I yawned, surprised and unaware that I had fallen asleep. I was in my bed.

Or, my borrowed bed.

I walked out into the hallway and saw the window was open, as well as two plates that sat on the counter. I absentmindedly checked the list and calendar on the fridge.

All that remained unchecked was 'earn trust' and 'get transportation', though I crossed the second out because I had forgotten to the day before.

I grimaced as I saw three days left on the calendar. I still had to fix my dirt bike and go to the dump; and defiantly finish the suit with Johnny. There was no way I was missing any of the special defense classes or work outs with Steve, even though I helped on my grandparents farm all of the time and had taken special defense and swimming lessons when I was young. I remembered me and Rebecca at the karate place; seeing who could punch a bag farthest. I managed to make mine swing a bit on its hinges, but I fell over. Rebecca had the same result.

I smiled at the memory, turning around to see Peter sitting on the couch. I had almost forgotten that he had come over last night.

I smiled again when I remembered him telling me his window had slid shut.

"Hey." I said,
"Hi." He answered.
"Do anymore crime fighting while I was zonked?" I asked sarcastically, putting some extra eggs from the other day in the small microwave.
"Nope. I usually stop at around midnight anyway, unless something big goes on."
"Huh. Duly noted." I said. "You hungry?"

He nodded, taking the plate from my outstretched hand. As he did that I walked over to the window and gazed out at the city beyond. I closed my eyes, letting the early morning sunlight filter onto my face. The image of the beautiful city smoking caused my eyes to snap open, and I whirled around, my plate nearly toppling in my hands.

"What is it?" Peter asked, his head snapping up as I made the sudden movement.
"I need to tell you something." I blurted, abandoning my eggs on the counter.

His eyebrow rose as a curious smirk crossed his face.
"What?"

I evaluated the best way to explain, but instead I came out clean and simple.
"There is going to be an alien invasion in three days." I held out three fingers.
His face paled and he appeared to lose his appetite.
"You're serious?"
"Dead serious. We came a week before the movie; the Avengers. That's why I've been all out and about mostly. I don't want to be caught off guard. I just wanted to let you know."

He'd taken it quite well; I think. I soon left to go learn more from Steve, work, get my classes done, and work some more. I had come back to the apartment and finished the suit with Johnny and I was now cleaning the dirt bike engine. I don't think I was doing very well.

"Need some help there?"

I turned around to see Logan standing outside of his door. I assumed it was his door.
"Yeah... I suck at engines. Could you help- by like any chance?"
He laughed.
"I've had some practice in my time."

He strode over, pointing things out as I did them; helping me put this there, fix this and that.

"How do you know all of this?" I asked.
"Well, assuming you really do know everything about me...you should probably know I've been in a lot of wars." Logan frowned, but I nodded in acknowledgement.
"You gotta learn some things if you want to be in the army kid."
I nodded again, now remembering that he'd been in almost every war since the civil war.
"You must know a might lotta things." I said.
He laughed again, the frown turning upward into a toothy grin. They looked sharp. No wonder they called him Wolverine.

"I like you kid. What'd you say your name was?" He asked.
"Carmaline." I grinned. "Though people call me Carma for short."

The next few days passed in a blur.

I befriended Logan more. Peter would give me some parkour tips and such when I asked, knowing full well why I was asking. I started running early in the morning, then meeting Steve at the wrestling arena when I finished to keep up my endurance. After that I'd go work at the cash register. Then my defense classes and the other two jobs I had.

I was like a machine.

A well oiled machine that knew that in a few days the world would fall apart.

And I'd be right in the middle of it.

But it didn't scare me. I was surprised, really. I wasn't afraid of what was going to happen. I even had a competitive rock making it's home in the pit of my stomach. But on that last day it started to build up. I had the suit in my backpack, the helmet making it bulge, though no one would notice, since they thought it was my laptop or something. Anxiety started crashing in because I knew; tomorrow I might be standing side by side with some of the world's greatest heroes. I might be battling creepy looking aliens, and helping civilians out of collapsing buildings and doing what I had dreamed of doing ever since two thousand and twelve.

It was also the excitement. My childhood dreams might just come true, and maybe all of the comic books before bed will have paid off. I'd spent years dreaming, hoping, waiting... and here it was.

