DISCLAIMER: Marvel owns everything, per usual.
AN: Sorry for the late update, I have no excuse except for my laziness. Enjoy.
"You sure you'll be okay?" Clint asked as he walked down the porch steps. His mind had been racing the whole night with uncertainty. He knew Lottie was smart, practically a genius, but that was when she was on a computer or dealing with mathematical equations. He had watched the young woman easily hack into countless systems and figure out algorithms within minutes. However, Lottie was not as smart as she put off when she wasn't behind a screen or dealing with numbers. She was quite naive and could be taken advantage of easily. While she went to her training back at the Avengers base and got through it, Clint knew her heart wasn't in it. She could remember all the moves and attack positions, but when it came to using them in the field, he knew she would freeze up. The archer turned around, seeing the red head finish tying her hair into a braid. He could see her mouth moving, but no sound came out. She was repeating the latitude and longitude lines. "Lottie!" Clint loudly said, putting her thoughts to a halt.
"I'll be fine." She replied after taking a few seconds to figure out what he had said to her before. "Besides, I'll have Speedy with me." Lottie's thumb pointed behind her, where Clint's children had Pietro Maximoff as a prisoner. They were currently questioning him about what superheroes did and having him tell stories about battles. Lottie could hear their little voices, excited as they shot question after question. She had to admit, Pietro was doing a good job.
"Speedy? Lot…" Clint paused, noticing Lottie's eyes harden as she heard the doubt in his voice.
"Look, I get it. You don't really like him," Her voice was firm. She sounded more like Pepper than herself. "But, I believe in him and I trust him. The least you could do is trust my judgment."
"I do trust your judgment. I wouldn't have told you about my family if I didn't!" Clint argued. "It's just…the kid was dead about a month and a half ago and you haven't been training that long."
"Clint," Lottie started, her voice softer. Clint watched as she walked closer to him, stepping off the stairs and in front of him. Her face was free of any makeup, making her look much younger than 23. A few strands of hair that didn't make it into her side braid fell limply to the side of her face. Clint felt so much taller than her, but he was only a couple inches taller than her. "It's not like this is a real mission. We are just seeing what's out there."
"Why are you doing this, Lot?" He whispered to her. He watched as the woman in front of him looked down to her hands and then to the side of them, staring off into the empty greenery.
"I just," She sighed, trying to find the correct words, "I just want to do something important. I-I'm surrounded by people that do amazing things—Tony, Nat, Pepper…you. And I'm utterly normal and human."
"You help the team all the time."
"With what? Finding the location of something? Breaking into a system?" She looked back at him, her green eyes clouded. "Come on, Clint…Tony could do that too. You or Nat could do it, albeit slower…but what I do can be done by someone else." Lottie gave Clint a sad smile. Clint was about to make a remark when he heard footsteps coming out of the house.
"Come on, Lottie." Pietro's voice caused Lottie to look away from the father figure in front of her. Clint could see her face soften when she looked at Pietro.
"What, couldn't take all the questioning?" She joked, losing any type of sadness Clint had just seen. "Better get used to it, Speedy." She walked to the car, laughing as Pietro glared a hole in her back for using the nickname. He began to follow her, when Clint's hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him.
"What?" Pietro snapped.
"Keep an eye on her," Pietro rolled his eyes at the older man's command. As if it was not obvious. "I mean it, Maximoff. Stay on the path until you get to a location where the walking distance isn't too much." Clint removed his hand and began to walk back to the house. Before he walked into his home, he looked over his shoulder, adding one last thing before the pair went off. "If she comes back injured in any way, I'm putting an arrow through that pretty little head of yours." He threatened, slamming the screen door behind him.
Pietro watched Clint's form disappear, a hard look in his eyes. He couldn't stand how the archer treated him like he was a child. And he hated how he acted as if Lottie was a fragile doll. While she was absolutely mundane, she could handle herself and easily look at dangerous situations with pleasure. Pietro turned around and walked to the driver's seat of the car.
