"Is there really nothing else we can do?" Clint asked for the nth time. "We're the fucking Avengers. We should have found her by now. It's been at least a month!"

"I'm not even gonna say it," Steve said.

"Well......we have to call it sooner or later," Tony said as he put his tablet down. "Guys, c'mon. She's gone."

"It might have escaped your attention that we lost someone under our watch." Steve snapped at Tony. In a few strides he was face to face with him, staring into his eyes. "We lost Maya and we haven't been able to find her at all. Just because you two didn't get along doesn't mean that you can just write her off as MIA or worse."

"You're taking this personally, Mr. Rogers." Vision said.

"Oh?" Bucky asked. "In case you haven't noticed she was kidnapped! God only knows what happened to her and what they might be doing to her. Damn right we're gonna take this seriously."

"Listen, you two. No disrespect to her (well, maybe a little) but you--any of you-- don't know anything about her. Her past is a shadier than Queens and she has abilities that she failed to completely mention." Tony held up a file, on it was the name Rose Red written in bold black letters. He placed it down on the table sliding it over to Steve.

Steve didn't break eye contact with Tony but Natasha reached out, opening up the files. Her eyes skimmed through the papers. Field reports, body counts, photographs.

It was all right there.

She'd seen bloodier ledgers. Hers was practically gushing red, this was nothing compared to hers but she did know how it felt to always look at your hands and see nothing but that vivid color of crimson.

"We know." Natasha said. "You showed us these. Why even bother showing it to us again?"

"I know that you know but to make my point even more clear, I'm going to show you her mugshot. FRIDAY."

"Of course, sir."

In the middle of the room, the picture showed up. It was the mug shot of a much younger Maya, battered and bruised but still very much alive. She glared into the camera with ferociousness, the life gone from her eyes. There were even fresh bloodstains on her face that stood out against her skin. The two very familiar bracelets glinted dimly against her wrists.

"This proves my theory right."

"Pray do tell. What would that theory be, Stark?" Wanda asked sarcastically. "Were Pietro and I not the same as her?"

She didn't like the way that Tony was presenting himself. He seemed more nasty and plain out arrogant than usual. This wasn't how Stark acted, this was much worse. This was just cruel and borderline mean.

"That true but this proves it. Maya can't be trusted," he said with a finality in his tone. "So is this enough information to hunt her down and send her back?" He turned to look at Steve who frowned in disdain, trying to deny Tony's logic. "Or are we gonna preach and sing about how she might be innocent? Because she clearly isn't.""

The air was tense in that room, you could cut it with a knife and use it as a gag gift.

Steve and Tony were once again at odds with each other about this, bringing the team itself down with them. The room had never been more divided.

"What? You've seen the files?" Tony pointed out. "You know what's she's done. Her skeletons have skeletons. Did you really think that she would tell anyone about this?"

"No because I think she would prefer to tell us in her own time," Steve said. "She's an Avenger! She's one of us now!"

"She signed a piece of paper! You don't get it do you? She's dangerous. She's killed a lot of people and who knows what else--"

"So have I!" Natasha protested.

"But you don't have powers. She does."

"Then what about Pietro and I, Stark?!" Wanda snapped. Vision placed a hand on her shoulder which she angrily shrugged off. 

"This is wrong, Tony. You know damn right it is." Sam said as always he had to be the voice of reason. "She was pissed at us when we searched her room. How is she gonna take it if we hacked her files?"

The room exploded into a fiery debate. One side arguing for and the other against. What the Avengers didn't notice was a girl with bandages and a coffee cup looking exasperated as hell with this whole ordeal. The first person was Sam and Bucky who looked like they saw a ghost.

"Um...Stark?" Bucky said, not taking his eyes away.

"What?!" Tony snapped.

"Behind you."

"I swear to god, Barnes--" Tony stopped talking as he saw Maya leaning against the elevator door. "Maya?"

"You're all a bunch of children. Especially you, Stark." She said just before taking a sip. "I'm MIA for a while and you assume the worst of me. How very typical of you, Stark."

She stepped out into the room looking dangerous as she was done. Maya took off her glasses revealing her tired eyes which were bloodshot. There were faint bruises and shallow cuts on the her face, indicating that she had been through hell or maybe worse. In her hand was a coffee cup with her name sloppily spelled out which she casually sipped waiting for someone to speak up.

"What?" she asked.

**********

"What?" I asked, indignantly. I would have shrugged if my arms hasn't hurt so damn much. "Surprised to see me? I don't blame you. I've only been through hell and back. No biggie, you guys."

I took a sip of the coffee as I waited for someone to start talking. My shoulder and arm ached as I sipped my coffee. I need more painkillers. Gods, me head felt like it was hit with a Thor's hammer.

