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Heroes, they were an old fashion notion, perhaps even an outdated one. A concept that belonged solely in the realm of fairy tales, at least in the minds of many but not to Nick Fury.
Nicolas Fury was arguably one of the most dangerous men on planet Earth, as the Director of SHIElD he had fingers in nearly every pie in the entire global intelligence network and enough resources to bring down countries before his morning coffee break.
The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division was an organisation founded in the wake of WWII and the threat HYDRA the Nazi's deep science division had played in the war.
It was founded on the idea that never again would the Allies and the United States be technologically inferior to their foes and today after decades of hard work SHIELD's founders' dream had been brought to fruition, SHIELD stood as an organisation that would safeguard the world from both itself and anything else that wished to do it harm.
As the leader of this extra-governmental military counter-terrorism and intelligence agency there was not much Fury didn't know and couldn't accomplish, and what he didn't know probably wasn't worth knowing.
However, there were of course, a few people who managed to slip through the gaps, people and things that he did not understand, could not track or contain and those were the things that Fury hated the most. He detested nothing greater than an enigma he could not unravel.
Enigma's that could very easily become threats to the safety of the world if not treated with the right level of care.
Sitting in his office that overlooked the Potomac River in the Triskelion, the massive classified installation located in Washington D.C that acted as SHIELD's primary and global Headquarters he stared at the monitor in front of him, displaying the progress of one of his most important projects running, the Helicarrier; SHIELD's new mobile operation centre.
The Helicarrier would be truly a scientific and engineering marvel held aloft by four massive retractable turbines that would allow it to move through either the sea or air with equal ease. Fitted with reticle reflection panels and sound dampening technology, it would be a ghost floating through the sky, an invisible fortress from which he could conduct operation all over the world.
It was nearing completion after years in the works. Its pieces were built on-site at the Triskelion in the massive hangers that sat just below the water below before they were shipped to a secret military installation in Alaska away from prying eyes.
Much to Fury's chagrin it was still under construction though it wouldn't be long before it was fully operational and ready to be deployed.
Swiping away the progress report on the Helicarrier he pulled up another set of files. These required a special set of passcodes, only he knew the codes to peruse these files and only the World Security Council or he could access them.
It was titled with three simple words but Fury knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the people under the banner of this project would change the world.
The Avengers Initiative.
A project he had envisioned in the aftermath of his encounter with Carol Danvers, the Kree-Skrull War and Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.
Carol was an incredibly powerful and capable individual but she had a responsibility to the rest of the galaxy and he knew that she wouldn't always be around to save them. So he had developed a plan, to assemble a group of extraordinary individuals, the greatest of humanity who could fight the battles that not even SHIELD could.
Opening the project he perused the contents. The first file showed a series of detailed images, videos, schematics, maps and mission reports. All plastered with a set of red and gold armour sitting proudly front and centre.
Tony Stark
The brilliant son of one of their tragically deceased founders as well as the CEO of Stark Industries and most importantly to Fury the superhero known around the world as Iron Man. An equally fascinating and galling man, Tony Stark's story truly began with the death of his father in a traffic accident that Fury still wasn't quite sure was an accident. The young genius had been catapulted to the head of Stark Industries and quickly turned the multimillion-dollar company into the multibillion-dollar behemoth it was today as it delved deeply into weapons development and became the U.S's chief arms supplier.
Unfortunately, the fame and pressure went to the man's head and Stark began to drink heavily and party hard earning him a rather dim reputation despite his genius intellect and grudgingly acknowledged business acumen. That all changed in 2009 when he was ambushed following the demonstration of the Jericho missile system outside of Kabul, Afghanistan.
Taken hostage by the Ten Rings terrorist organisation he was kept captive for months. Fury had launched numerous searches, coordinating with a vast number of intelligence agencies from across the globe but no one had been able to find hide or hair of the man. Not at least until he was found in the desert on the last rescue sortie after having escaped his captors using an armoured suit powered by a miniature Arc Reactor, a piece of technology created by his father and refined by his son in a cave.
Returning home Stark had publicly ordered the halt of all weapon's manufacturing company-wide before retreating into private obscurity. From there reports become... unclear. Colson had found real difficulty in pinning the man down to debrief him but in the months after his return Stark worked on his suit, refining it and testing it until he popped up again in Afghanistan were he began a systematic assault on the Ten Rings, destroying any Stark weapons he could find.
In the end, it was discovered that his father's long-time friend Obadiah Stane was the one responsible for organizing his kidnapping in an attempt to gain control of Stark Industries, his plans failed and the whole affair ended in a duel between Stark and Stane who had managed to recover Tony's first suit from the desert, a duel which wrecked a good portion of the Stark industries Headquarters.
