Chapter One
Soroya

Fredrick Ray is a high ranking HYDRA officer who worked in Moscow for twenty years. After HYDRA fell, he disappeared and hasn't been seen since, at least until now. With the help of Sharon, who has been hunting agents with us ever since we captured Foreman, we found out that Ray has a daughter who attends the Berlin Academy of Dance, a prestige school in Berlin that only the most talented can get into. If we get into the academy, we have a shot at getting to Ray.

Sharon, Jade, and I are going to be infiltrating the academy, posing as students. Bucky, Sam, and John will be doing surveillance outside the school along with some other CIA agents. Since Ray is such a high ranking officer, Ross insisted we work closely with the CIA for this mission. Thankfully the agents we're working with don't hate us like Ross does, which makes things a lot easier.

Today is the day we infiltrate the academy, but before we can, we need to get disguises. Jade and I are Avengers, if we get recognized, then the whole mission will be ruined. The CIA has an entire department for undercover work, which includes a large room filled with disguises. When we walk inside this room, I see that it's divided into sections; one section has wigs, one section has prosthetics, a large section has clothes, and in each section there is a station were agents design and create more items to add to their collections. It's no surprise to me that the man working in the wig section is Caden Harvey, who is three years into his probation and has been working here in this department.

When he sees me, he gets up from his seat and drops the wig in his hand, stretching his arms out wide. "Beasty, it's so good to see you."

Even though I'm happy to see him, I have to force a smile his way. I have been dealing with a massive headache all day that won't seem to go away, and his voice is quite loud. Despite this, I walk into his arms and rest my head on his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist and saying sincerely: "You too. Are you enjoying life in America?"

As he pulls back from me he nods, moving past me to hug Jade. "The food here is gross but good at the same time, the people are dicks, and Americans drive like maniacs. But I like my house and I have Sylvia."

"Sylvia?" Jade inquires as she pulls away from Caden's hug.

"That's what I've named my glass swan," he explains. "She's my only companion these days. The other agents here aren't too kind. Not everyone is as forgiving as you are, Beasty."

I offer him another smile, knowing just how he feels. Caden turns his attention back to the wigs now that the pleasantries are over, and his smile is like a child's on Christmas as he gestures to the beautiful collection. "What can I do for you lovely ladies today? I heard your mission is to pose as dancers, so might I suggest longer hair for you, Beasty, maybe the color red."

"I'll take whatever you suggest." I tell him, beginning to rub at my temples. I've had headaches before, but this one is worse than normal. It reminds me of the headaches I got the days leading up to when I shifted for the first time as a child. I remember having skull cracking headaches that made me want to cry. But now that I think about it, I'm having other symptoms I had before I first shifted. Like my senses have been going crazy the past two weeks or so, like they've been dialed up from a nine to a fifteen. With Caden for example, I smell his cologne so strongly it's like it's being held up to my nose, and his heartbeat is so loud it sounds like drums, and even his breathing sounds very loud. I've had my powers for decades now and I've learned to tune most of this out, it makes me wonder why all of the sudden they're acting up.

"Jade, I think going blonde is a good idea for you, maybe with some curls," Caden continues, eyeing the other two women in assessment. "Agent Carter...perhaps going short brunette. How do you feel about pixie cuts?"

"I'm not against them." Sharon replies with a disbelieving laugh. I don't think she expected someone as lively and energetic as Caden to be working in the CIA, especially in the undercover department. The point of undercover work is to not stick out, and Caden has a very loud personality.

As the three of us are helped into our wigs, Caden takes the opportunity to question me about colored contacts, glasses, and possibly even freckles. I try to pay attention to what he's saying, but it's growing to be difficult. My headache is growing by the second, I feel like a knife is being plunged into my skull.

"You and Jade need to be as disguised as possible," Caden says as he holds up different pairs of fake glasses to my face. "You are quite popular, Beasty, if this officer you're after recognizes you at all, then I put together these beautiful wigs for nothing."

I give him a firm nod, pointing to the pair of glasses in his hand, my voice sounding breathless. "Those are nice."

Caden notices my lack of enthusiasm and looks slightly disappointed, but his excitement returns ever so slightly as he mentions: "I think you should consider changing your accent."

"It's a Berlin academy, doesn't it make sense for me to use my natural accent?"

"Yes, but I think you should use a Berlin German accent, not your Hamburg accent. You're the only German Avenger, Beasty, even the smallest of changes makes a difference. Jade, I think you should take a shot at a Berlin accent too, it's typically easy for a native Danish to use a German accent. But for Agent Carter, I think trying British is your best shot."

