Author's Note: So another long chapter. I know there's only supposed to be one more chapter after this one but I'm not sure. There could be two but I'm pretty sure there's one. If the next one is way too long than I'll split it up into two. We'll see. Either way Civil War is right around the corner.

Thanks to all my reviewers who reviewed the last chapter. Thanks to AppropriateLlama for their review and to answer your question about Emma studying. She does study but it's not something I've really been focusing on within the story. It's more in the background. Emma's kind of homeschooled so Steve feels like she wouldn't be up to going to a school with a bunch of other kids. The topic of Emma's education will come up again when I reach the end of the Civil War storyline. Thanks to gotmoreissuesthanvogue as well.

Also... TRIGGER WARNING. There's a scene in this chapter that alludes to rape so I just wanted to warn you guys just in case.

So keep reviewing and thank you!

The next day the Avengers quickly got to work on tracking down Ultron. They awoke bright and and early after a couple of hours of sleep although truthfully none of them had been able to sleep. There was way too much on their minds like the potential destruction the world would face if Ultron continued to waltz around. It was certainly a long night they had and today seemed like it would be an even longer day as they searched aimlessly for anything that might lead them to Ultron. Emma didn't know how they would be able to find him since Ultron erased a lot of the data files they had. Even McConaughey's database was empty although he was still functioning much to her disbelief. It turned out that Jarvis's database had been synced to McConaughey but not everything else so at least her own AI system was still working somewhat.

Emma helped Natasha search for any of the files on the computer but they kept coming up empty. Dr. Cho and Susan were missing from the group since Tony had sent Susan and Dr. Cho back on separate planes to San Francisco and Seoul for her own safety. Susan seemed worried for them but Steve insisted that they would be alright although Emma wasn't sure if he believed that himself. Rhodey had gone to Washington D.C. to warn government officials about the impending danger. They were alone in the tower and without any real resources that would aid them in the search for Ultron.

Emma looked up from the computer screen as Steve walked into the room with a grim expression on his face. He held a tablet in his hand that he immediately passed off to Thor who looked down at what was displayed on the screen. Emma and Natasha exchanged curious looks seeing as they couldn't see what was displayed on the tablet from where they were sitting. Whatever was on that tablet wasn't going to be good.

"What's this?" Tony asked from behind her and Natasha. He glanced at the serious looks on both Thor and Steve's faces.

"A message." Steve told them. "Ultron killed Strucker." Emma couldn't stop the audible gasp that left her mouth as her blue eyes widened in shock. Steve gave her a comforting look before giving Tony a more serious one. Emma could hardly believe it. Strucker was dead… he was actually gone. All the memories she had of him flashed through her mind. All the times he experimented on her… the times he tortured her. Emma had hated him almost as much as she hated Pierce and Rumlow but she wasn't sure how she felt now that he was dead. Maybe a little disappointed now that she wouldn't get to have any closure but also a bit relieved to know that the world was rid of one more evil person in it. Thor shoved the tablet into Tony's general direction, it was clear that he was still angry with the billionaire. Tony glanced at the screen as well as Natasha, Bruce, and Emma. Emma looked coldly at the image of Strucker lying in a pool of his own blood with Peace written in blood on the wall behind him. Ultron really loved some good ole' theatrics.

"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us." Tony retorted sarcastically.

"Yeah, he sure does seem like a drama queen… kind of reminds me of someone else." Emma said as she gave Tony a pointed look. Tony only glared at her before passing the tablet to Bruce.

"This a smoke screen." Natasha stated. "Why send a message when you've just given a speech?"

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss." Steve answered. Natasha was about to agree with Steve when a message came popping up on the screen. Emma groaned in frustration as she read the message.

"Ugh! That stupid garbage can." Emma grumbled, referring to Ultron.

"Yup, everything we have on Strucker's been erased." Natasha confirmed.

"Not everything." Steve replied as they all glanced at each other. Emma suddenly understood what he was thinking and knew that this was going to be an even longer day than she originally thought. Without technology they were going to have to do this the old fashioned way. Emma was only glad that she was going to see Tony be way out of his depth since he practically surrounded himself with the most advanced technology. Yes, taking down Ultron was going to be no easy task but Emma had been trained to be prepared for anything. She could do this.

A half an hour later they had brought up a bunch of old boxes filled with hard copy files. Apparently all the files had been stashed away in the basement of the tower and since Emma, Steve, and Thor had been gifted with super strength, they were tasked with bringing everything upstairs although the elevators still worked thankfully. As soon as they dumped the boxes onto the table they immediately started combing through all the files. Trying to look for anything that might lead them to what Strucker had known and what Ultron was trying to hide from them.

"Known associates." Steve stated as he opened another box. "Baron Strucker had a lot of friends." Emma snorted at Steve's comment.

"No kidding." She retorted as she continued look through the files.

"Is there anything that Strucker might've told you, Mini Cap?" Tony asked and Emma tried to put aside what anger she felt towards him for the time being.

