PART ONE - THE AVENGERS
“Our research has shown she developed telekinesis and shapeshifting abilities. To top it all off, her I.Q. is exceptional, and she’s become quite the assassin,” the agent began, leaning forward. “As she gets older, her powers seem to grow stronger.”
“What’s her history?” The director’s voice was clipped, demanding.
“She was born with most of the abilities. As she aged, doctors and scientists noticed how different she was—that led to the experiments. They wanted to weaponize her. If they could identify the source of her power and amplify it, they believed they’d have the perfect soldier. They turned her into a project. Let’s just say that didn’t end well,” the agent continued, his tone hardening. “One of their trials worked. It made her ten times stronger than her baseline, and she developed extreme cellular regeneration. She used that to her advantage, killing them all before escaping and going into hiding. Luckily, we managed to track her down.”
“Where is she now?” The director pressed.
“We’ve tracked her to a city in Cuba. She’s been hiding in plain sight for a while now.” The agent indicated the file on the desk, his eyes narrowing on the location. “Havana.”
“And it took you this long to find her?”
The agent shifted uncomfortably, feeling the weight of the director’s gaze. “She’s exceptionally good at blending in, Sir. How do you suggest we bring her in? Or convince her to help us?”
“She has a soft spot for someone. As soon as we get him on board, he can get her to cooperate,” the director explained vaguely.
“If I may ask, who are you thinking of?” The agent’s gaze met the director’s, seeking clarity.
“Dr. Bruce Banner.”
• • •
I navigated through the small crowd of people, heading towards the cafe at the end of the street. I pushed open the door with a sharp shove, drawing the attention of a couple of patrons seated in a booth. I leveled a glare at them, enough to send their eyes back to their table.
“Café mediano negro y un pastel de arándanos,” I told the man behind the counter, my voice precise.
He nodded. “Nombre, por favor?”
“Raven,” I answered simply, retrieving my wallet and counting out the money.
The man entered the order. “Que será de cinco dólares.” I handed him the cash, taking the receipt with my other hand.
I stood to the side, waiting for my order. A few minutes later, the man returned to the counter. “Raven?”
I nodded, accepting the bag and cup of coffee, then walked briskly towards the exit. Being in public wasn’t the source of my paranoia; it was who might be watching.
I reached my apartment, setting my things on the kitchen counter. My hand reached for the TV remote, but as I turned toward the living room, a shadowed figure blocked my path.
Instinctively, I grabbed their throat, forcing them into the light of the kitchen windows. My eyes scanned him, and a surge of annoyance flared. “Bruce?” I released him. “You should know better than to sneak up on me.” I turned on the TV, scoffing at his appearance. I hadn’t seen Bruce Banner in years. He was a good person, a good ally, but not someone to appear unexpectedly like this. It felt… unsettling.
He chuckled softly, rubbing his throat. “Yeah…”
My head tilted, skepticism etched on my face. “So, what do you want? Who sent you?” I glanced out the windows, noticing a few figures who looked like agents. Probably the ones Banner had brought with him.
“I just wanted to see how you’re doing,” Bruce said, trying to sound casual.
I scoffed, “You don’t do random check-ins. The agents outside confirm it. Who sent you? FBI? CIA?”
“S.H.I.E.L.D.” Banner’s gaze locked with mine. “Nick Fury, if we’re being specific.”
A sweet, almost saccharine smile touched my lips. “I figured. How long have they been tracking me?”
“Not that long. It was harder to find you than me. They thought you’d be the best option to get your cooperation,” he explained, clasping his hands together.
“Why? Because I know you? Because you slightly care about me?” I stepped closer to him, my hand resting on my hip.
“Yes, actually.” He stood up. “Now, we need you to come in.”
Another scoff escaped my lips. “I’m not working for S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s not my job to clean up whatever mess they’ve made this time.”
He ignored my words, pulling out his phone. “This is the Tesseract. It can wipe out the planet.” He handed me the device, a blue cube displayed on the screen.
Thoughts raced through my mind. “Why do they need me?”
“You need to help us find it before it kills us all. We need your skillset. Plus, you’d get to hang out with me. I’d call that a win,” he said, his voice laced with nervousness. “If I’m stuck in this, it’s only right you’re involved, too.”
