The Girl Who Held the Universe in her Hands | marvel [1] ✔

ONE

CHAPTER ONE
' IT'S GOOD TO HAVE A SECOND OPINION. '

Ash swayed her hips, flitting between the rooms of her house with a duster. She held it like a microphone and recited lyrics with her eyes squeezed shut. Music blasted through the headphones that resided on her head. Blonde, curly hair erupted from her skull, tumbling down her shoulders in tight coils and plunging to the small of her back. A pair of headphones pulled it away from her face, highlighting her sculpted features. Her piercing eyes flickered up, exerting a startling intelligence weaved with tiredness familiar to an old dog. They were captivating, the carelessness of them seeming to understand everything with ease.

A man in a suit leaned against the doorway of the kitchen diner as she sprung around the room.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh!" she sang, "Sweet child o' mine!" The girl jumped onto the long table and skipped along its length. "Oh, sweet love of mine!" The duster shifted prop and became a guitar as she dropped to her knees, her fingers dancing over the handle like a fretboard.

The man cleared his throat, but there was no chance of combating the blaring music. He sighed and pushed himself off the wall, and stepped towards Ash.

"Where do we go? Where do we go now?" she continued to sing. "Where do we-" He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she whipped around. Black smoke wrapped around him and threw him across the room. He hovered in the air as the girl's eyes flickered over him. "Oh, Coulson!" she shouted. It could have been a scolding, or the music dulled her awareness of the loudness of her voice.

The man slid to his feet and braced himself against the wall, breathing raggedly and placing a hand over his chest. "That was quite a show, Ash," he commented, chest still straining to recover from his adrenaline high, but a smile formed on his face nonetheless. 

The girl's face turned a light shade of crimson as a large grin etched its way onto her face. "That's what I thought, but it's good to have a second opinion," she replied, discarding the duster on the table.

Ash jumped off and moved towards a desktop computer. Her eyes drifted to the space next to the desk where a boy leaned against the wall. He raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms across his chest. His hair was a deep brown, and it fell over his eyes which sat slightly too far apart on his face and held a dullness only a life of fighting could produce.

Coulson made no indication of acknowledging his presence. His existence seemed not to be noticed by his eyes. "Where'd you get that?" the agent questioned, nodding to the graph on the screen.

"I have my ways," she answered, focus not leaving the computer.

"Fury requests your presence."

"Depends. What for?"

"I'll explain on the way there."

She glanced at the boy, who shrugged. "You could get some vitamin D while you're at it." He pursed his lips before they shared a smirk, their eyes flashing with mischief.

"I suppose I could fit it into my schedule."

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Sweet Child o' Mine -
Guns 'n' Roses