Our Othersides: An Avengers/ Demigod Fanfiction

Our Othersides: Prologue

Bruce: 

I was working on deciphering Tony's shorthand on notes that he took when I noticed that something was off. I sat on a stool in the on board helicarrier lab, the metal of the table was cool as I leaned forward to look out the window overlooking a large part of the control center. It was quiet, too quiet for normal SHIELD activities. No one was out and even the IA systems were silent. 

Tony walked over, humming what sounded like an AC/DC song. He squinted over my shoulder at the halogram screen before snatching the glasses off of my face. I laughed as he put them on and grabbed a spare pair. 

"Tony?" I heard boots marching from a distance in the corridor. "Mmh?" he was distracted, looking at a screen in his hands. 

"Tony what's going on? Where is everyone?" There were times before where Tony and I would be in the lab for hours and not realize it but this was different. 

He looked up and glanced out the window before frowning and dropping the screen. The marching had grown louder, coming closer. We rushed to the window to watch a group of SHIELD soldiers coming closer. They marched in formation around a person; there were at least twenty of them. 

As they passed by, their boots thudding against the ground, I saw who was in the center. A girl, shorter than most of the soldiers, was walking with her head down. Her hair, long, wavy brown, had fallen forward, covering her face. I could see cuffs and shackles attached to her wrists; seeming huge on her smaller frame. She seemed completely harmless but I knew that if Director Fury had set this up, she must be dangerous. 

As the group walked directly in front of the window, she looked up and made eye contact with me, her surprisingly bright gold eyes searching my brown ones. They seemed full of light and experience, no bad intentions. She had a pretty face, kind and innocent looking. Her lips rose into a small smile, her eyes warm, before she looked straight ahead again. She did not seem dangerous at all but something in the back of my mind sent a warning. 

"Did you see all of those soldiers? That's more than Loki got!" Tony interrupted my thoughts as he grabbed my arm and dragged me after the marching group. I hit my leg on the table and bit my lip. I could overpower Tony easily if I wanted to, but it was no use if he was curious. Frankly, I was too. 

"Tony! What-are you sure that this is a good idea?" He ignored me and continued to move faster. We followed at a distance down to the interrogation rooms. 

He scanned his security pass and the door to the connected viewing room clicked open. As he had built the Tower, Tony had access to pretty much every room in the building, whether he was supposed to or not. 

We entered the darkened room to find the rest of the Avengers there already fervently watching the adjoined room. 

The brown haired girl was forced into a chair, shackled down, and then, surprisingly, all of the soldiers left. She seemed to relax then and look around a bit. She didn't seem nervous at all, even though the cuffs pressed against her slim wrists. 

I got a better look at her face; high cheekbones, pale skin, tired circles, and above those, the big golden eyes. A wave of hair fell into them and she went to brush them out of the way but remembered the shackles. She frowned and blew upward, the hair drifting out of the way. She was wearing an orange t-shirt, and over that, a denim jacket, the sleeves rolled up. Around her neck was a strange bead necklace. 

Agent Coulson entered a moment later, the door clicking shut behind him and the compressed air seal giving a soft hiss. The girl straightened as he stepped forward, holding a folder. He gave her a smile and pulled out a chair, sitting with his back to us. They watched each other for a minute before she spoke quietly. 

"I would have stood up but, I kinda can't. I said that I would come willingly. You didn't have to chain me up," she jingled the chain. 

"I'm very sorry miss, but I had no say in that," he was as calm as ever, his voice warm and sympathetic. "My name is Agent Phil Coulson from the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division; SHIELD for short. Would you like to tell me your name while I take those cuffs off?" 

"Sapphire, and I can get them off myself." We watched as she grasped a cuff in the opposite hand and twisted her wrist, easily snapping the metal off. She did the same with the other cuff and and dropped the mangled metal onto the table with a clank before sitting back. Coulson didn't seem surprised at all. 

"Do you have a last name Sapphire?" She looked him the eye and shook her head before looking down at her hands. Coulson nodded and flipped through the folder, filling in a few things. He cleared his throat, "You had contacted the agency a few days ago, you said that you could help us. Obviously, you have a talent in strength." 

Sapphire looked up again, her eyes catching onto Coulson's face for a moment before focusing past him to the window we were standing behind. She seemed to look quickly at each of us, searching our faces, less than a second. It was impossible though, since the glass was reflective on her side. 

She ended on me, making clear eye contact and I got the strange feeling in the back of my mind again. The Other Guy had gone silent but it felt the same, as if there were a presence. Sapphire gave me a small smile before flicking her eyes back to Coulson. 

"Uh, I am also trained in weapons of all sorts, and I have a special ability in detecting emotions and lies. Besides that, I have multiple degrees in different sciences and engineering. I can also speak over seven different languages." 

So she was smart too, and the emotions and lie detecting part might have been the reason I felt the presence. Coulson looked Sapphire over again, his eyes crinkling in the corners. "I don't mean to be rude, Sapphire, but you seem rather young to have graduated college with that many degrees." 

She flicked a smile, seeming amused. "I'm older than I look, I get that a lot though." 

Coulson nodded a few minutes later and excused himself. The door clicked open on our side and he walked silently up to the window. We all watched Sapphire as she stretched. Coulson rocked up onto his toes before sighing. "I don't think that she is dangerous, to us at least. She seems too experienced to give everything about herself to us so easily. We might need to watch that. She has some talents we could use though. What do you think, boss?" 

We all turned to Director Fury, who was leaning forward with his hands planted on the table in front of him. He stared at Sapphire with his one good eye, his face pulled into the usual frown. 

"I don't like this, but....have her tested and put into training. Keep her abilities a secret for now and she will work on paperwork. SHIELD doesn't have a file, keep an eye on her." 

"Just one eye? Do you want us to get eyepatches? I call a red one!" Tony smirked as we rolled our eyes. Something was different about Sapphire but for now we were dismissed.