Green Eyes and Dark Skyes

This Isn't Illegal...Right?

     The only sound I could hear as I rode down Louis Dr. were the wheels of my skateboard. My mind was spinning with thoughts as I neared Scarlet's house. I knew she had secrets of her own but what if she hated me for mine? There was no way she would see me the same way again after she knew what I'd done.

     I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I easily dodged a branch on the sidewalk. I had to do this. There was no going back after seeing all that I saw. I needed to find Bucky and set things straight. Was he still under HYDRA's control? Were they still as cruel to him as they were with me?

     My heart panged. I hope he wasn't; he was an innocent man that had been taken against his own will. Anger overtook the sadness as I clenched my fist tightly and turned into Scarlet's driveway. If Bucky, the man that was probably the only reason HYDRA didn't kill me, was still alive and under HYDRA's power, I was going to find a way to help him; as a useless high schooler or not.

     I jumped off the skateboard and adjusted the beanie on my now short hair. It felt weird to not have the weight of the thick hair on my head as I climbed the tree located in the backyard of Scarlet's house and have the wind easily chill the back of my neck. I scooted across the branch and eyed the bedroom window as the sky grumbled as a flash of lightning lit up the sky. It wasn't my first time sneaking into her house but this time, there was a lot more on the line than being grounded.

     Carefully, I lifted the window with my foot and leaped from the branch. I swiftly slipped in and turned to close the window when I felt the hairs on the back of my head stand. I briskly spun around and caught the dagger that had been thrown at me in mid-air.

     A sheepish smile crept onto my face as I waved to the dark-skinned girl glaring at me with another dagger in hand. I noticed that her flat-ironed hair was messily thrown up into a ponytail and that her pajamas were covered in soot and what I guessed was motor oil.

     "Heyyyy Scarlet..." I cringed as her eyes narrowed even more

     "Jade Peyton, what on Earth do you think you're doing?" she hissed. Her eyes took in my new hairstyle and for a second the anger disappeared. "And what did you do to your hair?"

     Before I could stop her, she rushed up to me and pulled off the beanie to stare at the shoulder-length curls in awe.

     "Are you crazy? How did your grandma approve of this?" She asked, clearly annoyed that I had done something rebellious without her consent.

     I waved aside the question and took back the beanie. "She didn't but I don't have time for that. Also, I need your help." I blurted.

     Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "What's so important that you snuck into my room at 3 A.M?"

     I scoffed at her jab. "It's not the first time I've done it; besides," I gestured to her clothing. "It looks like you've been up tinkering with a certain Stark's technology."

     Scarlet set down the dagger on her desk and crossed her arms. "Hey, Tony Stark makes me one of his interns and I'm not going to play around with his stuff? You've got to be kidding me." She sized me up and locked eyes with me, brown on green.

     "Wanna explain the spy/assassin look that you're rocking?" she smirked. "I gotta admit, the hair makes you look bada-"

     "Language." I warned. Scarlet laughed and flopped onto her bed.

     "Alright then. What was it that you needed help with?" she asked suspiciously.

     I awkwardly twirled the dagger that almost killed me a few minutes earlier as I responded. "I need to get to D.C."

     All traces of a smile were wiped off Scarlet's face and her eyes widened. "Washington? Why?"

     I sighed and stared at my dirtied converse. "It's a really long, crazy story. I-it's probably better if I explain later. Can you hack the airport system for me and get me a plane ticket straight to D.C?"

     "What? What's going on Jade?" she pressed on and my face paled.

     "Can you just do it?" I begged quietly. "I would do it myself but I terminated my computer and you'll probably be more discreet than me."

     Scarlet wordlessly grabbed her laptop off her nightstand and opened it. "What about school? Last time I checked, you're still have classes and grades to maintain."

     "I'll catch up when I get back." I promised as I watched Scarlet's fingers fly across the keyboard. Sometimes I worried that Scarlet's talent of hacking government servers and anything with a firewall would get her caught but I knew that she was the only one right now who could help me.

     "Done." She announced. Her fingers gently touched the screen and a purple aura shot from her fingertips. The plane ticket floated off the computer screen and appeared in Scarlet's fingers like magic.

     "There." She handed over the ticket and I continued to stare at the screen in awe. No matter how times I saw her use her powers, I would always stare like a little kid in a candy shop. It was no secret that now that the Avengers were a thing, more and more weird people with freaky powers and abilities were showing up right in our backyards, Scarlet included.

     I slipped the ticket into my pocket and bit my lip. Scarlet sighed and rolled her eyes. "Now what?"

     I silently slipped off my backpack and brought out the metal box. There was no use in waiting, I might as well tell her everything now, while I still had her trust. Her eyes and face contorted into a look of curiosity and anxiety.

     "I need to tell you something." I whispered.

A/N- Hello! I've been so busy lately but now that I'm on break, I'll try to upload more chapters for you all! This chapter is a little short but I didn't want to bore all of you by having Jade explain everything to her best friend in a whole bunch of dialogue. Sooo... surprise! Scarlet has powers! Jade will soon join the threshold. On a related note, what type of weapon do you guys think is in the box? Please vote or leave a comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts!