Time to put Heather to a real challenge, one that has been hinted at throughout.

3rd POV

Clint was finally allowed to come back to the Ranch. He's still out of commission, but he can walk around a little. He was even overseeing Heather's training when Jarvis told them of a mission debriefing in the house.

They shut off the Sim and go meet up with the others. Heather stays slow so Clint doesn't strain himself. They walk into the large room with tables, chairs, and the board in the front. Heather sits down. Steve is standing in the front, a map on the board.

"This mission will be over in Europe," Steve continues, "We'll be in two groups, Thor is in Asgard, so it will be me and Sam, and then Natasha and Tony."

Tony looks at Natasha nervously. "..Can we trade?"

"What's wrong Stark?" Natasha gives him a side glance.

"I would just rather work with someone that-"

"Doesn't scare you?" Natasha asks.

"I was not going to say that!"

Heather would have smirked, chuckled, or teased Tony at that moment, but something else takes a hold of her mind. "What group am I in?" She asks Steve.

The group goes silent. "..You aren't coming, Heather," Steve answers.

Heather stares at him a few minutes. "...Oh," she says, confused, "Why not?"

"This.. this isn't a mission you need to be apart of," Steve lies.

Heather notes that he isn't telling her everything, "Is it about Bucky?" She asks.

"No," Steve answers carefully, "If it was about Bucky, only I would be going, with Sam."

"Then what is it?" Heather asks.

Steve looks at Natasha. She shrugs as if to say, 'Might as well.'

Steve looks at Heather again, "There is an area in Europe where Hydra is being more open about their cause. The Avengers- us- are going their to settle it. To stop them from causing more havoc."

"Why can't I come?" Heather asks, "I've helped against Hydra before."

"This isn't a rescue mission," Steve says gently. It seems like he is the only one in the conversation.

"But I'm an Avenger. I should be allowed to come." Heather is about to argue further, when she notices the quiet following her words. Not that the room wasn't already quiet, but it was different. Everyone stared at her like they knew something important, and Heather didn't. "What? I am," Heather states, pinning their stares to her first statement. She looks around the room, at each of the faces. She looks at Steve.

"..No, Heather," he says, firm, but soft, "you aren't."

Heather is shocked to silence. She stares at him, and he stares right back. After a few moments- hours to her- she bursts. "How am I not an Avenger!?" She asks, standing up. She knocks her chair over at the action. "I have an Avenger phone, I live here, I am a super soldier, I go on missions."

"Heather, you are still a teenager. Remember I told you you won't be doing this forever," Steve says, trying to soothe her temper. "You are not an Avenger."

Heather's face falls from anger to dejectment. She looks at the others assembled again, hoping for support. "Guys.. help me out here," she pleads.

"..You don't have a lot of experience," Natasha states, "you are still learning."

"This is very dangerous," Clint puts in, "remember what happened last time?" He motions to his own injuries.

"This isn't some game," Tony decides to add, "you aren't mature enough to handle this kind of stuff."

Heather looks at Sam. "..If you couldn't handle what you saw at the last mission.." he says, fading out. Heather remembers seeing the caravan of corpses, the utter hopelessness and despair those people had to live through, the conditions. Sam looks her straight in the eye, "then you can't handle the task of an Avenger."

Heather looks at Bruce, but he doesn't say anything, just avoids her gaze. "I've had training," she tells them, not looking at anyone in particular, "I've proven myself, in battle. I have experience. I didn't throw up at the mission. Sure I didn't like it, but I shouldn't! I understand the dangers, why do you think I took the serum. I know it isn't a game," she shoots a look at Tony, "I'm serious when I need to be. Telling me to grow up faster than I should isn't healthy."

"If you don't want to grow up fast, then you might be in the wrong business," Natasha states.

"I'm not some.." Heather struggles to find a good description of her situation, "Some.. Junior member!"

"Heather, you are staying at the Ranch with Clint until we get back," Steve commands.

"..I don't think so," Heather turns on her heel and walks out the door, fuming. She turns to the stairs and walks up. The adults know where she was headed because of the slam of her open door. Steve goes out of the room, followed by the others.

Up in her room, Heather takes out her backpack and stuffs things inside. Some clothes, her hair brush, and other toiletries. She puts her shield on her back with the harness, but leaves her Avenger phone on her bed.

She then walks down the stairs, past everyone without so much as regarding at them. She goes out the door, to the garage. Finding her bike, she stores her second bag in the container attached to the back.

"Where are you going?" Heather looks up at the voice. Sam is standing near her, waiting. She stares at him a moment. He was asking with irritation. He was asking out of curiosity. Like asking what she did over the weekend.

'Steve isn't the one to talk me out of this,' Heather muses, 'He knows I'm mad at him the most. Smart.' She looks away from Sam, "I need to clear my head."

"Are you going to follow to the mission?" Sam inquires.

"No," Heather states truthfully. She gets on the bike and it revs with life. She sits there a moment, and Sam doesn't leave. She looks up at him. "Why did you get my my US AVENGER hat.. If you knew I wasn't an Avenger?" She asks him. She thought that he would side with her, being the one that gave her recognition with a gift.

Sam doesn't meet her eye as he says, "..I guess I wasn't thinking."

Heather's eyes grow wide. Her hand reaches up to her head. She pulls the tan hat off, her hair coming free of the ponytail through the opening in the back.

"You being an Avenger would be like a private becoming a Navy Seal," Sam tries to explain.

Heather looks at the hat, rubbing her thumb over the letters on the left side of the band. Then her eyes harden and she tosses the hat at Sam, who wasn't fully paying attention. He looks at it, crumpled in his gloves.

Heather sets her helmet on her head. "Where are you going?" Sam asks again.

Heather takes a deep breath, tightening her grip on the handlebars, "My constant in rough waters."

Sam knows he won't get anything else out of her. "Don't do anything stupid, alright?" He cautions, teasing as well.

Heather notices he's in his uniform. "As long as you don't get yourself killed," she retorts through the helmet. With that, she drives off.

Steve walks over to Sam after seeing Heather's bike roar out of sight. Sam turns to greet his friend, who is also ready in uniform. "Heather needs some time to herself," he informs the super soldier.

"She's sixteen, Sam. She shouldn't be alone," Steve argues, still agitated from the argument earlier.

Sam thinks carefully about what he's going to say next. He looks at the hat in his hand. Steve turns to walk away. "When are you going to realize that Heather is her own person?" Sam finally asks. Steve stops but doesn't turn around. "She may be, stubborn and childish at times, and yes, she is not ready to be an Avenger," Sam adds, "but when she needs to be, she is as mature as you. She can handle herself out there. She won't do anything too drastic."

Steve stays silent, knowing that everything Sam has said is true. "Do you at least know where she's going?"

Sam walks over and pats Steve on the shoulder. "We need to focus on our mission, and let Heather focus on hers."

Where do you think she is going? (If it is obvious, ..It probably should be..)

See you all next chapter!

~CtW