It was a lot colder in Sokovia than Elizabeth thought it would be. All she could see for miles on end was just snow upon snow. Usually, she would find the cold nice or even comforting. Just not now, when she was using most of her energy to punch some bad guys.

"Did no one think to tell me it would be this cold?" She asked through the comms system in her ear as she fought off three HYDRA agents at once. All she had on was a thin long sleeved grey shirt and a pair of cargo pants.

"I did say Sokovia," Tony Stark said through the radio as she watched him fly over head in his red and gold suit. Turning around, she ducked just as a punch was sent to her head. Frowning at the agent, she focused on putting him asleep. "Did you not think it was gonna be cold?"

"I bet I wouldn't be cold if I had a suit like Nat and Clint," She muttered distastefully as she put four oncoming agents unconscious with a small thought. No mater how many time she'd asked Tony for a cool suit he'd brush her off and say it was 'in progress.'

From above Tony cursed as he knocked into the force field that was put up around the HYDRA base. "Shit!" The man exclaimed over the radio.

"Language," Steve warned carefully. "Jarvis, what's the view from upstairs?" He asked the AI as he dragged an agent through the dirt while riding on his motorcycle. Elizabeth had to hold in her laugh as she carried on with her job.

From behind her, she heard someone land with a loud 'thud' on the ground. Elizabeth turned to kick an agent away form her before sending him flying back with a blast if energy. Looking up, Thor stood opposite her with his usual hammer in hand.

He sent her a small wave before continuing on with their job. The two fought side by side as more and more agents came up to them. Elizabeth had to make sure to narrowly avoid his flying hammer every now and then.

"The central building if protected by some kind of energy shield," the mechanical voice of Jarvis came in through their ears. "Struckers technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken."

Elizabeth brought a group of agents down to their knees with pain before knocking them out. "Loki's scepter must be here," Thor said as his hammer flew past her face, making her hair ruffle slightly from the wind. "Strucker couldn't mount this kind of defence without it."

Clint Barton's voice came in from the other end as the sound of gunshots became more evident. "Sadly, I think we've lost the element of surprise." The archer pulled back the string of his bow before firing it.

"Wait a minute," Elizabeth grabbed everyones attention just as Thor shoved someone her way for her to blast in the chest. "Is no one gonna talk about the fact that Cap just said language?" She asked between her heavy breathes as she continued to fight.

"Finally," Tony exclaimed and they could all hear the smirk in his voice. "Someone who's got their priorities straight."

Steve let out an exaggerated sigh as he flipped his bike over, sending the vehicle flying into a jeep full of HYDRA agents. "I know," he muttered with a shake of his head. Sometimes, Elizabeth and Tony were a worse pair than her and Sam when it came to relentless teasing. "It just slipped out."

Suddenly, there was loud grunt of pain over the radio. "Clint!" They heard Natasha exclaim as she ran towards her partner. Looking at the large piece of missing flesh on his hip, she winced involuntarily. "Clint's been hit. Can someone deal with that bunker." There was the a roar and the sound of some smashing coming from Hulk. Soon, the shooting stopped, followed by a small 'thank you' from Natasha.

Steve's voice came in through the intercom. "There's an enhanced on the field," he informed them.

Thor and Elizabeth shared a wary look at the news. "Well, there is two of us." Thor motioned between the two of them with his hammer. Without looking behind him, he knocked one end of the hammer into the oncoming agents head. "We can take them," he said confidently.

"Hell yeah we can," Elizabeth agreed with a wide smile, Thor's confidence surging through her own body. "We're the dream team," she added as the two shared a grin before they got back to work.

"Stark," Elizabeth heard Steve say as she blasted two agents into a tree opposite her. "We really need to get inside," he urged the billionaire to speed up the process of taking down the shield on the building.

"We're getting there soon, old man." Tony replied as Steve sighed in annoyance at the nickname. And as he said, after a couple of minutes, Tony announced their small triumph. "The drawbridge is down, people."

Thor and Elizabeth looked around them to see a pile of agents scattered on the ground. Either knocked out cold or just in too much pain to get back up. The two looked around at their work proudly.

"Dream team!" Thor cheered as he held his hand out for a high five. Thor was always a nice person to be around. While he may have his bad moods, especially after the loss of his brother and mother, he always managed to cheer her up with his happy mood.

Smiling at him, Elizabeth slapped his hand with hers. "Where'd you learn that big guy?" She asked knowing that someone must've thought the god the small gesture.

"An old friend of mine, Darcy." Thor explained as he recalled the day she had thought him the move. "Took a while for me to do it soft enough not to hurt you fragile humans."

