the new recruit to the avengers team was decidedly not trustworthy.

from the moment he had entered the tower, onyx eyes sweeping across the room, donned in tactical gear so dark it matched his inky black hair, there had been something off about him. perhaps it was the way he fought as though he was forged of shadows and pain. perhaps it was the feeling of some basic, primal fear whenever his attention turned to others.

either way, you had to find out the truth.

finding cain’s files on tony’s computer had been shockingly easy. it was as though tony hadn’t had the chance to lock and bury them yet. or maybe he had wanted others to read his file.

the scraps of newspaper articles, transcripts of interrogations, and information about what, exactly, cain could do were… horrific.

cain kuskyn; a.k.a the wraith

there were reports in russia about a wraith that could slip in and out of shadows, leaving bodies in its wake.

there were snippets of transcripts from interrogations, including people clawing their own eyes out to try and stop the illusions of their nightmares and fears he had conjured. some read about people’s blood boiling inside of them, or people tearing at their skin because they claimed their blood no longer felt like it was theirs. it felt foreign.

he didn’t work for anyone specific. which almost made it worse. what the fuck is he??

you jumped when someone cleared a throat behind you, and shit, there he was. standing in the doorway cain lurked, onyx eyes sweeping across the files on the screen, his expression entirely unreadable.

he drew a half step into the room.