Toxic | Steve Rogers

Chapter Two: A Secret

Each person was assigned jobs. Tony to show her around. Wanda to learn about her powers. Steve to train her.

Steve didn't mind training the woman. He was slightly excited, actually. He was dying to know more about her, which was something he usually didn't find himself feeling.

What really bothered him about her presence was how everyone else was handling her presence. Tony, Natasha, and Wanda didn't seem bothered by her sudden appearance, or the announcement of Natasha's leave. They just followed Fury's orders.

"You okay there, Cap?" Natasha asked him.

He avoided her question. "What can Adora do?" he asked instead, hoping she wouldn't notice he had avoided her question.

She did, of course. But Steve's question made her grin.

"What can't she do? Adora can shape shift, alter people's feelings, and control dreams. To put it simply" Natasha said with a smile. Steve raised his eyebrows at this. This woman was powerful.

"How did she get these kinds of powers?" he asked. Natasha's smile faltered.

"I don't know" Steve's brows furrowed.

"How could you not know?" Natasha glared at him.

Before she could answer, he asked another question.

"Did you know her before now?" Her expression changed, but Steve couldn't quite place what emotion her face showed.

"She and I went to the same school. A school for assassins"

"And I escaped it" a voice behind him said, just as rich as before.

Steve looked to Natasha, and she nodded.

"You escaped?" Steve asked, knowing the answer, but wanting to hear it again.

"I did" Adora said, smiling slightly,

"Did you use your powers?"

"You know, for a Captain, you're painfully dense" Adora said, a hint of playfulness in her voice.

Steve felt his cheeks heat, and Natasha let out a chuckle.

"Okay, well, here's a better question. How'd you get your powers? You aren't just born with something so special" Adora grinned.

"That is a secret for another time" She said, a smile catching on her red lips. Now making Steve determined to figure out exactly what the secret was.

"So, where are you from?" Steve asked, hoping to learn something about Adora. She smiled.

"I'm from Russia originally. But I have spent most of my time in Sweden" Adora told him.

Steve nodded. "How come you have an American accent then?"

She laughed. "I knew that would be what you asked next. My parents were American, and I never seem to pick up any accents"

Natasha had long left the conversation, watching them from across the room, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. Adora and her seemed to have some kind of connection, and when their eyes met, a silent conversation started to ensue.

Steve saw Tony wave him over. "Excuse me" he said politely to Adora, and she smiled warmly in return.

"So what's she like" Tony said as soon as Steve was out of Adora's earshot. Steve thought for a second.

"I'm not sure" he replied. Tony raised his eyebrows. Before he could say anything else, Steve spoke.

"There's something about her. Something I can't quite place" Steve looked up to find Tony smirking at him.

"Of course you don't" he said matter-of-factly. Steve gave him a puzzled look. "You know nothing about women these days. She's very obviously messing with you"

"I've only just met her. How could she be messing with me, Stark?" Steve replied, thinking that Tony was the one messing with him. He could never tell with Tony. His tone of voice was in a constant state of sarcasm.

To Steve's words, Tony grinned. "What do you think of her?" he asks instead. Steve studies Tony, wondering what he's getting at.

"I think she will be a good addition to the team. She seems nice. And her powers could really help us if we need to go undercover" Steve said, all the while studying Tony just the same. Tony points at him.

"There it is. You think's she's nice. You're wrong" Tony tells him, his usual confident voice filled with even more confidence.

"How do you know I'm wrong?" Steve knew fighting with Tony would lead to nowhere, but he couldn't help it.

"Capisicle, open you eyes. The chick comes from the same school Natasha came from. And we all know Natasha's not the nicest. Not to mention, the girl escaped said school"

Before Steve could open his mouth, Tony continued. "And if you think Natasha's good at what she does, why didn't she get away too? Which leads us to another question. What about this chick made her able to escaped said school?" Steve could tell Tony was trying to rationalize out the situation, and was on the brink of a rant. Although Steve had to give it to him. He hadn't given it much thought as to how dangerous Adora could really be. Why hadn't he noticed that? He had been too distracted by her. Just admitting that to himself, made him feel his face flush.

Steve could feel eyes on him. He turned around to find Adora's bright eyes staring at him. This time, he didn't stare back.

Suddenly, it felt as a wave of unidentifiable emotions swept through him. Thats when he knew.

She was using her powers on him.

It felt like he had no control over his emotions, and he felt everything he had ever felt rush into him like a gust of wind. He staggered back, Adora's piercing stare still on him. He tried to speak, but no words came out. With each emotion, there was a memory attached. Steve saw images of Peggy, and he felt his heart send pain with each beat that passed of him looking at his memory of her. It was his most cherished memory, one he didn't look back on very much. He could feel sadness creep through him, silently. His hand grasped a chair beside him, and he could hear people rushing next to him.

"Adora! Stop it!" he heard Natasha shout, just as his vision turned black.