Out of all your siblings, Micheal was probably the one you felt the most pity for.
He was probably the one who had the saddest past, too. They found him and Maverik in the woods somewhere in northern Wisconsin, miraculously not frozen to death. That part, while remaining a mystery on the police's behalf, had always been Micheal's least favorite part.
Thinking about this, you mindlessly grabbed an apple from off of the counter as you watched Micheal down his meds, subconsciously counting how many pills he had in his hand before he swallowed. You took a bite, your eyes almost instantly shooting open as you spit the bite out. You didn't mean to, but the sudden pain in your mouth had caused a reflex that told you it was poisoned. It wasn't (you'd be able to taste it), but it hurt like shit!
The metallic taste in your mouth returned, this time making itself a lot more prominent than it had been before. Blood was filling your mouth, and because you weren't actually fighting someone, it was harder to handle.
You calmly walked over to the sink, leaning over so you could spit out the cup's worth of blood you had in your mouth. Ah yes, because you know, you didn't need that to survive at all.
You were just glad the massive headache you'd had earlier had gone away.
"Y/n are you--"
"No thanks to you, asshole." you sighed. Why would you let Micheal finish anyway? He was the one who fucking hit you.
"Yeah, but I didn't think I hit you that hard, okay? Christ, I was just trying to make sure you were okay!" Micheal's eyebrows furrowed, but you could tell that he wasn't going to get mad at you. If anything, he looked guilty.
Guilt...
You wondered if he ever felt guilty.
Well, no. You really wondered how much guilt he felt. You knew it was there, you could see it when he asked about someone, or when he stormed off into his room. You could see it in the realization that he'd hurt someone.
But how did he feel it? How did it fuck with him? Did it affect him the way it affected you?
As you thought about Micheal, you realized something.
All this time, all the fighting. You refrained from using your powers because you didn't find it fair. (Just because you didn't use morals with HYDRA, doesn't mean you don't have them). However, if he hit you and caused you to bite the tip of your tongue off, no matter how strong he could be, there was something that was up. Something was wrong about that image.
What's worse is the fact that... your tongue wasn't really regenerating. You didn' think it was weird at first, it usually took a while to regenerate anything because you weren't really "built" to. However, this seemed to be different. The bite was scabbing over instead of rebuilding, and you never really bled while regenerating.
(The fact that you didn't realize you'd been missing part of your tongue sooner was astonishing, but also not surprising. Once, in Siberia, your toe was cut off, and you didn't notice until you looked down to find it in the middle of regenerating. )
What if...?
"Micheal," saying the L hurt, but you ignored it, "Can I ask you a personal question?"
Micheal almost smiled, "Sure, but if you ask me about how my tits are doing again I'll give ya a black eye." he joked. It was nice to see him trying to be nice, but it almost felt fake. It almost always felt fake when Micheal was nice or playful-- like he was being plastic. Hiding something, maybe.
What if...?
"Do you have any abilities?" You weren't joking. There wasn't a smile or hint of humor.
Why did Micheal look so uneasy?
"Why would you--"
You raised a hand, "Just answer my question. Please." You were looked down, but after a moment you forced yourself to look into Micheal's eyes and search. Search for a lie, a truth, something that gave you an answer.
Unfortunately, to your dismay, all you got was confusion and panic.
"I-- no. I've always been 100% human, Y/n." Micheal answered, probably throwing the insult without meaning to.
If someone were to ask, you'd probably say that his words didn't hurt. 100% human, yeah. It's not like you are, but you were once. You clung to it, too. It was part of what kept you sane. (But in a sort of "Frank Castle" way, so... maybe not as sane as you thought.)
Whatever he said, you didn't believe him.
Thankfully, you had enough common sense to save the discussion for a different time and place. More specifically, with another Avenger in the room.
"Y/n, why would you ask something like that?" Micheal asked, his eyes squinting with a piercingly curious look.
"I was curious...?" you shrugged, giving him a weird look that said "duh", just to throw him off. Micheal's IQ had yet to be determined, but based off of the amount of reading you' d seen him do, you weren't guessing he was particularly book-smart, which would ultimately (based off of the system) lower the "IQ".
Thankfully, Micheal believed your bullshitted answer. He wasn't dumb when it came to street-smarts, so that also meant your acting was still pretty good.
With that, you decided to just let him be.
"Gimme your pills, Strange will let you have 'em in the morning," you said, pausing as you walked by.
Micheal frowned but obliged. He grabbed the two bottles and shoved them into your hands, which then went into your pocket.
Micheal said he doesn't have powers, but last time you checked it took a lot more than an angry teenager to make you bite through your tongue.
Your monthly physical exams were coming up (something the team did because the state asked them to). As you walked up to Bruce's lab you figured you'd just mention the possibility to him and he'd check it out with the DNA samples they usually collect.
Another sigh left your lips as you crept up the stairs. It's not like it was a stealth op of anything, but you didn't want to sound like an elephant, either.
As you entered the lab, you were met by a warm, nervous smile.
The lab was... similar to the way it looked when you got here. Glass everywhere, computers, weird lighting some places, LED lighting others. It was... pretty.
"Can I help you?" Bruce took his glasses to look at you.
Your figures tightened around the half-empty bottles in your pocket.
"Yeah, uh..." you cleared your throat, "Can we talk?"
. . . .
YOU ARE READING
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FanfictionYou escaped HYDRA when you were younger, but you weren't able to save your parents. So, you re-entered society as an orphan, hoping to get adopted by a nice family and leave HYDRA and all its monstrosities behind you. Unfortunately, you were put in...
