Artemis (Book 1)

Chapter One

Thea sat in her office staring at the monitor in front of her. She was face timing with someone who could hopefully get her information. "Skye, it's nice to finally meet you."
"You too. Why exactly did you want to talk to me?"
"I need a favour. I know that the team is dealing with very important matters so takes as long as you need. Would you be able to use your hacking skills to find any information of Bucky Barnes and the Winter Soldier?"
"I can try, but I don't know if I'll find anything."
"That's fine. I would really appreciate you keeping this between us, I don't know who I can trust."
"But you trust me?"
"No. Someone I trust, trusts you. Maybe I'll learn to trust you but I don't trust people easily."
"Okay. I'll search whenever I can. How do I send it to you?"
"I'll send you the details later. I heard you got shot recently, how are you feeling?"
"Better."
"You were terrified, won't you? Thought you were going to die." Thea guessed and assumed she was right by the way that Skye looked down. "It's nothing to feel bad about. I've been there, so I know how you feel. Getting shot, it takes something from you. You spend so long thinking that you can't be hurt because of who you surround yourself with. Then you realise that you've been kidding yourself the entire time."
"How do you move on?"
"You learn from it. You never let your guard down, you train to be better. Listen, I'm glad that I got to meet you but I have to go. If you need someone to talk to, I'm here."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Goodbye Skye."
"Goodbye Thea." Thea hung up and gathered her belongings. She left her office and headed for the elevator. When she reached the lobby she saw Steve stood waiting for her. He had been on a mission with Natasha, and he did not look happy. "Let's go back to mine and talk."
 
Thea led the way inside of her apartment and locked the doors. "ASH, secure the room."
"Yes Thea." A female voice spoke, startling Steve. "The room is secure. All electronic devices have been scanned and there are not listening devices. There are also no hidden camera."
"Thank you." Thea turned to Steve who looked slightly confused. "It's an AI, like JARVIS. My brother's girlfriend made it for me. Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"
"Fury gave Natasha a different mission and I was unaware of it."
"That's how SHIELD works. Secrets are kept and it interfers with missions."
"Do you know of project Insight?"
"No."
"It's guns that will take out a target before they can become a threat."
"Welcome to the world of SHIELD. This is why I don't trust all of SHIELD, they don't really care about your backstory only if you're a threat. Anyone who is skilled or different are a threat. I keep secrets because they would put me in a position where I am considered a threat to SHIELD."
"What kind of secrets?"
"The kind that do make me a threat."
"These secrets, can I still trust you?"
"I hope so." Thea sighed, realising what had to be done to ensure that Steve fully trusted her. She looked at Steve and focused on making her eyes glow red. He took a step back in shock. "SHIELD cannot know that I am different or they may order my assassination. They don't care that I was born like this..I think. They don't care that an accident triggered my abilities. They don't care that I have never used my abilites to hurt anyone. They only care that I could hurt someone with my abilities, even though I don't want to hurt good people."
"But you worked for SHIELD, doesn't that make you safe?"
"No, it doesn't."
"What do I do about Project Insight?"
"Honestly, I don't know. You can't access where the helicarriers are kept because Fury will have removed the overwrite that he did so he could show you."
"I'll think of something." Steve sighed and headed for the door.
"When you do, give me a call." Thea said and watched as Steve left.
"Would you like me to find a way to access Project Insight?"
"Yes. Try to find a way to stop it."
"Do you need anything else?"
"Send Skye the details to send any information she finds. Make sure it's secure."
"Done. I will let you know when I find anything on Project Insight."
"Thank you."
 
Thea stood at the doorway watching Sam Wilson's session with people who had been at war. "The thing is, I think it's getting worse." A woman, Garcia, began explaining. Thea turned her head and saw Steve approaching. "A cop pulled me over last week. He thought I was drunk, I swerved to miss a plastic bag. I thought it was an IED."
"Some stuff you leave there. Other stuff you bring back." Sam said. "It's our job to figure out how to carry it. Is it gonna be in a big suitcase, or in a little man-purse? It's up to you." The session soon ended and Sam was saying goodbye to the others.
"How do you know Sam?" Steve questioned.
"He's a friend. He's helped me deal with some stuff. I trust him."
"Look who it is, the running man." Sam joked as they approached him. "And Thea. How are you?"
"I feel great."
"Caught the last few minutes. It's pretty intense." Steve commented.
"Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret." Sam explained.
"You lose someone?" Steve questioned.
"My wingman, Riley. Flying a night mission. Standard PJ rescue op. Nothing we hadn't done 1000 times before. Until an RPG knocked Riley's dumb ass out of the sky. Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch."
"I'm sorry."
"After that, I had a really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?"
"But you're happy now, back in the world?" Steve asked.
"The number of people giving me orders is down to about zero. So, hell yeah." Sam joked. "Are you thinking about getting out?"
"No. I don't know." Steve replied. "To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I did."
"Ultimate fighting?" Sam suggested making Steve chuckle. "Just a great idea off the top of my head. Seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. What makes you happy?"
"I don't know."
"What about you Thea?" Sam scanned their surroundings before dropping his voice to a hushed whisper. "Do you think about leaving the Avengers life behind?"
"I tried to leave that kind of life, just got brought back into it." Thea replied with a shrug. "Truth is that I feel lost without it. When I was brought back in, I wasn't ready. I was going through some stuff and I didn't want to come back."
"So why did you?" Steve asked curiously.
"Cause of Clint. He's my family. My mom and dad weren't the best, so all I had was my brother. Then Coulson brought us in to SHIELD and he became this father figure that we both needed. Then we met Clint and he became like a brother to me and then Nat became like a sister. No matter how badly I want to leave the life behind, I'd do anything to protect my family. Coulson died and I realised how much family really means." The two older men stared at Thea, neither having realised how much she went through.
 
Thea stood beside her car talking to Steve, who wanted to have a word. "Steve, I know that you try to keep the attitude and personality that you had when you first became Captain America, but you may not be able to. The world has changed and it's time we change too. I know it's not what you want to hear but it's the truth."
"Have you had to change?"
"Yes. I changed when I was 8. I didn't always have my abilities, I was normal. An accident changed me and I had to learn to adapt. I'm similar to the person I was before but I couldn't stay the same. I'm in desperate need for a nap, so I'm gonna head home. You know where to find me if you need to talk." Thea got into her car and pulled away. Thea was driving home when her car started driving by itself. "ASH, what's going on?"
"You are needed at Captain Rogers apartment."
"Why?"
"It appears that Nick's wife has kicked him out."
"Shit." Thea allowed herself to be driven, realising the urgency. Fury used the same cover story with her years ago. It's usually what he uses when he doesn't know if anyone unknown is listening.