SUSPICIONS
Two weeks pass by of me playing Vera Barnes, when really I am the ShadowHunter.
People have began to become even more suspicious, but I quickly devoid it, telling them only excuses and lies.
Recruitments have started to come in. Hawkeye and Ant-Man being the first two. Stark sent out signals to the others. Dr. Stephen Strange shows up and that was a big surprise to everyone.
T'Challa was the next to show up, with his companions. The armies of his are coming at a later time, Shuri and Okoye are the only ones here now.
Carol Danvers somehow received word about the Hellhounds attack, and wanting to be apart of it, came.
The Guardians of the Galaxy are an interesting bunch. They are filled with foolishness and snide remarks.
Valkaryie was asked to come in from Thor, her being a buddy of his. He thought it best not to involve his brother until later in the times. Bummer, I've heard great evil he has done for HYRDA.
It was exactly one week from the supposed war.
Energy buzzed in the Avengers facility, many anxious. Most of the members were in the living room, lounging around. Yeah, anxious and lounging, nonsense is the only thing that makes sense. If I were them I would train and prepare, but that's not what Vera Barnes would do.
"Ms. Barnes, I have heard of your condition. I have helped your father in the past with his, I might be able to help you also." Shuri's accented voice asks from a few spots down on the couch.
"The help being?"
"Getting the ShadowHunter out of your head." She states, saying it in a way as if it were to be obvious.
My breath hitches. Vera would want me gone. I don't want that. Shoot, I'm confused. Make up a lie!
"That won't be necessary." I say as calmly as I can.
"Why is that?" Doctor Strange asks confused. This dude, even if I am not Vera and don't have the slightest care, doesn't have the right to question this.
I pause in hesitation before I respond. "Because of the recovery time I will need, and will not have with the war a week away." I firmly come up with.
"That won't be a problem." Princess Shuri insists.
"Thank you, but I'm going to wait til after the war." I won't be in this place after the war. I will be in the rightful grasp of HYDRA, where I belong.
"If you insist," she gives up, returning to a conversation with her brother.
I sigh in relief at her forfeit, leaning back a little in my seat. I see Bucky and Nat giving me suspicious glances. They know something is up with me, with Vera.
"Can we talk to you for a minute?" Black Widow asks me directly. Oh, shoot a monkey.
I plant a smile on my face. "Sure." I stand up from my spot and make it to the hallway.
The Winter Soldier pins me to the wall the second we're alone. 'What would Vera do in this situation?'
"Dad, hey what are you doing?!" I fake worried, grasping at his hands on my shoulders that are pushing me against the wall.
He looks me directly in the eyes. It takes a lot of effort from me, but I let emotion show in my eyes.
"Papa, please, put me down." I whimper to him. His eyes clear and guilt settles in.
"Sorry V, it's just. You're not yourself lately, and with you seeing Rumlow, the guy who knows your words, I was just worried."
"Worried for what?"
"That you were her, the ShadowHunter." He says in a weak voice. I tense up.
I could have messed this whole mission up, just by showing them that I am the ShadowHunter.
I keep my cool. "Dad, it's alright. I would have warned you, or something." I insist.
We go back in the room and a migraine forms in my head. Vera is trying to break through, she's been doing that a lot. But, I won't let her. Not yet.
I will make no mistakes. I'm not a traitor. I am marble. I am solid. I am HYDRA. I am ShadowHunter.
I lean against the wall, cradling my head I concentrate myself to have full power of this body. I will win, not Vera Barnes.
She needs to get that through her thick skull.
It's good to know my host is actually trying, and not giving up. But she does whine a lot.
"You good, Vear?" Steve asks me, passing by. I hum to him in response.
"Course I am." I insist, standing up tall.
He nods in confirmation, continuing on his way. I roll my eyes at their concern. 'Why must they always ask if I am okay? Why do they care about me? Well, Vera Barnes is who they care for, still.'
There's no room for caring, for love.
That sounds depressing, but it's true. You can't have people to care for, or that care for you. It's a weakness in itself. Just shoot me now.
'You're wrong. There's always room for love. It takes some weeks to get used to, but there's always someone who loves you.' Vera's voice rings loudly through my head. I growl at her mentally.
Not for me, lady.
We continue through our day, all the way to dinner.
We're having pizza. That's not what I would prefer, I need something more bland, something to keep me at my finest.
Everyone takes their spots around the table, chattering amongst themselves. I however stay silent. I'm not the chattery type.
"Hey Vera Lee, I was thinking we could go train tonight? I'm a little rusty." Sebastian mocks himself.
'Why would someone want to train for fun with someone you care for?'
"That's fine, but I am confused."
"Why is that?"
"Why would you train with someone you care for?" Now he's confused.
"We just train to spar, not to the death." Romanoff comments, clearing any of our confusion.
That's no fun.
"Oh okay, that sounds fun." I force out with a slight smile, turning the corner of my lips up. The smiles I force are always fake, never truly reaching the eyes.
