Thanos snapped his fingers. The world's population was now halved. By some miracle, if one could call it a miracle, the original Avengers were all alive. At this point, Tony and Steve had put their differences aside - both had lost those dear to them and they needed to undo what Thanos had done to them. All six had agreed that they would need all the help they could get but knew that help would be hard to find and hard to convince. Who'd want to help the supposed heroes who failed in a seemingly impossible quest? Not many. Not many at all. Some of the other survivors of the Snap who fought against Thanos to begin with were already helping. Recruitment wasn't going very well and tension between Steve and Tony was starting to rise, until one person came along - Briar.
Briar was one of the survivors of the Snap. She wasn't aware of the whole Thanos battle as she had hidden herself in some small town in Scotland. She only knew about the Snap as she had been in the market when people started to disintegrate. When realizing that she was safe and wasn't going to disintegrate, Briar immediately ran back to the little cottage she had and turns on her laptop. After a month of looking for news about the Avengers, she sees one of Tony's surprisingly subtle recruitment ads. As much as Briar didn't want to leave her cozy cottage, she knew she had to go join. She buys a plane ticket to New York after double checking that she had enough money squirreled away.
Being in America again brought back some bad memories for Briar. However, she steeled herself and went to the location that was mentioned in Tony's ad. It was a small cafe and she goes up to the counter to ask for a medium green tea - spangled. After placing the order, the barista would make the green tea before going to the back and dialing up the number that Tony had given the cafe for this specific case. Briar then sat in the back left corner of the cafe with her tea. She had just finished her tea when Tony came in. He immediately spots Briar and goes over, sitting across from her. A moment of silence passes over the two and they stare down. One of the baristas comes by and gives Tony his usual order and waits to break the silence once the barista moved away.
"So, you found the ad. Are you here to help or just fangirl?" Tony asks. A couple of times, some people just wanted an autograph from Tony.
"I'm here to help. I assure you that," Briar replies, a faint Scottish lilt to her voice. She had picked it up having been in her little village for the past decade.
"Alright then. How do you plan on helping us?" Tony asks, now relaxing upon hearing that this woman wanted to help and not his autograph.
"Fighting primarily. But really, anything you need me to do, I'll do to the best of my ability," Briar answered. "And before you even ask, I'm a Shifter. Specifically a wolf Shifter."
"Interesting," Tony muses upon learning this information. He sips his coffee before looking at the woman in front of him. "Well you're in. What's your name?"
"Briar Knight."
"Let's go then. Time to introduce you personally to the rest of the team," Tony smirks lightly. He stands up and Briar follows suit. The two head out of the cafe and Tony leads the Shifter to his car. After they were buckled in, Tony starts heading back to the base and asks FRIDAY to gather everyone in the compound for an impromptu meeting.
Upon learning that Tony was calling for an impromptu meeting, everyone at the compound was buzzing with curiosity. Steve was curious but also slightly wary. He hoped it was good news for once. Sitting in one of the chairs in the meeting room, Steve gently twists his chair side to side. He notices Natasha and Clint off to the side talking quietly. Bruce was sitting in another chair scrolling through his phone with a mug of tea. Thor was talking to Rocket, who was with them as where else could the talking raccoon go? Nebula had reluctantly joined them as she too had no where to go and had some spite against Thanos. Rhodey was in the room, making some jokes with Thor and Rocket. Okoye, Shuri and M'Baku were still in Wakanda, dealing with the issues there since T'Challa was one of those who disintegrated. After what seemed like an eternity, Tony FINALLY entered the meeting room.
"Alright Stark, what news do you have?" Steve asks, just to get straight to the point. He was not in the mood for any of Tony's shenanigans.
"Forward as usual!" Tony comments. "Anyways. I have good news. We just got a member to join the team!" he exclaims proudly. Everyone else in the room holds their breath as the meeting room door opened again. A black haired woman stepped through. Her hazel eyes glance around the room, taking in the sights. Steve had felt his breath being taken away.
