𝐥𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐬𝐬

༻ ❁ ༺

a long chapter for you guys, to make up for the long absence

Sokovia

          "ULTRON KNOWS WE'RE COMING," Steve began as the Quinjet approached Sokovia, the team was near him, listening. Charlotte was sitting next to her dad, staring at her palms with a serious expression, "Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire. And that's what we signed up for," For closure, Steve looked at Charlotte with a frown, "But the people of Sokovia, they didn't."

It was safe to say that the team wasn't pleased with Tony when he decided to allow Charlotte to accompany them, but she was here nonetheless, and there was nothing that could be done to change that. Charlotte reached for an earpiece and placed it on her ear; at least that way she would be able to listen in from the Quinjet.

"So our priority is getting them out," Steve stated as he glanced at Pietro and Wanda with pointed looks. They knew what they had to do, "All they want is to live their lives in peace. And that's not gonna happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done. We find out what Ultron's been building, we find Romanoff,"

Charlotte flirted, eyeing Bruce. It was clear to everyone that the doctor and the assassin had developed a bond. It had puzzled Charlotte at first, for she hadn't noticed the fleeting glances and slight touches and innocent touches.

"But most importantly, we clear the field. Keep the fight between us," Steve paused, his expression became solemn, "Ultron thinks we're monsters. That we're what's wrong with the world," glancing at Bruce, Charlotte realized Steve was partially talking about him, "This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."

"Except he isn't," Charlotte quickly stated. Her dad and Steve looked at her, "Ultron is neither right or wrong. He just doesn't know better." She turned to glance at Clint, who was keeping quiet at the rear of the group. "It's just like when you were under the influence of the Tesseract. You were so certain that Loki was right, and yet we made you see sense."

"Please don't ram my head into a wall," Clint droned, rasing his brows at the teen.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, passing off his comment. "Ultron's idea of a better world is a one without human life - a world inhabited by technology. We need to find his reset button. Find out what makes him tick and use it for our benefit."

Everyone seemed to be taken in her words, and Vision was the one to approach her with a small smile on his face.

"Isn't it fascinating? Without realizing it, Ultron has become Earth's number one enemy," the android told her. Charlotte gave him a small smile, finding comfort in being able to talk to JARVIS in person; it made him seem more real.

"Well, unfortunately for us, Ultron is as stubborn as his creator," Charlotte sighed, rubbing her wrist as she looked at her dad. "So I can't see this being an easy task."

Tony smiled sadly and nodded.

When the Quinjet landed, the team immediately dispersed into their positions.

Pietro made haste to the police station, hoping to use their force to their advantage. While Wanda set out to the main square, where she intended to use her powers to manipulate the citizen's minds to help them evacuate the city as fast as they could, but without any panic.

Clint was holding his vantage point in a tall building, watching the evacuation with his bow and arrow ready. As the rest of the team went to their positions her dad held back for a moment; at first she thought that he was having seconds thoughts about her being there. Instead, he placed a hand on the back of her head and pulled her into his armoured chest.

"Remember what we agreed." She tilted her head back so she was looking up at him. The worry and apprehension in his eyes was apparent. "You stay here, unless I say otherwise. You got that?"

She nodded quickly, "I promise."

He bowed his own head and pressed a firm kiss to her forehead, his eyes shut briefly. "Stay hidden and stay safe."

And with that he left his daughter in the quinjet. He had taken the necessary precautions to ensure that she was safe. He had spent the past few hours crafting a light combat suit for the teen. While the design was basic, it would serve its purpose. The light grey and white fabric, while it was flexible and agile, it was coarse, had armour concealed within - but mkst importantly, it would help Charlotte to comtrol her core temperature without burning her skin of clothes. If he has the time, Tony would have liked to develop a few new features for her prosthetic, but that would have to wait.

The Quinjet was hidden behind a crumbling building, with only a dense forest behind her. Through her headset, she could hear the team's voices, and she listened intently, waiting for any sign that she was needed.

She wanted to be of more use, more helpful, but she came to realise that actually, she would have been a hindrance. She had not had adequate training, at least not to the same level and the others. She wasn't an Avenger, she knew that.

"FRIDAY? How is everything looking out there?" she asked her comms system that had been installed into the wrist band of her suit.

"They have located Ultron and are currently heading him off at the town square."

At FRIDAY's answers, Charlotte rose from her seat and leaned across to the control panel, opening the Quinjet's hatch. The skies were covered with pink and orange, she smiled sadly at how beautiful it looked, it was like she could forget what was about to happen. Charlotte walked out of the Quinjet and looked around, there was no one in sight.

