Bird Set Free | Natasha Romanoff ✓

Chapter Twenty

The six remaining Avengers exited the Quinjet, hopeful that after a year of searching, this place in Sokovia, would finally have what they had been searching for, Loki's scepter. 

The fight had started almost immediately, Clint and Natasha had managed to get a hold on one of their open-roofed jeeps, while Steve rode alongside them on his motorcycle, his shield flying from his hand to take out the guards along the way. 

Thor took out the guards on the top of the towers that were shooting them and as the situation had called for a code green, Bruce had let the Hulk out as well. Tony in his Iron Man armor weaved through the bullets heading his way, taking out his own guards on the way. 

Aquila in her eagle form flew above them, finally joining the Avengers again, although they didn't know that yet. 

She swooped down, transforming back into her human form just as she hit the ground, her body colliding with the cold ground roughly before she picked herself up again. 

"Hey losers, did you miss me?"

Several voices overlapped in the comm in her ear, many with a tone of surprise in their voices at her sudden return. 

"About time, Aquila!" Steve shouted into his own comm. 

"Oh, sorry," Aquila shouted back while taking down several guards. "Didn't realize you guys needed me so much."

Natasha couldn't help and hide her grin at hearing Aquila's voice again. 

"It's good to have you back, Aquila," Natasha said. 

"So tell me, Agent Romanoff, you must of, at least missed me." Aquila teased just as the jeep that Clint and Natasha had stolen tipped, sending them into the air. 

A sense of pride washed over Aquila as all the Avengers fell in line, next to her in the sky as the world began to almost move in slow motion. She was finally reunited with her second family. 

Aquila quickly pressed a new comm, one that she had received on her recent visit to her family before running up a small hill, leaping up and transforming back into Talons before she could touch the ground again. 

"Ah, that's better." Aquila managed to say through the new comm that had already been looped in with the ones that the Avengers already had. 

"Hang on," Clint suddenly said, looking up to see Aquila in her eagle form. "How are you speaking to us? You are in your eagle form."

"It's a new present from mum and dad, turns my thoughts into speech for you lot to understand, much easier than you lot trying to understand my caws and screeches."

"Mum and dad?" Natasha asked. 

"Yeah," Aquila said, glaring at the guards who once again tried to threaten her life. "How about we discuss this later when there aren't people who want to kill me!"

"Shit!" Aquila heard Tony shout, just as the side of the building, he had been flying towards lit up in blue light. 

"Language." Steve reprimanded before addressing Jarvis. "Jarvis, what's the view from upstairs?"

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken."

"Loki's scepter must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it. At long last." Thor said as Aquila even though she was in her eagle form tried to hide her smirk. 

It was just her luck on her first mission back with the team that they would achieve their objective. 

"At long last, is lasting a little long, boys," Natasha said.

"Yeah, I think we lost the element of surprise." Clint agreed with Natasha. 

"Wait a second," Tony said. "No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language?'". 

"I know," Steve said. "It just slipped out."

Aquila grinned at the banter that came through her comm, after living alone with very little socialization over the past year, she had definitely missed it. 

Aquila once again swooped down, her huge wings taking out several guards on the way, but found herself in trouble as several bullets were fired her way. 

Flying back up, she managed to fly down, her stomach barely brushing the snowy ground, dodging the majority of the bullets, before she managed to pierce the guard's skin with her outstretched talons. 

Aquila shivered, her contact with the snowy ground had left her freezing. 

"If we could move this along, it would be appreciated. I'm freezing." Aquila said just as a blue haze of light flew past her, