback, I had no idea how to do it. I had to guess then. I speculated that in order to gain a morsel of their respect I had to control my abilities. There would be no more panic attacks and messing with planes. I would need practice though, I couldn't expect to do things over night. I opened a page on telekinesis on my tablet and began to study.
"Birds gotta learn to fall before it can fly." someone said from my door's archway. Flicking my head up to face the voice, I saw nothing. Nothing at all.
"Who's there?" I asked cautiously, un-nerved slightly. There was no reply. I scrunched my hands into fists and prepared to fight someone if I had to. Vigilant, I edged forward to the doors margins. Suddenly someone walked past the doorway and as a first reaction I lashed out punched in the air. My hook met the nose of someone I was trying to avoid. Someone I really didn't need to be punching and poetically owing to my over-reacting tendency I added an extra force sending them down. I had punched Captain America.
"I'm so sorry!" I said immediately. I got down to level with him and looked at the damages I had caused. He wasn't bleeding, thank god, but it would bruise nicely.
"Wasn't expecting that when I came down to get you." he chuckled to himself. I didn't find it funny. If it had have been anyone else, I don't know what the damage could have been.
"We've found Loki in Germany. Fury wants you to tag along. Said something about training on the job."
"You mean that I actually get to go on a mission again?"
"Thats what I said. Come one we don't have much time."
He turned and headed down the hallway, making a left where he should have turned right.
"Right." I pointed. "If you're in a hurry, turning left will take you a mess hall."
"Yes..." I turned on his heel as if there was nothing wrong. I leered at his pride. Pride will get us no where.
I know this chapter is a bit boring but I really wanted everyone to get a better insight into how Emily ticks. Also I felt I was straying away from her character, I'm not sure if she's headed down the sue path but I've been trying my absolute best to keep her as natural as possible. Please leave a review, I'm a bit lost on feedback. I don't know how you guys feel about it. Remember the more you comment the more i can learn and make the story better!