The Mission

“You didn’t choose your mutation, did you?”

Evelynn looked up from her StarkPad. “It doesn’t work like that, Cap. It has to do with genes.”

“So if you were to have children…”

Evelynn’s eyes widen. She hadn’t thought about that in a long, long time. It never seemed plausible before with being on the run, then attending Charles’ school, then all of this. It might be nice though…maybe. “I never really thought about it,” she confessed. “But, yes, if I had children, they would probably be mutants. Because I’m a woman though and the mutant gene is actually passed down by the male’s genes, if my husband was say, normal, I would have a good chance of having normal children.”

“And you want normal children?”

Evelynn shrugged, returning her gaze to the Pad. “I’m not sure I want children at all. This is the first time I ever thought about it to be honest. When I turned 16, I was on the run, then Professor X took me in, and living in the X-mansion doesn’t give you a whole lot of time to plan for the future. The world is filled with nasty people, and all of the people I’ve encountered have tried to kill me on at least one occasion.”

“I didn’t.”

Evelynn glanced up again. She pressed two fingers to her temple.

//“Listen, Miss,” Steve’s soft demeanor had immediately changed into his Captain-in-command voice. “Drop the weapons…and stop over-riding JARVIS.” “Miss I’ll ask you again, put the weapons down.” “Drop the weapons…” “Miss, I’ll ask you again…” “Stop over-riding JARVIS…”// Steve’s words echoed throughout the room. He glanced around feeling guilty.

Defensively, Steve countered, “You put me in that position.”

“Tony Stark put you in that position.”

“At least you were born with your powers. You are actually extraordinary. Everything special about me came out of a bottle,” Steve changed the subject.

She closed the tabs on the StarkPad and stood up. She walked over to the sofa where Steve was sitting. “I don’t believe that. And neither should you.” She knelt in from of him and placed her palms on either side of his face. “Just try to relax. And don’t push me out.”

“I wouldn’t push a lady.”

Evelynn smirked. /Chivalry is sometimes dead when I enter people’s minds./

Steve felt a surge wash over his brain as she searched for a memory. He watched as the small room came into view with the clear view of the sign “It is illegal to falsify your enlistment form.” A scrawny blonde man sat on the table. A gentleman in a white lab coat appear just as Steve was putting on his boots to leave. “Do you want to kill Nazis?” “Is this a test?” he replied. “Yes,” the doctor smiled. “I don’t want to kill anyone. I don’t like bullies, I don’t care where they’re from.”

One more, Evelynn’s soft voice echoed against his subconscious. Don’t push me out.

The memory faded and Steve was transported to another realm of his subconscious. Dr. Erskine sat across from his scrawny former self. “Whatever happens tomorrow, promise me one thing, that you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man.”

Evelynn pulled away from his memories, her hands lingering on either side of his face, not touching. She opened her eyes slowly to meet his. “The only thing special that came out of the bottle, Captain, is your physique.”

He reached up and clasped his hands around hers. “Thank you.” He was surprised that the thanks came from her not him. “It’s a privilege to see those memories.”
***
She lay awake on the hard metal table, the lights shining brightly in her eyes. She was drugged, again, and groggy. A team of doctors bustled about around her. It was day eight? Nine? She had lost count. The drone of the machines beeped and buzzed in the background. Her head was strapped into place, not allowing her to see anything other than the ceiling and her limited peripherals. Her hands were placed in cuffs and her feet were strapped into stirrups. A cool metal bar held her stomach in place against the metal table. All of this for their safety of course.

A tingling sensation coursed through her veins as a young doctor pumped yet another fluid into her body. On her left a second doctor drew more blood. The first doctor checked her vitals and then pressed on the bruises on her stomach, feeling for anything out of place. She wanted to cry out in pain but she couldn’t find her voice.

William Striker entered the room and peered over her, his frown evident. He whispered to one of the doctors about not needing her genes any more. They had found something better, more powerful so preservation was no longer necessary. Fear coursed through her. What would they do to her now?

“Doctor, I believe you wanted to use some of my specimens as part of your research in unlocking that serum?” Striker motioned towards the teenager on the bed. “She would be a prime specimen. And when we’re done with Mutant 43 and her healing powers, you can use her for your cancer research as well.”

A young doctor with glasses peered over her. She wanted to protest as he pursed a needle through her arm plunging her back into darkness.

***
No one was in the Tower. Pepper was out running Tony’s company for him, and Tony was out being, well Tony. Evelynn hadn’t seen him since yesterday. Although the Stark Expo was fast approaching, so there was always the possibility that he was being somewhat responsible and helping Pepper plan for it.

Steve was out and about as well, leaving Evelynn completely by herself in the Tower. Well, unless you count JARVIS. She wrapped her wrists with Everlast boxing wraps and headed down to the gym. She wouldn’t be able to do the damage that Captain Rogers was capable of against the heavy bag, but staying on top of her martial arts training would help keep her alive. Unlike many of her peers, her mutation was not the most helpful in battle. It just wasn’t as offensive as a mutation such as Ice-Man’s, so having an extensive knowledge of hand-to-hand combat came in handy.

“You need to re-chamber your kicks,” a monotone feminine voice stated, watching as Evelynn kicked the bag. “If you leave your leg out like that someone will grab it.” Evelynn turned to face Natasha.

“Thanks,” she replied to the SHIELD agent. She threw another roundhouse kick. “Better?”

Natasha hums. “You’ll get there. Just remember you want to protect your knee. I’d break your leg easily if you kicked liked that and didn’t re-chamber.”

“I’ll keep it in mind. So, what do I owe the pleasure?”

“They’re planning to re-establish the Brotherhood,” Natasha eyed her new comrade cautiously, gauging her reactions to all of the information. Fury still didn’t trust her as she proved quite a headache for SHIELD before officially enrolling in Xavier’s school. “Thoughts?”

“I don’t know. It would depend on how many mutants they actually rally to their cause. There will always be mutants who feel persecuted and need to rally against humanity. It also depends on who is rallying them.”

“Loki is.”

“I hope he’s lying to them about being a demi-god. Being led by a demi-god might stir some discontent amongst many of them but…being a mutant they’d probably accept and kneel before him…”

“He’d enjoy that.”

Evelynn hummed in agreement. “Well you said Loki was all bark but no real bite at the battle of New York.”

Natasha smirked. “He’s a great visionary, fueled by…what did he call it? Ah, glorious purpose… but Loki as a strategic war-lord, not so much.”

“His file says he manipulates people quite well though,” Evelynn pointed out.

Natasha nodded. “Yes. But when the Chitauri came to Earth via the Tesseract, he just let them do their thing. He gave no orders, he just assumed that because of their supreme status that they would wipe out the Avengers and any human that stood in his way.”

“Huh.”

“Also, the Hulk smashed him up pretty badly with almost no effort.”

Evelynn smiled. “I would have paid to see that.”