.14 | Tiger in the Tower

(Tony's face! Lmao)

Merida walked with Steve into the Avengers tower and her doe like eyes wandered around the huge structure. Her first feeling was fear, the second was nervousness and the third was inadequacy.

There were people in a mixture of different outfits walking around, heads down buried in files that they flipped through, while others were geared up in all black outfits as if they were about to head out on a mission.

Steve glanced down at her and noticed the weariness growing over her expression. He knitted his brows and smiled encouragingly down at her. She realized with a start how big Steve was compared to her lithe and bony frame. She allowed her eyes the stolen moment to drift to his arms before dragging her eyes away, back towards the Avengers Tower.

The energy was high. She could feel it.

Her eyes scanned the people who were bustling in and out and all around. This appeared to be the bottom floor and it was a high traffic area. She was used to the energy of the circus, but this was different. This was a new environment and she was starting to feel apprehensive.

Their auras were vibrating at a high frequency.

She immediately started to tremble, her throat going dry as her fearful eyes took in the massive building that only seemed to go up, up and up. She wondered who built this and how many floors it actually had. It was bigger than anything she'd ever seen before.

The floors were marble white and all around were glass windows that showed views of different offices, some where people worked diligently and others that were dark and barren.

A few people in suits walked out from a hallway from the right, which was where Natasha, Clint and Sam started to veer off towards. Merida paused, her eyes catching a window off to the left where a group of people stood before a large monitor. The image captured her attention and she stopped dead in her tracks.

Her face paled to a sheen of sickly white and her lips parted as the image on the screen was paused - stopped in a freeze frame as two people in suits stood before it, their hands crossed as a woman with a dark ponytail and glasses sat with her legs crossed on the left and took notes.

The image made her blood run cold and the bile rise up in the back of her throat.

Killian.

His face on the monitor frozen as someone had captured manic and sadistic look of excitement.

All of a sudden, he was there in the room with her. She could feel his malevolent energy radiating from behind her, the curl of his lip close to the shell of her ear as he pressed against her back and snickered.

He wasn't here.

He wasn't here.

This wasn't possible.

Her body quivered uncontrollably as her eyes held fast to the frozen image in the next room over.

"Their blood is on your hands,"

"Your new friends will die too,"

His voice echoed in her mind, closing her eyes once and then twice as the feeling of Killian behind her didn't cease.

This can't be real.

As she blinked once more she saw a group of Killian's circling around her with a taunting and horrible laugh, one after another like awful clones. That wide smile that could cut glass, yet those devious black pools of his eyes glared at her as a warning.

He was all around her.

Laughing.

Taunting.

So many Killian's she couldn't keep up.

It's in my head, it's in my head!

"You'll die if you try, Merida,"

"Come on, Mer-i-duh, you'll never be rid of me!"

A gleeful cackle escaped his lips and Merida broke as her pulse skyrocketed to a crescendo, both terrible and painful.

The haunting melody of his voice filled her head and she quickly placed her lithe hands over her ears as her lips finally parted to let out a scream of agony and horror as Killian, though not even in the same room, assaulted her mind and tormented her.

Steve realized with a start that Merida wasn't beside him, a short whistle to the others slowed them up as they neared the far right hallway. Upon seeing Merida looking at the glass across the room at Killian's image they looked in between each other.

When she screamed, Steve felt his heart drop down into his stomach, a horrible sound coming from her lips that somehow hit Steve in the chest like a brick. Her anguish and terror could be felt in his own veins and though he didn't know how that could be possible, he did know the fallout that was about to happen.

Natasha immediately the energetic shift in the room. She met Steve's eyes with the same alarm.

Merida's energy was pulsating.

She was going to shift.

The entire room slowed down and sped up all at once, people stopping in their tracks in alarm at the girl's outburst.

"Aw, sh-" Sam started in as he caught on a few seconds too late.

Clint looked at everyone quizzically, still unsure of what was about to happen, but he took on a defensive stance as his eyes widened at the sight that happened next.

Merida violently shifted, the entire floor of the tower shook as her powerful and freakishly big paws slammed into the marble white floor, her maw barred into a grim line.

A powerful overgrown tiger stood in the middle of the tower.

The tiger's gaze shifted to Steve.

As always, his familiar scent carried to her first through everything and she could hear his heartbeat wildly pounding. A brief moment of silence collected before the sound of a high pitch alarm broke through, making her snarl in anguish and hostility.

In a flash, a corral of agents came running from the right corner where everyone had been walking towards before she shifted. The agents already had their guns drawn, the loud siren overhead a secondary distraction to Merida's primal form. The first distraction now being the sleek barrel of half a dozen guns trained right on her.

Natasha put a hand up to the agents, but they made no motion of lowering their weapons.

