Enjoy the scheduled update, I hope you enjoyed the introduction of the girls in the last chapter, you'll find out a lot more about them in this one, Don't forget to review, but most importantly, enjoy!
Delana York was having a hell of a bad day. Her early morning had started off with fleeing from a strange storm and a bright flash of light gathered around the top of the Avengers Tower, as she was frightened by the prospect of a terrorist attack. Her and her younger sister, trying to find a safe place to hide had ran straight into the 'top secret' hideout of one the ruined Manhattan's most notorious street gangs, the 'Yin' as they called themselves, and had been gagged and hog tied for over three hours, stuffed into mouldy old potato sacks and stowed away in a cockroach-infested closet. Her fury had bubbled over in the first hour, screaming and kicking and trying to fight her way out, listening to her younger sister's silent sobs. Arielle was only nine years old, she shouldn't have to be subjected this kind of hell, and she had wanted to get her sister out of there, before something even worse happened. The only response she had gotten were small snickers from their guards playing some kind of card game a few metres away.
The gang members had thought it a rather splendid idea to present the superhuman sisters to their boss as a 'gift', but they hadn't expected Delana to come out, untied and positively murderous, with hell's fury raging behind her, spitting fire and snapping her teeth (not literally, thank god). The boss, a young lanky man with scar tissue littering is features had been too startled to react. Delana had guessed that he might've had powers as well, judging by his age, but didn't keep him conscious long enough to find out. Her instincts were in overdrive, she had been seeing red, and without even realising it, the seventeen year old had taken out the other four fully grown men on her own, effectively freeing her and her younger sister.
She could've gotten them out of there fairly easily if she was able, but Delana hadn't quite mastered the art of teleporting with other people just quite yet. So far, she knew that she could teleport herself to any place that she has set foot on before, could take smaller things with her, like her clothes, backpacks, boots, miscellaneous pocket items and whatnot, which (embarrassingly enough) had taken her a little while to master the art of. There was only one time that she had tried to teleport her and her sister somewhere, and it had ended in her dear little Arielle being covered head to toe in minor burns and abrasions, and had only really travelled a few inches to the left. They hadn't been too bad, but it had rattled Delana enough to not use her powers for a few days, and be overcome with guilt until her nine year-old snapped and basically told her to get over it. Since then, even when Arielle insisted that they try again, she had never dared even touching her sister when she teleported.
Her sister, using her own power, had helped a little, much to her older sister's terror. The younger sibling had summoned a small dome around herself, and barrelled straight into an already semi-conscious man, knocking him onto the floor so that he hit his head and didn't make any move to get up. It made the older sibling work all the more harder to neutralise all of the other men in the room, and as soon as she was sure none of them were moving, they got the hell out of there.
They laid low for the rest of the day, travelling across town, weaving through abandoned alleyways, even letting Arielle rest for an hour or two while her sister kept a vigilant watch. It was mid-afternoon when they made their way back across town, trying to confuse whoever might be following them. The had ended up only a few blocks away from the Avengers Tower, which Delana had trying to avoid for the past few days. There were rumours beings whispered among the people of the streets that the Avengers hadn't abandoned the Earth, that Captain America had been living there all this time, and had been taking kids off of the streets to train them for a 'superhuman' army that he was building to fight back against the terrorists and narrow-minded government of this ruined nation.
If that was the case, there was no way that Delana was letting her or her sister get anywhere near the monstrosity of a building. She was trying to stay away, but had needed to go through that particular part of town in order to retrace their steps in hopes of completely confusing anybody who might be following them. They had been followed before, and Arielle had been caught due to Delana's carelessness, so she wasn't taking any chances this time around.
The children were only a half a block away when a gang of burly-looking men stepped out, varying versions of their own sickening smirks upon their faces. Delana and Arielle's eyes had widened in sheer terror and had fled, their feet pounding on the trash littered pavement. They had turned sharp corners, cut through alleyways, went through abandoned buildings, tried every trick in the book in an attempt to lose their followers, but their efforts had come to no avail.
The six leering gang members, who looked like another variant of the Yin Gang, were always a few steps behind them, their sickening threat and feral laughter always floating behind the sisters as they fled. Arielle had tripped as they sprinted down the empty streets, making Delana come to a screeching halt and teleport back, slinging an arm over her shoulders in a desperate attempt to get her to stand, but the unhealthy angle of her left leg and her painful screams had forced Delana to stop.
