A Call to Action (Avengers Fan Fiction #1) | REWRITING

Chapter 5

We pulled up to my apartment building not much later. Her crazy driving skills got us there faster than I could have. She put the car in park and turned to me. "I'm giving you five minutes. We don't have a lot of time. There might be some agents on the way."

"Don't worry. I have everything packed already." I got out and rushed to my apartment. I grabbed the spare key from on top of the door frame and sprinted inside. I found my duffel bag in my closet and grabbed any remaining scattered items I could find. I glanced around and found a picture frame on my bedside table. I picked it up after I slung the duffel bag over my shoulder and smiled at it. It was a picture of Wolverine and me after we went through some intense training. That's when I flashed back in time to when we first met.

 I screamed from the irritating pain that scratched at my veins. I struggled against the restraints on my wrists and ankles, but could not successfully escape. The sweat that drenched my face and hair trickled down my side, tickling me slightly. My body was currently in a state of cooling down from the substance inside of my blood stream. It was getting to the point where I was so cold that I could barely move my limbs. My voice slowly faded and I shook with fear. The last thing I wanted was for my body to overheat again, but I knew it was about to happen in a few minutes. It was a constant change, back and forth, between the line of life and death of freezing and setting my innards on fire. My hazel orbs eyed the man who did this to me.

William Stryker, the mad military scientist that kidnapped my family, stood in front of me, observing my panicked state. His grayish beard covered the area around his mouth and his gray hair fluffed up in he front. His black oval glasses covered up his hazel eyes and some of the wrinkles that were forming on his face. He tapped a pen on his lips in between his scribbling on the notebook he had. The pain of it all stopped and suddenly my body was back to its normal temperature. I sighed in relief that the worst of it was over and almost smiled. Smiled. Something I hadn't done in a long time. He whispered, "You're the greatest weapon man kind has against the mutants..."

The door across the room was kicked in and a man entered the room. His breathing was heavy and agitated, almost like he had a bone to pick with somebody. His breathing was so erratic that his beard appeared agitated as well; the hairs flung back and forth with the flow of his breath. The stranger's short black hair was spiked up in many different directions, giving him the rabid look of an animal from the wilderness. He gritted his teeth and the angriest expression I had ever seen covered his face. His white shirt and brown leather jacket covered most of the veins he had on his arms, for his hand had quite a few as well. His brown boots clinked against the steel floor as he walked over to Stryker.

"Logan, it's so good to see you again. Enjoying the adamantium, I see?" Stryker seemed too calm under the tension in the room. Yet, he still grinned slyly and noticed that the man did in fact enjoy it. It was his new weapon.

Logan released the claws from his knuckles. "Of course. I'm going to kill you with them. That's going to bring me the greatest joy in the world." He didn't even pay any attention to me and went straight for Stryker, swinging his claws in a punching manner. William dodged the claws and went to grab the gun that he had on the table in the corner of the room. Only, he was too slow. Logan caught up to him and threw him against the wall. Stryker cried out in shock and struggled to find something to defend himself with. In the end, he was defenseless. Logan picked him up by the throat and slammed him against the wall one more time. "I've wanted to do this for a very long time."

"No, no, no, n-"

Logan pushed the claws through Stryker's chest and twisted them. Stryker gasped and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. When his breathing died down, Logan dropped his corpse and retracted his claws into his skin. He calmed his own erratic breathing down and stood there for a moment with his head tilted back. He closed his eyes and sighed in great relief that the worst was over. He finally got his payback. After the tension died down, he looked around and locked eyes with me.

I appeared frightened, but at the same time, thankful that Stryker was dead. I didn't know whether it was fear in my eyes or great gratitude to this Logan character. He seemed like a good guy, after all. He killed the bad guy. Wasn't that what superheroes did? Whatever he was, he was different. Like how I was suddenly different because of these tests.

The light in Logan's eyes faded away and he rushed towards me. "Oh, kid, what has he done to you?" He set me free of my restraints and held me up to look straight into my hazel eyes.

Tears came to my eyes and blurred my vision. I hugged Logan, even though I didn't know him, and cried my heart out. Tears ran down my cheeks and onto his leather jacket, but he didn't seem to care. I cried out in between sobs, "He tested on me...And it worked...He...He killed my parents..."

Logan hugged back and rubbed my back gently. It was soothing. His action had reminded me of when my mother used to do that to me when I was upset. "Don't worry, kid. I'll take care of you." He stopped and asked, "How old are you, anyway?"

I leaned back and wiped my own tears away. "Eight...My name's Lilly Parker."

"Just call me Logan. It will be alright." His brown eyes seemed gentle and caring. He set his hands on mine and set me down. When he touched me, I screamed and tiny claws came out of my hands, similar to his, and went through his stomach. I panicked and kept screaming, mostly from shock. Logan muffled a small cry and his voice became gentle. "Kid, it's okay. Calm down."

"I'm sorry. I...I don't know how to stop..." My heart was racing a million miles a minute and blood coursed through my veins like cars on a speedway.

"Breathe, Lilly. Relax." His tone had calmed me down and the claws retracted. I gazed into his brown eyes with fear as tears fell like rain. His skin healed instantly and I cocked my head. "It's going to be alright," he stated and picked me up. I was so fragile that he had to handle me like a delicate glass. Logan walked over to the plans scrawled over the table and skimmed over them. His breathing hitched and he straightened up. "You better not turn dark side on me because what you have just become wiped out every mutant on the planet in another universe..."

I shook in his grasp and the sobbing started back up. I managed to say in between sobs, "I just wanna leave...I don't want to be evil. I just don't..."

That's when he took me to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. I was enrolled there and taken in like a long lost family member. It took some getting used to, at first, like when I met the adults for the first time. I shook one of the student's, this kid named Bobby, hand and froze it quickly afterwards. I backed away and immediately apologized. That's when Logan spoke up about my situation. I had become like the sentinels he had once known, but in human form. That meant I had more control and it was my choice to decide what side I would play my cards on. Jean Grey had given me some gloves, and I shook everyone else's hands. I talked with Professor Xavier, whom I had grown very close to, and agreed with him to take classes there. Logan told him that he would train me to fight and did so later on. He became a fatherly figure to me and would take me out on his motorcycle every once in a while to go to the movies or get some fresh air.

When I was old enough, I left to do bigger things in life. I did some odd jobs here and there, but I never once used my powers for evil. I didn't want to become the thing that William Stryker had wanted me to be. A few years later, I joined Hydra, in hopes of taking it down from the inside. They were number one on the villain map, so why not give it a try?

I came back to reality and heard Natasha honking the car horn outside. I grabbed my keys, left the light on, and ran out of there.