"Not really. We weren't exactly the best of friends." Emma said sarcastically before she grew serious. "I was only given missions. I did what was required of me with no questions asked." The Avengers all seemed satisfied with that answer as they moved on. Steve tried not to become concerned with Emma's past again and instead focused on the task at hand.

"Well, these people are all horrible." Bruce said as he also continued to look through the files.

"Wait. I know that guy." Tony pointed out as he spotted a particular file that Bruce was looking at. Emma's eyes widened in surprise as she got a better look at the man in the file after Tony took the file from Bruce. She knew that guy too. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms." Steve gave Tony a pointed look and Tony just rolled his eyes as he explained himself. "There are conventions. All right? You meet people. I didn't sell him anything."

"I think I might've met him too." Emma said quietly as she glanced at the others. They all stared at her in surprise. "It was a few years ago. My father and I were ordered to escort him to the African coast after he escaped a scandalous ordeal with the law. Ulysses Klaw had quite the hit on him. People would pay a pretty penny to see this man dead." Emma finished with a grave tone in her voice.

"He sounds like a real piece of work." Clint commented and the others nodded in agreement.

"When I met him he was talking about finding something new…" Tony trailed off. "A game-changer. It was all very Ahab." Thor frowned as he took a closer look at the picture in the file.

"This?" He pointed to a brand that was embedded in the man's skin.

"Ah, it's a tattoo, I don't think he had it." Tony replied, thinking that Thor was referring to the man's tattoos.

"No, those are tattoos," Thor said, pointing his finger at the tattoos on Klaw's chest before looking over at the oddly shaped brand. "This is a brand." Bruce started searching for the odd symbol on the computer, trying to find a match for it. It took a moment before the match was found.

"Oh, yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning "thief" in a much less friendly way." Bruce confirmed as he looked at the computer screen before glancing back at them.

"What dialect?" Steve questioned.

"Wakanada." Bruce tried to pronounce as he read it off the screen. "Wakanda." He then said correctly. Emma wasn't familiar with that dialect of the African language although she knew a couple of different ones. Emma glanced at Steve cautiously because while she wasn't familiar with the dialect of Wakanda, Hydra did teach her almost everything about every country. The economy, sustainability, environment, population, imports, exports, and even the black market trade of Wakanda. Emma knew exactly what Wakanda had to do with this. She watched as both Steve and Tony exchanged looks.

"If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods…" Tony trailed off.

"I thought your father said he got the last of it." Steve replied, confused as to how Klaw could've gotten his hands on vibranium.

"I don't follow." Bruce said as he walked towards the rest of them. "What comes out of Wakanda?" Everyone glanced back at Steve's shield which was propped up against the wall.

"The strongest metal on Earth." Tony stated.

"Where is this guy now?" Steve asked Tony and Tony just looked at him before shrugging.

"If Jarvis was here I could figure out where exactly." Tony told him. "I mean… I know the general area which is the African coast but I don't know where on the African coast."

"I could help." Emma spoke up and the others looked at her curiously while Steve just looked confused. Emma then glanced at Tony and Bruce more specifically. "What I mean is that McConaughey could help." This only seemed to confuse the others more but Tony and Bruce just looked unsure.

"I don't know, Mini Cap." Tony told her. "Ultron wiped out all of our databases including McConaughey's. He couldn't tell us where Klaw is." Emma nodded.

"I know that but we could start fresh. We could look up the African Coast, filter through all the locations of popular crime ridden salvage yards, and then pinpoint a specific area where he might be. When we arrive at the location then we can scan the area until we find the exact location where he is." Emma told him and Tony actually seemed to consider this. "I know it might take a little work but it's all we've got right now. It might require some good ole' Stark hacking if you think you're up to it." She continued to say as Tony just smirked at her.

"Are you kidding me? I hacked the Pentagon on a dare when I was in high school." Emma just rolled her eyes because that was another story that Tony liked to tell quite often. It was then that they were reminded of the other Avengers in the room. Everyone other than Tony and Bruce were looking at her in utter confusion.

"Wait… what are you talking about? Who's McConaughey?" Steve asked and the smiles fell off of their faces. Emma cleared her throat nervously because she had been hoping that Steve wouldn't find out about this until the last minute.

"Well, you see… Um… So Stark might've made me a suit that has an AI system in it." Emma told him nervously and everyone gawked at Tony. "McConaughey is my AI system and since he wasn't completely synced to Jarvis, I think that Ultron might've skipped over him so we have a way to track down Klaw." Emma explained and Steve looked from her to Tony. He glared at the billionaire as he took in what Emma just told everyone.

"You built Emma a suit?" He asked, his voice clipped and short. Tony laughed nervously as he tried to think of an answer. "You built a fourteen year old girl a suit?" His tone was slowly becoming more and more angry. Natasha decided to step in before the situation got even more out of hand.

