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You stare at your hands, swirling the darkness around your fingers. A nervous habit, it seemed, staring at the strange black textures floating around usually takes your mind off everything; it’s almost… hypnotic. A hand on your shoulder jolts you out of your reverie, however, and you look up, confused.“Umbra.” Greets Black Widow, smirking at you.“Black Widow.” You reply, returning the smile.“This seat taken?” she enquires, somewhat awkwardly, nodding her head to the seat next to yours.“No, go ahead.” You reply, shifting over. It was more a symbolic gesture than anything else, as there was plenty of room on the bench. She plops down next to you, pushing her legs out in front of her and stretching her arms above her head. You had to get up early for this mission, something you definitely hate doing, so you were all a little tired.“You sure you’re okay to do this?” She asks for the umpteenth time, and you sigh. “Sorry. Stark keeps insisting you stay behind, this is the first Hydra base you’ve been to since we found you and it’s probably an understatement to say they’re unhappy about losing one of their, uh… assets.” She spits the last word with poison and you shake your head, looking away from her face and back at your hands, watching the tendrils of darkness creep around them once again.“You ask me this every time I leave the tower.” A pause “I’ll be fine. I’m not gonna betray you or snap or whatever it is you’re worried about, and I’m stronger than when they lost me. They’re not going to hold me again.” You look to her face with the last statement, and she looks unconvinced, worried even, but she knows how stubborn you can be so she simply nods, giving you a small smile.“How much further?” She calls to the pilot, whose response you don’t bother to listen to. Instead, you close your eyes, feeling the jet shake.*You squeeze your fist shut, straining against the metal restraints at your wrists once again. The doctor standing in front of you tuts. “Come now, my dear, I thought we’d talked about this! You’re not leaving this room until you show me your progress, and remember that I always have the power to persuade you.” He rests his hand next to a tray of surgical tools, amongst which lay a syringe whose contents were not something you wanted to encounter again… You shudder at the memory. After a moment you decide to play along once again, if only to return to your bed, away from the insidious man. You squeeze your eyes shut, focusing... Dark clouds creep into the room from seemingly nowhere, hanging low to the floor like some hellish mists. It doesn’t last long before you have to let go though, head pounding with an immediate migraine and lungs gasping for air like you had run a mile. “Good! Good…” He says, laughing, looking at you with nothing but greed in his dark eyes. “I think we’re done for the day.”*You cringe, standing up. I must have dozed off… The pilot just informed you that you were nearing the drop point, so the current inhabitants of the jet were getting ready to go. Black Widow stood to your right, clicking her guns into her holster, Hawk Eye was to your left, pulling on the string of his bow, and the ever stoic Captain America was stood closest to the door, one arm clutching the ceiling rail and the other holding his iconic shield. Somewhere overhead, you knew Iron Man was flying in separately to act as a distraction, and Thor had remained at the tower to watch after his brother. Missions with The Avengers, even when the team wasn’t complete, were almost always successful. They were like a well-oiled machine, and working with them would always fascinate you.The landing was somewhat bumpy, but you made it to the ground in one piece. The four of you ran from the jet, heading into the surrounding trees. It takes off as soon as you’re clear, probably trying not to remain in the area as much as in necessary.“Right, we’re on our own until Stark calls for a pick up. This is just another ‘infiltrate, destroy the research and leave’ mission, should be a piece of cake. Everyone ready?”You all nod, and the four of you begin the trek through the forest towards the base.*The black spike forms in your palm, shooting at the wall and splintering into a thousand shards. The doctor flinches away, but looks incredibly pleased. Your head is pounding.“Yes! Yes… You see that? You see how powerful you are, what an asset you are to us?” He croons, stroking your cheek with his thumb. You resist the urge to pull your face away or spit at him. Of all of the doctors you had ever been studied by, this man was by far the worst. He pulls his hand away to make a note of something on his clip board with a silver fountain pen housed in the top pocket of his lab coat. What a pretentious arse. You rest your head back against the chair and sigh, trying not to let him see how tired that one demonstration made you.“We are progressing significantly with Asset 2281,” He recites into a recording device, “I believe, if we keep up this rate of development we will be ready for an external test run in the very near future. I remain optimistic.” He clicks the red button, placing the recorder on top of his clip board, straightening it obsessively. “Now. Do that again.”