𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

༻ ❁ ༺ 

        CHARLOTTE WAS RUNNING as fast as she could, passing by many tall standing windows; New York's skyline trailed beside her as she ran from the flurry of voices calling from behind her. She could mainly pick out her dad's concerned shouts as well as Thor's booming voice trailing down the hallways.

She came to a halt when she recognised the corridor, opting to take the way that led to the nearest fire escape.

Pushing through the door, she ascended the metal staircase, her small feet thundering loudly against the iron frame. Once she reached the rooftop she slowed down, and tried to calm her breathing.

She decided to sit down, feet dangling over the ledge of the building - not so far over that she could fall, but just enough so she could blankly stare at the bustling nightlife below her. She remained there, silent for a few moments with her eyes closed; she could not say for definite how much time had passed. Her body felt cooler now, but still warm to the touch; she couldn't stop her hands from trembling. Everything was so overwhelming.

"Charlie?"

The teen opened her eyes, revealing her now calm, green irises. She didn't even turn her head to acknowledge her dad's or Thor's presence on the rooftop. She knew that Ezra was sure to have told him about their secret place; he would have found it out eventually.

Tony turned back to Thor, and gave him a quick nod. He was grateful for his help, and he knew how close his daughter and the God had grown over their short acquaintance. Thor watched Charlotte with sad eyes, and with a returning nod he gave Tony a firm pat on the shoulder before heading back through the fire escape doorway.

"Can I sit?" Tony asked, and once he received a blunt nod from his daughter, he made sure to approach with caution. In truth, he still did not understand what had just happened, but he did understand why she ran.

"I hurt Nat." She said after a moment of silence. Her voice was meek and almost ashamed. "I didn't mean to. I swear I didn't."

Tony nodded, a tight smile on his lips. "I know that, and Nat knows that. I don't think for a second that anyone suspects that you meant to hurt her."

Charlotte glanced down at her lap before whispering, "She must hate me."

"She doesn't hate you. Nobody does." Tony tried to reassure her. Charlotte raised her head slightly, turning to pass a glance at her dad. He was still cradling his arm loosely against his chest, his eyes appeared worn.

"I'm sorry, dad." She whispered, and Tony passed her a confused glance. She slunk back into herself not wanting to look him in the eye for fear of guilt. With a sigh she confessed, "The Extremis has been back for a while now, months. I've been training behind your back, mainly when you're away with the team."

Tony sighed, not wanting to sound disappointed. "Why wouldn't you want to tell me?"

"I was going to, I mean I wanted to, I just -," She finally looked up at him, her brows furrowed with the worry that he would be angry with her. But once she saw that his expression was more stoic and concerned, she relaxed. "I was scared."

Tony was quick to place his uninjured arm around her shoulder and pull her so her head was leaning on his chest. "You still should have told me. I don't want you to feel like you can't be honest with me."

Charlotte nodded, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. "I didn't want you to be angry with me. And please don't be cross with Ezra! I told her not to tell you!"

"Ezra knows?" Tony sighed, "Why does that not surprise me?" Tony raised his hand and began smoothing a hand over her hair. "I know that you might be scared now, Bruce has been working on another cure, and I think he's almost cracked it "

"This doesn't scare me," Charlotte corrected him, flexing her fingers, watching as the deep red flowed through her veins, illuminating them; her fingertips blackened, as if charred. "It's how it makes me feel inside. That's what scares me."

"And how does it make you feel?"

"You sound like Dr. Lycett." Charlotte deadpanned, using the coping mechanism that the therapist had picked up on, in an attempt to take the edge of the conversation. "Exhausted, mostly," She sighed, her shoulders sagging slightly. "But at the same time, powerful, as if nothing can hurt me. I don't like it. It doesn't feel good."

Tony was quick to react and in one swift movement, he wrapped a warm and comforting arm around his daughter's shoulders. "Hey, it's alright. You're okay."

His words did little to comfort her; she remained visibly disturbed. "No, I'm not," she whispered, her voice trembling. "What if I become like Killian?" She whispered, more to herself. "I don't want to be like that."

