THE BASE they have targeted is located in northern Finland. Despite being summer, the radar detects snow fall in the area and temperatures of around twenty-eight degrees Fahrenheit.

The flight to Finland is spent running over the plan a few times to make sure everyone has it down. Steve has the jet on autopilot, so he is able to join the other three standing around the round desk with a map of the area sprawled across. In the middle is the outline of the base they're targeting. Although they are unable to gain any information about the layout of the base, they assume it is probably like the other bases they've taken down.

Everyone has a role in the mission, and Colleen's is pretty simple: search the base for any kids. She isn't supposed to worry about planting the explosive, grabbing any information, or keeping watch. She just has to focus all her energy on finding a kid.

Clint's job is to keep watch as a sniper in the trees. Steve is tasked with planting the bomb, and Natasha's role is to collect any information she can before the bomb detonates. The fact that Colleen doesn't have to worry about all of the tasks lifts a weight from her shoulders.

After another run-through of the mission, the others exit the main room to suit up. When they all return, they eye Colleen oddly. She doesn't know why, she's just sitting contently as she waits for them to finish suiting up.

Brow furrowed, Steve asks, "Where's your suit, kid?"

Colleen looks up and meets his puzzled gaze. "I don't have one?"

"Yeah you do," Clint pipes up.

Colleen's gaze flickers to him. "What do you mean? I don't—"

"Did Tony seriously not tell you?" Natasha cuts her off with an eye roll. She bends over as she reaches into a case in the corner of the room. When she straightens, she holds up a sleek, dark green suit. Colleen's eyes are immediately glued to the material. "He made you a suit, and apparently he didn't even think to tell you."

Colleen's eyes almost bug out of her head. "He made me a suit?"

"Sure did." Natasha flashes her a smile. "Now go put it on, we land in ten minutes."

Colleen doesn't need to be told twice. She jumps up from her seat and takes the suit from Natasha's grasp, the pads of her fingers running over the smooth leather as she makes her way back to the bathroom.

The light automatically flickers on when she enters the small space and shuts the door behind her. Colleen doesn't hesitate to slip out of her leggings and sweatshirt and pull on the forest green suit. Surprisingly, it fits like a glove. Once it's all zipped up, Colleen turns around in the mirror. The excitement on her face is priceless.

The suit is a gorgeous forest green accented with a darker green. Her muscular biceps are on full display thanks to the sleeveless one piece that cuffs around her neck. The tight suit accentuates how fit she is—her abs, her muscular legs, everything. It just makes her look powerful. A dark grey belt with black detailing wraps around her middle with little holsters. Curious, Colleen reaches down to a holster. She pulls out a knife and smiles at it, then realizes she probably looks like a maniac for smiling at a knife, so she sheaths it and returns her gaze to her reflection. With her blonde wavy hair flowing over her shoulders and her leather suit, she feels like she's an Avenger. Obviously she's not actually an Avenger, but it gives her confidence, which is a must have for this mission.

Colleen gives herself another once-over before exiting the bathroom with the same ecstatic look plastered on her face.

When Natasha looks up from the map on the desk and spots Colleen in her suit, she lets out a playful whistle. "Looks great, how do you like it?"

Steve and Clint glance over at Natasha's remark. 

Colleen bites down softly on her bottom lip to try to suppress her giddy grin. She just can't believe she's wearing a suit. "Yeah, it fits and I think it looks pretty cool."

"Pretty cool?" Clint repeats with a scoff. "Try badass." 

"Careful Barton, Cap doesn't like that kind of language," Natasha says in a sing-song voice, earning a glare from Steve.

"That was one time," Steve complains. "And haven't you gotten tired of that joke? It's been years."

Colleen has no idea what they're talking about, but she finds their bickering amusing nonetheless.

Smirk still present on her lips, Natasha looks down at her watch. "Three minutes. Time to comm-up."

The team each grab an earpiece that enables them to communicate during their mission. Colleen has a bit of trouble putting hers in since she's never had one before, so Natasha helps her out before tucking hers into her own ear.

Once everyone is ready and Steve lands the jet in a forest near the base, everyone files out. Colleen has to admit she feels ridiculously cool walking through a dark, snowy woods with Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Captain America by her side.

