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"Good to be working with you again Sparky." Steve said with a nod as he passed by me. We had just received our mission statements, warnings, and orders. I couldn't shake the feeling. The feeling Clint had mentioned. The way he had acted…it was too much to ignore. That feeling was in the back of my brain eating away. My attention tore through my thoughts as Stark tossed Bruce a bottle of…green liquid stuff. Bruce laughed as he caught it. Obviously, I had missed quite a bit while the team was parted.

Steve moved to Natasha's side just as Bruce sat down beside me, "Stark calls this my 'Go-Go' juice. Helps me clear my mind for a big mission."

"Looks like he blended up some weeds." I examined it closely. He shrugged as he shook his head. He lowered his voice and leaned closer.

"Tastes like shit." I laughed. He gave a swift nod, "Pardon me."

He stood quickly and made his way to my sister. I gave a soft smile which she returned, surprisingly. Many, many things have changed. Stark sat down in Bruce's chair. I eyed him closely, "Why's your boyfriend so pissy today?"

My eyes widened at the word boyfriend and Tony waved it off, "Old news. Listen…" he leaned closer as his eyes darted at everyone. "I've been working on something…huge. The very first mission that we were called out on…was cancelled because they found the antidote, correct?"

"Old news Tony," I said raising my eyebrow expectantly. I glanced over at Clint. He was red in the face whispering harshly to Fury and Steve. I sighed and shifted my eyes to Natasha. She was already on her way to them.

"Then why are going on this mission?"

I snapped my head back toward him, "To apprehend Crystal. Retrieve the drug and…."

He shoved his phone into my hands, "The antidote was never delivered. The antidote was men in gas masks executing everyone and then SHIELD covering it up."

Scrolling over the images one by one, there were dead bodies, burnt down buildings, craters, ash….more dead bodies. I swallowed thickly. This was a test site. "Dream is the US's drug that fell into the wrong hands. SHIELD…Avengers…whatever the hell we are….we are cleaning up the aftermath. Some new baby that was put on guard for a shipment of Dream failed his mission."

"Peterson…." I started.

"Middle man. Crystal used to work for SHIELD's more….unrespectable departments."

I drew in a deep breath, "Wow…when you say you are going to dig…you really dig don't you?"

"I had some help." His eyes shifted to his right and I followed them. Clint had stopped talking and was staring directly at me. He knew. This entire time…he knew. That explains why he was so willing, so eager to keep me away for the next few weeks. He didn't want me knowing, having any part of this. Standing up quickly, I adjusted my ponytail and strolled over to the arguing four.

Fury stopped immediately and shifted his fiery gaze to me, "Sergeant…"

"Crystal worked for SHIELD? You didn't think it was best to tell us? Any of us? Or just me? Which is it?" Everyone froze. I could feel dozens of eyes on me now. I was working for the same organization that turned me into what I am now. Answers were greatly appreciated and greatly demanded. I looked to Clint, "And you knew."

"My orders were…"

"You and your damn orders. Always your fucking orders." I snapped. Natasha shifted her stance as if she was waiting for me to explode.

"Marcy, I…"

"Director Fury, the ship is ready. The mission is green for go." Hill stood docile beside me as if she hadn't heard a single thing. Who was I kidding? She probably already knew. Fury nodded and Hill turned sharply in her high heeled boots and marched down the corridor.

Fury turned his attention to me, "You would be best to know your place on my boat Sergeant James."

"Then maybe you should kick me the hell off this boat," I suggested before turning away and following Hill's direction. My hands shook. My fingers were tingling. I mumbled to myself, "Save it for Crystal Marcy."

"Marcy!" I heard Clint call after me. I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "Marcy…wait!"

I paused in the hanger door and he grabbed my arm pulling me away from the crowd. I watched as Thor greeted Stark (who was in full uniform now). "What?"

"I'm sorry…I should have said something, but I…"

"Was under orders…sure. I get it Clint. I got it five years ago- I get it now." I started to walk away and he jerked me back. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I didn't tell you because I, yea, I had orders, but…I felt guilty. You…why you are the way you are now, is my fault. If I had never requested you…you would never be in this…all of this."

"What?" He sighed.

"I had a choice of who to pick for my covers in the desert. Deacon was our first choice. After he was killed in action. It was you…you stuck out to me. You were the one I wanted…all along. I knew I could trust you."

I gaped at him, "You should have told me." There was a crash suddenly. I spun around and looked for the source, "What was that?"

