🐺 ~ Y/N watched as the three Avengers stepped into the car and drove off. She had promised Captain America that she'd meet him at the Stark Tower. Was she actually going to keep her word? It was a question that Y/N herself couldn't answer.
Every time Y/N came to a conclusion, a cascade of doubts made her hesitate.
Could she really trust the Avengers? As far as Y/N knew, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been after her for one thing: to kill her. How could the Avengers be any different?
But Captain Rogers could have been telling the truth! And it had been so long since Y/N had had someone to trust, someone to rely on. And she desperately wanted to be off the streets, and in a real home.
Y/N took a deep breath, shape-shifted back into a wolf, spread her wings, and headed in the direction of Stark Tower.
🇺🇸 ~ "Please tell me you put a tracker on her!" Natasha hissed.
Steve glanced down. "She said she would come..."
"And you were stupid enough to risk our mission on a promise!?" Tony spat.
"I'm sorry, ok!"
"Whatever. It's too late now," Nat growled, tightly gripping the steering wheel, "If she was tricking you- which she probably was- she could be out of the country by now.
"Y/N will be there," Steve added under his breath, "She has to."
When the trio arrived at the Stark Tower, Steve paced back and forth on the second floor, looking out the window every few minutes in hopes of seeing Y/N.
🐺 ~ Y/N couldn't help but enjoy the feel of the wind sifting through her fur. She closed her eyes for a moment, relishing every second of her flight. Y/N had only flown a few times, because people seeing her was always a risk, and she couldn't afford to expose herself.
When she arrived at the Stark Tower, Y/N glided several circles around the building, scanning for any armed guards and security cameras. There were none outside. Y/N tilted her head, slightly confused. Y/N wasn't about to enter through the front door, so she landed delicately on the balcony of the tower. You can never be too careful.
Much to Y/N's dismay, Black Widow noticed her first, causing a long bout of verbal conflict in which words that Steve had never heard of were exchanged.
"Hey! You two, shut it!" Captain America stepped in front of Natasha, glaring at Y/N. The muscles on the wolf's shoulders rippled as Y/N tensed up, ready to strike. Steve winced and raised his hands above his head, determined to prevent another attack .
Too late.
A shot rang out and Steve turned around just in time to see a bullet from Nat's gun enter Y/N's skin. Y/N screamed in pain and crumpled to the floor, looking as though she glitched back into her human form.
Stark strolled out onto the balcony, absentmindedly eating a chocolate donut.
"What the-"
"Stark! Stop Widow from doing anything stupid while I take Y/N to Dr. Cho," Captain America gently bent down and picked Y/N up, ignoring Natasha, who was staring daggers at him.
🇺🇸~ Oh my God, don't be dead, please don't be dead! Steve fast-walked towards Dr. Banner's lab, silently praying that somebody was there to help.
He burst through the door, alerting Bruce, who had been working peacefully on a prototype of Veronica.
"Hurry, she needs medical attention now!" Steve hissed frantically.
"What? But that's-"
"Now, Dr. Banner!"
Captain America glanced down at Y/N, who was miraculously still conscious. Her breathing was shallow and her eyes threatened to flutter closed.
Just minutes later, Y/N was lying on a rollaway bed surrounded by doctors.
"She'll be okay. We just need to remove the bullet and stitch the wound closed," explained one of the nurses, "We're gonna put her under anesthesia so we can do the procedure without any... problems."
Steve nodded, struggling to hold in a sigh of relief.
When the surgeon had finally staunched the bleeding, he went to put the anesthesia mask on Y/N. Steve wouldn't have been exaggerating if he'd said that she'd lost her mind.
Y/N thrashed and writhed in terror, trying to break the straps the held her in place on the cot.
She screeched at the top of her lungs. "Please no! Don't- I'll be good! I'll do whatever you say just don't knock me out! Please!"
Y/N looked towards Steve, silently begging him to do something. Her eyes were teared up and she was breathing heavily. He winced as he saw blood begin to poor out of her stomach again.
"Wait!"
The surgeon paused, then glanced up at Steve, who had taken a couple steps towards Y/N.
