An Alliance // TMI + The Avengers //

Chapter 1

Isabelle trudged through the crisp, morning snow, pulling her new black jacket closer for warmth. It was strange to see the snow in Alicante, for the Wards reflected most cold weather. But in this case, it was clear that the snow had forced itself into the beautiful city overnight. Over her head, Isabelle could see crows fly across to land on the tower where Simon was held captive - the Gard. As lovely as it was to finally be back in Idris, she couldn't help but think how much easier it would've been if there were no problems with Valentine and if Simon had stayed in New York, where the troubles of the Shadowhunter world didn't affect him as much. But she knew this was impossible.

The wind blew around her and played with her hair, lonely in the morning sun. It helped to walk through the forests, behind her neighbourhood, to clear her mind. But there was something that annoyed her. The wind was rustling more than usual and it was increasing by the minute.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a crescendo of whirrs sounded from above her and Isabelle shot her face up to see where it was coming from.

An invisible force of wind whipped her hair uncontrollably when she was greeted by a flying aircraft, slowly coming back to colour. "What the..." She trailed off, in clear surprise. A tall man leaped off the open door and strode towards her.

Reflectively, Isabelle pulled out her whip and seized the man, who was clearly not expecting the assault.

"Please, Ms Lightwood," began the man, yelling over the wind. "My name is Agent Fury and you must board the helicopter before anyone notices."

Isabelle replied with a snort. "Nice try. What do you think I am, a five year old?" She shouted back, hoping she was heard over the loud noise of the copter. The man had a long black coat flapping around him and a matching leather patch, covering his left eye.

The man, Agent Fury, sighed and shook his head. A small grin formed on his face as he said, "Well, we tried the easy way. That didn't work. Let's try the hard way."

As if by command, two men and a woman, dressed in complete black, jumped out of the flying aircraft. The men freed Agent Fury from Isabelle's whip which weakened as the woman shot her arm with a small dart. Isabelle felt dizzy, sleepy, and she landed on the cold, snowy ground with a thud.

There was nothing to protect her fall but her whole body was numb so the fall took little affect. However, the dart that was shot at her made her senses falter and she heard shouts and yells coming from her house.

Suddenly, she was pulled by her legs and dragged across the snow and the whirls of the helicopter grew louder and louder. She felt herself being lifted off the floor and into a warm place but before she could muster the will to open her eyes, she was knocked on the head with what felt like the hilt of a gun. The last thing she heard was her brother yelling her name.

********

A sharp pain shot up from the side of Isabelle's arm and to her head. It then slowed down and subsided to a low throb eventually becoming numb. Her eyes shot open but she shied away from the bright light.

"Water," she managed to to say, hoarsely. She waited for someone to provide her with a glass of water but there was no reply.

Isabelle's eyes adjusted with the surrounding light and she looked around the room. She was greeted with a circular room, a shade in between blue and green. It was made of glass and so she could make out a blurry outline of two figures standing just outside the glass container. She couldn't really call it a room.

"Ms Lightwood," said one of the figures, clearly a deep masculine noise. "Good to see you're awake."

Isabelle strained her eyes and tried to focus what she saw. She looked down and saw that her arms and legs were shackled to those of a chair. A groan slipped out of her mouth and she said, "I hate being tied up to a chair. It makes my arms look fat against the armrests."

Silence.

Isabelle turned to raise her head and now the people in front of her were much clearer. She recognised one of them as the man with the eye patch who came from the helicopter. She couldn't tell who the other woman was, but she was instantly reminded of Clary's flaming hair.

They looked as if they were conversing but neither of the two moved to face each other, gazes locked onto Isabelle. She looked down to see whether her pendant was pulsing but it rested, cold, against her chest, in its plain dull red. She suddenly longed for Alec for she had not usually been alone this long in an unknown environment.

Then, a door hissed open shut close to her left, outside of the glass and she saw the woman with the flaming hair move, pulling a chair behind her. She sat down, placed her elbows on her knees and rested her chin on her hands.

"Agent Romanoff," greeted the woman, coldly, her eyes searching Isabelle's. Instead of replying, Isabelle turned to look back and saw that there was no one watching them; the man with the eye patch must've been the one to leave the area. They were alone. Physically.

Romanoff didn't look like she expected an answer from Isabelle and instead carried on speaking. "You are currently in our territory, Ms Lightwood. Any move you make with the intentions to attack will trigger this container to shoot out of our aircraft and leave you locked in, and you will fall to your death from this height."

Isabelle didn't flinch. She could tell that it wasn't an empty promise but knew that she couldn't show any signs of weakness.

"What does the 'A' on your suit stand for?" Asked Isabelle, coolly resting her back against the chair and tilting her head to one side. She saw a flicker of confusion in Romanoff's eyes but it disappeared as soon as it came.

"The Avengers."