"Okay, guys, let's just calm down for minute." She told everyone. "Steve, you can yell at Tony later but right now let's just be grateful that he built Emma that suit otherwise we wouldn't have the resources to track down Klaw." Steve still seemed angry with Tony but didn't say anything else as he listened to Natasha. Natasha was right. They didn't have time right now for Steve to yell at Tony once again.

"Fine. We'll discuss this later." Steve told both Tony and Emma as the team started to tend to the matter at hand. Emma feared his reaction might've been bad but at least Steve was willing to push the issue aside for the moment. Emma didn't know how she would deal with the discussion that would come along later. At least they all had this to focus on.

"Right, well I'll go get Mini Cap's mask so that McConaughey can start tracking Klaw." Tony said as he went to retrieve the mask that was probably still sitting in the lab inside the suitcase. Steve gave her a look that told her that they were definitely going to discuss this later before he went to go talk to Natasha about something. Emma frowned… Well it went about as well as Emma thought it would go.

"You seriously named your AI system "McConaughey?" Clint questioned Emma as she broke out of her thoughts. She glanced at him briefly.

"Well, he sounds just like the real McConaughey. Tony apparently copied the voice from all of the movies." She explained and Clint looked impressed.

"That's awesome." He told her and Emma smirked.

"I know."

It took Tony about forty five minutes before he could track down Klaw to a more specific location and in that time Clint and Natasha were setting up the Quinjet, getting ready for the Avengers to take off on a mission of a more urgent nature. Everyone was suiting up including Emma who did so more secretly than the others. Emma glanced at herself in the mirror and realized that it had been so long since she had last suited up. She almost wanted to laugh as she remembered the last time she suited up which had been when she was preparing to face off against the Avengers. It seemed like it had been many, many years ago when in reality it had just been a year.

Emma thought she looked strange in the suit. It hugged her tall and slender figure better than the other one did so she knew she would be able to move even more freely. She glanced at the utility belt around her waist, her eyes focused on the Viper symbol in the middle. Emma's blonde hair was straight as usual but there was something that looked different about her as she wore the suit. She thought it might've been the mask at first. She could see her oceanic blue eyes from underneath it since the red lenses weren't down but Emma knew that it was different from that as well. She realized that she didn't look like the assassin that she looked like before. No, Emma looked like… Well, she looked like herself. It was something that was different but still acceptable to her. Maybe this was better. Maybe this was better than when she used to be an assassin for Hydra.

It was safe to say at that the others were in shock as Emma stepped onto the Quinjet suited up just as much as everyone else. The only person that didn't look the least bit surprised was perhaps Natasha who gave her a smirk. The person who looked the most surprised and angry, however, was Steve. The super soldier stalked over towards her from his spot in the Quinjet, fully dressed up in his Captain America uniform, and stopped in front of her. He crossed his arms as he glared at her.

"What do you think you're doing?" He demanded and Emma gave him an innocent look.

"I'm coming with you guys." She replied in a calm, steady voice. Steve scoffed.

"Uh, no you're not. You're going to march right back over to Maria and stay put until this whole thing blows over." Emma glared back at him as she also crossed her arms. The Avengers watched in fascination as the grandfather and granddaughter duo got into a staring contest. It was errie how much they looked alike as they stared each other, their identical jaws clenched tight.

"I'm not staying here with Maria like a sitting duck while you're out there fixing Stark's disaster." Emma told him.

"I resent that!" Tony called out but he went ignored as Steve just shook his head at Emma.

"I told you before." Steve said. "You're too young to be doing this sort of thing. You're only a kid, Emma."

"You should listen to your grandfather, Lady Emma, you are but a young child." Thor spoke up. "You will only get in the way." Emma narrowed her eyes but her gaze didn't leave Steve's face.

"Oh, mind your own business, Thor." She snapped at the God of Thunder who looked surprised at her reaction. Thor, however, didn't say anything as Emma continued to glare at Steve. "I'm sick and tired of everyone treating me like a child." She stated.

"You are a child, Emma." Steve told her and she gave him an angry look.

"You don't think I know that? Well, I do but I don't think like a child because I was trained to think like an adult." Emma told him as he gave her an uncomfortable look. "You can try and ignore that part of me or surpress it all you want but it's still there. I was trained to handle situations like these. I'm not some amateur or wannabe hero… I'm not even a superhero like any of you guys because that would actually require me to be heroic and I'm not. I'm selfish because I have this enhanced survival instinct that guides me but I'm going to ignore it right now." Emma continued to say as they all respectfully listened. "I'm going to ignore that it's telling me to run far away because I'm not going to sit back while you run off to save the world again. I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart but I'm doing this because I don't want to see you get hurt or worse."

"You treat me like a child because I look like one but I'm not, Steve." She told him seriously. "I'll never be the child you think I am. I'm always going to be like this…preparing for a full out war. It's what Hydra made me into. I'm not going to get in the way because I was trained not to." She held Steve's gaze firmly. "Let me do what I was meant to do. Let me fight." Steve fell silent as he processed everything that Emma had just told him. He didn't have the slightest clue as to how to respond to her but Natasha stepped in before he could.

