They were gathered in a conference room at the tower, everyone around the table. Nick entered the room, followed by a bald man in a wheelchair - who was flanked by a tall woman with white hair, and a man with a feral look about him, both in black leather.

"Good morning," the bald man said, giving everyone a level look. "My name is Professor Charles Xavier. This is Storm and Wolverine."

"Mutants," Nat whispered to Clint. Steve elbowed her.

"I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. As it were, I know who has your friend. His name is Erik Lehnsherr - otherwise known as Magneto. He has the power of controlling electromagnetic fields and he can bend any metal to his will. He is a very powerful mutant, and he's become more erratic recently."

Yes. The Professor's voice echoed in Steve's head, an answer to his question - Are you a mutant? All will be explained.

"I've been trying to convince both your friend Nick Fury and Miss Lapierre that she needs to develop her mutant abilities."

"Wait, wait," Steve held up a hand. "She's not a mutant."

"Yes, she is. They tortured her until they forced a mutation. She's been ignoring it, but that could potentially be dangerous in most mutants. We've let it be because her abilities seem to be related to seeing the future - not anything that could accidentally hurt someone."

"She never told me this," Steve rubbed his forehead. "I mean, I knew they injected her with stuff - but she never said she was a mutant."

"She's in denial," Fury gave him a sympathetic look.

"But now Erik - Magneto - has captured her, and he is probably intending to turn her to his side. He heads up the Brotherhood of Mutants - a splinter group whose base belief is that mutants are superior to humans, and that there is a war coming between mutants and the rest of humanity. Her predictive abilities, if she develops them, could help his cause immensely."

"So how do we get her back?"

"My usual method is worthless against Erik, and it seems he's developed a way to block me from reaching her, as well. So we might have to go the old-fashioned way. Which is where I need your help."

"I've already got Agent Hill analyzing any camera that could possibly have picked up their movements, but it seems he disabled everything. He's very thorough."

"When he wants something, he can be downright dangerous."

"Because of his abilities, some of us are useless against him," the man named Wolverine spoke. "Anyone whose abilities rely on things that are made of metal."

"I guess I can go old-school," Clint had a gleam in his eye. "I have a yew longbow in storage."

"Good," Wolverine nodded. "If you can think of ways to work around him, the better. I'll help you with that. So will Storm."

"We will get her back," Professor X levelled a gaze directly at Steve, in a way that unsettled him.

Evie paced the room she was being held in. There was a window, but it was up too high for her to reach. A bed lay against one wall, and there was a desk with a chair, and a couple of books.

She'd been here a week. So far, no sign of the Avengers. Every single day, Magneto came to talk to her. About how the mutants were in danger of being wiped out by the fear of regular people. About how he needed her to fight. About how she could help. It was all she could think about.

She knew this was psychological games he was playing, and she cursed herself for even considering what he was saying.

She just wished Steve were here. It felt like nobody was looking for her.

She curled up on the bed, biting back tears, and tried to sleep.

A week. It had been an entire week. It felt like they'd looked everywhere, they'd combed the city, then expanded their search to the state, finally the rest of the country – and next would be the rest of the world.

Steve paced the conference room, holding a folder with the information they had so far – pitifully little. It was like they'd disappeared into thin air, which was absolutely impossible. But it seemed like Magneto had fried every camera in New York to escape with Evie.

And Steve wanted to know why.

He hadn't been sleeping or eating properly. Nat had been pushing things at him, but he just hadn't had the appetite. He needed to find her, and he needed to find her now.

She hadn't asked for any of this, and it seemed like knowing him was just dangerous for everyone.

He slammed his hand down on the table, then flipped a chair over, letting out a stream of curse words that would have made Evie cheer.

The crow hopped forward, tilting his head to the side, before pecking at the eye of a dead soldier lying on the battlefield. He was dressed in grey – and soldiers lay around dressed in blue. The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, and far off in the distance, artillery was being fired, the explosions shaking the ground.

The soldiers – they were all familiar. Tony, Steve, Clint – all of them in uniform. All of them fallen.

The crow looked straight at her, and opened his mouth.

Augury.

She woke with a start, sweat streaming down her face, stinging her eyes. The Civil War? Since when had her dreams become a PBS documentary? She rolled away from the wall and sat up, starting when she realized she wasn't alone.

"What did you see?" Magneto asked.

"Nothing," she growled, sticking her chin out defiantly.

"I can wait here all day," he folded his hands across his chest.

"Destruction. Civil war. Everyone I knew was dead," she sighed.

"And now do you believe me? It is coming. And it will be bigger than just your friends. They will hunt you, you know. The so-called 'ordinary' people. They will hunt us all down and exterminate us."

"Maybe it doesn't mean what you think it means," she sat cross-legged on the bed, tugging at the leotard she'd been wearing since the Halloween party. She wished she could shower.

"And maybe it does," he leaned back in the chair at the side of the bed. "Are you ready to fight for your place in the world? Or are you just going to lay down and die?"

"I'm not a fighter," she told him.

"You can be, if you choose to be. If you choose to harness your powers. You have been given a great gift, the gift of Sight. You can claim what is rightfully yours."

"And how do I do that?" a plan began to form in her mind, one that involved playing along – until he released her.

"What is your name?"

"Evie," she said, confused.

"No," he shook his head, his blue eyes holding hers intensely. "What is your real name?"

Augury.