She raised an eyebrow at him and scoffed lightly. "Okay, reel in the insults there." They both laughed quietly until the sound of crunching snow under a pair of boots became evident to them.

Steve jogged up the the pair with his shield in hand. He stopped beside Elizabeth as she asked him a question. "What's the word on the enhanced?"

"He's a blur," Steve answered as the two listened intently. "Of all the new players we've faced, I've never seen this."

"Clint is hit pretty bad guys," Natasha voice came on the other end of the radio. "We're gonna need to evac."

"How you doing, Clint?" Elizabeth asked grimly. "You need me to help?" Over the course of the missions she'd been on with the avengers, sometimes when the pain got too bad for them she'd come and try to take it away from them. Or even split it between the two to give them less discomfort.

"Nah," his answer came over the radio in a strained voice. "I'm good, you go help Cap."

The trio watched as a tank and a whole new group of HYDRA agents approached them cautiously. "I can take Barton back to the jet. The sooner we're gone the better," Thor offered while Steve nodded in agreement. "You two help Stark secure the scepter."

"You got it," Elizabeth noted with a nod of her head. Watching as the tank and small army of agents line up, she tilted her head.

Thor scoffed as he readjusted his grip on the hammer. "Looks like they're lining up," he observed in amusement.

"Well, they're excited." Steve said as he got into position. He knelt down and positioned his shield above his head.

Elizbeth sighed already knowing where this was headed. She made a move to stand behind Steve, deciding that they had it under control. Thor moved to stand in front of Steve, facing the shield. "You ready for it?" He asked Elizabeth excitedly before bringing his hammer down onto the shield with full force, creating a quick line of lighting. Proceeding to knock down the agents and split the tank in two.

Steve and Thor stood up to their full height as Elizabeth rolled her eyes at them. "Boys," she mumbled with a shake of her head. "So dramatic."

Thor looked at the two as he spun his hammer around in his hand. "Find the scepter," he told them before taking off into the sky, leaving a burnt pattern into the ground where he stood.

"And for gosh sakes, watch your language!" Tony's voice chimes in as Elizabeth laughed.

Steve shook his head as his gaze stayed on the snow covered ground. "That's not going away anytime soon," he sighed out before the two made their way toward the building in the distance.

***

"Baron Strucker," Steve mused as he and Elizabeth came face to face with the man. Steve and her had found their way into the building after some work. "HYDRA's number one thug," he continued as the three circled each other.

"Well technically, I'm a thug for SHIELD," the German corrected in an attempt to cover up his fear from the two.

Elizabeth smirked at him, "Then, technically you're unemployed." She reminded him of the fall of SHIELD.

"Where is Loki's scepter?" Steve asked, getting straight to the point. The helmet that he once wore was now discarded along the way.

Strucker noticed the blue hue from Elizabeth's hands, a sign that she was ready to attack and raised his own hands up slightly. "Don't worry, I know when I'm beat." He told the two. "I'm sure you'll mention to the judge that I cooperated?"

"Yeah, of course." Elizabeth said sarcastically. "We'll put it right under illegal human experimentation," she fake smiled at the man.

"How many more are there?" Steve asked just as Elizabeth realised there was a forth person in the room.

She sensed the anticipation and nervousness of the person too late. "Steve-" she had begun to warn him but was cut short when he got knocked backwards and down the stairs by a red force.

Elizabeth looked up to find the source but was met with a hard force to her chest, throwing her into the nearby wall. She looked up  just in time to see the figure of a young girl retreat back into the shadows. She groaned in pain as she readjusted her shoulders, making sure nothing was broken.

"We have a second enhanced," Steve told the rest of the team over the intercoms as he stuck a hand out to help Elizabeth up. "Female, do not engage."

Feelin smug at his small victory, Baron Strucker smirked at the Captain. "You'll have to be faster than that to-" He never got to finished as Steve knocked him out with a quick blow to his head with his shield.

"About time you did that," Elizabeth commented as Steve turned to look at her. "I was getting annoyed."

He bent down and picked up his shield. "Guys," he announced to the rest of the team through the radio. "We got Strucker."

"Yeah?" Tony's voice came through, "I bet I've got something bigger."

It was silent for a moment as Elizabeth and Steve looked at each other, both wondering what Tony had found. "Thor," his voice came in once more. "I've got eyes on the prize," Tony informed them that he has found the scepter.

"Alright," Steve began as he glanced back down at the man on the ground. "The extraction team will be here to pick up  Strucker. The rest of us will meet back on the jet."

Elizabeth and Steve made their way out of the building after making sure Strucker wouldn't be able to escape anytime soon. They walked through the snowy forest at a pace that was comfortable for the two, too tired to full on sprint back to the jet.

"We could've used your bike right about now," Elizabeth told Steve with a light laugh that echoed around the trees.

