AUTHOR'S NOTES: Happy VERY late New Year! :'D

______________________________________________________________________

Roxanne pulled her scarf from her pocket and carefully wrapped it around the cut on her right arm, wincing as she secured it with a knot. After quickly inspecting her makeshift dressing, she sighed in resignation and dashed back to the Washington Monument. Hiding the wound was probably drawing more attention to it than just leaving it as is, but she couldn't just show up to a group of 7th graders and their parents and teachers with an openly bleeding cut.

Roxanne caught up with the school group just as they were returning to the buses and carefully slipped in next to Manuel.

"Did anyone notice I was gone?" Ro whispered to her little brother.

"Ms. Brooks!" one of the teachers, a middle-age woman with short blonde hair, bellowed, startling her. "As a chaperone, can you please try not to wander away from the group? It sets a terrible example for the children."

"Sorry, ma'am," Ro apologized. "I needed to use the bathroom and got terribly lost both ways."

"Probably because she's so dumb," one of the boys muttered with a snicker, earning him a glare from Manuel.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Ro deadpanned to Manuel, who smiled sheepishly at her. She briefly shook her head and lowered her volume again. "Look, that doesn't matter now. Did you keep an eye out for anything or anyone suspicious?"

"Yeah, just like we've practiced," Manu whispered back, with the slightest hint of smugness in his face. "Coast is clear, and everyone is safe."

Ro's shoulders untensed as she let out a sigh of relief. "That's the important part."

Manu took notice of his sister's bandaged arm and pointed at it. "Hey, what happened to you? You got into a fight? Were there many of them?"

"I'll explain when we get home," she replied, motioning for his brother to follow the line into the bus. "I just hope nothing else weird happens today."

"Excuse me!" a voice called out. The group turned towards the voice and saw a dark-haired woman in a tight, dark blue jumpsuit with a matching jacket approach. She wore a serious expression on her face, and was holding out a badge with a bird emblem that matched the one on her jacket sleeve. "Can I please speak to whoever is in charge?"

"That would be me," the teacher who had yelled at Ro answered.

"I'm Agent Hill with SHIELD. I'm looking for Roxanne Brooks."

As soon as the woman said her name, every head in the school group slowly turned towards Roxanne, staring at her with varying degrees of curiosity and judgment.

Ro stared back at the agent and pointed to herself, "Me?"

"Is your name Roxanne Brooks?" Agent Hill sneered. Ro nodded wordlessly, eyes wide and mouth agape. "Then, yes, you."

One of the girls looked from Roxanne to Agent Hill before asking, "Is she getting arrested?"

The boy who had been making fun of Roxanne earlier burst into laughter, gleefully teasing Manuel, "Oooooh, your sister did something bad."

Manu screamed in anger and lunged at the boy. Ro caught him and pulled him back before his fist could make contact with the other boy's face.

"Fernando, you @$$#0l3! I'll show you something bad!" Manuel yelled, fighting his sister's hold on him. "Let me go, Ro. I'm going to punch his stupid face in."

"Settle down," Agent Hill commanded in a tone that would have gotten a herd of stampeding bison to stop. "No one is getting arrested. I just need to talk to Ms. Brooks, and it would be a lot less trouble for everyone involved if she could come with me quietly."

Manuel had stopped thrashing, and everyone was looking at Roxanne to see what she would do, which made her even more nervous than she already was. She swallowed.

"It's probably nothing," Ro assured her brother, forcing a smile, "and no fighting while I'm gone, okay?"

Roxanne walked over to Agent Hill, who began to lead her away from the school group. Neither woman said anything to each other as they continued to walk. They were a considerable distance away from the monument when Ro began to wonder where this mysterious woman was taking her. Agent Hill finally stopped when they reached a cemetery.

Ro uneasily looked from her surroundings to Agent Hill and asked, "Uh, you're not going to kill me, are you?"

"I just wanted us to have a bit of privacy," Agent Hill replied. "Besides, even if I wanted to kill you, I'm not going to do it in an open space in broad daylight. Way too risky."

Roxanne had just enough time to feel incredibly awkward before Agent Hill pulled out her smartphone and showed her a photograph of a black and red blur between some skyscrapers.

