𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞

 
༻ ❁ ༺
  

Classified Location,
Missouri

         
          IT WAS DAWN WHEN Clint finally landed the Quinjet.

The team and Charlotte made their way out, with Clint leading while holding Natasha steady as they walked, Tony walking with Charlotte by his side, then behind them, Thor and finally a better looking Bruce.

Charlotte couldn't help but wonder around. Because it was in the middle of nowhere, no one would suspect the Avengers hiding in a farmhouse surrounded by grassland and then a vast forest. As they approached the property, and while ascending the stairs to the porch and main entrance, Charlotte noticed a unicorn plushie sitting on a rocking chair to the door's left.

"What is this place?" Thor asked.

"Safe House," Tony replied with a shrug. He had no other information to offer as of yet.

As Clint opened the door, he turned at them, "Let's hope," he told them as he walked in with Natasha by his side.

Tony had sensed his daughter's uneasiness and reached down to gently take her hand in his. Her small fingers wrapped tightly around him and he gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"Honey? I'm home," Clint suddenly called out as they entered a resting area connected to the kitchen.

Instantly, Charlotte saw a woman coming from around the corner. She had long, brown hair and matching eyes and a surprised look on her face, but what Charlotte noticed the most was that she was heavily pregnant.

"Company. Sorry I didn't call ahead," Clint greeted her warmly and with a smile; he approached her and pulled the woman into an embrace. And then, to everyone's surprise, the woman pressed a long kiss to Clint's lips.

"This is an agent of some kind," Tony said in an attempt to try and rationalize instead of accepting what was currently happening. She arched an eyebrow at him and looked at Clint and the woman again.

"Gentlemen, and Charlie, this is Laura, my wife," Clint finally introduced as he turned towards the group with a proud grin on his face.

Laura flashed the group a friendly, albeit nervous smile, "I know all of your names" she looked down at Charlotte and her smile changed to motherly, "Even you, Charlotte. Clint likes to talk about you."

Charlotte smiled shyly at her before waving shortly, "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Barton."

Before anyone could say something about the mild awkward situation, many footsteps were heard coming down the stairs.

"Oh, incoming," Clint excitedly stated as and suddenly two children, first a girl and an older boy following her, barged into the room and ran straight to the archer with grins on their faces.

The girl was probably around six or seven years old and had long, brown hair like Laura that was styled in two braids. Then the boy, he looked like Clint but still with his mother's hair color - he looked to be around ten years old.

Clint laughed as his daughter jumped on him; he caught her and carried her on his arm while his son hugged his other side, hugging him as well, "Hey buddy! How are you guys doing?" the archer asked as he ruffled his son's hair.

Charlotte smiled at the scene, while the adults around her either looked confused or intrigued.

"These are smaller agents," her dad tried, still on insisting that this wasn't happening.

"Oh, my goodness!" Clint carried on with a fatherly tone, kissing his daughter's forehead before putting her down on the floor.

"Did you bring Auntie Nat?" Charlotte heard the girl ask, and she quickly looked at Natasha, who was hiding in the corner. She saw the redhead agent slowly smile affectionately at the little girl.

"Why don't you hug her and find out?" Natasha said out loud, getting their attention as she walked up to them. The little girl met her halfway and Natasha quickly scooped her up while chuckling.

"Sorry for barging in on you," Steve prompted, nodding at Laura.

"Yeah, we would have called ahead but we were busy having no idea you existed," Tony quipped.

"Yeah, well, Fury helped me set this up when I joined," Clint began explaining, looking at the group with an apologetic expression and wordlessly telling everyone that it wasn't personal, "He kept it off SHIELD's files. I'd like to keep it that way. I figure it's a good place to lay low."

Charlotte heard a quiet crunching sound and looked behind her to see Thor kicking away a Lego house he had stepped on. Both she and Steve gave him a judgemental look when he started kicking it under the chair to hide it, while Charlotte was still mad at him, she couldn't help but stifle a giggle.

Suddenly, Clint's daughter approached Thor and stared at him. Charlotte watched her with a strange look on her face, and when she looked back at Thor, the blonde seemed to be having a mental battle with himself.

Feeling a little awkward, Charlotte decided to strike up a conversation, "Hi, I'm Charlotte! But you can call me Charlie," she offered her a friendly smile.

"I'm Lila," she smiled back.

"Well, Lila, do you like drawing?" Charlotte asked, noticing a clutter of pencils and hand drawn pictures on the kitchen table.

Lila nods, looking more enthusiastic.