When someone knocked on the door I felt my heart race, hoping it would be who I hoped it was.

And it was.

It was Phil Coulson. It was early in the day, he probably wouldn't be going to Stark Tower for another couple of hours. I felt anticipation build up.

"Hello Ms. Woodward."
"Hello Agent Coulson." I mimicked his tone of voice, calming myself. I kept my face dead serious, though he could probably see my cheeks turning red.
"Director Fury would like to see you and your friends at SHIELD headquarters. It is my responsibility to take you there."

I nodded as he gestured towards a familiar van parked in the parking lot. I saw Johnny getting in, and he waved as I clambered down the steps. The kids across the street watched in interest as the van pulled out and left.

I gazed out of the tinted windows, letting the excitement growing in me out in a huge grin.

"Someone seems happy."

I turned to see Johnny grinning right along with me, a small duffel bag sitting at his feet.

"Why wouldn't I be? Tomorrow is going to be the biggest day of my life, something I've been dreaming about ever since I pulled my first comic book out of the wrapping paper." I almost squealed, but instead resorted to a jubilant laugh. "And I'm not afraid. Because I know we'll pull through."
"That's a big vote of confidence." Peter said, also shouldering a messenger bag.
I nodded vigorously. "It's supposed to be."
He sighed, his joke backfiring.

Soon we arrived at an air field, and I got out first. We got into a Quin Jet (sadly, there were no windows) and the door closed. Peter started looking nervous. Johnny looked nervous as well, but Logan was unreadable. I was just happy.

And excited.

And maybe a bit anxious.

But I didn't let that stop me. I was literally grinning the whole entire time, from the second we took off to the second we touched down. After that we walked onto another airfield. It took a second to realize it wasn't in fact an air field, but actually an aircraft carrier. It felt awfully familiar. We joined a group of three people. One was a red haired agent, handgun holstered on her hip. A curly haired man with glasses was also there, and of course Steve. It was just like I remembered.

"Better go inside, it's going to get hard to breathe soon." The agent said.
"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked, looking over the edge of the aircraft carrier suspiciously. Below us the water had started to churn. Everyone stood curiously at the edge.
"They want me underwater in a pressurized, metal container?" The other man said, just as suspiciously; though I could catch a hint of sarcasm that floated through the air.
"Nope." I said, my grin now the size of a Cheshire Cat's. I was bouncing up and down on my heels excitedly.

We stumbled back a bit as we started to rise. Everyone's eyes grew huge in shock, even Logan's.

"Oh no! This is much worse!" The curly haired man said.

No sooner than we started to take on air we where herded inside by the red haired agent and Coulson. The last thing I saw before I was ushered inside was a bunch of flight crews buzzing franticly around on the deck. We walked through a long and daunting hallway, and, in general a plain and boring hallway. And at the end there were two large double doors with the SHIELD insignia printed on them. My excitement was now taking over everything else.

We entered a room with a huge window overlooking the ocean, which was now miles below us. Agents in navy blue and black scurried about, doing this and that. Steve was zoned out- his eyes where glassy with amazement. Johnny didn't seem that fazed, and neither did Logan. The curly haired man - whom I now assumed was Bruce Banner - had positioned himself near the back of the room, as if to avoid attention. Peter's eyes where huge, his smile accompanying mine in size. I probably looked the same as him, if not nearly identical.

There where computers everywhere, some showing engines, others blueprints; and last but not least almost a dozen computers going over the same face, and one last going over another. In the center of it all stood the ring leader himself, Nick Fury, director of SHIELD. His hands hovered over hologram like screens, pressing multiple things until he stopped and turned around. Steve strode past him, but before he got too far away he fished a ten dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to Fury. Fury eyed it before sweeping it into his pocket and looking at the rest of us. His one eye zeroed in on poor Bruce.

"Dr. Banner, we are having trouble with finding the Tesseract."
"Search for high levels of gamma radiation, but really any level helps at this point." Bruce said, taking a few steps forward to look at a nearby screen.

The red haired agent kneeled down to look at another computer, no doubt holding a face that I wish had made more of an appearance.

"Agent Romanoff, could you kindly escort Dr. Banner to his lab?" Fury said, making her avert her eyes and stand at attention.
"You'll love it Doc, we got all the toys." She said before disappearing out the door with Bruce.

