Hey everybody! I'm back from my little writing break, and as promised, I'm rewriting Saved! Hopefully I'll gain some new interested readers as I do this, and if not that's okay! If you are new though, you may be wondering why I chose to start rewriting this fanfiction! Mainly, because this was the first fanficiton I'd ever wrote, and I didn't even think of proofreading through many of the first chapters, which I now know had a major impact on my writing overall. So, for the most part, I'm only rewriting this to make it more polished and professional.

For all of you wondering about my sequel, it is underway! I'm not entirely sure when it will be up by, but just a heads up!

Also, if anyone wants me to do a Halloween or other fall themed story, let me know and I'll get that going!

Last, I do have an Instagram page but I will be deleting it soon if I don't get more followers. It was kind of just for anyone who wanted more information on my stories but I feel it is just a waste of everyone's time if I only have 3 followers. The username is krisavengergurl, so if you want, go follow me on Instagram! If I don't have a few more followers at least, I'm going to delete the account.

Alright! I'll let you go now! I hope you all enjoy the story!

Warning: A little bit of blood in the first chapter and possibly the second.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for Ashley and the story itself. I don't own Marvel or any of the characters or actors thereof. All characters belong to the people at Marvel who gave me this idea in the first place.

Edit #1: 10/7/14

I ran. I didn't know what else to do. Sometimes you don't have another option, and this was one of those times. My feet pounded furiously against the hot and hard desert ground, reminding my enemies of my presence. I just hoped that I was faster than they were.

A full scale invasion was taking place. Or at least that was what it looked like to me; I hadn't really stayed to find out. As soon as the eastern wall to my cell was knocked down by some sort of unknown explosion, I completely forgot about my other cell mates and sprinted away from that horrid place. All of the corridors I'd previously memorized were already blocked off, so I just had to improvise; run through the long and spacious building until I found an exit. Sure, I ran into people on the way. I couldn't exactly tell if they were friend or foe to me though, so I just sprinted out of their grasp and evaded all of them successfully. After what seemed like hours of running to me, I saw the true light of day for the first time in months. Years? I had climbed through the large hole in the wall and ran out into the fairly empty streets of Chad, my home for the past three years.

So now I was in this situation; running for my life from who knows what? I didn't even know where I was going, especially considering I'd never seen this desert landscape before in my life. It wasn't considered healthy for myself or any of the other girls. But my instincts of fear told me to run opposite of the way the rest of the terrified villagers were. After all, there was a greater chance of being captured when you were in a large group like that. So I ran away from any signs of civilization; far away from the dusty colored shacks and brown dirt streets. I ran to the west, out to the plains where I would hopefully not be found.

I thought I was doing fine for about the first five minutes. My chest ached with every dust and smoke clogged breath I took, my legs burned each time they extended and then tightened in sprinting footsteps. I expected all of that. What I didn't expect was that I was being followed. I could hear them now, running right behind me. Their words were harsh and French which was a dead giveaway to me that they were the Lighthouse. I ran just that much faster before making an almost fatal mistake and turning to look behind me. One of many of them had shot what seemed to be like an explosive bullet, which only just barely whizzed past my head and into the building right by me. It exploded as soon as it lodged into the building, effectively knocking me off of my feet.

I hit the ground head first and instinctively protected my head with my arms. I felt the debris rush down around my body, with some of the smaller pieces landing on my body. I stayed down for a moment before I heard shouts and gunshots, closer than they were before. I struggled to my feet slowly with my poor head throbbing from hitting the ground. I started running again, checking behind my back every now and then to make sure that I was running away from danger. And I was. To my fortune, as I thought, I was faster than these aging scientists, and I was able to evade them by about one hundred yards by the time I reached the border of the small village. Now I was truly in the middle of nowhere.

All I could think of as I continued to sprint on the sparse and deserted plain was that I needed, no I had to get away from them, from what the Lighthouse would do to me. So where exactly was I supposed to go? My first instinct told me to go outside the border. I had heard stories of people who had made it there, and successfully made it past the past the fence, all of which had never been heard from or seen again. Probably because of dehydration or infection. We all chose to believe that version of the story, not the brutal and torturous version that involved the border patrol. But ever since the civil war started in Nigeria, most of the resources from Chad, were spread thin, at least around the border where I lived. The probability of me being captured from the patrol was still large, but smaller than it normally would be. Besides, I'd rather be killed by the Border Patrol then stay under the rule of the Lighthouse one more minute.

