Coronation Of Flame (A Marvel Fanfic)

Flashback 6: The Fairy Glen

And now for the flashback! To be honest this is a filler, so you can skim if you want, but if you like Hunter then I advise against that.

Enjoy!

LittlePond

Flashback 6: The Fairy Glen

Summer's warm clutches had finally arrived in Sokovia, and Aurelia Tempest rejoiced that Doctor List told her that the next few months were going to be 'doused in sunlight.'

His words, not hers.

"Have you thought about taking the twins for outdoor sessions?" he asked. The assassin had found that his German accent wasn't as endearing as the Maximoffs'. Maybe it was because those she had met with the accent weren't the best. Except for Whitehall; he was an exception.

"I've had that idea since I first landed here," she sighed, rolling up the right sleeve of her leather jacket. In spirit of the warming weather, Aurelia had chosen a light brown shade. Either way, the scientist had called her to one of his laboratories to tell her about the change in the weather, and had spent 5 minutes monologging about Brownian motion.

Which was interesting, but a waste of time.

"Of course, the assassin S.H.A.D.O is always a step ahead," List grinned, turning back to his trustworthy microscope, which despite it's constant use was sprinkled with dust.

She lifted herself off the desk where she had been sitting, no doubt deleting the wrinkles in a scientist's notes about the chemical properties of Loki's sceptre. "S.H.A.D.O also knows millions of ways to end a man's life."

Thankfully Doctor List asked her only one more question before leaving, "I assume you will be taking Agent Appleshade when you go outside?"

Clutching the doorframe with knuckles as white as pearls, Aurelia turned to the silver haired man. She had no idea how the man knew that she was friends with Hunter, but, according to Hunter's stories, he knew the forest surrounding them like the back of his hand.

If anyone could, Hunter would be the one to help her find a suitable clearing for combat training. "Of course, S.H.A.D.O always knows ahead of time," she answered, blonde hair already behind her, a golden ocean.

Not that she wasn't expecting it, but Hunter was more then happy to accompany her to the forest.

The HYDRA agent had actually started to jump around his room, which was much smaller the hers, she noted. At least Von Strucker had given her special treatment, as hate filled as he was, he knew how to treat blood soaked assassins.

"Well?" she asked after he proceeded to jump for 5 minutes straight, "Aren't you going to get ready? The twins' sessions are straight after lunch. It's 10 o'clock right now."

Hunter stopped immediately, and like a robot began to grab supplies he knew that they'd need. Though she'd never admit it, Aurelia didn't recognise most of the apparatus that he pulled out. "You're going to love it there, Aurelia," he chimed, a sparkle coming across his brown eyes she hadn't seen before, "It's beautiful this time of year."

Beautiful. A word otherwise non-existent in the vocabulary of a HYDRA agent.

"Well, this meets my expectations," Aurelia stated minutes later, staring wide eyed across the glen.

The forest, indeed, was beautiful.

Underneath the emerald roofing, the sun dappled the ground, appearing on the undergrowth like splatters of paint. The trees grew tall, not as tall as the redwoods, but tall enough to deduce that the forest was old. The bark was rough as she passed by, and the dead leaves crunched underneath her combat boots like bones. No birds chirped, no animals rushed by, the only living thing she knew of in the area was her and Hunter, though she didn't doubt that there was a country full of ants and insects in just one tree alone.