"We have a hit! Sixty-seven percent match. No, seventy-eight!" A nearby agent exclaimed, making my smile falter.
"Where?" Fury asked, striding over to the computer to make sure.
"Yeah, in Germany. He's not exactly hiding."
Fury turned to Steve. "Rogers, get your suit; you're up."

I frowned, realizing things weren't going exactly like they had in the movie.

"What's wrong kid? A second ago it seemed like someone had thrown you a birthday party."

I looked over to see Logan looking at me. I shrugged it off, assuming it was just us being there.
"Ah, nothing. Just letting it settle in; ya know?"

Nothing.

We all made ourselves comfortable at the table as we awaited Steve's return.

"He'll be alright. Right?" Peter asked.
"Don't worry about him." I waved away his worry.

When I woke up it was almost eleven o'clock. I had drifted off at some point earlier on, thinking it would be best to get as much sleep as I could before the next day.

The reality of it all was finally setting in on me. I had explained to Peter and Johnny who everyone was while Logan simply read the files that Fury had plopped on the table before going back to his place at the steering wheel. I didn't remember much after that. I yawned, annoyed that my foot had fallen asleep. When I looked outside it was incredibly cloudy. Thor and agent Coulson stood near the window, most likely talking about Jane. Bruce was in the room again, and him and Peter were talking science while Johnny sat with a bored expression on his face, screwing around with a stray pen. Logan was observing his claws thoughtlessly, making them sheath and un-sheath constantly.

Fury had left and was probably interrogating Loki. I wasn't paying attention much, but then Thor came over and started talking as well, and, unannounced, Tony Stark entered the room.

I was only aware enough to hear one of my favorite quotes.

"-kickstart the whole thing." Tony was saying.
"When did you become an expert on thermo nuclear astrophysics?" Agent Hill asked sarcastically.
"Last night." Tony answered simply. He then went on to interrupt Bruce and Peter's discussion and 'fanboy' over Bruce's green side.

Then the Black Widow appeared out of nowhere, though she was already probably there and started talking about Loki and watching a hologram that had appeared on the table. Everyone seemed intrigued, though I just remained in the same spot I was, completely careless because I had heard his 'you call on these beings because you're so desperate' speech so many times I couldn't count. The amount was probably unhealthy at this point. Well, now it probably didn't matter.

Then Thor said; "He is my brother and he is of Asgard. I came here to deliver him back home."
Then Natasha said, "He killed eighty people in two days."
Then Thor turned red and muttered, "He's adopted."

I then snorted, making Tony turn towards me.
"Sleeping beauty awakes!" He quipped, but I snorted again, my feet remained crossed and on the table while I tilted back in the swirly chair.
"I've been awake long enough to see progress. Aren't you already dating Stark? Anyway I'm too young for you." I grinned.
He laughed, but then calmed down a bit. "You say it like we're friends."
"I already know you don't like 'Mr. Stark', because that was your father."
"You got that right."

Out of nowhere Fury appeared, and told Tony and Bruce to go do something that sounded interesting, so I followed Peter, who followed Tony, who followed Bruce to the lab. It was large and spacious, and had a view from the back of the Helicarrier at the ocean below us. The first thing that caught my attention was Loki's scepter sitting by the window. It was a bit different then depicted in the movie, but I still recognized it.

When I saw it I gasped, making Tony laugh a bit.
"Staff got your tongue?" He asked.
"No, no. It's just. Wow..." I said slowly. "It's the Loki's scepter. Just wow."
He raised an eyebrow but didn't question. He then started doing science stuff with Peter and Bruce while I just kept staring. I would normally have joined in, but I was amazed seeing something so important to the plot in front of me. The stone at it's top could even be the mind stone, one of the six infinity stones. Someday soon it would fall into the hands of HYDRA, and after that... I knew nothing. This thing was going to be a lot of places in the next year.

In the next year. I suddenly wanted to go home.

I shook it off and joined the boys, earning a half-on friendship with both Tony and Bruce. We started tracking the Tesseract using the radiation signals, and it was quite easy. But soon Tony started getting in Bruce's face, and another hologram beeped.

