FORTUITY ☆ B.BARNES ✔️

23; Grotesque

FOOTSTEPS OUTSIDE STARTLED MAEVE AWAKE. When she checked the clock, she was surprised. Who could be outside at five in the morning, the sun was just about to rise and the sky was a shade of pthalo blue. 

"Conner, there might be an intruder in the house. I hacked into FRIDAY's security system," informed TONY. 

The chorus of assorted birds were already chirping in outside, and Maeve felt a little intuition inside her tell her that it wasn't good. The footsteps were erratic and urgent but it was like they were trying to be quiet. She lightly tapped Bucky on the shoulder, "Buck? There's someone outside." She whispered as quietly as she could. He let out a deep breath as he tried to shake himself awake to reply to her.

"Relax, Maevey. It's probably just Scott or Rocket going outside to eat. Or Nebula and Peter going out for a run." He said, too tired to look up at her. 

"No, something's not right. We have to check it out." She argued. Bucky sighed in response and hazily watched her leave the bed and creak open the bedroom door. Maeve peeked out the door, a little nervous. She was not very fond of the dark. Maeve tip-toed around, a rolling pin in hand, ready to whack any intruder in the face. Her lip quivered, her eyes darted around the living space. 

It was not until she turned around that she was met with an emotionless looking version of a human. It charged at her and with one yelp, her RED unconsciously allowed her to blast the humanoid thing with the energy. The blast shook the entire tower, with debris falling on her. They were not big enough to kill her, but they hurt her a little. She yelled out in pain with Bucky, now fully-awake, at her side.

"Where is it, Maeve?!" He asked. She pointed at the direction of the humanoid creature with shaking fingers. Maeve tugged at his shirt, pleading with him to go and kill it. A quarter of the Avengers had finally heard the ruckus and rushed to their aid. No one was fully geared, but Wanda was more than ready to kill whatever was messing with her friends. Peter was hastily grabbing his guns out of the cupboards and pointed at the creature stuck between fallen ceilings.

"What the hell is that?" Rocket asked, his little eyes squinting. He cocked his gun just in case and scurried towards it. At first, the creature seemed to be unmoving. Part of its face was masked by the debris. Bruce lifted the ceiling and gasped in horror of what the creature really was.

"It's a fuckin' alien!" Rocket exclaimed. Wanda rolled her eyes, dreading this day.

"Please, not another Ultron!"

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Maeve watched the alien corpse that was laid out on the examination table like a freshly skinned animal. It's outer layer that resembled a human was completely stripped off and hung on a rack for later examination. She awkwardly tugged at the big, blue latex gloves as she accompanied Bruce while Bucky, Sam, and Scott watched. "It's an alien from a planet that was destroyed years ago, by a black hole. This one must have just intruded into our tower by coincidence," said Bruce. Maeve was not convinced, "What? It can't have just wandered in! TONY hacked into FRIDAY's system, and it was acting like it was looking for something."

Bruce took off his glasses and did a double-take.

"TONY hacked into FRIDAY? Seriously, Maeve?" 

Maeve put up her hands in defense, shrugging, "Hey, man, it was all TONY. You know me, I can't hack for shit." Scott laughed, earning a slap on the back from Sam. 

"Yeah, I did it. Relax, big guy. It was just cause I was protecting all of you." TONY said, suddenly appearing from the intercoms.

"What the hell?! So now you're in the intercoms, classic. Even in AI form, you're being a bitch! Where is FRIDAY?" Bruce yelled out in frustration. 

"Right here, sir. I think TONY is letting me share it with him." FRIDAY's voice said. Sam sighed in relief. 

"TONY, with all due respect I think you should get outta there." Maeve pleaded, rolling her eyes. She did not expect today to be so hectic with tension and fights everywhere. 

"No. Either we share this system or I destroy FRIDAY forever. I made FRIDAY I'm sure I can break her. Now tell me, do you want to die, FRIDAY?" 

"No, sir. It would be a great inconvenience if I were to be destroyed."

"Good. How about you guys?"

Bruce massaged his temples, "Fine."

He turned to Maeve and sent her an apologetic look, "Could you go get the test vials from upstairs, Maeve? I need to get the blood from it for further research." Maeve nodded and with one swift movement from her heels, she was off and out the door. Scott and Bucky moved closer to Bruce, "What do you need the blood for? I thought we already knew what kind of alien it is."

Bruce nodded, sighing. "I only sent her away to talk about something, regarding her. She can't know. And it's serious."

Sam was intrigued now, he crossed his arms and furrowed his brows. He observed the alien, making him cringe. Half of its face was torn off, with the real, grotesque form hiding under the fake, human face. It was wrinkled and black, with green liquid oozing out of multiple orifices of its body. 

"What is it, man?" Bucky asked. He was worried about her, just like every man that was in the room with him. 

"It's these aliens. Their planet was hit with the same quantum energy as Maeve was. They can sense the energy in her and they think she's like some supreme being that attacked their home. That's why they want to kill her. They found her by the energy surrounding her, I think they can smell it."

"Smell the energy? That's dumb. How do you know all of this?" Scott asked he thought this whole thing was delirious. There's absolutely no way that it could be true.

"These aliens, they aren't like the others. They hunt by scent, and they can disguise themselves by developing new skins. I need someone to protect her while I take another look at these things. I'm sure there will be more of them. Barnes, I think you're the best bet. Considering your relationship with her." Bruce finally said. Bucky nodded in response, determined to protect Maeve from any danger. He just got her, there was no way he'd lose her. Ever.

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