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𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝘼𝙉𝙊𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙀𝙀𝙉 𝙈𝙊𝙑𝙄𝙀.

───○☆ ✸ ☆○───

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄: The Blindspot Project

𝐏𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏 ─ 𝐆𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐁.𝐅.𝐄.

𝟐𝟒 𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔

───○☆ ✸ ☆○───

☆

Her name was Lizzie, Bucky repeated in his head.

Lizzie Carter always looked younger when she slept. Steve knew this, but for someone who had never officially met the young girl until he was stuck in a car with her, the sight of her curled into a small ball in the backseat confused Bucky—in fact, a lot about her confused him, but it also gave his mind something else to focus on. The puzzle of the small girl was one his brain could try and solve, unlike the others with missing pieces he still couldn't remember. Her being Peggy Carter's great niece he could understand, and had been able to connect that the older blonde was her sister after their disagreement under the overpass. They looked too much alike to not be. The second thing, that Steve loved the two Carter girls just as much, if not more, and in a different way than he had loved Peggy all those years ago. Perhaps some things never change.

The four of them had stopped at a gas station just outside of Berlin, which meant they were close to the airport now where they could get a plane to Siberia. Sam was taking a quick lap around the place to stretch out his legs, leaving the first moment alone between the two old friends since Bucky had woken free. Not the Winter Soldier...and rather than talk, Bucky stood silent outside of the car, leant against one of the rusty trashcans, watching Lizzie Carter's face contort into pain before relaxing again. If Steve noticed in between filling up another gas carton for the small trunk, he said nothing.

"How old is she?"

Bucky turned to look over at the man, awaiting a response. Steve's lips fell into a straight line as he glanced at her sleeping frame through the side window. "She'll be sixteen in October."

So she was thirteen when she met the Winter Soldier for the first time, Bucky calculated. Unconsciously, he clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth together as he tried his hardest to understand. He had seen child assassins as young as they can get, conditioned in the Red Room, but there was more to her. Something different, not an assassin but no longer a child. The chain underneath his burgundy shirt scalded his skin now. She had his dog-tags. That was the only reason why he hadn't killed her that day, with her frail frame completely subjected to his hand on her throat. When the gas clicked to signal it was full, Bucky blinked out of the memory and turned back to Steve.

"When did you find out about her?" he asked, careful with his questions. What he'd learned was that Steve got defensive about Lizzie, after what he observed earlier in the work mill.

"Met her a few months before..." Steve trailed off, his eyes meeting Bucky for a moment before turning back to her. A flash of emotion appeared. "I met her, Sharon, and Sam in D.C. a few weeks after I moved there. Sharon used to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. before the CIA, and her mission was me. Lizzie's was, too."

You're my mission, the Winter Soldier had said to him that day. Just before Steve caught sight of the dog-tags and thought that Lizzie was dead. The memories were never good ones for Bucky, but that one in particular made his stomach twist. Steve, however, did not show any signs of avoiding the conversation. Nor did he seem upset with the topic, or the words he'd used, while Bucky tried his hardest to imagine the then-thirteen-year-old being a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, tasked with a mission on Captain America. Steve said all of that willingly because Steve trusted Bucky. He didn't trust the Winter Soldier. Bucky didn't know if there was a difference, though.

"You called her Teenie," Steve brought up, pausing. "Do you remember..."

"I know I had a sister. I don't remember her," Bucky answered honestly, glancing down at his gloved hand for a moment. Then, he turned to Steve. "I used to call her that?"

"Yes. Her name was Rebecca."

Bucky nodded, taking the new information and storing it into his brain. He knew he had a sister, he'd been able to find that out in a biography about himself during the war. James Buchanan Barnes, whoever he had been, had a family. Friends. A life which was ripped out from underneath him. His worn eyes watched as Lizzie adjusted again in her sleep, hands making fists that he was sure would cause her palms to bleed. Something nagged him. Something that he could not yet figure out.

"I didn't understand it either, you know," Steve began slowly, coming to stand closer to Bucky but still enough distance to let him breathe. He leant against the side of the car, careful not to jostle it. "That pull toward her...to understand."

Bucky frowned. "They'll kill her."

All he saw was his hand around her throat, twice. He could only imagine what would happen to her if she had to defend herself against others like him. Others with no triggers and no distractions to play.

"She's not coming inside," Steve said, making Bucky's eyes lift in confusion. She'd come this far. "I made some calls to a few friends. I've got reinforcements meeting us at the airport but...I've spent three years trying to make calls for her, so has her sister. Never got us further than a door slammed in our faces. I stopped fighting against it when I realized it never stopped her. She'd learn how to fly a plane to us if it meant she could help."

"Sounds like someone I used to know."

The fleck of nostalgia was masked with pain soon after because the comment rolled so casually off his tongue that it must have been the part of him he didn't know anymore. Steve did, though, and he hummed in thought. "I guess. She's always reminded me of you, actually. Peggy, too...but she's got your heart."

Bucky remembered the way she moved when she fought him, the second time. There were less similarities to the girl he'd encountered three years ago. She had been trained, specially trained, and her actions mimicked her counterparts, the woman with the red hair and her sister—but there was something else in her eyes, when he'd caught her defenseless—that could not be trained. Only learned. Only experienced. He'd noticed the scars on her hands, her subtle rubbing of her left knee, as memories resurfaced in more than just her nightmares.

"Is that why she had them?"

The dog tags. Bucky couldn't forget the look on her face when he mentioned them—when she saw them—like they were more than just what saved her life that once. That still did not answer why she had them in the first place.

"Yes and no," his reply was slow, careful as he tried to find his next words. Bucky looked away from the girl and to him. "Yes, because she does remind me of you...but I also gave them to her because I knew she would honor you—she did. Now she's got mine and Sam's, but..."

But Bucky's meant something different. His neck felt hotter as the metal pressed into his skin, and he nodded once. "Can I ask another question?"

