A/N: Thank you again to all my readers and my reviewers! You guys are amazing! I don't know why you put up with my writing, but its appreciated!
Chloe: I'm glad we're on the same wavelength. I think that Eliza is too traumatized to ever allow herself to love someone more than her love of her teammates. To her, they are her foundation and the only thing keeping her sane. Thank you SO MUCH for reviewing!
I've also had a cruel revelation of where this fic will eventually go. So don't kill me later on. Remember that you love me, and trust me when I do what I'm going to do which you will all hate me for.
"So, Devin," Steve started, trying to alleviate the awkward silence, "where are you from?"
"Not sure really. Somewhere in Illinois," he said, "But I grew up in an orphanage before he found us."
"He?"
"I… I can't seem to recall his name right now," Devin mused darkly, "but he convinced Danielle, Jason, and I to run away with him and escape the orphanage/foster care system. He took us to his hideout, but I remember it looked more like the science labs I'd read about in my books."
Another few minutes of silence ensued before Eliza started shooting little beams of light energy at leaves in the tree nearby. She was bored out of her mind. It was unnerving being so close to someone she'd been trying to kill only half an hour before. Bruce was finishing up wrapping Clint's left arm from where he'd gotten a nasty burn. That was the last of the injuries to be seen to. And just in time, as a quinjet began to descend into the empty square.
The small party got up and stood back to let the bird land. As it did so, the back opened up and they climbed inside. A young woman was piloting and as soon as she was given the all clear, she turned the jet south towards New York City. She told them it would be about an hour long flight so they sat back and did random things. Eliza sat opposite Devin and she kept a careful eye on him. She still didn't trust the little devil (well okay, he was actually quite tall compared to her but she still didn't trust him). Yeah, she'd confirmed he was telling the truth, there was little doubt there. But still she was unsure of him. Nothing she had the power to control was effective against his gravitational control. That was beyond her abilities.
Soon though, Eliza was distracted by watching as Tony fell asleep in his suit while strapped into the quinjet. Why she found it so funny, she wasn't sure. But Steve, who was sitting next to her, seriously began to question her sanity.
In just over an hour, as the occupants of the quinjet were just beginning to get restless, the Stark Tower came into view. Eliza threw her water bottle cap at Tony and it struck him in the nose. It jolted him awake and she broke down laughing at the look on his face. He scowled at her.
As the door opened and they began to crawl out, Eliza noted that Fury was standing on the platform, arms crossed. Tony laughed at his expression and as he walked forward, his suit fell from his body and flew into a compact shape back inside a small porthole-size entrance in the tower's wall.
"Hey Patches," Stark grinned, "What can we do for you?"
"You know why I'm here, Stark."
"Why so… serious," Tony teased him.
Fury rolled his eyes and pushed past the billionaire genius.
"You must be Singularity," Fury said, standing in front of the tall teenage boy.
"Devin Touhy," he corrected, "Sir."
"I'm Director Fury, of SHIELD. The Avengers have assured me you aren't a threat, but you have to understand why I can't simply accept that," Fury said, staring the boy down, "I have stationed a dozen SHIELD agents on surrounding roofs and at the ground level exits of this building. Try anything, and you won't survive."
Devin gulped nervously, "Yes, sir."
"Good. Now," Fury turned to the Avengers, "I'm returning to the Helicarrier. I expect more information by this time tomorrow, is that clear?"
They nodded and Fury turned, entering the quinjet. The bird closed its doors and took off up into the sky. Stark led them inside and they took the elevator down to the Avengers lounge.
"Any idea why I regained control," Devin asked the Avengers as they took a seat around the couches in front of the TV.
Bruce considered it, "Nope, but it could have something to do with the power that your leader had over you. Maybe Aftershock's bolt interrupted the hold or something."
"Would you all mind if I took a nap," Devin asked.
"Jarvis," Tony said, "Can you show Devin Touhy to a guest suite?"
