✓ | Porcelain.

chapter one

CHAPTER ONE: RED MIST

2015

So much had happened since the night I dreamt of the yellow stone. For a while, I didn't tell anyone about it-because it probably meant nothing. Then, the dreams became more frequent, especially after the battle of New York.

When the Greek god of the sun, Apollo, visited me in a dream, I realized that it was all very real. They weren't just dreams, they were visions. And no matter how many times I asked Apollo, my father, about the yellow stone and what it was, what it meant, he didn't tell me anything. Still, I never missed the grim look on his face when he went silent, or changed the subject.

And my roommate? Steve had become a hero of his own. Captain America. We fought side by side. I became a nurse, and was lucky enough to be able to patch up the soldiers that Steve worked the closest with. So when he needed me, I was there in a heartbeat.

My brother Bucky, however, didn't make it. At least, we thought he didn't. Hydra found him, and turned him into a weapon. Steve and I were still trying to get him back to this day.

Speaking of Hydra, they stole something that didn't belong to them a long time ago, after the battle of New York. Loki's sceptre should've been taken to Asgard, or anywhere out of Hydra's reach, but somehow it ended up in their hands.

So, the Avengers (me included) began going from Hydra base to Hydra base in the hopes that we would be able to retrieve what was rightfully ours. Arriving to Sokovia, there was a tug in my gut. I had a good feeling about this one.

Snow and blood covered the grounds that we walked on. I was fighting as hard as I could. Doubt seeped into my mind-doubt that I couldn't fight as well as I needed to. I brushed it off.

I groaned as I shot out a burning-hot beam of light at a few hydra soldiers. The beam was blinding-to everyone but me of course. There are a few perks of being able to control light.

"Shit!" Tony cursed, sounding distressed.

"Language!" Steve called back.

I furrowed my brows at his comment, "what?" I mumbled softly.

"JARVIS, what's the view from upstairs?" Steve asked continued.

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is beyond any other Hydra base we've taken." JARVIS replied. This has to be it.

"Loki's sceptre must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defence without it." I could hear the relief in Thor's voice, "at long last."

"At long last is lasting a little long boys." Natasha said.

I shot yet another beam of light at someone, and suddenly, a deafening noise erupted from my right. I looked over to see a large tank moving across the battlefield. "Damn."

"Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise." Clint sighed softly.

"Wait a second." Tony changed the subject as realization dawned on him. "No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language'?"

I laughed a little too loud as I heard Steve sigh from the other side of the comms. "I know," he mumbled. I turned to my right to see him on a motorcycle-he has impeccable timing-as he ended up beside me while he flipped off of it and threw it at some Hydra soldiers. "It just slipped out." He finished, slightly out of breath.