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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟎
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐖𝐊𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐍

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Once she finished changing into her suit that Clint brought from the Avengers Facility, Charlie grabbed her bow and quiver from the Bug's trunk. She followed her father and Wanda through the empty parking lot to get a birds-eye view of the situation while Steve went down to confront Tony. When they got to a place where they could see everything going on, the archer spotted Rhodey standing with the Stark man before Natasha and the king of Wakanda made themselves known.

The Barton girl's eyes stayed glued onto the Man Out of Time as he had an inaudible conversation with the billionaire then the Iron Man shouted something that she barely missed. Before she could even try to register what he said, she caught a red blur out of the corner of her eye. The next thing she knew a spiderweb grabbed Steve's shield at the same moment another one tied the super-soldier's wrists together. Shock flowed through Charlie's veins as she looked away from Steve just in time to see Peter land on a car near the group of heroes.

"You have got to be kidding me. How the h*ll did Tony find him?" Charlie mumbled under her breath as she rubbed her hand down the side of her face.

"Who's that?" Clint asked before he and Wanda looked over at the young archer.

"That's the kid I've been training for about a year."

"Then he's all yours."

Charlie sent her father a quick nod while letting out a sigh and sprinting in the direction that Sam and Bucky went after watching Peter swing off that way. A million thoughts swam through her head about everything she would say to Tony about bringing a teenager into this fight as she raced through the empty parking lot. She had access to a teen hero but she and her father made sure Alex stayed far away from this mess.

As soon as she reached her destination, Charlie's eyes landed on Peter as he fought against both the Falcon and the Winter Soldier while easily maintaining his ground. An unexpected wave of pride washed over the Barton girl after she watched the boy knock the two men through one of the glass railings before webbing them to the floor. The Barton girl soon made herself known by shooting one of her flash arrows a few feet away from him after the Parker boy had a small self-celebration. Peter let out a surprised shout while he stumbled away from the bright light.

"Hey, Spidey!" the archer called out, drawing the boy's attention to her as she made her way over to him with a stun arrow loaded onto her bow, "what the h*ll do you think you're doing?"

"Oh, hey, Lottie," he responded in a nonchalant tone as if they just ran into each other at the supermarket.

"You know this kid?" Sam questioned with a hint of irritation in his voice while he and Bucky watched the pair's interaction.

"Long story," Charlie answered before her eyes turned into slits as she glared at the teen in front of her.

The next thing she knew, Peter lunged at her after muttering an apology under his breath. The Barton girl dodged his punches and his attempt to web her feet to the floor before she managed to fire her arrow. Her projectile stunned the boy just as he landed a punch to her stomach, causing both of them to stumble back. One of Charlie's feet slipped off the balcony where Sam and Bucky broke the railing, only for Peter to grab her wrist to prevent her from falling off the ledge. Once she regained her footing, the Sparrow surprised Spider-Man when she landed a punch to his stomach before he doubled over while keeping his eyes glued on hers.

"You shouldn't be here. This isn't your fight," Charlie said as he took in a deep breath and stood up to his full height.

"From what Mr. Stark told me, it isn't yours either," Peter responded before he aimed his web shooter at the Barton girl once again. Just as he was about to press the trigger, Redwing came out of nowhere and took the string of web meant for Charlie. Before Peter could fully comprehend what just happened, the flying machine carried him through a window and out of the building.

"You couldn't have done that earlier?" Bucky grumbled while he tried to get out of the white strings that had him trapped on the floor.

After Sam muttered what she assumed was an insult under his breath, Charlie let out a laugh as a small smile made its way onto her face at the sight of the two men trying to free themselves. They both sent the girl a glare, which only made her laugh harder before she jumped down from the balcony and landed in front of them. Their eyes stayed on her as she used one of her arrows to cut them loose then they made their way out of the building.

As soon as they reunited with the rest of their team, Charlie grabbed a few more arrows from her father's quiver before they ran alongside everyone toward the Quinjet. Just as the hanger came into view, a blast of yellow light came out of nowhere and burned a line in the concrete a few feet in front of them. The Barton girl stumbled back to avoid getting hit while everyone else around her came to a graceful stop.

"Captain Rogers," Vision called out to the Man Out of Time, drawing their attention to the sky as he flew closer to them, "I know you believe what you're doing is right. But for the collective good...you must surrender now."

He landed next to Tony, Rhodey, and Natasha once he finished speaking to block the path to the jet. While they waited for the other heroes to make the first move, T'Challa and Peter appeared out of nowhere and joined them. A wave of irritation washed over Charlie as she stared at the Parker boy. It wasn't long after that when her eyes traveled to the Stark man, who seemed to be staring right back at her.

"What do we do, Cap?" Sam asked while keeping his eyes glued to the six heroes standing in front of them.

"We fight," Steve responded as he took one last look at his former allies before sprinting toward them.

