Chapter One
Her legs burn but she never falters in her sprint.
She hears footsteps behind her but it only spurs her to push on even faster. And fortunately, a turn into an alley comes into view and it is like an oasis in a desert. Her senses kick in and the familiarity of the alleyway gives her the extra edge to disappear from view because unlike the men in suits chasing her, she has an advantage. She is special.
The girl watches as the men appear beneath her and could not help the quick upturn of her lips at their confused state. The men were panting very heavily and they spared no mercy on anything that stood in their way in the dead end of the alley, eliminating everything in their path with their guns, thinking that it will draw her out.
When they hear no sign of life, the men cursed under their breath as they are struck with a sense of déjà vu. She had evaded them once again.
"We lost her, sir," said the leader of the four men in suits into the communication mic he had on, obviously displeased.
She can't hear what the person on the other line is exactly saying but she can tell by the loud echo of the voice that the person was furious. She smirks before her gaze switches to the device she is holding in her hands now, pleased with her successful raid. Suckers, she thought to herself before standing up on the rooftop of the building and jumping off the opposite edge, not waiting to see the next move of the men.
All the girl can think about is the fact that she is better armed now. She can protect them, and that is all she cares about.
Steve is out for his usual morning run at 5.30 am in Central Park when he stumbles across a situation. At first, nothing seems amiss. But then as he is jogging along his normal route, his eyes spot two children from his peripheral vision. He paused midway to assess the situation and his eyes scanned the vast surroundings for any signs of the children's parents.
When he was faced with nothing but greenery and animals, Steve was greatly alarmed. However, he walked slowly towards the two children so as not to scare them. One was a boy while the other was a girl and from the looks of it, they seemed to be no more than 10 years old – and even so, they were tiny for their age.
He squatted down to their level to ease their sense of comfort before he spoke, "Hello, I'm Steve. May I ask what your names are?"
The girl had light blonde hair and brown eyes whilst the boy had black hair and blue eyes. They showed no fear when the giant man approached them but only watched him with wise wary eyes beyond their years. It was a lapsed moment of silence before the girl spoke first, her childlike voice melodic. "Hello, Steve. I am Nazli and this is my brother Malik. Can we help you?"
Steve watched the boy – Malik, clutch his sister's hand tightly, giving her a look to which she returned one of her own. They are obviously very close to each other and it seems like they are having a silent conversation, puzzling Steve even more.
"Hello Nazli, Malik," greeted Steve in the calmest and warmest voice he could muster. "Where are your parents? Are they around somewhere?"
Malik turns and glares daggers at Steve, surprising him. Nazli is the voice of reason and she merely squeezes her brother's hand tightly before speaking on behalf of the two of them with a sense of maturity beyond her age. "You do not have to worry, Steve. We are neither lost nor abandoned. Rather, we are waiting for someone."
Her accent is different, and so are their names. German, perhaps? He is unsure.
Concerned, Steve persists, "Who are you waiting for, little one?"
Nazli is about to reply when Steve catches wind of a voice and a figure approaching in the distance. He turns in that direction and squints his eyes. Steve realises that it is a girl who is approaching and as soon as she is near enough, he is taken aback by her attractiveness.
The first thing he notices about her is her flaming red hair which curls to the middle of her back and the black iris of her eyes which is a stark contrast to her pale skin. Protectiveness swells within him, and Steve stands up to shelter the two children just in case the alluring girl is a threat.
"Nazli, Malik!" she calls out.
A sigh of relief escapes Steve's lips when he realises that the two children do in fact know her as they run towards the girl immediately, embracing her at her sides. Because of their small statures, a small smile curls at the corners of his lips as he thinks of how adorable the two children look hugging the girl by her legs. She is at least a head shorter than him but next to the children, she is a giant.
"Ma'am," addressed Steve as he walks in front of the girl with a kind smile.
Finally noticing Steve's presence, she turns to look at him before lifting an eyebrow.
