Too Young to Run: Part 2

Omega Protection Agency

6:45 p.m.

The first of The Avengers to arrive to the party was Tony, Pepper, and Happy. Tony practically burst through the door when Peter opened it to greet him and pulled the young Omega into his arms for a brief, yet firm hug. Peter laughed and reciprocated with enthusiasm before the older man reluctantly released him. Tony kept a hand on Peter's shoulder while Happy and Pepper greeted the young man. After they finished their greetings, Peter led the group through the dining room area and into the living room where they greeted those already waiting.

Matt, Karen, and Foggy decided to take a break from their case so they could be here for Peter and Violet. Matt and Foggy took off the jackets and loosened their ties, looking very much like the overworked lawyers they were. Karen was much more presentable, having the forethought of wearing her new red dress and black flats to work today and putting her hair in a tight bun, knowing they would be running late despite their best efforts.

Sam was planning on being there, but he wouldn't get off work until 7:30 if he was lucky, thanks to the block party a suspect in a murder case would be attending. That was when his partner Riley would be able to relieve him with the cop from the day crew who was investigating the suspect. He was not looking to the night's festivities anymore than watching a block party filled with drunk assholes. With all the beer that was being flown, he most certainly not going to look presentable when he arrived.

The next of the Avengers were Phil and Dr. Banner. Tony had roped him into coming because Bruce needed to let off some steam and have a nice night out with friends and his favorite student as well. Also, he was essential in the plan to acquire both Peter and Violet as he had the appropriate sedatives to relax the two Omegas to the point where they would fall asleep and take them without a fight.

Or, in Violet's case, much of a fight.

Phil was here to have a nice dinner and get away from the excitement of Halloween but ultimately was the basis of Plan C should the Doctor's plan of sedating them not work. Plan C was ordering his men to surround the place and "detain" everyone while Violet and Peter were taken into the van that was stashed away in an abandoned driveway nearby. No one wanted this plan. No one wanted to scare Peter or put Violet in a position where she could hurt herself. This was the last resort.

Natasha and Steve were the last to arrive until James finished with his "mission", but that would be much later. Steve was here to help everything run smoothly, keep everyone calm, and get to know Peter and Violet. Natasha came with Plan B, which was waiting somewhat patiently from far away and expecting a text from her. Natasha was both eager and nervous, feelings she's felt all too much recently. She squashed them as she walked into the very clean house with Steve right behind her.

Wanda was the perfect hostess for the lot. Asking them all sorts of questions, making sure everyone had drinks and were comfortable. Pietro cracked jokes with Matt and Foggy while serving drinks with Karen, who helped where she could. Everything was going great until Tony mentioned Violet.

"So, Peter, where is Violet? I thought you said she would be here?"

"Oh, she will be," Wanda cut in with a nervous laugh, "she's picking up a friend of ours who hasn't been having the best time lately, so she might be awhile longer."

"Well, I hope they arrive soon. I'd really like to meet her." Natasha smirked at Wanda before turning her attention to Peter, who looked adorably bewildered, "Tony's told us a little about your friend, I hope that's okay?"

"Of course! Of course, that's okay. I'd love for you guys to meet her but . . . um . . ." Peter stopped, rubbing the back of his neck shyly, "she might be a little longer than expected."

"Why is that?" Steve inquired from next to Natasha on the couch.

"Well, I asked her to grab something from my apartment, but I think I told her the wrong place to look." Peter responded shyly; his eyes filled with guilt.

It was only thanks to all their mutual training that no caught the absolute fear and shock that stabbed through their chests in that moment. Natasha looked to Tony, who nodded fiercely.

"You know what Peter, I just realized I forgot something too. I'm going to step outside and make a quick phone call for just a moment. In the meantime, why don't you and Bruce here tell our friends about the new experiment you two are working on."

"That's a great idea," Bruce cut in, clasping his hands dangerously hard as he distracted Peter by launching into his scientific discussion.

Natasha followed Tony outside. Brushing Steve's shoulder, who quickly grabbed her hand and squeezed it in assurance, on her way out. With each step the panic only grew and grew. The moment the fresh air hit her Tony said, "I got Sharon and Clint, you get Winter and Scott."

