Riley felt like she was nursing the world's biggest hangover when her eyes were finally pried open by the light in the room. Her head was aching, her neck was stinging, and she could feel the heavy restraints behind her back. The room was small, a small table in the middle with screens built inside, and the walls were made of thick glass. For a moment she thought she might have been at a police station, and she wouldn't be surprised considering the last thing she remembered was crumbling the bar to pieces.
But soon enough the door behind her opened, and Natasha Romanoff walked in without a single fleck of intimidation or fear of the girl sitting in the chair.
"You've got to be kidding," Riley groaned, shaking her head. "You fucking assholes,"
"No need for introductions then, I assume." Natasha shrugged.
"Don't you all have something more important to be doing? Somewhere you can all fly off to in your costumes?"
"We need a destination to fly off to first, which is why you're here," Natasha explained. "We need the location of Strucker's base."
Riley stared at the woman and shook her head, tapping her foot.
"That's why you've got me in here?" she asked, looking around.
"We're not going to hurt you-"
"Explain why it feels like I got shot in the neck then," Riley countered.
Natasha folded her arms, sighing.
"You were losing control,"
"You haven't seen me lose control," Riley scoffed. "But keep pushing and you might,"
On the other side of the glass, Tony stood with Steve, Bruce and Clint by his side, watching the whole conversation pan out. They were all prepared to step in if anything happened, but none of them considered themselves a match for the girl.
"You said she agreed to come in," Steve shook his head.
"I said she would have agreed," Tony corrected. "Eventually."
"We don't take prisoners, Tony." he continued.
"She's not a prisoner," he denied.
They turned all of their attention back to the situation in front of them, waiting for Natasha to get the information they needed. But Riley was being far from cooperative with the assassin, too frustrated to provide anything she needed.
Natasha turned to the table, pressing a few buttons on the screen and pulling up some holograms to show. Riley watched the first image pop up, her stomach dropping at the sight of Strucker himself. A face she had been trying to forget, but one that she would never.
Natasha could see her anger rising at the image.
"I know you want this man captured," Natasha pressed. "So help us find him,"
Riley's body was trembling as she stared up at the man's image, forcing her eyes to look away and close. She had to control herself, she had to stay cool and calm, or they would go on forever.
"Where's Stark?" Riley asked, still squeezing her eyes closed.
Natasha's glance flickered up to the men standing outside, watching as Tony shot her an equally confused look and shrugged his shoulders.
"Stark?"
"I'll...I want to talk to him,"
Natasha once again looked back over to Tony, just as Clint and Steve did also. Tony just shrugged again in confusion, nodding toward Natasha and gesturing for them to swap. Without questioning, Natasha walked out of the room and stepped out to her teammates.
"Huh, Widow can't crack her?" Tony teased, a grin on his lips. "Who'd have thought I'd have to step in?"
"Maybe she wants a second chance at kicking your ass," Clint suggested.
Natasha smirked at his words, folding her arms once more and watching as Tony made his way into the room. Steve hadn't said a word, watching it all play out. He had already made it clear he wasn't on board with holding the girl here, but if she was willing to talk and give them more information not only on Strucker's whereabouts but his experiments too, then he would deal with the bad feeling he had about the whole thing.
Tony closed the door behind him as he stepped inside, slowly making his way in front of Riley, leaning back on the table.
"Why am I here?" she asked him, looking toward the floor just in front of her feet.
"We just want some information," he assured. "We're not the threat, okay?"
"Do you know how long it took to try and get a life after all that shit?" she asked. "You came in and it's all fucking gone now. I liked my job. It didn't pay well and I dealt with some real pieces of shit, but it was mine, and it took me a long time to get to the point where I could go outside and not freak out let alone work. And..."
Tony frowned at her words, watching as she tried to control her breathing. Her arms tried to move forward as if she had forgotten about the restraints, and with no effort at all, Riley broke them apart. The metal hit the floor with a loud clinking sound, and Tony tried to remain calm, ignoring the fact they were triple reinforced strength. But Riley made them look like they were made of paper.