*From where you were sat, the base didn’t look to be more than a couple of large warehouses and some small outbuildings. That didn’t stop you from feeling nervous though, any number of Hydra agents could be housed there. You were currently crouched on the mossy floor, taking cover behind a large fallen tree as you waited for the signal to charge in. The plan was that Stark would create a distraction so that you four could sneak in to find the Intel. Well, sneak as far as you could without being spotted. Doesn’t make sense that we do this in the middle of the day… You were about to say something to Natasha, maybe suggest waiting a couple of hours for the sun to set when you hear the familiar sounds of explosions, followed by some shouting and then gunfire, meaning that the plan was go. You spring up and sprint full pelt around the back of one of the warehouses, all thoughts of delaying the plans gone from your mind, not waiting to see whether the others were following you. You hear more explosions somewhere off to your right, but you ignore them as you make a break for the door, clutching at the handle.“Shit…” You curse. Of course it’s locked. You look around, eyes scanning the scene for the others. Hawkeye and Black Widow must have run a different direction, but lucky for you Captain America was running your way. “Cap, it’s locked!” You call to the man and he pauses to kick the door in, giving you a nod as he continued his path to the other warehouse. You may have been good with your powers, but you generally neglected training for brute strength. It wasn’t like you really had much need for it.You slip through the door, almost taken aback when you’re immediately facing off with five very angry looking Hydra agents. The first charges at you, combat knife raised. You sidestep the attack easily, though, raising your hand and letting loose a knife-like shard of darkness which strikes him in the back of the head. You don’t pause to look but from the way he doesn’t scream, you can tell he was dead before he hit the ground. The next runs at you, clearly upset that you killed his friend. You raise your hand to him, unleashing the spike before he has a chance to get close, this shot hitting him in the chest. This time, though, you have time to watch as it dissolves into his skin, black flooding his veins and clouding his eyes as the gash in his chest bleeds freely. He collapses to the floor and doesn’t get up.The other three seem reluctant to do anything now, looking to each other as if knowing they have lost their fight. You raise your hand and curl it into a fist, and all at once a dark mist floods into the room. Low hanging lights flicker, some of the bulbs explode, and soon the men are choking, not sure where to look.You smirk at their powerlessness against your attack as you run past them to the computers at the far side. As dark as it was, you couldn’t help but find it amusing.You reach the computer console and quickly begin typing away, easily bypassing their security system. Exactly as lacking as we thought it would be. You think to yourself, before placing the transmitter on the console like you had been told to do. You wait by the screen, fingers tapping on the console as you wait for the bar to load, telling you all of the files had been copied and then deleted from their server.You hear a noise behind you, and when you turn to investigate the three men are free of the darkness. How did… you think, before stumbling away from the console and dropping into a crouch behind an upturned table, vision momentarily blackening at the edges. Shit… That must have taken too much energy! You hit your earpiece, calling to the others that the computers in this building had been dealt with.“Yeah we’re all about done here too, Shadow, why don’t you head on out of there, it-“ some static interrupts the message, only cutting back in enough for you to hear the last part, “-overstayed our welcome.”Aka, code for get the hell out of there.“On my way, Tin Man.” You call back with a smirk, already feeling stronger again after your moment of weakness. It would have been true, too, if around fifteen more men hadn’t seen fit to burst through the doors, almost surrounding you. You feel yourself panic. There’s no way you have power enough to take out all of them at once, unless… You try and think quickly, dodging away from the table to behind a console as some of them open fire on you. Smoking holes in the flimsy table tell you that was probably a good idea. What do I do? You puzzle, trying to think quickly and ignore the gunfire echoing around the room. You could try that same trick from before, but judging by how it weakened you then, there was no guarantee that would hold them, let alone kill them. You hear a pause in the gunfire, so you risk jumping up to swipe the device and put it back into your pocket, narrowly managing to dodge behind more cover before the guns started again. Maybe if you just had enough time to make a break for the door…*You look up from your book, it had been quiet in your room for most of that day, but suddenly you realise there was the unmistakable sound of gunfire. You snap the book shut and stand, striding to the small barred window which let you see out at ground level of the compound. You couldn’t see much, but something was on fire. You back away from the window right as you hear someone typing in the code to unlock the door. You turn to face the doctor as he enters. His brow was furrowed and he was sweating.“2281. They’re here. Time to play.” That phrase… Something clicked in your brain. You push past him out of the door, looking both ways before sprinting past Hydra agents, out to the courtyard. That was where you saw them – The Avengers.You fought valiantly, or so Tony made a point to tell you later on, but there was five of them and you were the only “Enhanced Asset” Hydra had present at that base; they easily overpowered you. You were outnumbered, and if you had your own mind at that point and not the head of the mindless soldier they programmed you to be then you would have known that.Hydra lost one of their most promising assets that day. The doctor that was currently working with you was found dead five miles out of the base a few days later by a couple of Hydra agents trying to pick through what was left of the base, and to say they were angry was an understatement.