Agent Mikaelson

Chapter 6: The Literal Definition of Insanity

Hope's POV:

I bolt. I sprint to where I smell blood. I come to the room where Loki's cage was. There, on the ground, sits a dead Phil Coulson. A cry escapes my mouth as I kneel in front of him. No. Not Phil. First my mom, then my dad and Uncle Elijah, and now Phil. Why does everyone I care about die?

"Agent Mikaelson." I don't respond when Fury comes up behind me. "Hope." I snap my head towards him. "Loki will pay for this." I snarl. Fury nods, offering me a hand up. I slap it away and stand on my own, marching towards the bridge.

Steve and Tony are there, Tony is out of his suit by now. They both look exhausted and just plain sad. They look up at me and pity comes into their eyes. "Were you close with him?" Steve asks me. I nod and sit between the two of them.

"My mom and dad died seven years ago. Phil was a father to me." I say, my voice hoarse with tears. Steve seems to understand where I'm about to go with this story. "Hope, you don't have to tell us." He says.

"No, I do. I want you to trust me. To trust me you have to know exactly who I am." I say. They both nod, settling into comfortable positions so they can hear me out. So they can process my depressing story.

"The first things you need to know is that witches, vampires, and werewolves are real." They're eyes widen. "I know, shocking. When Phil found me I attended a school for supernaturals like myself, well, sort of like me." They're brows scrunch in confusion.

"Usually you can be only a vampire, a witch, or a werewolf, but I'm different. My father and his siblings were the first vampires to ever created over a thousand years ago, but his mother had an affair with a werewolf. When he turned he triggered his werewolf curse." Silence.

"He was the world's first hybrid. Vampire and werewolf. He can shift at will and not just on a full moon. He also was a vampire who had enhanced speed, strength, and senses. My mom was a werewolf alpha and my grandmother was an evil witch. Those three combined made me." I say.

"A hybrid of three different creatures. A tribrid. I'm the only one of my kind. I'm a witch and werewolf. In order to activate my vampire side I'll have to die." I say, ending my story. "You said was." Steve says slowly, trying not to push me.

"People who get too close to me have a tendency to die or betray me. Yet I continue to make the same mistake of letting people in over and over again. It's the literal definition of insanity." I say. "You're not insane for wanting to be close with people." He says.

I look up at him, tears still in my eyes. "But how many people do I have to lose before I realize that I'm toxic to people?" I ask, tears welling in my eyes. "Hey, you're not toxic." He says. I give him a look that says I don't believe him. He just sighs and looks down.

"Thank you, for being honest with us." Tony says, speaking for the first time. I nod my head towards him. Suddenly Fury comes in. I can't bring myself to look him in the eye. "These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. I guess he never did get you to sign them." I hear Fury says.

Bloody Captain America trading cards land on the table. My eyes begin to water as I reach out and take them. "I gave these to him last Christmas." I say, a tear rolling down my cheek. They belonged to Stefan Salvatore. Josie and Lizzie gave them to me to give to him.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, the location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming." Fury says. I don't look up from the cards.

"Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea. Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative." He says. I glance at Tony. He doesn't react.

"The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes." He says.

Tony abruptly stands and walks out of the room. "Well, it's an old fashioned notion." Fury says before turning to me. "Barton in MedBay." He tells me. My eyes widen and I stand and march from the room. I walk quickly to MedBay.

When I get there Nat is sitting beside an unconscious Clint. "Hey." I mumble, alerting her of my presence. Her head snaps up and she stands. The air is awkward and I hate it. Nat is my best friend and now I don't even know if we trust each other.

"Hope, I am so sorry. I'm sorry I kept SHIELD's doubts about you from you, but know I have never doubted you. You and Clint are my family. The only family I've ever had. I would never risk that." She tells me. I sigh, walking towards her.

"I'm sick and tired of people labeling me as a threat to humanity. Did you know I was almost murdered on the day I was born?" I ask her. Her eyes widen and she shakes her head. Of course not, I've never told anyone.

"A witch had a vision of me before I was born. I was supposed to be the death of all witches. The day I was born they slit my mother's throat, unknowingly turning her into a werewolf/vampire hybrid, and took me away to sacrifice me. Luckily I was saved by my Uncle Marcel." I tell her.

"SHIELD doesn't understand. I don't think they ever will. I can't even fully understand what you've gone through, but know this, you are brave and strong and above all you're selfless. You've risked your mortal life for Clint and I multiple times. I can never thank you enough."

I nod, tears starting to stream down my face. "I'm so tired of being a weapon. I just want to be normal. I never got to go to normal school because it was too risky. I never really had friends because I was too weird for them." I say. Her eyes soften.

"My dad physically could not be around me from the age of seven because of my abnormality. My mom was murdered because I turned her into a Hybrid. My dad and Uncle died because of a power that would have killed me. I couldn't even protect Phil." I sob. Nat pulls me into a hug.

"All those people died loving you Hope." She tells me. I don't say anything. I just cry for the first time since my dad died. I cry and let all my pent up emotions out. "Nat? Hope?" I hear behind me. We pull apart and turn to look at a groggy looking Clint. This is all too much.

I quickly lean down and hug him. "Thank you for being ok." I mumble, pulling away. He then starts grunting and shaking his head. She looks at me and I sigh. "Sorry Clint, this'll hurt." I say. I place both hands on the side of his face. "Reinigen monde tavo veneno." I mumble.

Clint cries out in pain, his head is flung back. I pull my hands away and his eyes look clear. Not even a hint of the blue from the scepter still there. I sigh and sit back. "Hope, whatever that was I hope I never have to feel it again." "Hey, I warned you." He just gives me a 'shut up' look.

Well, at least he's back to normal.