Chapter Text
Nightingale was carefully hidden from sight in a warehouse across the street from some party hosted by a politician. HYDRA needed him gone since he was far too close to figuring out their operations and revealing their carefully hidden presence in the Alps.
The wind whipped her long hair around as snow drifted kindly to cover herself with a sprinkle of white, her breath visible in the cool embrace of nightfall. She found comfort in the quiet of the snow, in the glow of the lights against the night sky. It calmed her on these missions when she grew impatient from waiting.
Her rifle sat just at the edge of the window. Her finger just found the trigger when a sudden static in her ear caused her to flinch back in surprise. She didn’t fire and alert her target of her presence, but it was an annoying distraction nonetheless. She lowered her hand that almost ripped out the headphone. If she was being bothered right now it must be important, or her handler wanted her to practice her American. She hates when he distracts her for that.
“You are in the position, yes?” A man's voice -with an unmistakable rough German accent- questioned.
Nightingale sighed, lowering her gun to respond to her handler's question. “Yah.” Her voice was cold and plain. He said this was all just for practice, but she didn’t know what she was practicing for. She preferred their usual Russian. She would say aformative. Aformative? Affarmative? She scoffed under her breath, fucking Americans and their complicated language. At least their curses sounded nice.
“Fire in approximately six of the seconds.”
“Understand.”
“It is the uh… the understood not the understand.”
Nightingale scowled at his words, “If we are on mission we use the German or Russian no? Waste of time speaking American. No difference between words anyways.”
Nightingale heard him sigh, but relent nonetheless. Finally, words she doesn’t have to process to obey, “открыть огонь”
“Kiddo?” A voice called out. Nightingale looked behind her to try to identify where the voice came from.
“Что за черт?” She scowled, looking around with her gun raised.
“Что?” He asked her.
“Kid?” The voice called again, closer this time.
“Покажи себя”
“Gale!” I jolted awake to the sound of my blaring alarm and my grandfather standing at the door, his pepper hair perfectly styled. Weird for six AM but pop off I guess.
“Whattt? It’s only six, go away Дедушка .” I grunt and burrow back in my blankets, which my lovely grandfather promptly ripped off.
“Absolutely not! Gale it is seven in the morning! You slept through your alarm! Twice!”
“‘M up, ‘m up.” I grunt as I sit up to stretch.
“Gale Minerva Petrova you have ten minutes before the bus gets here.”
I jolted awake, shooting a glare his way, “Why didn’t you wake me!?
“We tried. Multiple times darling.” He pleaded as I sprinted across my room to grab my clothes.
“Out, out, I’m getting dressed!” I shoved him out my door as I held my clothes to my chest. I used my shadows to pull over my accessories as I rushed to put my clothes on.
Oh right, I’ve got shadow powers that I haven’t explained yet. I forget about that.
Basically, I have the ability to control the shadows however I want. So things like teleporting, forming them into semi-solid objects, tracking people and objects through their shadows. That sort of thing at the cost of a bit of my energy. Pretty basic, I’m like 90% sure I was born with it, but who knows.
“Gale, the bus is here!”
“I’m coming Дедушка, just give me a second!” I shouted, struggling with the laces of my shoes. I finally got the stupid thing on, grabbing my backpack as I ran out of my room.
“Хорошего дня!” My grandma said from the kitchen.
“Of course бабушка.” I grabbed my house keys from the hanger to shove in my pockets as I ran outside, only to be met with the sight of my bus leaving me! Crap, if I’m late again I get lunch detention with madam grouch. That’s not her actual name of course, but everyone's used that nickname for so long we don’t particularly care to learn her actual name. Well then, guess that means I need to take a shortcut.
I run to the side of the house where my skateboard is resting against the wall. I meant to bring it in last night, but I got distracted by my pet cat trying to eat a bird for no reason. Luckily it didn’t rain last night so it’s only a little wet from the morning dew.
I had spray painted some cool designs on the top of the board so I left it out to dry and then completely forgot about it.
I stuffed my keys in my backpack, grabbed my board and started racing down the street into town. The quaint little neighborhood I lived in, turned into the bustling city of New York. I watched stores and gas stations fly by as I sped down the sidewalk.
