a nice little reworking of the opening scene we all love so much before the real drama kicks in...
..
Ashley and Steve were in his apartment, suiting up for the dismantling of the final HYDRA base in Sokovia. Steve was wearing his Captain America suit of course, and Ashley in her black tank top and stretchy black pants. She hummed to herself casually as she fixed her hair in the bathroom mirror, deciding to tie it up today. Meanwhile, Lady Bucky, their cat, was watching them with suspicious eyes. She was a clever feline, and by now she knew that them getting their suits on meant that she was about to be left home alone, which she always enjoyed. Ashley was staring at her mirrored reflection with a little pout. "Ugh, I never ever lose weight in my face," she grumbled under her breath - but Steve overheard.
"Ashley," he called out sternly from where he was waiting in the bedroom. "How many times? You're beautiful as you are. Please stop saying that stuff about yourself."
"Steve, sweetie, I know I am," Ashley rolled her eyes, before turning around and walking back into the bedroom. "I just want a slimmer face. You see Christie's face? That's slim! That is what I want and this is why I always stand by the fact that Christie was the prettier sister…and, to be honest, she always will be." Steve crinkled his face in wonder, not understanding what she wasn't seeing in herself, but deciding not to question it. "Oh, I almost forgot - Dad called earlier and said that he wants to lend us money so that we can move out of this place and into our own apartment!" Steve froze and looked up at her, blinking at her words.
"What? Ash, we don't need money, least of all your father's money-"
"Steve, stop being so old fashioned and…proud!" Ashley tutted, spinning around on her heel and pushing the leftover wisps of hair out of her eyes. "Do we wanna stay in the Avenger's Tower forever? I thought you wanted to move to downtown Brooklyn!"
"I do - but we still can't accept your father's money. We can just save up from cheque to cheque, can't we?" Steve was clearly attempting to find reasons that made sense, but Ashley could tell that he was struggling a little.
"If you'd like to live from cheque to cheque, you absolutely can," she whispered before pressing a kiss to his chiselled jaw. "We should be out within the next four years at that rate! Now ain't that exciting!" Steve simply rolled his eyes as Ashley left him standing there, knowing that this battle might just be one that he wouldn't win.
…
Ashley burst the flames from her palms directly at the alien soldiers, really going for it, whilst Steve zoomed past her on his motorbike. With each one of Ashley's blasts, the soldiers let out a strangled yell before they burst into flames. As usual, Christie was working with Clint and Natasha by shooting or, when she got close enough, slicing them up with her extended daggers.
The entire mission was light work, really…at first.
Stark zoomed through the air towards the HYDRA base, but violently hit something on his way up before he could get in. "SH*T!" he swore in irritation.
"Language," Steve tutted from where he was still riding the bike on the ground. "JARVIS, what's the view looking like?"
"It appears to be some kind of defensive energy shield - the technology here seems to be well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken," JARVIS answered into everyone's ear pieces.
"Sh*t. Only one reason why that could be. That's Loki's sceptre, right?" Christie shouted over to Thor as she took down another soldier, stabbing him twice in his back before twisting his neck.
"It must be, Strucker would not be able to maintain this type of energy without it!" Thor bellowed whilst taking out a few more enemies. He and Christie glanced at each other as if to say 'finally', both of them absolutely exhausted from the constant disappointment of finding no sceptre time and time again for months. "At long last."
"Honestly, it's about time!" Ashley exclaimed as she iced out two soldiers approaching her from different angles. She froze their feet in place and then pelted the hot rocks at them for an instant kill. "We've been searching long enough!"
"Yeah but at long last is lasting a little long, guys," Natasha panted after taking out a few soldiers of her own.
"Yeah we've KINDA lost the element of surprise by now!" Clint shouted from where he was hiding behind a tree trunk as cover whilst he took out the oncoming soldiers in the distance.
"I'm sorry, is no one gonna refer back to the fact that Cap just said 'language'?" Tony scoffed down the line.
"Oh trust me, I heard it," Ashley smirked to herself before pelting herself into the sky with blasts of air coming from her feet.
"Yeah yeah, I heard it too," Steve grumbled, chucking his motorbike into a handful of soldiers coming his way again so that they all scattered everywhere like bowling pins. "It just kinda…slipped out," he panted once they fell.
"Steve, it's okay. We all know you're pure at heart," Natasha sighed, standing up straight and dusting her hands off on her thighs before hopping off the hijacked truck. "Christie, you ready to attack that stubborn ass bunker in the woods?"
"Absolutely, they've been so busy tracking Thor with their shots that I doubt they'll even see us coming," Christie muttered under her breath. "Ash, are you all clear on your side?"
