(1) Wild Cat (B.Barnes)

Chapter One

1945:

Tatiana has lost a lot of people in her life. A lot of those that are closest to her. Her mother. Her friend, father, and brother, Abraham, though not blood related they're been friends far longer than she even knew her biological mother. Abraham's wife. His children. She's lost them all. But none of them hurt like this one. Love of her life. And of that, she is sure off. There will never be a man that fueled her the way he did. That looked at her the way he did. Touched her. Kissed her. Nuzzled his nose against her cheek, because he knew that it stroked at her inner kitty cat. She looks down a little and takes a shaky breath. She sits cross-legged in front of a headstone, mourning. Still. The rain around her splashing down as if it's grieving with her. She doesn't care for it. She shivers slightly but it's not from the cold or the wet. It's because she is without him. All she wants is him.

"I guess it all started on the day that I died" her voice breaks through the rain. "If there had been an obituary, it would have described the unremarkable life of an unremarkable woman, survived by no one. But there was no obituary because the day that I died was also the day I started to live" she admits. "But that comes later" she takes a breath and cocks her head. She takes a deep breath and then releases it, her eyes shifting slightly looking beyond the headstone and through the rain. "In my old life, I longed for someone to see what was special in me" she states touching the letters, tracing the name on the grave. "You did, and for that, you'll always be in my heart but what I really needed was for me to see it. And now I do. You were a good man" she admits as she stands. "And I'm going to miss you" she adds and closes her eyes before turning and walking away. "The day I died was the day I started to live" She repeats walking through the grass away from the headstone. "You see, sometimes I'm good. Oh, I'm very good. But sometimes I'm bad. But only as bad as I wanna be. Freedom is power. To live a life untamed and unafraid is the gift that I've been given, and so my journey begins anew" Her hips roll as she walks, stalks away with a new dangerous and predatory glint in her eyes. "Perhaps I should start from the beginning. Yes..." she agrees with herself. "The beginning....."

.................

1943 – 2 years earlier:

A figured dressed up all in black runs across the rooftops, ducking, diving, rolling....then with a graceful and completely precise leap, the figure makes it across an alley landing on the next roof, then with another jump she's leaping upwards clinging to the edge of a chimney before she's bounding onward, across the rooftops again, swapping between two feet and all fours as she moves. Practiced moves from years of experience. Her eyes narrow slightly, and she smirks, locked onto her target ahead of her. Her target is an open window above her, she pulls her upper body back, coiling slightly, readying herself. And then with a push of her legs, she's soaring, body stretching like a big cat, her fingers curl around the edge of the window ledge as she reaches it then pulls herself up, twisting to slip through the small opening, her body twists almost inhumanely as she slips out the other side. Her feet touch the floor silently. She bounds onto the bed in one jump and then turns to sit on the edge. She takes a soft breath and smiles laying back on the bed. Standing from the bed she turns and empties her pocket onto the bed, sorting through her horde: a few wallets, a couple of watches, a ring. Her eyes sparkle flickering over each item as she pulls off her gloves and toes her feet free of her boots. Next is the black jumpsuit she wears, her fingers pinch the zip at her throat and pulls it down her body. It's just something her father had made for her, so she didn't have to bounce from roof to roof in a dress or a skirt. It's nothing special, just a cotton outfit that clings to her. She steps out of the suit and then throws it under the bed, pulling on a nightshirt from the dresser, pulling it over her head and letting it fall down her the length of her body. She wiggles slightly to get it to sit just right Her ears perk up, alert, hearing her 'father' in the next room, scooping up the items she sets them in a box in the bottom of her wardrobe before closing the doors on them and leaving the room.

...............

Abraham looks up hearing a noise behind him, he narrows his eyes slightly and then jumps as Tatiana slips into the seat next to him. He smiles though seeing a fresh lightness to her. Something that's only present when she's been prowling. She hates being locked away, and she's currently not actually allowed to leave the apartment without an escort of the SSR variety, but she sneaks out anyway. She's a wild animal, always has been, she needs to roam free. Leaning against his side she pulls her legs closer to her body.

