Gathered around the holo-table in the War Room, Steve sighs and rubs his hands down his face. Everyone besides Thor- who is presently on Asgard- is gathered around, reading over the details of their newest mission.

After stumbling in on some chatter over supposed private frequencies, Clint found that HYDRA was attempting to leave the shadows in favor of kidnapping enhanced individuals and reprogramming them to be their personal weapons. They never gave any names or just what type of enhanced beings they were after, but they did get the town name of Beacon Hills and the name of a new art gallery named The Triskelion that they were planning to crash on opening night.

And after a little research between Clint and Natasha, it wasn't too hard to pinpoint the location or come up with a plan.

"It's a small town," Clint muses. "Not all of us can go."

"I'll be sitting out," Bruce tells them, his eyes scanning over the details. "I don't think it'd be wise to unleash the Hulk in Beacon Hills."

"S'fine," Steve agrees. "If you're fine with sitting this one out, then you're dismissed, Doctor." Bruce smiles and stands, leaving the room in favor of his lab once more.

"Just because it's a small town," Natasha realizes, "doesn't mean we'll go unrecognized. We'll either need a green agent who excels in spying or Tony's tech masks."

"Or," Tony perks up in his seat, "we send in someone who's wired while we lurk about. Little secret between friends," he waggles his eyebrows, "Pep's a big fan of dark fairy tales. This art gallery is right up her alley."

All eyes turn back to the holo-table where images of a few of the paintings are on display, Clint having downloaded them from the website. There are paintings of wolf-like men and women, and ethereal beings painted beautifully. There are fairy-like beings, and monsters with razor sharp teeth and claws, but the one painting that had caught Clint's attention was the girl with a bow and a pair of wolves flanking her.

"If Pepper agrees, she goes in alone," Natasha says. "Our faces will scare off anyone affiliated with HYDRA and anyone accompanying Pepper will immediately be branded suspicious, and we'll lose our marks."

Tony deflates and pouts. "I'm not letting her go alone."

"She won't be alone," Steve finally speaks up. "Clint will fly us in as close as possible and the three of us," he gestures between himself, Tony and Natasha, "will take position on the rooftops while Clint stays with the jet. The plan is to keep the fight away from the civilians, so if we see anything suspicious happening outside we move in. If anything happens inside, Pepper will be wired for sound and video, and we'll move in if need be to contain the scuffle as soon as possible."

Clint, Tony and Natasha mentally mull over the plan, and eventually agree on it.

"Sounds good, Cap." Tony claps his hands and stands. "I'll go fill in Pepper, get her to clear her schedule and get her on the list for one.. one," he frowns, looking at the details of their location once more and the name of the guy whose art is going to be on display. "Jesus," he finally huffs, "this kid's name is outrageous."

"It's Mscislaw," Natasha smirks.

"It's ridiculous is what it is," Stark rolls his eyes. "I prefer his nickname, but whatever. I'll get Pep on the list for Stiles' art show."

Stiles is a nervous wreck, dressed impeccably for his event. Lydia, of course, had pushed him into the fitted black suit with a white button down beneath his jacket while she dared to wear a beautiful red flowy dress that bore a plunging neckline that stopped inches above her navel.

The whole pack had turned up for the opening of The Triskelion and Cora, Stiles' soulmate's little sister, even flew in from South America for the night. Derek is catching up with her off in a corner, Malia and Liam won't leave the buffet table and are seeing just how much finger foods they can eat, Scott and Kira are mingling with the crowd and their parents as they take their time looking at what Stiles has created, and Lydia- Lydia has claimed to be Stiles' date for the night while his soulmate is busy with his sister.

"Not another glass, Stilinksi," Lydia mutters harshly, plucking the champagne flute from his hand and drinking it's contents herself. "We need you sober to mingle."

"I did my mingling," he huffs. He looks out among the room, his paintings standing out against the stark white walls of the gallery and he can feel some of his anxiety melt away at all the people looking fascinated by his art. Though the second his gaze wanders over to the door, his heart works overtime and his stomach clenches. "Lyds, what is Pepper Potts doing at my opening?"

"Hmm, what was that?"

"Potts, Lydia!" He manages to tear his gaze from the magnificent strawberry blonde in a slinky black number. "The Pepper Potts is at my showing."

