𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖔𝖓𝖊

➥ At precisely nine forty-five in the morning Katherine Nicole tied the laces of her sneakers before tightening the strings of her always too big sweatpants. She had fifteen minutes before the new handler arrived with her usual breakfast sandwich and a shiny pair of handcuffs that had her name on them. Literally, "Katherine Nicole'' had been lasered into the side so that nobody would mistake them for some random pair, because they weren't random. Katherine's handcuffs were a special design, meant to keep her from using her favorite power while wearing them. They were meant to keep her from escaping.

The blonde teen pulled her hair into a ponytail at ten 'o'clock, turning to look at the room she had grown up in one last time. She didn't plan on seeing it ever again. Katherine felt a bit bad, S.H.I.E.L.D had always been good to her, treated her nicely and schooled her. They allowed her books and the occasional movie, hell, they even let her eat in the cafeteria with the agents if she was good.. but she didn't belong there, she didn't want to be there.

Katherine had begged and begged for a mission, to go out on her own or with a group, they always said that she wasn't ready, that she was too young. But Katherine knew that they had people younger than her working, and most of the agents (like Natasha Romanoff) had started off at young ages as well. They were trying to protect her, she knew, but she didn't want to be protected.

The lock on her door slid open and the thick steel of her door swung outward. Katherine stood up straight, hands held out in front of her as she gave the young man in front of her a polite smile. He didn't look much older than a high school graduate and seemed rather nervous as he stepped into her cell.

Under better circumstances Katherine probably would've asked him out, he was quite attractive with his green eyes and messy black hair. But for now, that would have to wait.

"Hello." She speaks kindly, watching as his eyes widened. The man who had been handling her (the only one she really liked so far) had been promoted up a few levels and they'd given her a newbie who looked like he's never worked a set of handcuffs before.

Katherine couldn't help the laugh that bubbles in her throat as he shifted awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. He really was new. He cleared his throat and flushed slightly, he held out a paper towel wrapped sandwich to her, gesturing for her to take it.

Katherine only looks at it. "You're supposed to cuff me first." The boy's mouth falls into an 'o' shape before he shakes his head and steps closer to her, setting the sandwich down on the metal desk and taking her wrists. "What's your name?" She asks once the cool metal is locked into place, cocking her head.

The boy looks at her as he shoves the sandwich into her hand. He was told not to fraternize with the prisoners, but what harm was it really? She was a ward, not a prisoner. "Tyler."

Katherine's lips quirk a little at the sound of his voice before she slides her feet a bit farther apart for better stance as he turns around. "I'm sorry, Tyler." She mutters, lunging forward and placing the chain of the handcuff around his neck. She gripped the back of his head as he struggled, trying to pry her hand away. "Don't struggle." She whispers into his ear. "You could hurt yourself." Moments later he slumped against her and she raised her hands above his head.

She patted him down as she searched for the keys, finding them in his shirt pocket. With a smirk she sticks one in the lock and slides them off her wrists before chaining him to the leg of her bed, before rethinking it and hoisting him onto the mattress, where she cuffed him to a bar that acted as her head board. She figured that the poor guy should at least wake up in some comfort- he was going to be there a while.

With a tentative step she walked into the hallway, feeling very weird as she started walking toward the elevator. Katherine Nicole had never walked these halls without a guard by her and it felt strange. It was scary, in the sense that she felt oddly alone in the fluorescent lit hallways hidden deep below the earth.

Katherine wasn't sure which button to press once she had stepped into the open elevator. She knew how to get to the training room level, but not sure where the front door was. She thought it was funny in a way, she's lived there her entire life almost and she didn't even know where the front door was.

Katherine bit her bottom lip, twiddling her thumbs as her foot tapped to the music playing through the speakers as it moved up into the main building. She had hit the button for the first floor, thinking that was the smartest option. She grew more and more nervous by the second, her heart beating faster than it had before.

The elevator slowed to a stop somewhere near sub level one and she almost screamed in fright (and fangirling nature) when the metal doors slid open to reveal none other than Captain America and Iron Man themselves. She held her breath and bit the inside of her cheek as the Captain stood next to her in his uniform.

"Morning, Miss." He says politely in greeting, reaching over to press a button, level sixteen lit up and she knew instantly who they were going to see. It took everything in her not to die on the spot, or worse- duplicate.

"Sir." She says kindly, her foot tapping faster as the elevator resumes movement. She tries to stop the foot when she notices the both of them trying to glance at her discreetly before sharing a look themselves. S.H.I.E.L.D agents are always calm and poised, not fidgety and nervous acting. She saw the Captain move his hand to something at his side, a gun, just as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. "Well, this is me." And before either one can make a move she's walking across the main lobby, trying to look as if she belonged.

Getting out was the easy part- getting away proved to be harder and took a few moments to figure out. She hadn't expected to actually make it this far and thus hadn't actually thought her plan through past this point.

She wound up in the city after hitchhiking with a concerned soccer mom driving a minivan. She had thought precariously about where to hide and what to do- her first thought was the woods, but that's where everyone goes so they would most likely be looking for her there. And then she thought that maybe walking around the city might be better, until she realized there were cameras everywhere. She needed someplace where nobody would think to look- where a wanted person would never hide.

It had taken a few different tries before she was able to get the correct directions, she assumed people thought that she was nothing more than a tourist lost on her way to meet somebody, and after carefully stealing some jeans, a shirt and a jacket from a few different stores, the girl wound up in the young adult section of a library, across the street from a police precinct, reading her way through the first mortal instruments book.

She found that she liked the peace of the library, and stayed throughout the day, intending to only stay until nightfall. She figured that maybe the search wouldn't be as heavy by that time, she planned to find a way to get herself to Germany- Katherine wanted to go back to where it all started, she wanted to know where she started.

