"She's Katherine! She loves to play games, and you're fooling yourself if you think you're going to find out what she's up to before she wants you to know." — Damon Salvatore

Manhattan, New York
March 2nd 2012

Katherine didn't wake up in the most graceful way possible. It was in a smelly alleyway of New York in late 2011 in which she found herself alive again, but nobody saw her, so it didn't matter particularly much. She was just sure 'the Voice' was trying to be spiteful, or just had a very cruel sense of humour.

She was quick to find herself a large studio apartment (free of rent, thanks to the beauty of compulsion) in the few months she had been here, as well as a brand new closet (compulsion again, but she didn't have a job or any means of income, in her defence) and was living quite comfortably. Luckily, all her favourite brands remained, and she may or may not have had a closet filled purely with designer heels and boots, but, hey, it was a necessity. The Voice couldn't get too angry with her! She hadn't started burning in the sun yet, so obviously she was still in the clear.

She quickly learnt the way this world was different from hers through extensive amounts of research. On the surface, they were pretty much the same. Same geography, with some exceptions here and there, same laws, same countries as far as she could tell, and the same history. Well, kind of. It was different in some miniscule, but still pretty fundamental ways.

For instance, Mystic falls didn't even exist. What a relief.

And, apparently a rather integral part of this version of America's victory in the Second World War was some sort of super soldier by the name 'Captain America', who definitely never existed in her version of reality. If he had, Katherine was more than sure she would've found a way to toy with him, if the pictures were anything to go by. It was a bit of a cliché name if you asked Katherine, but she supposed Americans always did pride themselves with their patriotism. He made up for it with his body and face, though. It was a shame she was brought into this era instead.

Also, HYDRA, a science division under the Nazis, definitely did not exist in her life. There were still Nazis that did messed up experiments and stuff, but not these HYDRA people. She would've known—she was very actively trying to keep on top what was going on during World War Two. Mainly so that she could stay out of any active war grounds or high risk areas (Katherine did not want to know what a bomb would do to her body) but also so that she could do some infiltration here and there. Because, even the largest scale war to occur amongst humans was a game to Katherine, just like everything else. She did liberate a holocaust train full of Jews this one time, but she never told anyone that. It seemed to human an action to do—it actually showed that she, Katherine Pierce, may have actually cared for a life other than her own, and she wasn't actively trying to make people believe (know) that.

She had been brushing up on her history—so what? A girl needed to know the differences after being alive for 500 years. She didn't want all her experience to be for nothing.

Also, a very notable figure who happened to keep turning up on the news—which she had been watching religiously, but she would never admit that to anybody else—was a man by the name Tony Stark. A billionaire who flew about in a red iron suit. It wasn't actually made out of iron, apparently, which she had found out in one of his numerous interviews (which Katherine had watched a whole lot of, but she would also never admit that). She liked to call him the tin man more than anything.

He was also the owner of that obnoxiously large building in the middle of the city: Stark Tower. That certainly didn't exist in her version of her reality. Part of her felt compelled to compel him, just for the sheer fun of it, but she decided against it. The whole 'being good' thing kind of got in the way.

She wasn't even entirely sure what the 'greater good' was. The only thing she had seen was some huge, green guy—the hulk, or something—that had caused a lot of destruction, but he didn't seem to be causing any problems right now and she wasn't exactly rushing to fight him. Vampire or not, she wasn't even entirely sure she could take him on. From the videos she saw, he was quite…strong. And could potentially actually kill her. Living for the greater good or not, Katherine actually wanted to live.

Whatever did constitute this greater good, she hoped that the cat she saved the other day off the street was a part of it.

She hated the thing. She had been fooled by its cuteness, and it was all willing to be nice when she took it to the vet and fed it and let it stay in her home, but the thing turned feral when it was in her home. It hissed at her all the time, and only ever showed an ounce of kindness when it wanted food. It was a deceptive little thing, and, no, she didn't see a reflection of her own behaviour in it. The cat, which she had named Lucifer, was not cute. Katherine, however, was.

