↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

The runaway's feet had carved footsteps into the garage's concrete flooring from how repetitive walking back and forth. Her breathing skipped, unable to keep up with her pacing as she feared what was to come.

"Are you going to stop soon?" Colette asked in a very monotoned way. Laying over Harley's drum set as she tried to rest, "It's getting a little annoying."

Diana Rogers-Stark's polished nails chipped as she dug her teeth into the coating, "Are they gonna be back soon?"

"They have been gone for only a few hours, give them time," she huffed. "Seems like their family is the 'Must be Present at Dinner' type."

"That's a real thing?" Diana gave her a strange look, "People do that every night?"

Colette shrugged, "It's a middle class thing, I think."

The two billionaires let out strange hums at the rather simple thought. Of course Diana had meals with her family from time to time, but every night? Now that didn't seem really realistic.

Still the thought of a full family dinner wasn't enough to distract the teenager. With Diana groaning as she practically fell onto the dusty old futon. Playing with her necklace charm to keep her calm until the doorknob started to jiggle.

The girls both quickly stood up as the two boys sunk in, "Sorry for the delay," Harley quickly apologized.

"Our parents seemed to be oh so overjoyed that we suddenly became 'best buds' and decided we must have a nonnegotiable trip to get ice cream. Took us forever to get home," the brunette boy grovelled.

"And to add injury to insult my sister demanded to take the scenic route home," Harley scoffed as he walked towards the laptop.

"Sister?" Colette raised a brow.

The brunette nodded, "We've got two. Brooklyn and Katie," he pulled his backpack off. "Don't worry we didn't tell them anything. I'm not having either of them find out about... er- this. No offence."

Red flushed over Diana's face as the boy, Nathan, went into his bag, "I'm sorry you both got involved. I promise we won't be here that long," she apologized to them.

"It's fine. It's not like you had a choice in this," Nathan told the avenger as he proceeded to pull out two styrofoam takeout boxes and a few bottles of water. "I was able to sneak you two out some food. Hope you like chicken."

Colette took the boxes before Diana could even react. Looking them over before giving her mission the lighter one.

When the runaway opened the box, she was met with a decent serving of chicken nuggets and fries. It wasn't until the smell hit her nostrils did she realized exactly how hungry she was, "Thank you..." she couldn't remember his name, "Uh..."

"Nathan," he put his hand out.

She shook it, "Diana, and that's Colette."

The other girl causally waved as she started to eat. While Dian put her own meal to the side. Even if she was hungry, eating properly would have only made her even sicker, "Don't worry I already gave him the rundown about your situation. It's not like he has any friends to squeal to about the situation," Harley exclaimed as he did his best to get the laptop running.

Nathan simply rolled his blue eyes into the sun as he walked up to his roommate, "Just get the damn laptop on."

The trio stood over the blonde, watching intently as Harley try to activate it, "Okay, let's see where your family is hiding."

After a good ten minutes of going through the sights, he was finally able to access the security cameras, "What time are we looking for?"

"Any time after four on the fourth," she said, as he scrolled down.

"Okay, let's see where your family went," and with that he pressed play.

↻ II ↺

【Ｎｏｗ　Ｐｌａｙｉｎｇ　Ｆｉｌｅ　Ｌｏｇ　１．９６８７】

Steve took another sip of his drink as he struggled to keep himself from exploding. He stood in the sad penthouse pacing back and forth as most of the avengers sat around the vast empty tables and chairs, "I am such an idiot," he huffed.

"Well, I'm not going to fight with you on that fact," Tony shrugged before getting smacked by Pepper, "Stop it. He's had enough."

"You heard what he said to her!"

Pepper groaned, rubbing her temples, "I wish I hadn't."

"I was too hard on her," Steve huffed.

"You think?" Tony asked, sarcastically. "It's hair! It'll grow back."

"Morgan would've killed me if she saw that," Steve ran his hand over his face. "She hated unnatural things."

"But had a kid with a super soldier," Tony muttered as Pepper hit him. "You've been too hard on her for months now. Have you even told her the real reason why she can't go to school yet?" Steve shook his head, making the Stark groan.

Clint sighed as he grabbed another glass of coke, "Kids say things all the time Steve. She's just at that age. Mine are like that as well."

"Yeah but you didn't tell your kid that you wished she wasn't your responsibility."

Clint's lips went into a fine line, "Yeah... Can't help you with that."

