i'm feeling a bit down from the lack of feedback on Olympus so
don't be afraid to leave a comment!!

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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱: 𝐀𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬?

EXACT LOCATION: UNKNOWN

PLANET: EARTH

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ONE THING MELAINA LEARNED ABOUT EARTH WAS THAT THEY DRESSED QUITE UNIQUELY. Gone were the good old days in Greece featuring flowing chitons and silken cloaks. Wearing handwoven silks of the finest design made from fabrics that she had to import from a town or two over.

No longer was showing a bare shoulder considered scandalous or lewd. Instead it was endorsed, a fact that quite honestly shocked Melaina. Clothes were now tight, made to flaunt the body and all it's features. And the colors, by Zeus there were vast arrays of colors that Melaina couldn't even name. It even put Iris and her brilliant rainbow to shame. She just couldn't believe it.

Everything was bright, bold and skintight. And Melaina felt out of place wearing these new garments.

S.H.I.E.L.D had managed to spare her a pair of black trousers that were aptly called skinny jeans, which she assumed were due to the fact that they were tighter than a corset around her ivory limbs. At first, she had thought the golden ichor that was her blood had been cut off from reaching her legs, that they were somehow planning to kill her by cutting off her blood supply. But no, it was only for the fashion she realized, just merely for fun.

On top of the lovely things mortal called jeans, she wore a loose tee shirt featuring some form of band and a black leather jacket. A duo Melaina definitely would not have picked if she had the choice but unfortunately, that was not the case. At least it was not another skin-tight article of fabric that barely concealed her skin underneath.

And having to sit outside Fury's office donning these new clothes proved to be irritating.

Melaina had spent all of the last 15 minutes picking at her jeans, trying to pry the material away from her skin so that she could breath. Beyond uncomfortable as she waited for Fury to wrap up his meeting with some International Council, which she assumed to be another highschool clique that would be unable to come to a worthwhile decision even if their lives were on the line.

Sounded familiar.

The last 12 hours had been a bit of a blur for Melaina, torn between listening to Fury's plans for capturing Loki and marvelling at the world she now found herself on. A world that Melaina hadn't inhabited for many millennia.

After the whole Nevada incident, Fury had brought Melaina to the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters in New York. His time spent between ordering S.H.I.E.L.D agents around and being ordered around by men on the phone, not paying any attention the Goddess that was slowly finding her patience wearing thin. But she thought that it would be best to pardon his behaviour, after all it was not every day your world was graced with an alien takeover.

So there she sat, residing in an uncomfortable leather chair with even more uncomfortable clothes as she awaited for Fury to make time in his precious schedule for her. Ignoring the scrutinising gaze of his receptionist, letting the irritation burn in her veins like poison, threatening to bubble over.

Melaina's virulent thoughts of harming the insulting receptionist (that really hadn't done anything to warrant such thought) would have almost come to fruition if wasn't for the sound of a telephone ringing erupting in the air. Breaking her concentration as the mousey blond picked up the phone, ignoring the burning glare Melaina was sending her.

"Yes, sir?"

Melaina tried to listen in on the conversation but the woman's incessant tapping of her heeled shoes made it difficult to discern the words. Another item of clothing that Melaina didn't understand, because why did woman need to make it even harder for themselves to walk just to garner a man's attention. It was completely ludicrous, and it wasn't even used as a weapon, serving a more practical purpose than making one stand taller.

"Absolutely, sir. I'll send her in right away." The receptionist sung before hanging up the phone. Turning to Melaina with a tight smile and piercing eyes.

"Fury's ready to speak with you." She spoke, prompting Melaina to rise from her seat with an indignant huff.

"About damn time." She muttered with a roll of her eyes.

She immediately sauntered into Fury's office, pushing open the door and cocking a brow as she noticed Fury gave her a look of indifference. Swiftly dropping herself in a black armchair directly opposite the man in question who sat behind his mahogany desk that was littered with papers of considerable importance.

"Nice to see you finally have the time to see me." She retorted, crossing her legs with a mocking smirk.

"I currently have to deal with an Asgardian God trying to conquer our world and stealing a source of power that has the potential to cripple that same world." He bit back. "So, I'm sorry that I have been busy."

