Chapter 5 – First Impressions
One Year later…"I am Iron Man"
Billionaire Tony stark proudly announced those words in an interview shortly after an incident involving the titular armored suit rocked New York City. And all Agent Adora Greyskull could do was gawk at the sheer brazenness as he walked with Agent Phil Coulson to meet with Tony now that the reporters were done mobbing him.
In the year since her fight with Catra, Adora had undergone proper SHIELD training and been officially named an Agent of the organization. She didn't need as much training as the average person due to her previous training from her childhood, as well as Fury scouting her for his 'Avengers' project. When it also became clear she didn't have a known surname they allowed her to come up with her own for identification. Unsurprisingly, she said 'Greyskull,' much to everyone's amusement.
As Tony walked into the room Adora already could tell from looking at him that he was a royal narcissist. This was not going to be a fun meeting.
"Mr. Stark that was not the alibi we gave you..." Phil deadpanned the moment he noticed them.
"Please a bodyguard? Nobody was gonna buy that crap. Besides, I love the attention." stark admitted completely shamelessly.
"That much was obvious Mr. Stark..." Adora grumbled not quite as under her breath as she hoped.
Tony looked at her and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Who's the kid? SHIELD recruiting teenagers now?" he asked completely at a loss for a joke, for once.
Adora rolled her eyes and held her hand out for a handshake. "Agent Adora Greyskull, and lets just say I'm a special case." she announced.
As Tony took her hand and shook it, he stopped, processing what she just said, "Adora….Greyskull?"
"Yes as in She-Ra. I was literally named after it and chose my surname. Long story we do not have time to discuss." she quickly explained.
"Right...so what's your deal Agent hairpoof?" Tony snarked though he quickly caught Adora's wince. "Geez I didn't think you were that sensitive about your hair."
"No it's not that it's just...it brings back bad memories alright?" she replied.
Phil quickly stepped in to try and defuse things. "IF we can get back on the original topic? Mr. Stark I hope you understand letting this news out is very dangerous." he calmly explained but Tony of course, brushed him off.
"Mr. Coulson, you do realize I am piloting the single most advanced weapon in the entire world right now? I don't think I'm going to have to worry about people coming after me. You just worry about your agency and let me handle my own issues." he said pouring himself a drink.
"Even still, we'll keep in touch Mr. Stark. You might find that working with SHIELD will benefit you in the long run." Phil concluded, before motioning for Adora to leave with him. "Have a good day, Mr. Stark."
The two left the building and returned to Phil's car. As she buckled up Adora only had one thing to ask. "You REALLY think Fury will want that pain in the rear in the Avengers?"
Phil chuckled, "That's up to the Director. To Mr. Stark's credit he's good at what he does."
"Brag, boast and be a general nuisance?" Adora replied with a smug grin.
"Was that humor Adora? Natasha HAS been a good influence on you." Phil commented dryly as the two drove off. Looking out the window Adora thought back to a year ago when Nick Fury made his offer…
One Year Ago:
"There is a plan," he began, sitting Adora down across from him, "A plan to bring together a team of the most incredible people in the world. Bring them together to see if they can do something truly special, similar to the Howling commandos from World War II. SHIELD high command refers to this as the Avenger Initiative. As of right now we've scouted Barton and Romanoff and considering what you're capable of, and can be capable of we want you as well."
Adora listened intently thinking over her options. She wanted to join SHIELD, since she didn't really have a home to go back to outside of them and inquired further. "So… like a team of Superheroes?" her eyes lit up as she asked, "I can be a hero like She-Ra?"
Nick cracked a smile and softly chuckled at her youthful enthusiasm. "Yeah, we can make you a Modern Day She-Ra. What do you say? Will you-"
He didn't even get to finish before she jumped up from her chair and hugged him. He froze up in shock of the hug, which she quickly released looking embarassed and clearing her throat. "Yes sir, Mr. Fury. I accept!"
