AN: I do not own Marvel; I am writing a fanfic using their characters.
1720
"Mom says the time has come that we must move again, I do not know why but she says it is because bad people are after us. I ask her "why are they after us", and she tells me "Because we're different". "Is different bad," I ask her. "Different is special." She responds.
"Max, we need to leave." A brown-haired lady rushed into the tent.
"We just got here." Max whined closing his journal.
"No time to talk back." As the woman grabbed Max's hand, a spear was plunged through her chest, splattering blood all over Max.
He gasped and looked at his mom in shock. "Run!" She wheezed as blood dripped onto the floor.
The fabric behind him ripped open and he was violently pulled out of the tent by a red-haired man before running into the forest.
Max looked as his moms impaled body grew farther and farther away before it disappeared into the distance. "Do not look back." The man muttered. Before long they were sitting at a small pond as the man washed the blood off Max.
"Russell." Max spoke softly.
"Yes, Max?"
"Why do they hunt us?"
"Because they do not have what we have!" Russell closed his eyes and sighed. "Five centuries ago, there were two brothers, one was born with a gift the other was not. As they grew older the giftless brother became enraged with envy, he wanted his abilities so bad that he was willing to kill him, starting the first war."
"Do you believe that when we die, we become spirits?"
"That is what we are taught." He responded.
A loud snap came from behind causing Russell to put his finger to his lips." We need to go." He whispered.
Grabbing Max, he climbed a nearby tree escaping the encounter.
A man yawned as he walked out of the forest and knelt next to the pond. "Filthy beasts." He mumbled, dipping his hands into the enraged and jumped on top of the man; his fingernails grew into sharp jagged claws slashing at the man's throat. The man fell on his side, wheezing as he tried to breathe.
"You should not have done that, little one." Russell landed beside him.
"He killed our family!" Max kicked the man in the head.
"I know!" He knelt down and gripped tightly on Max's arms. Breathing out heavily he looked down and loosened his grip. "I know…" He said softly. "Why would you lower yourself to his standards?" He asked. "That is how wars are started." He looked up to Max's eyes.
Max looked to the ground as his eyes filled with tears. "I miss them so much." He cried.
Russell brought him into a hug. "I miss them too." His voice echoed with sadness.
The two stayed quiet for a few moments before Russell pushed Max away and looked at him. "Let us give our families a proper burial."
"Okay…" Max nodded as he wiped his eyes. Russell grabbed his hand and walked to their destroyed camp.
Max slipped his hand out and stumbled toward his mom before collapsing to the ground and wept. Russell stood back giving him space.
Sniffling he stood up. "It is just you and me."
"Yes." Russell replied.
Max looked down and knelt by a hunter's body. Flipping his body over he found two seventeen-inch blades, taking off the sheathes he tied them to his back.
"Crying is not going to save us then, is it?"
Russell smiled and shook his head. "No it's not. You will want to be careful with those." He pointed toward the knives. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a moonstone necklace and slid it over Max's head. "Take care of this."
Max nodded as he held it in his palm.
"Come on…" Russell said. "Let us get the wood to build the fire.
1780
Russell walked out of the woods, he smiled looking at a brown-haired bearded man, he wore a black leather vest and tan trousers along with two blades sheathed to his back, while writing in a journal next to a fire.
"I hit the age of 68…" Max heard a noise coming from the forest and stopped writing.
Looking up, a silver ball grazed his cheek and lodged into the tree behind him. "They found us!" Max yelled stumbling to his feet, dropping his journal in the fire.
He tried to grab it but was shot in the hand. Holding his hand he ran through the forest.
"Remember the plan!" Russell yelled running to the left.
Max jumped to the treetops and stumbled along the branches. He felt the silver poisoning his body, draining his strength.
"Russell..." He mumbled as his vision grew blurry before everything went black.
Everything was blurry as he gained consciousness. "Welcome back!" Russell shouted.
Max held his head. "What happened?" He mumbled.
