(Begin A/N)
Kai: Bwahahaha. I loved writing the last chapter
Remy: Yes yes. You always say someone needs da teach Stark a lesson.
Kai: Dude he can be a pompous Ass-Hat. Actions have consequences.
Remy: But did you have to destroy a Porsche?!
Kai: *Shrugs* Don't get me wrong. I love cars. But if they have butterfly wings they deserve to die
Remy: What is your issue with butterfly doors?
Kai: Rollerblading and this ducking Ass-Hat saw me coming and opened the door as I was passing. Ended up with a concussion
Remy: Are you sure it wasn't an accident?
Kai: The Prick got out of his car and laughed as I was laying there. So as he passed me I kicked out my leg and tripped him. Smashed his face in his spoiler. :3
Remy: You are so violent D:
Kai: Not really. Anger management issues :3
Remy: The fact you say that so easily scares me
Kai: Ask Spy she knows how it is. Also sorry for taking so long to pop out this chapter, I've been busy.
Remy: So busy you couldn't Wright."
Kai: Dude I live on a ranch... Things get hectic around here. Sorry to my readers I'm very sorry. I'm going to try to get a chapter out at most every two weeks. My plan is to get one out every week. But we'll see.
Remy: Anyways as always. Please read and review
Kai: Yeah and as a reward I might make Lae troll the hell out of Tony! :D
Remy and Warren: *Face-Palm*
(End A/N)
Chapter 10
Lae watched with sadistic glee as Tony scrambled for the elevator doors, shoving past her in the process and yelling at someone named Jarvis to run diagnostics on the Porsche.
"Have fun with that!" Lae called out with a wink as the doors clicked closed and the elevator descended. She spun around with her hands clasped tightly behind her back. "So mind telling me why every chair is filled with a shield agent? I thought I was to meet the Avengers?"
Fury glanced at the young female through the glass. "They are to escort you to your living arrangements."
Lae blinked and rocked back on her heels. "I thought I would be staying here."
"Incorrect." He twisted his wrist to glance at the time on his watch. "We need to leave."
"So much for an explanation." Lae's lips twisted into a frown and turned to face her pack. "Well. I guess our farewell will be happening sooner than I hoped."
Remy smirked and swept her up into a hug. "It'll be fine. We won't too far from ya."
Lae returned the hug with a small nod of her head. "Yeah." She pulled away with a smile. "Group hug?"
The entire pack swooped in and wrapped their arms around Siren. "Take care of each other. Ok?"
"We promise."
"I'm leaving Rouge and Piotr in charge."
Remy pulled away with a gasp of exaggerated disbelief. "What? Why not me?"
"Cause you'll kill everyone." Lae leaned closer to Rogue to whisper in her ear. "Take care of Logan. He trusts you more than the others."
"Don't worry. I promise."
Lae closed her eyes and took a deep breath, soaking in the presence of her family. She didn't want to leave them but she had too. Her eyes drifted to Fury, this man knew something, something she couldn't recall no matter how hard she tried and she needed answers to fill in the dark pages of her mind.
Lae pulled away with a smile filled with sorrow. "Take care."
The pack smiled and made their way to the elevator.
"Hey Rouge." Said brunette turned around, catching the object heading towards her, she opened her hand and looked down. Her eyes widened and shot back up to Siren.
"Take care of my baby. Will ya?" Lae closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side with a kind smile on her lips.
Rogue's fingers wrapped tightly around the keys to Lae's bike. "I will."
Lae nodded and watched them load up the metal machine of descent. She raised her hand and tapped her temple in a two finger salute. "See ya guys soon."
Everyone waved and smiled as the doors closed, separating Lae from the people who made her feel at home. Her smile faded from her lips as she watched the bright red numbers go lower and lower.
"I'm surprised your leaving them."
Lae's hands clenched into fists at her sides as she tightened her jaw and closed her eyes. "You know why Fury. So don't act as if you know nothing." A sigh passed her lips. "When are we leaving?"
"As soon as Stark gets back."
Amber met blue as she studied the man who spoke. He was taller than her, like most people, a strong build with brown hair. Unlike Maria she could tell he's a kind-hearted guy but when push came to shove, he would stand up.
"And you are?"
"Agent Phil Coulson. I was sent to retrieve Mister Stark."
"Nice to meet ya, Phil. So, who was sent to retrieve me."
"Agent Coulson was originally assigned to retrieve the both of you."
"Ok, what changed?"
"Logan said you would feel more at ease traveling surrounded by your pack."
"I get that. But I'm asking why he didn't show up at the institute and you did."
"I have reasons."
Lae cocked her head to the side, awaiting an explanation that never came. Her lips purses as she glare at his leather-covered back. "Cryptic much, Dictator."
Phil glanced back and forth between the two, he knew the reasons but it was the Director's choice in sharing his thoughts. "I assure you everything will be explained in its rightful time."
A shiver traveled down his spine as those narrowed amber orbs turned back to him. The depth in which they seemed to reach startled him. They pierced his very soul, reading every inch of who he was.
The amber slowly receded letting her blue-green gaze take over. Phil froze when Lae smiled calmly at him, those eyes they seemed familiar, but it was impossible, wasn't it.
"You have a strong heart Phil."
He opened his mouth to question her about what she meant but was interrupted as the elevator doors slid open.
Tony came strutting in, like the peacock everyone knows he is, scrubbing a hand through his cropped dark hair. "The damage to the Porsche has managed to reach the frame and part of the engine itself." His eyes landed in Lae. "You did the number on her. How many hits did you take? 50?"
"One." She smirked and rocked on her heels. "Didn't think it would be that, scratch that I knew it would. Porsche was made for body work not safety. Might wanna reinforce the frame next time to ensure less collapsing on impact."
Tony blinked, all thoughts of a bitch fit leaving his mind, and rolled his head towards Fury, trying to use his best puppy dog look. "Can I keep her?"
If Fury was capable of doing something as mundane as rolling his eyes, he most likely would of. "Lae is here for almost the same reason as you."
"A consultant?"
Lae's head tilted to the side and she turned to stare at Fury's scared face. "What would I be consulting?"
Tony chuckled and patted Lae on the back as he walked past her. "Don't worry. Fury has a plan for us all. You might be just the pretty thing to be used as a distraction." He winked with a smirk causing Lae to smirk back.
"Yeah well. This pretty little thing just totaled your car."
Tony's smirk slowly faded from his lips while Lae smiled like a child in a candy store.
Fury sighed in exasperation, and raised his voice to interrupt the bickering about to take place. "Lae is here to hopefully keep all of you from killing each other."
Lae tilted her head to the side, eyes filled with curiosity. "How do you expect me to do that? I know nothing of these guys?"
Fury cocked an eyebrow, "That was a question. And Logan explained to me that if something happens to shall we say pique your curiosity, you will do everything you can to receive your information."
Her eyebrow twitched as she muttered about Asshole Alphas ruining all her fun, under her breath. Based on the smirk splitting Tony's face in two, she wasn't quiet enough.
"Alpha? Is this some form of BDSM play? If it is I'm up for the challenge."
She went silent as she studied Tony's face before turning away with a scoff. "Logan is my alpha as in my father figure. And before you say anything. Yes I can have an alpha as my, shall we say partner." She looked at Tony over her shoulder with her eyes a gleaming amber and a dangerous smirk on her lips. "But you Mr. Stark are not good Alpha material."
