Chapter Text
She could hear him walking towards her. She should be afraid she knew that but this had become routine every time she didn't please one of the brothers the way they were accustomed. She just couldn't make herself fear him or what he was going to do to her. She had been put through almost every punishment about fifteen times since being forced into this servitude at a young age. When his footsteps stopped right behind her she tilted her head back to stare up at him with blind eyes, mildly curious as to whether she was going to be whipped, beaten, canned, drugged, whored out, drugged and whored out, or put into solitude. Lowering my head I waited for him to speak, she kept silent lest he make her punishment worse than what it was already going to be.
Staring straight ahead she could see the souls of the other girls in the next room. She watched as the emotions in their souls swirled and pulsed, she'd become familiar with which swirling color meant what emotion. She also knew to whom each soul belonged to which girl. Every soul has a different signature and she knew that if she turned around Master Ray's soul would be swirling with rage, disappointment, excitement, lust, and anticipation. Master Ray liked giving out punishment; he had a real hard-on for it. After every punishment he'd either make the girls fuck him or suck him off. Well he did with her at least he truly is a horrible person.
She jumped slightly when she felt a too warm hand come to rest on her shoulder, and slowly turned her body so she was kneeling in front of Master Ray. Still not looking at him she waited for him to tell her what her punishment would be. When he continued to be quiet she sneaked a look up at his soul. She let a small gasp escape when she caught sight of what emotions where the most dominate. Sorrow, slight anger, and tenderness. After the sound let her mouth Master Ray crouched down in front of her and tucked her unruly brown curls behind her ear and let his fingers caress down her jaw line cupping her chin in his palm he pulled her head up so that she was looking him in what she assumed where his eyes.
"I've always loved your eyes. Did you know that? They were this vibrant purple before they were clouded over with such a creamy white color." Letting out a sigh Master Ray leaned his forehead against hers before he continued talking. "I don't know why they brought you so young, maybe they were hoping that when you got older you'd be more submissive or something. Whatever the reason I'm glad they brought you I was able to meet the most lovely creature to ever grace this otherwise barren world." He jerked back with a sudden gasp, his grip tightening on her chin.
" The Brothers have had enough of you disobeying them. They want me to kill you. I tried to object but since they brought you in as their personal consort you know too much. They can't risk letting you go and you telling anyone." Standing up Master Ray started to pace thinking out loud. With every word Master Ray said the girl on the floor started to panic. She couldn't even try to think of a way to save herself. She was pulled out of her nearing panic attack by Master Ray grabbing her wrist and walking briskly towards the door. She was confused and suddenly scared that he was going to actually kill her. She must have made a noise because Master Ray turned to look at her before turning back around and explaining. "I'm not going to let them kill you Asha. I'm going to fake your death and you can live with me and be MY personal consort." At the thought Master Ray grinned running a hungry gaze over his soon to be consort.
Pulling her down the hall Master Ray was almost dragging her towards the exit. Once outside Master Ray opened the passenger door and shoved her into the seat before slamming the door he started heading for the driver’s side when the door opened and one of the Brothers guards stepped out. The girl could tell since the moment that she first saw this particular guard that there was something off about him. She couldn't get his name from his soul, souls have a tendency to give up easy information to her without the person realizing what was going on. This soul on the other hand wouldn't give anything up and she didn't know how to feel about that.
She was pulled from her musings by Master Ray slamming the guard into the passenger door. When she looked at the guard’s soul it was swirling with pain, and a calmness that came with years of having to cover what the person was feeling. Slipping out of Master Rays hold the guard slammed him into the door breaking the glass and earning a squeal from the girl in the seat. The guard reached into his pocket and brought out some kind of device and held it to Master Ray’s neck; it made a whirring noise before Master Ray fell to the ground unconscious.
The girl looked up at the guard who had pulled out yet another device and was speaking in hushed tones; he paused for a brief moment before hanging up the phone and turning back towards her. "Ms. Chetan I'm sorry it took me so long to reach you. I am Agent Phil Couslon and I am here to take you somewhere safe. Where the Brothers won't be able to get to you." Opening the door Mr. Coulson held out his hand giving her the chance to come willingly.