"Good. You'll be partnered with several SHIELD agents for your training. With your abilities and previous experience however, you'll easily be on the fast track to being an Agent yourself. After that I want you to assist in scouting potential candidates." he motioned for Natasha to bring her back to her room. As she stood up to leave he chimed in, "Oh and Nat? Make sure to get her set up for proper education as well as schedule visits for her with one of SHIELD's psychiatrists. Poor girl needs it."
Present Day:
Adora was in one of the Triskelion's gyms working over a punching bag as hard and fast as she was able to. Despite her sessions with her assigned Psychiatrist, her mind was still focused on Catra, and the hurt look on her face after their fight the year prior. Catra was right, she HAD broken her promise. Not only did she fail to keep her safe, or bring her to SHIELD to protect her…. she'd hurt her herself. As Catra's words kept repeating in her mind she punched faster and harder. The thought of abandoning her to Santos and the followers enraged her. She knew that for even just coming after her without permission would cause punishment. She thought about the scars Catra had left down the length of her back… and then she punched the bag so hard it flew off the hook and burst open. This FINALLY snapped her out of her thoughts as she stared in embarrassment.
"Easy on the equipment Adora, we do have a budget." a familiar voice rang out as Adora turned to see Natasha entering the room.
"S-sorry Nat, you know I forget my strength sometimes…." she nervously replied, trying to help clean it all up.
Natasha just walked over and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Thinking about your friend again, aren't you?" she asked. When Adora silently nodded, Natasha gave her a hug and comforted her. "It's alright Adora, I understand. I'm here if you want to talk..."
Adora took a moment to compose herself, "I'm fine Nat. I just know I let her down. I can't ever get that out of my head..." she admitted, just leaning into the hug.
Natasha gave her all the time she needed to calm down. "We're doing all we can to find the Followers. I made a promise we'd Catra out of that hellhole and I intend to keep it." she reassured the young girl. Adora wiped her eyes and smiled up at her.
"Thank you Natasha." Adora returned to the hug and got back to helping pick up the punching bag.
Natasha chuckled and helped her, before remembering something from the year prior, "At least you aren't using any hanging lights as punching bags anymore."
Adora went beat red as she said it. "Th-that was one time Nat!"
"Yes and that one time shattered the light and cut up your hand." Nat pointed out.
Adora sighed, "I know, you pulled me aside and reamed me out for an hour and a half for it" she admitted, remembering her very thorough chewing out, and Clint's rather smug smirk. "You really are like a mom to me sometimes y'know?"
Nat seemed a bit stunned, but she smiled again quickly, "I mean...I can get used to you calling me that Adora. I...can't exactly have children myself." she admitted.
"Huh? Why not?" Adora asked hesitantly, seeing Natasha looked uneasy.
"The Red Room," Nat replied, looking out the window, "They believed Familial ties were a weakness. In order for my training to be complete… they sterilized me. I can NEVER have children." Nat explained as she fought back tears, trying to not cry in front of Adora.
Adora, for her part, realized how Natasha was feeling and walked over to her, patting her on the back. "Well, I can definitely say you're a FAR better mother for me than Doctor Santos was." Adora reassured. "Don't expect me to start CALLING you mom from now on." she added with a joking tone.
This improved Natasha's mood and she gave Adora a slight Shove. "Alright but you do realize I get to ground you right, watch that smart mouth." The two shared a laugh and continued to train together.
"One of these days Nat you're gonna show me how to do that..hurricane-something you do."
Adora was in her room, finally going over some of the important files SHIELD had provided her with. Not much of what she read was much help for the Avenger initiative. She came across a file about some super-powered Pilot in 1995, but she didn't seem to be on Earth anymore. Freaking Aliens now? What is up with this world these days? she thought, dumbfounded by what she read.
Shaking her head, she scrolled over to another file, this time being about a missing scientist specializing in Gamma Radiation. "Bruce Banner, irradiated by Gamma, failed super soldier project….giant….green….rage monster?" Yet another absolutely insane story she'd discovered. He wouldn't be easy to track down, and there was a good chance if they did, he'd go green and cause far more damage than recruiting the monster would be worth. Though she couldn't help but pity Doctor Banner.
