CHAPTER TEN:
THE PACKAGE

"YOU WANT ME TO SIT in the jet, and do nothing?" Salem asked, cocking an eyebrow at Clint and Tony.

"Precisely." Tony nodded his head.

"Why?" Salem asked. She paused before letting out a scoff. "Is this because I was out longer than most because of what Maximoff did to me?"

"Sal, you were out for a while. I'm just trying to be cautious." Clint told the girl, Tony leaving the the two alone. Salem opened her mouth to protest but upon earning a stern look from both Clint and Natasha she shut her mouth and muttered incoherent words under her breath. Fury took Banner back to the headquarters, Tony flew to Oslo, and the rest of them entered the jet. Salem sat there, staring blankly at the floor. Steve sat across from the girl, glancing at her in slight worry. And that worry only grew when she let out a cry of pain, pressing her hands to her temple.

"Sal?" Steve quickly asked. Natasha was quick to remove herself from the co-pilots seat and rushed over to the girl that was curling into herself, her nails digging into her skin. Natasha knelt down in front of her, placing her hands on the sides of Salem's face.

"Salem, what do you see?" Natasha quickly asked. It took a minute for Salem to respond, that rapidly flashing visions mentally draining her. She let out a shaky breath, slowly removing her hands from her temples as she looked at Natasha.

"Ultron." She breathed. Natasha and Steve exchanged looks before the girl continued. "He was. . . somewhere. A lab, I think? And then. . . there was a train full of passengers. I saw the twins." She said twins with such anger and grimace it made Natasha blink in surprise. "And then. . . and then. . . there was something else. Why can't I remember? What's the point in having stupid powers where you can see visions when you can't remember what you saw two seconds later!" She snapped, frustrated.

"Hey, it's okay." Natasha assured, offering the girl a small smile. "We got what we needed, that's what matters. You did good." She gave the teenager a kiss on the top of the head. Salem just nodded her head in response, silently cursing herself for not having her powers developed to a useful extent. Natasha placed a hand on her shoulder as she walked back to her seat and Steve sat down beside of the teenager.

"Don't blame yourself for something you can't control." Steve softly spoke. Salem turned her head to look at him.

"Maybe if Nat and Clint hadn't rescued me, my powers would be of better use." Salem muttered sourly.

"You don't mean that, Sal."

"Don't I?" She asked him.

"No, you don't." Steve assured her. She thought about it for a minute, her fear flashing through her mind and making her wince slightly. She nodded her head.

"You're right, I don't."

☘︎︎☘︎︎☘︎︎☘︎︎☘︎︎

Steve gets off the quinjet and is placed on the roof of Helen's lab.  "Two minutes. Stay close." He told them. They moved the quinjet away, but made sure to keep close to Steve. They listened in on his conversation with Helen Cho.

"He's uploading himself into the body." Helen informed.

"Where?"

"The real power is inside the Cradle. The gem, its power is uncontainable. You can't just blow it up. You have to get the Cradle to Stark." Helen weakly spoke.

"I have to find it first." Steve responded.

"Go." The woman ushers.

"Did you guys copy that?" Steve asked, referring to the trio in the quinjet.

"We did." Clint nodded.

"Loud and clear." Salem assured.

"I got a private jet taking off, across town, no manifest. That could be him." Natasha suggested, looking between Clint and Salem. There was moment of silence as Clint looked around before his eyes caught something below them.

"There. It's the truck from the lab. Right above you, Cap. On the loop by the bridge. It's them. I got three with the Cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver." Clint says, readying himself to do so only for Steve to cut him off.

"Negative! If that truck crashes, the gem could level the city. We need to draw out Ultron." Steve quickly says. Salem lets out a huff, leaning herself onto Natasha's seat with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I could do so if you would let me-"

"No." Both assassins said in unison. Salem rolled her eyes before giving up and sitting on the floor in the middle of their seats. Steve was currently fighting Ultron, holding onto the back of the truck that was dragging against the road.

"Well, he's definitely unhappy! I'm gonna try and keep him that way."

"You're no match for him, Cap." Clint quickly tells the super soldier.