Sharon, with her brunette pixie cut wig on, tilts her head to Caden in confusion. "Why British and not German?"

"Americans are terrible at accents, but they seem to be semi decent at British ones."

Sharon opens her mouth to object but she quickly shuts it, letting it go and nodding her head, looking to me. Her expression is filled with concern as she reaches out with her hand to touch my arm. It's a nice gesture, but her skin fills really cold, making me flinch. Sharon flinches as well, declaring: "Soroya, you're burning up. Are you feeling alright?"

Before I can respond, I feel my headache intensify even more, leaving me unable to speak or breathe, all I can do is clutch onto my head and wait for the pain to subside.

It doesn't subside however, and the next thing I know, my seat tips over and I fall onto the floor, the sounds of my friend's frantic shouts being the last thing I hear before I pass out.

-

My eyes flutter open and the first thing I notice is the uncomfortable seat I'm sitting in. I blink a couple more times to get a clearer view of my surroundings, finding that I'm sitting in a medical chair. The room I'm in looks like a doctors office, but there isn't a nurse or doctor in sight. The only people in the room besides me are Bucky and John, who notice I'm awake at the same time, with John being the one to ask:

"How are you feeling?"

I nod, touching my forehead gently, grateful that my headache has almost completely gone away. "Better, do we know what happened?"

Bucky shakes his head, slipping his hand into mine. "Jade and Sharon called us when you passed out and we brought you to a CIA certified doctor. She took some tests and she's just left to go check on the results."

"You didn't tell us you were feeling off." John says with crossed arms, his fear for my safety evident in his tone.

"I didn't want to worry you, I figured it was nothing. Besides massive headaches, my powers have been amplified lately, it's been very overwhelming. I'm sure it's just from stress."

John and Bucky share a skeptical look, but neither of them say anything. In fact, they stay silent for the remainder of the wait for the doctor, as am I. I may be telling myself that it's just stress and everything is okay, but I don't know that. I'm trying not to worry that something bad might be happening, but as the seconds tick by, that job becomes harder.

The doctor, who is a tall African American woman with her hair in a long braid, comes into the room with a smile, which instantly puts me at ease. If something bad is happening to me she would be stressed out and anxious, which I would be able to sense. On the contrary, I sense excitement in her.

"I'm glad to see you awake, Ms. Roberts," she says, extending her hand out to me. "I'm Dr. Bradford."

I shake her hand firmly, smiling back at her. "What did my test results say?"

Dr. Bradford glances down at the chart in her left hand, her smile growing. "We ran several tests for a manner of different conditions that match your symptoms, and all of them came back negative except one."

Her positive attitude is confusing me, Bucky as well, and he's the one to ask hesitantly: "What test came back positive?"

"A pregnancy test," she informs me, opening up the chart and showing me the result. "You're pregnant, Ms. Roberts."

I stare at the chart and feel my heart rate increase with every breath, my smile growing so wide that it feels like my cheeks will rip open. I force my attention away from the chart and towards my husband, who has tears welling up in his eyes as he wraps his arms around my waist, holding me tight to him. I feel him let out a laugh against my shoulder, pulling away abruptly to look down at my stomach, placing his metal hand over it with a face cracking smile identical to my own.

"How long?" I ask my doctor.

"Four weeks," She responds, her face growing more serious as she gestures to the chart. "I will leave it up to you whether I leave this result on the chart or if I print up a negative result."

I know what she is asking. She's a doctor paid by the CIA, so any test result that she gets will go on file. Bucky and I have talked before about the different paths we will take in regards to protecting our future children, and one of those paths is to keep their existence a secret from the government we work for. If Ross ever found out about our baby...I shudder even thinking about what he might do.

Bucky is in agreement, because without even having to discuss it, he tells Dr. Bradford: "Her test came back negative."

She nods, handing the chart over to him. "No one needs to know."

John has been incredibly silent this entire time. When I lock eyes with him, he smiles at me and proceeds to walk over and hug onto me, congratulating me on this exciting news. Though I can hear sincerity in his words and tell he's happy for me, I sense a deep sadness in him. His feelings for me haven't subsided over the last few months, and hearing the news of my pregnancy must be painful. But I refuse to feel guilty for my happiness, even if it's causing him pain. I've wanted a child for such a long time, I've always dreamt of being a mother, and now all these wishes are coming true.

Bucky cups my face in his hands, looking at me in so much love and happiness that it makes my heart leap, my breath catching in my throat as he leans forward and kisses me. I lock my arms around his neck and hold him close to me, pushing my worries about the pregnancy and the government aside, just relishing in this happy moment with my husband.