So like always I do not own Marvel. I only own my OC Calliope aka Star Ray. Enjoy!
Well, that took forever, I thought to myself as we finally arrive at the ship. Honestly, it took way too long to get here. I don't understand why they won't allow me to fly over here by myself. It would have been faster than flying in a jet with Hill. Still, the world does see me as a security risk, so I guess I'm stuck being escorted by everyone anyhow.
It doesn't matter in the end since Hill and I still manage to make it here before everyone else. It annoys me to no end waiting for other people, especially when I just want to start the mission already... Wait, why am I complaining? I don't even want to meet these people. The sooner they get here means the sooner they'll begin to annoy me. I hate being near others, to begin with. In general, people annoy me. I realized long ago, socializing is not a skill I possess. I'm not exactly a social butterfly, thank you very much. I prefer being the wallflower who minds her business. Putting that aside, I am impressed by the technology I see inside the ship. All of the equipment here is pretty advanced. Still, it shouldn't be surprising since this is a top-secret spy organization. I continue to look around until I notice Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., standing right in the middle of it all. He looks so smug right now, I feel like slapping him until his eye patch flies off his stupid face. I wonder how fast they'll shuttle me back to prison if I did that.
"Rodriguez," The man kindly greets me.
"Furry," I reply, greeting the pirate. He doesn't seem pleased with me mispronouncing his name, but at least he doesn't look so smug anymore. That's a relief.
"I'm glad you could join us. It's my understanding that you agreed to assist us until Barton is brought back safely, correct?"
"Pretty much. I don't see any other reason that would motivate me to help any of you," I state, slowly turning around to observe my surroundings again Sure the prison I was residing in is top of the line, it has to be to contain me, but this place is amazing! I think I'm at the Bridge, which is basically the command center of the ship. In front of me is row upon rows of monitors with agents typing away at them. Behind me is a table with seven seats. I guess the meetings take place there.
"Well, for right now, you can take a seat until the rest of the group gets here," Fury informs me. Shrugging my shoulders, I sit down in one of the random chairs at the back of the room. It takes another 20 minutes or so before we're notified that Captain Steven Rogers and Dr. Bruce Banner have arrived.
Great, I thought irritably. Now I have to deal with two dudes who probably have higher-than-thou attitudes. This should be fun!
I was about to say something out loud when I feel the ship shaking underneath me. Worried that it meant we were sinking, I jump up to leave only to find everyone completely calm. Not only does this not bother them, but it also seems as though they expect it to happen.
"What's going on?" I asked no one in particular as I look out the window across the room. It's at this moment, I finally realize what's happening. The ship is rising out of the ocean and transforming into an aircraft. "Hey Fury, we're not in Kansas anymore, are we?"
He looks at me with a smirk gracing his lips instead of answering my question, but at this point, I don't need him to say anything because I can literally see the answer for myself. I never thought I see the day when a ship flies through the sky. Hey, how come cars can't fly if they're smaller than this?
A few minutes later I see a beautiful woman with two men enter the room. Upon closer inspection, I notice it's Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers, my new teammates. They look as amazed as I felt. I suppose they've never seen anything like this either. The Captain continues to look around but it's Banner who notices me first. He hesitantly nods his head in my direction as he walks closer to greet me, but he stops short before he gets too close. Confused, I look around to try and figure out why he stopped when I see the scientist hiding his face from two guards at the very back of the room. Now I understand his sudden discomfort. I heard he's been on the run for some time now. As an expert in cases like this, I know how hiding one's face becomes a habit that sticks with you no matter what. Not bothering to spare any more of my attention on him, I look to the front of the room just in time to hear Fury order Agent Hill that it's time to vanish. I have to admit I've seen a lot of stuff and I've heard a lot of stranger things, but I think this takes the cake. How they're going to make this ship disappear is beyond me, but I don't doubt S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ability or technology to do so. I mean, if this thing can fly, I can only wonder what else it's capable of.
"Lady and gentlemen," Fury finally greets us. It's at this moment Captain Rogers finally takes notice of me. "I believe not all of you have met. Men, this is Calliope Rodriguez, she'll be working with you on this assignment."
"Ma'am," Captain Rogers comes to greet me, extending his hand to shake mine.