"You should run Marcy." The ground began shaking. Something wasn't right. I saw smoke coming from the ground. The deck of the cargo hold had turned into concrete…a road. I glanced around at the trees that were half burnt inside the loading dock. No one seemed to notice. Was I hallucinating? My heart began to beat faster, a slow ache began to spread throughout my body.

Come on, wake up, wake up.

My eyes snapped back to Clint, his eyes had glazed over with a milky white haze. I stepped back instantaneously. His hand was wrapped around my forearm squeezing tightly. He was hurting me. The ground shook as something exploded around us. I whined, "Clint. Stop."

Another crash. Marcy! Wake up!

Clint grinned wickedly at me, "You should run from me."

"Get up! Come on Marcy! Get the hell up!" My ears buzzed as the sound came rushing back to them. My head burned. My body ached…I felt cold…unusually cold. I forced my eyes open, Natasha was a startling sight. Her mask was gone, her hair was limp and caked in mud, and her lip split open, blood dripping off her chin. She didn't seem to be too alarmed at her condition or maybe she didn't know. "Can you move? We aren't safe here."

I shifted my legs and hissed. My hands gripped my left thigh, the pain was intense, "Where are the others?"

"Stark is trying to contact Fury. Thor is trying to get Bruce's attention. I'm not sure were Cap or Clint are….which is why we need to move." She helped me stand. My eyes drifted down to the bloody arrow that was on the ground. She had removed it from my leg while I was unconscious. I looked up at the building we were beside and moaned as we began walking, "Quite a tumble you took there. You were lucky you were already out."

We tried to melt our bodies as close to the wall as we could. My fingertips tingled when I saw the blue flame engulfed buildings. We arrived to find everything peaceful, the city like a ghost town. The horde of people came from nowhere, thrashing and hitting us with everything they had. Somehow…somehow…Clint and Steve had lost their breathing kit in the process.

I suddenly felt something was off. Reaching up I gasped, the mask…it was gone. Along with my eye mask. I wish I could remember something. I glanced back at the building. I must have really hit my head upon impact…which would explain the headache that was developing. I'm sure I had a concussion.

"Nat," she glanced back at me. Her mask was gone too. I touched my nose with my index finger and she shook her head.

"The crowd had canisters. The air is clean. It's a powder that's released when the canister blows. Eyes, nose, mouth…doesn't matter. We just happened to be far enough away."

I could faintly hear Clint screaming at me to get away while he fell to his knees, rubbing his face, and coughing. The moment his eyes turned that milky white…I knew. I scrunched my eyebrows trying to remember more of the events, "Cap and Clint were in the middle. We didn't expect Hulk to acceptable to it."

Her face fell with a shake of her head, "No…we didn't."

After that, we were quiet as we tried to slink across the town without being noticed. We needed to get back to the ship and try to get out of here. I wasn't crazy about leaving our teammates, but if we didn't they were going to kill us. My heart dropped at the thought of one of my friends living with the guilt of hurting us…or Clint having to live with it. I winced and fell against the wall, my thigh was bleeding heavily now. My vision was wavering. Any person who was half a tracker would be able to follow my blood trail. Natasha looked as if she was thinking the same thing.

"You go. The ship is about three hundred feet away. If you sprint…I'll cover you."

"There's a hundred of them Marcy…not to mention a super soldier and an excellent marksman out there. He's already wounded you once." Her eyes narrowed as I laughed quietly. I took the extra cloth she was carrying and put it over my wound. Pulling the strap of material tighter I whined as quietly as I could. I can do this. You can do this. I survived war….I've survived worse. Right?

I wiggled my bloody fingers at her, "I light up, remember? Go. If you don't send back help- I'll toast your ass when I catch up."

One corner of her mouth drew to a small smile, "If you climb to the highest part of the city, I'll have Stark find you."

"I'll make sure he sees me." She nodded and continued down the wall. I turned the opposite direction heading to the front. I gave a quick glance behind me. There were several people already surrounding me. Their faces were cover in mud, blood, different paints. Their hands were holding weapons of pretty much anything that could kill. I limped faster to the middle of the town square. I gazed around nonchalantly and caught sight of Natasha almost to the ship.

I shook my head and mumbled, "You're an idiot Marcy."

One of the infected lunged at me. I gave him a swift kick as I dodged. He landed hard on the ground with a growl. I winced and my hand flew to my wound. I couldn't do too many of those kicks. But as another infected took her turn with her knife, I didn't hesitate. I kicked it away from her quickly. Glancing over in Natasha's previous direction, I could see her struggling with three of the infected. A few from the group were starting to slowly head her way. I needed to devise a distraction of some sort, so that she could escape. If she didn't escape…we were all in serious trouble. I looked at the small group around me and I felt pained suddenly, "I'm very, very sorry."

