Dreams Best Left Alone - Book 4 (Age of Ultron)

Chapter 1 - Strucker's Experiments

Annabelle stood next to Clint, aiming at the soldiers that surrounded them in the snowy woods. He shot arrows and she shot her gun at the soldiers in their jeeps along with the ones flying through the air with suits. Natasha drove, the two in the back having to try to keep their balance as she swerved and the truck shuddered beneath them.

"Get ready!" she yelled before they were launched off of the truck and into the air. They landed on the other side of a fallen tree, joining the other Avengers as they fought to get to the Hydra base.

"Heads!" Annabelle yelled, spinning around with her pole as Clint and Natasha ducked. They stood quickly, the three working back to back to take out the guards as Tony flew towards the base and Steve continued on his motorcycle. Thor and Hulk moved through the rest of the woods.

"Shit!" Tony suddenly yelled through the comms.

"Language!" Steve let out. "Jarvis, what's the view from upstairs?"

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken."

"Makes sense. There are people flying through the air," Annabelle said as she shot another down, having split up from Clint and Natasha.

"Loki's scepter must be here," Thor spoke up. "Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it. At long last."

"'At long last' is lasting a little long, boys," Natasha told them.

"Yeah, I think we lost the element of surprise."

"Wait a second," Tony said in confusion after Clint. "No one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said, 'Language?'"

"I know," he sighed. "It just slipped out." Annabelle started to open her mouth, but her brother knew it was coming. "Annabelle, just don't." She huffed but went back to focusing on the guards in white uniforms around her. She ducked behind a tree as one of the tanks fired at her. She poked her head out, firing back at the soldiers manning it until they all had fallen.

"Sir, the city's taking fire," Jarvis reported.

"Well we know Strucker's not gonna worry about civilian casualties. Send in the Iron Legion." Annabelle looked up at the sky to see a group of robots that looked similar to Tony's suit flying towards the nearby city. She turned as she heard a gunshot, extending her pole and using the blade to take down the new wave of soldiers. Once she was through them all, the woods started to seem too quiet. Her eyes started scanning the woods as she felt a strange wave of heat quickly pass by.

"What the..." she started to mumble before Steve came over the comms.

"We have an enhanced in the field."
"Clint's hit," Natasha reported. "Somebody want to deal with that bunker?" They all heard a loud explosion and Annabelle could faintly see green moving away from the bunker. "Thank you." Feeling the heat again, Annabelle turned around, but there wasn't anything there. She started moving through the woods, trying to follow it as the rest of her team continued fighting.

"Stark, we really need to get inside."

"I'm closing in," he told Steve. A moment later he came back on the system and said, "The drawbridge is down, people."

"Clint's hurt pretty bad, guys. We're gonna need evac."
"I can get Barton to the jet," Thor said. "The sooner we're gone, the better. You and Stark," he said to Steve, "secure the scepter."

"Copy that."

"Looks like they're lining up."

"Well, they're excited," Steve told him. There was suddenly a loud explosion as Thor's hammer hit Steve's shield.

"Find the scepter," Thor told them before flying to pick up Clint.

"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" Tony told him.

Steve sighed. "That's not going away anytime soon."

"We're locked down out here," Natasha reported, the remaining soldiers surrendering.

"Then get to Banner. Time for a lullaby," Steve told her. "Annabelle, what's your status? Annabelle?"
"Um," she shook her head, really looking around at her surroundings.

"Annabelle?"

"Yeah, I'm- I'm in the building."

"Alright. I'm on my way. Find that scepter."

"I'm looking," she nodded, getting back on task. The comms were quiet as everyone did their part. "Come on," she muttered to herself, running her fingers over the walls she walked by, hoping to pick up the heat she felt when she had been near the scepter on the Helicarrier. She sighed in annoyance, every bit of the building seeming to carry some sort of heat similar to the scepter.

"We have a second enhanced," Steve reported. "Female. Do not engage. Guys, I got Strucker."

"Yeah, I got something bigger," Tony told him.

"Are you gonna leave us guessing?" Annabelle asked, only half paying attention to their conversation as she continued to move through the building.

Tony continued to move through the secret room, looking up at the Chitauri ship that had been salvaged from the battle in New York. It had scientific instruments and screens still running tests all around it. "Thor, I got eyes on the prize," he said as he spied the scepter. Suddenly, the Chitauri ship started to move, flying off into the sky. Tony followed it before stumbling upon a pile of rubble, bodies splayed across it. As he got closer, he realized it was the rest of the Avengers. They all laid still, chests unmoving. His eyes ran over each one, all of them clearly having died while fighting. Annabelle's body seemed to be covered in too much blood for a body so small and Tony felt nauseated. He stumbled away from her body and to her brothers, leaning down to check his pulse before gasping when Steve reached up and grabbed his wrist.

"You could've saved us," Steve managed to get out before his body went limp, blank eyes staring up at him. "Why couldn't you do more?" his voice came, but his lips didn't move." Tony looked back up, seeing the Chitauri ship join with others in space before it all disappeared. He looked behind him, finding the ship in the same spot and scepter still sitting in front of him. He let out a sharp breath, reorienting himself. He held his hand out, his suit coming to him. Tony grabbed the scepter and walked out of the building, not noticing the two figures watching him from the shadows of the room.

First chapter! I hope you guys like it!