Freya rises into the air while she waits for the guys to get the quinjet running. Once they close the ramp, Steve fires it up and initiates a slow, vertical take-off.
"Comms," Freya calls out when they finally get level with her in the air. She watches them through the cockpit window as they buckle in.
"Check," Sam responds.
"Check," Bucky echoes.
"We're good to go, Doll," Steve nods at her. "Lead the way."
Freya nods and presses the new button that her dad had integrated into her suit. Excited to finally get some use out of it. Her perfectly matching white and silver helmet deploys and encases her head. Her long hair pokes through the top opening, giving her a large, blonde, fiery mohawk while her aura swirls around her. Her solid, glowing eyes shine through her mask, which covers the upper part of her face. The edge of it stops at her cheekbones and just before the tip of her nose. It only goes as far back as the outer corner of her eyes before dropping down to wrap around the bottom of her jaw and chin. Leaving an opening over the lower portion of her face. It extends down to cover her neck and connects with her suit to make the entire uniform whole.
"Whoa..." Sam and Bucky mumble.
"Freya... wow," Steve smiles.
"How do I look?" she asks them.
"Like your mom," they all answer, pulling a huge grin out of her.
Facing south, Freya starts the journey off at a slow pace. She's still trying to adjust to the insane amount of power she can feel coursing through her now. It feels like her entire body has a swarm of angry hornets buzzing around inside of her. It doesn't hurt and it's not uncomfortable. The feeling is just... definitely different. As they get further away from home, Freya picks up speed and stays at a comfortable pace for the quinjet. But, as she gets closer to whatever's to the south, her stomach starts to get a sickening feeling. She frowns in unease, and in return, feels Steve's worry for her accompany it.
"You get a feeling?" Steve asks.
"Yeah," she sighs.
The energy signature is quickly gaining intensity as she continues to lead the quinjet. It almost feels like she's being pulled towards it. But, at the same time, she wants to make a sharp U-turn and get as far as she can from it. That negative feeling grows stronger when they cross over the state line into New Jersey. She takes a large breath to keep herself calm and focused. Glancing to her left, New York City is easily visible from their altitude. When she looks ahead, she can start to make out a faint glow of lights in the far distance that just don't seem to belong. Her powers were right when they said her senses had been enhanced. They already were to begin with because of her genetic make up, but now it's on a whole other level of ridiculous.
When they close in on the source of the lights, Freya slows to a stop. Steve slows the quinjet and stops to hover it next to her. Sam is sitting in the co-pilot's seat, but Bucky had unbuckled his harness and is now standing behind him and Steve. The four of them all silently stare at the scene in front of them. There's a town sprawled out across the landscape. It looks completely normal for the most part. But, there are no cars driving around and there is a clear lack of any visible people whatsoever. The thing that's most out of place though, is the border of portable light towers set up around the town in a hexagonal formation. All roads into the town are also blocked off. The S.W.O.R.D. base Darcy had spoken of is set up on the other side of the town.
"FRIDAY, what town is this?" Steve asks the AI.
"Westview, New Jersey. Population: 3,892," FRIDAY informs everyone.
"Alright, well let's get in there," Bucky nods.
"No," Freya objects quickly. There's a brief flicker in distance near the border of lights that catches her eye. Slowly flying forward, she stops near the top of one of the lights and narrows her eyes. "There's a barrier here."
"A barrier?" Steve asks in shock.
"Yeah," Freya nods. Her eyes travel around the town where the lights are placed. She's now able to make out a barrier that's encasing the entire town. "The light towers that S.W.O.R.D. set up are acting as an outline. Look closely, you'll see it flicker."
"We see it," Steve confirms after a few moments.
"What does that mean? What about the people inside?" Bucky asks in a rarely heard worried tone.
"I'm not sure," Freya shakes her head. She frowns when she thinks about the episode she had with her powers yesterday. She hadn't only felt Wanda's pain, but other people's as well. And it was a lot of people... "Hey, Sammy, wanna take a lap around it with me to get a closer look with your goggles?" she asks.
