Lydia's staring the hologram screen in front of her, the numbers and graphs blurring together as the pain behind her eyes worsens. She sighs, takes a step back, and pinches the bridge of her nose as she allows her eyes to close and darkness envelop her.

"Hey, Lydia, us girls are getting drinks. You in?"

Eyes blinking open, Lydia turns towards the doors of the lab where she finds Natasha- the infamous Black Widow- lounging casually against the glass. She's dressed in a black and gray striped hoodie, jeans that cling like a second skin and small heeled boots around her feet, and Lydia still has trouble trying to wrap her mind around the fact that this is her life now.

Lydia Martin had always had dreams of living in the big city or traveling the world, but when she found herself in the middle of some supernatural business and landed herself in a werewolf pack, she was fine with life in Beacon Hills and helping save lives. However, years of friendship and pack loyalty just wasn't enough to quell the feeling that she no longer belonged there and Scott eventually picked up on her far-away thoughts. Scott and Stiles were adamant that the banshee was needed in Beacon Hills, but Lydia thought and felt otherwise. So after much arguing and then managing to salvage her friendships, she left on decent terms with the McCall pack and transferred to Columbia University.

She found her niche quite quickly and even dropped some of her original classes in favor of some new ones that she found herself drawn to. And it was the new classes, of course, where she spent a majority of her time down in the labs that eventually led Stark Industries finding her and offering her a part-time job with them. But sadly, within her first week at SI, Lydia found the tower under attack.

She was still learning how things ran in Stark's labs when she noticed some files got mixed up and decided to return them to their rightful owner herself since she was close to clocking out anyway. She found Doctor Banner alone and though she knew exactly who his alter ego was, she wasn't afraid of approaching. It was while she was explaining the mix-up to the man that JARVIS alerted them to the tower going on lock down and it was with Banner that some lone rogue agent decided to make his way to Banner's floor in hopes of causing some mayhem.

Bruce had tried to get Lydia to a panic room, but the small redhead merely shrugged off his concerns. The enemy managed to temporarily blow the locks on the lab doors and pushed his way in, but before Bruce could let his anger loose he watched on in awe as Lydia elbowed the rifle's nuzzle downward just as he fired off two rounds. She took a punch to the chin in the man's retaliation, but spun away and managed a high kick that landed to the guy's helmet clad head. At his stunned hesitance, Lydia then took the chance to steady herself before gaining just enough momentum to pounce and slam the palm of her hand into the guy's sternum. As he stumbled backward, JARVIS sealed the doors once more and Bruce finally managed to tuck Lydia away safely.

There had been hours of debriefing and interrogation as Tony and Natasha replayed the video feed in front of Lydia, the Avengers wanting to know who Lydia truly was, but her story checked out. She was just a girl from a small town that took defense lessons from a deputy that was ex-military. Plain and simple. And once everyone eventually made sure that there was no second motive behind Lydia being at the Tower, Tony cancelled her living arrangements with the University and gave her her own apartment within the Tower. And Natasha- Natasha had found her new best friend.

"Lydia?"

"Hm, what?" She jolts from her thoughts.

Natasha's brow faintly furrows and she pushes off from the wall. "I asked if you wanted to go out and get drinks with us. Are you okay?" She then asks. "You spaced."

"I'm fine," Lydia waves her concern off and flashes a small grin. "I'm tired and I have a massive headache. I think I'm just going to call it a night."

Natasha loses the suspicion and the tension in her shoulders fade away. "You do that. Don't let Stark burn you out by keeping you in the labs."

"Never." Lydia snorts and stands from her chair, saving everything on the screens around her before swiping her hands downward over every screen and powering off.

Luckily for Lydia, she has no classes the following morning and she can clock in whenever she wants in the labs. Her headache has grown over night and it seems to be pounding in tune with her heartbeat. So picking up her Stark tablet from the bedside table, Lydia quickly lowers the brightness and taps out a quick message to Tony since he's pretty much her boss, and explains that she's not feeling well.

