Chapter 7: The truth about Amelia


Two years later after the Battle of New York...

Amelia growled happily, her massive, white, muscular tail flicking side to side as she rolled in the sweet, spring grass. She rolled on her stomach, her front claws resting under her chest, as she sniffed the air. She snorted playfully, blowing hot air through her nose, as she hauled herself onto her feet. She was free to smell the fresh air, and the cool grass was soft on the bottoms of her feet. The warm air felt free, and she heard the birds twitter in the trees far ahead. It was paradise. And it was hers for the taking. She was Queen here, and done dared challenge her rule. The warm coastal air filled her lungs as she breathed in the salty, yet warm air.

With a jolt, her dream shattered, and she was back into the gray, long days of her life. Why Father can't see she's bored? Those training exercises day in and day out, bored her. The Avengers where pack, but not really pack at the same time. Pack stays together. Tony, constantly challenged her Father's rule on an almost daily basis. It drove her nuts to the point where she almost snapped at him. The fear in the air during that incident riled up a part of her that she had no idea that even existed. That fear wanted her to hunt, to kill. To remind where these humans where on the food chain, and what real power was.

She growled, her tail lashing side to side, as her gray colored talons clicked together in frustration. She was bored out of her mind. She wanted to hunt, she wanted to fight. Air was blown through her nose as she snarled, and paced the training grounds, scaring some of the younger agents. None of them had seen Amelia this aggressive before, and it was scary. She heard a sharp, yet warm voice. It was Natasha, her father's mate. On her hip was her younger, runty brother, Johnathan.

Johnathan was a near-perfect blend of his parents, even though he had a striking resemblance to his father. His eyes where a mix of green and blue, often presenting themselves as a sea-green color. His blond hair had streaks of red in it, but the brightness of the streaks was faint. He gave a big, toothy grin as he saw Amelia. The massive snowy-white animal dropped to all fours, as she purred and cooed, making soft rumbling sounds in the back of her throat. Her brother gave a soft squeal as he touched her nose with his tiny, clawless hands. Amelia purred when she felt Natasha's soft hand brush against her soft, bumpy scales. A part of her understood that humans liked the soft, rumbling sounds she made, compared to her fierce, bellowing roars.

Natasha looked on as Amelia purred and cooed at her son, being gentle with him. She knew that most people saw a large, dangerous animal, with sharp fangs and claws, they didn't want to see this gentle, caring side of her. She was aware that Amelia was intelligent enough to control her strength. But what shocked Natasha the most, was the human-like intelligence that glimmered in her blood-gold eyes. It was eerie, and unsettling. It unnerved something in her core that was still human, the part of her that she allowed to feel. To keep her heart, not to let the Red Room win. She was thankful, in a strange sort of way, that the Winter Soldier managed to convince her to rebel against her handlers. Clint rescued her before it was too late, before she lost what little humanity she had left. Her son, Johnathan, was proof enough for her that she beat the Red Room. A voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"Excuse me, Ma'am, I'm looking for Captain Steven Rodgers, is he around here?" the owner of the voice asked. Turning around, Nat saw an older man, who was deeply tan. All of his clothes where worn and faded, including a bandanna that was once a bright, vibrant red. A worn leather fedora or cowboy hat sat on the man's head. His tan skin, and salt and pepper hair and beard brought out his bright, sky-blue eyes.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Nat asked, her voice a mixture of curiosity and of caution. Being the Black Widow, she could never be sure if someone was out for her or out for Steve.

"Dr. Allan Grant, I'm a paleontologist," he answered, causing her to relax. There's nothing dangerous about him, save he might bore someone to death with a lecture. Or glare at an unruly Grad Student into submission.

"Natasha Rodgers,"

"Oh, I'm happy for you. He seems like a decent man,"

"Yea he is,"

"Back to the original question,"

"He's out jogging, probably trolling some poor unfortunate soul. But why are you looking for him?"

"It's about Amelia, she is not a normal dinosaur. Looking at her I can clearly see at least three different types of dinosaur DNA in her, all of them carnivores; tyrannosaurus, velociraptor, and giganotosaurus,"

"What do you mean?"

"I've should've started at the beginning. Are you familiar with the company, InGen?"

"Yes," Nat answered, fully aware of the company's dark reputation. While on the surface, InGen was a normal science company, that was interested in bringing dinosaurs back from extinction. Underneath, InGen was waist-deep in shadowy stuff, such as creating genetic hybrids, like Amelia.

"This should be easy to explain. InGen was originally owned by a man called John Hammond, who decided it was a great idea to clone dinosaurs, bringing them back to life, into our time on the planet. As time went on, as it always did, people got greedy. No one was impressed by a Triceratops anymore, they wanted something bigger, cooler, more teeth, basically. Someone's hubris got the better of them, and they decided it was a good idea to create a genetically modified hybrid, made out of the DNA by some of the most vicious animals ever to live on this planet, and whoever it was, made the call to add human DNA to that mixture. You have an animal with the aggression of a tyrannosaurus rex with the size of a giganotosaurus with the speed and stamina of a raptor with the intelligence of a human. Someone who either owns InGen or was commissioned by the company, made an animal bred for warfare. I don't know what they are going to do once they find out Amelia exists, but it's not going to be pretty. That much I can tell you,"

"Steve's going to be pissed. Amelia's practically his daughter, for a lack of a better term. He's raised her since she was a hatchling!" Nat hissed, venom in her voice. Grant silently agreed with her, but InGen was a massive, multimillion dollar company, and they are not going to willingly give up one of their 'assets' without a fight. He silently gave out a small prayer to any deity that Steve had friends in high places. The mutual anger that Natasha and Grant had at InGen was broken by a soft voice.

"Mommy...?" a small voice asked. On cue, Nat bent down and picked up her son, who was naturally shy of the strange man. Behind Nat was Amelia, who gave a small chitter of recognition at Grant. It shocked Grant that Amelia's vocalization sounds where more like those of raptors, even though she is capable of making the low, rumbling sounds of a tyrannosaurus rex as well. Grant hoped that Steve was allowed to keep Amelia. A ball of fear was forming in his stomach, he didn't want Amelia to be broken into a hyper-aggressive thing. He was fearful of whatever Amelia was, what she would have been if someone like Steve Rodgers didn't take good care of her.

Natasha watched with a heavy breath as Grant walked away. What he said set off alarm bells in her head. She hoped that InGen, who ever the hell they where, stayed away from her family, from Amelia. Johnathan stared wide-eyed at the man, his fingers in his mouth.

Allan Grant smiled, his blue eyes trained on the child. At first he didn't like children, thinking of them being snot-nosed brats who where hell-bent on destroying his work. After the incident at Jurassic Park, children grew on him. Their bright eyes when they see a dinosaur skeleton for the first time, rattling off the names of the dinosaurs that they knew. It was that innocence he'd like to see, and that eagerness to learn about Dinosaurs was something he would cultivate in young children. He looked over at Amelia again, and he was shocked about how big she was. The shine on her scales showed how well Steve paid attention to her well-being, and there was very little extra fat on her, as well-toned muscles rippled each time she took a step. Amelia was a well-kept, and healthy animal, due to the attention of her human parent.


Author's Note: Now the plot is picking up speed, and I am finally getting into the plot of the Winter Soldier. And no, I have not abandoned Muldoon, Owen and Dr. Harding on Isla Nublar. Life and College will get in the way of this fanfic, so do be patient.