A/N: Hello Everyone! Just a reminder that I only own my own characters and plot, not Marvel. Sadly.

Enjoy the angst.

Chapter 10: The End

They had no news for three days. The security feed from the zoo's cameras showed Nina walking willingly to the parking lot, struggle, and then be drugged. At that point Bruce lost it. It was also at that point Kat realized that her little sister had worked her way into everyone's hearts. They lost the car Nina had been put into shortly outside the Holland Tunnel. The background search on Ms. Lucy came up dry as well. Kat heard Pepper calling someone about increasing hiring scrutiny in the future for the daycare. Lot of good that did Nina now.

Lucy sat at the kitchen table poking her eggs. She had barley been able to eat or sleep the past few days. When Steve had found her collapsed in the gym, she had been treated and then scolded on the importance of taking care of herself. Kat knew she had to keep up her strength, but knowing and acting on it were two different things.

The elevator door dinged open from the hallway. A few seconds later the kitchen door was swung open. Kat looked up to find a very sweaty security guard, whom she recalled being called Happy, holding an envelope.

"Where are they?" he asked her in a panic.

"Who?"

"Jarvis said they would meet me here," he told her, leaning over trying to catch his breath.

"Happy, what have you found?" Tony called out entering the room.

Happy passed him the envelope, "It's a letter, about the little girl."

"Nina?!" Kat yelled, pushing her chair back from the table and snatching the envelope from Tony's hands. It was less of a letter and more of a drawing. The drawing was of their farm house. Kat had seen Nina draw it several times before and knew it had to come from her. On the back was her father's handwriting: "It is time to come home – love Nina and dad. P.S only you or your sister will get hurt."

Kat looked wildly at Tony, "What do we do?"

Kat tightly gripped the harness strapping her into the quinjet. It had taken all of twenty minutes to make a plan and head out. She had to argue for fifteen of those minutes to get them to agree to take her along. She worked to keep her breathing steady. She was freaking out, but she was determined to be there to save her sister. She reminded herself that they were professionals. They all looked the part wearing their superhero uniforms. She was just in a pair of jeans with a red tank top and plain grey hoodie. Kat knew she was no hero, but she was a big sister and big sisters are always supposed to be there for their little siblings. She'd be damned if she messed up a second time.

"Kat," Steve called out to her from across the small plane. "We have your back. You're not alone," he sincerely told her.

"I know… Aren't you suppose to tell me it will all work out?" she asked him half joking.

His expression was serious, "I can't promise that. I can only promise we are going to do our best to get her back."

Kat was a bit startled at his honesty. Giving him a small sad smile she responded, "Thank you."

Kat walked slowly up to the house. It loomed in front of her as if from a horror movie. She cringed as she hit the squeaky front step. Nunca quise regresar. (I never wanted to return).

The quinjet was parked a bit back in the field just as it had been several weeks ago. The night was reminiscent of the start of this whole journey. The Avengers were surrounding the house. Kat was to play the bait, distract her dad, and give the team time to get in before he pulled something. They couldn't risk storming the place because he could hurt Nina.

The moment Kat opened the front door she heard what sounded like Nina, but muffled,"Kitty! Kitty!"

"Nina!" Kat screamed back, running towards the sound. She raced up the stairs to their bedroom where the sound was coming from. Nina kept yelling her name, nothing else. Kat burst through the door to find the room empty. Nina kept yelling, but by this point Kat saw it was coming from the phone on the bed hooked up to a small portable speaker. Picking up the phone Kat all but screamed into it. "Where is she!"

All sound on the other side stopped.

"I will see you soon," he told her. With horror Kat dropped the phone. "It's a trap," she whispered at first. Speaking louder, knowing the Avengers would be able to hear her from the comlink she was wearing, she repeated, "It's a trap!" as she ran towards the door to exit the house. She had just left the bedroom when she felt something strike her hard on the head. With ringing pain she dropped to the ground. Just before her world blacked out she heard gunfire and the Avengers yelling at her to get out.

***( I totally almost left the story here, but I decided to be nice and post more ;) ***

Kat couldn't hold back the groan that came to her as she slowly gained consciousness. Her head was throbbing and to say her body hurt would be just scratching the surface. The last time she had felt this pain had been when dinner had been late. She felt panicked as she began to remember what had happened before being hit. They must have tossed her around like a sack of potatoes when she had been out too.

She quickly became aware that her hands were tied tightly together in front of her as were her ankles. She was on the cement ground in a dim room with only a few old fashion hanging light bulbs providing mediocre light most of the light was coming from a small barred window. Looking at the window she realized she was in a basement, which explained the small staircase. Maneuvering around she was able to see out the window. It looked like a city block.

