A Stark and a Demi

I went to one of the training rooms to do some archery practice. It would usually have been with Hawkeye, so I felt very alone at that moment. I knew that perhaps I should have told everyone earlier, but how was I supposed to know that a crazy frost giant Asgardian was going to show up and ruin everything?
But, that was the whole point. Loki was trying to put gaps between everyone in the team so that he could fight us easily. The only way I could now avoid that would be to bride a gap between my family and the Asgardians. I turned my bow back into a bracelet and headed out.
I took my time walking back to the bridge, not particularly looking forward to this conversation. As I walked onto the bridge, I could see Thor was walking around, seemingly at a loss at what to do. Thor walked over to the window and I took that as my cue to join him. I walked over and stood by him. He must have noticed me there because I saw him tense slightly, but he didn’t say anything.
“I love looking out of this window and down on everything. It’s always so beautiful.” I said. Neither of us spoke for a minute.
“What do you know of us, Vargrdóttir?” he asked. I turned to him at the name; Wolf Daughter.
“I know the legends, Hríð Dróttinn; I studied the old stories as soon as I was able.” I said. He chuckled slightly at the name; Storm Lord. “Do all of us get left?”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“My mother abandoned me; I was homeless until I came to SHIELD. I only learnt to read and write three years ago; which was when I first started looking into things. I don’t have the faintest idea who my father is, and I have never met my mother. The first good thing to ever happen to me was when I met Akilah, Stark’s daughter, six years ago.” I said. “Do you understand what I mean, Hríð Dróttinn? Are we all left like that?”
“No, not all of you. I didn’t even know she had a human child.” He said. “She didn’t leave you entirely, did she?”
“Yes, she did.” I said, failing to hide the bitterness in my voice. “I always knew I was a demi-god, but I had no idea until after I had met Akilah who my mother was. She gave me a bow, a quiver and my necklace.” I said, putting my hand to it. “That’s what led me to her. Not that it mattered; I had already nearly killed someone by the time I found out her name.”
“What happened?” Thor asked gently. When I didn’t answer he said, “Tell me Vargrdóttir.”
“I was 10. Two men tried to rob me.” I said.
*
Wow, it seems like such a long time ago. I remember walking down a busy New York street. No one looked at me, or even noticed I was there. I liked it that way, it meant that I could go just about anywhere without having to worry.
If people had stopped to look, they would have seen a girl that was slightly taller than average with tangled hair that was once bleach blonde. She would have been slim, suggestion a lack of food. Only then would they have realised that the girl was homeless. Then of course, they would have done their best to avoid her.
It was a usual day for me; I was walking down a street looking for somewhere I could find some food. I wouldn’t get much competition from others on the street, most of them walked away from me as well. I apparently scared them; it might have been my eyes, which were (and still are) unusually bright blue.
Anyway, I had just found a very promising spot down an alley. I turned and walked down, soon noticing that I was being followed by two men around twenty.
Great, I thought, this isn’t going to end well.
Once I had walked half way down the alley, I turned around to face them. “I have nothing worth stealing; leave me alone.” I said.
“You’re wrong. We’ll have that bracelet.” One said, moving to stand behind me.
“And that necklace too.” Said the other, coming to a halt in front of me.
“I’m warning you, leave me alone; it’s not worth it.” I said calmly, turning so that I could see them both.
“Warning us!” The first one said, laughing. He moved to take my necklace.
My hand instantly went to a knife I had tucked into my trousers. I brought it out and hit the first guy with the hilt. Caught by surprise, he fell back and hit his head on a dumpster, knocking himself out. The second one made to move towards me, but I activated my bracelet and my bow appeared in my hands.
“Now, take your friend and go.” I said.
Just as he picked up his friend, I saw a police man appear at the entrance to the alley. He man took one look at us and spoke into his radio.
“Miss, drop your weapon and put your hands where I can see them.” He ordered, taking his gun from the holster.
I did as I was told, turning my bow back into a bracelet just before I put it on the floor. He then entered the alley and walked towards me, gun pointing at my chest. He took out his hand cuffs, pulled my hands behind my back and cuffed me. I started to protest, but I quickly realised that it would do no good.
After we had waited for an ambulance for the guy that had hit his head and a police car for me, I was taken to the police station. There I was in a sort of limbo; I couldn’t be questioned without a parent or guardian present, but I had none. So, I was just put into a cell. They couldn’t do much else, and they thought they could do okay with just two witness statements from the guys who had tried to rob me.
Of course, I wasn’t just going to sit there. I didn’t know what else to do but to ask for a phone call. I had to make it count, but I only knew one person I could call; Akilah Stark. I know she was only my age at the time, but I thought maybe her father or someone could help.
After asking the operator to connect me, I heard a man’s voice. “You have reached Stark Industries; how may I help you?” He said. It was only later that I realised it had been Jarvis.
“Hi, I’m looking for Akilah Stark.” I said.
“Who should I say is calling?”
“Kenna; just Kenna.” I said.
After a few moments, I heard a familiar voice and almost shrieked with relief. “What’s up?”
“You really have no idea how good it is to hear your voice. I’m in serious trouble; I’ve been arrested for assault and attempted murder. I swear to you I didn’t do it; they tried to rob me!” I explained.
“Calm down; Where are you?” she asked.
“Where do you think?” I snapped, a little annoyed.
“Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.” She said and the phone disconnected.
That minute turned out to be about thirty, and even then it wasn’t her I saw first of all. I heard footsteps coming towards the cell, and then the door was unlocked. I was led out and into an interrogation room. In the room was a tall, bald man in a long black coat. He was standing with his back to me as I entered. The man who had brought me to the room left.