"You remember where we are going, right?" He asked her, turned the vehicle on.
"No, we are just going to drive through the woods until we get lost." She replied, sarcastically. Pietro looked at her, seeing a huge grin on her face. He felt his lips twitch into a smile, before shaking his head and driving away from the Barton house and towards what they were looking for.
"Are we there yet?" Lottie complained, her mind jumbled with images of the different trees they passed.
"We've only been driving for 10 minutes." Pietro mumbled. He could see in the corner of his eye Lottie shifting in her seat to look at the small device in her hand. The small GPS had guided them 18 miles east of the Barton house, the computer voice slowly but surely irritating Pietro. He hated driving, especially when the scenery never changed. He wanted to go out and run; it would be faster than driving. He could feel his legs cramping from the inactivity, as they always did. The plane ride to New York had been hell for him, but the nervousness of being around Lottie made this small car ride worse. Before, when they were alone together, he could easily push down the bubbling feeling in his gut, but after their small talk the night before, he could tell it was going to be harder.
"Well thank god we are almost at the location. I feel like if I am in this car any longer, I am going to die." She dramatically stated. She looked over at Pietro, "At least I'll have something pretty to look as I die."
"I guess the trees and this part of where we are is pretty." Pietro commented, oblivious to Lottie's actual meaning.
"Yeah, totally, the trees. Cause I am a nature girl." She breathed, looking at the dirt road ahead of them. Suddenly, the car began to slow down. "Why are you slowing down?"
"I'm not." Pietro denied, "We are at half a tank, also." The car instantly stopped, the engine ceasing any noise. Lottie frowned and looked at the GPS, noticing the screen was black. She looked at the machine, seeing that it was still switched on.
"This is not good." She whispered to herself, hitting the device against her hand a few times.
"Maybe it is good. Maybe it means we are close." Pietro reassured, getting out of the car. Lottie groaned loudly, putting the device down on the dashboard and got out of the car as well. She looked at her watch, hoping they had enough time till sundown.
"Pietro..." With a breeze, the man she called was suddenly by her side. "My watch stopped working." The blond grabbed her wrist, inspecting the watch. He could hear he faint ticking of the clockwork fade out and watched as the hands stilled.
"We'll look around until the sun starts to go down," He began, "And then we'll begin walking back on the path." He put both hands on Lottie's shoulder's, looking down at her. "We are going to be fine, yes?" He watched as she hesitantly nodded. Her fearful expression changed into one of determination.
"Let's find this motherfucker." She said, walking towards the trees.
"She's on a mission?" Tony asked again, not believing the first time Steve told him what the younger Potts was doing. Tony was currently sitting outside his Malibu property, a red alcoholic beverage in one hand, and the phone in the other. He watched as Pepper floated silently in the pool, her nose deep inside a book. This is what the couple had been doing since they left the Avenger's tower a few week ago: relaxing. It was something neither of the two had done in a long time, and Tony had to admit, he rather enjoyed the lazy lifestyle. "Well, Pep will be so excited to hear that." Tony sarcastically continued.
"Lottie doesn't want her to know." Steve's voice sighed on the other line.
"Lottie doesn't want a lot of things. Listen, Capsicle, I'm on a sort of vacation. You know, those things where you don't work? And as much as I am interested in the little spitfire's antics, I don't really want to hear it while I am sipping on my mojito."
"Tony-" But before Steve could get another word in, Tony hung the phone up.
"Who was that?" Pepper asked, shutting her book. Tony got up from the seat he was sitting on and went to the edge of the pool, sitting down once again.
"Earth's oldest virgin giving us the low down on little Miss Lottie." Tony could see Pepper frown, still not over the fight the two had had. She had yet to contact her sister, but Pepper felt like it wasn't her fault. Lottie needed to learn to grow up and not act recklessly. "Turns out, your little sister managed to get Fury to let her go on a mission with Mr. Maximoff."
"Lottie on a mission without a more trained agent?" Pepper's voice rose slightly.
