You were sitting inside a nearly empty coffee shop outside of Brooklyn nursing a cup of coffee when the front page of a newspaper sitting at the table next to you caught your eye. Glancing around, you reached over and snagged it, your eyes narrowing as you scan the headline: "The Thief Who Can Walk Through Walls", and underneath a grainy security camera image that looked just a little bit too much like you. You bit your lip as you considered the driving time between Kansas and Brooklyn, would they be looking for you here yet? Best not to risk it, you decide, tucking the newspaper under your arm. You'd have to get a change of clothes. Your usual grey hoodie and leather jacket combo would have to go now that you had been captured on camera. You head down the alleyway beside the cafe considering your little slip up. It was supposed to be an easy, routine robbery-if you would even call it that. Teleport into the vault, grab just enough to live on for a while, a grand or two at most, and out. Unfortunately teleporting someplace you couldn't see was a little harder, and dangerous, and instead of landing in the vault, you landed just outside in plain view of a security camera. Happens to the best of us, you sigh glance around to make sure no one was in sight before you twisted in the air and appeared in the dirty motel room you had rented out the night before.
Immediately something felt out of place and your gut was screaming at you to disappear when the lights in the room clicked on. Leaning against your kitchen counter was none other than Tony-fucking-Stark, clutching your purple Jansport bag in one hand and a glass of what looked like scotch in the other. You whirled around to see Captain America standing by the lightswitch, his arms crossed across his broad chest. You consider your chances of getting your bag away from Stark and Captain America, found it to be almost zero, and started to twist out of there when Captain America lunged forward, locking his large hands around your wrists.
"Let me go!" You hiss, struggling in his grasp. It would do you no good to teleport out of there if he was just going to come with you.
"Will you stay and talk to us?" The Captain asked, "We're not going to hurt you, we just want to talk."
You glared at Stark, and then nod slowly. Immediately your hands were released and you turned your head slightly to spit at the Captain's feet.
"I didn't realize the Avengers cared about petty robbery these days," You said mockingly, slowly moving forward into the room and away from the burly man behind you, your body tense as you prepared to take off at any second.
"We don't," Stark said, "Well, I mean, Cap's not a fan, but that's neither here nor there. If you don't like what we have to say then you're free to go kid, I'll give you your bag back and everything. Scouts honor." You roll your eyes and cross your arms. "We're here to talk to you about the Avenger's Initiative." You don't know what you expected him to say, but it sure as hell wasn't that, and a choked laugh escapes your throat.
"You...want me...to join the Avengers?" Another laugh, and Stark almost looked amused. Captain America however did not, as he strolled forward to stand next to his teammate.
"I'm not sure what's so funny about this situation," he said, and crossed his arms once more. You wondered if he was doing that to intimidate you with his massive muscles. It wasn't working.
"What's funny is that you want me to join your ragtag bunch of do-gooder superheroes." You grin. "No thank you. Is that all? Can I have my shit back?" Stark was full on grinning now as he reached back to grab a file folder.
"Not quite-Looks to me like you've been running from something. You can track your string of "petty robberies" around the world twice. Most aren't reported, you never take more than two grand from anywhere, but if you're looking…" Stark trailed off, tossing the folder behind him onto the counter. "We can offer you a roof over your head, a fat paycheck, and protection from whatever you're running from. All we ask in return is you use your unique skill set to help us save the world. Seems like a pretty good deal to me kid. And if it doesn't work out, well I'm not sure there's anything we could do to prevent you from leaving, is there?"
"Not a damn thing," you mumble before tossing the folded newspaper towards the two men. The captain snatched it out of the air with a frown. "Can you make that go away?"
"Done," Stark said, downing the rest of his drink. "Cap, you take her back to base, and I'll see what I can do about the kid's photograph being national news."
"You got a car?" Captain America asked, tossing you your bag.
"Please." You grin, holding out your hand to him. "Coordinates?" You concentrated as he read them off. "Hold on tight," you advise as you twisted, pulling him with you. You weren't very practiced at landing with passengers so you both stumble clumsily. You immediately drop the Captain's hand, only to grasp his arm as he swayed unsteadily on his feet.
"Ugh," Captain America grunted, "Never doing that again."
"If that's true then why am I here Captain?" You roll your eyes, but you were kind of amused that you had unsettled the super soldier. "Besides, you get used to it. Imagine how it was the first time for me."
"It's Steve, Steve Rogers. Let me show you inside." You hoist your bag onto your shoulder and fall into step with him as he leads you towards the compound. You eye the vast nondescript building warily. Just the sort of place to lock you up for all kinds of nasty experiments. You glance over at Steve "Mr. Patriotism" Rogers and decide he doesn't particularly look like the torture and experimentation type.