Using her hands, she had instructed the nine year old to crouch down, put her hands over her head and bring up her force field, and don't stop or let it down until she told her to. Arielle had done as she was told, crouching down in the middle of the street and summoning a pulsating dome of energy around herself. Delana had squared her shoulders and looked towards the approaching men, standing over her sibling like a fierce guardian angel, pushing her flame red hair out of her face as it whipped about her, and twitching her fingers, ready for a fight.
"If you want her, you're gonna have get through me you sick bastards. Take a shot, I dare you." She had snarled as the male group members closed in and formed a tight circle around the duo, grinning like sick the madmen they were, or had become since the nation gone to hell. If they were caught, there was no possible good outcome to the situation. Once they were caught and in cages used to house kids with powers on the black market, there would be no way of getting out, no way of escaping, and no one coming to rescue them. They would either be sold on the black market, sent to the twisted reform schools or experimented on, or if they were lucky, killed quickly. There was no positive alternative. Delana may be able to escape, but she would rather die than leave her sister behind in the clutches of terrorists and the screwed up government.
It came as a shock when a younger man with light blonde hair, thin features and a dark shadow of stubble covering his jaw stepped forward, his grin more sickening and promised more danger than the older men, and a dark feeling settled in the pit of Delana's stomach just before she was blown off of her feet, tumbling far away from where her precious younger sister was crouched, sobbing softly.
Just as the rattled adolescent got to her feet, she felt the sickening dread wash through her when the man that had sent her flying brought his calloused hand over his head, ready to strike the pulsating force-field that her sister had summoned, when a glint of metal flashed through the air, striking him in the back of the head.
The man stood there for a few moments, unblinking, the evil smirk slipping from his slack features, before he fell forward, a little to the right of where Arielle was, vulnerable and exposed. As the man fell away, his attacker was revealed, and Delana's jaw almost dropped to the ground, as Black Widow, Hawkeye, and freaking Captain America approached all approached on a dead sprint. They stopped in front of the now mortified group of men, their stances low and ready for action. Delana watched them as they spat out words, and the men backing off a little, before one of them, an older one wearing a tattered suede Jacket and scuffed boots peeled off, focusing his attention on her sister's defenceless form, still crouched in the street.
That was enough for Delana to make a move, feeling the familiar fire that fuelled her anger bubble up from the pit of her stomach and course throughout her veins, riling her up and preparing her for a viscous fight. The sick bastard had already gotten too close, and a twisted grin began to curve his features at the prospect of capturing the young child, most likely for profit or slavery. Delana broke into a dead sprint, teleporting as she went, and in mere seconds, she had gotten up underneath the chubby criminal and punched him in the jaw, smirking with sick satisfaction when she heard it crack and felt it pop out of place.
Before the man fell to the ground, let alone even processed what was going on, she appeared behind another unsuspecting male and kicked his rigid knees out from underneath him, huffing in satisfaction before she disappeared again.
She found herself a few inches away from a man who was already running to the spot she had last appeared and was knocked over, not ready for the brute force of the gang member's momentum as they collided. She was knocked back, and found herself sprawled out on the harsh bitumen road, her hands and elbows grazed to high hell with blood dripping down the side of her face, and another man standing over her, growling in frustration.
"You little bitch, you've already taken out too many of my team! I hope the slave market doesn't mind their stock a little beaten, because-"
"Go on, say more. I'm interested in hearing just what you had to say to the girl who I'm going to let kill you." A smooth voice said from behind the man's right shoulder.
The snarling man had found himself quietened as the smooth steel of the knife was pressed against his jugular, a slender arm tightening around his neck underneath his chin.
"That's what I thought." The Black Widow muttered, before sweeping his legs out from underneath him, kicking him in the temple as he fell, effectively knocking him out cold, and delivering another swift kick to the brute that had collided with the teen before, foiling his attempts at trying to get to his feet.
She gave Delana a wry grin, before looking down at her Asgardian garments. "I guess these aren't exactly what I'm used to fighting in, but they'll do, eh?" She asked the stunned girl who stood before her.
Delana quickly recovered merely scowled before teleporting away again. She had to find her sister, she had to get them out of here right now. There was no way that she was going to keep fighting these guys, especially as more of them came flooding out of a nearby alley, alerted by the sound of the fight. And there was certainly no way that she was going to stick around and help out, there was no way she and her sister were going to join some Avenger's army, and fight against the government or anything like that. Arielle had been through enough in the past three years, she didn't want her sister to suffer any more than she already has.
As Delana teleported to and fro, darting in between the plethora of advancing men and few women of the rest of the Yin gang, she was forced to stop in her tracks at what she was witnessing. Her sister, who had basically been a sitting duck in the midst of superhuman-children-thirsty men, was now looking about in wonder, her force-field flashing in and out, obviously becoming unstable as a result of too many hits. More and more advancing gang members were surrounding her small form, making the lump in Delana's throat become even bigger.
