𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 || 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭

   JAXON'S SEAT ON THE HELICOPTER WAS SILENT. With the headphones he wore, he had music blasting in his ears, blocking out the sound of the howling winds of Sokovia and the rotor above. Already angry with himself for not even hesitating to help the Avengers when they clearly didn't need him. With Bruce Banner and Thor on their side, there wasn't much he could truthfully contribute.

But back in Arabia, his squad had commenced the mission without him and had been successful in taking out Abbad. Now, they were taking time off and celebrating back in London with their families and one another. He was proud. It was weird for him to have commanded a large force like that, but Harry had praised him for his success. Promising he would let him know if anything else came up for him and his task force that could use their skills.

So, it wasn't even like Jaxon could back out of this mission even if he wanted to. He was already in Russia and the tremors of combat could be felt even where he sat and was elevated. But there was something else that was gnawing at him. Ever since they entered Northern Europe and the closer they got, this gravitational pull never relented.

As of recently, he had been having dreams. They weren't complete and always fell out of place. He swears sometimes he would be awake and then see it. See her. Red hair bellowing in the desert with red wisps escaping her smooth hands. And before he would ever see her face, he would wake up. Sweating and panting like a mad man. Unlike all his prior visions, these were different. These weren't of his prior years, but ones of the present, perhaps. Maybe even ones yet to come.

Seeing the pilot lift a finger, Jaxon understood. Unstraping himself and stepping towards the edge of the helicopter. Able to see the blasts of canons and muzzle flashes from gunfire. Even Tony Stark flying through and using his repulsers.

Stepping off, Jaxon hit the ground, cracking the Earth's surface before sprinting into combat. His cloaking enabled just as he entered the battlefield. Using his knife to cut down his enemies. Taking a checkpoint that had anti-air guns. Stabbing the gunner in the throat before using his powers to lift another man and snap his neck.

Meanwhile, Natasha had been the one to take notice of the quickly depleting number of HYDRA soldiers. "Uh, guys? Are we expecting anyone?" She inquired. "I am seeing a lot less of Strucker's men than a few seconds ago."

"I called in a favour," Steve announced, hitting a soldier with his shield.

Before Natasha could pry further, she saw Clint go down by a blaster. "Clint!"

She began her sprint over but froze when seeing the familiar orange wisps float through the air and crushed the small bunkers. There had been screams of agony before they seized. Her eyes flickering a knife that came soaring past her head and embedding in a tree beside Clint. The archer flinched, especially when seeing said knife be pulled out of the tree and float for a second.

Natasha's suspicions were answered when she saw Jaxon uncloak, standing over Clint. His familiar black armour clad tightly to his body.

Jaxon grabbed the scruff and Clint's jacket, ignoring his yells of pain and leaning him against a tree. "Contact right!" Clint grunted, eyes nearly popping out of his head when the knife Jaxon used went flying through the air and stabbed into the HYDRA soldier that had been trying to sneak up on him.

But that didn't waver Jaxon's attention from the archer. "Hey, Clint. Talk to me. How you doing?"

"Well, I just got shot in the side, so, not so great," Clint said with a grunted laugh, hissing in pain.

A laugh fell from Jax's lips as grabbed a syringe from his belt and stabbed it into Clint's neck. "This'll knock the pain off for a few. Just keep yourself awake and we'll get you home, alright?" The archer nodded with controlled breaths.

"Clint's hit!" Natasha announced, sliding down to the opposite side of Jaxon. They glanced up at one another for a moment, but that was it. Just a moment until Jaxon opened up his hand.

Orange tendrils slowly escaped the palm of his hand as he looked at Natasha. "He won't feel most of it, but I need you to hold him down just in case."

She nodded, placing her hands firmly on her friend's shoulders as Jaxon placed his own hand above Clint's wound. The tendrils slowly worked and closed as much of the wound as they could. Still, Clint grunted and fought to break free as the sting was consistent.

When he was finished, Jaxon closed his hand and patted Clint's chest. "Good job, brother. Now, hold on a bit longer. I've got some stuff to do."

Standing to his feet, Jaxon made his way to leave, but Natasha caught his hand. He looked and she gave a smile. "Thank you for coming."

