Кейт is Kate in Russian, fyi. Pronounced, Cat- ya. Ok, I'm done. Enjoy!

Kate had been given permanent quarters. It wasn't bad, really. Better than the boxy cell she'd slept in before. As far as she could remember, this was the nicest place she'd ever stayed in. She sighed, rubbing the blanket beneath fingers, enjoying the feel of all the fibers. Ever since her transformation, all her senses had become stronger. It was eye opening, seeing finer details, hearing things no one else seemed to, and taste subtler things. One of the things she'd had to get used to was smelling everything. The bed, walls, light bulb, were just a few smells she was bombarded with. Some scents were pleasant, like the refreshing smell of clean glass, but others, like the false wood desk, gave her a headache.

Kate stood up and stretched, the fur on her legs brushing against the bed. Her room was furnished with practicality in mind. A large bed, her own bathroom, a closet, and a desk. It was nice. Simple, but nice. Likewise, her routine was the same.

6:00 a.m.: Wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast

6:30 a.m.: Train

12:30 p.m.: Lunch

1:00 p.m.: Train

4:30 p.m.: Free time

6:00 p.m.: Dinner

7:00 p.m.: Strategy class

8:00 p.m.: Extra class or free time

9:00 p.m.: Shower and bed

Every day was alike, blending together into a portrait of never ending soreness and rigorous classes. Her training varied based on who was teaching her. If it happened to be Wanda, agility and fine tuning her skills was on the agenda. If Vision was there, then he would work on sparring and mind tricks. Sam always did flying and hand to hand combat, but he also taught her some survival skills if she ever found herself stranded. The mentoring trio never varied. Loki on the other hand, did. Whenever it was his training day, they might use swords, hand to hand combat, strategy, or even just studying history. Where ever his mood stood depended on the day's training. The one thing each of Kate's mentors had in common, happened to be the ability to completely exhaust Kate by lunchtime. She'd drag herself to the mess hall, eat as much as possible, and drag herself back to the gym. Free time mainly consisted of a nap or reading. Sometimes if she felt up to it, she'd wander around the Heli carrier. Fury had never told her that she couldn't, but she got the feeling that he wouldn't be pleased to see her exploring. Then she would eat dinner and go to strategy class. Battle strategy, diplomacy, and tactical strategy all grouped in one course. She took it with the other agents in training. For the first few days, she'd gotten odd looks and a wide berth. But now, no one noticed her and a few even smiled when she made eye contact, to her great relief. Maybe she'd make a normal friend, well more normal than the Avengers that is. After that, she'd get a message on her com watch. It would either tell her to go to a different class or, her favorite, another hour of free time. Then it was curfew. It wasn't a bad schedule and at the end of the day, she enjoyed the work outs.

Within the first three weeks, she noticed the muscles that were starting to form. With each day, she could go a little longer, run faster, swim harder, and execute complex maneuvers.

After two months of intense training, her schedule changed. It came as an exhilarating surprise to see half her agenda blank. A panel next to her door told her everyday what to do. It hadn't altered until now. It was normal, until after lunch. There it just said, 'Interview'. That was odd.

Kate shrugged. It probably wasn't that big of a deal, but still.

Since coming to SHIELD, she had not only changed physically, but in less visible ways. Kate was smarter and less intimidated. Those first few weeks had been tough though. She'd been scared of Loki, Fury, and anyone really, but now, they feared her. She was almost a match for Loki in combat and Fury didn't bother her unless she messed up, which was rare. She'd earned Loki's grudging respect, a feat that in Kate's opinion deserved a medal and celebration.

She went to breakfast, eating her meal alone as per the usual. When she got to the gym, Loki was waiting. No surprise, it was his training day. Kate walked up to him, and waited. He'd tell her what to do soon enough.

"How is your flight coming along?" he asked. His back was to her and Kate was slightly disconcerted talking to him like this. She tapped out a steady rhythm against her leg, trying to quell the building apprehension. Loki's stiff posture told her this wasn't going to be one of his good days.

"Sam says I'm getting better. I'll be ready to go outside soon." That was one thing Kate was very proud of. Her wings. They'd grown four inches in the past couple of months. They were formidable too. Corded muscle rippled over them with each flap. She could do all the agility exercises Sam could think of flawlessly.

"Well, let's see if he's right." Loki said, turning to face her. Kate's eyes widened when she saw his face. Dark circles under his eyes, small cuts all over, and what looked like bruises around his throat. He'd been attacked. It had to have been someone or something incredibly powerful to hurt him. In all their sparring sessions, Kate had only managed to really bruise him once, and that had been on accident.