He let out a huff as Tony made him sit down, "You've gotta have a serious talk with her, Steve. I'm not joking around here. You need to tell her everything. Everything."

That made the captain scoff, "Oh yeah! Let me just go to my daughter about how I was sacred to raise a kid after sleeping for over fifty years, before telling her that there's a One point Two Billion dollar live-bounty on her head. She'd take that oh so well," he sarcastically said. "The girl who hates that her entire family thinks she's a damsel has people trying to actively steal her away."

"I'm sure it's not the first time. She'd understand," Sam added.

Steve huffed, "Those bastards have already attempted to get her three times in the last month. They're getting more bold as the days progress, and with Diana trying to run away they've almost crossed paths multiple times," the overwhelmed father tried to stay calm. "Did you know I once caught her outside the property line only because I had just taken down some bounty hunters?"

The elevator doors dinged before opened making the team turn to see Natasha, followed by Vision and Wanda enter the room, "Any sign of her?" Steve quickly stood up.

She shook her head, "She's somewhere around here. Your tracker says so," Wanda sighed.

"I'll go look for her," Steve went to move forward but Natsaha forced him to sit, "I think it's best to give her some space," Natsaha sat next to the captain. "That fight was intense."

"I was awful."

"She's had worse. So have you. Neither of you meant those things," she told him.

"Still doesn't excuse what I said."

She shook her head, "No it doesn't, but if you both sit down and talk it out you can work something out. You haven't been the same since Ultron, and neither has she. You both need to have a deep conversation," she explained.

He glanced at her, "You think that'll work?"

"If you both give it a chance I'm sure you two can work something out," She smiled as the elevator dinged again.

They all got up assuming it was going to be Diana but quickly paused when another figure stepped out from inside.

The woman looked to be only twenty-years-old. Her purple dress flowed to her knees as the leather jacket hugged her physically fit figure, with matching boots making a click with every step inside.

"Uh, excuse me Ms?" Tony was the first to speak to the distracted woman who continued to look at her phone. "Party's cancelled like Kanye."

The girl simply continued to text on her phone, making the others look at her confused, "Ma'am?"

"How did she get past security, I thought you had a guest list?" Wanda turned to Tony.

"Oh it was quite easy actually," the mysterious redhead finally looked up from her phone, making the Captain freeze once they made eye contact.

He had seen those blue eyes before, "Do I know you?"

She hummed, "Oh no, I'm sorry to disappoint you Captain, but I am the spitting image of my father. Some would say I'm a clone of him but that's just silly."

The group's confusion suddenly became more of suspicion as Tony slowly pulled his watch down, while Nastaha and Sam reached under their seats, Wanda stretched her hands out as others prepared for something to happen.

"This is a lovely party though. I'm sure the little Songbird must've loved it. In fact... the two of us have already become well acquainted again. See?" She turned her phone around to reveal a strnage recording.

'No. No. No. No! Tony! Tony, help me! Please,' the recording of Diana's voice screamed out.

Steve's teeth clenched as the team looked at the woman in either horror, anger or a mixture of both, "Where is she?"

The woman simply smiled as she stopped the screaming, "Oh she's around. Would you like to join her? I'm sorry, it's not like you have a choice but I thought I'd ask," she sweetly chuckled.

Vision and Wanda took a step back as Steve continued to speak. As he tried to demand his daughter back as calmly as he possibly could, Vision seeped through the floorboards and came up right behind her. But right as he was about to grab the well dressed woman she spun around and slammed a small black device into his neck, causing the robot to spark.

He let out a loud gasp as he short-circuited before his colour literally vanished from his body. Once he hit the floor Wanda then cried out for him, "VIS!"

Rhodey and Sam both had to hold Steve back as he went to attack. They both knew it wasn't the right moment. If they attacked now it might only endanger this woman's hostage.

The young avenger ran past the mysterious woman and tried her best to wake him, "Vis? Vis!" Wanda's eyes started to slowly glow a familiar red as she looked towards the woman who was now over by the catering table, "What did you do to him?" Her voice was low.

The redhead pulled out a small knife and cut a small piece of cake for herself, "A simple deactivation chip created last year after fear of another 'incident'. Did you know you all have one?" she took a bite as she swayed her knife between every syllable. "If I remember correctly Vision asked you to create it, didn't he Mr. Stark?"

Tony looked between the grey bot and the woman on her second slice of cake, "How did... how did you get your hands on that tech...?"