"Glad you're back, actually." Natasha spoke up first as turned her glare to Tony who looked like a kid with his hand caught in a cookie jar. "Tony was just telling us about a very important theory."

"Concerning you actually." Clint said with a smirk. "Wanna continue on with that, Tony?"

I chuckled lowly at Clint's tone and Stark's expression.

"Oh?! So does that mean that I'm not allowed to hear it? You know, since I'm not technically part of this team and all?" I asked innocently. "I mean I did sign a piece of paper, after all. Isn't that what you said, Stark?"

I turned to Tony Stark who looked like he had majorly fucked up. Stark put down him drink and cleared his throat.

"Look, Maya-"

"Save it, Stark!" I hissed out lifting my hand up to silence him. "You know what? I've been through way too much shit to deal with you and your precious super advanced football team and if you want to know the official answer to your fucking question; Yeah, Stark. I've killed people. There, Ironass. I fucking said it. You happy now?"

What the fuck was I even thinking? I actually thought that maybe joining the team would make up for what I've done but what's the point? Apparently I'll always be seen as a murderer wherever I go. took in a deep breath, calming myself down. I pinched the bridge of my nose. This wasn't the time to get emotional. Like my powers, I had to control my anger.

Gods, I just wanted to scream and cry.

My mom actually convinced me from not leaving the Avengers. So much for staying with them.

"Well, that's out in the open. Right, then. I'm here to announce that I'm officially retiring from the Avengers. It's been an honor and a privilege to work with you or whatever bullshit people say when they do this. Have fun saving the world, you guys. I fucking quit!"

I nodded formally and then turned around, matching back into the elevator. I saw the confused and guilty faces of everyone in that room before the doors closed.

My hands trembled, as I took a shaky sip of my coffee.

This was stupid. Of course they wouldn't accept a criminal like me. I should have know better. I wouldn't be accepted anywhere I went. I've been shown that.

No matter what, I'd always just be a monster to everyone around me.

*********

The room was dead silent until Pietro broke the silence.

"Well then....."

"Shit just hit the fan." Clint said, impressed by Maya's speech.

"Are you happy now, Stark?" Pietro asked. "She just quit."

"If you want to know, Speedy---no, I'm not. I don't think she took it that well."

"Really? What made you say that? The whole storming off just before giving a speech or the amount of disdain she was sending your way," Clint asked in the most sarcastic tone known to mankind. "Or maybe it was the fact that she---oh, I don't know----just quit?!"

The sarcasm was strong in this one.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Steve chuckled.

"In Mr. Stark's defense, he was still right about her criminal past," Vision defended. "But I will have to say that he crossed a serious ethical and moral line with his actions."

"Hey! You agreed with me!"

"I did, Mr. Stark but this was not the appropriate way to handle it."

"I'll have to agree," Loki said as he stood up. "I, The Winter Soldier, Widow and the Archer have criminal pasts yet that didn't stop any of you from letting us become part of the Avengers. So why is it so different with her?"

"Well said, Brother," Thor said as he clapped him on the back. "I think we should ask Lady Maya about this matter before we can assume anything else."

"Well, someone's changing his tune," Clint said.

"I mean no disrespect."

"Bullshit, Thor."

"Look," Natasha said. "Whether she has a criminal past or not, she joined the team out of her own free will. She wants to make up for her past mistakes and I can get behind that. Don't forget that Fury of all people let her on this team. That should've meant something at least."

"She could have been--"

"Enough, Tony. I don't know why you have a problem with this kid but you've got to fix it. What you said was completely out of line, even for someone like you," Sam said. "You made her quit. Go fix it."

"Fine!" Tony groaned. "I'll go after her but one of you is coming as back up-"

"Yeah......how about a no," Sam said. "This is all on you."

"So get out there and fix it, Stark." Bucky narrowed his eyes at him. "Grow a pair and be a man."

*********

I cursed the Avengers, SHIELD, and Director Fury underneath my breath and rued the day that i signed that damn pieces of paper.

Currently, I was walking to the SHIELD HQ here in New York ready to turn my badge. I knew where Agent Richards was. I was gonna march in there and ask him to cut me loose so I could live out the rest of my days in peace in Seattle.

"Hey! Kid!" I heard a very annoyingly familiar voice call out. I rolled my eyes and kept on walking at a much quicker pace with my hands in my pocket. Fuck Stark and his fantasy football team of superheroes! Those ass hats couldn't even protect me, much less find me when I was taken by Amid. I had to get out of there myself!

"I'm talking to you, Maya!"

Tony Stark, the audacious bastard, literally drove his car on a curve to block me off. I felt like i should've keyed it just to piss him off.

"What?!" I asked him in a steely voice. "Anything else you wanna say?!"

