IMPORTANT!
To better understand what Charlie is capable of, I suggest you look up the Extremis virus. I'll be using the comic book version, which is slightly different than the MCU version. In the comic books, Tony actually kept the Extremis and tweaked it to be able to communicate with his suits. While I won't be using that specific feature, I will be using his modified version of the Extremis along with my own limitations/changes. This allows Charlie enhanced strength, speed, durability and healing, along with controlling her own body temperature up to incredible degrees. If you'd like to read more about it, you can find it on the Marvel wiki.
Chapter One
"You've taken away everything that I can't do without. I try to to see the good in life but good things are hard to find. I tried to do it right this time around, let's start over, I'll try to do it right this time around."
It's Not Over - Daughtry
It was abundantly clear as we landed that Strucker knew we were coming. The second we hit the ground, we were flanked on all sides by his mercenaries. Steve started shouting orders, easily falling into his role of guiding us throughout the battle, and we flew into action.
Thor flew high into the air, already summoning lightning with Steve running on the ground in the same direction as the god. Bruce ran off into the forest to morph into the Hulk. Tony blasted a path clear for Clint, Natasha and I before heading for the facility. The former SHIELD agents and I rode in a black Jeep with Natasha at the wheel and Clint standing in the back, firing arrows.
I waited until we were in between two groups of soldiers before saluting Clint with a wink and jumping off the Jeep, tucking and rolling like I had learned to do after many earlier failed attempts that are never allowed to be mentioned again.
Nearly surrounded by men, I held my hands out in front of me, palms down and a smirk on my face. Even after so many months, I hadn't gotten over the high of no longer being the helpless hacker slipping out of jets and getting kidnapped by arch enemies. Thanks to the Extremis and the multiple variations Tony and I had worked so hard on, I was finally a force to be reckoned with, and I was not afraid to flaunt it. Especially in situations such as these.
Another change was that I had gone from being constantly ice cold to being the teams personal heater, according to Tony. While the rest of the team was decked out in heat-insulating body armor designed and created by our resident billionaire genius, he had gone a different route with my uniform. I wore an all black tank top, tights and boots with my hair- that I refused to let Natasha cut any shorter- pulled back into a ponytail with inconvenient strands slipping out and sticking to the sweat on my cheeks. The only color in my outfit was the orange bracelets I wore from my wrists almost up to my elbows. The bracelets tracked my core temperature and heart rate to make sure I never overheated. Tony and I had worked out most of the drugs' kinks, but we didn't want to risk what had happened to all the others who had been exposed to the virus happening to me.
When one group of men ran at me, I heated my hands and swept one over the snow in front of me, instantly transforming it all into murky water. As the men ran into the water, they slipped and tripped until at least half of them had fallen into the water. Thanks to my buddy Thor summoning a touch of lightning, they were taken care of soon enough.
Steve flew by on a motorcycle, dragging men along the way and slamming them against trees. Thor knocked down a watch tower, bringing at least ten soldiers down with it. Clint followed my lead by diving off the Jeep, bow and arrow at the ready to snipe incoming reinforcements. When I spotted the Hulk breaking through the forest line, I sprinted after the group with ease.
All at once we leapt from the hill we were on, landing tactfully and continuing our raid without once breaking rhythm. Every one of Strucker's men I came across was taken out, if not by myself then by a projectile flying in from one of my teammates.
Tony had gone straight for the facility to find a way in, but judging by the loud thud from his end of the comms followed by an equally loud, "Shit!", that hadn't gone so well.
"Language!" Steve chided. What a cutie patootie. "Jarvis, what's the view from upstairs?"
"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is way beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken."
"Loki's scepter must be here!"
After dropping a soldier with two quick blows to the head, I took a moment to chuckle at Thor swinging his hammer mercilessly as men charged him from every direction, only for them to be sent flying with a single tap. "I'm pretty sure you got that one right, Charming. There's no way Strucker could keep up this kind of defense alone."
Thor- after knocking back every person who had tried to rush him- turned and nodded his head at me. "At long last."
