A/N: Why hello everyone who chose to open this story, and welcome back to all those who are returning to this story. I started this story two years ago and I kind of forgot about it. To be fair I went into the Peace Corps, got sick, left, and had to readjust and recover. Now I am coming back to it. I have changed a few things so re-reading is a good idea.
I only own my OCs and plot. There are some heavy subjects in this story, but I aim to add humor as well. For some reason it is hard for me to write lighthearted/ fluffy stuff even though I read it all the time.
This story is set in an AU MCU. Essentially, after the first Avenger movie everyone stayed in the Stark Tower and just carried on life from there. Iron Man 3 never happened, same with Thor 2 and the 2nd Captain America movie.
One more thing you should know is that the main character, Kat, is half-Latina and she does speak Spanish. I will have the definition of any words in Spanish in parentheses after the Spanish word(s). I do speak Spanish (South American Spanish) but if I mess anything up or if I write something that is offensive to Latino culture please let me know.
Oh and character thoughts are italicized.
With all that said, I hope you all enjoy.
Chapter 1: Introductions
Crouched behind a broken wooden fence, the red haired woman, dressed in a black leather jumpsuit, touched a hand to her ear, "SHIELD Command, this is Black Widow."
A calm male voice responded, "Come in Black Widow."
"Command, we have target in sight."
"Copy Black Widow. Mission is a go. "
"Roger Command. Black Widow out." Nodding to the shadow on her left, she began to move forward, ducking through a gap in the fence and darting across an empty lawn.
"I can see you, just so you know," a soft feminine voice called out in the silence, causing both agents to freeze.
*** Previously***
Staring into the mirror, Kat's eyes only held disdain for what she saw. It wasn't because she felt she was ugly. She knew she was attractive enough; although, the knowledge gave her no pleasure. Rather, her disdain was because of who she looked like. She looked like her mother: same dark brown wavy hair, same tall and curvy body type, and same heart shaped facial structure with high cheek bones. The only differences she could find between them were her skin - which was a shade lighter from her dark- tanned Latin mother, an obvious effect of her white father - and her eyes.
Her eyes did not come from her family. They were her own and therefore her favorite thing about herself. Large and almost almond shaped, her dark green eyes with gold flecks seemed almost black at times. At the age of seventeen her eyes reflected a world of suffering and exhaustion. Her reflection had her questioning how much longer she could deal with all this. Looking in the mirror she took a moment to adjust her too-large plain blue shirt that hung off one shoulder and her holey jeans.
Sighing, she tore herself away from the hallway mirror and headed outside. She paused for a second at the door, making sure everything was quiet. Her little sister should be asleep, same with that monster of a father. As much as she hated her mother she hated her father more. There were no sounds save hers; Kat let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Reassured, she opened the creaky backdoor and went onto the porch. Their small two story farm house was falling apart – the doors creaked, the hot water never worked, the upstairs railing was wobbly, the windows all needed to be resealed, the roof in her bedroom leaked, and the backyard fence was broken – but at least the back porch swing still worked.
After turning the porch light off, she settled onto the swing, and began to rock back and forth, staring at the stars. The cold air and silence helped her to let go of some of her anger and just breathe.
Es extraño (it's strange), she thought to herself while stopping her swinging in an attempt to listen better. Nada, nothing is making sound. Her eyes scanning her yard she caught a flash of movement. So they came after all. Kat let out another sigh, better now than later. Having previously decided on the best option she gently called out, her soft voice permeating the air, "I can see you, just so you know."
For a moment there was no movement. Then, she saw two figures, a few paces apart from each other, slowly stand in the yard. From the moonlight she would make out that one was a woman, average height and thin but curvy, and the other a man, whose shape reminded her of a Dorito, but there was something circular in one of his hands. The woman spread out her hand and arms – Kat assumed she did it to show she was unarmed – before walking forwards.
"We are not here to hurt you," the woman called out with a soft voice that invited Kat to trust her.
"No? Pero (but) you come sneaking in the middle of the night," she calmly countered before questioning, "What do you want?" By this time both the man and woman were only a few yards away. She recognized them immediately, their pictures having been blasted on the TV for the past year.
"We need you to come with us Ma'am," the man, who she knew to be Captain America, answered.
He looks shorter than he does on the news, Kat decided. Of course, that could be his dark clothing choice. "Why?"
"I think you know why," the woman, whose name Kat couldn't recall, countered.
Kat sighed, and prayed that this would end well. "…possibly…I will go, but only if my little sister can come with me."
There was a pause as both superheros clearly did not expect that answer. Both the agents looked at each other. She saw the woman's hands slowly come down to her sides. "Wouldn't it be better, if she stayed at home?" Captain America tried to reason with Kat.
"No," Kat replied, "I am all she has." Kat turned her attention back to the woman, seeing her reach for something on her leg, "And if you are thinking about stunning me, know that it won't work. You may knock me unconscious, but I will kill myself the moment I awake." Her decision was absolute. The only reason she had stayed in that hell hole so long was for her hermanita (little sister). She would not leave her. She didn't mean to sound dramatic, but there would be no compromise on this area.
*** On the Quinjet ***
How did it get to this? Steve wondered to himself as he sat in the cockpit of the quinjet. Looking over his shoulder, he made sure both girls were buckled and seated before giving Nat the signal to start the take off. The young child was fast asleep, while the older girl watched over her.
When the girl, their target, threatened to kill herself, Steve was stunned. It wasn't just what she said, but the conviction behind her words - her promise. Clearly something more was going on. After a look he exchanged with Natasha, they told the girl to grab her sister and come outside, trusting her not to run. Surprisingly enough, it only took ten minutes for the girl to come back down with a young child, possibly three or four years old, in her arms and a duffle bag over her shoulder. Both were compliant from there on out.
