I awakened from my luckily dreamless slumber. I was about to stretch my arms up, before I realized what had awakened me. I kept my breathing even as my ears perked up to the quiet creaking of the door. A slit of light began to widen, followed by a shadow. I slowly placed the pillow I had been hugging closer into my position while I slipped to the floor.

I quickly rolled under the bed, nearing the intruders legs. I quickly got into a crouched position landing my hand in the crook of their knee. I pushed forward, causing them to go on one knee. I came around their back, grabbing their surprisingly icy right arm with mine, jerking it backward. I dug my right elbow below their shoulder blade, pressing the arm further backwards.

My left hand clamped around their neck, and I morphed my hand into a bear paw, slightly digging my claws into their neck. "Who are you and why are you sneaking into my room?" I hissed into their ear.

"Emily! It's me!" They pleaded. The moment I recognized the voice, I dropped my hold. "Jim? What the hell, are you crazy?" I scolded, looking down as he rubbed his shoulder. "Man Emily, what're you trying to do to me?" He gasped, getting up. "You scared me, what was I supposed to do," I tried to explain. He looked towards the floor guiltily, so I immediately tried to keep talking. 

"Any way, why didn't you retaliate? You could've easily slithered out of my grasp. We gotta work on your instincts," I said, giving a slight smile. Instead of joking with me, he sighed. "How did Tony demonstrate it again... Uhh... JARVIS? Turn on the lights please?" Jim asked, glancing around the room. "Of course, Sir," the AI responded.

I squinted my eyes slightly at the seemingly blinding light. "What's wrong?" I asked, trying to get a read from him. "Well, this is actually the reason I tried to slip in here too," he paused, fidgeting his foot. "I need help,"

I furrowed my brow, "I don't unde-"

"Why don't you think I stretched out?" He said sheepishly, holding his hands up in front of himself. Strange metal cuffs were clamped down on his wrists. Small, angled needles poked through his skin. "They're on my ankles too," he sighed, wiggling his leg. I grabbed his freezing fingers, running a gentle touch over the device. "Doesn't it hurt?" I asked quickly, looking at him with wide eyes.

"The needles? Nah, not really. Barely feel them. The clamps kind of irritate my skin. But what does hurt, is what it's pumping into my body," he explained, pulling his hands back. "They figured out something to stop your powers..." I trailed off. Horror filled my body in a terrible thought. "Did they torture you?" I spat, and he quickly shook his head.

"God, of course not! In fact, Fitz and Simmons tried to make this whole thing as comfortable as possible. We had some small talk and I think they figured out that I wasn't dangerous," he said softly, giving me pleading eyes.

I furrowed my brow and squinted towards him, "you made... Friends?" I gasped. "Well- I mean... Emily-" he sputtered, and felt my hands clench up. "What! Are you okay?! Did they brainwash you? We need to fix this right-" I screamed, not caring if I woke up the others. "I wasn't brainwashed, okay! I had no one!" He shouted back, looming above me.

A wave of shame rolled over me, shrinking me down. I looked away from him and towards the ground, "sorry I..." I managed. Jim looked down as well, "well, um... Do you want to know the way it works?" He asked. "Might as well wait until we're with Tony," I quickly said, making my way towards the door. Looking both ways, I sneaked towards to elevator. All I need is someone getting the wrong idea. Jim leaned against the elevator doors as I pressed the sleek button. The looming silence felt unnatural. I was so used to messing around, and joking with him.

The elevator opened, almost making Jim trip. Smirking, I walked inside. "JARVIS, Tony Starks bedroom please,"

"I'm afraid Mr. Stark is not in his bedroom," the AI replied, making Jim give me a puzzling look. "Well, then where is he?"