"The first floor is just reception and conference rooms," Steve was explaining as we walked through the front doors. The inside was clean and airy, and a pretty receptionist smiled from a smooth white desk. You follow Steve to a glass elevator and step inside. No turning back now. "B1 is the common areas, the kitchen, the training rooms, and the lounge. B2, B3, and B4 are the living quarters. You're going to be on B2. B5 is Stark and Banner's labs as well as medical." You watched as he pressed the round button marked B2. The ride was so smooth that you hadn't realized you had moved until the elevator doors slid open and revealed a clean open hallway. Two doors marked either side of the long hallway. "The first room on the left is mine, Wanda, who you'll meet later is across on the right. You're up here on the right," he stopped in front of the door and it slid open automatically revealing a large open living space decorated in the same modern clean decorating scheme. You took a few steps in, taking in the small kitchenette and large living room
"Wow," You breathed, running your hand along the marble countertop.
'Yeah," Rogers chuckled, "A lot better than that skeevy motel room you were staying in." You shoot him a look but he just smiles, "Bedroom and bathroom are down the hall."
"Great… I'll check those out later." You shift your weight, suddenly feeling awkward, "So what now?"
"Well if you're ready, we'll meet the others in the training room. You can meet everyone and we'll be able to test your abilities."
"A test? I think you know how my abilities work." You narrow your eyes.
"We're not expecting you to be full on Avenger material right off the bat, but we are interested in your hand to hand combat capabilities."
You frown, "I've never been in a fight in my life."
"We'll train you, we just want to see what kind of raw material we have to work with."
"Right, fine," you sigh and toss your bag onto the counter, "Lead the way Captain."
Stark was already standing outside of the training room door when you arrive, "You ready for this kiddo?"
"Scared I'll take down one of your precious Avengers Stark?" You taunt with your hands on your hips, sounding much more confident than you older man grinned and waved you forward into the room. Your eyes jump from face to face trying not to be intimidated by the group of superheroes standing in front of you.
"Avengers, this is our new recruit," Stark clapped his hand on your shoulder, and you quickly shrug it off. "This is Dr. Banner, Wanda, Vision, Clint, Natasha, and Sam." The Hulk, The Scarlet Witch, the Android, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the Falcon, you mentally told yourself.
"Damn Stark, talk about jailbait. Where'd you find this one?" Sam joked, stepping forward towards you. You glance up, meeting his friendly gaze with your own cold one. "I'm just messing with you, I'm Sam Wilson. Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, you too," You said warily as you shook his hand.
"Alright," Steve called your attention back to him, "Sam, I want you to test the new recruit."
'Okay," he grins moving towards the center of the room, "I'll try not to hurt you too bad," he said with a wink in your direction. You force yourself to not glance around the room once more and instead focus on calming your nerves as you turn to face the dark-skinned man. He pauses, waiting for you to make a move, but you stay still, watching him for any signs of movement. After a handful of seconds he lunges towards you faster than you expected, but right before he hit you you disappear, leaving him off balanced and you with an opening as you appear behind him, using your momentum to kick him low in the back and sending him sprawling to the ground. He curses as he quickly hops to his feet and spins around to face you again.
"Alright, alright," his grin disappears,, "I see how it is now." He takes another quick lunge at you and you quickly teleport about a foot to the side, letting his fist hit the empty air beside you. He quickly turns to aim a kick in your new direction, so you move back to your previous position. Adrenaline was pumping through your veins in a way you had never felt before, and it felt good. Really good. Before Sam could attack again you flit away, landing about four feet in front of him and facing off once more. You could hear Steve murmuring something quietly to Stark, but you didn't dare turn to see if he looked disappointed or impressed. Sam was tensed, this time determined to wait you out and force you to make the first move. With no outward warning, you disappear, appearing directly in front of him and delivering the hardest punch you could muster to the other man's jaw before returning to your original place. Sam immediately charges forward, and you quickly appeared behind him. Unfortunately he had been expecting that, and spun around delivering a solid kick to your abdomen. You let out a pained gasp as you fall backwards, landing hard on your back and leaving you winded.
Sam came to your side, holding out a hand to help you out. After a moment you take, wincing at the pain in your stomach as you rise to your feet. "You alright?" You nod, not trusting that your words wouldn't come out as wheezing pants. "You're not bad," Sam said, "For an amateaur."
"You did good," Steve said, coming up behind you to clap his large hand on your shoulder before you could retort. "Take five." He nods over towards a bench against the wall and you quickly crossed the room to reach it before gingerly settling yourself down on it. The Avengers all came together, and you realize, embarrassed that they were talking about you. You strained to hear what they were saying as you gently probed your stomach with your fingers, wincing as you found the sore spot.
"Her power is very impressive," you hear Vision say, "Something like that could be invaluable during infiltration missions, or to get people out if a job goes bad. You said she can take passengers?"
"She brought me from Brooklyn to the tower. It felt like a kick to the head, but she says you get used to it. We'd have to train with her individually, landing in enemy territory disoriented like that could mean death."
"Her hand to hand skills could use a lot of work," Natasha commented, "But that can be learned. Her ability gives her a good natural defense."
"Definitely strength training as well, she put a lot into her attacks but they weren't exactly packing a punch." Sam noted.
