Chapter 3: Is that really the best you can do
Alexis followed the green aura down the corridor to the lounge door, where she heard voices. Looking round it she saw what the Avengers were looking at. It was the feed of Luke while he was having a panic attack. Rage filled her; they were supposedly team mates, so why the hell were they spying on them? She knew that they worked for a secret organization that spied for a living but still, that was no excuse. She watched them for another 10 minutes, until they got to the bit where she and Luke had fell "asleep" then listened quietly from the shadows just outside the doorway.
Clint turned the telly off and silence fell in the room. Many had sympathy for Luke as they'd been in similar positions.
"What are we going to about it?" Clint asked the team.
"I could try talking to them." suggested Bruce.
"No, you're a failure when it comes to listening to people's problems. How about we do nothing?" Everyone turned to Stark, with slight surprise. "Trust me, I would know. Talking to people doesn't help; it just makes you think about how those people are obviously sane and secure and how you're not. As soon as they walk out the room, you go and do the complete opposite of what they tell you because you know that that's what's best for you. If you don't you're broken, you can't fix yourself."
"But we should help them." argued Steve. He understood where Tony was coming from, but he didn't think it was the best approach in this situation. "They're obviously in a bad place, and they're part of our team now. We would do it for any of us and anyway, if Fury's made them join to improve the team dynamic, we need to make sure they fit in properly. Also, they're just kids and we're responsible for them so we need to make sure they're looked after." He didn't have a family to look after, so the team had become his and he made it his duty to care for them like a father would.
Alexis had enough. She walked in, boots thudding against the hardwood floor. Her hands were glowing again even though she wasn't muttering. Her face was set into a frown, her mouth in a straight line.
"Or maybe you could ask us, instead of spying on us, and then talking about it behind our backs? You have no idea of what we've been through, because not matter how many times you read our files and try to sympathise, you will never, ever be able to know what it's like to have to go through life with not only your own feelings, but your friends. You go on about us being in a bad place, but we've never been in a good place, so how would you know. The only one of you who had any idea of how to deal with us is that idiot." she shouted at them while pointing at Stark, who looked smugly at everyone else because he was right. "We're supposed to trust you, but how can we do that if we're constantly watching us? Not everything about us is in those damn files so you can't expect to know how to treat us. Just leave us alone!" With that she stormed out the door then got into the lift. A minute later Jarvis announced, "Miss Green has just left the building. Shall I track her whereabouts?"
"No, don't We need to gain her trust" Steve said to the AI, then turned to the team. "So what's the plan of action?"
"I think that one of us should talk to Luke." announced Clint. "They obviously share something, that connection she mentioned. We need to know what she meant. For that we need to talk to Luke. We also need to find out what she means when she talks about not everything about them was in those files."
"I'll do it." For the second time in the past 10 minutes, the team turned to Stark in surprise. Bruce raised an eyebrow at him, questioning his motive. "What, I want to help." He said defensively. "They seem like nice enough kids once you get through to them and if we give her chance I'm sure that Ice Queen Mark 2 will thaw out. This one did." He gestured towards Natasha, who looked at him with a glint of murder in her eyes. Stark shuffled slightly further away from her and fiddled with his bracelets, wondering if his suit would get to him before she killed him. "Also, am I the only one who noticed that Alexis has marks on wrist that look like the ones you get if she's been restrained? And she's got scars all over her arms similar to those of self-harm?" The team looked at each other, looking for answers, causing Stark to roll his eyes. Stark walked out the room and headed up to Luke's room.
Stark knocked on the door, and heard a mumble. He took it as an invite to come in. It was a bad choice. As soon as he stepped in, he got soaked. "I said stay out, so get out." Luke hissed, with eyes glowing blue.