"Already ahead of you," Sam replies.
Freya looks back and sees the ramp of the quinjet already opening. Sam leaps out of it and quickly releases his wings. The boosters on his wing pack ignite and he flies over to her side and hovers in place. Bucky sits down in the co-pilot's seat and hits the button to close the ramp.
"Stay on the outside of the lights," Freya warns Steve. "Sam and I will meet you at the camp. It looks like they already noticed us anyway." She spots multiple trucks and Humvees driving insanely fast around the edge of the town toward their side. A few spot lights are being aimed their way now, too.
"I'm pretty sure it isn't the quinjet that they've spotted, Doll," Steve chuckles as he gestures to her.
"Oh, right," Freya mumbles when she glances down at her brightly glowing form. "Why don't you and Buck go intercept the welcome wagon to buy us some time. We'll only be a few minutes."
"Just go land the quinjet in the middle of the camp. That and the Winter Soldier should provide enough of a distraction," Sam snorts.
"Sam," Steve scolds. Freya scoffs in disbelief at Sam and smacks his shoulder, which only makes him grin.
"No, that's actually a good idea for a distraction," Bucky replies.
"Wait, you're not actually serious?" Freya questions in disbelief.
"It's not like I'm gonna do anything to them," Bucky shrugs. " Plus, I'm not wanted anymore since I was pardoned."
"You sure about this, Buck?" Steve asks.
"Yeah, it might be kinda funny," Bucky cracks a smile.
"If you say so," Steve sighs. He looks up at Freya and Sam through the windshield nods. "Be careful, you two. We'll see you in a few."
Freya and Sam nod in reply and watch Steve pilot the quinjet away. He guides it around the town and pretty much lands it right in the middle of the S.W.O.R.D. base. They can see the instant panic it's causing. The vehicles headed toward Freya and Sam instantly slam on their brakes, make a sharp U-turn and quickly speed back to base.
"Nice," Sam laughs.
"Alright, let's see if we can find out anything," Freya nods. She begins to fly around the edge of the barrier as Sam settles into place next to her. He taps the side of his goggles to bring up his heads-up display and scans the nearly invisible energy field. "You getting anything?"
"Holy shit... Yeah, a ton of CMBR," Sam says in confusion.
"Radiation dating back to the Big Bang?" Freya mutters as they continue to circle the barrier.
"The levels seem safe enough out here. For now. I'm getting some weird interference, though," Sam informs her. "It's like there's some type of broadcast frequency entwined with the readings."
"Can you make anything of it?" she asks.
"No," he sighs. "Surprisingly enough, even after you Starkified my gear, I don't have the proper tech to make sense of it."
"If it's a broadcast frequency, S.W.O.R.D. should have a physio-scope on hand. I'm sure Darcy already made use of it, though," Freya says. "Let's head over to the base and hope Steve and Bucky haven't gotten into too much trouble yet."
"One can only hope," Sam jokes. Freya just snorts in response as they fly over to where the quinjet is parked.
From afar, Freya is able to see everything with her newly enhanced vision. Sam just uses his goggles to zoom in. They can see Steve and Bucky walk down the ramp of the quinjet while a large group of soldiers approach them. Once they spot Bucky, their guns are instantly drawn and their laser sights aim directly at his chest. Steve, who now has his helmet on, pulls Mjölnir from his belt and yanks his shield off his back. He wields them at the ready as he stands protectively in front of Bucky. Bucky just nonchalantly puts his hands up and smiles.
"Well, it looks like they got their attention," Sam snorts. Anger surges through Freya when she sees the green laser sights on not only Bucky, but Steve as well. Sam glances over at her and sees the look on her face. "Frey..." he warns.
