Ghost - An Avengers Fanfiction

Chapter 19

"You."

The hatred in Sophie's voice made Steve freeze in the doorway. Clint turned to Sophie, surprised at her reaction. She was sitting up, muscles tense as if prepared to pounce, her eyes trained onto Steve like a predator. Clint prepared himself to leap at Sophie, he was so sure she was about to attack. A second later, however, her whole body relaxed as she breathed deeply, settling back against the pillows. Her eyes lost their predatory look, and became dull and emotionless once again.
"It's you."
She said again, her voice quieter and flat, though Clint could detect a trace of surprise in her voice.
"Have we met before?" Steve asked, puzzled by her reaction, as he cautiously stepped into the room. Sophie shook her head.

"You were the one who took down the first Hydra, Captain Rogers. It's only natural that the second Hydra considered you enemy number one." She explained flatly, but her eyes held a touch of anger. Before Clint could question her further, Tony burst into the room, holding another fancy cup of coffee, Bruce trailing behind sipping some tea.
"So you're the little ghostie who broke into my home! Nice to meet you." Tony declared cheerfully, but Clint could immediately tell he was being sarcastic. Sophie, however, glanced to Clint, uncertainty screaming in her eyes. "Stark, if you're not going to take this seriously, you can leave." Clint reprimanded him. Tony shrugged and plopped down in a chair, resting his feet on the end of Sophie's bed. Bruce had grabbed the medical chart off the end of Sophie's bed, flipping through it as he walked over to stand beside Sophie's bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her quietly. "I'm fine, Doctor Banner." She responded automatically, grimacing as her ribs shifted painfully. Bruce nodded in acknowledgement, before twiddling a dual on the IV machine next to her bed. "I'm just upping the painkillers for your ribs." He murmured, low enough for only Sophie to hear. She nodded her appreciation, then turned back to Clint.

"What can I do for you, Agent Barton?" She asked again. "Well, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to some members of the Avengers, and get you to tell them about the things we talked about earlier this morning." He explained. "You already know Doctor Banner and myself, of course. There's also Thor and Natasha, who aren't here at the moment." Clint pointed at Tony, and was about to introduce him when Sophie beat him to it.
"That's Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries, manufacturer of weapons of mass destruction." She listed out robotically. Tony smirked. "I wouldn't say weapons of mass destruction, per say.." He started to say, but Sophie interrupted him. "Mr Stark, trust me when I say that Hydra caused mass destruction with your weapons." She spoke quietly and flatly, but her words had a profound effect on Tony. He simply sat there, staring at Sophie, who held his gaze. After a few seconds, Clint broke the tension.

"So Tony is also Ironman. Yeah, so we've also got Captain Steve Rogers over there, better known as Captain America, but you already seem to know him." Clint said awkwardly. This wasn't going as smoothly as he had hoped.

"Hydra used to use photos of Captain Rogers as target practice. That's why my first instinct was to throw something at his head." Sophie muttered darkly, her eyes fixed on Steve, who was leaning against the wall. Tony gave a small laugh.
"Nope, I like you, you're funny." He chuckled. Tony seemed to be the only one who didn't realise that she wasn't joking.

"Anyway..... I was hoping you could tell these three what you told me." Clint tried to get everyone back on track.
"Like what experiments they did to you." Bruce prompted.
"Or how Hydra got their hands on my weapons." Tony interjected.
"Tell us what Hydra is doing now." Steve ordered, his voice tense.
"Or, you could just start at the beginning." Clint offered, noticing how uncomfortable Sophie looked at the other threes' questions. She nodded to Clint, then fixed her gaze upon a mark on the sheet next to her.

"I was born here in America. I don't remember much of my life here though, because my parents travelled and took me with them. When I was four, we were staying in a remote cabin in the German wilderness, then one night a group of men broke in. They beat my parents until they were unconscious, then set the place on fire. They both died." She started, her voice flat and her face in its same emotionless mask.