"I can't promise I'll answer it, but I'll try."

"Who's Monroe?"

Another piece of the puzzle, Bucky decided, to whatever the fifteen-year-old girl had hidden away. Steve inhaled sharply and his hands clenched together for a moment, meaning that whoever the individual was, he did not rank high in Steve's list. Their name had been a trigger for Lizzie, but he could see that its weight carried onto the shoulders of those who cared for the girl as well.

"He was Lizzie's teacher when she was inside of S.H.I.E.L.D.... that day, when I exposed HYDRA, they were together."

Bucky's brows raised. "He was HYDRA?"

"Not exactly...but enough," Steve's answers were, once again, vague as he spoke about the girl. At Bucky's awaiting silence, he continued. "He was HYDRA, but had defected once he found out what they were trying to do with Project Insight—Lizzie was on that list...so he tried to rewrite the algorithm to protect those individuals but there was a fight between them—him and MJ...she didn't walk away the same."

Bucky had never heard of Monroe, but he had heard of Project Insight and navigated through what it meant for Lizzie to be on there. Then, in all of his hazy questions, he picked up on a small slip-up from his old friend.

"MJ?"

Steve's shoulders tensed, and Bucky knew then that he had lost the privileges of any more questions. "I'm going to go pay and grab some things inside. Will you go grab Sam?"

Bucky's nose wrinkled. "I'll go pay."

The two men separated, both giving one parting look to Lizzie as she relaxed in her sleep.

───○☆ ✸ ☆○───

𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐏𝐙𝐈𝐆/𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄 𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓 ─ 𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘

Lizzie hadn't realized she fell asleep until she was jostled awake by the sound of the Beetle engine dying, somewhat surprised that they'd even managed to get in without waking her up again. Part of it discomforted her that she'd slept so heavily, but she had to excuse it for the lack of sleep she'd had in the last twenty-four hours. But, the first thing that Lizzie noticed when she woke up was that she wasn't leant against the cold, glass window anymore. She froze for a moment when she felt fabric and lifted her head slowly, blinking at the side of Sam and Steve's faces.

Then, she looked over to see that Bucky Barnes stared down at her. His metal arm had been used as a very uncomfortable pillow for her for thirty-minutes, but he was unwilling to move her even when his entire body tensed up. Steve noticed in the rear-view mirror when it happened, but didn't comment, only letting a small smile crack on his lips before he returned back to the road—Lizzie was more focused on the fact that she'd just fallen asleep on Bucky Barnes, post-brainwashed Winter Soldier. She paused, giving him a half-smile.

"Sorry," she muttered, moving her body back straight as she looked around, pulling her messy-hair out of her face. She glanced around at the airport level, and the gray van parked next to them. Her brows furrowed in confusion, just as Sam and Steve opened the doors. "Who's that?"

Steve didn't reply, just moved back the seat so that he could help her get out, and she climbed out of the metal death trap with a wince. The muffled complaints coming out of her mouth to Steve were silenced when she heard the van doors open and shut behind her, and she turned around. Instantly, her eyes widened, and she was sprinting forward just in time for Clint Barton to catch her, smiling when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a hug.

"Hey, kid. Been a while," Clint greeted endearingly, tightening his hold around Lizzie so that he could walk forward with her and shake Steve's hand. Both men glanced at Lizzie when she fell back to the ground between them, glancing over Clint's shoulder to see who else came. "Cap."

"You know I wouldn't have called if I had any other choice."

"Always," Clint nodded, catching sight of Lizzie just as she noticed Wanda. Their interaction was more subtle, Lizzie hovering over Wanda and grabbing her hand in a silent exchange of words. "You're doing me a favor. Besides, I owe a debt."

His words made Steve turn to Wanda, as well. "Thanks for having my back."

"It was time to get off my ass," she put simply, catching Lizzie's eye in return. "Can't be afraid forever."

"How's our other recruit?"

Lizzie's eyebrows raised at Steve. "'Other recruit?'"

"He's rarin' to go," Clint said, walking past the girls to slide open the side door of the van and reveal a sleeping man Lizzie had never seen before. "Had to put a little coffee in him, but...he should be good."

"What timezone is this?"

The stranger had a much ruder awakening than Lizzie, and he flinched at nearly everything when he started moving, but his demeanor didn't prove to be any kind of threat. Plus, Steve recruited him, which counted for everything in her book. When he jumped from the van and acknowledged his surroundings for the first time, Clint nudged him forward more so that he could shut the door.

"Come on."

That was when the man noticed Steve, and Lizzie's eyebrows raised in amusement when she watched the stranger transfix on who was standing before him. He shook Steve's hand, but all Lizzie saw was an inner monologue similar to the first time she met CAPTAIN AMERICA! the war-hero, turned Avenger for the first time. Except he definitely didn't pull it off like Lizzie had. The hand shake lasted significantly longer than it should have, with Steve greeting him as Lang.

"It's an honor! Wow...I'm shaking your hand too long," Lang realized, to which Steve nodded and ducked his head for a moment bashfully. He dropped his hand, freeing Steve and turning around long enough for Lizzie to shoot Steve a sneering grin. The pointed look he gave in return said all it needed to. Then, it only got better when he turned to the two girls like he couldn't believe it, pointing at Steve. "Captain America!...hey, I know you too, you're great—don't know you, but I'm sure you're great too—geez, ah..."

The outer monologue of him was just as promising, if not more, as Lizzie gave him a wide grin and nodded. When he turned back to Steve and did an awkward shoulder-grab, almost unconsciously (which Lizzie had to purse her lips to keep herself from dying right then and there). The best part was that Steve got this all the time, and he never took it well, looking between her and Sam like either one of them would offer any kind of assistance. Lizzie only gave him a thumbs-up behind Lang's back, followed by a shit-eating grin.

