Hey, I'm updating today because for the next two weeks I'm gonna be in Puerto Rico. I should be able to update there, but tomorrow I'm leaving really early in the morning, and the flight is 8 hours (aw crap) and I also might get stuck in the airport in Texas because there's a storm passing over Puerto Rico and they might cancel the flight (double crap)

Anyway, the title of this chapter is from P!nk 'Where Did the Beat Go?'

I only own my characters

Chapter Seventeen

The voices in my head, they cause this fury

Sighing, I gaze down at the locket that Thor got me for Christmas. The black wolf on it suddenly looks eerie now, its amber eye blazing. Madison's Jabberjay looks like innocent prey about to be eaten by a beast.

I let out a soft groan, close it, and put the chain around my neck. Ever since my argument with the Wolf the day before yesterday, I've felt like I'm in a daze. And when I look at all the wolf stuff my friends got me, it just makes me feel…. I don't know. Guilty? Sad?...Regret? I can't describe the feeling. All I know is that the fight shook me badly.

I've never been ashamed of being a wolf mutant. And yet, that feeling that I now get when I look at the wolf gifts, Steve's painting, or think about Faolan's presents….

"Zoey!"

I jump in surprise, staring at the bathroom door. "Yeah?" I reply. Madison asks, "Are you ready?"

"Sure, just give me a sec…" I quickly grab my stuff from the bathroom floor and walk into our room. I dump it onto the bed and Madison starts shoving it into a bag.

"Come on! Clint told us to be ready by 11!" she says, looking flustered as she zips up the bag and moves to pack her own. I raise an eyebrow.

"So?"

"It's 10:45!"

"Oh."

It takes us a good ten minutes to get everything ready. When we are, I grab two of our bags and am about to head out the door when Madison stops me.

"Wait!" I turn to her. She has the wolf hat that Darcy got me in her hands. "Aren't you going to wear your wolf hat?" my sister asks.

I blink, and then take the hat and put it on. "Of course," I lie, "I just forgot."

Madison doesn't look convinced, but says nothing as I lead the way to the elevator. We step inside and she clicks the button for the roof. We stand in an awkward silence as the elevator starts moving. Well, until Madison asks, "Are you alright?"

She looks suspicious, but also concerned. Still, I reply, "Yeah. Why?"

She shrugs and says, "I dunno. You've just seemed a bit off ever since…. well… the mental argument."

I sigh and roll my shoulders. On the bright side, neither she or the Wolf have spoken to me inside my mind. I'm grateful for that, still being sensitive to mental conversations.

"I'm fine." I lie, shrugging. Madison glances at me one more time, and then sighs, adjusting her Jabberjay bow. Ever since she got it, I haven't seen her without it. She even gave it a name. The Jabberjay. I wonder where she got that from.

Mom rushes to meet us as we step out onto the top floor. Her eyes are watering, and she scoops us into a tight hug.

"Okay, girls," she says, her voice croaky, "Do everything they tell you and don't get in trouble. And don't break the Helicarrier again. And don't bother agents. And don't get hurt. And-and-"

"Mom!" Madison laughs, pulling away from her, "We get it! We get it!"

Well, not that we'll actually do any of those things. I give a small smirk and Mom kisses me on the cheek. "You're gonna do it," she cries, tears running down her cheeks as she hugs me again, "You're gonna free those mutants! I know you will!"

I giggle, feeling a little overwhelmed. Suddenly, I sense the Wolf lurking in the back of my mind, and I faintly wonder if my real mother would say the same things as Luna does.

Pushing the thought away, I wiggle out of Mom's grasp and say, "Don't worry. We'll be fine."

"Yeah!" Madison says, "And we've got Assassin's Creed to teach us how to kill anyone who tries to eat us!"

Mom gives her a disapproving look, but then pulls us into one final hug before we head towards the Avengers, who are patiently waiting for us near a jet. Fury made sure that it is a SHIELD jet, and I can see the symbolic bird painted white against the dull gray of the metal.

"Be good!" Mom calls after us as we begin to pile into the jet. Pepper and Jane gently grab her arms to prevent her from following us. Darcy and Betty, who are behind them, wave goodbye.

Looking over my shoulder, I salute to Darcy and say, "Good luck with the intern!"

