Cornelia Street - Avengers

Tame and Gentle

"I was tame, I was gentle. Till the circus life made me mean. Don't you worry folks, We took out all her teeth."

New York, 2015

(Who's Afraid of Little Old Me, Taylor Swift)

...

Alyona sat on the bench, jostling around as the helicopter climbed to great heights above the city and cliffside, trying to compose her growing anger and anxiety building in her chest.

"SHIELD? What does that stand for?" Alyona asked as the man who had caught her fastened her cuffs to the metal grate behind her seat. She wanted to break from the confines she had been forced, head-first, into all life.

"Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division," he answered promptly, tucking the key into his pocket before adjusting in his seat across from her.

She fearlessly stared him down. "And what exactly does SHIELD want from me?"

"You'll figure it out soon enough," he told her with an eyebrow raise.

"How'd they find me?" She asked, leaning forward.

He shook his head, scratching his nose. "Enough questions. You'll find out."

She rolled her eyes, slamming back against the metal grate, ricocheting it against the metal out of frustration.

"If there were answers I could give you, I would have given them. Now keep quiet. Make this painless for the both of us," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Liar."

The man scoffed, re-adjusting his tie. "What makes you think I'm lying?"

She dropped her tone, watched him with sharpened eyes and lowered her chin. She watched him grow uncomfortable under the weight of her gaze, the whirl of the helicopter cut through the silence.

"You've touched your tie five times during this conversation, scratched your nose twice indicating your severe lack of candor and you haven't sat still for more than three seconds. If you think I can't tell when someone is lying, you're fooling yourself," she told him. "Not to mention your lack of intelligence is evident if you put your hand up to sit, alone, in the back of a helicopter with the transported assassin."

He poorly hid his discomfort. "All done there?"

She turned away.

"How old are you anyway? Twelve?" He scoffed crossing his arms over his chest. "Christ, how young is HYDRA pumping you all out.?"

Her demeanour dropped, gaze growing cold. "Eighteen, you asshole."

He swallowed hard.

"But between you and me, for future references, if you're transporting an enhanced you might want to invest in electro cuffs that actually restrict, their abilities. Like they're supposed to. "

Alyona lifted her free hands in front of her, tendrils of red fading wistfully away in the air. His lips parted in shock as he inched forward, mouth failing to provide words.

"You..."

"Don't worry. I'll play nice."

She watched as the red camera in her corner flashed and as the guards beyond the glass tightened their grips on their weapons at her move. She sent them a head tilt. Alyona just tucked her arms back behind her back, sitting back in her chair just as quickly as the smile dropped from her face.