"...I just want to say, I know you know a lot of super-people so...thanks for thinking of me!" Lang continued, all in a single breath that felt never-ending. He wasn't finished, though, because he noticed another familiar face just behind Captain America. "Hey, man!"

Sam, still amused over the fiasco with Steve, greeted Lang. "What's up, Tic-Tac?"

"Uh, good to see you...look, what happened last time when I—"

"—it was a great audition, but it'll never happen again."

Lizzie's brows shot up, intrigued. "What happened last time?"

The question came out of natural curiosity, wondering what could have possibly happened between the man and Sam, to cause him to join in on what they were about to do. However, Steve must have noticed that the question was going to create a long, never-ending conversation between the two talkative individuals, because he decided to cut in before Lang could tell her his story with a growing excitement.

"Later," Steve said, offhandedly to Lizzie before focusing back on Lang. "They tell you what we're up against?"

"Something about some...psycho-assassins?" Lang offered.

"We're outside of the law on this one...so, if you come with us, you're a wanted man."

That particular statement caused a change in Lang, and his face fell a moment before he shrugged at Steve. "Yeah, well...what else is new?"

"We should get moving."

Clint, from behind them, spoke. "We've got a chopper lined up."

Before they could make another move, the speakers within the abandoned airport statically repeated a few phrases. Lizzie's head snapped to Wanda, but the way her face twisted meant she did not understand the German dialogue. Among the certain languages the women had started learning from one Natasha Romanoff, German was not high on her list. She'd practically cried in relief when Lizzie had been able to keep up with her maternal scolding in Russian. German? Not quite yet.

Bucky, however, had mastered that skill decades ago. "They're evacuating the airport."

"Stark..."

Sam's words sent Lizzie's heart to her stomach, eyes dropping. Lang was the only one confused by the sudden mention of the Avenger. "Stark?"

"Suit up."

───○☆ ✸ ☆○───

"Clint picked this up for you."

Lizzie looked over at Wanda as they entered the women's bathroom, noticing that there was a large duffel bag in her grasp. An exhale of relief came out of her mouth, knowing that Clint must have brought her a bow. Nothing had been scavenged from the fight at the CIA facility, so she had to hope there was something useful for her. Unfortunately, her weapon of choice was not the most convenient, which she had admittedly been working on in training. However, upon dropping the back to the ground inside of the women's bathroom, she was surprised to see more than weaponry but a bundle of clothing and boots stored underneath.

"I'm going to go change," Wanda muttered, leaving the younger girl to further inspect the bag without eyes.

Lizzie crouched down, laying the recurve bow to her side and getting out the quiver and arrows alongside it. Certain ones had different tips, which she'd realized were the trick arrows he'd been mentioning creating once-upon-a-time, while others were much simpler in their design. She pursed her lips, figuring that they weren't too dangerous otherwise he never would have given them to her. Once those were all in her quiver, she grabbed a hold of the fabric, standing up to allow the single piece to roll out so that she could see it clearly.

Then, she recognized it. The Blindspot Project.

Seeing the design physically in front of her made the moment she first saw it minuscule in comparison. A stale feeling crept up in her throat as her fingers smoothed over the black fabric, remembering that Tony was responsible. The same Tony who had insisted the uniform would not be used until she was older. The same Tony coming to take away Bucky, and Sam and Steve along with him. Her eyes burned but she bit them back with a clenched jaw, working quickly to undress herself of the clothes that she didn't mind throwing into the trashcan afterwards.

Fitting into the suit was seamless, and she let out a hum when the material reached her waist, continuing to flesh out over the rest of her body like a magnet attracting. Glancing down at her wrists, she pulled the fabric over her fingers just as something flashed on the inside of her wrist.

"Oh, no way," she muttered to herself as she inspected it.

The device reminded her of her Apple Watch, with only a minor difference being that the screen was displaying on her forearm. Curiosity getting the better of her, she pressed the first system pre-set. She paused, pursing her lips in suspense as she waiting for something to happen. However, nothing did. At least, she didn't think anything had until Wanda came from the stall and her eyes widened upon seeing Lizzie.

Lizzie blinked at her then to her suit. "What? Do I look bad?"

"Your hair," was all Wanda replied.

In confusion, Lizzie walked a few feet until she was standing in front of the long horizontal mirror. A startled sound came out of her when she saw her reflection, finally realizing what the first button did. Her dark brown hair had been replaced with a bright red, more vibrant than the Black Widow's, and yet still Lizzie could see herself clearly through the color. Going to run her hands through it, she had another surprise when the color... (glitched? Lizzie didn't even know how to describe it, but it was cool).

Wanda watched as it happened, her lips thinning into a straight line. "Stark Technology."

Lizzie noticed the change of her expression and turned her back to the mirror, stepping closer to Wanda and softening her features. "Are you okay?"

"Are you?"

The question made Lizzie falter. She frowned, refusing to meet Wanda's eyes as she trained them on the duffel bag on the floor. "I guess we can answer it another day. For what it's worth..." she paused, finding her eyes once again. "I'm glad you're by my side."

"And I am glad to know you have my back," Wanda replied, and the genuineness within her words made Lizzie melt at the comfort she'd been desperately needing from someone. The older woman pursed her lips before glancing over her head. "We should get back to them. Figure out where he wants us to go...the man, is he the one who did this?"

Her question was followed by a direct look to Lizzie's throat. Lizzie's jaw clenched again and went to her throat instantly, turning to her right to look in the mirror again. There was a clear imprint of a hand bruised into her skin, identical to the one that took weeks to fully heal before. They had only gotten worse over time, and she reached down to the neckline of her collar to zip it up and hide them. Not only for her own piece of mind, but because she had seen Bucky's eyes when he noticed the injury back in the warehouse. She couldn't put him through the sight of it either.

"Not him," Lizzie denied, shaking her head softly. Another sensitive subject to the enhanced human next to her. "Who HYDRA made him."

