Hello!

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel. I own Addison Carter.

RATED M

ENJOY!

I woke up with a grunt of pain. My whole body was aching at each movement. I tried to sit up but cradled my broken arm, curling up into a ball on the dirty floor. Gosh, it was bad.

The door was opened and I raised my eyes. I was locked up in a room but the man from earlier was now walking to me. I crawled away from him but he caught my broken arm. I whimpered in pain. His mask was back on his face.

"Addison Carter?" I blinked away the tears of pain.

"What?" He pulled me on my feet and I heard screams.

He didn't reply and walked away, dragging me behind him. My feet struggled to keep up with him. I hit the hand holding me and winced. It was his metal hand, now covered by a glove. His whole arm was covered.

The floor shook beneath our feet. His hold on me weakened briefly and I kicked him behind the knees. He dropped to the floor and tried to kick me from his spot but I blocked him. There was a second where neither of us made a sound and I sent him flying in a wall before running the other way.

I didn't really know what floor I was on but the entrances were on the top floors. I almost fell when I arrived in the stair case and started climbing them. I sped up when I heard the Soldier thinking. It was in Russian so I didn't understand but he was after me.

"I swear I'm slapping her when she's back," I heard Natasha thinking not far.

Of course, the prospect of the Black Widow slapping me was not nice, but at least I wouldn't be in enemy territory. I burst in a hallway and managed to hear Steve's thoughts as well. I kept running, but unfortunately for me the Soldier was still hot on my heels.

"Will you stop!?" I screamed at him, pushing him in the wall. I was weak right now though, and he was pretty strong, coming quite close to Steve.

I turned around a corner and squinted, spotting Natasha's bright red hair right away. I barely opened my mouth that the floor crumbled under my feet. I was holding to the floor with my hands but…

"Hold on Carter!" Cap screamed at me.

"What do you think I'm doing!?" I replied.

"Found you." I widened my eyes and looked above my shoulders. The Soldier jumped on me, holding me around the waist and I let go, not able to carry him.

I had the time to see Steve's wide, horrified eyes before the ceiling fell on me, on us, as well.

I passed out once more.

I woke up with a big headache. I blinked, the sun blinding me a little and jumped when I heard a gunshot. I looked up to see the Soldier, putting his rifle on his back. He walked back to me and grabbed my shirt to sit me up.

"You can walk?" he asked me gruffly. My legs were shaking though, so I shook my head.

"If...if you want to kill me...do it now..." I could taste blood in my mouth.

"Not the orders." He threw me on his shoulder and knocked the wind out of me at the same time.

I raised my head when I heard something above us. I briefly caught a glimpse of red and gold before the Soldier started running again. I couldn't say how long but we ended up in a cabin, hidden deep in the woods. He dropped me on a shabby mattress and took my arm in his hands.

His mask was gone. He must have lost it in the fall.

I winced when his hand ran over my broken arm. He got up and torn a piece of the white curtain off. He wrapped it around my arm quickly, not caring about being gentle, and turned it into a wannabe splint.

I read his mind quickly but was taken back by...I didn't know how to phrase it, it all seemed...robotic in a way? He was thinking of his mission but not much else, almost as if he didn't know how to…

"What's your mission Soldier?"

"Protecting Addison Carter above else," he replied quietly.

"Who gave that order?" Aksel was with HYDRA and something else, but that guy probably was HYDRA so…

HYDRA wouldn't want to 'protect' me.

"I don't know," he replied, his voice barely tinted with doubt.

"Don't remember?" He shook his head. "That's troublesome." I managed to sit up. "Look, thanks for saving me from drowning I guess, even if you kind of caused it, but I'll go home now." He grabbed my shoulder and pinned me to the mattress, a knife on my throat.

"No, it's dangerous." I gulped, staring down at the blade. "They're dangerous."

"Then what? Where am I supposed to go?"

"I don't know." I frowned.

"You don't know a lot of things." He removed the blade as I sighed. He sat down next to me, his knees close to his chest.

"Who's Sergeant Barnes?"

"A...Captain America's best friend who died during WW2. You look exactly like him." He seemed to think about it deeply. "Can I call you James?"

"Why?"