Tony opened his mouth to say something to maybe save his pride but Fury marched past them with a scowl. "If you two would stop acting like insufferable children. We're leaving."
The doors closed with an ominous bang, as Lae turned to look at Tony. "Well seems we have managed to piss off the Dictator."
"I thought that was impossible." Tony shared a smirk with Lae, while Phil looked back and forth wondering what just happened.
"Well Mr. Stark-."
"Tony, call me Tony." He held out his hand and Lae grasped it in one of her own.
"Well then. Call me Siren or Sy. I'm not really partial to the name Laelia." She let go and hooked her bags across her shoulders, on her way to the elevator.
"May I ask why?"
Lae looked back at Phil with a small smile. "You may." She turned back around and watched the numbers as the elevator got closer. "Laelia isn't my real name."
"Then what is?"
Her smile faded into a grimace as the doors dinged open before her. "I don't know." She brushed past Tony and leaned back against the far wall, the back of her head pressed against the cool metal. Tony placed himself next to her intrigued by her story, watching as Phil followed them and hit the button for the helipad.
"Logan found me a few years back." She paused thinking and choose to leave out how Logan found her. "I didn't have a name so the Professor gave me one. Laelia is a form of a desert orchid, it's a play on my birthmark, which looks like a flower. As for Logan, he became a father figure to me, my Alpha, because we bonded. We both have missing pieces to our puzzles. And Logan won't admit it but he's always wanted a family."
Phil stared at the elevators door, his eyes holding a sadness even though his posture gave nothing away. "Have you ever remembered anything?"
Lae's head jerked up as she studied Phil's back. "Bits and pieces. Mostly just blurry flashes of images that make no sense. I can remember my old family, but when I think about them. Something feels off, like those memories never actually happened. Almost like they were placed there. It feels like everything up until I showed up at the institute is a lie." Her hand reached up to her neck to touch the piece of ribbon tied there. "Except for this." She pulled down the collar of her shirt showing off the necklace. It was a simple piece of black velvet tied as a choker with a metal Celtic key charm in the center of her neck. "Logan says it's been with me since he found me. And the Professor confirmed that it is a piece of my unknown past."
"Wait pause. How would this Professor confirm it?"
"Professor Xavier is a telepath. They put me under and he invaded my mind while they were doing a health check when I first showed up. The memories are blocked to me but." She shrugged. "He somehow got past the blocks and saw something. He only confirmed my attachment to this pendant."
Phil looked back over his shoulder. "That was all?"
"It's all that mattered to me."
"So you know that your someone other than who you are at this time. And that doesn't matter to you." Tony's confused, if his memories disappeared, or based on how everything she said played out, were deleted, he would want to remember.
Siren shrugged, "Obviously who I used to be didn't matter to anyone." Her eyes dropped to the ground, staring at the tiles painted in swirls of neutral colors. "No one ever came for me. No one searched. I was left alone when I needed someone and Logan, Remy, Rogue, Warren, Kurt and even Piotr stepped forward, gave me a home and a family."
Tony studied Siren's face and her reactions, and realized in that moment held in this elevator leading her to her new future; that she was lost, unsure and possibly a bit scared. She held a brave face but she was still a child at heart, with an ever-changing world surrounding her.
Tony looked up and noticed Phil watching her with a gentle if not sad smile on his lips, and he knew Phil could see it too.
Sy clenched her amber eyes closed and took a deep breath, reminding herself that the past wasn't important. That there was no need to even think about her blacked out mind but as she looked through her bangs at Phil, she couldn't understand why her heart gave a painful clench.
Silence filled the elevator and Sy was grateful, it gave her time to calm herself and banishing all those unforgiving thoughts back to the darkness in her mind. By the time the doors opened again she was breathing easier and her mind was quiet.
Tony placed a hand on her shoulder gently, causing her head to jerk up. "You alright?"
She smiled and patted his hand. "Been better. But I'll get there eventually."
Tony smiled, "As long as your sure."
Sy laughed with a genuine smile on her lips. "Sympathy doesn't suit you Tony."
Her smile must have been contagious, cause a matching one slowly passed over his. The doors opened and Phil led the way over to the aircraft Fury waited by patiently.
"So Dictator. Mind catching me up on the going ons?"
"We'll discuss this on the way in." Fury turned away, making his way into the aircraft and away from Sy's prying eyes.
She shrugged and shoved Tony in front of her causing him to stumble. He tossed a playful glare over his shoulder. "Not cool."
"Don't care. Move your ass." She stuck her tongue out in a very childish motion.
Phil shook his head at their antics and barely held back a sigh, instead of one Stark they now have two, he prayed Fury knew what he was getting them into.
Everyone eventually settled down, Fury and Phil on one side while Siren and Tony took over the opposite. The playful duo fell into a conversation about classic cars, having a debate over which was better stock or supped up.
"Siren." Fury's gruff voice broke into their world over figuring out the best way to fix Tony's Porsche.
"Sup Dictator?"
Fury's eyebrow twitched and Sy discreetly fist bumped Tony behind their backs.
"You had questions?"
She blinked and looked up at the metal ceiling, wondering why they didn't have a sky light, when she remembered. "Oh yeah. So I have seen some of the reports but. News people are usually useless. So what is currently happening?"
"A few days ago Loki invaded shield headquarters and stole something of value."
"Let me guess. The tesseract."
Shock showed on Phil's face which Sy counted as a win.
"Don't look surprised. Logan warned you. If I want to know something I look it up. The government ain't got nothing on me."
Tony wrapped an arm around Sy and pulled her in closer. "I'm keeping her."
Sy's lips pulled up into a playful smile. "Awww. Thanks. You ain't too bad yourself Stark." She turned her attention back to the Dictator sitting across from her. "So what happened next?"
"Loki compromised a few off our agents including a scientist named-"
"Woah hold up there. Loki as in the God of mischief Loki? The troll of all trolls?" Sy's smile changed from playful to a look full of plotting mischief.
"The one in the same. He-"
"Dude I'm so going to troll the shit out of him."
Fury's eyebrow was now no longer in his control, the twitch refused to stop for anything. "Would you please refrain from interrupting."
Her lips twisted into a scowl as she caught the urge to maim radiating from the bald man. "That's something I can't promise under any situation." She paused and looked back up at the spot she dubbed the perfect spot for a sunlight. "Not even life or death."
Tony followed her gaze with a raised eyebrow. "What is so interesting up there?"
"They should put a sunlight there." Sy answered without a pause or a stutter.
His head tilted to the side and she could just see the numbers passing over him. "It could work. It wouldn't mess with the integrity of the craft."
"Sweet. We should do it." Sy watched Fury's hand rubbing at his temples and wondered if that counted as a face-palm. "You can continue Fury."
"I'm debating the point."
"I'm listening even though it doesn't seem that way. You'll get used to it."
"Fine. Loki stole the tesseract, compromised multiple personnel including an astrophysicist named Selvig and one of our top agents Barton. Loki's brother Thor, who's now on our side, came to take him back, fought Stark and Loki is currently captured and is being held."
"I think you can breathe now. So why exactly am I here?"