Lydia finally catches sight of the woman in question and smiles. "Oh, yes," she chuckles. "I saw her on the list and couldn't believe it myself."

"Please tell me Tony Stark isn't here, too? I'm trying to contain myself over Miss Potts, but I don't think I'll be conscious long enough if Tony Stark walks through those doors."

"Just the one," Scott comes up from behind Stiles, making a quick stop. "Kira saw a driver drop her off by herself. She's alone."

"Okay," Lydia smiles, smoothing down her dress and shooing Scott away. "We can do this. It shouldn't be too hard to impress the CEO of such an enormous company. I mean, she's here for a reason. She probably saw your art and wanted to see more."

Stiles gulps and nods, plucking yet another champagne flute from a platter and downing it in one go before it can be taken from him. "Okay.. okay, we're- oh god, she's coming this way," he squeaks.

"Shutup and smile," Lydia hisses, elbowing him and pasting on a brilliant smile seconds later. "Miss Potts," she greets happily, "what a pleasure it is to meet you."

"Hello, Miss.."

"Martin. Lydia Martin," the redhead fills in.

"Miss Martin, hello," Pepper greets and then turns to Stiles. "And Mr. Stilinski, what a pleasure it is to meet the man behind these wonderful paintings."

"P-pleasure's a-all mine."

Pepper's smile turns into something more fond and she nods respectively. "Don't go getting all doe-eyed over me, Mr. Stilinski," she then smirks. "You're the man of the hour tonight. It's me who should be in awe of you. Your work is truly magnificent."

"O-oh my god. You think- Lyds, she thinks my work-"

"I heard, Stiles," Lydia chuckles.

Pepper's chuckling as well and Stiles looks seconds away from passing out. "If you don't mind me taking up another moment of your time before I start my tour-"

"Not at all, not at all," Stiles blurts.

"-I'd like to ask if you'd be willing to sell any of your work? If not, that's fine, but I thought I'd just get that out of the way. One work in particular really caught my eye."

Stiles squeaks and Lydia immediately takes charge, she effortlessly inserting herself between Stiles and Miss Potts. "While I might be one of Stiles' best friends, I'm also an agent of sorts. I'm sure there will be some pieces that we'll be able to negotiate about."

"Wonderful."

Lydia offers her arm and Miss Potts immediately takes it. Stiles is left gaping and wondering what the hell just happened, and he watches as Lydia gives the Pepper Potts a personal tour of the gallery.

xXx

"This one- this one is the one I absolutely fell in love with."

Lydia glances at the canvas in question- a painting with the plaque card reading Alpha, Beta, Omega. There are three gloomy painted head shots of wolves situated around a bleeding black triskele and she smiles fondly at it, Stiles having used Derek as the alpha with vibrant red eyes. Isaac is portrayed as the beta with vibrant yellow eyes and Jackson is the omega with vibrant blue eyes.

"I see," Lydia hums. "This one I'm pretty sure Stiles wouldn't mind selling for a decent price if you're really interested."

"I am."

One moment, Pepper's listening intently to the stories behind each painting and the next there's shrill screaming and people rushing for the exits. People have collapsed while others are on their knees and gasping for breath, and Lydia immediately recognizes Derek, Cora, Malia and Liam down for the count. Scott and Kira are wheezing, and Lydia's eyes widen in shock.

Stiles immediately slides to a halt next to Lydia, panting harshly. "Wolfsbane," he mutters. "Vaporized wolfsbane."

"Can nothing go our way," Lydia groans. Turning to the side, Lydia finds Miss Potts looking quite shocked herself and when she follows Miss Potts' line of sight, she sees masked men standing guard outside and others inside moving towards her fallen pack mates. "Stiles, guard Miss Potts. They're not touching our pack."

Stiles jerkily nods, he blindly grasping for Miss Potts' hand and tugging her gently to his side before positioning himself in front of her. She's mumbling about the Avengers being on their way, but Lydia rather not wait another second. Red waves billow just behind her shoulders as she strides towards the first merc towering over Liam, Lydia scowling at the back of his head before tugging on the back of his vest. She yanks him away, her stiletto clad foot kicking the back of his knee and sends him kneeling. Still keeping hold of the back of his vest, she then straightens her fingers and forcefully chops at the front of his exposed neck.