Sebastian's face brightens, smiling widely. He turns back to his conversation with Parker and Stark.
"Wait, so you guys don't kill for fun?" The raccoon says in disgust. I like that guy, he's feisty.
"I wish," I mutter where no one, not even a SuperSoldier, could hear.
"No Rocket, we're what people call civilized, something you're not." Sam implies.
"You can't say anything." Bucky speaks up.
"Neither can you, Popsicle number 2!"
Children. All of them. I can't believe that these people are "Earth's Mightiest Heroes". I'm not calling them to save my butt. I can save my own.
"You guys are so vexing!" Wanda says in her accented tone.
"Don't call us vexing!" Star Lord exclaims. "We don't know what it means."
"It means annoying, stupid." The super nova says annoyed as well with their childishness. Glad I'm not the only one.
"Do you always act so puny?" Valkyrie inquires. Did she read my mind, or what.
"They have always been the mortals they are!" Thor booms.
Doctor Strange, having enough of this, makes a portal to his room and goes through it.
Mood.
"Thor, you're like a cinnamon roll!" I comment something Vera would say. I have to say a few lines or it would seem suspicious.
"Lady Vera! I am not a cinnamon roll, I am a god!"
"Oh my god, yes! He is a cinnamon roll!" Shuri exclaims, laughing amongst herself.
I get up from the table and go to wash my plate. Bruce Banner follows after me. Yay, company. Blah.
I grimace at how fake of a smile I put on my face.
"Hey, I've heard of the enhancements that were given to you. Do you mind if I run some tests to see what you really got?" Oh god.
Train with Sebastian or tests with Bruce?
"I'll have to get back on that with you, I have something planned tonight with Sebastian." I conclude firmly, confidence in my tone.
"Oh, okay. What about tomorrow? That sounds good?"
I put my plate in the sink, running water over it. "Tomorrow is Monday." I point out.
"Right, Rumlow." He glowers. "Some other time then?"
"Totally."
I finish washing my dishes, putting them on the drying rack. I make my way back to the place where everyone is eating.
I give a suggestive look to Sebastian, showing him I'm ready to go.
He nods subtly, walking up the stairs. I follow after him a couple seconds later, gaining some looks.
I catch a glimpse of him entering the room he is renting. I smirk as I lean against the door way, admiring him changing shirts. He already had sweat pants on.
He turns around and sees me in the doorway. He immediately turns red, slipping the skin tight shirt on faster.
"Enjoying the view?" He asks arrogance laced around his voice, nervousness somewhere detected in there.
"You could say that. When did you get fit?" I tease.
"I workout! And besides, being an experiment from Vultures, I was given the ability to always be 'fit'." I didn't know that. Neither did Miss Vera Barnes.
"We have more in common than I realized." I comment, making my way to my room.
I get dressed in workout clothes quickly, joining Sebastian.
Him and I make our way to the training room, grabbing waters from the fridge that was installed in the room. Convenient.
"We'll go into the middle ring. No serious hits, or using powers. First one pinned fully down or steps out of ring is out." He lays out the ground rules.
"Got it, though I feel like I have the advantage here."
"How's that?"
"Maybe because I am a SuperSoldier, have the power to heal as soon as you lay a hit on me, some other things HYRDA granted me with." I list endlessly.
"One, you're not allowed to use more strength or speed that's unnecessary. Secondly, I happen to have enhancements myself."
That catches my interest. "Them being?" I inquire, moving to the ring after setting my stuff down on the bench nearby.
"You'll have to figure that out another time, Vera Lee." He winks at me, teasingly.
He steps into the ring, standing on the opposite side of me.
We come to mutualism, attacking at the same time. He throws a right hook, but I quickly duck under it, slamming my fist on his hip bone.
He staggers back a little, but regains himself quickly. I go to roundhouse kick, calculating where to hit the most affectively.
He catches my foot, leaving me surprised. Sebastian pulls the foot closer to him, but I take my other leg and wrap it around his neck. I rest on his shoulders for a split second before leaning over, making him topple over.
I roll away from him, smiling in my success. He huffs but seems to not even break a sweat.
We continue this spar for another couple minutes, before he lands on top of me. He thinks he has it in the bag, smiling at his achievement. He thought.
I flip us over in a swift movement, leaving him awe struck. We stay in this position for a moment, before I stand up off him.
I lend a hand out to help him up, he smiles in appreciation.
"You did better than I thought you would." I comment honestly, but a little smug.
"Same to you. You truly live up to the name." He compliments. I smirk at the pride in his voice. Someone's got a crush on a certain someone. Not me, Vera. He just thinks I'm Barnes.
I interrupt our moment, remembering where we are, who I am, and my mission.
"I'm going to bed." With that curt statement, I leave the training room and go to my- no Vera's bedroom.
Author's Note: Oh my god. Everything I write in this book I plan for something else to happen, but something completely different happens, smh.
- J.S.
11.24.2020
2038 words