"Your here because some of these agents do not know how to play well with others."
Sy's head lolled to the side to stare at Tony. "Let me guess."
He glanced over at blinked at her pointed stare. "What makes you think it's me?"
He had the nerve to sound affronted, as if he was personally attended Sy would even think such a thing. "Seriously dude? You're Tony Stark everyone knows you refuse to play well with the other kids."
Tony scoffed and looked away, "I refuse to justify that statement with a reply."
"Yeah well-" Sy blinked and turned her gaze back to Fury. "Quick question. My pack will be allowed to spontaneously visit me, right?"
"What does spontaneous account for?"
"Popping in unannounced."
"Unauthorized visitations are not allowed."
Sy tilted her head in Phil"s direction."Sorry Phil. I don't think Shield is going to have a choice in the matter."
Tony pointed at Phil, "His name is Agent."
Sy snickered behind her fist, ignoring Fury's glare.
"How would Shield not have a choice in the matter?"
"That's easy." She looked up into Fury's dark gaze. "One of my pack mates can fly. And another is a teleporter. So regardless of where we are they can find me. Also we stay connected regardless, so they always know where I am."
"And if you don't know where you are?"
"The Professor can find me easily. Remember Telepath."
"She's got you there Dictator."
Fury refrained from face-palming, but his fingers still twirled circles around his temples, resulting in another fist bump.
The speakers crackled to life, causing Lae to twitch in her seat. "Director Fury. We are nearing the Helicarrier."
"Thank you." Fury answered quickly trying to ignore Sy's thank you to the man she could not see.
Sy released an involuntary yarn and tried to speak through it, which ended up coming out as nothing but slurred words that no one could understand.
Fury's eyebrow shot up into his none existent hairline. "Come again?"
"How long till we get there, Dictator?"
"It'll be a while. The Helicarrier hasn't stopped moving since take off."
Sy nodded in Phil's direction, as her eyes slowly closed blocking off the outside world. She didn't remember falling asleep, only the calm she felt when she was with her pack.
Tony glanced over when a weight fell against his shoulder and a gentle smile pulled at his lips. Sy muttered something under her breath as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled herself closer. Tony didn't even notice the strange look Phil and Fury shared.
"That's interesting."
His eyes locked with Phil's and he ran his tongue across his bottom lip before asking, "What is?"
"Logan, Siren's alpha told Fury she was uncomfortable with contact from anyone other than those she considers her family."
"Your point?"
Phil waved his hand in Sy's direction. "The way she's curled against you, suggests that she feels a bond with you."
"Or she's just exhausted."
"It's a good thing." Fury interrupted.
"How so?"
"Sy's been removed from her pack and thrown into a new environment. She feels safe with those she holds a bond, which should improve her performance. She's also protective and if she feels a bond she will do whatever she can to keep it established."
"Quite the mouthful Fury. I think I get the gist. So you can go back to being dark and brooding over there."
Tony smirked as Fury scoffed and turned away, turning his face towards the front cab, his smirked changed into a smile as Sy pulled herself closer to him.
A mild case of turbulence jostled Sy from her sleep, causing her to jolt forward with amber slitted eyes. Someone's arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her back before she landed on top of a surprised Phil.
"Easy now, Kitty. Just some turbulence. We're landing now."
Sy relaxed back into the arm holding her at the sound of the name so close to what Logan called her.
"I'm surprised that worked."
"It wasn't the voice, it's how he said it." Sy looked up through her bangs at Phil, who schooled his face back into having no expression.
"Director we're here."
Sy leaned forward in her seat to get a good look at the sky before them. "That's interesting." A sly smile spread across her lips. "You're cloaking panels are similar to the pattern my skin makes. Either they are screens with cameras that pick up and relay what we pass. Or it's exactly like my skin where it uses refraction and reflection."
"Wait. Hold up. Your saying your skin has the capability to camouflage itself."
Sy raised an eyebrow in Tony's direction, almost laughing at the childlike pout on his visage.
"Didn't you read my file?"
"Sadly there wasn't one to locate."
"That's interesting. Either Shield knows nothing about me. Or Professor hid everything about me."
"Seems logical. Now you didn't answer before." Tony stared straight at Sy as she tilted her head in confusion.
Her eyes lit up and she nodded her head, holding her hand up in front of the make. The lightly tanned fresh shimmered, almost vibrating as it faded from existence. Tony grabbed her arm and pulled it closer for inspection.
"If you look closer you can see an outline, though it is very vague. I would love to examine this closer if it would be ok with you."
Sy shrugged, and laughed lightly as Tony's eyes glittered like a child in a candy store, as her arm slowly came back into focus.
"You have to be careful with Tony." Fury's gruff voice spoke from the lift gate of their ride. "Even if you don't give him clearance. If you don't tell him no straight to his face. He'll do so anyways."
"That's fine. I think I can handle him. Remy's a bit the same."
Fury nodded before disappearing, "I expect the both of you to be in the control room in at most ten minutes."
Phil stood at the end of the ramp, watching Fury leave before turning his attention back to the duo. " , Agent Siren. If you would both follow me."
Sy nodded and started grabbing her bags, "Hey Tony would ya mind helping?"
"Yes I would very much mind."
She scoffed, throwing one of her bags towards his face hoping it would hit and wipe off that smirk. Sadly it did not as Tony caught it before it could. He laughed as he slug the bag over his shoulder and made his way off the aircraft.
"Come on Kitty Cat. Let's get going."
Tong smirked at Sy's reply that followed him across the flight deck. "This coming from a man who does as he pleases. You're a hypocrite!"
He turned around just as Sy caught up to them with a scowl. "Now now Kitty. No one dropped water on your fur."
"I should punch you."
"But you won't. Why would you waste a pretty face like this."
"Cause I can."
Phil rolled his eyes and tried to block out their friendly banter. He had no idea how he was going to survive them for how long this assignment would take.
"Agent Siren. I would like to fill you in on the happenings you have missed."
He heard her whisper something under her breath, but sadly couldn't make it out, though it has Tony snickering.
"Sure thing Philly. What happened?"
"My name is Phil Coulson."
"Don't let him fool you Kitty. His name is Agent."
Sy laughed and sped up her speed to catch up with Phil. " So what happened?" She asked as she leaned forward to stare at Phil's face, inviting Tony's comment about a nice view.
"Five days ago Loki broke into one of our headquarters and stole a device known as the tesseract."
"Yes the Dictator explained that."
"Two days ago he made a reappearance at a gala, which is where we apprehended him."
"Wait," Sy held up a hand to pause Phil's speech, "Was Loki badly beaten or anesthetized in anyways?"
"Not that I know of. Why do you ask?"
Sy glanced back at Tony and forward again. "A few years ago a mutant called Mystic, allowed to get herself captured so she would have the ability to release other captives. Though it cost her, her gift."
Tony placed a hand on Sy's shoulder, "You think this could be similar?"
She shrugged, "Possibly. It's hard to tell without ever meeting the person."
"That could be arranged Agent Siren."
Sy's looked up at Phil and smirked. "Sounds fun."
As they neared the main room, voice filtered out muffled through the heavy metal doors.
"Hey Coulson. How many people?"
"Multiple."
"Yeah cause that helped."