Wanda understood that. She understood that in a way that very few people could, just as she understood it was Steve who took the chance on her. Perhaps he saw something in her, just like he did in Bucky. Whatever that was held enough weight for so many people to follow behind him, Lizzie and herself being only two.

They followed one another out of the bathroom to see all of the men in their respective suits, both glancing briefly at Lang given that he was the only one they had yet to see. As they got closer, Lizzie noticed the varying looks on the mens' faces as they took in her new appearance. Sam grinned, nodding in approval as he noticed the small details in her suit. Clint's eyes stayed on her hair. Bucky, to her surprise, looked uncomfortable with the sight of her, but she noticed the way his eyes lingered on her covered throat.

Then, Lizzie turned to Steve, awaiting further instruction. His thoughts were far away, and a lump had formed in his throat when he inspected every inch of Lizzie from head-to-toe in a uniform fit for the Avengers. Everything, from the red hair down to the bow strapped to her back, exuded a difference that he wasn't sure he was ever ready to see in his MJ—but he could see her brown eyes waiting for his approval, waiting for his okay, and he wished desperately that Sharon was standing next to him. He knew the feeling did not linger far from Lizzie either.

"Looks like everyone is ready," Steve said, but never broke eye contact with MJ. She smiled softly, and he watched her relax into her position, crossing her arms over her chest. "Here's the plan..."

───○☆ ✸ ☆○───

"I like the red."

"Thanks."

"Better be careful. People will start calling you Baby Widow."

Lizzie's lips tilted into a small smile, looking his way. "Just a little bit of all of you at this point, aren't I?"

"Looks like it," he said, giving her a knowing ghost of smile. His eyes were focused on hers in a way that she didn't enjoy; Clint always hit the bullseye when it came to her thoughts. "Clear your head before you aim. What's going on?"

Lizzie's teeth sunk down on her lower lip to catch herself in the act of breaking down. She broke eye contact, immediately surveying her surroundings from the highest point of the airport to see the entire field. In her mind, she had mapped out where every individual was. Wanda's presence only a floor below could almost be felt, as both girls kept their composure under the pressure.

"Sharon didn't want me to go with her," came out first. How could it not, when Lizzie had been biting away at that last conversation like it would disappear if she tried hard enough? "And I've not been apart from her in three years, and the idea of her being off somewhere without me is eating me alive right now. Aunt Peggy is gone, and I've got this emptiness in my gut from losing her that scares me...Steve and Sam are on the news to protect the same man that tried to kill me three years ago...and I'm protecting him, too—because I know that's what's right, Clint. I don't know why, but I see him...I understand him...and I'm trying to come to terms with whatever happens next, but I know I'm going to lose. I don't know how yet, but I'm going to lose something...and I'm trying not to compare all of this to when S.H.I.E.L.D. fell apart."

Air felt like it was returning to her lungs as she talked. She talked, and she talked, and she could not help but shudder once as she finished with the haunting memory of what happened to her in D.C.. Clint remained quiet throughout, but he listened to everything that went said and unsaid in Lizzie's admission. When the man did not say anything back, the teenage girl turned to him with a glimmer of tears in her eyes.

"I can do this, right?"

He never doubted her for a second. "You can, Lizzie. You always have been able to, but now...now it means more. Now you have something to fight for."

She breathed out at his confidence in her. Not only did his words ease her, but the lack of doubt in his expression. Lizzie knew the nonverbal queues of a person, and while a trained spy could easily challenge that, Clint knew when to give into his emotions. What she needed was to see what he couldn't tell her aloud. The older man gave her another encouraging nod before he grabbed the bow she'd leant against the cement building.

"C'mon, Blindspot. You've got backs to watch."

The name flared a new fire inside of her veins, and she glanced down at the bow before taking it in her hands. The finger gloves built into her suit had just enough grip against the bow that it felt right—in a way she'd never quite managed to perfect while in practice, and she took one parting look at Clint before they separated and turned on their comms. Not too far from one another, but enough distance that they could not quickly save the other from a close combat fight.

"Everyone in position?" came through her ear, and a wave of calm settled in her body at the sound of Steve's voice. Although, the voice was stronger, performed in a way that made her back straighten soon after and her body to curl against the side of the roof to make sure she had a good angle of the entire floor. No longer was it her Steve, but Captain America, and Lizzie knew this as she heard echoes of confirmation from the others. "MJ?"

Her mouth twitched into a smirk as she noticed the man finally, many floors below her on the bottom level. The paternal use of her nickname was her Steve, something that slipped through his character as he tried to find her up top. When he finally did, she noticed the bodily relief fall off his shoulders for a split second before he had raised his guard once again.

"I'm in position, Cap," she emphasized his name like a child would embarrass their parent, unwilling to let the small moment between them go to waste. There was a small sigh on the other end from him in response.

Clint, however, had been the one to end the lighthearted moment when he noticed something coming through the air. "Heads up. Might want to make that run now."

Steve didn't think twice on the instruction, jogging toward the chopper in the center of the tarmac only to be stopped when an electrode was shot through the air onto the chopper. Lizzie's arm went down instinctually when she saw the suits of Iron Man and War Machine, her bow shifted to the side as her brain refused it's target. If Clint noticed from across the way, he did not say anything about it. Instead, they were left with a muted response from Tony through Steve's earpiece and the next call from Captain America.

Lizzie felt sick.

"Here me out, Tony. That doctor—the psychiatrist—he's behind all of this."

Lizzie's bow was raised and aimed much faster than she anticipated when there was movement to the right of Steve, and she didn't falter her arm that time even after recognizing the new attendee. Clint let out a sound through her ear, a complaint at the new face already causing him upset. "Who's that guy?"

"Son of T'Chaka," she replied, glancing over at Clint with a frown. "His father died in the bombing. He wants to kill Bucky."

"Oh, great."

They turned their heads back to the conversation when Tony's voice could be heard through the comms again. "Anyway, Ross gave me thirty-six hours to bring you in. That was twenty-four hours ago. Can you help a brother out?"

