I don't own anything
A/N: Sorry this is really really late. I went on vacation and I didn't have any wifi or service.
"What the hell!?" Adam said as he, Annie, and Alanna entered the training room. Max and Cassie were in an intense battle with foam weapons. SHIELD kept them on hand for beginners and children that they trained. Annie had to stand on her tip toes to see over Adam's shoulder.
"Are they fighting?" She asked peering at Alanna. She shrugged.
"Come on." Adam said walking to the fighting mutants.
"You know," Cassie said hitting Max with the foam weapon again "I would use my knife but it might get _ using it on you."
"Should I be offended." Max asked stepping back to avoid Cassie's attack. She jumped around him and stuck out her foot, tripping Max and letting him fall on his back. Cassie raised her weapon to strike, but a hand snagged it out of her hand.
"Should I even bother to ask what's going on?" Adam said eyeing the two.
"She was being too defensive." Max said folding his hands behind his head.
"Theres no such thing." Alanna said from behind Adam.
"Who asked you?" Max snapped harshly causing Alanna to shrink back. Annie looked at Alanna then back to Max.
"That was mean." She said crossing her arms.
"Great observation." Max drawled "Shall you point out other obvious things like the sky is blue or Adam's a prick."
Adam sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose "What did he say?" He asked tiredly.
"It's none of your bees wax." Cassie snapped
"I'm just trying to help." Adam said trying to reason with the red head.
"We'll I didn't ask for it! I don't need help!" She stormed out of the room, electrical sparks jumping from her body.
"Emotional." Max scoffed.
"Do you have to insult everyone?" Adam asked annoyed.
"Do you always have to tell everyone what to do?" Max challenged getting up "Who put you in charge?"
"Director Fury." Adam said.
"Director." Max mimicked then scoffed "Suck up."
"Why don't you just shut you mouth." Alanna said then jerked back a bit, as if even she was surprised of the harshness of her tone. Max was about to make a highly sarcastic remark when a womans voice said.
"Alanna, please explain to me why you have yet to clear the kitchen, sweep the floors, vacuum the living room and fold the laundry?" Alanna stiffened and turned slowly to meet the scowling face of a woman with bleached blonde hair and blazing brown eyes.
"Miss Lydiksen." Adam said recognizing the older woman.
"Agent Slater." the woman addressed curtly before turning her sharp knife glare on Alanna "We need to talk missy." she snapped causing Alanna to flinch. Annie looked at the woman and opened her mouth to say something, but she saw Alanna shaking her head out of the corner of her eye.
"I never agreed to this." she snapped grabbing Alanna's arm roughly, pulling her toward the door "Working for SHIELD. You're only wasting their time you know? You can just disappear, it's what your best at isn't it? Why do you insist on embarrassing me?!" The door slammed behind them. Dr. Lydiksen's yelling still audible for a few moments.
"Do you think she's okay?" Annie asked, concern etched deep on her face as she tried to peer behind the closed door.
"Yeah, she'll be fine." Adam said placing a hand on the younger girls shoulder, must like an older brother would do to his little sister.
"Or she could be crying her eyes out, all alone with all her hopes and dreams crushed into tiny pieces." Max said bluntly.
"Why can't you look on the bright side? You'd be so much more fun to hang out with." Annie said looking back to the boy with neon hair
"Guys-" Adam started.
"Bright side? What bright side?" Max yelled, stepping closer to Annie, "The last time I checked the world was horrible and the sooner you grow up the sooner you'll realize that the world's not full of rainbows and ponies and magical unicorns that fly away. So I suggest that you stop being such a whinny, pathetic baby and-"
Max was thrown back slightly when Annie pushed past him sharply with tears in her eyes. He rolled his eyes when she slammed the door slammed. "Drama queen." he scoffed. Adam started sternly at the door where Annie had run out of then back to Max.
"What's your problem?" He asked grabbing the front of Max's leather jacket
"I was trying to help her Slater." Max snapped, only slightly frazzled by Adam attack
"No you weren't." Adam said harshly, silver eyes blazing "You were being a jerk. Just because you think that your life is miserable doesn't mean that you have to make the rest of ours that way and certainly not Annie's. She hasn't done anything to you."
Max glared at Adam threw his pale green eyes, the younger boy had grown a certain grudge for Adam. "She's /annoying/." he said angrily "If she would stop pestering me everyday about how it's so /great/ and that she's feeling /great/ and how life is so /great/ then maybe I wouldn't snap at her."
"She does that because she wants to get to know you." Adam said dropping the boy "She wants to have a family Max."