"I'll be with you in one sec!" Ashley called back from across the land, still tackling a larger guard who was really going into town with his vigorous punches. She'd already burnt him twice, but every time she attempted to get him down with a finishing blast, he managed to dodge it. It was hard work, and she couldn't focus for long enough to even get a smidgen of blood controlling done. Before she could try again though, the roar of a certain Hulk burst through the air as the beast himself flew down and smashed him under his fists. The force of his landing even sent Ashley flying herself.
She slowly stood up with a pained groan and shot a thankful smile over at him regardless. "Cheers, buddy," she panted, giving him a weak salute. Hulk shot her a small grunt of his own before bounding off into the air yet again, giving Ashley the time to catch her breath. "Sorry girls, what were you saying?" But before either Christie or Natasha could respond, the yelp of Clint came from a few meters away. They both glanced behind them to see him sprawled out on the floor, clearly injured.
"Clint!" Christie hissed with wide eyes. "Natasha, you go, these shots aren't gonna slow themselves down." Natasha nodded and leapt straight over to where Clint lay, as Christie continued to shoot at the men guarding the bunker. "Guys, Clint's down!" Christie announced into the comms system.
"What?!" Ashley yelped with a finger to her ear - but suddenly, something crashed into her, sending her flying yet again. "For god's sake! Guys, there's something here on the field! Something…fast."
"Can confirm," Steve panted from a few metres further down the woods, having just been taken down by the same thing. "What the hell was that?"
"I think you mean what the heck?" came Tony's sarky correction from down the line.
"We can do the guessing games later - can someone help me take out this f*cking bunker? Bullets and impenetrable steel don't gel together!" Christie called back desperately as she continued to shoot blindly but to no avail. Then, as if on cue, Hulk smashed his way through the trees and straight through the bunker, leaving it in nothing but ruins. "Lovely, cheers big fella," Christie breathed in relief, now able to take the remaining agents out one by one as they had no cover. As she did so, she spotted her sister finally run up and join her. "Oh! Thanks for gracing me with your presence, Ash!"
"Came as fast as I could, Chris," Ashley muttered through clenched teeth, as she spun herself around in a circle and flamed each and every soldier attempting to surround them whilst Christie continued to tackle as many as she could with her dagger and pistols combo. "I'd kinda like to wrap it up now though, anyone else?"
"Second that, cos these guys are still coming in thick and fast!" Christie added with a groan.
"Yeah, Clint's hurt pretty bad guys, so we gotta go," Natasha told them over the line with a nervous frown, her eyes focussed firmly on her injured friend. "Can someone get that stupid sceptre so we can get outta here?"
"I'll take Barton back into the jet, you and Stark secure the sceptre," Thor instructed Steve who had just arrived by his side.
"Copy that." Thor whirred his hammer in his hand before jolting into the air, flying straight into the skies.
"And for gosh's sake watch your language!" came another one of Tony's sly comment over the line, causing Ashley to burst out laughing and for Christie to roll her eyes with a little giggle of her own.
Soon enough, they were joined by Stark's other suits on the snowy ground, holding the remaining soldiers hostage and giving the whole team a well deserved break.
"Guys, we're finally in the clear down here," Ashley informed them with a sigh in relief. "Nat?"
"Locked down here too," Natasha confirmed.
"Then get to Banner," Steve instructed her, still not done on his part yet, "time for a lullaby." Christie threw her head back in relief and ran her hands through her white locks, breathing in and out deeply. She was one step away from hyperventilating, and Ashley glanced over at her with a little frown playing on her lips, clearly concerned her.
"You okay, Chris? You look like you're freaking out," she murmured, placing a gentle hand on her tensed shoulder.
"I'm fine, Ash," Christie answered shortly without so much as looking up at her. "Let's just…make our way back to the jet." Ashley shot her another look of uncertainty but nodded, and they made their way onto the jet in silence. Once they boarded, they saw that Thor had already settled himself down on a bench, anxiously awaiting the sceptre's arrival. An injured Clint was also laying down on one of the other benches, already wired up to medical equipment to keep his fluids up. Christie rushed over as soon as she lay eyes on him and crouched down beside where he lay, wincing once she saw the extent of his injuries. "God, Birdbrain, look at the state of you," she sniffed, shaking her head. "How the hell-"
"It was…something fast," Clint answered tiredly, taking deep breaths in and out to help regulate the pain. "Super fast."
"It hit me, too," Ashley spoke up as Natasha and the shaky looking Bruce entered the aircraft as well. She glanced over at Christie and nibbled her bottom lip. "Honestly, the speed reminded of…Aunt Meredith."
Christie looked up with exhaustion written across her face, now feeling even more drained.
"Oh please, let me guess - you think it was a mutant?" she guessed, settling herself on the edge of Clint's bench and drawing her knees to her chest.