Rolling her eyes, Melaina picked up a stray document that was left laying haphazardly on his desk. Reading over the inked page as Fury gave her a look of pure exasperation.

"I'll let you off this once because I am quite kind if I do say so myself. If you were dealing with Hera, ooft, you wouldn't last a second with her. She's vicious, a right bitch." Melaina rattled off, throwing the paper back onto Fury's desk with disinterest. "Nonetheless, I assume you are ready to have that little chat you mentioned earlier?"

Grunting incoherently, Fury gathered up all his papers and placed them out of her reach, irritation swirling in his dark eye as Melaina's smirk grew tenfold. Sadistically enjoying the way she was able to annoy the big, bad, Nicholas Fury.

"Yes, I managed to convince my superiors to let you in on this little taskforce. And they didn't take kindly to it either, meaning I will be facing harsh consequences if you don't rise to the challenge." Fury explained. "And because I am putting my back out for you, an extraterrestrial being that claims she is a God, I'm going to need some answers."

"You have my attention, Director." She grinned, eyes glinting mischeviously. "Though I will admit, I am quite interested to hear what questions you have."

"You said you were Greek?"

"I did. Glad to know you paid attention." She smirked mockingly, which Fury outright ignored.

"I need you to explain how the Greek Gods are even possible. It has always been common knowledge that they were merely myths." He questioned, curiosity replacing the slight annoyance in his eyes, although briefly.

"Well, that's what you thought about the Norse Gods and now you have one of them trying to conquer your world." She quirked her brow teasingly. "Ironic, wouldn't you say?"

"Melaina." He growled, that curiosity instantly dissipating into nothingness.

"Right, my apologies." She chuckled. "The Gods existed long before the entire galaxy existed. For we were the ones who created said galaxy, along with this Earth."

"Science says otherwise." Fury interjected, venom lingering in his voice.

"Well can science explain Loki and Thor? Can it explain me, or every other so-called extraterrestrial being in the galaxy?" Melaina rebuked, relaxing back into her chair with a coy grin. "No, it can't."

"Alright, say I believe you." Fury spoke hypothetically. "How did you create Earth then?"

Melaina grinned forebodingly, already knowing that her explanation to his question would leave him baffled, unable to conceptualise the truth when he had been surrounded by lies for so long. That the true story of creation would blow his mind and more than likely, leave him more confused than what he was at the beginning of their conversation.

"The very first being was my Grandma Chaos. She was the God of emptiness, the space that would eventually become the galaxy. And she bore Gaia, who is the earth and some of the other protogenoi. Including my parents, Nyx and Erebus."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"In laymens terms, the protogenoi are the very first Gods who created the entire world as you know it. The very fabric of the Universe." She explained, rolling her eyes as she felt as if she was talking to a child. "So you have Gaia, who is quite literally the Earth, then Uranus who is the sky, Nyx who is the night and Erebus who is the shadows."

"And those protogen—things, are there more of them?"

"Yes, I am one of the protogenoi. You also have Pontus, Hemera, Aether and a few others." Melaina nodded, ignoring how he completely butchered the simple Greek term.

"What kind of fu—"

"As I was saying, you had the protogenoi who then created the universe. Then they gave birth to the Titans, who represented some of the other major aspects of life." She interrupted him with a sigh, rubbing her temples as she began to feel a headache come on. More than likely due to Fury's lack of intelligence.

"Then the Titans gave birth to the Olympians, who they then fought against in a war called Titanomachy. That war was a fight to rule the Earth, which we lived on many eons ago. Eventually, the Olympians won and they ruled the Earth."

Fury frowned at her words, trying to sort out all this new information in his head. Somehow able to comprehend that everything he had ever believed was untrue, or at least that's what Melaina was insinuating. And although he was struggling significantly to come to terms with it all, he felt as though he understood the gist of it.

Furrowing his brow, Fury appraised Melaina scrutinizingly. "If you rule Earth, how come we have never heard of you?"

"We don't rule here anymore." She answered. "After the Trojan war and some of the other Greek wars, the Gods realized we caused too much destruction to remain living amongst the mortals. So we moved to a planet of our own, Olympus, and have remained there since."

"And how do you expect me to keep this all confidential?" He asked, cocking a brow challengingly. "We are literally living on a Goddess and I am sitting right before another one?"

