Chapter 9: Mere Illusion...or Indomitable Spirit.

A/N: Here it is peeps, enjoy! The highway events are lurking around the corner. To my 34 likers and 48 followers.

Rhodey shook hands with the trim bearded man as soon as he entered the new and improved lounge of the Avengers tower finishing with a not so famous but well-meaning bro hug.

"How ya been buddy?" Tony asked with his baritone voice full of joy. Why wouldn't the billionaire be in a joyful mood? Here he was after a hard day of working in his lab with a surprise visit from his CEO positioned girlfriend, who was just now getting up from the couch to walk to them, followed by his best friend showing up in his home despite being gone for just a day.

"Great, I caught up on sleep that's for sure."

The sound of Pepper's bare pedicured feet pattering the cold linoleum floor echoed closer and her arms went around the Colonel giving him a welcoming hug.

"Nice to see you again Rhodey."

"You too Pepper, didn't know you'd stop by." He returned her gesture and they separated.

"Neither did this child." She smirked towards Tony who was already heading towards the bar area full of shiny glasses. He quickly unscrewed three Nail Ale beers and prepared a margarita for Pepper. The Billionaire's smile grew bigger when Bruce Banner came around the corner rubbing his eyes and taking off his glasses to place them in his pocket.

"Well look who decided to join us….the unrivaled expert in Gamma radiation." Bruce ignored the intended praise and went to greet the dark-skinned man with a calm look.

"Colonel, glad you could come."

"Thanks Doc, how has he been treating you?"

"Like I am still his therapist." The scientist playfully said with a smirk. Although Tony could sometimes be a hassle, Bruce would be forever grateful that the man child provided safety for him. All of this was way better than having to be on the run once again with Ross on his tail. Since the Extremis incident he had been hanging out in the new tower. Being internally happy that he had his own lab despite his journey to try and cure the Hulk had been abandoned years ago.

The last remaining Stark furrowed his eye brows immaturely.

"C'mon Bruce, you gotta give yourself more credit, you know a lot about Gamma radiation, you solve calculus equations like nothing, you have strength no one in this world can match, and you did a freaking heart surgery on me." He finished while tapping his chest with the sound of metal clinking following on cue. But there was no glow.

Rhodey's brows raised in wonder.

"Tony, I thought you finally got all the shrapnel out, why do you still have the reactor? Why isn't it glowing?"

Pepper walked over to the bar and sat in one of the high seats before answering the Colonel.

"Not exactly Rhodey, the operation wasn't a success. Many months ago, I found him struggling to breath drastically on this very floor with Bruce next to him, his face was red and he clawed at his chest. At first, I thought he was having another panic attack but after lifting his shirt and seeing he'd been clawing at his scar we realized something was wrong." She stopped as Tony grabbed her hand softly.

Bruce issued forward.

"We took him to the medical lab and after running diagnostics we found that the largest piece of shrapnel hadn't been removed from his heart."

"I sued those doctors and bought the hospital after the whole fiasco." The iron man without armor yelped in protest before issuing Bruce to go on.

"That particular piece of shrapnel was too embedded that he would bleed out no matter what procedure I tried to predict. So, I did the only thing I could do, I opened his chest after prepping for surgery and Pepper handed to me the reactor that was in the MK43 armor but I told her that she had to hold it over his heart so the shrapnel wouldn't go deeper. After several hours, I managed to install the chest cavity around the scarred flesh and Pepper did the rest in inserting the reactor. I couldn't for once breath the whole time, I haven't used my medical skills in years." Tony sadly looked at Bruce.

"But you saved me. I could've died but you saved me Bruce, I am forever in your debt."

"You don't owe me anything, just don't ever leave her. You have no idea how much she loves you."

On cue Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts geared towards each other over the counter and kissed passionately for a second or two and broke the intimacy.

The colonel and scientist walked to the bar and took seats on both sides of Pepper. Tony handed them their drinks and they all lifted to salute. The clinks were made and they all drank up. Rhodey licked his lips of the expensive beer and cleared his throat again.

"So, you what, got a new reactor in your chest that doesn't glow now?" Tony answered his question by setting down his bottle and lifting his black ACDC shirt revealing a toned pectoral chest with a pink scar running down and around his installed cavity with the very same reactor he threw into the ocean a year prior. It still shined an electric blue with the designed triangle but it did not illuminate brightly.

"Not really, I fished out the old one back in Malibu and modified it to where it will only activate fully when I suit up, right now it's just working on keeping the still embedded shrapnel out. The one in MK43 was not built properly with the electro magnet. Nobody knows except for yall and Natasha that I got the reactor back and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't want the media in on this." he lowered his shirt when Pepper cooed and tried to touch his well-toned abs that he had despite only working out twice a week.

Rhodey could only smirk.

