A.N: This is a really long A.N, but I kind of need you guys to read it :)
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! In regards to boots0812, I haven't really got into the plot yet. This chapter though, I'll be revealing a lot more about Ayesha and Jayde.
Another thing is that I'll be pairing Jayde (who you'll be hearing a lot from this chapter) with Hawkeye. Ayesha, on the other hand, I'm not sure. If you guys could check out my poll on who I should pair her with, I would appreciate it!
I've actually also made pictures of Ayesha and Jayde on dollmakers and put the links on my profile if anyone wants to check them out!
Remember to review!
Jayde
I woke up to the shrill buzzing of my alarm clock. Groaning, I rolled over and slammed my hand over the snooze button, checking the time as I did so. 5:00 in the morning. I groaned; being part of the Avengers sure had its perks, but having to wake up before sunrise definitely wasn't one of them.
Swinging my legs over the side of my plain white single bed, I rested my feet on the carpet. My wings were killing me; I must have slept on them the night before. Luckily for me, my pajamas (like most of my clothes) had a ridiculously low back, for the simple purpose of letting my wings out.
Slowly unfurling the massive, feathery limbs, I winced at the familiar feeling of the joints cracking into place. It took all of my self control to be able to lift myself off the bed, and stand on the soft, white carpet beneath my feet. I yawned, padding over to the window and yanking open the blinds, allowing the faint light of the moon into the window.
I shuddered to myself – I had never really been too fond of the night. Closing the blinds again, I walked over to my closet, pulling out my usual training gear; my pure white jumpsuit (with a low cut back to accommodate my wings, of course) and my silver breastplate and arm-guards. I left my waist-length brown hair out, though.
I made my way to the door soundlessly, pushing it open slightly. I slipped outside, stretching my wings out, and slowly flapping them to keep me off the ground. Good thing the hallways of the Avengers Tower (what used to be Stark Tower) had high roofs. Gliding down the corridors swiftly, I found my way to the large training room situated on the bottom floor.
Sure enough, no-one was there. I lifted the corners of my mouth in a smile as I turned towards the targets on the walls, prepared to begin my training. Taking a deep breath I closed my light brown eyes, focusing all my energy into my palms. Snapping my eyes open, a small jet of ice shot out of my palm, embedding itself slightly to the left of the centre of the target I had been aiming for.
Frowning, I furrowed my eyebrows in concentration. I needed to hit this. I collected all my energy again, releasing it in the same fashion, only to see that it landed even further away from the centre. With a slight huff, I turned away from the target in disappointment.
I decided that a better way to train might be to practice my indoor flying. After all, it was much more difficult flying in a restricted amount of space as opposed to outdoors. So I unfurled my snowy white wings again, leaping off the ground and becoming airborne.
I smiled in satisfaction as I noticed that Steve had left the punching bags out from his training last night. Perfect. I wove in and out of the suspended bags, not letting a single feather skim their surfaces. Looking ahead, I saw that the wall was fast approaching. I tilted my wings slightly so that I was closer to the side wall, before making contact with my bare feet, running along the side of the wall, and pushing off again.
A laugh bubbled forth from my chest. I loved flying. It came naturally to me. Shortly after witnessing my parents' deaths, I began to take sanctuary in flight. It was like a form of escapism for me.
After about half an hour of getting my wings back into shape, I snapped them shut, landing on the ground in a neat roll. It was something I had spent years trying to master. Landing wasn't easy.
Brushing a strand of my now disheveled fawn-brown hair from my eyes, I lifted my palm to the targets on the wall once more. If I could just hit the centre…
The sound of the training room door opening shocked me out of my reverie, causing the ice to fly erratically from my palm into the wall, completely missing the target.
I turned my eyes to the door, only to see that Clint had just walked in. "Sorry," he grinned sheepishly, "Should I come back later?" he asked. I shook my head hurriedly, replying, "No, no! That's fine! Really! You just startled me a little, is all!"