I hear her laugh as I duck inside the jet. Finding a seat in the back, I flop down on it and curl up, looking out the window even though we haven't started flying. Mom, Jane, Pepper, Betty, and Darcy are all still waving. Then, Darcy cups her hands around her mouth and starts howling, and is soon joined by the others. Grimacing, I squeeze my eyes shut and turn away.

When I open them again, Bruce is sitting across from me. The rest of the Avengers glance at him before finding seats a bit away from us. Oh great. He probably told them he was going to give me a pep talk.

We sit in silence for a few minutes, and as we do the jet engine turns on. Once we're in the air and the others are talking, Bruce asks quietly, "Is it the Wolf?"

I blink, pretending to be confused, "What?"

"I know something's bothering you." he replies, a don't-try-to-deny-it tone in his voice, "Is it the Wolf?"

I stare at him for a few moments, and then sigh, "How did you know?"

The scientist raises an eyebrow slightly and says, "I could tell. I used to act like that during some rough times with the Other Guy." He pauses for a moment, and then asks, "Have you taken a look at my notebook?"

Glancing down, I shake my head. Honestly, I've just been trying to forget about the Wolf these past couple of days.

Bruce gives a few little nods as he turns to look at my bags, "You should. It could help you." He leans back and takes out a book of his own, "Don't worry. I've told the others to give us some space, so Clint and Natasha won't be a problem."

After that, he stays silent, reading his book. I stare at him blankly for a few moments, and then slowly zip open the bag with my Christmas gifts.

Bruce's notebook lies at the bottom, so after a little while of moving multiple gifts, I take it out and zip up the bag. Taking the old book in my hands, I gaze at it for a while. It's waxy, frayed a bit at the edges, and looks like it's been roughly shoved inside of a backpack multiple times. The cover is a dark brown and has two little black strings that wrap around the book to keep it closed.

I glance up at Bruce, biting my lip uncertainly. I've been meaning to ask him something, but there was never a good change. Now's alright, since we're alone, and I'm about to learn how to control the Wolf, but I don't know how to say it.

Before I can stop myself, I blurt out, "Bruce, if you ever find out anything about my family, you would tell me, right?"

He looks at me, surprised. Then, "Of course I would. Why would you even think I wouldn't?"

I shrug and turn back to the book, my heart feeling a bit lighter.

Slowly, I untie the strings and let them hang, opening the book. I note that the pages look more like parchment, slightly golden and old-looking. I skim over the first page again, and the turn to the next one.

Now, I'm not a huge fan of reading, but I can make an exception for this.

I notice immediately that Bruce's notes are slightly disorganized. Thankfully, I find that he wrote a summary of them with a different colored pen on the side, so I simply read those for the next hour and a half.

To my surprise, I actually read some pretty useful stuff. Turns out, the Hulk is very similar to the Wolf, trying to control Bruce and make him do bad things. It's strange; Bruce seems to handle it so easily.

At some point, the scientist gets up to go to the bathroom, and I take a break from reading. Once Bruce is out of sight, Natasha, who is across the aisle, turns around in her seat and asks, "You alright over there?"

I nod and say, "Just reading."

The assassin wears a poker face as she turns back around, but I can tell she's not satisfied with my answer. Leaning back in my chair, I sigh. I really can't afford to get on SHIELD's bad side right now, especially with all the stuff they're doing for me.

...well… okay, so maybe destroying the Helicarrier wasn't exactly a great way to be on their good side, but hey, we had fun in the process.

Stretching out my legs, I stand up for a few moments to get off my numb butt. Looking around, I see the gang engaged in separate, quiet conversations, or doing something else. I can see the tips of Faolan's ears near the front of the jet, Madison and Uncle Tony sitting across from him. I glance away and see Steve look up from his game of cards with Clint.

The super soldier smiles a little, and then focuses back on his cards. I see Uncle Tony glance at me, as well as Thor and Clint. Sighing, I look away and sit back down.

I can tell that they've noticed my behavior these past couple of days. For the most part, they've just been casual around me, but occasionally they'll give me a sort of encouraging smile, or a keep-on-going look. I don't know whether to be grateful for those, or just annoyed.

An hour after Bruce comes back from the bathroom, the pilot announces that we will soon be landing.