"Well it's nice to know you've embraced once again what you truly are Tony."

"And so have I." Pepper said as she took a sip of her mixed drink.

"Kay kiddos how bout we change the subject per say." The bearded man grabbed the remote control next to the bowl of peanut cashews. "Evening news."

He aimed the device at a plasma screen set above the highest counter of the bar, completely ignoring the fact that he had another television in the living room area on the same floor. He switched between channels and he landed on Fox news, the stereos echoing loud in the area as they sipped their drinks.

"We here by recall the events of this morning around 7:00 AM when an apartment complex in Washington D.C. was burnt to a crisp with no casualties whatsoever, authorities report that they have yet to identify the cause of the blazing shower but were able to find gruesome evidence of multiple bodies incinerated beyond recognition. They also have yet to identify the unfortunate soles who were consumed by flames. Unidentified Federal Bureau were soon on the scene to conclude that the remains of the bodies seemed to be clothed in infantry armor. What exactly happened here ladies and gentlemen? Was this an attempt to be to apprehend an undercover terrorist?"

"Wait wait wait?!" Tony pressed hard on the pause button. "I know that area! That's one of Romanoff's safe houses."

Rhodey eyed the screen then to his best friend.

"How do you know that?"

Pepper decided to join in.

"I asked Tony to ad Natasha under his protection, she might work for S.H.I.E.L.D. but she's covered through us. We provide her with everything, money, lawyers, Medical coverage, clothes, food, even with several of Tony's weaponry and gadgets that are only gifted to her….including multiple steady apartments for her to stay when she's not here." Tony simply crossed his arms before eyeing the screen.

"And she managed to burn this one but not the building."

"With potential S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as well." Concluded Bruce at the possible revelation. The middle-aged women looked at him skeptically.

"Natasha works for S.H.I.E.L.D. Bruce, I don't think she would go out of her way to man slaughter those operatives despite how she's more than capable."

"I agree." Came the partnership of her boyfriend.

The four could only ponder in wonder. But they knew if they did this it would only draw out all night long. This only seemed like it was best to discuss for another time. After all, the Avengers could always handle themselves when not together. Tony had no doubt proved it in the journey of taking down Killian and helping Happy recover topped with Bruce's help discovering the cure for Pepper's Extremis injection.

The four continued to talk among each other when the news brought up useless debates on politics and sports. Jokes and discussions were thrown here and there followed by good laughs. Bruce had to admit that he was having a good time. That was of course until Rhodey eyed the screen with his smirk quickly fading. Tony did not fall blind to this.

"What's wrong bud?"

"Turn it up again." the billionaire did just that and the news anchor spoke without a missing beat.

"And just now we are receiving amateur recorded footage from the Bowie Town Center Shopping Mall in Washington D.C. of a strange red cloaked woman being attacked in public by what could only be undercover authorities. This unidentified female was seen by civilians drinking out of a display fountain when two tightly dressed women attempted to apprehend her with taser like weapons. The blonde haired one of the three showed signs of great resistance and rendered her capturers unconscious. Disturbingly, the woman stood on her two legs, looked around as if to look for something or someone, and then disappeared to everyone's utter horror…..beware of the images you are about to see."

Just as Promised the CEO, her Boss, The Colonel, and expert Scientist feasted their eyes on the recording of a smart phone. It wasn't the best quality best it showed what needed to be seen. It wasn't what was going on in the footage that caused Rhodey's heart to pound, it was the absolute déjà vu that came clawing from the back of his brain. And unknown to Pepper and Bruce, the same went for Tony.

"Pause it Tony." He did as the man asked and the two best friends stared at each other intensively. Something did come up only a couple days ago, and now it was on the news.

"I know those looks." The redhead confirmed with a frown. "You two have seen her before have you?" she pointed to the screen without looking.

"Rhodey has Pep, he contacted me not too long ago about a run in that he had during a test exercise with some of the new jets we're producing for S.H.I.E.L.D." the Colonel nodded before speaking next.

"Nothing went wrong and nobody was injured but this woman showed up next to the jets and observed them."

"How?" Bruce asked cautiously. "Weren't those planes thousands of feet above the ground…..are you saying that she was up in the air with them?!"

To the two's surprise the Colonel nodded firmly.

"Exactly, this chick was flying at speeds beyond what the planes could go at. The video you see there, was no laughing matter when she got tasered and shook it off. One of the pilots was ordered to fire at her in the air and the high caliber bullets didn't even phase her, instead she looked at us warningly and took off at an uncalculated hypersonic speed rate." Pepper scrunched her toes at this thought. Had this been the early 2000's she would have fallen to the alignment of skepticism, of course she resided to believe the dark-skinned man since crazy shit ended up manifesting after New York.

"Maybe what you saw was another one of Thor's buddies from his home world pal, I mean…..after all from what you explained to me, from what you explained to them, this sounds like serious business."