“Why don’t you take a seat?” The man said.
“Did Akilah ask you to come? Where is she?” I asked.
“Yes she did, and she’s in the lobby.” He said and sighed. I still didn’t know if I could trust this man, so I kept alert.
“My name is Nick Fury, and I’m head of an organisation called SHIELD. We work to protect the world from all sorts of threats.” He said, still having not turned to look at me.
“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked.
“I have heard a lot about you from Akilah, and I would like to make you an offer. In return for the charges being dropped, you will come and work for me.” He said, finally turning around. I could now see that he had an eye patch over his left eye. “You would be given a place to live and an education. Also, you would be trained to use that knife and bow of yours.”
I felt like saying that I could use them fine, but I didn’t want to offend him. It was a good offer and it would stop me from going to jail, but I wasn’t sure. “Thank you for the offer, but I’d like to talk with Akilah first.” I said.
He nodded and left the room. A minute later Akilah walked in, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“You are here!” I exclaimed.
“You have such faith in me.” She replied.
“Hey, I have no idea what the hell is going on. Who was that guy and what the hell was he on about?” I asked.
“Look, he’s in charge of a very powerful organisation and I’m his second. Just accept his offer and I promise you it’ll be fine. Besides, we’ll have some fun.” She said.
“That doesn’t tell me much. But, I will accept; I don’t really have any other choice.” I said.
*
. “Tell me,” I said after a pause, “what is my mother like?”
“She would be a great warrior if she would take her place, but she still holds a grudge against us. She has a fearsome temper and a cold heart, but is wise and can be very gentle.” He said. “She is very beautiful; you look a lot like her.”
“That story was true then; that explains much.” I said, “Including your reaction to me.” I heard Cpt. A enter the lab, sounding mad. “I’m sorry, if you could excuse me; I should go and check up on Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner.”
I bowed my head slightly and walked away. I hadn’t thought about that day much, preferring to keep my head in what was happening at that moment. But again I found myself replaying everything from the moment I had first seen Fury to then.
“Why did Fury call us in; why now? Why not before? What isn’t he telling us? I can’t do the equation unless I have all the variables.” Stark said from the lab.
“You think Fury’s hiding something?” Cpt. said.
I walked into the lab and conversation stopped. Dr. Banner, Stark and the Captain were stood looking at me as I hung back in the doorway.
“Don’t stop on my account; I’m just here if need anything.” I said. When they didn’t say anything, I added “If you don’t want me around, I’ll be on the bridge with my com open.” I turned to go.
“Kenna hold up.” Stark said, coming over. “Why didn’t you say anything to anyone?”
“Akilah knew.” I said simply, not turning around.
“But why didn’t you tell the rest of us.” He persisted.
“You know now.” I snapped, spinning around. I took a deep breath. “Sorry. I just didn’t want to shout about it to everyone. Besides, it doesn’t make any difference to who I am. Anyway, Fury hiding something…”
“Oh, yeah. Captain, he a spy; he’s the spy. His secrets have secrets. It’s buggin’ him too” Stark said, turning to Banner.
“Uh…” Banner said. “I just want to finish my work here.”
“Doctor?” Cpt. prodded.
Banner sighed. “’A warm light for all man kind’ Loki’s jab at Fury about the cube…” He said.
“I heard it.” Cpt. said.
“I think that was meant for you.” Banner continued, pointing at Stark who was offering him something. “Even if Barton didn’t tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news.”
“The Stark Tower. You mean that big, ugly building in New York?” Cpt. said, earning a glare from Stark.
“It’s powered by an arc reactor, a self sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for, what, a year?” Banner said.
“That’s just the prototype.” Stark said. “I’m kind of really in to clean energy right now, that’s what he’s getting into.”
“So… why didn’t SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project?” Banner asked. “I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?”
“I should probably look into that, once my decryption program finishing decrypting all of SHIELD’s files.” Stark said.
“I’m sorry, did you say…” Cpt. started.
“Jarvis had been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours I will know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide.” He said. “Blueberry?”
“WHAT? Tony that might not be a good idea.” I said.
“Yet you were confused about why they didn’t want you around?” Cpt. said. I was starting to side with this guy.
“An intelligence organisation that fears intelligence.” Stark said. “Historically not awesome.”
“I think Loki’s trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don’t stay focused he’ll succeed.” Cpt. said. Again, I could see where this guy was coming from; Stark was messing with things that should be kept in the dark. “We have orders, we should follow them.”
“Following orders has never been my style.” Stark said.
“And you’re all about style, aren’t you?” Cpt. said.
“Okay guys, let’s leave that there.” I said, going to step between them.
“Of the people in this room, which one of us is; a. wearing a spanglally outfit, and b. not of use.” Stark said.
“Steve, don’t tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?” Banner said.
“Just find the cube.” He said after a pause. He left then.
“That was harsh.” I said.
“What about you?” Banner asked. “What do you think?”
“I agree; something isn’t right here. But, if you think I know anymore than you about this you’d be wrong. I may know more about the running here than most, but I still don’t get told everything.” I said. “Tony, please, just be careful what you wish for as you may get more than you bargained for.”
I too left then, hoping that Stark would fail in his attempt but knowing that he wouldn’t. I found a training room again and set about improving my (already brilliant) aim with throwing knives. I kept at it, changing every now and again between my bow and the knives, for a while. I thought about what Stark would find and just how pear shaped thing were and were going to get.
About 3 hours later I found myself running back down the corridors and back to the same lab. An alarm had gone off and I had a feeling that things were about to kick off big style. I just love it when I’m right…