The doors slid open and the conversation became clear.
"Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?"
"It's a stabilizing agent." Tony leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Even Kitty possibly knew that."
Sy's turned and glared, ignoring the questioning looks from the other in the room.
" Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD." He walked forward and patted a giant blonde on the shoulder. "No hard feelings Point Break, you've got a mean swing. Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants."
Sy stood with her back against the wall next to the doors, her bags laying on the floor around her legs. As Tony looked around at the equipment, she took the time to study the people around her.
"That man is playing Gallaga!"
She jumped at Tony's sudden outburst, not noticing she fell that far into her mind.
"Thought we wouldn't notice but we did."
She chuckled behind her hand, knowing that was a stab at the Dictator inadvertently. Ignoring the curious stares pointed in her direction, she looked up to find Tony smirking back at her.
He looked back at the monitor before him and brought one of his hands up to cover his right eye, Sy face-palmed in reaction. "How does Fury even see these?"
"He turns." Sy glanced over and nodded in Hill's direction, and received one in return.
"Sounds exhausting." Tony made a sharp clicking noise with both of his hands before sliding one along the underneath compartment. "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick-start the cube."
"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"
"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Sy glanced over at the new speaker, she smiled, there was only one man who wears stars and stripes
"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." This one had a bigger build and slightly shaggy brown hair, and was wearing a purple shirt, had to be Dr. Banner.
Tony turned his attention to Banner. "Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunnelling effect."
"Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."
"Finally, someone who speaks English."
"Is that what just happened?" Steve's face drew into a mask of confusion as he glanced around the room.
Tony walked over and shook hands with the doctor. "It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."
Banner's face was a perfect picture of what the fuck, that Sy had to chuckle. "Thanks."
"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him."
Sy tilted her head up with a playful smile, "Hey Dictator nice of you to join us." She purposely ignored the bugged eyes look every Shield agent sent her way. Guess no one else in the room had the balls to say it.
Steve was the one that broke the always silence. "Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."
"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."
"Monkeys? I do not understand." The big blonde guy looked so lost that Sy wanted to help him out.
"I do!" Everyone turned to look at Steve as he slightly slid down in his seat and looked around the room. "I understood that reference."
Fury turned and left the room without another word, Sy following his example picked up her bags and spun for the door. Out of the corner of her eye she saw one of the agents restart his Gallaga screen, and she shook her head with a chuckle.
Making her way down the corridor, humming a random tune, she didn't notice the person jogging to catch up with her.
"Excuse me Ma'am."
Sy paused and turned her head in their direction. The Shield agent caught up with her, he was a young man most likely just hit drinking age and looking nervous.
"Yes."
"Director Fury asked me to escort you to your room."
"Ah." Her lips tilted into a friendly smile. "Then lead the way."
The Agent stepped up next to her and led her down another corridor in silence.
"You're nervous aren't you?" Sy didn't look at him but could feel the anxiety radiating through him.
"Ah well Ma'am. We have a dangerous man aboard the ship."
"No it's not just that. Your nervousness is pointed towards him. But your anxiety is pointed towards me."
The young man sighed, "I'm sorry Ma'am."
"No need to apologize. I'm used to it. The normals are always this way around me. It's the reason I hardly leave the compound."
He looked up and noticed the way she kept her eyes away from him, refusing to even glance in his direction. "The reason I'm anxious. Is well I've never met a mutant before. You're not what I expected."
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "There's barely any difference between a mutant and a human. Sure we have an extra gene that gave us everything that makes us, us. But regardless, we're still people, who have feelings, emotions, hopes and dreams. If you strip away the excess on anyone, you'll find that everyone is the same on the inside."
The boy went silent and a smile spread as he thought about it. "Yeah you're right." He stopped in front of a plan dark metal sliding door. "This is your room." He held out his hand for Sy to take. "I'm Agent Connor Ripley."
Sy smiled and clasped his hand, "Nice to meet you Ripley. I guess I'm Agent Siren."
"Nice to meet you too." Ripley pulled his hand away and themes to head back the way he came. "See you around Siren."
She smiled, "You too." The doors before her opened up as she took a step forward and closed behind her.
The room was dull, no color, no life, she sighed and collapsed on the bed, at least the dang thing was soft. She sighed and laid one of her arms over her eyes, it didn't smell of pack, it didn't smell of safety. The room felt cold and dark, she sat up and removed her jacket setting it on top of the pillows. Her hand grasped the handle on a duffel bag and pulled it towards her. Easily unzipped and dug her hands into the fabric that rested inside. She stood up and ripped the comforter from the bed and tossed it into the corner, replacing it with the one from home. Next went the pillows, also thrown aside and replaced.
The mark below her left shoulder buzzed and heated up to a soothing warmth, before going cold once again. She sighed and turned to look at the corner where she threw all the bedding. "Seriously? We've been here for twenty minutes or so and you already escape?"
Hidden beneath the blanket two glowing red eyes glared at her, and blinked very slowly.
"Oh don't give me that crap Chiara. I know you miss feathers as much as I do. But we have to deal with this for a while, we might as well make the best of it." Sy tilted her head to the side with an evil smirk. "Plus there's plenty of people aboard this craft that we can, shall we say play with."
A black tail with sharp spikes that ran down the length raised from the blankets and swayed lazily back and forth.
"That's what I thought." Her eyes darted to the door as Chiara burrows herself beneath her new bed. Ten seconds later there's a knock at the door. "Come in."
The heavy metal slid open to reveal a bashful Captain holding a bag. "Pardon the intrusion Ma'am. But I believe this is yours." Steve Rodgers held out a red Messager bag with a shy smile.
Sy jumped up, "Oh yeah. That's the bag Tony carried for me." She slowly took the bag from his hands and hugged it to her chest. "Thank you Captain." Her hand outstretched towards him with a smile tugging at her lips. "I'm Siren."
Steve looked at her hand then back up to her face. With a blush he grasped her hand gently and shook it lightly. "Steve Rodgers, Ma'am."
Sy shook her head with a lightly laugh, "Please don't call me Ma'am. It makes me feel old. Just call me Siren."
"I'm sorry Ma'-, Siren."
"It's alright. There is a little too much to take in. Huh?"
Steve nodded his head and looked back down the corridor. "Well I must be heading back now. It was a pleasure meeting you Ma'am. Siren."
Sy chuckled and waved at him as he left. "You to Captain Rodgers."
He smiled and disappeared as the doors slid closed.
"Well Chiara. That was quiet interesting don't cha think?" She looked over to the corner where red eyes stared back at her. "A man out of his time. Maybe we need to do more research."
Chiara would have rolled her eyes if she could but she just disappeared into her cocoon as Sy grabbed her leather jacket and left the room.
Wondering the hallways, Sy created a mental map of possibly hiding spots, escape routes, and ways to sneak up on people. Hearing voices coming from down the hall, Sy bent her knees and jumped. Grabbing a pipe, she swung herself up and over in a smooth motion sliding between the ceiling and the vent lines to lay flat against the cooling system on her stomach.
