Avengers/X-Men One Shots - The Blood/White Phoenix Saga

ONE-SHOT XXII: Halloween: Pt. 3 of Unfamiliar (sort of familiar) Concepts

I say sort-of-familiar because, well, she was former HYDRA, and yeah, that was the stuff of nightmares and terrors. So, ... yeah, you get me.

Set after Blood Phoenix 5 (in the year 2013)

Adelaide Lehnsherr

'Trust me, Tony, I'm the stuff of nightmares,' I half-said, half-bragged. 'In the way that cats become evil if raised from the dead in the wrong way.'

'Wait... how do you know about Pet Sematary?' Bruce asked.

'Banner, I'm the living embodiment of Pet Sematary. HYDRA raised me, literally from the dead, and made me, well -'

'We get it, Adelaide,' Steve said. 'You're not gonna scare us.' I flopped down on the couch next to Steve and patted his bicep, flashing my best creepy smile at them.

'Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet. I will scare you shitless.'

'Alright, alright, back to ground level, guys,' Tony chimed in. 'Lehnsherr, though, if you're going to be your evil alter ego, please try not to kill us, or damage any property. But, this is a Halloween party, not a terrorist attack.' I rolled my eyes.

'Since when do I ever listen to you?'

'Alright, Adelaide,' Tony said, 'you can be whatever you want. Yes, the point is scary. I will be the Devil himself, and -'

'Please, you couldn't be Tom Ellis if you tried,' Natasha chimed in, scoffing. I laughed.

'Amen, sister.' We high-fived.

'Please listen. I will be the Devil, Natasha will be a sexy zombie, Clint will be my demon sidekick, and Cap and Thor, you can figure yourselves out. And Lehnsherr, you're your evil alter ego.'

'Please, Tony. It's the Winter Phoenix.' I got up. 'This conversation is over, end of discussion, and I will see myself out. I have training to do and my old suit to find.'

'SHIELD might have it. It was on you when they rescued you from the plane crash,' Natasha offered.

'Thanks, Nat. I'll call Agent Hill, call in some favors.'

'That's a pretty steep favor for a Halloween party,' Steve chimed in.

'Relax, Cap. I'll be good. Tony.'

'Yes, my evil friend?'

'Any chance I can get on the sexy zombie wagon should I not be able to find my suit?'

'Uh, yeah, sure. I can get something up.'

'Thanks.' I walked out of the room.

I buckled up the straps to my tactical vest, staring in the mirror. It was like my muscles had retained the memory of how to put everything on. It was strange, feeling like I was back to my old self. Finishing with the jacket, I strapped the thigh holsters on and slid guns with blanks into them. The final touches were two knives and several dummy grenades across my utility belt. Then, the fingerless gloves went on, after I had laced up my heavy-duty combat boots. The very last thing - I placed my mask on, clipping it in place. I looked in the mirror, only my eyes showing to the world. I closed my eyes and felt something like an old mindset click into place once more. I was aware of what this would trigger for me, but I wore it anyway. Can't have the suit without the mask, right? As I looked in the mirror, I felt the pain of my HYDRA years slowly seep back, and a tear fell down my eye, onto my dark mask.

Reaching up to unclip the mask, having decided against it, I remembered Winter's hands whenever he tried to take off my mask. My hands whenever I tried to take off his. Our hands were always slow and careful. We would both stand stock still as the other took off the mask, as revealing our faces was something we couldn't afford to do. Caution was necessary and concealment was paramount. Caution, concealment, I said to myself. Over and over, playing like a broken record in my mind. I remembered a piece of my HYDRA training, that suddenly flashed into my mind, making a headache take over.