I draw intricate shapes against the one-way glass of my cage—sorry, room. They don't linger for very long; they disappear within a minute.

I sigh and mindlessly draw. This room is at a fairly warm temperature, probably to keep me in line. If I step a toe over, they'll crank it up. I would know—I've tested it before, not intentionally.

I know someone is watching, someone is always watching. Taking notes, making suggestions to others on the other side. I don't see why we need to be looked after.

I wish there was a telepath around me, I'd love to communicate with them. The walls are brick and grimy-looking, not exactly high-end. It has to be because of our location. Why can't we find somewhere nice for once? Why continue to hide us in dumps? I even posed that question before, and I got the logical answer: you hide in places everyone is least expected to look at.

I know we're out of country, not on American soil. We're maybe in Germany, judging by how often I hear the language. Or that could just be the nature of the people I've been around for the past seven years of my life. I'm only going off of speculation, I can't confirm anything.

I haven't seen daylight in years. Any new trends or disasters, I'm lucky if I get any current events or pop culture updates. I forget what a beautiful sky looks like. The one thing I'm familiar with, though, is the snow. The ice. The cold. Those I will never be able to forget, because they are a part of me. Take those away, and I am ordinary.

I pick at the cloth I wear and wrinkle my nose. Surely I'm allowed a shower soon. From what I've seen over the years, I'm one of the few fortunate ones to be treated somewhat decently. It's probably because of my parents' status in their jobs.

I'm curled in a corner of the room, tucked between the brick wall and the one-way glass. This is how it's been day in and day out. That's another thing I haven't seen for a while—a night sky. Being deprived of the simple things in life hurts more than people realize.

I look up at the ceiling thoughtfully as light snow begins to fall. Lazily, I stick my tongue out and catch the flakes. This must be entertaining to the viewers; watch the girl in her natural habitat.

Suddenly, my flurry is interrupted by loud sirens. I cover my ears instantly. This hasn't happened before. Something's going on. Something's wrong. I stand up, hands still over my ears, and stupidly look out the window, only to see my reflection.

It isn't until my door opens that the noises of chaos come to me: frantic feet, rapid German, loud sirens. They blend together in a hideous symphony. I'm not greeted by my mom or dad. Instead, I'm greeted by Genevieve, a fellow enhanced.

"It's time!" she screams over the siren.

I stand and look at her. I have no idea what she means.

She barges into my room, rolls her impatient green eyes, and grabs me. "We're needed!"

"I—" I'm knocked into by a passerby and stumble forward. I grit my teeth and resist the urge to ice his ass. "What's happening?"

"We've been found, by them." Genevieve weaves us through oncoming, scrambling traffic. I spit out her dark hair as it keeps getting in my way. "We need to stand our ground."

"Are we ready for this?" I ask, a bit skeptical.

"We've been prepping for this, Aurora. The others are outside, and they've probably already started to fight."

"But—"

You would think being in the midst of German I'd be able to teach myself. Nope. None. So as Genevieve and I are bustling to get outside and defend, rapid German is flying everywhere. Some is in a panic, some is rough and most likely barking orders.

"Who gave us the green light?" I get out to Genevieve.

"Your mother."

My mother, one of the scientists behind the successes and failures. I haven't seen her or my dad for a while. I blame their busy schedules. "Is she...?"

"She'll be relocating, like the rest of us."

"Didn't you just say we're going out to fight?"

"I meant fight our way out. Let's face it, Aurora. We may have powers, but unless we have a substantial army, we're not enough to win."

I think back to the last base they had attacked. That had been the base where other powered people had been held, only two to my knowledge. It was abandoned, and now this place is about to be as well. Damn Avengers. "Is this smart, to let them know about us?"

"Why hide our talents? We won't be taken as long as we stand our ground and be smart."

I consider Genevieve to be the leader out of all of us powered people. Though we don't interact a lot, she gives off a commanding personality. When she looks at you, she stares into your soul. Not that that is her power, but it might as well be. She doesn't take shit from anyone and lets them know.

We burst out into warfare. There is no sun, only clouds hang over the dense forest. The air is thick with battle. If we weren't fighting our way out, I'd take the time to appreciate being outdoors for the first time in years. I know that if I decided to hang around, I'd leave myself open for attack.

Genevieve lets go of my wrist and takes off to aid one of our tanks. I run straight ahead into battle. Though I'm not in the thick of it yet, my heart is already pumping from the adrenaline.

Up ahead, I see the explosions. My feet run faster now. I don't know if Genevieve and I are the only two out here alongside the humans. Where are the others?