"'At long last' is lasting a little long, don't you think, boys?" Natasha wasn't wrong. We had been on the hunt for Loki's scepter for close to seven months now, but every other HYDRA base had turned out to be a bust. Of course it was a good thing that we were knocking HYDRA out one by one, but we had never been so close to actually achieving our goal.
"Yeah," Clint sighed. "I think we lost the element of surprise."
"Wait a minute." You could practically hear the smirk on Tony's face. "No one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said language?"
"I know, it just... slipped out."
"Oh, that is so not going away," I chuckled, jogging through the forest. I couldn't see anymore of Strucker's men nearby, and I didn't know if that should make me feel worried or relieved.
I had been running through a seemingly endless loop of trees when I was suddenly knocked off my feet by something I didn't quite see. Now on high alert, I jumped back up with my hands held out and at the ready, scanning the area. Everything was completely still except for the occasional ruffle of leaves caused by a silent breeze.
A loud groan and Natasha shouting Clint's name threw me out of my reverie. Ignoring whatever had hit me for now, I ran in the direction I'd heard her voice coming from and found her running towards Clint- who was lying on the ground much like I had only moment's ago.
"We have an enhanced in the field," Steve warned over the comms. I swear to God the second I opened my mouth to say something, Steve cut me off with, "Somebody other than Charlie." Damn him for interrupting my joke. Rude.
I caught up to Nat kneeling over Clint, leaning over his opposite side to help her drag him out of the line of fire. Only a few dozen feet away was a bunker shooting relentlessly at us. I would have gone after them, but the guns were completely shielded. "Does somebody wanna deal with that bunker?" Almost immediately after Nat asked, the Hulk came bounding out of nowhere and smashed the concrete building into bits. "Thank you."
Clint started groaning, and only then did I take a good look at his injury. Ouch. "Hey Wonderboy," I called to Tony over the comms. "We're kinda slipping out here. Anytime you wanna get the kids inside would be just darling."
"Yes ma'am," Tony replied with heavy snark- as per usual. "I love it when you get bossy."
"Can we please be serious? Just once?"
I rolled my eyes at Steve- didn't he know by now that I'm never serious? If I can joke while dangling over a bit of burning oil, I can joke while invading HYDRA. That's what I bring to the team- burns. Both hypothetical and physical. Though the physical burns were intended for the enemies. Usually. What were we talking about?
"Drawbridge is down, people!"
Oh, right. HYDRA.
"Clint's hit pretty bad guys," Natasha said to the whole team while I swatted his hand away from the burn to keep him from infecting it. I would have tried to help more, but thanks to all the fighting my temperature was still high enough to have the snow I was standing on slowly dissipating. "We're gonna need an evac."
"I can get Barton to the jet," Thor offered. "The sooner we're gone the better."
"You really are Prince Charming," I sighed dreamily yet jokingly. Somebody snorted, and I could only guess that it was Tony. Even though we'd been dating close to three years now, that did nothing to stop my constant flirtatious nature- nobody was safe, especially not the thunder god.
An ear-splitting clang rang out through the forest, the telltale sign that Steve and Thor were once again playing what I called 'Advanced Baseball'. The first time Thor almost hit Steve's shield with the hammer I had 'grounded' them, and made them separate into different corners of the quinjet. Ah, memories. Kids really do grow up too fast.
"Find the scepter!"
"And for gosh sakes, watch your language!"
When Steve muttered something about the joke not going away anytime soon, I smirked at Natasha and mouthed 'called it'. She rolled her eyes just as Thor landed behind her, eyes trained on Clint to examine the wound. "How do you plan on carrying all three of us to the jet?" she asked dubiously.
Thor didn't seem to have an answer for that, but I most certainly did. I raised my hand, bouncing in place with an eager smile plastered onto my face. Nat looked reluctant to let me speak, but she pointed at me with a sigh.
A minute later- after sticking my hands into a large pile of snow to cool them down- I was clinging to Thor's back as he carried Clint in one arm and aimed us towards the jet with the other. Nat had opted for staying on the ground and getting to the jet later, which was completely fine with me. I was enjoying the ultimate piggy-back-ride.
Life as an Avenger is pretty awesome sometimes.