"Let her come with us, Steve." Steve looked at Natasha in disbelief. Actually most of the others also looked at her in disbelief as well.

"Are you crazy, Nat?" Clint questioned as he looked at her but Natasha just ignored him.

"She's right. She's trained for a situation like this one and we can use all the help we can get." Natasha said from a logical perspective. "She doesn't even have to be out there with us. Emma can be part of the back-up with Bruce." The red headed former spy sighed when she saw that Steve wasn't going to respond.

"Look, Ultron already knows about Emma. He probably knows who she is and what she's capable of. He also knows that you're more likely to keep her away from us while we're on the mission. Ultron will be counting on that. The safest place for Emma right now is here on this Quinjet with us." Emma really owed Natasha for this one. Steve was quiet for a moment as he deeply considered everything Natasha just told him. Steve looked up at Emma with a solemn expression on his face. She just watched him anxiously as she waited for his answer.

"Fine." Steve finally said. "You can come with us but you stay behind with Bruce. You don't leave the Quinjet unless I say so." He told her, his tone definite. Emma wanted to argue but she knew from the look on his face that it wasn't going to get much better than that. She would take what he offered her… for now. Emma nodded reluctantly and Steve sighed.

"Go strap yourself in." He said, telling her to go take a seat. The others looked very unsure about Emma joining them for the mission but she didn't care. She had been trained all her life to fight and she really didn't need to be babied right now. It would be okay. She would prove to the Avengers that she wasn't just some pathetic child that had to be coddled. They would see what she was truly capable of. Emma buckled herself into the seat with a determined look in her eyes. She had become a part of this when the Avengers had rescued her from Hydra even if they didn't see it that way. This was her fight too.

"You should stop pacing." Emma said softly. "It's not good to worry yourself into an early grave." The young blonde was cleaning her gun as she watched Bruce pace back and forth in the Quinjet. The others had already left for the salvage yard while telling Bruce and Emma to stay put until further notice. The look her grandfather gave her was enough to say that they wouldn't need back-up this time around but Emma would be the judge of that. She had a feeling that her grandfather and her would be having a long conversation when this was all over. Emma had never been grounded before but she felt like she might be after they defeated Ultron.

"Well, it's hard not to worry. It's not a bunch of Hydra goons they're up against this time… it's Ultron and the Maximoff twins." Bruce told her pointedly but Emma just shrugged.

"They know what they're doing." She answered simply.

"Yet you're here because you thought that they might not."Bruce retorted but Emma didn't appear to be fazed. She just looked incredibly calm which was odd given the situation they were in.

"I know this isn't exactly what I had in mind but I still feel a lot better than I did sitting back at the tower." She explained.

"How are you so calm?" Bruce asked and Emma raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" She questioned and he shook his head.

"No, I mean how are you so calm in a situation like this one? You're always so calm and I don't understand it. Even last night you were calm and any other kid would be terrified out of their mind." Emma just shrugged her shoulders at Bruce's questioning.

"I'm not calm actually." She admitted. "I'm worried too I guess. I mean it's a far worse situation than what I'm used to. I've taken down politicians, generals… scientists but I've never had to take down Stark's evil robot twin or a pair of twins that have some pretty creative superpowers." She continued to speak as she gave Bruce a genuine look. "I've been trained how to look in certain situations. How to be charming and kind… Intimidating and fierce… and then how to be calm and professional. This is a situation that calls for me to be calm."

"Steve doesn't want you to have to do any of that." Bruce replied as he solemnly took in the information that Emma just told him. "He wants you to have a normal life… to completely forget about Hydra and everything that they did to you." Emma just smiled as she looked down at the gun in her hands.

"I know what Steve wants but he doesn't understand anything. He thinks that I can just leave all that behind and go to college. He thinks that I can get a job at an art gallery, meet some nice boy, and marry him. We'll have a couple of kids and a nice house in the suburbs." Emma said, her smile turning bitter. "That's not my dream. It's Steve's dream… the one he had before he crashed into the ocean. He thinks that if he couldn't have that sort of life then maybe I could."

"It's not a bad dream." Bruce told her in a helpful tone but Emma shook her head.

"Yes, but it's not reality… it's just a fantasy. I'll never have that sort of life." Emma said sadly. "He can homeschool me all he wants and send me to college when it's time but I'm not the kind of girl that settles down to have that life. The reality of the situation is that I'm not normal and I never will be. Ultron was right about one thing… I'm a killer. That's what I was trained to do and nothing will ever change that."

"I think you're severely harsh on yourself." He told her. Emma stared at him for a moment before she started laughing.

"Coming from you that's rich." Bruce only smirked.

"Well, I guess it makes me the expert. So as the guy who's the leading expert on being harsh on yourself… You're overwhelming too hard on yourself." Bruce told her. "You don't want to end up like me, kid."

"What? Sitting alone in a Quinjet while the love of your life goes off to fight a bunch of evil robots?" Emma asked teasingly, steering the conversation into something a lot lighter. Bruce immediately blushed.