It was weird, knowing she was a vampire in some ways but a human in others. She wasn't exactly dead; she could hear her heartbeat, and she could feel herself breathe and there was blood pumping through her veins, not just sitting in them,but she didn't age. Her physical appearance didn't change at all. She had dragged a knife across her arm just to make sure she could still heal (since she had tested everything the Voice said she still had, just out of precaution) and, in 30 seconds, the wound was gone. As always.

She honestly missed being able to kill people. Feeding, too. She was currently living solely off junk food—the addictive packets off trash—but, hey, she was a vampire. She couldn't gain weight. She would be blessed with her gorgeous body no matter what.

Even if the food was substantial enough for her, however, she couldn't get rid of the bloodlust. It was nowhere near as strong as it once had been, but it still remained like an itch at the back of her throat that she simply couldn't get rid of. It was aggravating, really. Surely, if she fed on little amounts of blood and didn't kill anybody and simply compelled them to forget, she'd be in the clear? Would getting rid of that incessant itch at the back of her throat be considered selfish and worthy of losing her ability to go out into the sun? Katherine didn't know.

This world really was only different in its absence of all the supernatural creatures of her world and the fact science was more advanced, creating all these weird superhero-esque people.

Billionaire in a flying metal suit.

Not weird at all.

However, all the research was starting to bore Katherine to death. She had been here for a whole five months, and she had yet to do anything even remotely fun. But, tonight, Katherine had plans on changing that. She was currently on her way to buy a new pair of straighteners since, as much as she liked her curly hair better and wasn't particularly that fond of looking like Elena (even if Katherine was cuter than her with hair un-straightened or straightened) she also craved a bit of change every once in a while. Even if it was one that went away by simply washing her hair.

New York was a perfect environment for her, even if she didn't like how the streets smelled or the fact there were rats. She knew how to push herself through a crowd, though. She couldn't help but be amused when the ignorant man, usually in a suit and on their phone, walked into her, expecting her to be the one who moved out of the way, but was instead pushed to the side by her—and she loved how they faltered when she'd simply smirk in response. Ring around their finger or not, men just loved falling for her.

She knew she was irresistible, and the Petrova doppelganger used it to her advantage always. If she knew she didn't have to use compulsion, then she didn't. It was much more entertaining knowing men willingly drooling over her, and their bemusement when she was able to drink herself through three bottles of yet remained sober enough to not be persuaded into going home with them was particularly amusing.

She was pretty sure she'd beat anyone in a drinking competition should the opportunity arise.

Katherine still wasn't entirely sure how this whole human-vampire thing worked though. She had the same alcohol tolerance she had as a vampire, regardless of the fact her body, more or less, worked in the same way a human's did. She didn't know whether she could get pregnant, or anything. She still didn't get her period, but she wasn't entirely ruling out the chance that potentially one day she could somehow become pregnant.

She'd be careful, she noted dully. She had been an awful mother to Nadia, and she had to live with that guilt, and it almost felt wrong to have another child—even if it was 500 years later and in an alternate version of earth. And, besides, she didn't really want to deal with a crying ball of snot. She was responsibility free, and a dependent baby wasn't about to ruin that.

But, at the same time, Katherine was someone who enjoyed a little bit of sexy times, and there was nothing wrong with precaution, so she figured there was no harm picking up some contraceptive pills on the way to purchase her new hair iron. Again, she didn't even think she could get pregnant, but she didn't put it past the Voice to have a sick sense of humour. He gave her the option to age, so she couldn't see why he wouldn't give her the option to carry around little humans.

Regardless, it was finally her time to go out and have some fun tonight—she heard Stark was throwing yet another one of his infamous parties, and she was never one to really care for an invite.

Looking at her freshly straightened her, Katherine grinned at her reflection. She was definitely cuter than Elena.

