You ever wonder what your life would be like had you changed a certain event in your life? If you had went left instead of right, or if you should've gotten pie instead of cake? Right about now, I'm pretty sure I've felt that way more than once. But have you ever wondered what your life would've been like if you hadn't even come home and just worked extra hours at the coffee shop?
No? Well, I have. Seeing as that moment was now.
The head of SHIELD was sitting at my dining room table, adding sugar to his coffee. I don't know how long Nick Fury had been sitting in my apartment or when he had the time to brew a pot of coffee. All I know is that it scared the shit out of me.
"Ms. Summers, it's great to finally meet you in person." He said.
I smiled at him as I put my purse own on the couch and sat my keys down in the bowl next to the table. "Nice to meet you,too. I'm sure it would've been nicer if you hadn't snuck into my house." I replied icily.
"I have to apologize but my need was urgent." He said.
"Urgent enough for you to not just knock on my door?" I asked.
"I know about you and your abilities."
I paused in my actions of making a sandwich.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
The sound of the chair scraping against the floor alerted me to turn around.
"I know you could kill me now if I touched you. I know with just a snap of your fingers I could be dead. I know that you're of an unknown species." he said, walking forward with each sentence.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I said again, stepping backwards with each word.
Fury stepped down, backing up and leaning against the counter I was just against. He picked up my butter knife and started to finish my sandwich.
"I've got a proposition, and possibly a job opportunity, for you should you choose to accept." he said.
I crossed my arms over my chest. "Oh yeah? What is it?"
Nick placed the knife down and turned fully towards me.
"I want you to join the Avengers Initiative."
With that, I burst out laughing. Then I ran. I flashed into my room, grabbing whatever I could. Then I flashed into the living room, picking up my purse. I flashed out of my apartment completely and ended up in the park. I dashed for the oldest looking oak tree and slipped my hand into its trunk where I kept my backpack with new information to completely change my identity.
'I'll come back to my house within the month. But right now, I have a quick mission to attend to.' I thought.
Being a master of disguise had it's ultimate perks. Sneaking into Tony Stark's charity ball at the Avengers tower was easier than I thought it would be. The waiters' company should really check who they give an outfit to, I was basically thrown an outfit. But I'm definitely not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
I just put the outfit on and grabbed a tray. The man I was looking for had to be here, seeing as he was part of the Avengers and I had seen almost all of them, including the twins from Sovokia. I crept along, just handing out finger foods to people who looked to be too rich for their own good.
I looked for the doctor but I didn't see him. I turned, planning on leaving when I bumped into a wall. My platter fell and I made a dash to grab it but the wall in front of me did it before I could.
"That could've been a mess." he said.
I smiled shyly, tucking a hair behind my ear. "That would've been bad." I said silently.
I grabbed the platter from him and smiled again. "Dr. Banner, can I ask you a question?"
He smirked. "That would depend on the content of this question."
"It's a really pressing matter for me, can we go somewhere more private?" I asked.
He smiled and gestured for me to follow him. We ended up in a small room, not that far from the party.
"So what is this question you have to ask?" he said.
"Is it...possible for a few different species to be combined into a human without the possibility of death?"
"It would depend on how many species. But to my knowledge, there hasn't been a successful trial for animal cross species since that giant lizard dude in Manhattan." Banner said.
"But what if it was successful? What if there was a human who could possess the ability of four different animals?" I asked, nervously playing with my fingers.
"It would depend on the cellular makeup of this person, and then the life spans of each animal summed up and divided by the estimated life span of this person."
I smiled. "Thank you, Dr. Banner. You have been of great help to me." I said, holding out my hand for his to shake.
I walked back out of the room, platter in hand and headed to the bar. But on my way, I made eye contact with a seemingly familiar person. The person locked eyes with me and beckoned me forward with a finger. I flipped my hair over my shoulder and walked over to them.
"Can I help you?" I said to him.
"Would you mind telling me why you're here?" the voice said.
A memory hit me full force.
Shrapnel fell all around me as I worked to get the power dampening cuffs off my wrists. The chair I was tied to was doing nothing to help me. Sounds of explosions and people yelling alarmed me and I tried my best to scoot the chair into a corner in the dark.
The sounds of carnage were getting closer to the room I was being kept in. I looked up to the door as I was trying to get out of the cuffs.
"Come on, Mel. You've gotta do this. Skylar didn't die for anything." I whispered to myself and felt tears pricking at my eyes.
The door burst open and I tried my hardest to get out of the cuffs. The man (who I later found out was Hawkeye) at the door rushed to me, cutting my binds before disabling the cuffs.
"COME ON!" he yelled at me, picking me up.
The fear of the situation jarred me forward and I let him carry me out of the room and the rest of the facility. My power levels were low and I waited for them to come back. Some more soldiers I had noticed on my way into this facility stepped in front of the man and he stopped, analyzing the situation.
"Give us the girl." one of them said.
"Over my dead body." the man said and surged forward. He didn't notice they had guns and they started to shoot. One flew past my ear, and the sound made me pull up a force field in front of us as he ran through them. They tried to engage in hand-to-hand combat but bounced off the field. He ran out of the doors of the facility and ushered me to a car.
"When I drop you off, get out of New York. Go off grid." he said to me as he drove down the road.
"You got it, dude." I said sleepily, my powers seeming to drain me more and more.
"New York is my home. I'm not going to let being kidnapped once, affect my whole life." I answered Hawkeye.
"Well, you should've listened to me, because now SHIELD wants to recruit you."
"I know. Fury popped up at my house earlier today."
Just then, the words, my soul mark on my neck, started to tingle.
"He's here?!" I said.
"What? Who's here?" Hawkeye asked, standing up.
"My soulmate." I whispered to him, looking around the bar.
A pair of lips found themselves upon my neck and I almost floated off into subspace.
I turned around, straight into the chest of the one and only Tony Stark.
He looked me up and down. "Say...what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" he asked.
The words on my neck tingled but I snickered at the stupid pickup line.
"You can't use that pick up line if said place is your building." I said.
The widening of his eyes threw me off for a second when I realized that he had just said my words. He reached for me and I pulled away.
The sound of the platter crashing unto the floor invaded the sounds of the room and it went deathly quiet. Everyone seemed to be looking at me. I freaked out, my face probably turning the shade of a beet.
Tony looked at me and then the crowd and then threw his hands up in the air. "It's not a party until something falls, right guys?" he smiled.
Everybody laughed and the party continued. I turned to look at Tony but my vision focused on the approaching figure. Patchy The Pirate himself.
I scrambled away them and to the balcony, once I steeled myself to jump, I lept off.
My world was black before I even started screaming.