"I do too. Do you want to draw together?" she questioned, begging for her to say yes because Charlotte really needed a distraction right now.

"Yes! Let's go to my room I wanna show you everything," Lila dutifully said as she grabbed Charlotte's hand and guided her upstairs without giving her the chance to talk.

Unbeknown to them, Tony watched the whole interaction with Clint as Laura and Natasha talked. Tony was relieved that his daughter was befriending someone and getting distracted and when he exchanged a nod with Clint, the two were on the same side here: keeping Charlotte stressless .
  

༻ ❁ ༺
  

Charlotte had to admit that Clint's home was cozy. Living in a farmhouse surrounded by nature didn't seem so bad.

Before heading upstairs, Laura had shown Charlotte to the bathroom and offered her a shower. She ended up borrowing some of Cooper's clothes since Lila was a few inches shorter than her. The mother left the girl to shower and returned with a pair of slightly baggy jeans and a blue striped t-shirt.

Lila's bedroom was colorful, filled with drawings on the wall and with even more scattered papers with unfinished drawings on them and toys. Charlotte had noticed the large dollhouse sitting in the corner, and Lila quickly told her that her dad had made it for her eighth birthday with a proud tone.

They lay on the rug, quietly chatting and peacefully drawing. Soon however, they were interrupted by Copper - while avoiding eye contact, he asked Charlotte if she wanted to play some video games with him.

Before Charlotte could've said something, Lila told him she was drawing with her. While Cooper at first looked upset, Charlotte gave him a small smile, resulting in Cooper's cheeks to become rosy and make him leave quickly with a quick nod.

Once they had finished their drawings, the girls sat by the window. Out of the window, Charlotte saw her dad and Steve a few feet from the house, by a woodpile. She sighed, they looked like they were arguing and since it appeared that Thor had since disappeared, Charlotte was worried. While she knew that they were safe at the farmhouse, the entire situation still did not feel right - she was not allowed to call her mother. Did her mom even know what had happened, did she know about Ultron?

"Are you okay, Charlie?" Lila suddenly asked as she put away the pencils and paper.

Looking away from the window, Charlotte smiled at the little girl and nodded, "Yeah, I'm just worried about my mom."

The short pause that followed was soon broken by Clint knocking on the bedroom door, informing the girls that dinner was ready - Charlotte was relieved, she hadn't realised just how hungry she was. Although she would never complain about it out loud because she was a guest and she was polite, Charlotte's stomach started to complain as soon as Laura's cooking delicious scent visited the two girls upstairs.

Charlotte was and wasn't surprised when she saw Fury chilling in the kitchen with her dad and Steve when Lila suggested they continuing drawing downstairs in the living room, near everyone. This was a crisis, and Agent Hill must have sent him to brief the team; they were all still a little down after what Wanda Maximoff had done to them, and Charlotte couldn't help but harbour ill sentiments towards her.

Fury had greeted the two girls and Charlotte merely smiled at him, stating that she was glad he was alive - even though her dad did tell her that Fury's death had been a hoax.

At that, Fury subtly smiled at the brief memories of the ten-year-old he had met on board the helicarrier. It had been almost three years since he had seen her last and now she didn't resemble a child anymore. She was taller, more confident and beginning to look more like her father with each passing year.

After dinner, Charlotte decided to play darts with her dad and Clint as everyone was scattered around the room, listening to Fury's input on the whole situation.

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time," he stated, "My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of vibranium he went off with, I don't think it's just one thing,"

Fury finished drying the cleaned cup that he washed and turned to look at Steve, who was leaning against the doorway with a solemn expression, "What about Ultron himself?" the blonde asked.

"Oh, he's easy to track. He's everywhere. The guy is multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit," Charlotte arched her eyebrow at Fury's remark and looked at her dad for some closure, but the genius merely focused on trying to land his dart on the bullseye, "It still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though," Fury continued as Charlotte watched her dad throw the dart, who didn't hit the middle of the bullseye by a little.

"Is he still going after the launch codes?" Tony asked as he threw a dart again. It was clear that he was feeling nervous about the answer, and Charlotte knew that he was only playing to distract himself.

"Yes, he is. But he's not making any headway," Fury answered.

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare," Her dad announced, and Charlotte gave him a surprised look so he explained further for her sake, "I didn't actually do anything - I just cracked it and left. But at least it was thanks to me that they updated their security system for the better, although it's still weak and if they hire me I could–"

"Okay dad, I get it," Charlotte interrupted as she felt Fury glaring at her dad, wanting to continue with the serious situation.