"What?" Emma rolled her eyes at him.

"Please… I know that I don't particularly understand the sentiment behind romance but I was trained to pick up on a lot of things." Emma told him. "For what it's worth Natasha really likes you too."

"I'm not talking about this with you." Bruce grumbled as he looked away but Emma only smirked. It was then that they were pulled away from their humorous conversation as Emma heard gunfire in the distance. The smirk immediately fell off her face as she quicky stood up from her seat. Bruce frowned, because even without enchanced hearing, he had also heard the distinct sound.

"Was that…" Bruce trailed off.

"Yes, it sounds like it's coming from the salvage yard." Emma said quietly but her eyes didn't stray from the door of the Quinjet. "Contact the team. See what's going on." Emma ordered him, Bruce quickly rushed towards the radio and wasn't even slightly bothered by the fact that he was being ordered around by a fourteen year old… or by the fact that Emma sounded exactly like Steve in that moment. Bruce pushed one of the buttons on the panel on the ceiling.

"Guys? Is this a code green?" Bruce asked but Bruce and Emma couldn't hear anything over the muffled static. It seemed like the radio wasn't working at the moment. Emma just shook her head. That was really fantastic… really perfect actually. Bruce turned around, walking away from the radio and then began to open the door of the Quinjet. Bruce and Emma looked outside the aircraft as they tried to see what was going on but they couldn't see anything. Whatever was going on was definitely being contained in the salvage yard. It made Emma feel uneasy seeing as how she had no idea what going on out there.

"I'm going in." Emma said, causing Bruce to give her a wide eyed look.

"You can't go in there." Bruce protested. "Steve said that you're to stay here with me in the Quinjet." Emma gave him a pointed look.

"Yes, I'm supposed to stay on the Quinjet as back-up." She continued. "I don't know if you're aware of this but they're not answering us and I hear gunfire. They obviously need back-up." Bruce just shook his head.

"I don't think Steve would be okay with that." Emma just sighed.

"Look, I'll just go over there to see what's going on. If they need more help then I'll come back to get you. Okay?" Emma said, suggesting this new plan to him. Bruce stared at her long and hard for a moment as he considered her plan. She knew that she had won the argument when she saw him sigh and reluctantly nod his head. It was nice to see that he was so agreeable although Emma would've left anyways even if Bruce had said no. It's not like he could really stop her.

"Fine but the moment you get a clear picture of the situation you come straight back." Bruce told her, trying to sound like a parent so Emma decided to humor him. She flashed him a wide smile, showing all her perfect white teeth, and batted her eyelashes innocently.

"Of course, Bruce." She told him before she grabbed her gun and placed it in her holster. Hopefully she wouldn't have to use it. "I'll come back as soon as I can… I promise." Emma then walked off the ramp of the Quinjet and proceeded to head towards the salvage yard. Bruce watched her with a tired expression in his eyes as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He then began to speak quietly to himself.

"It's really a wonder how Steve hasn't manage to get any gray hairs with that girl around."

Emma stalked through the salvage yard, listening for any of the voices of the team as she quickly made her way through the building. It was dark and damp in the building. Emma didn't like that one bit and she held her gun out in front of her, feeling uneasy about the situation. The distant sounds of gunfire could be heard as Emma carefully made her way around a corner. The uneasiness began to be too much for Emma as she knew that she wasn't going to be able to try and see in the dark. Even with her enchanced vision she felt incredibly uncomfortable.

"McConaughey? You there?" Emma spoke softly.

"Yes, Miss Rogers. I'm here." Emma smiled as heard the familiar Texas drawl in her ear.

"I'm going to be needing that viper vision right about now." Emma told him.

"Of course, Miss Rogers." McConaughey answered and Emma saw the red lenses instantly come over her eyes. Her vision was then switched over to viper vision, as she liked to call it, and she was able to see a lot better than she had before. Emma placed her gun back in her holster, not feeling as uneasy but she knew that she would pull it back out if she needed it again. For now she could just rely on her Viper Bites as well as her enhanced strength. She knew that the Avengers liked to keep the casualties to minimum.

"Do you know where the Avengers are at?" She asked the AI system.

"Unfortunately my tracking capabilities are restricted at that moment but I do detect a couple of heat signatures about a hundred feet to your right." McConaughey told her. "They don't match up with the facial recognition of any of your teammates." Emma narrowed her eyes from underneath her mask. So it was most likely the twins or one of Klaw's goons. Emma didn't imagine that Ultron was so advanced that he could have a heat signature. The young blonde peaked around the corner and the saw the heat signature of what looked to be an average sized man. He hadn't seemed to notice her as he approached the corner and Emma instantly prepared herself for attack.

