Catalina Jacqueline Porter, Steve Roger's granddaughter and Avenger, was originally a HYDRA experiment. Her father injected her with a serum he'd been working on. A serum that contained alien DNA. A serum that gave her powers. However, she was taken from her home when she was just a child. At least, in your universe, she was.

In this one, she grew up normally. At least, as normally as a girl with powers could.

-

1977

Gerard Porter looked at his toddler daughter, a needle in hand. "Don't worry, darling," he assured her. "This won't won't hurt a bit."

Two-year-old Catty sat on their kitchen table, chewing on a wooden spoon. She was oblivious to what her father was about to do to her.

She didn't cry when the needle pierced her skin. She didn't make a sound, only chewed on her spoon. The foreign liquid entered her body, leaving a soft glow in her veins. Her eyes glowed as well, a soft blue light filling her small body.

"It worked," her father breathed. He touched his daughter's face. She felt his emotions pouring into her.

Pride.

Greed.

And somewhere, way in the back...

Guilt.

-

1980

Five-year-old Catty sat on her front porch, eating a popsicle. In her mother's rocking chair, she swung her legs. She would've sat in the swing, but she'd broken it the week before trying to jump onto the roof. She was lucky she hadn't fractured an arm or leg. She'd gotten through it mostly unscathed, just some scratches from Hannah's rosebush.

It was then that a black van pulled into the drive. Catty stopped rocking, watching a group of men get out. She noticed a logo on the side of their van and dropped her popsicle. They were with the people her father had worked for. The people that had been looking for her for three years.

HYDRA.

Within moments, Hannah was scooping Catty up in her arms and putting her inside. "Stay in the house," the woman commanded, slamming the door shut.

Gunshots rang out, followed by the sound of bodies hitting the ground. Catty hid behind the door, shaking. The fear she felt was all her own.

A few minutes later, Hannah burst into the house. "We need to leave," she said hoarsely. She held a handgun in one hand.

Catty nodded and pulled on her shoes. She followed her mother out the door and to their car. As she passed one of the fallen agents, he grabbed Catty's ankle. She could feel his emotions and shivered.

Pain.

Regret.

Fear.

Guilt.

-

1985

Fifteen-year-old Catty shook her new manager's hand. She was getting her first job. But as her skin made contact with the woman's, she felt all her emotions. She was getting used to it now.

Annoyance.

Tiredness.

Catty forced a smile, hoping the annoyance wasn't because of her. 

-

1991

It was Catty's twenty-first birthday. She was in a bar alone, drinking a margarita. A man came up to her and put his arm around her.

"Hey there, hot stuff," he whispered in her ear.

Lust.

Not uncommon, she thought.

"You've got a left hand, use it," she hissed irritably, standing and storming out.

-

2000

Catty, now twenty-five, had a psychology degree. She was on her way to becoming a licensed psychologist. She could help people learn about emotions. The one thing she knew most everything about.

With a smile, she sat on the couch in one of Tony Stark's many houses. Her good friend, Abbi MacNamara, sat with her.

"Okay, okay, but if you put the lime in before the vodka-" Abbi was saying.

Catty cut her off. "-it tastes disgusting," she finished. The pair laughed at each other, Abbi careful not to touch her friend. She knew about Catty's powers, and was careful not to overload her senses.

It was then that the host of the party came over. "Ladies," Tony said with a nod to the pair. 

"Mr. Stark," Catty greeted. Abbi simply waved.

"You're Dr. Porter, right?" Tony asked, sitting beside her. "The psychologist?"

The woman nodded. "The one and only."

He gave her a roguish smile. "What say you and I go discuss some emotions," he suggested, draping a hand over her shoulder. 

Drunkenness.

Hornyness.

She sighed. What was the harm in it, after all?

"Let's go, Tony," she said, standing with him. "I'll be back soon, Abs," she added.

Abbi gave a thumbs up, ever the supportive friend.

-

2001

Catty held a little boy in her arms. Her newborn son, Anthony Samuel Porter, though she would call him by his middle name.

She never expected to be a mother. Then again, she never expected to hook up with a billionaire playboy, either. She wondered if she should tell Tony about Samuel. She decided not.

The nurse on shift put her hand on Catty's bare shoulder. For the first time in her life, no emotions came rushing in. She only felt her own.

With a confused look, she glanced at the nurse. The woman wasn't wearing gloves. What was going on?

It was then she noticed that Samuel's eyes had a soft glow, the same one Hannah said Catty had when she first got her powers. 

She realized that she didn't have the powers anymore. She'd passed them to Samuel. It wasn't her power now. It was his.

Her own emotions washed over her.

Fear, for the things her son would endure.

Relief, that the only things she'd feel would be her own.

Guilt, for forcing a power onto her child.

-

2006

Catty drove through the rain. It was the worst thunderstorm she'd been in, but she was taking her kid to visit his father regardless.

"Mama?" Sam said, tapping her shoulder.

"Baby, I'm driving," she replied through gritted teeth.

"Mama!" Sam repeated, more urgent.

Catty was irritated. She was trying to do something nice for the kid, and here he was unable to shut his mouth.

"What?" she snapped, turning to look at him. In that moment, she ran off the road at a sudden curve. What Sam had been trying to warn her about.

The car fell through the air and down a fifty foot drop. It hit the side of the hill and rolled down. Sam curled into himself, sobbing. Catty didn't move a muscle.

Finally, the car came to rest. Sam was uninjured, miraculously. His mother, however, had taken all the damage.

Glass was stuck deep in her neck. One piece had sliced her jugular. She was bleeding out before her only son's eyes.

"Mama..." Sam whispered, placing his hand on her head. Her emotions rushed into him.

Fear.

Regret.

Guilt.