"You're after the wrong guy," Steve said, and Lizzie had to give it to the man for maintaining an air of confidence that she simply couldn't understand. Part of her heart swelled with pride, but the other crumbled to piece at the sight of Tony on the receiving end of such a look.

Tony did not have the same kind of pride at Steve's response. Instead, his nostrils flared with anger. "Your judgement is askew. Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday."

"And there are five more super soldiers just like him. I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't."

Clint sucked in a deep breath when he saw Natasha come into frame, and despite himself, trained his arrow in the direction of his partner. Lizzie shuffled again, her brows furrowing as she tried to refocus herself the way he had. No, she had not been expecting this. None of them had. "Steve...you know what's about to happen. Do you really want to punch your way out of this one?"

"Alright...I've run out of patience. Underoos!"

Lizzie shot up to her feet from her crouch when another figure emerged, her dominant eye training on them in the sky as they flew over Steve's body. Only when they landed on one of the tarmac equipment did she realize that, not only had the person stolen Steve's shield from his hand, but that the person was SPIDER-MAN.

Immediately, a rush of hot anger clipped her. The urge to throw her bow down and cup her hands to shout profanities at Tony Stark almost won, had it not been for the fact that she then noticed Steve's hands confined—by the Spider-Thing's webs. She chomped back at the growls under her throat at both Tony for being a frustrating, irritating human and at the new attendee's stupid spiderwebs. Seriously? He called Spider-Man?!

"Nice one, kid."

"Thanks! Well...I could've stuck the landing a little better. It's just, the new suit—well, it's nothing, Mr. Stark. It's—it's perfect, thank you..."

Lizzie bristled at the statements coming from the boy, who she knew from Tony was a teenager, but stopped halfway through her temper tantrum. She tilted to the direction of the comms in her ear, wishing that she could hear the voices of the others better—because there was something in the grainy, muffled sounds that was familiar to her.

Tony shook his head at Spider-Man. "Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation."

"Okay..." Lizzie glowered as she watched him turn to Steve, waving a hand awkwardly in his direction while still gripping his shield. "Cap—Captain. Big fan. I'm Spider-Man."

"Yeah, we'll talk about it later. Just..."

The Spider-Thing wasn't finished. "Hey, everyone..."

"—good job."

Steve remained level with the situation, his hands still trapped in front of him. "You've been busy."

"And you've been a complete idiot," Tony hissed in reply, fully focused on the conversation once again. "Dragging in Clint. 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place...I mean, come on, now you've got the kid running from the law? What happened to protecting her? I'm trying to keep...I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."

The outburst that came from Tony had Lizzie's fingers aching against her bow because she could hear the desperation in his voice. He mentioned her, which meant he knew she was there. Of course he knew she was there. Where else would she be? If Lizzie had given herself a second to think about his words, she may have slipped up—considered just what it meant when Tony said that the Avengers were being torn apart—but Lizzie couldn't think about that right now. Not when she was watching it happen. Not when she knew which side she had to be on. So Lizzie kept her eye on Steve, the string resting just past her mouth and waiting for the word.

"You did that when you signed."

"Alright, We're done. You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us. Now. Because it's us! Or a squad of J-SOC guys...with no compunction about being impolite. Come on."

Suddenly, Sam's voice could be heard in Lizzie's ear. "We found it. Their Quinjet's in hanger five, north runway."

Steve's arms raised high up in the air, and Lizzie's arrow soared directly through the webbing that he'd been caught in. She took a small step back when she noticed the eyes dart in her direction, unable to see all of the faces of those who knew her well from so far away. The end goal was to get to the hanger, though. At Steve's call for Lang, there was suddenly an attack to Spider-Man that launched him backwards and sent Steve's shield flying.

"I believe this is yours, Captain America," Lang said, moving to stand next to Steve to hand him his shield back.

That was when Lizzie realized that the attack had been Lang—quite literally—turning from the size of a Tic-Tic to his usual height. Now she understood the nickname Sam gave him. Lizzie, comfortable taking her eye off Steve now, threw her bow over her shoulder before she began her run through the parking garage to get to the hanger. Her legs burned as she ran, grateful for the traction on her boots when she slid down the railing of the stairs to descend faster, catching herself at the end just before she tumbled.

She could hear the fighting of the others in her ear, but her mind had already focused on mapping out the direction to the hanger. After another floor, she paused when she heard the loud sounds of running just behind her. Maneuvering her bow over her shoulder, she set her feet and paused when she noticed what was happening as the exclaims of Sam and Bucky rang through her ears the closer they got.

"Hey, buddy, I think you lost this!"

Lizzie's eyes widened when she saw the fight come into focus. Spider-Man had thrown back half of the debris Bucky meant to hit him with, denting one of the pillars and nearly taking the man's head off had he not dodged out of the way. Coming flying in a second later was Sam, going for Spider-Man only for him to swing away and dodge the attack.

Then, Spider-Man was falling and a shout came out of his mouth. "Hey, what the—"

Hawkeye? He looked up to see that his web had been sliced through, and he turned around to find the person behind it only to be knocked in his chest by Sam. Lizzie was met face-to-face with Bucky, eyes widening in shock when he lurched forward to grab her waist as Sam crashed through a newspaper stand. They stumbled back, both crashing to their sides but Bucky was back to fighting just as Sam stood up again with a now-defective wing. Lizzie pushed herself back up, stayed behind the situation while Sam got confined at the wrists against the glass staircase.

"Those wings carbon fiber?"

Sam gaped at him, baffled as he glanced at his wrists. "Is this stuff comin' outta you?"

"That would explain the rigidity-flexibility ratio, which—I gotta say—that's awesome, man..." Lizzie paused as she grabbed another arrow, listening to the teenage boy as he talked.

Sam didn't care as much about what he was saying. "I don't know if you've ever been in a fight before, but there's usually not this much talking..."