The second the man walked around the corner Emma reared her fist back and punched him in the face. She instantly heard his nose make a sickening cracking sound from the impact and the man's gun fell to the floor. The man groaned as he held his nose in pain but he forced himself upright and immediately tried to counter Emma's attack with a punch to her side but she quickly dodged the punch. She kicked him in between the legs and watched the man fall down to the floor as he yelped in pain. Who knew fighting Klaw's goons would be so easy? She guessed that her Hydra training was really no match for them. Emma flicked her wrist out in a familiar motion and the toxic gas from her suit was dispensed into the air. She watched the green gas swarm around the man's head as he breathed it in. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell unconscious from inhaling the gas. Emma smirked.

"Too easy." And then Emma made a mistake which was something she hadn't made in a very long time but she hadn't trained for so very long. She was so caught up in her arrogance from the fight that she didn't even hear the soft footsteps that Wanda Maximoff made as the witch came up behind her. It was only when Emma saw the mist of red enter her vision that she realized that she had made a mistake. The red mist most certainly wasn't coming from her mask. The Witch.

Emma started to feel herself float down… as if she had sunk beneath the floor and entered a different universe. It was completely dark for a moment as Emma struggled to look around. She tried to raise her arms up or move away but she felt as though she couldn't even move. Emma felt stuck... as if something was holding her down. It was then that all the color returned to Emma's vision as she found herself to be in the very place that she had thought she'd left behind. The glass tank.

She was completely submerged underneath the water in the tank and it looked just like it had before… all those years ago. Emma saw all of their faces looking at her as she struggled to break free of the restraints holding her down in the tank. Pierce. Rumlow. Karpov. Strucker. They were all staring at her as she tried to scream for help within the glass tank. Bubbles escaped her mouth as she screamed but her loud cries for help were muffled underneath the water. It was then that Emma noticed that the familiar plastic tubbing was gone and something else took it's place. Her eyes widened in fear when she saw that her restraints weren't the plastic tubling like before but a bunch of snakes that were wrapped around her. Vipers. Emma groaned as she tried to break free from the snakes but they only constricted tighter around her. Emma could feel her bones start to break from the pressure. She watched with wide eyes as one of the snakes slithered it's way up her arm. The blonde stopped moving at once as she cautiously watched the snake only to scream in terror and pain as the snake bit down on her arm, sinking it's fangs into her flesh. It wasn't long before all the snakes began to join in.

Emma's nightmare suddenly disappeared before her eyes and she was in a much different setting. She was no longer underwater and instead in a dark room with dim lighting. Emma glanced down at her arms but didn't see snake bites like she thought she would see. Her arms were completely clear of all wounds. She glanced around the room and wondered why it seemed familiar. It was only when she felt a familiar coldness chill her that she realized where she was. The Cold Room. The Cold Room which was supposed to be in the abandoned Hydra base in Siberia. Emma felt her heart pounding against her chest as she found herself in the same place that she thought she would never have to go back to. It was just like how she remembered it.

"It's so nice to see that you made it, Emma." Emma turned her head and widened her eyes when she saw someone who she thought was very much dead. Alexander Pierce. He grinned at her as he noticed her terrified expression.

"This isn't possible." She told him. "You're dead." Pierce didn't appear to be fazed by this information as he quietly walked over to Emma.

"True but I'm not dead here." Emma furrowed her eyebrows.

"Where is here?" She questioned.

"Your mind, dearest Emma. I'll always live on in your mind." He told her smugly. "I'm your grandfather. How could you ever bare to part from me?" Emma glared at him, her nostils flaring.

"You're no grandfather of mine." She hissed at him. "You're an evil, cruel man who murdered his daughter and son-in-law before submitting his granddaughter to years of pain and suffering. Nick Fury did the world a service when he shot you." Pierce only chuckled.

"I don't claim to be innocent, Emma." He said as he gave her a smug look. "You're not innocent either. You can pretend to be innocent like the Avengers are making you believe but you can't escape who you are." He paused before a big grin crossed his face. "This is why you're here today. You're here for the big show." Emma gave him a confused look.

"Big show? What the hell are you talking about?" She asked. "What big show?" The lights suddenly came back on and Emma was met with a horrifiying sight. In the middle of the room sat two separate chairs, each containing the two people that Emma cared most about in the world. Her father and Steve. She gasped at the horrifying sight.

"Papa? Steve?" She said in surprise, not quite believing her eyes. Both of them looked severely beaten within an inch of their lives. They looked so beaten up that they weren't even looking up… they weren't even looking at her. No, they were both looking at the ground.

"You're going to pick one of them." Pierce told her and Emma glanced back at him in confusion. What was he talking about? He handed her a gun and Emma looked at the gun in bewilderment. Where did he get the gun? It wasn't there a moment ago… she was sure of it. She took the gun from him but barely noticed it was in her hand as she was locked into a state of confusion.

"What?" Pierce nodded his head towards her father and Steve. Emma suddenly noticed that Karpov stood in between the both of them with a smug smirk on his face and a large gun in his hands.

"I said that you need to pick one of them. Shoot one but save the other." Pierce told her much to horror. He seemed awfully smug at the moment and Emma would've liked nothing more than to shoot him in the face.

"I'm not going shoot either one of them." She told him.