"I know Tony."

Pepper finished a final gulp before asking both men.

"Well you're the one still supplying S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony, didn't you get the security tape from the surveillance drones on the jets?" the man she loved unfortunately gave her a head shake of a "no".

"No can do Pep, I don't know what's going on but S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't answering any of my calls and Hill won't pick up no matter how many times I speed dial. I think am going to have to use J.A.R.V.I.S. to hack into the place once again. I could do it right now but it's gonna take me at least a couple hours."

"Wait…..guys!" Bruce yelped grabbing the attention of the three.

"Do you think it's possible…..for this preppy looking girl to have a connection with Natasha's burned down apartment. No doubt the two at the mall that tried to take her away were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents."

There was a silence at first in the bar area followed by many eye brows raising simultaneously Tony looked up to the ceiling.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. you there?!"

"At your service Sir?"

"Clint, you need to trust me on this." Natasha spoke into the minute call that she had to spare over her connection with Stark's A.I. before S.H.I.E.L.D. would pick up traces to track them. "Just stay where you are, don't answer any of their calls. Weird shit is happening and I don't think its best that you leave the house…Dammit just trust me on this ok! Keep them safe, keep Laura safe…Okay bye, take care." The two-humans stepped on Kara's cape for the third time on the voyage down the elevator. The girl didn't seem to mind or care but the soldier and spy had to constantly shift from side to side to avoid leaving foot prints on the rare fabric laying on the ground.

"Clint is seeing somebody?"

"I am not talking about this."

Steve groaned when his shoes stomped on the red cape again.

"Geez not even Thor's cape drags several inches on the ground." The soldier was left talking alone again when Natasha's phone rang and she quickly put it up to her ear when she saw the caller I.D.

"I am alright, please don't call again." she hung up and terminated the service of her minute call.

"Stark?"

"Yes." Was her simple reply.

The rectangular casket they were in ceased to move indicating that the three had reached the bottom. The massive shuttles opened and the first one to react was Kara, who stretched her arms out blocking their path to move. Steve was about to say something but stopped when Kara's eyes shined an electric blue and her face contorted into concentration.

"Nat what is she…"

"I think she's scouting, look at her eyes." She smirked upon bringing up another reference. "Guess eagle vision is added to the list of her powers."

Kara ignored the two and continued to eye the dark bowels ahead of them. She slowly lowered her arms and made the first move to walk forward. Steve nearly wobbled when the end dirtied cape went out from underneath his weight and the blonde looking back to ensure the fabric wasn't trapped in any hinge of the elevator.

"She needs to cut that thing, it's too long."

"We are underneath whatever God knows where and you're concerned about an expensive looking piece of clothing."

The sound of the three's feet clicked in the dark abyss followed by lights coming on from the ceiling as they proceeded forward. As everything grew bright, so did the manifestation of old monitors, really really old monitors. Natasha gently shrugged Kara to the side so that her and her teammate could walk up the small stairs that led to what could only be the center of the control room. The place practically looked like the set used for the Apollo 11 launch.

"This can't be the data point this technology is ancient."

An answer wasn't needed due to the two humans staring at the slot of multiple inserts in from of the desktop of the biggest monitor. Natasha fished through her pockets but pulled them out empty handed.

"Did you lose it?"

"No, I just remembered, I gave it back to Kara when we got off the truck." She looked past him to eye the girl staring directly at one of the old cameras that was set on a podium with curiosity.

"Kara." upon hearing her name the alien turned on her heel and went up the stairs to greet the redhead. Natasha extended a palm out, gesturing to the toddler like adult to give her what she needed. The blonde fished through her left sleeve and pulled out the hard drive. The older women gently took it and inserted it into the empty slot. The action brought up the time when she had to plug in the memory card of her gamecube that she no longer had.

The next startled them when all the monitors and control generators seemingly came to life with the camera above the main monitor moving upwards. The screen was still blank expect for the green words appearing accompanied by a poor robotic voice.

"Initiate System?"

Natasha was the first to make it to the dusty keyboard but stopped when Kara took a quick breath and blew the filth off the miniature pads. Steve cocked his brow but Natasha seemed great full.

"Y-E-S, Yes!" she hit the enter button, waiting for the worst. But the wait turned into small shits and giggles.

"Sha'll we play a game?"

Steve shook his head at the saying but contributed.

"Live or die, make your choice."

"I said sha'll we play a game, not Hello Steve, I wanna play a game."

"I get it, I "saw" both movies." He finished with a smirk and Kara set a palm on his shield while she was in a crouching position. He looked down when he heard her cape flutter everywhere.

"Kara, it's a shield, don't tell me you've never seen one before." The Kryptonian just kept admiring the star design and clenched her fist to give the center a double soft bang. Kara only smirked and stood back up, feeling honored to have felt the primary weapon of the soldier named Steve.

