A/n: Wow-whee! Thank you to all my reviewers. I am glad you guys are liking this story and my portrayal of Katherine so far. I had to watch and rewatch episodes of Vampire Diaries to get her mannerisms down. Klaus (as much as I love him) won't be appearing in this story but he does play a significant role in Katherine's choices.

To my reviewers: Raychaell Dionzeros, MME, Mehan-Smith, TheElegantFaerie, SophStratt and himedesu.

The moment you all have been waiting for.

Chapter 2

Katherine stared up at the building, her nose wrinkling in displeasure. She may admire humans for their resilience and adaptability but not for their need to keep constantly changing everything that she had enjoyed about the city.

"Unbelievable." she grumbled, looking up at the old broken down and abandoned lot of the very bar she had visited the last time she was in New York. Ironically, this building had remained untouched during the Avenger's fight. "Well, let's see what's left behind."

She reached out to grasp the lock that held the doors closed and stopped. The lock was already broken from its hinges. She guessed the neighbourhood kids must have gotten bored over the years.

She opened the door and strolled in, suddenly feeling as though she was transported back in time. Only this time there was no music, no men staring at her, no dancing women on the stage and no bartender behind the bar. But the interior was more or less the same although having worn down with time and lack of care. She trailed a finger along the table, lifting dust and rubbing it off.

Her sensitive nose wrinkled again as she made her way to the bar, resting a hand on the stool, remembering the last time she was here.

Someone cleared his throat and she spun, her eyes narrowed dangerously. It wasn't often someone managed to sneak up on her without her knowing.

A man stood at another door that probably led further into the establishment. He seemed just as surprised to see her here as she did him. His blue eyes warily watched her as she studied him curiously. He was handsome, tall, broad-shouldered and more muscular than the average man. His short blonde hair was tousled and styled in a manner that reminded her of the olden days. He wore a brown leather bike jacket over a simple shirt, jeans and boots. Overall, she decided she liked what she saw.

"Sorry." he said quietly. "I didn't mean to startle you, ma'am. It's just that… I wasn't expecting to find anyone else in here."

Katherine cocked an eyebrow at his old school politeness as she nodded slowly. "I should say the same for you. And you are?"

He seemed startled by her forwardness. "Rogers. Steve Rogers, ma'am."

"Ma'am?" she made a face. "Stop calling me that. I don't look that old."

He flushed lightly. "My apologies, um…"

"Katherine." she supplied, finding amusement in his awkwardness.

"Katherine." he repeated. "If I may ask, what is a young lady like you doing here alone? This isn't exactly the better part of New York. It's not safe."

She raised an eyebrow, having detected concern in his voice. "I am scouting for locations actually. For a business venture." she lied. She was good with spinning stories on the spot. "This lot seems like my best bet so far."

"What sort of business venture?" Steve asked, his curiosity piqued. Usually the women were not so forward with starting their own business in his era. He hoped she would at least sustain the original interior design for memory sake.

"A bar." Katherine answered on whim, looking around again. The concept was starting to grow on her, the more she thought of it. "This place was a club in the 1940s." she said. "Called the Stork club. I quite liked the idea of a 1940s club. Brings back…I don't know, a sense of nostalgia."

Steve couldn't agree more but her knowledge and intuition with the past was intriguing, considering how young she was. "I see you did your homework."

She opened her mouth to retort and stopped herself. "Right. Homework." she bobbed her head, gripping the handle of her bag. "History is sort of my speciality." Because I was there. "Wait. Why am I doing all the talking? Why are you here?"

"Um…I was just in the neighbourhood." he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I…um, my family has history here."

Katherine studied the man, noticing how his eyes seemed unable to meet her own and his shoulders were hunched slightly. She suspected he was hiding something but then again, who was she to ask.

"Well, I am off." she announced, heading for the door. "It was nice meeting you, Stevie."

"It's Steve and I can't let you walk through this neighbourhood alone. It's not safe." he called after her.

