Living far away

Chapter 2

Clint sighs. "Great, we've got a fan on our hands. Answer the question, girl."

"I was spying because I saw two suspicious men in the comic shop. Cap and the Winter Soldier. I didn't trust them and decided to see where they were going."

"She's got brains and talent, if even Bucky didn't notice her", a voice behind her says. Natasha's.

"True, but she did put herself in danger", Clint interjects.

"If I may, I know how to fight, I trained myself in all different types of martial arts, so I would be able to protect myself", Rylie says.

Natasha smirks. "I like you, you got fire. What's your name?"

"Rylie, Rylie Thompson."

"That isn't a very Belgian name, is it?"

"No, I was born in New York, but my parents decided to move away from the dangers there."

Clint glances at Natasha. "She knows too much, we're going to have to take her with us, so we're sure she doesn't spoil."

Natasha nods. "You okay with that Rylie? I wouldn't want to knock you out and take you."

"Yeah, I'm fine with that."

"Great! Let's go then."

"Stark's gonna kill us, you know that?"

"Wait, Stark's here too?"

"Yes. He insisted on coming."

──

After a while the three of them reach a hotel. Natasha checks in and leads Rylie to the room. Inside Tony is checking the maps of the town. He looks up when he hears the door open.

"Who's that?" he asks when his eye falls on Rylie.

"I'm Rylie Thompson. Big fan."

"Why is she here?"

"She spied on us and knew who we were, so we had to make sure she wouldn't say anything to friends or family", Natasha explains

"Great, so we don't only have to take down HYDRA, we also have to babysit."

"Not we, you. Clint and I need to go back to town to find some information."

"Seriously? You're going to leave me with the kid?"

"Yes, bye now. Have fun!"

Both Natasha and Clint leave. Tony and Rylie are alone now.

Tony sighs. "I'm just gonna keep working. Don't be annoying. Watch some cartoons or something."

"I'm seventeen, I don't watch cartoons anymore."

"Whatever, just don't be annoying", Tony says with a wave of his hand, dismissing her.

Rylie nods and walks to the couch to watch some TV.

"You don't mind me putting on some music, do you?" Tony asks.

"Uhm, no, not really."

"FRIDAY, put on some AC/DC, Back in black, please."

Rylie smiles. "You like AC/DC? Me too!"

Tony smirks. "You just made me like you a bit more, kid. You from in town?"

"Yeah, my parents moved here when I was 6 or something."

"Great, then you can help me with this map."

She walks over and gives it a glance, she immediately notices the places she comes often."What're we looking for?"

"A place for a secret base. I can't tell you too much, though. There are some bad guys here, who we need to take down. The cyborg remembers a base being here, but he doesn't remember exactly where."

"Well... You have the abandoned library. It's old, but it's only been abandoned for a few years."

"We need something old. Something from WWII or earlier."

"You're looking for HYDRA, then?"

"You're too smart, kid. We can't keep secrets from you, can we?"

"Nope, I'm very observant. We got one of the old train stations. This one's from the 30's, I think. That one from the 40's", Rylie says, pointing at two different stations on the map. "I snuck out once, hid there. It's next to our house. I saw some pictures of Captain America before he got out of the ice."

"I'll let the team know. Good work, kid."

"Thanks, sir."

"Please call me Tony, 'sir' makes me look old. You can call all of us with our first name", Tony says before reaching for his phone and dialing a number. "Capsicle, seems like the kid was useful. We got two possible locations of where the base could be. I'll send you the location."

"I'll stay here while you take the bad guys down. I'd probably only walk in the way."

"No, you're coming with me. Nat mentioned you know how to fight."

A big smile appears on Rylie's face. "Really?"

"Yup. Stay behind us, though, I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"Of course."

──

Rylie stole a spare suit from Natasha, making some modifications, so they wouldn't be exactly the same. When Tony, also in full suit, and Rylie arrives, Steve glares at Tony.

"Seriously? You took her with you?" he angrily asks.

"She's a fighter, plus we'll be here to protect her", Tony explains.

Steve's gaze moves to the girl. "Stay behind us and don't do anything stupid."

"I will", Rylie says, she glances at, "Can we get inside now? My parents will kill me if they see me outside, especially with you guys."

"They hate superheroes that much?", Clint, who walks in the station next to Rylie, asks.

"Yeah, they moved after the battle in New York. I'd love to move back, but they've forbidden me to."

"Wow, that sucks", Nat says on Rylie's other side,"I love what you did to my suit, by the way, I wish I came up with that first."

"Thanks", Rylie answers with a smile.

"Wow, Steve, you really did look better before you got out of the ice", Tony comments when he sees one of the posters Rylie mentioned earlier.

"Oh, shut it, Stark.", Steve responds.

"Both of you, shush, we're close", Bucky, who's up front, says.

Rylie immediately gets in a position ready to fight when she hears voices, familiar voices.

"If what Pierce says is right, we should move right away, Louise. We can't risk getting compromised", the male one says.

"We can't, Killian, Rylie feels home here. She has friends, she has Emily", the woman answers.

Rylie freezes. No, that's impossible.

"I don't care, we–" the man gets interrupted when Bucky barges in the room, getting the man easily to the ground, while Steve takes the woman down. They cuff them and lead them outside. Rylie stares at them, tears in her eyes. Clint notices.

"You alright, Rylie? I know it seems dangerous, but─"

"No, it's not that. It's─ that are my mom and dad..."