"And who might this be?" she asks Nazli and Malik. Unlike the children, her accent is distinctly American.
"That's Steve. He thought we were lost and tried to help us when you came," answered Nazli with a gesture towards Steve.
Steve steps up front and reaches his hand forward, allowing the girl to take it. Shaking firmly, he introduces himself. "Steve Rogers, ma'am."
The girl beams at him widely but Steve notices a hint of caution and perhaps – fear, hidden behind her pleasant smile as well. Despite so, he does not question her.
"Hey, I'm Emma," says the girl – Emma, with a smile and Steve couldn't help but notice the dimples that formed at each side of her cheeks as a result. "Thanks for helping these two out, it was really sweet of you. I hope they haven't caused you any problems though."
"Just doing my job as every citizen should, Ma'am," replies Steve before he shakes his head in response to her second sentence. "Not at all, they've been very pleasant. You've definitely done a wonderful job in raising your children," he says good naturedly.
Nazli beams up at him while Malik's scowl deepens.
"Oh no, they're not my kids. Jeez, do I look that old to you?" joked Emma with in mock anger. Then, she smiles down at them. "The twins are my siblings. And you don't have to lie for Malik. I think it's pretty obvious that he isn't the most pleasant of people. Don't mind him, he isn't usually this way."
"It's alright, they're kids after all," replies Steve, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. He has not had the best experience with girls and this situation was no different. Especially since Emma is a rather beautiful dame.
Emma nods but otherwise, has run of words to say. Instead, she grabs hold of Malik's and Nazli's tiny hands in each of her own and says, "Well, thanks for everything but we should get going. I have to get them fed, otherwise my parents would kill me. It was nice meeting you though."
"Mcdonald's!" cheers Malik happily as his face lit up. It is the most he has said since Steve's arrival and it was about food. Steve was in disbelief but he let out a chuckle nonetheless.
"Sure, it was nice meeting you, Emma," says Steve to Emma before he leans down towards Nazli and Malik. "You too, Nazli, Malik," added Steve as he engulfed Nazli's offered tiny hand in his own in a handshake while Malik only rolls his eyes and pouts at his sister.
"See ya again, Steve!" calls out Nazli chirpily as her form retreats along with Emma and Malik's. Steve grins and waves back, his sentiments exactly.
Unfortunately, he never meets the trio again for the next few weeks whenever he goes on his daily runs. And slowly, thoughts of them are pushed to the back of his mind as missions from S.H.I.E.L.D take prevalence over anything else.
Tony Stark is in his workshop working on modifications to his Ferrari when the alarm sounds. Immediately, he knows who the intruder is as security breach can only ever be caused by a certain annoying organisation.
Sliding out from under his car, he asks Jarvis for live video feed on the security breech and is met with more than he expected. Pacing around in his living room are not only Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton and Fury, but also Steve, Bruce and even Thor.
Now, his interest was piqued. What was so important that all of the avengers were gathered in his living room?
Tony whistles a tune as he calmly makes his way downstairs. Upon entering the room, he does not hold back a sarcastic remark. "Are you guys having a party in my house? And you didn't invite moi?"
Fury rolls his eyes in exasperation. "Cut the crap, Stark. This is serious."
"Excuse me, eye patch? But whose tower are you in? That's right, those big letters outside say Avenger's. Not Nicholas J Fury, not S.H.I.E.L.D," replies Tony childishly.
Natasha sees the steam practically coming out of Fury's ears and steps in before the situation escalates. She knows that the new threat which has emerged has taken its toll on the Director and she can tell that he is a bomb waiting to explode. "Stark, Fury's right. This is serious. It involves the reassembling of the avengers again."
Finally realising the severity of the situation, Tony takes a step back and holds his arms out wide. "Lay it on me," he says with eyebrows high in appraisal.
"It's HYDRA," speaks up Steve.
"Those batshit crazy Nazis? Didn't you get rid of them back in the forties, Capsicle?" asked Tony with incredulous eyes.
