Breathe

Chapter Two : Considered

A/N Once again- I don't own anything Marvel except my own characters and storyline.  Please don't copy.

"Vera?"  May sees me walking up the ramp to The Bus.  I smile as she walks back into the main room of The Bus.  She comes back out within a minute with the whole tean following on her heels.

"Vera!"  Jemma exclaims, clearly overjoyed as she dashes down to tackle me in a hug.

"I can't believe you're back!"  Fitz says.

"Long time no see!"  Skye smiles, and joins the hug.

I just grin at them all before looking up at Coulson, he nods.

"Alright, get back to work."  He orders everyone.

"Work?  What work?"  Daisy looks at him, annoyed.

"Yea, Vera just got back."  Jemma adds.

"Yes, and I need to talk to my niece."  Coulson replies sternly.  Everyone mumbles a 'see you later' as I climb the staircase and head into Coulson's office.

"Why haven't you said anything?"  My uncle asks.  I shrug, not replying.

"What happened in there?"

"Lots of crap."  I reply, looking at him carefully as he reacts to my voice.

"Oh m- what happened?"

"They tried to cut my vocal chords out.  Nothing major."  I sarcastically reply.

"Vera."  Coulson scolds, I sigh.

"Look, I don't want everyone to freak out about it."

"Fury'll tell me sooner or later."  Coulson points out.

"So what?"

"I want to hear it from you."

"Where's Ward?"

"He's HYDRA.  Stop avoiding the topic."

I sigh, giving in as I give him a brief run-down of what happened.  His expression remains the same as I reach the end, "So what happened here in seven years?"

"I'm sorry."  He hangs his head.

"Don't be, I don't want everyone to pity me.  That was years ago when the experimentations happened.  I got used to it and I got over it."

"I'm sorry I couldn't get you out sooner."  He ignores me.

"I don't care."  I sternly say, that catches him off guard, "Now what's happened at SHIELD?"

"There was an attack on New York by Loki a year ago, I died."  My mouth drops open, but he quickly continues, "But they brought me back, none of The Avengers know, pretty much everyone thinks I'm still dead.  So don't tell anyone."

"Alright, but what else?  That was just a year ago."

"Honestly?"  He asks, I nod, "Nothing much has changed, well, The Avengers were formed and Cap woke up.  But that's all the exciting stuff."

"I was offered a spot on their team."

"What?"  He looks awed.

"Fury said I always qualified, but I guess since I have powers, he wants to put them to use."

"We should've never sent you undercover.  You would've been a part of the team anyway."

"But its made me who I am, Coulson, I'm not going to regret it."  I shoot back, and he looks at me like I'm a role model to him.

"Not many agents can walk away from something like that without regretting it."

"I know."  I reply, and we stay silent for a moment.

"I'm glad you're back."

"Me too."  I open my mouth to say more, but Coulson starts up again.

"So are you?"  His face is beaming with excitement, "Going to join the Avengers?"

"I told Fury I'll sleep on it."  I say, Coulson gives me a deadpan look, "What?"

"Vera, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Use the thing HYDRA gave you against them."

"I'm going to use it against them either way."  I groan and put my hand on my head, "I hope the public doesn't give me one of those stupid nicknames."

"I'll drop your codename a couple places."  He laughs.

"Thank you, Coulson."  I say as I get up, "But right now I need a decent shower, food, and a nap."

"Go, you deserve it.  I'll tell the team."

"Please don't mention-"

"Vera, they're going to hear it either way."  Coulson interrupts me.

"And I'll be the talk of SHIELD because someone'll mess up and say I can turn into a peacock or something."  I numbly reply, my uncle laughs.

"I'll clear it up, just go and enjoy being back."

"Thank you."  I say, leaving his office and The Bus without getting stopped by anyone else.
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Alarms blare, waking me from my nap.  The intercom buzzes about a practice drill.  I groan, it's like I'm in school all over again.  Shuffling over to my closet, I grab my SHIELD jacket and slip it on.  I don't bother to cover up the scar on my neck though, I don't really care at this point.  People don't go around looking at other people's necks, that'd just be weird.

I dash out of my room to find the hallway empty.  That's a first.  The alarm turns off without warning and I'm left in silence.  I tilt my head, confused.  I try to recall what animal can hear the best before remembering it's the moth.  I zone in on it's impeccable hearing and I creep down the hallway after focusing on a cat's agility.  Electrical buzzing is the only thing in my ears until I hear talking.  No, yelling.  I don't need specialized hearing to know that.  Wincing, I return my hearing back to normal while dashing down the corridor silently.

A circular object smashes into the wall in front of me, and I stop immediately.  Turning, I find the man that threw it is none other than the red, white, and blue soldier.  Captain America.  If only Coulson was here right now.  His shield rebounds back to him.  Just as I sense the air shifting, I duck quickly.  An arrow flies through the spot where my head once was.

"I don't want to fight you guys."  I warn, but they don't reply.  Is this a test?  I hone in on the essential abilities from different animals and put them to use.  Fighting Captain Rogers, Barton, and Romanoff was certainly not on my list of 'to-do's' for today.  I dodge an attack from Cap and steal an arrow out of midair from Hawkeye.  I toss the taser arrow at Natasha just as it's about to go off.  As Romanoff is mometarily unavailable, Rogers and Barton attempt to close in.  I grab Cap's shield as he throws it at me, and slide it onto my forearm.  A little big, but it'll do.  Just as I'm about to put an ability to use, I hear clapping.  Fury.

"Good job, Atrox."  The one-eyed man congratulates, and the three Avengers stop attacking me.

"Why are you always so dramatic, Fury?"  I sigh and hand Cap his shield.

"Did you consider my offer?"  Fury questions, and I look to my previous opponents.  They all return my gaze with a curious or hopeful one.

"Yea, I have."