"I mean…I wouldn't be overly surprised," Ashley shrugged as she watched Steve and Tony shuffle into the jet too. Tony had the sceptre clasped securely in his hand and Thor practically leapt over at the sight of it - whilst Christie's breath hitched in her throat. The sceptre was so powerful that it disturbed her - and although it wasn't the first time she had seen it since Loki died, those feelings of dread had remained the same. The feeling that hit her in Asgard was exactly what was consuming her now, and as the team got ready for takeoff, it took everything within her not to grab it and destroy it right then and there.
The jet was gliding through the afternoon sky beautifully, giving the team the chance to have a well deserved rest as Tony navigated their way back home. "Thor, report on the Hulk?" Natasha suddenly asked the demigod, breaking the comfortable silence.
"The gates of hell are filled with the howling and pleading screams of his victims," Thor beamed, clapping his hands together in genuine pride. Ashley rolled her eyes and bit back her laughter, having well expected something so careless to come out of his mouth, whilst Natasha shot him a look of death. "Oh, but not the screams of the dead, of course…n-no, wounded screams! The screams that-"
"Thor," Ashley hissed an interruption whilst squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head quickly. "Shh." Meanwhile, Christie was hovering close to the sceptre, staring at it as if it was something sent straight from satan. There was nothing but disgust and fear in her eyes.
"You okay, Chris?" Steve murmured to her in concern. Christie jumped at the sound of his voice and her head shot up to his. She gave a rushed nod.
"I-I'm fine," she hummed shakily. "I just…it's been a while since I've seen…you know." Steve nodded in understanding as Tony slid over to where they all stood.
"It feels good, right? I mean, you've been after this damn thing since S.H.I.E.L.D collapsed…not like I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties," Tony shrugged, nudging Thor's extremely dense side.
"Yes, we've certainly had fun but this…this brings it to a close," Thor smiled as his eyes stayed fixated firmly on the sceptre. Christie ran her tongue over her bottom lip, silently agreeing with Thor's words. There was certainly a sense of peace at the fact that this damned sceptre was sitting comfortably in front of them instead of in the hands of evil.
"Well it will, as soon as we find out what else this has been used for," Steve piped up with a focussed frown. "And I don't just mean weapons…since when has Strucker been capable of human enhancement?"
"They're not enhanced, Steve," came Ashley's voice from behind them, causing them all to turn around and watch her approach them. She tied her hair back out of her face with a little sigh. "You were enhanced. They are mutants. You were saying there was a second one, a woman that had an energy source at her fingertips, right? Now does that sound like you or does it sound like me?" Steve's eyebrows shot up, realising that she had a solid point in what she said.
"I know that it wasn't meant to be a dig, but that sounded like a dig," Tony whispered to Thor, who gave a chuckle in response. "Well, either way, we'll run some tests on it before you take it to Asgard, if that's cool with you? Just for a few days before the leaving party…are you staying? You are staying, right?"
"Of course! Victory like this should be revelled," Thor confirmed with another chuckle.
"Captain?" Tony asked Steve. He turned to Ashley with a nod. "And wife?"
"We literally live in your building - of course we'll be there," Ashley beamed, hooking her arm around Steve's sturdy neck.
"Yeah, this should put an end to HYDRA and the Chitauri - who doesn't like a good revel?" Steve smirked back, making Tony grin in agreement.
As soon as the jet landed back on the Avenger's Tower landing pad, Cho and a few other S.H.I.E.L.D medics quickly wheeled Clint out with Natasha walking quickly behind them, whilst Agent Hill strode into the jet wearing a beautiful blue pencil dress. She passed Christie who was on her way out. "Agent, you look nice," Christie smiled quietly as they passed each other.
"Coming from the style icon of the team? Means a lot," Maria smiled back, ducking her head slightly. Christie smirked to herself as she left the landing pad to go and check on Clint too, whilst Agent Hill got down to business. She showed Steve the little video that S.H.I.E.L.D had acquired of the twins. "Alright Cap, we have footage of these two. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, they're twins. Turns out they're not enhanced…they're-"
"Mutants?" Ashley, Tony and Steve finished the sentence for her, causing her to blink at them before nodding.
"What're their abilities?" Steve asked with a sigh.
"Well he's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. And she has neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation," Agent Hill listed without stumbling once as Ashley and Steve followed her into the tower. Steve suddenly stopped walking and blinked at her hollowly.
"He's super fast and she's super weird…and powerful," Ashley rephrased it for her baffled boyfriend, nibbling on her bottom lip. "Really powerful in fact."
She knew who she had to call about this one, and she assumed that the news about them would make him worry - but what else could she do?
They were mutants, and mutants were his responsibility.