Pacing back and forth in the hanger bay, Charlie was listening carefully to what was happening on the ground below her through the comms. She was desperate to get off the hellicarrier and join the avengers. To join her fathers.
"Did these guys seriously think that they actually stood a chance against us? This supposed fight is easier than Nat's warm up for training!" Tony's voice rang in her ears.
"If it's so easy, let me off the damn hellicarrier so I can get my hands dirty!" Charlie exclaimed to one of her fathers.
"Charlie, don't use that tone with your father," Steve reprimanded the teenager.
"Sorry dad, sorry papa," she apologised.
"Charlie, I still don't like the thought of you being down here and in harm's way," Steve started to explain.
"Papa, please! You guys promised!" Charlie moaned.
"Sweetheart, we just don't want anything to happen to you," Tony supplied with a grunt as took down another target.
"Dad, I've been training for this pretty much my entire life. Nothing will happen. At some point, you have to cut the umbilical cord and let me make my own decisions, my own mistakes. I need to learn how to fight my own fights. Dad, Papa, I know you only want to protect me, and I love you both for that. However at some point you have to let me grow up. I'm nearly 18, I'm a trained assassin. I can do this. Please, let me prove to you that I can take care of myself," Charlie pleaded her case. Everyone was quiet over the comms for a few moments. Partly to take in Charlie's words, and partly to focus on some of the targets that were still trying and failing to make any headway with their efforts against the avengers.
"Dads..?" Charlie probed, looking for some kind of acknowledgement.
"The lady has a point guys. She's not a child anymore. The training wheels have to come off at some point," Clint defended Charlie. "Give her a shot. We are all here to watch out for her. There is no real danger here, and if that were to change, she would be the first one back on the hellicarrier. She's right though. She is trained for this kind of thing, but there is only so much you can learn from simulations and sparring with a Demi-God."
Down on the street, Steve and Tony locked eyes across the fallen bodies of some of their attackers, a silent conversation being held between their gaze. Steve sighed heavily as the wordless conversation with his husband came to an end.
"Ok Charlie, let's see what you're made of. Get your butt down here. Have an agent drop you near the park." All anyone heard after that was a squealing ringing through their ears.
"Geez, Charlie! We're still trying to concentrate down here. Stop squealing!" came Clint's voice over their earpieces. Charlie managed to stop bouncing just long enough to apologise to her team mates.
"Sorry, Sorry! I'm on my way down. Leave some baddies for me!" she demanded as she bounded up the ramp of the waiting quinjet that would take her down to the fight she so desperately wanted to be a part of.
While Agent Smith was flying her to the drop off zone, Charlie took the time to check over her weapons and do some last minute stretches. She wasn't going to let something stupid like a pulled muscle give her fathers an excuse to keep her out of any future battles. As she was placing her knives back in their sheaths, she both felt and heard the familiar sensations associated with Thor's thunder. Crap, there will be nothing for me to do she thought impatiently. The ramp had started to lower as the jet was still descending down to the ground. She jumped off the end before the jet had even grazed the grass, so eager to join the fight. Charlie heard the rumbling roar of the Hulk, a few seconds before she seen a flash of green cut across her path. She chuckled to herself as she watched the target that Hulk was after was sprinting for his life, having completely under estimated the anger of the green giant. She could hear gun fire and faint shouting from the other side of the buildings she was set down near to. Taking off, she manoeuvred debris and the fallen bodies of the intruders. Rounding the corner, the young assassin spotted her father's working together to take down a small group of the warriors, Steve using his vibranium shield to reflect the blaster from Tony's suit to take them all out with relative ease. As she jogged over to them, it didn't go un-noticed by Charlie that the fight was basically over, and there would be very little for her to do. Bloody typical, she moaned to herself.
"Hey, what happened to leaving some for me?" She questioned.
"Sorry honey. One of them took a shot at Thor from behind, so he and Mjolnir got a little angry and took out the majority of who was left," Tony explained to his daughter after lifting his face plate. Charlie huffed as the rest of the Avengers gathered in the middle of the street, minus Clint who was still watching from the rooftops.
"Break it down, Cap. Though from what I can see, should just be clean up now, " Hawk-eye advised from his vantage point.
"Sounds good, Clint. I want you to stay up there though and keep an eye out, just in case. Girls, you scout out the outlaying streets for any stragglers. Tony, Thor and I will search the wreckage here for any clues as to who they were, and what they wanted," Steve ordered in his Captain America voice. Hulk gave a low grunt to inform the captain that he had been missed when he was handing out new assignments.
