chapter nineteen pt. two: "do you trust me?" & "where's zander?"

KATHERINE & ZANDER

4 HOURS PREVIOUS

          "YOU LOOK STUNNING, KATHERINE." Zander says for what is probably the fourth time in the span of thirty minutes. They were sat in the back of one of Tony's sports cars, with Logan and Happy up front.

Kat feels her face flush again, and hopes it isn't too noticeable as they pass under some lit city lights. "You look stunning too, Zander." She says, before realizing how stupid she just sounded. "I mean, um, you look great.."

She decides to shut up as she catches Logan's odd look in the rearview and hears Zander's chuckling. She felt like an idiot, and wondered why Zander was with her when she said dumb things like that.

It wasn't long before they were nearing the highschool, and, excitedly she reaches over to grab his hand. "I can't believe I'm actually doing this." She says, glad that she had decided to come. 

Zander squeezes her hand, looking over at her with a smile on his face. "I can't believe you're actually going with me." He says, it had sounded less cheesey in his mind though, but accomplished his task none the less as he watched her face turn as red as her dress.

Logan made a disgusted noise, glancing at her friends in the rearview once more. "Can we keep the mushy stuff to a minimum?" She asks, as the only one of their group without a date she was very unhappy, and only going to the dance for her year book duties. "It's gross."

The couple shared a look before giving their friend sheepish, half hearted apologies.

The remainder of the rude was spent in silence, until they were about to leave the car. "I'll be right here at 10:30," Happy says, watching the teens unbuckle and slide out of the car. Zander was the last to get out, and just as he does, Happy delivered to him a message from both Tony and Clint."Keep your hands to yourself, pal." He says, catching the boys attention as the girls made their way towards the doors. "And keep her safe."

Zander nods, somehow understanding who the message was really from. "Yes, sir." He says dutifully, shutting the door before running to catch up with the girls.

Once they had given the teachers outside of the gym their tickets, the trio stepped in to see the dance already in full swing, and it didn't take long for them to join the mass of teens on the dance floor.

The trio spent hours dancing and chatting, they had even caved and done the photo booth together (Zanders favorite was it him and Kat kissing), blissfully unaware of the team of Hydra agents gathering just outside.

Their mission? Get Katherine to her birth parents and let nobody stop them.

It was right before they were going to announce the Homecoming King and Queen, Zander and Kat were in the midst of slow dancing.

He had Katherine held against him, and had suddenly, in the heat of the moment, had the courage to say the words he'd never thought he'd sat. "Kat, I'm in lo-" He had started, but was abruptly cut off.

"Get down!" Kat had screamed, cutting him off as she caught sight of the green bean of light that could have only been coming from a rifle, pointing just above their heads.

Zander felt her hands push him to the ground, and in the next second she was cowering over top of him as what sounded like gunshots rang out.

Not too far away, through Katherine's arms, he saw the punchbowl shatter, and a plate of mini sandwiches went flying, turned into shrapnel.

"What the fuck?!" Zander screams, watching other people drop to the ground around them, unsure if they were alive, wounded, or worse, dead. "Katherine!" He yells, hoping she hadn't been hurt while pushing him down. His mind went to Logan and his sister too, hoping that they hadn't been injured or killed.

Kat had her eyes squeezed closed, not wanting to watch her innocent peers be murdered. "Don't move!" She screams back. Not that he could have, he was probably paralyzed by fear...and if not, she was surely a dead weight on top of him.

Her mind raced to Logan as well, hoping that her best friend was safe, and at the very least, alive.

Just as suddenly as the shooting had started, it stopped, leaving the the room to fall in to an eerie silence as everyone tried to believe they were alive.

A voice rang out after a few moments, followed by the sound of heavy combat boots crossing the wooden floor, and guns shifting. "Everybody stay down and cooperate, and nobody will be hurt!" The speaker was older than them, but still young and familiar sounding, his voice authoritative.

Nobody said anything although a few whimpers and quiet cries could be heard. "I don't want to harm anyone," The voice says, Kat was trying to think of where shed heard it before. "but if you do not give me the information i desire, i will pick you off one by one."

The man seems to take their silence as cooperation, and as his men walk slowly between students, he speaks again.

"Now, we only have a few moments before police arrive, so lets make this quick ladies and gents!" Kat kept as still as possible as one of the men crept past them, sighing in brief relief when he didn't stop like some of the others were. "Amongst you now is a student who goes by the name of Katherine Nicole," Kat heard Zander take in a sharp breath and she squeezed his shoulder. "you may know her as Kat Stark."