"You biffed it falling out of that tree." He laughed, grabbing something from his hand he held it up revealing a silver ball. "Aren't you glad you didn't get shot in the butt?"
Max chuckled as he sat up. "I'm going to shoot you in the butt." He leaned against a tree. "Speaking of shooting... shouldn't we be on the field?" He asked looking at one of the muskets left behind from the deceased hunters.
"Yeah." Russell smiled.
1864
Max snuck behind a confederate soldier and covered his mouth before slitting his throat.
"Why so dishonorable?" Russell asked.
"We're stealing a map, not playing Odin."
"You could be nicer."
"You are the one that told me the confederacy joined the hunters."
"Not all of them..." Russell stepped out of the bushes, seconds later a shot rang through the air before Russell collapsed to the ground. "Russell?" Max asked crawling toward him.
"Max?" Russell touched Max's face. "Where are you?"
"I'm right here?" He said in confusion.
"I can't feel you."
"Stop joking."
Hearing something in front of him caused him to look up. "Hello, beastie." A man pointed a gun at him.
Max punched the guy in his genitals and stabbed him in the head on the way down.
Russell gagged on his last breath before his eyes closed.
"No, no, no, you're staying with me!" He cried picking him up, he held him. "You are not leaving me!"
Russell's body went limp. "Please don't go!" He sobbed.
Max sniffled and stood up, hearing someone walking toward him he pointed his blade at them.
"Take it easy bub." Someone said as they lit a cigar."
"What are you doing here, Logan?" He asked while sheathing his blade.
"I was told to find you; and find out why it is taking so long." He blew out smoke.
Max moved out of the way revealing Russell's deceased body.
"Do you think they're dead?" A Confederate soldier asked inside a tent.
"I heard the gunshot."
Max turned his head toward the tent and then back at Logan. Walking into the tent his teeth grew sharper as his canines protruded out of his mouth, and his fingers tore as his nails grew out taking in the form of jagged claws.
"We-We were doing our jobs!"
Max snarled and jumped toward them; soldiers ran out of their tents as the two revenge on his mind, he ran out of the tent and jumped onto the closest soldier, stabbing his claws in his chest as they fell down. He roared as he picked him up and slammed him on his back, violently digging his claws into his body he killed him.
He let out a rage-induced scream before turning and facing the other soldiers, snarling, blood, and drool dripped to the ground. The soldiers took aim and fired; Max growled and jumped toward them; the men screamed in horror as they were torn to shreds.
One of the mutilated bodies broke through and landed in the commander's tent. The commander reached for his musket but screamed as something sharp entered the back of his neck, Max tore through the back of the tent and slammed him on his desk. "Where's the map!" He snarled and stabbed his claws into the commanders face.
The commander grabbed the map from under his head. Max threw him off the desk and grabbed the map.
"Give this to the commander." He handed Logan the map.
Destroying a tent, he wrapped Russel in the fabric. "Hand me your matches." He clawed away at the trees, cutting them down. Placing them in a pile he laid Russell on top. "It's been fun." He lit the match and placed it in the pile.
Animals surrounded Max as the flames engulfed the body.
"What is so special about this?" Logan asked handing Max his cigar.
"It is symbolic, he is leaving this world and entering another." He took a puff and handed the cigar back to Logan.
"I'll tell the commander you died." Logan patted Max on the shoulder.
"Thanks." Blowing out smoke he shook Logans hand, looking back he saw an apparition in front of him causing him to smile. "I'll see you soon." A tear rolled down his cheek.
1917
Max walked toward a trench and threw a couple of grenades into it; he heard screaming before a loud explosion went off, painting the walls in blood.
"Can I go home now!" He complained walking into his trench.
"Why?" A blonde-haired man said.
"I am sick of these wars, Victor. Too much hatred, and death."
"Killing's the best part." Victor smiled.
German soldiers screamed as they ran out of their trenches toward them.
"Watch this!" Victor ran out of the trenches and clawed away at the soldiers.
