Kick.
Duck.
Jump.
Punch.
Duck.
The movements were repetitive enough that to her mind, Isabelle almost felt like she was dancing. Sometimes it was Natasha who took her down in the early mornings, teaching her the basics of combat and self defense, others, like today, it was Captain Rogers.
Belle liked the captain well enough. We was kind and patient, and he could take her hits full force, without having to worry about hurting him. This was somewhat freeing compared to having to hold back.
"When you jump here..." Steve paused and knocked against the wall, "Push off with your left foot and spin your body, it will allow you to alternate into another round of kick-step-punch. Lets try it."
Isabelle nodded and did as she was told, spinning herself successfully to shoulder height, which seemed to take Steve by surprise, because he caught her by the ankle and quickly lifted her, just avoiding her head hitting the mat below.
"Put me DOWN." Isabelle shrieked as she kicked with her free leg and swung at the man who held her.
"You got it, Tiny." Steve said, gently cradling her back to help her back to her feet. "Sorry I caught you like that, kiddo."
"I don't wanna fight anymore. I wanna go sleep." Isabelle replied, huffing as she straightened out the workout clothes Pepper had gotten for her.
"Not a bad idea. Great job today! You keep me on my toes for sure." Steve smiled at his fellow Avenger's child. He watched as she pouted out of site toward the elevator back to her home floor, giving no notice to Maria Hill as she came in, walking past the young girl.
"Uh- Does Banner know you're training the world's tiniest super solider?" Hill ask, propping against the wall with a smile.
"Of course he does." Steve laughed before taking a long drink from his water bottle. "He knows she needs to channel that energy somehow- and between me and you... She has a touch of his temper, too."
"I'd hate to see that. She's so cute." Hill laughed.
"That- That is how she gets ya." Steve pointed in the direction Isabelle had walked out. "So- what are you here for? I wish I could assume this was a social call but- knowing Fury..."
"Correct." The Agent nodded, handing the Captain a file. Steve opened it and flipped briefly through the pages.
"Missionaries held by hostiles?" Steve ask, an eyebrow raised.
"Leader of the good will group is a Senator's son. That would be why the extra effort is being made- by calling you. Militants in the village are holding them for a small fortune- I assume the money is worth much more there but I didn't check." She replied, almost bored. "You leave in about four hours."
"Fantastic, I can't wait." Steve grumbled.
"You might wanna talk to the good doctor before you go. He and the pocket Avenger know a thing or two about where you're headed."
"Got it." Steve said, holding his papers up for proof. He started to walk off, but the agent was hot on his heels.
"I'll walk with you." She smiled, catching up and keeping pace. "I have other orders to give out, after all."
"Oh?" Steve ask, pausing briefly, and raising an eyebrow at Hill.
"You'll see." She replied, waving him to follow along.
Steve sat politely next to Maria Hill on Bruce's living room sofa as they silently watched the doctor pour over the packet Agent Hill had delivered. It was a somewhat long package, and Bruce took his time reading, stone-faced and serious. He even seemed to read a few pages more than once. Then, all once, he looked up and met the agent's eyes.
"No." He said, tossing the packet down on his coffee table.
Steve looked from one comrade to the other, then back again, confused. Bruce crossed his arms and furrowed his brow.
"We thought you'd say that." Maria replied flatly.
"So next comes... what? Ultimatums and threats?" Bruce scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "Fury tried that last time- got me back here, sure. But I'm not playing this game. Fuck that."
"I- I don't understand, and I am not sure I want to be a part of it." Steve piped up.
"Fury wants to send someone with you." Hill said, matter-of-factually.
"Oh come on, Dr. Banner-" Steve protested, giving a lighthearted smile, "I promise its not that bad to work with me."
"He doesn't want Dr. Banner." Maria corrected, without breaking eye contact with the clearly increasingly angering doctor.
Again, Steve looked from Banner to Hill and back.
"I don't follo-"
"Isabelle." Bruce interrupted. "Fury wants me to allow you to take my child- my- my baby girl on a mission. If I agree, he plans to have her pose as your daughter and be your guide."
Steve's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe he'd heard that correctly- sure, Isabelle has her gifts, but as her father just said- she was a small child.
"Bruce I swear I didn't have anything to do with this." Steve held his hands up, fear flashing in his eyes.
"Relax Cap, there is a note in the beginning marking your ignorance to the plan." Bruce growled, eyes still on Hill.
"It isn't required, Dr. Banner. You're a smart man, I know you read that. It was simply a version of the plan that might be safer and smoother for all. As you said, you're not interested, and we can't blame you for that. I'll just let you tell Cap here a bit more about the area he's headed into- You two talk it out." And before either of the men could protest, the agent made a swift exit.
