~MEL~

I lay back against the wall with my arms around my knees, trying to appear weak. Bucky scans my battered body, taking in every bruise and scar. He finally meets my eyes. "Do you want to meet the others? They helped get you here, away from HYDRA's grasp." He asks. I blink at him. "Do I have to stay in here?" I ask. Bucky shakes his head. I bite my lip. I might be able to escape if he puts his guard down. "S-sure." I stutter, keeping up the helpless act.

Bucky smiles a little, holding out his hand. I take it tentatively, rising wobbly from the bed. "Thanks." I mutter, folding my arms. "No problem." He says, smiling weakly. He leads me out the door. "Ladies first." He says. I raise a brow, trying to buy as much time as possible. He gestures for me to leave, so I do. I try to find any possible way to escape the hallway, but their isn't any exit except for straight forward.

As we walk, I think of my future. I have a family. Did they abandon me to the streets where HYDRA then picked me up? Was I kidnapped? Or had they died? Horrible thoughts plague my mind and I feel a sickening rock begin to form in my stomach. Bucky stops walking, backtracking a couple of steps and opening a door to his left. A surge of cheering a bickering comes from the room like a tidal wave, giving me an instant headache.

"You'll get used to it." Bucky says, sighing. He gestures for me to walk into the room, so I enter cautiously. My mouth gapes as I see about twenty bottles littered around a young man with some serious biceps. Another man with a goatee is laughing hysterically, right next to another man with bottles and blonde hair, but with longer hair and a red cape. A red-haired woman and a three other guys sit on a couch, one clutching his glasses in one hand and his nose in the other. Three others stand awkwardly, one being Silverman, one being red-faced bald and the other has eyes that occasionally glow red.

The man with the hearing aids notices me first, his blue eyes locking mine. The red-head notices, Silverman starts thumb-twiddling, the girl next to him lives up to her nickname her eyes glowing a deep red. Goatee stops laughing, the third man looks between Bucky and I, Biceps stops grinning, Glasses releases his nose and Blondie gets up off of the floor. Bucky clears his throat, sending a glare towards Goatee. "Uh, guys, this is Mel. Mel, this is the team."

"I'm Tony." Goatee introduces himself, taking a sip of vodka from his cup. "Clint." Says a man. "Bruce." Mumbles Glasses, his hand in the red-head's. "Natasha Romanoff." She says with a small smile. "Thor." Booms Blondie. "Steve Rogers, ma'am." Introduces Biceps 1. "Sam. On your right." Steve laughs at the third man's comment. "Wanda Maximoff. This is Pietro, my brother." Silverman twiddles faster, his nervous behaviour making a smile tug at my lips. "And I am Vision." The last man says, gripping my hand in his cold one.

I take note of the doorway to my left that says 'stairwell'. "What do you guys do here?" I ask, trying to buy more time. Goatee snickers. "It depends on who you ask. If you ask old Eyepatch then we are 'Earth's mightiest heroes', the avengers of the world, vanquishing evil in every corner." He says nonchalantly. I nod.

I spring into action, forming spines on all areas used for offence, armour for defence, wings for emergency and infer-red vision. Tony and Bruce leave. No one is prepared, except for Bucky. I kick, aiming for his knee, but he blocks it with his metal hand. He swings at me twice and I dodge, my side facing him. I ran my elbow into the space just below his ribs. The exchange goes on for a while, until I get a spiny punch near his shoulder, right before his metal arm starts. Using my armoured hand, I clobber the side of his head at just the right angle, sending him to the ground. I feel guilty about the attack, but prepare for the next blow.

Thor tries to attack using his hammer, but not no avail. His drunken stupor slows his movement, making it easy to get him out of the way. I jump, wrapping my legs around his neck, trying to stop air from getting to his head. He quickly falls, just as Natasha whips out her gun and shoots me in the shoulder. I fall back, yelping in pain. She runs up to me, straddling my waist as she punches me.

I backhand her across the cheek with my spiny limb, creating bloody gashes across her face. Pushing her off, I fly up a few metres, thanks to the high-rise ceiling. Vision rises, waiting a few moments before shooting a glowing yellow blast of energy towards me. Wanda does a similar thing from below, and I fall to the ground.

I see the glowing red triangle on Tony's suit near the doorway. He raises his hand and aims within a second, giving me just enough time to roll out of the way. I stand up to run, only to hit the wall. I fall and manipulate my foot to an unnatural angle. Tony comes over, laughing. "Well that was-" I slam a spine at the red triangle, breaking the glass. I hear a curse. "How the hell did you do that?" Tony asks, truly puzzled.

I stand, my foot already corrected. I slam another spine into the eyes, turning off my infer-red. Tony shoots my chest, sending me flying into the wall. I groan, disoriented and with blurry vision.

"This man, Tony Stark. He will need to be assassinated too." Instructs Melony. Bucky sits just across from me, his brainwashed state terrifying. The therapy doesn't work on me, something about my brain being effected by the serum. The doctors 'adapted' the serum so it'd work and now they think I've succumbed to their brainwashing. But in reality, I've just 'adapted' my acting skills. It's not hard. I just copy Bucky.

"Animalia will take out Mister Stark. The Winter Solider will assassinate Captain Rogers. You're both dismissed." We both get up off of our seats in unison, tucking them in and turning toward the door. "Agent 041, one moment please." Melony sings. Then why did you dismiss me? I turn, obediently walking up to her. "Mister Stark tends to have a weak point on his suits. The arc reactor in the middle can be shattered, but with some effort."

I give her a curt nod, mumbling my thanks. Melony smiles a wicked grin. I turn, leaving. Just before the door fully closes, I hear a faint voice.

"All the pieces are coming together."

I struggle for breath, sitting up and rolling out of the way just before Tony lands to the left of where I used to be. Bucky's face of recognition makes its way into my peripheral vision. I jump to the balls my feet, bouncing around. "Come on, big man in a big suit, you'd think you'd try harder." I taunt. Tony chuckles. "I don't need to try." He aims and I lunge, him shooting just after I slam my claws into the exterior of his arc reactor. "I don't know Tony, I seem to be a handful." I say, leaving his crippled suit on the floor, his body trapped inside.

"I win." I announce, stunned silence acting as my applause. I turn, right as a red, white and blue shield is flung at my face. I fall to the ground, only to be met by Steve, looking angry. He impact sends my vision blotchy and my head spinning. I lay there, dazed, waiting for the next attack.