all my avatar: the last airbender stans, stand up!

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That same afternoon, Ashley was dropped off at the Helicarrier's main control centre. She could only stand there in awe as her eyes fell on all the bustling S.H.I.E.L.D workers typing on their expensive high tech equipment, making various calls to God-knows-who. It was clearly a serious organisation, and Ashley couldn't figure out whether she was impressed or intimidated. Christie had decided to tap out soon after Ashley agreed to join, because she was still mentally recovering from her previous mission. But she'd given Ashley a small word of advice before seeing her off in the car with Fury, Coulson and Agent Hill.

'"Remember - any 'group' that makes you feel weary of your own strength instead of embracing that sh*t, is no group you should be apart of."'

Ashley had given her a thankful smile back and continued to hold onto those words for that entire car journey. Christie had a point - Ashley's entire stay at the School of the Gifted was focussed on controlling this 'massive, frightening super saiyan power that could potentially destroy them all'. Not once did she feel like it was a blessing like the rest of the mutants were taught to - which was strange, because her father was the one who was teaching them.

Regardless, she was part of S.H.I.E.L.D now…although not one person in that Helicarrier appeared to even acknowledge her presence, but she didn't mind. It was a pleasant change compared to the stares and whispers she usually faced at school. She was still gripping onto that same duffel bag as she surveyed her surroundings. She had no idea where to go or who to talk to, and she was far too shy to ask. To make matters worse, she couldn't spot Fury or Coulson, even though they'd both promised to meet her there to help her settle in. What she could really do with was having her sister for any sort of support - but the fact that she had opted out didn't surprise her in the slightest.

She knew Christie wasn't overly reliable anyway, because she never had been.

Just when Ashley was convinced that she should turn back and quit whilst she had the chance, she felt someone lightly tap her on the shoulder.

She swiftly spun around - and her breath hitched in her throat.

Standing opposite her was, in her humble opinion, one of the most gorgeous looking men she had ever laid eyes on - not like she had much to choose from in the school anyway (bar Scott, of course). He had dark blonde hair in a reasonably old fashioned haircut, he wore a tight white shirt which perfectly accentuated his muscles and casual dark blue jeans, with smart brown shoes. His eyes were a beautiful sea blue as well, which is what Ashley was drawn to the most - before fluttering her gaze onto his perfectly shaped lips instead.

He was just beautiful, to the point where she could barely believe it.

"Excuse me ma'am, I was wondering if I could have a full fact file on the 'Mission 12' brief, please? A few of your colleagues said they'd print it off for me, but I can't seem to find them," he explained politely, his voice like gentle flowing water. His lips were clearly moving, but it appeared as if his eyes were studying her deeper than her mind could process.

It took Ashley a few solid seconds to realise that he was talking to her.

"Oh…I-I don't actually work here, s-sorry," she winced awkwardly once she'd snapped out of it. The man blinked at her in surprise as his entire face softened.

"Oh...my apologies…are you waiting for someone?" he asked curiously, leaning up against the edge of the desk closest to him. Ashley felt her cheeks grow warm under his intense gaze, but she didn't know why – this wasn't the first time that she'd spoken to a guy and she was usually ridiculously confident, so these nerves were foreign to her.

"I'm actually waiting for Director Fury or Agent Coulson? My name's Ashley…Darmer. I was literally just hired a few hours ago to join some kinda group?" she explained to him, neatly tucking a wild strand of hair behind her ear.

"Oh. Well, Ashley, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Steve, Steve Rogers," the man introduced himself whilst holding out his hand. Ashley took it and shook it with a small smile, her heart still pounding but physically remaining as cool as possible.

"Nice to meet you too, Steve." But before Steve could continue to ask anymore questions, Fury had suddenly made his way over to them both, having just finished the call with Professor X.

"Ah, Darmer - I see you've found our…most inviting team member," he smirked slightly once he'd approached them. "Cap - this is our brand new Avenger."

"So I've heard, sir," Steve hummed, his eyes still amusedly trained on Ashley's blushing face.

"Sorry I took so long, Ashley - had a call to take," Fury apologised to her quietly. "Once I finish up with Ms Hill, we can begin properly." And with that, he left them once more, his mind clearly focussed elsewhere. Ashley chewed the inside of her cheek and tried to look unfazed about being left in this massive room with nothing but the vast blue skies to look at. But Steve had already noticed her uncomfortable disposition, and found himself taking pity on her.

"Um…I can bring you down to the rest of the team, if you want?" he offered up helpfully, being the pure hearted and honest gentlemen he was. But Ashley felt that anxiety grow even more and found herself counting to ten in her head, knowing her palms would start to smoke if she wasn't careful.

Scaring this dude away was the very last thing she wanted.

"Er…no i-it's fine, I'll find my way around...thank you so much for offering though," she ended up declining a little hesitantly, her gaze dropping to the floor. Steve raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side.