A murmur went through the students, and a few even risked glancing at her. "Ah, yes, you all know her." The man says, seeming satisfied. " But would any of you care to point her out?"

Kat felt Zander tense beneath her, and didn't protest when he managed to switch places with her. She was hoping that the people who had glanced at her had enough brains and heart not to sell her out, and for the most part, they did.

All except one.

She didn't know her name but had seen her around before, and the girl clearly did not care that she could be the cause of her classmate losing her life.

The girl in the dusty pink, mid length dress had no shame and held Kat's gaze as she yelled: "Here! She's here!" And raises her hand to signal their location.

"Gentlemen, get her!" The man says, and two if the nearest men jump over students and are on them in seconds. "And make sure to give her the dose, they'll have our hides if we don't."

The men tried to pull Zander off of her, and succeeded for only a moment. The boy jumps back and gets in front of her as she's dragged to her feet, just as the man who isn't hold her is nearing her mid back with a long needle. He was just in time for the needle to embed in his skin and for the plunger to be pushed down before the man can stop himself.

Zander had just potentially died for her.

"No!" Kat screams, kicking and pulling. She knew what they had probably just give him just as she knew who the men were by the patches on their chests.

"Moron!" The man holding her grunts, pulling her towards the nearest set of doors as he motions for them to drag Zander along as well.

As they threw both of them into the back of one of their armored trucks, chaining the pair to either side, the Hydra mission group were blissfully unaware of the purple dressed girl already on the phone to the avengers as the whole gym lept into commotion.

"Tony?" She asked when someone picked up. "We have a problem."

TONY

When she said that there was a problem, Tony thought that Zander had broken up with Kat, he didn't think that Hydra had held up the school.

He would have rather had the breakup if he were being honest, less explaining to do to Fury and the school.

And Bucky would have probably been less angry.

There was no stopping him from going on this one, that much was evident. And by the time the others were dressed and ready, he was already waiting for them in the quinjet that was outside on the balcony landing pad.

"Kat's life is on the line and you guys feel the need to take your sweet time?" He huffs, standing by one of the pilot seats.

KATHERINE & ZANDER

The pair rode in silence for a while, neither of them knowing what to say to the other.

What felt like an hour had passed when Zander finally spoke. "There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?" He guessed. He wasn't mad, really, he understood why she probably hadn't told him. He had always known she was hiding something, especially the way she aand Logan spoke sometimes but he never questioned it. He figured she would tell him at some point..but he had the right to know now. "Do you know shTs going? Where they're taking us, what they gave me?"

Kat leaned her head against the side of the truck. She had no choice but to be honest. "They're Hydra agents," She starts. "They're most likely taking us to my birth parents, the heads of genetic experimentations." It was the only explanation she could think of. "And whatever it was, was meant for me, that's all i know.." she says,her voice trembling as she looks at him. "Zander, I'm not who you think i am.." She all but wails. "And now you're all caught up in my shit storm too and im so, so sorry because your life will never be the same again!"

Zander looks at her calmly. " I figured that out a while ago-" The truck lurched to a stop, and she hears voices yelling from outside.  They were going to be sent off alone while the other trucks acted as decoys- The Avengers were on to them.

Kat sighs in relief, a plan formulating in her head. Surely they would put someone back hers for extra protection, which was really the only plan she needed for them to get out of this alive.

"Zander, do you trust me?" She asks, looking at the boy calmly.

Zander looks at her, eyebrows furrowed. Unlike her, he couldn't hear what was happening out side. "What?"

Kat could hear their guard walking to the roll up door and spoke again, her voice urgent. "Do you trust me?" She asks as he begins unlocking it.

"Ye-what the fuck?!" The word hadn't fully left his mouth when she duplicated herself. The other her sent him a look that said "shut up" and hid in the corner by the door, standing up on the bench, just as it began to roll up.

Kat hoped that he would get the hint to act as if nothing interesting had just happened, at least for a few more seconds until the door closed.

The man looked at them both, still standing as the door closed and the truck started moving, his gaze finally landing on Kat as a smug smirk settles on his face.

"You've been a naughty girl, Aloisia." The man drawls, running a finger down her face. The feel sends a shiver down her spine and she can hear Zander straining against his chains, as if he were trying to stand.

Kat gives a smirk of her own, tilting her head to the side. "And I'm about to get even naughtier." She says, watching as her duplicates hands move on either side of his head from behind. The look of surprise on his face when she snaps his neck is oddly satisfying.