"Then so be it." Pierce told her. "Because if you don't shoot one of them then Colonel Karpov will shoot the both of them." Emma's throat felt incredibly thick and dry as she listened to what Pierce told her. She looked back up at her father and Steve who had since managed to lift their heads up. They both stared at her with pleading expressions on their faces. "It's either one of them or none of them. So decide, Emma… which one can you absolutely not live without?"

"No, I won't do it." Emma shook her head. "I can't." Pierce glared at her.

"Fine then they both die." Pierce sneered before he nodded at Karpov. "Colonel… go ahead." Emma's eyes widened.

"Wait! No! Stop… No, I'll pick. I promise to pick one." She pleaded and Karpov backed down. Pierce gave her a satisfied smile.

"That's what I thought. Go ahead." Pierce told her and Emma held up her gun with shaky hands. She didn't think that she had ever been so twitchy around a gun before... not like she had in that moment. She watched Steve's eyes, that looked so much like her own, silently plead for her not to kill him as she pointed the gun at him. She then pointed the gun at her father who just looked at her sadly. A tear fell down Emma's cheek as she was forced to decide which one she wanted to keep and which one that would die. She sniffled before shutting her eyes, allowing the gun to move back and forth between the targets before she stopped. Emma's jaw was clenched shut as she fired the shot, the sound of the gunshot echoing throughout the room as she heard a body slump forward. She was about to open her eyes to see who it was that she had shot when all she saw was darkness.

Emma was out of the Cold Room and left in absolute darkness. She knew she was no longer within the room because she couldn't find Pierce, Karpov, Steve, or her father. It was completely dark but Emma knew she was still trapped within the Witch's trick since she saw the faint red mist circulating the room. Emma groaned as she moved around and was confused to see that she wasn't standing up like before. No, she lying on a bed. Was she in a bedroom? Why was it so dark in there and why was there a bed? Emma looked around the room but didn't see anything. Maybe this was all just a bad dream. Maybe she had finally worken from her nightmare and she was back in Avengers tower. Emma allowed herself to relax on the bed, resting her head against the pillow but her moment of relaxation only lasted for a second as she heard a deep growling noise coming from the end of the bed. Emma's eyes shot open and she was met with a truly horrifying sight.

Two dark, luminous eyes stared back at her maliciously as she opened her eyes. She heard heavy breathing and panting as she met the eyes of the strange creature. Emma could see the moonlight streaming in through a window that hadn't been there before and saw the creature in the dim lighting. It's black fur glinted under the light but what horrified Emma the most wasn't it's fur or claws. No, it was it's large array of sharp teeth as the large looking wolf grinned at her. Emma felt as though she knew the wolf which was strange since it was only an animal. She looked back into it's eyes and she knew were she had seen those dark orbs before. Rumlow. The man with the wolf like smile as she used to call him.

"Hello, Emma. Don't you look beautiful tonight." The wolf told her, it's voice deep and distorted but it still sounded like Rumlow. She watched the saliva pooling down his chin and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"What are you doing in here?" Emma questioned, her eyes wide and alert. The wolf just grinned at her, patronizing her in the way that Rumlow always used to do.

"That's a silly question." The wolf told her, his tone teasing. "I'm here for you, princess." The wolf then began to move closer towards her. Climbing over her body as she struggled to move, frightened that he might rip her throat out if she tried anything. Emma found that it was difficult to move underneath his weight as he loomed over her, his dark eyes locked onto her.

"What are you doing?! Get off of me!" She screamed at him but he only chuckled. The sound of his laughter, causing the hair on the nape of her neck to stand up. The sound of his deep, rumbling laughter chilled her right to the bone.

"Shhhh… don't scream, princess. Everything will be fine." He whispered into her ear. "Shhhh… be quiet, princess. We wouldn't want anyone to hear us now, would we?" He sniffed alongside her neck and Emma felt the bile rise in her throat as she felt his nose upon her skin.

"Stop… stop it, please." She pleaded weakly. She knew that could throw him off of her if she wanted but for some reason she was afraid. Afraid of what he could do to her if she screamed for help or told on him. Rumlow always frightened her even though she tried not to show it. He had murdered her parents right in front of her and the image had been stuck in her head all these years. "Please don't… please… please don't." The wolf version of Rumlow glared down at her.

"Just shut up and do as I say." The wolf growled at her. "If anything happens to me your Winter Soldier will pay the price." Emma could feel the warm tears stream down her face as she began to give up.

"You look so much like your mother…" He trailed off in a gentle whisper, his tone softer than it had been before. "I can see it in your cute little nose and those rosy pink lips."

"You loved her, didn't you?" Emma questioned, trying to stall the wolf. "I know you did."

"You're right. I did love her." Emma forced a smile onto her face as she tried not show her fear although she knew that Rumlow could most likely smell it on her.

"Then don't do this. She would hate you if she knew what you were doing." The wolf smirked at her, not seeming fazed by Emma's statement.