The girl watched his soul for any signs of deceit, but she found none and a sense of relief fell over her as she slid her hand into his. Instead of pulling her to her feet he reached in and lifted her off the seat and carried her bridal style towards a waiting vehicle. The girl stiffened when his hands touched her bare skin, then shivered when a cold wind swept over her denim shorts and bra top. Reminding her just who she was, seeing her shiver Mr. Coulson placed her down briefly then shrugged out of his leather jacket and placed it on her shoulders. Nodding at him she slid her arms in and let out a gasp as Mr. Coulson picked her up again and continued towards the car. Once in the car the girl buckled in and waited for Mr. Coulson. Not bothering to buckle up, Mr. Coulson sped away from that god awful building toward an unknown future, knowing she was safe even for a little while the girl fell asleep to the sound of rushing wind. Hoping when she woke up that she wouldn't wake up back in that place.
*****
Asha awoke to the sound of people talking on the other side of a door. She sat up and did not bother to look around the room since all she'd see would be light blue lines where solid objects would be. Instead she focused her gaze on the space where the door would be to see Mr. Couslon talking to a female. Asha waited only a moment before an assortment of pictures and words assaulted her vision. Maria Hill the soul whispered after the vision dissipated. Asha didn't really like seeing other people's pasts without their permission, and some had terrible pasts so she tried to block most of it out. She opened her eyes, not remembering when she closed them only to come face to face with the man that saved her life and Ms. Hill. Everyone was quiet probably waiting to see if I had noticed that I had company in the room with me.
"I may be blind Mr. Coulson Ms. Hill but that doesn't mean I cannot see." Asha said when the silence became annoying. Asha watched as Ms. Hill's soul registered shock and then caution. While Mr. Coulson's soul tried not to show anything but she could see a hint of surprise and was that humor?
"Good Afternoon Ms. Chetan-" Mr. Coulson started but was interrupted by the girl saying.
"Asha. Please call me by my first name." Mr. Coulson thought about it for a moment before replying.
"Alright Asha as I was saying we've received word that the Brothers are looking for you. With your safety as priority number one we will assign you to a team. This team will protect you from any threat that comes for you. We only ask that you stay either with the team or within the building where you will be able to find someone immediately if you need help. Our organization would also ask you if you would contribute to the team. Such as help them on missions when you are needed." Asha tilted her head and considered both of their souls quite thoroughly before nodding her head in her consent.
"If you'll follow us then Asha we will escort you to where you will be staying for the foreseeable future." Ms. Hill said heading for the door getting out of bed Asha paused when Mr. Coulson handed her a pair of, according to the blue lines, sandals.
"Thank you Mr. Coulson." She said slipping them onto her feet quickly and standing up and walking towards where Ms. Hill was waiting very impatiently, but she paused when Mr. Coulson called out behind her.
"You can call me Phil, Asha." Looking up at him she gave him a small smile before continuing down the hall. Once they were outside Asha realized that she still had on the clothes from yesterday including Phil's jacket, being close to October in New York she was grateful he hadn't asked for it back.
Once she was in the backseat she slid into the middle so she'd be able to see out the windshield at the buildings and people in vehicles and on the sidewalk. About fifteen minutes of driving a building came into her sight and she let out a gasp, leaning forward she pointed towards a building that rose higher into the sky than the others.
"Is that the building we are going to? The one with the giant A on the side?" Asha asked with excitement making her voice scratchy.
All she got was a nod in response as the two agents kept a watchful eye on the vehicles and people around them. After another five minutes of driving they finally pulled up to the front of the building Ms. Hill opened the back door and Asha nearly tripped in her excitement to get to the building. Halfway there she turned and waited for the two agents to catch up.
"Asha do you know what this building is? Who resides in it?" Phil asked, shaking her head Asha waited for Ms. Hill to open the door. Before entering she looked at Phil and whispered.
"No, but this is the only building I've seen with a soul." Stepping into the building made a shiver travel down Asha's spine.
She felt safe, she didn't feel alone anymore but she was immensely curious about how this building came to have a soul. Walking next to Phil they waited a moment before what Asha assumed was an elevator touched down on their floor. Once in the elevator Phil pressed a button and the three of them were shot off to whatever floor. With a ding the three of them exited the elevator and walked down the hallway the two agents paused in front of a door. Voices could be heard on the other side it sounded like an argument was about to break out.