"He's in the garage," JARVIS answered, automatically programming the elevator to descend. "God damnit!" I muttered furiously. When's he going to get the sleep he needs? I clenched my fist and slammed it behind me. "A bit of an insomniac, is he?" Jim commented, raising his eyebrows. "I'm worried," I whispered. "About Tony?" He asked. I bit my lip, "about everything," I paused, avoiding his stare, "is this it? Whats-"

The opening elevator cut me off, and I forgot my train of thought. As I walked out of the elevator, I noticed a figure hunched over an iron man suit. Tinkering noises and scattered screwdrivers told me he had been here for a while. "What the hell is this?" I shouted across the room, nearing him. He spun around quickly, scrambling to get up. "I'm sorry I just-"

"Just- quiet," I interrupted, "we'll  talk about it later. But right now... It's good you're awake," I growled, gesturing to Jim beside me. "What can I do for your boyfriend?" Tony smirked, taking off his safety glasses. Jim sighed dramatically, too tired to correct him. "This,"

He held up his wrists, the metal bands glinting in the light. Tony gave me a look before stepping forward to inspect. "Do you know what they do?" He asked, lifting his hand to inspect every inch of the repulsive device. "They stop me from stretching," he said dolefully. Tony paused, his brow furrowing. "Can you go into a little more detail?"

Jim sighed, gazing down at his shackles. "Not only can my cells stretch, the clone. And at supersonic speed. That's how I can stretch my arm with it still looking relatively the same visually. Now, I'm technically a super contortionist. That means, I don't do well with extreme colds. It causes my muscles to tense. If a lot of something freezing is applied to my cells, it slows them down so much and constrains them, they can't stretch or reproduce," he explained. "All these little needles each have different purposes. When they first put the cuffs on my wrists and ankles, they had a freezing gel. Half of the needles injected it, while the other have sucked the residue back in. Some how, who knows how, it works as a circulatory system. Like how trees give us oxygen, we absorb it, and give carbon back to trees, and then so forth. With the residue, it's converting it back anew,"

Tony sucked in a breath, "this is surprisingly good piece of tech for SHIELD. Considering i didn't help make it. How many old geezer scientists did it take for them to make this?" He said sarcastically, rummaging in his tool box. "Two young scientists in their twenties," Jim dead panned. "They're really stepping up their game," Tony muttered, grasping a tiny screwdriver like tool. He yanked Jims hand upward. "I should have this off quickly. Mind if I keep it to study?" Tony asked, already trying to remove some panels. "By all means," Jim grunted.

I pulled up a chair for tony, Jim and myself. Apparently, the process was harder than Tony thought. If he wanted to just dismantle it, it would've been under an hour. But of course, since Tony wanted to examine it, the process was painstakingly longer. "how much longer tony?" I questioned. He was quiet for a moment, "I'm not sure. There's this strange part here, and I need to disarm it. I'm just not sure what it does," he answered, rubbing his chin.

I opened my mouth to say something, but tony beat me to it. "maybe if i-"

A hissing noise emanated from the device. Jim gasped in pain, as a mysterious liquid pumped into him through the needles. An icy coating began to grow through his veins, masking his skin in a freezing, blue shell. A horrified feeling crossed over me, contracting my chest in panic. "I can't move my arm!" Jim cried out, the coating reaching his bicep. "I don't- I can't-" Tony began to stutter, fidgeting with the device frantically. I didn't let him finish, before I turned my hand into a tiger paw, and crashing it into the shackle. The cuff was crushed, stopping the process.

"Pull it off!" I shouted to Tony, who quickly slid the needles out of place. A small rash was left on Jim's wrist, where the cuff had been chaffing. "The ice. It's not going away," Jim said, worry crossing his eyes. "We can defrost you, just not sure how," Tony explained, a tired tone lacing his voice. "Aida..." I murmured, causing everyone to look up at me in wonder. "She could make something," I explained, already rushing towards the elevator. "Go JARVIS. Take me to Aida's floor," I said quickly, tapping my foot. "Of course, ma'am," he replied.