Natasha waved her hand behind them, catching their attention and the monitor began to produce high images of emerald static concluding with the sight of a silhouette possessing huge pit less eyes.

And to top it all off, a swiss voice came through the speakers.

"Rogers, Steven, born 1918."

The Camera at the top turned towards the facial direction of Natasha.

"Romanoff, Natalia Alianova, born 1984."

Kara tensed for a moment, this primitive machinery knew the names of the two human's she was with? She defiantly heard Steve's name through the speaker but was thrown a bit off when Natasha's name was pronounced Natalia.

"This must be some kinda recording."

"I am not a recording, Fraulein! I may not be the man I once was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945 but I am….Arnin Zola! To help ease your mind Ms. Romanoff I was a swiss Doctor working for The Red Skull himself during World War II, in 1972 I received a terminal diagnosis that was quickly working its way all over my physical form, science could not preserve my body. But my mind however, that indeed was worth saving…..on 200,000 feet of databanks…..you two are standing in my brain."

"How did you get here?" Steve addressed after seeing the photo of Arnin on a separate screen back when he was a slightly deformed man only in this image he looked more ill.

"Invited Captain. Because after the war, S.H.I.E.L.D. began to blindly recruit German and foreign scientists who had the potential of great structure and value with their knowledge. They thought we could help their cause, I choice to also help my own." The A.I. confirmed with a techno snicker and an image of multiple unknown scientists appeared with Arnin being in the middle.

Natasha summoned a traditional death glare while slowly obscuring Kara behind her frame since they were almost the same height.

She was putting the puzzle pieces together so fast Jigsaw would name her the successor of his mantle. The Red Skull was part of H.Y.D.R.A. and Arnin Zola was under that alliance. He defiantly had to be one of the reasons why S.H.I.E.L.D. was doing what it was doing.

"H.Y.D.R.A. died with the Red Skull long ago." Steve said while standing his ground.

"Cut off one head, two more sha'll take its place…..accessing archive." Just as that the A.I. brought up a large cutaway to disasters and atrocities that happened over the centuries on Earth. Most of them included wars and complete chaos that Kara managed to peak at past Natasha's shoulder. The montage turned into one of organized dictatorship and portions of armies marching with the H.Y.D.R.A. symbol on their shoulders.

"H.Y.D.R.A. was founded on the belief of Humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom, what we did not realize was that if we tried to take that freedom, they resist! The war taught us much, Humanity needed to surrender it's freedom willingly. After the war S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded and I was recruited." The images of Howard, Peggy and Colonel Philips appeared with poor quality but otherwise made Steve uncomfortable.

"A new H.Y.D.R.A. grew, a beautiful parasite, inside S.H.I.E.L.D." the revelation struck both Human's hearts like a freight train. "For more than seventy years, H.Y.D.R.A. has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war, and when history did not cooperate…..history was changed."

The chilling image of The Winter Soldier popped up, with multiple shots of him being on a secret perch above a safe zone.

Natasha kicked traces of Kara's cape behind her.

"That's impossible, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have stopped you."

"Accidents." Front shot images of Howard Stark and Nick Fury manifested, with the title "Deceased" stamped in front of them. "Will happen."

"H.Y.D.R.A created a world so chaotic, that Humanity will finally be ready to sacrifice its freedom, to gain its security." Global scales of the planet came up with several targeted dots landing in certain areas of the U.S. "And when the purification is complete, H.Y.D.R.A.'s new world order….will arise."

Natasha clenched her fists and gritted her semi denture white teeth so hard they almost cracked. This entire time. This entire fucking time she had been working under the one thing she swore to destroy with her bare hands. The amount of spines she had broken over the years, the amount of bullets that she had to put in people's heads, the amount of young enemy throats she had to slit, the amount of times she had to engorge her thumbs into someone's eye sockets during interrogations, was all because H.Y.D.R.A. ordered her to do it. Escaping the red room and KGB was all for nothing after all.

And the thoughts drove her over the edge so bad she was ready to butcher the doctor speaking to them if he was still alive. And there was nothing anyone in the world could do to stop her. She was no angel that much she knew, but she wasn't evil like the world wanted her to be. She didn't want to forgive H.Y.D.R.A., no, she wanted to slaughter them. Make them feel beyond a portion of the fraction of the pain they had caused throughout the years. Those who pledge themselves to absolute evil had to be kicked off their thrones and stripped of their so called God positions. They were cowards, their followers were more-brave than they ever will be.

Steve eyed the A.I. in silent anger. Natasha used this moment to turn to the side and exhale the excess lump that clogged in her throat. Kara did not fall blind to the redhead's face and the two females looked at each other. Natasha's face remained stoic but Kara sadly eyed the tear that managed to escape the redhead's right eye.

