Shadowbreath: The New Avenger

Chapter 12

Edit 02/01

Consciousness remained just out of reach as Alex slowly became aware that she wasn't waking up in her bed. Why wasn't she at home? And why did her skin feel like it was on fire? Low voices distracted Alex from her disconnected confusion, and she tried to concentrate so that she would have something to focus on.

"Is she supposed to be out this long? It's been at least eighteen hours..." A man's voice hesitated, annoyed and concerned at the same time.

"She should be waking up anytime now. At least we know now that she doesn't have an advanced healing ability. Cap would have woken up within the first few hours." This time it was a woman who spoke, with barely any inflection whatsoever.

She was becoming aware of herself again, finally. Alex did a quick systems check of her body, trying to see how bad the damage was. She wasn't in any real pain, just a constant state of soreness. Her skin tingled violently under the Vibranium suit, and she had a slight panic attack when she reached for the familiar pull within her gut and found she was grasping at absolutely nothing.

She couldn't use her powers.

Alex felt her hands tied behind her back, strapped to what felt like a metal chair, and her feet were bound as well. Someone wasn't taking any chances of her escaping. Probably a smart move on their part. But it didn't matter. Her family would come for her. Her father would come for her.

"I know you're awake. Time to face the music." The woman's voice snapped, and Alex swallowed before opening her eyes and lifting her head. She in some kind of interrogation room, lined with steel barriers and absolutely no trace of organic earth. They had clearly gotten a handle on her powers. She repressed a shudder when it suddenly reminded her of The Fold. Alex met the gaze of her captor unflinchingly.

It was the agent from the lab, still dressed in her skintight leather suit. If she had any doubts that this was the infamous Black Widow, they were long gone now. The other man was none other than Tony Stark himself, sporting loose jeans covered in grease stains and a tight fitting tank top. Despite being captured by the enemy, Alex found herself a bit in awe of her situation. Sure, her family had taught her to hate the Avengers growing up, what with them trying to thwart their operations and what not, but that didn't keep her from sneaking their action figures underneath her bed.

The billionaire glared at her, his gaze flickering between caution and pure hatred. She thought that maybe he would get along well with her father, considering the Boss wore that look all too well. "Fucking finally. Thanks to you and your band of merry men, I've had to spend that last day cleaning up my complete shitstorm of a lab. By the way, what the fuck did you do with my Arc Reactor? Who did you give it to? " He seethed between his teeth.

Alex just blinked at him. Did he really expect her to answer that? Wasn't this guy supposed to be a genius?

"Hey!" Stark snapped his fingers in front of her face, as if making sure that she was listening. "I asked you a question."

She stared at him for half a beat longer and then rolled her eyes. Stark practically growled in frustration, and lunged forward. Black Widow swung her hand to his chest, just left of the soft blue triangle outline. "Cool it." She warned.

Stark was giving Alex an incredulous look. "The little snot just rolled her eyes at me! She really is a..a..teenager! One that is in dire need of an attitude adjustment."

"Just leave it to me." Widow implored with a smirk. "I'll get her to talk."

Alex wanted to snort. Good luck with that. She wasn't afraid. Not of the Avengers. If she were to spill her guts now, far worse things would be waiting for her at home.