Once again all the places in this chapter are real, so feel free to look them up!

Enjoy!


I honestly think I took the news relatively well.

Instead of screaming, or crying, or fainting, I just answered sarcastically;

"I'm also the Queen of England." Sarcasm is my defense mechanism. It just slips out when I should really keep my mouth shut.

"Carter, this is serious. I'm sorry but it's the truth."

I just stood still. Sure, we had no pictures of my father or me as a newborn, but I thought that it was just because my mother didn't want a reminder of him around.

"This isn't funny, mom." I whispered. "This is a joke, right?" She didn't answer.

"Carter, we don't have much time, but I'm going to explain this as quickly as I can." Said my mother (is she still my mother? Maybe she's just joking). She went to the window and pulled back the curtain to look out. She swore under her breath. "I might not get to finish in time. They're going to be here soon." She walked out of her room down the hallway to my room. It took me a second to follow her.

She didn't elaborate. She dumped the contents of my schoolbag on my bed and then went digging through my desk. After pulling out my passport, she finally spoke.

"Carter, you know I used to be American before you were born, right?" She looked at me. "Don't just stand there, get some clothes." For some reason, I didn't argue. I went to my drawers and started getting out a few pairs of underwear.

"You see, the U.S was no longer safe for me. I was a technician at S.H.E.I.L.D. a government agency that at one point controlled the avengers." I nodded as I put some clothes in my schoolbag.

"Well, when S.H.E.I.L.D fell because of Hydra, the Avengers were no longer controlled by the government, which later led to the Sokovian Accords, which you learned about in school."

"This is a great history lesson, but what does this have to do with me being adopted?" I interrupted.

"You see, all the heroes who went against the accords were sentenced to serve jail time, but Captain America helped them escape, so even after 16 years we have no idea where most of them are." My mother zipped up my backpack that was now full of clothes and toiletries and handed it to me.

"These criminals, these heroes, if you will, still had a life to live. Two of them had a daughter."

I blinked. This couldn't be true. You can't just blurt out that I'm adopted and supposedly the daughter of two… two what, exactly?

"Stop fucking with me mom." She looked at me, shocked that I would use such language. "Were you drinking last night or something? What has you so on—"

I stopped talking and we both froze. A noise just came from downstairs. A knock, maybe? Yes, it was a knock, because an identical sound just rang throughout the house again.

"We've run out of time" muttered my mother. She came up to me Carter, I need you to do exactly as I say. No matter what you want to do, you need to listen. Understand?" I nodded, because what else could I do?

My mother grabbed my schoolbag which was now packed like I was going on vacation somewhere for a few days. She handed it to me, which I then slung over my shoulder.

"You're going to buy a ticket to take The CAT ferry to Portland, Maine. Use the money I put in your bag. There's going to be enough to then take a bus to New York City. There's also extra, in case if you run into some trouble." She looked at my left hand, which I then realized I still held the necklace in. I shoved it in my jeans pocket before she went on. "Find Tony Stark. Show him the necklace." (Wait. Did she just say Tony Stark?) "Do whatever it takes to talk with him. After that, tell him exactly what I told you." She was probably going to go on, but suddenly there was a huge bang and crash from downstairs.

"Get in the closet!" She shoved me into my closet. Hugging me, she kissed the top of my head. "Love you Carter." Without another word, she closed the closet door and stood in the middle of the room. Soon, thundering footsteps were heard coming up the stairs. Suddenly, several people burst into the room. I looked through the crack in the door, trying to get a better look. Two grabbed my mother and put her arms behind her back.

There were 3 men and two women dressed in black, one was the woman who I saw at the library with the baby and another was the man who tried to stop me on my bike.

There was one more man. He had a grey suit on, with a blue tie. I couldn't see his face, but he was very tall with buzz cut blond hair. When he was about a foot away from her, he started slowly clapping.

"Congratulations Shannon. You've successfully kept a wanted criminal hidden for 15 years. You should be proud."

I heard my mother scoff. "Wanted criminal? Really Walters? She's just a child, not a threat."

Walters stepped closer to her. The two agents holding her shoved her on her knees.

"Just a child? She's the child of the most dangerous criminals out there. She needs to be contained. I'm surprised you of all people would keep such a dangerous weapon without any protection."

