¶ JADE ¶ ~Tony Stark

¶ One ¶

"Suffocate me,
So my tears can be rain,
I will water the ground where I stand
So the flowers can grow back again"

The Seed ~ AURORA

____________________________

Adeline heard shouts and cheers of her name as she collected the money from David. This was routine which she had gotten used to. Her eyes roamed the length of the track. Today's race wasn't even that hard but it gave her the necessary spike of adrenaline she so desperately craved to ground her.

Huge banners littered the compound with 'Jade' written on them with bold red letters and she could see a few men betting on her for next week. Obviously, she'd win - after all, she had never lost a race in the last few years. Adeline could proudly say that 'Jade' was effortlessly undefeated.

"You better have the rest of my money before the next race David or I swear to God I won't let it go this easily."Saying this she climbed into her Koenigsegg Agera R and drove towards her apartment.

She still remembered how after the incident she moved from the East to West coast overnight. That was five years ago. Los Angeles would never be the home she had in New York but she was slowly getting used to it. She had her cars and her children and for now, that was all she needed. Speaking of children, she had yet to approve of all the experiments Required for the upcoming science exhibition.

Parking in front of the apartment, Adeline climbed up to the second floor when an uneasy feeling crept up her spine. Someone had been here, someone was here. Taking out her small pocket knife which she always carried everywhere (as advised by her little brother) she slowly tiptoed towards the drawer where she knew the guns were kept. But before she could reach for it the lights switched on and she saw a dark-skinned bald man standing with his arms behind his back on the other end of the room.

Adeline relaxed her arms and unclenched her fists before calmly pouring herself a glass of water.

"Nick Fury, to what do I owe this.....pleasure?"

"You know who I am", he observed while sitting down on the couch.

"I'm not dumb", was all she offered before addressing the elephant in the room.
"Now please can I be privileged with an explanation for your extremely expected and unwanted prescence in my home? "

Fury didn't take much offense to what she said, Adeline observed- instead handing her a file. Studying the contents she raised an eyebrow and simply addressed Fury.

"All this is terrible and all but I can't see how I can help you. "

"You and I both know that isn't true Miss Forbes."

Adeline tensed. She hadn't gone by Forbes in five years. To her Adeline Forbes died in the lab - died when she left the borders of New York. Adeline Smith had re-emerged in her place with an average life, average job and average capabilities.
She glared at him.

"Adeline Forbes does. not. exist. ", she spat out to Fury, who appeared unaffected by her outburst.

He looked straight at her,
"Adeline Forbes. Age twenty-nine. Disappeared in 2007 leaving behind all possessions except identification, personal experimental notes, few clothes and two picture frames. Ex-Department head in Stark Industries. Resigned with a notice mailed from a burner phone after two months of radio silence. Parents Layla and Thomas Forbes died on impact in a car crash in 1999. Brother Alden Forbes died in service in 2005. Hasn't been seen or hears from in five years - till now. Currently goes by Adeline Smith - school teacher by day and streetracer 'Jade' by night.

"You were experimenting with energy sources when it went wrong giving you some very unique abilities which you couldn't cope with and decided to leave everything behind and start fresh. Tell me if I'm wrong", Fury said, his eyes boring right into hers.

...