"Now, I hope you all had a very happy holiday." Fury says with sarcasm as he paces back and forth in front of the meeting table in the bridge room. "Not that I did." he adds under his breath, which I can ear because of my wolf senses. The director turns back to us and continues, "But now we need to get serious. You two," he gestures to Bruce and Uncle Tony, "Need to find any information about the Lab and report it back to me. Once we have enough, we'll organize a plan of attack. Meanwhile," he turns to Madison, Faolan, and I, "You three will stay out of the way, under constant surveillance by Agent May."

Behind him, I see a strict, no-nonsense looking lady with pale skin and dark brown hair. Oh, great. He really was serious about us having a babysitter.

Fury reaches into his pockets and takes out eight little earpieces. Handing them out, he says, "You can communicate to anyone using these." Madison takes hers and stares at it in confusion.

"Uhh…." she asks, "How do we work these things?"

"Just click the button on the side."

She nods and fumbles with it. When she clicks the button, she raises it up to her mouth and yells, "BOOM!"

"Ack!" Clint yelps, yanking his earpiece out. Unfortunately, he had put it on before everybody else. Glaring at Madison, the archer drawls, "I would not like to be deaf, thank you very much."

She gives him a sheepish grin, puts on her earpiece, and looks to Faolan, who's having trouble putting his own in. The mini machine keeps falling out of his large wolf ears, and eventually Madison just takes it away from him, "Give it up, 'Lan. Your ears are way too big." She pockets the earpiece, and then whirls around, "Come on, guys! I wanna try out The Jabberjay in the training room!"

"Hold up," I call after her, "I still need my earpiece." Turning back around, I look at Fury expectantly. He shakes head and says, "I've already had one built into your collar. Remember?"

I blink, and then run my fingers along my collar. Sometimes I actually forget about it, just laying comfortably around my neck. Turns out, the thing is waterproof, so since it's also unremovable, I have to take a shower with it.

Suddenly, I hear the Wolf's rough, raspy voice in my head, spitting, Collar! Ridiculous!

I send it a fierce snarl and it presence vanishes.

Focusing back on Fury, I harden my gaze a little and let out a very wolf-like growl, "Fine."

Whirling around, I stalk out after Madison, who is waiting for me at the door. The Wolf's constant reminding of how Fury is the 'leader' when I should be is getting on my nerves. I know I probably will never stand up to him, but I'm not a huge fan of Fury either. I mean, a collar? Really? Talk about controlling. It makes me feel like just another owned mutt out there, doing whatever Fury wants. Like… like one of his lapdogs, even though I usually refer his agents to those….

...you know what? I think this Wolf is too influential. Back to reality.

As I catch them, I sense Agent May tailing us a few feet behind. Glancing over my shoulder, I see the strict agent following us, her face expressionless. Letting out an exasperated sigh, I say to Madison and Faolan, "Race ya there."

They both look surprised, and Madison asks, "Really?"

"Yeah," I slow down as we reach our room, "Wait a moment, though." Pushing the door open, I drop our bags on the floor and quickly grab my Nightlock bow. Closing the door, I turn to them and ask, "Are you ready?"

"Yep! Onetwothreego!" Madison immediately dashes away, heading towards the training room. Taken by surprise, I dart after her, quickly catching up due to my superhuman speed. Instead of going ahead of her, I match her pace step-for-step. Faolan appears at my side, running on his four legs. Looking over my shoulder, I see Agent May running behind us. Okay, this is getting annoying.

Grabbing Madison's hand, I race onward, not bothering to control my speed. Madison yelps as I practically drag her along, dodging passing agents with quick jerks. Faolan follows us easily, his speed matching mine. After about a minute, I see the training room up ahead. Getting a mischievous idea, I shove Faolan behind a corner, heaving Madison along with me and covering her mouth.

She breathes heavily through her nose, completely out of breath. Faolan is panting a little, but is otherwise fine. Meanwhile, I haven't even broken a sweat.

Pressing my back against the wall, I hear the drumming footsteps of Agent May growing steadily closer and closer. Then, at the right time, I jump out of cover and yell, "BOO!"

Unfortunately, instead of having the usual reaction like most people ( ya know like screaming, falling, fainting, etc) the agent runs smack into me.

I yelp and she grunts as we crash to the ground in a flurry of legs and arms. Groaning, I roughly shove her off of me and hop to my feet. Grabbing Madison's hand again, I drag her and Faolan along as I burst into the training room, leaving a moaning Agent May on the floor.