"Loki…?"

"Yes?" he said testily. Kate gulped. He was unquestionably in one of his foul moods again.

"What happened?" she asked softly.

"You will know later, for now close your mouth and follow me." He answered icily.

Kate glared, but didn't ask any more questions. She followed Loki out of the training room, and down hallway after hallway. Once they emerged from the fourth stairwell, Kate recognized where they were going. She could smell the fresh, icy air, hear the howling wind. A shiver of excitement coursed through her. They were going outside.

Fury hadn't restricted her much, but his number one rule remained that Kate couldn't go out. He'd threatened her with a tracker if she even so much as put one foot above decks. Fury was many things, but rarely did he bluff, and according to Loki, he'd already tried to put one on her once. Nothing would stop him if she broke his rules. So, Kate had stayed far below the surface, being the perfect little hero in training. But at night, she'd dream of flying under the stars, tasting the wind, rocketing above the clouds.

To her own surprise, Kate wasn't upset about essentially being kept prisoner. She was glad with the lifestyle change. She'd been on the streets before. Thin and always hungry. Cold nights, rough days, plain misery twenty-four seven. Now though, she could count on regular meals, a warm bed, exercise, and free time. Rarely did she get antsy. Every once in a while, though, late at night or when she was eating, she thought about Tony, Bruce, and Natasha. She missed them. They had been kind to her and then… it happened. Kate called her mindless attack it, just like she called her transformation her changing (Transformation made it sound like she was a bug, which she didn't like very much.) Even after all these months, she still had no answers about what happened, and a deep seated guilt constantly gnawed at her.

At first she'd thought that maybe it had been a PTSD attack, but she had no symptoms. Besides the attack, that is. Then, she'd researched panic attacks, anxiety attacks, and any kind of attack known to man. None added up. After ditching her research, she'd asked Loki. All he had given her were snarky remarks and just made her training harder. That was one of the things Kate hated about him; he never answered her questions, and if he did, they were riddles and vague replies.

"Keep up, Kate." He snapped.

"Sorry, coming!" Kate called to him. In the span of five seconds, he had managed to end up on the other side of the hallway. She had been lost in thought. One of the odd things Loki had done, was stop calling her 'mortal'. For the first week of training, that's all he called her, but starting five weeks ago, he'd switched to Kate. Why, was a mystery to her. She had no reason to complain though.

Kate followed him, until he stopped in a small room with one door and a hatch in the ceiling. Red star bursts started to pop up all over her fur. One of the books Wanda had given her contained information of colors. It told her what colors meant, when it came to emotions. One of red's many meanings, is excitement. Normally, Kate's coloring was a mix of white and grey. The grey meaning seriousness and professionalism, and white for calm. That, and she looked pretty cool. Especially when she added red highlights.

"Can we go…?" Kate asked, her entire body tense with excitement.

Loki smirked. "Patience is a virtue."

"Not one you possess." Kate snorted. For a tense moment, she feared she'd over stepped, but Loki smiled, a rare occurrence. She warmed with pride.

The smile convinced her to try waiting, so she did. Kate waited. And waited. And waited. She started to fidget after what felt like forever, giving up on obtaining that virtue. I guess I don't have the patience to get it. She thought, smiling outwardly at her own joke.

"So, it's your lucky day Kate." A voice said from behind. If Kate had been in this situation two months ago, she would have spun around instantly, her guard instinctively going up. Now though, under Loki's tutelage, she was calm. His random attacks helped to quash her jumpiness, oddly enough, teaching her to trust herself to be able to defend against anything.

Turning to meet the Director, she kept her face blank. Kate didn't make eye contact. She found that she could get her way if she kept her gaze just over his shoulder.

"Agents Wilson and Maximoff tell me your ready to fly out side. Is that true?"

"Yes, sir." Kate kept her voice neutral, but struggled to contain the red blossoms.

"This is a privilege Kate. If you so much as go an inch out of range, I will make sure you never see the light of day again. Understood?" He said darkly, pointing a finger at her like she'd already disobeyed him.

"Yes, sir." Kate fought to keep the grin off her face.

"Loki, you know the rules." Fury added before turning around and leaving.

Before the door had even swung closed from Fury's exit, Kate spun around to meet Loki's empty gaze, practically covered in red. The look he wore was off putting, while several patches of dark grey encroached on the crimson. She would have expected him to be just as eager as she to go out and test Fury's patience. Instead, he pulled something small and thin out of his pocket.

At first, Kate thought it was a weird necklace, but then she noticed little blinking lights covering it. The SHIELD insignia glared at her in the dim lighting.

