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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟐
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘

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After leading the Twins into the locker room, Charlie sent them to the room with the Avengers' extra supplies. She watched them walk into the room before she made her way over to the locker with her suit and gear. The younger archer finished getting ready by slipping on a jacket over her suit and placing a full quiver of arrows on her back. Just as she was about to head out to get the Maximoff siblings, her eyes landed on a red leather jacket that Natasha gave her before this whole mess started. A small smile made its way onto her face as she grabbed the jacket and headed to the room where the Twins were.

The Barton girl was only three steps into the room when she came to a sudden stop. Charlie was taken aback by the sight of the shirtless speedster grabbing a pair of running shoes from the top shelf. She just stood there for longer than she intended to before she took a small step to the side and knocked an entire shelf over. Her cheeks turned as red as a tomato as Pietro and Wanda turned around to face her before a smirk formed on Pietro's face.

"Just came to see if you were ready," the archer told them while trying not to fumble over her words before she held the red leather jacket out to Wanda, "I also wanted to give this to you."

The Maximoff boy's smirk stayed plastered onto his face as he watched his sister take the article of clothing. A small smile instantly appeared on Wanda's face before she thanked Charlie for the jacket and slipped it over her shoulders. It wasn't long after that when the Barton girl noticed the chain around the telekinetic's neck with a single dog tag hanging from the end. Charlie's eyes stayed glued to the simple piece of jewelry before she glanced over at Pietro to find an identical one hanging from his neck.

"What are your dog tags for?" the archer asked, causing them both to freeze before they looked down at the end of their chains.

"HYDRA gave them to us," the brunette girl explained while unconsciously wrapping her hand around the tag, "we're so used to wearing them that we forgot to take them off."

"Why would you take them off?" Charlie questioned, making the Maximoff twins look up at her with confused looks on their faces, only to find the Barton girl smiling back at them, "it's a reminder of the past you overcame."

After sharing another smile with the Twins, the sound of Clint's voice calling out to them cut through the silence before they heard him say it was time for them to go. When the two girls began to make their way out of the room, Pietro quickly stopped Charlie before telling Wanda they'd be out in a moment. His eyes followed his sister until she was out of sight then he looked back at the Barton girl with a worried look on his face.

"You'll be careful?"

"I'll do my best," the archer told him while scanning over every inch of his face. Silence filled the room as the two of them continued to stare at each other before a small smile formed on Charlie's face. "We should probably go."

"Wait," he responded after grabbing her wrist when she turned to leave. The Barton girl sent the Maximoff boy a confused look as he stared back at her with uncertainty in his eyes before he opened his mouth to speak, "after this...would you want to...hang out?"

Charlie just stared at him for a moment before her heart started to beat at a rapid rate when his question registered in her head. An anxious look slowly appeared on Pietro's face as he studied the blank expression the Barton girl was wearing until it transformed into a small grin. "Sounds like a plan."

"I look forward to it."

The speedster surprised the archer by placing a gentle kiss on her cheek. The grin on Charlie's face did nothing but grow as they turned around to head to the Quinjet, only to find Clint standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and an unamused look on his face. Before the Barton man had a chance to speak, Pietro sent Charlie a sheepish grin then sped out of the room. The young archer fought back a laugh at the boy's antics until her eyes landed on her annoyed-looking father once again.

"So, you and the Maximoff boy," the master archer said as continued to stare at his daughter before letting out a dramatically long sigh, "look, I'm not gonna tell you what to do because you're an adult and you wouldn't listen to me anyway. Just be careful. I don't trust him."

"Thank you," the young archer told her father before a mischievous look appeared in her eyes, "and I'm not surprised. It takes a lot to gain your trust."

After receiving an eye roll from her father, Charlie let out a laugh then the two of them walked out of the locker room and towards the jet. While Clint went to sit with Bruce, his daughter sat in one of the seats across from them and next to Pietro. Silence filled the Quinjet as it took off before the Avengers along with their three young allies were on their way to Sokovia.

"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire. And that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia...they didn't," Steve told his team, breaking the stillness that surrounded them and drawing everyone's attention to him, "so our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace. And that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done. We find out what Ultron's been building, we find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we're monsters. That we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."

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As soon as they landed, everyone raced out of the jet to begin their assigned tasks. Bruce instantly went to search the city for Natasha while Thor flew off to look for any sign of Ultron's plan and the rest of the team cleared the city. Pietro sped off to warn as many people as possible at the same time Wanda used her mental manipulation to get people out of their houses. While the Maximoff siblings continued to use their abilities for the good of Sokovia, Charlie followed her father towards a nearby building. The archers quickly made their way into the first room they saw and ushered the civilians out then repeated this action until the floor was clear. Once they were sure there was no one left on the level they were on, they ran as fast as they could upstairs and performed the evacuation again.