"Is this you?" Agent Hill interrogated, "Not Black Widow, or maybe you would prefer Seda."

Ro let out a nervous giggle before slowly backing away. "Why? Does it look like me?"

"I wouldn't try to run if I were you. There's no way you'll make it back to New York before we find you. Besides, we know where you live."

Ro blinked a few times at Hill before letting out a slightly irritated sigh. "Well, then, let's say that was me in the picture. What about it?"

"I'm not sure why," Hill replied, looking Roxanne up and down, "but my boss thinks that the Avengers could use someone like you. Personally, you don't seem all that impressive to me, but I have been wrong before."

"Hold on, hold on. Did you just say 'Avengers'? You work with THE Avengers? And they're interested in ME?"

"I said what I said, and I'm not repeating myself."

Ro took a deep breath as she began pacing back and forth with her hands on her head. "Oh my gosh! I don't believe this. I mean, I know you're not lying, but this is just a lot to process. I mean, why would the Avengers be interested in me?"

"No clue," Agent Hill deadpanned. "I was just told to find you and bring you back to my boss, and unless you want my boss showing up at your home unannounced, I suggest you come with me."

The pacing girl stopped in her tracks as realization suddenly hit her. "What about my brother? I mean, if I don't return to New York with him, what's he gonna tell my parents? They don't know anything about Seda, and I kinda want to keep it that way."

"Tell them that SHIELD is interested in something that your birth father worked on before he died and that we need you to be able to use it." Agent Hill answered matter-of-factly. "None of that is technically a lie. I'm sure they'll believe it."

"Wait. How did you know about--?"

"We've done an extensive amount of research on you, kid. I'd be surprised if even you know some of the things we know about you."

Ro's face fell into a scowl.

"Of course. It wouldn't be the first time," she muttered under her breath. She then looked up and addressed the agent. "And I'm just supposed to trust that you're not planning to hurt or manipulate me with that information? Someone's already tried to do so in the past, you know."

Agent Hill went silent for a moment. For a brief second, her stoic expression cracked into an almost sympathetic one, though this went nearly unnoticed. "To be honest, I guess you can't trust that I won't use that information against you, but there's two things that you can. One, I don't work for the guys who killed your father. Two, I work with the guys who saved not just your city, but the entire world. Between those two options, who would you trust more?"

______________________________________________________________________

"Are you sure about this, though?" Manuel asked his sister after she had given him a brief summary of her encounter with the mysterious lady. "I mean, I know you can tell when people lie to you but still. The timing feels kind of weird."

Ro let out a sigh. If even her overly enthusiastic about superheroes brother felt suspicious about this situation, she should definitely proceed with caution.

"I kinda thought the same thing, to be honest. Look, at least now, I have a little bit more experience in this kind of stuff than I did, uhm, last time." Her gaze fell briefly as she said this. She then cleared her throat and placed a reassuring hand on Manu's shoulder. "Listen, doing what I do, I take risks every day already. If there's even the slightest chance that I may help the Avengers in some way, isn't it worth this risk?"

The thirteen-year-old thought about this for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Yeah, I guess it is." He gave his sister a sly smile. "Besides, you've gotten yourself out of trouble before. If worse comes to worse, you can do it again, right?"

"I guess," Ro replied with a shrug and a nervous grin.

Manuel's smile widened as he thought some more. "I can't believe this might be happening. My sister could actually become an Avenger!"

"Shhh, keep it down!" Ro shushed him as she looked around, making sure no one nearby or from inside the bus was listening. Once she saw that wasn't the case, she couldn't help her grin from widening as well. "But, yeah. It is kinda cool, isn't it?"

Both siblings shared a quiet giggle that was interrupted by the sound of the school bus' horn. Agent Hill had been able to buy Ro enough time for her to break the news to her brother, but it was clear that the driver wasn't going to wait on them forever.

"Okay, give a call as soon as you can, though." Manu told her as he started walking towards the bus. "Even with the explanation you told me to give, you know mamá and papá are gonna freak out anyway. Especially mamá."

"Yeah, I know." Ro sighed as she walked beside him. "I'll try my best to keep you guys as updated as I can."

"Oh, and," the boy turned to face Ro, giving her an earnest look, "please be careful."