But there was Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, standing over the child's vulnerable figure, like an ass-kicking guardian angel, defending Arielle's exposed state with a flurry of punches, kicks, headbutts, and hits with his shield as he took out a single man in matters of seconds, the unconscious bodies piling at his feet. Delana could only stare in amazement at the sheer concentration and stubbornness that had slipped over the soldier's features and in awe as he took a rather devastating blow to the temple, crouching over in pain for a moment, before dusting himself up, squaring his shoulders and meeting the enemy's gazes, all to protect the small girl beneath him.
Realising that there was no way that she could simply stand around and gawk, Delana got in on the action. She weaved about the snarling mass, trying to avoid the archer equipped with only small knives who kept trying to get closer to her, and the soldier who was shooting her concerned stares in between knocking heads together.
The seventeen year-old ducked under a sloppy punch, coming back around to knee her attacker in the back, and then in the temple as they fell forward. She took a hit to the chest, and was winded for a moment as a dark-haired woman leered over her. From her position on the ground, Delana saw the woman grinning down at her with pure enjoyment.
Taking a deep breath and flicking the ember locks out of her face, Delana sprang forward, knocking the startled woman off of her feet. She found herself in a wrestling match on the ground, desperately throwing hits to try to knock her attacker out and barely avoiding blows by mere tenths of inches.
Finally, after what felt like way to long and too much energy wasted, the teen managed to wedge her feet underneath the bony woman and launch her in the opposite direction. Just as both Delana and the snarling woman managed to get to their feet, a piece of rubble came flying out of nowhere and hit the gang member square in the middle of the eyes, making her face go slack and her eyes roll back into her head before she collapsed, knocked out cold.
The red-headed teen whipped her head around behind, to see a smug-looking Clint Barton standing about ten feet away, puffing his chest out proudly as he back-handed a lanky man and shot her a small smirk.
Darting between flying fists and swinging legs, the girl made her way over to where Captain America was just finishing up with the group of thugs that had been attacking him. Ignoring the bewildered stare of the national icon, Delana rushed forward, reaching through a hole in the force field and tapping her sister gently on the shoulder. Arielle looked up, sighing in relief and brought down the shaking dome, before leaping up and wrapping her arms tight around her older sister's waist.
"Shhh, it's okay Ari, it's over now." She soothed, rubbing small circles into the nine years-old's back.
"Are you able to run?" Deleana pulled back and asked, using her hands and mouthing the words clearly, eyeing the two master assassins as they chased off the rest of the gang and strolled over where Captain America was standing, watching them warily.
A small nod was all it took for Delana to grab her sister's hand tightly and make a dash for it, the street-smart girl already planning her escape route. She had to get them out of here. There was no way they were joining an army, or fighting against the terrorists, they were getting the hell out of there, as quickly as possible.
Steve Rogers sighed with relief as the last thug dropped to the ground, quickly glancing down beneath him to where the small girl was crouched, shaking with terror, but still looking around with a curious eye.
As the older girl that he guessed must've been her older sister rushed over, the soldier stepped back allowing them space as they reunited. He heard Natasha sigh beside him and Clint grunt as they hugged each other in the street. He saw the older girl mouth something, and deciding that he didn't want to tune in on their private moment, Steve glanced at Clint, who was doing quite the opposite. His face was scrunched as he strained to capture a snippet of the words being whispered.
It happened very quickly, in the blink of an eye, the sisters took off, tearing down the road in an attempt to flee from the scene. "Wait! Just wait a minute! We want to talk to you!" Steve yelled out in surprise, dashing forward to try and catch up with the escaping duo.
It took him longer than he'd like to admit to catch up, despite his enhanced speed. These girls weren't only fast, they were smart, always one step ahead of him as he desperately tried to keep them in view as the led him through the twisting alleyways of Manhattan. After a good ten minutes of chasing, Steve finally cornered them in the lobby of a an old hotel, probably one of the first victims in the first lot of raids that left the city in ruins all those years ago when Ash first struck the island of Manhattan.
Judging by the thick cobwebs on the broken glass and the animal droppings littering the floor, it had been like this for a while now. "What the hell do you want with us!" The fiery teen screamed, stepping out in front of her younger sister and bending her knees slightly.
"Please." Steve said, his deep tones low and soothing in an attempt to sound as non-threatening as possible. "I just want to talk. Please." He repeated.