"Hello," Briar says, waving in greeting.
"This is Briar Knight. She's a wolf Shifter. She's here to help fight and give her all," Tony says. The tension that had been filling the compound for the past month finally broke. Smiles broke onto everyone's faces - even Nebula's.
"Nice to meet you ma'am. Welcome to our ragtag team," Steve says, a small and welcoming smile on his lips. The Scottish lilt was very welcoming to his ears. Briar returns the smile and takes a seat after being introduce to the rest of the team, the strategic part of the meeting starting up.
Briar had gotten comfortable with the Avengers, Rocket, Rhodey and Nebula. However, despite being comfortable around them, it was nearing a certain phase of the lunar cycle - the full moon. As the moon grew fuller, Briar was becoming more irritable and was purposely isolating herself from everyone. She didn't tell anyone her terrible, dark secret. Oh no, she didn't want to be forced to leave the Avengers cause of it. Briar had just found an odd, little family where she finally felt like she belonged again and she didn't want to lose that family like she did ten years ago. However, most of the Avengers just assumed it was that time of the month - except for Natasha, obviously, but she gave Briar space. The Shifter got to max irritability when it was two days before the full moon. She glared at everyone who tried to talk to her or made too much noise. She would snarl when someone got too close. This had Steve concerned, as he had gotten rather close to Briar when she wasn't irritable. He also seemed to be the only one who didn't get the death glare or get snarled at but it was still made clear that Briar wanted to be left alone. On the day before the full moon, Steve had spotted Briar slipping out of the compound and running into the autumn colored forests nearby. It didn't strike him as odd though, at least not at that moment.
It was the evening before the full moon. Once again, Briar had avoided everyone to the best of her ability and if she couldn't, she glared or snarled. After seeing that everyone had left the kitchen and dinning room, Briar slipped out of the compound and started running towards the forest. This time, Steve followed. He had hidden himself in some shadows so Briar didn't notice him. He follows at a distance as to not let the Shifter know he was following her. Keeping her in his sights, Steve goes down some paths in the autumn forest. It was rather eerie that evening as the sun was setting and the moon was rising - fog was rolling in. Eventually Steve noticed that Briar had stopped running and was sitting in front of a lone tree in a clearing. The tree's leaves were the perfect orange. The super soldier would have appreciated the beauty of the tree, the forest and Briar if it wasn't for the fact that she was in pain. Being cautious, Steve approaches her. The black haired woman snaps her head up at hearing Steve's faint footfalls.
"Steve! What are you doing here?!" she hisses out.
"Checking in on you," Steve says calmly.
"You need to go! Get away from me!" Briar snarled. Her hazel eyes were harsh and cold and it made Steve flinch a bit.
"Briar, what's wrong? You know you can tell me anything," Steve tries again.
"No! Just go! I don't want you to get hurt! Please!" Briar starts pleading.
"I'm not leaving," Steve says stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest. He was now an arm's length away.
"If you won't leave, then I'll just leave," the Shifter says, starting to get up and goes to run. However, Steve just grabs Briar's arm. It was gentle but firm, as if telling her that she wasn't going anywhere but that he didn't want to hurt her. Just as Steve was about to question Briar again, she stiffened, her hazel eyes widening and starting to turn yellow. Steve glances behind him and notices that the full moon was now in sight. His attention is brought back to Briar when she starts to whimper in pain. He lets go and watches as Briar stumbles away from him towards the tree, her body contorting into an odd shape. Now, the super soldier was used to seeing the wolf transformation at this point but... this was different and Briar was in pain. He realized right then and there why Briar wanted him to go away, why she had been so irritable lately and why she came out into the woods tonight - she was a werewolf. After the transformation ended, the blonde man looks at the sight in front of him. Where Briar once stood was a large, bipedal, humanoid wolf with black fur and yellow eyes. There were large and very sharp, black claws on all twenty digits. Sharp, white teeth were bared at him. The clothes that were once on the woman were now shredded, save for enough of the pants. It was similar to Bruce and Hulk. However, the expression on the werewolf's face was unreadable to Steve. Suddenly, a loud howl pierced the silence and the super soldier was frozen to his feet. The werewolf charged him. He still couldn't move. The werewolf pounced him and Steve shuts his eyes as he falls to the ground.
