The banshee's wail dies out and Lydia gives a small gasp of horror. Left with a slightly gaping mouth and images of an assassination flashing before her eyes, she's only snapped out of the trance when Stiles grips her by the shoulders and shakes her.

"Lyds? Lydia!"

"Someone's gonna- how could they- we have to stop them!"

"Stop who, Lydia? You're not making any sense," Stiles says. He grips her just a little tighter and glances at the Pack gathering behind Lydia's back. Her breathing takes a minute to become normal once more, but her eyes still hold the horror of what she's just seen.

"They're gonna kill Captain America."

Lydia's walking the perimeter of town square, she picking at the peach nail polish adorning her fingernails. The whole pack has gathered for the Avengers visiting their town for some sort of public outdoor assembly and Lydia knows that today is the day.

She gave the Pack the same details that she saw- the only thing they knowing for sure being that Captain America was going to go down by a shot to the heart as soon as he was introduced to the crowd. Scott and Stiles immediately wanted to go to the Sheriff, but they couldn't exactly do so without outing themselves to the team when the Avengers eventually demanded to know how Lydia- of all people- knew of an assassination attempt. (Best case scenario, they believed the McCall pack, but then the Pack remained under a watchful eye for the rest of their lives. Worst case, they were all detained after spinning some story and for even insinuating such a thing).

Bumping into a rather firm arm, Lydia stumbles and is knocked from her thoughts only to have someone grip her arm to keep her upright. Looking up at face of the person holding her steady, Lydia comes face to face with none other than the one Avenger known as Hawkeye.

"Hey, there. You okay?"

She sharply inhales and nods, her gaze then falling to the redhead just to his left- the Black Widow. "I-I'm fine. Just spaced," she offers up with a reassuring smile and then turns her attention back on Hawkeye when he finally releases his grip on her arm. "Shouldn't you guys be with the others? The assembly's starting soon."

And in truth, it is. In about ten minutes, the Mayor will take the stage that has been set up just at the top steps of City Hall and one by one, the Avengers will be introduced. Tony Stark along with Pepper Potts, Captain Rogers and Thor are already inside. Bruce Banner and the new one known Vision had chosen to sit out, and the Black Widow and Hawkeye are apparently doing their own perimeter check.

Hawkeye smirks at Lydia, but before he can say anything the other new Avenger- the one with a red leather jacket and numerous necklaces and rings adorning her neck and fingers- makes a sudden appearance at their side. "The Captain is requesting you inside," her heavily accented voice mutters.

The Widow and Hawkeye nod, and then the new Avenger glances at Lydia. Her gaze is sad, but then a moment later she's looking curiously at Lydia before smiling and nodding in greeting and then taking her leave.

"That's our cue," Hawkeye muses. Turning his attention back to Lydia, he grins. "Hope you enjoy the assembly. See you around."

xXx

The moment the gathered town folk and tourists start getting louder in anticipation while taking their seats, Lydia has the sudden urge to cry. Scott, Derek, Malia, Kira and Liam are dispersed all around the place, and Stiles had somehow managed to get his Dad to get himself and Lydia stage passes so they were to be seated just several feet from the Avengers. Then just as she's managed to breathe through her brief moment of panic, Stiles finds her to lead her to their own seats.

Her knee's bouncing throughout the Mayor's entire speech, her bottom lip starting to feel raw from where she can't stop chewing on it and then it feels like dread completely wraps itself around her entire being when it happens. It being the moment the Mayor starts introducing the Avengers one by one.

Iron Man- Tony Stark is accompanied by a happily waving Pepper Potts.

The Black Widow- Agent Romanoff- is introduced next followed by her partner Hawkeye/Agent Barton.

Thor is very popular with the children as he waves his hammer around, and Lydia can't help but smile at the blonde's enthusiasm to wave at every single kid he can.