"Banner, I think this stage requires a little less muscle, and a little more finesse. Maybe now is a good time for a nap," Steve told Other Guy calmly. This managed to get through to the scientist. Hulk huffed in agreement, and headed off towards the nearby quinjet to receive the antidote that Dr. Banner himself created in order to calm himself down enough to let the scientist take control of his body again.
"Right then short stuff, looks like you're with me," Natasha told Charlie with a ruffle of her mahogany waves.
"Short stuff?" She questioned her trainer with a quizzical, yet playful look on her tan face. "I'm taller that you are Nat, even if I wasn't wearing these heels," the teenager reminded the short super spy.
"HEELS?!" Tony and Steve exclaimed in unison.
"Seriously, are looking for a broken ankle? God, just how high are those things anyway? Most definitely not appropriate footwear for a battle, Charlie," Tony scolded the youngster.
"Geez, over react much?" Charlie exclaimed. "Come on Nat, let's leave before they find out about the knives I have in my boots, and the pistols strapped to my thighs." She joked.
The Russian assassin laughed as they headed out towards where their captain had directed them.
"You need to have a word with your daughter about sensible footwear for battles. I seriously don't know where she gets it from" Tony told Steve as the girls jogged away from the scene in search for any remaining attackers.
"Me? Honestly babe, that's all you." The super soldier chuckled in response. The couple ambled over towards Thor, who had started to sort through some of the wreckage of their encounter with this unknown enemy. He was holding one of enemy's weapons, turning it over in his large grasp and looking at it sceptically.
"Gentlemen, I believe you should both take a look at this," he said in greeting to his comrades. Steve took it from the demi-god, taking a quick glance over the general design.
"What about it? It looks like a crappy and ineffectual little blaster,"
"Let me see that. Seriously, you know nothing about weapons honey," Tony stated, taking the weapon from the super soldiers firm grasp.
"And you do, man of iron?" Thor quizzed, watching the scene unfold in front of him.
"I used to make these kind of things for a living. Before…before Afghanistan," Tony reminded him, shaking his head, trying to rid the terrible memories that threatened to return about his time in the Middle East. "As soon as I got back to the states, I ceased all development and manufacturing of weapons. I only do it for the Avengers now, to ensure we are all at the top of our game." The genius looked back down to the weapon in his grip, going over all the finer details that Steve skipped past so quickly. Thor noticed what had caught Tony's attention. It was the reason why he wanted the other men to look at the firearm in the first place. He pointed to the logo that was emblazoned on the side of the barrel.
"This looks oddly familiar, but I know not from where," The tall blond volunteered. Steve and Tony's eyes immediately fell upon the design. Steve had seen the insignia before as well, but could also not remember where from. Steve could feel a tingling sensation spread down his spine, alerting the captain that something was about to become seriously wrong. His eyes immediately snapped up and locked with beautiful dark hazel ones that he could easily get lost in. The panic and fear that he could feel spreading through his nerves was mirrored in the genius' eyes.
"It has to be the same organisation that keeps sending those laughable threats to us and to Shield." Tony stated.
Steve shook his head in confusion. "Shield has analysed every threat that we get, and they weren't at all credible. Just some group of pathetic kids trying to see if they could use scare tactics to get something out of us all, to have us their mercy." Steve countered.
"Oh come, now. I wouldn't call us a group of pathetic kids," A man dressed almost identically to a Shield agent, but with the same logo found on the handgun instead of the Shield emblem, stepped out of the shadows of a nearby building. At the sound of this strange, new voice, the three men on ground spun around to face the newcomer.
"Who the hell are you?" Tony demanded as he went in to his fight stance.
"Now, now. Let's not get off on the wrong foot. Not when we were just about to start to get to know each other," the man admonished with a slight tint of humour to his voice. "I'm sure you all have lots of questions, and they will all be answered, in due time." He continued with a salacious grin.
"I do not have the patience for petty games!" boomed Thor. He held out his hand for Mjolnir, intent on shocking the new arrival into compliance.
The anonymous gentleman raised his right hand and made a small motion. Seconds later, there was an almighty blast from the building the three avengers were stood in front of. Tony and Steve managed to escape the majority of the blast, due to a combination of the captains' shield and Tony's suit. When the dust had cleared enough from the field to see the destruction, the couple immediately spotted the demi-god trapped under the rubble of the building that had collapsed due to the explosion. His hand and forearm were the only parts of him that was still visible.
A/N - So that's the end of my first chapter. Really new to all of this, so would really appreaciate any feedback/suggestions you could give. Hope to update with next chapter in a couple of day, started working on it already :)