Note: This first section takes place a few months after The Winter Soldier, and the Avengers are clearing out HYDRA bases like at the beginning of Ultron. I moved up the timeline to fit the story better. The rest is before, during, or after Civil War.
Prologue
2014
The girl watched. Sitting in her cell, the younger kids behind her, she watched.
The events unfolding in the room outside were certainly more interesting than usual. Not that that was a good thing. Usually, "interesting" meant busy, and busy meant more tests. So, the girl huddled in the far corner, the younger boy and girl behind her, and they watched.
The scientists were hustling through the room, gathering papers, typing furiously on computers, and occasionally yelling something like, "Быстрее! Они приближаются!" [Faster! They're coming!]. The girl heard several whispered curses from the scientists and could hear marching feet in the hallway. She'd never seen it like this.
An alarm started blaring, red lights she'd never noticed before coming to life and flashing on the walls. She drew in a sharp breath and slapped her hands over her ears, and felt the other two kids do the same. It didn't help with the noise much.
The second the scientists heard the alarm, all stopped what they were doing. "Они здесь," [They're here,] one said quietly.
"Хватайте все, что можете, и направляйтесь к выходу!" [Grab what you can and head for the exits!] the head scientist yelled, and all the others scrambled to obey. They were gone in minutes, the only sign of the panic from before a forgotten slip of paper drifting slowly to the floor.
The girl felt a tap on her arm. She looked down at the boy, uncovering her ears as he opened his mouth. "Что происходит?" [What's happening?] he whispered in her ear.
She whispered back, "Я не знаю." [I don't know.]
—
When the alarm slowly faded away, and nobody came back to the room, the girl decided no one was coming back. Slowly, hesitantly, she stood up, creeping towards the bars of the cell. She felt the other girl come up behind.
"Неужели они ушли? Неужели они оставили нас здесь?" she said quietly.
The girl shrugged. "Я не знаю," she repeated. "Может быть." [I don't know. Maybe.]
She felt a small thing clutch her leg, and looked down at the boy, who was clinging to her, silently scanning the room with wide, scared eyes. They stood there for a moment, muffled bangs from a few stories up disturbing the almost peaceful quiet of the room before them.
She heard the footsteps long before they were due to arrive. She tensed, grabbing the other two and pulling them back. "Что-то грядет." [Something's coming.]
They huddled together as the footsteps drew closer, slowing right outside the door, which was cracked open. Fear twisted through her gut as the door to the lab slammed open, a tall, blond man carrying a large, colorful round shield appeared in the doorway.
The girl jumped and scrambled back, the other two following suit. The strange man seemed to freeze when he saw them.
He crept closer, lowering his shield. He asked them a question, but the words were strange and unfamiliar to the girl.
"Пожалуйста, не обижайте нас," [Please don't hurt us,] the girl whispered softly. The man's face twisted in confusion. He touched the side of his helmet and said something more, but he didn't seem to be talking to them anymore. She heard more voices, filled with static, filter in softly from his helmet.
The man turned back to them and began to approach slowly, saying more in his strange language. He spoke calmingly, as if he was trying to reassure them. She felt the boy start to unclench beside her.
He reached the door to their cage and frowned at the lock. He winced, and glanced back at the kids almost as if to apologize, before slamming his shield against the lock several times.
The girl and her companions scrambled back into the furthest corner again, staring up at the man with wide, scared eyes. He winced again, and spoke more into his helmet. As if in response, a woman burst in. Her hair was red like fire and she was dressed all in black.
The two spoke for a moment, before the woman turned to the kids in the cage. "Привет. Ты в порядке?" [Hello there. Are you okay?] she asked, and the girl felt her heart unclench a little to hear a language she understood.
She nodded, feeling the other two kids do the same. "Пожалуйста, не обижайте нас," [Please don't hurt us,] the girl whispered again.
The woman smiled reassuringly. "Я не собираюсь причинять тебе боль. Меня зовут Наташа. Это мой друг Стив. Извините, если он немного страшный." [I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Natasha. This is my friend Steve. I'm sorry if he's a bit scary.]
The girl nodded again. "Вы откуда?" [Who are you from?] she asked softly.
"Мы из Мстителей. Мы можем вам помочь. Хочешь поехать с нами?" [We're from the Avengers. We can help you. Do you want to come with us?] the woman - Natasha - asked.
The girl hesitated. She felt another tap on her shoulder. "Она чувствует себя в безопасности. Пожалуйста, можем ли мы пойти с ней?" [She feels safe. Please can we go with her?] the little boy asked.
She hesitated again, looking at the other girl, who nodded in agreement. "Хочу попробовать," [I want to try,] she said.
She looked back at Natasha, who was smiling to hear their words. "Хорошо." [Okay.]
—
Natasha and the rest of the Avengers, as the girl learned they were called, took them on a plane to New York. Clint, another of the group, also knew Russian, and he talked with them. The rest of the group, including a man in shiny red armor, one in a red cape holding a big hammer, and another wearing glasses who looked pale and shaky.
When Clint asked for her name, the girl said, "Авиация ноль четыре." [Aviation 04.] It didn't feel like a name, but the scientists called that when it was her turn for tests.
He frowned, and declared that he would call her "Ava" because it was shorter.
The younger girl jumped in. "Меня зовут Katrina. Они хотели, чтобы я забыла и завела новую, но я вспомнила. Меня зовут Kat." [My name is Katrina. They wanted me to forget and have a new one but I remembered. I am Kat.]
Clint smiled, and called her Kat.
He turned to the boy, and asked, "А как тебя зовут?" [And what's your name?]
The boy turned away, hiding his face. "У меня его нет," [I don't have one,] he whispered.
Clint frowned again, and asked if he could pick one. The boy nodded eagerly, and Clint christened him "Ben".
The Avengers took them to a huge tower in the middle of the biggest city the girl - Ava - had ever seen. She had to get verification from Natasha four times because she couldn't believe so many people could live in one place. They gave the girl - Ava - and her siblings rooms and beds to sleep in. Ava had never felt so comfortable.
Natasha began to teach them English, and Ava was surprised, in a good way, when Steve stumbled out a clumsy Russian greeting one morning. It showed that he was trying.
While it took months for the kids to really feel like they belonged, Ava knew right away that this was where she was supposed to be. Her new favorite English word was "Home".
AN: I know this is short, I have more written that I'll put out later, but I wanted to start small. This is my first time writing here so I'm still figuring stuff out. TBH this first part is kinda bad but I'd like to think it gets better as it goes on. And yes, the main OC, Ava, is sorta inspired by Maximum Ride. Not everything, just the bird-human part.