Revenge. The action of inflicting hurt or harm for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands. And in a dark and twisted way, I find complete and undeniable joy inflicting pain on the ones who've betrayed me. Having that in mind, whomever dares to stand in my way, will suffer the consequences of another man's wrongdoing. I'm anger and filled with rage, and I somehow managed to Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa, due to the commotion that had been caused before I got there.

Sweat glistens on my skin, making the uniform uncomfortable to be in. My bow is in hand, my knives, guns, and other weapons are in a hand's reach. Mass destruction, chaos, defeating what's left of Hydra. A sinister smile takes form on my lips as I receive terrified yet judgmental looks in my direction. Discreetly, I pull out an arrow, loading it in my bow, and I start counting down in my head, waiting for my next target to strike. A roar of screaming civilians can be heard in the distance, and that's when I know it's time for me to make my move. Don't miss.

Red fills my vision, my mind viewing every living, breathing thing as the enemy. Lifting the bow, I aim it at a young man and without hesitation, the arrow whizzing through the air and into his skull. Nice. One after one, I pick off people with ease, not feeling the slightest pang of guilt. Then, I begin to run, feeling like someone is coming after me, but that doesn't stop me on my little murder spree. In a fluent motion, I switch out my bow with a gun and I run with it. While I'm on the move, something bizarre happens. A green creature, who I quickly recognized to be the Hulk, comes crashing down the street I'm about to cross and following closely behind him is Iron Man. The vibration in the ground as he passes has the ability to send me stumbling backwards and onto the ground.

You're not the only one with a plan to destroy everything in their path.

Getting back up on my feet, I decide to take a sharp right in the same direction the two enhanced humans went. Police sirens blare behind me, an officer yells in a foreign language and I believe it's directed at me. As one who hates the authorities, I seize the moment they think they have of capturing me, and I spin around, firing six bullets quickly at the policemen. Evidently, I haven't lost my touch as they all collapse dead, their vehicles crashing into small corner stores and hitting innocent individuals. Just ahead of me, a woman, who looks to be in her forties, gawks at me, entirely disgusted by my actions.

"Why are you terrorizing this city? What kind of human are you?" she yells, but these types of question don't phase me.

I slowly inch towards the woman, intrigued by her sense of bravery to confront me in such a way.

"It's the only thing I was trained to do," I state, the words are harsh and absent of emotion. "I'm barely human."

Taking a another glance at the woman, I take off, hearing the sounds of buildings collapsing. As I take a turn down another city block, I'm met with the two Avengers, fighting against each other. The sight is quite amusing because Tony is the real reason behind why everything is happening the way it is. They're supposed to be on the same team, but ironically, they're destroying another entire city in the process and so am I. Hulk punches Tony, slamming him into the brick wall of the building beside me and he quickly stalks off.

"Avalon, what are you doing here?" Tony questions me, urgency clear in his voice, but I ignore him.

My mind goes blank all of the sudden and I feel myself adjust to the ways of the assassin. Instantly, I begin to shoot at each person that runs from the destruction, feeling nothing as they drop dead on the ground. Adrenaline rushes through my veins and I feel a stronger desire to keep the chaos going, but I'm only stopped. Avalon, this isn't you!

"Wanda is playing games with you, Avalon! Snap out of it!" Tony tries to make me listen, but the pain of Bucky being dead makes me want to take my anger out on something.

I shake my head vigorously towards him. "No! They killed Bucky! Hydra has to pay for what they've done!" I yell, pushing him away from me.

"Avalon, they haven't killed anyone! This is Red's actions, not yours," he keeps trying to force the assassin out and I want to stop him, but something's holding me back.

"Avalon doesn't exist anymore!"

A look of defeat washes over his face. "Sorry, Red, but we need Avalon," and like a blink of an eye, I'm met with total darkness and a sharp pain to the head.

***

The last beam of sunlight is what I wake up to as the sun begins to set. I don't know how I got here, but whatever it was that I caused, it's not good because yet again, I'm restrained. Cold metal cuffs wrap around my wrist, uncomfortably, as I attempt to get out of them, but it's no use to even try. My eyes recognize the room I'm in, which is a surprise, considering that I can barely recognize myself. It's empty, only leaving the silence of the bedroom, causing a ringing in my ears with the lack of noise. Seconds later, the door swings open, revealing a concerned Steve Rogers.

"Это введение немного повторяется, если вы спросите меня (This introduction is a bit repetitive if you ask me)," the foreign language rolls off my tongue with ease.

I prop myself up against the bedframe, my arms are spread out like a bird's wings. Steve walks into the room and sits on the edge of the bed, hesitantly, like he doesn't know who I am. What happened? Why am I here? Specifically, why are we at Clint's house?

"Well, it depends on who I'm talking to," Steve states, his voice sounds cold.

I look at him, quizzically, not fully understanding what he's talking about. I'm Avalon. What the hell is he talking about?

"Avalon, obviously. Why would you expect otherwise?" I question with a sarcastic tone.

His eyebrows knit together. "Well, a few hours ago, you managed to kill about twenty civilians in the matter of minutes. How am I supposed to know if I'm talking to Red or Avalon?"

