Chapter Text
Prologue
5 years ago
The warehouse was dingy and cold, reminiscent of atypical thriller movies designed to immediately put the characters and viewers on edge. Dusty, broken crates were stacked high in rows of 10, maybe fifteen pallets before revealing a walkway and then the next row began. Contents from those crates were spilled out on the cold, barren floors. Mostly machine parts, some bullets, and a random weapon or two. There was little to no light on the floor, most of it coming from the full moon on the surprisingly clear night, the rest from the flashlight standing up on a broken crate next to a group of individuals wearing malicious smiles.
The group consisted of four men and one woman. The tallest of the bunch was the blonde male alpha who had the build of an Olympian hero. 6’5’, broad shoulders, slim waist, prominent muscles bulging from his tight clothes. A beautiful, unexpectedly honest face with eyes plucked from the ocean and a jawline cut from a Greek blade. He didn’t smile. His hair was cut short, barely an inch standing up straight. Pairing it with his stiff stance and straight posture, he was the military man of the bunch. The battle commander. But they were not in battle now. He was known as the Captain.
He stood next to another male alpha that was not quite as tall as him, but far more intimidating. Long, dark hair was tied back in a messy bun, a few strands escaped to frame his devilishly handsome face and intense, icy gaze. He was bulkier than the blonde, a wrestler’s build versus the Captain’s swimmer-like build. His left arm was metal, a highly advanced robotic replacement he received after losing it during a Black Ops mission from years prior, the same one he was captured and tortured for months before he ultimately escaped, saved by his brother and a rogue, and came home. The Captain was his brother by bond, and apart from their significant others, they would die for no one else. He was known as The Winter Soldier.
The woman stood in front of the pair. She too was an Alpha. Auburn hair flowing loosely past her shoulders, a malicious smirk curling the corners of her plump, red lips and heating her smoldering gaze. She had the body that could shift from dainty and submissive to daring and lethal in seconds. Just now she appeared bold and ready to act, even with the tall figures behind her dwarfing her smaller stature. She was a weapon. Cultivated as a child to become the most lethal spy in her country’s sordid history before turning against them and bringing them down with a smile. She was the rogue that helped save the Winter Soldier and earned the Captain’s trust in doing so. They were the reason she turned against those who made her. She was known as the Black Widow.
Sitting a bit away from the group, taking off his glasses and rubbing them clean with his olive button down shirt, was the third man, another alpha. His posture slumped forward slightly; the corners of his mouth drooped. His wavy brown hair was unkempt, not much longer than the Captain’s, and flopped this way and that. His eyes took in the warehouse, tired and weary, reluctant for the inevitable outcome that was to occur. He placed his glasses back on his face, pushing them up his nose carefully, his shoulders drooping more. Right now, he was the Doctor, but not for much longer.
The fourth man was pacing in front of his comrades. He wore an expensive three-piece suit, grey in color with a matching vest, burgundy shirt, black wing tip shoes, and silver cufflinks adorned with a specially made, sapphire encrusted A. His watch was of his own making, high tech, and connected to his A.I. FRIDAY, who helped run his business Stark Industries. His company dealt with machine manufacturing and clean energy production, but it was a cover for illegal trade in weapons, secrets, and hits. They don’t deal in recreational drugs, not with how it’s affected his life and his fellow comrades. His aviator shaped glasses that he always had on his person connected him to FRIDAY as well. His hair was gelled and styled with careful precision. He was a man of detail, of perfection, of resilience. That was the image he needed to get across to his enemies. To the world. He was Tony Stark, head of an empire and perpetually single Alpha. He was Iron Man.
And they are the Avengers.
It wasn’t all of them, of course. The other members were busy dealing with the backlash of a traitor’s rather regrettable decision to betray them. It was a shame. The man had such promise. So many gifts they could utilize. Unfortunately for him, stealth was not one of them and it was how he got caught. He was never good at covering his tracks. He tried selling The Avengers secrets to their enemies, including the names of their chosen, the people they treasured above everyone and everything else. Selling their secrets was bad enough but exposing those they loved and swore to protect was an immediate death sentence. There was no getting out of it. He sealed his fate.
