▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 ━︎━︎ 𝐀 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐒 fast as her legs would take her. An alarm blared loudly, echoing down all of the halls. She had no weapons on her, her only form of defense being hand to hand combat―︎which she was amazing at, so at least she had that going for her. The sound of yells could be heard, growing closer and closer to her. She kept running, running so fast that when she ran around the corner, she went flying into the wall, and instead of slamming against it, she went right through it, falling onto the ground of a completely separate room than one she had been in. She sat up, blonde hair falling in her face as she looked down at her hands, watching as they became a solid form once again.

She clenched her jaw, forcing herself to stand up and look around the room she was in. Much to her luck, it was the weapons room. She huffed before grabbing some knives and placing them on her person before grabbing some guns and ammo and then quickly running out of the room. She stopped, looking up as footsteps came to a stop, the sound of guns being aimed at her making her look up at the wall in front of her. She blew the hair from her face, glancing left and then right. She was surrounded, but she couldn't help the smirk that crawled on her face. Clearly these people forgot who they were messing with.

     "You want me?" Liliya asked. "Come and get me."

They did just that. They all came at her at once and she quickly pulled out two guns, one pointing towards the left, the other pointing towards the right. She shot, sending bullet after bullet into each of her opponents. When she ran out of ammo she quickly tossed the two guns aside, grabbing the one she had stuffed in her waistband and using it. When she ran out of ammo, she quickly reloaded, giving one of the men enough time to get close to her. He grabbed her wrist as and she pulled back, slamming her head against his before quickly kicking him in the torso sending him stumbling back. He caught his footing, going to attack again causing Liliya to quickly hit him over the back of the head with the gun.

The men kept advancing from both sides. Two managed to grab her from behind, knocking the gun from her hand. She grimaced, throwing her head back allowing their grip to loosen on her. She slammed her elbow into one of their ribs before turning around and punching the other in the face, taking her knife and stabbing the guy in the stomach. She flipped the knife in her hand, quickly spinning and chucking the knife, sending it right into the forehead of an oncoming attacker. For the moment the hallway was empty. She walked over, ripping the knife from the man's head before making it down the hall.

She entered another room where computers were. She could see the security cameras where men were running to find her. She rolled her eyes, walking over to another computer and quickly typing in some coordinates, hoping it would get to Natasha before Liliya was killed or captured again. She pulled away from the computer after sending the message, turning her head towards the security camera's. Her eyes scanned the camera's, noticing that it was clear and that most of them were on the second floor where as Liliya had made it down to the first. She took this as her chance to run.

Liliya made her way down the halls, keeping her knife tightly clenched in her hand. Chills ran through her body as the alarm was cut off. No one was anywhere near her. Something was happening and she didn't know what. The blonde straightened her shoulders before making it to the front doors. Her eyes scanned the empty lobby before she shook her head and made it outside. For a moment the sun blinded her and then she blinked, letting her vision adjust. That's when she saw it. Every guard, every gun inside the facility, all aimed at her. And smack dab in the middle of the crowd was Dr. Von herself.

     "You don't want to do this, Liliya." Dr. Von shook her head. "It you against all of me."

     "Like Katrina taught me, you gotta do what you gotta do in order to survive. And if killing every single one of you keeps anymore kids from being kidnapped and killed, then you can bet my life that I'll hunt all of you down until my last breath."

     "You won't make a difference." Dr. Von shook her head, walking closer and holding up a hand to keep her men from following her. "You're nothing without me."

     Liliya stared at her before softly saying, "I'd rather be nothing than be the person you made me." The sound of multiple helicopters and jets made them look up. When she saw familiar head of red hair in one of the pilots seats she couldn't help but smirk. "Remember how I told you Natasha was dead? Well, I lied."

     "You betray me? The woman that raised you?"

     "No." Liliya shook her head. "I betrayed the woman that killed my parents. The woman that killed me." Liliya watched as multiple swarms of people came from the helicopters, arrests quickly being made. Liliya went to turn and walk away, stopping when she heard Dr. Von's voice.

     "You can run, Liliya. But you can't hide. You were born to be great."

     "I was born to be better than this." Liliya snapped.

     "I won't stop. I'll hunt you down, kill everyone of your little Avenger friends―︎" Before she could finish, Liliya had quickly turned on her heel, letting the knife fly from her head and watching with heavy breaths as it landed right between Dr. Von's eyes. She stood there for a moment, staring at the body of Dr. Von and wondering if she would somehow make a way back from this. When a hand was placed on her shoulder, she turned her head to look at the person.

     Steve looked at Liliya and nodded her head. "You did what you had to do."

     "I just put more blood on my hands, that's what I did." Liliya whispered. She looked down at her hands, watching as they started fading in and out. "Look what she did to me."

     "We have great doctors. They can run some test, figure out what's happening to you." Steve met her eyes. "Natasha told me everything. You're going to do great at the Avengers compound."

     Liliya turned to him. "After everything I've done, all the people I've killed, you're letting me stay?"

     Steve stared at her and Liliya felt her heart beat spike. He smiled at her and her heart rate went even crazier. "Everyone deserves a second chance."

     She couldn't help the hope that filled her eyes. This was her chance to be better. To make a change in the world. To be the hero and not the monster she was crafted to be. Liliya glanced back, watching as a tarp was put over Dr. Von's body. She turned back towards Steve and smiled, nodding. "I'd like that."

     "We're all wrapped up over her." Natasha called. "You two coming or what?"

     Liliya glanced at Natasha, smiling widely before looking at Steve. He held out his hand towards her and with a newfound determination filling her veins, she took it, ready to start a new path on her journey in life.