The young woman gave him a soft smile. "I will. I promise."

The siblings hugged, and as the bus' horn sounded off once again, Manuel rapidly tightened the hug before letting go. They shared another sincere glance and smile. Ro could hardly believe that Manu was now almost as tall as her. When did the little toddler she met years ago grow up so fast?

"Love you," he said before turning away and trotting to the vehicle.

"Love you, too," Ro replied as she stood in her spot and watched him leave.

Seconds after Manuel got on his school bus, it began to drive away back to New York, followed by two others. As she watched this, Ro couldn't help for a few tears she had been keeping at bay to escape from the corners of her eyes.

Feeling the presence of Agent Hill a few meters behind her, she rapidly wiped them and took a shuddering breath. Once she had regained her composure, she turned around and walked towards where the woman was waiting for her, standing next to a sleek, black car.

There was no turning back now. Ro really, desperately hoped that this time, she was making the right decision.

______________________________________________________________________

Once again, Roxanne found herself traveling with Agent Hill in silence. However, this time, she was in the passenger seat of Hill's car. She contemplated breaking the silence, but Hill's facial expression and body language practically screamed, "Don't talk to me."

Before Ro could find the silence too uncomfortable, something inside the car began ringing and a translucent image of a severe-looking black man with an eyepatch flashed in the corner of the windshield.

Agent Hill pushed a button on the steering wheel that caused the ringing to stop and answered, "This is Hill."

"I need you here in D.C. Deep shadow conditions," a man's voice spoke over the car's sound system.

"Give me four hours."

"You have three, over." The call ended, and the image on the windshield disappeared. Roxanne just stared at the car's dashboard in amazement.

"How high-tech is your car?!" she exclaimed.

"This is nothing. Just wait until you see my office," Hill replied.

"Hold on," Ro realized. "I'm assuming that guy was your boss. Why didn't you just tell him you were already in D.C.?"

"Deep shadow," Hill deadpanned.

"Oh. Alright," Ro said awkwardly, once again turning her sight to the front and going silent. She actually had SO many more questions in mind, but she figured right now might not be the best time for them. Not before her first day of "work" even officially started.

After a few seconds, the spider-powered girl cleared her throat and spoke up once again. "Listen, I know that for the time being, you can only take my word for it, and that I'll have to prove myself over time. But I can assure you that I can keep secrets when I'm asked to. You, your boss, one of the heroes. I swear you guys can trust me."

Without turning to look, the agent let out a light scoff. "We'll just see about that."

Suddenly, the upper, driver's side corner of the windshield began flashing red, and an alarm sounded.

"Uh, that sounded bad," Ro noted, trying not to sound worried.

"But I was just talking to him not even two seconds ago," Hill pointed out in shock as if she didn't even hear Roxanne's statement.

"Did something happen to your boss?"

"His car was just attacked. That's why that alarm is going off."

"A-attacked?" Ro stammered, fear creeping into her voice.

"Relax, kid," Hill assured, sounding much calmer than she actually felt. "My boss always has a plan for these sorts of situations. Also, no one knows I'm in D.C., so I should be able to get you back to headquarters with no issue."

Roxanne nodded, but she was barely paying attention to anything Agent Hill was saying. All she could think about was her mysterious attacker from earlier and his frighteningly soulless eyes. Could he have anything to do with the attack on Agent Hill's boss?

"Look," Ro began, "I don't know how relevant this is to our current situation, but a little while before you showed up, someone had ambushed me."

Agent Hill's eyes widened. If the two of them had been in a sitcom, this would have been the part where she slammed the brakes in shock and started yelling at Roxanne in an exaggerated manner.

Instead, Hill just kept driving, speeding up ever so slightly, and deadpanned, "I fail to see how that wouldn't be relevant to our current situation. Can you describe your attacker to me? Use as much detail as possible."

"He was a man. Broad shoulders. Kinda muscular but not huge. He was about a head taller than me. Shoulder-length, brown hair. He was wearing a facemask, so I didn't get a good look at his face, but I know he had blue eyes. Scarily dead-looking, blue eyes. He was dressed completely in black. Oh, and he had a metal arm, his left one. It's possible that he might have been working for the people who killed my dad. It wouldn't be the first time they tried to steal me away against my will."

