A/N: We start this one off with a little bit of fun. I've not go much to report, only that there's about five chapters left and I have to get them all written in about two weeks. yay. I hope you all like this chapter, fun times with Loki, Bruce and we also get some insight into a couple of things I may have dropped in earlier chapters. Woohoo, and guys don't forget to read, review and enjoy.
Phoenix stood behind the armchair of Doctor Blake, scanning the room at minute intervals she gazed over the others that had gathered in the darkened room for the meeting. On either side of the room, there was a row of chairs against the wall and each chair seated an individual of significance.
Doctor Blake led the congregation, sat in his leather armchair tracing circles with his right Hanson the smooth material on the chair's arm. across from the Doctor was an armchair at the other end of the room, reserved for their leader who sat there, shrouded in darkness, making their features indecipherable.
"Shall we begin," Doctor Blake suggested, opening his arms to the people sat before him.
"Certainly, Dr List leaned forward, addressing Doctor Blake with sarcastic agreement. "Let's start with your position as one of our senior members. You promised us something that would ensure he upper hand against SHIELD, but in ten years you have delivered nothing."
There were murmurs of agreement from around the room, and as eyes turned to her Master, Phoenix clenched her fists and tensed where she stood, ready at any moment for her orders. Doctor Blake raised a hand slowly, to calm the people around him.
"It's true I have taken some time to deliver you what I promised," Doctor Blake nodded as he spoke. "But it has taken me quite some time to shape my weapon into perfection. In fact that is why I've called you all here today, to give you a demonstration of what I believe will help us achieve the downfall SHIELD."
"If it has taken you ten years to make this weapon, it had better be good Blake," a man with a thick Serbian accent warned him from further down the room.
"I did not make a weapon," Doctor Blake corrected him. Several members of the congregation broke out in hushed whispers, silenced only by the raised hand of their leader at the end of the room. The leader motioned for Doctor Blake to continue, and he did so, inhaling a deep breath.
"I developed the perfect human."
Doctor Blake's statement was met with silence throughout the room. He could see that they all had questions and accusations forming, but stopped them from talking by beckoning Phoenix forward. For the first time over the course of the meeting, the inhabitants of the room noticed Phoenix.
She stepped forward and into the light, walking calmly to the centre of the room where she was on direct display. She stopped and stood with her back to Doctor Blake, facing the area where the leader of their congregation sat, their eyes following Phoenix's every movement.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me the pleasure of presenting to you, Phoenix," Doctor Blake gestured to the girl in front of him as he spoke. "The first, of a new species of humanity."
A deafening silence hit the room as if there had been an explosion in their midst. They all leaned forward, eager to see if the Doctor's explanation would lead to the most genius idea of the century, or a declaration of insanity.
"For ten years, I have been conditioning and shaping Phoenix into what I believe is the pinnacle of human capability," Doctor Blake gestured to her, wearing a proud smile that made the people around him cringe. "Phoenix is at peak physical strength, with superior intelligence and incredible speed, flexibility and agility. She follows all orders I give her without question or hesitation. She can use any weapon, and is capable of accessing most secure computer networks."
He was met with a scoff from an associate who was seated on the left side of the room. "That makes her no different in comparison to practically all of SHIELD's high ranking agents. Other than the fact that she is a mere child, there is nothing extraordinary about her."
Doctor Blake stiffened in his chair as he saw the skeptical eyes of those around him. "Phoenix," he spoke her name, calling her to attention. She turned her head to look at him and those in the room held their breath. All Doctor Blake did, was address her with one word. "Engage."
Phoenix charged forward without hesitation, hand outstretched for the man whose expression morphed into one of fear as he saw the girl advancing. She grabbed the man by the throat and without exhibiting any signs of strain, hefted him upright, holding him above her head by his neck.
Bedlam broke out around Phoenix as people leapt to their feet and began crying out, but continued to hold the man by his neck, awaiting further orders. "Execute," Doctor Blake gave the command, and Phoenix obeyed immediately.
She squeezed her hand around the man's throat, fingernails digging into his skin. His face went red and he made desperate choking noises as he attempted to gasp for air. Flailing one arm, he tried to push Phoenix off him but barely came close to moving her. He tried making eye contact with the girl, desperate and pleading for mercy. Phoenix showed him none, and kept her face completely devoid of emotion as she chocked his life away.
"Release," Doctor Blake commanded sharply. Phoenix upon hearing his order, immediately let go of the man's neck, letting him fall to the ground with a crash, coughing and wheezing as he gratefully took deep gulps of air. Phoenix looked down at him with a blank stare.
"Disengage," Doctor Blake gave Phoenix the final order, and she turned around and calmly walked back to the centre of the room as if nothing had occurred. Doctor Blake turned his eye to the man lying on the ground, a hand on his own throat, face twisted into shock. "You didn't let me finish," the Doctor chided him.
