Turn

7 - Erin Mathis

Days had passed since the incident in the lab, and I still hadn't told a soul about it. SHIELD would have an absolute field day with it and run tests up the wazoo if they learned of what had happened, so keeping it under wraps was clearly the better option. I'll admit that it was only better in the light of not having your life ripped away from you again, but it probably wasn't smart, seeing as I was dealing with an extra terrestrial that was able to evade SHIELD tech and protocol.

It was the night of Pepper's party, and I had called her earlier and told her I would come if time allowed, meaning that I was probably going to try and keep myself as busy as possible in order to avoid going.

I was so desperate to stay away, that I even asked Fury to let me stay late!

It was quite sad, actually.

Pepper's party started at 10:00 PM, and it was already going on midnight. Maybe I could get away with missing the party completely...

Then again, those parties go late, especially if Stark has access to his wide array of "beverages", but if I stay at work all night, Fury will want to know what I'm up to...

I guess a quick hello, goodbye couldn't hurt. Especially since I've been showing no signs of any internal threat from whatever I experienced a few nights ago...

I was finally able to talk myself into heading over to Stark's A.K.A. Avenger's Tower. At least for a little while.

Setting my goggles down on the table, I flipped off the power and made my way for the stairwell. As I made my way upstairs, the lights began flickering, and threatened to black out. I would never be able to live it down if I admitted to anyone that it scared me, especially since I work for SHIELD, and have seen some pretty creepy crap.

Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. That had to be the answer.

I turned just quickly enough to see the lights that I had turned off in the lab flicker on once, then, as instantly as they had come on, go off again. I held my position on the stairs a little longer than necessary. My breathing was starting to grow unsteady and my vision a little hazy. Was this really having that rough of an affect on me?

I didn't scare easily, but I did have my moments, and whatever caused me to feel fear would have to be mighty scary in order to do that. This must have fazed me a lot more than I cared to realize.

As I was lost deep in thought, I also failed to realize that the door lock was short-circuiting. Was I causing that some how? I had told myself the night the incident occurred that if anything on the border of supernatural started occurring, I should be open to the idea that I was somehow causing it. Lord only knows what that thing was capable of other than slipping past SHIELD security--which is probably already the most impressive ability ever--and I wasn't wanting to find out, since I hadn't done thorough enough tests on it in the first place.

I was in the dark on this, and would be in a literal sense as well as a knowledgeable one, if I continued to stall. I made mental notes as I continued along the upper level, noticing that all electricity on the aircraft was wavering.

Some kind of electrical alien, eh? How funny would that be, if I could just, lift my arm and--

I raised my arm, opening my hand and holding it toward a beaker on a nearby table. I chuckled to myself momentarily. Look! I've got the Force--

"HOLY CRAP!" As the beaker darted toward me at an alarming speed, I managed a quick enough solution to evade being hit.

I've got the Force...I thought, in a more "Oh, crap, I should stop screwing around before I unintentionally murder something..." sort of tone.

The high pitched glass shattering made me wince in sudden unexplainable pain. I cringed and clenched my fists at my sides, squeezing my eyes as tight as possible.

Alien hates high pitched noises. Awesome...

More flickering lights and a sudden blaring of SHIELD sirens sent my new conscience--AKA the alien I supposed I was now hosting--into overdrive. Before I knew it, I was against a wall, writhing in pain, and fighting for control of my body. A sudden jolt of electricity coursed through my body and for a moment, I could see that faceless blue alien again, grinning wickedly.

Then, I blacked out.

Let me re-phrase that; I blacked out.

That...made things no different.

The alien took over, basically shutting me off and taking control of my body.
When I opened my eyes, it was no longer me, but the alien who had driven itself into my subconscious brain and was now in control of my actions.

My eyes glowed a bright, opaque blue, and my voice echoed itself, the aliens voice underlining my own. We spoke in unison, although I wasn't conscious to hear what was being said. A sinister grin etched itself onto my face.

"Let's test our limits...shall we?"