AUTHOR'S NOTES: Full lines of dialogue written in cursive indicate that the character is speaking in Spanish. Think of the cursive as subtitles.

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August 24th, 2003

Alarms blared at an Oscorp laboratory facility in New York City. A severe-looking woman in a suit marched through its sterile hallways towards the security room while armed guards rushed towards the source of the commotion.

"What happened?" she demanded, her heavy Hispanic accent accentuating the fearsome sharpness of her voice.

"It's Arachne, Madame Franco. She's escaped from her container," one of the personnel replied. Madam Franco's eyes widened as she stormed out of the room.

The hallways echoed with the sound of Madame Franco's heels clacking against the tile as she stomped towards the laboratories, passing downed soldiers as she neared her destination. She stopped at one of the corridors and saw an empty, bullet-ridden hallway on her right and a swinging door on her left. Madame Franco turned left and flung the door open even wider as she burst into the room.

Inside she found overturned tables, broken lab equipment, and white-coated scientists in varying degrees of injury and confusion. At the center of all the chaos stood a shattered cylindrical, glass container surrounded by shards of broken glass.

She marched over to one of the scientists and demanded in Spanish, "Hermano! What happened here?"

"Arachne woke up and broke out of the container," the scientist, her brother, replied as he pulled himself up from the floor.

"How?"

Dr. Franco limped over to a computer and began typing as his eyes skimmed through the information on the screen.

"$#!+!" he cursed.

"What?" Madame Franco replied.

"There was a glitch in the splicing process, and her metabolism was altered. The sedative we gave her should have kept her asleep for hours, but her metabolism broke it down within minutes," Dr. Franco explained.

"She was an incredibly expensive investment, Guillermo. High command will be disappointed to find out that we lost her because of a glitch."

"We'll worry about high command and recovering Arachne later. Right now, we need to focus on covering our tracks before Oscorp gets suspicious."

With that, Dr. Franco leaned close to his sister and whispered, "Hail HYDRA."

"Hail HYDRA," Madame Franco responded, also whispering.

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Meanwhile, in an alley roughly two blocks from the facility, a thin, pale 13-year-old girl shivered as huddled behind a dumpster. Her green eyes darted all over her surroundings for any sign of the armed men who had been chasing her. Her hands and the soles of her feet were bloodied and bruised from all the glass that she had just punched through and accidentally stepped on, having gone unnoticed thanks to the rush of adrenaline that urged her to escape as fast as she could. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, just panting and praying that those people didn't find her, but after a while, she finally calmed down enough to remember what had happened before she woke up in that strange place trapped behind glass.

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"Roxanne? Ro, wake up. We have to go, fast!" a male voice with a strong British accent had suddenly woken her up that early morning, as she was shaken by the shoulder.

"Huh? Dad?" the girl drowsily asked as she rubbed her eyes and struggled to fully open them. Unlike her father, her voice only had a slight hint of a British accent buried underneath an American one. "What is it?"

"Well, uh, we're going back home, sunshine. But we're leaving immediately, so I need you to get dressed quickly, alright?" the tall and thin man told her, attempting to sound as gentle as he could amongst the urgency and accelerated breaths that invaded his speech.

As he spoke, a medium-height woman with wavy, dirty blonde hair tied in a low ponytail burst into Roxanne's room, carrying an empty suitcase with her. She opened the girl's closet and started hurriedly packing, or more accurately, stuffing her clothes inside of it.

"What!?" the young girl exclaimed in utter confusion, with a hint of panic. She looked to her right to see the alarm clock sitting on top of her nightstand. "But it's not even 1:30 in the morning. Mum, Dad, could you tell me what's going on?"

"Hey, hey," the man softly said as he firmly but gently grasped his understandably disoriented daughter by the shoulders. This time around, he spoke in a much calmer and slower manner, looking at her with a sincere expression in his blue eyes. "I know it's sudden, and I understand you have a lot of questions. And I promise I will answer every single one of them once we're back home. But right now, I need you to trust me, and be brave for me and mum. Can you do that, sunshine?"

Still shaken but starting to feel a sense of comfort from her father's tone and words, she nodded. The man laid a quick kiss on the girl's cheek and exited the room with quick steps. Ro got up from the bed and grabbed the first set of clothes that was still left in the closet. She met eyes with the woman, her mother, who was wearing an anxious expression, which nevertheless softened when she looked at her daughter, whom she shared the same green eye color with. The middle-aged woman gave the younger girl a sympathetic smile before hugging her tightly.

"Everything will be okay, Ro. You'll see," she spoke, a slight shake in her otherwise sweet and calming voice, also marked with a British accent. It seemed as if she was attempting to calm herself almost as much as her daughter.

Ro's mother let go of the young girl and, with a tense but sincere smile, handed her a denim jacket which she would undoubtedly need when going out at this hour. Ro quickly returned her mother's smile as she grabbed the jacket, but as soon as the woman turned around and exited the room with the now full suitcase, that smile vanished. For a second, she stood there, holding up her clothes and wondering what all this might be about. She and her parents weren't supposed to return to their California home from their current New York apartment for at least another four months, at least according to what her father had told her. This sudden departure came completely out of left field. Why did they have to leave at this instant, without a single moment to lose? Something bad must've undoubtedly happened. She knew that right now wasn't the time for questions and that she had to trust her parents, as she always had. But she still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling, and apparently, neither could they.

