⇔ Two Years Later ⇔

"Shit!" I snorted as Dad panicked.

"Language!" Steve reprimanded. I furrowed my brows. "Jarvis, what's the view from upstairs?"

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield." I nodded as I knocked another soldier onto his back.

"Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken," Thor said. "Loki's scepter must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it." He paused. "At long last."

"'At long last' is lasting a little long, boys," Nat said. I chuckled.

"Yeah," I said, leaning on a tree to catch my breath for a moment. "I think we lost the element of surprise."

"Wait a second," Dad said. "No one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said 'Language'?" I shrugged, taking off again.

"I mean, I thought about it," I said. "But I figured I'd leave it alone."

"I know," Steve said. "Just slipped out."

"Sir, the city is taking fire," Jarvis said.

"Well, we know Strucker's not gonna worry about civilian casualties," Dad said. "Send in the Iron Legion." I grinned as I ran up behind Clint.

"Boo!" I said. He spun around and shook his head.

"Jesus, Chris," he said. "I hate you." I shook my head.

"No, you don't." We ducked behind separate trees as one of the bunkers went off. Clint stepped out and fired an explosive arrow before ducking back behind the tree, but we never heard an explosion. He frowned and stepped out to fire another, but he was knocked to the ground. I felt a familiar feeling behind me and ducked as an arm flew over my face. A boy with silver hair smirked at Clint.

"You didn't see that coming?" he asked in a thick Sokovian accent. He looked at me. "But you did." I stood up straight, glaring at him, and he grinned before taking off, me close behind.

"Clint!" I heard Nat yell. I gritted my teeth and pushed myself faster. We ran past Steve, and the boy knocked his feet out from under him but didn't stop.

"We have an Enhanced in the field," Steve said. "Zip, where are you?" I grimaced as I ran after the boy.

"I'm right behind him," I said.

"Clint's hit," Nat said. "Somebody want to deal with that bunker?" There was a pause, and I heard yelling in the distance. "Thank you."

"Dad, we really need to get inside," I said.

"I'm closing in," he said. "Jarvis, am I closing in?" I pushed myself as fast as I could and tackled the boy to the ground, rolling into the snow. I scrambled to my feet and looked at him.

"Who are you?" I asked. He smirked.

"I'll bet you'd like to know," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, that's why I asked. Why do you hate us?" He shook his head.

"Who says I hate you?"

"You got one of my best friends shot."

"Technically I was gone by then. But so were you." I grit my teeth. "You gave us the chance to get out of there, and we took it. That's all."

"We?"

"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys," Nat said in my ear. "We're gonna need evac."

"I can get Barton to the jet." I looked at the boy in front of me. I groaned.

"Get out of here," I told him. He furrowed his brows. "But if you show up again and get in our way, you won't be so lucky." He grinned and sped off, but not before planting a kiss on my cheek. I froze and rolled my eyes before running back towards the team.

"Find the scepter," Thor said. I smirked.

"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" I said. I heard Steve sigh.

"That's not going away any time soon." I shook my head.

"No. Absolutely not." I ran through the base and found my dad being shot at by a bunch of agents. I laughed.

"Guys, stop," he said. "We gotta talk this through." Mini projectiles flew at them, and they all fell to the ground in pain. I ran up beside him.

"It was a good talk," I said. Dad chuckled.

"No, it wasn't," someone muttered. I snorted as Dad stepped out of the suit.

"Sentry mode," he said. "Okay, Jarvis, you know. I want it all. Make sure you copy Hill at HQ."

"We're locked down out here," Nat said over the earpiece.

"Then get to Banner," Steve told her. "Time for a lullaby." Dad and I looked through the computers, and I furrowed my brows.

"I know you're hiding more than files," Dad said. I stood and looked around.

"Hey, J," I said, "give me an IR scan of the room, real quick."

"The wall to your left." We looked towards it. "I'm reading steel reinforcement...and an air current." We walked over, and I looked over the bricks.

"Please be a secret door," Dad said quietly. "Please be a secret door. Please be a secret door." He pushed on it, and it moved aside. I grinned and looked at him.

"Yay." We cautiously made our way down the stairs and looked around.

"We have a second Enhanced," Steve said. "Female. Do not engage." He paused. "Guys, I got Strucker." I looked up at the metal contraption hanging from the ceiling, eyes wide.

"Yeah," I said. "We got...something bigger." Dad looked to the side.

"Thor," he said, "we got eyes on the prize." We walked over to the scepter, and my vision went blank. I squeezed my eyes shut, and the temperature seemed to change. I breathed heavily and opened my eyes to see the common area of Holt's. My eyes widened, and I stepped backwards, only to run into a body. I spun around, backing up as I spotted Holt.

"Where are you going, Chris?" she asked. "Don't you want to come home?" She grinned. "To find him?" I furrowed my brows and spun back around to see a man standing in the doorway.

3rd Person POV

Wanda's eyes widened as she saw Tony and Chris' fears. She looked at the girl in front of her, furrowing her brows at the familiarity.

"She doesn't know," she muttered. Pietro stepped up beside her.

"What?" he asked. She smiled.

"She doesn't know," she said a bit louder. She looked at him and nodded to Chris as Tony snapped out of his own head and held out his hand.

"We're just going to let him take it?" Pietro asked. Wanda nodded and pointed at Chris. Pietro sighed and picked up the brunette, running off with the two girls as Tony grabbed the scepter and spun around to an empty room.

"Chris?" he asked quietly, his head filling with fear again. "CHRISTINE!!"