The newbie of the group, the Scarlet Witch or Wanda Maximoff as the Mayor calls her by both names is introduced then, and Lydia gasps in horror when the murmuring turns very excited after Wanda's introduction. There's only one Avenger left to be introduced and everyone seems to be at complete ease. There's not one person who looks worried about the event about to take place- hell, who would be since they didn't even know about the assassination- and it feels as if her stomach completely drops at that realization.

Fear seizes Lydia's entire being the moment Captain America- Captain Steve Rogers- is introduced and her hand reaches for Stiles' to hold on for dear life. Something makes her snap her attention to the crowd as they erupt with cheer and her gaze darts around before landing on a nondescript white van parked at the very back. The door slides open and the barrel of a rifle glints in the sun light, and Lydia leaps to her feet.

"No!"Her scream goes unheard, but Stiles and the Sheriff hear.

Stiles tries to hold her back, but she rips herself from his grip and rushes the stage in a blind panic. The Mayor and the Avengers look absolutely stunned at her appearance, but before anyone can intervene she's throwing herself at Captain Rogers. He catches her with a bewildered expression on his face, his hands then coming up to lightly grip her biceps. She looks up at him with wide eyes and just as she opens her mouth to say something, a loud bang! sends the crowd into a screaming panic and her body suddenly jerks forward before her back erupts in an immense amount of pain.

It's Captain Rogers' turn to turn wide-eyed as panic seizes the crowd plus his fellow Avengers and he's quick to catch the collapsing girl- the girl who'd just taken a bullet for him- in his arms and hoists her up to run her to safety. With Romanoff and Barton watching his back, Steve Rogers rushes Lydia inside City Hall. Stark and Barton are cursing up a storm and wondering what the hell just happened, but Steve Rogers is completely focused on settling Lydia on a high counter.

With a sudden coughing fit wracking her body, Lydia weakly frowns when she sees the blood splatter she's just caused on the front of Captain America's suit. She feels her chin being grasped to look upward and then smiles weakly when she meets the anguished gaze of Captain America himself. "I couldn't let them kill a national icon now, could I?"

Horror quickly dawns on Steve as her words register in his mind, he then realizing a moment too late just who this woman is. "Stay awake, Miss. You have to stay awake," he rushes out. His hands tremble as he works a shirt that the Black Widow's just tossed at him under Lydia, trying to stop the blood flow until someone else can get in to rush her to the hospital. When he sees her eyes widen and bottom lip tremble, his throat aches with a sudden rush of emotions that he's trying to keep at bay. "Please," he then mutters, "don't leave me now. I've just found you."

The tears that have threatened to fall since she was shot in back finally fall and Lydia's vision starts to blacken around the edges. One hand lifting so her fingers can weakly trace his jaw, Lydia manages one last serene smile. "So that's why the voices prompted me to save you. You're my- you're.. my soulmate."

Her hand goes limp and falls, and the last thing Lydia hears are the anguished howls of her Pack somewhere in the distance.

Floating in a room with thin gray satin-like curtains billowing around her is not ideal. She can see the faint outlines of people moving about behind the curtains, but no-one answers her when she calls out and no-one can apparently see her. So when everything appears to go black and peaceful what seems like hours later, and her eyes open up to a too bright room, Lydia's relieved.

Well as relieved as one can get with the Black Widow standing at the foot of her bed oozing confidence and authority.

She slowly blinks to get her eye sight adjusted to the too white room, Lydia letting her head loll to the side to take in the white and chrome everything as well as the glass walls. Her entire body aches- especially her chest and back- and her mouth feels like cotton, so when her gaze lingers on a pitcher of water, she's surprised to see the Black Widow move from her spot at the foot of the bed only to serve up a glass of water and hold it out for her.

Lydia frowns, but attempts to move and sit up, and the Black Widow's quick to lay a hand on her shoulder. "Don't move. There's a button to your left on the railing that'll help you sit up."