"I'll be fine." she replied dismissively, disappearing through the door. "I am not as helpless as you think."

"Wait!" Steve hurried after her, taken back by her carefree manner. He emerged into the street and found Katherine…gone. Turning his head left and right, he scanned the street, looking for the female but she was nowhere in sight. Defeated, he sighed and tucking his hands into his pockets, started making his way back to his SHIELD assigned apartment.

~.~

After giving Steve the slip and leaving behind the former Stork club, Katherine did a little shopping and managed to grab a bite in the form of a male student who thought he would be getting lucky. She returned to her hotel later that night, nodding her head at the doorman who greeted her.

"Target in sight." Clint reported, tapping his ear piece from his perch on the building opposite the hotel. "Entering mission perimeter. Nat, do you copy?"

There was a slight crackle before an answer came. "I copy. Stark, be on standby. Things could get ugly."

Katherine rode the lift all the way to her floor. She exited it and made her way down the hallway, passing a maid with a trolley along the way. Sensing eyes on her, Katherine allowed her eyes to dart to the Hispanic woman who looked away quickly and muttered a quiet 'Have a good night, miss.'

Senses and instincts that has been honed and tuned by centuries of hunting and preying were now tingling but none of her outer façade revealed such. She kept up her casual pace until she reached her door. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that the maid was observing her every movement as she slid the key card into the lock and pushed open the door.

Darkness greeted her but her eyes merely adjusted accordingly, using the little source of light from the moon spilling through from the window to scan her suite. Her hearings locked onto the sounds of thumping hearts and steady breathings.

"You know." she began calmly, setting down her purchases. "It's rude to enter someone's home uninvited."

"That's rich coming from you and technically, this is my presidential suite." The lights came on automatically and a man rose from the sofa, adjusting his shirt sleeves as he did.

She was curious as to why billionaire Tony Stark was standing in the middle of her hotel room and what he was up to. Also, she could detect someone else in the room but this person was good at masking their location. "Well, I bought you out so technically, it's mine, Mister Stark."

"Ah, you've heard of me. That's good. Shows you're in trend." he said in approval. He looked around the room as though he still owned it. "This place could do with a bit of sprucing up. A bit of colour here and there."

She strolled into the kitchen area and pulled out her stash of liquor, pouring herself a glass. "I would be more than happy to paint it. What do you think about blood red?" she said sarcastically.

"Too hipster." he said with a wave of his hand. "I am sure my friend there would agree."

Katherine continued to sip at her drink despite the gun that was now cocked to her head. Natasha emerged from the shadows, her grip steady while she maintained her distance. She remembered the video in Russia and knew what this woman was capable. Despite her back to her, Katherine grinned.

"Natasha Romanoff, I am surprised you survived this long."

"Katherine Pierce." the other woman said. "I have orders from SHIELD to bring you in for questioning."

Her eyes narrowed. "SHIELD?"

Tony spoke up. "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and something. I forget but we would like for you to come with us. Peacefully, of course. No fuss, no muss. And I won't have to put on the suit."

"And what makes you think you can take me alive?" she asked, testing the water.

"We know what you're, Miss Pierce." Natasha answered. "And we have taken several precautionary steps beforehand."

So they know what I am…, Katherine weighted her options carefully. The predatory side of her nature demanded she fight back and drain these intruders of their blood while her survivor instincts were warning her to keep her wits about her. These humans wouldn't place themselves in the same room as her if they weren't certain they could take her down.

"Well, what will it be?" the woman behind her asked.

Before Katherine could answer, there was a knock on the door and a woman's voice called out from the other side. "Room service. Complimentary wine from the hotel for Miss Thorne."

Natasha cursed under her breath and gestured with her gun. "Aren't you gonna get that?"

Katherine stared hard at the door and muttered back. "I rather not." She picked up the empty liquor bottle and with a flick, threw it in direction of the door.

