The Raven

COMING HOME - THREE

Flying above the clouds.

Steve Rogers shifts his gaze from the stack of opened files resting between his palms, Up to meet the nervous Phil Coulson.

"He's like a really smart person." Coulson clarifies his comment regarding Doctor Bruce Banner being a super genius.

Steve nods, A twinge of a smile gracing his lips as he peruses the next file.

"And Natasha Romanoff, What's her role?" He asks, Reading over the much more limited information on the page compared to the endless paragraphs which had been written on Doctor Banners.

A posed picture of a stunning redhead rests on the top right corner by the name, A sinful smirk dancing on her lips which leaves him under the impression she could make the devil blush.

Steve's heart beats faster as he peers up in effort to follow the words flowing from Coulson's mouth.

"She's the best Agent Shield has to offer, In fact when Director Fury is not in the room, Consider her the woman in charge." Coulson declares proudly, He remembers how timid she was when Clint first brought she and Sofia in all those years ago.

It's funny how so much can change in only a few years time, He's trained countless Agents over, But never has he seen such a miraculous transformation such as the one Natasha's made.

Nor one nearly as tragic as Sofia's has been.

He followed Fury's words as God's law since the moment he was introduced to the Director decades ago, Always without a shadow of doubt in his mind.

Until he met the then sixteen year old girl whom they'd been hunting like a wild animal.

Fury told him there was a Alien slaughtering people in droves, But he left out the small — No, The very large piece of the puzzle,
The girl had no idea of where she came from.

And she wasn't slaughtering people for sport, Not even for power as one would assume.

She and her sister were taking hit jobs in order to survive, Children of The Red Room whom were raised without a choice in the world.

Fury tried to convince Coulson Sofia was still a threat even after she and Natasha agreed to join Shield, Unfortunately for Fury, His once loyal lap dog couldn't fathom harming Sofia any more than Clint could.

Fury explained her parentage to Coulson, Hoping it would change his mind, Convince him that she needed to be terminated to prevent a future war.

But instead Coulson argued the opposite, Banished or not, Killing the child of a God would undoubtedly bring forth a war, Whereas by keeping her — Training her, Gaining her trust and having her fight on their side would be a much better plan.

And it would have been.

If only it had it worked.

Steve turns to the next file, His brows knitting together as he squints at the grainy picture in the corner beside the code name The Raven.

Whereas the pictures of Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, And Natasha Romanoff were clear high quality headshots, The picture staring up at him now looks as if it's been taken off of a security camera recording.