03 x story time
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[ Megan's POV ]
"My name is Megan."
It was the tall, blonde, broad-shouldered male who spoke up first. The same man who had approached me when I was having an episode when I first encountered the Avengers; the man I was assuming to be Captain America. "I hope you don't mind, but we did do some research on you while we were unconscious."
I remained quiet for a moment, assuming he'd be willing to share that information. Surely enough, he continued, "Though there wasn't a lot to be found, we do know your full name, where you came from, when you dropped off the grid . . ." He paused, glancing over to the other blonde. "What happened to your parents," he finished, quieter now.
I bristled at that last part. My parent's death was not something up for discussion in any relationship, as far as I was concerned. I felt the light within me pulse at the brief emotional wave, and I worked hard to suppress it. "All right, then," I said quietly. "I guess it's for the best you have the basics. Before I continue . . . would you mind doing introductions?" I wasn't sure who I was asking, but I knew I needed names if I was going to properly answer questions. Names aside from Tony, at least; he'd made himself easily recognizable, after his fellow scientist had called him out for grumbling at me.
To my surprise, it was the boy with platinum white hair that spoke up. He hadn't stopped fidgeting since I'd seen him; it was like he constantly had to be moving. And the speed at which he moved . . . it made me curious. "I am Pietro," he introduced himself, with an interesting accent, cracking a smile, before waving at the girl with the long dark hair and large dark eyes, "this is my twin sister, Wanda."
He kept on with the introductions, none of the other Avengers stopping him. "This is Clint," he pointed at the man Captain America had exchanged a look with, "and this is Steve," he waved at Captain America now. "You've already met Tony, and his companion-"
"Companion?" the man with the glasses asked skeptically.
"-is Bruce."
"Companion?" Bruce repeated.
"Scientific companion, yes," Wanda agreed with her brother.
"Not a good time to argue," Clint said, giving Bruce a pointed look, before turning attentive eyes to me. "It's nice to meet you, Megan."
"And all of you as well," I said, despite my reservations about Tony. Those could be dealt with later. I cleared my throat then, leaning against the table I had priorly been laying on. "All right . . . the powers."
"The main subject of intrigue," Tony interjected.
Bruce poked Tony hard in the side for that, and silence once more befell everyone.
It was hard for me to resist the urge to rub my temples, given a headache I was currently warding off (a headache I was almost always warding off) but I managed. I took a deep breath. "The first power came right before I dropped off the grid. Flight. It was easy enough to figure out . . . I discovered it on accident."
"You fell?" Pietro asked instantly, his electric eyes widening.
"No," I corrected quickly, "I was jumping. And, well, I didn't exactly come down. Not right away, anyway. So after that . . . I just sort of skipped town. There's a lot you can do when you can fly, after all. I just went places. Lots of places. Which," I made a face, a smile slanting my lips, "is not the easiest when you're not carrying your passport. Learned that one the hard way."
Clint appeared to suppress a laugh at that, and Wanda visibly grinned in amusement. No one made any move to interrupt me.
"So that was that, for about six months, I led a pretty decent life, all things taken into account." I shrugged one shoulder up and down. "Except then things went down hill. Fast."
"What kind of things?" Steve asked, urging me on.
"Two new power manifestations," I said flatly. "Telekinesis and light."
"Telekinesis?" Wanda repeated, drawing my attention to her. "I am capable of this as well. However . . . it does not seem to affect me as it does you. That is why you were clutching your head when we found you, no?"
I nodded slowly. "It is. And no, I guess it doesn't affect us the same . . ."
"Please continue," Pietro said.
"The manifestation was painful, and it lasted . . . I don't even know," I licked my lips. "Days. I don't remember . . . anything . . . except pain." And something about hovering over the ocean, because I had been completely incapable of walking, much less functioning properly. "When it was done, I had an increased body temperature, and was more volatile than before. When I get overemotional . . . stuff happens."
All eyes in the room turned to Bruce then, making me wonder. Did he have a similar situation? Then I remembered the Hulk, and the connection to the name 'Bruce Banner,' and it made sense. I didn't comment on it though.
"So you try to keep your emotions in check?" Clint asked.