A few hours later…

"Hahaha! And remember how you nearly shot that agent in the head?" I laugh as Madison and I chat in the gymnasia area of the training room. We've had a lot of practice in gymnastics, since we've been climbing and swinging around trees ever since we were little.

At the moment, we're lounging on a couple of high bars, resting after a couple of hours of wrestling, climbing, and shooting arrows. Poor Faolan can't climb, though, and is currently tussling with some dude in the fighting area.

Madison snorts, "Well, it was his fault for walking behind the targets. And it was my first time!"

"Yeah," I grin, "And now you're a pro."

"Thanks to you and Clint. But I still think its weird that you knew archery than I did and we're sisters."

"Well, while you signed up for art, I signed up for a period of archery in our summer camp."

"Yeah. But, man, how much can you learn from a camp?"

I shrug, still feeling happier than I have in days. There's nothing like causing trouble to lift your spirits.

Over on a bench, Agent May, who we have successfully driven insane, watches us with an unbreaking gaze. Lifting her head a bit, she says, her voice echoing across the room, "Be careful up there, girls."

"No promises!" I call back. She mutters something inaudible, but I'm sure that it's not a compliment. Laughing, I turn back to Madison. My sister opens her mouth to say something, but suddenly her earpiece buzzes. At the same time, my collar beeps and starts humming. Uncle Tony's voice sounds from it, "Hey, guys, you should come see this."

"What'd you find?" I hear Clint ask as he joins in on the comlink. There's the sound of shuffling, and then Fury, who I'm guessing is down at the 'science room' with Bruce and Uncle Tony, says, "Just come down here. Except you, Zoey." I blink in surprise, and he continues, "I need you and Faolan to go on a mini mission with Agent Hill. Agent May will escort you down to the bridge where you will meet up with her and follow her orders."

"Why do I have to do it?" I complain, "I want to see what they found!"

"We'll tell you later, Zoey." Bruce says. His voice sounds strange, though. I narrow my eyes, and Fury adds, "That's an order, Zoey." Biting back a sharp retort of 'I'm not a SHIELD agent!', I sigh, "Alright, fine."

Madison and I climb down from the bars and land on the ground with simultaneous thumps. Glancing over at Agent May, I watch her stand and guess that Fury told her what he told us. As she walks over to me, Madison heads towards the door.

"See ya later, Zoey!" she calls over her shoulder, and then disappears. I stare after her, and then look at my 'babysitter'.

Awkward silence.

Rolling my eyes, I walk to the door. Agent May darts after me and quickly takes the lead.

Jerk.

Before I exit, I look around and call out, "Faolan!"

I hear shuffling, some grunts, and then the male wolf mutant appears, dashing over to me.

"Where are we going?" he asks and I shrug, "I dunno. Some mini mission, according to Fury."

Faolan nods and follows me out of the room.

The trip to the bridge takes a little while, and I have to resist the urge to dash ahead of Agent May. This whole 'babysitter' thing is so stupid. It just shows that Fury doesn't trust us, and we're, like, his packmates. And leaders have to trust their packmates, right?

Well, I guess I wouldn't trust somebody very much if they destroyed my den. But, hey, we're kids. You don't see alphas going around snapping at mischievous pups.

Agent May opens the door to the Bridge Room and gestures me to walk inside. Reluctant to put her behind me and out of my sight, I hesitate. Faolan seems to sense this and steps behind me, separating me and May. Giving him a grateful look, I walk inside.

Maria Hill waits next to the table with her arms folded. She nods to my babysitter, and Agent May disappears.

I glance over my shoulder, and then at Maria. She turns around and walks through another door. Faolan and I glance at each other. The male mutant huffs, making the tuft of fur on his head flutter a little. I roll my eyes and follow the agent.

Trotting up to her side, I ask, "What are we doing?"

"You'll see." she answers simply, not looking at me. I blink and frown a little. I thought she and I were, ya know, cool.

There's a moment of silence, and then I ask, "Did you like your Christmas present?" Her brisk pace wavers for a moment, but soon resumes and she replies, "The bear was cute."

I stare at her and urge, "And the chocolate?"

She actually looks at me for a moment, and then replies, "I'm allergic to dairy."

"Oh." My expression falters and she looks away. Dang it. I knew I should have gotten dark chocolate instead of milk.