Without a word, she takes advantage of her new power and blasts ahead with a loud boom as she breaks the sound barrier. Leaving Sam to trail behind with a shriek of surprise. Followed by a shout of protest at being left in the dust. In mere seconds, Freya lands in front of Steve and Bucky and briefly slides to a stop over the wet grass. Even though she's forcing herself to hold back, the landing has enough force to create a huge wave of her aura that rushes outwards. It washes over everyone and makes them stumble like it's a strong gust of wind. She slowly stands up straight and glares at everyone that has a gun raised. Even with her small size, her presence is extremely intimidating. Her aura seems to grow in intensity as her anger feeds it. It's emitting this distorted pulsing sound. Much like the sound of her mother's photon blast ability. Her narrowed eyes are glowing dangerously. All laser sights are now trained on her. Steve attempts to step in front of her to shield her as well, but she holds her arm out, preventing him from doing so. Glancing over her shoulder, she checks to make sure him and Bucky are okay. Steve just sends her a short nod while Bucky is smugly grinning at the soldiers due to their terrified expressions. Sam finally catches up and lands next to Bucky, who's finally lowering his hands.
"You're so goddamn fast, Merc," Sam shakes his head in disbelief as his wings retract.
"It's so cool," Bucky grins.
"Lower your weapons," Freya orders the soldiers in her distorted voice. "We're not your enemy."
The soldiers look around at each other in question. Not sure if they should take orders from an individual who isn't with S.W.O.R.D. or the FBI. Though, the fact that she's an Avenger, and is currently glowing like she's a living star, is causing them to question their actions.
"I'd do as she says," an annoyed voice calls out. Everyone turns to see a man in a S.W.O.R.D. uniform approach. He glares at the soldiers, who finally lower their weapons, before scowling at the new arrivals. "What the hell are you guys doing here? No one invited you."
"Nice to see you, too, Agent Monti," Freya greets him sarcastically in her distorted voice, causing his eyes to go wide. "Where's your handler?" she smirks. Sam and Bucky snicker quietly behind her while Steve openly smirks as well.
"Director Hayward will be back soon enough when he hears about this," Monti glares as he tries to hide the embarrassed flush on his face.
"Oh, I'm sure he will," Freya rolls her eyes. She powers down her aura while her eyes fade back to normal. Pressing her thumb to the button on her right index finger, her helmet retracts to reveal her full face. Her hair somehow cascades neatly down her back once again without a single tangle or frizzy strand in sight.
"Freya!" Darcy shoves her way through the soldiers, completely ignoring the fact that they're all armed with AR-15's. An Asian gentleman with an FBI jacket that had been standing with her looks on with an awestruck expression as she jogs over to the Avengers and greets Freya with a hug.
"Hey, Darce," Freya smiles.
"Darcy, hey," Steve greets her. He gives her a one-armed hug while he places his shield on his back.
"Hey, it's Mew Mew," Darcy points at Mjölnir, making Steve chuckle.
"Hey, Doc," Sam grins as he and Darcy perform their handshake. Once they finish, he pulls her into a bear hug.
"It's good to see you, Sam," Darcy laughs. She pulls away and looks around at the team. "It's good to see all of you." Her eyes seem to brighten when she finally notices Bucky. "Hey, you're Sergeant Barnes," she smiles. Bucky's eyebrows raise in surprise at the fact that she's greeting him like he's a regular person and not the Winter Soldier.
"Uh, yeah, hi. You can call me Bucky," Bucky nods with a small smile. He sticks out his normal hand and she eagerly returns the handshake.
"You know these clowns?" Agent Monti asks Darcy.
"These Avengers are my friends," Darcy corrects him before mumbling to herself. "And they're not the one's who are clowns." Freya easily hears her and snorts in response, making Darcy grin proudly.
"So, you called them out here? Even after the Director told you not to," Monti accuses her.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Darcy says matter-of-factly. The agent turns his accusing glare on Freya in question.
"I felt a disturbance in the Force and decided to investigate," Freya jokes with a shrug before sending him cheeky grin. The agent glares at them for a moment longer before letting out a defeated huff.