Once again, her small and fragile voice had managed to rip through his chest. It reminded him just how young and afraid she actually was. She was not ready for whatever was currently happening to her, and he didn't know if she ever would be.

"Charlotte, look at me." When her gaze remained on the busy streets below, Tony pressed two fingers under her chin, and gently tilted her head making sure that she was looking at him, and only him. "You are not Aldrich Killian. What that psychopath did to you was barbaric and horrific, and I'm so sorry that you had to go that alone."

"I still killed people, dad." She whispered, once again the guilt and resent crept up her skin as she though about her victims.

"We're going to get through this, Charlie. And who knows, maybe after all of this, you can try being a normal teenager a trial run."

"Who wants to be normal?" Charlotte quipped, scrunching her nose in fake disgust.

Tony chuckled at his daughter. The father and daughter remained there for a little while longer, simply enjoying being at peace, for neither of knew exactly how long it would last.
   

༻ ❁ ༺

Upon rejoining the rest of the team back at the tower's laboratory, Charlotte made sure to stick close to her dad, not straying from his side. Tried as she might, the cautious glances and confused expressions were hard to ignore.

Her dad was staring at Ultron's wrecked suit that he had brought with them and placed on one of the desks to study it with a scowl on his face, and all Charlotte could do was watch him with anxious eyes.

"All our work is gone," Bruce states out loud, "Ultron cleared out. He used the internet as an escape hatch."

"Ultron," Steve repeated, shaking his head in disbelief.

"He's been in everything. Files, surveillances," Natasha began as she crossed her arms, "Probably knows more about us than we know about each other."

"He's in your files, he's in the internet," Rhodey says as he grips his wounded arm, "What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?"

"Nuclear codes," Maria said as she sat on a chair, picking up glass shards from her bloody feet. Charlotte cringed at the sight and decided to look at her godfather again.

"Nuclear codes," Rhodey nodded, "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."

Instantly, Charlotte thought about her mom. Her mom was in a different state at the moment, completely unaware of the events that just happened. She did not expect that her dad had told her what had happened, and to be honest, Charlotte thought that it was best kept that way

"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead," Natasha said.

"He didn't say dead," Steve cut her quickly, "He said extinct."

"He also said he killed somebody," Clint reminded everyone as he walked closer to the group.

"There wasn't anyone else in the building," Maria told him with a confused look on her face.

Charlotte's gaze steadily changed to one of dread when she realised who Ultron could've been talking about. She saw her dad stroll up to the lab's centre and confirm her fears.

"Yes, there was," Tony stated with a somber tone as suddenly a flash of yellowish-orange color appeared before them.

"U-Uncle JARVIS?" she called out tentatively, although it was more of a whisper. An expression of dejection and sadness spread onto the young teens face when the AI didn't respond immediately as he would do.

Everyone looked concerned and saddened at Charlotte, but Tony remained by her side, his eyes set hard. Bruce approached the broken holographic picture with a shocked expression as he rubbed her palm on her hand to calm her down.

"What?" he questioned to himself, "This is insane."

"JARVIS was the first line of defense. He would have shut Ultron down," Charlotte heard Steve say.

"He wasn't a soldier," she muttered through gritted teeth.

"No. Ultron would've assimilated JARVIS. This isn't strategy..."

"It's rage. Pure rage." Charlotte finished for him with a sad tone, and Bruce nodded at her, feeling sympathetic for the teen.

When Charlotte saw Thor return to the lab, marching towards her dad with a furious expression on his face, she gasped as he abruptly grabbed him by the throat and carried him into the air as if he were weightless.

"Thor, stop! Put him down!" Charlotte yelled at once, stomping towards them quickly and hitting Thor against his back. When the God didn't flinch, she planted a hefty kick against his leg, but once again, he was unaffected.

"It's going around," Clint deadpanned. Charlotte kept kicking him until Steve grabbed her firmly by the shoulders and pulled her away, afraid that she'd get hurt.