"Better than Soldier." He gave me a sharp nod after a few seconds. "Are you aware that they will scan the area until they find at least my body right?"

"We're not staying here."

"...where are we going?" We stared at each other and he shrugged. "Anything or anyone I know is out of the question?"

"Obviously, dangerous," he replied sternly with a cold face.

"If I try to run away?" He frowned.

"I'll find you." I pursed my lips.

If a HYDRA soldier had the mission to...protect me, it was probably better for me to stay with him without complaining.

"I'm in charge then?" He nodded again. "You're my bodyguard then James."

"I guess so." He stated thoughtfully at me. I raised a brow and read his mind

The guy was used to assassination. He didn't understand why he would be ordered to protect a…

"I'm not a brat!" He scowled at me.

"Stay out of my head Carter." I raised my hands in surrender.

"Sorry James, but it's a habit I have when I'm basically kept hostage." He glared darkly at me and a shiver of fear ran across my body.

"It better stop if I'm the target." I gulped and nodded hastily.

He was scary.

"How about London?" I suggested after a few minutes.

"Whatever."

James had quite a direct way to do things. By this, I mean he stopped a car, threw the driver from it and stole it. I apologized to the guy we left on the side of a Canadian road from the car window before James closed it. James had stolen clothes from a gas station and we were on a road trip for Charlottetown in Labrador. From there we would hide in the holds of a ship.

I was playing with the radio station until his right hand stopped me.

I laid back in my seat and closed my eyes.

"Addison." I jumped in surprise. James shot me a quick look.

"Enemy?"

"No, it's...it's nothing." I closed my eyes once again. "Professor?"

"I apologize for startling you."

"It's okay. What's up?"

"Tony Stark visited us to ask me if I could look for you or if you were really dead."

"I'm...fine, well alive. I can't really go back to New York for now though."

"Yes, I felt someone with you. His mind is...broken."

"I figured that much. We're going to London. Could you please tell Tony I'm fine and there's no need to look for me?"

"I will, and if you need it I will send Ororo to pick you up. Logan would be able to handle your...companion." Honestly, from what I had seen James was not a regular soldier so…

"Yeah, he might be needed. Him or Piotr."

"Be careful Addison."

"Will be Professor."

A few kilometers from our destination, we had to abandon the car and finish by foot as we were attacked. HYDRA must have wanted their Soldier back. Somehow, between James' skills and mine, we managed to reach Charlottetown and barely made it to the shop for London. We would spend three weeks in the holds of the ship.

"Why London?" James asked me suddenly.

"I...lived there until my parents passed away. I don't know, I'm pretty sure I still own the house." Maybe...maybe there would be something about why my dad seemed to interest HYDRA so much.

It had been a week since Lake Champlain and I grew used to his presence. He would twitch at every single thing he deemed as 'threatening', his sleep was light and his frown always there. There were very short moments where he would not frown and then I could enjoy his handsome face. He was adamant on not having the both of us sleeping at the same time but he struggled to sleep for a good amount of time at first.

He...also seemed prone to nightmares. He would sometimes move around in his sleep, mumbling things in Russian I could not understand. It was painful to watch. However, he seemed...to be warming up to me? It was almost as if the Soldier mask was slowly crumbling the more time he spent away from his employers.

"You're different," I told him out of the blue. He raised a brow at me. He also started to act more like a human being and it felt nice. "I...I mean...in a good way I guess? You're less professional I'd say." He scoffed.

"It's one way to put it." He pursed his lips. I stared at him as he seemed to struggled to find his words. "I am not usually allowed to speak for myself or think by myself. I have an order and I execute the order and then..." He didn't finish his sentence and but I could picture something not enjoyable.

"You might want to consider quitting." A wry smirk found its way on his face.

"They don't let you quit Carter, you work for them or you die.""

"Then you're taking a big risk, following me like a shadow." His smirk fell and a thoughtful frown marred his face.

"I know but...this order is above any other order." I frowned as well.

"Why do you work for HYDRA?" He pursed his lips and shook his head.

"I don't know, I...it's all I know." I was not entirely shocked.

James Barnes was declared MIA during WW2 after he fell of a train. He should have died but with HYDRA already around back then...who knew what could have happened without anyone noticing anything?

