*Your POV*

*Flashback*

You wince as you're thrown onto the cold hard concrete floors. As the metal doors slam shut you see that you're not alone. You see six others who look around your age also laying on the ground in pain. They seem familiar when it hits you. The International Conference of Excellence, ICE. These are the other candidates. You look up to see a man in front of you. You flinch as he bangs his cane on the ground. "You are special. Not because of your minds, but because of what HYDRA will make you. You will be super-soldiers taken a step further. You will each have one enhanced quality. Stealth," He swigs his cane in front of your face. "Disguise," he points at Missy, "Strength," Ixtil, "Speed," Li Din, "Flexibility" Fin, "Knowledge" Kamila, "And finally, reflexes." Abasi. He stops pacing and looks at you all. "You are being given a special opportunity. To change the world. Remember, you can be replaced. Who would like to go first?" You all cower against the wall, looking at each other in silence. "No one? What a shame. I prefer it the easy way. Much easier on your bodies." He swung his cane to point at Kamila. She turned to look at you all with wide eyes quickly filling with tears. One of the guards came and dragged her out of the room screaming and yelling. What the hell.

*3rd Person POV*

You wipe the tears off your eyes. The nightmares were becoming more and more vivid every night. Why couldn't you be reliving the best moments of your life instead of the worst? You changed and went on your daily run, the same route as always. You are so caught up in the gentle rhythm of your footsteps you almost don't see Steve standing in front of the music store. You pause and cross the street, stopping in front of Steve. "Well, look who decided to show up?" "Well, look who is acting like a creepy stalker waiting for me while I go on a run?" Steve takes a second to adjust to what you said. "Okay, now I think about it, following you on your run, watching you train, and then taking the same running route a few minutes early to see you here is very stalkerish." You nod your head but he speaks before you can leave. "What's with the violin? You do know that you're staying with a billionaire right? I can buy it for you if you want." You turn to Steve and take a step closer to him. "No. Thank. You. I've got this far on my own. I'll live without it. And stop acting like a stalker." You turn away and start jogging again, leaving Steve back at the store.

...

You're laying on your bed reading a book when you hear a knock on your door. You open it to see Nat. "Hey, I going to train. Wanna join?" You look at her and sigh. She laughs as you drag yourself off your bed and to the gym. You spend the next few hours together, racing on the treadmills, boxing in the ring, working together in the simulator. As you're stretching together Nat looks at you. "You know, you're not bad for an 18-year-old." You smile. "19 as of tomorrow." You pause for a second releasing what you just said. Nat sits up. "It's your birthday tomorrow?" You bring your head to your hands. "I wasn't planning on telling anyone, but yes, it is." Nat puts her hand out and helps you up. "Well, good to know HYDRA's secret-keeping training is wearing off." You gently punch her arm and leave the gym. Nat shakes her head and goes to the kitchen for a snack.

*Nat's POV*

I walk into the kitchen and grab an apple out of the fruit basket. Just as I bite into it Steve walks in. "Hey, guess what I found out about Y/N." He looks at me and opens the fridge taking out a water bottle. "I don't know. All I know is that she likes looking at this some violin." He shrugs and I just look at him. "So do you think she might play?" He looks up from his bottle. "I didn't even think about that. I mean it's a pretty violin, I thought she just liked looking at it." I shake my head and look at him. "Okay, but I found out that it's her birthday tomorrow." Steve looks at me. "Really? Huh. I have an idea for a present. And you can always take one of Tony's credit cards and take her shopping with Wanda." I nod and take another bite of the apple. "That's a good idea. And who knows, maybe I could get Parker to come." Steve turns around. "Parker? Why?" I look at him with wide eyes. "Can you really not tell? Parker blushes whenever she walks into the room. He totally likes her. And I think we should set them up." Suddenly Clint hops out of the vents. "I totally agree. They would be so cute. And they're only two years apart. It's perfect." Steve stumbles back from shock. I walk over and pat him on the back. "You really need to get used to that. He might never stop." Clint nods his head and points at me. "Vents are the best. Well, I think Parker would be useless shopping, and we do want Y/N to enjoy her birthday don't we?" Tony clears his throat.

"Oh, hey Tony. Didn't see you there. I think you must be hiding behind your massive ego." Clint high fives me and Tony just walks closer to me. "Or my massive bank account. You decide. Anyway, I heard what you were saying and I don't think villains deserve birthdays." Bucky coughs and Clint almost jumps back from shock. "All people deserve something for their birthday, especially people who have managed to live through HYDRA." He takes a plum from the fruit bowl and walks out. I just nod towards Tony and walk out. I want to go shopping.

...

A/N

Hey, so this chapter was still pretty short. Hopefully, I can be bothered to make them longer from now on, but I don't think I will. Thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate every reader and every single comment!