She couldn't understand why Stefan picked her instead—he was just trying to compensate for his loss of her. He loved her, even if he never cared to admit it. And Damon spent over a century obsessed with her, so that one kind of answered itself.

Maybe she was damning all her romances being attracted to the 'good guys', though. If Elijah and Stefan counted as good guys, that was. Neither of them seemed to be particularly fond of her tricks. Elijah always looked so hurt, as if he didn't know that was what she was like. Every time. She did love him though, and he wasabsolutely gorgeous to look at (like, serious eye candy, especially with those suits) but perhaps they just weren't compatible. He never seemed to believe her sincerity, but she supposed that was her fault.

It didn't matter now. There was no Elijah or Stefan. No Klaus or Silas or travellers or witches. Just, her.

Probably the most powerful 'human' in existence.

(Besides the green guy.)

Deep red lipstick applied, Katherine kissed the mirror of her vanity, leaving a print of her lips she knew she'd have no fun scrubbing off the next morning. The outfits she wore in this world won't too far off what she wore in her last, particularly given the decade it was. She knew the Stark's parties tended to be extravagant, so she settled for a black mini bodycon dress—not too mini, though, since she was classy, not trashy. But she made sure it was short enough to get some attention.

The outfit was finished with a pair of dark red platform heels (since Katherine was a sucker for matching) and a short black jacket which she's be sure to ditch at the door. It hid her figure, and that was exactly what she was trying to accentuate. But, New York wasn't the warmest at night in early spring, and as much as she wasn't exactly bothered by the cold she was sure it would look odd to the average bystander, and she didn't exactly want to attract any unwanted attention.

Aware of the quickly passing time, Katherine made her way out of her door, and on to the streets of Manhattan, ignoring the hiss of the cat as she walked past its bed. New York was a beautiful thing at night, really. But, she wasn't there to sightsee, so she allowed her vamp speed to carry her to the tower in the swift two minutes that it took.

"Invitation, please." One of the guard's at the door spoke, holding his arm in front of the tower doors as she attempted to enter. Katherine couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"You're going to let me in and you're going to tell me which floor the party is on." She said perhaps a little too commandingly, despite knowing that her compulsion would work regardless. "If anyone asks, I had an invitation." Almost mindlessly, the man retracted his arm, his eyes staring blankly at her.

"Tenth floor, Miss."

She gave a wry smile in thanks, and walked through the door. The lobby of Stark Tower was rather lifeless, the only figures occupying the floor being the people at the front desk as well as the odd security guard scattered around the floor. The only sound that filled the room was the sound of her heels echoing, but that was soon fixed when she entered the elevator. The closer she came to the tenth floor where Mr. Stark's party was being held, the louder the music got, until the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened—because then music was blaring.

Throwing her jacket onto the first coat hanger she saw, Katherine waltzed in and headed straight for the bar, an air of confidence radiating as she did so. Katherine was usually a vodka or whiskey type of person, but tonight she was in the mood for some cognac.

"Courvoisier, please." She asked the bartender, who gave her a quick nod and grabbed one of the various bottles of alcohol that were sitting on the shelves behind him, and began to pour her a glass.

"And you are?" A voice spoke next to her, and the Petrova stiffened, immediately recognising it from the extensive amount of interviews she had watched.

"Katherine." She spoke, taking the glass from the bartender. "Katherine Pierce."

"Huh," She felt him eyeing her up and down, but couldn't seem to bring herself to face him (no, her heart wasn't beating faster and no she was not nervous and somewhat star-struck, as that was impossible) "Is that with a C or with a K, Katherine? Because, I'm pretty sure I've never seen you before. And, I'm pretty sure your name was not on the guest list."

"It's with a K. And, I'm a plus one." She brought her eyes to meet his. "Whose, isn't important. Besides,"—she eyed the rest of the room—"this doesn't exactly look like a V.I.P only type of party. The smell of vomit coming from the general direction of the bathrooms seems to suggest that much."

