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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

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After flying for a few hours while talking to Thor and Bruce and meeting Tony Stark, Charlie and the Avengers landed in Sokovia before going over the objective of their assignment. The young archer then followed the team of heroes out of the aircraft and into the snowy woods that surrounded the HYDRA base before getting into the back of a jeep with Clint beside her and Natasha at the wheel. Once the three of them were situated in the vehicle, the redheaded spy began to drive through the white forest as the two archers shot as many arrows as possible at the people attacking them.

Charlie tried to hide the smile that was threatening to form on her face at the sight of her arrows hitting all of their targets before she caught Thor using Mjölnir to take out a bunch of men on a tower while Steve rode by the jeep on his motorcycle. As the three of them continued to drive and take out the people who were attacking them, Hulk got in the jeep's path as he fought off his pursuers before quickly getting out of the way while Tony shot some of HYDRA's people from above.

"Get ready to jump," Natasha told the two archers in the back of the jeep, causing the younger of the two to send Clint a confused look before he responded with a simple nod. The next thing she knew, the redhead spy slammed on the brakes which made the two archers jump from the jeep with her miraculously in line with the rest of the Avengers.

After they landed on their feet and sprinted through the frozen landscape, Tony flew off toward the HYDRA base as the rest of the team continued to fight off the men on the ground. Right as the young archer landed a punch square with one of the HYDRA agent's jaws, she heard the annoying sound of metal hitting metal over the comms, causing her to wince at the loud noise right as Tony shouted "sh*t!"

"Language!" Steve called out to Iron Man, making Charlie stifle a laugh as she went back to fending off the enemy agents while the Man Out of Time continued to speak, "JARVIS, what's the view from upstairs?"

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken."

"Loki's scepter must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it," Thor announced while the young archer took in every piece of information she was just given.

As she continued to fight alongside her mentor, the information JARVIS had just given them and the God of Thunder's words finally began to sink in. A wave of excitement washed over her while she continued to work with the master archer to take out as many HYDRA agents as possible. Once the clearing they were in was mostly free of their opponents, Charlie turned around to face Clint before she shot an arrow at a man trying to sneak up behind the Barton man.

"Why didn't you tell me we were after Loki's scepter?" she asked him as they ran over one of the small hills that surrounded them to get to the next clearing.

"Would it have changed your mind about coming?" he questioned with furrowed brows while he looked over both their quivers to make sure they had enough arrows. However, when he looked up at the grin slowly forming on her face, Clint knew that the new information just added to the excitement his protégé was experiencing. "You know, this fascination you have with Loki is kinda unnerving. You remember he had my brain under his control for a few days right?"

"You know, my 'Loki fascination' wouldn't be a thing if you hadn't made me research every person you guys faced."

After receiving an eye roll from her mentor, the two archers continued to fire arrows at the HYDRA agents. Every single one of their projectiles hit its mark as Charlie listened to the Avengers talking about Loki's scepter. Even though she kept most of her attention glued to the situation at hand, she failed to contain all of the emotions she was feeling about the possibility of seeing the famed relic that the God of Mischief used.

"At long last," the God of Thunder sighed as they got closer to the building that held the scepter.

"'At long last' is lasting a little long, boys."

"Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise."

"You think," Charlie scoffed at Clint's statement as she fired an arrow at a HYDRA agent who was trying to sneak up behind him, earning a grateful look from the Barton man.

"Wait a second," Tony said, causing the young archer to tune back into the conversation happening over the calms to see if the billionaire had something important to say, "no one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language?'"

"I know," Steve grunted right as the Bridger girl heard a crash from somewhere close by, "just slipped out."

"Are they always like this?" Charlie asked Clint with a quiet sign after listening to them banter.

"Don't like the way we do things, Katniss?" Tony teased.

"Did he just call me Katniss?"

"Yeah, better get used to it," Natasha chucked.

Charlie rolled her eyes as she shot a few more arrows at the men approaching her and Clint then she followed him through the trees near a bunker and stopped behind a couple of trees. The master archer looked over at his protégé before loading an arrow and aiming it at one of the nearby bunkers. As soon as the arrow leaves his bow, he hides behind the tree and waits for his projectile to hit its mark.

When there was no sign that the arrow made it to its target, the two archers shared a confused look before Clint walled out from behind the tree to shoot another arrow. Right as he was about to let go of his bowstring, an unknown force slammed into the Barton man and threw him into the air before he landed hard on his back. Charlie simply stared at her mentor for a moment before looking out from behind the tree to see a boy who looked barely older than her staring at the man on the ground with a smirk on his face.