"As I was saying," Fury pressed, "I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that," he stated as he parted the slice of bread in the middle.

"Nexus?" Steve wondered out loud.

"It's the world Internet hub in Oslo," Bruce told him, "Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth."

Charlotte gave Bruce an impressed look, "Imagine playing video games there," she quipped, making her dad smile a little.

"So, what did they say?" Clint asked as he stood by the kitchen sink, a dart twirling between his fingers .

"He's fixated on the missiles. But the codes are constantly being changed," Fury explained.

"By whom?" Tony questioned, but he was then startled when a dart suddenly came from across the kitchen, narrowly missing his face, and hit the dartboard. Charlotte looked at Clint with widened eyes and a awed look on her face. Clint smirked playfully and shrugged at the unimpressed glare Tony was throwing his way.

"Parties unknown," Fury stated ignoring the childish antics of the archer.

"Do we have an ally?" Natasha asked hopefully.

"Ultron's got an enemy. That's not the same thing," Fury told her.

Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows - why wasn't the same thing? "What about the whole 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' quote? Can't we try to persuade his enemy to be on our side?" the teen asked Fury.

The director gave her a small nod, appreciating her input, "That would be great, but I'd pay folding money to know who it is," Fury told her.

"But nice try," Tony told her quickly, patting her on the head as he looked at Fury again, "I might need to visit Oslo. Find our unknown."

Charlotte felt his warm and reassuring hand on her head, she knew her dad meant that she was coming with him to Oslo as well – she wondered what happened during the sceptre's retrieval in Sokovia, and she wanted to know what did his haunted expression meant. But Charlotte had a feeling that her dad was keeping it from her for a reason.

"Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that," Natasha suddenly stated towards Fury.

The man himself didn't look hurt at her comment, "I do. I have you," he said with a matter-of-fact tone as he glanced at each team members solemn expressions, "Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears, everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up," Charlotte couldn't help but feel that the last part was a personal comment towards her dad, she looked up at him and saw his impassive face, staring at Fury attentively as his hand fell on her shoulder, "Here we all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world." Fury continued as he walked up to the centre of the kitchen to stand in the middle of the group.

Charlotte now knew she was right about Fury's visit. He was really trying to motivate the team again. She began smiling as Fury continued.

"Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission," Fury stated as he made eye contact with every single person in the room, including Charlotte, who nominated at him to show that she was paying attention as well, "And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave," he continued as he gestured around the kitchen.

Clint looked away for a moment with an uncomfortable expression as he thought about his family, sitting on the other room to give them some privacy. His children probably weren't aware of the situation and Laura was trying to remain calm for the sake of their baby – Clint knew that failing was not an option. He needed to make sure his family had a future.

Charlotte felt her dad's hand on her shoulder tighten slightly so she leaned towards him in an attempt to comfort him. Tony couldn't bear the thought of losing his daughter to a monster he'd created – Ultron was meant to be Earth's shield, the cause for his retirement so he could spend more time with his daughter and Pepper. But now he had created a major threat, not only to his daughter but to the entire world.

"So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard," Fury remarked with a final tone of voice as he sat down at the table, finishing his speech.

"Steve doesn't like that kind of language, especially in Charlie's presence," Natasha quipped as she looked at Steve with a mischievous look before winking at the teen.

Charlotte giggled a little when Steve raised his eyebrows and gave her a challenging look, "You know what, Romanoff?" he retorted with a playful tone.

"So, what does he want?" Fury asked out loud, bringing the conversation back to its original topic.

"To become better. Better than us. He keeps building bodies," Steve theorized.

"Person bodies," Tony corrected him, "The human form is inefficient. Biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it," as she listened to her dad, Charlotte noticed Bruce approaching the table while staring at the butterfly drawing that Lila made for Natasha.

"When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed," the redhead quipped as she glanced from Bruce towards Tony. And Charlotte, albeit wanting to defend her dad and the doctor she had grown fond of over the years, couldn't help but to silently agree with her. Although it had been an accident, Ultron was a successful failure.

"They don't need to be protected. They need to evolve," Bruce stated with a solemn tone as he stared at the drawing. Everyone looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to explain, "Ultron's going to evolve."

Now Charlotte understood why he had so much interest in the butterfly drawing. "Ultron feels like he's in a cacoon, he wants to become a butterfly. A vibranium, indestructible butterfly," she clarified as she looked up at her dad, whose jaw was tight from being so tense.