"In theory," I shrugged. "I'm not exactly the best at self-control, but I've learned some in this area of my life. Said area being my powers. Those two are a pain, but I can't deny that they're pretty useful in a bad situation. Though involuntarily glowing is not."
I heard Tony snicker, but from the grunt and grumbling that followed, I figured Bruce had given him another whatfor.
"I guess things were pretty much fine and dandy after that, except then, six months later, I had another manifestation. This one hurt way less."
"What manifested?" Steve asked.
There wasn't really an easy way to explain it, so I straightened and moved past all of them to the nearest wall. "I can do this," I pressed an open palm toward the wall, until my hand physically passed through it, right up to my elbow. I pulled back then, glancing over at my now stunned audience, "Or this," and then I steeled a fist and slammed it into the wall in the same place, creating a dent with my knuckles imprinted in it.
"Intangibility and indestructibility," Bruce mused. "Impressive. I'm kind of surprised that that caused you less pain."
"After you've felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing you in the head, doctor, just about everything seems less hurtful," I replied, as calmly as I could manage. I looked to Tony then, forcing an apologetic look onto my features (which was not easy, given my lack of sincerity), "Sorry about your wall."
"Oh you know, it's fine," he said in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "it's not like I'm a billionaire or anything."
There was no way I was holding back the eye roll. "That's it, as far as my powers go," I finished, addressing everyone now. "No other little magic tricks."
"I have a question," Wanda said, lifting one hand somewhat.
"By all means," I said with a slight smile.
"Why is it that I cannot access your mind?" she asked, tilting her head and quirking one brow inquisitively.
The question admittedly threw me off for a minute there. I hadn't expected she was a telepath, or any other kind of mind-power thing (though I suppose her also being a telekinetic should've been a clue). "I mean, I don't have a definite answer," I admitted, "but I have a theory."
"I am sure we would all like to hear it," Pietro said, giving me a reassuring smile.
"The turning indestructible and intangible schtick," I said, "it probably has something to do with it. My body's in a nearly constant state of flux, and when it's constant, it's settled on indestructible. Would that . . . make any sense?"
Wanda hummed thoughtfully. "Would your being in a state of unconsciousness evoke this indestructible state?"
"Probably so," I agreed.
"Then your theory would appear to be valid. It will take me a while to get used to this . . . lack of reading you, but there have been weirder things," she said, granting me a gracious smile of her own.
"Now that that's all said and done," Bruce cut in, "I think it would be best if Tony and I had some, ah, time to study what we've learned from your scans. If you don't mind, of course, Miss Sinclair."
"You can call me Megan," I said. "And I don't mind. I just, um-" I looked to the others. "Should I go with one of you . . .?"
Pietro and Wanda exchanged a fast look, and before I knew it Wanda was smiling at Clint in a way that seemed almost pleading.
"We could give you a tour," Pietro volunteered, his smile surprisingly nervous.
"Well," Wanda said, "he could. And likely Clint as well. I cannot, for I need to meet with one of our teammates."
Mention of 'another teammate,' got Pietro's attention from me to his sister, his brow furrowing in evident displeasure. "You are going-?"
"Yes, Pietro, I already told you this," Wanda batted a hand dismissively. "It is no big deal. You will see me later."
"I don't mind giving you a tour," Clint cut in, giving me a smile. "I've got nothing better to be doing this time of day."
"That's a lie, but for Megan's sake I'll let you go," Steve said, a small smile on his face as well. "Pietro, did you want to accompany Miss Sinclair and Barton?"
Apparently it was going to take me some effort to convince everyone to call me Megan. I brushed that off.
"I-yes," Pietro nodded quickly, so fast I almost missed it, "yes, I will go. I will-yeah."
Wanda smiled cattily at her brother. "Good. Then you will be occupied. I am going now- do not get them into trouble," she chided, before leaving the room, giving him no space to argue.
Pietro still opened his mouth though, as if he wanted to get in the last word, but when the door shut, so did his mouth, and he gave Clint an annoyed look.
Clint either didn't take notice, or wasn't affected by Pietro's bitterness. He merely smiled at me, and waved me off toward the door, holding it open for me. "C'mon, shorty. Let's go see how much of the Tower we can explore before we get some off-the-wall emergency call."