Running Out » Quicksilver

chapter two

02 x awake

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Steve and Natasha came back to the waiting area of the Tower before Bruce or Tony emerged with news on the girl. Or rather, Steve came back, because Natasha had suddenly been needed by Sam Wilson, and Steve hadn't been in the mood to argue with Sam over the importance of said need.

"Her name's Megan," was Steve's opening line, which got the three other Avengers' attention instantly. "Megan Sinclair. She's nineteen. The only reason we even found anything on her was because of Stark's tech; she's not even in SHIELD's system, much less any of the other government organizations' databases."

"She get screwed with by some crazy Germans?" Clint asked tiredly, scrubbing a hand over his face. When there was a pause (because everyone else in the room had been 'screwed with by some crazy Germans') he sighed and mumbled a "No offense intended."

"No," Steve answered then, "she hasn't. There's no record of her with Hydra. Not like there was with you two," he said, turning his attention to Pietro and Wanda.

Pietro had briefly stopped pacing to pay attention to the captain, though one of his feet was now tap-tap-tapping, and he was fairly certain he couldn't stop it. "She was not experimented on," he reiterated carefully.

"Exactly," Steve agreed.

It was Wanda who posed the next question. "Then how did she come about her abilities?"

Steve shrugged, feeling somewhat helpless. "I have no idea. It could've been a freak accident . . . I don't know. Either way," he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "she's got something. Some sort of powers."

"How about family?" Clint asked then, but he had a feeling he already knew the answer, especially when Steve's gaze turned to the floor for a millisecond before focusing in on Pietro.

"She's an orphan," Steve informed them all quietly. "Parents were CIA agents, both killed in the same terrorist attack in the Middle East when she was ten."

Clint's attention redirected to Pietro, but he could no longer read the boy's expression. Whatever feelings Pietro had about this new information, he kept well hidden. When Clint looked to Wanda, however, he was surprised to see her large, dark eyes were now filled with sorrow, and focused on the captain. "She has suffered a great loss."

Steve nodded mutely. He knew the feeling, just as the twins did.

Clint understood, too, but he hadn't had loving parents. His was a different situation. "No siblings?"

"No siblings," Steve agreed. "Her grandmother took care of her up until about two years ago . . . then there's no record of her. She dropped off the grid, probably used fake ID's."

There was a brief moment of silence, which was broken by Wanda. "None of this tells me why I cannot access her mind."

"That is kind of odd," Steve mused, "but no. I don't have anything on that. I guess you'd have to ask Tony or Bruce . . . or wait for her to be awake, and ask her yourself."

"Where is she from?" Clint asked next.

"Boston," was Steve's answer.

"So nowhere that any known experimentation has been going on," Clint mused. "That doesn't really help, either."

"So we know nothing," Pietro said, evidently impatient.

Wanda cut her twin a hard look. "Patience, Pietro. Tony and Bruce have not finished their examination yet. And, should all else fail, we could always ask the Vision to do a scan."