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Hope y'all enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 3
They had lost the girl.
"Boss is gonna be mad," muttered one guard. He was slumped against the wall, waiting for his hand to thaw out so he could move.
"You think, Andrews?" another guard scoffed. Andrews rolled his eyes.
"Look who's talking, Phillips," Andrews muttered.
"Alright you two," said another. "Cut it out."
"How are we gonna explain this to the boss?" Phillips whined. "We lost one of his kids!"
"Probably gonna get fired," one of the guards mused.
"You kidding me, Thompson?" Andrews growled. "We know too much! We're not going to get fired. We're going to get killed!"
"We could get converted," Thompson said, raising one of his eyebrows.
"Please," another scoffed. "We're not qualified enough."
"Sooner or later, everyone will be converted," said Thompson. "Why wait for us to be?"
Andrews shivered at the thought of being one of the Soldiers. But Thompson was right; sooner or later, they were all going to be one of boss's Soldiers. It was only a matter of when.
It was Friday at noon in Manhattan.
Beautiful afternoon.
The city was bustling with moving bodies, honking horns, piles of trash on the sidewalk, construction humming across the street. The sky was a clear blue, almost no clouds. The snow was melting slowly in piles on the side of the road, slipping off into puddles that flowed down to the sewer.
The city was crowded, no doubt. Even in February, people were sporting the dresses, the skirts, the shorts, the loose jackets. People were still ice skating in Rockefeller center.
Annie Wamball just scored a 100 on her French test. If she keeps up her straight A's then she'll get a car at the end of the year. She was asked out by her crush today, which was awesome. Jacob Graham - every girl at Annie's high school's dream. And she scored him! There was no doubt that Jacob would pick her, though - what with her flawless skin, her blonde hair with its beach waves, her sparkling green eyes.
If the day could get any better, she found a 20 dollar bill on the street. When she went to go get some chocolate with it, she was the 5,000th customer at her favorite candy shop, which meant that she could get free candy for the whole week.
So Annie Wamball was having the best day of her life. She was heading home, her backpack full of chocolate and her arms weighed down with the weight of all the bags.
Then came the screaming.
Annie looked to the sound, her mouth agape.
Out of the sky came a torrent of raging blackness, a swarm of darkness, of night, of shadows.
Panic descended as soldiers emerged from the black cloud and began the destruction of Rockefeller Center - and Manhattan.
Annie watched in horror as the soldiers cut through the crowd, sporting weapons Annie had never seen before. Swords - glowing black swords, and black lasers, and black guns with black bullets that tore through flesh.
Blood turned black spilled onto the streets, onto the ice, onto the sidewalk. Annie was frozen to the ground. The chocolates were somehow not in her arms anymore. She was stuck there, silent, watching, waiting, as death erupted all around her.
She watched as a child was taken from its mother, wailing and screaming, and was impaled with a blade.
She watched as a pregnant woman was thrown to the ground in a stampede and trampled to death.
She watched as a man - a husband, a father, a son - was shot in the head. His blood painted the wall.
She watched as buildings succumbed to black fire.
And she watched, she watched, she saw the bullet enter her stomach.
She fell.
The darkness closed in.
I just wanted a caramel, she thought.
Three days later, the Avengers were all enjoying Frozen (Peter Parker's suggestion) on the big screen. Aeria was quiet, her body scrunched up in the corner of the couch, in between Peter and Natasha. She was munching on more chocolate and raspberries, creating little creations with them - breaking a piece off of a 3 Musketeers and sticking it in one of the berries, then popping it in her mouth.
She had barely said anything since that night.
"She's still in shock," Tony said earlier, during a meeting with the Avengers. "Just…."
"Try not to scare her," Nat finished. "She's fragile. Scared. Traumatized."
"So Peter, don't be… you," Tony informed him. Peter had nodded, and he genuinely looked like he understood.
"Got it," he said with a nod.
So there they were. Watching Frozen, Peter making comments about the movie, Aeria eating chocolate and raspberries, Steve Rogers and Thor asking questions about everything (Thor had only seen a couple movies in his lifetime, and never an animated one - same with Rogers), Tony talking about every little detail gone wrong.
Aeria watched the movie with wide eyes, taking it all in. By the time Anna had found Elsa she had devoured six candy bars and was working on the seventh.
Good thing we practically have an endless supply, thought Tony, watching her.
Then an explosion rocked the tower.
"What the hell?" Rogers muttered, flying to his feet, along with everyone else (except Aeria. She was still sitting, confused, scared, in shock, still hungry.). Peter webbed over to the window.
"Holy crap," Peter muttered. The others crowded over.
Smoke was billowing over the city. The screams of innocents, of people being slaughtered, were distant but there. The sound of buildings being toppled. The choking scent of the smoke that was present even though they were all the way here, in the tower.
And a message, written in black fire, etched on the skyline.
TELL THE GIRL I'M COMING
"Suit up," said Rogers.
Aeria was left alone in the tower after the Avengers left.