Another file she brought up was rather old. She'd heard Coulson fan-boying over this one. Captain Steve Rogers. Captain freaking America. She'd heard the stories, he was a scrawny little asthmatic turned into the peak of human conditioning. He didn't even need SHIELD for that as Doctor Santos made it clear Adora was intended to be a soldier of his caliber. She assumed that meant that Santos had either replicated the Super Soldier Serum or made her own variant of it. She couldn't help but be in awe of the records of what he was capable of, she almost hoped she'd be able to live up to such an insane legacy. A Pity he had died in his efforts to save the world from HYDRA.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "It's unlocked," she called out. The door opened and in walked her former handler, now good friend, Agent Smith. "Smith! It's so good to see you!" she said cheerfully, closing her laptop and turning to face him. "What brings you here?"
"I brought some burgers, Nat says you've been forgetting Lunch again." he deadpanned, putting a bag of Burger King down on the table. "So how'd the visit with Tony Stark go?"
Adora walked over and grabbed her meal out of the bag, "Thanks Smith. And how do you think it went? How do people stand that arrogant tool." she replied, taking a bite out of the burger. "Damn you picked a good one."
Agent smith chuckled, grabbing his own burger. "You're not hard to buy for Adora. You are the exact opposite of picky."
"Well considering the garbage I used to eat, ANYTHING is an improvement." she replied, rather quickly scarfing down the burger. "I mean why do you think I've been interested in cook books?"
"And why you spend so much time browsing grocery stores." he added. "Wow Adora slow down, don't wanna choke."
Adora finished her meal and got herself a drink. "This Avenger thing is really not off to a great start." she admitted, "I mean lets face it, who do we have apart from Tony, and please god let him not join, Natasha, myself and Clint?" she had to stifle a laugh as she thought of something, "I bet Natasha would want to kill him the literal minute he flirts with her."
"Well I'd hope the famous Black Widow has better self control than that Adora." Smith replied, before thinking it over, "But it WOULD be satisfying to see him clock him one wouldn't it?" he then admitted.
Adora laughed with him and offered him a soda from her fridge, which he politely denied. "Y'know I bet my friend Catra would make a good Avenger, if we can convince her to leave Santos." She said, a hint of sadness in her voice.
"I'm sure Fury would immediately scout her the moment we bring her here. Long as she doesn't shed everywhere." Smith said, trying to add a bit of levity. Fortunately this worked as Adora could barely hold in laughter.
"She used to sleep at the foot of my bed you know. Whenever she started shedding it was a real pain to clean off my sheets." she said between laughter. "And when she was a child, she scratched EVERYTHING. Curtains, pillows, beds, walls. My god she was such a little kitten."
Smith pat her on the back, "We'll get her Adora. Trust me. We'll help her"
Adora sighed, "God, anyone ever tell you that you know exactly how to make a girl feel happier?" she asked him.
Agent smith smiled in response, "Lets just say I pride myself in being everyone's friend."
To Be Continued…
Bit of a delay on this one. Wasn't really feeling motivated at first to write it. The hardest part was the Natasha and Adora segment. (BTW, Mom Natasha is best Natasha.)
There's still one more chapter before we get to The Avengers(2012), I'm trying to do what I can to have Adora meet and interact with as many Avengers as realistically possible before the eventual forming of the team.
I do not own She-Ra or the MCU, all characters belong to their respective owners.
I HAVE NOT SEEN FURTHER THAN SHE-RA SEASON 1. I apologize for adding this to every chapter but I really want to avoid as many spoilers as possible.
Feedback would be greatly appreciated. If you like what you've read, leave a review please. As this is my first, motivated story I like to see that my wok is being seen and enjoyed. Furthermore, I would like to know areas I can improve and if people enjoy the twists and turns of the story.
NEXT TIME: Legends arise, both mythical and historical.