I ended up on my floor, probably all the Redeemers were up here. Crap. I'm already calling us the Redeemers? Shaking my head, I peeked outside the elevator. "JARVIS?..."

"Five rooms down, Miss," the AI replied. I began to carefully walk through the halls, cringing at every footstep. I finally reached the door, and raised my knuckles to knock. Before I had even moved, my ears perked up at some voices inside.

"-don't know" that voice was definitely Aida's. "There's so many questions," that voice was jays, for sure. It seems he tends to visit Aida at 2:00 in the morning?  "What have we gotten ourselves into?" Aida sighed. "It's not a coincidence," Jay replied. "What's not..." Aida groaned, a certain exhaustion lacing her voice. "Us. The six of us miraculously becoming friends last year. All of us with our extremely specific skill sets that somehow work so well together," Jay explained in a rush. "Well, who knows," she simply replied, but Jay just grunted. "No, chica, you don't understand. No es una coincidencia," he urged in Spanish. "Boy, I don't speak Latin," Aida sassed, probably rolling her eyes.

"It isn't Latin it's Spanish," Jay retorted. "But what I'm trying to say is, that something bigger is going on here. I have this... Feeling," he explained, causing Aida to chuckle. "Sure you don't got gas?"

"She's hiding something," Jay replied coldly. "Emily? I mean it's to be expected. Her and Jim keeping something that big from us..." Aida trailed. "Ben too. But there's a difference. I get that Ben shouldn't have lied to us, but I've known him longer than any body else in our group. Even Lea. I know where he comes from. Emily and Jim? Who knows!" He sighed, and I heard him plop down in a chair.

"You're right... We know nothing about their pasts. None of us have ever gone over to 'their house'. We've never seen their parents. As just kind of accepted that they live together but aren't together. How'd they get their powers? And what about SHIELD. You don't just get abducted by them because of nothing," Aida exclaimed, "are they criminals?" She gasped.

"No I don't think they're criminals," Jay said. "They're still our friends. I would take a bullet for them," he sighed. "You would do a lot more for Emily, huh?" Aida asked softly. "What're you talking about?" He asked. "You like her don't you?"

He paused, "well I-"

At that exact moment, while I tried to shift into a better position to hear, I tripped. A slight thud hit their door, silencing them. "Someone's out there," Aida whispered. "I'll check," Jay replied. Panic leaving my body, I transformed into an ant. And just in time.

The door swung open, and I scurried to a corner as Jay stepped out, and began surveillance the hallway. "No one here," he muttered, gesturing for Aida to come to the doorway. Both wore sweatpants and a tshirt, not looking as deadly as I had seen them a few hours ago. "I'm heading in now," Jay said, "I know Jim and Emily are hiding something important. So I'll keep my eyes peeled,"

Aida tapped the side of her head, "and my ears too,"

The whispered "goodnights," before Jay opened up a door a few rooms down. As soon as his door closed, Aida retreated to her bedroom. Transforming human, I calmed my breathing. I should've known it was about time. People always start asking questions. They'll get their answers, I promise. I'm just not sure when.

I put on an emotionless facade, to prepare for acting. Covers; I lived and breathed them. Thinking of Jim now, I put on an actual worried face, before frantically knocking on the door. I furrowed my eyebrows in distress to add to the effect, and bounced on my heels. When Aida opened the door to me, a slight look of panic over came her, before being replaced with her cheery self. "What's up, girl? Can't sleep?"  She smiled, hand on the door. "It's Jim, he's in the garage with Tony they need your help," I said hurriedly. She nodded, eyes widening. "What happened?" She gasped, closing the door behind her. "You'll see, I'll be there in a second," I called to her already retreating figure.

The elevator doors closed, and I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding.

This entire thing just got a bit harder.

A/N

HEY! Sorry for taking so long to update. And also for a maybe boring chapter.

Comment what you think about Jay and Aida's little secret convo!!!

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That's Lea in the picture! Stay awesome my readers!

- :)