Annabel
I walked beside Stark, the clunk of his red and gold Ironman suit echoing off the office building's walls. We had been able to locate one of Hydra's bases using information from the leaked files off the internet. Fury had been able to secure most of their base locations before anyone else, so we had the upper hand against Hydra.
The Hydra base was eerily silent and it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Nothing about this base truly screamed Hydra at first glance, except for the fact that it was a deserted office building in the middle of nowhere. One thing was for sure, they weren't hiding Loki's scepter here. A noise behind caused me to jump and I whipped out the small black pistol Rogers had insisted I carry, pointing it on the direction of the noise.
"Calm down squirt, was probably a rat." Stark said, not even looking in my direction.
"I'll calm down when we're out of this place. It's spooky as hell." Visions of needles and Hydra agents danced in my head as I slowly holstered my pistol. We entered another office space, the only furniture consisting of a large desk and a small filing cabinet.
"This is the last room, then we'll be outta here. Be useful and look in that filing cabinet." Tony said waving his metal hand in it's general direction.
"You're not my boss." I grumbled as Tony stepped out of his Iron Man suit to inspect the locked draws of the metal desk.
I walked over to the cabinet and looked at the thick layer of dust blanketing it. I opened the first drawer and looked down, my eyes drifting across names printed in black ink. My breath caught in my throat as I saw my own name. Slowly reaching a gloved hand into the drawer, I pulled out the manila folder. It was old and smelled of mildew. I looked back down and saw Eric's name written the same way. Swallowing hard I grabbed the rest of the files, cradling them to my chest.
"Hey Tony-" I started, turning.
I let out a scream and dropped the stack of files. Standing in front of me was my father. He wasn't paralyzed and he wore a smile I knew all too well. I took a terrified step back, putting a hand against the wall. Knowing I was trapped I felt the shadows pulling at me. I reacted almost instantly and pulled at his shadow. My eyes clenched shut and I turned my head away.
A sharp laugh sounded from across the room and I slowly opened my eyes.
"You didn't really think that was gonna work did you Bell?"
I looked at him standing there, that blood thirsty snarl revealing his yellow teeth. He took a step forward and I flinched into the wall, a lone tear slipping from my eye. He laughed again.
"Still the coward I remember you as Bell." He came forward and raised a clenched fist. I remembered how I used to huddle in the corners all those years ago, helpless and lost. I remembered how I was forced to defend myself against him. I froze as I remembered.
"Stop!" I screamed.
"Annabel? Annabel what's wrong?" Clint's voice was distant and I barely recognized it through the comm.
"You can't tell me what to do." My father growled.
"You're not real! You can't hurt me! Not anymore."
"How dare you speak to me like that! I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it." His shoulders tensed as he prepared to strike.
"No!" I lashed out at him and he vanished into smoke.
"Ah, so you're Annabel Hope. They made you out to be such a fighter, but all I see is a scared little girl. You can't even stand the sight of a little needle." A male voice said.
I felt the pin prick of needles all over my body as a man entered my vision. He looked about my age, jet black hair and green eyes. He was built like Stark and wore a cocky grin on face. A clean white suit hung off his body. He folded his hands in front of him cocked his head to the side.
"Leave me alone, DAMMIT!" I yelled, taking a step forward.
"Annabel?" Steve called over the comm.
"Cap, we have an enhanced in the field. I-I need back up." I stuttered as I saw Stark huddled in the corner, hands covering his head.
"You really are something else, Miss. Hope. Though you are not what I was promised. You are too easily manipulated." The boy said stepping closer.
Anger bubbled up in my chest, chasing away the fear with its waves of adrenaline. I pulled my gun from the holster on my thigh and aimed it at him. I pulled the trigger without thinking.
Blood blossomed on the front of his shirt and he looked shocked (and slightly offended) before falling to the ground, face down. A shaky breath escaped me as Steve and Clint came storming in. Steve went to the young man's side and checked for a pulse. Clint completely ignored him and ran over to me.
He held both sides of my arms, holding me up as my knees threatened to give way. "Are you alright?" His voice took on a fatherly tone as he looked me in the eye.
I shook my head and pushed away from him.
"He's dead." Steve said, standing.
"He was the enhanced?" Clint asked as I nodded.
"I had to kill him." I replied softly.
"Stark?" Rogers took a worried step toward the billionaire huddled in the corner.
"Don't, let me take care of this." Steve gave me an understanding look as he motioned for Clint to follow him out the door.
"We'll wait for you at the jet, if you need anything…." Clint's gaze flicked from me to Tony before he disappeared through the doorway.
Tony had his knees drawn to his chest and his arms covering his eyes. His shoulders shook and I couldn't tell if it was from him crying or hyperventilating. Walking slowly towards him I took in the forgotten Ironman suit laying on the ground. I gently touched his shoulder and he didn't react.
"Tony?"
"Miss. Hope, Mr. Stark seems to be experiencing some Post Traumatic Stress." Jarvis said from the metal suit.
Nodding I gripped Tony's shoulder. "Hey Tony, buddy? I need to make sure you're okay." I called in a soft voice.
"So cold, so big. There's nothing we can do, we're all going to die." Tony whispered his voice shaking.