"You sure, Miss Darmer? You would NOT wanna get lost in this thing. Any part of it could turn into a plane or a submarine, and you wouldn't even notice until you were either waving to birds or blowing kisses to fishes," he insisted with twinkling eyes. Ashley giggled and ducked her head again. Steve found it somewhat endearing when she did it, and that was the most mind boggling thing. Anyone else would've cringed at the state she was in - but not him.

"Fine, sure - you can take me there," she finally agreed, a little more confident.

"Follow me," Steve nodded, gesturing ahead of him. He led her down a few hallways, both of them silent but comfortably so, and eventually they turned into a big white circular room, where high tech gadgets and equipment were scattered about everywhere. Inside were four people lounging around, chatting with each other like old friends. Ashley chewed the inside of her cheek uncomfortably as she lay eyes on them. Meeting new people was not something she enjoyed, and she preferred to keep to herself most of the time for precaution reasons.

The less people she knew - the less people she'd have to worry about hurting.

"Stevieboy, you're back! Long toilet break," one of the dark haired men frowned cheekily, lifting his water bottle to him as a toast. "And who's your new lady friend?" He put a playful hand to his mouth. "She's hot."

"Oh…m-my name's Ashley - and thank you for the compliment – but I'm…not his 'lady friend'," Ashley introduced herself cautiously, slightly taken aback by his bluntness. She already had her wits about her and the guy could tell - but that just made her all the more exciting to him.

"Why is she here?" a very attractive woman then asked Steve directly. Ashley turned to look at her next. She was leant over one of the glass tables and there was a little frown on her prettily shaped lips. Her hair was deep red, more dark cherry coloured instead of Ashley's burnt auburn, and her figure looked incredible in the black leather pants and red tank top she was wearing.

"Fury called her in to join us," Steve hummed back, trying not to come across rude by discussing Ashley right in front of her face. He turned to her again. "That's Natasha-"

"Natalie. Natalie Rushman," the woman corrected him with a stiff smile. Natasha had no issue with covering her identity until Ashley was at least proven to be trustworthy - she could be a fellow spy for all she knew, and she definitely didn't like that. Meanwhile Ashley already wasn't a huge fan of hers, not taking well to her tone at all. She quickly tore her eyes away from her and back to the others before she blurted out something that she'd no doubt later regret.

"Really? We're still doing that, Tash?" another cool looking guy smirked, folding his arms so that his muscles practically burst out through his tight black top as he leant against the wall. "The name's Clint…Barton."

"Nice to meet you..." Ashley nodded slowly with a small smile, before turning around to see yet another guy standing there, peering at her through his little specs perched on the bridge of his nose. "And you?"

"I'm Dr Banner…Bruce," he answered carefully, trying not to come off cold. This didn't faze Ashley though - she was a bit of a science geek when she was younger, so it was heart swooning to finally meet someone she'd read so much about, and she couldn't even keep it off her face.

"Wow. I'm WELL aware of your work and it's such an honour to meet you Dr Banner - I…I think I already met you at a convention once a few years back…I was a lot shorter then," Ashley gushed, running over and shaking hands with him excitedly. Banner's face grew into an appreciative smile as he ducked his head humbly. There was only the first guy left for her to meet.

"Well I don't think I need any introduction," he said haughtily, stepping forward with his hand outstretched expectantly. Ashley squinted her eyes for a few empty seconds, before letting out a tinkering laugh.

"I'm sorry bud, but I have little to no idea who you are," she muttered with her still narrowed eyes. The man looked completely taken aback and his grin immediately slipped from his face, whilst Steve and Clint both exchanged bit back smiles.

"You know about Banner but you don't know about Stark Industries?" he spluttered.

"Um…ouch?" Bruce blinked.

"Correct," Ashley lied straight through her teeth with an innocent stare. Of course she knew who the guy was, she could barely get away from Tony's face on the news, but toying with him was fun.

"Dear lord, have you been living under a rock?!" the man exclaimed with his hands dramatically outstretched.

"That's the wonderful Tony Stark, also known as 'Iron Man'. And there's also a big guy called Thor, but he kinda lives…elsewhere. He has this weird magical hammer…look, it's a lot to take in but you haven't passed out yet - so I'm taking that as a good sign," Steve smiled at Ashley comfortingly, causing her to give him a sweet smile back.

"So you're actually joining the team?" Clint asked her curiously.

"I mean, it looks that way," Ashley gave a slow nod in response.

"So what's your party trick? I mean c'mon, one real mission in together and we already have a newbie? You gotta be the real deal, right? Why else would Fury bust his balls to get you here? And you've got a British accent, which means you must've been flown over here," Tony quickly (but wrongly) dissected the situation, sounding more and more excited by the second as his mind raced through the possibilities of what she was capable of.

