Chapter 5

Still Tony's turn:

I couldn't help it, I started to glare at her. If she was the Summer Soldier, then how close was she to the Winter Soldier? Or any of the other Winter Soldiers? How much did she know about HYDRA? Before we could all start interrogating her on what that meant, she started speaking quickly.

"When I originally came to this world, it was after being hit and pretty much obliterated by a bunch of people I'd trusted back in my old world. I believe they think that I'm dead now, but anyway, that totally messed with my brain so I was a total amnesiac, so I did what anyone without memories would do-" She started, speaking a mile a minute. So she'd been an amnesiac? I guess that would make sense, the immense trauma her mind must have taken from the pressure of being transferred from a different world would strain the mind and body quite a bit… in theory.

"I believed them when they told me I was one of their followers who had gotten the 'honor,'" She put air quotes around the word 'honor,' "To be one of the newest evolution of humans. So I did whatever they told me to do, and they realized that I aged a much slower rate than normal people after a few years, and believed it to be the tests that they did on me. I had to have been with them for at least seven years, and the only thing that really changed was that I grew a bit. The other guy was there so much longer than me, and until two years before I left them, HYDRA," She spat the name like it was acid in her mouth, which it probably tasted like, God knew it was for me. "They made me a fucking killing machine, it was already a talent of mine since the last war that I was in-" Okay, now I was shocked. No matter what happened, Fiend Fyre- Hadria- what am I supposed to call her?- had always been a prim and proper British woman, which I kind of understood now. So when she started cussing, I was on the ledge between laughing and cowering in fear.

Natasha looked like she was reevaluating Maeve again, from all this new info being upchucked at her. When I looked at her, she looked at Maeve contemplatively, she seemed to be considering all the facts.

"And just like the bitch of a man who manipulated me the first time, I did whatever they told me to. And because I was so 'obedient,' I got whatever I wanted from them, whether it was something I thought was interesting, to any of the information they gathered that I wanted." She paused and seemed to think for a bit. "Now that I think about it," She thought aloud, "I believe I have heard rumors that Schmidt is still out there." She told them, which had Tony swearing, Natasha going pale with a nearly unnoticeably slackened jaw before she pulled it together again, while the other neo-Avengers appeared to be getting slightly nervous.

"Fuck, how? I swear the Cap said-" I started before realizing what happened. "That he brought him down with him." I slapped my forehead. "Oh God, how could I have not seen this happening?" I berated myself.

"Why would you have? None of us could have possibly pieced that together." Peter tried to calm me down as Pepper started rubbing my back in soothing circles. These were the only two who had been able to talk me down in the past, because I loved Pepper and Peter was like a son to me.

"He took the same fucking serum as Captain America, so if they had both been thrown into the water at the same height at the same speed, what are the chances that only one would survive?" I roared. I was too overcome with my rage to worry about hurting either of them. "They had the same fucking physical abilities, so they both had equal chances! And Mr. I- am- so- much- better- 'cause- I'm- from- the- fucking- 40's never even thought to consider whether or not Schmidt had survived that bitch of a fall too." I ranted, I was so pissed at both the Cap and myself.

"You had no idea," Maeve told me soothingly, grabbing my arms in a soft but firm grip to keep me from accidentally hitting Pepper and Peter as I jumped out of their hold, arms flailing in anger. "I understand what you're coming from, trust me, so many had thought the same when the mass murderer that almost took over Britain in my world supposedly 'came back to life.'" She told me as she slowly walked towards me. I subconsciously noticed Pepper typing at her phone, her face pale. She was probably telling Rhodey, who was currently in rehab trying to get used to his new artificial leg-exoskeletons I made for him.

"I am a freaking certified genius, I should have noticed the signs." I told her, coldly and distantly. "If HYDRA survived, they would have needed their leader to guide them. We don't even know if Steve will age like the rest of us, we have no proof." I said, simply stating the facts. Trying to pull my arms away from her grip, though she held firm. I wanted to be pissed at her, I wanted to be able to make scathing remarks, I wanted to hurt her for being a part of HYDRA. But on the other hand, I realized that she was another victim of someone else's manipulations. Like I was with Ob- Stane. It still hurt what he did, but I had actually known him. They had lied to her this whole time, they had told her lies to keep her a loyal weapon. I ended up hating HYDRA even more for hurting this wonderful woman that I had gotten to know.

And then I realized that the Winter Soldier was like her too, they wiped his memories. They had kept him frozen for who knows how long, only unfreezing him and letting him out when they needed him for missions. They hadn't even given him solace in being able to speak with others, like Maeve had, they had just given him orders. And I realized that he could have been a great person before they had taken, like Cap had referred to him as. That soothed my rage and sobered me immediately.