Clint nodded, drawing his bow from beside him, and firing a practice arrow straight into the centre of a target. I sighed; how did he do that? Well, I guess practice makes perfect. I lifted my hand again, slowing my breathing down and focusing only on the target, trying to drown out the sounds of Clint's arrows thudding onto the exact centre of the target each time.
Releasing a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, I let the energy shoot from my palm. To my frustration, it hit the edge of the target again. "I have trouble with my aim early in the morning too," Clint spoke reassuringly; pulling me from my thoughts, "Don't worry about it. It gets better after a while."
I nodded silently, aiming for the target again. Another miss. "Try standing a little straighter. And never aim for the centre of the target; always aim slightly above." I took in Clint's advice, straightening my back and tilting the angle of my palm a little further. I released another bout of energy. No luck.
Sighing, I lowered my arm and retracted my wings. "I think I'll train later," I spoke quietly, "It's too early for me to be able to concentrate properly." Clint nodded in understanding, as I made my way out of the room.
"Hey, Jayde." Came a familiar voice from further down the hallway. "Aren't you going to train?" Ayesha called out to me, steadily approaching from down the corridor. I could just make out her obsidian black eyes, and her short, choppy, jet-black hair.
"I did. I was just leaving." I responded with a smile.
Ayesha nodded once, passing me in the hallway and entering the training room. I noticed she had her usual black jumpsuit, leather jacket and combat boots on. Ah, Ayesha. She never changes. She was obviously going to train herself with her sword as well as her powers today, as she had been carrying it on a belt at her hip.
I winced internally, remembering that Clint was still in the training room. Ayesha had this irrational hatred for him. And according to her, the feeling was mutual.
As I moved further down the corridor, I could hear the clash of metal against metal, as Ayesha sparred with her shadow. Yes, her shadow. Ayesha had been known to train against herself when she couldn't find any other opponent. I sighed to myself; Ayesha trained too much. Her record was ten hours straight. No joke. But what can I say? She's a perfectionist.
Pushing my feet off the ground, I took off into the air, gliding gracefully back to my room. I touched down just outside the door, noticing that a note had been taped to it. Avengers – Urgent meeting at 8:00am sharp. Be there.
I rolled my eyes in exasperation. I hoped this wasn't just another one of Tony's jokes, or I would be mad. Regardless, I turned the silver doorknob, pushing my way into my room. Glancing at the clock quickly, I noticed that it was now 6:47. I had ages. Shrugging nonchalantly, I pulled off all my training clothes, quickly changing into my regular white, off shoulder top and my dark, baggy jeans. As I made my way out the door again, I slipped on a pair of white sneakers.
I hated wearing shoes. They felt too restricted. Not free. Shaking off the uncomfortable feeling, I leapt into the air again, swooping around the Tower for a while. It seemed as though no-one was up except Ayesha, Clint and I. And my Uncle, Fury. So I decided to return to the training room, in hopes of engaging myself in an interesting conversation.
Sure enough, Ayesha and Clint were still down there; Clint furiously shooting arrows into moving targets, while Ayesha continued to fight her shadow. I sighed in exasperation. "Why don't all three of us train together? Like, help each other out?" I suggested, in hopes of lightening the heavy mood.
Upon hearing my voice, both Clint and Ayesha stopped their motions, turning their eyes on me. "I guess we could try that." Clint seemed open to the idea. Ayesha shrugged, before her shadow and its sword faded into nothing.
"Okay," I began steadily, "Clint, why don't you try hitting me with one of your practice arrows, while Ayesha tries to use her telekinesis to disarm both of us." I suggested. Clint nodded eagerly, glad to have a moving target to practice on. Ayesha nodded once, sheathing her sword and pulling her belt off, throwing it to the side.
"Let's do this." She growled raising her hands. I snapped my wings out, darting into the air. I knew I had to stay out of Clint's way, while resisting against Ayesha's powers. Clint drew an arrow, aiming at an area slightly in front of me. I pushed off the wall, into the other side of the room, dodging the arrow just in time.
