The Blood Phoenix 5: An Avengers: Assemble Fan-Fiction

Chapter 1: An Unwelcome Introduction

I blinked slowly, letting everything fall into focus. The light above me was bright, and my eyes ached. I tried to move, but everything felt heavy. 

'How is she?' I heard a voice ask. 

'Her heart rate's rising. She's coming off the sedative.' I opened my eyes fully to see a white hospital room. I looked down the bed, and saw my legs strapped down, and my hands cuffed to the bed. My mouth felt dry. The first time I'd ever think to ask for water in literally, forever. I tugged on the restraints. 

'Where the hell am I?' I growled, tugging again. 

'Miss, you're -' An agent of some kind came over to me, trying to say, but before he could get his sentence out, I easily snapped the metal handcuffs, grabbed his head forcefully, and slammed it against the metal armholds of the bed violently, to which the young man collapsed on the floor, blood spilling from a gash on his head. I unrestrained my legs and jumped down from the bed. I looked around, seeing several soldiers in heavy gear with guns pointed at me. 

'Stand down,' a voice said, and a dark-skinned man in a long leather trenchcoat and a single eyepatch came through the row of soldiers ready to fire out in front of me. 'Miss Lehnsherr, you're in a secure SHIELD facility. I'm Director Fury.'

'Why am I here?'

'We found you, in Siberia. Half-dead, barely responsive, little more than a concussion. I'm surprised you're up and walking already. Most would still be on the table. I understand you-'

'You don't understand shit. I demand to know what's going on.' 

'First of all, you've damaged my agent. Second, you're a Level 7 threat. I'm not telling you anything about why you're here until you promise to not make any more trouble.'

'I can't make any promises,' I said slowly. 

'Seeing as you've just taken on one of my agents and have made it perfectly clear that you are a threat to anyone who tries to attack you, I would rather you did make a promise, before we have to sedate you again.' 

'Why am I here? What do you want with me?' He stepped forward, but before he could lay a hand on me, I threw a punch to his face, to which he blocked easily, glaring at me. Before I could go for a kick to where it hurt the most, I felt a sharp sting in my upper arm and looked down to see a needle full of clear fluid drain into my system. I let go of him, stumbling back into the bed. 'What the hell have you done to me?' I looked down at the arm, then back up to him. I blinked, trying to fight the unconsciousness, but his face had started to get blurry, and before I knew it, I'd collapsed on the floor, my vision slowly growing dark. 

I woke up next in a cell. It was small, small enough that I could move around and lie down, but not enough for anything else. I sat up, rubbing my upper arm after being pierced by the needle. I looked down. I was wearing a navy blue tank top, which hung rather loosely on my thin, but muscular figure, and black leather pants. Getting up from the rather uncomfortable cot below me, I walked slowly over to the mirror and looked in it. I'd never been able to look in a mirror the whole time I was in HYDRA, for physical looks were not the essence of being an assassin, unless I was on a special mission. But now that I could see my face for the first time, it looked horrible. Slowly, I pulled off my tank top, wincing at the pain that the needle-pierced arm brought me. I was wearing a sports bra beneath, and multitudes of scars, both little and big, overwhelmed my thin body. My ribs just showed through my skin. My face - the eyes that stared back at me were a beautiful blue, but dull, set within slightly hollowed cheeks. Old bruises littered my face, as well as several scratches from the plane crash. My hair was matted and looked greasy. I placed my trembling hand on the mirror, staring at myself. 

'I was wondering when I would get to see you again,' a feminine voice said from the cell door, breaking me out of my reverie. I spun around. 

'Agent Romanoff,' I said blankly, addressing the red-haired female. 'I assume your director sent you?'

'He did, to check up on you. It's been a while. You remember me?'

'Yes. Arlington, Virginia, right?' 

'Yeah. You've had a rough go of it, I see.' 

'What do you want from me?'

'We don't wanna hurt you,' the female agent said, stepping up to the glass. 'We wanna help. We want to make you good again. Help people. Look, Fury's got this thing going. It's called the Avengers Initiative. There's a guy - he's not of this world, and we need people like you to take him down.' 

'I'm done with killing. I can't do it anymore.'

'We didn't need you because you could kill. We needed you because you're a remarkable person, and you've got a skill set we could use.' 

'Remarkable does not fit my description, Agent,' I said, coming back over to the cot and laying down on it, examining my calloused fingers and untended nails, which were always cut short. 

'You've got a skill set like mine, Adelaide. All you would need to do is assist, really. Be a part of a team. The Avengers. All we need you to do is help us take down Loki. And then, you can be on your way.' 

'No.' 

'Just consider it, okay?' 

'Still no.' All I heard after that was the footsteps trailing away.