"And when was the last time you were ambushed and almost kidnapped?"

"Two years ago. I broke out of a glass cage, beat up a bunch of guards, and got away."

Roxanne couldn't quite see it from where she was sitting, but the corner of Agent Hill's mouth and eye twitched upward into a somewhat impressed half-smile. Maybe the girl had a lot more fire in her than the agent had assumed. The half-smile disappeared as quickly as it came.

"If whoever is after you is also behind the attack on my boss, then we need to get to headquarters as quickly and as secretly as we can," Hill demanded urgently. "I'm going to drop you off at headquarters, and when we get there, I want you to lay low and NOT call attention to yourself. Understand?"

______________________________________________________________________

After Agent Hill dropped Ro off at a large, modern-looking building, she hurriedly handed the girl a key card with a room number. Hill told Ro to wait for her to call and drove off, once again reminding her to be as low-key as possible. It was a good thing Ro was already basically an expert at that.

As she entered, the girl was in awe of what she saw. Just from the lobby, a spacious workplace with dozens of people working with holographic images and high-tech, almost futuristic gadgets could be seen. She looked to her left and saw the same symbol that Agent Hill had on her uniform adorning a large portion of the wall that was right behind the receptionist's desk. Above and below the crest were the words: "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

She strongly considered asking the lady at the desk where the room number on her keycard was located, but the one rule she was given combined with her natural curiosity moved her to instead attempt and find her room by herself first.

As was usual for her, she didn't seem to draw much attention to herself as she looked around some halls. A few people did notice her presence and gave her brief suspicious looks, but as most of them appeared to be rather busy, they quickly resumed with their own business.

It didn't take Ro too long to find the room whose number matched the one on the card, A-037, located on the second floor. Noticing the lack of a doorknob, she instead held the card close to a small, rectangular metal plaque located in what would've been the doorknob's place. The card was scanned by it, and after a light beep, the door opened slightly. She pushed it open and walked inside, closing it behind her as she did.

Unsurprisingly, the room she was staying at wasn't anywhere nearly as impressive as the rest of the building. It was pretty much like seeing an inexpensive, single-bed hotel room. The walls and floor were a matte gray. There was a door to a small bathroom, and another one to a small closet. Next to her bed was a nightstand with a single lamp, and a single, large window with silver shades was right above it.

The most noteworthy thing that caught Roxanne's eye was a briefcase placed on top of her bed. She eyed it curiously as she sat on the bed and took off her backpack, letting it fall behind her.

As she opened the case, the first thing she found was what she quickly guessed to be a communication device, very similar-looking to a smartphone, but slightly thinner and more squared in shape. She took the gadget in her hand and was taken aback when blue, holographic waves came out from a thin slot at the bottom and proceeded to scan her face. Once they retracted, the same bird logo she had seen earlier appeared on the screen, and under it, the word "identifying" written in all caps faded in and out a few times.

After a few seconds, the screen read "Identity confirmed", and she was taken to a dashboard of messages, all of them from a user saved as Agent Maria Hill.

She tapped on them, and the messages read as following:

"Brooks, there's been a complication."

"You might have to wait there for a few days."

"In the meantime, this will be our means of communication."

"Do not expect me to reply soon, and do not spam this line."

"Only leave your room to get food. Cafeteria is on the third floor, and meals are served at 8:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 6:00 pm."

"Eat in your room and do not talk to anyone."

"Do not answer any messages or phone calls that are not from me or from Nick Fury."

"And do not share these messages with anyone."

"BE LOW-KEY."

As she finished reading the messages, Ro gulped. The paranoia and secrecy surrounding her recruitment was making her more and more uneasy by the second. Sure, this lady had told the truth about working with the Avengers and them being interested in her, but something was seriously off. Either she had been hired at an unbelievably inconvenient time, or something was not what it seemed like. Either way, one thing was sure: she could not allow herself to lower her guard until things were cleared up to her.

"Ok," Ro typed in reply to Hill's messages, and hit send.