Even though she had promised her dad and the team, the idea of sitting idle and twiddling her thumbs while everyone else risked their lives did not bode well with her. Surely, she could be of some use.

"Sorry, dad," the teen muttered to herself as she pulled off her jacket and left it discarded on the Captain's chair.

Swiftly edging down the ramp and staying close to the wall, Charlotte made her way around the building that hid the Quinjet. She leaned in to peer around the corner and watched a group of people, presumably families, walking away, their eyes driven by fear. The evacuation appeared to be going smoothly.

Having second thoughts, she was about to go back when two metallic and cold hands grabbed her ankle. The force ripped her legs under her and she fell, her chest colliding hard with the dirt ground. Whipping around, she screamed as a destroyed Ultron-bot dug its fingers into the earth, pulling itself out of the ground. It's eyes whirred as it scanned the area, before falling on her. With a strained groan, the bot lurched forward, menacingly dragging itself across the ground towards her.

"Get off me!" she growled; flexing her palm, she managed to shoot a quick fireball, aimed directly at its head. The lava bubbled and melted through the helmet, making the suit glitch and twitch disgustingly before it stopped as its lights flickered, and then shut down completely.

"What was that?" Steve said through the earpiece.

"Charlie! You okay?!" her dad's alarmed voice followed.

"Um, yeah. I'm okay, there was jusa-AAH!" screaming when more suits started to pop out from the ground, Charlotte began shooting even more of her lava-covered fireballs at them, "Nothing to worry about. Just robots coming out of the ground!"

"What are you doing out of the Quinjet?!" Tony yelled.

"Fresh air means nothing to you?" she retorted, "Oh sh-" from her peripheral vision, she saw a suit descending from above her at a rapid pace. She had just enough time to dive out of its way, rolling to the side. Turning over her shoulder she saw that the Quinjet was now swarmed with bots.

"Dammit! They're everywhere, I can't go back!" she told them before getting up and running further into the city.

"Come to the bridge, Wanda and I are here!" Clint suddenly told her, "You're near, just keep heading east!"

"Barton you better watch over her!" Tony barked as he huffed.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, as she took on some speed thanks to her Extremis, the redhead quickly headed to where Clint and Wanda were located.

The archer was busy keeping the suits from climbing onto the bridge and Wanda was in front of the citizens, acting as a shield as she used her energy to create a barrier.

Charlotte frowned as she noted the large guns now attached to the bots backs. As she approached the gap where the bridge once stood, she put all her trust into her newfound abilities, she decided to pick up her speed and jump.

And she did just that. Running full pelt, she rammed her prosthetic foot into the ground and quickly felt herself lurching into the air.

Clint looked in disbelief as Charlotte passed over him, his eyes widening. When Charlotte was getting close to the floor, Wanda nearly wanted to use her powers to make the girl land safely, but she had to maintain the shield. When Charlotte landed in a crouching position, unhurt, she put their anxieties to rest. She was now standing between the army of suits with the guns and Wanda.

Charlotte turned to face them and summoned the Extremis to her chest, feeling it grow heated as the heat quickly grew intolerable. When an Ultron suit was about to shoot her, she opened her palm, flexed her fingers, and a pulse of an almost lava-like substance was sent in the direction of the group of Ultron suits. It spread to her neck and she could feel the veins around her body concentrating enough to turn Extremis red.

They all dropped their guns as their armor began melting and then one by one, they began dropping with heavy thuds on the ground, their lights turning off with weak flickers.

She quickly clenched her fist, scared of what had just happened - she had not meant to do that, and she was left once more feeling not in control of herself. A heat bubbled within her as she turned, glaring at the melting suits; her usually green eyes were practically pulsing with a red hue. Turning towards Clint and Wanda, and the teens heart dropped - the pair looked genuinely frightened of her.

Scrunching her eyes closed and shaking her head sharply, as if she was trying to push the anger and heat from her head, Charlotte cleared her throat and spoke nonchalantly. "So, what's the plan?"

"Remind me not to get on your bad side," Clint muttered as he quickly accepted what just happened.

"Go, get off the bridge!" Wanda told the citizens as they began running, Clint and Charlotte made their way towards her.

"Is Ultron off the net, yet?" Charlotte asked Clint.

"Yeah, Vision did it. Just got the message," the arched nodded.

Suddenly, the ground began shaking as Charlotte felt tremors around the city. She had to balance herself for a moment to not fall. "What's happening?!"

"Looks like Ultron activated his device." Clint quickly explained, and Charlotte nodded but still did not fully understand.

"And the city is floating because...?"

A sharp shriek left her mouth as a particularly rough shudder ripped through earth, shaking the ground forcibly. She had just stumbled to land on one knee when Clint quickly jogged over to pry her back to her feet - he kept a hand around her upper arm as he glanced ariund, anticipating their next move.