So I continued to run until I was only about a mile away from the big barbed wire electric fence, which was the infamous border. I took this opportunity to stop and rest for a moment. I was pretty positive that I'd lost the men that were previously on me, and as I turned to look behind me I found that I was correct. A flat rock and some small shrubs by my feet seemed like the best shelter I was going to get. I ducked under the propped up rock and lay on my stomach, taking frantic breaths to regain my oxygen. My small village was up in flames. Who had survived besides me? Had anyone else thought to come to the border like I did? That I didn't know, but I did know how fast fire catches, especially to dry grass like this plain had. As soon as it caught the first piece of grass, it would fuel the fire for days and days. I couldn't stay. I had to keep going. I slowly got up from under the shelter of the rock and brushed the dust and blood off of my shirt and hands. I looked over to my village one last time, saying goodbye, before running off at a slower pace, trying to focus on reaching that border before I was burned alive.

My body ached for rest with each footfall. Everything in my body was screaming at me to take a break, to rest. And if I wasn't such a strong runner that was used to leg pain and shortage of breath, I probably would have. But I welcomed the pain, and used it to my advantage, letting it feed my adrenaline. If not for that adrenaline, I probably would've quit by then. Luckily for me, my fight or flight instinct was still kicking.

With every one of my footfalls my target came closer but my head pounded more and more and I became dizzier. I was about to fall over, I could feel it. With the lack of oxygen and hard hit to the head from earlier, I really probably was about to pass out. I could spare a little time to catch my breath again, right? I looked behind myself, and I almost jumped out of my own skin. Only about fifty yards out, there were six people, male or female I couldn't tell which. One of them was on a motorcycle, four others running, but one was...in the air? Flying? It wasn't possible that one was flying of course, my mind was probably playing tricks on me. But it was very realistic that it could be the enemy soldiers chasing after me, wanting a hostage as a trade for something. I decided to keep going, even though it I was about to fall over at any minute. The fence was only about forty yards away. I could make it there and perhaps I could make it there before they could catch up to me. But then, there would have to be some way for me to get past a fifty foot tall electric barbed wire fence. I was small, but still I doubted that I would be able to fit through one of the gaps between the wires without getting electrocuted at all. But I didn't really have much of a choice now did I?

I huffed and puffed my way to the fence with my vision blurred and my body screaming out in pain. I made it though. This was the closest I'd been to freedom in a long time, and the thought of freedom alone gave me the strength to keep standing. The holes between the wires in the fence were small, but a little bigger than what I had expected. I highly doubted that there was any way that I wouldn't touch anything on my way through. I leaned my head right next to the fence to hear the buzz of electricity. But I couldn't hear it. I racked my brain for an answer for a moment before making a connection. Part of the control center for the fence was inside the city, meaning that it would have been burned with the rest of the town, killing over half of the circuits of electricity that ran through the ground. There was a possibility that I could make it through now with only minor injuries and a few shocks rocketing through my body. The power would only be enough to stun, not kill. It was a chance I would just have to take. I stole a quick glance over my shoulder and saw that they were very close now, only about fifteen yards away from where I was. Oh well, now or never.

Slinging my leg through the gap in the fence, I looked around to see a place where I could put my foot without it touching something. After a moment I found a barren spot and stuck my foot on it, pulling my hip about halfway through the gap. It was a very awkward limbo from then on. I was trying to pull the rest of my body through hole with only one foot planted on the other side. Needless to say, it wasn't going through very well. All of the sudden, I heard a man yell to me. I jumped, almost touching many of the wires, but narrowly missing. My mind was processing everything at a hundred miles a minute. Fight or flight? Flight, obviously, but I was only halfway through the fence, and I most wasn't going to be able to make it all the way through without them catching me. I would have to pull my leg out and run along to the side until I found some way to escape.

I pulled my leg as hard as I could, but it wouldn't budge. My leg was stuck on something, some kind of metal bar. I kept struggling desperately to get free and run for my life, but it was as if my foot was cemented into the ground. One of my attempts failed so badly that my knee twisted out from under my whole body. I cried out in pain as I heard the sickening crunch of my bone breaking. They were only a few feet away now, and I would be a prisoner if I didn't hurry it up. With one last tug, my leg finally came free. Now I couldn't bend my knee at all. I was doomed. Regardless, I gave my last futile attempt. Of course, my knee still didn't bend, so my entire leg got caught up in the electrified wire. A big jolt surged through my body as soon as my leg touched it. The force of my leg hitting the barbed wire fence was enough to send me to the ground, caught up in the wire. For the second time that day, I was face down in the dirt.