"Just don't report it." She answered as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And you aren't actually living on Gaia. She is a Goddess that created the Earth. And by the way, she's not very happy with all this pollution and climate change though. She is furious, claiming it's murder."

"So you created Asgard then?" He questioned again, blatantly ignoring her words.

"No, they have their own creation story. One that would reflect their own meager Gods and deities." She rolled her eyes, the mere mention of the inferior race angering her. But she swiftly replaced that feeling with curiosity, remembering why she was even here in the first place.

"Now, what is that project you spoke of?"

"It's called the Avengers Initiative." Fury responded, pulling a file out of one of his draws and sliding it over to her. The black eagle symbol immedieately catching her eye. "S.H.I.E.L.D aims to bring together a group of remarkable people that would be able to protect Earth when it comes to situations like this. And you are now one of those remarkable people."

"So it's your take on the Argonauts." She smirked, flicking open the file and briefly gazing at the documents inside. "How cute."

"Now if you are planning to be apart of the Avengers, you need to read that carefully." He noted.

"Well, I'm honored." She grinned, closing the file and resting it on her lap as she turned her attention back to Fury. "Who else is apart of this team you speak of?"

Pushing himself up from his seat, Fury walked over to the door ominously. "Give me 6 hours and you will have the pleasure of meeting them."

"I don't like to be kept waiting, Director." Melaina commented, following his actions and joining him at the door.

"And I don't like finding out about more Gods that have the power to destroy the human race." He retorted, opening the door for Melaina with an impudent smirk. "But we don't always get what we want."

"Fury." She warned, her sarcastic persona almost instantly replaced by a threatening facade. "Keep this to yourself. Because you won't like what will happen if I find out that this information has leaked to the public."

"Trust me, Melaina." Fury replied, watching her walk out the door emotionlessly. "Neither do I."

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True to his word, Melaina found herself onboard the  Helicarrier 6 hours later, waiting to meet the rest of the Avengers.

Fury had brought her inside about an hour prior, officially introducing her to Maria Hill and some of the other S.H.I.E.L.D officers. Guiding her around the gargantuan plane as they prepared for the almighty Avengers arrival. And it was during this tour of the behemoth plane, that Fury informed her of his plan to keep her true identity a secret.

Fury decided to dub her as a mutant.

No longer would Melaina be the Goddess of Darkness, one of the first primordial beings to rule the Earth. No, instead she was a mortal hailing from the outskirts of Chicago. Melaina Darhk, a mutant with the ability to manipulate darkness and dark energy. An orphan left in the adoption system and forced to grow up with powers she never understood. Discovered by Fury and placed in a program where she could train and flourish. Her entire existence being an ode to the Goddess Melaina, like some sick fixation.

Well, at least that was only to the public.

Melaina hadn't exactly been happy with the new alias. But considering she wasn't planning on staying on Earth for very long, it didn't matter. It just had to be a plausible lie that the public would believe if she happened to get herself into some trouble. Which was expected, she was Melaina after all. The Goddess who had a habit of fucking things up for herself.

After her tour of the Helicarrier and introduction to the S.H.I.E.L.D staff, Melaina found herself relaxing in one of the leather chairs in the bridge of the plane. Gazing out the floor-to-ceiling windows in awe, watching as she moved from Poseidon's territory to Zeus'. Rising from the tumultuous seas into the blistering sapphire sky. Tuning out the roar of the massive jet's engines.

Around her, S.H.I.E.L.D agents moved in a flurry of activity. Dozens of soldiers sitting in front of computerized screens, shouting orders and information around the room that merged to create a chaotic symphony. An offbeat, jumpled sound with Fury as the conductor, standing at helm gazing at his musicians that orchestrated their rise into the heavens.

"Get your feet off my table, Melaina." Fury ordered, gaze trained away from Melaina who rolled her eyes at his words and pulled her feet back down to the floor.

"I don't know how you can even see that." She rebuked playfully.

"I wear an eyepatch. I'm not blind." He bit back, causing her to scowl.

But their banter was brought to a sudden halt when three other individuals joined them in the bridge.

The first was a fiery, ember haired woman whose beauty matched even Aphrodite, a fact that would have made the temprimental Goddess beyond envious. The woman's striking cobalt eyes regarding Melaina aloofly, not revealing any emotion in her oceanic eyes. Cautioned oozing from her body as she stood as stiff as a board away from Melaina, blatantly eyeing her down.

Following the drool-worthy woman were two men. A darker haired male, short in stature but wise in appearance. Dark glasses resting upon his gentle face, staring at Melaina curiously. And despite his hideous suit and purple shirt that screamed for a makeover, she found herself drawn to his peaceful aura.

But the other man, he was a true sight to behold.

He ambled into the room, sapphire eyes gazing around the plane in complete awe. Obviosuly not quite used to being on planes like this. Running a hand through his mop of golden hair, a constellation of stars dazzling in his eyes and blazing with fearless strength. Tall and broad-shouldered, a fine specimen of a human.

"Ah, so you were the three that Mr. Fury was talking about." Melaina greeted them, swivelling around in her chair with an impish smirk.

Immediately the three mortals turned towards her, sharing apprehensive looks as the eyed up the foreign woman.

"You must be Natasha, there's no other beautiful red-head that Fury could have been talking about. At least none that compare to you." Melaina spoke, winking at ruby haired woman who maintained her stony gaze.

"And you have to be Bruce, the intelligent shy guy. The brainiac who can never acquire enough knowledge." She continued, turning to the bashful gentlemen who visibly gulped under gaze. "I have always said that intelligence is the best feature on a man"

And then she turned to the blonde Adonis. A grin finding its way across her roseate lips as she gazed him up and down. Her eyes finding themselves locked on his leather jacket and drool worthy countenance.

"Which leaves you, Steven Rogers. The dashing soldier from the wrong era." She added, desire dripping from her voice like honey. Coating her words in the sickly sweet substance that made his once frozen heart imperceptibly palpitate. "Fury never mentioned how handsome you were."

"Seems that we haven't had the fortune of knowing who you are though." Natasha countered, appraising Melaina sharply.

Bruce nodded at her words, eyes flickering nervously between the two woman. "Yes, you have us at a disadvantage."

Cocking her brow mischievously, Melaina turned to Fury with a skeptical look. Asking him silently if these three were trustworthy, deserving to know of her secret. Skeptically meeting his hardened gaze and watching as he nodded, denying her suspicion.

Grinning, she turned back to the trio. Crossing her legs teasingly as she met their impatient eyes.

"I'm Melaina and I'm here to save your puny mortal asses."

Steve instantly bristeled at her reply, his lips contorting into a slight snarl. An expression that didn't belong on his beautiful face, she noted.

"You obviously don't know us very well." He argued, crossing his arms over his chest frustrated. Unknowingly tensing his muscular arms that Melaina couldn't help but admire.

"On the contrary, I don't think you know me very well." She smirked, forcefully dragging her eyes away from the sight.

"Wait..." Bruce interrupted, his brows furrowed as he contemplated something in his head. Visibly straining to recall whatever it was he was thinking. "Your name, it's familiar."

"I would be insulted if it wasn't, Mr Banner." She declared.

"I—I can't remember where though." He murmured. "It's sitting on the tip of my tongue."

Rolling her eyes, Melaina rose from the chair. Beyond irritated that nobody on Earth seemed to know anything about the Greek Gods. The fact being a complete insult to her heritage, to their own heritage. That they failed to even know their own history, where their creation stemmed from. A topic obviously not taught in schools to any of these morons.

She stalked over to Bruce like a predator, deliberately inching towards him in a way to send a wave of apprehension cascading through his small frame. Ignoring how Natasha's nimble fingers inched towards the gun that was attached to her thigh and Steve's fist coiled by his side.

"How about you try thinking of women alive a few thousand eons ago. Ancient Greece, lots of heroes and deities." She almost whispered in his ear, provocatively brushing her fingers over his shoulders as she circled around him.

"No..." He stammered as his eyes widened in realization. "It can't be."

"What is she talking about?" Steve asked, confusion swirling in his brilliant blue eyes.

"Bruce?" Natasha inquired, brows furrowed in vexation before she turned to Fury. "What is she talking about?"

"Don't look at me." He grumbled, returning back to his command and facing Hill. "Let's vanish."

"You are Melaina, the Greek Goddess of Darkness." Bruce finally managed to splutter, disbelief coating his features.