Fury had wanted the identity of Iron Man to remain a secret and had advised Agent Colson, one of his most trusted agents to inform Stark as much. Unfortunately true to form Stark proved to be one who was disinclined to listen to orders and very publicly outed himself as Iron Man.
The scrambled clear-up operation in the aftermath had been an absolute pain but Fury had managed to get himself a meeting with the enigmatic billionaire, by sneaking into his house, but that was beside the point. The meeting hadn't gone quite as planned and Stark's place on the team had been placed on probation when he failed his personality test but Fury still planned to keep his eye on the man as he traipsed around the world on his one-man war against the Ten Rings.
Scowling at the thought of the man who could infuriate him after a five-minute talk, he swiped once more bringing up the next candidate.
This file contained far less information, only a few reports and blurry pictures as well as newspaper articles filled with images of destruction. There where however a few pictures of a huge green monster that looked like it could rip a plane in half.
Bruce Banner
A genius geneticist, physicist and the world's foremost authority on gamma radiation Banner had attracted the attention of Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross, a Lieutenant General of the United States Army, a stout patriot and a man obsessed with Super Soldiers. The General's obsession became reality in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks when he was put in charge of the Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project, a project designed to be the successor of Project Rebirth.
Banner was invited to join the project where he rose to become the head scientist.
After years of no results, they attempted to substitute the vita radiation that had been used in Project Rebirth with gamma radiation and in there desperation to get results Banner tested it on himself, with horrific results.
The man was turned into an enormous green monster that lashed out at anything in its vicinity though rather than being horrified by what his project had created Ross had been ecstatic and hoped to create an army of soldiers with such abilities. As such he had attempted to capture Banner to experiment on the man causing the scientists to flee in fear of his life and the damage his alter ego, the Hulk could do. That had led to a global manhunt where the Thunderbolt General had ignored all borders and protocol in his dogged pursuit of the Hulk.
SHIELD would have stepped in, this sort of thing usually falling under their jurisdiction but Ross had too many friends high up in government and the World Security Council themselves had forced him to back down rather than take point on the situation. That didn't mean he didn't keep a close eye on Banner's movements as the man wandered the earth hiding from General Ross (with a little covert assistance from SHIELD).
He was the second candidate for the Avengers Initiative.
Swiping once more to the left he brought up the next folder. This one contained a series of maps with location markers, CCTV images of a grey-haired young man and a set of old worn looking photos that looked like they had been taken decades ago containing the same man in the CCTV images.
Kojou Akatsuki
The man was a vexing mess of contradictions to Fury, something that greatly annoyed the seasoned spy. He had popped up on SHIELD's radar after getting involved in a robbery at a convenience store in New York.
That was nothing SHIELD would have taken note of if he hadn't taken the armed group down with what appeared to be superhuman strength and ferocity.
A closer analysis of the event by SHIELD's scientists suggested that the man didn't only have superhuman strength, agility and reflexes but also expert martial arts training. That wouldn't necessarily have earned himself a spot on the Avengers but further investigation into his past revealed some startling finds, images of the same man taken during WWII along with buried SSR records from the time so heavily redacted and covered in black that they were utterly useless to him.
A comparison made between the wartime pictures and the CCTV footage using visual recognition software revealed that it wasn't just a similar-looking descendant but the same man looking as if he hadn't aged a day in nearly seventy years. That had caught the attention of Fury like nothing else and SHIELD had begun to track the man using all their resources.
Investigating deeper had revealed a paper trail that went back seventy years. False identities, bank accounts, citizenships the whole lot, they found he was often in Malta and Japan but beyond that, nothing.
An attempt was made to track down any relatives with a focus on Japan considering his name and frequency of visit but all trails just ended up going cold due to a lack of any evidence.
Despite the amount of publicly available information his Agents were still no closer to figuring out who or what he was. There best guess was a Super Soldier from WWII like Captain America but no matter how much digging they did SHIELD could find nothing on a successful Super Soldier program from back in the 40s other than Project Rebirth.
There was also the issue of strange events occurring around the man, people SHIELD had subtly interviewed who had encountered him telling tales of lightning, mist and other strange phenomena suggesting he was perhaps not a Super Soldier but instead something... more.
Other idea had been thrown in including guesses of some kind of mutation like the Hulk or even the man being an alien, something Fury didn't discount considering his encounter with the Skrulls and Kree back in the 90s.