"Sir," I respond in like manner. However, I notice something, that up until now, has never happened to me before. Anyone who has heard of me or seen the powers I possess has greeted me without fear, caution, or a slight hesitation in their stance. They expect me to kill them on the spot before they give me a chance to speak, but this isn't the case with Rogers, which throws me off. He looks at me as if I'm nothing more than a normal girl, and not a weapon of mass destruction. Even Banner didn't greet me like this, and his power levels are on par with my own.
Speaking of the scientist, he merely waves at me from where he's standing and proceeds to look down at his feet. Compared to him, I must seem more sociable because he's just awful at it. When I turn to look at Fury, I notice Captain Rogers handing him some money. I want to ask what that's about, but I decide it's not worth being nosy. Fury accepts the cash before speaking with Banner about the tesseract, but I tune them out, not caring what about their conversation. I hear the redhead from earlier saying something about not finding someone in time and that's when I realize she's talking about Clint.
I look down at my hands not believing a word she says. We just have to find Clint in time. I know I'm furious with him, but I don't want him to suffer. I don't want him brainwashed to kill everyone around him. Clint is a good guy, and throughout the time I've known him, he's only failed me once. Yes, it ended in a painful loss for me, and it's true I still haven't recovered from that loss... but, he felt terrible about it, and he never stopped trying to make it up to me. He didn't mean for things to end up as they did. I understand that now, but I just can't help but be angry at the guy anytime I see him. Still, that doesn't mean I want him turning it into some freaks puppet. He deserves more than this.
A moment later, Banner informs Fury about a tracking algorithm he wants to map out and within the next few seconds, Director Fury is ordering Agent Romanoff to escort the scientist to his temporary lab. I'm left at the same place I've been sitting in for the past thirty minutes, confused about the fast change in events that keeps occurring. As I watch the two walking away, I'm left wondering, Who the hell is Romanoff? Why does the name sound familiar to me? I keep thinking about it until it clicks. She's the infamous Black Widow Clint told me so much about, or at least he tried to tell me about her. What's strange is the fact she doesn't look that tough to me, but then again, looks can be deceiving. I mean just look at me for example. If it wasn't for my prison uniform, no one would know I'm a threat. Well other than the fact that my eyes are a swirling dark shade of pink (hardly seems threatening when I think about it, actually), I look normal. I stand at 5 feet 6 inches, and I weighed about 148 pounds. I have an hourglass figure (yes, I'm thick and I have thunder-thighs, so what), fair skin with a couple of lunares, and thick wavy black hair that reaches mid-back. I look like any normal Hispanic 17-year-old girl. Nothing dangerous until you see the powers I have.
My abilities are nothing to sneeze at. I can control and absorb any type of radiation in the world. I can expel large amounts of radiation from my body similar to Shego from Kim Possible, except the color and intensity of the radiation I release are different. First off, my radiation looks like fire whenever I shoot it at people, and the color is hot pink. I know it's an awful color, but it's not like I asked for this, it was simply forced onto me. I prefer the color blue, like sapphire, but life seems to think of me as some sort of joke. Imagine me with blue radiation! I would be just as amazing as Azula. I'm getting off point... Anyways back to my powers; I can fly, I have super strength, durability, a small healing factor, enhanced sight, and agility. Yeah, no wonder S.H.I.E.L.D. wants me on their side so bad. Too bad for them because I don't want to fight. I never liked fighting, even when I was a kid. It always seemed pointless to me, even if those around me disagree. Nonetheless, I learned a long time ago that the world won't allow you to simply stand there and have your way. It pushes you to your breaking point whether you like it or not, completely changing you from the person you once were. It's like a never-ending ultimatum one can never escape. Oh, how I long to escape this reality I've been forced to live... why can't I just die...
As I sat here lost in my morbid thoughts once again I didn't realize Captain Rogers sitting beside me at first. He smiles at me with no hints of hesitation or fear as he asks: "Is this your first mission?"
"Huh? Oh, you're speaking to me. Um, with S.H.I.E.L.D.? No sir, I've worked with them once before, although, this is my first time on this particular aircraft."
"You don't have to call me sir, we're teammates after all," He replied, still smiling at me albeit a bit awkwardly.
"True, but you did call me ma'am so I thought you would prefer to be addressed in a similar manner," I countered. To this, I notice he's taken aback slightly. I don't know if it's due to my blunt response, my tone, or something else.
"Sorry, I forget that your era is different from mine. I realized a lot of people take offense to this or misunderstand my intentions."
"Huh? Well, that's dumb of them. Plus, that's not what I meant. I'm not offended in the least bit so don't worry about it."