He wanted to smile, really, he did. But the last time they talked, he was reminded of their conversation. Of the decision, she had made and never once to think of telling him. It still hurt to think about, even now.

What he did offer was for his hand to squeeze hers before he let go. Sprinting in the direction of the castle he had seen the shields go down. Cutting down enemies that stood in his path. When a Jeep came right towards him, he was surprised by a girl jumping over him and slicing the vehicle in half, sending both pieces flying past him and into trees.

Looking back at the pieces for a moment, he looked forward to seeing a girl with abnormally large eyes and delicate features. Her arms and feet were metal that didn't seem to be any normally obtainable metal. She brushed her hair out of her face, looking at Jaxon with a squint of her eyes.

He pointed at her, looking back at the two vehicles and then back at her. "What the fuck?"

The girl smiled before sprinting deep into the forest with Jaxon left dumbfounded by what he saw. But it slowly slipped away when he saw Tony land down beside the girl, small talk is exchanged. Okay, not a bad guy, he thought before he continued his sprint towards the castle.

The closer he got, that same pull around his heart and mind grew. Even when he killed a few soldiers in his path, it always came back. Nothing he did could shake it. Not even Sam, who flew past him and towards the castle.

When he entered the castle, he went into the depths, following the pull. Since he didn't have any communication with the team, he didn't bother to let any of them know. Walking down the long and winding halls. He followed this almost invisible line to a sealed-off door where the pull vanished. Leaving him to slowly open the door and push it open.

The painful sound of the rusty hinges filled the air before he saw a cage. There were two empty ones, but the one in the middle had a child. A little girl crying silently as she was huddled in the corner. Her long black hair shrouded her features as Jaxon slowly approached, knife tight in his grasp.

That pull occurred again, but it came from behind him. Looking back, no one was there. Everything was the same as when he entered. His mind was becoming a muddied mess as grabbed the balaclava and ripped it off his head.

Please don't hurt me. Why do they hate me so much? Where is Wanda? I want Pietro.

The girl's mind was jumbled with too many thoughts for Jaxon to focus on. Deciding to carefully step closer to the cage and tap his hand on the glass. It had been enough to cause the girl to yelp and look up at him. Her icy blues eyes held fear as she watched the assassin crouch down slowly.

"Hey, kid," Jaxon said, offering a small smile. "I'm not going to hurt you, alright?"

She still seemed hesitant to trust and he didn't blame her. Opting to carefully sit down on the opposite side of the glass cage and watch the girl. And him not being like the soldiers or like Strucker, she eases the tiniest bit.

"I'm Jaxon Carter. I'm from the United States. I work for the English government," he introduced. "What's your name?"

A shaky exhale could be heard from the girl as she wiped her eyes furiously. Brushing a few strands of her hair out of her face. "Leah Rike. I want Wanda and Pietro."

"We're they here with you? Were they forced to be here by Strucker?" He inquired.

Leah shook her head. "They volunteered. They brought me along because I had no one." The little girl bit her bottom lip, eyes shimmering with a fresh set of tears. "I don't know what I did to make him so angry at me all the time. I was just defending myself."

The frailness in her body and eyes mirrored a lot of what Jaxon was used to seeing. A kid without choice or options. Much like when he was a kid. Too much-tapped potential and energy that it began to become hard to control. He didn't know what Leah had done or had to do to survive. But he knew that her pain wasn't too far from the ones he's felt. The helplessness he felt when he killed that man when he was 12. It could be seen when it came to Leah.

"Leah, I want you to know I'm not Strucker or anything like this men, okay?" Jaxon sat up on his knee. "I'm here to help you. There are people outside wanting to help as well. None of us are going to hurt you. You know why?" The girl shook her head and Jaxon smiled faintly. "Because I'm going to protect you."

It was a promise that Leah hadn't expected to hear. It was only moments ago when fate forced their paths to intertwine.  The least she expected was for him to promise her something like this. She didn't know a single thing about it, but still felt the oddest amount of security being near him.

So, when Jaxon opened the cage and held out his hand, Leah didn't hesitate to take it. But he froze when seeing ice surrounding the small position she had been sitting in. His eyes focused on the spot for a few moments before looking back down at the girl and smiling. "Let's get you someplace nice, yeah?"