Natasha was already dialing James number.

Peter's Apartment

6:50 p.m.

"You're really trying to avoid going back, aren't you?" Jessica sullenly said as she followed Violet through the crowd of people in front of Peter's building.

"Yes, but that's not the reason why I'm doing this." Violet grunted, pushing a random drunk dude out of her way and back into the thick of the crowd.

Violet did not know what to say when she and Jessica showed up to Peter's building and saw the party going full steam ahead with nearly naked people gyrating to the pounding music of the band that was playing. It was some indie pop rock group. Violet liked the sound but not enough to strip to her underwear amidst a bunch of drunk people in 36-degree weather. She almost turned back, all sorts of apologies flowing through her mind that Peter would no doubt except. Then she thought of the other people that Peter was with and pushed forward, not wanting to face them just yet.

Currently Violet and Jessica were pushing their way through the party to get to the alley where the fire escape was. Violet leading, Jessica holding on to her friend, so they didn't get separated.

While they were pushing through the crowd, deep inside the building James finished up laying down the gasoline and other flammables. Walking back to the entrance, double checking to make sure everything was good, and no mistakes were made. He reached into the pocket where he normally put his phone, except for tonight. Tonight, he left it in his car that was parked 3 blocks up the road. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes and keeping his phone would certainly be one. Natasha wasn't the only one who kept losing his focus where Violet was concerned. Instead of his phone he pulled out a stack of matches. With a cruel smirk, he pulled a single match from the stack as he stepped through the front entrance, lit it using the tough fabric of his jacket, then threw it.

He shut the doors just as the match hit the flammable liquid, then started chaining the door shut as the fire raced through the floor. The walls went up in flames once the lock was in place. Then he turned away with a smirk. Feeling relieved that his part in the mission was over, walked towards the side of the party where he knew Sharon Carter would be.

His smirk fell the moment he saw her already frantic expression turn to one of horror. She ran over to him, handing out her phone to him, "you need to hear this from him!" Then took off running, yelling to Clint in her earpiece.

James put the phone to his ear.

"Tony?"

"Violet's there! Violet went to Peter's apartment!"

Speaking of Violet, she was now climbing the fire escape with extraordinary speed after using Jessica as a human ladder. She didn't stop once she reached Peter's window, just lifted the glass paneling and jumped inside. She headed straight for Peter's room and immediately dug around the top of his closet, quickly finding the metal box he was talking about. She also found his winter coat, the one he hasn't had for several days thanks to Violet walking in the Avengers scoping the place. She pulled it off the hanger and slung it over an arm, then headed back to the window.

She reached out, throwing the jacket and box onto the metal grating when suddenly she heard a thud from behind her, and a terrible scream. She turned, realizing the sound was coming from the floor below her. The screaming continued, and it put Violet into action. She jumped through the window, grabbed Peter's jacket and box, then raced down to the second level. Once there, she called to Jessica, and threw both items down before peering the neighbors window.

A woman was screaming in horror, and the man was doing nothing but looking shocked. Violet tapped on the window, then opened it when the woman started pointing towards her front door.

"What is it?" Violet demanded, "Why are you screaming?!"

"F- Fire!" The woman screamed, crying as she sunk to the floor. "There's a fire!"

Violet flinched in confusion, then looked at the door. Smoke was coming through.

"Pull the fire alarm!" Violet yelled, climbing into the room, and running towards the woman, gesturing at the man to run towards the fire escape.

He did, leaving Violet and the woman behind in his dust. What a charmer.

"I did," the woman cried sullenly, "but it didn't work. No sound came out!"

"Then get out! Don't sit here and cry about it! Go!" Violet grabbed her, but the woman resisted, pulling away in fury.

"No! This is all I have! All my videos! My life's work! I can't live without it!" The woman sunk back to the ground, sobbing pathetically.

Violet did not have time for this. She grabbed the woman by the shoulders, heaving her to her feet and pushing her against the door, "You can always replace those things, but you can't replace your life now move it!"

"No!" The woman cried, "you move it!"