***

"You sure he's gonna be okay?" Natasha asked Dr. Helen Cho as she over looked Clint's treatment.

Elizabeth stood opposite Natasha as she looked down at Clint. "Yeah," She agreed unsurely. "Pretending to need this guy really brings the team together." she joked as Clint sent a friendly smile her way.

Clint sat in a small cradle of sorts, just big enough to fit his whole body inside. The cradle worked in a way that it'd create tissue solely for the purpose of patching people up.

Helen Cho looked up from her tablet at the two. "There's no possibility of deterioration," she explained briefly. "The nano-molecular function is instantaneous. His cells don't know they're bonding with simulacra."

Bruce Banner entered the room with his lab coat on. "She's creating tissue," he simplified for Natasha and Clint.

"He's flat-lining," Tony announced his presence loudly as he came into the room with two trays of smoothies. "Call it. Time?" He joked while handing out smoothies to everyone. Elizabeth took her drink with a quick thanks.

"No, no. I'm gonna live forever." Clint protested while taking a drink from Tony. "I'm gonna be made of plastic."

Dr. Cho laughed in amusement at their antics. "You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton." She corrected, "Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference."

"I don't have a girlfriend," Clint said in between sips of his drink.

"Yikes," Elizabeth drawled out. "I don't think she can help with that."

Dr. Cho motioned toward her work with an open arm. "This is the next thing, Tony." She said proudly. "Your clunky metal suits are gonna be left in the dust."

"Well, that is the plan." Tony agreed as he leaned back on one of the tables. "And Helen, I expect to see you at the part tomorrow night."

Helen Cho gave Tony an exasperated look. "Unlike you, I don't have time for parties," she said the word distastefully. But then after a short moment, she seemed to reconsider her answer. "Wil Thor be there?"

"You bet," Elizabeth replied with a grin. Helen nodded her head, deciding that she was gonna attend the party after all.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Tony leave the room quietly. Needing to talk to the man alone, she excused herself from the room and walked towards him.

"Tony," she called out his name as they both entered his lab. The man stopped his fast strides and spun on his heel to face her.

"Hey, Lizzie." When he realised it was her he relaxed slightly. "You are staying for the party too, right?"

Elizabeth thought for a moment, thinking of Bucky. She was sure he wouldn't worry if she were gone for just an extra day. "Yeah, of course." Elizabeth started. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it then?" Tony asked as he swiped through the holographic screens her had. "Need more movie recommendations? I've got a lot for you, ever seen The Hurt Locker?" He looked at her through the screen.

Elizabeth scrunched her nose up at his words. "Who do you think I am? Of course I've seen the hurt locker." She made her way to one of the empty tables as she spoke. She hauled herself up and sat on the table, her legs swinging back and forth.

"But I was gonna ask you if you were okay," She revealed her reason for chasing after him in the first place. At her words, Tony's hands stopped moving on the screen for a split second before continuing back up.

"Of course I am," he lied straight through his teeth. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, "Your emotions have been acting up all day."

Tony cursed himself for forgetting that that was one of her powers. It was so subtle that sometimes you'd forget she could do that. He sighed once he remembered she could probably feel everything he was feeling in that moment.

It was true, Elizabeth was keeping a close eye on his emotions. Ever since Tony boarded the Quinnjet after getting Loki's scepter, his emotions have been completely haywire. He was constantly scared and frustrated. As if he was trying so hard to solve a problem that desperately needed solving.

Elizabeth had tried her best to calm him down whenever she could. But he was so bothered by whatever it was that is was beginning to get to her as well. Plus, she was worried about him. She knew he had a bad history with anxiety anyway.

"It's nothing," Tony tried to cover it up. "Really, I'm fine."

Elizabeth scoffed at his words, "I call bullshit."

"You know, if Cap were here, he would be very mad at your choice of words." Tony avoided her questions and his own feeling the way he usually would, with humour.

Elizabeth hopped off the table and walked to stand in front of him. The only thing separating them was the holographic screen. "Come on," she pried. "What's going on in that big brain of yours?"

"It's just, that girl, the Maximoff. She made me see some stuff, I guess." Tony began to tell her. Deciding that if there was anyone that he'd trust with his problems, it was her. "Some stuff I really don't wanna see come true."

He took a deep breathe before continuing, avoiding her gaze. "So I've decided to do something to fix it," he told her with determination clear in his voice.

Looking a him she smiled in support. "Alright," she finally said. Already noting how his mood had lifted ever so slightly since telling her. "You gonna do something about it?" Tony nodded his head slowly as his confirmation.

"Well then that's all that matters," she told him happily once she saw how he'd stopped feeling so anxious but more determined.