"You didn't see that coming?"

After the boy sent the archer another cocky grin, he sped out of sight before the blonde girl came out from behind the tree and stood back-to-back with Clint. The only sound that filled the clearing was their breathing as they loaded their bows and waited for the boy to make himself known again. Instead of the speedster showing himself, the bunker that the two archers were trying to take care of shot at them before Charlie was pushed to the ground right as she heard someone shouting in pain.

The Bridger girl looked up to find Clint wincing on the ground with his hand hovering over the spot where he was hit. However, before she could get over to him to assess his injury, Charlie saw his eyes leave hers to look at something behind her. Her blood ran cold as she slowly turned her attention away from her mentor and followed his line of vision to find the platinum-haired boy standing a few feet away from her.

The next thing she knew, he grabbed her by her collar then the world around her seemed to blur before her back slammed into something hard. Her head was spinning from the sudden change of speed before she slowly opened her eyes to find herself pinned against a tree. Charlie tried to hide the fear that wanted to escape her as she studied the boy in front of her for a long moment before he placed a hand around her neck while his other arm pushed against her chest.

"You don't look like much of a fighter," he said to her in a thick Sokovian accent.

"Funny," Charlie responded with an innocent smile as her hand managed to grab one of the tasers Natasha gave her before they left the Tower, "I was thinking the same thing about you."

The smirk on the boy's face did nothing but grow as he continued to study the girl in front of him then a quiet humming cut through the silence that surrounded him. Charlie hesitated for a moment before shoving the taser into the speedster's side. A shout passed over his lips as he took a few steps away from the blonde girl, who tightened her grip around the black object in her hand as she took a few steps away from the tree behind her.

As soon as the boy recovered, he looked back up at the young archer with anger and determination in his eyes before he sped off. Charlie's feet stayed glued to the snow-covered ground for a moment as her brain tried to comprehend what just happened. It wasn't long after that when she remembered what happened to her mentor a few minutes ago. She quickly shoved the taser back into her pocket and sprinted as fast as she could back toward Clint. When she finally reached him, she fell to her knees and skidded in the snow until she was right by his side. Her eyes scanned over the bright red mark on his side while she tried to ignore his grunts before Steve's voice filled her ears.

"We have an enhanced in the field."

"Clint and I had a run-in with one. He got hit," Charlie responded while trying to hide the panic in her voice.

Right as the words finished leaving her mouth, her ears picked up on the sound of someone approaching them. The Bridger girl instantly picked up her bow from the ground beside her and loaded an arrow. Her heart raced faster than humanly possible as she aimed her projectile in the direction of the noise, only for a wave of relief to wash over her when Natasha came running over the hill.

A quiet sigh passed over the young archer's lips while placing her bow back down on the ground right the redheaded spy kneeled down on her partner's other side. Neither of the women let a second go to waste as they began to do what they could to ease Clint's pain and stop his wound from getting any worse. While they continued to tend to the master archer, the bunker in the distance began shooting at the trio once again, causing an irritated sigh to pass over the Romanoff woman's lips as she brought her hand up to her ear.

"Somebody wanna deal with that bunker?" she said into her communicator, only for the Hulk to come running through the forest in response and smash the bunker before Natasha muttered a quick "thank you."

Charlie continued to put pressure on her mentor's side as the redheaded spy pulled out a white piece of cloth. The older agent then pulled the younger girl's hands away from the man's side before she placed the small fabric square over Clint's injury and returned the girl's hands to his side while ignoring her partner's grunts.

"What happened?" The young archer looked up at her redheaded mentor in confusion before her eyes traveled back down to Clint, whose attention was on the sky above them as he tried to cover up all the pain he was feeling in his side. When Natasha didn't receive an answer, she glanced up at the younger girl before gesturing to her neck. "You have a mark."

The girl's eyebrows furrowed as she unconsciously brought her hand up to touch her neck, only for her to flinch when she felt a slight pain before she remembered her encounter with the platinum-haired boy.

"Enhanced."

"Hate to see the other guy."

"Clint's hit pretty bad. He's gonna need an evac," Charlie told the rest of the team through the comm after sending Natasha a small smile.

As soon as they received a response, the Romanoff woman went off to find Bruce and calm him down. An unknown amount of time passed with the young archer sitting at her mentor's side and making sure his injury didn't get any worse before she heard the sound of Thor's hammer coming from above us.

"Lady Charlie. I'm here to take Barton to the jet," he told the young girl, who simply nodded in response before he carefully picked Clint up from the ground, "how will you get back?"

"I'll manage."

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