"Technically, he did," answers Fury. "But with the fall of one leader, comes the rise of another. As their name suggests, you cut off one head, two more grow back. Their work has been succeeded by other franchise groups over the past few decades but S.H.I.E.L.D has always managed to put a stop to their plans before they even hatched. Or so we thought."
"Franchise groups? What, you mean like terrorist groups who are linked to Hydra but really not under them?"
Fury nods in affirmation.
"What do you mean?" asks Bruce, who has been listening intently the entire time.
Fury takes out a device from his pocket and when he presses a button on it, a holographic projection of a symbol appears. It is of three skulls encased by a flame, similar to the Hydra Logo but distinct all the same.
"This symbol represents the Hydra Flame division – A franchise division of Hydra which specialises in creating mass weapons of destruction. At first, they worked on alien technology. But it has come to our recent attention that their focus has changed."
"Let me guess, humans?" said Tony, dryly.
"It's Hydra, I wouldn't put it past them, sick son of bitches," cursed Clint with his arms folded.
Fury let out a wry smile, "You're partly right, Stark. However, their focus isn't on humans but rather, mutants. Or anyone with supernatural abilities."
He presses another button to change the image projected. This time, the hologram shows a collage of faces. At first, nothing seems out of the ordinary. But then Steve's gaze zooms in on the facial features of the faces.
He is startled but infuriated. They were all children.
His fists clenched and he gritted his teeth.
"For the past decade or so, the Hydra Flame division has been abducting superhuman children worldwide and experimenting on them. Locking them up in secret facilities in god knows where and enhancing their abilities and turning them into live weapons of destruction," explained Fury.
"They're building an army!" exclaimed Thor loudly, horrified.
"S.H.I.E.L.D suspects so," acquiesced Fury as he clicks on the next image, leaning again the sofa. "However, we have no conclusive proof. What we do know for sure is the fact that they are ready to strike at any moment. And we have to take them down before they jeopardize the lives of anymore children."
"Any how do we do that?" asks Tony. "You just said S.H.I.E.L.D doesn't know where their little hideouts are."
"We don't," agrees Fury. Then he reaches into his briefcase to pull out a thick stack of papers. He walks over to each Avenger and hands them a copy of it. "But there have been children who escaped Hydra before. If we find them, we'll know where Hydra is."
"These children ran away for a reason, Nick. What makes you think they'll willingly bring us to where Hydra is if it means going back to those monsters," asks Steve as he thumbs through the stack of papers in his hands. He sees different faces on each page but nothing stands out in particular.
"Because you'll be the ones asking," states Fury simply. "If you all could kindly flip to page 17, this girl is our ticket into Hydra. Sources say she, along with two unknown others, escaped Hydra facilities 4 years ago. If we can get them to help us, they'll be valuable assets to S.H.I.E.L.D."
"What's so special about them?" asks Bruce as he reads the girl's biography.
"What's special about them is the fact that they got out solo style, no back up whatsoever. They must pack one hell of a punch to take down a highly guarded facility. Also, no one has ever managed to get out since them," answers Fury.
They lapse into silence for a moment as only the sound of paper crisping can be heard.
Steve is the last to flip to the page but when he does, his heart stops.
Not called Hawkeye for nothing, Clint is the first to notice Steve's pale face and he asks, "You alright there, Cap?"
"I know her," murmurs Steve as he moves his fingers over the image of their prime target. There was no mistaking those vivid black irises and striking red hair. It was Emma.
Fury's ears perk up and he demands, "What do you mean, Captain? Explain yourself, soldier."
"I met her a few months back," answers Steve, his face ashen. " – when I was out for a run."
"And?"
"I don't think her two companions will be able to help us," murmurs Steve as his mind wanders back to thoughts of the twins – Nazli and Malik. They are most likely not even over 10 years old.
"Why's that?" demands Fury, impatient.
This time, Steve closes his eyes in resignation and murmurs, "Because they're her younger siblings."