p dir="ltr"That morning, Madeline's eyes scanned the homepage of every major celebrity news magazine, and on the front was nearly the same picture of Rachel and Madeline, whether it be from an aerial view or up close and personal. One line in particular captivated her, though - RACHEL AND MADDIE: AMERICA'S NEWEST DYNAMIC DUO? Well, if she and Rachel got along, and Clyde meant what he said about making her have talent, maybe she could be the next Rosemary Clooney - beautiful, smart, and one heck of a singer. Rachel seemed more like the Vera Ellen type - bubbly, charming, pretty, and an incredible dancer. Those two in White Christmas brought memories to Madeline's head, ones where she'd mourn over Steve and Bucky in front of the place where they used to sleep in the summers. She didn't remember Cap, though; she knew Steve. She knew Steve as a sixteen-year-old with light blonde hair and eyes full of wonder. He always liked to draw, but he wanted more, and a military life always drew him in. But Bucky… she was always in love with him. A lot of the time, when they were supposed to be in school, she and Bucky would skip for the day and lay down on grass in the parks. Sometimes, when Bucky scrambled to find a dime, they would either go to the movies or get ice cream. And when Steve found a nickel, he'd tag along too. No matter what, they'd always paid for her. Back then, the men paid for the women, even if they were poor and she was one of the Bennets. Now, instead of crying over the memories, she looked to them with a smile./p
p dir="ltr"But now was certainly not the time for a smile. She was on the cover of every magazine and web page and news of her sudden appearance to save Rachel was fabricated nearly into something she didn't recognize. Speaking of Hollywood's new bombshell, Madeline decided to look Rachel up, and within the millions of options that came up, an essay from the woman herself appeared on a magazine's website. She seemed to live in a world where everything was lightning fast and she just wanted to isolate herself and just relax, something Madeline did every day. What Rachel wanted the world to have, she already had, and because of that, she agreed with every single one of her opinions in a simple and matter-of-fact fashion. Speaking of, her fashion sense was incredible - it was something of a modern Jackie-O, but with some twist Madeline couldn't exactly pin down. Other than that, she found out a little bit more from her Wikipedia page: she was 28 years old, a two-time Academy Award nominee, Golden Globe winner for her role in Secrets as a female con artist, and a frequent Tonight Show guest "known for her witty comebacks, sharp poise, and powerful way in which she delivers her segments." Annie even checked out one of her Nancy Grace-ish sketches from Saturday Night Live, and after laughing so hard she choked on multiple occasions, she jumped to the conclusion that Rachel wasn't all that bad, though some of her boyfriend choices were questionable./p
p dir="ltr"When reading her thirty-eighth article on Rachel, she was interrupted by Paige, her great-niece and one of her adopted daughters - Elizabeth was her other one. She had olive skin, long and dark burgundy-colored hair, and black eyes that you could probably see the earth's core in. Her nose was small but rounded, and she had the perfect oval face. Almost always she adorned it with little makeup, but today she had on berry lipstick which complemented her white shirt and faded jeans. Her accessory was a light brown, 3/4 sleeved sweater, in addition to little gold bangles that danced across the room lit by the lightbulbs of the study. She was also petite, but she made up for it in her personality: she was an ambitious girl with a sense of adventure that could remind you of an eight-year old child sometimes. She cleared her throat to catch her adopted mother's attention, and when she did, her voice sounded like honey glaze drizzled over a Thanksgiving ham./p
p dir="ltr""Hey, Aunt Maddie," she said, "It's dinner time."/p
p dir="ltr""Yeah, I've been busy." Madeline shrugged it off./p
p dir="ltr""Doing what? Looking at your new girlfriend?"/p
p dir="ltr""I... um... Shush, child." Maddie said. She wasn't her girlfriend, but soon accusations would pop up out of nowhere to try and find an excuse to make them together seem like a couple. But Madeline was certainly straight. After all, she was and is technically still married to a man./p