"Get in the car, Maya." He said, calmly as possible.

"No thanks, Ironass!"

"Look, I'm here to apologize. I was an asshole for assuming the worst about you due to your criminal past and-"

"Are you really Tony Stark?" I asked. "Because the real Tony Stark is a pretentious bastard with a secret heart of gold. So either you feel really guilty about what you said back there or Cap put you up to this. I'm betting the latter."

"Actually, everyone did and yeah. I feel seventy five percent percent guilty," he said.

I gave him a look.

"Fine. Maybe eighty percent guilty." He ignored my full on glare. "Also, the paparazzi are heading this way so........ if you want to avoid being swamped with people and not ending up in the tabloids with scandals then I suggest you get in the car. Now."

On one hand I had to go back and face the Avengers and on the other I would have to face the reporters. I hated the Avengers right now but I hated reporters even more. If I could out run them I would've.

"Damn you." I growled as I jumped into the passenger seat of the car. Just as I closed the door, a mob of paparazzi descended upon us with their flashing cameras and questions.

Luckily, Tony Stark was a maniac when it came to driving. He pressed down on the accelerator, getting us out of there as fast as he could. I turned around to see the mob fading away as their cameras angled to get a glimpse of us.

"Well, then......"

"Maya, what exactly is your plan once you get to SHIELD?" Tony asked as he banked a hard left.

"I was going to resign." I said, holding onto the door handle.

"Why?" He asked.

"If the world is gonna see me as a monster then why even bother coming back to it? I mean you assholes are the Avengers! You're the good guys! If the fucking Avengers can't even accept me then I'm better off somewhere else. That's what you proved to me, Stark." I slumped into my seat. "I don't belong here. I don't know what the hell Fury was thinking putting someone like me on the team."

"That is a whole lot of angst in a whole lot of pretty."

"Gee. I wonder why."

"Hey," Tony said defensively. "If you had only came clean about this stuff-"

"Oh yeah! That's such a good idea, Stark!" I rolled my eyes. "You know that's a recipe for disaster. 'Hi, I'm Maya Anwar. My dad and siblings are terrorists slash psychos and I've been in jail for the last five years because I can't control my abilities.' Yeah, Tony. You guys would have for sure accepted me right fucking then."

It was quiet in the car except for the sounds of rock music playing in the background and the sounds of the concrete jungle. Stark must have felt actual guilt because he didn't say a goddamn thing until we got back to the tower. He parked in the garage and hopped out of his car. I stayed in, not wanting to go up there.

"Get out of the car, Maya. You're coming upstairs and you're gonna clear this whole thing up. I've apologized, now it's your turn."

"I don't have to come clean about anything, Stark. And I certainly have nothing to apologize."

"Fine. You don't to apologize but half of the team thinks you're a criminal and the other half thinks your a misunderstood kid. You have to clear this up." He leaned down and stared at me. "C'mon, kid. What's the worse that could happen?"

"They'll think I'm a monster, Stark. Everybody's seen what I've done and what a monster I was. Every single damn thing I did is out there, Tony! They'll never look at me the same!" I pulled my knees close to my chest. "I'm so scared."

I didn't want to move. I should have just took my chances with the paparazzi.

"So?"

"So?" I asked incredulously.

"You don't think Natasha has a criminal past. She was an assassin for the Soviet Union. What about Bucky, huh? The guy gets brainwashed for seventy years and he did a shit ton of terrible things. Or Loki? (God, I can't believe I'm say this.) You don't think Loki regrets his decisions. He wants to redeem himself. Kinda. We're not really sure, I'm just going off hat Thor is telling me." I scoffed at him." What about Quicksilver and Wanda? They were lab rats who were given powers that they didn't understand only to be turned into weapons." I didn't stop Stark as he kept on rattling on. "All I'm say is that you can't let something like that hold you back. You're scared? How do you think I feel? I have a piece of shrapnel close to my heart. I didn't let that hold me back. If you can't control your powers then you keep on trying even if it hurts."

"Is this the moment where the sappy music plays as I get out of the car and hug you as I cry pathetically in your arms?" I ask.

I didn't exactly believe everything that he was telling me.

"Sappy music? Yes. Crying? Please don't. Hugging? No. My hugs are only reserved for Pepper." He pulled open the car door. I took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. "I'm an asshole and you're a monster. Welcome to the Avengers, the worlds mightiest misfits. You wanna go and fuck some shit up?"

"Let's end this," I said as we walked towards the elevators. "I need a really, really long nap once this is over."

************

The sliding of the elevator doors revealed the Avengers who were relieved by the fact that Tony Stark wasn't dead. This meant that I hadn't killed him.....yet.

"I said sorry. You happy now?" Was the first thing he said as he crashed onto the couch.