Dang it, did I really have Steve's dead best friend in front of me?

I would skip how living in the holds of a ship was disgusting because I was dying to have a shower. We may or may not have sneaked into a hotel room to use the bathroom. Was there damage like a broken door lock? Maybe, but it could have been worst.

"We need to reach Bexley but we're still far, we need to cross Greenwich." I widened my eyes when I felt his real fingers slipping between mine. I looked up at him and he scratched his temple with his gloved hand, his eyes staring at me intensively.

I blinked and read his thoughts.

"We're being observed. Probably HYDRA." I pursed my lips.

"You or me?" I whispered to him.

"I don't know." He lowered his baseball cap, even if he had his hood over said cap, and I lowered my own hood as I could.

James sped up when we spotted the Underground. I apologized to someone he bumped into as we zigzagged through the crowd of people. I found myself locked in a toilet with James.

"People will think we're a horny couple." He ignored me and grabbed a knife from his back. Without asking, he slipped it between my pants and back.

"We're going different ways." I grabbed his wrists.

"Wow wait, are you sure about this? I mean, in movies the group goes separate ways and it all goes to shit!" He rolled his eyes at me. I didn't need mind reading to know he was annoyed with me.

"We'll meet up somewhere." I gulped.

"Fine, fi...fine...huh, Queen's House in Greenwich." He gave me a sharp nod and looked at me up and down. "James?"

"Stay in one piece Carter," he grumbled before leaving on his own. I took the tube for Greenwich.

I was face to face with a wounded Thor. We stared at each other and he grabbed me to pull me inside the tube, accidentally puting me between him and a blonde girl.

"That's a nice surprise!"

"Yeah, good to see you but not so good because..." I showed his forehead. "Troubles?" He nodded.

"But it's good to see you're not dead Addison!" I frowned.

"You didn't know?"

"I had to leave to Asgard shortly after that mission where..." A grim look crossed his features. I patted his biceps.

"I'm here."

"Yes, you're going to help me with the Convergence."

"The wh..." The tube stopped and he dragged me behind him. We stopped in a street and there was a huge black tornado in front of us. "And he was worried about people..." I muttered, glad I had a knife with me.

"Thor!" I turned around, seeing a woman running toward us, followed by an old man with scientific equipment. "We're too late!" She noticed me once she stopped. "Hi?"

"Jane, this is Addison Carter, fellow Avenger." I weakly waved at her. "Addison, Jane Foster, my..."

"We don't have the time for that," Jane cut him off.

"The Convergence is at its peak," the man added. He was vaguely familiar.

"Can those things stop it?" Thor asked, pointed at his gear.

"Not from here!"

"We can't get close enough!" Thor turned his eyes toward me and grinned. I paled.

"It's big..."

"But you can do it!"

"I can slow it down but..."

"Try to make an opening for me!" I followed him when he ran toward the tornado. "There's a dark elf I must stop before he destroys the Nine Realms!"

"Where are the Avengers when you need them?" I replied sarcastically. I slightly bent my knees, a foot back while I stretched out my hands. "When I say go!"

I saw a portion of the tornado slow down and freeze. One of my hand remained stretched out while the other carefully moved to the right. The matter was hard to control and my arm was still hurting but…

I managed to make a small opening.

"Go go go!" Thor rushed in the opening, the poles in his hands. I tried to keep it open but some of the matter escaped my control and went directly to me. "Sh..." I couldn't finish my sentence that I was thrown back, the matter hitting me.

"Oh my God!" Jane screamed, running to me. I kept staring at the tornado, unable to move.

Then, I saw some of that matter still near me and penetrating my hands. I opened my mouth in a silent scream as my whole body started to burn.

What the hell…

"Are you okay!?" Jane asked me. I only managed to growl and pointed to where Thor was. "Right, that first!"

I could breath just fine, but my whole body was burning and I couldn't move. I watched the tornado disappearing, just like the huge...black ship there was. Jane had ran toward Thor.

"Hey huh...are you okay?" My eyes found the old man's and I tried to sit up but failed. He saw my distress and helped me.

"Addison?" I frowned and Jean appeared with Piotr.

"Doctor Grey," I mumbled weakly.

