A/N Happy Easter! Sorry this is a day late my computer broke down smh anyway hope you guys enjoy Chapter 1

Thank you to , SamanthaCarterONeil,Escala201 and SuperMarioGrayson for Favoriting and/or following! It's really cool to know people are reading my work and enjoying it :)

"These are some good times

So take a good look around.

You may not know it now.

But you're gonna miss this."

(You're gonna miss this - Trace Adkins)

Chapter 1: The surprise visit

Burford, England 2007

"Few more minutes," Arianna muttered sleepily as she turned to her side and used her pillow to cover her ears. Even as a child she was not a morning person. She much rather preferred staying up late into the night and getting things done. Her curly hair was wild and her voice thick with grogginess. There was a… thing jumping on her bed and all she wanted it to do was stop

"Wake up wake up wake up Yanna!" her 4-year-old sister called insistently somehow managing to not fall off the bed as she bounced on it. "It's your birthday," she yelled in a singsong voice, watching satisfied as 'Yanna' popped up quickly "It's my birthday!" Arianna exclaimed excitedly jumping out of bed she quickly ran to the loo and brushed her teeth deciding not to change out of her pyjamas. After all, she was 6 years old now and old enough to make these kinds of decisions.

Running down the stairs she flew into the kitchen slipping a little as her socks tried to grip the smooth wood floors. "Careful" her mum called, reaching out to steady her as she bustled past Arianna and set a plate of waffles onto the table. Her mid-length chestnut-colored hair was tied up in a high ponytail and she had an apron tied around her waist "But mummy it's my birthday!" Ari declared excitedly as she jumped into a chair. "I know, Happy sixth birthday love! That's why I made you all of your favorite breakfast foods," she told the energetic girl fondly as she leaned down to kiss the top of her head. Standing back up Rachel continued bringing in the fried eggs, sausages, bacon, and strawberries. Ari watched wide-eyed as her mother brought in all of the food. Was it really all for her? Suddenly she heard the kettle whistle loudly.

" Am I old enough to have tea now? Please?" Ari begged turning her big hazel eyes up towards her mother in which both of her parents had coined 'her puppy dog look'

"I'll give you the watered-down version like I always do"

"No mum I mean actual tea not watered down. I'm practically an adult now, I want to have real tea like you and daddy do"

Rachel sighed but shook her head in amusement "Fine, but only because it's your birthday."

"Yay thank you thank you thank you" Arianna cheered giving her mother an enthusiastic hug before brushing past her sister and running into the living room to play with her toys.

"I want tea" Amara pouted as she wandered into the kitchen trailing behind her mother

"Did I hear that it was somebody's birthday" A deep voice roared. He swooped Amara up and twirled her around tickling her as he did so.

"No no, it's not my birthday its Yanna's" Amara somehow managed to get out as she shrieked with laughter

"Good morning David," Rachel said giving him a quick kiss as he set Amara down "The birthday girl is in the living room," she whispered conspiratorially with a mischievous smile on her face.

David wordlessly nodded before creeping into the living where he found Arianna engrossed in her toys and her back turned towards him "I was told that it was someone's birthday but I don't know who. I wonder who it could be" He commented dramatically flopping onto the couch

"It's my birthday daddy" Arianna stated while giggling "You know that"

"Oh I guess I did" he commented casually before tickling her "Happy birthday Yanna now come on your mum made a delicious break and I for one don't want your sister to eat all of it"

Suddenly they heard a knock at the door. "I'll get it " Rachel called from the kitchen before wiping her hands off on a nearby tea cloth and heading over to the door "Hi, how can I help you?" she asked pleasantly before noticing the people at the door. There was a tall woman with platinum blonde hair and a bored look on her face. Flanking her left and right were 2 men with a hard look in their grey eyes. Rachel looked at them curiously they were a strange bunch, though she couldn't exactly determine what made them so peculiar. Something seemed familiar about them, but she didn't know what yet.

"Hello, my companions and I are here to talk to you about your daughter. Arianna, I believe it is? She shows great promise, and we would love for her to come to our school for the arts" The woman stated. She had a heavy Russian accent and a commanding air about her that instantly made Rachel want to agree with what she said.

"Love, who's at the door?" David called from the dining room. They were all just waiting for Rachel to sit down so they could eat.

"Please come in," the wavy haired woman said politely in her American accent. It was always more distinct when talking to strangers for some reason. She led them into the living room and invited them to sit before moving into the dining room. "It's someone here to talk about Ari's schooling. Were you looking into that without me?" she asked. They had planned to look into schools for their daughter that would encourage her love for acting, languages, and dance while still having strong teaching in other core subjects.

"No, I was going to wait for you so we could do it together, just like we planned" David responded confusion evident in his voice "Mara, Ari, go upstairs and play with your toys for a few minutes your mum and I have to speak with some people"

"Ok daddy," Ari replied happily before skipping over to the stairs "Come on Mara" she called over her shoulder as she climbed the stairs.

Once both girls were upstairs, David followed his wife into the living room. "Hi I'm David Ackton, how can I help you?" he asked, shaking their hands before sitting down as well. Rachel bustled back and forth bringing tea along with creamer and sugar cubes before sitting down next to her husband.

The woman nodded at her before beginning to speak "Well, we've been watching your daughter, and she is how do you say in English? Extraordinary. Her fluency in both Spanish and English, as well as Russian, is amazing for a девушка her age. Did you teach her all of this?"