She sinks back into the mattress before looking to her left and sure enough there's a panel of buttons on the inside of the bed railing. She finds the appropriate one quick enough and presses it, the upper half of the bed then slowly lifting. Lydia flinches at being jostled into a sitting up position, but manages well enough and takes the cup of water from the Black Widow. "Thank you," she rasps. Slowly sipping the water, Lydia then watches as the Black Widow produces a StarkPad from somewhere behind her. After tapping a few buttons, she looks back up to meet Lydia's gaze. "Where am I?" She asks before the Black Widow can say anything.

"At a secure facility in upstate New York," the Widow answers. Lydia doesn't react at that news, but rather continues to sip her water. "Now if you don't mind, Miss Martin, I have a few questions that we need answered."

"Okay."

The Black Widow faintly grins and plows right on. "Please explain why you threw yourself in front of a bullet for Captain America." Lydia blinks and silence reigns. "Okay, then do you care to explain how you knew that that bullet was coming which resulted in your injury?"

Again, silence.

The Widow nods as if she expected this. "Then please explain, Miss Martin, why the leader of the Avengers went berserk on us and had to be sedated when your heart stopped beating? Do you have any relations to Steve Rogers?"

Wide-eyed, Lydia gulps down the rest of her water. "No. That was- that was my first time seeing you guys."

"Fair enough. Now do you want to explain why your friends transformed into monsters and the Scarlet Witch had to magically sedate them?"

"What!?"

"So that catches your attention," The Widow muses. "Good to know." She's back to tapping on the StarkPad and then turning the device around so Lydia's faced with the screen and multiple live video feeds. "Or better yet, do you care to explain why only Captain Rogers is able to get near your friends in their condition without them attacking? Why is he able to sit in their rooms when no one else can?"

Watching the video feeds, Lydia has to blink back tears. Her entire Pack has been contained.

Kira's on her lonesome, standing in the middle one cell. Her eyes are a blazing orange while the fiery flare of her kitsune engulfs her figure and stares straight ahead. Malia, Derek and Liam are in a cell together- the blue and yellow glowing of their eyes, as well as the elongated teeth giving away to their non-human status- as they punch at the glass walls of their cell. And last but not least, Scott and Stiles are in a room together where Captain Rogers does appear to be in as well. Though as Scott and Stiles pace the cell, Rogers sits rather dejectedly in the corner of the room while Scott runs the palm of his hand along the back of Steve's head as he passes every now and then.

"He's Pack," Lydia then realizes, voicing the words quietly.

"Excuse me?"

Lydia gulps and attempts to sit up straighter, her gaze meeting that of the Black Widow's. "They consider Captain Rogers pack. That's why they're not attacking him."

"And why would they do such a thing?" The Widow looks suspicious and Lydia turns uncomfortable.

Fidgeting in bed, the banshee averts her gaze, but after a brief moment she ends up sighing and squaring her shoulders. Stretching out her right leg, Lydia then pulls aside the blanket to show off her foot where her soulmark resides. "Because Captain Rogers is my soulmate. We realized who we were to each other right after I was shot so I'm guessing the Pack recognizes the connection, too."

The Black Widow hums and Lydia quickly covers her foot. "Well, that makes.. sense."

Lydia then goes on to ask why Steve is not there in the room with her, and Romanoff admits that he truly did go berserk on them when she stopped breathing at City Hall as well as those she calls Pack which is why they're all currently quarantined (except for Steve. He's free to roam, but he somehow felt comfort with her friends). Romanoff also explains that her team could have dealt with.. the nature of their creature status, but they went somewhat feral and exposed their secret back in Beacon Hills to a bunch of disgruntled deputies, and were really upset when they weren't allowed near her body. But the moment Lydia had stopped breathing, Wanda flew into action and worked her magic to keep Lydia's body in a temporary stasis. Then under strict orders from the Scarlet Witch herself- from Wanda who knew about everything that was going to happen that day, but refused to speak up in hopes of Steve meeting his soulmate- they were all flown to the secure facility where they were able to revive her.

"That doesn't explain why he's not here right now," she murmurs sadly.