And not even a moment later, Tony's quick to reply for her to take the next few days off. Lydia thanks him and then Tony's sending text after text to her phone.

Stark: Know you're not feeling well, so you're welcome on the Communal living floor.
Stark: The communal space is a lot less stuffy than your apartment.

Lydia: I don't have the clearance, but thanks anyway.

Stark: ...
Stark: Now you do. You're welcome.
Stark: And by the way, Nat's alone up there. Capsicle, Snowflake and the Hawk are on a "classified" mission. Thor's off-world and Banner left this morning.

Lydia chuckles at Stark's texts, wondering if dressing herself is worth the effort since she's finally allowed where the Avengers hang out. She's known all of them for a while now, all except for James "Bucky" Barnes even though he's been at the tower for half a year already. Steve mentioned something about Bucky's mind not being completely his own and no one wanted to risk any civilians around him until he was absolutely ready- something in which Lydia was okay with.

Her phone pings again, but this time it's not Stark.

Natasha: Tony tells me you're sick. Come on up, I'll make you some soup.

The sickly redhead groans, but sends an affirmative to her fellow redhead and then opens up the text conversation with Tony once more.

Lydia: You're nosy. Thanks for ratting me out to Nat.

Stark: You're welcome. Now go. Enjoy your time off.

Lydia drops her phone before rubbing at her throbbing temples, she finally kicking off the suffocating sheets from her legs. She jumps in the shower to quickly rinse off and gets rid of her morning breath, then dresses in a loosely fitted shirt that falls off one shoulder and draw-string pajama pants that have Captain America's shield on her hip. Though she and Steve were great friends, he always blushed when he popped on over to her apartment and saw her wearing the gag gift from Kira so she usually wore them when he was away from the tower.

Damp hair then picked up in a loose bun and a black material headband slipped on to keep any fly-aways down, Lydia pockets her phone and heads for the Communal floor.

xXx

Natasha frowns when Lydia eventually makes it to the communal space, the elder redhead pointing Lydia to couch and telling her to lie down. A particular loud smack of a spoon hitting the side of the soup pot causes Lydia to whimper and flinch, and she shuffles to the couch without a word. Every chop and every clang makes Lydia's headache worsen, and her stomach twists uncomfortably. She knows this feeling, she's had it before, but she just can't place it.

Natasha's chicken soup is a slow process and she only hovers momentarily when she notices Lydia isn't speaking.

Tony later makes an appearance when Lydia's settling down at the kitchen table with a steaming bowl of soup and it's his turn to cast worried glances at Lydia who's flinching at the smallest of sounds.

"You okay, kid?" He finally asks as he serves himself a bowl of soup. "You're looking paler than usual."

"I'm okay. It'll.. pass."

"Are you sure?" Natasha quirks an eyebrow. "Is this the same headache from last night?"

"..mhm."

"And you haven't gone to medical?" Tony huffs. "Why not? I'm sure we have the good stuff here."

"No, it's fine," Lydia tiredly waves him off. "I just- don't be too loud."

"Got it," Tony agrees. "JARV, put some tunes on. Volume at twenty percent."

"As you wish, Sir."

Surprisingly, mellow music plays over the speakers and the three settle down to eat their steaming bowls of chicken soup. However, from one song to the next, the music fades and all Lydia hears is static. The spoon freezes before it can reach her mouth and she zones out as voices come over the speaker.

..it's a blood bath.. save them.. save them.. save them..

"Lydia!" Natasha's raised voice startles her so much that she drops her spoon, her knee jerking and banging on the underside of the table. Gaze then darting between Tony and herself, Natasha frowns. "You're trembling. You're not okay."

Lydia blinks once, then twice and her gaze travels upward as the static hisses again. "They're not safe," she murmurs distractedly.

..it's a trap.. the captain dies.. the archer dies.. winter dies..

"Lydia."

..save them.. save him.. sa-

"Lydia!"

A hand slaps down on the table and Lydia jerks back, eyes wide and mouth dropping open in a heart clenching wail.