In a single thunderous leap, Merida was next to Steve, antsy and nervous as she paced behind him, then beside him, sizing up everyone around with her predatory prowess.

Her eyes darted from human to human, their stench of fear and wander mixed together. The agents with their fingers too close to their triggers made her snarl a warning as her eyes returned to the group that posed the most of a threat.

"Easy," Steve murmured lowly more to her than anyone else as he put his hands up to the agents with guns, as if he could shield her giant form. Her gait quickened, like a cat in a cage, trapped and people closing in. Steve saw the harrowed look in her feline eyes, noticed the nervous twitch of the tail.

She felt trapped.

She felt scared.

He looked fiercely at the agents as the alarm continued to go off, "Put your weapons down. She's with us!"

Natasha nodded stiffly as one of the agents looked quizzically at the tiger and then at Natasha who confirmed with a curt nod.

Sam looked tensely between the agents and then at Merida before muttering, "Ya'll realize she's like a mutant sized tiger. Even with your weapons, she'd take you all out."

The agents looked between one another nervously after his comment, hesitating with their weapons drawn as the familiar scene from back in Chicago played out all over again in New York. Steve knitted his brows together tightly, his heart sporadically beating like a pounding drum.

"Please tell me that is not what I think it is!"

A loud voice boomed in the silence of the open floor, everyone looking towards the hallway where the agents had come out of. A dark skinned man with an eye patch, a black trench coat and black boots strolled in with his arms behind his back, taking in the scene before him with outrage, his one good eye was demanding answers from everyone without even having to ask.

His all black ensemble made him stand out from everyone else, that and the eyepatch.
Merida let out a small grunt of disapproval at his boisterous nature.

Sam looked at Merida in tiger form and frowned, "Told you he's always yelling,"

Fury gave Sam a pointed gaze before returning his eye towards Steve and the tiger.

"Anyone wanna tell me why in God's name we have tiger in the Avengers Tower?"

He was furious, rightfully so in his own defense due to the secretive mission that three of his best went on without so much as a word to him where they were going, and now that they were back at headquarters they had company with them.

And furry company at that.

Everyone looked at Steve, including Natasha. She gave him an impish smirk.
He was on his own with this one; it had been his idea.

"I'll explain everything, Fury, but right now you need to tell them to stand down,"

Fury gazed at Steve, grinding his teeth before turning his attention to the agents. He made a motion with his right hand and then placed it back behind his back as his lone eye made a beeline for the tiger.

He grimaced, "Rogers, I don't know what kind of circus act you think you're pulling with this stunt, but it better be worth my time,"

There was irritation and a hint of a threat laced in his voice, but as his shoulders sagged ever so slightly Merida found herself pausing in her pacing, her eyes trained on the loud man that Sam said couldn't be missed because he was always yelling.

He turned on his boot and nodded towards the right hallway, "Follow me, and make sure your friend stays leashed," He looked at the closest agent and indicated the alarm, "And get someone to turn that damn thing off,"

The agent nodded and was already speaking in his earpiece before Fury turned away.

Within a few seconds, the alarm fell away and Merida felt her muscles uncoil as the loud noise ceased. Merida let out a disgruntled sound as Steve hesitantly brushed his right hand on the top of her head.

He peered down as she gazed up at him, "He's not so bad once you get to know him,"

Merida huffed out a reluctant breath from her maw, her teeth glistening in the bright white lights of the bottom floor. She still was not ready to shift back as she padded beside Steve, following him as the agents who had wielded their weapons watched wearily as she trailed by them. Everyone else on the bottom floor was pale white from shock, staring at her mutant form as it padded beside Steve the whole way.

Clint stared at Merida as she walked by with magnificent grace; terrifying yet beautiful. He looked at both Sam and Natasha with wide eyes, "You don't see that every day."

Natasha gave him a look and started after Steve and Merida, both Clint and Sam silently disputing behind her if Merida was physically capable of taking on a bear and other large mammals. Natasha rolled her eyes playfully as their dispute carried to her ears.

Merida stayed close to Steve, brushing against him as they walked. His eyes cast down to her for a brief moment and she met his gaze, a mixture of encouragement and trust lingered in those deep patriotic blue eyes. She felt the beast within her stir warmly, her maw slightly opened as she returned her attention to where they were going.

As they rounded a corner, they walked towards an elevator. Fury pressed a button and glanced down wearily at the tiger approaching.

He returned his gaze to Steve, "No disrespect Rogers, but you and your fuzzy friend can take the next one. Meet me on the seventy-fourth floor, in the briefing room,"

He disappeared into the elevator as it closed and shot him up the tower.

Everyone piled into the elevator, save for Sam and Clint who scrunched up their nose at the tightness of the space with Merida's form sitting in the middle.

Sam raised his brows sheepishly, "Yeah, that's a little crowded. We'll take the next one."