The woman tried scratching Violet in the face with a clawed hand, but she dodged kicked the sobbing attacker in the solar plexus. With her bent over in pain, Violet took the opportunity to grab her raunchy dress and shoved her headfirst through the window.

No wonder the dude left; this chick was nuts.

Violet crawled back through the window only to get pushed back inside by the crazy woman. Her eyes wide with ridiculous grief. She slammed the window shut before Violet could stop her, then locked from the outside.

"If I can't die with them, you can instead!" She growled through the window, holding it down with all her might.

What the fuck!

While this is happening, James and Sharon are searching furiously through the crowd of partiers and Clint watched from above. His angle didn't show him the fire escape, only the front of the building. James fought to keep his cool, sniffing the air for her scent. He found it both comforting and unnerving that he couldn't find her scent. Comforting because if he couldn't find it, then that must mean she wasn't here. Unnerving because she might have gone a different way they didn't expect.

He slowly made his way towards the fire escape, sniffing all the while.

Jessica waited from down below the fire escape. Cold, anxious, and really needing a drink. She was too distracted waiting for Violet to realize that someone was sneaking up on her until it was too late. Luckily for her, it was just Sam getting off his shift early.

"Jessica, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at that party?"

"Peter asked Violet to grab this," she shook the metal box in her hand, "for him since she was coming to pick me up. I guess she decided he needed his winter coat as well because she threw this down too."

"If that stuff is here, then why isn't Violet with it?"

"I don't know, she just threw the stuff down and then-" Jessica looked up, meaning to simply point to the second-floor window when she saw the crazy woman clawing at the window from above. "What the Hell?"

"That's not Violet," Sam confirmed, searching the area for something to climb the fire escape with.

"There isn't one there, I had to help Violet climb up." Jessica sniffed the air. "Do you smell smoke?"

"Yes," Sam responded gruffly before walking back a few steps and then running forward. He jumped, hands grabbing onto the metal grating of the fire escape before lifting himself up to climb the bars. Then he swung his legs over the top of the railing and raced up the steps.

Violet, meanwhile, decided to not with the crazy woman anymore, and opted to become a crazy woman herself by going through the front door. Grabbing a nearby towel and wash rag, she raced towards the sink and wet them both furiously. Once they were sufficiently damp, she circled the towel her head and shoulders, and placed the wash rag to her face. Then she ran back to the front door, opening it and stepping through the smoke that encased her.

At the same time Sam made it to the second floor, and then was almost sent hurtling back to the ground with the force the crazy woman used on it, slapping him harshly.

Scott Lang and his crew spotted Jessica and Sam's activity in the alley way, and with that Sharon went running that direction. James didn't catch the news, still searching for his Omegas scent through the crowd, Clint helping him with eyes from above.

Violet made it back to the third floor, knowing without a doubt it was her best bet of getting out of the building now. Unfortunately, the door to Peter's room was locked, and no amount of kicking would make it budge, and she didn't have anything on her that could pick the lock either.

Thankfully, a door opened behind her.

Stinky Pete in all hi grotesque glory stepped into the hallway, same robe and nude as always. She didn't think or listen to his cries as she pushed past him into his apartment. She ran to the nearest window and breathed in fresh air. It was a momentary reprieve, surely the two were totally stuck, but then something caught her eye.

A pipe, one that went all the way to the ground floor. Instantly she jumped onto it, not thinking about rickety and unstable it was. She turned to face Stinky Pete.

"The building is on fire! You need to get out of here!"

Just as she started sliding down the pipe, James finally caught her scent and instinctually followed it.

Sharon arrived beneath the fire escape just as Sam finally knocked the crazy woman out. He peered through the window and saw the door open. Violet must have gone back to the third floor. Sam raced to catch her.

Violet was still slowly sliding down the pole, not wanting to make a wrong move and then meet her end far sooner than she wanted. James pushed through the crowd, following her scent. Jessica played distraction and pretended to be drunk so that Violet wouldn't get caught. Sam crashed through Peter's window, raced through his living room and opened his door expecting to Violet passed out on the floor from lack of oxygen, not a sweaty naked dude wheezing and pushing past him.

Sam grabbed his arm, "where's Violet?"

"The blue haired chick?" The man coughed.