The caution in the girl's eyes didn't fade, and the glare on her face didn't waver, but she didn't say no or make any move to flee again, although her eyes told that she as probably in the middle of calculating an escape route as they spoke.
Steve took a deep breath, hoping that Natasha Clint or the boys back in the tower weren't too worried and ran through a list of possible questions he could ask her.
"What's your name?" He finally asked, letting the soft words roll off of his tongue and briefly flicking her gaze to the red-blonde head that had poked out from behind it's sister, the younger child's face curious.
"What does it matter to you, just go away! We don't want you here!" She spat, making Steve cringe at the severity of her words.
Before Steve could open his mouth to form another soothing sentence, the younger girl stepped forward in front her sister, biting her nails and pressing close against her older sibling. Her deep cerulean ocean blue eyes were wide with a mix of curiosity and fear as she stared openly at the man in front her.
Her sister grunted in annoyance, trying to shove the younger girl back behind her, but the kid just refused to move, glancing up in distaste at her sister's over-protectiveness.
Steve focused his attention on her, hoping that if he could get the smaller sister to trust him, maybe the older one would follow suit. It was a stupid idea, but was worth a shot anyway.
"Hello there!" he cooed, softening his features and bringing up his voice an octave or two in an attempt to sound cheerful and welcoming. "What's your name?"
The older sister only sighed in annoyance and anger as the smaller girl squinted her eyes and stared at Steve, not saying anything and looking a little confused.
Maybe she didn't hear him? He decided to repeat the question.
"What's you-"
"She's deaf you over-muscled idiot. Without her hearing aid, your either going to have to sign the question or mouth your words better, because she won't understand what you're saying."
Steve stared in shock at what the red-headed teen had just revealed, taking a step back in surprise. The teen didn't like it at all, and she put her hands over her younger sibling's chest and pulled her close to her, deepening her scowl and shooting daggers over at Steve.
Steve took a few steps forward, keeping an eye on the older girl as he crouched down so he was balancing on the balls of his feet with his knees sticking out in front of him.
"What. Is. Your Name?" He mouthed, trying to make his lips mouth the words as clearly as possible.
The younger girl grinned in delight, finally understanding what the man was saying and tugged on her sister's shirt, looking up as the older girl looked down. The two seemed to have a waring conversation with their eyes, before the older sibling spoke.
"She's Arielle, I'm Delana. Now I'll repeat myself, what the hell do you want?"
Steve smiled slightly, glad that he had 'Delana' talking, but still confused on why she had such a thinly veiled fear in her eyes, like the soldier would lash out and bag them up if she let her guard down. He guessed, in a world like the one they had most-likely been forced to adapt to, that was what they were used to. Any stranger was a threat, and the threats were everywhere. It was a horrible feeling to have, one that Steve had been all too familiar with during the collapse of SHIELD a few years back.
The captain crinkled his nose as he noticed the animal waste he had unknowingly stepped through when he entered the building and turned towards the girls, making sure to mouth his words clearly and speak slowly.
"Why don't we take a walk, and we can talk. I promise I won't try and make you do anything that you don't want to do, and that you are free to go whenever you like when I'm done. Fifteen minutes, that's all I ask."
Delana, thinking over the offer, decided that fifteen minutes of her life wasted listening to somebody trying to convince her of something that she would never accept in a thousand lifetimes, wasn't too bad if they were free to go and leave at any time they wanted. It was only fifteen minutes. But then again, this guy was as superhero, and if he did go against his word, her and her sister wouldn't really have a choice in leaving.
With a huff of annoyance, Delana drew herself up to her full height, puffing out her chest and letting a severe expression slip over her features. "And what if we say no?"
"Well.." Steve said, fiddling with a loose string hanging off of the seam of his shirt. "Well then I guess that this won't be the last you see of me. I'll make it my personal mission to track you down every single day and try to talk to you, and won't stop until you listen." He said, lying through his teeth. It was a big bluff, one that Steve knew had a fifty-fifty chance of working, but when he saw the resigned slump of Delana's shoulders, he knew he had pulled it off.
Very slowly, the older teen nodded her head, and began to move away from the wall she was pressed against. Steve gestured broadly with his hands for her to leave first, ever the gentlemen, making Delana roll her eyes. This was going to be a hell of a conversation.
The super soldier, the red headed teen and the observant younger sister toddled down the street in comfortable silence. Delana didn't really want to talk to him, and Steve wanted her to settle down for a minute before he started speaking. After another minute, he finally broke the silence.
"So why didn't you want to talk to me? I thought that if we saved you from those guys, you would at least want to stay for a chat."