However, the buzzing excitement she feels soon fizzles into concentration. The mission is still dangerous despite the presence of three heroes at her side.

Colleen kneels behind a large stone in the shrubbery as Steve and Natasha move forward in the night. They move stealthily like a cat creeping upon its prey, alert and focused.

Steve sets off a trip wire. He barely has any time to grab Natasha and cover themselves with the shield before a blast blows them at least twenty feet back. Colleen jumps, her eyes wide. The dirt falls from the sky like rain around the two Avengers.

Groaning emits through the comms.

"That's new," Natasha's voice says through the earpiece.

"Come on, we just lost the element of surprise," comes Steve's gruff reply.

Colleen watches, her mind itching to be put to use, as Natasha and Steve hurry to push themselves off the ground and enter the base. They're met with a tidal wave of guards.

"I know you guys said I shouldn't go in until you give me the all-clear, but it looks like you could use some help," Colleen speaks, her worried gaze fixated on the two Avengers fighting the guards while Clint shoots arrows from somewhere in the trees.

A grunt from Steve as he sends a powerful kick at a guard, then his voice: "Stick to the plan, kid."

Colleen isn't supposed to help yet. She's supposed to sit back and wait for their cue.

But she can't just watch them fight and do nothing to help.

Still ducking out of sight behind the stone, Colleen peeks her head out and uses her telekinetic powers to fling a guard about to shoot at Natasha into the thick trunk of a tree. She hears him cry out but doesn't feel any guilt.

"Colleen, I swear—"

"I'm staying hidden, chill out," she mutters, focused on ensuring neither Natasha nor Steve get killed by the endless sea of soldiers pouring from the base.

As the seconds pass, it becomes clear that the rate of the outpouring soldiers isn't slowing down anytime soon. Steve and Natasha are still caught up fighting them. This wasn't in the plan, but Colleen can't say she isn't surprised.

Knowing what she has to do, Colleen stands—giving her spot up—and throws her arms across her body. The power surge running through her brain sends tingles to shoot throughout her nervous system like electricity as her powers send about half of the soldiers flying back into the dense woods. Many hit trees, but even the ones that don't get knocked out by the force they hit the ground with.

Natasha throws Colleen a look from where she stands at least a hundred meters away at the front of the base.

Knowing what she's about to say, Colleen rushes out, "I'm sorry, but I can't just sit back and watch."

"We'll discuss this later," Steve cuts in through the comms. "These guys aren't slowing down, I think you're just going to have to fight your way through them with your powers instead of waiting for an opening."

"No problem."

Colleen surges forward. She sprints past Natasha towards the doors that continue to spill out an infinite amount of soldiers. Before she can lift her hand and clear the doorway herself, a force rams into her from the side.

She collapses, her body jolting at the force of smacking the frozen ground with the body on top of her. The solider hovers over her and grabs ahold of her forearms to restrain her, but his grip slips on her tight arm and she manages to get a solid punch in.

Pain flares in her knuckles, but she has no time to shake it out before the solider returns the punch full-force to her nose. Blood instantly gushes from her nostrils as a sharp pain erupts in the middle of her face, her eyes watering on impact.

Before he can get another hit in, Colleen throws him off of her with her powers. He cries out as his body fatally slams against the large stone she was hiding behind not too long ago.

Wiping the blood from under her nose, Colleen pushes herself up and successfully creates a path to the entrance thanks to her powers. She sprints right into the gates of the base and knocks each soldier she passes to the ground without even touching them.

Being in the base brings old memories Colleen forced to the back of her mind to the forefront. Although the halls are not the same, they look eerily similar. Ten years ago she was being dragged through halls identical to these, and now she's rampaging through.

She remembers how her screams echoed down the hall. She remembers how her blood stained the floors. She remembers everything.

That's what pushes her even further to find the kid.

Colleen kicks down the first door she comes to. There's a small desk with files and a singular lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.

The next few rooms are much like the first: empty and small. No signs of any children.

When she reaches a part of the base where the halls are empty and the sounds of the battle outside are muffled, her eyes fall on a thick, heavily locked, metal door. She approaches it with trepidation.