In the end, they ended up back where they started, with no idea who or what he was. It was only the fact that the man seemed to be on the side of the angels that held Fury back from sending his best Agents after him.
But even Fury's patience had a limit and it was fast approaching its end, mysteries were always something he despised and it was high time he started solving this one especially if he wanted the man on the Initiative.
With a click of a button, he opened an encrypted channel to one of his best agents.
"This is Agent Romanoff, how can I be of assistance Director?" A clear crisp female voice responded promptly from the other end of the call.
"Agent Romanoff, get your arse down here you've been reassigned to a new mission." Fury responded.
"What is it, Boss?" She asked.
"Our mystery amongst the Initiative candidates, it's high time we find out just who and what we are dealing with." He responded.
"Yes sir, where am I going?" She asked.
"New York." Fury replied as he leaned back in his chair. "He's turned up back in New York."
"How far do you want me to go, Sir?" She asked.
Narrowing his eyes he leaned forward and said. "As far as you feel is necessary. I'll send you a jet and the information you need, Coulson will be your handler on mission and will rendezvous he'll rendezvous with you once you reach the city."
Cutting off the call he leaned back in his chair, he knew he could trust the mission to Agent Romanoff better known as Black Widow. She was another candidate for the Avengers Initiative; a former assassin, the girl had been trained and brainwashed by the Russian Black Widow Program into the perfect killer.
Better known as the Red Room it was one of Leviathan; the Soviets deep science and espionage agency's more infamous projects. It trained and brainwashed young girls turning them into some of the most deadly and elite assassins to ever walk the earth and Natasha Romanoff had been the crème of the crop before her defection to SHIELD.
She sought redemption for the crimes she had committed under the Red Room and that combined with her world class training made her one of his most effective and deadly agents.
Leaning back in his chair he stared up at the ceiling a million thoughts running through his mind as he juggled a dozen different lines of thoughts. His mind playing multiple four dimensional games of chess as he juggled what it meant to be the Director of the most powerful spy agency on the planet.
God he needed a vacation.
Natasha Romanoff stared down at her equipment laid out in front of her. Everything was polished to perfection, the barrels of her guns were cleaned, her grapple wire oiled and the mechanisms of her Widow Bite all worked at maximum efficiency.
It was an automatic reflex at this point, the Red Room had hammered in just how important it was to take care of one's equipment when she had been a mere slip of a girl, in fact it had been one of the first lessons they'd given her. That and how best to kill a man with a pencil.
She banished the thoughts of that hellish period of her life to the far recesses of her mind.
Opening a duffle bag she began to put her equipment in one piece at a time before she began to pack in clothes and monitoring equipment. One she was done she zipped up the bag and slung it over her shoulder.
Reaching for the badge she'd left on the only piece of furniture in the room she let a small almost mockery of a smile filter onto her face. The small golden winged bird stencilled onto it was proof of her path of redemption.
Pocketing it she took one last look around the room to check she left nothing behind before she made her way to the door locking it behind her as she began to head towards the waiting Quinjet only to stop as a man blocked her path. Leaning against one of the walls a smirk on his face was her partner and closest friend at SHIELD, or rather closest friend period. "What, you weren't going to leave without saying goodbye were you?"
She rolled her eyes in exasperation though the upturn of her lips suggested she was amused as she replied. "Of course not Barton I wouldn't dare."
Clint Barton also known by the alias Hawkeye pushed himself off the wall and followed his partner through the corridors of the Triskelion. "So where you off to?"
Glancing at him she replied. "New York, our ghost candidate has popped up again. Fury wants me to scope him." She didn't bother hiding it considering Barton was like her another possible candidate for the Avengers Initiative and he'd already been briefed on the program.
"Oh, sounds fun!" He responded with fake excitement and now her eye roll was pure exasperation. Despite that though she didn't bother returning with a barbed insult. Barton was the one who had pulled her out of the Red Room when her conditioning began to fail, she owed her freedom from them to him and that was a debt of gratitude she didn't know she'd ever be able to repay. More than that their separate training had made them the very best in SHIELD and were therefore often paired together on missions.
STRIKE Team Delta, was their designation, the very best field team SHIELD had on record. A fact both of them were very proud of.
Barton was at the top of a very short list of people who she trusted with her life. Thus she bore his good-natured ribbing as they exited the building and made their way out onto a helipad where the Quinjet was prepped and ready to go.
As they arrived in front of the ramp into the jet Clint leaned down and said. "You take care on this one, remember we've no idea what this guy can do."
Her green eyes become slightly warmer as a small upturn of her lips graced her face. "Don't worry Clint, I'll be fine just like always."