"Yes, hello? This is Dr. Frederick Brooks," Roxanne heard her father speaking on the telephone as she exited her bedroom a few minutes later, now fully dressed, and walked towards the entrance door to where her parents were. "What's the earliest flight to Fontana, California available?"

As he continued speaking, he and his wife were putting on their coats. Ro noticed that each of them only had one suitcase each, and the one her mother had packed for her, meaning they were leaving many of their belongings behind in their haste.

"Alright, thank you very much," Dr. Brooks hung up the phone and addressed his wife, still a bit agitated. "Debra, the earliest option we have is five in the morning. I think that still gives us enough time to be out of New York before they find out. Hopefully."

"Hey," Debra said softly as she put a hand on her husband's cheek, making him look her in the eyes. "It will, Fred. We'll be alright soon."

Despite how much uncertainty and anxiety he was feeling at the moment, Fred couldn't help but give his wife a loving smile and look. Somehow, even in the dreariest of situations, she always managed to find a way to make him feel hopeful, peaceful even, if only the slightest bit. He leaned in to kiss her, and Roxanne couldn't help but smile as she watched.

As the two adults separated, they both looked at her daughter, and Debra offered her hand for the young girl to take. Grabbing her mother's hand with her left and her suitcase with her right, Ro and her parents walked out of their apartment and descended the stairs. The three exited the building to find it had begun raining. The three of them got in their car, Fred in the driver's seat, Debra in the co-pilot's, and Roxanne in the back seat.

Dr. Brooks began driving his wife and daughter towards the airport. Thanks to both the weather and the time, the city streets weren't as busy as they typically were, but the drive was far from smooth. The rain soon began pouring harder and harder, to the point where the whole sky might as well have been the Niagara Falls. It became harder to hear what her parents were saying, but Ro could tell her dad was grumbling, no doubt about how hard the weather was making it to see.

In a heartbeat, the loud sound of brakes squealing could be heard as a pair of bright yellow lights suddenly appeared on their left. Before Roxanne could even let out a scream, the other car impacted theirs, making the vehicle lose control as the girl was sent flying out the window and onto the sidewalk.

As she heard a loud crash behind her, a sharp pain shot through her whole body as she laid on the ground for a couple seconds. Bits of glass surrounded her, and her ears were ringing. As the high-pitched noise began to pass, she weakly turned her head towards the direction where she had heard the horrible noise, only to find a smoking, mangled piece of metal that was once her family's car, crashed against a large tree. With the rain drowning her voice, Ro screamed for her parents. Only the thunder and lightning answered her. Her vision began blurring, and she could sense someone approaching her from behind. Several people, in fact. But before she could even attempt to get up or turn around, everything went black.

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Back at the present, looking over her recent memories and current circumstances, the frightened girl concluded that her parents must have perished in the accident. Why else would she have woken up in a glass tube surrounded by guns and lab coats? The full weight of that conclusion needed a few seconds to sink in, but when it finally did, she hugged her knees to her chest and sobbed as tears ran down her face.

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Two years later...

At the diner "El Rinconcito", Roxanne Brooks wiped down the last table and hung up her apron before flipping the front door's sign from OPEN to CLOSED and locking up the cash register. Then, she took her timecard from its place on the wall and clocked out before grabbing her coat. Her coat was two sizes too big and worn in some places, but it kept her warm at night like it was supposed to.

"I'm done with everything, Señora Garcia," Roxanne called out to her employer with her hand on the front door's handle. "Hasta mañana!"

"Hasta mañana, Ro," Mrs. Garcia replied, giving Roxanne a warm smile and a wave goodbye. Roxanne returned the wave and went out the door. As soon as Ro was maybe fifteen feet away from the diner, Mrs. Garcia's 12-year-old daughter Camila snuck out the front door and began to discreetly follow her.

Camila eventually lost track of how long she had been following Roxanne for, but she did notice that the longer she followed Ro, the less habitable the surrounding buildings appeared to be. At first, Camila simply kept following Ro, wondering all the while what such a nice girl like Ro would be doing at such an awful place. Finally, Ro stopped in front of what looked like an old, abandoned warehouse and entered it. Once Ro was out of her sight, Camila took a good look at her surroundings and suddenly became very frightened.

"I really, really shouldn't be here," Camila thought to herself as she slowly backed away, desperately trying to remember the way back home.

"Well, what do we have here?" a deep, sinister voice said from behind her. Camila turned around and saw a group of thugs coming in from behind her. Many of them had half-filled beer bottles in their hands, and all of them reeked of alcohol and vomit. Camila tried not to gag as she hurriedly darted the other way, but her escape was cut off by even more thugs.

"G-get away from me!" Camila shouted shakily, trying not to sound as terrified as she felt. She backed away until she was stopped by a wall, effectively becoming surrounded.