"Hey, nobody's going to die."
"When I went into that portal…There were so many of them." Tony explained rocking slightly.
"It's okay. We're here, we're alive." I said as Tony looked up at me. His eyes were red and tear tracks littered his cheeks.
"Why?"
"Because these people need us. Whatever you saw on the other side of that portal? We're the only ones who can stop them and the only way we can do that is together." I said standing and offering him a hand.
Tony took my hand and I pulled him to his feet, he looked fragile. The pain of years showing on his face. He always masks his feelings so well, one almost forgets he was a P.O.W.
Walking back over to the other side of the room, I grabbed the files. Stark looked at the dead body lying in the middle of the room and frowned in disgust or disappointment, I couldn't tell.
"Jarvis." Tony called out in a weak voice and his suit quickly encased him. I suspected he wore it to cover the havoc emotion had wrought upon his face.
The walk back to the quin jet was silent, both of us taking comfort in the company of the other. We approached the silence filled jet and climbed up the ramp slowly, neither of us eager to go back to the reality of things.
No one met my eyes, not even Clint. All of them were a little broken and they understood what it's like to have those fears pulled out in the open. I sat down heavily in one of the seats and closed my blue eyes. I felt the familiar burn of tears behind my eyelids as the jet took off. Taking in a shaky breath, I let two or three tears escape down my cheeks. Sighing, I remembered the files and opened mine, curiosity getting the better of me.
Name: Annabel Lynn Hope
Age:16
Sex: Female
Mutation: The ability to control shadows. The subjects powers are connected to its emotions. Tests are being done to increase its ability, along with intense training in hope that the subject will be able to control this mutation. The subject's abilities allow them to pull away a person's shadow, which will result in death. After the tests are complete we will program the subject and erase their memories.
I was almost someone's puppet. I shivered at the thought of my free will being taken away. Than I realized something, what if my brother had no memory of who he was when I killed him? No, that would've been impossible. He remembered it, all of it. I closed my file and wondered.
"Why me? What did they want with me?" I mumbled softly.
"Maybe because you can literally kill someone with the flick of your wrist?" Tony replied as he sat beside me. His suit was gone and his eyes were still a little red, but besides that all evidence of his attack were gone. He used the suit to protect himself, he must feel safe enough around the others to leave himself so exposed.
"Maybe. Anyway, enough about this. A mission like this requires heavy drinking to help forget about our troubles."
"My place? Scotch?" Tony raised an eyebrow.
I made a face, to which he laughed. "Ew, no. Whiskey or nothing."
"Sounds great."
I looked down at the files in my hands and a piece of paper caught my eye. This piece of paper looked new, I put the other files to the side and looked down at the new folder. The words 'Sign Ups' written in big black bold letters, I felt my heart stop for a moment.
"What. The. Hell. Are. These?" I snarled catching everyone's attention.
"What are what?" Clint asked, coming over to my side.
"People willingly signed up for this shit?" I snapped, flipping the file open.
There was two columns, one of names and the other of birth dates. The first name on the list was Eric's, but I wasn't shocked. Next were the names Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins by the looks of it.
"Hill is gonna need to see that." Rogers said in an authoritative tone.
I glared at him out of the corner off my eye. Turning back to the list I looked back to the Maximoffs. "Twins…again. Maybe that's the secret." I mumbled as we landed.
Hill was waiting for us as we got off the quin jet. I was gladly the last off and handed all of the files over except my own and Eric's.
"What about those two?" Hill asked.
"I'll handle them…they're mine and my brothers…none of SHIELD's concerns." I said softly before pushing past her to join Stark.
I set my files down on the bar, grabbing two crystal glasses and a bottle of my favorite whiskey I poured two glasses. Handing one to Stark I sat on a stool with my own.
"To forgetting." Stark raised his glass.
"And to getting as smashed as we can." I smiled and we both downed our first glass.
Two hours later
"Jingle bells, Rogers smells, Barton laid an egg." Tony slurred off key.
"Stark you're drunk, go to bed." Rogers begged as he carefully pried an almost empty bottle of scotch from Tony's hands.
"No, you're just too sober." I said accusingly, pointing a finger at him.
"Not you too." He sighed and continued in his parenting voice. "Come on you two it's time for bed."
"Rogers, just let it go." I took another swig from my bottle.
"Let it go, Let it go!" Tony sang off key, almost falling backwards off his chair.
My drink almost went up my nose and I continued, trying not to laugh. "The snow glows white on the mountain tonight not a footprint to be seen."
"NO! Come on you two. It's almost two in the morning." Steve begged.
"This might actually be entertaining, think of the blackmail." Clint said, holding up his cell phone.
The rest of the night was a blur of alcohol and badly sung Disney songs. The next morning I woke on the couch, my fuzzy blanket wrapped around me. Yelling came from the kitchen and I gave out a low groan as the shouts pounded on my aching head. I hunkered down into the fuzzy warmth of my blanket as Clint and Tony argued about singing and blackmail in the kitchen.
I smiled. This is what home felt like, safe, comfy and occasional yelling matches. It has it's ups and downs, but the pros outweighed the cons. All in all it was great to be back with friends.