One by one, the locks click and loosen as Colleen works her powers. Once it's unlocked, she forces it open without touching it. Even just using her powers she can tell it's heavy.

Light from the hallway pools into the small room. It takes a few moments for Colleen's eyes to adjust to the darkness. Once they do, she covers her mouth as a gasp gets caught in her throat.

In the middle of the room is a rusty, metal cradle. Colleen takes careful steps as she walks up to the lone object in the room. Once she's close enough, she peers over the side. Her heart sinks at the sight of a baby, no older than a year, blinking up at her as it lies on his back. His big, almond eyes watch Colleen with uncertainty as she holds back tears.

Colleen knows that Sloan, Anna Beth, Ben, and herself were all babies in Hydra's clutches once, but seeing a baby in the room identical to the one she has so many painful memories of tears her apart.

"You find anyone, Colleen? Report," Steve orders through the earpiece.

Hands trembling as she reaches out for the infant, Colleen replies, "Um, yeah." She doesn't even attempt to hide the shakiness of her voice.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. I'm taking him now, we'll be out soon."

Colleen presses her lips in a straight line to keep herself from crying. There is a singular, thin cotton blanket in the cradle, so she uses it to swaddle the baby before gently picking him up and holding him against her chest.

This is whole new territory. When she rescued Sloan, she was two. There's no way this baby had even hit a year yet.

Colleen smooths the fluffy dark hair on his head when he starts to fuss.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, you're safe now," she whispers to him as she presses her cheek against his head. "I promise."

"Just planted the bomb. Colleen, you on your way out yet?"

"I'm headed out now."

"Be careful of any stray soldiers," Natasha pitches in. "Cap and I got most of them, but they just keep popping out of nowhere."

"Got it."

Colleen doesn't waste any time fleeing the base. As she runs, the baby pressed against her chest, she wonders if he even has any powers yet. At what age does Hydra begin experimenting? Is he still a normal baby?

A solider lunges at Colleen as soon as she exits the base. She doesn't notice him until he's falling to the ground limply, an arrow through his chest.

Stay focused, Colleen urges herself. She can't let the baby get hurt. She hears him start crying, but it's probably just from all the running she's doing.

Natasha spots Colleen the same time she notices her. After giving a soldier a roundhouse kick to the skull, Natasha takes off beside Colleen. The two rush into the woods, their feet sinking in the fluffy snow as they move. The cold air nips at Colleen's face, but she ignores it and instead holds the baby closer to try to keep him warm.

"Five seconds!" Steve shouts through the comms at the same time he breaks through the trees. With his super-soldier body, he is able to catch up to Natasha and Colleen within seconds and even surpasses them.

Clint's waiting on the top step into the jet when they arrive. He's got a bow raised, shooting at the stray soldiers that follow the three. Colleen boards first, followed by Steve, Natasha, then finally Clint.

Steve straight away slides into the pilot seat. Clint had already started the jet, so Steve's able to quickly get them into the air. A muffled explosion sends a gust of wind to pass through the trees and push the jet back. Steve manages to take control as soon as the wave passes and shoots them back towards home.

Everyone's breaths are ragged. Colleen's slumped on the floor with her back against the wall, her legs displayed out in front of her. The baby isn't crying anymore and instead occupies himself with contently sucking on his fingers.

Colleen tilts her chin to her chest to look down at the little guy. His face is so chubby, his cheeks red from the brisk air they just ran through. Despite all the chaos they just went through, he seems unbothered.

Putting the jet into autopilot, Steve stands with a hefty sigh. He walks back into the main space where Clint, Natasha, and Colleen are. He stops in his tracks when his eyes fall on the baby.

Natasha and Clint have the same reactions. All three Avengers are shocked into a silence that Colleen knows is filled with pity and sympathy. It's the same way she looks down at the oblivious infant in her arms.

He gets bored of sucking on his own fingers, so Colleen supplies him with her thumb. He gladly takes it in his tiny, chubby hands and chews on it with his soft gums.

Giving the baby a small smile, Colleen says, "You're safe now, Emmett."