Working quickly she started untying the ropes on her ankles. Once her feet were free she used her teeth to untie her hands. She didn't know how long it took, but the pounding of her heart and fear of discovery made her feel like she was moving entirely too slow. Pocketing the rope, after successfully untying herself, she looked around the basement to see if there was another way out. There wasn't. At that moment she remembered her comlink. Checking her ear she found it missing. Claro que sí (of course it is).

Desperately she searched the basement for anything that could be used as a weapon. The best thing she found was an empty jug of bleach. With it in hand she crept up the stairs to the door. Putting her ear up to it she heard no sound on the other side. She slowly turned the door knob, which to her surprise wasn't locked. Cracking the door open she peeked her head out of the door. It looked like it opened up to a kitchen. Seeing no signs of anyone yet she opened the door further. Nadie (no one). Making the crack wider still she slipped into the kitchen. Turning her head to the right, to where she wasn't able to see before, there sat her father. With a gun trained on her and a smirk that sent shivers down her spine.

She imagined she looked like a rabbit before a growling fox.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" He asked slowly.

She swallowed nervously, "I could hope."

He laughed. "Ah hope, you should give up all chance of that now." Shaking his gun he gestured to the seat across from him. "Have a seat with your old man."

She did as was told without question. Her father was a lunatic with a gun. She had a feeling that she was unlikely to leave the house alive now. Nina perdóname (Nina forgive me). Bleach jug now on the floor, she folded her hands into her lap, trying to appear calm.

"Where is Nina?" She quietly asked.

"Why does it matter?" He questioned honestly.

She tried not to let anger seep into her words, "she's my sister."

"And she's my daughter yet you can see that I care less." His voice held little doubt of that.

"I love her," her words conveyed the truth in that sentence.

"Ah there is the difference." He really didn't care. Kat knew that, but to hear him dismiss Nina . . .

She blinked back tears, not of hurt but anger. "Why? What did we do to you?"

"What did you do?" He scoffed. "You and that brat did everything. I was chosen for a special mission, one to test dormant mutant DNA with a special serum. You should have shown powers right away, but no, it took years! Then in the meantime the brat came along, and I was ordered to wait even longer for signs of mutations. Well, now I wait no more. The moment I hand you two over I get to leave."

Rage, shock, pain, and other dark emotions flooded Kat's mind at her father's story. No, él no es un padre. Él es un donante de esperma (no, he is not a father. He is a sperm donor).

He continued his tale with twisted pleasure filling his voice, "Life is about to get better for me, but for you. No, for you it will be far worse. It will make those years living with me seem like a walk in the park. They are going to experiment on you, test you, and then condition you to serve the cause. You will be a wonderful weapon that is when you aren't an incubator breeding more mutant soldiers for hydra."

Kat was shaking at this point; she couldn't even pretend to be in control or collected. Her fears were about to become a reality.

He stood up at this point and crouched beside her. "The best thing for me," he almost whispered to her, "is that Hydra's final test for soldiers is to kill the thing they love most to show their devotion." The impact of his words crushed her soul. Sobbing she put her hands in her pocket and curled into herself.

Laughing he stood back up and went back to his seat.

"Why couldn't you have loved us? Why?!"

He laughed hard. Kat was hit so hard with the corruption of his soul. She knew he was horrible, but she had always held out hope. Hope that somewhere deep within him he could change or at the very least show some measure of love towards their family. Family. That word now brought other faces to mind. She thought of Tony, of Bruce, of Clint, and of Steve. They were men who cared for her and Nina. They could, one day, love them as a family would. She wished with all her heart in that moment that he did love them like the Avengers had begun loving them. "You love us," she sobbed between her cries. "You love us."

Her words seemed to fuel a fire in him, "No I don't."

"You love us," she repeated louder.

"No I don't!" He yelled standing up. She heard him push his chair back and rush over to where she sat. Eyes opening quickly she looked up to see his gun in hand raised as if to strike her, with a clear voice and full of command she repeated, "You love us."

He froze for a moment.

He lowered his hand slowly, sat the gun on the table and knelt before her chair. The look in his eyes was one she had never seen before: one of care.

She flinched as he lifted his hand to stroke her cheek. Leaning in he kissed her forehead. "I love you."

She wanted to vomit. She knew that she was doing this. She was manipulating her own blood. Forcing the revulsion down she asked him, "Daddy, could you please bring Nina to me?"

"Of course darling," he answered in almost a daze.

He moved to leave the room and she quickly followed, but not before picking up the gun. She prayed her powers would last and that she wouldn't need it. After going up stairs and unlocking another door, they reached Nina, who was gagged, tied up, and laying on a bed. Her eyes looked lifeless, but her chest rose and fell.