"How far did you go?" he asks her softly, she hums a little.

"Not far" she answers. "Where are you going tomorrow?" she asks looking to his notes, she doesn't understand them, doesn't pretend to either. He doesn't mind.

"Queens" He answers looking back to the notes in his lap. "There is a recruitment office at Stark Expo; I'm going to go looking for recruits, so I'll probably be there all day...possibly into the night"

"Can I come?" she asks.

"Tatiana" he starts, she pouts because she knows the answer because it is always the answer. She's got powers people can't explain. And the SSR doesn't like her wandering about freely.

"Please, I am so bored sitting here, alone...I need to get out, and not...as the Cat" she looks at him, eyes wide and pleading. "I can help, please let me do something...." He reaches up and brushes her hair back behind her ear before moving his fingers to her chin up slightly.

"I'll see what I can do" he offers. "I know you hate being stuck inside"

"We've been here for months and I can only leave if I sneak out" she reminds him as she stands. "At least Schmidt treated me like I was something special...and not a freak to be hidden away" she adds walking back to her room. She closes the door and rests her head back against it. She listens to Abraham approach her door, his feet shuffling on the other side, she knows he'll want to comfort her but it's nothing that can be fixed. They don't know why she is the way she is. She's just different from everyone else. She closes her eyes and slides down the door to sit on the floor. Her fingers trace around the birthmark on her arm, a band in strange images, Egyptian hieroglyphics Abraham had told her, just another weird thing to add to the list of weird in her life. She lets out a breath and stretches her legs out in front of her, she pulls them back laying on her side and tucking her hands under her head, reminiscent of an actual cat, she hums, almost purrs nuzzling into her hand before she starts to fall asleep.

............

Abraham smiles watching Tatiana sleeping on the top of the bookcase in the living room, it catches the morning sun, and she likes to nap and soak it up. He glances back as someone knocks calmly and formally on the apartment front door. He looks up at Tatiana before leaving the room to answer it.

..........

Abraham must have been gone only mere moments, seconds even, when he returns with a woman at his side and two men at his back. Peggy Carter smiles warmly at Abraham before raises an eyebrow.

"So, where is she?" Peggy asks softly, Peggy she likes. Tatiana opens an eye to peer down at the woman below. Peggy hasn't once looked at her as if she's this....strange alien freak. Abraham points up at where his 'daughter' had been napping, Peggy looks up and smiles. "Are you going to come down, so we can talk, Tatiana?" Peggy asks moving towards the couch, Tatiana turns onto her back and then stretches, letting out a cooing purr as she yawns before letting herself roll off the edge of the bookcase, she lands silently on all fours before standing to stretch, the two SSR agents that came with Peggy watch her carefully, she knows Peggy is only here because they're both women, and the men got nowhere with Tatiana, she wasn't having it, not with the way they laughed and looked down at her. Tatiana knows her worth. She knows she's better than most men. Stronger. Faster. Smarter despite her animal nature.

"Peggy" Tatiana greets sitting on the floor in front of her, one knee set high for her to rest her chin on the top of it.

"Dr. Erskine told us you'd like to go outside today" Peggy starts causing Tatiana to cock her head.

"Wouldn't most people?" Tatiana asks back.

"You're not people" One of the male agents snaps slightly, Tatiana twists her head around and lets a growl rumble in her chest.

"Easy" Abraham warns before turning to look at the agent. "Tell me, do you know much about genetics, Agent?" he asks, the agent shakes his head. "No, I suspected as much.....Tatiana is 99% as human as you are, that 1% is what marks her as different....1%...." he raises an eyebrow.

"That 1% is also enough to ensure that if she desired, she could kill you with her bare hands" Peggy adds. "And fangs...so perhaps you should remain silent" the agent clenches his jaw shut but glares at Peggy who scoffs and turns back to Tatiana. "How about just us girls have a chat?" Tatiana smirks and nods sharply.