She thought maybe she could finish Frozen - after all, eating raspberries and chocolate was a good movie snack, and she had never seen an animated movie before (or had she ever heard music in a movie, or seen a movie at all, actually). But Frozen wasn't the best movie - even she knew that.
So she turned the TV off and shakily explored the tower.
Aeria didn't dare leave the floor, so she stayed around the TV and kitchen, her fingers grazing every piece of furniture. She stayed far away from the bar - the scent of booze was all too familiar.
"Hello?" she called. Maybe someone was still in the tower, like Peter. He seemed nice enough - he was funny, and made Aeria laugh on the inside. And Tony Stark was protective of him. She had overheard them arguing about whether or not he was allowed to go.
"It's dangerous!" Tony had whispered, but his voice was loud, like a shout.
"So?" Peter whispershouted back. "I've been an Avenger for almost a year now! I've gone on missions! I stole Captain America's shield! I can handle this!"
"Aeria needs someone to stay with her."
"Aeria, do you need someone to stay with you?" Peter had asked, turning to her. Aeria had shaken her head.
"No," she said.
"See?"
"Don't drag her into this," Tony warned.
"You just did. Besides, she has JARVIS."
"JARVIS isn't a babysitter," Tony replied.
"Actually sir, I am more than capable of babysitting," JARVIS said. "Afterall, I have been taking care of you for over thirty years."
"You're not a butler anymore, Edwin JARVIS," Tony muttered. "Fine. You can go."
Now Aeria was alone. "JARVIS?" she called tentatively.
"Hello."
Aeria jumped. "Who are you?" she asked.
"I am JARVIS - Just A Rather Very Intelligent System. I used to be the Stark family's butler."
"Used to be? Were you converted into technology?"
"Sorry. I am based off of Edwin Jarvis."
"What are you now?"
"I am an artificial intelligence. Mr. Stark's AI. I do everything he wants, personal and public affairs. Especially things that involve technology."
Aeria sat down on the floor and bit into a Snickers. She glanced at the label - you're not you when you're hungry.
Well, she thought, I'm not me, and I'm hungry.
She kept eating but didn't feel anymore her. Just a little less hungry.
Aeria wandered over to the fridge and pulled open the door, shivering as the cold washed over her. She spotted a bowl of mushed up green stuff with specks of red.
"Edwin, what is this?" she asked.
"You don't have to call me Edwin. That is not my name."
"It was," she said.
"That is a bowl of guacamole. It is best eaten with chips."
"I think my hand will do just fine," Aeria murmured, scooping out a clump of the guacamole with her index finger and licking it up.
"This is my new favorite thing," she muttered. "Chocolate and raspberries and guac-guacamoles?"
"Guacamole, Miss. Winters."
Aeria stiffened. She hadn't heard that last name in a long time.
"Aeria," she said. "Please."
"Of course."
Aeria finished off the guacamole a little while afterward and stood, yawning.
Something was wrong.
She whipped around and ducked just as a metal arm swung at her head.
Aeria screamed and scrambled back, her body cooling down. No, no, no, she thought frantically. Stop. I don't want to.
"Who are you?" yelled the arm. Wait - it was attached to someone. A person. A man with long, shaggy black hair. And a metal arm. Aeria sprung to her feet and raised her hand instinctively when he swung again, catching the arm.
The man's eyes widened and he glanced at his arm, then at her.
"How'd you - you're a kid!"
"My name's Aeria," Aeria squeaked and let go of his arm. Frost was already starting to creep up the front. "Um, they brought me here a week ago. Who-who are you?"
The man clenched and unclenched his fists, raising his eyebrows. "My name's Bucky Barnes," he said, holding out his hand. Aeria hesitantly shook it. "Have you ever heard of the Winter Soldier?"
Aeria nodded. She felt like she should be scared - she'd heard the stories and everything, she'd seen the destruction, but she wasn't. She wasn't scared.
And she smiled.
"That's funny," she whispered to herself. Bucky narrowed his eyes.
"Sorry, what?"
"My, uh, last name is Winters," Aeria said with a shrug. "And I can do stuff related to -"
"Winter?" Bucky finished, nodding at his frost-encrusted arm.
"Sorry about that," Aeria muttered. "Are you an Avenger?"
Bucky shrugged. "You could say that," he said. "Are you?"
"No," Aeria said, shaking her head. "No."
"Why are you here?"
"They brought me here."
"Yeah, but why?"
"Oh." Jeez, how do I tell him? Should I even tell him? "I was in a compound my whole life because of my - my powers."
"Oh," Bucky said quietly.
He understood.
"You must have been very afraid," he said.
Aeria shrugged with a slight smile.
"You get used to it," she said hoarsely.
"Mr. Barnes, the Avengers are wondering if you are back from your trip," came Edwin JARVIS' voice.
"Tell them I'm coming," Bucky said. He glanced at Aeria before turning away. "You want to come?"
"They wouldn't like it," Aeria muttered. "It's dangerous." Bucky shrugged.
"So?"
Aeria declined again and turned the TV back on, switching to the news channel. She didn't move until she heard Bucky leave. They were broadcasting footage of the fight going on by Rockefeller Center.