"Well," he laughed, taking a sip from his own glass, which smelled like rum, "you got me there."

"So, can I ask," She began, her nervousness slipping away a bit, "why is a billionaire like yourself flying around in a homemade metal suit?"

"Haven't you heard? I'm the man who successfully privatised world peace."

Katherine didn't miss the underlying smugness in his tone. "Oh, I've heard. That was rather impressive, actually, pissing off the senator like that and making him curse on live television—and in such an official setting, too. And, hacking the monitor? That was a bold move, Mr. Stark. Very amusing."

"Oh, I know. I specifically requested for Senator Stern to be the one who presented me and my buddy Rhodes with the medals for, y'know, that whole fiasco Justin Hammer that went down last year—I'm sure you know which one it was all over the news—and his annoyance was thoroughly, thoroughly entertaining."

Katherine couldn't help but laugh, mentally noting the similarities in both hers and Tony's personalities. It was a rather comforting, actually. Tony laughed along with her, swigging his drink around in its glass while Katherine took yet another sip. "Hm, so, what was your name again? Katie?"

"I'm offended that you forgot so fast, Mr. Stark!" She feigned shock, a pretend look of hurt taking place on her face as she put a hand over her chest. "And here I thought I was making a good impression."

"No, trust me, you are." He finished his drink. "That's why I'm asking again."

A satisfied smirk formed on the Petrova's face. "It's Katherine Pierce."

"Katherine, huh." He mumbled. "Well, I hope you have a good night, Miss Pierce—Miss is correct, right?"

"I'm far too young to be married, Mr. Stark."

Or far too old, she thought wryly, 500 years too old.

"Well, you'd be surprised these days."

She watched with satisfaction as Tony walked away, knowing she had made a good, and hopefully lasting, first impression. She could tell from the way Tony watched her that he found her physically attractive (500 years of being around men trained you in these things, and men were ridiculously easy creatures to read—that, and the fact she was Katherine Pierce, she had hardly ever met men that weren't enticed by her) and she definitely found him attractive also—very attractive—and she definitely would not have minded all that cash that came along with him. However, she knew he was off limits. Had a girlfriend, or something. Pepper Potts. And, as much as she knew she could seduce him both with and without compulsion, she wasn't about to potentially piss off a faceless deity by screwing up someone else's relationship.

However, the thought was tempting. She could easily compel them both so that none of them felt the heartache of breaking up, and then it would mean they'd suffer any negative emotion! And, it wouldn't be all that odd for Tony to have such a younger looking girlfriend. He was a billionaire playboy—why wouldn't he take advantage of that? It was a win-win situation...for Katherine. Since she'd 'win' Tony, and then win by not being selfish and caring for someone else's emotions but her own! But, at the same time, she knew that'd be abusing the privileges the stupid Voice left her with in order to benefit only herself. So, again, selfish. Going against the whole 'not just living her life for herself' thing.

She truly hated this Voice. It was forcing her to be good, and she hated it. She was not a good person, and she didn't want to be. It simply wasn't her.

Time passed quickly, and she mingled with a bunch of people she didn't recognise and had never heard of. Stark and her exchanged a few glances throughout the night, and perhaps she'd been slightly too suggestive with some of her looks, but no one else other than Stark was catching her attention. Well, nearly no one anyway. But the one person who had hadn't caught her attention for any good reasons. Instead, he had been eyeing her the whole night from across the room, and, as much as she knew he couldn't hurt her, it was still somewhat unnerving.

The average girl most likely wouldn't have noticed, but Katherine was hardly an average girl. Her fine-tuned hearing allowed her to keep watch on him without actually staring directly at him, and he had yet to currently move from his position.

She knew she couldn't kill a guy in front of a room of full of people, but that didn't mean she couldn't kill him somewhere private. He was probably a rapist or something anyway—taking him off the face off the earth would do more good than it did harm. That was fighting for the greater good!