After a moment, Steve opens his eyes when he realized he wasn't dead. His blue eyes notice that the werewolf was sniffing him curiously. It was like the creature was trying to find why this human was familiar. Why it didn't want to kill him like it did countless others. Steve reaches a tentative hand out and rests it on the werewolf's head. The fur was surprisingly soft under his fingertip. The werewolf froze for a moment before moving its head to look at Steve in the face.
"Briar, I know you're in there. It's me, Steve," Steve says softly, his blue eyes locking with the yellow ones. The werewolf stayed still before sniffing Steve again, this time near his neck. The super soldier remained still, knowing that if he made any sudden moves, Briar might accidentally hurt him. The tight grip on his shoulders loosened and the weight that was on him was lifted. Steve sits up and notices that Briar had moved back over by the tree, partially curled up. He watches for a few minutes, the werewolf swiping at the tree here and there, some wolf-like grumbling emitting from the large maw. Getting up slowly, Steve walks over, knowing his every step was being watched. Once at the tree, he sits down.
"I'll keep you company, Briar. I'm not afraid," Steve smiles.
A whimper emits from Briar.
"No, you're not a monster. If you were a monster, I would be dead. But you didn't kill me."
A huff was the response.
"So yeah, I'm staying with you to keep you company. I'll do this every full moon if you'd like."
A moment of silence passes. Then a happy growl.
"Good! I was hoping you'd be alright with that," Steve chuckles. That night, he spent it with Briar, talking to her about things and she listened. Her werewolf side was very, very happy that someone wasn't afraid of her. Briar crawls a little bit closer to Steve, putting her giant head in his lap. Steve smiles happily and strokes her head. The werewolf's tail wags gently, side to side, as it was a wonderful feeling. Eventually day was starting to break. Steve noticed and he gets up, saying that he would go fetch Briar some clothes, not wanting her to have to try to sneak back in shirtless. He runs back towards the compound and goes to his room, not wanting to be disrespectful. After grabbing a simple black shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants, he goes back to where Briar was. He was just in time too as after he handed the clothes to the werewolf, the transformation began. The super soldier turns his back for privacy. After a few minutes, a tap was felt on his shoulder.
"Thank you so much Steve. You're the first person to not be afraid of me," Briar says quietly, before hugging Steve. He smiles and hugs back.
"No problem. I didn't want you to be lonely and I wanted to help you," Steve says. Briar just hugs Steve tighter, burying her face into Steve's muscular chest. When the hug breaks, the two head back towards the compound to get some breakfast before some much needed sleep. Briar had to tie the drawstrings tight around her waist since the sweatpants were large on her. Steve was glad for the beard as he felt a blush form on his cheeks when he got a good look at Briar in his clothes. In the kitchen, Steve made breakfast for them both. After eating, Briar was really sleepy and was starting to fall asleep in her chair. Steve chuckled softly before picking up the sleepy Shifter and started to carry her towards her room. He enters and sets her down on her bed, only for Briar to grab onto his shirt.
"Join me?" she asks sleepily, her hazel eyes half shut. Steve felt his heart skip a beat at the request. Buuuut, considering what had transpired that night, and with how adorable Briar looked, the super soldier couldn't help but give in. He gives a nod and once Briar let go, he makes sure the door is shut before laying down on the same bed as Briar, blushing slightly. When she cuddled up to him, the blush darkened and Steve was glad that the light was off. However, he wrapped his arms gently around the black haired woman and the two drifted off into a pleasant sleep.