Hey all! Here's chapter 10! Hope you guys like it!
Visual Aid: I should have mentioned this last chapter but I forgot. Charlies uniform is like Maria Hill's in the movie. Also when I talk about eberyone elses uniforms, they are like the one's in the movie.
Comments: So just letting you guys know, I have no idea what I'm talking about when the missile is mentioned. I just looked stuff up online so that content I cannot take credit for. Also, I do not have any knowledge in the medical field. I'm still in high school after all. Haha. Also I just want to add something real quick. If you guys are looking for awesome Clint Barton/OC stories to read over the winter break, check out KoteSkirata's "18 Paper Airplanes", "Ghostmaker" and "The Lost Ones." She's an absolutely amazing writer! Anyways, ENJOY!
-Koty Lyon
Charlie just sat on the hard ground and stared at the burning structure. He was gone. She had gotten so close. So close. Charlie heard someone yelling her name through the sounds of cracking and popping from the fire. They sounded so far away, so distant. Charlie heard the sound of heavy footsteps and then someone knelt next to her. A large hand shook her but Charlie didn't respond. All of a sudden, her face was whipped to the side and her cheek stung. Charlie's eyes focused and she reached up to grip her jaw. She looked over at Steve who stared at her eagerly.
"Charlie! Snap out of it! We've gotta go." Charlie stared into his determined blue eyes and nodded. "Good." He looped an arm around her waist and she hung an arm around his neck for support as she stood. Charlie looked over and saw the other agents helping Barton to his feet. Stark had gone ahead and told the pilot to bring the jet closer so they didn't have to walk the distance. Cap helped Charlie up the ramp and eased her into a seat. They waited until everyone was on and Cap said, "Alright, Baker. Take us out of here."
"Yes, sir." The ramp closed and they took off to the helicarrier. Cap knelt in front of Charlie and placed a hand on her knee.
"You alright?" Charlie squeezed her eyes closed and nodded slightly.
"I will be. Thanks."
"Sure." He left her and went over to talk to some of the other agents. Charlie looked over at Barton who was unconscious. He had a cut above his left brow and some bruises on his arms. Charlie looked away and sighed. All of a sudden the jet went dark. Charlie gripped her seat as the jet turbulently dropped. Alarms sounded as they fell through the sky.
"What the hell?!" She heard the pilot yell. She saw Steve make his way up to the front of the jet.
"Baker, what's happening?" suddenly there was a surge of electricity and the lights came back on. Charlie watched as the pilot grabbed hard on the controls and pulled up.
"I need you in that co-pilots seat, Rogers!" Steve sat down and took the controls. Together, they worked to get the jet back in the right altitude. Charlie sighed in relief and leaned her head back to look at the ceiling.
"What was that all about?" She heard Stark ask.
"I'm not… Hold on. What the… We've been targeted. Missile is at a length off 1.397 m and has a diameter of 13 cm. Approaching fast."
"How did it lock in on us?" Stark walked up and stood behind Steve.
"When the power went out, our shields were down."
"Great." Charlie didn't think that this trip could get any worse but it just did. She knew what to do though. She got up and staggered over to the pilot's seat.
"How much time do we have?" She asked.
"Charlie,"
"I'm fine Cap. Baker, I asked a question. How long?"
"Not long enough." Charlie looked around and found an area of wall that wasn't covered with anything. The cool steel of the jet on her hand sent chills up her spine.
"Everyone get hold of a part of the jet. Now!" She yelled over her shoulder.
"Chuck, what are you doing?" Stark asked.
"You're just going to have to trust me." Everyone touched a part of the jet. Charlie closed her eyes and concentrated. Her hand began to tingle and she could feel her power transferring to the jet and everything that was in it.
"Thirty seconds until impact." Charlie's head began to throb and she gripped the pilot's seat so hard that her nails poked holes in the materiel. "Fifteen seconds." She heard the concern in Baker's voice. The doubt. But Charlie blocked it out. She felt the sticky dampness under her nose as it started to bleed. She was exerting herself but she had no other choice. "Five, four, three, two… one!" Charlie opened her eyes just in time to see it. It was like it was happening in slow motion. The missile went through one end of the jet and right out the other. There was a loud explosion that rocked the jet. Charlie lost her grip on the jet and it was jostled around. She almost fell but she grabbed the pilot's seat and stood up. No one spoke. Most just stared at Charlie in disbelief. Then, the Stark let out a whoop of joy.
"That's what I'm talking about! Good going Chuck!" Charlie let out a choked laugh and lifted a hand up to her throbbing head.
"Anderson? You okay?" She heard one of the agents ask her.
She nodded slightly. "Yeah, I'm…" She didn't get the chance to finish because her mind went blank and she fell to the floor unconscious.