The traitor sat on his legs, kneeling before the four members in absolute terror and incredible pain. His hands were expertly tied behind his back, attached to his similarly tied ankles. He was stripped of all his clothes, leaving him naked, helpless, and extremely vulnerable. His underwear was stuffed in his mouth, then taped shut, gagging him to the point where he could barely breathe, could barely make a sound. Blood covered his body, salt rubbed cruelly into his wounds. There was a tarp beneath him.
The Captain and The Winter Soldier have already gotten their fun with him. The Captain took pleasure hearing the crunch when he took a sledgehammer to his kneecaps, then again when he felt his collarbone crumble beneath the force of his knuckles. The Winter Soldier bled the man in between The Captain’s assault, slicing him with the knife the Black Widow used to slit the throat of his captors all those years ago. Now he uses it to help protect her, his lover. He uses it to protect his brother, The Captain. He uses it to protect the Avengers, his team, his allies, his friends.
Black Widow didn’t step in until Tony arrived with the Doctor. She enjoyed the show. Watching her boys work always brought a smile to her face. Watched the pleasure overtake them both as they meted out just vengeance on the traitor. She hated to stop them, but the time was almost up. His end was near.
Tony finally stopped pacing, standing before the bloody man without a shred of pity or mercy in his dark gaze. He took off his glasses, folding the frames carefully before placing them in his suit pocket. Cupping his hands, he steadied his stance.
“Billy Russo,” Tony started, his harsh tone causing the man kneeling before him to flinch and groan out another muffled wail of pain. “You stole our secrets. Intended to sell them to our enemies. You knew that if you were caught that would be the end of you. Earned you a death sentence the moment you decided to move forward with your plan. But that wasn’t good enough, was it? No, you needed to up the stakes. If you were going to make a move like that, why not make it bigger? If you succeeded it would be the biggest steal in your whole entire career.” Tony stopped, scoffing in disbelief, smiling incredulously. “Never stopped to think about what would happen if you failed, did you?”
Billy stared back at Tony, pain filled his eyes to the brim, but he stared back at Tony, nonetheless defiant. Tony laughed, then punched Billy in the face. His nose snapped to the side, the howl of pain muffled to the point it sounded more like a grunt of annoyance instead of a man’s last nerve being pulled and played with like a harp string.
“You were a good soldier, Billy. Good at following orders, serving the cause. Your ambition led you to us, earned you the chance to be one of us. Even with your Omega status, hell especially with your status, it would have gotten you to the main circle with enough time and dedication. But ultimately it was your downfall too. It steered you wrong, it got you here. Beaten, bloody, and broken beyond repair.” He took a deep breath, shaking his head in disgust. “You chose the wrong secret to sell, Russo. The wrong people to cross.”
Tony turned his back on the traitor, nodding to the Doctor who reluctantly stood from his sitting position. He took off his glasses, handing them to The Captain’s outstretched hand, and rolling up his sleeves slightly, taking deep breaths in time with his slow, purposeful steps.
A change occurred with each step the Doctor took. His posture straightened; his shoulders pulled out of their defeated droop. His hands began clenching, forgoing the nervous tick of rolling up his sleeves in favor of ramping himself up. The sad curve of his mouth disappeared when the Doctor bared his teeth in anger. His once brown eyes turned a shocking bottle green. Veins popping out of his neck, arms, all over his body. This wasn’t the Doctor; this was his creation, his mistake. This was the team member no one wanted to meet. This was the monster.
This was the Hulk.
He stepped in front of the traitor, grabbed him by the throat, and growled.
“No one hurts my chosen,” his deep, deep voice snarled, fury laced in every word.
Then, in a blink, Hulk squeezed Billy Russo’s neck, taking glee as the desperate fear in the traitor’s eyes escalate tremendously as the bones in his neck gave way with crunch after crunch until it was completely crushed, killing the Omega man in seconds. Hulk released the body, allowing it to fall forward and smack the barren floors with a sickening thud. Then he roared in victory, the echoes reverberating throughout the deserted warehouse.
Or so they thought.