p dir="ltr""Anyways," Paige said in a sing-song tone, "look what I found!" From behind her back, she saw yet another headline from another magazine: emRACHEL: IN LOVE WITH MADDIE?/em/p
p dir="ltr"She groaned. "Why?"/p
p dir="ltr""Because," Paige smirked. "You're the new Samantha Ronson!"/p
p dir="ltr""Who?"/p
p dir="ltr""Samantha Ronson… lesbian that was with Lindsay Lohan…" she scanned her aunt's face. "Wait, you don't know who they are, do you?"/p
p dir="ltr"Madeline sighed. "Sometimes you're so modern it kills me."/p
p dir="ltr""I figured you'd know more after living a hundred years."/p
p dir="ltr"Madeline glared. "I've still got two months, Katherine."/p
p dir="ltr"Paige sighed. She hated it when she was called by her birth name."Whatever. But anyways, what are ya gonna do about these guys?"/p
p dir="ltr""What guys?"/p
p dir="ltr""These people that keep, like, killing people."/p
p dir="ltr"emIf only you knew/em, Madeline thought. "So far it's just one."/p
p dir="ltr""But there's more than one! There's got to be. He's probably got friends that want you dead now."/p
p dir="ltr""Well, I can't do anything about it." Madeline said. "I already broke my contract."/p
p dir="ltr"From out of nowhere, another voice came into their conversation. It was slightly nasal-y, but mature, like a grown woman's. "What do you mean you broke your contract?!"/p
p dir="ltr""Someone kicked ass today!" Paige said cheerfully./p
p dir="ltr"Madeline said louder, looking at the ceiling of the study, "It was only to save someone else! Give me a break."/p
p dir="ltr""I can't do that!" Lily called back. A thud was heard nearby, and Paige jumped. Madeline remained still despite the commotion./p
p dir="ltr""And why not?"/p
p dir="ltr"The window next to Maddie's computer chair opened, and the light of the garage suddenly hit Paige. In came an ethereal woman, tall and slender with bare feet as pale as the moon, and Paige began to calm herself. The woman's layered navy hair settled in the middle of her shoulder blades, and her skin was almost as pale as Loki's himself. But her hazel green eyes were somehow welcoming, and it became second nature to love her once she smiled. Her face was often brighter when she did so, and if you saw it yourself, you'd feel nurtured instantly. But right now, it wasn't exactly nurturing to see her. More than anything in the room, it was fear of what she would say that overwhelmed Paige and Maddie./p
p dir="ltr""Do you realize what's gonna happen to us?" the woman said./p
p dir="ltr""Nope, not really." Paige interjected./p
p dir="ltr""Well, I'll explain it again. You see, if SHIELD knows, which I'm pretty sure they do, they'll find us. And since we broke our agreements, they'll use it to their advantage, and they'll start tracking us again... And you know what that means, right Maddie?"/p
p dir="ltr"Maddie shook her head. "I haven't done this in a while."/p
p dir="ltr""In order to avoid tracking, we'll have to join the Avengers. And I'm sure we don't want that, do we?"/p
p dir="ltr""Well it's too late now." Paige said. "They probably found us already."/p
p dir="ltr""What if we explain that the girl was going to die, and I had no clue what I was getting myself into?" Annabel finally bursted. "Then I can sacrifice myself."/p
p dir="ltr""Nope," both Paige and Lily responded. "All for one, one for all."/p
p dir="ltr""Plus," Lily added, "I get to see Tony Stark. And we all know I want a piece of that Stark."/p
p dir="ltr"Maddie rolled her eyes. "Thanks, guys. But does anyone know if Elizabeth is okay with this?"/p
p dir="ltr"Elizabeth's voice was heard loudly from the floor above them: "I will be if we can eat already!"/p
p dir="ltr"Paige chuckled. "Okay, we'll be up in a sec."/p
p dir="ltr"The three of them came upstairs to meet Elizabeth at the dining room table, but as soon as Maddie sat down at the head of the table, their doorbell rang once, echoing before she was about to pray. It was Elizabeth who got up (after muttering many profanities) to the door behind them. At the door was someone Maddie and Paige would have guessed, but Elizabeth and Lily had no clue about. It was Rachel, dressed in non-1950s clothing with no makeup and her hair in a ponytail. "Is Madeline home?" she asked, trembling rooted in her tone./p
p dir="ltr"Before she could answer, Maddie ran to the door and pushed Elizabeth out of the way, telling her to go eat. "What's wrong?" she asked./p