"I need to talk to you, Luke. It's about you and Alexis." Stark said as he cautiously forward, treating the boy as an animal instead of a human. "Clint noticed you had a panic attack, and Alexis had a go at us over it when we were talking about what to do, well when I say we I mean everyone-" Luke's hand started to glow again so Stark started to speak even quicker. "We want to help you, and I know that talking about ways to sort it out won't help, so can you just please tell us what's going on? Alexis mentioned a connection, and I noticed she had restrain marks on her wrist. What's going on Luke?"
Luke contemplated it for a moment, and then slowly came out from under the covers. He looked from side to side, like he was expecting someone to jump out at him. "I'll tell you what I know, but if Alexis finds out you know, she'll kill you, literally. The others can't know, alright? I know you want to help, but she'll know what I did if you all start to treat her differently.
From what she's told me, she's never had a home. Her parents left her when she was about 10, because of her powers. Her magic is a lot stronger than mine and more versatile. I can control water and earth, and I have limited telekinesis, but Alexis, she's amazing. As well as air and fire, she can see auras and I think, I'm not positive, she can read minds and has some magic she can't control that happens when she's feeling intense emotions, similar to how Bruce turns into the Hulk when he's angry. I don't know on that one, that's just something I've observed. I met her when I was 12, and was in a sticky predicament. I'd been cornered by a bunch of teenagers, soccer players I think, and they had guns. One of them placed a gun at my temples, and I never used my powers back them, because I was scared of what I'd do, and then suddenly the guy caught on fire. The next thing I knew was I was in a warehouse, and Alexis was standing over me. Turns out I'd passed out, from shock I think. The first thing she said was "Why didn't you blast him you idiot?" Strange thing was, as I she said that, I suddenly got a rush of feelings, her feelings. She was full of pain and hate for the world, but she had a shield right at her core. That core glowed gold, and I realised it was the source her power. "Yours is blue." She told me. That's why when she casts her magic it's a mix of blue and gold, unless it's directly hers and doesn't draw from my energy. The connection's gotten us out of a lot of trouble before. Since then, we've stuck together, helping each other out. Once we ran into problems when we were cornered by a man, but he wasn't a man. He looked human, but then he turned into a horse. In the end we had to kill him, but not before he'd led us into a trap. It turned out that we'd drawn the attention of an underground black market; they wanted to sell us to the highest bidder. They captured us and restrained us but Alexis fought; she rubbed her wrists raw from trying to escape the cuffs. In the end they had to use this special metal, they called it vibranium of something like that, to restrain her. She still didn't give up and her only thought was to protect me. In the end she blasted her way out, but not before they hurt her. I can't tell you exactly what happened because they separated us and she keeps that memory well-guarded, but I think they beat and raped her. Once we'd got out, we ran and ran. We ran till we got to New York. From there we kept a low profile, but we ended up in another fight pretty soon. We won, but as soon as we finished Fury turned up, and shipped us off to the Helicarrier. And from there you know."
"Wow." That was all Stark could say.
"I know. Alexis is strong, and she's driven. She hides her feelings well, but once you get to know her you notice things. She's tried to kill herself before. A while back, I started to go off a bit on my own, to meet people, to see what a proper life was like. She panicked. She thought I was leaving her. I depend on her a lot, but she depends on me more. She puts on a strong face, and seems all tough, but really it's all an act. She decided that I didn't need her, that she was going to be alone again. Her greatest fear is being alone. I found her with a pile of pills in front of her mumbling to herself. Then she broke down. She's been getting better, but I think she's still insecure. That's why we refused to be split up, she needs a family. I just hope that we can stay here long enough to fit in. She always says that she wants to be left alone but she doesn't actually like it unless she chooses to be alone."
"If I tried talking to her, do you think she'd start to trust me?" Stark asked. He wanted to help her.
"Maybe, I'm not sure. Try it. Now please leave, I want to sleep."
Luke put his head back under the duvet and went back to sleep. Stark smiled at the boy, and let himself out. He headed to lab, pondering how to deal with the problem that was Alexis. He was a genius; he could find a solution, couldn't he?