"Yes, but the mass murderer I mentioned, that guy I had to kill seven times," Kill him seven times? I thought, I mean, how do you kill someone seven times? And why seven? "From when I was eleven years old to when I was seventeen. And no one would believe me when I told them that he was still out there. What the people don't want to know, they will not believe until the truth slaps them in their faces. It is simply how we think." She told me, her eyes flashing with the memory of pain. In her eyes, it was like they were shattered. And in that moment, I really wished I could pull off her mask to see her face, but I couldn't. Not without her permission, so I did the next best thing.

I hugged her.

Pepper looked like she was happy, her eyes were glossing over with tears. Maybe she was glad we had found someone who could help me let go of some of my guilt by telling stories of her past? I don't know, but Maeve was like a breath of fresh air. To me, she seemed kind of like a kindred spirit, having been through similar things to me in the past. After I thought about it awhile, I realised we were more alike than I had originally thought.

I released her and stepped back, just looking at this woman, Hadria Maeve Potter. She seemed so confused, as if she were wondering why I had hugged her. And then it hit me, her back story. Her relatives had beaten her from a young age, starving her, forcing her to be their little slave. I wanted to hug her again, but before I could, T'Challa walked up to her and touched her back. She nodded before stepping on to the balcony.

"The war, it was strange." She explained to us as we all stepped onto the lounge on the balcony. Natasha sat down and leaned forward slightly, showing that she was truly interested in what Hadria had to say. "We were pretty much a secret society, we who were able to harness the power of these waves." She closed her eyes. "There were people who used these waves for great things, healing death wounds, making things fly, making life simple for everyone. But the ones without the ability could not find out, the last time they knew… They nearly wiped us out, blaming us for everything wrong with the world. We could do nearly everything, yet we couldn't save his wife? Her child? People were dying of the Plague, but we couldn't protect them? They decided that it was our fault, it was because of our 'magic.'" She took a deep breath.

"The war was between two different factions. One was called the Dark side, where the worst Dark Lord of the century, Voldemort, rallied the people who called themselves 'Pure-bloods' against all they believed weren't 'Pure.' Like Hitler, they believed that anyone not 'Pure,' should either serve those that are, or be killed. Surprisingly, Voldemort was a very persuasive man, who was able to turn the minds of many. He quickly started a war after graduating the best school of Magic there was, Hogwarts."

Here, Peter and I started laughing. I mean, seriously? Their great villain was 'Flight of Death?' And the school they went to was called pig pimples? Who came up with this stuff? I quickly let my opinion be known, with Peter agreeing with me, though we were told to shut up by Natasha after she slapped the back of both of our heads.

"Anyway," Maeve continued, ignoring our outbursts but telling us with a smile in her voice. "He created seven objects to house parts of his soul while he searched for the items that would supposedly give him immortality. And, of course, continued killing all those impure, though I found out that he was 'impure' himself. Talk about hypocrite." Maeve rolled her eyes. "But later, a prophecy was made. 'The one with the power to defeat the Dark One approaches, born to those who have thrice defied him. Born as the seventh month dies, and the Dark Lord will mark them as his equal, but he shall have a power the Dark Lord knows not. And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live as long as the other survives. The one with the power to kill the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.' There were only two candidates for this, a boy named Neville, who grew up with his grandmother, and then there was the other candidate, me." She told us. She looked so lost, thinking about this.

"Neville's parents were attacked by one of Voldemort's generals, a woman by the name of Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black. She tortured them into comas they were never able to awaken from. Yet, the Dark Lord chose my family to attack that night, on Halloween in 1981." She told us solemnly. "My parents tried to protect me, and died that night. Yet, my mother was able to protect me with a spell she cast before she died. By sacrificing her life, when Voldemort cast the Killing Curse on me, it rebounded and hit him. Only he didn't die, because of his horcruxes. His body was destroyed, and many thought that he had been killed, but eleven years later, be resurfaced. He tried to get the Philosopher's stone by attaching himself to a new teacher to Hogwarts. When he tried to get it though, my friends and I were able to catch up, but I ended up having to go in and face him alone." She pause to let us take this in. 'So, she went in alone… as an eleven year old… to face a mass murderer who killed her parents… Okay, yeah, she's had worse than anyone that I've ever known. And she even came from the sorta-past too! Take that Captain America!' I ranted mentally. "I killed for the first time that night, as I had to kill the professor to get rid of Voldemort." She told us solemnly.