"Ironass," I muttered. "I guess I'm not quitting. Yay."

"Not so fast, kid." Tony Stark grabbed the back of my collar of my shirt  to stop me. "You promised you'd come clean about your past so we can avoid misunderstandings like this. So spill it, kid. What gives?"

"I think I've told you a countless numbers of times that I'm-"

"Not comfortable? Yeah. I don't care. As you said earlier, let's end this."

"I hate you, Stark."

"I know," he turned to the rest of the Avengers who were slightly confused by the whole ordeal. "Maya has something to share with us. Don't you, kid?"

"Look. I don't like talking about my past. I'm sure some of you can understand that better than others. It's something that isn't important anymore. So just leave it, okay?"

"Fine," Tony groaned. "At least tell them about your abilities. That's one thing out of the way."

"Fine." I roll my eyes. "Can someone just give me a knife?"

"Why?" Bucky cautiously placed the small switchblade in my hand. "You know what you're doing, right?"

I nodded. "Trust me."

"Also, Natasha. I need you to remove my cuffs. I'm not ripping them out again. That hurts like a bitch and I prefer to do this with as little pain as possible."

She didn't argue or say anything. She pressed the finger pad of her index finger against the scanner. Both of my hands were cuff free enabling me to do what I needed to do.

I raised the blade to my wrist---

"Maya! What the hell are you doing?!" Clint yelled. He tried to grab the knife away only to be restrained by Bucky.

"Calm down," Tony told Steve who was visibly distressed. Nat remained unusually neutral.

"Shut up and don't freak out," I said. I cut into my wrist, only to graze the skin. Soon the blood began to flow. From the corner of my eye, I could see the Avengers worried faces.The first drop of blood dropped dropped off my arm and was falling to the floor. Before it could even touch the floor, it hovered just an inch off the ground before moving upwards.

I willed the drop upwards as more drops of blood joined it until it formed a small and thin blade in my hand.

"This is what I can do." I said as I stared down at the sword in my hands. It dissolved in my hand, turning into a glob of blood just hovering there. "Anymore questions? Can I go back go my room now?"

"Just one," Clint raised his hand. "How the fuck do you do that?! Nat?! Are you looking at this?! Fucking Incredible!"

"Technically that was two and I can manipulate blood. That's all there is to it. I don't really know the science to it."

"Can this do any damage?" Loki asked as he walked up to me. I let the blade reform and it hovered in the air.

"It's sharper than any normal blade, Trickster."

"It's amazing." he said as he ran his finger across the blade then Loki looked up at me. "Why didn't you want to show anyone this?"

"I had my reasons. Showing up with a blade made of your own blood isn't exactly a great way to meet the team or mention the fact that half of your family is psycho."

"You're family is what now?" Sam asked.

"Nothing!"

"You're ashamed of your powers," Vision stated thankfully averting the previous topic.

"Vision!" Wanda hissed, smacking him in the chest.

"I'm just simply observing what I see and stating it, Wanda."

"But why?" Loki asked. He conjured up towel and pressed it against my still bleeding wrist. "Did you not tell us because of.....us? And by us I mean them."

"Well, half of you weren't exactly inviting and these powers make me look....you know......" I said. "Not human?"

"This is something you were born with, was it not?"

"Yeah........" I cleared my thraot. "The thing is that it's not only my blood that I can control."

"Wait? You can control someone else's blood?" Natasha asked as she popped up between the both of us.

"I'm pretty dangerous without the cuffs. If I loose control, I could accidentally kill someone. I could stop someone's heart just by thinking it," I looked at my hands. I could see the past in them. "It wouldn't be the first time I've done it."

"You saved mine," Bucky said. "You stopped me from bleeding out. If you weren't there then I would have died."

"You forced his body to heal."Bruce said as he took off his glasses.

"That's oversimplifying it but yes. I mearly assisted his body with healing."

"You said you've killed with these abilities, right?" Steve asked. I still stared at my hands, too scared to answer that question. How would someone like Steve react if he had found that I had killed someone? "Maya, just tell me."

"Yes."

"It's okay," he said. "I understand. You don't have to explain anymore to us. You're fine."

"Can we end this? Please. I don't think that I can do this anymore," I grabbed the blade in my hand, letting it melt back into my blood. Once the final drop was in, my healing factor took over and sealed the wound. "I think that's enough. I'm too tired."

I pulled my hand away from Loki's grip and retreated back into the elevator. I didn't make any eye contact with anyone as the doors closed. I just walked into my room and cocooned myself in blankets, falling asleep.

I silently prayed that I would have no nightmares.

Gods, I was so wrong.

A/N: Damn. This chapter was a struggle to wrote. Also sorry for it being so long. I nearly went over 4000 words. Oops?