p dir="ltr""I need your help." she said, handing her a letter with no return address. She kept one letter in the same hand, and in the other was an overnight bag. Behind her, a black Mercedes Benz was parked on the grass."But before I ask... I need to explain something." She took down her cotton hair cover and moved back to where her car was, about a hundred feet away, and from there she split into three clones, and Annabel wasn't sure which one was actually Rachel from her small front porch. One of her moved down the road while the other moved towards the house, and with another flash, the clones morphed back into one and landed on her front porch. She wasn't out of breath, and she wasn't out of her mind, either. Maddie then understood why she had to get over here now. And most importantly, how she got here. The Mad Dogs wanted her there not just because she was a kill./p
p dir="ltr"They wanted her there because she was one of em/emthem./p
p dir="ltr" /p
p dir="ltr"But now was certainly not the time for a smile. She was on the cover of every magazine and web page and news of her sudden appearance to save Rachel was fabricated nearly into something she didn't recognize. Speaking of Hollywood's new bombshell, Madeline decided to look Rachel up, and within the millions of options that came up, an essay from the woman herself appeared on a magazine's website. She seemed to live in a world where everything was lightning fast and she just wanted to isolate herself and just relax, something Madeline did every day. What Rachel wanted the world to have, she already had, and because of that, she agreed with every single one of her opinions in a simple and matter-of-fact fashion. Speaking of, her fashion sense was incredible - it was something of a modern Jackie-O, but with some twist Madeline couldn't exactly pin down. Other than that, she found out a little bit more from her Wikipedia page: she was 28 years old, a two-time Academy Award nominee, Golden Globe winner for her role in Secrets as a female con artist, and a frequent Tonight Show guest "known for her witty comebacks, sharp poise, and powerful way in which she delivers her segments." Annie even checked out one of her Nancy Grace-ish sketches from Saturday Night Live, and after laughing so hard she choked on multiple occasions, she jumped to the conclusion that Rachel wasn't all that bad, though some of her boyfriend choices were questionable./p
p dir="ltr"When reading her thirty-eighth article on Rachel, she was interrupted by Paige, her great-niece and one of her adopted daughters - Elizabeth was her other one. She had olive skin, long and dark burgundy-colored hair, and black eyes that you could probably see the earth's core in. Her nose was small but rounded, and she had the perfect oval face. Almost always she adorned it with little makeup, but today she had on berry lipstick which complemented her white shirt and faded jeans. Her accessory was a light brown, 3/4 sleeved sweater, in addition to little gold bangles that danced across the room lit by the lightbulbs of the study. She was also petite, but she made up for it in her personality: she was an ambitious girl with a sense of adventure that could remind you of an eight-year old child sometimes. She cleared her throat to catch her adopted mother's attention, and when she did, her voice sounded like honey glaze drizzled over a Thanksgiving ham./p
p dir="ltr""Hey, Aunt Maddie," she said, "It's dinner time."/p
p dir="ltr""Yeah, I've been busy." Madeline shrugged it off./p
p dir="ltr""Doing what? Looking at your new girlfriend?"/p
p dir="ltr""I... um... Shush, child." Maddie said. She wasn't her girlfriend, but soon accusations would pop up out of nowhere to try and find an excuse to make them together seem like a couple. But Madeline was certainly straight. After all, she was and is technically still married to a man./p
p dir="ltr""Anyways," Paige said in a sing-song tone, "look what I found!" From behind her back, she saw yet another headline from another magazine: emRACHEL: IN LOVE WITH MADDIE?/em/p
p dir="ltr"She groaned. "Why?"/p
p dir="ltr""Because," Paige smirked. "You're the new Samantha Ronson!"/p
p dir="ltr""Who?"/p
p dir="ltr""Samantha Ronson… lesbian that was with Lindsay Lohan…" she scanned her aunt's face. "Wait, you don't know who they are, do you?"/p
p dir="ltr"Madeline sighed. "Sometimes you're so modern it kills me."/p
p dir="ltr""I figured you'd know more after living a hundred years."/p
p dir="ltr"Madeline glared. "I've still got two months, Katherine."/p
p dir="ltr"Paige sighed. She hated it when she was called by her birth name."Whatever. But anyways, what are ya gonna do about these guys?"/p
p dir="ltr""What guys?"/p