The voices turned out to be Agent Romanoff and Dr. Banner, heading to his lab if what she heard was right. She watched as they turned down the corridor she resided and she pressed herself further down against the metal. Romanoff, there was something about that woman who made her restless, it had nothing to do with her being an assassin. Sy dealt with mutants on a day-to-day basis, an assassin ain't got nothing compared to that. A dull pain in the back of her mind nudged her, urging her to think about it, but nothing came up. She watched with amber eyes as they disappeared before sliding from her hiding spot and landing silently on the ground.
"Did you really just climb out of the ceiling?"
Sy jolted and spun around to face Tony, who had a smug smile on his face.
"It wasn't the ceiling."
"Oh well then. Since you're not doing anything other than climbing around the air ducts." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her down the hallway Banner and Romanoff went. "You're coming with me. We could use another scientist."
"Not really a scientist. I just have a skill for remembering things."
"Close enough."
"You're really gung-ho about sticking two people with anger management issues in a room together. Aren't cha?"
Tony didn't say anything but by the mischievous smirk on his lips, Sy would bet a thousand bucks she got it right.
When they arrived at the labs Banner had already started setting up different devices. Sy spun in a circle taking in all of her surroundings. "Wow didn't think you could get stuff to stay this shiny."
Banner looked up with a raised eyebrow as Tony chuckled at Sy's antics.
"Dr. Bruce Banner this is Siren."
Sy's smiled and waved, "Pleasure to meet ya Big Guy."
"Ah. You too."
Sy looked past Banner and jogged over to plaster herself to the only window, staring out into the open sky. Letting her thought wonder as she looked down, she forgot about her lack of a brain to mouth filter. "Wonder how high up we are. Like if I jumped from a window would I freeze to death before hitting the ground high, or just a Oh Shit I forgot my parashoot high."
Sy could feel the incredulous stare from Dr. Big Guy on her back, which she choose to ignore.
"Um. Is there a purpose for you being here?"
"Are you referring to in here, here, or here in general?"
"I think he's referring to the lab."
"Blame Tony he dragged me here. Not sure how much use I would be." Sy pulled herself away from the glass and spun with a smile. "As for being here as in this flying chuck of metal. I think I'm here to annoy the hell out of people."
Tony chuckled at Sy's answer while Banner looked like he wanted to hide in a hole somewhere Sy couldn't find him.
"So?" Sy pulled out a rolling chair and sat down in it backwards, spinning in circles. "What's the game plan?"
"Um."
"The tesseract is giving off Gamma readings that Banner here and I, are going to trace."
Sy nodded and rolled over to stare over Tony's shoulder, "Sounds easy enough."
"Are you sure it safe for her to be in here?"
"Not cool. I'm sitting right here you know. Plus you don't know what I'm capable of Dr. Banner."
Banner removed his glasses and glared at Siren who just smirked right back. "What if I told you. That you don't know what I'm capable of?"
"The fact you turn into a Giant Ass Green Monster Man is a common fact. The fact that I'm not afraid of said Big Guy is an unpredictable notion."
Tony's chuckled, thoroughly amused by the current exchange.
Banner looked surprised for all of .5 seconds before his eyes narrowed again. "And the fact that I could easily kill you doesn't scare you even the slightest bit."
"Nope!" Sy chirped and she spun in her chair, before crossing her arms on the head rest with her eyes closed. Her smile though slightly unnerved Banner, it looked a cross between sinister sweet and mischievous. "After all Brucey." She paused and snapped her eyes back open. "You're not the only one who can turn into something else."
Bruce stumbled back a step, surprised at the sudden change in her eyes. The glowing amber slitted as they focused in on Banner.
"Surprised?"
"Don't worry Banner. She's more bark than bite."
"Says the man who had his car totaled by me."
"Lucky shot."
Sy leaned back in her seat to gaze at Tony. "Says the man in an alloy suit."
"It's a gold titanium alloy. I highly doubt even Banner could destroy it. No offense."
"None taken."
"Yeah but Bruce here doesn't have claws does he?" Sy waved her hand through the air, showing both parties in the room.
"Can I examine those too?"
"Sure thing Tony." She shrugged, "What else do I have to do? Plus I've always been curious about what a majority of me is made out of."
Sy rolled back over to the window and closed her eyes, imagining she could feel the breeze on her face. The room stayed quiet as the sun hit the horizon, the only sound being the two scientists moving around. Tony finally looks up and glanced at Sy's reflection.
"Missing your pack?"
She nodded, "Yeah. Haven't been away from them in a long time. My skin is buzzing with the lack of their physical affections."
Even Bruce looked up to stare at Sy's back. "You rely on them to function."
"More like we all rely on each other. I was lost for a long time and they found me."
Neither scientist knew what to say to that, and looked away, not noticing Sy's sad smile in their direction.
"Hey who's hungry?"
"I could use a snack."
She nodded and jumped away from her chair, heading for the doors. "Cool. I'll be back in a bit." She tilted her head back with a smile. "Work hard gentlemen."
With a slick the doors closed behind her before she themes to make her way down the hall. Taking a deep breath she turned left in the direction of the control deck. Her arms went behind her back, grabbing one wrist with the other with a light skip in her step.
"If I was Dictator Fury where would I hide the food?"
"I believe the kitchens would be your best bet."
Sy tilted her head to the side to stare at the woman behind her. Red hair, all leather, no facial expression, the one and only Agent Natasha Romanoff stood behind her.
"Yes that sounds about right."
Sy turned forward and started walking again, ignoring Romanoff who fell into step beside her.
"I'm Natasha Romanoff."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Siren."
"I could have sworn your file had a name attached to it."
"Not mine. You could have it if you want it."
"Not yours? Would you like to tell me your actual name so I could add it to your file?"
Sy paused and stared down the corridor with a smirk. "I see what you're doing."
"I do not know what you mean."
"Your fishing. After all Shield knows next to nothing about me. Other than some of what I can do. And what I told Tony and Coulson. You're an intelligent woman, and a top agent. Most likely know multiple ways to receive your Intel." Sy paused as she rounded the next bend. "Problem with me is I'm too unpredictable. And those who know me or even a little bit about me. Know that I talk a lot. Now the only thing that bugs me is why you Agent Romanoff, who stands alone and has no attachments would speak friendly to me. Someone the complete opposite of you. Also add to the fact that you don't speak of anything besides missions based off the civility reports. I find this polite interrogation to be void."
Sy closed her eyes with a smirk filled with sharp canines. "Don't cha think?" She didn't wait for a reply, just spun on her heals and continued on to the kitchen.
Romanoff reached up to her ear, "Well Director she's perceptive. Understood I was "politely interrogating" her in a matter of seconds."
Fury's gruff voice answered after a few seconds pause. "Sy is intelligent, she just chooses to show it in ways other than words."
Romanoff's eyes narrowed slightly, "Is there something you're not telling me, Sir?"
"If I knew, you would know."
The transmission went dead with a beep and Natasha let her hand drop, something was happening on board this ship.
After maybe a twenty-minute journey Sy finally found the kitchens and proceeded to raid the cabinets. She slid onto the counters top, resting her weight on her knees and toes, and ripped open door after door. Blueberries, Raspberries, granola bars, her eyes lit up when she caught sight of orange bags in the back of the top shelf. Grabbing a handful, she jump off the counter top and loaded everything into her message bag hanging from her shoulder.
