Burning Bright: An Avengers Fanfiction

New Surroundings

I woke up in a small white room, my head pounding. I let out a small groan and sat up on the bed I had been laying on. I looked around, trying to get my bearings. The rooms was scrubbed clean, but not in a good way. It reeked of bleach and gas station hand soap. The only thing that stood out was a yellow piece of paper taped to the door.

 It read,  'When you've cleaned yourself up, go down the hall to the 3rd door on your right. And don't even try to use your powers in here. The anklet you're wearing will inject a tranquilizer into your system should you go over regular body temperature.'

Suddenly everything from last night rushed back. I flopped back down on the bed, trying not to cry. After seven years of running, hiding, and fighting, I had finally been caught. And it had been so easy too.I stupidly had stayed in that town. Who was I kidding? Did I think that S.H.I.E.L.D would just magically stop chasing me because I was tired of not belonging anywhere? These were people who had been relentless in their search for me, they weren't just going to give up on a whim.

'"That's it Lila. No more pouting. Your going to get your big girl pants on, and go find out what these sick people plan to do with you."

After my mental pep talk, I stood up and did what the note told me to do. I opened a door that led to a small bathroom. It was as bare as the first room. On the sink counter was a bottle of shampoo, conditioner, a bar of soap, a towel, and a comb.

"What, no loofah?"

I let the tiniest of smiles form on my mouth at my joke. I hopped in the shower, and let the hot water cascade over me. It was heaven. I scrubbed myself raw, and then stepped out of the shower, wrapping the towel around my dripping body. I looked into the steamy mirror and surveyed myself.

I was as skinny as ever, losing whatever curves I had left. My green eyes had dark circles underneath them, showing fatigue. And my once beautiful red hair had formed into a rats nest. I attacked my hair with the comb provided to me, and after a half hour, my hair was decent looking once again. I meandered back into my 'bedroom' and saw fresh clothes waiting for me. Nothing special, just a pair of jeans, white socks, a gray tank top and a maroon hoodie. A pair of gray sneakers sat on the floor. After getting dressed, I took a deep breath and opened the door.

As I walked into the designated meeting place, I wondered what these people were going to do to me. I hadn't been tied up, was given free reign (of the hallway at least), and was allowed to shower and given new clothes. Were they trying to trick me? I could have probably just hid in my room forever, but something compelled me to go meet this strange person. I was curious to finally come face to face to the person that I had been running from for years. I found the room where I was supposed to go, and stood outside it for a minute, hesitant. My conscience was screaming at me not to open that door, but my gut was telling me to go inside. I reached for the door handle and twisted.

Gut-1, Conscience-0. 

The only person in the room was a African-American man with an eye patch. He looked at me with a serious expression.

"Have a seat young lady."  

'If you don't mind sir, I'd rather stand," I hissed. No way was this guy going to boss me around. He gave a look that could kill and said with an edge in his voice.

"Sit. Now." 

Fine, but only because my legs were cramping up, I thought. As I flopped into the chair facing Mr. Commando, I tried to keep my poker face. Mr. Commando folded his hands and said, " Ms. Sutton, do you know who I am?"

I winced at the use of my last name. It brought up too many bad memories.

"I don't know, the janitor?" The man ignored my comment and continued.

 "My name is Nick Fury, although you will refer to me as Director Fury. I'm the head of S.H.I.E.L.D, the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. I have been looking for you for a long time Ms.Sutton."

"Sorry, if I haven't been the most cooperate hostage you've ever had," I commented snidely. Again, I was ignored.

 "Ms. Sutton, I'm sure you are aware of your special ability.Your body can make its temperature rise high enough to where you produce fire from your pores.As far as we have observed, it only happens when you become emotional.This happened to you at age four, and you ran away from home at age seven."

"You don't know anything about me," I hissed. As if I needed to be reminded of how much my life sucked.

Director Fury turned his gaze back towards me. "We know everything about you Ms. Sutton. And the reason S.H.I.E.L.D has had such an interest in you is that you are young, and can be used to endanger millions of people, whether it be your choice or not."

I swallowed hard. Every adult in my life had always told me that I was a danger. A threat. A freak. And here the government of the great country of America, wanted to lock me away on what I could do, not on what I would do.

"I would never hurt anybody," I whispered, drawing my knees to my chest.

For an instant, I saw Fury's intense glare soften. But then he was back to being Mr. Commando.

"You will be kept here at S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters in Washington, D.C. You won't be harmed in any way, and will live in suitable conditions."

The Director refused to meet my gaze. I felt the panic rise up in me. I refused to live in a cage. My eyes darted to the door, which had been left unlocked. Pretty sloppy. Director Fury started speaking again, but before he could finish, I darted out the door. "Someone grab her!" he yelled.

I ran like the devil, turning right and left, and backtracking if I ran into any guards.

 "Keep running, keep running, keep running.."

One agent was dangerously close, so I took a sharp right and burst through the nearest door. I tripped and fell, then suddenly looked up.

Sitting at a table right in front of me, were the Avengers.