"Don't worry, little girl. We're not going to hurt you." The thug followed up that statement with a wicked laugh as he and his friends slowly closed in on her.

"HELP!" Camila screamed as she frightfully shrunk against the wall and hid her face behind her arms. "Somebody, help me!"

Just as one thug rushed forward to grab her, someone grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back, throwing him against a stack of cardboard boxes. The rest of his friends turned around to see who had done it. Standing among them with a look of red-hot fury on her face was Roxanne, brandishing a wooden plank in one hand.

"She said get away from her," she angrily demanded, waving the plank threateningly. Most of the thugs laughed, not taking her seriously, before turning away from Camila and rushing to attack her. Yeah, that was a mistake.

To the utter shock of everyone present, Roxanne trounced every single one of the thugs easily, dodging and blocking their every blow and striking back with five times the speed and ferocity. The thugs soon realized that the fight was a losing battle and fled while Ro chased them down, screaming and waving her plank at them for good measure.

"Next time, I won't go so easy!" Ro shouted after them, letting them get away.

"Yeah, you better run," Camila agreed, running up next to Ro with a triumphant grin on her face. That grin quickly vanished when Roxanne turned towards her, glaring sternly. "Uh, hi."

Ro wordlessly grabbed Camila's arm and began dragging her away from the rundown buildings back towards the nicer part of the area. All the while, Camila cried out and protested repeatedly due to how tightly Ro was gripping her arm and how roughly Ro was dragging her.

"What were you thinking?!" Ro demanded, practically screaming. "Following me from work? Does Señora Garcia even know you're here?! Gosh! You could have gotten hurt or worse!"

"I just wanted to know where you lived and who you lived with," Camila argued. "Every time Mama and I asked you about your home or your family, you always avoided the question. How was I supposed to know you lived in an abandoned building surrounded by bad people?"

"Well, now you know why I always avoided the question," Ro retorted before letting go of Camila. "Can you find your way home from here, or do you still need me to take you back?"

Camila looked at her surroundings before turning to Ro. She bit her lip, thinking about what had happened earlier and what she had just discovered.

"So, do your parents know that you live in that terrible place?" Camila asked.

Roxanne rolled her eyes and replied, "Okay, now, you're avoiding my question. Do you. Need me. To take you home?"

"Answer my question first. Then, I'll answer yours."

"Wha-? Why do I have to answer first? I asked you first!"

"Because I am very stubborn and I will do this all night if I have to," Camila sassed, crossing her arms and stomping her foot.

Ro growled in frustration before relenting, "Okay, fine. I'll answer you. The truth is, I don't know if my parents know where I am. Not that it matters. They wouldn't be able to do anything about it even if they did know." She paused before turning away from Camila and turning her eyes to the ground sadly. "Because they're dead."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"Wait, so, you've been on your own?" Camila asked.

"Yeah," Ro answered, trying and failing not to sound glum.

"For how long?"

"I don't know. Maybe two years now. It's been a while."

Camila looked down and pressed her lips together, thinking deeply.

Then, she looked up at Ro, took her by the hand, and said, "What if you didn't have to be on your own anymore? You can stay with me and my family."

Ro looked back at Camila and gave her a small smile that quickly faded.

 "Cami, I appreciate you trying to help me, but I don't need a hand-out. I'll be fine," Ro replied.

"I'm not offering you a hand-out," Camila refuted. "I'm offering you my family. Besides, Mama, Manuel, and I already love you, and I know Papa will love you too once he gets to meet you. The point is everyone would be more than happy to have you in our family, so why not be part of it?"

 "I don't know, Cami. I haven't been part of a family in a long time."

"Do you really want to spend the rest of your life alone and homeless? I know I wouldn't. I know my mama and papa wouldn't want that for me either, so I know your parents wouldn't want that for you," Camila countered. "Besides, I'd feel a lot safer walking home with you. What if those guys from earlier come back?"

For a while, Ro didn't say anything. She just stood there and let Camila's words sink in. Then, she turned to Camila and said with a sigh, "Alright, I'll walk you home, and maybe, maybe, I'll stay the night. Just one night, okay?"

Camila didn't seem to hear that last part as she squealed and pulled Roxanne into a hug. "Oh, my gosh! This is great!" Camila shrieked excitedly. "I've always wanted a sister!"

"Hey! We're not sisters yet," Ro countered, pulling away from the hug before wincing in realization.

"Yet?!" Camila gasped. "You said 'yet.' You want me for a sister. You know you do, and I know you do."

Ro groaned as she put a hand to her face.

"I'll race you home," Camila cried as she took off running.

"Wait a minute," Ro shouted, running after her. "Whatever happened to you not feeling safe?"

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AUTHOR'S NOTES: I was originally planning on coloring the illustrations for this chapter and even making one or two new ones, but due to time constraints and setbacks out of my control, I was only able to use the ones I already had made. Sorry for that, this will improve moving forward.

I've already written a fuller explanation about what Fred Brooks' "deal" is, but in case you haven't seen it or just don't remember, well, I kinda recommend not looking it up, it will be more fun to just discover it as the story progresses, hehe.

Next up, a familiar face.