We both stay quiet for the next minute or so. Faolan takes the rear, walking silently behind me. Then, being the curious mutant I am, I wonder aloud, "What's it like to be allergic to dairy? I mean, you can't eat ice cream or cheese or milk. Do you just eat vegetables and gross stuff? Well, that would explain why you're so fit and stuff-"

Maria interrupts me with a 'seriously' look. I shrug and mutter, "Just asking."

"Look, Zoey," she suddenly stops and faces me. I halt and feel Faolan's nose bump into the back of my head. He takes a step backward and Maria glances at him before continuing, "I'm not gonna try and sugarcoat it; you're on Director Fury's bad side. SHIELD isn't used to dealing with kids, and you've proven why. If you want Fury to treat you better, I suggest not asking too many questions, obeying his orders without complaining, and not destroying the Helicarrier."

With that, she turns back around and continues walking. I stand still, deadpanned.

….Wow…

….That was sudden…

Maria opens a door a few feet away from us and walks inside, leaving the door open for us. Faolan hesitates and gives me a wary look. Shaking my head, I walk into the room, Faolan following.

To my surprise, I find myself in the engineering room that I peeked into a while ago. The engineers were working on my collar…. jerks.

I keep saying that a lot.

I need a better mean name.

While keeping this story rated T.

Said engineers are milling around, prodding and poking a bunch of science stuff. Maria strides up to one confidently and asks, "Did you get the Director's message?"

The engineer turn around and nods, "Of course. Bring her here, please."

Maria turns to me and grabs my shoulder. Thanks to my mutant strength, I'm able to stay rooted to the spot. The agent gives me a stern look and I ask suspiciously, "What's going on?"

The engineer glances at her, and then hold out his hand to me, "My name is Sophocles Savvy." I blink and stare at him blankly. Sof-o-what? He smiles and continues, "But you can just call Cles. We're just making a few modifications on your collar."

I roll my eyes and say rudely, "Isn't it complicated enough?"

Cles simply laughs, "Well, you know what they say: There's no such thing as too much." he puts his hand behind my back and leads me towards a table. I glance over my shoulder and see Maria stop Faolan from following. My body is tense as Cles lifts me up onto the table.

"Actually, there is," I say smartly, "Like, too much homework will make your brain explode. Or too much food will make your stomach explode. And too much alcohol gets you drunk."

He stares at me on the last one, but then smiles. The engineer picks up some tools and says, "Now, Zoey, can you tilt your chin up, please?"

"Why?" I ask, and Maria mutters, "This is exactly what I meant."

I glare at her and reluctantly lift up my chin, exposing my neck. Cles starts fiddling with my collar, and I hear Faolan growl a little. About thirty seconds later, my collar clicks and comes off.

I glance at it, and then rub my neck where it was.

You know when you take off a bandaid after wearing it for a really long time and then your skin feels all abnormally soft? Yeah, that's how my neck feels.

I continue to rub my neck while keeping one eye on Cles. He takes a few little metal squares out of my collar and replaces them with new ones. Then, he does more science stuff and I raise an eyebrow at Maria.

"What's he doing?" I ask her quietly. The agent simply shrugs and replies, "Just some mandatory updates that Fury asked for, as well as replacements for…" she cuts herself off and I look at her suspiciously. She shakes her head, "Nevermind."

I narrow my eyes. Well, the Wolf was right about something. SHIELD does have a lot of secrets. Some that involve me, apparently.

And I'm going to find out what it is.

Raising an eyebrow, I ask, "Why is Faolan here, by the way?"

Cles glances up from his work and replies, "Oh, he's getting a collar too."

I frown, "Why?"

As I speak, another engineer walks up to us with a collar similar to mine in her hands, "It's ready!" She approaches Faolan, who in turn tenses and bares his teeth. Maria nudges him and he drops his oncoming snarl, glancing at me. Our eyes meet and I narrow mine, "Don't let her-"

Before he can do anything, the engineer quickly puts the collar around his neck. Faolan jerks away, snarling. The engineer backs away and hands something to Maria before leaving, looking startled.

"Almost done," I turn back to Cles, "Aaaaaand…. there!"

There's a click, and then he lifts up my collar and moves to put it back on my neck. Before he can, however, I block him with my hand.

"Why does Fury want me to wear this collar?" I ask distrustfully, "He can just give me an earpiece like the others."