Natasha smirked while Steve nodded at Sam, "Fury said seventy-fourth floor, the briefing room."

Then they were riding up in the elevator. Natasha gazing at Steve casually before her eyes dipped to Merida in her tiger form, "What are you going to tell Fury?"

Merida could feel the elevator climbing, the beast within her nervous as the enclosed space reminded her of a cage. The beast was still edgy due to seeing Killian - the fear and rage bristling beneath her fur, unseen by the naked eye but detectable by her energy.

"The truth," Steve responded.

Once the elevator doors opened, Merida stayed close to Steve as he navigated them down the long hallway. This hallway was large, and all the rooms on this floor were glass so everything was see through. Merida saw the skyline beyond the glass and windows of each room and her eyes held fast to the beauty this high off the ground.

Fury was waiting in an office that had a long glass table with black rolling chairs seated around it. The backdrop was the skyline, the clouds passing by slowly as Merida padded towards the glass window facing the sky and looked out curiously. Fury made a motion for them sit, but Merida stayed in the corner next to the window.

His one good eye gazed at her nervously before looking back to Steve and Natasha who sat at the end of the table.

Fury leaned in, his forearms on the table as he narrowed his eye at Steve, "I heard you were unsuccessful in retrieving the target from Chicago,"

Steve hesitated and nodded with a sigh, "We were. He got away and Agent Juarez," He paused and frowned deeply, shaking his head. Fury grimaced, frowning lightly.

They knew Fury already got word of his passing, but still...the sting of losing a soldier showed on the director's face. The mention of Killian made Merida stir a low growl emitting from her throat as her ears flattened against her head. Fury gazed at her before returning his attention to the two Avengers.

Four scents attacked Merida's nose and she bristled, two of which she was familiar with and had scented before. Sam and Clint were flanked by two men she'd never seen before.

One was wearing a long sleeve beige sweater with a rumpled brown hair, pushing his glasses up his nose.

The other was wearing a black t-shirt, dark pants and carried a bag of chips. She could smell the salty scent of the chips and something like motor oil from where she sat.

All four men walked into the room, opening the glass door as Fury looked at their entrance.

"Have a seat. We're just getting acquainted with Rogers' new friend,"

The man with the glasses paused at the doorway and blinked a few times, "You all know there's a tiger in the room."

Natasha gave Bruce a bemused smile.

Clint patted Bruce on the shoulder, looking around at everyone in the room, "We have a genius, everyone,"

The man with the black hair and black facial hair held fast to the bag of chips, popping one into his mouth, chewing silently before giving the tiger a surprised once over, his eyebrows raising towards his hairline. Steve slightly smiled at Tony's surprise look. It was hard to catch Tony off guard, but when you did...it was priceless.

However, he recovered quickly and continued with the usual sarcasm, "Cap, when Fury said go to the circus he didn't mean bring it back with you," The snarky voice caught Merida's attention.

The man added with a pout, "And where's my cotton candy?"

Steve sighed annoyedly at Tony's antics.

Bruce made a motion to sit near Natasha, though his honeycomb eyes were still staring at Merida's large tiger form, "That's-that's not normal, right?"

He was talking about her size. Merida gazed at everyone quizzically. Their auras were bright and billowy, full of questions and shock. She could see the man with the chips' aura bouncing around wildly, so many questions..so much curiosity.

The man with the chips started towards Merida, but she flattened her ears and backed up a step, pressing her back end against the glass window. Tony stopped at her bristling, looked down at his chips and held out the bag to her, "Want one?"

Steve frowned, "Tony, stop antagonizing her."

Tony raised a brow and popped another in his mouth, "Suit yourself,"

"So, is this why the alarm was going off? I thought it was just another test from our less than stellar interns," Tony asked as he plopped down in a chair, putting his shoes on the table.

Sam nodded, "Yep, she got spooked."

"You all keep saying she..." Bruce countered quickly as he was still transfixed on the huge tiger in the corner of the room.

"We were just discussing the fact that we were unable to retrieve the subject from Chicago, so instead Rogers brought back a friend..." Fury started to direct the conversation back towards the matter at hand. He emphasized friend with heavy sarcasm.

Tony smirked and Steve frowned.

Natasha added optimistically, "We may have been unsuccessful in retrieving Killian the first time, but we have the upper hand at a second shot," She glanced at Merida and then gazed back at Fury.

Steve looked at Natasha thankfully before looking back at Fury. Bruce was looking between everyone curiously as Tony's loud chewing was the only thing that could be heard in the room. Merida felt herself salivating for one of those chips. She was starving in this beastly form.

Fury's phone started ringing and he frowned at whoever was contacting him. He answered without hesitation, his gaze growing more and more forlorn as the yelling on the other end of the line could be heard from everyone in the room. Tony made a face and Steve grimaced.