"What is that?" Kate asked gravely. A sinking feeling entered her stomach.

He didn't answer for a quite some time. Just stared at her, pale fingers fiddling with the device.

"Hold still." He said.

Kate did as she was told, but a snippet of fear bit at her trust as the collar was slipped over her head. As soon as it settled on her shoulders, it tightened like a choker around her neck, blinked green, and became inert. She felt the collar tentatively with her finger tips, tracing shallow grooves no ordinary human would ever find, all the while trying to move it. The only headway she made, was it shifting ever so slightly.

Loki looked at her blankly. "This was the only way. I'm sorry Kate."

"What will it do?" she mumbled, continuing to fidget with it. Obviously, it happened to be a tracker, but it had to do more.

"If you get too far out of range, it will vibrate and alert Fury. If you continue to disobey, someone will be sent to get you, forcefully if necessary." He answered. Even after the confession, he seemed to be holding something back. When she wouldn't stop watching him, he added, "And it will inject a heavy dosage of tranquilizer, should you happen to fight back or go too far out of range."

Kate felt a chill trickle down her spine. So this was the price of flying outside. She wasn't sure she wanted to go out anymore. A spark of anger lighted inside her. Why couldn't anyone trust her? She wasn't going to fly away into the sunset!

You haven't given them any reason to trust you, remember? A little voice said. Kate bitterly acknowledge that it was right.

"Why? Does Fury not trust me?" Kate demanded, ignoring the wise voice in her head, still wanting some form of an answer.

"No, he doesn't. If it makes you feel any better, he doesn't exactly confide in me either. So, for the sake of both of us, don't complain." He snarled. And just like that he went from sad friend, to waspish teacher.

He turned around briskly, punched a code into the keypad by the hatch, and turned the wheel. Right before he opened it though, he turned to Kate again. His eyes were cast in shadow by the hat, making him even harder to read.

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"Cross my heart." Kate said, giving him a mischievous smile, something she'd picked up from Wanda.

Loki gave her a disdainful glare, but pushed the hatch open anyway.

Air. Cold, fresh, loud air reached tantalizing fingers into her very soul, taunting her. She longed to jump up and out, to fly far and free. She would have, had the little voice in her head not reminded her that she needed to wait first.

Loki hauled himself out, disappearing for an instant. She caught a glimpse of the blue sky, joy taking over any reservations she had. When it was Kate's turn, she almost launched herself out into the blue, blue sky. The sky! She hadn't seen it in so long. It was so much bluer than she remembered, like sapphire, and the clouds! So white and soft, just inches away. She felt the sun's rays before she saw it. Kate turned her face towards the golden sphere, drinking it in. For about thirty seconds, she forgot about SHIELD, her responsibilities, the collar, and just about everything. But of course, she was brought back to reality.

Are you ready, Кейт? Wanda asked.

Kate smiled at Wanda. Yes! I can't believe this!

You know the rules?

Yes. Kate's excitement dimmed a little as she remembered Fury's threat.

The air currents are more likely to fracture your wings if you perform intricate maneuvers.

Kate laughed lightly. Thanks, Vis. Kate glanced over at him, and could have sworn she'd seen a flicker of a smile on his face. The two of them stood side by side, elbows brushing. They were far enough away that a normal person wouldn't be able to make out their expressions easily, but it was simple for Kate. Over the past few months, she'd developed a bond with each of her mentors. Wanda was like her older sister, Vision like an odd cousin, and Sam like her brother. Loki was still undecided, though she hoped to eventually get to know him better.

"You ready to go Hot Shot?" Sam clapped her on the shoulder.

"Yeah. Hope you can keep up."

He whistled, eye brows shooting up in mock indignation. "Big words from a little pipsqueak." He teased. Kate shoved him good naturedly, and he maimed falling over.

"You see those red things?" Sam asked, pointing in seemingly random directions. Kate narrowed her eyes, picking out dozens of red globes marring the serene blue of the sky. "Those are a fence. You cross it, well, let's just say Fury won't be pleased. You got enough room for some of the drills we practiced, so that shouldn't be an issue."

Kate nodded, but the spheres cast a dower persona on the happy sky.

"Alright, on my mark." Sam said. He walked to the edge of the carrier, Kate in tow.

Loki says, 'Don't do anything stupid, Kate.' Anything you want me to tell him? Wanda asked.

Kate glanced back at him. With his jet black hair blown to the side and intense green eyes, they gave him a dangerous air, but Kate didn't fear him anymore. Well, maybe a little.

Yeah, tell him I said, 'When do I ever?'