As soon as they saw them moving, the opposing team matched their pace. Those who could fly on both sides got into the air while the rest of them picked up their speed. Just as Charlie loaded two more arrows onto my bow, the teams crashed together and fought whoever was in front of us. To her dismay, the Barton girl ended up going against Peter once again.

After dodging a few of his attacks and receiving a few kicks and punches to her upper body, Charlie kicked him in the side before punching him in the stomach a few times. Guilt flowed through her veins as she watched him stumble back a few feet after her fist landed in his chest. While she let him regain his bearings, the archer glanced back to the rest of the heroes to find that the two of them ended up a good distance away from the rest of the Avengers.

"Still don't think I should be here?" the Parker boy questioned, drawing Charlie's attention back to him to find him in a fighting stance to show her he wasn't backing down.

"This isn't a game, Peter! Did you ever stop to think about who you were fighting?!" the Barton girl shouted without thinking as her grip tightened around the handle of her bow while she stared at the white marks on his face where his eyes should be, "you're up against a flying veteran, a telekinetic, a shrinking man, a World War II vet turned-assassin, a master archer, and Captain America!"

"Mr. Stark thinks I can handle it," the boy responded so quickly that made her think he didn't stop to listen to her words.

"Stark was just looking for someone to even the odds."

"So you don't think I'm good enough."

Anger flooded through her veins as she continued to stare at Peter before she lunged at him and knocked him to the ground. The two of them rolled on the ground a few times while landing punches they knew they'd regret later before Charlie managed to pin him. The sounds of distant fighting surrounded them as they glared at each other for a long moment then the Barton girl felt herself calm down enough to speak.

"If I thought you weren't good enough, I wouldn't have offered to train you a year ago," she hissed as he continued to watch her in silence before Charlie let out an irritated sigh, "but this isn't your fight, Pete. You shouldn't have to play a role in this. You're fifteen. You should be worried about local bank robbers while keeping up with homework, not fighting against people who could seriously hurt you if they wanted to."

Before he could respond, a force came out of nowhere and knocked Charlie off of Peter, sending her tumbling a few feet away. The Barton girl looked back to where the teen was after getting to her feet to see Tony helping Peter off the floor. Irritation replaced the anger flooding through her veins as she watched the billionaire mutter something inaudible to the Parker boy. Once the Stark man finished whatever he had to say, Peter swung away and left the archer alone with the Iron Man.

"Why would you bring him into this?" Charlie questioned as she aimed a stun arrow at the power source of his suit, "how did you even know about him?"

"I keep track of what my teammates are doing," Tony responded, not even fazed by the projectile pointed at him.

"You really didn't have anyone else to use? He's fifteen and just started being Spider-Man a year ago!"

"I have faith in him."

"So do I! I've believed in that kid from the moment I met him! That doesn't mean I'd bring him to a fight that could get him killed!"

"I really am sorry," he told her as he aimed one of his repulsors at her, "for everything."

Her body froze as she watched the light in the hand of his suit get brighter. After letting out a shaky breath, Charlie closed her eyes and mentally prepared herself for the paralysis to come. Just as she heard the sound of his suit fully powering up, the Barton girl felt a pair of arms pick her up bridal style before a rush of wind surrounded her. When the breeze came to a complete stop, whoever was carrying the archer placed her back on her feet.

A wave of confusion washed over her as Charlie slowly opened her eyes to find herself on the other side of the airport. After managing to comprehend what had happened, the Barton girl slowly turned around to find Pietro standing a good distance away from her.

"This isn't real," the blonde muttered as panic began to pulse through her veins while she continued to stare into the blue eyes of the speedster, "Tony must have hit me and now I'm in some kind of dream state. This isn't real."

Charlie's eyes stayed glued to the Maximoff boy as he continued to stand unmoving by the other wall of the alleyway. Fear kept flowing through the girl's veins while the hallucination watched her with a look on his face that made it seem like he was trying to find the right words to say. But the Barton girl knew nothing would come out of his mouth. This scenario had played over and over in Charlie's head with always the same outcome.

Without fully thinking about her actions, the archer loaded an arrow onto her bow and aimed it directly at the speedster. The blank look on the blonde's face turned to confusion as he slowly rose his hands in the air before he got a pleading look in his eyes.

"You're not real," Charlie repeated in an attempt to convince herself to snap out of whatever game her mind was trying to play, "you're just in my head! You're dead! I saw you die! You're not real!"

A hint of realization flashed across his face before Pietro looked over to where Wanda was fighting. After staring at his sister for a short moment, the Maximoff boy turned his attention back to Charlie before he took a step forward, only for her to take a step back. A new wave of emotion flowed over the Barton girl's body as the grip on her bow tightened again just as Wanda's voice filled her head.

"Charlotte, don't! I see him! He's there!" she exclaimed, causing the archer to become ice as she tried to take in the telekinetic's words, only for her brain to become more fogged up with confusion.

"Charlie, listen to me," Bucky's strangely calm voice came through the comms, making the Barton girl silently wish she turned off her earpiece, "you're not crazy. It's not in your head. He's real."

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