They had been in the air for a few moments before Steve started to speak, "Nat…"
"I know."
That was all that needed to be said. Nat altered the co-ordinates, while Steve made the call, "Stark, gather the team together, we have two new arrivals."
*** Moments Prior***
"'Nina …. Nina… time to wake up" Kat gently called to her sleeping sister, shaking her awake. " Despierta!(Wake up)" she commanded after finding a quiet method was not working.
"Wwhhhhaaattt?" Nina groaned.
"We have to go," Kat told her as she reached under Nina's bed to grab the duffle bag Kat had hidden under there a week ago. Seeing her sister's actions, the three year old stopped complaining and got out of bed. With Kat's help she was dressed, in a jean jumper (overalls) and pink shirt, within a few moments. Seeing her sister wobbling with sleep, Kat carried her downstairs and out to the superheroes. She didn't look back at the house as she walked away, but instead prayed Por Favor Dios, nunca podremos volver. (Please God we can never go back).
Within a few moments of leaving the house, they walked to a weird plane/jet. Kat was determined to keep a straight face throughout the trip, but internally panicked at flying on such a strange contraption. She could say how much time passed before the woman called out, "We're here."
Taking a deep breath, Kat collected her bag and her sister, who was deep asleep, before following the woman and Captain America, off the plane. The small hanger in which they landed gave her no clue as to where they were, and the door they walked through only served to confuse her. She assumed they would take her to a military base, and while the floor was tiled and the walls steel, it did not have a military feel. Still, with the red haired woman leading and Captain America behind her she felt the walls closing in.
After passing a few doors they walked into an elevator, which took them to an obviously expensive living room/kitchen of sorts. There were low leather sofa seats atop a nice rug to her left and a kitchenette paired with a metal table to her right. Standing in the middle were a few people she never thought she would meet: Iron Man, the Bow Guy, and the Hammer/Cape Guy. Besides the recognizable characters there was also a strawberry blonde haired woman and a curly haired nervous looking man.
Upon seeing the others Kat halted. From of the corner of her eye she noticed the Captain's hand coming up to touch her shoulder. Out of habit she flinched away. Cómo embarazoso (How embarrassing).
He quickly dropped his hand. "We won't hurt you," he softly assured her.
"Yeah, we're the good guys," Iron Man verbosely told her, his loud voice causing her shoulders to tense.
"Young maiden," the Cape Man started, "you have nothing to fear. We are honorable." From there Kat listened as he introduced the others. Kat had to admit it was nice knowing her kidnapper's names, but it was hard to listen as her sister grew heavier in her arms by the moment.
"Here," Pepper, the previously unrecognized strawberry blond woman, began walking towards Kat with her arms open, "let me take her for you."
While Kat couldn't sense any mal-intentions from the woman she still backed away from her. Her movements caused Pepper to stop. " No toques (Don't touch)," Kat fiercely told the woman, reverting to Spanish, the language her family use to speak at home when she was younger.
"Aw hell, don't tell me she didn't understand a word of what we just said!" Stark whined.
The lack of sleep and frustration caught up to Kat, evident as she glared at him, "I speak English you dipshit. It's called being bilingual."
That shut him up and everyone else for that matter. After a second the archer – Barton – started to laugh. Looking around her she saw the others react the same, even Stark smirked.
"Hell, I like you kid. Not many people can shut him up," Barton told her, causing her to give a small smile. Feeling more at ease she met Pepper's eyes.
Kat took a deep breath and slowly let it out, "I'm sorry I snapped at you…but…no one touches my sister besides me."
"I understand, I only offered because you looked tired."
"We are all tired," Rogers spoke up, "let's get some rest and then we'll talk in the morning. Pepper, could you show them to a room please."
Kat looked at him in surprise, "A room? I'm not going to be locked up in a lab or cell somewhere?"
His eyes seemed to soften, "No… get some rest."
Stunned Kat followed Pepper to another bedroom. That was too easy, she thought following Pepper to a room.
Steve and the others waited till Pepper returned before they began to talk.
"Sorry, that took a bit. I was helping Kat dress Nina for bed." Pepper informed the group upon returning. By this point they were all hanging around the kitchen area. Bruce had coffee in his hands, while Tony and Clint both held drinks.
"How did you learn their names?" Barton questioned
"It was horribly complicated. I asked," Pepper responded. Then after a moment added, "Where did you find them?"
"The older girl was our target, an extraction mission," Nat replied.
"Why would SHIELD want her?" Bruce probed.
Both Steve and Natasha shook their head. "We don't know. " Steve continued, "We were only told she was a potential target to be treated with caution."
"That girl?" Tony sounded in disbelief.
"She…she threatened to kill herself if we didn't let her bring her sister along," Steve somberly reported to the team.
"Something else is going on here," Clint added into the conversation.
"Did anyone else notice the bruises?" Pepper quietly inquired.
"Bruises?" Bruce and Tony both echoed. The others nodded their heads.
"The older girl had them on her collarbone and wrists." Clint told Bruce and Tony.
"Abuse," was all Nat said.
"Possibly," Pepper agreed and continued "We can't give them to Fury."
"And we won't," Steve promised. "Stark – " he began.
" – I got it," Stark interrupted, " I will do some digging."
"Thanks, but for now let's get some rest."
A mix of "you got it," "sure," "OK Cap," and "who needs sleep," answered him.
Unannounced to all of them, the eyes that had warily watched them through outside of the open door seemed to relax at their decision before slipping back into the darkness. Only JARVIS noted the anomaly. His sensors detected something was there, but there was no video evidence. The AI decided to do a full sensors check just to be safe.
A/N: Review please.