"Alright, sorry, my bad."

Lizzie's hand let go of the string the same moment Bucky ran in the line of fire. As Spider-Man webbed toward Sam, Bucky threw himself in front of the man and sent them flying through the glass and down a floor. However, Spider-Man's web was once again cut, sending all three of the men falling to the ground in a heap of groans. Spider-Man had the quickest response, and he jumped up, webs flying underneath him to trap the hands of Sam and Bucky—then he felt a blow to his ribs.

Choking out a gasp, Spider-Man turned around, only to be blocked of his vision by a quick flash of red. Black Widow? Wasn't she on his team? He thought as his hands went forward to grip the woman's arm, blindly twisting them around and sending her knees-first into the ground. "Hey, hey, hey—let's talk about this—"

Before he could finish, something latched onto him and he was being dragged away through the window. Lizzie stood up with a wince, wringing out her arm. The Spider-Thing may not look strong, but he'd gotten a good pull out of her limb. Only when she started walking toward the ledge did she realize her knee had taken some damage too, and she hissed out. That didn't deter her from peering off the side to see Sam and Bucky laying next to one another, both looking incredibly miserable.

"Don't say a damn word, Red Riding Hood," Sam shot up at her the moment their eyes locked, noticing the way her mouth started to form a sarcastic line at their current situation.

The line only came from a worse contender. "You couldn't have done that earlier?"

"I hate you."

Lizzie scoffed at the two men, moving with a mild limp of her knee toward the steps. There was the faint sound of her sliding down the railing before she hopped off with her dominant leg, reaching down for a knife in her thigh holster to throw over at Bucky. He'd caught it without a problem, and she grabbed another to free Sam of his restraints. A sound of disgust fell from her lips when she touched the webbing, resisting the urge to gag as it got stuck to her fingers and she wiped it annoyingly on Sam's shoulder.

"God, I hate Spiders. I can't believe Tony called in the spider-flinging teenager that I told him about in the first place, like he can take all the credit for it, and then have him fight against us,"she grumbled out as she freed one of Sam's hands, handing him the knife to do the other. "And the kid has the audacity to sit there and talk about carbon fiber and rigidity-flexibility like we're having a class presentat—"

Lizzie stopping her rant as she fixed her quiver back onto her shoulder made Sam and Bucky look up from freeing themselves. Mixed emotions ran through Lizzie's face, one after another, and then her eyes widened with what Sam called catastrophic rage. His mouth opened and then closed when she turned to them, glancing down at her wrist. Sam's brown eyes rose up in surprise when there was a slight glitch in her red hair, just before a black covering appeared over her face. Disguising her more.

"Get up. I need to go hit Tony with a plane."

Sam huffed out as he ripped his other hand free. "Yeah, that's the plan here, Blindspot."

The three of them moved in a triangular fashion, with both men in front of Lizzie as she took the flank. Trusting their guidance, they were down to the ground level and headed in the direction of the hanger when they saw Steve ahead of them. Then, she noticed the others, and relief sprang on her. At the sound of familiar footsteps running in his direction, Steve turned his head to see Lizzie. Most importantly, was that she was with Sam and Bucky.

"Come on!" he urged.

The Quinjet was in sight, and Lizzie knew that the burning in her knee would put her a few paces behind the super-soldiers, so she was grateful that Wanda and Clint remained on either side of her. That was, until they all had to face an abrupt stop when Vision appeared and sent a straight beam through the ground—creating a divide. Separating them. So this was it.

"Captain Rogers...I know you believe what you are doing is right, but for the collective good, you must surrender now."

There could not have been a more heartbreaking sight for Lizzie than to see half of the Avengers standing across from her, as if they were her enemy. Clint must have seen her expression falter because he withdrew his bow, moving over a few paces so that he was closer to her. Still, his support did not make it any easier to see them. Not even when she wanted to throw something at Tony for what he had done—because he knew. He had to have known, for months. The thought brought her eyes over to Spider-Man (Spider-MAN, Lizzie wanted to scoff) momentarily, her jaw loosening.

"What do we do, Cap?" Sam asked, waiting for the call.

Steve's next words sealed their fate. "We fight."

Lizzie's hands flexed and she withdrew her bow, sparing a glance at Wanda who nodded in her direction. They were running behind Captain America's lead, and in Lizzie's hopes and dreams, this was not how things played out. Not with her friends on the other side, as she skidded to a stop behind the close-contact fighters. Wanda remained at her side, with Lizzie's first trick arrow already nocked. The arrow was sent in WarMachine's direction, and she ignored the sting in her heart as she quickly nocked another and watched Wanda focus in on Spider-Man. He continued to swing through the air, avoiding the cars, only to nearly land on the asphalt when his web was cut again and he yelped out.

Before Lizzie could wonder where he landed, Wanda had left her side and then her bow was being ripped out of her hand. She reacted quickly, dipping low and sending her leg out to swipe them off their feet. Only, she realized who her opponent was and stood back up straight when Tony evaded her hit by flying a few feet above her. Instantly, she glared at him, something that he could still see through the disguise.

"Seriously, Tony?!" she shouted, fury burning in her lungs as she took another step forward. He assumed the wrong move, and Lizzie grabbed her bow in one hand, her foot kicking out against one of the repulser engines to hopefully malfunction it. "I was the one who told you about him—I WAS THE ONE WHO SHOWED YOU THE VIDEO — and you told me for months you didn't know who he was! You weren't...even...going...to...tell...me...!"

The words were separated in breaths as she continued to attack him, although the efforts were more like a parent stopping their child's painless fists against his suit. She stopped when she needed to catch her breath, flaring her nostrils and huffing a piece of red hair out of her face.

Tony winced, holding his hand up. "Listen, I know you're upset with me—"

"Oh, you have no idea how upset I am right now," she answered coldly, burning every ounce of that hot feeling into his skin. She clenched her jaw, stepping back from him. "I talked to you about him—I told you about that stupid project—and you had EVERY opportunity—"

"It wasn't my secret to tell."