"After you were revived, you remained in critical condition so Steve was not allowed anywhere near here especially since he refused to answer why he was so desperate to be by your side. And now," the Widow shrugs, "I'm guessing he's not here because no one besides myself knows you're awake."

"Okay," she reluctantly accepts that answer.

Lydia then goes on to ask if her friends can be released and Romanoff tells her that only when they tone down their anger then they can come out. Since she can't get out of bed, Lydia wonders if she can call down to them. The Black Widow does her one better, she turning her StarkPad into a camera and asking FRIDAY to put up a hologram on the wall of the cell room Steve's in.

Seeing herself in a small square at the bottom of the StarkPad, Lydia quickly smooths down her hair while FRIDAY apparently alerts Captain Rogers and her Pack to look at one of the walls. And when her projected image shows up, she watches as everyone scrambles to their right while trying to peer into Scott's cell.

"H-hey, guys!" She tiredly waves and weakly smiles. "Good news, I'm awake." Voices explode all at once over the tiny speaker of the StarkPad and Lydia flinches at the noise before the Black Widow readjusts it. "Shh! I'm fine. Really, I am, and the sooner all of you guys take a few deep breaths and get yourselves under control, the sooner the Avengers will let you out."

There's a bunch of pouting and grumbling, and then defeat sinks in.

"Steve," the Black Widow then voices, "you can come on up now. I'm sure your soulmate rather have your company than mine."

Stiles is the only one to squawk at that piece of information and Scott can be seen laughing as he grips his best friend's shoulder while nodding Captain Rogers to the door. Steve then rushes out while everyone else starts taking seats on the floor and the video feeds go black as the Black Widow puts the StarkPad away.

"Your friends are fine and your soulmate's on his way. It was nice to meet you, Miss Martin, and I hope to see you again in the future."

The Black Widow offers her a brilliant and friendly smile, and Lydia's left speechless until none other than Steve Rogers himself is sliding into her room while panting.

xXx

When Steve first woke from the ice, people thought that waking up in the future was the most terrifying thing to happen to him. But, as Fate would have it, they were dead wrong.

The most terrifying thing to happen to Steve Rogers was waking up with a soulmark that left him feeling dread deep into his bones.

He never talked to anyone about his soulmark and brushed off any questions thrown his way by SHIELD since they apparently took stock of every mark on his body when changing his clothes. He dreaded the day he was to meet his soulmate- his words still not sitting right with him- so when the small redhead mumbled his exact words right at him after taking a bullet meant for him, it was like his whole world had crashed down around him.

He pleaded, he cried and he prayed, but the moment her heart stopped as he cradled her in his arms he lost it. And not only him, but apparently her friends- her Pack as he was later informed- transformed into creatures neither him or his team had ever seen. All of them had been magically sedated thanks to Wanda, and then they were all transported to New York under Wanda's care and strict orders that none of these new creatures were to be harmed.

When he'd woken up, the first thing he asked about was the girl. He didn't give an answer as to why he was so distraught, but it was Wanda who pulled him aside to explain a few things. And then being told about werewolves and where they were being held, Steve decided to go pay them a visit. Only when he got down there, Doctors and Scientists were being snarled at and threatened. Steve had been threatened, too, but the second the red-eyed alpha really assessed him, Steve was allowed near and eventually into the cells with them.

Nothing was said, but Steve could practically feel everyone's grief and understanding surrounding him so instead of heading upstairs where they wouldn't allow him anywhere near the small redhead, he stayed with her friends and had a few questions answered.

Lydia Martin- his soulmate- was a banshee and surprisingly, he had no problem with it. So sliding into her room after she'd woken, he's more than relieved to see her sitting up and hesitantly smiling at his approach while she finger-combs her hair into something more presentable.

He takes a moment to assess her and frowns at the paleness of her skin even though there's a hint of red flushing her cheeks. "This is karma, isn't it? I was a stubborn little sh- guy and nearly gave my best friend a heart attack every single day, and now my soulmate's exactly the same. You took a