He looked at her before bowing his head slightly in acknowledge. Stepping back he gave her a smirk as the VTOL jet's engine roared to life. "Be a good girl and remember don't do anything I wouldn't do!"
He had to shout over the sound of the jet taking off but Natasha still heard and could only let out an exasperated sigh as she shook her head. Slamming the button that shut the rear door she settled into one of the seats for the flight across the country.
Reaching into her bag she pulled out a folder containing all the information available on her current target.
Top Secret: Available to Agents with Clearance Level 7 or Above Only.
Kojou Akatsuki
Threat Level: Unknown.
Abilities: Superhuman Strength, Superhuman Agility, Superhuman Reflexes, Superhuman Durability, Longevity/Immortality (extent unknown), Suspected further unrecorded abilities.
Training: Expert Martial Artist, Suspected proficiency with firearms.
Current Location: New York.
Personality: Unknown.
Details: The target is known to have fought in the Second World War in the European theatre, any records before that time are incomplete and therefore tracing the target's history back further has proven impossible. Target is prone to travel, moving around the world and has shown the ability to slip out of even SHIELD's observation net. Targets longevity and extended period of anonymity suggests some form of at least rudimentary espionage training.
Agents are advised to approach with great caution.
Biting her lip as she looked over the file, she couldn't help but wonder just what her target would be like when she encountered him. She had heard about him before, all the senior Agents in SHIELD had, the Immortal some of them called him. A man who had fought during World War II against the Nazi's in Europe before vanishing into the ether only reappearing back on their radar by complete accident.
A passing thought entered her well-ordered mind as she mused on whether the man had ever encountered Captain America.
Discarding that rather bizarre and nonessential train of thought she slunk down lightly in her seat as she closed her eyes hoping to get a few hours' sleep before she arrived at SHIELD's New York Headquarters. She doubted she would be getting much sleep once the mission was underway.
Three Hours later and the cloaking systems of the jet deactivated even as the landing gears of the Quinjet came to rest on the tarmac of the hidden New York facility.
She woke up almost instantly, her eyes alert and awake as she grabbed her bag and stood up waiting for the ramp to open. The door opened with a hydraulic hiss as a blast of cool air from the outside wafted into the hull. She walked down the ramp to be greeted by a rather nondescript man in a plain black suit.
The man was of slight build and had very little hair on his head, his face was one you could pass in the street and never glance at twice and that combined with his brilliant mind made him one of the most dangerous Agents in SHIELD.
Agent Phil Coulson, considered by many to be the Director's right hand and 'good eye' he was one of the most dedicated and skilled Agents SHIELD had and one of the very few individuals outside of Hawkeye that Natasha trusted with her life.
"Phil, it is good to see you." The corners of her lips twitched upwards as she greeted him warmly.
"Thank you, Natasha, always a pleasure to see you." He smiled warmly at her before a somewhat worn look crossed his face.
"I would love to chat with you Black Widow but we are on a time scale and we have a job to do." He said as he turned and began to lead her through the facility.
As they walked through the facility past SHIELD Agents scurrying about doing their jobs they chatted about inane mundane topics until they arrived at the door to one of the secure conference rooms. Coulson swiped the scanner on the wall allowing him access to the secure room as they both made themselves comfortable.
"So Coulson got anything new for me on our target?" Natasha asked curiously.
Coulson grimaced in response as he grabbed a tablet off of the table in the middle of the room and tapped a few times on it which brought up a series of photos on the screen at the end of the room. "Yes and no, we interviewed the few remaining survivors who encountered him during the war but all of them refused to tell us anything at all. The moment they realised we were there for mister Akatsuki they clamped up tight and refused to speak another word. We have to constantly redirect phone calls, letters and emails that they are sending to warn him of our interest in him. The man was truly able to inspire a true sense of loyalty in the people he worked with considering they've remained silent for nearly seventy years. Fortunately for us they were not trained spies and we were able to glean enough details from the encounters to make the effort worthwhile."
"Oh, what's that?" Natasha couldn't help but ask.
"The suspicion of weapons training can be confirmed and the tales we were able to piece together from their stories suggests he's strong, very strong. His abilities if the stories they tell are true suggest he's abilities are most certainly Super Soldier level." Coulson said.
A mischievous glint appeared in Natasha's eye. "So who would have won in a fight, Captain America or our mysterious immortal?" She asked with faux innocence.