I see a flicker of uncertainty flash in Cles's eyes, which only adds to my suspicion. The engineer replies casually, "There's a tracking device in here in case you get lost on a mission and they need to find you. The same goes for Faolan's."

"And they don't care about the others if they get lost? I don't see them wearing collars. Maybe that's because there's a tracking device in their earpieces."

Cles's eyes widen a bit and he looks a little panicked. "Er," he stutters, "Well, you see-uh-"

"We don't have time for this." Maria interrupts, distracting me. Cles seizes his opportunity and puts the collar around my neck. I snarl and jerk away. The collar feels different this time. There are small, cold, metal squares lining the inside and pressing against my skin.

I glare daggers at Cles. If looks could kill...

Maria grabs my arm and pulls me off the table, "Let's go."

"Good idea." I agree, feeling a bit of anger. These guys are definitely hiding something. I walk towards the door briskly, "I think I need to have a little chat with Fury."

I feel the Wolf stirring in the back of my mind as I enter the Bridge Room. For some reason, though, I don't send it away. Instead, I let it remain, prowling around and lurking.

The Avengers are gathered around the meeting table, each with built-into-the-table tablets in front of them. Fury paces back and forth next to the table. They all look up as I walk in with Maria and Faolan behind me. I notice a few of them not-so-subtly tap their tablets, probably closing whatever was on it.

"Hey, Fury!" I call out snarkily, striding up to him with confidence. The Director turns to face me, and I can see his shoulders are tense.

"Yes?" he asks as I stop half a foot away from him, glaring up at him with conviction. His voice holds a warning note in it, which I ignore completely.

"Why do I really have this collar?" I ask, "And don't give me that crap about the tracking device. You can put all of this," I gesture to my collar, "into an earpiece. Unless there's something else in my collar?"

My eyes narrow and I fix him with a piercing gaze, "So, what's your game?"

The large man holds my gaze and I resist the urge to look away. Finally, he says through gritted teeth, "Keep up your attitude and you'll find out."

He looks away and turns back to the Avengers, who are staring at us with wide eyes. Fury clears his throat and nods towards an empty chair in between Madison and Clint, "Have a seat, Zoey."

Without taking my eyes off of him, I reply, "No thanks. I'd rather stand."

He gives me a warning look, and then says, "Then stand over there."

I stare at him for a few moments, and then grudgingly walk over and stand behind the empty chair. Faolan stands beside me, his presence comforting to me. I glance at him gratefully and he jerks his head.

The Director continues pacing, "We were just discussing our plan of attack. Stark and Banner discovered that the Lab is planning a major mutant transport to China. Pull up the information and show her," he says to Clint. The archer nods and starts tapping his tablet.

As he does, I ask, "So, what did you find out down in the science room?"

For some reason, all the Avengers glance up and give each other strange looks. They're almost knowing, or concerned, or….. pitiful looks. I narrow my eyes, "What?"

"Oh, it was…" Steve starts, "Just, er, stuff that...uh…"

Something inside of me snaps and I outright scowl. "Really?" I growl, "More secrets? How much can SHIELD hide?!"

Their eyes widen a bit, and Natasha asks, "What do you me-"

Suddenly, Clint's tablet starts glitching and lets out an extremely high-pitched shrill. I hiss and cover my ears, feeling Faolan do the same next to me. Everybody looks at me in confusion, except for Steve, who's covering his ears too.

"What tis the matter, friends?" Thor asks, standing up. Through my covered ears, I hear Clint reply, "Somebody's trying to hack in. Here, let me-"

Suddenly, the shrill stops and is replaced by a voice, "Nice try, SHIELD."

We all freeze, and the voice continues, "Did you really think you could hack into our main files? Oh, no, we are much smarter than that. I assume that you already know of our plans to transport some of the more successful mutants to China. No matter, though. If you try to stop us, we'll simply kill off those wolf mutants you love so much. Isn't that right, Zoey?"

My eyes widen. Cathal told them…

"So, there's something for you to chew on. You attack us, and we'll retaliate, with a bit of help from the Chinese military forces, and we start killing your pack. We already killed a few of them, as a result of you stealing one of our experiments. Good luck making your choice, but know this: You come for us, and you'll regret it. You come for us, and we'll be ready. Good-bye, Zoey Colt."

The voice then buzzes out and Clint's tablet goes black. We all stare at each other, wide-eyed. None of us know what to say.