"It's near Barton so she'll call the Birdman if she is in trouble." Tony added, taking a sip of the drink in his hand.
"She's so stupid," Pepper mumbled.
"Wouldn't be your sister if she wasn't." Tony laughed, earning a playful splash from Pepper. He watched as Pepper got out of the pool, wrapping a white towel around herself. "Come on, Pep," Tony stood up, "You don't have to worry about her." He began to walk inside the house, ready to add more of his beverage to his emptying glass. He heard Pepper's soft footsteps follow him inside.
"I know I don't have to worry about her...but I do." Pepper noticed a faint shadow move in the corner of her eye, but ignored it. It could have been a bird or just her imagination. She had no reason to think it was anything else.
"I wouldn't be worrying about her, if I were you." A cold voice said. Both Tony and Pepper turned to see the body of the third speaker emerge into the room. Expect it wasn't a body of a person, rather a giant form of the machine Tony thought his team had defeated. The robot resembled Ultron, but at a slightly bigger scale, and was equipped with more armor.
"Pepper," Tony began whispering, putting the two silver bracelets onto his wrists, activating the Iron Man suit to begin to form around him.
"I would be more concerned about yourself, Miss Potts."
"Run!" Tony ordered, the Iron Man suit fully engulfing his body just as a blast of energy shot at him from the intruder.
Pepper screamed as Tony was shot backwards at the impact, going through one of the walls. Pepper began to run out of the house through the doors she had just walked in through, hoping to go around the property and to the front, where she could access a car to get away. As she left the house, she could see the Iron Man suit get up and attack what she assumed to be Ultron. She saw the phone Tony had been using and grabbed it before she made her way to the side of the house. She dialed the number that had been used to call the Malibu home, hearing it ring.
"Come on, pick up...pick up!" She cried.
"What do you want Tony?" The Captain's voice sounded irritated. "I thought you were on vacation?"
"He's back!" Pepper yelled into the phone. She had made it to the front of the house and turned to see blurs of Iron Man fighting off Ultron. It was clear the robot had the upper hand as he threw Iron Man into the back of the house and into the pool Pepper was just relaxing in
"Ultron is here!" She screamed as the villain made his way towards her. She began to run again, down the driveway.
"What? Pepper get aw-"
The phone dropped out of Pepper's hand as she was lurched forward from an attack. She felt pain shoot up her back from where she was hit. She fell into the asphalt, feeling her cheek scrape against the ground. She rolled onto her back, more pain forming as she put pressure onto it. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears mix with the metal sound of Ultron bending beside her.
"You can thank the Avenger's for this," He sneered before standing up. Pepper could hear Tony call her name as Ultron blasted off into the sky.
"Pepper!" His voice got closer, but so did the darkness. Every blink, Pepper's vision got blurrier and blurrier. She didn't even know the extent of her wounds, but she could feel her hair begin to get wet with blood.
"Pepper, stay with me." She felt the metal of the Iron Man suit lift her head gently, the other arm going under her legs, lifting her up. She could feel the wind through her blood soaked hair as Tony flew into the sky. Pepper was numb, the blurriness getting to her. The last thing Pepper could see before the darkness consumed her was the Iron Man mask and the look on her little sister's face the last time she saw her.
Lottie lifted up a rock, looking under it for any sign of what they were searching for. She wasn't even sure what they were looking for anymore. They hadn't even been sure that whatever stone they were in the woods for looked like the one on Vision. She could have passed it a thousand times and not even know about it.
"I give up." She declared, sitting on a log with an irritated huff. "Are you happy world, I give up!" She yelled out into the air, her arms lifting up into a dramatic movement. Lottie had taken one side of the woods, while Pietro had taken the other. He had checked on her a few times, using his super speed to find her and get back to searching quickly. He had been the only solace in their hunt, Lottie's mood immediately brightening whenever he came. But, for now, she was alone. Lottie glared at her watch, wishing that it was working. She sighed, using her index finger to lightly tap the glass, hoping that her tapping would somehow cause the watch to work again. Lottie felt a tingle in her back, as if a spider was crawling up her shirt. She quickly stood up, reaching for her back to rid her body of whatever was causing the feeling. However, Lottie lost her footing and tumbled backwards, over the log that she was sitting on and down a small hill. She felt twigs scrape at her face and whatever part of her body that wasn't covered by clothing. She rolled down the hill, landing face first into a small stream.