Knowing that the first human she had ever met was in a state of silent shock Kara reach with a small hand and patted the tear away. Kara Zor-El was no fool. She may not have been able to understand what the machine was saying but the images among the screens were enough to tell Kara that the perishing disasters could only be the work of organized crime and corruption. And that corruption was after them. Ready to capture and slaughter them because they did not share the same opinion.

If Natasha allowed it, Kara would stand by her side along with Steve. These two primitives were different. And certain evil doers did not like it when things were different.

"We won Captain, Your death amounts to the same as your life, a zero sum!" Natasha silently encouraged the super soldier to pummel the screen, because it was the closest thing the A.I. would ever experience compared to emotional pain and disappointment.

His fist was caught by the wrist with a smaller hand that held him in place no matter how hard his muscles pushed him forward. Kara had sped around Natasha and held the soldier's fist in place. He quickly pulled pack, knowing full well that Kara's strength was more superior than what he could combine with Natasha.

The Camera whizzed to look at Kara….the silence sent chills down both human's spines.

"And Just…Who…..are…you?" Kara eyed the big black eyes through the emerald static.

Natasha took this time to smirk when she heard Zola's voice no longer sounding arrogant but pure curious.

The blonde tilted her head to the side. Was the machine talking to her?

"I will ask again…..Who…..are…you?"

Kara came to a sudden realization when the meaning behind the odd words were repeated. She was being asked a question. This was no machine. It was an artificial Intelligence. This world of primitives had the capacity to build creations such as an artificial intelligence!

Captain Rogers gripped his shield tighter before speaking up.

"How do you not know who she is? Apparently, you know us." he gestured between Natasha and him. "You even told us our date of birth, how can you not identify her?"

"My archives are full of almost every registered person in the civilized parts of Earth which so happens to be over a billion files in my storage capacity. I hate to admit this but I cannot pull up any facial recognition." The camera geared towards the blonde. "So I will asked for the final time…..Who…are….YOU?!"

Natasha was going to use this to her advantage, Zola was so focused on this new topic she had to speak.

"You are looking at someone who's on our side that you have no idea even existed, so much for your amazing intellect. She has the potential to bring everything that you built down. And with my guidance she will, you have no choice to believe me and you know it. This is Kara, she is very peculiar but no one in H.Y.D.R.A will stop her. Guess the symbol on her chest, you don't even know what it is."

"Getting cocky are we Ms. Romanoff?" Zola was glad that he was nothing but a conscience, otherwise, he would've showed concern considering what the human female said was true. He knew nothing about this….Ka-Ra? Not even H.Y.D.R.A.'s most-darkest files contained anything on this young woman standing in front of him.

"What's on this drive?!" Steve protested hoping to leave Zola in the dark.

"PROJECT INSIGHT, requires insight, so I wrote an algorithm."

"What kind of Algorithm? What is it for?" Natasha barked into the screen next to Kara.

"The answer to your question is fascinating unfortunately, you sha'll be too dead to hear it." all three turned to see the elevator door shutting rather quickly. Steve would have launched his shield to create an unbreakable gap but got another shock to his spine when an echoing whoosh rung throughout the control room and Kara now stood between the doors with her arms out. The enhanced titanium layered shuttles crumbled like tracer paper and massive sparks emitted from the damaged openings to Zola's brain.

Kara's face had not once contorted into stress from pressure or pain.

"She can teleport?!" Steve asked with the spirits of his soul raising by the second, an Asgardian with possibly more potential than Thor, was one their side.

"The correct and amazing term would be Super-speed Captain." Zola said with a tint of impress in his voice.

Natasha's phone protested and she pulled it out.

"Steve, we gotta bogey, short range ballistic, thirty seconds tops."

"Who fired it?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D." unknown to the two but to Zola, Kara's eyes shined electric blue while looking above past Natasha and Steve.

"I am afraid I have been stalling Cap…"

Kara flew into the air past them and rocketed straight the roof into the unknown, completely abandoning her position of holding the doors open. There was no need since the doors were creaking to close shut once again. Natasha's eye brows raised when her phone beeped again.

"Another bogey."

"Kara!"

"Yes."

"Natasha she's heading straight for an air strike missile!"

"She is not Asgardian!"

The bunker shook tremendously with the boom of an explosion that happened yards away from the camp. The equipment in the room wobbled drastically but they held onto the rails to steady their footing. With what had just happened it could only mean one thing.

Kara made impact with the missile, rendering another H.Y.R.D.A. mission, a failure.

Natasha held onto the phone for dear life.

"Natasha….."

"Shut up."

"Nat…."

"I said shut up Steve." The soldier would've protested again, if not for the smile that was spreading across the redhead's dimples. Only one bogey blinked on the tiny screen now, and it was not a weapon of the devil.