"I'm not...I'm not going to..." she assured, shaking her head as she leaned forward to rest her head against them. "I'm just fucking angry,"
"So be angry," Tony pushed. "Let it out,"
"You don't want that," she shook her head. "But...fuck! You all just...you just...that was my life! You can't just take whoever you want to get answers, you can't just come into someone's life and fuck it up like that! We can't all live out of the shadows like you fuckers!"
"It wasn't meant to go like that," he told her honestly. "We didn't know what your control was over all of this, we don't know what you can do-"
"You don't need to know! This isn't your life! You and your idiot superhero buddies aren't the world's highest authority, you know? I don't owe any of you shit,"
Tony knew that she was right, all her words were right. They had no right, and yet here she was.
"You're the only survivor of these experiments that we know of," Tony explained. "But they haven't stopped. HYDRA won't stop, until we stop them. We need to know where Strucker's hiding and how to get to him so this doesn't keep happening."
"Yeah? Well it already happened," Riley scoffed. "Who showed up to stop him when he had me and ten others strapped on tables with needles going all over our bodies, serums being pumped through our veins like we were human guinea pigs? Where were all of Earth's Mightiest Heroes then, huh?"
Tony stared over at her, guilt creeping up and filling him. Maybe that wasn't fair, but Riley had a right to be angry about that. Strucker's experiments were being designed to take down whoever stood against HYDRA, to be their weapons, and Riley was created to take down the very people she was stuck in this tower with.
None of them could blame her for her hostility, especially since they now felt more horrible than ever about the whole situation.
Riley looked up, met with the image of Strucker once again. She bit down on her lips, turning her gaze to Tony.
"Can you get that out of my face?" she asked, seething with anger.
Tony turned to the table and moved his fingers against the glass pads, making the hologram vanish.
"What do you want with Strucker?" she asked. "It's more than stopping the experiments,"
"Yeah, it is," Tony told her honestly, folding his arms. "He's got something we want. At least, we think he's got it. Would help if you could tell us anything."
"The big, blue, glowing stick. Right?"
Steve, Clint and Natasha watched on closely, listening intently. This is what they had been searching for for so long, and this is the closest they had been.
"Right," Tony nodded, encouraging her to continue. "Strucker has it?"
Riley scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, he has it. How do you think he's been running these experiments? Where do you think he's getting all the shit for them? The shit he put into us, had to come from somewhere powerful," she told him.
"We don't know the extent of his experiments," Tony assured. "We don't know what he's doing, all we know is people are dying."
"If you know all that, then how don't you know where he is?" Riley questioned.
"We know he's in Europe. Last intel suggested Sokovia,"
"Then your last intel is right," she confirmed.
Tony looked out the glass walls to see Natasha already picking up her phone and making a call. They were moving out as soon as they got the exact location, and Riley seemed to be providing that now that her anger had subsided slightly.
"You're going to take him in?" she asked.
"NATO will take him once we find him," Tony explained. "He's not what we're after."
"Well you'll have your hands full. It's not like he's hold up in a run down apartment somewhere," she shook her head. "He's in a Fortress, just outside Novi Grad. It's basically a castle, and he's got it guarded like one too."
"How'd you get out?" Tony asked, unable to stop himself.
Riley shrugged, shaking her head. That was another memory she would rather forget.
"Mix of luck and timing," she sighed.
Tony watched as she hung her head low, looking down at her feet once again. It was clear there were many memories she would rather now revisit, and Tony could see. that bringing her in here made her relive all of it over again, forcing her to face something she had been running from.
"We're gonna shut it all down," Tony promised. "Everything."
Riley stared back at him, her anger once again rising. Tony could see the colour of her eyes changing, but with a few blinks and a deep breath, they remained their hazel brown colour.
"When are you going?" she asked.
"Once the team's ready, we're out." Tony nodded.
"No plan?"
"We'll figure that out on the way. We've waited too long already," he explained.
Riley watched him, looking around to see said team scrambling outside the glass walls that surrounded her.
