Chapter One

Mat had to go shopping. Every Thursday, he ventured from his little apartment to the corner general store and picked up the essentials.

To everyone else, he was Leon Underwood, and he had transferred from a European university to one here in Queens, where he took online classes and taught cello out of his apartment.

He was twenty years old, and a real gentleman. He always greeted everyone politely, and while he seemed withdrawn, he was never lacking in leading a helping hand, whether it was an elderly neighbour's groceries, or a young kid finding their parents.

Mat hated grocery shopping day. He hated leaving his apartment. Everyone was so nice to him, but he still hadn't forgotten. He knew a lot about Hydra agents, and he knew they could disguise themselves as anyone. One slip-up, and he would be dead. Or, more likely, he would end up back there.

And it wasn't as if Mat himself couldn't blend in, he had been taught well, afterall. But it was just that it was harder for him. He had never really needed to blend in all that much, either, considering his...past line of work. He had albinism. His skin and hair were the colour of fresh snow, and his eyes held a red-ish tint.

He was not very inconspicuous and he knew it. He usually took great care to cover most of himself when he leaves his apartment, just in case. He knows that Hydra agents exist everywhere, Hydra is everywhere. But objectively, New York is the safest place to be.

The Avengers generally keep it pretty clean, and usually take care of any issues to arise. The Winter Soldier being one. Mat didn't follow the news very closely, but he had been following that story. He knew who the Winter Soldier was, of course. Every Hydra agent did.

The fact that the Avengers had been able to not only neutralise that threat, but turn the man to their side was proof enough for Mat. He was relatively safe here. As long as he kept his cover and didn't stand out, he was fine.

It was mid-autumn, one of Mat's favourite seasons, because he could get away with as many layers as he wanted. He pulled on his thin gloves and a woollen hat, and completed the look with a long caramel coat and reflective shades.

The man at the corner store was really nice, and always greeted Mat like an old friend. Once he had paid and exchanged his pleasantries with the man, he was quick to make his way back to the apartment.

His living space was bare. There was no personality in it. He had the essentials, and that was it. The only thing that held any soul was the cello leaned against the corner. The case was black leather, cushioned on the inside with red velvet. The instrument itself was perfect. It was made of oak, polished to a beautiful shine. It was the only thing Mat would ever need to take with him if he were to have to leave.

It was the only thing he had ever found any sense of self in.

Mat sighed heavily and began sorting his groceries, re-stocking his shelves and fridge. He had a lesson with one of his students in half an hour, a little girl with a personality as bouncy as her curly hair, and so when he was done with the groceries, he set about cleaning up his apartment.

When Chloe knocked on his door, he answered with a very convincing smile. Mat wasn't sure he was capable of authentic emotions. The young girl bounced into his apartment, struggling with the heavy cello on her back and Mat laughed, lifting it for her.

"Have you been practising those notes I showed you, Munchkin?" He asked as they both sat down in his little living room.

"Yes, yes yes! I can play them so good! I'm so 'cited to show you!"

Chloe's cello was taller than her, so she had some trouble reaching the strings where he needed to place her fingers, but she made it there, plucking a nearly perfect 'G'. Mat grinned. "Way to go, kid! That was amazing!"

Mat was intending to start Chloe on learning some scales soon. She was only six, but she was a remarkably fast learner and Mat genuinely found he enjoyed their lessons. He had just begun to demonstrate the C major scale when someone knocked on his door.

"Oh. Just wait a sec, okay Chloe? I'll be right back." Mat opened the door. On the other side stood a man in his mid-thirties. He was dressed in black. Mat didn't like him.

"Can I help you, sir?" He asked.

"I didn't think it was true," the man whispered in a heavily Russian-accented voice. Mat's spine tensed. "They thought you weren't dead, but I didn't believe them. Now I find they were right all along."

Mat took a step back. "Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm kinda in the middle of a cello lesson, so–" The man whipped out a gun and shot Mat in the shoulder. Mat stumbled back and nearly fell. Chloe screamed. Mat could hear other voices screaming through the thin apartment walls.

Mat fell back against the counter, grasping his bloody shoulder and clenching his teeth. The wound was clean; the bullet had been shot at close range and passed right through, tearing in and out right under where his collar bone connected to his shoulder.

"What the fuck..." he grunted. The man stalked into the apartment, gun still pointed at Mat. "Don't try anything, Beloye Okno. I know what you can do."

Chloe was crying now, and Mat stumbled back into the kitchen, fumbling for the knife he kept hidden under the counter ledge for just such occasions. His bloody fingers gripped the handle and he slid it into his pocket, stumbling back into the living room, where Chloe was hiding behind her cello case, sobbing.

Mat crouched down next to her. "Chloe, it's going to be okay, alright? I promise. He's not going to hurt you."

"Have you gone soft, Beloye Okno? To think I'd see the day where you comfort a child. Maybe I should kill it too." He took aim with the gun, and Chloe started to shake. Mat lunged at the man faster than he could pull the trigger and the two of them tumbled to the ground.

Mat had landed on top and made quick work of rendering the man incapacitated with a well-placed fist to the throat, and swiped the gun out of his hand, pointing it at the man's head and pulling the trigger.

It was over. The man, who Mat now recognised to be a Hydra agent, was dead with his brains on the floor, and the apartment seemed quiet now. Mat rushed back to Chloe, who was still cowering with her head buried in her arms.

Mat went to touch her, but realised his hands were covered in blood. His injured shoulder was throbbing in time with his heartbeat and his fingers were starting to lose feeling.

"Shit. Chloe, I need you to listen to me, okay?" Mat said firmly. Chloe looked up at him, letting out a broken sob when she saw the blood, but fixing her eyes on his face and nodding. "I need you to go to the apartment next door and tell them I sent you, alright? Wait until the police get here, they'll call your parents. Okay? Go."

Chloe ran like her life depended on it. Mat waited until he heard his neighbours let Chloe in before he hoisted himself off the floor with a groan. Shit. He'd have to move again. He wasn't worried about the blood on the floor, he wasn't registered in any criminal database, and if they check hospital records, they'd come up with about a dozen different fake names.

Right now, Mat's priority was getting the hell away. He had a backpack with the essentials ready to go in the bottom of his closet. He hoped people wouldn't notice the blood. He was wearing a black sweater so it wouldn't stand out that much, he hoped.

"Hello?" Someone shouted from out in his apartment. Mat froze. Shit. Shit shit shit what now? "Is there someone- oh wow, that's a dead body. Hello?" The voice sounded young and Mat gripped his knife as he slowly made his way silently back to the main room.

In his kitchen, amidst all the blood, stood Spiderman. Mat repressed the urge to groan. Of course a mini Avenger had to show up.

"Oh, hi! Um, are you okay? I heard gunshots, and I can't help but notice that you're kind of covered in blood, so..."

Mat sighed. 

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!