Accidental Avenger

Chapter 9

"You're going to stay here," Natasha said as she led me away from the meeting room. "I don't feel comfortable having you come with us."

"No, it's okay, I get it," I said. "I'd be a liability."

"Hill will be around if you need her," Natasha added. We were standing in the destroyed living room area. "Oh, and here," She handed be a phone. "In case you need to reach us."

I took the phone and turned it on. I felt a light tingle on my skin, like static electricity, as the phone started up, and then immediately died.

"Wait, Natasha," I said. "The phone died."

Natasha, who was already halfway back to the meeting room, stopped and turned around. "What do you mean it died?" She asked. "It should be fully charged."

I held up the phone. "It's dead. I don't know what happened."

Natasha walked back over to me and took the phone. She tried to turn it on, but when it wouldn't come back to life, she frowned. "Let's go get you a new one."

I followed her to another room I hadn't seen before. It was full of all kinds of gadgets and gizmos; things I'd never seen in the movies before mixed in with things that couldn't be mistaken for anything else. Arrows for Clint, and various weapons for Natasha. There were also some other versions of Steve's shield and even a half-built suit in the corner.

On a table by the wall there were a couple of docks with cell phones plugged into them. Natasha pulled one out, turned it on, and waited for the screen to flash before handing it to me.

"Try that one," She said as she placed the dead phone on one of the docks.

It looked like an iPhone but when I swiped to unlock it, the phone died again. And I got that strange static feeling again.

"Did that one die, too?" Natasha asked. "What is going on?"

I handed the phone back. "I don't know. But—" I hesitated.

"But what?" Natasha asked. She put the dead phone on the dock and picked up another one.

"Nothing," I said. "Never mind."

She looked at me curiously. "You sure?"

I nodded.

"Try not to let this one die, okay?" She handed me a third phone.

"I'll try," I said as I stuck it into my pocket.

"We'll be back before you know it," Natasha said. "Try not to get into too much trouble. But I am going to talk to Tony about these phones. Maybe there's something wrong with the dock."

She left me in the room full of weapons with a gentle pat on my shoulder.

I stood next to the phones until I was sure she was gone. I pulled out the third phone and swiped on the lock screen to open it. The apps appeared like normal, but when I went to click the calculator butt just to test it out, the phone buzzed and warned me that it was at 10% before dying.

This time, the static feeling was stronger, more like a full-on electric shock than static. I felt it flow through me. I felt like I was being filled up with energy, like the one and only time I drank coffee. I felt like I was vibrating. Like my insides were trying to become my outsides. My mind started racing a million miles a minute. All I wanted was for the feeling to go away. I was out of control and I didn't like it.

Then I exploded.

Or, at least, it felt like I exploded.

All that pent up energy burst out of me. There was a slight shockwave and the phones on the table in front of me skittered around. The dead ones in the dock lit up. The one in my hand said it was fully charged.

I slumped to my knees, a wave of exhaustion crashing over me. The phone in my hands buzzed. When I looked, there was a message saying it was at 10% again, and then it died again. As soon as it did, and I felt that rustle of electricity on my skin, I felt instantly better.

I dropped the phone and backed away. I ran out of the room and toward the meeting room where it looked like there were at least a couple of people still in there.

When I walked in, I saw Steve and Tony around a computer, maybe making plans with each other.

Steve turned and looked at me. "Looking for Romanoff? I think she's getting ready."

"No," I said. "I mean, yeah. Sort of. Can I come with you guys?"

"You're just going to be a liability," Tony said.

"Things like this get ugly fast," Steve added. "We just don't want you to get hurt."

"But," I said. "I mean, I can just stay in the jet. I won't go anywhere. I won't do anything. I'll just... sit quietly in a corner. Please, just, don't leave me here alone."

Steve's eyes softened. "Alright, fine," He said. "You can come. But you're going to have to explain why to Romanoff."