𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏'𝒔 𝑩𝒂𝒃𝒚 ✪ 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔

01| recruitment day

WARNING: This chapter may contain explicit circumstances that are meant for readers who are 18+. Feel free to skip it if it may cause a trigger or discomfort.

• • •

"I'm sure that everything's going to get resolved, just try not to worry for the time being," Her light and feathery words reassured confidently. On the phone there was the one and only Trish Walker.

"Jessica will come around. She's stubborn, but I'm sure she'll hear you out eventually, Devina. She means well, she does, but sorry, I couldn't be more help."

The short beep, signaling the end of the voicemail filled my ears.

Today was recruitment day.

I took a long look over my list, that I had acquired via Maria Hill and Nick Fury, before I acknowledged all of the ones that I'd crossed out. New York housed a handful of powered people, and given that fact, I wasn't afraid to ask for help from any of them.

Jessica Jones—x
Danny Rand—x
Luke Cage —x
Grayson Brooks—x
Frank Castle—
Miles Morales—
Hellcat—?
Misty Knight—
Janet van Dyne—
Matt Murdock—x
Dr. Strange—

I sighed. Ever since the very severe split of the Avengers, I had become Steve's outrider, of sorts. I managed finding mutants, powered people, or whatever else may stick out like a sore thumb in the eyes of society, and try to get them to join the on the run bandwagon in order to live a free life as an enhanced individual, and not one monitored by the UN panel, or having to fall in accordance with the Sokovia Accords.

My work is most times, very neutralizing. I don't allow myself to pick sides, or persuade EI's (enhanced individuals) into doing things that they may be uncomfortable with. I was only there as a basis of information. As a human, I posed no clear threat, nor did I aim to alarm any of them. I simply provided a little info, and offered a chance to join the movement.

Recruiting was the hard part. I handled clearing up any misconceptions, and the new members, but ever since Vision left Tony to follow Wanda to the dark side, EI's were skeptical and most times preferred to just stay on their own. Our close connections to Tony Stark most of the time sent people in the opposite direction.

I could understand, but it made my job more challenging than it should've been.

Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Danny Rand had all been avoiding my calls. They were loyal to their cities, of course, and they couldn't just leave behind the messes they had created in their three corners of New York. Danny promised to get back to me. Luke heard me out, but politely declined. Jessica, had been giving me dial tone for six days straight, ignoring each one. I figured, reaching out to her best friend Trish Walker might help, but obvious, Ms. Jones had no intentions of speaking with me.

Grayson Brooks had politely entertained my offer a few days prior, deciding that he couldn't put his family at risk due to them being immigrants. He had seemed intrigued by the sense of family my team had formed, but ultimately decided that his real family needed him more than a vigilante team of heroes would. I had been disappointed, at his rejection. He had an amazing ability - like none I had ever seen before. He was able to morph into animals of his choosing, most notably, as well as his favorite being a white wolf. The boy had a good heart, and even with my disappointment, I couldn't deny that his family needed him more than we did.

We had been in New York for seven days, and our stay was well past overdue. I hadn't managed a single recruit since Tony and Steve split up. It had been nearly a year and a half since he was still in the picture, and a lot of things had changed in that time. Frankly, it was too many for me to count.