"You guys sure are taking my word on this, huh?"
"Figured you'd want him captured as much as we do," Tony shrugged.
"I'll bet I'd want that a little more than you," she countered.
"Can't argue with that," Tony grinned lightly. "We will get him."
Riley nodded, leaning back into the chair. Tony could see her thinking, her mind far away from this room right now.
"I can take care of your job, I can fix all that." Tony assured. "I'll take you back-"
"I want to go," she cut in, looking up at him. "To Sokovia, to Strucker."
There was a moment of silence in the room, and Tony could see all of the heads outside turn in their direction, still listening in. None of them had expected her to want that, and they immediately starting thinking of all the problems that would arise if she accompany them.
"We don't...we work better just the six of us," Tony explained awkwardly.
Riley rolled her eyes.
"Not as a member of your fucking spandex circus," she shook her head. "I don't care what you all do when you get there, I just need a ride."
Tony eyed her cautiously.
"Why do you want to go back there?" he asked. "You can't even stand looking at the guy,"
"I'm not going back for him."
"Then why?"
Riley sighed and rubbed her eyes. She had been awake for far too long, and being hit with a tranquilliser drug did nothing to ease her exhaustion, only making it worse. Maybe this was a decision that needed more time, but she didn't have that luxury. They were leaving soon, and this was Riley's only chance. It wasn't like she could afford a flight to Sokovia, not that flights were even running there.
They were in the middle of a rebellion, and the streets were far too dangerous to open the airport. This was the easiest way, and after so long wondering, she needed to go back. If Tony was telling the truth, if they were finally going to take down Strucker and his operation, this would be her last chance.
Any other day she would have rather die than go back.
"You owe me this," Riley countered.
"If you think we're taking you there with no questions, you're an idiot," Tony argued.
Riley was about to bite back when Natasha pushed the door open, stepping inside and looking between the two of them.
"Target location's confirmed. Clint's getting the jet ready," she told him. "Wheels up in ten."
The red-haired woman left as soon as she finished her announcement, leaving Tony and Riley to get back to the bickering they were in the middle of. Riley had ten minutes to convince Tony.
"Strucker took volunteers for the experiments, did you know that?" Riley asked. "Willing participants. People who would do anything to get some power, they didn't even care what it was. But I wasn't a volunteer, and neither was my best friend, and that's always confused me. We were just wandering around the market. He had people lining up to be stabbed and prodded, but he still took people from the goddamn streets."
"He just took you and your friend?" Tony asked, leaning back onto the table, not worrying about his ten minute warning to be ready.
"No," she shook her head, running her fingers through her hair as she took a deep breath. "I think he took tourists. Everyone had different languages and accents, I don't...I don't remember much about them. I just know not everyone was a volunteer. We had to...they tied you down, if you weren't willing."
Tony frowned as he listened.
"Did your friend make it through? The...the experiments, I mean."
Riley shrugged her shoulders, looking up at him.
"I don't know,"
Then it all started to make sense.
"They're still there, aren't they? You want to find them?"
"The last time I saw her, I'd just come out of..." she trailed off, closing her eyes again and steadying her breathing. "She was being taken to the labs. I didn't see her again. I know she's probably dead, most of them are, but if she isn't...I need to get her out."
Tony sighed, understanding why Riley wanted to get to Sokovia. She didn't care about facing Strucker, she already knew he was being taken in and she would rather him live and suffer than die quick and painless. She wanted to go back for her friend, and that Tony could understand.
"You know if you come with us, there's a chance NATO will want to take you in too." Tony warned. "And it's not just them. There are groups out there that look for people like you."
"I don't care," she shook her head. "I've been running ever since I left that place, it's nothing new to me."
As the back of the jet closed, sealing them all inside for their journey, it suddenly became very obvious that there were one too many people on board. Tony had briefed the team about Riley joining their flight to Sokovia, and although they all sympathised with her reasoning, it did nothing to ease their concerns. There was so much they didn't know about this girl, and she was more powerful than all of them combined. All it took was a rise in her temper and it would be over for them all.