"Who would name a center 'rock-a-fella'?" Aeria murmured.
Meanwhile, down at rock-a-fella center, the battle wasn't going so well.
Tony's mask had been ripped off and was buried beneath the rubble. Clint was running out of arrows - quickly, and none of them seemed to make a dent on the soldiers. Nat was bleeding heavily from her right leg and left arm. Peter was surrounded - cornered against a wall, his web shooter malfunctioning. They were all running out of energy, whereas the soldiers seemed to becoming more powerful.
Oh, the soldiers.
They seemed to be made out of shadows - literal shadows, and they had power none of them (the Avengers, at least) could comprehend. Peter watched helplessly as one grabbed a child from an escaping crowd and sucked the life out of him.
It sucked the life out of a child.
It placed its hand on its chest and drew back slowly, with it brought back a coil of silver. The child collapsed and the soldier devoured its lifeforce.
Its body was shaped like a man's, except more slender, more agile, and taller. They had no armor and their weapons were not attached to their body - they seemed to extract their blades and their guns just by reaching into the air.
Black mist curled off of their forms and burned to the touch. So yes, they were like shadows.
They were shadows.
"Cap, look out!" Clint shouted, shooting an explosive arrow at one soldier. It dissolved into the mist and only made it angrier.
Cap swung around and hit the advancing shadow soldier in the head. It hissed, recoiling.
Iron Man blasted through a group but a few minutes later they reformed again.
Some were solid, some were pure mist. Peter leaped onto one of the smoldering buildings, escaping the soldiers, and climbed through the window.
"Kid, what are you doing?" Cap shouted, but shut up once he emerged, a little girl clung to his back. And as a soldier approached the girl yelled and kicked her little foot into where the soldier's groin would be - and apparently, it was still painful, as the shadow yowled and dissolved into mist.
"Bucky Barnes! Glad you could join us!" Thor said, summoning another bolt of lightning.
Tony gritted his teeth. Yeah, he thought to himself. Real great.
Bucky, Cap, Nat and everyone else had been excused of their crimes, but Tony still hadn't excused Bucky. And why would he? The Winter Soldier killed his parents. Sure, Howard Stark was a horrible man, but Tony - Tony never said goodbye to his dad.
Anyways.
"I met our newest recruit," Bucky shouted, smashing through a shadow with his fist. "She seems interesting."
"She's not a recruit," Tony muttered.
"She will be," Bucky responded.
"She's a kid," Clint shouted. "Shit. I'm out of arrows. Anyways, she's just a kid. 13 years old."
"What's her story?" Bucky asked.
"She was tortured," Natasha replied, shooting down a couple soldiers. She was panting and sweating (along with everyone else, of course), her hand clutched on her arm. "Tested because of her powers." Pause. Then, "We think maybe she'd been trained."
"Trained?" Bucky echoed.
"She's powerful," said Rogers. "And she knows how to fight."
"I realized that," Bucky muttered. "So. Trained as a weapon, then? A soldier?"
"Guys," Peter Parker said, emerging form the building, coughing violently. "There's a bunch of people in there. There's a lot of smoke, and fire and I-I think a lot are already dead."
"Peter, rest for a minute," Tony said.
"No!"
"I'll check it out with Sam and Wanda. Clint, restock on arrows."
"I'm coming," Peter said, standing. He stumbled forward and doubled over, hacking.
"No you're not," Tony said. "Take a breather. Wilson, Maximoff, come on!"
Peter groaned and slipped his mask off. His face was smeared with sweat and smoke, but he had a look of fierce determination on his face and he dove back into the building.
Then.
Suddenly.
It was over.
There was a tornado of black, a swarm of night, and the soldiers disappeared in a flash of inky light.
The Avengers stood there, in rock-a-fella center, confused, disoriented, bleeding and exhausted.
"We got the last of them out," Tony Stark shouted, carrying two little kids in his arms. "Whoa. What the hell happened? Where'd they go?"
"They're… gone," Peter said, blinking. "They just disappeared."
"Well they can't be gone," Thor snapped. "They must be somewhere."
"No," Natasha said, raising her head. "No. We got the message. They'll be back, just not now."
"They're here for the girl," Rogers said, sliding down the side of a wall. "For Aeria."
"I'm still confused on who - what she is," Bucky said.
"Who she is," Tony growled, glaring at him. "She's a person. She's not a monster."
"I never said she is."
"We rescued her from a compound that was torturing, testing, and training her," Clint said, rubbing a wound on his shoulder. "Most likely those… things are related to the compound."
"Who was running it?" Bucky asked. Clint shrugged.
"We don't know."
"So you just… left? With the girl? Knowing nothing about what happened, who she is?"
"Fury told us to leave," Steve said. "We had no other choice."
"Did she say she'd been trained?" Bucky asked. They shook their heads.
"But there was no other way she could've learned how to fight," said Peter. "Right?"
Silence.
"She's just a girl," Tony said, his voice hoarse. "A little girl."
Silence.
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