Candle In the Dark

Third Person POV:

Nathan was many things, but stupid had never been one of them. He was very observant and — from what he'd been able to observe — was positive that something fishy was going on.

Sitting in the den of their holding floor, Nathan sat on the sofa with the TV blaring as the news reel played live from the city. The Siren, an escaped criminal was wrecking havoc and the Avengers were on their way. All of this felt so sudden though. Why would some obscure super villain suddenly be capable of escaping a maximum security prison? One which was specially designed to house that kind of prisoner.

Then there was Shaylene. She'd been flighty and odd since their last encounter. She was antsy, wringing her hands when she thought herself alone, tapping over her fingers against anything in range. Nervousness. A rarity as Shay was always calm and level-leaded. A good leader in which her action always reflected a manner befitting that very role.

Nathan couldn't recall many times where she didn't have a plan. Which made him wonder, with her secretive demeanor. It hadn't escaped his mind that perhaps she was indeed planning something. Or perhaps carrying it out already? Which also puzzled him. Why would she keep the rest of them out of the loop though? How unlike her, to keep secrets from her teammates.

The only thing he reason was that it may be something she knew they'd be completely against. If she was partaking in a plan that placed her in a precarious situation or one that had her bending her morals to accomplish then she may very well opt for hiding her intentions.

Nathan knew that Shay would never let harm befall them, but he couldn't help the twinge of... something. In twisted around in his chest like a blunt force was battering against his chest.

Surely she trusted them though, right? Even if Shaylene believed that Nathan himself would be firmly against her plan she would at least come and discuss it with him right. They'd always collaborated on any plans carried out and she always got the advise of everyone in the group. She worked her plans around everyone's better ideas and made a cohesive decision that benefited them all.

"There you are..." Nathan startled imperceptibly. It was Tara and he turned to face her. Her dark hair was tied away from her face in a messy ponytail and her skin was paler than usual. There were dark bags under her eyes and even with all that, it still wasn't enough to banish that cocky grin adorning her smug face. She stood with pride and her usual know-it-all manner. "We've been looking everywhere for you," she paused, studying him closer. "You look like shit. You feeling okay?"

"Since when were you so interested in my business?" he asked, no bite to his tone. "Besides, you're looking a whole lost worse." Tara rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's called being attentive, you should be glad I'm paying attention. There's plenty of more enjoyable things I could be doing you know," she huffed, turning on her heels and moving towards the door. "Like taking a nice hot bath in a real tub instead of trying to birdbath in a gas station bathroom. Or a cold dip in a near frozen lake in the middle of winter. Pretty awful that was."

A thought struck him as his eyes fixed on the back of her head. "Tara," he said, stopping her in her tracks. She'd just been reaching for knob, but turned back at his voice. "Has Shay confided in you? I mean, has she told you about any plans she's working on?"

"No, why?" Tara looked confused.

"No reason..." he muttered, still lost in thought. Nathan wasn't foolish enough to bring his real motive up to Tara, she was too inquisitive and if Shay was really doing something she shouldn't than Tara would surely find a way to discover the deception. Perhaps going far enough to misunderstand their leaders motives and even blow her cover. If she's doing anything at all, a voice in his head reminded him. He had to remember that his thoughts were only a theory.

That was very odd Shay and Tara, despite their differences, were rather close and Shay tended to confide in the mouthy girl first. This didn't bode well.

With the Avenger:

Siren laughed giddily, she sounded half-mad as the Avengers circled her, swaying ominously her mouth opened in a crooked smirk. "Well?" she called at last her voice high and cracking. "How disappointing, Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Nothing more than a bunch of dorks running about in spandex and tights. 'I'd been expecting a challenge."

Launching herself forward, she slammed her feet into Hawkeye, ducking a swing from Black Window. Catching the bow she wrenches it down over its owner head before twisting up and using him as a post. Airborne, she yanks a small metallic object from her pocket.