"Do you see the beauty of it?" Charlotte turned her head to see a lone suit hovering above them. Ultron's malicious voice echoed through his soldier. "The inevitability. You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, are my meteor. My swift and terrible sword. And the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me."

Clint quickly guided Charlotte to the car that Wanda was holding on to as the ground kept shaking. Making sure both of the girls were safe, he quickly shot an arrow at the head of the talking suit, but another one behind it quickly took its place as Ultron continued giving his speech, "It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal."

"Hey asshole!" Charlotte as she shot a fireball at the suit's head, melting it completely before it fell hard on the ground, "Dad, what's happening? And don't sugarcoat it, please," Charlotte asked as Wanda and Clint attentively listened in.

"It appears that Ulton has utilized the stolen vibranium. The core has a magnetic field; it's the only thing keeping this rock together." FRIDAY told her instead with an urgent tone.

"If it drops?" she heard her dad ask.

"Right now the impact would kill thousands. Once it gets high enough, global extinction," she explained with a somber tone.

"Oh my God," Charlotte paled as she looked around, "Dad, where are you?!"

"Trying to fix this. I'm sorry, I should've never brought you along," he told her with an angry tone, but Charlotte knew it wasn't directed at her.

"It's not your fault dad, but we can talk about this later. When we win. Meantime, you got this." She told him solemnly. "I can protect myself, you don't have to worry about me."

"Yeah, you really don't." Clint muttered, tightening the heads to his arrows.

Steve's voice cut in, "Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job, tear these things apart. You get hurt..."

Charlotte huffed when she and Wanda used their singular abilities to kill two Ultron suits at the same time: Wanda from the inside and Charlotte with a blunt fireball straight into its helmet.

"...hurt them back. You get killed, walk it off."

"Great pep talk, Cap." Charlotte mumbled as she blasted her Extremis at another suit. As it fell, she saw a woman trip over debris and fall on the ground.

"Wanda!" The teen notified the witch, and Wanda immediately went towards the woman after noticing Charlotte nod in her direction. She assisted the woman in getting to her feet and led her to safety as Clint and Charlotte attempted to take down as many suits as they could.

When the woman was safe, Wanda returned to help them. She was able to throw a suit out of the way, but even though they annihilated a lot of them, it seemed like there was always a new wave just around the corner. Undoubtedly, they would soon be outnumbered.

Just when a trio of suits was about to unleash various gunshots on them, Charlotte saw the archer running towards her and Wanda.

"Go, go, go!" Clint exclaimed before he tackled the two girls through a window, shattering it completely, into a shack. They had narrowly avoided a defective suit raining down on them, causing a somewhat large explosion where they once stood.

At first, Charlotte was startled. With Wanda's support, the two managed to crawl towards the wall, Clint leaning next to the window to shoot any potential intruders. Wanda was terrified, and she saw that her breathing was erratic. If Charlotte was being completely honest with herself, she had also begun to fear for her own life.

"How could I let this happen?" Charlotte heard Wanda whine.

"Hey, hey, you guys okay?" Clint asked with a fatherly tone.

"Wanda? Breathe, just breathe..." Charlotte calmly told her as she grabbed onto her shoulder to keep her balanced.

"This is all our fault..." Wanda cried with a guilt-filled voice.

Clint and Charlotte shared a worried look before the archer gently placed his hand on the Sokovian's other shoulder, "Hey, look at me! It's your fault, it's everyone's fault. Who cares? Are you up for this?" he asked quickly, also glancing at Charlotte, "Are you?" he repeated, looking back at the witch as Wanda tried to control her breathing, "Look, I just need to know. Because the city is  flying," he deadpanned.

"Yeah, a city is flying," Charlotte whined, wiping some of her sweat from her forehead.

Clint nodded, agreeing with her, "Okay. Look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, a teenager can shoot flames from her hands and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense," Clint told them, but still staring at Wanda with a determined expression.

One of the bots suddenly fired at them through the wall from behind, tearing holes in it. Wanda's startled cry was also heard by Charlotte as she dove under the table in time.

Clint, who was also startled, reacted quickly by shooting an arrow into one of the holes caused by the gunfire.

Immediately after, Clint carried on with his speech as if nothing happened, "But I'm going back out there because it's my job. Okay? And I can't do my job and babysit," he glanced between Wanda and Charlotte with a stern look, "It doesn't matter how old you are, or what you did or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill."

Clint told them pointedly, and Charlotte gulped dryly, "Stay in here, you're good. I'll send your brother to come and find you two," Clint looked up at Charlotte, "I'll tell him to take you two back to the Quinjet."