Bruce nodded at her, a proud smile on his face as the rest of the team realized that Charlotte was right.

"How?" Fury asked the doctor.

Then, instead of responding, Charlotte saw his eyes widen as a sudden thought hit him, "Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"

Charlotte suddenly gasped, remembering when Ultron ambushed the tower, "He didn't shoot!" she exclaimed, and everyone's eyes were on her, "When he attacked us in the tower, one of the suits was about to shoot us but Ultron stopped it, I think he did that because he knew who she was and what she has in her lab in Seoul!" Charlotte was filled with adrenaline as she finally understood the reason, "That is why he didn't shoot us – because he was going to use Dr. Cho to make his new body with the Cradle! She told me it can create limbs, remember?" she explained further on.

The Avengers looked at each other after hearing Charlotte, now they knew where to go next. They needed to go to Seoul and make sure Dr. Cho was still safe from Ultron, and Charlotte dearly hoped she was, and make sure that the new body wasn't completed.

༻ ❁ ༺

It was now dawn, just before sunrise. And even though Charlotte wanted to complain about her lack of sleep, she knew they had to move fast and quickly to stop Ultron. After a quick breakfast that Laura insisted Charlotte to have before they leave, she was left with sitting down on the couch and watching the team around her prepare for the departure.

"Charlie, with me," her dad stated, and Charlotte obediently followed. She already knew she was going with him to Oslo, so it was no surprise. Before Charlotte could follow her dad, Laura approached them with her laundry already folded in her hands.

Tony nodded at Laura and looked at his daughter, "I need to talk with Steve, be quick, okay?" after seeing her nod, she watched as her dad walked away.

"Here," Charlotte was already extending her arms towards the pregnant woman to accept her clothes, a relieved smile on her lips, "Go dress up before you leave, I would ask your dad to keep you here because I think it's safer but I have a feeling he'd wouldn't like that idea," Laura told her in a motherly tone.

Charlotte chuckled, exhaling through her nose, "Yeah, you're right about that. He's been acting over-protective ever since Ultron showed up, even more than usual. I can't blame him, though," she confided in her - Charlotte felt like it was so easy to speak with Laura.

"Just be safe, okay? Thank you for playing with Lila and Cooper, they're home schooled so they only have each other sometimes."

Charlotte glanced at her dad and saw him approach Steve when the blonde returned fully suited, they were talking in the foyer, she turned back to give Laura a nod, "I'm home schooled too. It can be lonely at time, so I understand how they feel."

Laura's face softened slightly at her remark, it tugged that little bit more on her heart to hear the teen say that she was lonely. Still, she smiled and rubbed her hand up and down Charlotte's arm. "You're such a sweet girl, Charlie. Clint was so happy to have met you; I think you remind him of Lila in a way. He's a very fatherly man even though he has to hide it, so you bring that side of him when he's not here," Charlotte's cheeks flushed at her statement, "Anyways, go changed sweetie, I don't think you have much time."

"Thank you, Mrs. Barton," Charlotte quickly told her before warning her dad she was going upstairs to – as she jokingly inputted – "suit up" as well. Tony was not impressed but at least she managed to get a lop-sided smile from Steve.

She headed to the upstairs bathroom, where she swapped Cooper's over sized clothes for her own light jeans and brown t-shirt; she was grateful to Laura for washing her clothes. She pulled her boot over the foot and quickly fitted the boot-like attachment to her prosthetic before brushing her hair and smoothing it behind her ears. When she was done with everything, she made sure to place Cooper's clothes that were borrowed to her on the dirty laundry basket and go back downstairs quickly so as to not keep the team waiting too long.

༻ ❁ ༺

NEXUS Internet Hub
Oslo, Norway

Later that day, Charlotte watched as her dad typed furiously against the computer's keyboard while workers at the hub watched with concerned expressions.

"A hacker who's faster than Ultron? He could be anywhere," Tony explained out loud, especially towards Charlotte, "And as this is the centre of everything. I'm just a guy looking for a needle in the world's biggest haystack."

"How do you find it?" A blonde woman asked as she looked over his shoulder, and Charlotte noticed that the two other co-workers began chatting between themselves behind her dad.

"It's pretty simple. You bring a magnet," he told her with a casual tone as the two workers behind him began taking photos. Charlotte rolled her eyes, but then her dad started singing with a taunting tone, "I'm decrypting nuclear codes and you don't want me to, come and get me." And then he pressed the 'enter' key and the waiting game began.