The guests for the big party that Tony was throwing were meant to arrive at 6 o'clock that night, which meant that I was dragged off to Pepper and Tony's room, which was apparently the biggest, to get dressed, a solid three hours before. I tried to protest to Nat, saying that we really didn't need that much time to get ready, but she refused to let me go.

I sat on the edge of the bed, watching as Wanda sat in the chair in front of a large mirror, a hired hair dresser fiddling with her hair. I hadn't exactly been keen at the thought of complete strangers coming into the compound, especially which the security measures Tony had been setting up for the past few weeks. Pepper had tried to assure me that she had been going through this company for years and that they were the best of the best, but I still wasn't completely convinced.

While Wanda's hair was getting done, Nat was sitting on the floor, painting her nails a bright red colour while another person was beginning to apply make up to Pepper's face. I watched them all, tapping my finger on the side of the box my dress was in, listening partially to the Christmas music that Yelena had put on. Laura had been in with us a couple of moments ago, but she had left to supervise Nathaniel while Clint helped Tony set up the final things.

"What kind of polish are you thinking Emily?" Nat interrupted my thoughts and I tore my eyes away from Wanda's hair as I looked over at her instead.

"I... I don't know." I replied, shrugging a little. I felt very out of place among all of the makeup and hair stuff and polish, it was definitely not my kind of world.

"I think silver polish might match." Pepper spoke up, her eyes closed as the makeup artist became to apply glitter to her eyelids.

"Good idea." Nat nodded, pushing herself up off the ground as she made sure not to bump the hand she had just been painting. "I'm sure there is silver in here somewhere."

She dug around in the bag the stylist had brought with her one hand as I looked back over at Pepper as the makeup artist finally finished with her face, letting Pepper slowly stand up.

"Your turn Emily." She smiled over at me and I swallowed thickly.

"Do I have to?" I asked softly.

"It can just be a little bit." Wanda spoke up from where she was watching me in the reflection of the mirror. "Maybe just some eyeshadow, a little bit of lipstick, some mascara too if you feel like it."

"Okay." I nodded softly, not wanting to refuse them when her.

I slowly put the box that still held my dress in it on the bed and stood up, moving over to where Pepper had just been sitting, the makeup artist smiling at me softly as I slowly sat down in the seat. She adjusted the height of the seat while I took deep breaths, unable to stop my eyes from darting around for signs of any weapons.

Nat shuffled up next to me, startling me slightly as she suddenly appeared.

"I'm going to do your nails." She smiled softly, taking my hand and beginning to unscrew the lid of the nail polish.

The makeup artist gently began to look through their bags, causing me to keep my eyes focused on them, only to watch them pull out a bottle of foundation matched as close to my skin tone as possible. I continued to watch them warily as they gently began to dap it onto my skin, covering up the many scars that I knew littered my skin.

I felt Nat beginning to paint my nails and I stiffened at the coolness of it at first, but I slowly relaxed, focusing on the mirror in front of me. The makeup artist had touched up all of the scars, blending the makeup in with my skin tone before applying a faint pink powder to my cheeks that Nat explained was blush.

Soon, my nails were covered in shining silver polish and all of the marks on my face had been completely covered up, my face looking almost completely flawless as I stared at myself. There was faint silver glitter on my eyelids, barely visible, and my lips had been touched up with a musty pink colour.

"You look beautiful." Nat grinned from where she was sitting on the floor next to me, having finished painting my nails a long time ago. "Come on, up you get, time to get your hair done."

I slowly stood up, switching places with Yelena, who grinned at me. As I sat down in the chair, the hairdresser put a cloak around my shoulder and I immediately stiffened, my hand immediately twitching as I was tempted to grab my gun, but I knew it wasn't there.

"She's a little sensitive." Pepper warned the hairdresser, smiling at me softly as I looked at her in the mirror reflection.

The hairdresser nodded, giving me a small smile. She started off my brushing my hair, completely detangling it with a brush before switching to a comb. She sprayed a couple of things into my hair, brushing them through before beginning to blow dry it. I almost lept out of my seat at it started up, only relaxing when Wanda squeezed my hand comfortingly and told me that it was just warm hair.

Once my hair was all try, the hairdresser picked up a wand-looking thing and began to gently wrap my hair around it. When she took it back off, my hair bounced over my shoulder, curled very slightly. She did this with the rest of my hair, curling some more dramatically than others, and the whole time I watched myself completely transform in the mirror. Paired with the makeup, even though it was only faint, I looked like a completely different person. I never would have expected that I could look like this, not after how I had seen myself for so long at HYDRA.