She looked back down at the open suitcase and noticed that inside were also a few clothing items. She grabbed one and took it out to get a better look at it. It was a jumpsuit, very similar to the one Hill had been wearing when she saw her, except this one seemed to be slightly looser-fitting and with a different collar. There were also two more identical ones, and two slightly darker jackets, one with a hood and one without. Ro immediately gravitated more towards the hooded one. She noticed a sticky note on top of one of the suits that read: "Your temporary uniform. We'll give you a nicer one later on."

______________________________________________________________________

Roxanne spent the next two days on hold.

She followed Agent Hill's commands and never left her room except to get food at the cafeteria. Thanks to her brand new SHIELD uniform, she was able to blend in seamlessly and avoid nearly everyone's gaze, wordlessly returning to her room to eat once she had filled her tray.

Too nervous to make a phone call and risk someone listening in, she simply texted her sister Camila a few times a day. As expected, her parents hadn't taken the news so well. They apparently had believed Manuel's excuse but were still feeling restless and worried about Ro. The older sister told the younger to reassure them that, although she couldn't make phone calls for the time being, everything was fine.

Although in reality, everything felt very much not fine.

Not only was Ro bored out of her mind, but she felt so anxious that she hardly got any sleep. She would check her communicator's screen at least once every half hour in hopes to hear from Hill, but nothing. She expected for the agent to walk through her door at any moment to tell her what the next thing to do would even be, but again, nothing. How long were they going to keep her like this? She was beginning to worry if her recruiter was alright. Or even alive at this point.

She kept thinking about what had happened during that car ride. And especially what had happened right before it. Right before Hill showed up. The fact that Ro's persecutor had disappeared so mysteriously and suddenly mid-chase, and mere minutes later, Agent Hill's boss was attacked as well. It felt too coincidental to not be connected. At this point, she felt almost certain that both attackers had been the same man.

That man. That terrifying, stone-cold killer with his spine-chilling death glare. In all the years she had possessed and used her powers, she had never come across someone who not only matched her strength but actually surpassed it. She had felt so helpless fighting against him. Even her hardest blows did little to slow him down. If she had taken even two seconds longer to get away from him than she did, would she even be alive right now? Well, chances are she probably would be but no doubt in the clutches of that heartless witch Madame Franco and her serpentine son.

Alejandro had warned her they would return for her one day. And surely, if they had seemingly disappeared from the radar for almost two years at this point, it wasn't because they were on vacation or had taken on a new project that was completely unrelated to Arachne. No. They were preparing to make sure she wouldn't escape this time. They were going to pull out the big guns.

That's exactly what they wanted her to be. A gun. A mindless and inhumane murderer, just like the one they almost certainly had sent after her and God knows how many others.

Was that guy with the metal arm one of the human weapons Alejandro had talked about? Someone they had forcefully taken, wiped out of all free will, and now used to their liking?

Who had he been before he became...that?

Before she could ponder about this any further, a continuous beeping sound startled her. She looked to her night table to find that the noise came from her SHIELD communicator. The screen read: "Agent Maria Hill - Incoming Call".

She answered the call and spoke in a lowered volume. "Hello?"

"Brooks," Hill answered from the other side of the line, also speaking above a whisper, "before I can say anything else, I need you to make sure no one can hear you right now."

Ro blinked a few times before getting to her feet and entering her bedroom's bathroom with the device in hand, closing the door once she was inside.

"Okay, I just locked myself in the bathroom. I think I should be safe here."

"Well, here's hoping," Hill scoffed before continuing. "Have you done as I told you?"

"If by that, you mean keeping a low profile and remaining basically nonexistent for the last two days," the girl deadpanned, "Then yes, I have."

Hill let out a sigh. "Good. I am aware the last 48 hours surely have been less than entertaining for you, but believe me, I've had a good reason to keep you that way."

"Honestly, I've been more anxious than anything else," Roxanne confessed in a slightly irritated tone. "With everything that's been happening, I wasn't sure if you were even alive or not at this point. Are you ever planning on telling me what's going on?"

There was silence for a moment.

"Hill?"

"Before I can, I need you to tell me something," the agent continued, attempting for her voice to remain authoritative yet calm, despite the fact that some uncertainty still slipped out. "When we were on our way to HQ, you mentioned being attacked and almost kidnapped by a man with a metal left arm, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"You also talked about already having escaped from another group of dangerous people two years ago and that said people were responsible for the death of your parents. Is that correct?"