"Of course, sir. If you will follow the lights on the floor, Mr. Touhy," Jarvis said, and suddenly lights lining the wall lit up and led to the elevator.
"I wonder what would happen if we provided the other teenagers with information about their real lives," Steve proposed, "Would they be able to remember who they really are?"
"There's no way to know," Natasha shrugged.
Bruce shook his head, "Yes there is. All we have to do is try."
They considered this. Eliza said it was a bad idea. Clint and Natasha tended to agree with her. But Tony, Steve, and Bruce all seemed to think it was worth a shot. And since both team leaders were in favor, they decided that it would be worth a try. So Stark handed out StarkPads, and they got to work searching Illinois for orphanages. They knew it had to be for both girls and boys, and not single-sex. That narrowed the choices down.
Eliza, not comfortable with the topic of orphanages, retired to her room where she sat down at her desk and turned on her laptop with a sigh. The first news story was familiar: "MUTANT TEENS DESTROY BOSTON." She snorted. The Bastards had hardly destroyed the city- the Avengers had stopped them before very much damage was done. Yeah, several cars were destroyed, there was probably around twenty civilian casualties, but in the big scheme of things, that was minimal. After all, she remembered hearing about the Battle of New York in London newspapers over three years ago. There had been hundreds of civilian deaths and the damage had cost billions.
The next headline to catch her eye was about the Avengers. "TEEN GIRL JOINS WORLD HEROES." Well, at least she was making waves in the news. She read the story, interested to see what the news said about her.
"The Superhero group known as "The Avengers" has recruited a new team mate. For the first time after her reveal, we saw this young heroin in action on the night of June 21st, when she defended New York's Central Park against an unknown group of mutant villains. So who is this girl? She's known officially as "The Changeling." She works for the agency known as SHIELD. Not much is known about this secretive group, but what we do know is they are a world-wide organization that specializes in protection. Two other SHIELD agents are on the Avengers- Hawkeye (Clint Barton) and Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff). The Changeling seems to enjoy the company of all the Avengers, especially Clint Barton and Tony Stark. Needless to say, all eyes will be on her as she continues to defend the Earth alongside her teammates."
Not a bad article. Informative, quick, concise. Suddenly she felt a presence in her room. Quickly she turned around, grabbing a pen that sat on her desk next to her hand.
Eliza came face to face with Loki. He stared at her, and raised his eyebrow in confusion.
"You are threatening me with a pen?"
She looked at her weapon of choice and blushed.
"There wasn't anything else to use," she protested.
Loki snorted, "Right. Your magic just disappeared?"
"Well," she sputtered, "No…"
Loki plucked the pen from her hand and suddenly it frozen. He threw it at the wall, and it shattered into a thousand little shards of ice.
"Magic, is your friend. The sooner you learn to trust it more than your little knives, the better."
Eliza glared at him but nodded.
"I've watched you and the Avengers," he growled at the name, "fighting these… Bastards of Evil. You should have used mirages to fool your opponents."
"I didn't think about it," she admitted.
Loki scowled, "You need to think about it. Or one of these times, you will get yourself killed, and what help will you be to anyone then?"
She hated to admit he was right. She reverted back to her simple magic in the heat of battle, exactly the opposite of what she needed to do. She needed to outsmart her opponent. She needed to use all the spells at her disposal to prevent her friends from getting injured. After all, if one of them were to get seriously hurt, she'd hold herself responsible.
Loki looked at her as she sat sulking on the end of her bed. Pathetic child. But he remembered why he was putting up with her. He had to train her. This child, Gersemi, she was powerful. And now that Loki had confirmed his suspicions about who she was, he was even more determined to mold her into an ally.
Or at least a minion. For though he'd never admit it out right, now that the information he had discovered confirmed what he'd guessed, he had reason to fear her. If she developed into her full potential on her own, Loki would lose the ability to corrupt her. And if she was his enemy… well, he would finally find himself face to face with a magic user just as powerful as himself. Possibly more so.