"You look amazing." Breathed Wanda as the hairdresser finished and took away the cloak-thing that had been protecting my clothes underneath.

"You think so?" I asked her, looking at my now wavy hair in the mirror.

"Of course." Pepper piped up, smiling at me as I turned around. "You're stunning. Now come on." She held out her hand to me. "Let's get you into that dress."

I walked hesitantly towards the bathroom attached to Pepper and Tony's room, my box tucked under my arm as I stepped in and shut the door behind me. Taking a deep breath, I slowly opened up the box to reveal the dark green dress. I slowly brushed my fingers over the fabric, feeling like I could break it with a small touch.

Setting the box on the sink, I slowly climbed out of my clothes, shivering a little as I lost my layers of warmth. I carefully pulled the dress out of the box, making sure to be very careful as I undid the zipper on the back of the dress and stepped into it. While it may have been silk on the outside, I didn't expect the thick lining on the inside, designed to retain as much warmth as possible.

I kept my back to the mirror as I twisted my arms to zip up the dress again, adjusting the long sheer sleeves of it before I slowly turned around to look in the mirror.

I stared at myself.

To be honest, I looked like a completely different person. I truly did. I didn't recognise one thing about myself. The make up hid all of my scars, the dress hiding the rest, expect for the slited part. My hair was shining and the curls were still holding. I had colour in my cheeks and the length of the dress managed to hide the thin shape of my body.

"Hey Emily?" There was a knock on the door, followed by Pepper's slightly muffled voice. "Are you okay in there? Do you need any help?"

"No." I managed to say, tearing my eyes away from the window as I picked up my clothes from the bathroom floor and folded them up roughly before I tucked them under my arm and opened up the door.

Pepper let out a gasp as soon as she saw me, Wanda's jaw dropping as Nat grinned in delight. Yelena, who was still in the makeup chair, looked over her shoulder and grinned too.

"You don't scrub up too bad." She called out to me.

"You look..." Wanda breathed and I felt my face heating, my hands smoothing down the dress self-consciously.

"Stunning." Pepper supplied, smiling as she stepped towards me, grasping my shoulder. "You look stunning Emily."

"Thank you." I murmured softly, a smile twitching on my lips.

"The boys are going to have a heart attack." Grinned Nat and Wanda managed to drag herself out of her awe enough to give her a good natured glare.

"Do you like it?" Pepper asked.

"I..." I broke off, not sure how to describe it as I looked down at the gown again.

"You seem to like it." Nat offered and I looked up again with a smile.

"I just..." I began, "this time last year, I would never have imagined myself like this. This time last year I was still stuck at HYDRA. It's hard to believe that I'm literally standing here in a thousand dollar dress."

"It's funny what life throws at you sometime." Nat smiled as Pepper squeezed my shoulder comfortingly again.

Suddenly, a loud booming sound came from downstairs and I jumped, spinning around to the shut door.

"I think the guests are here." Pepper stepped away as music began to blare. "We should probably get going."

I let out a nervous sigh, grateful that the sound hadn't been anything else. I quickly walked over to the bed where I had left the silver pair of heels Wanda had lent to me. I was excited and nervous at the same time, it was my first party but there were also people I didn't know here, people who could be dangerous.

"Hey Emily." Nat called out to me. "I have something to show you."

I looked up at her curiously and she led me away from everyone a little, pulling a bag from just next to the bed and set it on top, opening up the zip to reveal a large collection of daggers and a couple of cans of pepper spray.

"I made sure to request that your dress had inbuilt pockets." She smiled softly, pulling out several knifes, free from any rust or wear, the metal shining in the lights of the bedroom. "Can I show you?"

I nodded curiously, watching her as she grabbed my dress and flipped it inside out a little, revealing a small pocket, which I hadn't even noticed, on the inside of the dress halfway up my thigh. She easily slipped in two knives, letting the fabric drop again. As she walked to do the same to the other side, I ran my hand over the fabric, surprised to see that it wasn't even noticeable through the material.

"Is there somewhere for the gun?" I asked as she dropped the other side of fabric, the weight of four daggers resting against my thighs.

"No." She shook here head. "The tailor couldn't get one in without it being too obvious. You've got four daggers, and you'll be able to have a can of pepper spray in your clutch purse." She handed the small silver purse to me covered in shining dimonties. "Plus, it is a large crowd, all background checked by Tony and Steve. They won't hesitate to jump in to help you if something happens."

"Do you really think HYDRA will try something?" I asked softly, looking up from the purse that I had clipped up, the can of pepper spray completely hidden.

"I don't know." She replied, sliding several daggers into her own dress. "But its HYDRA. They will do their best."