"What the hell are you playing at Blake?" someone rose to their feet on the other side of the room and demanded an explanation. "You invite us here for a demonstration and end up nearly killing one of us? This is outrageous."
Doctor Blake raised his hands in a mock surrender, but smiled at the man's comment. "The demonstration is still yet to come. As I mentioned, I am not yet finished giving my explanation," he waved down the commotion that was brewing in the room. "I have yet to give you all an introduction of her most stunning ability," he yet again gestured to Phoenix as he spoke. "A demonstration please my dear."
Phoenix nodded and took a ready stance. Turning her palms upright, she glanced around the room before clicking her fingers. A flame ignited in each hand, much to the surprise of those around her, who immediately begun murmuring to each other.
"Pyrokinesis," Doctor Blake explained, staring at the fire in Phoenix's hands with a loving smile. "A term coined by Stephen King, and quite fitting to describe Phoenix's unique ability. She has the ability to create fire, control it and manipulate to her every whim. Now tell me, do you know any high ranking SHIELD agents that can do that?"
The leader, who had remained cocooned in silence at the end of the room, raised a hand to call every eye to their attention. "Thank you for the demonstration Doctor Blake," the disembodied voice, thick with an accent and gravelly in the way it echoed around the room. "The girl will be of great use to us. We can now draw this meeting to a close. Hail HYDRA."
"Hail Hydra," every other voice in the room repeated the phrase.
Phoenix looked to her Master for an answer, and he simply nodded, permitting her to speak. Phoenix turned back to the leader of the room, face still masked by the darkness. "Hail HYDRA."
Phoenix sat bolt upright in bed, kicking off all her sheets, she cried out in fear. Upon realising that it was only a memory, Phoenix managed to calm herself down. She hadn't thought about that memory for so long, but her past had a habit of being incapable of leaving her alone.
Natasha hung up the phone and turned to Steve looking satisfied. "Well I left a message, so let's hope she gets it," Natasha informed him. "I can't believe that Hanora is staying at the Plaza Hotel. Thravi wasn't wrong when he said it was a grand palace."
Natasha had decided to wait until the morning after Thravi's interrogation to call Hanora, letting her desperation to find her son build up over time. She and Steve opted for privacy in one of the smaller labs that Tony hardly ever touched. Using a burner phone, Natasha left a message at the suite belonging to Ruby Queen.
Steve nodded, thinking about the depth of their plan. "We have no idea when she'll respond to us, but for the moment keep the phone on you at all times just in case," Steve rubbed at his chin, swimming in his own thoughts. "I'm organising a plan to relocate The Experiments to a safe house, just while this is going down."
"Phoenix isn't going to be happy," Natasha warned, an edge to her tone. She turned to face Steve directly and titled her head. "Why are you not involving her all of a sudden? You know she's capable enough, and her skills would be valuable against the Frost Giants."
Steve said nothing, but picked up a tablet and handed it to Natasha, avoiding her eyes. As Natasha opened it and turned it on, Steve spoke. "Maria sent it to me last night," Steve informed her in a regretful tone as Natasha's eyes scanned the content of the email. "I'm sorry Natasha."
Natasha sighed as she stared at the information in her hands, the confirmation of her suspicions. "What about the bloodwork?" Natasha asked, her voice unusually quiet.
"Stark has those results, he and Banner are going to conduct their own testing," Steve answered. Taking a step closer to Natasha he tried to meet her eye. "You'll have to tell her, she'll understand better if it's coming from you. But first I need you to talk too Loki, let him know we've made contact."
Natasha dropped the tablet onto the table next to her and stared up at Steve with a hard gaze. "Why is it that I'm the one that has to deal with Loki?" She asked rhetorically. Steve thought for a minute that he had angered her, but was grateful to see a joking smile glide across her lips.
"It's because you're the only one I trust not to be affected by his mind games," Steve told her sincerely, using one arm to lean on the table casually. "He's got a way of getting into our heads, and you know how to handle those kind of attacks."
Natasha scoffed. "Sure thing Rogers," she agreed, turning and walking out of the room, she shook her head at the thought of her upcoming interaction with Loki. "Gonna be great," she muttered to herself with sarcastic bitterness, entering into the correct floor and approaching the door.
She quickly entered the combination into the secure lock on the door and as she placed a hand onto the cool metal of the door handle, she heard voices echoing within. Two voices, Loki and another female, and both of them had realised Natasha was out there.
Her first thought went to Hanora, and the potential that Loki was working with her. Natasha drew her gun and readied it, prepared for whatever was on the other side of the door. Hesitantly, she stepped forwards and pushed open the door, raising her gun.