Lizzie's blinked at him, a wash of tears from her anger burning her eyes, and she scoffed. "But you'll let him come here? Let him fight in something he doesn't even understand—that you won't even take the time to listen to—no...whatever you need to tell yourself, go ahead."

"M—"

Tony didn't get the opportunity to respond before Lizzie had expertly pulled an arrow from her quiver and nocked it. He'd realized his mistake of letting her step away, and before he could protest, a dull arrow was lodged into the center of his chest with a force that set him halfway across the tarmac. She didn't take the time to look at where he ended up, already focused on her next task. Quickly, she scanned across the tarmac to see where she was needed. Panic rose in her chest when she hadn't found Steve yet, darting past another transport vehicle before she saw where he was.

"Steve!" she shouted, just as she sent an arrow in his direction.

The arrows cut through the two pairs of webs restraining him, and he lunged forward to grab a hold of his fallen shield while Spider-Man shouted out an "Aw, man, not again!" and darted to find out where she was. He moved his arm in her direction to try and send a web her way, only for Steve's shield to fly in his direction before he could. Unfortunately, Spider-Man still had a leg on them, so the shield only ended up skidding to a stop. Lizzie and Steve shared another look before she nodded, raising one of the trick arrows (she didn't know what this one did) in Spider-Man's direction while Steve went for his shield.

"Hey!" came from Spider-Man, sat atop one of the jet bridges, his eyes directly on her. "Want to stop shooting me down?"

Lizzie's lip twitched into a smirk against the string of her bow. "Sorry! Don't like spiders!"

The arrow was sent at his feet, and maybe Lizzie did that on purpose, but the action seemed effective enough when half of the jet bridge was blown off. Okay, so maybe Clint did trust her with dangerous ones. Spider-Man had just enough time to jump forward, landing on another part and looking over at the debris with widened-eyes in his mask. Steve ended up close to her, his shield in hand, as the two of them watched what the Spider-Boy's next move would be. God, Lizzie can't believe she raised a plant with him.

"Stark tell you anything else?" Steve asked.

Lizzie awaited his response, looking at Steve again for his queue. "That you're wrong. You think you're right...and that makes you dangerous."

Spider-Man attached his webs to the top of the jet bridge before swinging below it, and Lizzie would have shot him down again had he not sent a stream of web in her direction, attaching itself to the hand on her bow. She let out a protest just as Steve sent a hard kick to the boy's chest, sending him flying into one of the support beams of the bridge.

"Guess he had a point," Steve said with a sigh, then he turned to look at Lizzie with a flash of concern. "You okay?"

She gagged as she tried to pull apart the webs. "Oh, my god. I'm going to throw up—"

Spider-Man had just started rising to his feet when Steve's shield hit the support beam he'd just crashed into. The remaining (undamaged) part of the bridge fell, and Lizzie stopped trying to free herself to watch Spider-Man hold up the weight on his own. Steve was already at her side, his fingers prying through the tight restraints to free her, careful with the string of her bow in doing so. All while doing this, Spider-Man watched the exchange with a heave, unable to move.

"You've got heart, kid," were Steve's next words as he finished freeing MJ, his hand grasping her wrist a moment longer to squeeze it reassuringly. Then, he turned back to Spider-Man. "Where're you from?"

Spider-Man couldn't get out the words but Lizzie already knew, so she answered for him instead. "Queens."

Steve hadn't turned nearly as fast as Spider-Man had, a gasp escaping his mouth. "How did you—"

"Go," Lizzie said to Steve, urging him with her head. He hesitated, and she gave him a look. "You promised."

You can't let me be a weakness for you. The words stung against the cool air, but neither had the time to grieve over a situation as it happened. Lizzie knew that. She'd known that since she dragged Carson's body across another tarmac, blind to whether or not her sister's best friend would even live. Steve must have seen the clear direction in her face because he took off with one parting nod in her direction.

"We've got to go," Lizzie heard Bucky's voice through her intercom soon after, her eyes staying trained on Spider-Man as he tried to figure out a way to escape. "That guy's probably in Siberia by now."

Steve's response came next. "We've got to draw out the flyers. I'll take Vision. You get to the jet."

"No!" Sam's shout pierced her ear drum, and she winced. Glancing up, she saw the man soar through the air just above her with War Machine close behind. "You get to the jet! Both of you. The rest of us aren't getting out of here."

Lizzie froze.

"As much as I hate to admit it, if we're going to win this one, some of us are going to have to lose it," Clint, this time. Lizzie's teeth clenched together so tightly as she gripped her bow, fingers noticeably whiter.

Sam's next words were what brought her back. "This isn't the real fight, Steve."

"Steve..." Lizzie could barely recognize her own voice now, hoarse and distant, as she watched Spider-Man's eyes narrow in on what he could use to get out. She nocked another arrow, but her focus remained on Steve. "Steve, you need to go. We'll be okay."

I'll be okay, she was telling him. Even if she didn't know that, she could say it with every ounce of conviction so that he would believe her. Spider-Man's web was sent to another support beam near her, and he pulled himself free just as the jet bridge came thundering down where he once was. The boy ducked into a roll, and Lizzie threw her bow back over her shoulder.

"Alright," was heard in her ear from Steve, and she couldn't focus on what that meant. She had to watch Spider-Man stand up, his attention now on her and her alone. "Sam, what's the play?"

"We need a diversion," he replied. "Something big."

Lizzie struggled to split her attention. Spider-Man and her seemed to be having a standoff, neither one of them willing to make the first move, so they watched one another. His masked eyes narrowed on her. "Who are you?"

"You know the answer to that," she answered matter-of-factly, which she knew would distract the boy. It did, and he stood up from his crouch. "What? Don't recognize me?"