"Come on, use your words, buddy," Tony wheezed out. He quickly glanced to his side, noting something that he could use to appeal to Thor's softer side. "You're not going to do this in front of Charlie, are you?"

Thor seemed to wake up from his anger, he glanced down at Charlotte and saw her struggle against Steve while glaring at him.

"HEY! I SAID PUT HIM DOWN!" She screamed. No one dared to try to pry Thor's hands from Tony's neck but as much they were angry at the billionaire, and Bruce for that matter, they didn't accept the way the blonde was handling the situation, especially with Charlotte nearby.

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark," He sneered before letting go of Tony and watching him drop on the floor. Instantly, Steve let go of Charlotte and she ran to his side as he coughed, gently pressing his hand to his throat.

"I'm fine, honey," he whispered to her as she wrapped her arms around his middle.

But Charlotte, still angered by Thor's actions, glared at him again, "Why would you do that? I understand that you're angry, but you could have killed him!" she yelled at Thor, who recoiled at her tone.

"Charlie, it's okay. It's fine. I'm okay," Tony kept whispering, firmly pulling on her hand.

The teen continued, squaring her shoulders, "Yes, accidently creating Ultron was a stupid thing to do, but he just wanted to protect everyone. But you don't get the be angry with him, when you're brother tried to kill us all."

Thor couldn't handle her fiery eyes anymore, he was only used to her adoration and fascinated ones. He glanced ashamed to the floor as Steve approached him with a strained expression, attempting to diffuse the situation and potentially move on from the uneasy atmosphere that had swiftly swept around the room as a result of her outburst.

Sighing, Steve looked at Thor, "The Legionnaire," he commanded.

"Trail went cold about one hundred miles out, but it's headed north," Thor informed everyone before pausing, "And it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it again."

"Genie's out of that bottle," Natasha told him, still not over what he just did in front of Charlotte but trying to remain professional, "Clear and present is Ultron."

"I don't understand," Helen suddenly said as she was looking at one of the mangled suits, "You built this program," she looked at Tony while he walked up to one of the panels with Charlotte following behind, sending a look towards Thor before looking at Helen while she walked, "Why is it trying to kill us?" she questioned the genius.

Then Charlotte heard her dad do something she was not expecting, he started laughing.

Bruce, who was standing next to him, instantly started to shake his head at him, trying to stop him as he saw everyone's glares.

"Do you want him to strangle you again?" Charlotte mumbled, motioning towards the now glaring god.

"You think this is funny?" Thor asked with an angry smile.

"No?" Tony replied as he turned around, "It's probably not, right? This is very terrible. It is so terrible," Charlotte was looking at him warily as he looked at everyone, seemingly trying to hold a chuckle.

"This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand," Thor told him with a patronizing tone.

"No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, it is funny," her dad sneered as he approached the blonde. "It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."

"Tony, maybe this might not be the time," Bruce advised.

"Really?" her dad snapped as he turned to look at the scientist, "That's it? You just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls?"

"Only when I've created a murder bot," Bruce retorted with an uncomfortable look on his face.

Charlotte could feel some sympathy for the doctor, Bruce was a peaceful man and he avoided confrontations all the time.

"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?" he asked Bruce, and his answer was a simple shrug.

"Well," Steve began, cutting in, "You did something right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD," the blonde said with a scornful tone.

"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony asked everyone.

Charlotte frowned, as almost everyone rolled their eyes at that. It seems like they have forgotten she almost lost her dad that day.

"No, it's never come up," She heard her godfather sarcastically state, and Charlotte couldn't help to give him a disappointed look.

"Saved New York?"

"Never heard that," Rhodey continued.

"I remember." At the sound of Charlotte's meek voice, the group fell into a guilty silence.

Tony beckoned Charlotte by reaching out his arm towards her, and his daughter quickly extended hers and grabbed holding of his hand, both comforting each other. They have suffered because of that day, they had nightmares and Tony's PTSD and obsession with making his Iron Legion almost ruined everything he achieved with Pepper.