"Then what did you mean?" He asked me, clearly confused that someone isn't upset with him.
"Only that you were being polite and using the term ma'am when speaking to me even though I'm younger than you, so I returned the favor with an equal amount of respect," I explained, trying my best not to sound belittling. I don't want to offend him when he's clearly trying his best to be nice to me.
"Oh, sorry, it's just that I assumed you meant by my age, as in the fact I'm from the 1940s. I shouldn't have assumed, that was wrong of me," he apologized awkwardly as he looks down at his hands. I actually felt bad for him, since it sounds like he has to constantly explain or apologize due to his confusion about the world around him simply because he's from a different time. Still, I shouldn't be surprised considering how rude people are.
"It's okay, really, you don't have to apologize to me. It's not like you did anything wrong, also, I understand you're from a different time period so it's understandable that you get confused about certain aspects. Plus, you're not the only one who gets confused. People from my generation get confused about how they're supposed to act, so it's okay. Look I have a simple rule that I'll treat someone the same way they treat me. So I would like to say, for the most part, I treat people the way they want to be treated... I guess, in a roundabout way what I'm trying to say is that I'm not gonna judge you for accidentally confusing certain things. No one is perfect, so we're all bound to make a mistake anyway. I promise I won't hold it over your head."
Immediately the Captain relaxes after I say this which is a relief. I don't want to get on anyone's bad side while I'm here. No doubt Fury will blame me if anyone starts throwing a fit. He'll say I'm trying to start a fight or something.
"Thank you I appreciate it"
"No problem... Hey, I'll make a deal with you," I suggest to the soldier. At this, he's confused once again so I quickly explain myself. "I'll treat you the way you want to be treated so long as you do the same for me. I'll treat you like a responsible young man, not an elderly person or someone who is clueless, so long as you treat me with the same amount of respect that you treat everyone else with."
"Easy," he smiled once again, clearly relieved with the situation. "By the way, you can call me Steve. If you want to, that is."
"Calliope," I replied back with a small smile of my own. "Nice to meet you."
"Captain Rogers, do you mind coming with me? I need to discuss something important with you," Agent Coulson asked, as he stood on the other side of the table. "It will only take a moment of your time."
"Of course I'll be there in just one second," he announced, turning to me and excusing himself as he gets up to speak with Coulson. I nod my head back to signal a goodbye when I notice Fury walking towards me. He stands in front of the table with another stupid smug smirk on his dumb face. Finally, I have enough.
"Something up, Furry?" I ask, trying to annoy him with the ridiculous nickname I have for him.
"You smiled," he points out, his smirk never wavering, not even for a second.
"What's your point, am I not allowed to smile now?" I hissed at him as I try to keep my voice low so no one hears me speak. However, no matter how hard I try, Fury always irritates me to the point I explode. He's annoying, so of course, my attitude begins to flare up. I'm Latina after all, I can only contain my attitude to a certain extent... at least that's what Christopher always told me.
"No, you can smile all you want. It's just... you haven't smiled since that day," he said softly. Finally, his smirk falls, and his eye soften. I hold his gaze, even though a part of me wants to look away.
"Well, there isn't much to smile about since then."
"And now?"
"Nothing. I smiled to be polite, nothing more nothing less," I said with an irritated look on my face. "Don't get confused, Furry! I still loathe all of you and that's not going to change in the span of one afternoon. This isn't a fairytale, it's real life."
"I don't think so."
"Hmm? What do you mean by that? Do you suddenly believe that glitter and love can save the world?" I say mockingly, trying to hide how much he's irritating me at the moment. I swear these people always do this. They never allow you to say what you want, but they'll tell you what to say and what it means. Typical really. I should have known this conversation would end up like this.
"It's not a fairytale, that part is true. But you didn't smile just to be polite. You smiled because he proved you wrong," Fury explained to me. At that I merely stared at him, confused by what he meant. "You expect people to treat you a certain way whether you like it or not. He treated you differently from what you expected and it surprised you. You're surprised that someone like that even exists."
"If you're expecting me to clap you on the back and say good job, then you have another thing coming," I snarked at him. Still, I couldn't deny the fact that he's right. Captain Rogers did surprise me, but that doesn't mean anything. I hate how Fury is analyzing this so intensely. We just got here and he's already irritating me about stupid crap. "Why do you care anyway?"
"I don't, but if I know Barton any, he would have said the same thing," he finished saying as he walks away from me.