Without knocking the two agents entered the room and it quieted down a bit but the voices were still too loud and coupled with the images and words that the souls were throwing at her she couldn't take it. Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov, Thor Odinson, Bruce Banner, and Nicholas Fury. The souls were at different volumes and Asha had to take a step back placing her hand on the wall a single word cut through all the noise and a calm settled over her, Jarvis the soul whispered smiling slightly she ran her hand along the wall and whispered a broken hello to the building.
"Who is that?!" A sudden voice jerked her back to the present.
Asha realized that the two agents had moved so that she was in view of all occupants in the room. Opening her eyes she looked at first the two agents she had come with then her gaze moved over to the director of SHIELD to finally rest on the six Avengers sitting stock still staring at the newcomer.
"Jay! Find everything you can on this girl." Mr. Stark demanded of his building.
Tilting her head she focused on Mr. Stark watching in rapt fascination as all the different emotions too many for her to decipher at the moment swirled together creating a beautiful dance of sorts.
"Mr. Stark if you want to know something about me all you have to do is ask." Asha watched in slight amusement as shock and anger and intrigue settled into everyone's spirits.
"If you're blind how can you tell any of us apart?" Mr. Rogers asked. Turning her unseeing eyes towards Mr. Rogers, Asha told him almost exactly what she told the two agents she showed up with.
"I may be blind Mr. Rogers but that doesn't mean I cannot see. I just see something else instead of skin and bone structure." She paused for a dramatic effect. "I can see the souls."
That gave everyone including Ms. Hill pause to contemplate the meaning of the statement. Phil stepped forward and was preparing to say something when Asha interrupted him.
"Mr. Stark I must say that I am impressed this is the only building I have ever come across that has a soul. Jarvis is such a lovely soul too. Do you put souls in all of your machines?" Asha questioned pausing briefly to take a breath before continuing.
"I assume Dumm-e, You and Butterfinger have souls, but what about your Iron Man suits? All of those can't have souls could they?" Asha trailed off thinking about what this could mean if machines can have souls she almost missed Mr. Stark's muttered question.
"How do you know about them?" His most prominent emotion at the moment was panic. The only thing Asha expected was Mr. Stark lashing out and punishing her. The others watched as she drew into herself before she replied to Mr. Stark.
"I am sorry Mr. Stark, I didn't mean to cause you to have a panic attack I was only curious as to how you managed it. Almost every time I meet new souls they release a small portion of information such as their: name, important people, or machines, and their emotional state. I can't control this, the souls freely give up this information. Anything else I have to learn it from the person the soul is entwined with. It happens with everyone I meet unless I actively hold a barrier up or I'd be overwhelmed. Phil is the only person whose soul hasn't told me anything about him." She glanced towards Phil and tilted her head before shaking it and focusing on the team before her.
"Is there any way you could force the soul to tell you more than what it freely gives?" Ms. Romanov asked.
Always the spy huh Ms. Romanov? Asha thought with a small frown as she thought about the last time she had to do that. She pulled out a chair and sat heavily against the seat and leaned her head back and angled to the side so she could hold Ms. Romanov's eyes with her own.
"Yes, Ms. Romanov there is a way for me to force the information out of the soul, but it is never to be used, not even if someone’s life is on the line. When I force answers from a soul it feels like I am skinning them alive, slowly pulling the skin from the muscle. Then I drive a minuscule ice pick through every part of their body only then to force a current of thunder through them. They don't black out there is no escape from all the pain, then only after I have all of my answers do I release your soul. It doesn't go back into the body. No, the soul leaves goes to either heaven, hell, purgatory, or whatever that person believes in." During the entire description Asha didn't take her gaze from Ms. Romanov.
"So you've done it before?" This time it was Dr. Banner looked concerned more than anything.
"Yes Dr. Banner I have. Exactly two times and I do not intend on making a repeat performance." Phil interrupted before this conversation could continue any further.
"Well on that note team Asha will be joining you for the foreseeable future. If you all still want her on the team and she wants to be here then she will be made a permanent member of the team. Until then she needs to be shown to her room and she needs food before she goes to bed." Receiving nods from the team, Director Fury dismissed the meeting
Mr. Rogers showed Asha to her room. Giving a small smile and a mumbled thank you. Asha slid to the floor and brought her knees up and rested her head against her forearms.
This is already turning into a mess. I've never been with anyone but the Brothers, and the first place I go is to a broken family. This isn’t going to turn out good I can already tell. Asha fell asleep leaning against the wall with dreams of a broken family mending.