The ground shook again from another smaller impact and in less than two seconds the caped Woman crashed through the roof with her feet landing straight into the concrete floor, cracking all beneath her boots and eyes glowing red. She bore no injury other than a confidant smirk. Not a single scratch was on her suited leotard and flesh except for the steam that was quickly blowing off her symbol. Her cape now appearing clean as ever fluttered around her like majestic wings. The blonde straight locks swayed from her face with no dirt or traces of burnt grazing her scalp. The crimson boots looked as polished as ever with the diamond cuffs shining brighter than anything in the room.

Kara super sped to where the humans were standing and Natasha did the one thing that almost made Steve gorge his eyes out because it was too good to be true and he didn't want to believe it.

The World's Most-Deadliest Women, capable of taking down dozens of armed men, seduce a person from whatever gender, impaling a sword through anyone's chest, hugged the seemingly powerful women with a small smile.

"Thank you, Kara." was the Black Widow's response. Natasha was grate full. Not only because this strange girl saved them but because she was quickly becoming trustworthy, at least by her standards. She could feel the essence radiating off Kara. It was one of comfort and compassion. There was only one other person in this world that Natasha had ever felt so much compassion from, and that someone was Maria Hill. Kara truly was something, a caped curious sole that she had just met a couple days ago, was quickly finding a place to rest inside of Natasha's small nest of trusty people, thus forming Steve, Pepper, Tony, Phil(God rest his soul), Maria, Nick(May he rest as well), Clint, and now this girl with a curious but good heart.

Bonded friendships were not meant to be celebrated in the world of Chaotic good guys.

"How was this possible?" the three now abandoned all gestures of playing nice. Kara walked towards the main monitor to look directly at it. So, it had been him who sent the bomb to eradicate the woman and the strong-willed soldier.

"You are a mere illusion, how was this possible?" Natasha grabbed the hard drive out of the socket sticking out and placed it in her pocket. She stood next to Kara and gave a traditional deadly stare.

"As I said before, you don't know her. Neither do we but she's with us in our plan, and our plan is to stop your so called indestructible empire."

Steve walked to where they were and held a casual frown.

"Natasha is right. You and H.Y.D.R.A. will have all the help you can get but we're not going down so easily, I just met Kara this morning but she's got heart and spirit. Just you wait Zola, we are ending this." as if on cue the two spun around and began to march down the corridor to the elevator. Kara quickly tagging along when Natasha gestured for her to follow.

"Come back."

Steve tried to barb open the doors with his shield but it was pointless despite the doors being damaged from the way Kara had treated them. The caped girl didn't stick around to watch the soldier try to botch the shuttles with his face turning red from struggle. So instead she extended a palm, slid it between the titanium hydraulics like a child sneaking a tooth under a pillow and prided it open, breaking the mechanisms more. To be safe she dug her fingers into the metal and shoved them deep into the wall to make sure the malevolent artificial intelligence had no control of the entrance.

"Come back."

Before they stepped into the elevator Natasha made the gesture by pointing to her eyes first before pointing them back to the control room, she wanted Kara to incinerate the place, along with what was left of Arnin's conscience.

"COME BACK!"

The girl menacingly walked a couple feet towards the center but stayed in place to where she was still closer to the two humans. Her eyes glowed hotter than any volcanic lava Earth could produce. She fired her rays and the room quickly engulfed with flames, the beams showing no mercy for the ancient technology that was containing Arnin Zola.

"Stop Please!

The mind of the swiss man could almost feel the panic and despair again despite not having a physical form. This was his physical form. And it was burning to a cinder. He only had enough power to send a message to S.H.I.E.L.D./H.Y.R.D.A. he barely had any process left to transport thousands of databanks into anything to try and escape this death. The scary truth was there was none. And now he was going to perish, knowing well that two of H.Y.D.R.A.'s most wanted people were going to live to see another day, knowing that H.Y.D.R.A. now had an adversary that did not fall under the category of "pushover". This was his end.

"NNNNNOOOOO."

"Kara come on!" all three stepped into the doorway to a not so creepy hell and with one final look of the burring place, Kara dug into the walls into order to slam the crippled shuttled doors together, followed by the elevator doors closing once everyone was in, the ding echoed and they went up.

Arnin Zola was no more.

Brock Rumlow scouted the undamaged area that was supposed to have looked like a fresh war zone. But unfortunately, the missile had suddenly exploded fifty yards before it could reach its destination he had already received multiple reports that Zola's motherboard was burning underground and the scientist could be officially declared, dead.

Many reported in and asked how was this possible. But Rumlow knew better.