"Then it's too bad that I killed her." He sneered before the wolf came up and licked the side of her cheek. Emma squeezed her eyes shut, feeling entirely revolted by the trail of slobber the wolf had left that was currently running down the side of her face. "Don't cry." He said comfortingly. "The pain won't last long, I promise."

"You look so beautiful." He told her and Emma whimpered. "Just like your mother." He said right into her ear and Emma could feel his hot breath along the side of her face. The wolf then lifted his head up and suddenly sank his teeth into the side of Emma's neck. She screamed in pain and horror as she felt the wolf's teeth knawing through her flesh. The blonde girl cried for anyone that could possibly hear her… she cried for a savior as the wolf feasted upon her. But no one came.

Steve was just waking up from the encounter he had with the witch. It hadn't been as terrifiying as he thought it might be but it did fill him with a certain loneliness and a severe feeling of loss. It seemed like the twins packed quite the punch and he already knew that the others weren't likely doing as well as he was. If he could barely get his head on straight after what the witch showed him then he was absolutely certain that the others were probably in worse shape then he was. He groaned as he picked himself up from the floor, grabbing his shield as he stood up.

"Barton, what's the damage?" Steve said into his earpiece. There was a brief moment of silence and all Steve could hear was static. Why wasn't Barton answering him? Was something wrong? "Barton?"

"Um… Cap?" Barton replied, sounding unsure and worried but also extremely tired.

"What is it? What's going on, Barton?" Steve asked, already knowing that something must've been wrong.

"I think you need to get over here and fast." Barton said shortly and Steve narrowed his eyes.

"Barton, would you just tell me what's going on?" He finally said, annoyed with the archer. It's what Barton said next that gave Steve some pause.

"It's Emma, Steve." Barton told him and Steve's eyes widened when he heard his granddaughter's name. He didn't waste anytime running in the opposite direction as Clint gave Steve his location. He didn't even wonder why Emma was in the salvage yard rather than the Quinjet as he raced over to Clint's location. When Steve got there he hadn't expected to find what he had. He spotted Natasha sitting down on the floor with a haunted look in her eyes as Clint tried to comfort her. Thor was leaning against the wall, looking very troubled but nowhere nearly as bad as Natasha. Steve furrowed his eyebrows as he noticed a bunch of fresh scratches that were littered up and down Clint's arms and even a couple of scratches on his face as well. There was an unconscious man lying on the ground next to Emma. He looked to be one of Klaw's men. It was Emma, however, that really captured Steve's attention as she laid there writhing on the ground. Her eyes were closed but she moved so restlessly it was a wonder as to how she wasn't awake and alert already. Steve had seen her go through a lot of bad nightmares but he didn't think he had seen her ever have a nightmare that was this bad.

"Emma took a pretty bad hit." Clint told Steve from his position next to Natasha. "She's still under the witch's spell. I tried to snap her out of it but as you can see…" Clint lifted up his arms to display all the scratches and bruises that were already forming. Steve raised his eyebrows in surprise. Emma did all that? "She doesn't like being told what to do." Steve just nodded as he began to kneel down next to the restless teenager.

"Don't do it." Emma mumbled in her delirious state. "Please don't do it." Steve gulped as he saw all the suffering Emma was going through. It killed him to see her in this much pain.

"Emma, you need to snap out of it." He told her gently. "It's not real… it's all a trick." Steve rested his hand on her arm and that was his big mistake. Emma then started screaming at the top of her lungs as she reached out and scratched Steve as hard as she could. He hissed in pain as her fingernails scraped his cheekbone.

"GET OFF OF ME!" She screamed and the others were taken back by the loudness of her voice. Emma was usually so quiet and reserved. Steve tried to hold her down but her strength really was enhanced as she squirmed under his grip. His grasp on her finally loosened enough that Emma was able to deliver a hard punch to his face. He winced at the pain and felt the blood starting to drip down from his nose.

"Stop it! Please! It hurts!" She cried. "It hurts so much!" Steve tried to hold her down again only to get kicked in the stomach as he came close to her. Steve groaned in pain but tried to get up again. He needed to help Emma. He didn't care if she beat him black and blue, she needed his help. Before Steve could even react to the kick Natasha had stepped in, seemingly out of her haunted state. She grabbed Emma's hand firmly before bringing the teenager's hand to Emma's face and releasing the toxic gas from inside the suit. The blonde unknowingly inhaled the green gas and soon stopped strugging, becoming quiet as she fell into a deep sleep. Everyone looked at Natasha in surprise because it wasn't even five minutes ago when the red head had been staring off into space, lost in her thoughts. The former spy shrugged.

"She'll be fine." Natasha told them. "Whatever the witch showed her was really bad. Probably worse than anything we saw." Steve nodded but remained quiet after Natasha spoke. His eyes locked onto Emma's unconscious figure as she slept. He wondered briefly what the witch had shown her. What could it have been that made it so bad that she screamed and fought back like that? Steve couldn't help but wonder if Emma was hiding more secrets than what he knew.