As the one merc goes down gasping for breath, another merc tries to surprise her, but she whirls around just in time. She screams as her palm collides with his chest and sends him flying back into a wall.

Lydia can hear the front entrance being busted in, as well as many grunts and moans, but she still has two masked men on her. She ducks and dodges, punches, kicks and wails, and the enemy always ends up flying back as if being blown back by a blast. Though just as Lydia has a small break to see Captain America, Iron Man and the Black Widow tie together the unconscious masked men, one last one gets the jump on her.

He manages to catch Lydia from the back and get her in a choke-hold, and just as the struggling duo catch the eye of the Avengers and they're on the verge of stepping in, Lydia throws her weight down and escapes. There's a series of punches and hits from her knee, and then she's pulling a move that the Black Widow's all too familiar with as Lydia's thighs find their way around the merc's neck before she's swinging her weight down and flipping the guy.

Lydia rolls away and comes to a stop on bended knee, she throwing her head back in order to flip her hair out of her face.

Panting harshly and gaze darting over the standing Avengers, Lydia takes a breath of relief just as Stiles rushes to the AC monitor on the wall and cuts it off seeing as the only way for vaporized wolfsbane to get in was through the vents. As she slowly stands, there's a sudden slow clap of metal hitting metal and Lydia narrows her eyes on none other than Tony Stark.

"Nice going, kid. You're like a mini Black Widow."

Captain America's the only one to help Stiles try and wake their unconscious friends, and the Black Widow smirks approvingly as she saunters up to Lydia. "Looks like Beacon Hills didn't need our help after all."

"Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea."

Later, Lydia would blame Stiles for rubbing off on her, his lack of speaking before thinking somehow having rubbed off on her. The Widow tenses before letting her gaze rake up and down Lydia, and when she meets Lydia's gaze head on, Lydia's smirk turns into a rather sheepish one.

"And here I thought you were going to be a man who said those words to me in such a condescending manner," the Widow laughs, tension draining from her frame.

"No! I didn't-"

"I know, I'm just saying that I thought," the Widow assures her. Seeing the fond smile now, Lydia relaxes under her soulmate's stare.

"Hold up," Tony Stark shouts, calling attention upon himself. "Are you saying that you," he points to the Black Widow, "and you," he then points to Lydia, "are soulmates?!"

"WHAT?!" Stiles yelps.

"That's just scary," Tony exclaims.

Simultaneously, Lydia and the Widow's lips slowly lift into devious smirks, and Tony hides behind his own amused soulmate.

xXx

Later after everything's cleaned up, explanations are given, the Avengers deal with the Sheriff, and Stiles gift wraps the painting Pepper had been eyeing and gifts it to her leaving Lydia and the Black Widow- or Natasha as she had finally introduced herself as- figure things out.

"I just can't up and leave my Pack," Lydia starts off. "We've been through too much for me to just drop everything that we have going on here."

"I'm not asking you to," Natasha assures her, "and just because I'm an Avenger, it doesn't mean I have to live on base. I can live anywhere, but," she trails off, letting Lydia's mind already piece together just what she's about to say, "I'll sometimes go missing in the middle of the night for a mission."

Lydia is practically beaming now. "So what you're saying is, is that you want to move here?"

"If you don't mind the fact that I always won't be home, then yes. I'd love to be closer to you."

Lydia, again, will blame Stiles for the spastic squeal and then throwing herself at Natasha, the elder redhead chuckling as she catches her and brings their lips together in a chaste kiss. Natasha's hands remain at Lydia's hips and it's Lydia who gently cups Natasha' cheek in hand while her other hand wanders to Natasha's lower back. And when they break apart, Pepper finds the two of them just standing there quietly as their foreheads rest against one another.

"Natasha, Clint's bringing the jet around."

"I'll be there in a second."

Another chaste kiss and an exchange of phone numbers later, Natasha sits next to Clint in the cockpit as she gently swipes her thumb back and forth over her right thigh. Clint keeps tossing amused smirks in her direction and Natasha finally feels a sense of peace.

She's found her other half.