SHADOW [Avengers: AOU]

<Intro>

The day when SHIELD fell, and along with it the death of many agents including her parents, Jacqueline Woods's life became nothing more than pain and experimentation.

Hydra continued with their work to create powered people. Since The twins have been successful, by using Loki's scepter to give them powers. But with poor little Jacqui, they decide to try something different.

Something new.

Using the scepter and inserting a O-8-4 green gem into her brain.

The scepter gave her the power of darkness, the ability to see in the dark, hide herself in the shadows, and take out any source of light closest to her, along with the incredible powers the gem possessed. One they had so far discovered was telekinesis.

They gave her the code name: Shadow. Which was the only thing she and Hydra actually agreed with.

After weeks of more painful test, and hard work they got her to learn control.

Or so they thought. Control is such a fickle thing, and can be easily lost. Especially when dealing with things that have such great, and unpredictable power.

Unknown to the scientist and Jacqueline, something inside the gem had awakened. Something powerful. It was intelligent, ancient.

But most of all...it was hungry.

Day after day it waited, until one night it unexpectedly took complete control over Jacqueline's mind and body, turning her into the one thing she'd wish to never become while in the hands of Hydra.

A monster.

At first, Jacqueline thought it to only be a nightmare, since she had recent ones that were similar, but after the first blood curling scream she found it was reality.

The unknown force gave her a front row seat, relishing in her own screams of horror, as she watched through the eyes of herself-this soul-eating monster she had become cause so much death and destruction.

Unwillingly making Jacqueline use her other powers to help it cause even more chaos.

Hydra, innocent standbyers, anyone that stood in her path was dead in seconds. Their life force being sucked from their bodies and into her own. Giving her more power and strength. No one was safe.

Fearing for their lives, their two most successful test subjects, that they would be discovered by SHIELD, and of their research Hydra put the her drown. One hit. Straight into her skull.

No matter what Hydra did the doctors could not surgically remove the gem from her brain. Not without creating a disturbance, which led to a massive explosion, and ended with roasted, lifeless corpses.

Until their scientist could figure out a way to have the power gem removed from her mind they kept her body frozen and hidden. What they didn't know was the gem which was using Jacqueline as a host, was keeping her very alive.

Not being able to die, and reunite with her loved ones, to be frozen in time until only god knows when, with this force plaguing Jacqueline's mind of the memories of what she did, what it made her do to those people, was torture.

Jacqueline wanted it all to end. But she knew she wouldn't get the sweet release of death, since it was so far from her reach. Instead she would continue to wish to be saved, to be set free from her cold imprisonment and walk the earth once more.

Sooner than she expected, her wish would be answered.