The Chameleon [Avengers Fanfiction]

Chapter 1

I was running for my life. I had just stolen a piece of bread. That was it. But no, the store owner just had to chase after me. I panted as my bare feet slapped the ground, I was trying to put some distance between me and the old, fat man. I quickly ducked into an alley, climbing up the fire escape. A few seconds later, he burst into the alley his big belly jiggling.

"Where'd you go kid? You're not going to get away with this." His rough voice warned. He started to search. I held my breath, hoping, praying, that he wouldn't find me. I pushed myself against the cold brick wall, shrinking into the shadows. I closed my eyes, waiting for the shout of anger, but it never came. He grunted.

"Stupid kid. Won't get away with this next time." He muttered. I let out a breath as he stumbled out of the alley. I clutched the loaf of bread in my hands, I could survive a week on this, maybe more. Oh you probably are wondering what's happening here. Well, my name is Chameleon. Not my real name of course, I've never known what that was. And I am homeless. Duh. One day I woke up on the streets, not knowing who I was, or where I came from. That's when I met Horseshoe. He helped with my new life. Gave me the nickname Chameleon, I could blend in really well, almost like camouflage. I've lived in the streets for about 2 years, and I'm 14. Over the years I had made a lot of enemies. Mostly child services, but I could always escape them. Various store owners, but they were easy to evade. So yeah, my whole life is in the streets, it's all I can remember. I quickly climbed down from my hiding place and snuck back to our alley. Horseshoe was already there.

"Cami! You're back!"

"Of course Shoe. I wouldn't abandon you. And look what I got." I said holding up my prize.

"Good steal! That'll last us maybe a week." Horseshoe was kind of the leader. And why do they call him that? Because he's lucky. That's pretty much it. Then our other friend came in. Doberman. He looked intimidating, yes. But he was really a big softie.

"Hey Dobie. You get us anything?" He shook his head.

"Nothing today." His voice was deep. Adding the muscled arms, legs and torso, the piercing dark eyes and the sharp features, you would run the other direction in a heartbeat. He had dark hair that brushed over his eyes. Shoe on the other hand, was less intimidating. More of a teddy bear. He had soft grey eyes, tousled caramel hair and a goofy smile 24/7. Me? I was just normal. That was good when you wanted to blend in. My eyes were unusual. One light brown, one dark, and my hair was a chocolate brown, hanging past my shoulders. We sat in a circle, each taking a small bit of the loaf. All of us had gotten used to eating little.

"I escaped Muffin Man today." I said as everyone was talking.

"You mean you stole this bread from him?"

"Yep. Chased me a good block before I hid and he gave up."

"Nice!" Shoe gave me a high five. We kept talking until I got restless. I couldn't sit still easily.

"Alright. I can't sit here anymore. Let's go." They knew better than to argue with me. They would lose. We walked along the sidewalks, smirking at everyone who scrunched their nose or moved to the other side. You get used to it after awhile. We arrived at the park. This was my favourite place to be, the pond specifically. I pulled up the legs of my tattered pants and hung my feet in. All the ducks came over.

"Sorry guys, no spare food today." They all swam away except one. He was cute, a green head and white body. He also had green eyes. I had named him Verde. Spanish for green. I sat with my feet in the pond for a while. I liked to make stories in my head. Of what to what it was like before the streets, what it would be like to have a family. I closed my eyes and saw the pictures like a movie. A small, welcoming house. One sibling, a brother, my parents and a dog. It was amazing, life was full of laughter and fun. I had friends next door, we had tons of food, I didn't have to run. This was my favourite story. I could think about it hours on end, imaging situations, the trouble I would get in with my brother. Swimming with my dog. It was amazing. And before I knew it I fell asleep. The dream was exactly like the movie in my head. Laughing, hugging, having a home. A nice comfy bed, a warm meal every night. If only it was true. With that thought, the dream world came crashing down around me. The house was on fire, my dog was dead, so was my family. I appeared on the streets, getting beat up by gangs, chased by store owners, sleeping on the cold hard pavement. My eyes snapped open. I was breathing hard, sweat dripping down my back. Breathe. Breathe. I took a few shaky breaths, inhaling the sweet cool air. The I heard voices. Oh no. Not them. I quickly jumped up, finding the nearest place to hide. The tree. I scrambled up to the highest branch that would hold me, and looked down. There, right underneath me, was the worst gang out there. I don't know what they called themselves, the StreetRats or something. Some stupid name that their combined two brain cells thought of. It consisted of five, beefy guys, all who hated me. I had no idea why, but they wouldn't give up. Almost every day I got a couple bruises. Nothing I couldn't handle, but lately they were getting worse. I held my breath as I hid for the second time today, chanting in my head, please don't find me. I heard a few grunts, some muttered words, and suddenly it was silent. I opened my eyes and they were gone. Thank goodness. I waited for a little, and then clambered out of the tree to find Shoe and Dobie.