Touching the ground she has just an instant to duck as Captain America swings at her. His shield acting as a barrier between them, she won't be able to make contact. She's smirking mad, she's always like a challenge, ducking and dodging every swipe. In the corner of her visions she catches sight of repulser beams. Rolling out of the way she tosses the small device and grins devilishly as it connects to the Iron Man armor.

Acting like an EMP it whirls loudly, sending a piercing shriek out and one by one, lights flicker out and the light of the arc reactor flickers dangerously. Siren uses a taxi as a springboard and launches herself at the distracted hero and connected her feet into his chest. Her feet hit the ground and she barely has time to roll as Captain America's shield nearly connects.

Her heart pounds wildly in her chest as she gets up from the pavement and blocks a fist thrown by Black Widow and sideswipes a nearing Hawkeye. Siren's grin only widens at the static in he earpiece. The time was nearly here.

Tara would never admit it, but she was unsettled. Nathan was acting, well weirder than usual. Too be honest he was always a bit of an odd ball. Absolutely hopeless in personality, if he every had a girlfriend he'd bore her into an early grave. However, he seemed... bothered. Worried even, about Shay. Now that he'd mentioned it, Shay was acting colder than usual. Distancing herself away from them.

Wracking her brain Tara failed to find any recent memory of the two of them just talking about regular stuff. Not the Avengers issue or escape plans and battle tactics. Just talking about their day, what happened recently. She seemed to be pulling away from them and Tara wasn't going to let that happen.

Determined to find out what Shay was hiding, Tara decided to get to work. Shay was a lot of things but she'd never been good at keeping secrets from them. She was too honest. Noble even. Making a be-line towards the lab an idea sparks in her mind. She could easily tap into local video footage, maybe even something in the tower itself. She'd have to comb through tons of footage but surely she could find something. JARVIS would be able to help her narrow down the results.

Determined to figure this mess out once and for all, Tara nodded to herself.

That's when she noticed Ciara seated on a chair in front of a laptop watching the same news footage that Nathan had been looking at. She was hunched forward at an angle that had to hurt her neck and back. She looked only moments away from chewing on her fingernails. It was then that Tara really could see how close her friend has been getting to her biological parent.

Tara had been trying to do as Shay suggested, to keep her distance, to not get attached. That adult and parents would only lead to pain and disappointment. Tara always wondered what happened at... she shook the thoughts away. There was no point in dwelling on their time there, but she couldn't help but thinking about how much longer Shaylene had experienced that hell.

What she must've experienced led her to mistrust adults and she tried to explain her reasoning to them. To make them understand why she feared people of power and authority and why they should be wary of adults as well. Tara knew deep down that none of then, except maybe Nathan, had latched onto that advise.

All of them, especially Ciara, had fair amounts of dreams imagining what having parents would be like. To have people who cared solely about them and watching her friend now made Tara realize how deep they were getting. Maybe that's why Shay was drawing back, distancing herself from everyone.

Shaylene had to doing something, Tara just knew it.

A/N:

Okay so it's been a long time since I updated this and with the MCU changing rapidly so much it's hard to keep up with writing stories when nearly everything is outdated by the time you post it, but I found the old paper that has the chapters that I somewhat outlined. Now I wish I had been much more detailed back then.

And as you all can tell, I've gotten rid of every characters first point of view. It's a bit much and a third person pov will be easier to manage. Shaylene's perspective will stay the same. Now I won't guarantee regular updates but if anyone wants to see more chapters of this let me know.

Thanks everyone who's supported this story and any of my work. As for Panic's story, I think I might rename her and rework it again but write a significant amount before then, or maybe just do a long one-shot that wraps everything up because it's been so long and I don't have much drive anymore.

I am working on a Harry Potter fanfiction, but trying to get that first chapter started was a killer. I've got a paragraph done and I like the opening better than anytime in the past so I'm Hopeful.

This one's a bit shorter than I would've liked but I haven't looked at this story in a while. If anyone remembers the important details leave me a comment otherwise I'll have to skin through past chapters and I think a brief touching up would be easier than having to read all those chapters again.

Thanks again and hopefully I'll be more active this year and the coming ones.