Her duplicate steps back as his body drops, silently searching his body for the keys to their shackles.

Once Katherine is free, she brings her duplicate back into her body, moving over to unlock Zander.

"What the fuck just happened?!" He asks, looking at her and then the body on the floor. "Is he dead?"

Kat glanced over at him. "Nah, he's just sleeping." She says, hoping she wouldn't notice that the man wasn't breathing.

"Here's the plan," Kat starts, watching as Zander rubs his wrists. " Im going to go out that door, crawl across the roof and take out the driver."

Zander looks at her. " And what am i supposed to do?" He asks, bewildered as she starts rolling the door up.

She looks over at him, just a glance over her shoulder. "Close this and sit tight." She says, her arms stretching to an abnormal length to latch onto something as she flips up on to the roof.

Zander watches, confused and awestruck. "My girlfriend is a superhuman." He mutters, closing the door.

Kat crawls across the roof of the truck, moving slowly against the wind. Once she reached the edge of the front, she stopped. There was a small drop down to the cab, and she could only hope that there was only one person inside as she moved towards the passenger side, swinging herself off the edge so that her high heeled feet would kick the window out. The truck swerved violently as as she landed in the seat next to the driver, who looked at her with terror and surprise.

He was fairly easy to take care of, and once he was knocked out she pushed him out of the cab, hoping Zander wouldn't ask what she'd done with him.

She took the wheel (despite not knowing how to drive) and tried to steady them out, keeping her foot off of the gas and coasting the break as she tried to steady the wheel. Once she felt like she had it, she noticed the sliding window behind her, and pushed it open,not taking her eyes off the road.

"You okay back there?" She asks, looking for any markers to find out where they were. "I don't think we're far from the freeway, but I don't know how to turn this thing around!"

It didn't take long for Zander to convince her to stop, which was when she remembered he had a phone with him.

It wasn't much longer after that that they had been found by Bucky and Clint, who looked like they had been in a good fight.

Bucky relaxed as soon as he saw she was uninjured, and pulled her into his arms. "I thought you were dead.." He breathes.

Kat hugs back, immediately feeling safer. " Im okay." She whispers back, burying her face in his neck. She wasn't really okay but she didn't want to break down in front of Zander, she would do it later, when he was at home.

After a moment they pulled away and she turned to Clint, who gave her not as long as a hug after checking on Zander.

"Clint, they gave him something..something meant for me.." She says, causing him to look over at the boy in concern.

PRESENT

After a moment, Bucky stood and left, muttering about going to find Tony, leaving Kat and Zander to get alone.

Kat looks up at her boyfriend, nervous. "Are you mad at me?" She asks, her voice small. She had been wondering that since they'd gotten back, and had been too scared to ask with Bucky around.

Zander looks at her, eyebrows furrowed. "Baby, why would i he mad at you?" He asks, he understood it, he truly did. " You probably trying to protect me, and yourself..the less people that know, the safer you are right?" Except that she wasn't safe anymore, and neither was he. She felt herself untense at his words though, and leaned in some more. "Im a little pissed that Logan got to know before me though, how'd she find out?"

Kat chuckles, about to tell him the story when JARVIS interrupts.

"Mister French, your parents have arrived and are waiting at the laboratory entrance." The AI says.

"I'll let them in, thank you." Kat says, sliding off of the table. She was still wearing her dress, but had lost her heels. "I'll be right back." She says, and right back she was. She had only been gone a few moments, but it proved long enough for Zander to disappear.

"Where's Zander?" His mother, Laura asks, looking around wildly, she just wanted to see that her son was okay. His father seemed just as distraught, and so did Selena who stood behind them. "Zander?"

"Mom, I'm right here." His voice was heard, but he was no where to be seen...

"Oh no.." Kat says, her shoulders deflating as she realized what they had given him in the gym.

&&&

hello kacky's and welcome back! as usual id love to apologise for how LONG this took me to get out, I mean serious in the span of however long i managed to get pregnant and move and start a new job smh.

i would also love to give a shout-out to bby nicki, who is currently living her best life down under and without whom i really wouldn't be doing this. i would also love to thank her for putting up with all of my spoilers and last minute ideas bc they happen alot.

and id like to give a shout out to a reader of mine named Gracie (from big bear) who, my sister says, is an avid reader of my bby Kat! i thank you very much and absolutely hope that you love what's going to be happening here on out!

don't be strangers, leave me comments bc i really love them (and they motivate too)!

love,
kara xxo