The seventeen year-old rolled her eyes, sighing with frustration and kicking a stray piece of rubble off of the littered sidewalk, sending it clattering onto the road. "That's not the way things work anymore, you know. Those guys could've gotten up at any second, they could've surprised you, or one of them could've had a gun on them and shot at us. I needed to get Arielle out of there as soon as possible. Plus, we have no intention of being part of any elaborate scheme or child army or whatever you're cooking up in that tower.
Steve stopped where he was, blinking in bewildered shock. "E-excuse me? Elaborate scheme? Child army?! Just who do you think I am?" He asked, hating the fact that he sounded hurt, but something like that really cut him to the core. He worked him damned hardest to make sure Chad, Ryan and Chris were as comfortable and as happy as they could possibly be, without the pressures of the outside world having to weigh on their shoulders.
Delana stopped walking, finding Steve still standing a few feet behind he. Arielle tugged on her sleeve, wondering what was going on. She very quickly replied that she was finding out in sign language, before turning her attention back to the Captain, who looked a little like a kicked puppy.
"That's what everybody's been saying anyway. That you've got a whole armada of superhumans running around in the Avengers Tower, and that you've been training them to fight back against the terrorists. A pretty horrible thing to do if you ask me, doing exactly what the terrorists are doing but claiming to be different. I don't want my sister to have any part in that, thank-you very much." Delana spoke, doubt creeping into her mind as she saw the absolute shock get stronger and stronger over Steve's face as she spoke.
The soldier sputtered, before regaining his composure and force his voice into a cool, low tone. "There are three kids in the tower with me, the oldest is fourteen. I found one already inside the tower, and took the other two in after their parents were murdered in front of their eyes by Hunters. There is no way that I would even consider doing something like that. All I want to do is help people!" He spoke with a mild venom creeping into his voice, and the volume of his tones increasing and cracking towards the end of his last sentence.
Delana was torn as the facts tugged at the small bit of doubt in her mind, expanding into bewildered belief. "You.. you're saying that you're helping us? The superhumans? And you're not training them or anything?"
Steve straightened and ran a hand through his hair. "No, of course not! I only want to make a difference, I promise you."
There was silence for a full minute as Delana simply stared at him, boring her eyes into his, trying decipher the truth. She found only pure honesty shining through his blue orbs, and gave a guilty sigh.
"I… I'm sorry. It's just what's flying around on the street, you know?" She said, giving a small smile and ducking her head.
Steve sighed. "Yeah, I wasn't aware it was so bad, things like that is not what I would ever have in mind, I swear."
Delana nodded, and thought of another question to ask. "So, if you don't want me and Arielle to join your superhuman army, what the hell do you want?"
"I-"
"STEVE! There you are! We were just about to scope the sewer systems to try and find you!" Clint huffed, jogging up with Natasha hot on his heels to join the soldier. "What's up?" He added, making Natasha roll her eyes and dig her elbow into his ribs.
"Hey guys, glad you found me. I was just about to ask these two if they would like to join us in the Avengers Tower for dinner, so we can talk and smooth a few things over." He said, giving a small smirk at Delana, whose mouth was now hanging open. As if on cue, her stomach growled, making her realise that it had been days since she'd eaten, preferring that Arielle was content until she ate, therefore usually only devouring small morsels at a time.
Her throat had gone dry, but she managed to utter a small 'yes', causing Clint to clap his hands together and Steve to give them both a brilliant smile. After getting down on one knee and taking a minute to explain relay the conversation to Arielle, Delana grabbed her excited sibling and caught up with the other three Avengers who had walked forward a little and were waiting for them both ten feet away.
Delana was waiting for the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach to tell her that this felt wrong, or for them all to turn around and bag her up, but found that it wasn't the case. Instead, she rolled her eyes along with the Black Widow at Hawkeye's crude jokes, and laughed along with Steve as the female assassin made fun of him. She didn't know what fate had in store for her just yet, but surprisingly enough, Delana found herself rather eager to find out.
Hope you enjoyed the reading about the two girls as much has I enjoyed writing about them! Don't worry, there'll be more of the other kids in the next chapter, a little more is found out, a little more is revealed etc. I feel so connected to this story, and am really liking the way it's going, and was wondering if anybody would happen to be interested in doing a cover for Shield For The Superhuman? Just a thought for anybody who is super amazing and also happens to be a super amazing artist as well. Thank you to everybody who reviewed, it means so much to me! I tend to reply to the majority of the reviews I get, so If you're not comfortable with being replied to or just don't think it's necessary, just let me know or put a little star (*) at the end so I know, okay? That's all for now, I hope you enjoyed, please review!