(************)
Charlie felt the pain before her brain could even process where she was. She slowly pried her heavy eyelids open and through blurry vision, she looked around. White walls surrounded her and she realized she was in one of SHIELDs infirmary rooms. She was wearing a white t shirt and white pants. She sat up in the small bed and tried to remember what had happened. Images of the warehouse burning down flashed across her mind. Others were of Cap and some SHIELD agents running over to her and Clint. They helped her get into the jet and then there was the blackout. Then images of the missile passing through the jet flashed across her eyes. After that, nothing.
Someone opened the door and Charlie looked to see who it was. A man, in his late thirties with dark hair and glasses wearing a white lab coat, walked in carrying a clip board. He smiled when he saw her. "I'm glad to see that you are awake, Agent Anderson." He walked over and stood beside the bed. He wrote some things down on the clip board and asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got hit by a Mack truck." She said rolling her neck to the left and then to the right to get her muscles loosened up. The doctor laughed.
"That's expected. You have three bruised ribs, some minor fractures in your shoulders and dislocated your sacrum." Charlie grimaced when the doctor read off all of her injuries.
"Ouch." she said.
"Ouch indeed. You did quite a heroic thing on the jet. Unfortunately, you over exerted yourself. Using your power to manipulate something that large should have killed you." He placed the clip board down on the bedside table and put his stethoscope in his ears.
"Thanks for sugar coating it Doc." He smiled and lifted the end of the scope up.
"I'll need you to sit up and to take a couple of deep breaths for me." Charlie did as she was told. He did some other minor assessments and then left. Not long after he left, Director Fury walked through the door.
Charlie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "What do you want?"
"I came to see how you were feeling."
"And…" she prodded.
Fury sighed and added, "To ask you about what happened last night."
"Thought so." Charlie said, adjusting herself so that she was in a more comfortable position for storytelling. Charlie recited the events of last night as best as she could. Fury listened to her very intently, never interrupting. When she finished she asked, "Is everyone else alright?"
"A few of the agents were hurt from the blast but other than that, everyone is fine." Charlie let out a sigh of relief.
"Do you know when I'll be out of here?" She asked.
"Doctor says you need to stay off your feet until tomorrow." Charlie nodded and let out a tired sigh. Fury spoke again. "What you did last night was stupid and irrational." Charlie looked up at him in horror.
"Excuse me?"
"It was stupid and irrational, what you did on the jet." Charlie opened her mouth to say something but Fury raised a hand to silence her. "But, you did save the lives of fifteen agents, including yourself, Agent Barton and Rogers. They will be in your debt. Thank you." Charlie gave him a small smile.
"You're welcome."
She thought Fury would have turned to leave by now but he stayed where he was. Charlie couldn't shake the feeling that he wanted to ask her something more.
"Director. What is it?"
"You said that the Captains shield hit you when you were immaterial, correct?" Charlie looked at her hands that lay in her lap. She slowly nodded.
"Yes. It should have gone through me. But it didn't. All my life I've never discovered anything that I couldn't pass through. What is it made of?" Charlie asked looking back up at the Director.
"The shield is comprised of different metal alloys. Vibranium and adamantium to be exact. I guess we found the one thing that not even you can penetrate." Fury turned to leave.
"Guess so." Charlie had one more thing to add. "Director Fury." He stopped in the doorway and turned to look at her. "Gabriel saw. When the shield hit me, I mean."
"He was probably too caught up in his twisted thoughts to think anything of it."
"But underneath all of those twisted thoughts, he's a very smart man, Director."
"Yes he is Agent Anderson." Then he turned and left the room.
(************)
After Fury left, Charlie had slept the day away. The doctor had come by that evening to check on her again. She insisted that she was fine and he gave her some meds to help with the pain. The next morning the Doctor checked in at around nine thirty and then said she was free to go. Charlie changed out of her white infirmary clothing and into grey sweatpants and a black sports bra and tank. Charlie didn't head back to her room right away though. She headed to the training room. She remembered seeing balance beams in there and Charlie knew that would help her gain some of her concentration back. She didn't feel like shooting or punching anything. She needed to do something less violent to channel her emotions. When Charlie got to the training room, she checked to see if she was alone. She was. She walked over to one of the balance beams and hopped up on it.
Charlie took a deep breath as she slowly stood up on the beam. She started out by walking from one end to the other several times. Then when she became more confident, she began to do hand stands and cartwheels. Soon she was walking on her hands from one end to the other, while her eyes were closed. Charlie stopped as she neared the end of the beam and held her body still with both hands. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. Charlie slowly removed one hand from the beam, keeping her body balanced with the other. Her back started to ache a little but Charlie tried not to focus on the pain. She alternated hands so that she was being held up by her left. Charlie was quite peaceful like this. Calm. Tranquil. Silence.
"Wow."
Charlie's concentration was broken by that single word and her balance was lost. Her eyes snapped open just as her hand fell right through the beam. She yelped and tried to regain concentration so that she wouldn't fall through the floor. A pair of arms caught her before she hit the ground. Charlie looked up into the familiar eyes of Barton. He grinned down at her as he held her bridal style.
"That was impressive."
"Shut up and put me down." He did as she requested and set her back down on her feet. Charlie walked over and grabbed a towel from a shelf. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and the back of her neck. "What are you doing here?"