The news had broke about their stunt in Chicago and judging from the anger of the person on the other end it wasn't pretty.

Fury looked unamused as he added lowly, "Yes, I understand."

When he hung up he looked up at Rogers and sighed as his patience wore thin, "That was Chicago Headquarters," Steve looked at Natasha and then at Fury as he continued, "Care to tell me why they are now up my ass about you stealing their tiger?"

Everyone glanced at Merida in the corner.

"You stole a tiger?" Tony asked, mildly impressed with Steve's brazen idea.

"I couldn't leave her, " Steve admitted honorably. "I saw an opportunity to get one thing right on that failed mission, and this was it. I couldn't just let them put her back in a cage! She deserved better than that. Isn't that what the Avengers are here to do, Nick?"

There was a hint of a challenge in Steve's tone.

Merida's heart skipped.

Fury was silent for a long moment before countering his story, "Rogers, please enlighten me on how the hell a circus act is going to help capture our target?"

Fury was still livid as the situation continued to fall south. He had clean up and fall out to take care of because of their stunt in Chicago and next thing he knew he'd have General Wellington on his ass about getting their tiger back.

General Wellington was a son of a bitch and he played dirty. Fury knew he had a fight coming if the Avengers were housing an unregistered alpha level mutant.

A violent shift of magic and beauty happened so fast that Bruce got up from his chair, eyes wide. Tony froze mid-chip to his mouth as everyone in the room stared at Merida in her human form. She was breathing raggedly, her eyes harrowed as she locked eyes with the man they called Fury and stated boldly,

"Because I'm no circus act. I'm Killian's grand finale,"

Steve glanced at Merida and her eyes met his. She couldn't tell for certain, but she swore she caught a glimpse of pride and respect in his eyes as he smiled up at her from his seat in the chair.

He swiveled around to Fury and gave him knowing smile as Merida took a small step forward and braced her hands on the edge of the glass table, hands clammy and shaky from the shift.

Something stirred in her. The beast within her veins still humming as she rode the high of post-shifting, exhaustion soon to catch up to the adrenaline coursing through her veins. This was her chance to make a stand and even though she knew Steve would keep his promise, she knew she had to speak up once and for all. She had to say what her heart had yearned for so long.

"My name is Merida Reid and I will not go back in a cage," Her voice broke at the end, but it didn't deter from the powerful sentiment. Her broken voice showed the raw emotion of honesty and exhaustion. Her heart felt relief, a weighted feeling leaving her muscles as she locked her eyes with Fury.

The director looked at her carefully, his lips slightly parted from being taken aback himself.

"Fury, gotta' say I'm with Cap on this one, we're here to protect and serve; not keep people in cages," Clint added with his arms crossed against his chest.

Steve beamed up at her, his smile spreading slowly across his face. He could feel her energy, feel the shift. He could tell how weary she was; how tired she was from being in a cage for so long. It showed in her daunted eyes and the little bags underneath them. It didn't make her less than though.

No..if anything it made her survivor; a warrior. She was a soldier and she never even realized it.

Natasha looked at the girl with respect as she smiled lightly.

Merida looked at the dark haired man and smiled lightly as her cheeks flushed, "I'd like one of those chips now, please."

Tony smirked and passed the bag to Steve who handed it to her. Her dainty little hands plucking out a chip as the hunger in her craved food. So much food. Now that she was away from Killiam she could eat. The freedom that came from being away from him was still so foreign.

She still quivered thinking about Killian.

"I just have one question..." Tony quipped, looking around at everyone for confirmation before his playful eyes landed back on Merida with intrigue and excitement, ".....can we keep her?"

Author's Note:

Okayyyyy. Poor Merida. I feel so bad. I know Killian triggers her PTSD and all her other trauma so when she sees Killian all around her that was triggering for me too. I really could feel her emotional overload.

I love love love Steve and his protectiveness of her. I love that he is doing whatever he can to make sure he can uphold that promise to her. And can we just say their little imprint bond is the CUTEST? When he felt her cry out I was like, oh my heart. I teared up a little bit because I know from an imprint stand point it's gotta be painful to feel someone you care about go through anguish. T.T They are so adorable.

And of course Bruce and Tony are smol beans. I love Tony's snarky attitude and his one liners. LOL Tony is definitely going to have fun with Merida and I'm going to be here for all the team bonding time!!

And can we just picture Fury being like OH HELL NOT! A BIG ASS CAT IN THE TOWER!?! LMAO We know his track record with cats.... YIKES. He's probably EXTRA cautious around her LOL

I can't wait for the next chapter as they recon and get to know her as she gets acquainted with the tower, the team and ... she gets to meet Thor !!! I can't wait for that!! LOL :)