Ripping the top of an orange bag, she tossed a handful of Reese's Pieces between her lips. Humming the theme to Harry Potter with a skip in her steps, the hallways turned into a mini game of guessing the people she passed. twelve minutes in, she paused when she felt malevolence travel down her spine, causing her eyes to shift before she calmed herself with a deep breath. The twinge of sour lemons stung her airways and her eyes darted left, the direction the scent came from. Silently debating if she should head down that path or go right back to the labs, she spun in hopes of tracking the stench.
Down two staircases, left, two rights, straight to end of hallway, and left again, she end up at the base of the craft, dead center.
"Cause you know, having malicious intent in the center of the ship seems like a perfect idea. I blame Agent Bob."
"I don't believe a Blob resides here. Though the thought is most intriguing." A sinister sweet male voice floated through the door to her right.
Sy cocked her head to the side, "I didn't say Blob I said Bob. Though I know a man who if you call him Blob he'll kick your ass." Tossing more pieces into her mouth, she walked through the doorway.
The male had sharp green eyes that matched his robes perfectly and slicked back black hair that ended in spikes. Sy grabbed a rolly chair from behind a desk and dragged it before the man in the cage. More pieces in hand, she sat down in the chair backwards and study the male.
"Gotta say I love you're hair stylist."
"Are you not afraid?"
"Afraid of what? A man in a cage? Gotta say not impressed."
"Do you know who you speak to."
Sy's hand waved back and forth in the air as she study her bag of candy. "Let me guess. Loki, God of trickery and mischief, mother of all lies, troll of all trolls. And a man locked in a cage." She looked up with a smile. "Did I miss anything?"
"I don't believe we have met. What is your name?"
"Not important."
"Everyone has a name even insolent mortals."
"No seriously. My name is Not Important. And I wouldn't call me mortal exactly."
Loki smirked, her sentence catching his interest. "Oh. Could there be another beast aboard this vessel?"
She shoved more pieces in her mouth and crunched down, enjoying the wince Loki gave at the noise. "I could be a beast if you wanted me to be." She said with a wink after swallowing the chocolate. "I've been meeting interesting people all day. But you good Sir take the cake."
"What do you're mortal delights have anything to do with this conversation?"
"Nothing. The cake is a lie." That got Loki's eyebrow to twitch.
"You have a very expressive eyebrow." Sy shrugged, "Just thought you should know."
"Do you receive enjoyment from parading around as someone you are not."
"Getting agitated there. But no. I have more sides to me than a rubix cube." More pieces, had Sy staring at the package with a strange intensity. "You know if you weren't locked in a cage and hell-bent on taking over the world I would offer you some."
"Then let me out."
"Yeah right. Just tell yourself that Hannibal Lecter." Tilting her head to the side with a strange glimmer in her eyes, she stared at him with a full-out grin. "Dude you are like the perfect mix of Dr. Lecter and Mr. Smith!"
"I don't follow."
"Really? You come to our world and you don't even watch any movies. There is definitely something wrong with you."
"You insolent child. You speak of something being wrong with me, when you don't even know who you really are."
"This coming from a man with antlers. I think you have bigger issues than anything I could possibly have. Wait do the antlers make you part antelope? I mean you got the legs for it."
"What you speak of-"
"I mean they're very nice legs. I wouldn't mind seeing them outside the leather. You probably have a nice ass too."
"How dare you speak to a God that way!"
Sy held her hands up in surrender. "Hey now. No need to be mad bro. Take it for what it was, a compliment. Though maybe you aren't used to those." She looked down. "Damn I went through three bags of pieces. Means it's time to go."
Sy stood from the chair and spun on her heels, heading for the doorway. "This was fun. Let's do it again sometime."
"You foolish child. Before the end of all of this. You will die."
She paused and rocked back with a face splitting grin. "Me? I thought we were bonding."
Dear God.
The lab was silent when Sy finally made it back, the Science Bros tinkering away at something or another. Night had fully fallen by now and Sy took a seat on the window ledge with one leg curled beneath her.
"Thought you went to get food."
Sy looked over catching Tony's eyes and patted her message bag. "I did."
He glanced at his watch with a raised eyebrow, "It took you over an hour to collect snacks. Did you get any fruit?"
"Never took ya for a fruit guy. But yeah a few things happened on the way." Leaning over she dug through her bag, "Ran into perky red on the way, gotta say never met a more happy woman, and let's not forget tracking Loki's scent of freaking sour lemons. I got Blueberries, Raspberries, and a few others."
"Blueberries." Tony grabbed the bag before it had the chance to collide with his head. "So the God of mischief smells like lemons?"
Sy sat back up after pulling out a medium-sized bag of trail mix. "Not sure if that was his actually scent but that's what malicious intent smells like to me. Banner you want anything."
The doctor looked away, waving his hand, "I'm good. But the ability to smell an emotion or feeling is impossible."
"You never met a feral mutant before Bud." After handful of mix down her throat, she finished answering Banner's silent question. "Everyone has a natural scent and I'm not talking about Cologne like the crap Tony doused himself in." She looked at said man, "Also Cologne means perfumed toilet water, just thought you should know."
Tony's faced paled which let Sy know that he in fact did not understand the translation.
"Anyways everyone has an energy that surrounds them which wavers and fluctuates with different emotions. Which is why when you pass someone who is pissed without even knowing they are, you will naturally give that person a wide berth of space. Cause their energy is going through fluctuations which violently strike people who pass by." Peanuts we're awesome to crunch on while she waited for the Science Bros to get their personal thoughts in order.
Finally Bruce nodded which was more in continuation than understanding if the frown on his face was anything to go by, he was still getting his thoughts in order.
"Well are energy is still are so it holds the same scent as the rest of us. Now when someone is feeling something it created a scent. Which is how dogs know when we are feeling upset or agitated. The scent is slight, not enough for a human to pick up unless they have their nose jammed up against your body, even then it's hard to detect."
"Then if it's so hard to detect how did you sense it from so far away."
"Ah. Hello. Feral mutant over here. Take a hunting dog give it a number and time his senses by 60 and you got me. I notice things others would not.
Sy closed her eyes and rested her head against the cool glass. "Like the fact someone is running down the hallway beneath us most likely on his way to Fury. I can hear the racing of his heart, the steady thud of his boots against metal. The rustle of papers brushing against his suit."
She paused and focused her attention on the stars beyond the glass. "When my mutation first made an appearance I was scared shitless. Hearing things others could not, smelling things others couldn't sense. And don't get me started on my eyes. Only way to describe it is that I can zoom in on things, pull it into focus and study it. After I learned how to control it, things got better."
Everyone went silent and Sy silently cursed herself for causing the pleasant emotions flowing through the room to fade. Luckily Tony fixed it by flicking a blueberry at Sy's head, which she turned and caught between her lips.
"Hey everyone has something going on with them. I don't think one person on board doesn't. So how bout we get back to work."
Banner scoffed, "I have been."
Sy leaned her body forward to stare at Banner's back. "You know Brucey I'm gonna make a project out of you."
"How so?"
"Getting you to lighten up a bit, kick back relax, you know normal stuff."
"I don't think me... Kicking back as you put it would be a wise decision. In case you haven't noticed me losing control would be dangerous."
"Same here. Also use the blue cord to the right of your hand instead of the black one. It has a better connection and won't fail when you hook it to Loki's stick of destruction."