"Well I went to the infirmary to see how you were doing but they had already discharged you." He walked closer to where she stood. "Then I went to your room but of course you weren't there either. I thought maybe you were either letting off some anger somewhere, so I came here. But I half expected to see you punching the hell out of a bag, not doing gymnastics."
"Violence isn't always the answer. Sometimes you just need to do something more, well, nonviolent." She said.
Clint stood in front of her as he spoke. "I heard what you did last night. On the jet." Charlie shrugged. "It was stupid and irrational."
"Oh no. Not you too!" She said giving him a bewildered look. His expression was serious.
"It was, Charlie."
"But if I didn't do anything, then we would all be dead right now. So I should be hearing a thank you."
"Maybe later." Charlie scoffed and wiped the sweat off of her arms with the towel.
"I bet I could do that." Charlie heard the smirk in his voice. She looked up at him as he indicated the balance beam. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Right. You probably couldn't even stand up on the beam." She said throwing the dirty towel in a basket.
"Is that a challenge?" He said inching closer to her.
"Clint, stop." His grin turned into a frown.
"Okay. What's wrong?" He said, crossing his arms. Charlie sneered at him.
"Like you don't know. I had him Clint!" She flew her hands into the air. "Gabriel. He was right there. I should have shot him but you didn't give me the chance." She jabbed her finger into his chest. He gave her an incredulous look.
"Excuse me? I should be hearing a 'thank you' from you right about now." Clint inched closer and Charlie took a step back. She let out a small sarcastic laugh.
"Why would I say 'thank you' to you if you wouldn't give me one?" She dared him.
"Well I mean, this was the second time I saved your life. And may I remind you; you left there out of your own free will. You could have run away after I let you go but you didn't." Charlie kept taking steps backwards until her back it the wall. Charlie found what Clint was saying hard to swallow because it was true. She wanted to go after Gabriel but she also wanted to live to see another day. When Charlie opened her mouth to protest, Clint slammed both hands against either side on the wall by her head. Charlie blinked a couple of times and looked at him, confused. She wasn't sure what was going on.
Suddenly, he leaned forward and kissed her softly. Charlie's eyes widened, surprised by his sudden action. But she eventually relaxed into the kiss and closed her eyes. Her mind went blank and all she felt was his lips on top of hers. He pulled away slightly and Charlie opened her eyes and stared into his.
"What was that for?"
"My thank you." He murmured against her lips.
"Oh." She said quietly. His lips covered hers once more and Charlie embraced it. She placed one hand behind his head and deepened the kiss. Charlie felt one of Barton's rough calloused hands trail down her arm which sent chills up her back. His other hand tangled in her dark brown curls. The kiss became rougher and more passionate. Charlie tasted something sweet on his lips. One of his hands reached up the back of her tank and lightly brushed the small of her back. Charlie reached up with her other hand and dug her fingers into his hair. This felt absolutely right. But then again, it felt wrong. She felt the urge to pull away but she didn't.
Out of the blue, an alarm sounded and Fury's voice sounded throughout the room. Charlie's eyes flew open. She removed both hands from Clint's hair and used them to push him away. His hand detangled from her hair and the warmth of his lips on hers faded. She looked away, blushing fiercely. She lifted on hand to cover her mouth and propped the other on her hip. She stared at the ground and listened to what Fury was saying.
"All personnel that are assigned to the Gabriel Menard case need to report to the flight deck immediately." Charlie glanced up at Barton who stared at her with a blank expression.
"We have to go." was all she said before darting out of the room. She hurried down the hall, not waiting to see if Barton had followed her. She got to the flight deck and sat down at the table next to Agent Dunn.
"Hey, Chuck." Charlie looked up at Stark. "You got that thing again?" Charlie's cheeks were still red and she could feel the heat. She looked down at the table.
"Yeah, sure." Charlie glanced up just as Clint walked through the doors. She watched as he sat down at the other end of the table. He didn't look at her once. Fury walked up to the head of the table and Charlie focused her attention on him.
"Alright people. Let's get down to business. Obviously the plan to take down Gabriel Menard didn't work out last night. He now knows that we are looking for him and that Agent Anderson is not alone. We can only assume that he will go into hiding once again, so that means we will have to start our search all over. Scrap everything and start from scratch. Oh and one other thing. He may know what Charlie's one weakness is." Charlie glanced over at Barton who stared right back. She felt her face heat up and looked away.
"Please don't keep it to yourself, Director." Stark said.
"Rogers' shield. It should have passed through Anderson but instead it knocked her off her feet. Gabriel Menard saw this happen and it could play out two ways: either he thought nothing of it or is devising a plan that includes vibranium and adamantium at this very moment. Now I suggest you all get back to the lab and begin searching. You are dismissed." Charlie watched as Barton was the first one to leave and let out the breath she hadn't noticed she'd been holding. Charlie stood and walked with Banner and Stark to the lab.
Here we go again.