"Uh-huh?"

"And do you have any clue or suspicions as to who these people might be? Someone who could have hated or been jealous enough of your father to do that to him and his family? Tell me any names that come to mind."

Ro let out a bitter chuckle. "Oh, I don't just have suspicions. I know exactly who it was. A woman named Adela Franco and her son Alejandro Vidal. Apparently that sick little family had plans to use my father's project for less than righteous purposes, and once they learned that my dad knew too much, they killed him and my mum. I, uh, was also supposed to die, but I didn't, and well, you know the rest."

Once again, a few seconds of silence followed before Maria Hill spoke again. "Very well. And this Vidal Franco family? You wouldn't happen to know who they work for, would you? I understand your father was working at Oscorp Laboratories before his demise."

Ro lightly shook her head. "From what I understand, Oscorp was just a facade for their scientific experiments. But I think they were actually part of a sort of crime organization or something like that. They had a symbol with a skull and octopus tentacles in a circle. And they said it was called HYDRA."

A light gasp could be heard from the other side of the line. Hill again was silent for a brief moment. "Huh. So it's true..." the agent was heard saying, more to herself than for anyone else. She then addressed the young hero once again. "Well, I've got good news for you, Brooks. Your time-out is officially over."

______________________________________________________________________

"So, where are you taking me exactly?" Sure, this was only Roxanne's second time on a car ride to an unknown location with Agent Hill, but it already felt like one time too many.

"Let's just say that you're finally going to meet my boss," Hill replied cryptically.

Ro stared at her critically and asked, "The one that's supposedly dead?"

Hill flashed her a suspicious glare. "I thought I told you not to talk to anyone."

"I didn't. I just overheard people talking while I was waiting in line at the cafeteria. Apparently, gossip and places that serve food go together in every culture. Speaking of which, apparently, SHIELD is hunting down Captain America now? What happened to working with him and the Avengers?"

"You'll find out when we get where we're going. There's a lot that my boss hasn't told me yet either, and the sooner you shut up and let me drive, the sooner we'll get there and get the answers we need," Hill snapped.

"Oooookay? Are you and your boss always this paranoid? Even with each other?" Roxanne's earlier uneasiness slowly returned.

Hill rolled her eyes and looked Ro square in the face.

"Okay, kid," she huffed, "I can tell you're really new to this line of work, so I'm going to level with you. My boss and I trust each other with our lives, okay? Our work just happens to involve knowing a lot of potentially dangerous secrets that we have to keep other people from finding out and using, and with that in mind, being a little paranoid has its benefits."

"Sorry," Ro apologized, "I didn't mean to strike a nerve. I just think it's weird that I'm required to trust you and your boss, but neither of you seem to trust anyone."

"I suppose it is," Hill conceded, "but in our line of work, even trusting the right person comes with risks. Trusting the wrong person can have devastating consequences."

Roxanne exhaled heavily and replied bitterly, "Boy, do I know all about that last part, so I get it, but you don't fix trusting the wrong person by never trusting people again. You fix it by taking the time to figure out what makes someone trustworthy."

"So, how did you know I was trustworthy?"

Ro opened her mouth to answer Hill's question but then, suddenly cringed when she realized what she was about to answer. If she told Agent Hill the truth, Hill would be quick to point out that most people didn't have the luxury of having lie detection powers. Of course, Ro could always lie to her, but trustworthy people don't lie, and Ro had insisted to this woman that she was a trustworthy person.

"I can tell when people are lying to me," Ro admitted. "I'm not entirely sure how, but I think it came with the spider powers. I know that gives me an unfair advantage over most people when it comes to knowing who to trust, but I stand by what I said."

"Why?" Hill asked bluntly.

"Because, because I know that if I stopped trusting people, I'd just fall back into survival mode, and I can't go back to survival mode. I just can't. I mean, it kept me alive, which I'm grateful for, but it's lonely and dark and cold and just plain awful. Even if I didn't have my powers, I'd choose being able to trust again over that."

"Well, to your credit, you didn't trust me completely when we first met even after you were sure I wasn't lying to you. You may look like a delicate, unassuming, naive, little daffodil, but you're tougher and smarter than you look."

