Heat of the New World - Book 2 (The Avengers)

Chapter 7 - Flush It Out

Annabelle pulled on the extra large t-shirt over the black leggings someone had found, her previous clothes having been torn during the attack. Her body leant against the sink, face rising to look into the mirror.

She looked into the mirror, her face covered in scratches and bruises, red from the cold. She looked down at her shoulder to see where the gun wound was healing, but she knew the scar would never go away.

"Stop," she let out quietly, closing her eyes.

She desperately wanted to put her hair back in a braid, but her mother swatted her hand away everytime Annabelle went to touch it. She had a new dress for her first day of school. Her mother had been working on it for months in her free time, even though Annabelle wanted nothing more than to steal a pair of Steve's pants instead. Her mother cleaned Annabelle's face and brushed her hair one more time, trying a bright blue ribbon in her hair before.

She leant over Annabelle's shoulder and looked at her in the mirror. "My pretty girl."

"Stop it." She opened her eyes again, only seeing herself as she was. She hesitated before pulling her shirt down, gently running a hand over the bullet scar on her shoulder. She flinched away as she felt it burning like it had when she had been shot. She let out a shaky breath. Her fingers then traced the faded blue ribbon at the bottom of her braid before dropping her hand. "No more." She looked at herself in the mirror, steadying her hands. "No more," she repeated more determinedly. She took one last glance at herself before walking out of the bathroom, joining Steve and Tony at the table on the command deck. They had changed back into normal clothing too, sitting in silence as Fury stood in front of them.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket," Fury said, breaking the silence. "I guess he never did get you to sign them." He tossed the bloody Captain America trading cards onto the table in front of Steve. "We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, the location of the cube, Banner, Thor... I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming."

"I thought we figured out the Tesseract's location before the explosion."

"Banner was the only one who knew."

"And Agent Romanoff?"

"She's in the medical unit with Agent Barton. He's still unconscious while they try to figure out how to pull him from Loki's grasp." Fury sighed. "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract," he admitted. "I never put all my chips on that number though because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes." Tony stood and walked away. "Well, it's an old fashioned notion."

"About Agent Barton," Annabelle spoke up after a minute, "I think I can help."

***

Clint shook his head back and forth as Annabelle held onto his arm, pulling memories through the barrier Loki had put up in his head, trying to make it crumble. He groaned and clenched his fists as she continued the process.

"Clint, you're gonna be alright," Natasha assured him calmly as she watched.

"You know that? Is that what you know? I got... I got no window. I have to flush him out."

"I'm trying," Annabelle told him. "It's slow, but it's working."

"It's gotta level out. It's gonna take time."

"You don't understand," he told them. "Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Pull you out and stuff something else in? Do you know what it's like to be unmade?"

"You know that I do."

"And then have the reverse done?"

"Does it hurt?" Annabelle asked, looking up at him.

"I can manage."

"Try this," she offered, closing her eyes again and pushing one of her memories to the front of his mind, filling him with the feeling of painlessness. "Better?" she asked, looking back up.

"How did you-"

"You're not the only one whose brain got messed with by the thing in Loki's scepter." She concentrated again, the barrier finally broke and she pulled away.

"How'd you get him out?"

"Your mind's made of memories, thoughts, feelings. I was able to access enough memories to essentially break down a wall he had put up in your mind. Think of it like a dam. He could control what you remembered, when, and how much. I just had to break the dam. I tried not to invade on your privacy too much. I promise I didn't look into your memories. I didn't mean to hurt you though."

"I feel fine. Thank you." She gave a smile. "Natasha, how many agents did I-"

"Don't," she cut him off as she released his cuffs. "Don't do that to yourself, Clint. This is Loki. This is monsters and magic and nothing we were trained for."

"Loki. Did he get away?"

"Yeah. I don't suppose you know where?"

"Didn't need to know. Didn't ask. He's gonna make his play soon though. Today." Annabelle handed him a cup of water. His fingers brushed against hers and she flinched back. "You alright."

She nodded. "I can't always control... whatever this is yet. Pretty much learned how to use it in the past twenty four hours."

"Sorry."

"It's alright. I have to go. Glad you're okay." she walked out of the room, sorting through what she had seen in Loki's head. "Hot damn," she let out with a small chuckle, running towards the main room before skidding to a stop as she almost ran into Steve.

"Where are you going?"

"I know where Loki is. And his plan."

"Stark Tower?"

"How did you-"

"Tony's smarter than he looks. Come on."

***

Clint, Natasha, Steve, and Annabelle walked through the hanger in their suits. Annabelle's suit had been thrown together with the pair of black leggings she was already wearing, her normal boots, SHIELD uniform shirt that they had cut the sleeves off of and ripped the bottom so that each side fell onto her thighs. It was secured by a belt around her waist which held the handgun she had taken during the attack. Her forearms were protected by metal cuffs and her hands had the brown fingerless gloves she always carried with her. Her outfit was finished off by a hood with a cloth she could pull up over her face, similar to the one she had used during her time as a spy during World War II. They walked into one of the jets, the mechanic walking over to them.

"Hey, you guys aren't authorized to be in here."

"Son," Steve cocked his head, "just don't."

I personally love the beginning of this chapter and find it so powerful! I hope the description of her superhero outfit made sense. I didn't really know how to write that part. Sorry it's late! I thought I hit post, but I guess not.