Girl At War

Little Bomb - 29

The Avengers, all save Thor, Bruce, and Natasha, were ringed in a circle, fending off HYDRA attacks together. Nobody knew exactly where Natasha was. Last they'd heard, she was going after Eloyse. So everyone was rightly startled to see them both hunkering behind a big slab of blasted concrete fifty yards off, red and brown heads close together. There was no debris anywhere near where the team had taken cover, so the only way Nat and Eloyse could get there would be traversing the one-hundred-and-fifty feet of open ground. Dangerous, open ground.

From the moment Steve spied them, they had the team's full attention. Clint missed a shot, mostly because he aimed and fired while peering through a crack in the opposite direction. Pietro fretted and offered to race over and carry them to safety. Steve promptly denied him, with the reasoning of with the way the machine guns were being used, there was no way Pietro would escape getting shot if he was noticed, even at speed. Tony rose up in the Iron Man suit, oblivious to the rain the bullets. Only when a orange, flame-like thing hurtled towards him did he loose nerve and drop behind the barricade. The Hulk could have done it, but Bruce had been left in the jet to avoid a code green. Wanda frowned, trying to read the girls' minds. Eloyse was blank, nothing but static. Wanda raised an eyebrow. She must have a mind shield. Natasha's thoughts, however, were busy. They were planning on coming over, but couldn't ask for cover from their team because their comms were down. 

"They're coming! Cover them!" Wanda cried, just in time. Natasha lept out first, charging toward the barricade where the Avengers were entrenched. Several steps behind was Eloyse. Tony swore viciously. Pietro's eyes widened, but before he could say anything, Steve gave him a death glare. They began fighting wildly, trying to keep the HYDRA guns busy long enough for Natasha and Eloyse to reach safety. They were over halfway when it happened. It just looked like a small little ball, but both of them stopped so fast they ploughed up ground. They whirled around but had only made it two steps when the bomb went off. There was a flash of blue and flame, and a deafening boom. 

Then Pietro was gone, zooming out there. He was back in an instant, holding Natasha. He dumped her at Clint's feet and raced back out. That was when the second explosion happened. 

Clint, gawking in shock, clearly saw Eloyse and Pietro. Instead of ducking away, Eloyse turned toward the bomb, hands facing it. Pietro had grabbed her, and they were started back when the blast struck them. He dropped her, both of them going rolling. Yet in a flash, Pietro was back up and behind the barricade, having picked up Eloyse so quickly it wasn't seen. The whole thing had taken less than a few seconds. Natasha groaned and stiffly sat up.

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!" Tony screamed at them.

"No, have you?" Eloyse coolly retorted. "It was Tasha's idea. Talk to her!" Steve rolled his eyes at the squabble. He pointed at Tony with the shield. 

"You, go. Eliminate enough for us to safely get back to the jet. Do anything except get killed or killing us. I want everyone outta here." Tony nodded. He put his hands down, launching into the sky. Steve turned to study his returned prodigies. Eloyse had gray power smudged on her face, and a long crimson scratch from her temple to her chin. Yet despite that, a fire still burned in her eyes and she had talked back to Tony with plenty of spunk. Natasha looked slightly better off. She was staring at Eloyse in curiosity, though.

"How'd you do that?" She asked, pushing some hair out of her face. Pietro eagerly awaited an answer as well. The rest of the team was puzzled. Eloyse turned away slightly.

"Protective barrier." Her voice was barely audible. Pietro approvingly grinned.

Natasha wasn't so happy. "How come you didn't use it earlier?" She grumbled, dusting off slightly.