*You squeeze your eyes shut, praying that you don’t get hit by a bullet. They knew who you were, they must do, and you just hoped their orders were to take you alive. If at all. You think bitterly.After a moment, you open your eyes and dive out of your cover, heading for the centre of the group. You pull on the power you feel residing at the back of your mind, curling your hand into a fist and throwing as much power out as possible. The whole room seemed to freeze for a moment, mist once again flooding in. It crept up their bodies, surrounding them in what could only be a very chilling embrace. It wasn’t long before every single agent was frozen in place, some of their hands clawing at their throats. It was as if they were suffocating, being choked by invisible hands. Their eyes were glassy and white, black marks blossoming on their necks. Your whole arm was shaking from the effort as you held it in front of you. Okay… Now go.You sprint from the building on shaky legs, clicking the button on your earpiece and calling out that you were on your way. That was unnecessary though, as they were waiting for you not far from the main gate. “Go!” you yell at them as soon as they see you. They don’t think twice, and soon you’re all running at full pelt away from the small gathering of buildings, Tony flying overhead, blasting parts of the road as you make your retreat.The jet wasn’t much further away, and it took off as soon as you were all on board. You watched as the ground got further away until the door closed with a resounding thud. You turn and face the other agents. The adrenaline was rapidly leaving you, and you suddenly felt… off.“Hey, you okay, kiddo? You don’t look so good.” Clint asks, taking a few steps towards you. That’s all you hear, though, as suddenly you see the ground rushing to meet you, and everything went black.*It had taken them hours to find you, you almost thought they would give up. You had been dropped in the middle of a battle which was easily going in Hydras favour, even without your help. You stayed to fight for some time, but then it dawned on you… you could so easily slip away, perhaps they would assume you among the dead. You take a look around you. Nobody was looking your way, in fact most of them had begun to press forward as you stood there lost in thought. You took a step back, then two, and then you were running full pelt in the other direction. It didn’t take them long to realise though, and as soon as they did, they opened fire in your direction, some of them yelling. You almost got out unharmed too, if it hadn’t been for that one damn bullet that hit you in the leg. You stumbled, but managed to carry on to the door where you burst through, using your power to leave a cloud behind you that would hopefully delay any pursuers.You made it quite far through the wrecked city before you had to stop, and that would always be the most successful of your escape attempts. How were you to know, though, that they had stealth vehicles and agents following you as you ran? They snuck into the building, covering all of the exits before making themselves known to you, and you silently cursed. The doctor strode through the door, in the company of two men with guns. The look he gave you was one of an almost paternal disappointment, and he didn’t say anything as the two men grabbed you, knocking you out and hauling you into the land rover.That’s when the phrase was implemented, to prevent any more unwanted excursions. And it worked. Well, that and the shiny metal restraints they decided to decorate your room with. The phrase gave them a leverage over you, turned you into the warrior they needed you to be, and you were none the wiser. Of course, huge gaps in your memory were disturbing at first, but eventually you got used to it. You figured out why it was happening after not long, but you could never figure out exactly what it was they were doing to you.
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The journey back to the tower was a blur, you woke a couple of times but you didn’t remember much from either occurrence. It’s not until you’re in the small medical area of the Stark tower that you really become aware of your surroundings. An IV is slowly trickling a clear liquid into your arm, and the room is completely empty.“Jarvis?” You mutter as you sit up, voice hoarse and not 100% sure he’ll reply. Still, it’s worth a shot.Sure enough, after not long you hear the familiar voice chirp “Yes, ma’am?” from some unseen speakers.“Uh…” You say, not really sure what to say now. “How… um… where…”“You have been here for almost 14 hours, you were brought in by Mr Stark. Shall I inform him that you are awake?”“Yeah… thanks.” You say.“It is no problem, ma’am.” He responds, some finality to his statement. You settle back into the pillows once again, brow furrowing. It had been some time since you’d lost consciousness using your powers, it felt odd… Part of you was angry at yourself, you spent so long insisting you were ready to go on such a loud mission… You felt weak, and you hated feeling weak, especially where Hydra was concerned. You had to wipe them out, you had to be strong, to end them for what they did to you and probably countless others… You didn’t notice how wound up you were getting until Tony was striding into the room, greeting stuck in his throat as he saw you sat there, eyes clouded with blackness.“Hey…” He said, pace slowing as he made his way to the side of your bed. “You okay?”