"where is she friday?!" peter exclaimed as he ran around the hallway, feeling like he had been going round and round in circles. "she's currently lab room three," the AI said. peter exclaimed and ran, but then stopped to ask the AI where that was.

she ran along the long and endless hallway, turning every now and then to get to the stairs. her brain was analysing the place, laying out the next way to turn like a navigation device.

left, right, straight, left. danger ahead.

the two words blared in her head, causing her to stumble slightly. she hid behind a door which said lab room three, waiting for the coast to be clear. it must be one of the heroes.

as the person ran past the lab, natalie ran as fast as she could to the stairs and climbed down to the first floor as fast as her legs could carry her.

it was already seven, and kids were going to get hurt if she doesn't get there fast.

"the subject ran down through the stairs, sir," friday said. tony sighed, he was amazed. with five superheroes chasing after her, she could still escape. she's indeed one of a kind, she didn't even get lost in this maze of a place!

tony told the rest of the heroes and they went down to the ground floor to see if she was there. but there was no sign of her. then they found out why. "mr stark, it's already seven," peter tugged the man's shirt and said, pointing at the clock.

natasha yelled out in fustration, making the receptionist jump, "i'm going back to find out what's wrong." but clint held her back, "it might be worse for her if we go back now." tony agreed, and told peter to send his drone and attach it to seven instead. he did and they all went back up the tower to wait and watch.

natalie ran as fast as her legs could carry her back to the orphanage. the clock was blinking 1912, her head was spinning 360. she knew what would happen to the kids if she was a minute late, let alone 12 minutes.

"stop! don't- don't hurt them," she pulled the door open and yelled at the headmistress. she knew it. the headmistress was about to hurt them. throw them all into a closet without dinner, all six of them in a closet.

1920. she was 20 minutes late. the kids ran to her as she walked into the orphanage, trying to catch her breath. "don't hurt them, i'll- i'll make up for it," she said, holding on to one of their hands. she knealt down beside them and tried to calm the younger ones down, they were in tears.

"very well. no meals for the next five days, closet straight away after class. curfew starts at 5pm till next week," the headmistress says before going back to her desk. natalie took a deep breath before standing up, bringing the kids to the cafeteria.

nicholas, 14
nathan, 10
layla, 9
richie, 8
evan, 6
mckay, 4

she counted in her head as she passed the bowl of food she cooked to them. their status' and stress points were slightly visible still.

every single one of the kids above 15 had to take care of the younger ones. they are in charge of their meals, making sure their work was done, and also cleaning them up. the older they were, the more kids they had to take care of. jeremiah, 19, takes care of 7 kids. they have this system because there were close to zero volunteers and helpers in the orphanage.

natalie sat next to mckay at the table, together with the rest of the kids. each group of kids sat together to make it easier for the older kids in charge of them. "you want some? it's yummy," mckay took a spoon of his fried rice and lifted it up to her mouth. "it's okay mckay, i can't have it, remember?" natalie ruffled mckay's thick black hair and smiled. mckay frowned and quietly finished up the rest of his food.

"can we play some card games tonight?" nathan asked, finishing his fried rice. "that's if everyone gets their work done... and if i can bring the cards out for you guys to play," natalie replied, "we'll see. let's just get what we need to get done first alright?"

the rest of the kids nodded their heads and finished up their food. they loved it when it was natalie's turn to take care of them. she always cooked the best food, and talked to them like how an older sister would. some of the older siblings cook leftovers o
once all the kids were settled down, natalie took the chance to shower and take what she could with her to the closet. but before she could bring out her duffle bag, the headmistress dragged her down the stairs and straight into the closet. she only had time to grab her phone and her school work.

they weren't able to play the card game.

natalie hit the closet with a slam on her head and slumped against it, wincing in pain. she shut her eyes and sighed heavily. 0120

the tower
"wow..." tony rubbed his neck and sighed. a kid this age shouldn't have to suffer this much. they were watching the footage from the drone and managed to steer it out before seven landed in the closet.

"this isn't even humane," clint sighed, rubbing natasha's back to comfort her. she had her hands clasped on her nose bridge, trying not to break down. even if natalie wasn't her sister, she would still want to run to the orphanage and stop whatever was happening.

peter was sitting at the corner of the room, in his sweatpants and ironman sweater. what was supposed to be a mission about finding out her superpowers turned into a mission to stop the abuse she was taking in. they also found out that her bmi was only 14.3, way below the healthy bmi of 18. it was obvious that she wasn't being fed, and the long hours of taking care of the younger children in the orphanage would eventually take a toll on her.

with that thought, tony sent peter to bed, telling him to find out more about seven in school. as he jumped into bed, he thought about this new girl.

mj ✨
hey dork. managed to find more about her?

peter pArkEr
hey mj! i guess we did... but she's just so mysterioues

peter pArkEr
like... you

mj ✨
i guess so.

mj ✨
anyway, the math presentation is tomorrow. have you done up the equations?

peter pArkEr
oh shoots! i- i'll do it up by tonight!! see you mj (:

mj ✨
okAy. see you.

peter flipped out of his bed and landed straight into his chair. he quickly flipped through his textbook and started doing the questions as quickly as he could.

the orphanage
"get up, you're in charge of breakfast for the kids today."

a bright light shone from above her. it looked like a halo, but that can't be the case. before she could even move, she was being shoved out of the closet. her head was still spinning and it felt like it was going to split into two any time soon.

she crawled out of her position and wobbled her way to her room, placing her stuff down in her duffle bag before going back to the cafeteria. the clock showed 0421.

"morning seven!" mckay hugged her tight and exclaimed. "hey mckay," she ruffled his hair and smiled, passing him his breakfast. 0645. "hey seven..." nicholas walked into the cafeteria rubbing his eyes, taking his breakfast.

after giving the kids their breakfast, she walked up the stairs back to her room, trying her best not to trip and fall. "hey," someone grabbed her just in time and helped her to her room.

natalie looked up to see jeremiah.