Plan in place, she began to make her away from the main part of the floor in which most people had congregated, and instead to one of the empty connecting halls. She heard the pace of his breath begin to increase, and his feet quickly scurrying to catch up with her. She slowed once away from the crowd of party-goers, and leant against one of the corridor walls, drink in hand.

His feet began to slow, until he eventually came to stand next to her. She easily caught onto his trick—he slowed down enough to seem as if he hadn't been following, but just happened to stumble along at the same moment she did.

When he stood across from her, she was finally able to look at him properly. He easily stood over 6ft, and was definitely young. Rather attractive, actually. Most likely would've been her type had he not been a creep all night.

"So, why's a girl like yourself leaving the party so soon?"

"Just needed a breather." She lied.

"That's understandable." He chuckled, and Katherine nearly snarled. "Well, what's your name?"

Her eyes narrowed at him, and the little smirk he wore. For some reason, it made her blood boil. He made her blood boil. "Katherine." She replied curtly. "And you are?"

"Grant." He smiled lightly, and Katherine didn't ignore the flirtatious tone he was attempting.

"Well, Grant, tell me—why was a guy like yourself staring at me the whole night from across the room?"

His smile faltered, and she rolled her eyes, ready to walk away. He really wasn't worth her time, no matter how attractive he may have been. As she went to turn, he grabbed her arm. In that moment, it took everything in Katherine not to turn around and rip his throat out then and there.

He had yet to do anything but wrong, but his very presence was beginning to irk her, for some reason. And, when Katherine's annoyance levels spiked, so did her hunger. And, her bloodlust was suddenly starting to become unbearable.

But Katherine wasn't a woman without control.

"I'm sorry I-I didn't expect you to notice. Truth is, I just get a little nervous around such pretty women."

She relaxed a little, trying to gain control of her ever increasing unease, but then realised her body started to relax a lot more than intended. And more. And more.

And that was when she noticed the little prick on her neck.

The guy—Grant, if that was even his real name—had stuck a huge needle in her neck.

And it—whatever it was—was working.

"What did you..." She slurred, unable to continue the words as she dropped into his arms.

Well, this was the most advanced date rape drug she's ever seen.

Before the world around her went black, she was able to catch onto Grant's last words.

"We have her, Sir."

Unknown Location
March 2nd 2012

Katherine seemed to be doing a whole lot of this falling asleep in darkness and waking up in a bright place thing recently, because she was sure the light on her face was near blinding her right now. Well, if she could be blinded.

She really hoped whatever that guy had injected her with hadn't killed her and she was in the damn white room again. She really was not in the mood to deal with the Voice again only after two months.

Despite being awake, everything was still hazy. The room around her span, but her returning senses allowed her to discern that she in fact was not in the white room, but instead in some sort of hall—or building or place—that was mainly dark, besides the overwhelmingly bright lamp that shone in her face and the dim glow of the distant orange lights on each of the walls.

Wherever this place was, it was huge.

She absentmindedly noted the cuffs around her wrists which strapped her to the chair she was sat on. As much as she knew she could break them easily, she was smart enough to know not to attempt it in her current state. She needed to understand what was happening to her (as well as why whatever was happening was happening to her) before planning any form of escape. Being able to make out the room properly would be helpful, too.

"I'm impressed. It only took you two hours to wake up. Usually a sedative like that knocks someone out for a solid twenty four hours."

Across from her sat a man of African descent, who was wearing all black. The thing that really caught her attention, however, was the eyepatch that he wore on his left eye. That wasn't menacing. Not at all.

"If you didn't expect me to wake up for a whole day, then why am I cuffed to a chair?" She questioned, annoyance beginning to surge within her. She hated feeling so disorientated and tired as she currently did, and she didn't understand how a human sedative was able to take her out like that. Not unless it contained vervain, and, whatever that stuff was, it felt nothing like vervain.

"Well, we like to take our precautions here. Especially when we believe we're most likely dealing with an enhanced individual."

