The Monster Within - Avengers

Chapter 6

     The horror of the murders never set in until later in the day, and when Strucker's finally did, I had collapsed on my bed, wrapping my arms around myself in an attempt to get the bloody images out of my head. My hands began to shake and lightning crackled in the air above me. I heard the creak of the door opening, but ignored it until a girl's voice echoed from the doorway.
     "Director Fury would like to see you before he leaves." The girl said quietly, almost sympathetic. "Meet us in the training room in ten minutes."
    After she left I wiped my eyes and tried to keep my hands from shaking. The hold I had on the electricity after a death was never stable, but the Avengers didn't know they needed to lock me in an empty room for the next few days, and I doubt they had one. I would have to keep it under control, if it was truly possible. It wasn't.
     One of the lights above me shattered, and I stepped over the glass. My forehead had gotten cut, but I paid it no mind as I stepped out the door. I had to keep the lightning from lashing out if I was to stay here, and there was no way in hell I was going to Tahiti.
    The Avengers stood in a semicircle around the Director, and he was now wearing dark sunglasses instead of his eyepatch. He looked me over, before giving me a hint of a smile.
     "Well Volt, it seems you haven't forgotten your training. I forgot how ruthless you truly were. Such a shame your sister couldn't see you now, hmm?"
     He was trying to get me to break, to spark, so he could send me to a lab, but I didn't so much as flinch.
     "I have not forgotten my training, nor will I forget it when I slit your throat in front of your precious Avengers." I replied, digging at the blood under my nails.
    Nick chuckled, before walking out of the room, calling over his shoulder. "I'd like to see you try."
    The Avengers stared at me after he left, and I could tell they could see the shaking of my hands and hear the small snaps of lightning that I couldn't keep in check. I glanced to my left. I saw a door connected to a completely empty room, likely for extensive training. And from the inside, I could see a lock. A lock with no keyhole. Perfect.
    Before they could react, I darted to the room. As I ran, I felt electricity curl around my wrists and heard thunder boom from outside. I ran into the room, put my weight against the door, and locked it. I could see now that the window was one way glass, and realized that this was an interrogation room. But nonetheless, it would, hopefully, contain the electricity until I could get a grip on it again. I heard voices through the glass trying to coax me out, but I stayed put.
    Lightning shot out of my hand, shattering one of the lights above the window. My hands trembled and I lost the fight to stay in control of it. Lightning filled the room, massive blue bolts that snapped at the people on the other side. Then, it turned on me.
    It circled me, lashing out at my body. It cut my face like a whip, and I wiped away the blood from my cheeks. The lightning ripped my clothes and tore at my boots, leaving lines seared through the fabric. Every time I thought it was over, another burst of energy attacked. I had slowly inched myself into a corner, and I knew I could run out at any time, but I didn't want to hurt anyone else, so I curled myself into a ball, and looked up at the lightning as it waited like a viper.
    "Do your worst."
    By the time the lightning had given up and I had it somewhat under control again, time had passed immensely. Curled up in the corner, I held a hand out and pulled the electricity back into my body and felt it enter my veins once again. A moment later, a large hammer reduced the door to splinters.
    The lightning lashed out at it, and I couldn't stop it from hitting the window, leaving a large crack in it. The woman in black stepped through the doorway first, then Clint. They had their weapons in hand.
    "Stay away from me." I warned them, but Clint didn't listen. He sat down next to me, ignoring the circle of glass around me, some embedded into the wall next to my head.
    "Kid, do you want to come out now?" He asked, and I stuck out my hand, pulling the lightning back into a forcefield around myself. The energy fought to break the field, but it could not get out. I stood.
    "For now." I replied quietly, stepping up beside him. "Just for now."
    The Avengers waited for me outside the door, but didn't stop or try to touch me, just followed. I walked towards the door.
    I grabbed medical supplies out of Tony's cabinets, setting them on a table. Tony had followed me in, but he wouldn't let any of the others come in, because it was 'his lab, and their unscientific asses weren't allowed in.'
    The lightning hit the forcefield less often, but I wasn't going to take it down until it stopped defying me. I sat on a stool and picked up a bottle of alcohol, pouring some into my hand and rubbing it on the cuts. I took off my boots, which barely resembled boots after the attack, and took scissors from the table, trimming away at my jeans until they became shorts and I could treat the wounds on my legs. Tony sat on a stool beside me, watching me carefully.
    "Do you want to take the forcefield down now, Echo?" He asked, and I forcefully shook my head.
    "No." I wiped away the blood on my face and put the medical supplies away, waiting for the bursts of energy to stop. After I was sure I had it under control, I carefully let the field dissolve around me, pulling it back into my hands. Tony watched silently from his seat, and didn't speak until I sat back down. He motioned for the rest of them to come in, and the heroes walked in cautiously, as if the lightning might still lash out at them, which it might.
    "Fury said you didn't make your victims suffer, so why were you so angry at Strucker?" The soldier asked, leaning against a pillar not far from the group.
    "He's the reason I'm here today. He murdered my sister, and he was going to kill me, but he didn't. I got this instead." I let lightning tendrils curl around my wrist as I spoke. "Fury waged true war against Hydra that day, and he wanted a weapon to use against them. Because the first casualty of war is always innocence."