My hands began to burn instantly. Their faces hardened as the sight. Large balls of Flame grew from my palms and I threw them hard into the crowd. I didn't want to burn them. I just wanted to scare them. Injury was not on my list of to do. I threw another ball into the crowd knocking a few people on their backs. I limped away further into the center of the town. Natasha was taking off and it was time for me to get away…get somewhere high. A scream erupted behind me and I turned on my heel, a sharp pain appeared on my arm. A teenager about the age of sixteen held her knife up again, so that she could stab me. I felt my rage grow suddenly and I pushed all of the Flame I could from my hands. The Flame was like a wave shooting across her pushing the others back. I felt my eyes burn. I let out an emotional scream as I pushed and pushed the Flame out further.

Suddenly I was flying through the air. I landed heavily on my side against the town square fountain. I blinked rapidly and tried to pick myself up. Hands were on me in an instant, pulling me off the ground and tossing me again. I saw blue…blue and red…and white. Steve. My back collided with the building wall and I thumped hard against the ground. The wind left my lungs and I gasped for air.

"Steve," I choked out as I tried to stand again. "Steve! It's me! Marcy!"

His eyes were clouded, his Captain America mask gone, face decorated with mud and paint. He thought he was one of them…a warrior of some sort. I pushed another wave of Flame from my hand and he flew back. He landed hard, half in and half out of the fountain. He didn't move. I pushed myself on to my feet, knees wobbling. You can do this.

The people…they caught my attention then. They were all on the ground, scattered…rubbing their heads…moaning. They were coherent. My eyes brightened. The Flame…it was burning the effects of the powder off.

"Well done, I should say." Clapping filled my ears.

Turning quickly, prepared for anything, I came face to face with…Crystal. His picture that I had seen in his file was normal. He wasn't normal any longer. He grinned at me. He perfectly straight white teeth peeked out behind his blue lips. Half of his face was burned away, black left in its place. White hair was stringy and scarce. His eyes were a hazy blue, finger nails…blue. Oh God…was I going to turn into him some day? The burns were present in the areas I could see, his arms, neck, face, hands. He must have realized I was gawking at him. Studying his appearance. He laughed broadly.

"Yes…testing has its ups and downs. Obviously." His British voice thick with sarcasm. I took two steps forward. You can do this Marcy. My leg quivered as a rush of dizziness swept over me. Not if you die of blood loss first.

"I'm here to take you in- on behalf of SHIELD." I stood taller. I could feel the blood running down my leg…blood dripping from my fingertips. He laughed again.

"Brave little Marcia. I know all about you. You…" he nodded walking closer. The limp in his right side was prevalent. "You were my best accident yet. Peterson…he was a fool. Tell a man to save the last sample and he shoves it straight into you."

"Then you know what I can do, you best remember that." I said producing the Flame from my fingers. He grinned wickedly and he narrowed his eyes. I stepped back when he abruptly caught fire. Not Flame…but actual fire. Colors of yellow, blue, and red danced on him. I could hear his skin sizzling yet he made no emotion that he was in pain. The formula hadn't worked quite that well for him.

He let out a primal roar as fire shot from his hands and sent me back. I skidded along the road and I laid there for a moment as the pain over took my body. I was burning. I rolled on the ground. It was burning through my suit. Some kind of acid. I forced myself to go all Flame…the only way I knew to counteract the burn.

"Marcy!" Steve started toward me and I screamed, "No! Stay back! Get Stark!"

He nodded and took off running toward the cliffs. He was going to high ground. The exact thing I should have done and waited for back up. I stood and pushed the Flame out again. It hit Crystal with such force that it even knocked me against the truck that was directly behind me. I felt a hand wrap around my throat then. My eyes met…Clint's. I could feel that the Flame was burning his skin, but he seemed not to register the pain. "Cl-i-n-t."

I let the Flame die down, not wanting to hurt him. Clawing at his arm, he slammed me back into the truck again, the window cracking when my head hit it. "C-l-i…"

My vision started to fade and I began to panic. He wasn't going to kill me. I wasn't going to let that happen. I reached for anything I could as he slammed me back against the truck again, this time the window shattered. My fingers found his arrows. My vision was about to go. I did the only thing I could think of. I shoved the arrow into his stomach.

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Thank you SO much for reading.

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Disclaimer:

I do not own the Avengers

Marcy James is created by me.