The word enhanced threw her off, not quite understanding what it meant, or what he meant by it. All she knew was, these people, whoever they were, they were onto her.

"First of all, who is 'we' and where is 'here'?" The man opened his mouth as if to speak, but was quickly interrupted by Katherine. "No, I'm not done yet. Second of all, what do you mean by enhanced?"

"We are the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. And, here? Until I can assure your cooperation, that will remained classified. But, I will say, it is a heavily fortified and guarded building."

It was a warning—a warning that she shouldn't try to escape. But Katherine never was one to heed warnings very well.

"Someone really must've wanted that to spell shield." She commented dryly.

"I suppose they did."

A moment of silence passed, and the near palpable tension beginning to grow between them was becoming insufferable, prompting Katherine to speak once again. "I know you're meant to be the one doing the interrogation and all, but you didn't answer my question. What do you mean by enhanced?"

"Do you mean to tell me you aren't an enhanced individual, Miss Pierce?" He pulled a TV from next to him, which had been blocked by the light in her eyes, and pressed a button on the remote that had been sitting on his thigh. The screen switched on, revealing what seemed to be a paused image from black and white CCTV footage, showing the one and only Katherine.

And this was why she had tended to stay away from cities.

The image zoomed into her face. "This is you, Miss Pierce, is it not?"

"Yes." She said begrudgingly, forcing the words out through her teeth. "How do you know my name anyway?"

"We've been keeping our tabs, Miss Pierce. Ever since these videos"—the TV began to play the recording back—"showed you walking out of not only one, but every store you entered without paying. But not stealing, no. You very clearly go up to the people working in the store and get them to bag your items, but after you stand and talk to them for just a few seconds, they seem to just let you go." Katherine didn't miss his sarcastic tone. "Tell me, is it that pretty face of yours or do you just always know the right thing to say? Because, it was particularly interesting visiting your tenant and discovering that you pay no rent at all, and that your tenant was completely unable to answer as to why that is."

Katherine opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the man, who was now on his feet. "Now, tell me, what is your trick? Telepathy? Mind control? Are you even a human, Miss Pierce? Because, we've dealt with people of other worlds before, and there is a surprising lack of any documentation on you at all. No pictures and no names and no files. No records, whatsoever." His words started to become louder, "No one can just appear out of thin air, Miss Pierce."

It was too bad that she actually did. But she wasn't about to admit that. She did know what she did need to do, however.

Breaking the cuffs around her wrist, she pulled her arms in front of her, and threw the now ruined piece of metal to the side, as well as the lamp that had been blinding her the entire time. Now able to see clearly, Katherine was able to see the room she was in and, while it was certainly large, it didn't seem heavily fortified or guarded like the man suggested, but instead like an empty warehouse.

"You know, I wish you would've picked a more appropriate night to drug and kidnap me. I mean, look at how I'm dressed—these are my best heals, and I'd really rather not ruin them. And I hope, for your sake and mine, that Stark's party is still going, because you made me leave one of my favourite jackets."

"Miss Pierce, I suggest you sit back down." He commanded, showing no hint of fear in his voice. It was rather impressive really. She stood staring straight down the barrel of his handgun, which he raised as she stood from her seat. Katherine's smile grew wider, more sinister, and she let out a snide laugh.

"Guns don't scare me, big guy. I can knock that out of your hand before you even have a chance to pull the trigger." She stepped forward, allowing the cold metal to meet her forehead.

"Then what about five guns?" He asked, almost exasperated.

"What, you mean your little underlings scattered around the room hidden in the shadows? Oh, I know they're there. I can hear them all. I've been hearing them. I can hear every breath they take. Every blink, and every single one of their muscles contracting. I can even hear their heartbeats speeding up as they listen to my every word. I assume your earpiece is doing all the work, no? Well, I relay this message to both you and them, then; no matter how many guns you have, and no matter how many times you shoot at me, your bullets will have absolutely no effect." She nearly whispered the last two words, drawling them out for emphasis.