I heard pounding footsteps, the cut of a motor, and something metallic slam on the ground. I didn't look up, knowing if I did, I would only hate them more. I didn't want that.

"Thor, go see if you can't shut that power off!" a man said, then added, "Is she alive?

Someone else replied to the first man with a soft voice. "She should be. I don't think that was enough electricity to kill her."

"Are you kidding me? Look at how small she is. It really isn't that unlikely that she wasn't killed," a woman said.

Were they concerned for me? I couldn't tell. All I knew was that it sounded like they wanted to help. Still, I tried to play dead. Maybe if I was convincing enough they'd leave me alone. I only breathed ever so slightly, and made sure my back didn't raise when I did so. It was silent for a moment, and I was about to peek up and look to see if they'd left when I felt a warm hand on my back. I jumped away on reflex, trembling slightly after. So much for playing dead.

A soft chuckle came from yet another man. "Dead wrong, Nat. Looks like this she's a bit stronger than you might think."

It was oddly silent for a moment, with only the faint sound of shuffling of feet and my heavy breathing. Why weren't they hitting me? Yelling at me? Yanking me off of the ground and taking me back to the Lighthouse? I was desperately confused.

"Hey, sweetheart," one of men said that was right next to me. "I'm Doctor Banner, can you hear me?"

I decided to play dead. It was a stupid move, and I knew it, but I didn't really have a choice. It wasn't even remotely convincing after my jumping backwards and my hard labored breathing.

"Can you nod your head for me so I know you can hear me?" the same man with the soft and kind voice asked.

I debated my options for a moment, trying to choose the best course of action. Nod my head and get less of a punishment, or do nothing and get hurt worse. I nodded my head weakly, stiffening up and expecting a punishment after. But there was none. Instead there were more calm and kind words.

"There's a girl," he said gently. This man didn't sound like he wanted to hurt me. At all. Usually their voices were full of fury and violence and sounded like they wanted to harm me. None of these people sounded like that however. They all sounded nice and actually caring.

I decided to risk it and glance up through my eyelashes. I saw only five people, one woman and four men. None of them looked particularly hostile, but I knew that their looks could be deceiving. The one with slightly graying hair, Doctor Banner I think, was closest to me. The next closest was a man with dark brown hair with eyes to match. And he had some kind of odd blue light coming out of his chest. He was kneeling down like the doctor, very close to me. The other three were in the back ground. One had baby blue eyes and golden blonde hair. He was wearing red white and blue and had something that looked like a shield at his feet. The other two were wearing black jumpsuits. The woman had shoulder length red hair and blue eyes, and the man had light brown hair with light blue eyes. Usually they didn't send so many people, and no doctors ever came. What was so different this time?

"What's your name honey?" asked the one with the dark brown hair. I just stared at him blankly. For some reason I couldn't find my voice.

He scrutinized me for a moment before saying "How rude of us. I'm Tony Stark, this is Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, Steve Rogers, and of course, Doctor Bruce Banner." Tony said while motioning to each one of them. I still said nothing. I allowed my golden brown hair to cover my emerald green eyes.

Bruce reached out to touch my arm, but once again, I backed away. Not really because I was particularly afraid of them, more because it was a natural instinct for me by now. Tony started talking to me calmingly again. "You're okay honey, we won't hurt you. Just stay still. We want to help you, okay?" I watched the group of them suspiciously before nodding slowly. What did they want?

This time when the doctor reached for me I let him touch me. His hands ran up and down each part of my body, checking for broken bones of sprains or other sorts of things I assumed. I was trembling slightly, seeing as I still was not exactly sure as to what to believe right then. I just then realized that I had six pairs of eyes all glued on me, no one saying a word. Clint cleared his throat, his eyes shifting down. He could feel the awkwardness of the situation just as well as I could.

"How old are you?" Tony asked. I tried to open my mouth and say a word, but the only thing that came out was a yelp of pain when Bruce touched my left knee, the one that had broken. They all shifted forward in a…protective manor?

"Are you okay?" Bruce said gently. I nodded briskly with a sharp intake of breath. Really, the touch was more of a surprise than anything else.

"Come on Bruce, no need to break her bones again." Clint said jokingly. Obviously he wasn't enjoying the awkward silence to much either. This Clint seemed to have a similar personality to me. Well, at least a similar personality before everything happened.

I heard Bruce chuckle and say, "I'll try." He then looked me straight in the eyes, and moved my head with his hands. "Follow my finger with your eyes." he instructed. I did as he asked. He smiled at me warmly before turning to the rest of them.