"You hacking SHIELD?" I asked, a smirk growing on my face as I gazed through my hologram and at the one Tony now stood at.

He nodded, whisking away an alert that appeared on the screen and trying again.

I remembered that about now Loki was being interrogated by the Black Widow.

It was coming. And it was coming soon. In a flash Tony had tazered Bruce and Peter had jumped on the ceiling with all of the anticipation off the Hulk building up. That made Tony laugh and Bruce groan, and then Steve was in the doorway, getting mad at Tony until he noticed me pushing over a chair and trying to help pry Peter off the ceiling.

Steve started scolding Tony, and Tony offered blueberries to everyone. I had some and Peter had some, but no one else did. Then suddenly everyone was in the room fighting; and everything was a blur. Tony started getting mad at SHIELD for designing weapons that could use the Tesseract. Then, out of nowhere, Steve appeared with this huge mini cannon gun dealio, and Logan started getting mad at Fury. Then Fury blamed Thor and Thor blamed everyone, and me, Peter and Johnny just sat back and watched the tension rise. Then Natasha said something about SHIELD monitoring threats that didn't seem to fit in anywhere. And before I knew it time seemed to slip away and it was the early morning. And then Bruce erupts with anger.

"Dr. Banner, I would ask you to please put down the scepter."

My eyes widened as I saw Fury and Natasha reaching for their hand guns. Bruce glanced down as everyone suddenly stared at him. He dropped the scepter back on the table and then Steve and Tony started fighting, and my face was in my hands in disbelief. And then the floor blew up.

I had nearly forgotten this part, so caught up in reliving the moment that it had slipped from my memory. Bruce and Natasha where nowhere to be seen, and I assumed the worst as I saw the gaping hole before me in the floor. Peter, Johnny, and me had been blown back into the table behind us. Fury ran from the room and Logan stood shocked and confused. Steve and Tony where already gone, but I could hear their fading footsteps in the hallway. I took off after them, not listening to Peter and Johnny calling me. I followed Tony to an empty room, ducking behind a crate as he activated the suit. I had worn the main part of the suit underneath, so I watched it start attaching itself to him as I slipped off my shirt and pants and pulled on my gloves, boots, and helmet.

"Tony!" I said, running to the door to make it seem as if I'd just come through. He turned around.
"Carma?"
I nodded. "Didn't want to be caught off guard with the crazy stuff. I'm helping fix the engine. I know how it works too." I said.

Tony had flown me to the engine and was telling me to tell him what was wrong through the comn while Steve stood near a red lever. Suddenly gunfire rained over the poor guy, and he fell off, just barely managing to grab a nearby cable that flailed in the wind.

"Steve!" I exclaimed, abandoning my post at the engine board and crawling over towards the lever.

I grabbed the machine gun that now lay on the catwalk at my feet. I picked it up, ignoring the height and pulled the trigger, struggling to hold it as the kickback nearly knocked me off balance. I only managed to scatter the new enemy soldiers, so I ducked behind the corner and turned my attention to Steve.

Steve yelled something into the comn, and I suddenly realized I heard Tony panicking over the earpiece. I held my hand out to Steve as he came closer, helping pull him in. We were both exasperated, and I pulled the lever as he tried to catch his breath. I heard an ominous loud clacking come to a halt and a whir as Tony suddenly flew through the air and ran into the last remaining soldier.

We all sat at the conference table.

Time had flown by so quickly, I had no idea what had happened until we sat down.

Agent Barton, or Hawkeye, was back, but Thor and Bruce had fallen to the earth that was now below us, though we where only on the coast now. And Coulson was (presumably) dead. Fury had managed to reel everyone left, which included me, Tony, Steve, Logan, Peter and Johnny into the Avengers. Johnny had also fought Bruce, and his suit was still generating a bit of heat. Peter had just barely missed Thor and was now feeling incredibly guilty; though Steve and I tried to assure him it wasn't his fault and that he'd be okay.

And before I knew it I was in the hangar with Clint, Natasha, Peter, Logan and Steve.

The anticipation built as Steve talked off the younger agent and we went inside.

We took off, Clint piloting while Tony and Johnny followed behind.

We were going to New York.

And I was going to fight in the Battle of Manhattan.

And for the first time since I had set foot onto the Helicarrier, I was afraid.