p dir="ltr""These people that keep, like, killing people."/p
p dir="ltr"emIf only you knew/em, Madeline thought. "So far it's just one."/p
p dir="ltr""But there's more than one! There's got to be. He's probably got friends that want you dead now."/p
p dir="ltr""Well, I can't do anything about it." Madeline said. "I already broke my contract."/p
p dir="ltr"From out of nowhere, another voice came into their conversation. It was slightly nasal-y, but mature, like a grown woman's. "What do you mean you broke your contract?!"/p
p dir="ltr""Someone kicked ass today!" Paige said cheerfully./p
p dir="ltr"Madeline said louder, looking at the ceiling of the study, "It was only to save someone else! Give me a break."/p
p dir="ltr""I can't do that!" Lily called back. A thud was heard nearby, and Paige jumped. Madeline remained still despite the commotion./p
p dir="ltr""And why not?"/p
p dir="ltr"The window next to Maddie's computer chair opened, and the light of the garage suddenly hit Paige. In came an ethereal woman, tall and slender with bare feet as pale as the moon, and Paige began to calm herself. The woman's layered navy hair settled in the middle of her shoulder blades, and her skin was almost as pale as Loki's himself. But her hazel green eyes were somehow welcoming, and it became second nature to love her once she smiled. Her face was often brighter when she did so, and if you saw it yourself, you'd feel nurtured instantly. But right now, it wasn't exactly nurturing to see her. More than anything in the room, it was fear of what she would say that overwhelmed Paige and Maddie./p
p dir="ltr""Do you realize what's gonna happen to us?" the woman said./p
p dir="ltr""Nope, not really." Paige interjected./p
p dir="ltr""Well, I'll explain it again. You see, if SHIELD knows, which I'm pretty sure they do, they'll find us. And since we broke our agreements, they'll use it to their advantage, and they'll start tracking us again... And you know what that means, right Maddie?"/p
p dir="ltr"Maddie shook her head. "I haven't done this in a while."/p
p dir="ltr""In order to avoid tracking, we'll have to join the Avengers. And I'm sure we don't want that, do we?"/p
p dir="ltr""Well it's too late now." Paige said. "They probably found us already."/p
p dir="ltr""What if we explain that the girl was going to die, and I had no clue what I was getting myself into?" Annabel finally bursted. "Then I can sacrifice myself."/p
p dir="ltr""Nope," both Paige and Lily responded. "All for one, one for all."/p
p dir="ltr""Plus," Lily added, "I get to see Tony Stark. And we all know I want a piece of that Stark."/p
p dir="ltr"Maddie rolled her eyes. "Thanks, guys. But does anyone know if Elizabeth is okay with this?"/p
p dir="ltr"Elizabeth's voice was heard loudly from the floor above them: "I will be if we can eat already!"/p
p dir="ltr"Paige chuckled. "Okay, we'll be up in a sec."/p
p dir="ltr"The three of them came upstairs to meet Elizabeth at the dining room table, but as soon as Maddie sat down at the head of the table, their doorbell rang once, echoing before she was about to pray. It was Elizabeth who got up (after muttering many profanities) to the door behind them. At the door was someone Maddie and Paige would have guessed, but Elizabeth and Lily had no clue about. It was Rachel, dressed in non-1950s clothing with no makeup and her hair in a ponytail. "Is Madeline home?" she asked, trembling rooted in her tone./p
p dir="ltr"Before she could answer, Maddie ran to the door and pushed Elizabeth out of the way, telling her to go eat. "What's wrong?" she asked./p
p dir="ltr""I need your help." she said, handing her a letter with no return address. She kept one letter in the same hand, and in the other was an overnight bag. Behind her, a black Mercedes Benz was parked on the grass."But before I ask... I need to explain something." She took down her cotton hair cover and moved back to where her car was, about a hundred feet away, and from there she split into three clones, and Annabel wasn't sure which one was actually Rachel from her small front porch. One of her moved down the road while the other moved towards the house, and with another flash, the clones morphed back into one and landed on her front porch. She wasn't out of breath, and she wasn't out of her mind, either. Maddie then understood why she had to get over here now. And most importantly, how she got here. The Mad Dogs wanted her there not just because she was a kill./p
p dir="ltr"They wanted her there because she was one of em/emthem./p
p dir="ltr" /p