Natasha had offered some protective clothing, but Riley insisted she stick with her own black jeans, black top and navy jacket. She still wore her black combat boots that were meant for work, stained with cigarette ash and smelling faintly of beer and whiskey. But the last thing on her mind was her clothing choices.
"She says the Scepter is there," Steve informed Thor, both standing over by the pilot bay while Riley laid down in the furthest corner.
"Do you trust her?" he asked.
Steve looked back to Tony who could feel the super soldier's eyes digging into him.
"Doesn't have a reason to lie, does she?" Tony shrugged.
"Unless she's part of Strucker's plan," Steve offered.
Tony let Clint take control as he turned in his seat, eyes moving from the beautiful sky ahead to the two tall blonde men before him. They towered over him as he sat, and yet Tony felt now intimidation. These were his teammates, and they trusted one another. Which also meant if this all went wrong, this one would be on Tony.
"You saw her when she looked at Strucker's face," Tony reminded. "It wasn't a look of loyalty Steve, it was hate."
"And she's made it pretty clear she hates us too." Natasha added, listening in to the conversation.
"I doubt we'd all be sitting here still breathing if she hated us that much." Clint cut in.
"Well if we're her way into Sokovia, it wouldn't make sense for her. to hurt us," Bruce shrugged. "At least...not until we got there."
"My concern exactly." Steve sighed.
"You think she will turn on us when we arrive?" Thor asked.
They all looked at one another during a moment of silence, all thinking the same thing. This girl couldn't be trusted, and although the location of Strucker's fortress had been confirmed on satellite and they knew she had told the truth, she had no reason to be loyal to them.
"She's using us for transport," Tony shook his head. "That's it."
"I don't understand why she wouldn't want to take this guy down as soon as we land," Clint spoke. "If she's telling the truth, if she wasn't a volunteer for his experiments, wouldn't that be the first thing of her mind?"
"She wants to get her friend out," Bruce reminded. "She'd know Strucker was already being taken in, she wouldn't waste her time."
"Wouldn't stop me." Clint shrugged, looking toward them.
"She doesn't take me as a killer," Tony shook his head.
"You don't know that," Steve warned. "None of us do."
"We all saw those videos," the billionaire sighed. "All those people she threatened in the streets, in back alleys and shady clubs, all they got were some broken bones and nasty bruises. And she could have killed them, easily. She could have been killing people and taking this city apart from the moment she got back, and she didn't."
"You think she's some kind of vigilante?" Bruce asked, looking to Tony.
"No," he denied. "I'm just saying, if she was one of the bad guys, wouldn't we have dealt with her by now? If she was tearing people apart or flying around murdering people, wouldn't she have done it by now?"
"She was trying to be normal," Steve surmised, nodding. "I'm not saying she's a bad person, I'm saying she's unstable."
"That's obvious." Natasha muttered.
"She can't control her anger," Bruce shook his head. "I can relate."
Thor looked over to the sleeping girl in the corner, wondering how someone who looked so peaceful and innocent in that moment could be so powerful and dangerous. She didn't look like a threat, but he knew better than to judge by a look.
"What powers does she possess?" Thor asked.
"We don't know the extent of them," Steve answered, looking over to make sure the girl wasn't awake and listening. "But from the ones we know of, it's nothing like we've seen before."
"She's strong," Natasha told him. "She'd give you a run for your money."
"She emits some sort of energy force," Bruce explained. "From the videos I've seen, that's what it seems like. It's powerful enough to numb someones senses if she focuses it in on them, and it's a force I've never seen before. That, mixed with some form of telekinesis, I'd say."
"That and her warm personality really make her a treat, huh?" Clint smirked. "Closing in on nine hours ETA, we should probably talk some sort of plan."
"Well, she did say it's guarded pretty heavily," Steve began. "So we'll need to work on the ground to make it to the base."
"Lucky we've got transport lined up," Natasha chimed in. "Now let's talk attack."
Thanks for reading guys, I hope you're enjoying. Please do leave a review with any thoughts xx