Logan put a cigar in his mouth and started firing the Vickers machine gun.
Maxfelt something on his head and looked up. "Commander?" He asked as he pointed a gun at him.
"I thought you were better than them…" Three claws made from bone exited his face before his body was lifted and thrown onto the battlefield.
Logan snarled as he glared at Max. "If you die, Russell's death means nothing! Now get up here and fight!" He grabbed him by the shirt and threw him to the machine gun. "Fire!" He grabbed him by the back of the neck and pointed toward the enemy.
Max shouted as he started firing the gun.
2006-2008
Max was hunting through the woods when he heard the noise of leaves crunching behind him, quickly jumping to the branches he noticed a Red-Auburn-haired lady wearing a black leather jumpsuit. "That's weird." He told himself. "What would she be doing out here?"
He quickly followed her through the woods until she stopped at his campground. She knelt next to some footprints and checked the area but was attacked by a man in a fur coat, The lady slithered up his body and shot him in the head. "Impressive."
The lady looked around before running out of the woods, not wanting to bring more unwanted attention to her out of the woods and toward an apartment.
She started to unzip her uniform causing Max to quickly turn around, after a few minutes he turned around and found her walking into a corner.
He waited for about an hour before walking into her apartment, his footsteps were quiet as he silently inspected it. "What am I doing?" "I shouldn't barge into her territory." He stopped when he noticed the lady was facing the wall. Realizing his shadow on the wall, he jumped out the window before the lady turned around.
She inspected the apartment but could not find anybody, looking out the window, she saw the same man running into the woods that she saw an hour before as she was changing.
"That was stupid." He said running away.
A week had passed, and Max was sitting on the rooftop smoking a cigar and looking inside her apartment. He quickly stood up when he noticed her struggling to get through the window, looking at Max she unzipped her uniform, and grabbed out some medical supplies.
"Natasha Romanoff." A Russian toned man jumped into her apartment and pointed a gun at her. "You killed my father." He was about to pull the trigger when Max jumped into the apartment and punched him in the face.
"What are you doing?" The man asked trying to stand up.
Max wrapped his arm around his neck. "What are you doing!?" He growled squeezing tighter.
"She deserves it."
"So do you." He grabbed the man's hair and started pulling up.
"Let go of me." The man's eyesight turned blurry, and his breathing slowed down as he frantically tried to grab Max's arm.
Max's eyes turned blood red as his canines protruded out of his mouth, the man's skin slowly started to rip as Max covered the man's mouth from making any noise.
The man mumbled in pain as he tried to scream, Max let out a rage-fueled snarl as the man's head came off its shoulders. Falling on the ground Max breathed out heavily, his body soaked with blood. He turned his head and found the lady stitching up her shoulder.
Throwing the man off him he walked toward her. "Did you want me to do that for you?" He slowly put his hand on her shoulder.
The lady moved her shoulder away. "I'm not leaving unless I help you." Max said.
"Why have you been following me?" she asked as she stopped stitching herself.
"I could say the same thing, after the club, you followed me to the woods."
"You followed me to my apartment and stuck around."
"Is it wrong for me to find you attractive?" He asked trying to take the needle.
"That's what I was trained for." She pulled the needle away from him.
"Does your training allow you to have friends… like, with me?" He pointed toward himself.
"You want... To be friends with me." She paused for a second and looked at Max.
He smiled and extended his hand. "My name is Max Casing."
The lady gave a slight smile. "Natasha Romanoff. Why should I trust you?"
"Why didn't I kill you? Or… haven't killed you?"
She raised an eyebrow. "People try to kill me every day, what makes you any different?"
"That's a secret." He replied. "Look…" He huffed in amusement. "I'm not here to kill you." He finished with a smile.
She huffed in amusement and handed him the needle. "Stab stab! I'm kidding!" He stumbled back as she almost attacked him.
"Give me the needle."
"No… I'm sorry." He put it behind his back.
She chuckled and shook her head. "You've never talked to a girl before, have you?"