"It's not hard to catch things falling through the cracks when you have so many holes," she hummed. "You just need to find the right place to stand."

"What exactly do you want from us?" Wanda sneered as she gently placed Vision's head on the floor.

Her knife picked up a small frosting butterfly, "For you to all surrender and come with me without anyone getting hurt," she flicked the green decoration off her weapon.

That was enough for Wanda to snap. The others might've been fine with beating around the bush to get more answers but she wasn't. This woman not only hurt her not-so-secret boyfriend but had done something with her surrogate sister. She let out a yell and prepared to blast her with a ball of red light but a knife was already plunged into her shoulder.

Wanda let out a howl as the action caused the Clint to react. He ran towards the woman who threw the knife before she had grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him forward. Clint was then thrown backwards and straight into the cake, causing him to hit the wall with an ear shattering thud.

The group went slack jawed as she dusted the frosting off her jacket and strutted over to the passed out Sokovian, "Let me rephrase what I was saying," she pulled the knife out of Wanda's shoulder, wiping the blood off of it on Wanda's own dress. "You will all surrender peacefully and Diana stays fully intact. If you choose to fight back every cut, bruise and broken bone you obtain as we take you by force will be repeated and doubled onto her."

"Friday activate Annie Wilkes Protocol," Tony suddenly said before nothing happened.

The woman let out a small laugh as the side door leading to the stairs opened, "Oh, Mr. Stark I'm sorry to inform you like this but..." the remaining Avengers all quickly turned as a large squad of armed guards started to pile in, outnumbering them three to one.

"Friday activate Clone-Zone Extravaganza," she gave Tony Stark a certain look that only he could recognize.

Friday's voice came through the monitor, 'Yes, Miss,' a loud boom went off as the firework display suddenly started. All while she gave Tony Stark the 'I'm That Bitch' look he created.

Natasha was the first one to shoot. Steve grabbed the sofa and threw it at a few armed people before shots started to fire off everywhere. The main woman moved out of the way and lent against the wall as she watched the members of the Avengers be taken down one by one.

Rhodey was the first to get overpowered. He was shot in the knee by a dart before stumbling over. He was able to get a few good licks in before a needle was jammed into his arm, making him go lax.

Sam was pushed back into the only food table that remained standing as he let out a loud scream, feeling something definitely break before an assailant grabbed ahold of his broken leg, jabbing a needle in as well.

Natasha pulled down some streamers and distracted a few before jumping into the largest and wrapping her legs around his neck. As she repeatedly hit the man he stumbled back and threw her body into the karaoke machine... repeatedly until the man felt the Black Widow slump off of him and straight to the floor.

As the fighting and shooting went on Pepper tried to crawl out of harm's way but was snatched up by the hair of the ringleader. She yelped as the two remaining heroes turned to see the woman struggling to free herself.

"Shush, sweetheart. There's no need to panic," he whispered in her ear.

"Rumlow," Steve sneered as he saw the man he once considered a friend with an arm around Pepper's neck. "You're still alive?"

Rumlow quickly placed a gun to her head, making the two stop dead in their tracks, "Ah-ah-ah."

Both men went back to back as the focus was now exclusively on the two of them. They saw their friends sprawled out through the room, all looking to be in an excruciatingly painful sleep.

The super soldier started to sway as he tried to stay up right while the billionaire was perfectly awake. Tony's eyes burned holes into Rumlow as he pressed the gun deeper into his girlfriend's head, making her cry out.

"Now if you have any brain cells left in there you'll both put your hands up and surrender," neither moved. "Unless you actually want me to pull the trigger."

All three knew it was a bluff but that didn't stop Rumlow from trying to stay in control, "'Cause then again we don't really need Little Miss CEO here. Libby is more than enough leverage to make you both submit. But then again... her screams might be just as therapeutic-"

Pepper threw her head back, making her head slam right into Rumlow's nose. It was a futile attempt but as he cradled his nose she tried to escape, "OW! You son of a bitch!" He screamed, yanking her back before slapping her with the side of his glock, knocking her out cold.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HER!" Tony lost all sense of logic as his love hit the floor and activated his watch, turning it into a proper blaster.

The two tried to fight but as Steve took a step forward he lost all strength and hit the floor. Tony regrettably glanced back which led to the multiple goons to grab ahold of him and stick a needle into his neck.

Nobody bothered to hold Steve down as he helplessly watched his friend fall next to Pepper.