Unbeknownst to them, not far from where they stood hid a 13-year-old girl. One hand was covering her mouth while the other held onto the crate she was hiding behind. Her curly copper hair was pulled back in a braid and tucked into a plain black beanie. Wide, tear-stricken eyes the color of the sky. Face painted like a skull with a matching black outfit to boot. Her hands were bruised, nose was bleeding. She got the best of someone in a fight. But that didn’t matter now.
Not after this.
She was there when they beat Billy to a pulp, watching in a helpless state as they mutilated him, heard his muffled screams. She was there when Tony and the Doctor arrived. She was there for Tony’s speech. She was there to see the Doctor fade and The Hulk emerge. She was there when he crushed Billy’s neck. Saw the light leave Billy’s eyes before his body collided with the floor.
She wanted to stop them, do something to put an end to Billy’s suffering and save his life. He saw her and gave her a look that explicitly said don’t you dare. Anytime she tried to move, to do anything that might help him, he gave her that same look. Even in all that pain, the fear welling up inside, he gave her that look, and she stayed put. She stayed put and watched the mighty Avengers kill her half-brother.
When his body collided with the ground, she couldn’t do it anymore. Amidst the Hulk’s roar, she stood from her spot, lips trembling in fear and sorrow, and ran away from the scene.
Just as the roar ended, the girl made a foolish mistake and tripped over one of the fallen machine parts strewn about on the floor. She fell with a loud grunt, the scraping sound from the metal against the floor reverberated through the barren room.
Silence. The girl turned to look behind her. All eyes were on her. Tony’s were shocked. Both the Captain’s and The Winter Soldier’s were confused, then determined. The Black Widow’s showed no emotion. The Hulk’s were angry. He let out another terrifying roar. The girl picked herself up and ran.
She ran and she ran. Out of the warehouse, through the docks, and into the bright lights and joyful screams of the carnival she and Billy were attending nearby mere hours ago. She hid amongst the party goers, desperately searching for a way out. She didn’t have the keys to Billy’s car, and even if she were lucky there was no time to hotwire it either.
Twice she was almost caught, both times by the Black Widow. She spotted her in the crowd, but the girl was surprisingly quick and lost her by jumping into the mirror house. From there it was a game of cat and mouse, one which the Black Widow would have won if she hadn’t underestimated the young girl. Billy made sure his half-sister knew how to defend herself, which meant ensuring she always had a knife on her. When the Black Widow finally had her mouse in her hands, she grabbed hold of the girl’s beanie, pulling it off with a flourish, and received a cruel, harsh slash to her wrist quickly followed by a firm shove to her midsection for the effort.
She fell back into the mirror, cracking the unstable surface, and failed to grab the girl as she fled once more.
The Black Widow raced to catch her outside, but that was the last she saw of the girl. The Captain and the Winter Soldier never saw her, though they searched zealously throughout the carnival. Tony had stayed behind at the warehouse to calm the Hulk and bring the Doctor back so they could not help.
The girl had escaped. All the Black Widow had of hers was the beanie still in her now bloody grasp, and bright copper stands hooked into fabric and floating aimlessly in the wind.
She was shocked someone had been able to get the better of her, to flee when no one has ever been able to do so. Despite that, she was smiling. She brought the beanie to her nose, breathed in the scent, and felt unbelievably warm. The scent of an Omega, one that was newly presented. The image of a roaring campfire on the beach with the sun setting and the waves crashing crossed her mind and encapsulated her senses. The mouthwatering taste of berries and almonds with a dash of vanilla, chocolate, and sea salt filled her taste buds. Her eyes drooped slightly, lost in the scent the Omega left behind.
That was how the Captain and the Winter Soldier found her. Sitting on the wooden steps at the entrance of the mirror house, blood pouring down her right arm, delicately holding the beanie in her left, breathing in the scent as if her life depended on it, to which it might as well. Both caught a whiff of the scent, but only the Soldier was as affected by it as the Widow. The Captain found it pleasant, perhaps even enjoyable to an extent, but it did not make him lose focus. No scent has ever done so.
That was the night the Avengers punished and ended a traitor. That was the night a battered girl watched her family die. That was the night where that girl became the one that got away. That was the night The Black Widow and The Winter Soldier swore to find the Omega and make her theirs.
That night was Halloween, and it changed everything.