I rub my forehead. Of course they remember me. How could they not? Mason's not exactly a man to forget, and they probably don't get many clients anyway. Aww, man, and they killed one of the Pack because of Faolan's escape.

Finally, after a long silence, Madison asks quietly, "What do we do?"

Fury looks at her, and then after a moment, replies, "Plan our attack more carefully."

"What?!" I exclaim, "Are you crazy?! You heard what he said; if we attack their transport plane, they'll kill my Pack!"

"Well, we can't let them get the mutants to China." Fury argues, "They're going to have a huge advantage in war against other countries. We can't let that happen."

"But…" I'm at loss for words, torn between saving my Pack and stopping war. Faolan looks between me and the Avengers, also torn. He then brushes my arm comfortingly with his paw. I glance at him, and then sigh.

I run a hand through my hair. "Alright," I groan, "Just… what else did you find out in the science room? Besides the transporting thing. I'm gonna need to know everything…"

I stop at the looks they give each other. They're the same weird ones from earlier. "What?" I ask, feeling a little scared. Fury glances at me and shakes his head, "It's not important. What's important is-"

"No," I interrupt him, "No, I will not stand any more of SHIELD's stupid secrets! I am sick of it! If you want my loyalty, then spill." I hiss at the end.

Everybody glances from me, to Fury. Even the agents around the bridge are silent.

When nobody speaks, Faolan steps forward and growls, "No lies."

Finally, Fury sighs and says, "Just tell her. And make it quick, we've got better things to discuss."

Bruce gives him a look, and then turns to me, "Zoey, we...uh… found a file about you. Your parents were on it, too."

My heart lurches and I stare at him. I open and close my mouth, completely flabbergasted. Then, I find my voice and say quietly, "You promised, Bruce." Louder, I almost yell, "You promised you would tell me if you found anything!"

"Zoey, I can explain." he says calmly, raising his hands.

"Oh, please do!" I snap, glowering. The scientist takes off his glasses and folds his hands, "We didn't tell you because, well, you've been having a rough time lately and it, er, your file didn't exactly have good news."

"What did it say?" I growl through gritted teeth. Bruce glances at the others, and Uncle Tony helps him, "Your real name Shani Flint. Nice little ring in it, huh?" He attempts to joke, but everybody just glares at him. I urge, "And?"

Steve looks at me, pity in his eyes, and says, "Your parents, Katie and Jack Flint, were, uh… young, and they didn't have a lot of money."

Beside me, Faolan tenses. Fear sparks inside my heart and I croak, "Wh-what else…?"

Nobody seems to want to continue, and I clench my fists. Tears begin to form in the back of my eyes.

"Tell me!" I yell, starting to shake.

Fury looks at me and says, "When you were born, they sold you to the Lab for money. They died in a car crash awhile ago." The way he said it was so casual that it takes all my willpower not to claw his stupid face.

Instead I stand there, gaping. The Avengers stare at me, various emotions on their faces, but most of them include pity.

Slowly, I look down at Madison. My gaze travels over everyone in turn, and I whimper, "Why would you keep this from me?"

They all glance at each other in guilt. Steve looks at me and replies, "We didn't want you to get hurt. Director Fury told us to keep this quiet so you wouldn't be distracted."

I stare at him, and then frown. "Fury told you that, huh?" I growl. Faolan, sensing where I'm going with this, peels his lips back, baring his teeth.

Glaring up at the Director, I snap, "What other secrets are you keeping? Huh? I mean, you might as well tell me now, 'cause I've never felt more hurt or betrayed. So what difference would it make? What else are you hiding? Well?" I demand, growing angrier and angrier as I speak.

"Zoey," Madison puts a hand on my arm, "Don't worry. We'll figure out these problems and it'll all be alright soon. Just calm down, okay?"

"No, I will not calm down!" I explode and she flinches. "I will not calm down!" I repeat and then point to Fury, "This man is the most infuriating person I've ever met! He wants to sentence my Pack to their deaths and doesn't give a damn about it, keeps dirty little secrets that don't belong to him, he's manipulating and turning my friends against me, and he acts so freaking casual about it!"

In my mind, the Wolf growls, adding fuel to my fire.

I glare at Fury and stalk up to him. "If you keep this up," I snarl, spitting with rage, "then screw that contract I made with SHIELD!"