"If she wants to be awake for the operation, let her," Steve pleaded, "It's not like Y/N is strong enough to do much right now.
Nodding, the surgeon set the gas mask aside and began the removal of the bullet.
Y/N hiccuped twice, then her breathing slowed and she laid still for the rest of the surgery.
🐺~ About a half an hour later, the surgeon finished the last stitch and cut off the remainder of the string.
The second they removed the straps holding her down, Y/N leaped up and shape-shifted into a wolf, ignoring the pain from the bullet wound.
Bad decision. Steve, Natasha, and Tony were all in the room with her ("Just in case") and they all immediately tensed up, ready for a fight.
Huh. Loki left the so-called "Earth's mightiest heroes" in a really jumpy state.
Still, she didn't want another bullet lodged in her body. Y/N let her wings slowly disappear and slowly laid down on the ground, ears flat against her head. She didn't change back into her human form, however. The wolf was her only protection.
Steve and Tony slowly relaxed, but Natasha kept her gun in her hand, eying Y/N carefully. Y/N glared up at her. Can't these stupid people see I mean no harm?! Or not much, anyways.
"Y/N, you're here so we can make a deal," Tony deadpanned, "We want you on our team."
"Join, and we'll choose to ignore your past... mistakes," Nat drawled the last word, eyes narrowed.
Y/N growled in disgust. How dare someone as low as Black Widow insult her. Between the two of them, Widow had killed far more children and harmed more innocent people than Y/N could ever do in 10 lifetimes. But as far as she was concerned, Nat could keep that prize.
On the other hand, it would be beneficial to live life without the Avengers constantly sniffing her tail.
"I know you better than that," Y/N scoffed, "What's in it for me?"
"We want to know exactly where you were trained," Black Widow smirked, "Took us a while, but we finally realized: Those weren't orphanages and abandoned buildings you were bombing."
"Ha! You're looking to locate Silversmoke?" Y/N rolled her eyes, "They're named that for a reason! They have thousands of locations, I could only give you one or two."
The three Avengers exchanged glances.
"Very well. A few is better than none," Steve decided.
"Why do you want to know, anyways?"
"We-"
"Our reasons are ours," Tony snapped, side-glaring at Steve.
Not for long.
"Fine," Y/N snarled, "I accept your offer."
Natasha nodded, her face blank. But Y/N knew better. She could almost taste the happiness that the three omitted. Y/N didn't need her "enhanced" senses to tell that they really wanted her on their team.
🇺🇸~ After the four exchanged knowledge, Steve showed Y/N to her room. It was right next to Natasha's and the door handle had no lock. Steve caught Y/N smirking when she found this out, but he could tell that she was surprised that there were no security cameras in any of the Avengers' rooms.
He left Y/N in her room so she could get settled, then met up with Nat on the bottom floor.
"What do you think of our new recruit?" Natasha sipped a cup of coffee.
"She's... different? I'm really not sure."
"Y/N hasn't shape-shifted back into her human form since they finished stitching up her wound."
"You mean the one that you gave her?"
"Sorry... she was just freaking me out. There's just something about Y/N that I don't quite trust."
"I doubt she trusts us much, either. I'm sure that Y/N'll walk around in her normal form once she feels safe in the Stark Tower."
"I guess..." Natasha slowly understood what Steve was trying to say. It was only Y/N's first day.
Steve, meanwhile, only grew more and more curious about Y/N. It did seem like she was hiding something.
Several hours later, Steve glanced at his clock. 2 AM. He ran his hand through his hair and got out of bed. After a few minutes, he found himself in front of Y/N's door. Still wanting to know what she seemed to be hiding, Steve slowly opened the door, flinching slightly when it made a soft creak in protest.
Y/N really hadn't done much to her bedroom. It was still bland as ever. It took a moment, but Steve's eyes finally adjusted and he saw a faint outline of a wolf, curled up in the middle of the bed.
He breathed out a quiet sigh of relief and silently walked to the other side of the room. Steve reached for her desk drawer and had it pulled about halfway open. He noticed the edge of something fluffy, but froze before he could pull it any farther. A soft voice pierced his ears.
"So nice of you to drop by, Captain."