I think back, for a fleeting second, to a time where I didn't have to fight for my freedom. Where I used to be human—key phrase "used to". I haven't been human for seven years. Seven years ago, the tests started. I became something stronger, something more powerful.

I feel the rush of wind above my head, through the trees. I smile. If the one Maximoff twin is here, he'll have a good match. Kyle is, I think, much faster. That's what I've heard the scientists say anyway.

At the loud roar of engines, I snap my head up and shoot a cold blast. I snarl as I hit branches, and the blast freezes the branch. Great, there's one. Though I haven't seen him, I know that Iron Man is heading towards the hideout. I contemplate pursuing him, but I know there are bigger fish out here. Besides, I'm not fighting to keep control of the hideout; I'm fighting my way to freedom.

I hear the loud yells of the humans as they succumb to their opponents. I snort and take cover behind the nearest tree. I caught a glimpse of one of them, I believe it's either Hawkeye or Black Widow. Either way, someone's getting iced. I lick my teeth, waiting to hear the smallest sound—

I put my arm up to counter the arm that tries to shove an arrow into my body. Hawkeye. I kick him away, throwing a blast at him. He spins away, trying to load his bow. With a flick of my wrist, I send the bow into a cold spell. It doesn't seem to affect the Avenger much; he tries throwing the arrow at me.

To annoy him, I blast it at the midpoint, and it falls in solid ice to the ground.

"Your friends ditch you?" I taunt him, advancing, continuing to make him dance by throwing blasts at his feet. Each spot frosts over. I fire a blast at his arm as he tries to find another arrow behind him.

"You talk too loud, you know that?" comes a female voice.

I roar in outrage as I feel weight on my back. She almost takes me to the ground, but I somehow balance us both. I yell out as I feel the electricity run through my veins. I feel my power building. Keep it going, you'll wish you hadn't. I grab ahold of Black Widow's arms and launch her into Hawkeye. I mock them with dusting off my hands as I watch them quickly untangle from each other.

I conjure up a sharp icicle from my palm and stalk towards the pair, a murderous glint in my green eyes. I blast the gun out of Black Widow's hand, snorting amusedly.

"Bring on the big guns, this is nothing!" I challenge loudly.

I stop at the loud crack of thunder. My head goes to the sky.

"You asked for it," Hawkeye warns me.

I jump back as the God of Thunder, in all of his blond-hair, beefy-armed glory, gets in between me and the assassins. I go into a fight stance with my icicle. Thor regards me carefully, his hammer ever at the ready.

"This does not have to get worse," he says in his deep voice. "Stand down."

"Don't think so, Goldilocks." I conjure mini icicles and launch them at the three before me, slowly backing away as I do so.

Thor advances, taking the icicles to his body while shielding his fellow Avengers. Knowing that I won't be able to win against the God of Thunder on my own, I spin around and run, shooting a few cold blasts here and there at the enemy.

I don't hear pursuing feet. And I don't hear cries of pain either. Or explosions.

That spells out something bad for me

I don't stop; I keep running on the hope that the Avengers are willing to let me run off and find whoever is left.

I feel like I'm making a crash in the woods, with how loud my feet are. I can't call out in case I'm being followed. But I'm not, I don't hear anything. But I don't want to stop and listen. Nobody told me the rendezvous, nobody ever gave me a plan. Was Gen told anything? What about Kyle? Ruby? Am I expected to find it on my own? Is there some sort of signal I'm supposed to find?

If so, it better be obvious.

I'm catapulted off my feet by an unknown force, sending me back-first into the thickest tree possible. I grunt, feeling invisible restraints. I'm off the ground at least two feet. My body tries to fight the control, but any inch the control gives me, it snaps my body back against the tree harder and harder.

"Come out, come out," I sing. "Nobody likes a cheater."

She steps out from cover, her eyes glowing red. My lips curl into a snarl, as I know this is the other half of the Maximoff twins. I try and twist my hand to shoot a blast her way, but—I have to assume she's behind this—she snaps my hands so that my palms are pressed against the tree bark. I can't do anything.

"Coward," I spit towards her. "Hiding behind your powers. Take those away, what are you?"

"Oh, like you are one to talk," she snaps back in her thick accent. She looks at me for a moment, cocking her head. I swear I see a thin, sly smile touch her lips. "I think it's quiet time now."

Before I can get another word in, the back of my head collides with the tree bark. 

**Before you ask, no, this isn't the plot of Age of Ultron. It starts out similarly, yes. I had to in some way to get the story going.

 All original story line provided by yours truly.**