"Then, the next year he came back again, this time using his diary, which was also a horcrux. He went into the Chamber of Secrets, where it was said that there was a great monster being kept, and woke it up using his rare ability, even among wizards, called Parseltongue; the ability to speak to snakes. He nearly killed a girl by sucking her life force and magic out of her for his resurrection." She told us, counting it off on her fingers. "Third year, my godfather, Sirius Black, who had been accused of assisting the Dark Lord in the murder of my parents and telling him where we were escaped prison, and we found the rat who was another of my parent's friends, Peter Pettigrew, a man who could turn into a rat, who was the actual mole who supposedly died." She sounded disgusted as she spoke that man's name, as if the mere sound of it made her want to punch something.

"He was a dreadful man, would do anything to live. Not so surprisingly, we killed him in later years." Maeve said with no remorse, maybe just a little bit of disdain. "In fourth year, a man who was disguised as a great officer came to our school to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, also known as the more dangerous spells, entered me into a contest that I could not back out of without losing my magic and it was highly likely that I was going to die, where I met and accidentally helped revive old Moldyshorts unwillingly. Fun fact; everyone was so scared of the guy, they would only call him 'The-One-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named,' and 'The Dark Lord,' and 'You Know Who.'" She told us humorously. I would have laughed, if what she had just told us wasn't so heavy. I mean, entered in a death contest where you had to compete or lose all your powers? Damn, that's screwed up.

"Fifth year, I was almost expelled because I used magic as self defense to save my cousin and I from these nasty creatures called dementors. They literally suck the joy out of you, sucking out your soul if they kiss you. Their decision was quickly rescinded when I started asking why there were dementors out and about in Surrey, England ready to kill all the regular people, we called them muggles. We got a new teacher for DADA, one Delores Umbridge, who didn't let us do any magic." She lifted her sleeve on her left arm. "When we disobeyed, we had to right lines in a blood quill." She showed us her left arm. It said, clear as day in Hadria's writing, 'I shall not tell lies.' Scarred on her arm. "I was forced to take lessons with a teacher who despised me about shielding my mind from mind control. I am now a master, if anyone is interested." She tells us offhandedly, and Natasha did look interested in that, "My friends and I raided a Ministry building because I had had a vision of my godfather being tortured there. I saw him die that day, killed by his own cousin, Bellatrix LeStrange." She looked away as tears flooded her eyes. I could tell she wasn't faking them, I had seen too many crocodile tears to not be able to tell the difference.

She recomposed herself though and continued. "I may or may not have cheated sixth year, using a textbook with notes in it. It helped me a lot in potions, explaining all the things that I hadn't understood in past years. That helped me get the secret from my Potions professor on how he had spilled the beans on Horcruxes to Voldemort before he turned completely insane. The bloke who had manipulated who I was up until then was killed by the end of the year, when he froze me while I was hidden as he was killed by the professor who despised me, Professor Snape."

"Seventh year, two of my friends and I skipped out on school to go Horcrux hunting. We managed to discover them all, but we soon found that there was one more. One that even Voldemort didn't know about, the one hidden in me." She told them. T'Challa started to rub soothing circles on her back. "We were captured along the way, and my friend Hermione was almost tortured as a result. I took it instead though, I didn't want her to get hurt. In the end we escaped, all of us. As soon as we finished finding the rest of the horcruxes, we returned to the school. Now, we hadn't necessarily destroyed them all. I had had to do a lot of wheedling to actually find those horcruxes locations without getting killed. When we returned, Voldemort was on the verge of attacking. I saw him kill the Professor who had supposedly hated me for my father, and he showed me his memories. Of how he'd loved my mother, how he was a spy for the group that bloke created, how he had saved my life and led me to Gryffindor's Sword. A sword that could cut anything. I still have it." Her shoulders slumped as she thought about what she was telling us. "I was never able to thank him for what he's done for me, so I walked out to face Voldemort alone. I was walking to my death, because I was a Horcrux. Once I died, there would only be one more to destroy, Voldemort's snake, Nagini." She let out a shaky breath.

"He cast the killing curse, sent it flying right at me, and I was dead, briefly. But I woke up, the part he killed was the Horcrux. I just visited the land between the land of the living and the land of the dead. I saw all my loved ones there, and was able to make formal goodbyes to them all, before I woke up. I defeated Voldemort, I killed him. I was able to take the most powerful wand from him, and I took my rage and sadness out on the Death Eaters that were still present and alive. I slaughtered them, before I had to be pulled back by my friends." She softly, ruefully before she sighed.

"A few years later, when I was 27 years old, the Ministry noticed I wasn't aging at all. There, I had stopped aging all together. I quickly emptied my vaults, all of them, making a will to give whatever I didn't take to those that were still alive and there for me. Once the will was made, and everything was in order, I left the bank and our police force, the Aurors, descended on me. They shot spell after spell at me, and eventually I was outnumbered. I stood tall though, and I knocked out quite a few without actually fighting them. Then, a great number of spells hit me at the same time and," She stood up and spun around. "Here I am."