Moments later, Lydia slumps in her seat with teary eyes. Natasha and Tony are looking at her as if they don't know who she is, and like a wave crashing over her all sorts of information filters through Lydia's mind as she jumps to her feet. "Get them out of there. Now!" She pleads. "It's a trap. They're not safe. It's gonna be a massacre."

"What?" Natasha frowns.

"Steve!" Lydia's nearly crying now. "Get. Them. Out."

No one's sure what's going on, but the sincerity and urgency in Lydia's voice is enough to spur the Black Widow into action. She pulls her phone out from her pocket and starts making phone calls, and Tony comes around the table to steer the still trembling Lydia back towards the couch.

It seems like Natasha's on the phone for hours, but in reality it takes her less than three minutes to get an extraction team to Cap's location. The Widow then shares a look with Tony as she makes her way to the couch, and then she's perching herself next to him on the coffee table and in front of Lydia before Tony opens his mouth.

"Just what the hell was that?"

Lydia gulps as her gaze darts between the two Avengers, she gulping before sinking further into her seat and answering Tony's question. "So I might have omitted something important about myself."

"Which is..?" Tony gestures with his hand as if saying go on.

"I'm.. I'm a banshee."

xXx

Lydia had just been about to confess her abilities and experiences back in Beacon Hills when Natasha gets the call from Clint that they're on their way back to the tower, and that their mission was a bust and she had a lot of explaining to do when they got in. Natasha huffed and agreed, she telling him that he wouldn't believe what he was sure to hear soon and for them to meet in the War Room when they finally got in. But not wanting to explain herself twice because once was emotionally draining, Lydia had asked that Clint, Steve and James be patched through via comms so they could hear what she had to tell them.

Tony and Natasha agreed, and worked on patching those three Avengers in while Lydia excused herself to retrieve something from her room. When she comes back to Tony and Natasha waiting patiently already seated at the table, she gulps and places the USB stick down on the holo-table.

The table beneath the USB lights up and images immediately pop up in front of her friends. Tony starts to swipe through the pages of what he'll soon learn is a Beastiary, but Natasha merely glances at it before giving Lydia her full attention.

"What language is this?" Tony muses. "It looks like Latin, but not."

"It is," Lydia tells him. "It's Archaic Latin, to be exact, and what you're looking at is a Beastiary. Every monster- every creature- is real."

Tony startles and glances up, but then scoffs and shakes his head. "This is a dead language. Out of all of us, only Nat speaks it. There's no way you can."

"Yes, well, I can speak, write and translate the archaic version," the banshee shrugs. "I'll show you the actual book later, in English, but right now is the time for answers."

"Of course," Natasha nods once. "Go on."

And so Lydia does.

She tells them how she was completely normal until she was attacked by a werewolf and how the wolf bite triggered her abilities. She tells them of herself, of werewolves, of hunters, of the Alpha Pack, Kitsunes, the Nogitsune, Oni and the Dread Doctors. She tells them that they were just kids once upon a time, but that they were forced to grow up, and to take care of a town and it's people who had no idea what was going on.

She tells them of the friends and allies she's made, and the people that they've lost. And after all of that is out of the way, she briefly explains how her abilities work and exactly what the voices said earlier through the speakers.

xXx

When the three Avengers eventually show up, Lydia's huddled in on herself as if ashamed, and Tony and Natasha are swiping through the Beastiary on the holo-table. Clint takes a seat next to Nat and gratefully accepts the mug of coffee she had waiting for him, James takes a stance in the shadows by the door, and Steve immediately makes a beeline for Lydia and pulls her into a hug.

"I don't know how everything you do works, but thank you," he breathes tiredly, his cheek resting atop Lydia's head. "We lost a couple of agents, but it could have been a lot worse if we weren't pulled out."

"I'm sorry I didn't get you out sooner," she mumbles against his chest. "Since I've left my Pack, I haven't really heard the whispers. I didn't know what was happening until today."

"That's fine," he assures her. "Missions go side-ways all the time. We're just glad we had someone on our side looking out for us," he chuckles.