"Kurt is waiting for us to take us to the plane." Piotr scooped me up in his arms, not in his metal form.

"Wait...Tho..."

"Who are you people?" Thor's strong voice asked behind us. Piotr turned around and I saw a wounded God of Thunder.

"They're...good..." I croaked with a dry throat. When did my throat become dry?

"She was hit by this...energy..." Jane told him and he frowned.

"You were?" I nodded. I noticed how his jaw clenched. Jean must have as well because she smiled at him.

"We will take care of her and if we can't, we'll contact you." Thor stared at her and nodded sternly.

"Alright." I waved at him when we left.

Kurt was hiding behind a wall, the street empty.

"Wait, Queen's House, my friend..."

"Addison, you need a doctor," Piotr told me and Jean raised her brows. "And a place to rest properly," he added under Jean's stern gaze.

"Please," I said, looking at Night Crawler. "Please Kurt?" He seemed torn.

"Come back in the Black Bird immediately," Jean said, stomping away. Piotr put me down and I held onto Kurt, his arm around my waist.

The scenery changed quickly. I gulped and dropped to my knees. Cops were crowding and I spotted a yellow ribbon. Body bags were being carried in a truck. I tried to locate James in the flow of thoughts I could read but…

I spotted him for a brief instant before he was gone.

Shit.

"Addison?" Kurt asked me, his German accent still thick in spite of years living in America. "Should we go home?" There was a painful knot in the pit of my stomach, making me nauseous. He had been taken by HYDRA and who knew what would happen to him.

There was nothing I could do though.

"Let's go home Kurt," I replied quietly.

Shortly after, I was in a seat of the Black Bird, the safety belt firmly keeping me in place.

"Why were you in London?"

"The Professor noticed...strange events happening. He tasked us to look out for you and bring you back if possible." I mumbled something as I drifted off to sleep.

November 2013

I squeezed my juice box too much when I saw Doc entering the lab I was in with Doctor McCoy. Beast stood up and stretched out his hand to Doc. Banner was barely taken back by Beast's...animal and blue appearance.

"Doctor Banner, it is an honor to meet you."

"It is a pleasure as well Doctor McCoy, I've read several of your works." Doc looked at me. "So London?" I shrugged.

"I've seen Thor yesterday. What are you doing here?"

"Tony was contacted and I came with him." I raised a brow.

"You told them?" I asked Beast.

"I had to Cryptic." I rolled my eyes at the alias and Doc smiled, amused by my reaction. "Whatever hit you in London attached itself to your mutant gene like a parasite and merged with it. It...made it evolve." Doc joined him behind his computer screen and they started exchanging scientific mumbo jumbo I did not understand. "It fixed her arm properly."

"Fascinating. We would need Thor to have more information about what that was, but we need to keep a close eye on any future development in case your body can not handle it." I rolled my shoulders. "By the way Addison, you're coming back to the Tower. Tony doesn't want to hear anything else." I sighed.

"I owe him an apology. To all of you really, but Fu..."

"Fury told us already." I blinked and tensed. "Nobody judges you for what you did when you were emotionally vulnerable." I pursed my lips.

"I still did those things."

"I doubt any of us is really able to judge you."

I guess he was right but…

I sighed once more. I could feel guilty for as long as I could, it didn't change anything. If I wanted to properly move on, I needed to accept my past. Wade told me something like that once.

I got up and froze when Logan, out of everyone, entered the lab.

"I heard you finally came back brat." I nodded hastily. "In one piece?"

"In a pretty good shape if not for a few pounds lost," Beast told him. Logan hummed at that.

"Good, I won't hear Jean, Storm or the Professor worrying about you anymore." He left the room.

"Who...who was he?"

"The History teacher," I told Doc.

Tony's eyes were cold when I entered the Professor's office. Doc stayed outside.

"Hey..." I greeted him. He waved me off and turned back to the Professor. Nice.

"If there's any problem with her mutation I'll call you, but other than that...she's still an Avenger." Was I? "Fury was adamant about that and I'll sleep better at night if I know she's not on the run again."

"Understandable." I walked closer to them. "Aksel has been dealt with."

"Really?"