"Recall that?" Her dad finally continued, "A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it," he looked at everyone in the room, trying to make a point as Charlotte squeezed his hand, "We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but that up there, that's... that's the endgame," Tony then looked at Steve, "How were you guys planning on beating that?"

"Together," Steve promptly told him.

"We'll lose," her dad stated, and she didn't like what he said.

"Then we'll do that together, too," Steve continued, and Charlotte was actually pleased to hear that they were still at least considered a team. His reply was all it took to silence her dad, she watched him gaze away from Steve and pull her towards a desk with a thoughtful expression.

"Dad, are you okay?" she whispered at him, and Tony was able to nod as he brought her closer to him. His daughter was the only person keeping him calm nowadays.

"Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us," Steve continued, leading on as the commander of the team as everyone listened attentively, "The world's a big place, let's start making it smaller."

༻ ❁ ༺

The following day, Helen Cho returned to Seoul; it would be safer for her to conduct her research from there.

Charlotte wished she could help the team as well, but all she can do is sit on a desk and twiddle her thumbs as everyone searched through file after file on the computer's database, trying to see if there was any that hasn't been emptied by Ultron.

Steve entered the room, tablet in hand and a tense expression on his face. He showed the screen to Thor while Charlotte hopped from the desk to curiously know what was happening.

"What's this?" her dad asked as he approached Thor.

"A message," as Steve responded to Tony's question, Thor placed the tablet on his chest with a blunt force, which made Charlotte scowl at him. He still wasn't forgiven for his actions yesterday, "Ultron killed Strucker."

At that statement, Charlotte moved to peek at the tablet's screen but Tony elevated it higher to deny his daughter the gruesome scene.

"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us," Tony stated impishly as Bruce looked at the screen over his shoulder.

"This is a smokescreen. Why send us a message when you've just given a speech?" Natasha questioned.

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss," Steve replied.

"Yeah I bet he-" Charlotte saw Natasha try to open the files on Strucker on the computer but everything had been deleted, "Yeah," she confirmed, "Everything we had on Strucker's been erased."

"Not everything," Steve said.

Minutes later, or almost an hour, there was a bunch of boxes filled with hard copy files. The smell of paper brought Charlotte's artistic side out and she almost went to her room to draw, but she needed to focus and try to be as helpful as she could be.

"Can I help, dad?" she asked shyly as he dad opened a new box.

"Sure, if you see the name 'Strucker' just tell me, okay?" he smiled as he pushed a box towards her.

Excited to finally be part of something, she nodded and began digging in on the files. "Seriously, who keeps paper copies nowadays? What is this, the 1940s?" she threw a smirk towards Steve and even though the situation was tense, he smiled.

"Known associates," Steve said as he too, opened a box, "Baron Strucker had a lot of friends."

"Well, these people are all horrible," Bruce deadpanned as he looked at each file.

"Wait. I know that guy!" her dad suddenly said as he looked at one of the files Bruce had in hand, "Back from the day. He operates off the African coast. Black markets arms," Steve gave him a look but Tony quickly explained himself with squinted away, offended by his judgemental look, "There are conventions, all right? You meet people. I didn't sell him anything."

"You're digging yourself a hole, dad," Charlotte quipped.

Tony looked at her with a smirk and narrowed eyes before continuing, "He was talking about finding something new. A game-changer. It was all very Ahab."

Thor stared at the photo in the file and pointed at it, "This?" Charlotte saw him interested in the tattoo on the man's skin.

"Ah, it's a tattoo, I don't think he had it," Tony explained.

"Are you sure that's a tattoo? It looks weird." Charlotte pondered, looking closer at the image.

"No, those are tattoos," Thor stated as he pointed his finger at the tattoo's that were on Klaw's chest, "This is a brand," he insisted as he pointed back at the symbol.

Bruce quickly searched for the symbol on the computer, and seconds later he found a match, "Oh, yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning 'thief' in a much less friendly way," the doctor explained as he looked at the screen and then back at the group.