It hit the carpeted floor with a dull thud just as Natasha hammered back the gun in warning at Katherine. Suddenly the door exploded into splinters and dusts, sending everyone in the room ducking for cover.

Natasha called out to Tony and got an answer that he was fine from behind the sofa. She was well aware of someone kicking down the door and caught the sound of a shotgun being reloaded.

"Friends of yours?" Katherine snapped at her from where she had taken cover behind the kitchen counter.

"I thought they were yours!" Natasha yelled back as another gunshot was fired in their general direction, shattering an undoubtedly expensive flower vase and blasting out the cabinets.

Using the reflection of a broken mirror, Katherine could make out two figures spilling into her apartment. The first one who held the shotgun was advancing on them.

"With friends like that, -"

Another shot drowned out the rest of her sentence but Natasha got her point. Her eyes narrowing on the moving silhouettes in the mirror, Katherine growled as she realised one of their attackers was the maid she had passed earlier.

Natasha shouted at Tony to stay down before she sprung to her feet with her guns at hand and fired them at the two figures. The maid fired another shot at her, forcing her back down and keeping her pinned. Using the opportunity, Katherine grabbed a knife from the kitchen drawer and standing up and pulling back her arm, sent it flying. It hit bull's eye when it sunk into the chest of the maid. As her body collapsed backwards, Katherine dashed around the counter and slammed a solid roundhouse kick to the second assailant's gut. She moved in for a second kick but he caught her boot inches from his side and yanked hard. A cry escaped her as her back met the floor and the man leapt on her, his arm arched back for a punch.

However a rain of bullets halted his attack and he snarled at the assassin who emptied her guns into him to no avail. "Petty humans." he growled. "So this is the company the infamous Katerina keeps these days? Pathetic!"

With her attacker moving in on Natasha, Katherine flipped to her feet and shot out a leg that found his knee joint. A satisfying crack echoed through the room followed by a loud bellow of pain as he stumbled back and away from the dark-haired woman. Without losing her stride, Katherine yanked out the protruding knife from the body on the floor and flipping it in her hand, she slashed out at him but he grabbed her arm and spun her around into a headlock. The edge of the knife came dangerously close to her throat as she resisted, barely holding it at bay.

Then there was the whirling sound of electric being charged and a yellow blast slammed into the attacker, throwing Katherine aside from the impact. Lifting her head from the floor, she stared the spot where the assailant had vanished under a rumble of broken cupboards and lighting fixtures before turning to look at the source of the blast.

The Iron Man mask peeled back to reveal Tony Stark's bemused face as he looked at her and Natasha. Somehow he had managed to get his suit on in the middle of the attack.

"So….," he began. "That was…fun."

"I thought I told you to stay down." Natasha said, her voice lacking its usual control. She was just thankful Tony almost never listens to orders. Her mind kept going back to watching her bullets uselessly sink into that man's body and yet he refused to drop. What the hell was going on?

"You know that's not my style."

The light conversation between them ended when Katherine climbed to her feet, shaking stars from her sight before looking around her trashed hotel suite. "Well, looks like my stay here is over. See you around, kiddies."

"Wait just a minute." Tony's mask snapped back into place as the woman found her bag and made for the door or what was left of it. She turned at the sound of his repulsors being charged up again and pointed at her. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

She smirked, her lip cut and bloodied. "No, I don't. You can have your suite back, Mister Stark."

Her acute hearing caught the sound of a silenced gun being fired and she felt a prick to the back of her neck. Instantly she felt her body weakened, her knees turning to jelly as she gasped from the pain that raced down and through her body. She collapsed at the doorway, darkness rapidly closing in on her. As she drifted off into unconsciousness, she could make out Natasha calling an extraction and cleanup team and Tony making a snide remark.

"If you had just shot her with the vervain in the first place, we could have avoided all of that. Hm. I wonder if Fury wouldn't mind paying the bill for this mess….?"

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