Coulson bristled slightly at the insult directed at his idol, it was one of the very few things that could unsettle the usually unflappable SHIELD Agent. "Captain America of course, Steve Rogers wouldn't lose to anyone!" He cried out only to blush slightly as he realised how much heat he'd put behind his words.
Glaring at her as she stared at him with barley concealed amusement he coughed into his hand and brought the conversation back on topic. "Right, we found another interesting piece of information when we interviewed some of his old war buddies."
She tilted her head slightly showing she was interested. "It seems that the tale of our immortal friend truly only goes back as far as the war. From what the agents conducting the interviews could infer he showed up some time at the beginning of the war, they have no idea who made him or even what he is but we can confirm that his first sighting ever was during the war there are no records back before that."
Natasha hummed in acknowledgement. It was both a boon yet worrying. Any information was good information, she had found that out long ago in the Red Room. Often it was the little things that gave targets away, the little details most people would miss were what tripped even the best-trained spies up.
On the other hand, the fact that they knew nothing about his origin was concerning. There were few known organizations from that time who would have even been able to contemplate the creation of a Super Soldier Program let alone pull it off and none of them were Asian in origin like the man's name and heritage suggested.
That left SHIELD with the issue of working out just how and from where this guy had appeared from and it was vexing everyone on the case. Natasha's instincts told her that they wouldn't be finding out the answer to that question from anywhere but the target's mouth.
Coulson reached into his pocket and slid over a set of keys. "These are for your apartment, we have set you up in a place down the hall in the same building as the target."
Natasha nodded. "Well better get to work shouldn't I?"
She hid from Coulson the strange feeling of excitement and nervousness she felt about this mission, something told her that this would be far from her usual assignment.
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"No Senpai, this is our fight!"
Blue eyes snapped open as he awoke from the depths of his memories. Blinking he looked around in confusion and temporary disorientation as he wandered where exactly he'd found himself.
Then he remembered, a dive bar not far from his apartment. A crumby little place with peeling wallpaper and scratched and worn seats, he doubted it had seen a paintbrush in the last fifteen years, not that he cared. It was the kind of place where he could order booze and no one asked too many questions, just as he liked it.
He'd been drinking and lost himself in his memories and ended up nodding off, something that happened often whenever he put liquor to his lips.
The alcohol allowed the ghosts of the past to crawl out of the depths and dance in the forefront of his mind, tormenting him with his mistakes and futures he can never have.
Grunting he pulled himself out of his self-pity and got out of the small corner booth he'd sequestered himself in. Wandering out of the dimly lit bar past giggling and drunk patrons he stepped into the darkness of the evening lit up by a thousand artificial lights.
New York City.
If you'd asked the teenager he'd once been that he would one day end up living in the city that never sleeps he'd have told them they were crazy. Life, God, Fate or whatever one you believed in often had the habit of surprising you and through a series of events, he was pretty sure he was no way near drunk enough to recount how he'd ended up lost so very, very, very far from home.
Looking around the street as the winter snow fell gently onto the sidewalk he had to admit that despite not being home he found a certain beauty to the vibrant city and its inhabitants. It wasn't Itogami Island by any stretch and he doubted he would ever be able to call any place other than the artificial techno-magical island home but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate its unique beauty.
Rubbing his hands together to warm them up as he walked down the street at a leisurely pace couldn't help but reminisce a little on the past, he had found that in the decades since he'd arrived he'd had very little to do, at least once the Second World War was over.
There was no Empire for him to rule over, no Domain he needed to maintain and protect from the predation of criminal magic users or rival nations. No magical terrorist organizations to destroy, no Sinful God he needed to fight and no insane experiment or ancient weapons he needed to stop.
Well, that wasn't exactly true. There were plenty of things hidden in the shadows of this new universe that needed to be watched and guarded against.
Horrific beings older than time itself that hungered for creation, ancient star 'gods' that could wipe out entire worlds like wheat in a field and great stellar empires that sundered the heavens.
There were threats in this universe that could surpass his own but he had rarely if ever gotten himself involved with any of them. Instead he preferred to wonder, a pass time he had rarely ever possessed in his own reality.
He explored the wonders of the world in relative peace broken only by a few conflicts he'd stumbled into. The war between those weird Ninja's and Monks came to mind, apparently, they could sense what he was and neither side had taken kindly to his presence, not that they'd been able to beat him. He'd decimated every soldier they sent after him until they stopped bothering, it took them a while but they eventually got the message that he was not one to be trifled with.
The masked man with the metal arm had been another can of worms entirely.
He had leant a hand to the Masters of the Mystic Arts though whenever they needed him.