"Your buddy shot him in the head at the lake," Tony explained quickly. He ran a hand on his face and I noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

"Do you think you can finally move on from the past?" I pursed my lips.

"I think I could at least accept it. Then...maybe try to find a life goal." Professor Xavier sent me a satisfied smile.

"It is all I wish for my students, in spite of the mistakes they may have made in the past." I smiled back.

"Thank you." Tony placed a hand between my shoulder blades.

"Alright Cryptic, time to go home."

"I never made it to the X-Men team, the name is..." I started as he led me away from the office.

"It's too much of a hassle to find another one. See you later Xavier!" I waved at Professor Xavier.

When I was at the back of Tony's car, after a long hug from Storm and a pat on the head from Piotr before he left to 'train his students', I looked at them.

"I feel like my two gay dads pickied me up from school."

"Bruce's the mom, I'm the cool dad," Tony said immediately. Doc opened his mouth but gave up quickly, settling for looking through the window instead.

Tony easily avoided the usual swarm of cos-players at the bottom of the Tower and entered the garage. The elevator ride was quiet but when the doors opened, it revealed a pacing Pepper. She stopped when she saw us stepping out of the elevator.

"Oh my God," she said in relief, walking toward me. Her heels against the floor made her menac…

She pulled me in a hug. I was stunned.

"I was so worried," she continued, moving me back, her hands firmly around my shoulders. Her nails were digging in my skin. "When Tony told me what happened...I was scared we might have missed something again. There wasn't a team of private detectives through America this time…" Tony's head turned around and his wide eyes stared at Pepper. Doc discreetly left us.

"Pepper, maybe you shou..."

"I should what Tony?" she replied, annoyed with her boyfriend. She removed her hands and turned to him. "You're unable to talk to each other, I might as well do it for you! It wouldn't be the first time I do something in your place, would it?"

"I think we're okay to do it on our own on this one Pepper," I told her quietly. She raised a surprised brow at me. I smiled tentatively at her. She nodded and cupped my cheek.

"Cocoa with marshmallows and vanilla cupcakes with chocolate icing with multicolored sprinkles?" I grinned at her.

"I thought it was not good for me?"

"It doesn't hurt once in a while, does it?" She left to the kitchen. I took a deep breath, ready to face Tony.

"Tony, I'm sorry." He just stared at me for a few seconds.

"Yeah, as you should." I frowned but couldn't say a word when I was in his warm embrace. "You're god damned right to be sorry kid." He hugged me tighter and I returned the hug. "You don't make deals with Fury Addison, you just don't. He's the spy of the spies."

"I know...but it was kind of personal you know." I felt him nod. "I'm sorry for saying I didn't want you in my life. I was angr..."

"Don't Addi, I had it coming. I was a shitty parental figure, I don't know how I could think you'd listen to me." He sighed. "But I...I always cared about you, and worried. It's just I...I thought you'd be okay with me looking after you from afar because I knew I wasn't a good example."

"You never were," I whispered with a tight throat. "Sorry I crashed your boy band Tony." He pulled me back.

"At least you are where I can keep an eye on you." He took a deep breath. "But don't you ever think again that you're alone in the world. I don't care about Sharon and her parents, they never were your family. I am, and Pepper, and..." He rolled his eyes. "I guess the people at your school as well." I nodded. "Now go to your room, we'll see if your power has evolved tomorrow." I did as I was told.

The room had not changed. I had not decorated it much but maybe I should think about it now. I went to the desk and grabbed my cellphone. I turned it one.

Shit, I had several missed calls from Wade. I called him back immediately.

"Well someone thought ignoring me was a good idea," he said when he picked up. I heard a gunshot in the background. "Hey, I'm on the phone! Addidi, I'm working right now but call me back tonight."

"Okay, just one thing. I joined the Avengers, that's why I was unavailable."

"WHAT!? I thought you were done with the hero thingy? I mean, now I'll have all of my Captain America questions answered, like does he wear underwear with the American flag on it? I'm a proud Canadian but that Capt..."

"Wade, your job?"

"Oh right, talk to you later." He hung up on me.

Steve, well Captain America, was Wade's childhood hero.

I understood that for hours that night.

Thank you all for reading! Don't hesitate to leave a review!

Bye!