Phoenix <Book 1>

Part 2 Chapter 4

Ashlyn walked out of her room and sighed, "You alright?", she jumped, "MotherFuc- Steve? What are doing?", he looked at her, "You're my partner, and you're acting off. Are you alright?", she nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. What do we got?", he looked at her and her tablet beeped so she opened it, "Never mind, Ultron killed Strucker and left some art at the crime scene." She handed the tablet to Steve and he sighed, "Come on." They hurried into the team area and everyone but Clint was in there, so Ashlyn farrowed her eyebrows and Natasha nodded her head in the direction he went, "I'll be back." Steve nodded and Ashlyn jogged away.

Ashlyn found Clint and she smiled, "There you are." He smiled at her, "What's up?", she glanced down, "Ultron killed Strucker and painted the crime scene." She sighed and leant against the wall, "I bet you he wiped out our files of all things Strucker related and I bet he has the twins working for him." He looked at her, "You alright?", she nodded, "Stressed, anxious, worried." He looked at her, "About what?", she frowned, "Ultron and-", Steve walked by, "You two ready to suit up?", they nodded, "We'll have to finish this later." She nodded and the two ran off to their suit room. "Where we going?", she looked at her watch, "Oh god." He looked at her and she showed him her watch, "Vibranium." She sighed and grabbed her blades, "Like my blades and Steve's shield. What is he doing?", Clint gave her a small smile, "We will get him.", she looked at him, "But will it be too late?", she sighed and spun her blades over her shoulders and into their spots on her back. She pulled on her boots and put her hair into a ponytail.

Ashlyn looked over the plans of the ship, "Here." She put her finger on a spot, "Thor, Steve, Tony you will go to the bridge. Clint and Natasha can hide out on the sides. I'll work my way in from the back, and Bruce stay here just in case." Everyone nodded and she sighed before looking at her famous S.H.I.E.L.D bracelet and her ring, "Let's stop this bitch." She spun on her heel and walked out. Natasha grabbing Clint, "Have you talked to her?", He sighed, "We get interrupted everytime." Natasha sighed, "I'm sorry." He glanced down, "It's alright." He shook his head, "Come on, we got a mission." The two ran off and Bruce sighed, he knew about Ashlyn's secret and she made he swear to secrecy. He was the only one who knew, she's pregnant, or so he thought.

Ashlyn crept behind Ultron and the twins, "If you believe in peace, let us keep it.", Ultron replied, "I think you're confusing peace with quiet." Ashlyn rolled her eyes, "What's the Vibranium for?", Ashlyn stood in the dark, "Right, because now I'm going to explain my entire plan." He shot forward along with the twins, the bad guys, and the avengers. Ashlyn flicked her wrist and her energy swirled and she began her part in the fight.

Wanda crept up behind Ashlyn and the older girl turned and kicked her back, "Wanda, you know this is wrong." The girl looked at the woman, "How so?", Ashlyn grit her teeth, "He is going to kill innocent people." Wanda glared, "No better than Tony Stark." Ashlyn sighed, "Tony never worked in weapons." Wanda chuckled, "How would you know, he does nothing but keep secrets? He built Ultron right beneath your nose. But then again you have a secret of your own." Ashlyn glared, "How do you know-" a flash of silver passed her and she was down on the ground and Wanda entered Ashlyn's mind.

•••••••••••••••••• Ashlyn's Vision ••••••••••••••••••

Ashlyn was walking along the streets of Sokovia when she noticed she was at her family home, she walked inside and what she saw upset her. Ashlyn's mother stood above a young Ashlyn yelling at the 10 year old, "Ty si bol omyl! Nechceli sme ťa!", Ashlyn was crying, "Mami, je mi ľúto. Nechcel som to! Ja neviem, čo sa stalo. Prosím.", Ashlyn's mother backhanded her, "Mami, je mi ľúto. Nechcel som to! Ja neviem, čo sa stalo. Prosím." Ashlyn sobbed and sat down, she didn't mean to.

The scene shifted to Britain, the family running. The 17 year old Ashlyn stopped and ushered her family in first, even after their torment and torture she had to save them, she turned and the face of the man chasing her. She froze, why hasn't she noticed before? The man smirked at the younger Ashlyn and the look of fear filled her face and she ran inside, hiding in the first place she could find. He walked in and began his shouting. Ashlyn walked forward and noticed for the first time the Hydra tattoo on her mother's shoulder and her father's forearm. Her eyes widened, "Ashlyn." She glanced around, "Ashlyn, come on." She sobbed and covered her ears, "Ashlyn, babe, wake up."

Ashlyn was crying and her eyes were clouded over, she then let out a scream of pain and Clint covered his ears, "Babe, it wasn't real." She looked at him, "Clint?", he nodded and caressed her face in his hands, "Yes, it's me baby." She gave him a smile, "Thank god." She wrapped her arms around him and sobbed, "They were hydra, my family was hydra.", with that she fell limp and he picked her up. She had found the truth in her vision.

Ashlyn woke up on the QuinJet and she walked up to the pilot area and sat by Clint, "You wanna switch out?", he shook his head, "Nah, rest." Tony nodded, "Where we headed?", Ashlyn looked at the coordinates, "A safe house." She glanced down, "I hope." Clint gave her a soft smile and she leant and kissed his cheek, "I love you, so much." He smiled, "I love you too." She sat back and held his hand, and rested her head on his shoulder. "What'd you see?", she looked at him, "The truth. I thought I had it figured. It was just a lie. My mind made my family out to be perfect and loving, it was a lie.", she didn't know the rest of the team was listening to her, "They tortured me and tormented me for being the way I am. I've been this way since I was 10 years old. At the age of 12, I had many broken bones and things that were suppose to scar and be horrible on x-Ray, but everything healed perfectly. At the age of 13 I started to realize that many of our things had a emblem on it. My parents included." She looked at Clint and everyone swallowed the lumps in their throats, "It was the hydra emblem. My parents were hydra, and they weren't suppose to have a child. The kid that was my brother, was a young agent. They were killed by another Hydra agent to see what would happen." She wiped her eyes harshly, "Fury knew." She sobbed, "He never told be and he was like family to me." Clint sighed, "He did it to protect you." She glanced down, "I know." She turned and looked out the windshield and zoning out.