“Hm? Yeah.” You say, shocked out of your reverie. The shadows you didn’t realise you had summoned dissipated, and you looked at him, tired. “What happened?”“I was hoping you’d be able to tell me.” He responded, frowning and crossing his arms across his chest. “You just dropped, couldn’t find anything wrong with you though. Some dehydration, couple of cuts and bruises here and there but that’s about it.” You nod, fiddling with the IV tube.“I… guess I used too much too quick?” You say honestly, “I choked out a whole room and then legged it, must have just… taken it out of me.” A pause. “It won’t happen again though, I swear.”Tony just hums, tapping away at the computer screen next to your bed. “Don’t worry about it too much, Umbra, we all make mistakes. Your vitals look back to normal, so you can go if you want. I’m sure the others will be pleased you’re okay. I have to admit, you gave us a bit of a scare there.”You smile slightly, trying not to believe he was telling the truth. Some part of you still felt like you didn’t belong there, The Avengers seemed happy to have you, but you’d always know deep down that you were just the ‘asset programmed by Hydra’, that they were keeping you close so Hydra didn’t have you; just another damned pawn…*The door to the gym clicked open, lights flickering to life as you step into the room. You drop your stuff by the wall and walk to the centre of the room. You had been to see the others as per Tony’s suggestion, declined their offer of breakfast, and made your way directly to the gym. Passing out like that had been incredibly stupid on your part, and you were determined to train harder and longer to make sure it never happened again.You raise both hands in front of you, palms facing each other. Darkness began to swirl in between them, and you let a lazy smile drift onto your face. Slowly, the clouds began to harden into icy shards. You continued working, moving your palms further away until the ball of energy was the size of a basketball and definitely solid. It was something you’d been working on for a while, though creating something out of nothing was easier said than done, you were making serious progress. You wait until it’s a good size before dropping it from the air and into your hands. You pass it back and forth, marvelling at its odd weightlessness. Then you raise your arm and hurl it across the room. It soared gracefully through the air as if floating on some unseen breeze, before crashing into the racks of equipment, sending it flying. The wave of sudden, inexplicable anger that caused you to throw it quite so hard ran out rapidly, leaving you breathing heavily and almost feeling ashamed. You rub at your eyes with your hand, huffing.A slow clapping starts from behind you, making you jump. Loki stands near where you dropped your things, leaning against the wall.“What do you want?” You deadpan, eyebrows furrowing as you try not to show how much he was already truly irritating you.“To watch.” He shrugged, cat like grin giving away some ulterior motive hidden beneath his calm yet smug demeanour.“I’m not in the mood, Loki, go bother someone else.” You say, frustration building once again.“Oh, but that makes this so much more interesting.” He replied, stressing the last few words and not even bothering to hide his widening grin. He pushed away from the wall and clasped his hands behind him, standing almost to attention.“You are insufferable.” You reply, turning away from him. If he wants a show, I’ll give him a show…You raise one hand in front of you, thoughts already deviating from the training routine you usually followed. Dark clouds begin to form around you, hanging low to the ground. You slowly begin to move your fingers, brow furrowing in concentration, and before long a figure begins to form in front of you, taking shape and mass until he stands, seven feet tall and waiting for instruction. You allow yourself to feel smug for a moment, staring at the great imposing figure stood in front of you. A gentle flick of your finger and a mental instruction is enough to have him move, and like a puppet master you make him traverse the room. After making him do a lap of the room, you make your marionette pick up one of the weights and symbolically lift it a few times, before replacing it in its place. You make him return to you, now holding a fully formed smirk of your own.You look to Loki, expecting to see him still by the wall. Much to your surprise, he is stood directly next to you, eyes staring greedily at the figure; his face a picture of awe. You shake your head at him, turning back to your puppet. You make him bow low at the self-proclaimed god, bending mockingly and folding his arm across his stomach, before you release your hold on him, black mass turning back to clouds as it falls to the ground and dissipates. Loki releases a breath.“What… was that?” He mutters, still staring at where the figure had been not a moment ago.“I don’t know.” You answer him honestly, something you would probably later regret doing. “I didn’t realise I could make something like that.” You reply trailing off as you feel a bout of dizziness hit you. You turn and stumble to where you left your things, reaching the wall right as your knees decide to give out. You empty the contents of your water bottle in seconds, water trickling down your chin which you wipe away with the back of your hand. Creating the ball had been fairly simple, but something that dramatic? Yikes. Loki turns to you, seemingly lost for words. You rest your head against the wall without breaking eye contact, waiting for him to say something, but he merely nods at you before striding through the doorway. You shake your head again as he leaves, pulling yourself to your feet. Bloody gods.