"Thanks, Barton." Steve sighs before going back to fighting the robot. Salem sat there with an amused look on her face as she looked up at Clint.

"That was rude." She pointed out. Clint glanced down at her before going back to looking in front of him. He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"It's the truth." Clint then looked to Natasha who was removing herself from the co-pilot seat and walking over to where her motorcycle was. The hatch opened and she looked at it with a sigh whilst Salem took her seat. Clint glanced back at Natasha whilst Salem slapped his hand away from the switch, wanting to do it herself. He rolled his eyes at the teenager before starting to countdown. "We got a window. Four, three. . . give 'em hell." Salem flicked the switch and Natasha was on the ground.

"How come she gets to take part, and I don't. She was affected too." Salem pouted. Clint looked at the girl, a stern look on his face. Salem raised her hands up in surrender. "My bad, I'll shut up now."

As Natasha drove the vehicle, she caught sight of Steve's shield and shook her head slightly before saying, "I'm always picking up after you boys." Salem let out a snicker at the comment.

"They're heading under the overpass, I've got no shot." Clint quickly says, the conversation turning serious again.

"Which way?" Natasha quizzed.

"Hard right. . . " There was a pause as he waited to give the instruction before quickly saying, "now."

Salem started to whistle as she watched the action from afar. Clint slowly turned his head to look at the girl, an eyebrow raising in amusement before he shook his head. Suddenly, Natasha's voice filled their ears again. "Clint, can you draw out the guards?"

"Let's find out." Clint said before readying himself. "Sal, buckle up." Salem quickly did so, smiling in excitement. It wasn't much action, but it was as much as she was probably going to get until she seemed fit to go back into battle to Clint and Natasha. Clint starts to fire at the guards and like he had hoped, they started to follow him. He sent the jet straight up into the air, keeping the guards on their tail until they finally realized what he was trying to do and headed back towards Natasha's direction.

"Headed back towards you. So whatever you're going to do, do it now." Clint instructed.

"Cap, I'm heading in. Can you keep him distracted?" Natasha quizzed.

"What do you think I've been doing?" Steve shot back, slightly out of breath from being thrown into the train wall. Clint and Salem watched as the package was being flown in the air. Salem cocked her head to the side as her eyebrows raised in slight amusement.

"The package is airborne. I have a clean shot." Clint informed.

"Negative. I am still in the truck."

"Nat why the hell-?" Salem started only to be cut off.

"Just be ready, I'm sending the package to you." Natasha stated. Salem unbuckled herself whilst Clint readied himself for the form of transportation.

"How do you want me to take it?"

"Uhh. . . you might wish you hadn't asked that."

"Oh lord." Salem breathed.

"I lost him! He's headed your way." Steve quickly informed.

"Nat, we gotta go." Clint quickly said. The back of the quinjet opened up and Salem prepared herself to grab hold of the package in hopes of it not sliding out. Just as the package came out with Natasha hanging onto the back of it, the truck exploded. The package landed in the jet and Salem quickly fastened it, making sure it was going anywhere, turning her head just in time to watch Natasha get grabbed.

"NAT!" Salem yelled, running to the edge of the quinjet, only for Natasha to be gone. Her panic flared inside of her chest as her eyes continued to search around for the fiery redhead.

"Sal, where's Nat?" Clint quickly asked.

"I. . . she was. . . she's gone." Salem stuttered out.

"Cap, you see Nat?" Clint asked, worry evident in his tone.

"If you have the package, get it to Stark! Go!" Steve ordered.

"Do you have eyes on Nat?" Clint repeated.

"Go!" Steve urged. Reluctantly, Clint closed the quinjet and Salem looked at him like he was insane.

"Dammit!" He cursed.

"Clint, we can't just leave her!" Salem protested, walking back up to the front. He ignored her as his fists tightened around the wheel. "Clint!" She shouted again.

"Let's get this to Stark, and we'll find her. I promise." Clint told the teenager. She looked at him for a moment before letting out a huff and reluctantly sitting back in her seat where Natasha had been sitting only moments prior.