3Hello, dear hearts! Thank you to all of you who reviewed, and favourite/followed The Uninvited. It proved to be very inspiring!
Here we are, then. This will carry on 18 months after the events of The Uninvited, but the following chapters will be flashbacks. It may only be a prologue, but the mysterious vampire gets a name, and...well, I'll let you read on, shall I?
Hope you enjoy it!
LookAliveSunshine03
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Avengers Assemble. They are property of Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios. The character you do not recognise, however, is my property. Thanks.
Italics: Recorded speech
An Unorthodox Hero
An Avengers Assemble fanfiction
Prologue
I'm being taken into what can only be described as a black box – or perhaps a cell would be more appropriate? It's disappointingly sparse when compared to all the impressive technology they're confident in thinking they're keeping secret. Perhaps New York didn't teach them anything after all.
Inside the cell, there's a table, three chairs and what appears to be a recording device.
This is going to be fun.
I come quietly, even stumble a little to let them lull themselves into a false sense of control. Then they push me into the chair on the left, and snatch the redundant bag off my head. I pretend to squint and demand where I am.
They can't tell me that, one of them says. It's Classified. Of course it is. Everything about SHIELD is; people like Stark wouldn't have the urge to sniff around it, otherwise. I'm tempted to tell them that any information they want out of me is Classified, but don't, because there's a folder on the desk with my name on it.
Beneath that are two words: NEW YORK.
I knew it. My chest suddenly feels that little bit too tight. Is this what they call a heart attack?
The one on the right switches on the Dictaphone. His name is Frederickson, I learn. He has bright, laughing eyes and a busted-up nose, yet he's suspiciously jovial. I spot the ring on his finger. An ex-spy, then, who has probably taken up a more office-based role. He's happy with that. His wife knows he's safe, what with the baby on the way.
His side-kick, on the other hand, is disquietly silent. I can't read him so easily. He's called Agent Magnus, apparently. He's built like a rhino, wearing a shirt that is struggling to cope with that much muscle, especially with his arms folded like that. I don't like his blank expression. It's the look of a soldier. Is there such a thing as a good or bad soldier?
Yes, there is; I know there is.
Frederickson tells the speaker that it's the 5th September. The time is 18.25. Can I confirm my name? They already know that, so there's no point in lying. My name is Grace. Grace what? Grace Taylor.
A very sweet and unassuming title for a woman such as me.
What was I doing on the 22nd August in 2012 at 20:34? No empty pleasantries, that's a relief. I can't help but ask why they want to inquire about something they already know.
It's a statement. They want it on record. Magnus' eyes flicker when my gaze drops to the table. Perhaps it is time I told my story…just not with all the details.
"Alright. I was on holiday in Stuttgart. There was an event going on at one of their museums, so I decided to have a look." I shrug, because it's true.
"Without an invitation?"
I look up. How on earth do they know that? "Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I could." My expression doesn't change.
"Because you could!" Frederickson's tone says it all. I'm a bad girl.
"You wanted the truth, Agent Frederickson."
"Did you know Loki would be there?"
"No. I did not know who he was." I knew he wasn't human, and I knew I wanted to kill him. I lick my lips, forgetting myself. "Not until he dragged the humans out into the square."
All that fear…the air had been sick with it, laced with the alien sweetness of his magic.
"You tried to kill him?"
"Tried and…failed."
"A woman with abilities like yours…and you couldn't kill him?" Magnus has finally spoken. He's gruffly dubious. He doubts me. It is as if he wants me to show him what I'm capable of. I suppose it will make this interrogation that little more interesting.
"I've only ever fed from humans, Agent Magnus. To kill a man simply because he unnerves me doesn't seem like a good enough excuse –"
"He killed eighty people in two days."
I didn't know this. I've only managed ten people in two days, and that was because I hadn't fed in a while. "Well, if I had known that, I might have been more…motivated."
"Do you not care about humans?"
"If I didn't…well, you would be too busy being dead to ask such a broad question."
His gaze flickers. "Are you threatening me?"
"No, Agent Magnus, I was stating a fact." I sigh. "Loki was unlike anyone I'd ever met before. You understand, don't you? Under all that fear, anger, and horror, you must have been as curious as I was. What limitations could a – a god possibly have?" A massive, green rage monster, for instance? "I suppose I would have succeeded that very night, but the Captain got in my way."
Frederickson is flicking through my file. "You were taken aboard the Helicarrier."
Ah, yes. The flying metal death-trap. "Romanoff was instructed to bring me there, after my part in Loki's capture." My accidental part, more like. My voice freezes over. "Apparently Fury needed as many freaks as he could get to bring the guy down."
One bite and it would have all been over. I keep telling myself that, even now.
If only it had been that easy.
It was so fun to write this chapter! Let me know what you think :D