Rachel smiled warmly "Well I'm a huge language buff, so I taught her some but Arianna is very bright and caught on quickly. I was only going to teach her Spanish so she would be bilingual, but once she was fluent in that she convinced me to teach her Russian. " she laughed lightly " She can be quite the persuader when she wants too"

The woman smiled slightly and seemed to mull over Rachel's answer before directing a question to David "And her grace? Your daughter has an obvious talent for ballet and could probably learn other types of dance if she wants too. Did you teach her that?"

David shook his head ruefully before answering "Sadly we can't take credit for that, my wife and I are extremely clumsy. Arianna just has pure skill and a strong work ethic. Despite how young she is if we don't convince her to take a break she can spend hours working on her acting and dancing. She's very self-disciplined." he smiled before realizing that 'the strange Russian lady' as he had been calling her in his head had never introduced herself "I'm sorry though I must have missed your name, what is it again?"

"I didn't introduce myself," the woman answered her ice blue eyes narrowing slightly before smiling. It was probably meant to seem comforting but it was devoid of emotion. She was tired of faking this and listening to these proud parents brag about their 'child' when she wasn't that special, yet. No, Zena couldn't deny that Arianna had skill but it was currently being wasted by two people that didn't see the little girl's true potential. She could be unstoppable if only Hydra got their hands on her. "I'm surprised you don't recognize me, Rachel, after all, I am the one that introduced you to Subject 4753"

Rachel froze and her eyes widened in horror as she suddenly remembered who this woman was, Zena Morozov from Hydra. She wracked her brain for ways to get Amara and Arianna out of the house without them getting hurt and before the general could get her hands on Ari.

"So she remembers now" Zena commented amusedly a strange glint in her sharp eyes "Do you remember why we are here?"

"You're not taking her" Rachel responded fiercely but lowered her voice so Arianna wouldn't overhear "You forfeit your rights to care for her when you mistreated her" David nodded and was already eyeing the men next to the woman who he figured was General Morozov. Rachel had told him about her past with Hydra and the events that led to her leaving a while ago so he knew the threat they posed. He quickly mentally went over all the possible escape routes and the various places where he kept his guns.

Zena waved a dismissive hand at Rachel's statement "I do not want to take her back, I just want to teach her" she leaned in and lowered her voice as she said her next statement "You know her benefit to Hydra, what she could offer." Morozov carefully studied Rachel's expression but when she just remained confused Zena barked out a harsh kind of laugh. Somehow she made even that sound sinister and dangerous. "Or do you? Do you even know anything about this girl? The one you call дочь? After all, Hydra was the one that gave her her powers, though she can't use them yet." The general leaned back seemingly relaxed in the tense atmosphere " We put a block on them and only we can unlock it. If she comes to learn under Hydra's tutelage we could unlock them, teach her how to use them, how to fight, she would be safe."

Rachel shook her head and laughed bitterly " You don't get it, do you? No one is safe with Hydra. You and everything you stand for is corrupt." she spat leaning forward in her seat and glaring at the Russian woman sitting in front of her "Your secrets have secrets and eventually, you'll get what you deserve and someone will expose you" She felt a hand grip her own and calmed down slightly as David locked eyes with her and gave a slight nod. He would be with her if anything happened.

Zena raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly, undeterred by the spirited green-eyed woman's outburst "Still just as passionate about things you don't understand I see" she observed calmly "I'm done playing these games though. Will you be sending the girl to our academy or not?"

Rachel gaped at her, amazed by this woman's nerve. "Absolutely not" she stated vehemently

At that, General Morozov nodded once before standing up gracefully and gesturing to the men sitting on either side of her. They had not spoken once during the whole exchange but when the general stood up they nodded towards the adult Acktons as well before following Zena to the door. "You have been warned" she declared in a foreboding tone before sweeping out the door.

Rachel sat frozen in her seat for a few seconds before turning to her husband with a fierce look in her emerald eyes "We can't let them get to Arianna." David looked back at his wife remembering once again why he had fallen in love with her. She was fiercely protective over everything she loved and was passionate about subjects she cared about. She was determined and refused to ever give up or admit defeat. He would walk to the ends of the earth to protect their family and some agency would never break them up. "We won't. We'll protect her, she'll be safe here" He promised reassuringly. Rachel nodded and sagged against her husband. She never thought that Hydra would find her again after she left. She had strongly believed that she had taken all the necessary precautions, she had switched whole countries for God's sake but it seemed like there was no escape. She had gotten relaxed though, had forgotten about Hydra and being careful in the 5 years since she had left, but never again.

Over the next few months, the Acktons stayed true to their words. They decided to move to London. It was a bigger city and they would never be completely left alone. There was always some tourist or citizen on the street so if they ever had to yell for help someone would be guaranteed to hear them. Arianna and Amara were to continue to be home schooled. Rachel, after much deliberation and encouragement from David, decided to keep her long hours at the local hospital. It paid well, and she truly loved her work as a doctor.

David chose to work as a reporter from home instead of leaving the girls with a babysitter and going into the office. She and David also sat down and talked for a while and eventually they decided that Rachel should wait until Arianna was older before telling her her true past and how connected to Hydra Ari and her mother really were.

For the most part, Arianna and Amara were fine with the changes. They would miss their comfortable cottage in Burford but Ari quickly found that London presented more opportunities for dance recitals and acting competitions, Amara, too, though she was still young, found a love for science fairs and engineering. David and Rachel believe she was a kind of tech genius. Already, she was beginning to take apart phones, remotes, and calculators and build them into different things.

So, the Ackton family was happy in their new home and city and despite Rachel's promise to herself, over the years, she did grow comfortable. Occasionally, when she saw a flash of platinum blonde hair or someone with icy blue eyes she remembered General Morozov but on the whole, she and David grew confident in their safety and the surprise Hydra visit and Zena's strange message were pushed to the back of their minds.

That was their first mistake.