Queen

Chapter Nine-Leaving

An ear-splitting scream drowns out the music and immediately sobers Steve and me. We glance at each other before pushing through the throngs of people hand in hand. The person is still crying out, so it isn't that difficult to find the source. A girl in a short, shimmering, silver cocktail dress is stumbling away from the back door with a man clinging tightly to her arm in fear. I nod at her to Cap and he heads over to talk to her. I head out the back door and into the dark alley. It must have rained since Steve and I arrived because the concrete is shining from the nearby streetlight. The only sound is my footsteps in the dim alley, but there is a coppery smell mixed with burning that I recognize immediately. That's burning flesh. I move towards the right near some black trash bags still covered in rivulets of water. The smell hits me like a wall when I walk further into the alley behind a dumpster. I gasp when I see what must have frightened the woman and the other man. I hear the door open, alerting me to Cap's presence.

"Victoria?" He calls out to me. He can't see me because the dumpster is in the way.

"Steve?" I respond. I hear him making his way over to me, and also hear him stop when he sees what I'm looking at. A young man, probably around Steve and I's age, lays dead on the wet trash bags. His clothes are dry, so he must have literally just been dumped here. His clothes are the least interesting part of him, though. His fingers and toes are covered in small green scales as well as being misshapen and seemingly half grown. The soles of his feet are burned as well, in a pattern similar to mine, although not nearly as severe. I keep scanning the body for something to cause the smell. The burns on his feet aren't fresh enough to be the source. Steve moves from behind me and takes the man's shirt in between his fingers to flick the fabric to the side. Another gasp slips through my lips at finding the source of the smell of burning flesh. Written, no, burned, into his chest are the words, 'V, we've found you.' I look at Steve and find him already looking at me. We both know the message is for me.

"I have to call the team, Victoria." Steve tells me. I nod slowly, still in shock. I'm still staring at the body when Steve notifies the team. "Stark, yeah. We're okay, but we've found something the team needs to see. I'd call Director Fury too. Send agents to our location and to block off the area. Have them send everything they find to the tower. We'll be back soon." He pauses as I assume Tony interjects. "She's fine, Stark, I promise." He continues and assures Tony. I stand and hold my hand out for the phone after turning towards Steve. His blue eyes flit over me, then he hands me the phone.

"Tony." I greet him and hear the slightest tremor in my voice. I return my eyes to the body.

"Victoria." He whispers with relief coloring his voice. "What the hell is going on, kiddo?" He asks me immediately after.

"Listen, Tony. My full name is Victoria Elaine Redhallow." I tell him urgently, the smell of the dead man's singed flesh filling my nose.

"What? Victoria, why are you telling me that?" Tony asks, confused.

"Victoria Elaine Redhallow. Type it into your system and find out everything you can about...me. My...parents, my life. Only you Tony, make sure that you're the only one who sees it, yeah?" I give him explicit instructions as he splutters on the other side of the phone. When I'm finished I'm greeted with silence. I turn to Cap and his questioning eyes as Tony finally answers.

"Okay. Whatever you say, Queen." I breathe a sigh of relief and hang up. I hand the phone back to Cap, then grab his hand and pull him back to his bike. Steve gets the message and gets on the bike, then stares at me waiting for me to get on. I pause and lay a hand on his shoulder to make him pause. I look away at the shining pavement for a few moments before Steve's voice pulls me out of my reverie.