Burning Bright: An Avengers Fanfiction

What the Future Holds

I let out a shaky breath as Fury left the room. I rested my head between my knees, trying to collect my thoughts. My hands were still trembling. I truly thought that Fury was going to shoot me. If not that, at least try to get through the wall of hulking muscle that had been standing in his way. I felt a hand rest on my knee, and almost jumped out of my skin. I looked up and saw it was just Bruce, albeit with a worried expression on his face.

"Lila, are you okay?" he asked me with a concerned look in his eyes. I noticed all of the others looking at me with a mix of expressions. Some looked worried like Bruce, others apprehensive. I let out a light, humorless laugh.

"Doc, I think I'm having my first panic attack," I said, half joking.

"Your safe now, we won't let anyone else come near you," the man with the short blonde hair and blue eyes assured me.

I was surprised by his protective answer. I had only met these people a short while ago, and already they were sticking up for me. But something told me that this wasn't some ploy that Fury had planned. You can't fake the kind of frustration the Director had obviously been showing.

I stood up and dusted myself off. "Thank you for standing up to Fury for me..?" I asked, unsure of their names.

"You don't know who we are? Who I am?" the man with the glowing shirt exclaimed.

I shrugged. Being on the lamb doesn't always allow you to be up to date on current events.

"The guy with the huge ego is Tony Stark or Iron Man, and I'm Steve Rogers. Also known as Captain America," Steve said, cutting Tony off. He pointed to the man and woman in the S.H.I.E.L.D uniforms leaning against the wall. "Agents Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff." The man gave me a small smile, while the woman simply stared. Not in a judging way, but like she was trying to figure me out for herself.

"And that is Thor Odinson," Steve finished off after naming everyone in the room who I wasn't familiar with. Thor gave me a wide grin, and bowed his head towards me.

"My Lady," the muscular blonde said.

"So kid, Fury tells us you're a human flamethrower," Tony said, obviously not beating around the bush. I instantly grew nervous. I sat down on the stool nearest to me, wringing my hands. I saw Steve send a glare Tony's way. Bruce just looked confused. I really didn't want to explain to him my pathetic story.

"Yeah, I guess you could call me that. But, I can't really control it, and Fury put some kind of anklet on me, so I can't use my powers even if I wanted to, which I don't!" I rushed to add that last part. God, I was making a mess of things.

"An anklet?" Steve asked. I held out my left leg for him to see. Steve was about to reach out and touch my foot, and looked up at me for approval. I gave him a small nod, and he picked up my foot gently.

"Jesus Christ," he whispered.

Six needles were all aimed at various veins in my ankle, each about a millimeter from piercing my skin. The needles were filled with a sickly green liquid, ready to knock me out in a moments notice. I touched the smooth steel surface, and words suddenly scrolled across the metal, asking for a password.

"Tony, can you get this off her?" Steve asked, still examining my ankle.

"I don't know about that Cap. I mean she just said she has no idea how to control it," Natasha said. I for one fully agreed with her, but Steve just folded his arms across his chest.

"It's coming off," he stated with a note of finality. Tony just shrugged and strolled over to me. He held up a device that looked like a touch screen phone, except it was a panel of glass instead of a normal phone body.