"If you're suggesting what I think you're suggesting Miss Pierce, then maybe not. But, what we injected you with earlier seemed to have some sort of effect on you, and I'm pretty sure you can't take five people down at once, and all are ready to shoot you with that same injection instead if bullets aren't sufficient. I promise you, you won't find a way out of this."

"Oh, you'd be surprised of what I'm capable of."

"Is that a threat?"

"No. It's more a…'don't underestimate me as I'm not afraid to attack you guys until I know what your intentions are'." She turned her head to the side coyly, putting on an innocent facade. As if to ruin all her fun, however, she recalled the condition of the Voice. Irritated by the sudden remembrance of the whole 'greater good' thing, she uttered her next line somewhat embarrassedly, "Until I know whether you're the quote-unquote good guys. Then, I won't hurt you." She ignored the fact her voice turned into a mumble toward the end, her own reluctance getting the best of her. "What was even in that sedative, anyway?"

"It was an extremely strong sedative, Miss Pierce. That's all you need to know. Its contents are irrelevant. Besides, can't be revealing secrets to potential threats now, can I?"

"Like I said, I'm not a threat depending on your intentions."

"What are your intentions, Miss Pierce?"

"I don't really know yet. Maybe put that gun down and I'll be more—what did you call it? Oh, that was it—cooperative."

He let out a short laugh. "Funny. But, your status as an enhanced individual means you're a potential threat, and we're here to protect the general public from people who threaten their safety."

Protect the general public from people threaten their safety. "So, you are the 'good' guys?" She asked carefully, making quotations around the word 'good'.

"A subjective term, but yes. That's what we try to be. The 'good guys'."

"And what exactly does your organisation do?"

"Not an organisation, Miss Pierce. Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. We are an extra-governmental military counter-terrorism and intelligence agency, tasked with maintaining global security.

"Hmm, well the fact you're extra-governmental is at least slightly reassuring. I don't trust governments all that much." She sat back down, crossing her legs over each other. "Oh, come on, big guy. Sit back down. There's no way we can have a civil discussion with a gun pointed in my face."

"This is an interrogation, Miss Pierce."

"Well, let's turn it into a little Q and A instead then, shall we? I'd be much more comfortable asking any questions you have that way."

Hesitantly, the man lowered his gun to his side and sat back in his own seat, eyes never leaving Katherine. She decided she'd play along, since she could wipe his mind of anything he learned about her anyway. And, if these were the good guys, maybe this was what she was meant to be doing. She'd have to find out and see.

"So, are you an enhanced individual, Miss Pierce?"

"Yes." She answered.

"And what abilities is it you have?"

"Mind control, as you said earlier. Not telepathy. I can't read people's thoughts or literally get inside their heads. I can, however, make them tell me whatever I want them to, or do whatever I want them to, hence why I don't have to pay for anything! I should've been more careful with that though, I suppose." Katherine let out a small giggle. "Um, as you might've guessed earlier from what I said, I have…enhanced hearing. Uh, also enhanced speed, regenerative healing factor—learnt that one from those nerdy shows—and that is why your guns won't work on me, and I suppose also why your sedative only lasted two hours."

"Is that all?" The man asked sarcastically.

"No, actually! I'm also pretty damn strong."

The man let out a sigh, and Katherine couldn't even pretend not to feel smug in that moment.

"So, tell me, where exactly did you gain all these abilities?"

This was where Katherine's most prided trait, her ability to deceive, came into play. She had been lying for centuries, and she was already aware that the best lies were just the truth, but twisted.

"I died, I think." She said, feigning sadness in her voice, her acting skills continuing to be nothing less than exquisite. "But I woke up, and I had these abilities." And this was where the lie began: "It was in a car crash. My parents and I…we were driving, and the car went over a bridge. They drowned, but I managed to get out. I don't know how. Doctors said I was in a coma for weeks, and I woke up with these abilities, and half my memory gone. I assume someone experimented on me, but I don't know who and I don't know where."