People cursed and spat their little hissy fits as I went by them. I don’t care for those people, always so annoyed at the world. Anyways, I cut into an alley and hopped off my board. It got too thin for me to be able to use my board here but it was an effective cut in half the time it took to get to class. I stepped over a bag or two of trash, watching the rats scurry away.
“Man, if this isn’t the most anime opening kinda day, then I don’t know what is. I hope my life like doesn't change. Or I get turned into a magical girl. That sounds terrible.” I grumble as I walk towards the end. “Gimmie everything you got kid.” I heard a rough voice say behind me as they pressed a knife to my throat. The voice was so obviously fake it was offensive.
“No, I don't think I’ll be doing that.” I said calmly, glancing behind me. He looked pretty skinny, probably a newbie who thinks a knife will hide his weaknesses. He obviously hasn’t been in the field for long. He holds his knife in the wrong grip, any good thief would know that grip has a severe risk of self injury if it hits a wall or any bone. I’d guess he’s a teen trying to get by so I’ll go easy on him. “Now then, you’re going to put down the knife and walk away or this will go very badly for you.” I said calmly. He tensed behind me, clearly shocked by my calmness in the face of his weapon.
“Why-why aren’t you scared huh?! You think you're tough girly?!” His voice cracked on the first “why” before he returned to his fake tone. His words were so obviously laced with insecurity it was almost funny.
“Dude, this is New York. I know when someone jumping me is an actual threat and when it’s some kid playing pretend. Last chance man.” He didn’t notice the shadows beginning to stretch and take form at my feet, too focused on my face.
“Why you-” I rolled my eyes and elbowed him in the face, forming a shadow bat in my hands to scare him off. Now that I could turn and see him, it was obvious I was right. He looked around 16, young and far too thin to be healthy.
“I said, scram.”
“Wha-what the hell are you, you freak!?” He shouted, scrambling back.
“I’m Gale, your doom.” He stumbled to his feet and ran off. I watched him run with a smirk. I always love using that line; it might be cringe but it works to scare them off.
“Well, that’s one way to handle people like that.” I heard a voice say from behind me. I turned, expecting to find another idiot trying to rob me -I hope they know I’d be looking for money too. I'm broke as hell- but I was met with the sight of some tall, buff, blonde dude.
“And who are you?” I questioned casually, masking my observation with casual conversation.
“Steve Rogers kid. I’d presume you’re Gale from that threat at the end?” the man -now identified as this Steve guy- said with a smile.
“You sound like you’ve been standing there for a moment Steve.” I remarked with a glare.
He awkwardly chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I was passing by and saw that kid trying to rob you and tried helping but you looked like you had it under control.”
“Hm.” I don’t buy it very much, luckily I’m good at pretending to believe adults when they lie to me.
“How’d you do that anyways?” He asked.
“What?”
“That….” He gestured in a weird wavy motion before continuing, “when you got that bat from out of nowhere! I mean, it hardly looked real!” He exclaimed.
I chuckled awkwardly. he’s built like a damn train, can’t scare him off either. If worst comes to worse, I might have to teleport out of here. “You uh… you saw that huh?”
“Kinda hard not to kid.” He said with a kind smile.
“Family secret.” I checked my watch and cursed under my breath. “Alrighty, listen man, I need to go to school so get out of my way. I’ll explain it if we run into each other on a day where I’m not running late for school!”
He stepped to the side as I ran past him, throwing my board back on the ground as I sped to school. Some weird guy, trying too hard to be a hero let me tell you. I hate idiots who jump into fights without needing to. People need to learn to mind their own business.
I finally got to school just as the bell rang. Damn it, that moron made me late! Grandpa is never gonna let this go. I hid my board inside a bush and hurried in with the last few late kids. I tried sneaking into my class, but inevitably was caught just as I reached my desk.
“Gale Patrova.”
I froze where I was standing at her words, turning with an awkward smile. “Mrs. Jane! Good morning ma’am. Have I ever told you, your hair is exquisite!” I said with a charming smile.
“Oh no you don’t Gale! This is your third time late this week alone! No way to wriggle your way out of this one. You’ll be at lunch detention with Ms. Grand.” She said with a scowl.
“Ms. Who?” I questioned with a confused glance around the class.