"She broke her knee for sure, has some cuts and bruises along her body, maybe a slightly sprained shoulder, and a major concussion. She's also loosing blood by the second, which could potentially kill her. I can't tell the extent of the damage to the rest of her leg until we find a way to get her out of there. Thor has to shut the fence off before I can do anything else."

"Speaking of which, what is taking him so long?" Steve asked.

"I could get in there straight away and blow the whole thing up into the sky. It would only take seconds-" Tony began to ramble on quickly.

"No Stark, we've already scared her enough. Your flying metal suit might just send her into shock," the one who was named Steve said. He seemed rather quiet, but when he spoke, you could tell he was in charge. Something about him just yelled it.

They all looked at me once again, and my eyes shifted down in embarrassment. Tony groaned, but agreed, "Fine, no suits. But if he isn't down within the next five minutes I'll send in JARVIS to do it himself."

"Fair enough," Steve replied.

What in the world were they talking about? It didn't make any sense. Thor? Jarvis? Flying metal suit? Maybe it was because of my apparent concussion, or maybe even because of the blood loss, but for some reason I was desperately confused. Should I have been?

"Point break, what took you so long? This girl is dying!" I heard Tony yell after a couple of minutes of nothing but quiet. It wasn't a peaceful and undisturbed silence, it was more of a tense and worried silence,

I looked up shyly to see the most ginormous god like looking person I had ever put my eyes on. His long blonde hair and sculpted body surly made it seem like it was true. "I am sorry, friend Stark, these mortal machines are most confusing. Is the maiden alright?" he said pointing to me. I almost wanted to laugh at his unusual language. I wasn't strong enough to do that at the time, however.

"She's alive Thor, but we aren't sure for how much longer. She's lost a lot of blood and we don't know if we can stop it," Natasha said.

So this was Thor, the one man that I hadn't met before. "I am deeply sorry for your fate, maiden," Thor boomed down at me, "Is there any way I might be of assistance?" His voice alone sounded like it would start an earthquake.

"Maybe, Thor," Doctor Banner said as he walked closer to me again, this time going to the barbed wire entangled on my leg. I shifted, pulling my leg, trying to escape still. It was just as helpless as ever. "Relax, we'll get you out of there," the doctor said while putting a hand on my leg.

Then everyone decided to surround me. It made me feel even more contained and pressured, threatened. Even though, I didn't say anything. I couldn't. The doctor began to lift up some wires and examine my leg; probably trying to find the best way to free me without hurting the others or myself.

"Thor, do you think you could stick the hammer right there to get some of the pressure off of her leg?" Bruce asked, his eyebrows scrunched together in a focused and worried state.

"Of course friend!" Thor said merrily, walking over to where Bruce was and sticking what looked like a big block of solid metal with a handle. It looked way too big to be a hammer of some sort.

"I might be able to help somehow, back in the army we had to deal with tons of stuff like this all the time," Steve said sliding forward to where Bruce and Thor were. I wasn't too surprised Steve was in the army. Even through his red white and blue uniform I could see his hard and big muscles, straining the fabric of the uniform. That also explained why he looked and sounded like he was in charge. Steve reached his hand out and touched my leg covered with blood and wires. I yanked my leg away trying to protect it. I immediately regretted the action. Not only was it just plain stupid, it made me hurt even worse.

"Hey now," Tony said coming closer to me, "I'm sure that's not going to help anything. Just try to stay calm. It'll help both you and me. Okay?" My response was letting him touch my leg without me clenching up. Somehow Tony, a man I'd never met before in my life, was very good at relaxing me, unlike most people were. "See, isn't that better?" he whispered. I gave him a small smile. He smiled back, and it made me smile a bit wider.

"Tony, anything in your suit that might be able to cut these wires?" Clint asked as his grey blue eyes searched my leg in worry. It seemed like he'd seen these kinds of things before, also suggesting that he was military, or something else of the sort.

He shrugged, "High powered lasers maybe. Pepper's new lipstick that she's going to kill me about. I'll go find out," he said as he ran back down the plain for a while.

The others stayed behind with me, murmuring things quietly as the others touched and moved my leg. I let them do what they needed to, trusting that they wouldn't hurt me intentionally. When Tony finally did return, there was something that looked like a big metal man standing next to him. "I have no idea how this got in there, but it was." He held out a small pair of wire cutters.

"It'll work Stark." Steve said while taking them. Tony must have seen my confused look when I saw the big piece of metal. "This is my suit," he explained, "Whenever we go on missions, I jump in it, and it protects me from the damage I would have received if I didn't have it." I decided to nod slowly, even though I was as confused as ever.