It was that chick, the one who destroyed satellite BETA, he knew because she was with them, she had been seen at the mall earlier on this very day and as hard as it was to believe she was with Captain Rogers and the Black Widow. The reports he got from the wounded agents in the mall's parking lot said it all. No, it was the image that popped up on the radar of his laptop that said it all when he ordered the strike on the decommissioned S.H.I.E.L.D. base.

He still remembered the footage when the infrared camera attached to the bomb showed a glimpse of the girl before the explosion cut the signal completely. The question was if she was still alive. Brock grew a hunch, the answer was yes, otherwise, how could they all escape.

His train of thought was interrupted when he noticed several tire marks grazing the dirt road around him. His platoon did not show up in any land vehicle, this could only mean that they had successfully managed to escape and that they were heading back to Washington. He cursed intensively and spoke into his communicator.

"Call in the asset."

Want some Milk?" Pierce said as he poured himself a glass. The shadowy figure only stared at him without emotion.

"Our time table has moved, and our window is limited." He drank his glass casually before making his way to sit down next to the killer in the shadows.

" They already cost me Zola, two targets, level six, and a possible adversary on their side, I want confirmed death in ten hours. But do be careful, adversary has shown great resistance against standard weaponry, and is armed with enhanced strength…..I wish you the best of luck."

"The three drove down the street, thanking all that was haven that they hadn't been road blocked or apprehended as Steve and Natasha took turns driving. It took practically all night but it was worth it. The morning sun was just coming over the horizon. This time Steve was back behind the wheel and he pulled up at the only place he could think of.

The home of Sam Wilson.

The two said nothing since they were quite a bit exhausted, and Kara hopped out of the back seat while taking in the morning sun proudly, she sure was fine for someone who took a missile to the chest several hours ago.

When they walked up the steps that lead to the small home Steve quickly knocked the shielded glass door. Sam raised the brown curtain and was greeted with the grim faces of Captain America and The Black Widow in the flesh. What lastly got his attention was the young girl standing behind them with Natasha shifting her pace so Kara was more behind her.

"Hey man."

"So sorry about this Sam, we need a place to lay low, everyone we know is trying to kill us." the former air fighter could see it in his face, he was grim and exhausted. The same would go for Natasha. He looked between the both of them and then glimpsed at the blonde.

"Not everyone…c'mon". he moved to the side to let them in and so they did. Steve went in first followed by Natasha grabbing the younger one's hand and leading them both in. Sam stared at the ends of the cape that were dragging in and as soon as the coast was clear, he shut the door.

Steve washed his face casually just as they finished settling into their spare bedrooms tied to one bathroom. He rinsed his face with a clean towel while flexing his biceps that were irritated from the hoodie he had been wearing all day yesterday and night. his hearing caught a noise and he stopped what he was doing. He heard talking in the other room.

Natasha was talking…..to Kara." the soldier silently walked towards the doorway and watched what was going on. Yes, Natasha was talking to Kara, and she seemed so deep in thought.

All he did was listen.

"When I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D. I thought I was going straight." Said the redhead as she rubbed her neck with a blue towel. She was sitting on the bed while Kara sat on the floor in front of her, her cape snuggled around her torso and waste.

"I guess I just traded in one evil organization for another, I thought I knew what I was doing, all the bad things I learned to accomplish good." Kara could tell that her friend was bringing up the revelations from last night. "No, I know better, took me many years and last night to realize that if I'm gonna do what's right….I'll do it my way. I know this is a little off topic but throughout the years I use to read a comic book based off someone who just like you and some other guy I know with a hammer for a weapon that wears a cape. He even had his own film adaption of a trilogy that ended not too long ago." Steve smiled at the mention of the Dark Knight Trilogy.

"He was a silent guardian, a watchful protector, an unsung hero who despite had a lot of potential, never pledged himself to an organization. He did things his way and had little regards of what others thought of him, he was Chaotic Good. Which is what I should have been all along." The admiration in her voice let Kara know that the human was bringing up pleasant memories. And that she was sharing them with her.

"My point is that no one will keep me down anymore, I am no one's bitch… I owe you." Natasha reached forward tucked a hair behind Kara's ear. She looked up, finally acknowledging Steve's presence.

"And he owes you." He nodded upon being told by the redhead.

"And even though he says we shouldn't trust each other." The older women stroked the girl's chin calmly. "I trust you Kara."

The moment was interrupted by Sam who walked in on the scene.

"Hey uh, I made Breakfast….if ya'll eat that sorta thing." the dark skinned man realized his intrusion and excused himself. Steve looked back to see Natasha helping Kara up even though the blonde levitated herself upward, her cape untangling from her limbs.

"C'mon Kara I think you should try your first breakfast."