Okay, I admit I smiled (briefly), who cares. Yes, Steve shocked me, but why does Fury hyper-analyzing the situation? I guess he's glad we're getting along since we have to work together on this assignment, but we just met so really nothing is set in stone. For all I know, I could end up hating this dude and everything he stands for. Although, he is the first person to actually meet me, already aware of my powers, and still treat me like a normal person. Not a weapon like the rest of the world sees me.
Great... now I'm overthinking it.
"We got a hit. Sixty-seven percent match. Wait, cross match, seventy-nine percent," yelled Agent Sitwell from his seated position by the monitors. I guess they found Loki. That was oddly quick.
"Location?" asked Coulson, coming up beside him.
"Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding."
I have to agree with Sitwell. Loki doesn't seem to care about being caught in action. Aren't the bad guys suppose to avoid being caught on camera or is he stupid?
"Captain, you're up," Furry informs Steve. The blond nods his head before exiting the room to change into his uniform. I get up to follow when Fury stops me. "That won't be necessary Rodriguez."
"I'm sorry I thought this was the job, so why are you benching me? Wouldn't it make more sense to have me out there with the Captain? Unless you have another job for me?" I asked the director, but he doesn't respond to my question. Instead, he speaks into his comm set to inform Black Widow that she'll be joining Captain Rogers to Germany. "Fury?"
"I need you here for something else."
Something else? What could be more important than capturing Loki and getting our hands on the Tesseract? Nothing! The only person of remote importance here is perhaps Dr. Banner- Oh...
"I'm not here just to help get the cube back am I?" I quietly asked Fury, but he continues to look forward and ignore me. I've had enough of him ignoring my questions, so I march right on over to him and force the man to face me. "Am I here to contain Dr. Banner?"
"You're the only one we know who can go head to head with the Hulk and still walk away alive," He tried to explain to me. First off, he's assuming this because who knows if I can actually take on the Hulk. It's not like I ever fought him before! This is exactly why I hate S.H.I.E.L.D.! It's because of their stupid secrets and Fury is always at the center of it all. He never cares about how his secrets can affect the people around him! "Look, we had to have a contingency plan just in case Dr. Banner loses control. You just so happen to be a part of that plan."
"Then do you mind sharing with the class what this plan is?" I hissed at him, seeing as there was no way to avoid it. Fury informs me about the cell, the same cell that if everything goes according to plan, Loki will soon be in. He explains to me that all I have to do is force the Hulk into the cell and he'll take care of the rest. "Does Doctor Banner know about this plan, or are you just hoping he never finds out about it?"
"I don't want him thinking we're after the Hulk," He tells me, but I merely roll my eyes at him. Because what he doesn't realize is that for people like me and Banner, we'll always assume someone is after us for our powers, because why else would the world possibly want us. At this point, I'm fed up with this entire situation I put myself in and all I want is to be left alone. I only just got out of prison and I already want to return to my cell.
"Do you have a room for me? I'm tired and I don't particularly want to be around any of you," I told him bluntly. No point in hiding behind words when I can simply tell the truth. Fury signals to a nearby agent to escort me to my room, however, before I leave he gives me a comm set so he can contact me when there's a new development in the case, or if I need to handle the Hulk.
When I get to my designated room the agent tells me that if I want to change there are some spare clothes in the dresser for me. She also informs me of the new and improved uniform they recently made for me. I thanked her and enter my room without another word.
The room itself is simple. Nothing special about it compared to the rest of the ship. The room is small and has grey metal walls. On the far left corner, you can see a twin-sized bed, with black and white sheets next to a small dresser. On the other side of the room, I see a door that reads restroom. I go inside and see an equally dull and unimpressive bathroom. It has a normal sink, toilet, and shower. I guess they didn't waste their time making pretty rooms since they invested more energy in other resources. That's fine with me considering it's still a step up from my prison cell.
I get under my covers and fall asleep almost immediately, already worn out with the day I've had. However, this is a mistake I would soon regret.
So, I hope you guys liked the chapter! I wanted to give you guys a taste of her personality and who she is as a person. As I'm sure you're all aware, being a teen is a confusing time for anyone, especially for a superhero. Also, Calliope has gone through a lot of trauma, which you'll see in later chapters, so going through all of this when she's depressed, isn't helping her in the least bit.
By the way, I am not an expert when it comes to depression. I just think it's important for everyone to know that anyone can go through it. Please, if you need help, contact someone because I promise you there are people who care about you. Love you guys!