What she saw wasn't what she expected. Loki was standing up on the other side of the room. The other person in the room with him, who had been standing directly behind the door, turned around to face Natasha, her head hung in guilt.
Natasha put her gun away and opened the door wide. "Wait for me outside Phoenix," Natasha instructed her, her voice flat but with a slice of anger. Phoenix looked like she was going to either protest or try and explain why she was there. Natasha didn't give her a chance, and cut her off with a raised voice. "Now."
Phoenix nodded and darted out of the room, looking back at Natasha regretfully as she closed the door. Natasha whirled her attention onto Loki who had taken a seat at the edge of his bed, looking far more amused at than he should've been about the situation.
"What the hell are you playing at Loki?" Natasha demanded, storming towards him. She came to a halt directly in front of him and placed her hands on her hips.
Loki looked up at her, and shrugged as if Natasha's demanded were extremely boring. "The girl was asking me questions, and I was answering them," Loki focused on something to the left of Natasha rather than making eye contact, not out of fear, but out of boredom. "Where's the harm in that?"
"If I ever catch you speaking to her again this truce is off, and I will kill you," Natasha threatened in an icy voice.
Loki rolled his eyes and fixed her with an irritable stare. "You are making threats over something that was out of my control," he stated. "The girl came in here of her own free will and began attacking me with her incandescent interrogation."
Natasha said nothing and glared down at Loki. "We've sent a message out to Hanora but we haven't received a reply yet," Natasha informed him coldly. "Be prepared for when she does respond." Natasha attempted to leave the room but Loki stopped her.
"Be sure to remind your girl of the dangers of curiosity," Loki spoke to Natasha as she stopped in her tracks and waited with her back to him. "And take a note yourself, that the girl sought me out herself, because you refused to give her answers."
Natasha scowled and stormed out of the door, forcefully closing it behind her. Phoenix, who had been anxiously waiting outside, pushed herself off the wall that she was leaning on and stood upright. Phoenix looked for something to say, but was unable to put words together.
"I thought I told you to keep away from him," Natasha spoke first in a terrifyingly quiet voice. "He's dangerous and manipulative. Phoenix what were you thinking?"
"I'm sorry Natasha," Phoenix apologised hurriedly. "I wanted to know who he was, and you and Clint weren't telling me anything. I couldn't stand knowing that he was an enemy, but having no proof to say otherwise. It just didn't make sense to me."
Tilting her head to one side in confusion, Natasha narrowed her eyes. "Phoenix, he has done terrible things and is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people," Natasha stated, folding her arms tightly. "I'm keeping you in the dark for a reason."
"What reason?" Phoenix demanded, crying out as she spread her arms wide in disbelief.
"I'm trying to keep you safe," Natasha repeated the same words that she always did, and a small slice of betrayal struck Phoenix's stomach. "The less you know about him the better."
"Why?" Phoenix demanded angrily. "What are you trying to keep me safe from? Are you afraid that meeting the enemy is going to send me over the edge. Turn me into more a monster that I already am?"
"Don't you dare call yourself that!" Natasha snapped. She tried stepping forward but Phoenix countered her by taking a step back, determined to keep the distance between them.
"It's true Natasha!" Phoenix cried out. "You know it is. Stop trying to pretend like I haven't done terrible things or killed innocent people because I have! Heather was always right, I am a monster and I don't deserve to live. No matter how hard you try, you can't fix me! I might as well be just like Loki."
"You are not him!" Natasha hissed. "Nothing you did comes close to the terrible things that Loki did."
"WHAT DID HE DO?" Phoenix demanded, her voice rising to a scream. She realised that she had briefly lost control and stepped back and cleared her throat, looking back up at Natasha, making direct eye contact. A pleading look in her eye, she lowered her voice to a near whisper. "Prove me wrong, Natasha, please."
"He's responsible for the Battle of New York," Natasha answered without skipping a beat. Phoenix didn't look completely surprised, and stared at Natasha, waiting for her to continue. "Loki is the adopted brother of Thor and the one who caused the Chitauri invasion. The power source that opened the portal? That was the Tesseract and Loki used it to summon the Chitauri army that he controlled, to try and take over Earth. A lot of terrible things happened because of Loki but that pretty much sums up the worst of it."
Phoenix went completely silent and bowed her head, staring at the ground intensely. "So it wasn't SHIELD," she murmured. "Everything that happened was Loki's fault. He lied to me about that as well. He lied to me about everything."
Natasha wasn't sure what overcame her in that moment, but she moved without thinking and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Phoenix gently. Phoenix didn't resist, and allowed Natasha to hug her without flinching.
"You're not like him Phoenix, you're not a monster," Natasha reassured Phoenix softly. Trying her best to drive the point home she took Phoenix's hand in an attempt to comfort her. "I know what it's like to be pulled apart from the inside and I know what it can do to a person."