"Ohhhh I honestly don't think that's necessary right now - I barely got here without any issues," Ashley murmured quietly, feeling all eyes in the room fall on her as her heart rate began to creep back up again.

She didn't want to do this now, surely it wouldn't end well? An audience of people she didn't know - like yesterday? No thank you.

"Oh c'mon Newbie, don't be a spoilt sport!" Tony exclaimed cheekily, as his daring brown eyes stared boldly into her worried green ones.

"See now I'm curious," Clint grinned in support.

"Hey. You don't have to if you don't want to," Steve murmured to Ashley quietly, noticing that she was beginning to freak out.

"…nah, I'll do it," Ashley sighed in defeat. Peer pressure, it never failed her. The last thing she wanted to do was appear weak in front of all them. "I have one mutation, split into five main…powers." Ashley whirled her hand around in the air creating wind and caused a mini tornado fly around the room, disturbing everything in its path including the papers scattered over the table. Banner was incredibly impressed, following it with his eye line eagerly. Ashley then took away the wind so that she didn't have to focus on more than one element at a time (because she couldn't), before drawing water from her palms, smiling at it slightly as it smoothly detached from her skin, curled into a clear ball and floated peacefully in the air. Natasha stared at it in wonder whilst simultaneously trying to appear indifferent. Then Ashley took the water away and formed a pile of rocks straight into the palms of her hand, throwing them into the air where they floated around each other, spiralling around in circles like the solar system. She quickly took them back before sparking fire from her fingertips, a new flame burning boldly in her hands whilst giving off an immense heat around the room. Then she clicked her fingers and it went out. Ashley breathed a small sigh of relief before lowering her head in embarrassment.

This was only the second time she had demonstrated her mutation in the past few days - so why could she suddenly do it perfectly now that it meant nothing to those watching?

"Damn. So then…what's number five?" Stark asked curiously, unable to act like he wasn't impressed.

"Ah. I'm gonna need a volunteer for that one. Preferably someone with a bruise or a cut or something," Ashley responded quietly, eyes trained on the ground. The Avengers glanced at each other in silence until Tony sighed and shoved his hand up.

"I have this AWFUL bruise on my arm - turns out the new suit demo wasn't flyable yet," he shrugged, stepping forward. He rolled up his sleeves so that the thick bruise was visible and boldly stood in front of Ashley, as the others watched on in silent wonder. Steve's eyes grew slightly concerned, wondering how he'd best spring to action if he needed to. Tackle her to the ground? Restrain her from the back? That depended on the extent of her abilities - tough call, given that he had no idea what she was about to do.

"Okay. I need to feel, like, under threat. So…grab my neck…with the bruised arm…from behind," Ashley requested awkwardly, causing Clint's eyebrows to shoot up.

"Lord," Natasha murmured.

"Alright…" Tony blinked. He did as he was told before Ashley even had an opportunity to brace herself, and hooked his arm around her neck in a sudden threatening chokehold. Immediately, as she knew she would, Ashley started to panic - so she focussed her sight on his arm and lifted her left palm over the bruise, focussing all her energy as she slowly struggled to breathe. Suddenly, Tony's arms twisted backwards, causing him to let go and for her to spin out of his grip with her hand still risen.

She had him now.

Tony fell onto the floor with a yelp of surprise as his arm continued to contort backwards, looking like a completely different part of his body altogether. Everyone gasped and Steve took a hesitant step forward.

"Tony?! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Clint shouted, reaching into his back pocket for something, Natasha doing the same but with a little more gusto - whilst Bruce could only stare in wonder.

"I'm not doing this on purpose Birdbeak! I…can't...seem to control…my arm!" Tony shouted back, his signature sassiness still lingering in his voice. Ashley immediately dropped her hand again, sensing the amount of fear and tension filling the room - and Tony's arm finally relaxed again. Everyone was staring at either him or Ashley in horrific wonder.

"You...can control what, human matter? Like…blood?" Banner was the first one to splutter in shock, squinting his eyes at his friend on the floor.

"Only if I'm threatened and slash or the blood is present under the skin," Ashley confirmed a little bashfully, unable to tell if they were impressed or freaked out. "It's the only thing I can control outside of my own body. The water and rock and stuff only comes out of my hands, I can't bend them if they're already existing or anything. It's…weird-"

"Unless you can and you just haven't tried," Bruce muttered to her, sliding his glasses off. "Why would your mutation take one rule for some and not others?"

"No idea," Ashley sighed back. "I don't enjoy doing that one. Feels intrusive." A thick silence coated the room just as Fury breezed through the door.

"Oh, now you've all met Ashley," he smirked, standing in front of them all. "So…?"

"Oh, I like her. I like her a lot," Tony panted from his position on the floor as Clint, Bruce and Steve rapidly nodded in agreement.

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really hope you're all enjoying so far! feel free to leave a review...see you next week!