*“If you can make a whole figure, could you make other corporeal things? Weapons maybe? That could be really useful.” Offers Clint, sat opposite you at the counter.“Maybe… I haven’t thought about it that much honestly…” You respond, puzzling over the situation.“Might be worth a shot, eh? Good in a pinch if nothing else.”You nod a reply, taking another mouthful of cereal. He was right, of course, and maybe you’d try it later. If you could arm yourself, you could arm your marionette, as you were calling it, and that could be invaluable. The two of you lapse into silence after that, Clint returning to his work as you finish your cereal.The door clicks open and Thor and Loki enter the room, having what seems like a hushed conversation about something. You take your bowl to the sink and rinse it out before placing it in the dishwasher, and go stand next to Clint. Thor and Loki finish their conversation, Thor striding out of the room leaving Loki standing there, staring after him. Perhaps it had been an argument? You’re not sure why you care, so you turn back to searching aimlessly in the fridge.“Looking for more? Weren’t you just eating, Agent, or are you simply voracious?” Quips Loki, one hand resting on the counter where you had just been sitting. The sharp exhale from Clint tells you he just rolled his eyes and you do the same, turning to face him.“Bored,” A shrug “And anyway, I don’t see why you care, you Asgardians eat more than any of us here combined.” You reply, shutting the fridge with a snap and stalking away. You hear him laugh, enjoying your reaction.“Leave the girl alone, Loki.” Clint deadpans, not even looking up from his work. He has even less tolerance for the god than you do, though you really didn’t blame him.“I am done, don’t worry.” He replies, voice still thick with amusement. You stand in front of the huge window, staring out over the balcony and to the horizon beyond. You see his reflection walk up to you and you tense as he leans his face close to your ear. “I won’t tell anyone how you blush, don’t worry.” He whispers, and you go to elbow him, only to feel your arm pass right through his stomach, which only makes his illusion laugh even harder.“Hey, at least the figure I created had mass, asshole.” You snap, stalking away from the illusion and out of the room, hands curling to fists at your sides as his laughter echoes down the hallway after you.*The elevator doors ding open just as the lights in the room ahead are flickering on. You step out, book under your arm, and walk through the empty room. Normally this floor was used for parties and such, but on quiet days like today it sat empty. The room was not what you wanted, anyway. You push open the huge glass door to the balcony, cold chill immediately hitting your face. There doesn’t appear to be anybody here, so you make your way to your usual perch on the floor. Not far from the glass railing. The sun was not far off setting, bathing everything it touched in a soft golden glow.You managed to lose yourself in your book, not even noticing the sun fully set and the automated lights flicker on around you. In fact, you probably would have stayed there all night if a sudden voice hadn’t jolted you out of your story and back into the real world.“Hey, uh… Tony said I’d find you out here.” Your head snaps up to see Clint standing in the doorway, hands shoved in his pockets. “We got pizza, if you want some.”You nod, giving him a small smile. You stumble a bit upon standing, and he gives you a questioning look. “Oh, uh… my foot went to sleep.” You mutter, and he laughs.“Hard to believe you’re genuinely scary in a fight.” He teases and you laugh too. Okay, maybe you were getting on okay here…*The two of you ride the elevator in a comfortable silence. You almost consider opening your book and finishing your chapter, but you forget how fast the lifts are and you’re where you need to be in no time. As soon as the doors glide open, you’re hit with the smell of fresh hot pizza and your stomach growls.Tony and Bruce are notably absent from the room, as is Loki, though you find yourself thankful for the latter. Conversation drifts around the room as you and Clint enter, and you catch snippets of what the others are saying as you grab some pizza, leaning against the counter. In the corner of your eye you catch Clint taking up a position in the corner of the room while he eats. You turn and give him a nod which he returns. You and he were quite alike in that way, preferring to observe from afar more than be in the thick of things. Though for your own reasons, you presumed; he was called “Hawkeye” for a reason, after all.You’re almost done with your first slice as Tony and Bruce stride in, talking animatedly about something lab related. They stop just in front of you and drag Nat into the conversation, though it all just sounds like white noise to you. Eventually though, they turn and greet you as they grab some of the pizza.“Productive day?” You question, smiling as Tony looks like a kid in a sweet shop.“A whole bunch of new equipment arrived about an hour ago, once it’s installed it means we can launch a new series of experiments into-” He carries on with Bruce interjecting at some points, but you tune it out, not understanding a word of what he was saying. You simply nod, not missing the way Natasha smirks as she catches on that you’re not following him at all.“So, I’ll take it as a yes?” You respond once he is finished talking, and Tony laughs.“Definitely. Very good moods all around.”Silence falls between the four of you as you all continue eating, and at some point you notice Loki slink into the room.“Right.” Announces Tony, setting his empty plate down on the counter and turning to Bruce, clapping the man on the shoulder. “Time to play!”