"All right, everyone get back to work! Show's over!" Agent Monti orders. Everyone quickly stumbles over each other and scrambles back to their posts. "Did you really have to park there?" he asks Steve while gesturing to the quinjet.
"Nope," Steve replies with a smug smirk. Agent Monti gives everyone an unfriendly onceover in response before turning on his heel and leaving.
"I think that went well," Sam nods.
"I mean, it definitely could've gone worse," Bucky shrugs.
"So, that was totally all new to me," Darcy gestures to Freya's eyes and body.
"Oh, uh, yeah. There's been some recent developm-"
"Excuse me. I'm sorry to interrupt." The man in the FBI jacket cuts off Freya as he approaches them. "Uh, hi. I'm James E. Woo, FBI." He raises a hand and magically produces a business card.
"Close-up magic, nice," Freya nods as she takes the card. "Oh, wait! You're Scott's FBI Jimmy, aren't you?"
"Scott calls me his FBI Jimmy?" Jimmy asks, clearly flattered and very much excited that the Avengers know who he is.
"Oh, yeah, totally," Sam smirks and nods vigorously. Freya sends him a warning look, which makes him instantly clamp his mouth shut. Bucky snorts when he tries to hold in a laugh, resulting in Sam glaring at him.
"That's a conversation for another time," Steve tells Jimmy, now all business. Who quickly nods in agreement while attempting to stay professional.
"So, what exactly is going on here?" Freya asks as she turns to look at the barrier. "Wanda's involved, that's a given. I can feel her energy signature very clearly from this close. But, everything else is still muddled. It's like I'm being blocked," she tells them.
"We barely know more than you," Darcy frowns, clearly frustrated.
"What we do know is that Monica is somewhere in there," Jimmy nods, now completely professional. "Director Hayward sent her out here to help me with a missing persons case. Which quickly turned into a missing town. When she was investigating, she accidentally got pulled into the anomaly and we've had zero contact with her since. Why don't we head inside so we can talk more in private. Plus, there's something that Darcy and I need to show you," Jimmy tells them with a hint of confusion. He nods toward the largest structure in the camp and begins to lead the way. Darcy falls in step next to him while the Avengers silently trail behind.
"FRIDAY, can you secure the quinjet, please?" Freya asks the AI through her comm. "Make sure no one tries to snoop."
"Of course, Freya," FRIDAY replies as the ramp of the quinjet begins to close.
Their short trek there isn't without lingering stares and whispers from the other personnel on site. No one entertains the attention though, and they continue to ignore everyone else even after they make it inside. Jimmy leads them to a more secluded area off to the side of the main room. Tables lining the walls are cluttered with computers, paperwork and files. Multiple screens display graphs and data being collected from the anomaly. A whiteboard has an assortment of questions written all over it that Freya doesn't bother to read at the moment. Because she's entirely focused on the magnetic display board that has a handful of pictures on it. So far, all of them are entirely in black and white. There's an older couple, a few pictures of Wanda, and...
"Oh, my God..." Freya gasps.
Steve, Bucky and Sam freeze in place, clearly confused at what they're looking at. They watch Freya slowly approach the board and reach up to softly touch a specific picture. Her fingers gently brush over the man's face in shock. It's like she's afraid he'll disappear. Even in his human form, Freya would recognize him anywhere.
"Vision...?"
Hey, everyone!
Regarding Freya's powers. Her eyes now glow just like Carol's. It's no longer just her irises, but is instead her entire eyes. Just like Carol in Captain Marvel. It's a trait that Freya has inherited from Carol now that she's unlocked her full power. And from here on out, any time her eyes are described as glowing, that's what they look like. Also, any time she ignites her aura or eyes, her voice will be its distorted version. This is supposed to signify that she's no longer resisting her powers or is holding back. She has finally learned to not only trust herself, but the sentient entities as well that are bound to her through her powers. As shown in the first chapter when she willingly handed over the reins to her own body.
I hope you guys are enjoying the story!
Mitzy