They're made up of trained assassins, a genius, a rather angry doctor, an Asgardian prince, a should-be ghost, and a foul-mouthed teenager.
Who are they?
They're the Avengers. And after babysitting said teen, they're ready to take on whatever obstac...
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"What was that all about?" Nat had pulled Cara to the side when the group began to disperse among the trees, carefully treading through their depths.
The teenager shrugged. "Nothing. Just some necessary motivation."
Nat's eyebrow was raised when Cara glanced at her. "Since when did Captain America need motivation?"
"Since he lost hope in finding his best friend." Cara stated it as if it was common knowledge. "I can't stand seeing him like that, it's just...wrong to have the leader of the Avengers be so broken."
"I mean, he has a right to be that way, you know," the red-head fireball said quickly, jumping to her friend's defense. "You don't know the half of what they've gone through."
"No, I know," Cara held out her hands to show her that she didn't mean to be harsh. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to just give him sympathetic looks all the time, you know? I want to help him in the best way I know. And if he's not ready to tell me all about his past with Bucky, then that's okay. He's entitled to that."
"The best way you know is that?"
"Well, it worked, didn't it?" She smiled triumphantly. "He's not down in the dumps anymore." She gestured to the blond man several paces ahead of them, walking with the rest of the group as they headed into the center of the forest, where they would then branch out in pairs(Cara and Wanda would stay there to hold down the fort), searching each half of the wooded area thoroughly.
Sure enough, Cara's words rang true as Nat followed her gaze to Steve, who had his usual confident stride in his steps, and his head was held high with self-assurance. His shoulders didn't slouch, and he looked almost like the person he was before this whole mess had shown up.
But his movements were still filled with tension, which made sense and didn't worry Cara, as she'd expected him to still be worried out of his mind. She just couldn't have him showing anyone.
Deciding to switch the subject, Cara took a leap of faith into unknown territory with Nat. "So..." she started carefully, "what's up with you and the Jolly Green Giant?"
"The what?" She swiveled her head to narrow her eyes at the teen, and then, a few moments later when she understood what she was getting at, her cheeks flushed bright pink. "There's nothing going on. I don't think," she added, and Cara observed the way she said it. Half denial, half yearning.
"Do you want anything to happen?" Cara sidled up close to the red-haired badass, but was careful with her words. She didn't know what could set her off, so she had to ease her into the subject.
"What are you talking about?" Natasha shook her head. "Banner and I are friends, nothing else."
"But that's not what you want, is it?" She suggested. "You want to be more than friends, I can tell."
"Okay, stop."
"You know, you should just go up to him and tell him. He's not going to rudely shoot you down or anything. I doubt he'd reject you; if anything, he'd just kindly say no and feel bad for about two week--"
Nat whirled around, red in the face, and took a hold of Cara's arms. "Just because it worked on Steve, doesn't mean your weird motivational tactics are going to work on me. I'm fine with my friendship with Bruce, I don't need your advice on how to handle it."
"Ah, so you admit that you want something more?"
"Go fuck yourself, Cara," Nat not-so-subtly flipped her off, and hurried to catch up with the rest of the group.
"No thanks," she called back to her, "that's actually really gross!" Rolling her eyes, she accepted the fact that maybe she had gone too far and crossed a line, but still managed to slide between Steve and Sam to grab her beau's hand.
"Ew, PDA," Sam groaned.
Cara stuck her tongue out at him and squeezed herself closer to Steve, staying at his side for the rest of the trip.
Once they reached the approximate center of the forest(Tony was constantly whispering in their earpieces), Steve separated himself from the nervous teen, but not before gently pressing a kiss to her nose. "You'll be fine," he reassured her, "you'll be with Wanda. Besides, you have the easy part. Nothing's going to happen while we're gone, I promise."
She inhaled a shaky breath. "Okay," she sighed. "I guess."
"You guess?" He smirked. "I want to hear you say it like you mean it. I know I'll be fine."
Cara rolled her eyes. "You're really using my own tactics against me?"
"Hell yeah I am," he nodded, "now say it."
Instead, she reached up and pressed her lips to his in a quick kiss. "See you later, Cap," she winked, and waved as he set off with Sam by his side.
In another direction were Peter and Pietro, then Thor and Scott. The last group was a group of three, including Tony in the sky, and Clint and Nat on the ground.
Stuck to keep watch were Wanda and Cara.
Not that the latter cared much, she didn't want to be on the front lines if it came to that. She didn't consider herself ready to handle that.
But she did have Wanda with her if it happened.
-
Time passed, and soon it had been a clear thirty minutes with quiet trees. Wanda had found a stump to sit on, while Cara managed with the hard, dirty ground. She wasn't focusing on that part of it, though, she was making sure nothing or nobody moved in any threatening way, or she would for sure flip out.
If that happens, I'm going to wish I had...I don't know, a rape whistle or something. Just so they'd be able to hear me.
But then she reminded herself of the earpieces. "Steve?" she asked softly. "Find anything?"
"No," came his short reply, "there's nothing. WHat about anybody else?"
"Nothing, it's like this place is abandoned," Clint muttered suspiciously. "I swear, Cara and Wanda should stay alert. It wouldn't exactly be a surprise if--"
The reception cut out.
Cara looked at Wanda in panic, and saw that the young girl was as shocked as she was, but tried to calm herself down. It could just be a technical issue, she told herself, everything's fine.
But she couldn't stop herself from asking, "what do you think Clint was talking about?"
Wanda didn't answer. She was staring past Cara's shoulder, her mouth set in a grim line. "I think he was talking about...that," she swallowed roughly, and raised a finger at what Cara still hadn't seen.
But as she turned around, she was frightened to see a towering man standing over her with an evil glint in his eye.
"Hello," he snickered maliciously, "we've been looking for you two for a long time."
Cara's throat was dry, and she couldn't respond to the man's words. She wanted to turn back towards her friend, but she didn't have to. Wanda was seized by someone in all black, including a common ski mask that only shown their eyes and mouth. Brought to stand next to each other, both girls stared at the other, trying to make a plan together.
Do not worry, an accented voice--that sounded a lot like Wanda--said in Cara's head. I will call Dr. Banner. He will help us.
Barely getting over the fact that Wanda had entered her mind, Cara merely nodded, not knowing how to reply.
As Wanda closed her eyes, she could practically hear the trigger words in the silence of her own brain.
