The New Avenger

Chapter 3

"Well, Ash, we are all very pleased to meet you, but we still know nothing about you." Director Fury said. "Could we get a little background info, please?"

"Sure," I replied. I stared at everyone around me and took a deep breath to steady me nerves. This was going to be tough. "Okay, so, you guys obviously remember when Loki attacked, right?" The Avengers stared at me, all leaning in. "Well I was in a building with my parents when it happened and these Chitauri were setting up some kind of bomb. My dad told me to run but mom told me to stay, and she held onto me. I didn't really know what was going on, to be honest, and my memories of then are pretty hazy. Well, the bomb was ticking down and we were locked inside, and then Steve bashed down the doors and people started running to get out. I was separated from mom, and knocked over. I'm pretty sure I got stepped on a bit." I gave a small laugh but stopped when I noticed no-one else was smiling. I continued. "Anyway, the bomb went off and I thought I was dead but Steve had blocked the blast with his shield and he carried me outside to be found by medics." I looked at him gratefully but his eyes were sad. I looked down again, and then into the middle of the table.

"Next time I was awake I was lying in a bed in an orphanage, and I'd been awoken by a group of men in black suits observing the other kids as they slept. I couldn't move – someone had obviously pumped me full of painkiller – but I knew they weren't supposed to be here. They had guns. They shot some kids with tranquilisers and took them out the window, and one of them was me. We were paralysed and unconscious but when we woke up we were in beds again. White beds in a white room with white machines. When we were all awake – I can't remember their faces properly – they gave some sort of speech about 'this is all for the greater good', 'you'll thank us when you're older', 'don't be afraid', and they said they were just running some tests, but after that we were all wheeled into different rooms, and I never saw any of them again.

"They did run tests – some sort of sick scientific experiments. I assumed they were completely insane, because no sane person would think of injecting a little girl with animal blood and then electrocuting her." I paused and breathed heavily, my voice choking up as tears pricked my eyes. I held them back and kept going, "I hope they're happy because it goddamn worked. They kept saying I was the one, that I was the only one going to survive, so I assumed all the others were dead. I tried not to think about them but it was hard when I had nothing to think about. After cranking up the volts to the highest setting on the thingy – I don't know what it was and I couldn't read the numbers but hell did it hurt – I could morph my body into different animals; specifically the animals of whose blood they had injected me with. Once they realised that, they tried more and more animals, eventually getting bigger and more dangerous. Wolf, bear –" I glanced at Thor. "- lion," I glanced at Natasha. "Panther... you name it. Eventually they made me morph into all kinds of different animals, even marine animals, but I escaped before they could start trialling the bugs, thank god. One night – I waited for a thunderstorm – I used all my anger and pain and morphed into different animals to get out. It was hard. I'd never had the opportunity to try out the animals for long, so I'd never gotten used to running on four legs or flying. I mostly used my ability to slide under doors or through bars and turned human again for running. Once I was out – I'd turned into an owl to try and fly through an open skylight but ended up becoming a cat and climbing up to it – I ran. I just ran as far and as hard as I could from there. I was in a forest of sorts, and couldn't see any buildings near me. I didn't stop running until I physically couldn't go any further, which wasn't very far to be honest. After then I would morph into different animals to learn how to move as them and get away from the people who had made me like this. I ran on land as a bear, lion, panther, cheetah, I climbed and jumped through the trees as monkeys and squirrels, and I even tried out killer whale when I found the ocean, but I was too scared to go very far, and breathing still felt weird underwater. They sent out trucks after me but I avoided the rough roads and when I had too became an otter or some water animal and stayed out of sight. I followed the coastline until I came to a small town. I followed signs from there and made my way back to New York. The whole journey took a week or so.

"When I got back here I looked for my parents – I went to our apartment but someone else was living there – I went to my old school but they said I should be in the orphanage. I didn't want to go back so I just wandered the streets and lived in Hyde Park for a while. I'd track down these men – stalker guys and the like – and give them a good scare. A couple nights ago I finally found this man I'd be looking for for quite a while, and he'd cornered these two little kids in an alleyway. I turned into a wolf and he shot me." I laughed quietly. It all sounded pretty stupid now. "And then I woke up here." I smiled and looked up at the faces around me.

Nick looked at Natasha, who nodded. He smiled at Steve. He locked eyes with everyone around the room – and then me. My excitement built, something big was about to happen, I could feel it.

"Well, Ash, I believe we are all in accordance when we say we think you can do it. Your skills are unlike any of ours, and with the right training, we think you can reach your full potential, and do this world a lot of good. You also don't have a home, and if you are seriously injured again, like we found you a few nights ago, we don't want you falling into the wrong hands. And if you died, well, the world would be stripped of someone who could do so much, and help so many people..." he trailed off and sighed.

Steve piped up, "I love having you around kiddo," with a smile.

"Another girl around here would do this lot some good," Natasha winked at me.

"I like you, girl. Stay." That was Thor's input.

Nick rolled his eyes at the group around him. "Will you join the Avengers?"

                                                                        ***

I blanched.

I didn't know what to say.

Everyone was staring at me expectantly.

"You're serious? This isn't some kind of joke?" I couldn't believe this was happening but I could see on their faces they weren't kidding. This was the best day. Ever.

"I-I would absolutely LOVE to!" I yelled. In my happiness I changed into a border collie and barked with delight. Thor laughed heartily, Bruce just smiled, Ironman emitted a bark of laughter, Natasha laughed, and Hawkeye smiled shyly. Steve laughed merrily and patted me on the head and rubbed between my ears.

I changed back into a human and soon, ignited by the happiness I had made, we all slid into an easy conversation. They all asked me questions, each well suited to their personality.

Nick chatted to another person I didn't know about finding me some quarters to stay in, and we all laughed when Natasha asked if I would like a doggy-bed or a nest instead of a bed to sleep in.