Steve didn't know what was going on. He was dizzy, everything was blurry, he felt like his muscles were nothing but Jell-O and he was struggling to stay awake. It was if he were drunk, but that was impossible.

As the fireworks came to a close the only sound to fill the room was the clicking of heels as the mysterious woman's Louis Vuitton's boots. The goons parted like the red sea as she finally got in front of him, "How are you feeling, Captain?"

He began to pant as he tried to keep his head up, "What... what did you do to me?"

"Rule number one of being a woman, never leave your drink unattended," she dropped Steve's red solo cup on the floor, causing some residue to splash onto his face. "You just never know what could be put in while you're not looking."

His eyes quickly widened as he could suddenly smell the vague odour coming out of the cup, "You... drugged us?"

"Yeah," she pressed a heel to his forehead and made his face press into the tile. "I did."

She crouched down as a small toothpick in the shape of a sword picked her teeth, "Wanna know how?" She asked.

The man slowly blinked as he got a better look of this girl, seeing all the simulations between her and a girl he knew a long while ago. Realizing she was almost identical to a girl he used to babysit. A girl named Becca. Becca Barnes.

"We have this thing called Histamine in our body. Well... normal people do," she leaned in closer. "You see histamine is produced by the immune system to help combat infections and helps the body stay awake, but when the serum was injected into your bloodstream it took over your immune system and the body no longer needed it; since the serum did more than enough on it's own."

Steve suddenly heard a rustling and glanced over, seeing his family being lifted up, but the woman made him face her once more.

"Why is this important? Well you see Nyquil has something called Doxylamine which is a blocker of histamine. Makes you sleepy. That's why when you take it, it blocks out your serum!" She poked his nose. "Making you not only weak beyond compare but also as tired as a newborn."

He started to huff as she watched him try his hardest to reach out for her but with a quick swish her heel was digging into his hand. Steve let out a loud cry as she shushed him.

"Shush. Shush. Shush," she cooed. "Did you forget what I told you?"

The woman took her toothpick out of her mouth, "Every cut, bruise or broken bone you obtain," she sliced his cheek. "Is doubled onto your little girl."

The woman let out yet another sickeningly sweet chuckle as she brought the toothpick to her mouth, allowing the single drop of blood to fall between her lips as she dragged it across her tongue. Lightly moaning at the taste.

Steve's glare unintentionally softened as he felt his eyes struggle to stay open, "If you... hurt... he...r."

She cooed in a motherly tone as her hand ran through his sweaty hair, "Oh honey, you've already done more than enough today," and with that Steve Rogers fell into a forced sleep.

The woman dropped the father's head and stood up with a huff, "You find her yet?" She turned to Rumlow.

He shook his head as they watched the Avengers being collared, cuffed and dragged out, "Not yet."

The woman's red lips smacked apart, "Well don't fret on it too long. Even as kids she loved to hid. We'll find her eventually."

The woman turned on her heels and started to walk towards the exit, "Just wait here until she shows her face and I'll meet the two of you at the rendezvous point. Byyyyeeee," she excitedly waved as she left the room.

And then the screen went black.

𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄

↻ II ↺

The three teens all slowly looked away from the screen and focused on the young avenger. Watching as she stayed still. No. Frozen. Not looking away from the black laptop screen, "Diana?"

She stayed silent. Breathing slowly in and out. The only proof she was still completely conscious being how strong her grip was on the gaming chair. Nails dug into the foam, her knuckles becoming white.

"Uh... Diana?"

She didn't have the ability to formulate any sentence. For what could she have possibly said? She had been in this situation before, but for some reason this felt different.

She was surprisingly calm as the people around her were completely

"Diana," Colette placed a hand on her shoulder and faced her. "Diana, are you okay?"

She didn't respond. The only form of communication was her watch. Flashing a sudden red, causing the two boys to suck in their breaths. Terrified of the device on the birthday girl's arm.

"What the hell is that?" Nathan shouted.

"Are they tracking us?!" Harley pushed his stepbrother in front of him.

Colette quickly shook her head, "No. It's her energy levels," she tried to calm them down as she tried to grab Diana's arm. "Di, let's get you some food-"

Diana pulled herself away, "...no." Her mind was completely blank. She didn't cry. Didn't shout. Didn't react.

It was as if she simply didn't care.

"I need... I need to go to bed," is all she said before walking towards the futon. Pushing the pizza boxes aside and as if she knew what she was doing... went to sleep. 

Maybe when she opened her eyes things would be normal.

•••