"Alright," Steve nodded, "We'll start her on a training schedule immediately. Nat, you'll work on her hand to hand combat in the morning. Clint, you'll teach her to shoot directly after. In the afternoons we'll rotate working on teleporting with her."
You watch as they all broke apart and filled out of the room, leaving you and Steve. You stood up as he walked over to you, meeting him halfway.
"How's the stomach?" He asked, a friendly smile on his lips. You gently pulled up your shirt to examine the faint bruise spreading across your pale skin with a grimace, before letting it fall back down.
"I think I'll live," You told him.
"Good. Stark's ordered pizza, it should be in the kitchen. I'll show you to it." You gesture for him to lead the way and fall into step beside him.
"So what was it like the first time?" Steve asks after a moment, peering down at you. You glance up confused. "The first time you teleported, you mentioned it earlier."
"Oh, I thought I was losing my mind," You laugh, "I was about 13, went to head upstairs to my bedroom when suddenly I was standing in it, with the worst headache of my life. It took me a couple years to get it completely under control, and the speed comes with practice. It used to take me five minutes of concentration to even jump a foot. Now I can go anywhere I want, instantaneously."
"Are there any limitations?"
"I don't know how many people I can take. Honestly taking you along was only the second time I had done that. Also if I don't know exactly where I'm trying to land it can be dangerous, like my little mishap at the bank. I knew approximately where the vault was, but I undershot it a little bit. And look where that got me."
"I think you'll like it here. And if not, you got the whole world to explore at the snap of your fingers."
The kitchen was decorated in the same minimalist style as the rest of the tower you had seen. Sam, Natasha, and Clint were sitting at the table chatting amicably around bites of pizza. Stark was mixing a drink, while Wanda leaned against the counter, picking her piece apart slowly with long slender fingers. Steve walked over to Sam, clapping him on the back fondly before snagging a slice of pizza from his plate.
"Yo, Dillinger!" Starks voice called out, unmistakably for you. You reluctantly turned to look at him. "Your little indiscretion has been taken care of. The cops won't be knocking down the door looking for you."
"Nothing that money can't fix, huh Stark?" You deadpan. He just smiles and crosses the room handing you a glass of amber liquid. You sniff it gingerly and take a sip. Not bad. You wander over towards Wanda and snag a slice of pizza. She smiles tentatively at you.
"It's good to meet you," She says softly, "It'll be nice to have another girl around, if you decide to stay." You glance up at her, surprised. "I can read minds," she explains, "I wasn't snooping, I promise, I just pick up things sometimes. You're undecided."
You glance around to see if anyone was listening to your quiet exchange, but no one seemed to be paying attention. "I've spent so long trying to stay off the radar, from people like S.H.I.E.L.D...and others. Not wanting to be used, or dissected, or turned into a weapon or something." She nods in understanding, so you continue, "Just not sure this is the right place for me. I'm not exactly you know, the definition of a good guy."
"You may have stolen, but you never hurt anyone. Besides, most of us don't have squeaky clean pasts. We're a family here, and a place for redemption. You won't be used here, and you'll be safe from other interested parties. Give it a chance." You take a bite of your pizza, thinking over her earnest words.
"So you can go anywhere?" Wanda asks after a moment
"Yup," You say, popping the p. "We could see the pyramids in Egypt, have crepes in France, and swim in Bermuda and be back before bedtime."
"Sounds like a great day," She smiles, "You'll have to show me this sometime. I've never seen the pyramids."
"It's a deal," You tell her, popping the last of your pizza crust into your mouth. You glance at the door, trying to remember your way back to your apartment.
"I can show you, we're on the same floor." She smiles kindly, nodding towards the doorway. You smile in response and quietly slip out the door behind her. She left you outside your doorway, which once again slid open revealing your living quarters. You snag your bag off the counter and walk back towards what Steve had said was the bedroom. A large bed sat against the far wall, and you eye it longingly. Shower first though, you decide. You walk up to the first door, which opened up into a large walk in closet. You had more luck with the second door, and you whistle appreciatively at the large bathtub set in the corner. There was also a walk in shower, and his and hers sinks. You toss your bag onto the countertop, and turn towards the bath. You turn on the taps, watching the water slowly fill the tub. You eye your reflection in the floor length mirror on the walk next to you and shrug off your leather jacket and then your hoodie, letting it fall to the floor at your feet. You try to picture yourself dressed in the dark kevlar uniforms of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents, fighting alongside the Avengers and groan. Turning away, you kick off your black boots and strip off the rest of your clothes before dropping into the sinfully hot water, letting it soak away some of the tension in your shoulders.
You reluctantly step out when the water turns cold, quickly drying yourself with one of the fluffy white towels from the towel rack. You slide your clothes back on and grab your bag, jacket and shoes, leaving them in a neat pile at the front of your bed. It's hard to resist the urge to slip underneath the crisp sheets, but you force yourself to lay on top of the bed and stay alert. Just in case you need to make a quick getaway.