A half-hour passed of them evacuating the Sokovians before the building they were in was finally clear. The archers quickly checked every story once more to make sure they didn't miss anyone before they proceeded back outside. However, right as their feet came in contact with the nearest road, screams cut the air and made them stop in their tracks.

Charlie's entire body froze as she looked up to see Ultron's army take to the sky. The father-daughter duo quickly fired their arrows at every robot they saw as Wanda continued to try to get people off of the bridge they were on. The Barton girl launched an arrow at a metal man behind Clint before her eyes flashed to Wanda after seeing her get hit by one of the robot's repulsors. The young archer didn't hesitate to rush to cover the telekinetic while the latter brushed off the attack and got back to her feet.

As soon as the Maximoff girl fully recovered from the attack, the world below them began to shake. The sudden movement caused the surrounding buildings to crumble before the screams of the Sokovians filled the air. Charlie exchanged a quick glance with her father while the brunette girl at her side looked around at her home country in utter confusion and terror.

"Do you see the beauty of it? The inevitability. You rise, only to fall," Ultron's voice emitted from all the robots that surrounded the trio. The blonde girl's eyes never left the metal man that was closest to them as she loaded an arrow onto her bow before knocking it out of the sky. As soon as it crashed onto the stone ground, another red-eyed machine took its place and continued to transmit its leader's message. "You, Avengers, you are my meteor. My swift and terrible sword. And the Earth will crack with the weight of your failures. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal."

As soon as his voice vanished from the air, the robots went back to attacking and chasing down innocent civilians. Charlie resumed firing her projectiles as quickly as she could while Wanda hesitantly used her red mist on the metal men. The Barton girl stayed by the Maximoff girl's side and took out as many of their mechanical opponents as she could before Steve's voice came through their comms.

"Stark, you worry about bringing this city back down safely," the Man Out of Time ordered the flying man then proceeded to address his other allies, "the rest of us have one job, tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt them back. You get killed, walk it off."

The last statement caused Charlie to stop firing her arrows before she glanced over at her father, only to find him already staring back at her. A moment of them studying each other before Clint sent his daughter a small nod, causing the latter to send him a smile in response. After letting out a long sigh, the Barton girl turned her full attention back to the situation at hand and took out as many robots as possible.

The two archers ran through the streets of Sokovia and continued to launch their arrows at the oncoming enemy while Wanda hesitantly used her abilities. This went on for what felt like an eternity to the heroes before the telekinetic stopped in the middle of the street and began to avoid all action. Before Charlie even had a chance to call out to the Maximoff girl, Clint grabbed both girls' wrists and pushed them towards a building. As soon as they were close enough, the Barton man forced them to jump through a window and onto the cement floor. Charlie sat beside her father in the abandoned building and tried to regain her bearings while Wanda began to have what looked like a panic attack.

"How could I let this happen?" Wanda muttered as she crawled closer to the wall right, causing both of the Bartons to turn their attention to her.

"Hey, hey, you okay?" Clint asked while Charlie continued to watch the brunette girl with worry in her eyes.

"This is all our fault."

"Hey, look at me. It's your fault, it's everyone's fault. Who cares? Are you up for this? Are you?" the Barton man told her, making the Maximoff girl meet his gaze while his daughter watched their interaction in silence, "look, I just need to know. Because the city is flying. Okay. Look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and Charlie and I have bows and arrows. None of this makes sense."

The master archer was cut off by a couple of projectiles from Ultron's army coming through the wall they were closest to. While Wanda and Clint ducked away from the unexpected drywall flying at them, Charlie quickly loaded her bow and shot at the metal man through the holes in the wall. Once they knew the robots weren't going to attack them again, the Barton man turned his attention back to the Maximoff girl and continued to speak.

"But we're going back out there because it's our jobs. Okay? And we can't do our jobs and babysit. It doesn't matter what you did or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. Stay in here, you're good. I'll send your brother to come find you. But if you step out that door, you're an Avenger."

Charlie turned her attention away from Wanda and to her father after hearing the last part of his speech to find him glancing over at her. The father-daughter duo just stared at each other for a moment before they looked back at the brunette girl, who continued to stare blankly at them. A sigh passed over Clint's lips as he got to his feet and loaded his bow before looking back down at his daughter.

"We gotta go, Charlie," he told her as he walked over to the door.

As soon as her father was out of sight, the Barton girl gave Wanda an encouraging smile before she followed the master archer out of the destroyed building and back into the chaos.

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