Kat rushed in to her. "Nina, Nina!" she yelled as she quickly untied the ropes and gag. The little girl seemed to be in stupor. "Kitty?" she asked weakly.

Kat held back a sob, "Sí cariñosa, soy yo." (Yes, sweetie it's me). The little girl cried and tightly hugged Kat. Hating to push her sister, but needing to, Kat spoke to her gently, "okay sweetie I need you to get on my back. We are leaving."

"Daddy there," Nina's fear was evident.

"It's okay. Daddy is going to let us go because daddy loves us," she told Nina, but directed her words strongly at the man who still stood in the doorway. "Right daddy?"

"That's right darling. Let's go," his voice sounded off, but sincerity rang in his words.

Once Nina was securely on Kat's back, they headed out. They were almost to the front door when they heard a shout. "Wilson, the brat isn't in the basement! What did you do?!"

Her father quickly began unlocking the front door, which had a series of chains and locks on it.

"Wilson!" The voice shouted, getting closer.

The front door just opened when the man came to view. He looked military, with dark hair and large muscles. "Wilson! You traitor! What are you doing?!" The man shouted while pulling out a gun.

Quickly pushing the girls behind him and through the door, they heard him say "I love them," followed by the sounds of gun fire.

With a sob Kat quickly ran, trying not to think of the fact her father was dead and what his last words were, or the fact her powers were the only reason he said them. No, she couldn't think of that. She had to save her sister. Thankfully it was still light out, but it seemed like the sun was going down. As she ran she heard a familiar noise. Following it she found train tracks and eventually a sign that said the R line. She was in Queens. She knew how to get home.

Kat sat tensely next to her sister on the R line. She had used her powers to convince the guard to let them in through the turn wheel. She seemed to have her powers down for the moment. If they failed she still had the gun she took from…him…tucked in her hoodie. She tried to project an air of unimportance around them, not wanting to attract attention. Nina was on the verge of falling asleep, but seemed to know she needed to stay awake. Kat didn't trust the police to ask them for help or use a phone in case that man would somehow trace the call. She had little doubt, however, that the man would probably be waiting for them close to the tower. Como vamos a entrar? (how are we going to enter?) she asked herself repeatedly. She had to get them into the tower safely, but undetected. There was a chance none of the Avengers would even be home. As the train jerked a stop she then remembered the obvious. She would play the game she had played before – hide and seek.

"Jarvis," Kat whispers, her sister holding tight on her back. They had managed to get into the tower. The common area in the tower was quiet. She slowly and quietly walked around, checking corners to make sure they were safe.

"Jarvis," she said louder. Still no answer. Either Jarvis was down or this was her doing. Maybe when she said nothing could hear or see them she really made nothing, including technology, could find them. Kat closed her eyes and took a deep breath. We are safe. We are visible and can be heard. We are safe.

"Ms. Kat, Ms. Nina, welcome back." Jarvis immediately responded to their appearance. "My sensors did not detect you earlier."

"Sorry, that was me Jarvis. There is someone still after us and I didn't want to risk anyone seeing or hearing us."

"A wise choice Ms.," was his response. "I have alerted the Avengers to your arrival. They are currently all out searching various leads to your disappearance. SHIELD has also been alerted and is sending over a team until the others return."

Kat almost wanted to cry. They had actually made it.

"Safe Kitty?"

Kneeling down, Kat let the little girl off her back and proceeded to hug her, "Yes, we are safe."

"Thank you Jarvis."

"My pleasure. The SHIELD team will be arriving in three minutes. Sir is the closest Avenger and will be back within the hour. Might I suggest you take this time to eat something? My scans detect a need for nutrition in both you and your sister."

"Shall do Jarvis," Kat managed to say before yawning. Knowing that Jarvis was with them, Shield was on their way, as were the Avengers, made Kat start to feel safe. The adrenalin was wearing off and all Kat wanted to do now was sleep.

Nina struggled to put herself in a chair at the kitchen table while Kat dragged herself further into the kitchen to look for something easy to eat. Pulling out the jar of peanut butter, two apples, and a knife, Kat walked over to the table. She was about to start cutting the apples when the elevator dinged and the sound of rushing bodies could be heard. Three people came into the kitchen, two in black Kevlar and one in a blue suit of some sort. They came in with guns out, but they held them in relaxed positions upon seeing only the girls in the room.

"Kat?" The lady in the blue suit moved towards her, "My name is Agent Hill, I work with SHIELD. This is Agent Rollins and Agent Rumlow." She gestured to the men behind her. "They both work with Captain America in SHIELD."