Sam nodded.

"She went down the drainage pipe on the other side of the building, would've done the same if my muscles were up to the task." Sam pulled the naked man along and shoved him through the window, happy with the answer he got.

Down below, Jessica was rambling drunken nonsense to Sharon who was not in any mood to listen anymore. She radioed Scott and asked him to confirm if he or his crew saw a girl with blue hair around the area. They said no. Cursing, she raced back to the main crowd, leaving Jessica sighing with relief. But not for long.

Just as Sharon exited the alley, James entered it. Eyes an alpha red as he chased his Omega down. The dim lighting shadowed his face, making anything other than his eyes distinguishable. Dark hair flowing amid the smoke and the wind. Jessica trembled at the sight of him, desperately looking up and hoping to God Sam had Violet. Instead she saw Sam carting a very old, very naked dude down the fire escape. She looked away in disgust.

James was suddenly right before her. Jessica tried to back away. James grabbed her by the throat before she could escape. He pulled her close, squeezing tight.

"Where is she?" He growled, his alpha voice in full effect.

Jessica pointed to the building, hoping that was enough indication.

It was. James released her before heading towards the fire escape. Sam jumped over the railing while also maintaining his hold on it, then safely dropped to his feet. Without thinking, he turned and tried punching James in the face, knowing in his bones the dark, intense man had something to do with this.

James caught his fist with ease, then the fight between Alpha and Beta was on.

Jessica watched helplessly. The man was more terrifying than Kilgrave ever was. She fought to sink to her knees in fear. She needed to find Violet. Needed to make sure she was safe. But Sam needed help, he couldn't take man, this alpha monster on his own.

Turns out, she didn't need too. From the corner of her eye, Violet ran in like a fallen angel who was on the verge of getting her wings back. She raced forward, brick in hand, and threw it at the monster's head.

It just barely missed, the edge scraping his scalp, but it got his attention.

With a loud roar, he turned to see an attacker. What he got was something so, so much sweeter.

His Omega alive and well.

Covered in smoke and ash, Violet stood yards away from him. Her heart said it was the Winter Soldier, but her mind couldn't distinguish his face. There wasn't enough light. Still, she could feel it. The recognition, the deep pounding pulse in the pits of her soul that she knew this man. And he knew who she was.

He could see her, and the terrible light from the concert behind him was better than any surveillance photo. He breathed in her scent. Her fresh aroma that was tainted with fear yet pulsed with her adrenaline. It was really her.

At long last.

He took two steps towards her, eager to take hold of her and never let go. Two hands covered his face, and the sudden weight of a two hundred man on his back sent him toppling forward. He tried to fight back, but with a strong strike to the back of his head, he saw black.

The alpha went tumbling down, and Sam stood off his back and raced towards Violet, scooping her up in his arms.

"What the Hell just happened?" Violet coughed, pulling away from Sam once he released her.

"I don't fucking know, but I'm not staying to find out. Let's get the Hell out of here." Jessica pleaded, seeing from the corner of her eye the Alpha stirring on the ground.

Violet groaned in annoyance. "Fucking Alpha! Stay knocked out!" She yelled.

The three raced around James' moving form and into the crowd once more. Violet put on Peter's winter coat, and switched beanies with Sam on the off chance the Alpha was following them.

He was, but not as fast as he wanted. His mind still whirled from the punch to the back of his head, but it would be gone in a minute. He followed her scent once more, more determined than ever.

Soon enough Sam, Violet, and Jessica made it out of the party and headed straight for Sam's police car, both girls sharing the passenger seat with Violet sitting on Jessica's lap. Sam started the car and sped away.

The last glimpse Violet had of the party was the clear view of the Alpha they had left in the alley. Cold chills went down her spine at the sight of him. It really was the Winter Soldier.

James watched helplessly as his Omega; his Violet escaped him once again. Those beautiful eyes full of fear and determination, her teeth biting into her lips as the policeman drove her away. He didn't blink, didn't move until the car was out of sight, memorizing the license plate as he did.

Then he pulled out his phone, and dialed Natasha's number.

She answered on the first ring.

"James?"

"She's alive and heading towards you. I'll be close behind."