"What dialect?" Steve asked.

"Wakanada," Bruce stuttered as he read out, "Wakanda," he quickly corrected himself.

"If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods" Tony trailed off.

"I thought your father said he got the last of it," Steve questioned.

"What are you talking about?" Charlotte asked, confusedly.

"Vibranium, honey. Its origin can be traced back to Wakanda." Tony told her, "It's the strongest metal on Earth."

"You mean, the stuff that grandpa used to make Mr. Rogers' shield?" she asked, wondering what Ultron could possibly want with copious amounts of vibranium.

"It's also the same material I used to make your prosthetic." Tony nodded at her. "That could be why Ultron didn't want to harm you."

"You might be of use, little one."

"What did you say?" Tony quickly asked, looking down at his daughter.

Charlotte startled slightly; not realising that she had recalled the words Ulton had spoken to her aloud, she noted how all eyes were now on her.

"That's what Ultron said to me last night - that I might be useful to him," she gulped, recalling the robot's mocking tone. "Is it because of my leg, does he want the vibranium?"

"I don't know, honey." Tony answered honestly, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration and concern. Once again, he had gotten his daughter involved in something that was out of their depth.

"So," Steve sighed, eyes scanning the room, "Where is this guy now?"

༻ ❁ ༺
  

Salvage Yard
African Coast

 
Tracking Ulysses Klaue hadn't been easy without JARVIS, but her dad and Natasha were able to do it, and after three hours, they were on their way.

Charlotte had no idea she would be coming along, but her dad said that she was going to stay behind in the Quinjet with Bruce. He did not want her to remain behind in the tower alone; he couldn't risk another Ultron attack. They were expecting the Maximoff twins to be with him but Steve ordered everyone not to attack them without letting him persuade the twins to realize they were on the wrong side.

When everyone left the Quinjet towards Klaue's ship, Tony stayed behind briefly to make sure his daughter knew the plan - if there was a need for 'Code Green' which meant that Hulk was about to make an appearance, she was to hide and not make a sound and leave only when someone from the team says the 'safe now' code word.

It's been at least thirty minutes of mainly comfortable silence between Bruce and Charlotte when the doctor noticed that his earpiece was giving off a lot of static that he couldn't understand.

"Guys? Is this a code green?" he tried to confirm, but he got no answer.

As he opened the back of the Quinjet, he exchanged a troubled look with the girl and motioned for her to stay in her seat. Charlotte couldn't help but stand up and keep near Bruce as they tried to figure out what was going on as they heard gunshots coming from the abandoned ship.

"Is everything okay?" she asked the doctor.

"I don't know,"

Charlotte was becoming concerned after another five minutes had passed. She returned to the Quintjet and took an extra earpiece from the table, but all she could hear was static when she inserted it in her ear.

"Dad?" she called out as Bruce seemingly spotted some movement near the landing zone. When he walked out to see it better, his eyes widened at the recognizable Maximoff twins making their way towards them.

"Charlie!" without turning around to reveal to them that there was someone else with him, he quickly told her: "Hide, now!"

She obeyed instantly, making her way to the supply closet and locking herself inside. Seconds later she hears voices.

"Dr. Banner, yes? Big fan of you!" it was a male voice, and Charlotte notice the distinct eastern-European accent, he also sounded young.

"Be still doctor, this won't hurt," a female said this time, with the same accent flowing in her tone.

"Guys, please don–AH!" Charlotte frowned when Bruce suddenly yelled, she heard some struggle and then the silence was killing her.

Climbing onto a storage unit, Charlotte peaked through the small slats in the door; she covered her mouth when she saw a quick flash of Bruce changing into Hulk as he punched the air and circled the area. It was inevitable, but Charlotte knew this had been forced by the hands of Wanda Maximoff.

Maria Hill had explained to her Wanda could create illusions of your worst fears and control objects with her hands. This must've been part of Ultron's plan, and seeing the bewitched and rageful Hulk starting to advance towards the city nearby made Charlotte back away from the door and sit down on the counter top, her face covered.