Kat had been following Agent Hill's introductions, nodding to her and then Agent Rollins upon the greeting. The moment she saw Agent's Rumlow's face she froze. Es él. (it's him) she instantly recognized. Even though she had only seen his face for a second she would never forget the man who shot her father. She didn't know what to do. She wasn't safe. She didn't know if the other two agents would believe her or be able to stop him. He had a gun. He was strong enough to work with Steve. She felt like she was about to have a panic attack.

"Kat?" Agent Hill called to her, a concerned look on her face.

"Y-yes, s-sorry. It's been a very long …well I don't know how long it has been…" she forced herself to stop looking at him and concentrate on Agent Hill.

"It has been three days. And that is understandable. Why don't you finish your snack and then get some rest. You are safe now," she tried to comfort her.

Kat nodded and went back to cutting the apples for her sister and herself. She was very much aware, however, of the agents talking and of Agent Rumlow moving to stand by the window. The other Agent went out of the kitchen, she guessed to the elevator, while Agent Hill stood by the door. Por favor hurry Tony she pleaded mentally.

Kat stretched out eating the apples, hoping to stay in the common room where everyone could see them. She would bet Agent Rumlow was just waiting for a chance. Still, even with eating extremely slow it was clear that Nina needed to be put to bed.

"Vamos Nina, tiempo a dormir. (We're going Nina, time to sleep.) Kat gently told her sister, picking her up after putting the dishes in the sink and peanut butter away.

"Agent Rumlow, follow the girls. I will wait here for Stark," Agent Hill ordered.

Kat repressed a shudder. Walking down the hallway she went into their bedroom. He stood outside in the hallway, but still Kat knew he was watching. Kat decided it was best to ignore him and hope he wouldn't do anything with Jarvis watching. Somehow Kat managed to get her sister cleaned up, good enough anyways until morning and put to bed. Once her own sister was settled she went to the bathroom to shower and get ready herself. She may have quickly walked to the door and locked it. She may have also taken as long as possible to clean up. She had several new bruises and what looked like rope burn on her wrists. Overall, though, she wasn't in bad shape. At least she came out of it all well enough, even if her clothes were more or less destroyed. Kat remembered, while looking at her clothes, the gun that was in her hoodie pocket. Her pajamas offered no such place to hide the item. She gathered her dirty clothes in her arms, hiding the gun in the pile, and unlocked the bathroom door.

The moment she did Kat was startled to come face to face with Agent Rumlow. His hand quickly covered her mouth and forced her back inside the bathroom. Dropping her clothes and the gun, she used both hands to remove his from her face, but before she could scream or do anything else his gun was pointed at her forehead. She froze.

"Listen little bitch, I know you recognize me, but this is how it is going to work. You won't say anything and I won't kill you or your sister just yet. Do you understand me?"

Kat couldn't help but think that was the same gun he used to kill her father. He cocked the gun, "I said do you understand."

Kat nodded her head.

"No," a voice came from behind Rumlow, "this is how it is going to work, you will put the gun down or I will kill you."

Before the person even finished speaking Rumlow had grabbed her and twisted her so she was in front of him and his gun to her temple. Now Kat could see who it was. It was Iron Man. His gauntlets powered up and focused on them. Kat could feel tears coming down her face. She didn't know if she was crying in fear or in relief that he was there.

"It will be okay Kat," Tony told her.

"No, it won't." Rumlow assured her. "Any last words?"

"Take care of Nina," Kat asked Tony before closing her eyes. She heard a shot and it was finished.

There had been no funeral service. After all, who was there to attend? The Avengers decided it was best to get away from the tower in NYC for a little while after what happened. That was how Nina ended up on the beach in Miami playing in the water with her sister Kat. Bruce and Steve both smiled watching over them. Tony was talking to Clint at the grill. Pepper and Natasha were lying out in the sun. They were all heroes, especially hers.

While Agent Rumlow was focused on Tony he failed to notice movement in the vents above him. When Rumlow was an idiot and paused for dramatic effect, Clint took a shot from above. Kat had a panic attack at that point. Both she and Nina, who had woken up during the commotion, took a long time to calm down. It had been a week since then. A week since Kat thought she was going to die. She used to think that she had to live for Nina. Now… well now she had a whole family to live for as well as for herself. Pushing deep thoughts out of her mind Kat focused back on her favorite sound in the world: her sister laughing in joy.

The end.

AN: So it finally finishes. The story I forgot about and then had no will to write. I almost killed of Kat by the way. I had a friend talk me out of it though. Thank you everyone who has been following me these long years as I didn't update. I hope you enjoyed it all in the end.