He paused clearly thinking it over, but he eventually grabbed the blue which made Sy smile.
"I think this is the beginning of a very colorful friendship Bruce."
Time started closing in on midnight by the time they got everything running. They had to pause a few times cause Sy kept tackling Tony to the ground every time he tried to touch one of her toys or moved something out of went back in order with Sy sitting Indian style on a desk that she dragged next to the window, with Tony five feet away from her at his own desk.
Banner now stood over Loki's stick of doom,
"It's a scepter Sy."
"Don't care Tony."
Waving a gamma ray detection wand over it searching for signs of radiation. Tony stood in front of multiple touch screen monitors going through as many algorithms and equations as he possibly could.
Sy cracked her neck with a sigh, pushing her hair back over her shoulder with a stretch. The screens in front of her pulling 1000 numbers per minute and she watched with a scowl.
"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract. But it's gonna take weeks to process."
Sy looked at Bruce then Tony as she secured her hair in a messy bun with a claw. "By pass the main frame."
Tony nodded, "If we by pass their main frame and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops."
Sy waved a hand and went back to her screens, typing away rapidly. "On it."
"And all I brought was a toothbrush."
Tony and Sy shared a smile, she turned away and went back to decoding.
"You know, you should come by STARK TOWERS sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it, it's candy land."
"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of broke... Harlem."
Bruce looked up at Sy's chuckle with a shy smile and went back to his work. Tony sent Sy a wink and started to wander over towards Banner, with something in hand. This can't be good.
" Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises." Suddenly, Tony pokes Banner with a monitor electrical prod causing Banner to jerk forward with a small ow. At the same moment Steve walks through the door, one look at his face and Sy knew they were screwed.
Tony being Tony didn't notice the door open and leaned further into Banner's personal space to study his eyes. "Nothing?"
"Hey! Are you nuts?!" Steve's outburst went ignored.
"You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?" That last comment had Sy full on giggling, but a glare from The Captain America clamped her mouth shut.
Steve was positively seething and Sy flinched back as his energy clashed with her, causing a painful throb at the back of her skull.
"Is everything a joke to you?!"
Tony finally looked away from Bruce, taping the prod against his palm. "Funny things are."
"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, doctor."
Bruce scrubbed a hand through his short locks, looking uncomfortable. "No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."
"You're tip toeing, big man. You need to strut."
"And you need to focus on the problem, ."
"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."
"You think Fury's hiding something?"
"He definitely knows something about me." The men in the room turned to look at Sy, whose presence was forgotten.
"He's a spy." Tony said with a nod of his head, before turning back to Rodgers. "Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets." Tony points at Banner, "It's bugging him too, isn't it?
Banner looked up attempting to dodge the question. "Uh... I just wanna finish my work here and..."
"Doctor?"
Banner sighed, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes. "'A warm light for all mankind, Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."
Steve nodded, "I heard it."
Banner pointed at Tony, "Well, I think that was meant for you. Even if Barton didn't post that all over the news."
"The Stark Tower? That big ugly" Steve paused at the look Tony gave him. "...building in New York?"
Sy tilted her head against the glass to look at Tony and said softly, "I think it's lovely." Earning a bag of blueberries being thrust into her face. She took a handful with a chuckle, and Tony smiled.
"It's powered by Stark Reactors, self-sustaining energy source." Bruce looked over at Tony, "That building will run itself for what, a year?"
"That's just the prototype." Tony shrugged as he turned away from Siren, "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now."
Bruce looked back to Steve, referring to Tony. "So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"
"I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure photos."
Steve looked taken a back by that. "I'm sorry, did you say...? "
"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide." Tony extends his arm holding the silver package. "Blueberry?"
Steve declines with a shake of his head, "Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?"
"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not possible." Tony offered the bag to Banner, who took a handful with a slight shrug.
Steve ignored the comment, "I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."
"Following is not really my style."
Sy glared at Tony's back, was this man trying to start a freaking battle within their own ranks.
"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Steve said with a smile.
That hit a nerve for Tony, scratch that maybe the Captain was. "Of the people in this room, which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. Not of use?"
Luckily Banner intervened before a fight broke out. "Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?"
Steve takes in the possibly but, as an obedient soldier, shakes the thought off. "Just find the cube." He walks away from the lab, and Sy can tell he's torn by the possibility. The science bros went back to work, while Sy debated about chasing after Steve.
"That's the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice."
"The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us."
"What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit." Tony sent information to one of Sy's screens. "It's gonna blow up in his face, and I'm gonna be there when it does."
"And I'll read all about it."
"Uh-huh. Or you'll be suiting up like the rest of us."
Sensing a deeper moment of communication between the two, Sy wavered out of focus before disappearing completely. Silently she slid from the desk making her way out of the room, those reports Tony gave her could wait.
"Ah, see. I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare."
"You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart." Sy heard the slight clicking of his nails against a glass plate. "This stops it. This little circle of light. It's part of me now, not just armor. It's a... terrible privilege."
"But you can control it."
"Because I learned how."
Tony's comment was the last thing Sy heard from down the hallway. Glancing around she made sure no one was in the area before shimmering back into focus. It felt wrong intruding on that conversation, the boys wouldn't miss her; at least for a while.
She leaned back against the wall, watching the people pass by as her thoughts wandered. Tony and Steve fed off each others energy, one was a spark the other just happened to be kindling. Just thinking about the two together in one room made her want to abandon ship. But Bruce and Tony, she smiled, they could create a bond that would be on par with her pack.
"You alright?"
Her eyes glanced over to find Steve nervously shifting his weight with his eyes cast to the floor.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"
A light shade of pink dusted over Rodgers cheeks, "I apologize for my behavior. Things have been interesting lately."
She pushed off the wall and made her way over to Steve, "It's alright. I get where you come from." Her hand rested gently on his shoulder as she learned forward to look in his eyes. "We've both been removed from our worlds, and thrown into something larger than we can comprehend. It's a lot to take on." With a gentle pat, she continued down the corridor with Steve falling in step.
"You have also been removed from your world?"
Sy shrugged, "Maybe not in the exact way you have. But see these people," She gestured at the people passing by, "They are what I call the norms, I tend to avoid them."
"Why would you choose to avoid people?"
Sy paused to stare at Steve's confused face, "Oh yeah. You were probably fighting the war or under ice at the time." She picked her pace back up with a spin.
"The time of what?"
"Let's call it the understanding of the X gene."
Sy's complete attention was focused on the conversation on hand, that she never noticed Bruce and Tony making their way towards them.
"May I ask what the X gene is?"
She smirked, "You may. The X gene made it's appearance years ago. Maybe even centuries. No one actually knows when the gene first popped up. This gene differs from person to person but those who have it are gifted with abilities."
"Abilities?"
"Like I said. It differs from person to person, some might have the same ability, who knows. But the ones who hold the gene are called mutants."
Steve froze mid step and stared at the back of Sy's head. "Mutants? And you're one of them?"
Her spine went rigid, Steve's voice held a bit of curiosity but it was being over powered by anxiety. "Yes." Steve's anxiety increased ten fold.
"Are you dangerous?"
"Most likely. I'm more animal than human. I'm a feral. I run on instincts backed by knowledge and understanding."