Steve and Sam watched with a raised eyebrow as Natasha spoon fed scrambled eggs via fork to Kara's happily awaited mouth followed by prompting the Blonde to take a bite out of a biscuit the redhead was holding. The girl let out squeals of delight but she didn't get to finish as Natasha fetched the glass of orange juice and brought it to Kara's lips so she could drink. The alien got the message and held the cup with both hands, Natasha letting go and leaned back in her seat.

All while Steve and Sam continued to stare.

"What?"

Sam spoke next.

"And here I thought her showing up on the news last night and with you guys was weird but spoon feeding a young woman? What's gives?"

Steve defended Natasha.

"Don't get too creeped out Sam, she's practically a toddler, look at her?" all three turned to Kara who stopped eating and held a salt shaker in her hand, she eyed it cautiously before setting it down and picking up the pepper.

"I think I'm already creeped out."

Natasha frowned.

"Well you shouldn't." the Russian snapped her fingers catching the blonde's attention. Natasha pointed to the eggs and Kara resumed eating them with a fork.

"Told ya." Steve smirked. "And wait she was on the news last night?"

"Yep, I would turn on the T.V. but that's on the other side of the house. She was on the news. She was recorded drinking out of the fountain by the coin tossing display. She just beat up the ones trying to catch her and she just disappears after standing up."

"She didn't disappear Sam." Natasha confirmed after munching on her own toast. "She has super speed."

The man's brows raised.

"Really, that fast?!" the other two nodded.

"Watch." Natasha grabbed Kara's biscuit from her reach and wiggled it in front of the girl. Thinking fast the women tossed it across the room and Kara became a red blue blur in their eyes. She caught it and zoomed back to her seat, her cape in a different position and she munched on the biscuit casually.

"Whoa!"

Natasha smirked with a devil sly.

"What else can she do?"

"She can fly weather like levitation, or as fast as a stealth bomber."

Sam didn't have time to raise his eyebrows in skepticism as Natasha lifted Kara out of her seat bridal style while she still nibbled on the biscuit. The Russian's muscles ached but held Kara out like an offering and let go. The man awed when the girl floated in place except for her cape and got into a criss-cross position while still in the air. He got up to eye more closely and sure enough his eyes were not playing tricks on him, the girl was breaking the laws of physics. How was she doing this?

"She also has intense strength capable of crushing jeeps and Hydraulic metal doors but I don't see how we can test that. She's gotta tough hide, her skin stops bullets, electricity, and possible grenades and missiles…..oh and she shoots laser out of her eyes." Kara watched Natasha do the eye gesture and concentrated to make her eyes glow a synthetic red startling Sam in the process.

"Kara no no no stop!" Natasha, being the risky women that she was placed her hands on the girl's face shaking her head back and forth. The girl stopped what she was doing and looked down at her plate, the redhead moved a strand of hair behind the girl's ear and issued her to keep eating.

"Sorry bout that Sam." Natasha sat back down. "things got a little intense but she wouldn't have done it trust me."

The man rubbed his chest casually.

"Well I'm just glad she does what you tell her to. But why did you call her that?"

"Kara is her name. you say it like you're say "car" but you finish it with an "a", and the "r" has to be slightly lifted. "Kar-Ra"…..speaking of which Mr. Wilson." Natasha swayed her straight locks. "I think it's time you both properly meet."

The Wilson heir stood up on instinct and watched as Kara took a stand as well upon instructions from Natasha. They all waited for the girl to swallow before continuing.

"Sam this is Kara, we are not exactly sure where she came from but she's on our side, and to top it off we'd really appreciate that you'd help us out as soon as we explain to you what's going on." Natasha grabbed the girl's caped shoulders. "Kara this is Sam…..Sam…"

Kara took a moment to understand and take in the features of the man who was currently providing shelter for them. Apparently from the way they entered earlier, Steve and this man were friends. His skin color was a similar touch to Natasha and Steve's former leader, but he was much younger that's for sure. He gave a charming smile to her and extended a hand to her to greet.

"It's nice to meet you Kara." she smiled and gracefully took it to shake. She could feel the slight tremble of his heartbeat.

"Sam." She nodded and let go, Natasha still grabbing her shoulders.

"I don't want to sound rude Natasha, but….can she talk?" the soldier and spy both shook their heads no.

"Sorry Sam she doesn't speak English despite her appearance."

"Maybe she's one of Thor's kind I mean look at the way she's dressed. Only Thor and his people follow styles like that."

Steve protested from the other side of the table.

"I personally believe so but Nat on the other hand thinks different."

"She is different, but defiantly not Asgardian." She let go of the blonde so she could get back to her breakfast.

"Ok guys." Sam's face grew serious. "Let's get down to business here. I wanna hear everything up until this point. I won't judge ya'll but I can't help if I don't hear the whole thing…..we got a deal?"

"Steve and Natasha looked at each other and then at Sam.

"Deal."

A/N: I can only write so much peeps. But I hope you all liked it. Please read and review! And take care.