Suddenly, Clint dropped to the ground, and was being dragged by his feet towards Ayesha. He grasped at the wooden floor-boards, desperately trying to get a hold. I grinned; this was working out perfectly. We had to work as a team. And this exercise was definitely helping.
I raised a palm at Ayesha shooting a jet of ice at her stomach. Ayesha, too distracted with torturing Clint to realise, took a direct hit, causing her to double over in pain, effectively releasing her hold on Clint. I took off into the air again, as he picked up his bow and aimed for me again. Suddenly, I felt myself being dragged to the ground. What had happened? Had Clint managed to hit my wing?
My eyes darting helplessly around the room as I fought against the force pulling me to the floor. My gaze landed on Ayesha, who was using one hand to pull me to the ground, and the other to hold Clint firmly in place as she grinned wolfishly.
Thinking wildly, I folded my wings into my back, causing me to fall to the ground. That distracted Ayesha long enough to loosen her grip on Clint, who aimed an arrow at her chest, which she just barely managed to avoid.
This fight was going to last forever. I furrowed my eyebrows in concentration, aiming my palms at Clint's ankles. Jets of ice shot from them, sealing him to the wall behind him. It was going to take him a while to get out of that.
To my surprise, though, the ice suddenly shattered. What? I whirled around, only to see that Ayesha was smirking at me, lowering her hand. To my complete shock, the ice that had just been shattered began to reform, and before I had a chance to react, I was pinned up against the wall. Only my hands were free now.
Barton leapt at the opportunity, rushing towards where Ayesha stood in front of me, loading two arrows into his bow. At the same time, Ayesha shot out both hands, loosely grasping my throat in one, and Clint's in the other. I smiled, raising my hands at both of my opponents, ready to shoot ice at them.
Clint began to laugh then. It was a nice sound; comforting almost. He should laugh more often… I thought to myself, before shaking my head. What the heck? "Looks like we're all evenly matched!" he chuckled, lowering his bow. I was the next to surrender, moving my hands back down to my sides. Slowly, Ayesha unhinged her fingers from around our necks, before grinning almost maniacally. "Now THAT'S what I call training!" she exclaimed, stepping away from both of us to clip her belt back on.
I giggled lightly, before curling my wings back, and nodding enthusiastically. "Yeah! I don't think I've ever been more evenly matched in my life! We should do this more often!" I suggested.
"Is it just me, or is it weird to see Barton and Nighty in the same room?" questioned the somewhat confused voice of Tony Stark. "I thought you guys had some 'unbreakable rivalry thing' going on." He continued. Ayesha grimaced at Tony, muttering,
"It's Nightshade. Not Nighty."
"Yeah, whatever Nighty." Tony taunted. Ayesha simply scowled at him, before exiting the room.
"Hey, did anyone else get that note about the meeting?" Tony called.
"Yeah, there was a note on my door." Clint offered. I nodded in agreement, remembering the note that had been stuck to my door earlier.
"Well, it's almost 8. I don't know about you, but I'm starving. I could really do with some Shawarma right now. But I guess…"
I stopped listening to Tony's rambling. He never stops talking about that damn Shawarma. Clint darted a quick look to the watch on his wrist. "Stark's right." He confirmed, "We should probably get to the meeting room now." I nodded, following the two men and Ayesha out of the room.
The four of us quickly made our way to the meeting room. Natasha, Bruce and Steve were already there. But Thor was nowhere to be seen. Frowning slightly, I took my seat next to Natasha, who gave me a half-smile. Ayesha took her place between myself and the empty seat that was meant for Thor, while Clint sat between Bruce and Steve.
We waited in an awkward silence for a few minutes, until footsteps could be heard from down the hall. Director Fury strode into the room, Thor sauntering in behind him. It wasn't the appearance of the first two that shocked me; it was the fact that Loki, the God of Mischief was entering the meeting room with them.
A.N: So, what do you guys think? Don't forget to vote in my poll! Review, please!