Unfortunately her plans are thwarted late in the afternoon when Tony Stark and Steve Rogers pop in for a visit.

"You know most escapees don't hide out in libraries." Tony says, leaning against a bookshelf at one end of the aisle she sat in, Steve took the other end, blocking her exit. "You're either super smart or super stupid- you do realize this is place is across from the police station, right?"

"Is this the trash I missed out on while I was spending my entire life in a cell?" Katherine asks without looking up, she knew she was trapped. "I prefer the classics."

"It's the trash you're going to continue missing out on- "

"In my cell on sub level eight?" Katherine asks, rising to her feet with a sigh. "Yeah, I know." Tony and Steve share a look that she doesn't see as she places the book back in its place on the shelf. "Come on Grandpa, Great Grandpa, time to get me home."

Tony shorts and moves to let her pass, rolling his eyes. "Kid, I am so not a grandpa." He calls after, walking with Steve.

Katherine smirks. "I never said that you were the grandpa." She glances behind her, catching his glare as Steve tries to hold in a grin. "Did I?"

Katherine couldn't help but feel sad as Tony drove her back to the compound, but proud of herself at the same time. She had gotten so far, so close but it still wasn't enough. And now she would have to face the punishment.

Her head rested against the glass of his sports car as he drove, weaving through the city traffic and around bendy roads as he took her to her home. Her prison.

She found that she was exhausted, not used to so much excitement she supposed and found herself drifting in and out of sleep as she watched cars and other scenery pass by.

Tony glanced over on occasion, his grip tightening on the steering wheel each time. He took pity on her, she looked so sad.. defeated. He supposed that he would be too, if he hadn't made it out of his prison.

He closed his eyes for a second before sighing, glancing over at her once more and noticing that her breath was beginning to fog his window.

"What made you hide out across from the police station?" He asks, breaking the heavy silence in the vehicle. She didn't answer after a moment and he reached over to poke her without taking his eyes off the road. "Kid?"

Katherine held her breath, trying to decide if she wanted to speak or not- he had woken her up when he did. "I heard you." Her voice was barely above a whisper when she spoke, a sign of defeat.. "I thought it was smart- what fugitive hides out across from a police station?" She asks, looking over at him without lifting her head. He was looking at her. "Most take to the woods or walking around the city- maybe an abandoned building.. but never across from a police station."

Tony shrugged his shoulders, the kid had a point he supposed. "And what about that boy in your cell?" He asks, not wanting to admit that she was actually smarter than he had anticipated. "You could've killed him, choking him out with handcuffs."

Katherine scoffs, rolling her eyes. "I knew what I was doing- " She says softly still, not raising her head as she closed her eyes. "I was taught well."

Tony looked at her once more. "What are you in there for anyway?" He asks rather insensitively. "Aren't you a little young to be a prisoner?"

"I'm not."

Tony snorts. "Not what, too young?"

Katherine shifts in her seat a little, trying to get comfortable. "A prisoner." She states. "I'm a ward. I've been in their custody..for as long as I could remember."

Tony says nothing more on the matter and let's the kid fall asleep, driving in silence for a while. "I am so not a great grandpa- I'm at least an uncle ." He mutters to himself, shifting in the seat.

Nearly two hours later he pulls up in front of the S.H.I.E.L.D compound, where two agents were already waiting to escort Katherine inside and to Director Fury's office. He gets out before they can reach the car. "Back off-'' He states, holding up a hand to stop them, they look at him weird but do as told. "Don't touch the car- custom built." He says off handedly, trying to not make them on edge. "I can take the girl up- I've got a bone to pick with Fury."

The agents look at each other before going back inside to alert Fury as Tony opens the passenger door. Katherine had turned to face the drivers side, the seat belt stretched over her body. The older man reached over to unlatch the seat belt before shaking her shoulder.

"Kid, wakey wakey-" He says, poking it roughly. She groaned but sat up, waking up rather slowly before looking at him. "Lets go- your home awaits."

Katherine stared up the building begrudgingly, wrinkling her nose at the thought of having to be back before doing as Tony said, she didn't want to cause any more trouble than she already had.

Tony led her through the lobby and into the elevator, where he pressed the button for the sixteenth floor and Katherine fidgeted nervously. "Scared?" He muses, glancing at her. She was watching the floors tick by on the counter.

She scoffs, making a face that clearly said she was lying. "No." She says, her foot tapping once more out of nervousness. She was terrified. Katherine hated being in trouble. "It's only Fury."

Tony says nothing and the elevator is resumed in silence as they reach the sixteenth floor. Katherine's breath catches in her throat as the doors slide open. Standing on the other side is a tall dark skinned man dressed in dark clothing and a black trench coat, wearing an eye patch and glaring at the both of them out of his good eye.

"You've become quite the escape artist, Katherine Nicole."

❤❤❤

hi loves, this is the edited and slightly revised version of chapter one !  just wanted to say thank you all for sticking by me with my slow updates and editing. i promise that new things are to come ! as alot of you know, and i'm sure some of you don't know, i had a baby a few months ago, and as much as i love to write, especially for Kat, it's hard to do so as my days are now filled with that of caring for a child. please know that i try as hard as i can to find time to write and edit, it's just scarce at the moment. on another note i wanted to let you all know that i'm working on this today, with my four month old sat in my lap, in a bid to ease my ever growing nerves about a procedure i'm having tomorrow to remove a lump in my breast that has to be tested to assure that what my entire family is worried about, is hopefully something else entirely. i will be having some down time afterwards as i'm sure i wont be able to hold my daughter with stitches in my breast so i may put out a new chapter (even though i know i said i wouldn't until i finished my editing). 

with love,

kara ! 

( 2/22/21 )