If only she could've fought against the twins by herself. She could've saved Bruce.

"It is done, now you can rest," she heard Pietro say.

"We need to go back and wait for his instructions," Wanda stated, but Charlotte noticed that she sounded out of breath, possibly hurt.

"No! We are done with our part, we go now, you are hurt, sister!" Pietro insisted.

Charlotte then heard a quick burst of air and then there was only silence. She remained hidden in the supply closet for what felt like hours, but in reality, it was only twenty minutes.

When everyone returned, after calling out to the teen that it was safe, Charlotte helped Clint carry a dazed-looking Natasha inside and sat her down on a bench, her back hitting the wall with a hefty thump.

Both Thor and Steve appeared to be quite rattled also, but they both made sure to keep their disturbances to themselves. Minutes later, her dad showed up, carrying an unconscious Bruce while he flew, and when he landed on the ground he marched inside and placed the man on the floor, his back resting against the wall.

When Tony got out of his suit, he instantly made his way towards Charlotte and hugged her close – beyond relieved to see her safe and unharmed by either the Maximoff's or the Hulk. His main fear was that the twins got to her and that the little witch had messed with her mind as well, or worse, that Ultron planned to kidnap Charlotte for some ulterior motive. He would allow that to happen to her again, not after Killian.

Once in the air, Charlotte saw Bruce shiver while knocked out so she quickly grabbed the loo blanket from the cabinet next to the toilet and covered his exposed and sweaty torso with it – that woke him up and he was so startled by her touch that she jumped as well, scared by his sudden awakening.

"Sorry" he groaned, "Sorry, Charlie. Oh God, are you okay?" thinking he might've hurt her during his Hulking out, he reached for her arm with desperate eyes.

She sat next to him, leaning down to place her head on his shoulder, her hand lightly placed on his arm. "You didn't do anything wrong, Dr. Banner, it was Wanda. Not you. Not even Hulk."

That seemed to have comforted him a little, but Bruce was still shaken about being manipulated like that; he never could have forgiven himself if he had hurt anyone again, let along Charlotte.

Minutes later, Charlotte walked towards her dad and he smiled weakly at her, trying to remain positive. The teen however, could see that everyone had defeated looks on their faces, and she couldn't blame them.

Whatever Wanda forced them to see brought up the memories they were fighting to ignore. Tony drew his daughter in close to him and sat her on his lap, softly hugging her. Charlotte didn't even consider objecting or telling him she was too old for this; instead, she revelled in the fact that she was in the arms of the only man she will ever trust.

"The news is loving you guys. Nobody else is," Maria informed through the Quinjet's communicator as Clint flew it, "There's been no official call for Banner's arrest but it's in the air."

"The Stark Relief Foundation?" Steve prompted.

"Already on the scene," Maria replied, "How's the team?"

"Everyone's" her dad began, but then he brought Charlotte closer to himself before continuing, "We took a hit. We'll shake it off."

"Well, for now, I'd stay in stealth mode and stay away from here," Maria advised.

"So, run and hide?" her dad stated, not liking the idea.

"Until we can find Ultron, I don't have a lot else to offer," she told him with a sympathetic tone.

Tony sighed and straightened up on his seat, still letting Charlotte sit on his lap as he looked behind at the Avengers with a sad look, "Neither do we," he then turned off the communication. He gently patted Charlotte on the leg, and she took that as I sign to slide onto the bench beside him. "I need to talk with Clint. Don't worry, I'll be right back " he told his daughter before quickly kissing her head.

Tony walked up to Clint and patted the back of the pilot's seat, "Hey, you wanna switch out?" He asked good-naturedly.

"No, I'm good," Clint told him as Tony looked around the clouds, trying to point out where they were going, "You know if you and Charlie wanna get some sleep, now's a good time because we're still a few hours out," he added.

"A few hours from where?" Tony asked as Charlotte thought the same question.

"A safe house," Clint replied, a content smile on his face.