His boots crunched the snow beneath his feet only to come to a halt when a sound wafted into his ears. Frowning he strained to hear the sound under the dull background of the city. He cocked his head to the side wondering for a moment if he had been mistaken.
Then he heard it again, his enhanced hearing homing in on the sound like a bloodhound.
A muffled feminine scream.
Moving once again only this time his pace quickened he hurried down the sidewalk until he arrived in front of an alley, there were no lights to illuminate its depths and had he been a normal man he would have noticed nothing odd or out of place.
But he wasn't, he was different and thus he could see the group of men gathered around a gagged woman deep in the alley as clear as day.
He stared at the sight, his inner feeling a tumultuous whirlwind, every time he intervened he risked his anonymity, his quiet that he valued so greatly yet could he allow this injustice just to maintain his privacy?
He knew the answer to that question the moment it passed through his brain, flashes of black hair, golden eyes and a silver spear, of the other women he was lucky to have called blood partners. They would never have allowed him to stand to the side and ignore the predation of the weak, to do nothing and in their memory neither would he.
Turning on thick leathery heels he allowed his emotions to roar through him with a hurricane like fury as he made his way into the alley, his entire posture transforming mid-step as his aura shifted. The slump in his shoulders vanished as his leisurely pace turned into a prowl full of deadly grace and suppressed barely contained power.
He seemed to merge with the shadows, approaching unseen and unheard as the sea blue in his eyes shifted to a deep crimson red.
If Patricia "Trish" Walker was to describe her life it would be one of high ups and deep lows. Born into poverty with only her mother to look after her they had lived day by day scrounging out a meagre living until she caught a lucky break and auditioned for a TV show eventually becoming its lead character.
Suddenly her life changed, she was thrust into stardom and everyone wanted a piece of her. It would have been great had her mother's controlling behaviour only worsened and she had taken to drinking, partying and taking drugs to cope with the overwhelming pressure that life in the spotlight brought.
As she grew up she had been able to break free from the hold her mother had on her and she followed her adoptive sister, a girl with superpowers to college in New York using the money she had earned from her job.
Her adoptive sister Jessica Jones a classmate orphaned by a traffic accident was an odd character whom her mother had adopted to raise publicity for her new show. They hadn't gotten along when she had become a part of her family but after an incident where Jessica had rescued her from her mother who had been trying to force her to throw up believing she was too fat for a role. It was then she found out Jessica had superpowers, as she attacked her mom and sent her flying clear across the room.
From then on they had been the closest of sisters, Trish often bugged her sister to be a superhero but Jess had rebuffed her every time. They had sadly drifted apart in recent years due to both sisters own personal demons nearly consuming them and the last time she'd seen Jessica was after she'd saved her from having to have sex with a drug dealer in exchange for drugs.
She'd turned her life around after that, gotten clean and made a better life for herself and she was succeeding. She had gotten herself a job on the WNEX Station and was slowly making her way up the company ladder so she could get a spot of time for a show of her own. Her life had been steadily improving with only the strained relationship with her sister putting a dampener on her spirits.
At least until today.
She had been walking down the street basking in the snow that fell gently from the laden clouds above, she always enjoyed this time of year. It brought back precious memories of her and Jess, of better days when they could let go of their problems and laugh and play.
She'd been reminiscing when the grabbing hands had wrapped around her and she'd been dragged into darkness. A piece of cloth was stuffed into her mouth as she attempted to cry out for help, the soft feeling of the fabric in her mouth a sharp contrast to the icy terror roaring through her veins.
She had tried to fight back, she'd been taking Krav Maga lessons ever since she was a child, she wasn't defenceless but it hadn't been enough. She'd not bothered with her lessons in recent years, never needing it but right now she wished she had.
Tears ran down her face as she stared up at the lust-filled eyes of the four men standing around her, their intentions clear in every movement of their body.
"So this is the famous Patsy then eh?" One of them asked as he leered at her.
"Yeah, she is quite the beauty ain't she?" Another one chimed up.
"Come on let's get started, I can't wait." The third said in an eager tone.
"Alright boys lets have us some fun but be quick about it, I don't want to freeze my balls off." The last one said in a gruff tone and from the accepting sounds from the others it seemed he was the boss. She let out a muffled scream into her gag as she felt their hands on her.
Her mind was filled with thoughts of what they would do to her after they had... after they had... they wouldn't let her live. She knew that she was too high profile, she would blow the whistle and get them arrested.
Oh, god she was going to die wasn't she, raped in a back alley and dumped in the trash to hide the evidence.
She wished Jess was here, she would be able to save her. Jess had always been far stronger both in body and mind. It was why she had always admired her and the tears fell harder as she realised she would never see her again.
"Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this." The voice one of her captors filtered into her eats laden with lust as a hand came to rest on her thigh and slowly creep up her leg and under her dress.
"Oh yes, this is gonna be ho- ugh!" Trish's eyes had adapted to the darkness so she saw clearly the shirt of the man touching her yanked back hard strangling him as a figure seemed to materialise behind him, the only thing visible of them being a pair of almost glowing red orbs. With a flick of the figures wrist and what looked to be negligible effort the man assaulting her was sent flying into the wall slumping to the ground knocked out cold.
"What the he-" One of the others muttered as he tried to process what had happened only to be interrupted as the shadowy figure lashed out again and slammed the second in the chest sending him flying more than half a dozen feet through the air to come crashing down onto the snow-covered concrete, he didn't get back up.
The last two were jolted out of their shock and the last of the three lackeys threw a punch at him only for the figure to slip under his guard, wrap his arm around the extended limb and snap it like a twig before grabbing his collar and flipping him casually over, slamming him into the ground.
The last of the four had reached behind his back, pulling a revolver from the band of his trousers and was raising it to shoot only to be halted in his track as an iron grip clamped down on his wrist, snapping it causing him to cry out before he too was flipped. A negligent kick to the side of his head and he was knocked out cold.
Trish could only stare in abject awe, it felt like the entire fight had lasted a lifetime but in truth had taken no more than a scant few seconds as her saviour moved with the precision of a master and strength she'd only seen from her sister.
"Are you alright?" A concerned male voice asked her as she saw a hand reach out in front of her.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine thank you." She replied absentmindedly still slightly shaken from her ordeal as she grabbed hold of the hand and she was pulled to her feet.
"Good, let's get you out of here." He replied as he began to lead her out of the ally towards the lit street.
As she was lead out the alley her mind was a whirlwind of different thoughts though surprisingly none of them were focused on her assault. Instead, she was grappling with the realization that the man who'd saved her was just like her sister, he was special.
The strength and speed her hero had used was one she'd only seen in her sister and she couldn't help but wonder if he'd gotten his powers in a similar manner to Jess and if he'd be able to shed some light on the source of Jess' powers.
As they came out of the alley Trish got the first chance to get a look at her saviour and she wasn't disappointed. Her saviour had strange silver-coloured hair that looked to the inner fashion and makeup guru inside her to be completely natural, his face was angular and sharp, rather handsome looking if she did say so herself. The little goatee on his chin was a nice addition as she almost lost herself in his blue eyes that seemed opposite of the almost demonic orbs she'd glimpsed earlier, eyes that were looking at her with clear concern.
"You may want to call the police about them." The man said as he motioned his head in the direction of the alley and the men unconscious within its depths.
That seemed to knock her out of her state of shock. "Who are you? What was that? Do you have superpowers too?"
The man's face instantly closed off and he looked as if he was going to walk away and not answer her questions when something she said seemed to catch his attention and he looked at her quizzically. "Too?"
"Yes my sister she's like you, she's got superpowers too, and she's really strong and can... oh, I don't know if I was supposed to tell you that." She went pale as her voice trailed off realising she had just exposed her sisters deepest secret to a complete stranger, her saviour or not.
He simply raised his eyebrow before shrugging and asking. "What's your name?"
"Trish, Trish Walker." She said in response. Now wondering what the man wanted with her or her sister, she'd never met another super-powered person and she was suddenly feeling very vulnerable.
The man seemed to pick up on her fear as he let out a small laugh before giving her a much warmer look. "Don't worry Miss Walker and I mean you no harm. My name is Kojou Akatsuki sorry I didn't mean to scare you it's just that it has been some time since I have heard about someone well, similar to me." He admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.
She looked at the sincerity in his eyes and let out a sigh. There wasn't much she could do considering it had been her who had screwed up and given up her sister's secret and compared to many of the bastards she'd been in the company of this man, superpowers or not he seemed be better company than pretty much all of them. "It's alright, it's just I wasn't supposed to tell anyone about her superpowers and now I've gone and broken her trust."
He nodded before asking. "Will you be alright to walk yourself home then Miss Walker?" Seeming to drop the subject of her sister much to Triss' relief.
"Yes I think so, my flat is just up that way." She pointed behind her up towards a more upscale area of town.
The man nodded at that before seeming to come to a decision. "Would you like me to call the police?"