"Bruce-"
Bruce held a hand up to silence Steve's words.
"I should've known better. Honestly, that is really what kept me from working with SHIELD more in the past. Fury wants Belle." The rage had left his voice, and he sounded more hurt and broken. "She's just a baby."
"We'd never ask that of you, Doc." Steve assured his friend softly.
"But I can do it." Isabelle's voice called softly from the corner door. "I can show him where to go, how to act."
Bruce looked at his daughter, her solid, insistent demeanor. She was staring him down in a near identical fashion to his own, a tiny mirror.
"You're just-"
"A baby." Isabelle finished. "Yes, but a bullet proof, super strong one. Dad- I can do this. I want to do this."
"And I am telling you-"
"Please." Belle pleaded again. "I am... I'm a liability. I can break things and hurt people so I'm like- Rapunzel or something, stuck in Avenger Tower- But I can help. I want to."
"I-" Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose, eyebrows furrowed together tightly.
"Daddy, I can do this. I need to feel like I'm not just... In the way. Please." Belle begged again.
"Dr. Banner, If, and again, that's only if you decide to allow this- Please know, I would never allow anything to harm your child. On my life." Steve said quietly.
Bruce stood quietly for a long moment, arms curled tightly across his chest, eyes squeezed shut.
"You all say that, all the time, and I don't want to doubt any of you. I don't. But- Isabelle, she's..."
"Your whole world, I know, Doctor. I do. And I kind of think that makes her a priority to us all. If it takes a village, and you're one of us, an Avenger- Then we are your village. We are Isabelle's village. And we will raise her with you, will protect her." The Captain looked at his friend, his eyes soft and kind. "And if you allow, we will help her be her best, too."
"Dad-" Isabelle pleaded again.
"Fine. But I want eyes and ears on the mission. I want in on mission control." Bruce said finally, throwing up his hands.
"Done!" Hill called from the hall as she came back into the room. "What Steve sees, you'll see."
Bruce huffed, eyes on the floor. He paced around for a moment, unblinking as he marched. He shook his head at his thoughts, but after a moment, the soft touch of his daughter's hand in his brought him to a halt.
"I just want to be a hero, too, Daddy. Please." Isabelle's soft voice peeped.
"I know. I am going to let you- I just... I need you to be careful. You're my world, little one." Bruce whispered into her curls as he pulled her into a tight hug.
"This time, Bella will always come home for dad." She replied quietly. "I can help. Then I'll be home, just like you."
Tony found Bruce standing on the helipad long after the jet had taken off.
"I made a mistake here." He said quietly as Tony approached him.
"You can call them back." Tony reminded him.
"She'd hate me," Bruce replied dryly. "And I'd sooner die than have her hate me."
"She will be okay." Tony assured him, a hand placed gently on Bruce's shoulder. "I uh- I set up your surveillance like you ask. Are you sure you wan-"
"I need to be. If something goes wrong, even a little, he's gonna be out for blood. Nobody will be safe. Its why I can't go." Bruce replied, his eyes finally meeting Tony's. "You gotta leave me in my cage."
So for the next week and a half, that is where Bruce stayed. He took his meals, slept what little he could while Steve and Isabelle did. Tony, Clint and Natasha took turns coming down and sitting with him. Going over points of the mission as Steve and Isabelle navigated the thick Indian countryside. Bruce was even able to feed some audio into Steve's ear to make it seem more like Steve spoke Hindi, making it less conspicuous that Isabelle spoke the language and her pretend parent did not.
Much to everyone's relief, the two made it in and back out with almost no real effort. Steve was able to go in at night and take out three of the four guards, and Isabelle played the lost child to the final one, luring him out of the house where the captives were being held so Steve could go in and begin to free them.
Bruce and Tony were both glued to the screens, only able to watch through the body cameras as someone inside made a noise, alerting the last, armed guard.
Tony stepped back, though Bruce was still inside his cell when the man raised the gun on his daughter. He could see the green creeping up Bruce's neck and then-
With a swift spin, tuck, kick- The guard was disarmed, on the ground, and Isabelle held him at gunpoint.
"Has she ever even held a gun before?" Tony almost yelled.
"No." Bruce replied, almost stone still and completely calm. "No, she hasn't."
It was a short moment later Steve reappeared from the house, ushering at least a dozen people, both children and adults, out from where they were being held. He ran over and gently took the gun from the girl's shaking hands, and used the butt end of the rifle to knock the man she'd been holding at site out.
"You good, Agent Banner?" Steve ask proudly.
"Sir." Isabelle gave a nod. Steve got down on the level of her body cam and looked directly into it.
"You've got a remarkable kid, Doc." He smiled. "She's gonna change the world."
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