"No one like you…Did you want to lie down?"
Natasha lay down revealing a gash on her lower abdomen. "Can you?" He pointed toward her zipper.
She raised an eyebrow and unzipped her suit all the way.
The room fell silent as Natasha watched Max stitch her up, cutting the string he looked up and met Natasha's green eyes. "I'm finished." He zipped up her suit.
Natasha looked down at her suit. "Thanks." She smiled; both of their eyes shifted back to each other.
Max looked toward the ground, breaking their connection. "I should get going." He said walking toward the window. "You don't have to sleep in the forest," Natasha said stopping him. "I have an extra room."
"Why?" He asked turning around.
"I could ask you the same thing." She said walking into the bathroom.
Two years later, (2008). Max ran through the forest when he heard a giant explosion, turning his head, he saw smoke running up the sky.
He ran towards the city and heard gunshots, running toward them he found Natasha and a dark-haired man running into a storm drain.
Max jumped off the building and into the storm drain causing the guy to point an arrow at him.
"Down, Cupid." He walked past him and hugged Natasha.
"How's Alexis?" Natasha asked.
"Safe, I'm going to get her before heading out."
"Kiss her goodbye for me." She spoke with sadness in her tone.
"I'll do that." He replied with the same tone.
Natasha closed her eyes causing a tear to slide down her face. "I wish there was another way." She whispered.
Max wiped the tear away. "Me too." His voice cracked, leaning forward the two kissed.
"We need to go!" The guy yelled. "They're getting closer."
Natasha sniffled as she looked at Max. "I'll watch for you."
"Me too…" He gave a slight smile as tears filled his eyes. "Be safe." He walked back.
"Keep her safe, Barton!"
"I will, thank you Max."
Natasha sniffled and wiped her eyes as he ran out of the storm drain. "Are you ready?" Barton asked.
She nodded her head. "Yeah."
2012
"Did Tony give you the list for tonight?" Natasha asked grabbing a shopping cart.
Barton unfolded a piece of paper. "Stuff." He showed Natasha the paper.
"That's helpful, Let's see..." Natasha thought about a movie night as they walked through the store. "I would get tortilla chips..." She grabbed seven bags of tortilla chips and put them in the cart. "Dips..." She stopped in front of them. "Four jars of Tostitos chunky salsa mild, and medium salsa, as well as a big can of Nacho cheddar cheese sauce."
Natasha looked up and saw a man wearing a black muscle shirt, black jeans, and Detroit players. Both of his arms was covered in wolf tattoos, and he was staring at her. A lady walked in front of him, and he disappeared.
"Max?" She mumbled.
"What did you say?" Barton asked.
Natasha blinked gaining her composure. "It was nothing, Let's finish shopping."
The two walked down the aisle and grabbed jalapeños, they walked out of the aisle and stopped in front of a meat counter.
"How may I help you?" A worker asked.
"Can I have five pounds of beef, please?"
"Of course."
"Thank you." Natasha looked up toward the ceiling and saw a mirror, she quickly turned around when she saw the same man behind her, he had mid-neck length hair and a beard that went down to his chest.
"Is something wrong?" Barton asked.
"Someone is following us." Natasha scanned the area.
"Who is it?"
Natasha furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him.
"Stupid question." He chuckled.
A teenager wearing a hoodie bumped into Barton as she ran past. "Hey!" He said loudly.
Natasha furrowed her eyebrows and looked at her as she went out of sight. "What is it?" Barton asked.
"I… nothing." She shook her head.
"Here you go." The worker said.
"Oh… thank you." She grabbed the meat and put it in the cart.
Barton looked behind Natasha and found the man she was seeing. "What... else did you want to get?"
"I'm getting hungry, let's get some Lunch."
"Let's do that."
The two walked into the food court and stopped at a burger booth, they were waiting in line when they noticed more and more customers surrounding them, holding reusable shopping bags.