She bit her lip as she glanced at the alley before staring at the man. The ramifications this could have on her job prospectus also weighed heavily on her mind, many people still remembered her from her time as a child star and a young pop star and getting involved in a scandal would do no good for her. "No, I think your brand of punishment has been more than enough."
He nodded as he said. "Well, then I shall say goodbye." before continuing to walk down the road. Trish looked indecisive for a moment as she realised that he was walking in the same direction of her apartment.
Coming to a decision she called out to him. "Wait up!"
He turned and looked at her with a questioning look on his face. She looked flustered and rather awkward as she blurted out. "Can I walk with you!" Realising her comment came out of nowhere she tried to explain herself. "You see it seems that you are walking in the same direction I am and I thought, well I thought we could walk back together..." She trailed off, the adrenaline starting to wear off as she realised just how close she had been to being... that.
He seemed to sense her discomfort and he nodded. "Of course if that is what you want."
The two walked in silence through the streets of the city, neither speaking and Trish used the silence to observe her saviour. He seemed content to walk in silence, something she found rather odd considering in her experience most people found silence to be uncomfortable, including her. It was only her respect and gratitude that was topping her from rattling off questions and interrogating him.
it didn't take them long to navigate their way through the city to Trish's apartment block, the place was a nice high rise building with a pair security guard standing at the front.
"Well isn't that a coincidence, I live here too." Her saviour said with clear amusement in his voice as he stared at the building.
"Really?" She asked in clear surprise.
He just nodded as he walked up the stairs. "Yes been living here for a while."
"Which floor?" She blurted out, the lack of a reaction from the guard proving his statement to be true.
"The penthouse." He replied.
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, the apartment she owned was expensive enough, the penthouse would have been quite the sum and she couldn't help but wonder who her saviour was beyond just the origin of his powers.
"Well, I shall leave you here." The grey-haired man said seeming to be done with their conversation as he turned away and began to make his way to one of the elevators that would take him up to his floor.
"We should meet up sometime so I can say thank you!" She called out and he seemed to give her a non-committed grunt as the elevator door shut leaving her standing there in the middle of the room.
She frowned slightly at his standoffish behaviour as she made her way to her own apartment. As she opened the door she pulled her phone out of her purse and stared at her sister's phone number. Coming to a decision she dialled it, waiting as the phone rang.
The sound seemed to fill the room as she stared at the dialling number wondering if she would pick up.
After what seemed like a lifetime a voice came through the phone, a somewhat nervous and slightly hesitant voice coming through the phone. "Trish?"
"H-Hey Jess." She hesitantly responded, feeling slightly nervous.
"What is it?" Her sister asked with a slightly more serious tone to her voice as she heard Trish's hesitant voice.
"I-I was attacked, some guys jumped me and dragged me into an alley and tried to..." She trailed off knowing Jess would understand. She had always tried to be strong in front of her adoptive sister, Jess had always been so tough, a girl who could weather any storm and Trish wanted her sister to feel proud of her.
Yet her evening was beginning to get to her as the adrenaline seeped from her body.
"Are you alright Trish? They didn't... those bastards didn't." Jessica trailed off with a growl.
"No, no they didn't I was saved before anything happened." She replied trying to calm Jessica down.
Jessica let out a sigh of relief but seemed to catch a part of Trish's response that interested her. "Saved you? Who saved you then?"
Trish wavered for a moment wondering if her saviour would be angry at her for sharing his information with her sister but the thought of just how isolated her sister felt growing up the only one truly different filled her head and she responded truthfully. "Someone like you. A man by the name of Kojou Akatsuki."
Trish couldn't keep the story in after the first revelation and the entire tale came rushing out of her mouth in a regurgitated mess as she vented all her churning emotions at her sister. Jessica listened in silence, the feeling of concern she felt for her sister began to ebb away into curiosity as Trish finished her tale.
Jessica broke the silence first. "Kojou Akatsuki huh? I'll look into him, and Trish."
"Yes, Jess."
"It's good to hear from you." For the first time that night since her assault Trish let a real true smile make its way onto her face as she prayed that this was the first step on the process of reconnecting with her estrange adoptive sister.
AN: If anyone is wondering why Kojou is behaving somewhat AU it is because this is set long after the events of the anime and light novels, this is a Kojou from the time of the Empire of the Dawn, he has become a ruler in his own right. Kojou has grown up and has lived more than a century.
He is no longer the somewhat naive slightly bumbling new guy on the block that he is in the Anime and Light Novels. He is an experienced fighter who has had years to hone his talents, powers and skill.
As for throwing in characters from the Netflix shows, I enjoyed the shows and thought putting them in the main MCU was a good little addition to spice the story up.