Rachel didn’t believe in a god, but if she did, she’d think he had a really screwed up sense of humor.
The High Council of Witches and SHIELD–a matched set in the Shadow Government of Weird Shit collection. For a long time, the partnership served them both well. Council got an in with vanilla government; SHIELD got extra coverage of the extra-human. Win-win.
Of course, there’s a downside to partnerships. When the Triskelion fell, the ties that bound it to the Council pulled tight, and the Council toppled with it. Two massive, far-reaching, seemingly invincible organizations rendered into nothing more than rubble and dust.
At first, she’d thought it was a good thing. Rachel and the Council had never exactly shared an amicable relationship, and in her view, secrets cost lives. So here they were, with a chance to build something new. Build it the way it was supposed to be. Build it right.
And guess who ended up leading that particular charge? Rachel I shouldn’t be responsible for a goldfish Collins. See, a totally screwed-up divine joke.
It was logical to reach out to the Avengers, to try to build the nascent not-Council foundations with the same alliances that had preceded them. So here she was, in New York freaking City, trying to control her massive twitching at the obscene amount of people and the fact that she couldn’t see the sky. Couldn’t they be headquartered in, like, Montana? Seriously.
She restrained her fidgeting by grabbing on to the straps of her bag–her backpack, because she wasn’t letting that out of her sight, while a suited lackey took her duffle to god-knows-where. If he rifled through her underwear, she was gonna break his nose.
Banner seemed nice enough, though. She’d spoken with him a few times by Skype. For a fleeting moment, she considered taking a peek at his true nature–at the duality contained within him. But then she shoved that impulse away. That was just rude.
“It’s just Rachel,” she said, thumbs hooked in the shoulder straps of her bag, her mouth slightly open and eyes wide as she took in the enormity of Avengers Tower. It was both awesome and really freaking intimidating. “Haven’t really decided on the new titles yet. This is what you call home–or is it just HQ?”
He gave a slight nod, trying not to smile at her girlish gesture. He also noted that she was trying not to be overwhelmed by the grandiosity of the Tower- Bruce himself had advised subtlety and economy, but you can’t tell Tony a goddamn thing about anything- and couldn’t help but smile.
“Rachel,” he repeated, and then shrugged at her question. did he have a home? home meant peace, home meant a place to rest. He’d been at war with himself for years. “I, uh. There’s quarters in my lab. Science never sleeps.” another self-deprecating smile, and a gesture for her to follow him.
“you want the tour now, or do you wanna settle in first? Pepper has a floor prepared for your use- top secret magical preparations, I hear, with all the cutting edge witchcrafting equipment- and there’s a suite of rooms for you. If you don’t like that much privacy, though, there’s quarters ready with the lab staff.”
yousharknotpass
2087
gamechangershow
amandla
areudirty
izzy806
ellievsbear
pixelskylines
titsay