"I'm sorry, miss—ma'am...I don't...I have no idea who you are."

Lizzie would have answered him had a loud commotion not stopped them both in their tracks. Spider-Man turned around, his first mistake of turning his back to the enemy, and Lizzie would have scoffed at him had she not been FULLY distracted herself with the giant man now standing in the center of the tarmac.

"Holy shit!" Spider-Man's exclaim carried through the air.

Lizzie's was no better. "What in the hell is that? Lang?!"

"I guess that's the signal," Steve could be heard after her.

Spider-Man turned back to look at her, trying his hardest to figure out who the girl was under the disguise. Neither of them were allowed the opportunity to share any more words when they both glanced up to see Sam sending a firm kick to Tony's chest just as Rhodey was thrown from the BIG-LANG!'s grip. Spider-Man was off after that, calling to grab War Machine, while Lizzie quickly moved back to the center of the tarmac to try and find her team. Her team.

Clint was the first person she spotted, a few hundred feet or so from her, but her line of sight was soon blocked by a car flying into her vision. Then, a very large and red foot stomped onto the ground, only a few feet from taking her along with it. "LANG! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE STEPPING!"

"Sorry!" he called back down to her sheepishly, and she let out a huff in exasperation before she looked to her left and saw a high set of stairs that were missing the rest of the parts connecting it to the tunnel.

Jogging over to them, she climbed her way to the top and realized where her vantage point put her. Across the tarmac, she could see Clint fighting T'Challa and quickly nocked the trick arrow with red lining around it. "Clint, drop!" was heard in the man's ear, and his body reacted on instinct, dropping to the ground and watching his opponent catch the arrow wizzing toward him. Only that was the intention, and Clint saw the Widow Bite encompass the man's defenses and stagger him.

Clint looked over his shoulder to find her. "Nice shot, kid."

"Something just flew in me!"

Lang's horrified exclaim made both of the archers look up to see that Vision was on the other side, and they had to watch helplessly as he sent a beam of energy through one of the towers near the hanger that Steve and Bucky were running toward. An exclaim broke from Lizzie's mouth and she nearly toppled off the top stair leading to a hard ground—but then she saw Wanda. The woman struggled to hold up the collapse on her own, and Lizzie's hand was stretched for another arrow in her quiver when she noticed Rhodey coming for Wanda. But her quiver was empty.

"Wanda, look out!" she shouted, only for Wanda to be hit with a sonic energy from Rhodey that made everyone in the vicinity clutch at their ears. That included Lizzie. She realized her mistake when her feet were no longer on solid ground, but instead falling off the side of the tall stairs.

Then, she wasn't. Lizzie let out a startled yelp when hands wrapped around her waist, securing her tightly in their grasp. She'd only realized who caught her when she heard the sound of the web attaching to something. Lizzie stared with wide eyes at Spider-Man, the boy matching the same look as he awkwardly dropped his arm from her body and stepped away like she was on fire.

"Saving the enemy?" she breathed out once she had gotten her heart to work properly again.

Although she could not see his face, his features showed how he paused. "Are you? You know...the enemy?"

"I know my fight. Do you know yours?" she asked him honestly. Then she glanced over when she heard the sound of Clint shouting for her. Already walking backwards, aware that she didn't have any more arrows, she sent him a small smile. "Thanks."

"Wait! What's your name?"

She raised her arms as she shrugged, still backing away. "We're not that close, partner!"

Clint's hands were on her arms, checking for any bodily harm before she'd even realized he was in front of her. He looked like hell, doing her own evaluation of his injuries. They looked up when they heard the sound of BIG LANG! hitting the ground, rumbling the Earth around him enough that Clint's hands tightened on her biceps and she reached for his forearms to stable one another. The two of them watched the man transform back into his normal state of matter just as a Quinjet soared over their heads.

Lizzie let out a heavy sigh in relief. "They got out."

"Not yet—do you have any more arrows?" Clint asked, his eyes traveling behind her back to her quiver and frowning. "Fights over for us, then. We've got to trust Sam."

They watched with minimal visual on anything that was happening in the air. What Lizzie could make out was a direct line of Avengers following the Quinjet, with Tony in lead and then Rhodey behind him. Sam tailed them, trying his best to get them off of Steve and Bucky's route—but then another familiar beam of energy was cast into the air from Vision.

Then someone was falling. "Rhodey!"

The name may have been screamed from Lizzie's mouth, or perhaps it was someone else, but the weight gave out on her bad knee. Clint dropped with her, taking most of the pressure off before she crumbled, and they both stared into the clearing as Tony and Sam finally reached Rhodey. Lizzie's heart had been spit up, and the panic rising in her chest could not be fixed by Clint's consolations. He muttered to her as he tried his hardest to get a response from Sam, but the man had not given any update on Rhodey's condition. They were in the dark. So he tried his best to hold onto Lizzie in the absence of Steve and Sharon, only blinking once in surprise when the red hair and face covering fell from her appearance like a broken system.

Another body stumbled into Lizzie's peripheral vision. She put her palm to the ground, leaning away from Clint and met her tearful eyes with Peter Parker across the tarmac. His mask had slipped off halfway, and hers was now gone. All of the color drained off Peter Parker's face when he recognized who the red-headed girl he'd been fighting was.

Lizzie. Freaking. Carter.

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Author's Note:

Enjoy 10K of Civil War!

I am exhausted after writing (basically the whole movie) the airport scene, and this has taken an eternity. I will not bore you with a long author's note. With that said, PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS! WE GOT THE MOMENT. WE GOT MOMENT(S).

There's a lot of different character dynamics represented in this chapter between Lizzie and the others. ALL very crucial to her journey...and whether she knows it or not, an end to her little family over the years. But she has officially started her new journey as Blindspot. Plus, she 100% connected the dots about Peter. C'mom, it's Lizzie.

Let me know what you thought about this chapter! Only one more chapter of Civil War.