"Well I don't!" Max said brushing off his leather jacket "I'm not a social person if you haven't noticed, I'm not family friendly either! I don't need a team or a perfect leader to tell me what to do so back off!" he huffed and stuffed his hands in his leather jacket pockets.
Max started to walk out of the training room when Adam called, "You're going to die if you keep believing that. A team protects each other."
"We're not a team Slater." Max said coldly, "We're a group of misfits bound together by the need of food and money."
"I'm sorry, Mom." Alanna pleaded as her mother dragged her into one of the labs in the Helicarrier. Her mothers already hash grip on her arm tightened.
"Did it ever occur to you that I would have an opinion on this?" her mother demanded "Why would you even be on this...this /team/?!"
"I-I thought-..." Alanna stammered
"Oh really? Well it doesn't look like it." Her mother pulled her into her work lab, Alanna shrunk back away from her angry mother and cowered like a small mouse. "Now listen," she snapped "What ever strange idea that Fury has about you being able to help save the world is wrong. You are supposed to be at home, cleaning and working while I make a living and support us."
/Support you/ Alanna thought as her mother continued to insult and shout at her "I expect all the checks to be deposited under my name, understood? That should pay off your expenses and if there's any left I will /consider/ giving it to you." Alanna nodded.
"Look at me when I'm speaking to you!" her mother snapped. Alanna rose her head slowly, fringing under her mothers fire brown blaze but she didn't cry. Alanna had learned better than to cry in front of her mother. "If I hear the slightest rumor of bad news about you Missy you will be off this ship faster than you can blink."
Alanna nodded fearfully, to scared to say anything "Now get out!" Alanna quickly scampered out the door, once she was a good few feet away she broke into a run. She didn't know where she was heading, just around the twists and turns of the ship. She flung open a door and ran out on the roof. The wind wrapped around her as she curled herself up into a ball and started to cry.
It was a soft cry, the kind that she did when she was in her bed and her mother was home. Tears slipped silently down her face onto her hands and she took a shaky break in.
"Spot's taken."
She looked up sharply, tears blurred part of her vision but she saw Cassie sitting on the edge of the roof with her feet dangling over the edge
"S-sorry." Alanna said whipping her face with the back of her hand and standing up "I-I'll leave."
"You're fine kid," Cassie said not turning around "You're not as annoying as Max are you?"
"I-I don't think so, I mean-"
"Stop stammering." Cassie snapped turning around
"I'm sorry." she squealed.
"Stop apologizing for everything."
"I'm sorry!" she said backing up.
"Well then sit down, before I get mad and electrocute you!" Cassie almost yelled.
Alanna sat down and stared at her feet, trying not to run for her life.
"So, what happened?" Cassie asked, her tone lighter than before.
"Nothing." Alanna replied quickly.
"Yeah, sure." Cassie said, not believing her, but not pushing any further
There was a long silence until Alanna said, "It was my mom."
"What did she do?" Cassie was fairly interested in the issue.
"Nothing, she just...well..." Alanna stuttered rubbing her hands nervously. A cool breeze floated past her making a shiver run threw her.
"I won't laugh kid." Cassie promised, "I've been threw some ruff shit to."
"She doesn't want me to be on the team. She says that I'm useless and can't do anything right. The only reason I'm still here is because she's taking the money Fury's paying me." Alanna said. Cassie was fairly impressed that the girl wasn't crying. Any normal person would have broken down into tears and sobbed the night away but Alanna seemed to be holding steady.
"Why stay then?" Cassie said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "Why not leave? If you're not there she can't hurt you."
"It's not that easy."
"What's so hard about it? You pack your bags and leave!" Cassie said her eye brows knitting together and her voice raising slightly
"Cassie, if one of your parents were still alive, would you stay with them? Even if they yelled at you every moment of your life?" Alanna said in a serious tone, her eyes fixed on the skyline
"Nah, I wouldn't. I'm better off alone, but you? You'd never last it on the streets alone."
Alanna looked at the girl for a moment, confusion clouded her sky blue eyes. "Why come to SHIELD then?"
"They abducted me, plus I owe the jail time, so what the hell, you know? I get free food and a bed." Cassie said bring her knee up to rest one of her arms on it "People aren't half bad, you're pretty cool. Slater- well, he's okay. The Annie chick seems fine. Max...he's just a-"
"Butt face." Alanna cut him
"I was going to use worse terminology but that works." Cassie said chuckling. She stood up "You might want to get back, training and stuff."
"Shouldn't you be coming too?" Alanna asked standing up as well
"Not really, If I feel up to it." Cassie shrugged. Alanna nodded and left the roof leaving the red headed girl to her thoughts.
