"Your name is Rogue," he said, punching me in the face. I was losing count of the amount of times that he'd hit me, but I wasn't down yet. Something was keeping me awake.
"No," I said, spitting out blood and trying to keep myself conscious. Who knew what he'd do to me once I was knocked out.
"You're unpredictable, dangerous, evil. You're a Rogue," he said, hitting me again.
"No. I'm good. I'm good!" I said, tears falling from my face. I was determined to be good, at any cost.
He laughed evilly. "You're fooling no one," he said, delivering me another blow that I couldn't come back from...
***
"Rogue?" I heard. I opened my eyes tentatively, expecting to see him standing in front of me. Thankfully it was just Agent Maria Hill, the deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"What's up, Hill?" I asked, slowly getting out of bed, trying not to look as tired as I felt, which was hard. I hadn't been able to sleep in weeks, the recurring dream unsettling me for half the night, every night.
"They did it. They defeated Loki," she said, a smile plastered on her face. The 'they' she was referring to were the Avengers. A group of superheroes who had managed to save the world from the destruction caused by Loki Laufeyson, Asgardian prince and God of Mischief. I had never seen him in the flesh, but the stories that I'd heard instantly made me want to kill him.
"Where is he now?" I asked Hill.
"Thor took him back to Asgard. Fury wants to see you," she said, leaving me to my own devices. Of course Fury wanted to see me, he always wanted to see me.
I stumbled over to my mirror, examining my face. My jet-black hair hung limply by my shoulders, the ends curling up as if they couldn't quite decide what style they wanted to try today. I pulled a beanie hat on, not ready to deal with it just yet. 'Today's gonna be a long day' I thought.
***
"Fury, Hill said you needed to see me," I said, walking towards him in the middle of S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, knowing exactly where to find him. He'd be where he always was, watching the Avengers.
"Did you hear what happened?" he asked, not turning to face me.
I sat and rolled my eyes behind his back. I had lived here for most of my life and all Fury ever talked about was the Avengers. First, he chose the heroes that he wanted to recruit, then he got excited about finally recruiting them, as he kept tabs on their every move. Then Loki tried to destroy the world, and Fury finally got to put him and Coulson's plan into action. And it looked like it worked.
"Yeah, the Avengers saved the world."
"Yep. Loki is safely locked up in Asgard. He's no longer a threat. But he's not the only threat. We're hopelessly, hilariously outgunned, and the 6 of them can't do it alone," he said, sounding worried.
I raised an eyebrow. "What are you getting at?" I asked nervously. Why was he having this conversation with me?
"Rogue... It's time to come out from the shadows. You've hidden from the world for years, and now it's time, we need you."
I immediately shook my head. "I can't. I don't want everyone to know who I am, to know what I can do. I'm not ready."
Fury sat opposite me and took one of my hands. "I've been watching you since you came here 12 years ago - you're ready."
I zoned out, thinking about my powers. I had three powers. I could create force fields, protecting myself and anyone around me for as long as I could concentrate on it, which wasn't usually that long! I had the power of mind control, I could manipulate the mind of anyone around me by looking them in the eye. And I had electricity radiating through my body. It started with me being able to turn it on and off within my hands, but with practice, I could now radiate it all over my body and control the voltage. 100% could kill a human in a second with a quick touch. 50% could knock them out for a considerable amount of time. Either way, in a battle, no one could get close to me, for fear of being electrocuted to death - earning me the nickname Rogue that had since stuck.
"What if I kill someone?" I muttered in a low voice.
"That's the point. I wouldn't be recruiting you if you couldn't kill. We need you," he said, before looking past me, at someone standing behind.
"Natasha. Great work today," he said, standing to greet her.
"Thanks," she said shortly, placing her hand on my shoulder. "What's going on? Are you bothering Rogue?" she asked protectively. Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, was one of the best spies and assassins in the world. Not to mention she'd been a part of S.H.I.E.L.D for longer than I had and was practically a big sister to me.
"Actually I'm recruiting her," Fury said, causing me to roll my eyes again.
Nat's eyes lit up. "That's such a good idea, we could have used her when we were fighting the Chitauri."
"But she doesn't think she's ready."
"Not ready? None of us were ready - we didn't have a choice, we had to be," Nat said.
"Well I do have a choice," I said, reminding them that I was listening to every word of their conversation. They both stopped speaking.
All my life, I had been searching for a purpose. When S.H.I.E.L.D found me, I thought that was it, my life was going to be amazing. Until I realised what I was - a monster, a freak, a rogue. Maybe joining the Avengers is my purpose... or maybe it was just a way for Fury to keep track of all of us freaks. Either way, 7 freaks were better than one. Better than just me.
"If you need me, I'm there," I said, silently saying goodbye to my privacy.
"That's my girl," Nat said.
***
I woke up the next day the same way that I always did, breathing heavily with sweat running down my face. I could thank the recurring dreams about him for that. I sat up and looked around me at my make-shift bedroom. Well, I called it a bedroom, but it was really just a mattress in a room at S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters that wasn't ever used for anything. But I couldn't think about that now, I couldn't feel sorry for myself. Today was the day that I would be meeting the Avengers...
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This is my first Avengers fanfic so I really hope you enjoyed the first chapter!
I'm hoping to upload every Saturday. All of the Avengers appear in the next chapter!