Barton slid a trigger out of his pocket, while Natasha equipped her widow bites. The customers pulled out guns and pointed at them, causing civilians around them to scream and run out of the area.
Barton pressed the trigger causing a bow and quiver to eject itself out of his back. "We don't want to hurt you."
"You won't get the chance." The leader laughed.
A man's headless body splattered blood everywhere as he landed in front of the gunmen. Seconds later the man that was following them, jumped off the top floor and landed in front of them, holding the man's head. "I told you to stay out of my territory!" He growled.
"Max!" Natasha smiled.
"Richie had a change of plans." The leader said.
The teenager who ran into Barton walked toward them eating a human heart, as blood dripped from her hands and face on the floor. "Do you know how bad this stuff is." She held a cooked hamburger patty in front of her. "All that junk they put in it… and cooking it! It tastes burnt!" She threw it at Barton. "This!" She bit into the heart, squirting blood everywhere. "This is healthy!" Blood and chunks flew out of her mouth as she spoke.
Natasha's eyes lit up. "Alexis!" She smiled.
A red-haired man landed beside Max. "Max." He greeted.
"Jack."
"We can do that too." The leader chuckled. Glass shattered above them as more gunmen slid down from helicopters.
A shadowy figure ran through the sky and cut the lines, landing in front of Max as bodies crashed around them.
"You guys can leave if you want." Max turned his head to look at them.
"We're staying." Natasha reached behind and pulled out a pair of Glocks, Clint walked forward and pulled back an arrow.
Turning around, Max walked in front of them. "Alexis."
Alexis looked at Natasha and smiled, walking toward him, Max grabbed the back of her shirt and threw her towards the enemy.
The group looked at Alexis and raised their weapons. A horde of bats covered Alexis as they fired at her.
Landing on an enemy, she stabbed her claws on the side of his neck and bit into his throat. Ripping his throat out she snarled at them as chunks of flesh dripped from her mouth.
Max jumped toward the distracted enemies, throwing his knives into two enemies, he punched the leader's face and threw him in the air. Pulling his blades out of the two enemies he cut off the leader's head as he landed.
Jack slammed an enemy's head into the floor before stabbing him in the neck. Natasha slithered around an enemy's body and shot two enemies before shooting him in the head. A man jumped on Clint's back, headbutting him he flipped him over on his back, and shot him in the head. Before long, the enemies were dead.
Natasha and Clint looked at each other and smiled. "That was fun," Natasha said.
"Yes, it was."
Natasha walked up to Alexis as she was eating the inside of a guy's chest. "Hungry?"
Alexis smiled with a mouth full of food as she nodded. Stabbing her claws into his chest, she grabbed the man's heart.
Natasha knelt next to her. "It's good to see you."
"It's good to see you too." She spoke with her mouth full. "Sorry." She apologized as blood and chunks stuck to Natasha's shirt.
"It's fine." She smiled.
Alexis wiped her mouth and hugged Natasha. "I've missed you so much." She mumbled.
Natasha wrapped her arms around her. "I've missed you too." She spoke before kissing her head. The two let go of each other. "How would you like to come live with me?" Natasha asked.
"Really?!" Alexis asked happily.
"Yeah…" she nodded. "First, we have to find your father." She spoke as she stood up, looking around she stopped when she saw Max sitting at a table and talking to Jack.
As she walked toward him, she heard. "Tell Morbius I have to take care of a few things."
Jack looked up and saw Natasha walking toward them. "I will do that." He smiled walking away.
Natasha put a hand on his shoulder. "How are you doing?"
"A little tired." He yawned.
"I was telling Alexis that you two should stay with me."
"I don't know, I don't want to intrude on your little groupie."
Natasha glared at him before smacking him in the head. "It's not a groupie; you will be my guests."
"Come on!" Alexis whined. "Please, I want too… I want to live with mom."
Max breathed out softly as he looked at Alexis, and then at Natasha who smiled at him.
"Fine." He said in defeat.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Alexis yelled in excitement.
"We're back!" Natasha yelled.