The squeaking of Steve's shoes against the tile told her that he backed up a step, unintentionally going on the defense.
Sy dropped her head with a half-hearted laugh. "Who would have thought Captain America would be judgmental... You know you might have met one of us before, even befriended one, but you would have never known. So don't stand there thinking I'll attack just because I'm not completely human. You have no idea what it's like to be feared for what you are. Seeing people flinch away at the sight of you, whispering words about how capable you are of killing them. I may be different Captain," She looked over her shoulder at Steve, "but in case you haven't noticed your not exactly normal either." Her eyes narrowed with a flash of Amber. "None of us are."
She caught the eyes of Banner and Tony before turning to dart down the hallway to her room, fading from prying eyes with a shimmer. Her eyes burned and her only thought was that she never felt more lost and alone than in this moment.
"Well that could have gone better."
Steve turned to look at Tony after the shock of seeing Sy disappear before his eyes wore off.
"You need to understand Capsicle. The government has hunted mutants for years, many have been imprisoned and tagged for just existing. I bet you didn't know that during World War two, mutants were captured and put into concentration camps."
"That's a lie."
Tony shrugged, "Look it up Cap. I don't care. But I'm gonna check on Sy. That girl's been through enough."
Small whimpers were the only sound in the entire room which had Chiara on edge. The large feline knew something was wrong the second her life line came back. With a deep rumbling purr she slid from her coverings and made her way to Sy who laid collapsed on her bed, staring at the bright screen of her phone.
Sy gave a soft grunt as Chiara's heavy head landed in her lap. She glanced down and gently ran her fingers through the silky fur that covered her friends neck.
"I need the pack Chiara. They keep me sane, know how to calm me. I don't think I can do this without them."
Chiara opened one eye and silently stared at Sy, conveying all she needed with a slight huff. Sy nodded and went back to her phone scrolling through the contacts till she landed 'Potter, James Potter.'
"Looks like Rem changing his id again."
Chiara scoffed, closing her eyes with a rumble. Sy chuckled, swiping a finger across the name, and brought the phone up to her ear.
"You have been without us for a day, officially." Remy's playful voice sing through the speaker after four rings.
"Yes and I happen to be going through withdrawals."
Remy answered with a dramatic gasp, "Well we can't have that now, can we?"
"No we can't." She sighed, "I need you guys here."
"I know Cher. But who knows how Shield would react."
Sy scoffed jostling Chiara in the process. "Like I care."
Remy sighed, "We can figure something out. But we do have a problem."
Sy sat up, her face contorted with worry, "What happened? Was it Magneto?"
"No not him, thank God. It's Logan, he ran off again. No one knows when he'll be back."
"Shouldn't you be happy about that?"
"Usually. But you should have seen him when he left. He seemed more pissed than normal. I think it's cause you had to leave within the same year as Jean's death."
The line went silent as Sy stared at the wall processing this information. Logan probably felt as she did, lost and confused. "Oh Logan."
"Yeah. No one knows when he'll be back again. The Professor is keeping an eye on him just in case."
Sy fell back onto the bed, drawing her legs up against her chest with her arms curled around them. The phone sat in front of her, speaker function engaged and she just stared at it.
"I hope he's ok."
"He'll be fine Cher. He's the strongest of any of us."
Sy gave a soft chuckle that sounded more like a sob. Chiara sensing something wasn't right jumped on the bed to curl around Sy's back, her cheek pressed against the top of her head and her tail laying across her waist.
"But are you ok?" Remy asked after a short pause.
"Yeah. Maybe." She sighed, " It's just. Everything is different. I can't feel you guys wandering through the building. I can't hear your heartbeats. I'm just not used to this."
"Well you have been with us for a long while."
"Rem. I've been near you and Logan for as far back as I can remember. The first memory I have is of you guys. Can you. Can you talk to Professor about maybe you coming here. Just so I can feel more secure."
"I can try Sy. But it's not just up to him. It's up to Fury too."
"I know. But he never told me how long I'm gonna be here for. Pay back is a bitch."
Remy's chuckle was comforting to her ears, she closed her eyes and easily imagined she was back home, surrounded by her pack.
"You'll be ok Babe. Things will get better. Just remember if someone messes with ya they got us to deal with."
Sy smiled even though Rem couldn't see it, "That's a comforting thought."
"Damn right!"
Sy chuckled, and a slightly muffled voice yelled through the phone. "Hey Gambit who you talking to?!"
"Who ya think feathers?!"
"Sy!"
A yelp and a thud accompanied the outburst and Sy could her the rustling clothes from a scuffle.
"Kurt! Don't stand there Blue Man! Help me!"
"Nein." Kurt said with a small chuckle.
"Traitor!"
Sy heard the clack of sharp nails on plastic most likely the phone being picked up.
"They've been like this since you left."
"I figured as much. They wouldn't be my boys if they were any different."
"Agreed. So you met the Avengers?"
"Yeah. Tony and Bruce are cool. Romanoff creeps me the freak out. And don't get me started on Captain America."
"Vat happened?"
"You know. Just another norm that holds issues about mutants existing."
Kurt went silent, most likely thinking of his next words carefully. "Many humans still do. Regardless of the things we have done, they will still think what they want."
"I know."
"Wait! Pause! Sy someone's giving you problems?!"
"It's ok Warren. I'll get through it. I just haven't dealt with it for a while."
"You shouldn't have to!"
"He's right Cher, mental abuse can hurt us just as much as the next Norm."
"I'll be fine. I'm hiding in room talking to my pack and pretending they are here with me."
The boys went silent, and Sy can just picture them all staring at either the phone or each other with different expressions of sadness.
"Oh Sy."
"Don't Rem. I'll be fine, Chiara is next to me by the way."
"Hi demonic hell cat!"
Chiara huffed at Warren's outburst and pulled Sy closer towards her.
"I think she would be after you right now, if she could."
"Don't doubt it." Sy yawned before she could stop it with a hand.
"You're tired Cher. We should probably let ya go."
"No keep talking. Tell me what happened today."
"Well Rogue spent the day with Bobby. Not sure what they did, but oh well."
Sy chucked, "Rem what would you do of you spent the day with the person you liked."
"I already do every day. She just happens to not be here now. Ow! What th' hell feathers!"
"Chill out Casanova."
"You're just pissed I said it first." Sy could just see Rem sticking his tongue out in a child like manner and Warren's wings ruffled in agitation, getting ready for a tackle. A thud and yelp let her know she called it correctly.
"And they're off. Again."
"Expected. At least they can't drag me into the middle this time."
"Ow! Not cool! You don't rip out feathers!"
"Then don't grab my hair!"
"I didn't rip any out!"
"Felt like it."
"Now now children just cause Sy isn't here, doesn't give you the right to kill each other."
"Still on the phone. So technically I'm there. Punishment will be dealt accordingly."
"Awwwww. Not fair Cher. Feather's started it!"
"Did not!"
"And they're off."
Sy giggled at Kurt's response to the battle of dimwits, taking place in the background. Kurt and Sy passed the time with small talk about nothing important, as her body relaxed all strain of the day forgotten.
About halfway through the boys argument and Kurt's gentle voice lulling her, Sy fell asleep with a smile on her lips, never noticing the presence walking away from her door.