"Now!" Sam yelled to be heard over the wind. He dove off the edge, wings spread to catch the draft. Kate stopped mid leap. For just a moment, a tendril of anxiety wrapped around her mind. Last time she'd done this… No. She would fly this time. She knew how. She would not fall.

Kate dove off the edge, wings tucked firmly. Wind whistled in her ears, slipped under her fur and teased her skin. It was cold, so very cold, but in her ecstasy, she hardly felt a thing. The refreshing wind banished her anxiety. Her wings snapped open, and wrenched her sky ward. The harsh tug caused her to gasp, but Kate reveled in it. This was what flying was supposed to be; dangerous, painful, challenging, but so worth it. The freedom, power, and that tingling in her arms from seeing just how high she was through gaps in the clouds. The ground a patchwork of green and brown. It was without a doubt, her favorite thing in the world.

Kate beat her wings against the air current, managing to get to Sam's level. His mechanical wings didn't need to make as many adjustments as hers, resulting in clean-cut movements, but Kate's remained graceful.

"Alright, we're gonna do that attack formation I taught you last week. Okay?" he yelled. Kate nodded. The wind whipped his words away, but her finely tuned ears caught them. Even so, they would need to find some other way of communication. Yelling wouldn't do.

Sam broke off from their path and coasted forty feet away. They flew parallel, occasionally beating wings. Then, he dived, tucked in his wings and dropped like a stone. Kate circled above him, spotting. When he snapped his wings out again, it was Kate's turn to dive. She followed Sam's example and when she got within fifteen feet of one of the red balls, her wings caught the wind.

"Alright, let's bring the drones out!" he said, winging towards the deck. Kate followed, adrenaline surging through her. Finally, she could fight something.

But, drones? As in, 'robots of death'? No, they had to be practice drones, something she hadn't used yet.

She landed next to Sam, who immediately told her to get back into the air.

She complied, watching the agents bustle around like ants. Soon, a pale grey humanoid shape was drifting close to her. She didn't move to attack, not yet.

"Program on." The drone hummed. It flashed, and a hologram of some winged monster replaced it. Kate's pulse sped. This was what she'd been waiting for. A chance to really attack and test her limits. Her claws slid out, deadly.

During sparring sessions with Sam and Wanda, she'd been constantly stressed about hurting them by accident, but now, no one would care if she ripped this thing to pieces.

Kate didn't wait for the start signal. She launched herself forward, claws reaching forward. Her feet slammed into the belly of the creature, her claws driving into the elbows of the monster. She was momentarily surprised to feel real fur on her skin, but dismissed it.

Her head slipped into attack mode. Kate launched herself off the drone, somersaulting in midair. Her wings splayed out behind her, and she went invisible. Although her fur was completely camouflaged, what was covered by the SHIELD uniform, was not. She had no way of fixing that however. In seconds, she was up and over the drone's head. The thing was scanning the air, searching for a sign of her presence. Kate wrapped her legs around it from behind, and wrenched the head to the side, essentially breaking its neck. The mini air battle lasted seconds.

The hologram flickered, and died. She dragged the surprisingly light drone back to the deck, depositing it in front of a speechless Sam.

"You're ready for the next two challenges." He finally said. Kate beamed, excited.

She ran straight off the Heli carrier's edge, and glided up.

Six drones hummed their way to her level, all flashing on holograms of their own. They started to weave in and out of one another, disorienting her. One flashed behind her, and hit her right between the wing joints. She cried out and struck blindly.

This wasn't going to be so easy.

Three hours later, Kate was allowed to stop. She'd beaten all the drones they'd pitted her against, but the last two rounds had really strained her. Her wings felt numb, her legs like lead, and arms sore.

She trudged to her room to clean up. Fury wasn't going to let her wander the carrier smelling worse than dog crap; she still had lessons and the rest of her schedule to complete. Yay.

However, once she'd showered off, her bed had been too inviting to ignore. Kate collapsed in a heap, falling asleep before her eyes closed.

Okay, so I'm so sorry for not updating these past two weeks. I've been at the beach and traveling a ton, so I didn't have much free time to write and edit. I'm really sorry guys. Also, for those of you who know what MBTI is, I took the test from Kate's point of view and she is an ESFJ, the exact opposite of me! I was shocked, but still really cool. Kate is pretty cool. Alright, so school starts next week for me. Highschool! Hopefully, I won't be set back by it.

To the reviewer named 'Someone' thanks so much! I love getting reviews, and when I read yours, I was really grateful. It gave me the motivation to edit!

Thanks so much for supporting me in this! You guys are AMAZING! So, please Fave, Follow, and Review! Thanks!