TOXIC ~ STEVE ROGERS [1]

Chapter Seventeen

I would never have thought that a government agency would have a walk on wardrobe on board a metal helicarrier.

"Take your pick. We've got all kinds of stuff in here," Natasha strode through the wardrobe, running her hands over the mostly black fabric.

"This was totally unexpected," I said, looking at all of the racks that filled the space.
"What did you think? Our clothes magically appear when we need them?"she teased. I walked deeper into the room.

"Basically, yeah," I mumbled. I had an idea of what I wanted in my head, it was just a matter of finding the right elements.
"I'll leave you to choose what you want. You know your way back?" Natasha said. I barely heard, muttered a quiet yeah and watched as she left.

I ran my hands across the racks, searching for the right suit. I wasn't sure how much time I had, and I could be called back at any point.
I passed by a rack of full piece suits, something caught my eye. I pulled it off the rack and held it out in front of me.

It was very similar to Natasha's, only this one had a black hood connected to it. I smiled to myself, and placed it on a small table in the middle of the room. I made my way over to another part of the room, and after rummaging around for a few minutes, I managed to find what I was looking for.

It was a mask, small, covering my eyes, bottom half of my forehead and upper half of my nose. It had no strings, rather it sort of suctioned to my face, staying in place without anything to hold it. It was the kind of mask any classic comic book character wore, that had always fascinated it's readers by making them wonder how it managed to stay on.

As much as I loved my Fleetwood Mac shirt, it really wasn't going to do me much good, and as it was almost in shreds anyway, I placed it in a rubbish bin in the room, along with my tattered jeans. I did, however, keep my black leather Doc Martens, which seemed to me more practical than the black heeled boots that the other spies wore.

After putting the entire suit on, and struggling for at least 5 minutes with the zip, I walked out of the small changing cubicle to stand in from of the mirror at the end of the room. The suit was skin tight, but made of some kind of fabric that looked like leather but was much more durable and elastic, meaning I could fight in it without splitting the fabric. My green eyes glowed from inside the eye slits in the mask, and I almost couldn't recognize myself.
That was the point.

I didn't want anyone recognizing me. It could put Bri and Max in danger, and I didn't even let myself think what could happen if by chance my brother saw me.

After admiring myself in the mirror for a bit (yes, I admit I looked pretty good) I stuffed the mask in one of the small pockets of the suit, put the hood down and walked back the way I came, feeling very confident in my new attire. I passed several agents on my way, including Agent Hill, who nodded her approval when she passed me. I was feeling like a bit of a show off, and made my way towards the lab where I knew that Stark and Banner would be working.

Unfortunately I had a worse memory that I thought, and I got lost several times throughout the helicarrier.

As I was wondering around the helicarrier, I rounded a corner and bumped into a tall, brown skinned man. I looked up and saw a very familiar smile looking down at me. My eyes widened.

"No way," I gasped. Tim Brian, (Max's older brother who worked for a 'government agency's and who I'd known ever since I moved to America) stared down at me smiling.

"I heard you were here," Tim said quietly. He was always a bit awkward, tall and gangly as he was.
"This is not happening," I said shocked. Tim shrugged.

"I'm an analyst for a government agency. Are you really that suprised it was the one you got called in by?" He said. I chuckled a bit, still in shock. Tim rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Well, I better go. You know, tracking people and stuff," he began to wonder off. "Be safe Keight." I watched him walk down the hallway.

What Max would do to know what I knew.

As I wandered the hallways, my thoughts turned to those I had been trying to distract myself from.

"Do you really believe that a pathetic human body would be able to contain the amount of power you possess?"

Loki's words revolved in my head, and I couldn't help but wonder if it could possibly be true. The way he looked at me, and the way Thor did, felt almost familar, almost good. The power that pulsed through my veins, it made sense that the only reason I could wield it would be that I was not of this world. Because, well, surely this curse that I carried couldn't be either?

But how could I be Asgardian? My parents were American business owners, good friends of my adopted father's who were visiting Wakanda on business when I was born. There's almost no way that they were alien.

But things were changing. I had met not one but two legendary gods, jumped out of a plane with Captain America, sassed Tony Stark and gained mind numbing powers all in the space of a couple of days. Maybe, just maybe there was a chance I wasn't entirely human.

That's what I was afraid of.

I shook my head, hoping to make the thoughts magically disappear.

"Huge bag of weed?" Starks loud voice drifted from a door to my right, up ahead of me. I walked forward.
"Is everything a joke to you?" Rogers said aggressively. I pressed my back up against the wall near the door, not sure if I wanted to interrupt the already tense mood of the room.

"Funny things are," Stark replied, his voice muffled like he was chewing something.

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, Doctor," Rogers said firmly.
"No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things," Banner spoke gently.

Pointy things?

"You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut," Stark commented. His voice alone was enough to irritate me.

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr Stark." Rogers whole righteous fiasco was really bugging me. Surely no one was that selfless.

I leaned forward as much as I dared, knowing this was a conversation I was not supposed to hear.

"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables." Although I hated to admit it, Stark had a point. Why bring all of is here, now? It was suddenly very convenient my powers showed up when they did. Just in time to save the world.

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Rogers sounded doubtful.
"He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secret have secrets. It's bugging him to, isn't it?" Stark said, and I heard movement in the room.

"Uh...I just wanna finish my work here and..." Banner bobbled.

"Hold on, listen," Rogers said quietly. I leaned in even more than I dared to hear what it was they were listening to.

Suddenly, I was grabbed by the arm and yanked into the room, the door slamming behind me.

In front of me, Stark smirked, Rogers glared and Banner looked at the floor.
Stark popped a handful of berries into his mouth.

"Speaking of spies."