Red Thorn

Chapter 4

July 2012

It was late and Red was just about to settle down for the night when her pager had gone off, flashing red. She quickly slipped her mask on and grabbed a selection of blades, not caring about changing out of the old tracksuit she was wearing as pyjamas, and dashed across the hall to Steve's. Once again the wait felt agonisingly long, but moments after she'd knocked he opened the door.

"You paged," she whispered, firmly gripping the handle of the dagger she'd concealed up her sleeve.

"I'm okay," Steve assured her and he watched her relax, albeit a little. "I had a visit from Fury, he wants my help."

As soon as the door was closed, she discarded her mask. "Help?"

"Saving the world," he said, showing her the file in his hand. "Apparently I'm apart of some initiative—"

"The Avengers initiative," Red told him. "I was, before the rules. Why is Fury calling you in?"

"It turns out aliens are real, and one has decided to pick a fight with Earth." He sighed sitting on the couch next to Red. "Charlie, there's no easy way to say this, but your brother's been compromised."

She froze at his words. "What do you mean, compromised?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "The Director said something about mind control."

"When do you leave?" she asked, anxiously playing with one of the many blades she had concealed on her person.

"Agent Coulson is coming to pick me up tomorrow morning."

She nodded. "I have to go, but I'll be back before you leave."

"Where are you going?" he questioned, but she was already gone. Pushing his worries aside about what Red was going to get up to for the next few hours, he began reading through the files Fury had given him.

*

Bright and early the next morning, Charlotte was at his door a coffee in hand, her long crimson hair pulled into a neat ponytail. She wore her mask, but it wasn't enough to hide the dark circles under her eyes. Steve could tell she hadn't slept, her raw knuckles telling him that she'd spent the night using one of many punching bags in their private gym.

"Are you okay?" he asked sheepishly, it was a stupid question to ask really, her brother had been taken by an alien and they both knew she wouldn't be allowed to help save him. But still, he asked it nonetheless and it's safe to say, the answer he got wasn't the one he was expecting.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

At first, Steve thought she was joking, using humour to mask her emotions, but then he realised that it was her training kicking in. To her, love was a weakness, one that she had to hide before it could be used against her. "You can talk to me if you're not," he tried, hoping to get some sense of how she was really doing, but it was no use.

She nodded in acknowledgment. "Did you read the files?"

"I did," he said, inviting her in from the hallway. "Howard's son, Anthony, he seems..."

"Like a handful?" she chided. "Believe me, he is, but that doesn't mean he's a bad apple. Also, he goes by Tony, not Anthony."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Are there any parts you need help understanding?" She made sure to keep her voice sweet, letting him know that it wasn't her intention to be malicious or condescending, but to simply help him with the newer terminologies he might be struggling with.