"You have got to be kidding me!" She screamed. She placed her hands on either side of her, slowly getting up. Lottie looked into the stream, seeing a frog jump away from her. "That's right, run away." She grumbled, not wanting to deal with nature right now. The front of her shirt was soaked, as well as the braid. As she began to wipe the mud and dirt off of her face, Lottie noticed something shining in the water. Raising her eyebrow, Lottie walked to where the shine was coming from, ignoring the wet feeling in her boots as she stepped into the water. Reaching down, Lottie picked up the object. As soon as it was out of the water, the shine seemed to stop. It looked like a regular stone, except for the yellow/orange coloring. Lottie felt a jolt of energy come from the spot the stone laid in her hand. The energy felt like the tingling she felt before she fell, but far more powerful. Suddenly, she felt a burning sensation and went to drop the stone. However, the stone stayed put in the palm of her hand and seemed to melt away.
"What the fuck?" Lottie whispered to herself. It wasn't melting away, it was sinking into her skin, until the stone was completely emerged into her hand. She could see the outline and color of the stone, but couldn't grab at it. All she was met with was her flesh. Lottie could feel her breathing speed up and she looked around the woods.
"P-Pietro?" She yelled, hoping he would hear her. After a few seconds of nothing, Lottie screamed his name again, this time much louder.
"Lottie?" she heard, after waiting another couple of seconds. "Lottie where are you?"
"I'm down here!" She yelled, involuntarily waving her arms. She saw Pietro's form and almost cried in happiness.
"What happened to you?"
"I fell! But, that's not important." She said as Pietro ran down to her. All she saw was a blur and felt him pick her up, running back up the hill and to the vehicle. "Oh wow, so that's what that feels like." She said to herself.
"You are bleeding," Pietro said, touching her forehead gently. Lottie put her finger's to her head, feeling the stickiness of blood. She could see the yellow glow of the stone inside her palm as she felt the wound. She stopped and showed Pietro her hand. "What is that?"
"I think I found the stone!" She blurted out. "And it went into my hand!" Pietro looked at Lottie, his eyes widening. Suddenly GPS inside the car began beeping, the annoying voice of the woman telling the two of them that they reached their destination.
"Get in the car," Pietro ordered as he went to the front seat. Lottie nodded and got inside, noticing that her watch was now ticking away. She could hear Pietro whisper something in Russian as he twisted the keys in the car. When the vehicle turned on, he sighed in relief.
"I guess the stone blocked technology." Lottie commented as Pietro quickly turned the car around and sped his way down the dirt path, closer to the Barton house.
"Yeah and now that thing is inside of you." Pietro replied. "How did that thing get inside of your hand?" He asked, gaining speed. Lottie looked at him and then at her palm.
"I picked it up and it just went into my hand." Lottie ran her finger along the oval shape of the stone. "But, we can get it out...right?" Lottie looked back at Pietro, and when he didn't answer her, she felt her fear kick back in. "Right?"
"We'll find a way, Lottie." Pietro lied to her. He didn't know if they could get the stone out of her, but he didn't want to worry her even more. Pietro could see the lights of the Barton house. "We are almost there." He commented. The two stayed silent for the rest of the way, only the sound of the engine evading through the quiet of the car. Pietro parked the car and ran to Lottie's side, opening the door before she get free of the seat belt. The two quickly went inside.
"So, we ran into-" Lottie began, but her words stopped as she saw Steve and Natasha standing in the living room of the house. "What are you guys doing here?" Lottie asked.
"Lottie...something happened with Pepper."
