Chapter 3:
"What where you looking for, Kraven?" Predator said to himself. He sat perched on top of a building that overlooked the empty Sun Life stadium. Once he had managed to escape from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s 'iron' grip, he made a beeline right back to Miami Florida to see what Kraven had been after.
"What am I missing?" he grumbled as he stared at the stadium. What exactly had Kraven been going in this direction for?
"You shouldn't think so hard," a familiar female voice said from right behind him, "You might hurt yourself." White Tiger. Predator sprung up from his sitting position and turned to face her with lighting speed.
"I'm not here to fight." Tiger said quickly, while raising her hands in surrender. Predator's response was to trigger the claws in his right gauntlet.
"Sure you are. What else would you have tracked me down for?" Predator snarled as he took up a fighting stance.
"Would you believe me if I told you that I'm here to help?" she said.
"Prove it." was Predator's reply as he continued to stare her down.
'Fury's going to kill me for this...' Tiger thought as she realized how stupid her plan was. Yet it might be the only way to pacify the armored man in front of her. She reached up to the bottom of her mask and slowly pulled it off.
Underneath his mask, Predator's eyes widened. Was this lady seriously revealing her secret identity? Super heroes were all sorts of crazy about secret identities!
White Tiger's skin and hair were, ironically, dark brown. And her eyes, behind the golden goggle things, were brown. And immediately the facial recognition program in Predator's helmet computer got to work. Ava Ayala, resident of New York City… underneath the mask, this lady was actually… pretty. He shook his head to chase such thoughts out of his mind. Now was not the time to admire this girl's charm.
"Why would you reveal your secret identity, Miss Ayala?" Predator asked, despite being almost sure of the answer.
Ava was shocked that Predator had pulled her name seemingly from out of thin air. But she decided to not let her surprise be visible in front of somebody who could rip her to shreds with a pair of two foot long claws.
"You said to prove I was here to help," she said. "So I did."
"Huh…" Predator stared at White Tiger for a moment. So the lady wanted to help. Now what? "Do you even know what I'm trying to do, Miss Ayala?"
"Likely hunt to hunt down Kraven," said Ava. "You seemed rather hung up on his escape."
Well, she was good. Predator had to give her that.
"Do you know by chance why he was in my city?"
"Our Intel suggests that he was hunting another local vigilante." She replied in all seriousness.
"So I'm not the one he was hunting?" Predator asked.
"No. I don't know who he was hunting, but Director Fury is looking into that." Ava said. The rooftop was quiet for a moment.
"That's not the main reason I'm here however..." she began, nervously twiddling her thumbs.
"If your not here to help with Kraven, than what are you actually here for?" Predator asked, putting distance between himself and Ava If they were to fight, he wanted some room.
"I'm here to offer you a choice." she simply answered.
"A choice? What are you talking about?" he asked her, his curiosity piqued.
"You have two options. One is that you continue to be freelance and defend this city alone," she paused to take a breathe before continuing. "Or you could come back to S.H.I.E.L.D. with me, and be part of a team."
"A team, you say..." Predator began skeptically. "No offense, but what makes you think I want to be part of a team?" He prepared to run, just in case things turned ugly. Chances were he could beat her, but she had managed to knock him out through his armor. He didn't want to know what she could do when it came down to an actual fight.
"Don't you ever wish you didn't have to go it alone?" Ava asked.
"I'm better on my own!" snapped Predator. "I don't have to worry about anyone, and I don't have to pick up others slack." He turned and began walking towards the edge of the building, away from Ava
"You're to scared to try."
Predator turned back to see Ava smiling at him.
"Scared? You think I'm scared of you?" he asked her.
"I know your scared of me. But I also think you're scared of joining a team."
Predator took another step back.
"Look, I understand that you might not like being part of a team," said Ava, walking forward. "But you can benefit from the team just as much as we can benefit from you."
She stepped forwards and put her hand on his shoulder. "Just trust me, okay?"
Dang. Predator couldn't look her in the eyes– How long had it been since somebody had asked for his trust?
"I'll tell you what, Miss Ayala," he said. "I'll give it an honest try. But if it doesn't work out, then I want your word that you and your people will leave me alone. Do we have a deal?"
Ava pondered it; Predator was willing to take a chance with her, and she didn't want to disappoint.
"I'll accept your terms," Ava said. She removed her hand from his shoulder and held it out.
Predator couldn't help but stare at her face for a few seconds.
'Maybe this wont be so bad,' he though, and shook her hand.