Phoenix turned away, and then back to Natasha having heard the second meaning in Natasha's words. "Is something wrong?" Phoenix asked, her face scrunched up in concern.
Natasha looked out the window behind Phoenix, at the end of the hallway, to see the first light of the sun beginning to shine over the tops of the Manhattan buildings.
"I have something important to tell you Phoenix, but it can wait until after you see Bruce," Natasha told her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.
Phoenix placed her hand over Natasha's that was rested on her shoulder. "Thank you for telling me the truth Nat," Phoenix expressed her gratitude in a meek voice and with a small smile. "I don't think I could've handled anymore lies."
Natasha smiled. "Meet me after you're finished, I'll be waiting in my room," Natasha informed her, taking her hand away and gesturing for her to move. "Go, you better not keep Banner waiting."
Phoenix nodded and turned around, heading in the direction of the elevator with a thousand thoughts swimming through her head. She moved automatically in the direction of Bruce's room while her mind drifted elsewhere, running through a hundred possible scenarios. What was it that Natasha wanted to talk to her about? What could've possibly gone wrong.
Phoenix glanced down at her arms and tugged the long sleeve shirt further past her wrists, desperately trying to cover herself. Mark had revealed his true thoughts last night, now Phoenix was waiting for everyone else around her to do the same. She knew what they thought, she could even see it in Natasha's eyes. The fear when Phoenix had screamed at her.
Monster
The little voice refused to leave her, it whispered every second with the word that Phoenix couldn't bear to hear because it confirmed all doubts and suspicions. Phoenix knew what she was, it couldn't be ignored any longer. She had been a part of it, one of the monsters.
Hail Hydra
She arrived at Bruce's door and stepped inside, seeing that he had already sat down in a crossed leg position, Phoenix hurried to sit down next to him and assume the same position. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing, clear her mind of all thoughts. Nothing worked, and they continued to plague her.
"You're distracted," Bruce stated, Phoenix only hearing his voice next to her.
Phoenix inhaled. "There's a lot on my mind," she told him, exhaling as she spoke.
"Meditation isn't just a process, it's about peace of mind," Bruce informed her. "By sitting in complete silence you're letting your worries consume you and that's not the best thing, sometimes the only thing you can do is release them."
Phoenix scoffed lightly, and clenching her fists, she scrunched her eyes closed tighter. "I don't think that telling everybody my problems is going to do anything to make them better," she responded to his statement with thick scepticism.
Bruce smiled slightly. "When I first encountered you Phoenix I thought you were easily decipherable," Bruce mused. "But now I've come to realise that you hide your emotions behind walls, and it makes it hard to understand what's going through your head."
"That's a good thing," Phoenix retorted stiffly. "It means the enemy can't get into my head."
"Phoenix not everything is a mission," Bruce opened his eyes, turning his head to look at the girl next to him. Her eyes were scrunched closed and her head hung low, as she tried desperately to clear her mind. "You're not surrounded by enemies, you're surrounded by friends."
Phoenix sighed, drawing her shoulders back as she opened her eyes, she turned to Bruce but avoided his gaze. "They all try so hard to act like it's nothing, but when they think I'm not looking I can see the fear in their eyes," Phoenix managed to get the words out in a shaky voice. "They're scared of what I might do and they're lying to me because of it."
"It may not seem like it Phoenix, Agents Barton and Romanoff care about you, and although they might not go about it the correct way, everything they do is to try and help you," Bruce reassured her. "The truth is painful Phoenix, and unfortunately you know the consequences of that all too well."
Phoenix nodded, glancing up at the clock on Bruce's wall as she did so. "Natasha has something important to talk to me about, and I really think I should leave," Phoenix spoke as she rose to her feet. She turned to walk to the door, but turned around to look back at Bruce when she was halfway there. "Thank you."
With that, she darted from the room before Bruce could say anything more on the subject. Phoenix headed straight for Natasha's room without hesitation. Whatever Natasha had to say needed to be dealt with, and then Phoenix would tell her everything.
Phoenix arrived at Natasha's room and was immediately disheartened when she saw the look on Natasha's face. A mixture of regret and pain that caused Phoenix to falter as she approached Natasha, who was sat at the edge of her bed, holding a tablet in her hand.
"I'm not going to like this am I," Phoenix made the obvious conclusion as she sat down next to Natasha and accepted the tablet that was handed to her.
Natasha didn't answer her question, and instead, opened an email on the tablet. Phoenix read the title and turned to Natasha awash with confusion. "Do you remember last week when you and The Experiments undertook a Mental Health Evaluation?" Natasha reminded her, and Phoenix abruptly realised what was going on. She didn't need Natasha to continue, but she did anyway. "I received the results, and I'm sorry Phoenix, but it is far from good news."