| The Amelie Chronicles | (MCU)

Part Three: Chapter Seven

The wait for the Avengers to return was a very long, painstaking wait. Both Amelie and Bucky were cooped up in the Tower, and while there were tons of things to do, none of them seemed to please them- especially when their friends were out risking their lives.

"JARVIS, an update?" Bucky asked, like he did every hour, on the hour. Amie perked her head up, muting the third Harry Potter movie to hear.

"The Avengers are closing in on the base. The building seems to be better armed than we realized, with energy and technology taken from the scepter." JARVIS explained, "However, that doesn't seem to phase Mr. Stark."

"What kind of protections?" Amelie wondered aloud, "They didn't have those when I was there."

"They didn't have the scepter then. Just Tesseract energy saved from the war." Bucky replied, his eyes briefly leaving the TV to glance at Amie.

"Would you like a live-feed update?" JARVIS went ahead and displayed the footage on Tony's camera, as well as the ones the other Avengers wore on some part of their uniform.
Hydra definitely made use of their possession of the scepter. Their weapons were advanced, far more advanced than what Amie remembered.

"I'm in." Tony declared, his feed of the inside of the base. Amelie remembered the stone design, cold and damp in most places. However, the place was lined with flashy new technology, and a whole new Hydra army Amelie didn't think they'd have.

At the center of it all was Strucker.

"There are Enhanced in the field!" Both Amie and Bucky's heads snapped to Steve's camera. A blue blur flashed across the screen and out of sight.

"The twins." Amie whispered to herself, her heart sinking. She knew Strucker had replaced her when he got his hands on new technology, but she didn't know how far along he'd gotten in his experiments.

Clint's screen was darting around, his bow locked and loaded. However, as he went to shoot the blue streak as it passed, something pummeled into him and knocked him to the ground.

Amie jumped, shutting her eyes. Obviously the Enhanced weren't very nice.

"JARVIS?!"

"Miss Romanoff is on it, don't you worry."

These two people, these twins, were alive and had abilities. The blue streak obviously had speed... Amie didn't want to think about the other one.

"You know about them?" Bucky asked the girl, turning his full attention to her. Amie nodded, fiddling with the bowl of popcorn in her lap, suddenly unappetizing due to the change of entertainment.

"Last year Pierce told me about them when I was..." Amie suddenly got a chill, the idea of ever going back there made her stomach flip, "When I was captured. He said they were volunteers."

"Who would ever want to volunteer for that?" Bucky shook his head, his metal hand clenching into a fist, tense.

"They must have been desperate." Amie whispered, "Or Hydra manipulated them."

She got up and stood closer to the screen, hands wringing themselves together. Tensely she watched the screens, her eyes darting from one Avenger to the other.

"Mic is on, Miss Lorenz."

"Nat?" Amie called, "Is Clint okay?"

"Amie? Since when did you get on this line?" Natasha asked, "Thought you didn't want to see it?"

"We wanted an update." Bucky chimed in, "How's Barton?"

"He's hurt pretty bad. Don't look, Amie." Nat pulled bandages from her pack and started to shove them into Clint's shirt. Amie's eyes immediately went to his side, where the flesh was literally burnt away, leaving a bloody gash.

"Scheiße! Too late." Amie looked away, "Sorry."

"Language, Amelie. Didn't Cap raise you better?" Sam chuckled over the line.

Amie and Bucky exchanged a look.

"Why is that funny?"

"It might have slipped out after some choice words were said earlier." Steve said, "It's not going away, is it?"

"Never." Tony joined the conversation, "By the way, I'm in the building. I have eyes on the scepter."

"Keep an eye out for the other Enhanced." Steve warned.

"They are twins." Amie informed them, "One has super speed."

A girl walked into view on Tony's feed. She looked around for a moment, and then spotted Tony.

"The other?" The Iron Man asked.

The girl, who probably wasn't much older than Amie, looked directly into the camera. She smiled, her eyes glowing red.

With the wave of her fingers, a red orb was sent right to the camera. Tony's footage, along with everyone else's went fuzzy and then completely black. The comms went down too.

Amie stared at the screen, as if she felt the red energy herself. It made her skin crawl.

"That." She said quietly, backing away from the TV, "JARVIS?"

"I lost all communication to this location. We're cut off." The AI said, "Sorry."

"It's fine." Bucky leaned back on the sofa. After a moment he got to his feet, "Let me know when they get back."

"Okay." Amie nodded, curling back up on the couch. She brought her knees to her chest, wrapping a blanket around herself. As Bucky left, she switched the movie back on.

However intently she looked at the screen, her mind still went to her seven friends in Sokovia, fighting Hydra outnumbered and outgunned.

Hopefully, though, they'll all come back.

"Should we wake her?"

"Doesn't she want to hear the great news?"

"The news will still be great no matter when she wakes up."

"Let her sleep. She needs rest."

"I am already awake with all of you bickering in my ear." Amelie opened her eyes, blinking to adjust them to the brighter light, "You're back!"

Around her stood most of the team, sans Clint, and Bruce. All wore excited looks.

"Dr. Strucker is in NATO custody, along with any stray Hydra assailant within a five miles radius. The scepter is in our custody." Steve told the girl, taking a seat next to her on the sofa.

"He's gone?" Amie asked, perking her head up.

"He is somewhere where he cannot hurt anyone ever again, or ever try and reorganize Hydra." Nat elaborated, "That bastard will get enough jail time to last him six lifetimes."

"Hey, watch it, Steve's right here." Tony nudged the redhead.

"Really, guys?" Steve ran a hand down his face, "But, yes. He's going away, for good."

Amelie felt such a mix of emotions and didn't know whether she should jump for joy or cry her eyes out. She was happy that Strucker was put away, and that Hydra was basically no more.

"I don't know what to feel." She finally said, wiping her face quickly as a tear slipped from the corner of her eye.

"Hey, it's okay. It's a lot to take in." Nat admitted, "It hasn't been an easy journey."

"How's Clint?" The girl asked, and then turned to Steve, "Did you tell Bucky?"

"Clint's in the lab with Banner and Dr. Cho." Steve began, "I told Bucky just before we woke you. He needed some space to take the news."

"So... Hydra is gone?" The girl finally asked.

"The UN and NATO are all taking care of it." Steve said, "Now, how about we celebrate with a little breakfast for dinner."

"It's lunchtime." Thor noted, "Why would you eat those things you call cakes of pan at an improper time?"

"It tastes better." Amie replied to the god, getting up from the sofa, "It'll be breakfast for dinner for lunch!"

"Breakfast for dinner for lunch it is, little miss Amelie, daughter of Lorenz."