It was obvious from the way Charlotte pursed her lips at that notion that she was torn between wanting to agree with Clint. She wanted to prove herself that she was capable of fighting, that she wasn't a liability. She didn't want to hold to team back any longer, because she was too weak to fend for herself.

No. Charlotte wanted to be next to her dad in the future. Not behind him, sheltered and guarded like a fragile thing.

"But if you step out that door, you are an Avenger."

Charlotte's eyes widened at his statement, could it be that easy?

"And no–Charlie, get that idea out of your head. I was talking to Wanda on the last part," Clint quickly told her with a small smirk as Charlotte's hopeful expression deflated into a frown.

"All right. Good chat," Clint said as he stood to his feet.

He was poised in front of the door as Wanda and Charlotte watched him take additional arrows from his boot and prepare them for his bow. Before kicking the door open and entering the fray, he took a deep breath and gave the two girls one more glance.

Charlotte stood as well, but Wanda grabbed her leg, "No–it's too dangerous." she pleaded.

Smiling sadly at the young woman, Charlotte mustered all the strength to talk to her without her voice quivering.

"They need us. I know it's scary, but I've seen my dad almost die so many times, I've been kidnapped, tortured, experimented on and I'm fairly sure I'm going to need therapy for the rest of my life. The only thing that keeps me happy is my family, friends and the team. And now that I can help them, I can't stand aside and let them disappear." as gently as she could, she beckoned Wanda to rise to her feet as well by pulling her up.

"You have suffered as well. You and your brother were used as a ploy in someone elses sick game. Doesn't that give you the urge to kick some metallic ass?"

Wanda used her power against them, making the entire team witness their nightmares and experience the terror of the sinister secrets they had been trying to bury deep within of them. Charlotte saw an evil witch who had no regard for people when she did that. But suddenly, she noticed a young girl who was terrified and regretful of her actions.

Wanda wasn't wholly forgiven, so Charlotte still wanted her to make things right, but this wasn't the time to start a debate. It was time to defend their lives and exhort her to use her magic so that they could defeat Ultron together.

"But what if we lose?" Wanda asked with a sad frown.

"Then, just as Steve said," she grabbed her hand and squeezed it, "We'll lose together."

That was all it took for a sense of purpose to settle on Wanda's face.

Charlotte didn't know how long the two have been inside that little shack, but she hoped Clint was still alive.

Side by side, Wanda aimed her psionic energy towards a group of robots to her right, without even sparing them a glance. She then manipulated her fingers, splitting the robot in half from its inside, in mid-air, throwing the torso of that robot towards one that was about to attack Clint, who was crouched behind a car.

Charlotte conjured all the Extremis she could muster to shoot a stream of burning energy through her hands towards another group hovering nearby, spraying them all completely as they fell on the ground, hard and lifeless, their bodies melting into the ground.

She saw Wanda use her kinetic energy to create a stronger energy ball and decided to shoot an Extremis fireball at the same time she did, towards a trio of robots ready to attack them. The trio was instantly melted down and short-circuited by the combination of the two energies, their robotic pieces falling on the ground.

Clint started, open mouthed at the two girls. While Charlotte might not be an official Avenger, Wanda had certainly earned her place.

"Dad? I just kicked serious robot ass," Charlotte told her earpiece.

"I am both afraid and proud of that sentence. And watch your mouth or else Cap will scold you," Tony quipped on her ear, clearly hiding his anxious tone.

"Not the moment, Stark!" Steve exclaimed, his tone indicated he was busy fighting for his life.

Clint let Charlotte finish before taking his turn to talk, "Okay, we're all clear here," he informed the team as he looked around.

Pietro Maximoff suddenly showed up out of nowhere, grabbing his sister and pulling her into his arms. "Keep up old man! Good luck little girl!" the silver-head teased before he vanished out of the area with his enhanced speed.

Both Charlotte and Clint were slightly shocked by what just happened, but she quickly saw an annoyed expression fill Clint's face as he quickly prepared an arrow and aimed it towards where Pietro had run off with Wanda.

"Nobody would know," he gritted through his teeth.

Charlotte held a snicker, "I would, but since I like you, I won't tell."

"Atta girl," Clint said before nodding at the street where the dust that Pietro left behind was still settling, the two began running, "'The last Charlie and I saw him, an Ultron was sitting on him. Yeah, he'll be missed, that quick little bastard. I miss him already.'" Clint continued his imaginative argument as Charlotte tried not to laugh while avoiding tripping on the debris while running.

"'He was so young so quick-witted too'..." Charlotte added in, humoring Clint as he grinned.