Once Upon an Avenger

Chapter 1: This is my chance...

Hope had heard of the Avengers before, earth's mightiest heroes, saving the world from all kinds of enemies; but never had she thought she would need their help. In Storybrooke, they needn't worry themselves with what was going on outside of their town's borders. Nobody from the outside world knew of its existence, and, even if whatever dangers the Avengers were fighting managed to find their way in, a town full of magical beings, heroes and witches was perfectly capable of fiending for itself.

That had now changed, and Hope needed to join forces with them. She knew how the outside world worked, she'd been on trips to New York and Boston with her parents. After all, they were places that meant a lot to her family, especially to her mother, Emma. Outside of the town line it was a world without magic, without fairies and curses, and where her family was made up of nothing more than fictional characters from children's stories. This meant that she couldn't just walk up to the compound and tell them who she was and about the prophecy. She needed to find a different way in, a way that didn't mean revealing her true self.

*

It had been two weeks since Melinoe had taken Storybrooke. Hope was sat on her bed in her hotel room in Queens, trying to figure out how to get onto the team when, all of a sudden, she heard gunshots and sirens coming from the streets below. Without taking a moment to think, the young woman ran down the stairs and into the streets. There were crowds of people running towards her, trying to escape the carnage. This is my chance, she thought. That spider kid is bound to show up, he always does. If I help him, he'll surely report back to Mr. Stark and they'll find me, somehow.

With that, she put up her hood and started fighting her way through the crowds. Soon enough she'd made her way to where the gunshots had come from; there were police cars forming a barricade stopping her from getting any closer. Wondering what was going on, Hope looked around, when she noticed somebody on a phone, it was a tall man, with auburn hair, wearing a bullet proof vest that had the word 'Negotiator' written on the back.

"Negotiator... Hostages! Yeah, no, I'm not waiting for spidey spandex to show up. Mom always says that if I can help, I have to, it's what heroes do," she mumbled to herself, she scanned the area around her, searching for a way in.
Just remember, Hope, whatever happens don't use your magic! she thought, reminding herself that magic worked differently in this realm.

The gunmen seemed to be on the third floor of the building, meaning that the hostages had to be there too. It was a modern office building with large glass windows. If she went in through the front entrance, she would be seen by both gunmen and police alike, so she had to find a different entry point. As she snuck around the back of the building, she noticed a small air vent that looked just about big enough for her to fit through. The large shouldered and fully equipped police officers wouldn't fit through the small gap. The gunmen would know this and therefore wouldn't have anyone minding the other end. After making sure no-one was around, Hope removed the grate and squeezed in, trying to be as quiet as possible.

She was soon inside the building, in what appeared to be a supply cupboard. "There's got to be something in here I can use to knock a couple of guys out," Hope muttered whilst looking around the room. "That broom handle looks pretty sturdy, it should do the trick." A box caught her eye to her left. "Oh, I'll take that too, it'll cover enough of my face so that it'll be a bit of a challenge for Mr. Stark to find me," she continued, grabbing a surgical mask from inside it.

Once she felt ready, Hope cracked open the door making sure the coast was clear. Calmly making her way up the stairs, she started to wonder what she had gotten herself into. They had guns whereas she only had her broom and couldn't even use her magic, but that didn't matter, those people needed help and it was her only way of potentially getting on the team. Admittedly, at that moment in time saving her family didn't seem so important, Hope's hero instincts had kicked in and she just had to do the right thing.