"Contained? Like some experiment? I see you take after your predecessor. Anyway, you are too late, she's already gone."

"If she was gone you wouldn't have told me and delayed me longer." He turned to one of the men beside him. "Search the house." He turned to the other two who weren't holding my mother hostage. "You're coming with me. We're going to go check through the cameras we placed outside. And you two are staying here." They complied as 4 of the people left the room.

One started walking towards the closet, a gun in her hand. I suddenly remembered I wasn't just watching this unfold like I was watching a movie, I was part of it. I cowered towards the back of the closet, trying to figure out what to do.

Fortunately, I didn't have to.

There was a thump, a muffled scream, and the closet door swinging open. Standing there was my mother, breathing heavily. Behind her the two guards were out cold.

She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the closet.

"Carter, remember. Take the CAT, then to New York to find Tony Stark. He'll help." (So she did say Tony Stark. I wasn't crazy.)

It felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach. Suddenly, this felt all too real. "You aren't coming with me?"

She smiled sadly. "I can't sweetie. I need to make sure they can't find you." She gave me a giant hug. "I love you."

"What's going on up there?" Shit, I forgot the guard searching the house for me.

"I'll keep him occupied, you go Carter." She pointed to the window. Our house was on a hill, which meant that the second-floor window was less than 6 feet to the ground. Looking at me one last time, she ran out of the bedroom and down the stairs to meet the guard, while I opened the window.

I crouched on the windowsill, wondering how the hell my life got so fucked up in a matter of 24 hours. Suddenly, I heard a bang come from inside the house.

A gun shot.

My heart stopped, could my mother have been shot? Pushing that thought out of my mind, I jumped and hit the ground running.

I ran through the backyards of my neighbours, pulling my hood over my head. It had started raining, and people probably just thought that the neighbourhood kids were playing another game of manhunt.

While I was running, trying to put as much distance as I could between my house and my location, I calculated how I should go about getting to the ferry terminal.

From where I was now on Herbert street, it was only a 20-minute walk to the Old World Bakery and Deli, which wasn't very far from the ferry. The mot direct way would be down Main Street and then to Water street, but it would be easy to spot me.

I could also just go through the side streets, but if I have to be on the ferry by 10, and it was already 9:20, there wouldn't be enough time.

I stopped to catch my breath I was hunched over against the brick wall of the corner house. It was a miracle no one had seen me yet. I looked around. No one wanted to brave the rain on a Saturday. I didn't know if that was a blessing or a curse. Biting my lip, I made a decision.

I walked out onto main street, head down. If someone spotted me from behind or from the side, I would have no way of knowing it.

Five minutes felt like an eternity, but no one came. No one tried to stop me. No one tried to grab me. I don't know if that settled my nerves or made it worse.

Finally, I made it to the terminal without incident. My nerves were on high alert, every sound making me jump.

When I walked inside the terminal, I let out a sigh of relief. Getting in line to buy a ticket, I pulled my hood off.

The man in front of me bid the clerk a goodbye and walked out of the small building. I was up next.

"How may I help you?" The woman started with a smile, but it quickly faded. "I'm sorry but where are your parents? We can only sell tickets to those 18 and older."

I bit back a curse, ma at my small figure. How the hell was I supposed to talk my way out of this one? I thought of the huge amount of money in my backpack, wondering if I could bribe the teller. Worth a shot. I thought to myself. Pulling about $600 in cash from my bag, I slammed it on the counter. "You sure about that?"

The woman looked at me skeptically. "Where'd you get the cash?"

I scoffed. "I didn't steal it, if your wondering. So, are you going to sell me a ticket or not?"

She nodded slowly and took the cash, then went to her computer.

"Adult walk-on ticket, one way or two way?"

I wanted desperately to say 2-way, that I'd be able to come back to this sleepy town one day, but I knew that would never be possible.

"One way, please." She nodded, and a few seconds later handed me my ticket.

"The ferry is loading now, you can go right out these doors." She gestured behind her. "Now get out of here before I get fired."

I nodded and went out the doors, ready to head into the unknown.


Are you guys as excited as I am that the story's finally getting going? Probably not, but personally I'm so hyped for this!

Either the next chapter or the one after that are going to have a cameo from another hero who isn't an avenger. Who do you think it is going to be? Let me know by reviewing.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!