"Gee, thanks," Ro replied semi-sarcastically with a smirk. But despite the passive-aggressive nature of Hill's comment on her, the girl could tell there was sincerity behind it.

After a couple more minutes, the two women finally arrived at their destination, which was a secret hideout hidden inside a dam near a bridge. Agent Hill drove the car through a secret entrance hidden behind some foliage, which led to a series of tunnels and a couple of ID readings. Once they were finally parked, the agent turned to Roxanne.

"Alright, kid. You wanted to be let in on more information. That's what we're going to do now. You know the people that have been giving you a headache? Turns out that they're the exact same people who have been giving us a headache the past few days. Or more accurately, the past few decades."

The younger woman blinked. "The Vidal Francos?"

"Not just them. All of HYDRA." Hill opened her car door and motioned with her head for Ro to follow her. Both women got out of the car and began walking side by side.

"Right," Roxanne muttered, fiddling with her jacket, "so, who exactly is HYDRA? I know they're in the weapons and assassins business, but everything about the way you've been acting these last few days is telling me that they're a lot bigger than that."

"So much bigger," Hill replied, walking faster. Roxanne sped up to keep pace with her. "How much did you learn about World War II before you dropped out of school?"

Roxanne winced at the mention of school but answered, "Just the part about the U.S. fighting Nazis with the British. And I also know Captain America was in it, and he and his combat team took out a bunch of them before he disappeared."

"Does the name 'Red Skull' ring any bells?"

Ro thought for a moment. "It does, now that you mentioned it." Her eyes widened as she thought further. "Oh my God, you mean to tell me that's the same HYDRA!? I thought the name sounded familiar, but I sort of assumed it was like a neo-nazi type of situation."

Agent Hill shook her head as she kept looking ahead. "Not quite. You were likely taught that after the war ended, so did HYDRA. It turns out, they simply remained hidden. For many, many years. They infiltrated several institutions. Oscorp was one of them. SHIELD was another one."

Ro gulped. "Okay, I think I'm starting to get why you and your boss have been so paranoid. So, what are these people after, exactly?"

"Well, first and foremost, world domination," the agent answered without skipping a beat. "But to achieve that, they have to take out a few targets first. Some of the people you're about to meet are amongst said targets. But we believe there may be a way to stop HYDRA's current plans." She turned her head to Roxanne. "And you're going to help us."

The girl's jaw dropped and she stared at Hill in disbelief. As they walked up a staircase, she tried sensing for any sign of lies, or even sarcasm within her but found none.

"You, you can't be serious. Me!? I have no experience! No training! All I've ever done is run away from terrorists and fight petty thieves. I, I'm flattered, but this just sounds like too much for someone like me. You should get someone like..."

As the two women entered a room, the group of four people that were in it all turned to see them. Ro recognized one of them as Hill's boss from the earlier call. Another one was a fit-looking black man in his thirties sporting a goatee. Next to him stood a red-head woman with a bandaged shoulder, which upon further inspection, Ro recognized as the Avenger Black Widow herself. And finally, with no double-takes needed, the girl's eyes landed on the final occupant of the room. It was none other than...

"CAPTAIN AMERICA!?"

______________________________________________________________________

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Here's hoping Wattpad doesn't flag any of this images like they did on the last chapter, smh.

Anyways, we're still alive, people! Since there's no way to give you updates directly, I sincerely hope everyone reading this follows at least my OC's Instagram account (OC_RoBrooks) for updates. And if you don't, to sum up why this update took so long: I took December off because of how chaotic it was for me IRL, and once January arrived, I got busy with a lot of other projects. On top of that, writer's block and start-of-the-year lack of motivation have not been fun. Both me and co-author Julienne suffered from it. But despite everything, we pulled through and got this chapter out! Extra special thanks to her, because she's responsible for over half of what's written in this chapter.

Sadly, I can no longer promise biweekly or three-weekly updates, because this year I'm going to be pretty occupied with several things, one of which is searching for a job IRL. However, my new compromise is to work at a semi-steady pace on this fanfic and post a new chapter at least once a month. Sometimes it may be more, but that's the minimum I'm going to aim for! I hope you can understand and that what's coming up will be worth it. If you know this film, it shouldn't be too hard to guess ;)