"Okay," Natasha calls out, breaking up Steve and Lydia's moment. "Now that everyone's home safe thanks to Lydia," she flashes a brief smile at her friend to let her know all is well between them, "we now have to figure out who's behind the set-up. Have any of our enemies made any suspicious moves lately?"

All eyes immediately turn to Stark and he shrugs. "I have no idea. I've been busy with SI lately that I haven't paid anyone much attention."

"Same," Steve sighs and takes a seat. "Buck and I have been busy tearing down new Hydra cells. We haven't been paying attention to anything else."

The Avengers go back and forth, tossing out ideas about who is bold enough to target Captain America, the Winter Soldier and Hawkeye. They're getting frustrated as the minutes tick by, except for the Soldier who seems to be holding up the wall and content to remain quiet, and Lydia finally sheepishly raises a hand. "I- I might actually be of some help."

All talking ceases and every gaze turns to her.

"There's.. a trick that I did in the past to see who certain people were that kidnapped a friend. I can recreate it, but there's something that I'll need from the scene of the crime."

"Yeah? Like what?" Clint leans forward in his seat.

"Bullet casings?" she shrugs. "And not just one. I'll need several for this to work."

Everyone goes quiet once more and then Steve's sighing and nodding. "SHIELD was doing clean-up when we left. We'll have to break into the evidence room."

"Stark and I got this," Natasha volunteers. "He's good at distractions and the younger agents are terrified of me. We'll work fast."

Stark looks like he wants to protest, but eventually shrugs and agrees. So while Natasha and Tony quickly work out a plan, Natasha sends off the three others to go shower and eat since the trip to the Helicarrier would take some time. Steve and Clint willingly go, but Bucky lingers just long enough to stare warily at Lydia before taking his leave as well. And before Tony and Natasha can leave, Lydia tells them that she'll also need a metal table top for this work. Tony assures her it'll be no problem since a majority of the labs have metal table tops, and he and Natasha finally take their leave to get what the banshee needs.

xXx

Lydia returns to the communal kitchen to finish eating the soup that Natasha went through the trouble of making and she's soon joined by Steve, Clint and James. Steve and Clint make small talk with her, but James merely nods in greeting and practically inhales his food. Lydia doesn't mind him being nonverbal, so if he's not going to speak to her she won't make him.

When Tony and Natasha eventually return, Tony has them meet in the War Room once again while he makes a quick detour to get a roll-able table that has a metal top. Everyone's sitting around anxiously and when Tony returns, Natasha hands over an evidence bag to Lydia.

Lydia doesn't mind all eyes on her and takes a deep breath before getting to work.

She empties the shell casings from the evidence bag into her hand and rolls them around as she clears her mind. Then making her way so the metal table top is right in front of her, Lydia takes a deep breath before letting the shell casings fall and ping against the table. Images and voices immediately assault her as her eyes flutter rapidly against the onslaught of it all, and she picks out names when spoken in hopes that someone will know them.

As the room falls silent, Lydia clears her throat and turns to face Steve, her expression solemn. "I'm sorry about your agents. I saw- I saw it. The fight and.. from before the fight." She shifts uncomfortably, but continues. "I only got two names from that all, but they mean nothing to me."

"What are they?" Natasha presses.

" Justin Hammer-"

"Goddammit, Stark," Clint groans. "Weren't you keeping an eye on the guy?!"

"He was in prison last I knew," Stark defends, already tapping away on his phone.

Steve shakes his head at Clint and Tony, then turning back to Lydia. "And the other name?"

"Rumlow."

Clint and Steve curse, and James starts grumbling in Russian. Natasha is typing away on the holo-table and she eventually brings up a picture. "Is this the guy you saw?"

Lydia glances down at the once handsome man decked in tactical gear, assault rifle in hand and she nods hesitantly. "Yes, but," she pauses, frowning, "he's scarred on one side of his face and around the eyes now."

Now it's Natasha's turn to curse and she pulls out her own phone before tapping away furiously. The team seem to lose themselves in mission talk and mission prep, the lot of them making plans to get back to the Helicarrier as they walk out of the room. Lydia feels a