Show him what happens when he lies to you, the Wolf snarls quietly.

I don't even bother sending the Wolf away. Instead, I continue ranting at Fury, "Keep this up and you won't have me as your ally! You ask for my loyalty so you'd better clean up your act if you want me on your side!"

As I speak, the Wolf's presence in my mind grows stronger and stronger. That's it, Guitain, it hisses, This pathetic human is trying to kill your Pack and turn your new one against you! You must show him that he cannot do that! He cannot contradict you!

For once, I actually agree with you on something, I growl to it, This is ridiculous! Leaders don't do this!

The Wolf rumbles with pleasure, and I suddenly feel a new, wild energy surge through me.

Meanwhile, Fury narrows his eye. "You're playing a dangerous game, Zoey." he says warningly, "Now sit down."

"No!" I snarl, "I will not sit down and let you destroy my Pack! You're an ignorant, selfish leader! How dare you keep secrets from us?!" I gesture to the Avengers. Bruce holds up his hands, "Now, hold on, Zoey-"

He's corrupt, the Wolf growls immediately, Don't trust him- he's not on your side. He's loyal to Fury.

"What?" I hiss at the scientist, "You're with him too? Why am I not surprised?" Turning to the others, I snarl, "What about you guys? Ganging up on me too?" Faolan is glaring at Fury, but even he looks uncertain.

In the back of my mind, I know this is wrong. I shouldn't be acting like this. But for some reason, I can't stop myself. I've never been so angry in my life, and the Wolf's presence in my mind is so large its as if it is my mind.

I barely notice the SHIELD agents moving towards their weapons. Instead, I whirl around and face Fury, whose hand is brushing his gun.

"Zoey," he says, a wary tone in his voice, "Calm down, this isn't you."

"Oh, what do you know about me?" I hiss, "You think you know everything about your little lapdogs, but you don't know anything about the real them. About the real me!"

My voice suddenly has a strange accent in it, one similar to the Wolf's.

"You don't deserve to be the leader here," I snarl, and I faintly feel claws growing on my nails, "Or anywhere else. You're arrogant and stupid- and someone needs to put you in your place! And since this pathetic excuse for a pack is too cowardly to stand up to you," I glare at the Avengers, "I guess its up to me to do it!"

"Guitain…." Faolan murmurs warningly.

"Zoey," Fury says, a little more stern this time, "Back off. You're in over your head." My eyes widen and I let out a laugh, which sounds rough and more like a cackle. After all this, he really thinks that I'm the incompetent one?

He is a fool, the Wolf snarls, Show him how wrong he is. Show him the real you. Prove yourself. Put him in his place!

Suddenly, the sensible part of me jerks awake and I ask, Wait-what?

Don't wait or it'll be too late! the Wolf hisses, and the wild energy inside of me fizzes, ATTACK!

Before I can stop myself, I lunge at Fury, morphing into the Wolf in the process. He attempts to pull out his gun, but it's too late.

My jaws open, and I sink my fangs into his face.

Natasha's POV

While Clint and the other agents slowly grab their weapons, I reach for the remote to Zoey's collar. I never thought I'd have to do this, but something's wrong with her. She's not acting like herself- I know that what she heard could make her a bit mad, but not like this.

Then, I remember what Bruce said about the wolf in her head and my eyes widen. No, this is not Zoey; this is the Wolf. And it is angry.

Suddenly, the Wolf lunges at Fury and sinks its teeth into his face. Its paw knocks his gun out of his hand and they both crash to the ground.

All the agents whip out their guns and I yell, "Wait!"

Not bothering to make sure they obey, I take out the remote and push the emergency button. I wince as the Wolf's collar turns on.

Sorry, Zoey. You're gonna thank me later, though.

Suddenly, the Wolf collapses, twitching and jerking as electricity surges through its body. Faolan cries out in shock and dashes towards it. After five seconds, I click the button again and the collar turns off. The Wolf goes limp, laying next to Fury, who's clutching his face.

Blood is pooling around him, and I rush over to his side.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Cliffie!

Okay, guys, when Zoey yelled 'Tell me!' I totally imagined Loki when he yelled the same thing to Odin. Oh, gawd, I'm all giddy now! Anyway, R&R, flames, yays, whatever.

*snaps fingers and swaggers out of the room* Later, bitches, I'm going on a vacation!

Love ya!

-Periwinkle Skittles