"Oh, how it makes my heart flutter to hear that not everyone has forgotten the history of the Earth." She grinned, patting his shoulder encouragingly.

"But that can't be possible. There's no way—"

"You are currently trying to locate a Norse God trying to take over the Earth and you yourself, Doctor Banner, can turn into a being worthy of Ares' rage." She interrupted him, leaning back against the table with a cocked brow. "Think about that before she finish your next sentence."

Bruce gulped nervously before nodding at her words, trying to hold back his wince at the blatant mockery in her tone. Unable to maintain her intense gaze and finding his vision anxiously flicking down to the metal flooring of the plane.

"I need to go back to the 40s." Steve mumbled to himself, his eyes blown at the news of another God being in his presence.

"Gentlemen." Fury finally addressed the group, meeting Melaina's challenging glare. "And ladies, enough with the chit chat."

Before he could continue with his speech, Fury was intercepted by Steve. Who swiftly reached into his brown leather jacket and pulled out a crisp note. Handing it over to the Director with a brief flick of his gaze over his shoulder, meeting Melaina's perplexed emerald eyes.

Ignoring the unusual scene, Melaina watched on with interest as Fury approached Bruce. Lifting his coarse hand and extending it to the genius respectfully.

"Doctor, thank you for coming." He spoke as Bruce reluctantly accepted the gesture, shaking Fury's hand stiffly.

"Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh... how long am I staying?" He murmured, eyes flicking between the floor and Fury's intense gaze.

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind." He answered.

Nodding at Fury's words, Bruce began walking over to the edge of the platform. Ambling over to Phil Coulson, another odd man that Melaina had only briefly met.

"Where are you with that?"

Zoning out of the tedious conversation, Melain let her gaze trail over to Steve who was walking around the bridge in awe. Regarding the plane with piqued interest, like a child would marvel at a device they had never seen before. Cerulean eyes glinting with curiosity before they fixated on the Russian woman who sat kneeling over a nearby computer.

Melaina's brows furrowed slightly as she saw the profile that the screen displayed. Clint Barton, the compromised S.H.I.E.L.D agent that Fury had told her about. Obviously omitting the fact that Barton was someone quite close to Natasha. Recognizing the wilting look in her blue eyes, the turbulent storm of melancholy that drowned out everything else. The look of losing a loved one.

Something Melaina knew all to well.

"That's still not gonna find them in time." Natasha piped up, thankfully breaking Melaina's chain of thoughts.

"You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Bruce questioned, drawing Melaina's gaze back over to them.

"How many are there?"

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places." Bruce spoke, words resembling some foreign lanuage as the meaning went completely over Melaina's head. "Do you have somewhere for me to work?"

"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please." He ordered as Natasha immediately rose to her feet with a decisve nod. Waltzing past Melaina without a second look and over to the men.

Fury then turned back around to Melaina with a warning look. His singular eye boring into hers, a concealed warning hiding in the dark iris. Crossing his arms like an irate parent, ready to reprimand their children.

"Steve, Melaina. Play nice." He ordered, only directly referencing her before he walked off with Coulson and Hill hot on his trail. Leaving the billion year old Goddess and the 90-year-old soldier alone in the bridge.

"Oh, always." She smirked, eyes glinting mischeviously as she turned to Steve and observing the bemused look on his face.

"Don't worry, I don't bite." She grinned, casting him a teasing look. "Unless you want me to."

And all he responded with was a roll of his eyes before he walked off. Leaving Melaina suspended in the air with only irrelevant S.H.I.E.L.D soldiers to annoy.

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HEY EVERYONE!!!!

Ima keep this A/N short for once and just get to the point (surprise, I know)

We are right into Avengers now and the story is truly about to get started! Get ready for frenemy Melaina and Steve which is hopefully going to be funny as heck. Also Mel's relationship with literally everyone is goals. She is such a legend and I would die for her.

I hope everyone is okay rn and that you are all safe! I'm back to online learning so if anyone ever wants to talk, don't be afraid to slide into my DM's and drop a message xx

ANYWAY,, onto the questions!

1. What do you think of this chapter?

2. What did you think of Steve and Mel's first encounter!?

3. What's a scene you're looking forward to seeing Mel in?

4. What's the funniest/most insane rumor that's ever spread at your school?

UNTIL NEXT TIME!!!

— Grace xx