"What took you so long?" Tony asked staring down from the balcony.
"You could have written us a longer list!" She snapped back.
Max slowly walked inside, holding Alexis's hand.
"Who's that?"
Max looked up at Tony but then turned his attention to Steve who walked behind Tony.
"Max Casing!" Steve chuckled as he walked down the stairs.
"Steve Rogers." Max smiled and hugged him.
"How was the ice bath?"
"Cold..." Steve looked at Max's arms. "Wh.."
"Still Vârcolac's pet? Werewolf." Thor asked interrupting him.
Max looked up and found Thor standing at the top of the stairs, "Beats being a false God."
"Hey!" Natasha yelled.
Max jumped and turned around.
"You can't come in here and insult people."
Max glared at her and pointed at Thor. "He started it."
"I'm finishing it."
Alexis yawned and touched Natasha's hand. "Can I go to bed now?"
"Oh… sorry… I'll show you the guest room."
"Pepper, can you show Max to my room?"
"Of course." A red-haired woman replied coming out of the kitchen.
The three made their way up the stairs and went down the hallway. "Are we just inviting people to stay with us now?" Tony asked.
"Yes." Pepper replied as she closed Natasha's bedroom door. She gave a look at Tony telling him that this conversation wasn't over. Turning around she walked into the guest room where Alexis and Natasha went. "Can I come in?" She asked after knocking on the door.
"Yeah, come on in." Natasha smiled. "Here are some of my clothes." She handed Alexis a tank top and short shorts. "Wear those as pajamas for tonight and then will get you some more clothes."
"Thanks mom." Alexis hugged her.
"You're welcome, sweetheart." She hugged her back.
Alexis broke the hug and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
"Can I ask you a question?" Pepper asked sitting on the bed. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
"How is Alexis my daughter?"
"Yeah."
Natasha breathed out heavily and sat cross-legged on the bed. "Max and I went on a mission… we only worked together for about a month, month and a half. Well, our mission was taking down a drug dealer who was dealing on our turf, by ours, I mean the organization that created the Black Widows. It didn't go well on our part. Like I said before, we were new working together. One thing led to another, and he ended up running away and holding Alexis, his daughter, hostage."
"We tried to de-escalate the situation, which didn't work either. Max ended up killing him, but also in the process wounding Alexis. So, we decided to take care of her, as best as we could."
"I'm so sorry to hear that. But also, I am glad that it worked out for you. What was that thing about Max being a werewolf? Does that make Alexis a werewolf since she got wounded?"
"It is true, Max is a Lycan. He says that werewolves can only turn into the beasts, but Lycan's can turn into a humanoid beast, as well as the beast. If that makes sense, and yes, Alexis has the ability."
"Hmm… Learn more interesting stuff every day."
The bathroom door opened as Alexis stumbled out of the bathroom. Natasha got off the bed and opened up the covers. "I'll leave you alone." Pepper smiled.
"Thanks." Natasha smiled before Pepper closed the door.
Alexis crawled in the bed. "Can you stay with me?" She asked.
"Of course." Natasha replied and sat next to her daughter.
Max sat at the end of the bed, elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped in silent thought. The weight of the past few days pressed heavily on his shoulders.
A few minutes later, the door opened and closed gently. He didn't look up, but he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder—cool, steady, grounding.
He reached up and held it. "I missed you," he murmured.
Natasha stepped in front of him. Without a word, she knelt down and untied his shoes, slipping them off one at a time. She stood and placed them neatly by the closet.
As she turned to walk back, Max gently reached for her arms, stopping her.
"Four years, Tasha," he said, voice soft but strained.
She closed her eyes as he rested his forehead against hers. For a long moment, neither of them moved.
Max brushed a hand through her hair, tucking it behind her ear. Then, without words, he led her to the bed. They sat side by side, their hands gently intertwined, the silence between them filled with all the things they didn't need to say aloud.
She leaned her head on his shoulder.
He rested his against hers.
And together, they just… breathed.
