The World We Live In

Matilda was taken to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters and put in a room. It wasn't a cell, but a room. That didn't mean that there wasn't a cell like feel to it. There was a bed and a dresser, but aside from that nothing, and it was all white. She sat on the center on the bed Indian style and rested her hands on her knees. She closed my eyes and reached out. She felt every tool there was in the room around her, every button, every switch. She could have easily gotten out, but chose not to, opting instead to humor the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, who gave her either curious, stoic or smug looks.

A man walked to the door, he gave her a kind smile before opening it and walking in.

"I'm Dr. Bruce Banner," he introduced himself, putting a hand out for her shake.

"Matilda Knight," she said, shaking his hand. "I know what they want me here for. Do you know what they want me here for?"

"Yes, although I was not expecting this," he said gesturing to her.

"Let me guess you were expecting black hair, dark eyes, and tan skin?" That was what they brought her in looking like. On her way there, she'd changed, deciding to go back to one of her previous looks, an alternative one.

"Given your abilities, I'm not entirely shocked you look any different."

"True."




"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! We're getting fresh meat. Why?" Tony ran over to Bruce, from where he was standing trying once again to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database. He started reading the file over Bruce's shoulder.

"Matilda Knight, born March 9th, 1810 in London in Great Britain to Mary Knight nee Hunt and Charles Knight," Brice read aloud.

"How the hell was she born in 1810?"

"Some type of odd cryostasis? Like Cap and the ice?"

"But he's a super soldier, what is she?"

"I dunno."

"Well I am going to go find out," Tony said getting ready to head towards the room Matilda was in.

"Or you could just keep reading," Bruce suggested.

"Give me that." Tony snatched the file from Bruce. As he leafed through them his already insatiable curiosity peaked even more. "Telekinesis and shape shifting abilities." He looked up from the file in time to notice that Bruce was gone. "Son of a bitch."

...

"So I'm curious about you."

"What do you wanna know? What I do or to what extent?"

"Extent. Based on the file I was given, I already know what."

"I can copy and living humanoid being," she said. She happened to see Tony Stark's approach. She shifted her form to mimic him. "I'm Tony Stark billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, Ironman," she said, and I'm in a dress." She had changed her appearance, not her size this time.

"There is only one of me," Tony said, walking into her room. Of course she knew of Stark. How could you not?

"One of him is enough," Bruce muttered under his breath.

She smirked and returned to her current cover. She ran a hand through her teal and black hair.

"So I get to bask in the presence of the one and only Tony Stark. Should I be savoring the moment?"

"I would if I were you," he said.

"Why don't you use that money of yours and get me a pack of cigs? A girl gets antsy, when she's used to having a pack of day."

"How long?" Bruce asked.

"You just wanna know if the birth date you read is correct."

Bruce looked guilty.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm curious as well, but I highly doubt I will get to ask my questions until later." she smiled reassuringly. "I've been smoking since 1917," she said, "A terrible habit, but what can I say. Everyone has a vice. Mine just happens to be tobacco." The door was still open from when Tony walked in. A guy walked past, and she saw the cigs and lighter in his back pocket. "Or you know what? Time for magic trick number two." Matilda raised my hand and aimed it at the guy. She held up two fingers, flipped her wrist and made a beckoning motion. The guy's cigarettes and lighter flew to her hand. She pulled one out and lit it. "Want one?" she offered.

"You actually are telekinetic," Bruce said,

"And you gave a condition," she said, "It truly is spectacular though."

"You know ab-"

"Fury has been trying to find me for years, so I've been doing come digging. When you're two hundred and two years old, you learn some tricks, like when you've been given a fake file, which you've confirmed with your knowledge of me." She took a drag of the cigarette and blew the smoke out. "Much better."

"He chase you into the sunlight? Make you burn, until you decided to come with him?" Stark asked.

She laughed and let the insult go. "The truth, I let him catch me. Now from what I gathered based on your personalities, Bruce you're supposed to be assessing whether I am mentally inclined to be a threat since we both know that physically I am, and Tony, my guess is that you're not supposed to be here, but following orders and not snooping are two things you're not very good at."

The two men looked at each other.

"I can't read minds, if that's what you're thinking, but I've observed enough people, taken enough classes and read enough books to be able to have a pretty good guess on what they're like. I'm old remember? I've had a lot of time on my hands."

"Tony, Bruce, I see you have met Ms. Knight."

Matilda instantly hardened. She blew out the smoke from her last drag and without making any movement moved it towards him and had it circle around his face, before allowing it to dissipate. "Tell your tech I'm sorry, but I needed my fix."

"I'm sure he won't miss them, shouldn't be smoking on the job anyways, now let's get to the real reason you're here. You've got a very special skill set, one that we feel could be useful."

"And you want my help?"

"We want you to join us," Fury said.

"And I didn't even get my evaluation finished. You're either really desperate or you think that I'm really something."

"It's not just your powers that make you a valuable asset."

"Then what is it?"

"We can-"

"My answer depends on yours. I've been around the block a few times, and I'm not committing to everything until you give me my answer."

Bruce and Tony watched on curiously. Tony was to smirking. It wasn't often that someone other than him didn't let him have his way.

"We'll discus-"

Matilda was irritated by this point. She let out a sigh and flicked the cigarette away. She faced her palm flat towards him.

"You might want to rethink that," he said.

"But I don't." She made a fist and lifted him off of the ground slamming him into the wall.

Matilda had been through this same song and dance before. People tried to recruit her, to use her. She'd also been captured, tortured and almost killed. "What is it that you want? I've been put on a stake, tied up, hooked to tubes, prodded with needles, and thrown into more bodies of water than I care to remember, so until you tell me what you want, I will be skeptical."

"I like her," she heard Tony say.

"You don't think I have men, who are waiting right now, for my order to take you out?" Fury had the men, but they weren't there. They weren't outside waiting. He was bluffing. She knew it, but didn't let him know that.

"I don't think they're gonna do it, because you're not gonna give the order. Answer my question, and I will put you down and be on my best behavior."

"As I'm sure you're probably aware, Captain America has made his return to the world. Unfortunately, he is still confused by most modern technology and references. Thor is here as well and has a similar issue. You've been around for a long while and are best suited to help the two."

"All you had to say was that you wanted me to be a tutor." She dropped him. "I can do that, but there will be no needles, no tubes, no fires, no stakes and I swear if you drop me in a single body of fucking water, I will lift this whole place and send it to the fucking moon," she snarled. Towards the end her control was slipping and her hair started top float and whip around her.

She took a calming breath and turned towards the boys. "Dr. Banner, you're the only one, who gets an exception to the whole needle, just ask first."

"You two," Fury addressed the boys, "Find Agent Hill and have her show Ms. Knight to her quarters for when she's here on base."

"And when I'm off base?" I asked.

"You'll come to live with the crew and I in my tower, just be careful not to get into Spidey's web or more importantly my stuff," Tony said.

"This should be interesting," she said with a smirk.

"Ms. Knight, welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D. and welcome to the Avengers."