Not That Lucky

#25: Pretty Like a Car Crash

Regardless it'd be super something.

I sat down at the head of the table and shoved my hands into my coat pockets while leaning back in the seat. For two weeks, I let my nightmares grasp me in a way I never had before. I knew exactly why though. Never in my life had I had so much to lose. The idea of losing any of them put ice into my veins and that was a brand new concept to me. Living in the ring was easy when you only made superficial connections. Forming a family? It was a disaster in the making.

Now that I had a family though, like hell I was going to lose it. I had my moment of weakness, I hit the floor hard and it did take me a little longer than I liked to get back up, but now I was on my feet and the enemies who threatened my family were going to burn. I had done well enough with my own skill all these years, but I was on a new playing field now. I couldn't rely on my fists and reckless attitude alone anymore. I needed an edge, a weapon, and being inhuman could do that for me.

Plus, being inhuman also had the advantage of maybe repairing the gaping hole in the center of my soul. Lincoln said it himself, and then Daisy had confirmed it. All my life, maybe this was the reason I spent so many days spiraling. It was kind of nice to have something other than my emotional instability to blame. All those problems, all those bad decisions, it wasn't because I was a run of the mill screw-up, it was because I had a weird alien gene in my DNA screaming to be released.

Everyone loved a scapegoat.

So, that was the plan. I would become inhuman, get a, hopefully, kickass superpower, become an official agent of SHIELD, and then make Eugene and Vincent wish they were never fucking born. The times I was most dangerous in life were when I just got back up from being kicked down hard.

Well, those assholes were gonna regret ever kicking me down.

__________

Clint hated meetings. It was a well-known fact that he didn't attempt to hide. However, the fact that Aj was the one roping them into it and helping them through the schedule was enough to convince him to go. Seeing her back to work with life in her eyes was a breath of relief. He pushed the door open and swept into the room with his arms outstretched.

"I am here." He announced to Conference Room. Steve and Natasha were seated in their usual spots, and even Sam was here today since he was going to be doing some work with Steve later today. Aj was standing over in the corner of the room making herself a cup of coffee. Clint breezed over to his seat, "Please, hold your applause."

Sam lifted one finger up in question, "Do you have to talk? Like, if you don't say something when you enter a room, will you, I don't know, like die?"

"Yes." Clint pointed at him then leaned back in his seat with his hands laced together on his abdomen.

"Give it a little more time, Sam." Steve spoke up. "You eventually pick up a tolerance to his bullshit."

"Language, Rogers. You owe the swear jar a dollar." Aj scolded while walking back to the table with her cup of coffee. The swear jar just being a large mug they made Captain America shove money into anytime he cursed. It had a sticky note with his shield crudely drawn on it. Clint was immensely proud of his work of art.

Steve rolled his eyes at her, but the soldier still had a smile pasted on his face. Clint wondered if Aj knew how wrapped around her finger Steve was. He was pretty sure the woman could murder someone in front of him and he would give her a slap on the wrist, if even that, then help her hide the body. Beth had taught him about an internet term. It was 'OTP', and the two of them were just that to him. He was hip with the youths. "Where is—"