She couldn't help but thank Elena for having such a tragic backstory.

"And how old were you when this all happened?"

"Seventeen."

"And how old are you now?"

"Twenty-two." She knew she really only passed for twenty-one at the eldest, but she didn't want to seem too young. Besides, there were actors and actresses in their late twenties that still played teenagers in high school. Surely it wasn't too much of a stretch.

"Well, Miss Pierce, saying this is all true, none of it explains why there are absolutely no records on you whatsoever."

"Katherine isn't my real name." She explained. "I will admit, I did come here illegally. I was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and that's where I grew up. My real name is Katerina Petrova. I came to America to start a new life about six months ago, which is why I 'appeared out of thin air'."

"You know you just admitted to the man that's head of an agency tasked with maintaining global security that you're an illegal immigrant?"

"Maybe you can help a girl out with that?"

"Maybe I can." He smirked, finally showing some promising emotion to Katherine. "Question is, can you help me?"

Katherine's eyebrows furrowed together as the man stood up and began to walk away. After a few steps, the man turned to face her. "Well, are you coming or not?"

Despite her confusion, Katherine got up and began to follow, all the men that had been scattered around the room quickly ran over and followed behind her, guns still in hand. As they reached the end of the warehouse, the man began to speak again. "I, Miss Pierce—"

"Please, call me Katherine. Miss Pierce makes me sound so old." She interrupted, stinging out her tongue distastefully.

"Katherine." He rectified, "I am the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. My name is Nick Fury, but everyone here addresses me as Director Fury."

Once out the door, Fury began to lead Katherine, as well as the five men behind her, through a set of hallways. It seemed the building was more than just an empty warehouse, and Katherine couldn't ignore the military-esque feel the building held. "And you're trusting me with this information why?"

"Because, Katherine, you had every opportunity to kill me in that room if you wished to do so if you truly are enhanced in all the ways you said you are, yet you didn't. And since I believe myself to be a reasonable man, I've decided I can bring you somewhere slightly more comfortable to continue this assessment." Katherine didn't ignore the fact he used assessment rather than interrogation. "And you may just be of use to us, Miss Pierce."

"Wait." Katherine stopped in place, and Fury turned to face her. "What do you mean 'of use', because I seriously don't want any experiments being done on me."

"No, not experiments. I'm sure you've been subjected to enough of them to end up with all the abilities you have." He turned and continued to walk, and she was forced to by the men—soldiers?—who remained behind her. "How familiar are you with espionage, Miss Pierce?"

"Are you asking me to be a spy, Director Fury?" She asked, suddenly very intrigued. Even if she couldn't be a notorious vampire in this life, being a spy didn't sound all that bad.

"Not quite, Miss Pierce. But, with the right training and making sure you aren't a threat, that may just become a possibility."

Katherine smirked. It seemed things were finally becoming very interesting.

I've only just started AoS, and I apologise if I characterised Ward wrong! I tried to make their interaction short for that reason.

Thank you for the reviews! I'm aware this story will most likely receive far less follows and favourites than a normal one since this is a very small crossover section, but it's very fun for me to write more than anything. I always appreciate any feedback, and it makes me extremely happy to read.

Lagoone Child: Your suggestion of the Red Room is brilliant, but I had already planned for this to be the storyline. But that's a seriously great idea. Maybe you should write it sometime!

Steve seems to be a favourite, so we'll go with him! To be honest, I'm not as attracted to Steve (so also Chris) as I am Natasha or Bucky (Sebastian Stan is an absolute babe) but after considering it, Steve is a very good option—he's good and kind and all, and I feel that's what Katherine needs. We're currently only two months away from when the events of Avengers happens, so they'll definitely be meeting very soon. Prepare for a slow burn, though. Anyway, leave me your thoughts!