Clarity | Marvel Cinematic Universe

4. BEFORE THE STORM

Guess who updated? Me! I'm slowly getting back into the groove of working on Clarity, although other projects do still sidetrack me, sorry. I haven't quite established an update schedule yet but I'll get there eventually, I hope. Thanks for bearing with me until then!

(03.08.19)

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As soon as she left the chamber, Vanessa Liang wiped the false smile off her face. She rubbed her upper arms, still feeling the god of mischief's chilling aura on her skin, feeling his piercing blue gaze trained on hers.

The underlying messages she was receiving as a result of this interrogation were more disturbing than anything she had encountered before—it was to be expected, she supposed, with Loki being an interdimensional threat that made the terrorism she was used to dealing with look like nothing but child's play. But it wasn't the magnitude of the threat that disturbed her, in the end. Rather, it was the startlingly personal nature of the situation.

It was nothing new to her that Loki had some sort of vendetta to carry out; Thor told her as much when he mentioned that his foster brother had always envied the Asgardian throne. However, Vanessa suspected that there was something else—a well-concealed motivation far more potent than jealousy.

The elevator doors slid open as she finished composing her report to her teammates in her head. She dropped the empty paper cup she still held into a nearby trashcan before proceeding to the Helicarrier bridge, where the rest of the team (excluding Hill and Coulson, who had undoubtedly gone back to running the standard operations of the flying fortress) still waited.

"That was quick, Agent Liang," Director Fury commented the moment she set foot in the conference room. "Hardly ten minutes."

"I have what we'll need, Director," she said simply, although that wasn't entirely true—there was still more to be gleaned, obviously, but she could not force herself to stay in that cold cell any longer. "You should know, 'cause I learned from the best."

"I trained you in interrogation," Fury said dryly, wearing the ghost of a smile. "Not making small talk and absolutely correct leaps of logic. That's all your own."

He turned to the rest of the team, who were assembled around a glass table. Agent Romanoff was expressionless, as was Dr. Banner. Thor's heavy brows were creased in a multitude of emotions—anger, worry, sadness, and a dozen more she couldn't name. Steve stared at her with an unreadable look, and Tony Stark was about to speak.

"What was all that about seeing?" he asked nonchalantly. His arms were crossed casually across his chest as he leaned back precariously in his seat, testing the chair's capability of maintaining balance. On the surface, he acted as if it was just another day of work, as if the fate of the Earth was not suspended in uncertainty. Vanessa didn't know if she should respect that or find his attitude inappropriate.

"Loki was wondering why I'm on this team, if I don't have any apparent abilities," she explained. From behind her, Fury snorted, as if she had just cracked a joke—in a way, she had. "I suppose you guys have the right to know as well. We're going to be working together to stop this crisis, after all."

With that, she activated her ability. Her vision instantly sharpened as liquid silver flooded her irises, every detail and every line enhanced and brought to her attention as if she viewed them from the other side of a magnifying glass. Microexpressions flashed across her teammates' faces as clear as day, and Stark visibly pushed back from the table in surprise.

"What are you, a vampire?"

Vanessa allowed herself a small smile. "Not quite."

Stark ran a hand over his face. "Should I really be surprised?"