My eyes widen. What do I do? What triggered Red? Because I've been doing so well recently and this doesn't add up. The last thing I remember before waking up here is running in the direction Clint was because I heard a handful of gunshots and I got worried. Think of one thing that could trigger Red. The one thing you both hate the most. Hydra.

"Wanda Maximoff. She messed with my head," I come to a realization. "What else did I do?"

"You terrorized the city of Johannesburg. Any one that seemed as a threat to you, well, they didn't exactly survive their encounter with you," every word he says, my heart drops into my stomach, and in my head, I'm screaming at myself for my actions. "But when Tony saw in the midst of all the destruction you and him caused, he said you seemed dazed and heartbroken"

I pull at the cuffs again, wanting to have use of my arms. With all this information, my emotions go haywire because of how deeply sadden I've become.

My breathing becomes uneven. "I'm sorry I messed up. God, I let that little witch get to my head and I don't know how she did it."

"Tony said that you were yelling that Hydra killed Bucky," Steve manages to get out, causing me to stop rambling. "We're thinking that's what triggered the Red Ghost."

Though it seems a little bit strange at first, it's the only real conclusion we can come to. Honestly, I have such an unusual connection with Bucky and I don't understand why, but it's always been there. The thought of him being killed could bring me to tears, but I know he's out there, alive and well. I can feel it. But going back to reality, I realize that I kept Red's word on causing mass destruction and it's going to haunt me for the rest of my life.

It's okay to be upset. You need to let yourself feel before you can make amends with what you've done. You're such a closed off person and this may be the time to open up a little and let someone help you.

"I'm sorry," I say, almost in a whisper. "You should've killed me when you had the chance because this wouldn't have happened. I thought I had it under control."

As I grow most upset, I feel like a wall in my mind is building up, trying to block all of the pain and sorrow I'm feeling, but it's not working. Everything is clustered into one idea; the idea that somehow, if I was removed from the equation, that all of this destruction would've never occurred. The belief that somehow, wherever I go, only death and destruction follow. And so far, that has been awfully correct. It's weird to think that over the past year and a half, I wouldn't let myself heal, emotionally and physically. I've been too distracted that the opportunities just never phased me.

My arms fall to my sides as Steve uncuffs my wrist and the blood begins to rush back into them. He knows not to be afraid of me because I'm not the assassin, at least, not at the moment, but all said and done, those people I killed, that was me.

"You're human. You make mistakes, but you know what, Avalon? You have to get back on your feet and keep fighting," Steve's voice fills with confidence and courage. "Because if you weren't around, many things would've gone south. You've managed to save my life quite a few times. So, Avalon, let us help you figure out how to fix yours."

***

"Lonnie!" Clint's son and daughter yell out the nickname they love to call me. Instantly, Lila and Cooper run into my arms as I bend my knees to embrace them.

I hug them tightly, not wanting to let go because they're the only two who don't see me as a monster. They don't know what I've done.

"I missed you, little rascals!" I lean back to look at the both of them, smiles spread on both of their faces and as well as mine. But Lila's eyes move to the side of my face, where I can feel pain pulsating from a wound that I have not recognized.

She reaches out and lightly touches it. This is something she's done before with many of the scars on my body that she's been intrigued by. With the others present in the room, a few quirk an eyebrow, but Clint and Laura stand silently, a sympathetic look written on their faces, knowing this action all too well.

"Did it hurt?" she asks, her big brown eyes making my heart melt.

I sigh. "No, it didn't," I reply simply, making her confused.

"How come you're always the one getting hurt?" she questions, and in my mind, it seems like the question that everyone and myself have been asking for a while now.

There are so many answers to this complex question and I don't think I can give her the most accurate answer because it wouldn't make sense to her. I've lived a majority of my life as the enemy and now, I'm trying to do the right thing, but once again, I keep getting screwed over when destruction is not my intention.

"I have nothing to lose, Lou," I drag my words and take a deep breath before speaking again. "I'm trying to make up for the bad things I have done, you know that. Sometimes, a person has to make sacrifices in their life and they may not benefit themselves, but one day, when they're long gone, someone will thank what they have to the one who gave up everything."

Within a second, she's wrapping her small arms around my neck and I wrap mine around her small figure. I need this and she knew that even before I walked into the room. I've been here more often than you'd expect me to be, but I've always hated the idea of feeling trapped in one place for a long period of time. If only they knew what really happened to you before the assassin took her place.

"Did you ever find that boy?" Lila whispers in my ear, secretly.

My mood shifts, suddenly. Last time I was here, I told her some information about a boy I've been trying to find, but she didn't pay attention to who it was. It's been six months since our encounter in Boston and I still feel like he's nearby, just waiting for me to realize that he's been here the entire time. I'd be lying if I said I didn't care about where he was because it's the only thing that powers me to keep going. I don't know what it is, but my gut tells me that I have to find him and then, there's the instinct to protect him. Where is he?

My eyes water a bit and I look up into her eyes. They were filled with so much hope for me and it makes me wish I had that in myself.

"I wish I did, but I'll never stop looking."

a/n - hey, it's your girl Kenzie!!! coming at you live with a new update!!! what are your thoughts and predicts on this chapter and what is to come? leave a comment if you have anything to say! enjoy - kenzie