“Wha- Ms. Grand?! The lunch detention teacher?!”
“Madam grouch.” the girl beside me clarified.
“Oh. WAIT NO! Come on Mrs. Jane! I promise I’ll get here on time next time! Just one more chance!” I pleaded. I don’t beg, that’s below me.
“No Gale, I’ve been far too lenient with you about this.” She began to fill out the slip for detention. I felt my heart pounding in my chest as I watched her. Oh no, this is so bad.
I sat at my desk as she walked over to hand me my detention with a defeated glare. The other kids at my table chuckled at my misfortune, I’m sure they’d love it if I laughed at their misery!
I half--payed attention to the lesson as she ranted on and on about geometry. I truly do hate me. I’m not even that good at it! They’ve threatened to send me back to algebra because I’m just that bad at it! Whatever, it’s probably because I never pay attention, it’s just so bland to hear about angles and the circumference of a stupid circle. I don’t care for pi unless I’m eating it.
“Wouldn’t you agree Gale?” All eyes turned to stare at me when she spoke. I jolted to attention as she raised an eyebrow.
“Uhm… no?” I said with a smile.
“Oh? Why don’t you explain why Gale?”
“It’s not the vibe.” I concur confidently. The class giggled at my words as Mrs. Jane rubbed her temples. She sighed and went back to teaching the class.
At the end of class I stood amongst the other kids to head out, but Mrs. Jane stopped me before I could scurry to the safety of my next class. “Gale, stay for a moment please?”
I set my bag back on my seat and stepped closer to her desk. “Yes ma’am?”
“Gale, we need to talk about your performance in my class.” She said, her voice hushed so the kids waiting outside the door couldn’t hear the conversation.
“How so?” I questioned innocently. If I played stupid enough she would leave me alone.
“Gale, I know you’re smart. I’ve seen how you act in fights, you’re able to tell your opponents weaknesses in seconds. You know how to disarm them without ever putting yourself at risk. You are the smartest fighter I’ve ever met, so why can’t you transfer that to your classwork?” She said calmly. I was taken aback, I’d never really paid attention to how I fought. It didn’t seem odd to me, I’d always just been able to do that.
“Because it’s boring. Simple as that.” I replied with a smirk. She was silent for a good moment, I was half convinced that she was frozen in shock from my words.
“Gale… That’s… God I don’t even know what to say to that! I’ll… I’ll deal with you later. I need to let my next period in.” She said weakly. I nodded and stepped out the door as she handed me a note for my reading teacher.
At the end of the day I had to stay late to get help on some of my math homework. Since I didn’t pay attention I had absolutely no clue what the hell to do. Luckily I’m friends with some crazy smart kids. I stretched a bit as I walked out of school, it was around five in the afternoon so grandpa’ll be home when I get back. That’s gonna be awkward to explain.
I leaned over to tie my shoes when I got the feeling that someone -a dangerous someone- was watching me. I glanced around to see where they were. For a moment I couldn’t see anyone, but in the corner of my eye I suddenly saw a blur of metal. I whirled towards the roof where I saw the movement and met eyes with… someone. They were well hidden behind the ledge of a roof, but I managed to spot medium, dark hair -so likely a girl-, something metal on their arm, and all black clothing. I couldn’t make out their face since it looked like they had a mask on, but I knew better than to stick around for the details. I focused on home and teleported back. I wasn’t supposed to teleport unless it’s an emergency since it takes up a lot of energy -especially multiple people or far away areas- but I figured this counted as an emergency. I stumbled a bit, along with being a bit woozy when I returned home, but overall I was perfectly fine.
That was probably just some weirdo trying to kidnap kids or something. It was probably a one time thing. I’m sure nothing can come from it.
I kicked off my shoes next to the door, feeling the familiar cold wood against my bare feet. I walked into the kitchen to grab a snack and head back up to my room. I had a shit load of homework, including a stupid self reflection from math. I just had to knock it out tonight so I could go see that new store soon. It might take till later tomorrow to finish it so I might have to wait until Sunday to go in and look. I sighed and grabbed my bag and stared down at the disorganized papers strewn about. That… was way too much. I then decided, I’ll do it tommorrow. Or maybe Sunday, or sometime soon. I’ll figure it out.
I always figure things out in the end.