“You’re asking an assassin to save lives? S.H.I.E.L.D. must be desperate.” I took a sip of my coffee, spinning the image of the Tesseract on the screen with my thumb. I weighed the pros and cons, falling silent for a moment.
“They’ll clean your record. Wipe away any trace of your past. No one will hunt you anymore,” he offered.
My head snapped up, and despite my attempts to hide it, Banner noticed my interest. An anxious smile played on his lips. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“…Fine, but I’m bringing my pastry.” I grabbed the bag and cup of coffee. “Let’s get this dead-end show on the road.”
• • •
A file was handed to me. I flipped it open to see details about the mission Fury was sending us on.
Information about space and Asgardians was thrown around, mentioning two brothers, Thor and Loki, who had an incident in New Mexico not long ago. I skimmed through it, absorbing as much as I could. More information about Loki was mixed in, courtesy of his brother, and a curiosity bloomed in the back of my mind.
“This Loki guy just seems a bit misunderstood if you ask me,” I muttered. “He must have a good reason for taking this thing. People don’t take something this important for nothing.”
Bruce chuckled, a nervous tone in his voice as he tapped his foot. “Sometimes people are just evil. They don’t need reasons.”
“Stop being nervous.” I placed my hand on his knee, stopping him from tapping his foot. “And yes, most of the time there is reasoning behind actions. I’m going to find out what his are.”
“Good luck with that.” He continued tapping his foot. “So, uh, what have you been doing all this time?”
The pilot’s voice filled the intercom of the jet, “Landing in five minutes.”
“I’m an assassin. What do you think?” I turned the page in the file.
“That’s pretty ironic. They bring you in to save lives, but your job is to kill people,” he mumbled.
A small smirk touched my lips. “Yeah. But this is bigger than the past, right?”
I continued reading over the file until the pilot’s voice interrupted, “Prepare for landing.”
I looked out the window of the jet. Below us was a large landing and runway area on what looked like a ship. The jet soon turned and began to land.
“Finally.” I stood up with the file in hand. Bruce lingered, adjusting his glasses until I waved a hand at him. “C’mon, Banner. We don’t have all day.” I looked over at him.
He took his time getting out of his seat, nervousness still evident. I stepped next to him. “Stop worrying and loosen up.”
“Easy for you to say,” he mumbled, following me off the jet. A few agents gathered our things, taking them inside the ship.
“You know what just crossed my mind?” I asked, Bruce hummed in response. “I could shapeshift into Fury—or frankly, anyone on this ship—and no one would know the difference.” We began walking around the landing area, taking in everything.
He let out a small laugh. “I don’t think he’d take that lightly.”
I surveyed the area, glancing at Bruce a couple of times as we continued walking. We eventually ran into Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff. I’d seen their names mentioned in the mission file more than once, but otherwise, I was familiar with who they were. America’s Golden Boy and an espionage expert as skilled as myself—it was hard not to know them in a world like mine.
“Dr. Banner.” Steve extended his hand to him, then moved to me, greeting with a calm smile, “Raven Nix.” I shook his hand, holding his gaze.
“Oh, yeah, hi. They told us you’d be here,” Banner said.
Steve released my hand, turning to him. “Word is you can find the cube.” He got right to the point.
“Is that the only word on me?” Bruce asked as they began walking, Natasha and I following behind them.
“Only word I care about,” Steve replied indifferently. He turned to me, his blue eyes fleeting over my face. “How’d they get you on board?”
“I took a jet, it landed on this helicarrier, and here I am,” I replied with a stiff smile, knowing that wasn’t what he meant.
Bruce rolled his eyes. “They used me.” Steve nodded as a response as Bruce shot me a look, but continued talking. “It must be strange for you, all of this.”
“This is actually kind of familiar,” he tells him.
Natasha spoke up from beside me, “You may want to step inside in a minute. It’s gonna get a little hard to breathe.”
The ship started shaking slowly. I peered over the edge, noticing the propellers below us. Steve spoke up, “Is this a submarine?”
“Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurized, metal container?” Banner commented. The both looked over the edge, noticing what I did.
“Oh, no,” Banner smiled sickly, an odd chuckle leaving his mouth.
I let out an amused laugh, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “Such a drama queen.”