"Hey sweetheart, we're going to start, is that okay?" Bruce asked. I said a very quiet yes. I was used to pain, that was what the Lighthouse was, but I was still afraid for this. I knew it was going to hurt. I clenched my eyes shut and tried to brace myself for the pain.

The group of them started by cutting the wires that were the least important and the least painful for me. I didn't hardly move at this stage at all, truly, the pain was almost unnoticeable compared to what I'd been through. After they cleared out most of the loose wires surrounding my leg, they had to start the process that cut the wires that were actually wrapped around my leg. Clint held my leg up with both of his warm and calloused hands so I could relax and put less strain on the wires. Each clip of the tool stung my leg, and ripped off my pants, along with some of my skin. I gritted my teeth harder each time, trying to hold in my quiet sounds of protest. But that wouldn't work forever. I whimpered out quietly at one of the more painful wires that was cut.

"You're okay, I promise it will all be over before you even know it," Tony said in a comforting way. He was now helping Clint keep my leg steady and unmoving. I glanced down at my leg to see blood running down the length of my thigh and onto their hands. That made me want to gag, and now I also had to concentrate on not throwing up because of that image. My patience and pain tolerance were growing thinner and thinner by the second, and I knew they could tell by the way they hurried their movements to free me.

With a few more cuts and soothing words, they were done. Or at least that's said. Steve came up behind me and lifted me off of the ground. He made sure that I wasn't putting any weight or strain on myself. Bruce, Tony, and Clint slowly and carefully pulled my leg out from the tangle of wires. They were done in only a few seconds. With all of their efforts combined I was finally free. I still had some wires wrapped around my calf and thigh, but I knew they wouldn't be able to get those off without something much smaller. And I was admittedly feeling better, especially because I had been liberated. Steve slowly lowered me to the ground and set me down. He kept his hands on my back to keep me from falling over.

As soon as Steve set me down, I struggled to get right back up and run. I would have fallen over again if it hadn't been for Tony, conveniently standing on the side of me, ready to catch just as soon as I fell. He did take my weight before pulling me back down.

"She won't be able to make it out of here. Clint, call Coulson and tell him we need immediate evacuation, and to make it happen ASAP," Steve commanded as he held onto my sides, making sure that I wouldn't try and move again.

Clint stepped to the side and called Coulson, whoever he was. What were they going to do with me? Could I trust them? Would they be like the people at the Lighthouse, or were they genuine kind people? I couldn't tell, and I wouldn't be able to until I got to where ever they were evacuating me to.

"Clint tell them to step on it. She's about to pass out," Tony said, his tone frantic and worried as he saw my condition. My eyes were beginning to roll into the back of my head. My head itself was rolling back onto his chest, whereas the rest of my body was going entirely limp.

"They're already halfway here," Clint answered, stepping towards me with the phone still at his ear. He was mumbling things to the people on the other end.

"Tell them to do better." Clint nodded and did so.

"You hanging in there?" Natasha asked as she squatted down in front of me, just like the others besides Clint, Steve, and Tony.

"Ashley," I forced the word out of my mouth. The simple word that I'd known all my life. The whole group turned to look at me in confusion. "You asked my name. It's Ashley. And I'll live." They all gave small smiles knowing I could speak when I wanted to. Some of the tension in the atmosphere lifted at that moment.

My body suddenly felt like it did before, dizzy and weak. I knew I was about to shut down at any minute, but I also knew I couldn't let that happen. I could stay awake for another day, make sure I knew where I was. That way there was a possibility that I could find my way out of where they were taking me. No, I didn't think they themselves would mean to hurt me on purpose, but maybe the place they were taking me would. I had to stay awake for at least one more day. I can do it, I thought to myself. In reality, there wasn't any way that it was happening. The last thing I remembered seeing was flames only a while out and Clint saying evacuation was ten minutes away.

So what did you think? Please leave a review to tell me how I did! Any comments or questions I will attempt to answer! Remember, constructive criticism welcomed! =D

Also, if you've read this story before, you would know that Steve isn't a major part of my story. But I think as I'm rewriting this he may become a major character! What do you all think about that? PM me or leave me a comment to let me know what you think about that!

Remember, I love all of you! You guys are seriously the best and I don't know what I would do without you! If any of you ever want to talk to me to get something off your chest or anything like that, just PM me and at very least I'll lend an ear for you!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you did, don't forget to read on, and please check out some of my other stories if you like my writing style! Thanks!

Krisavengergurl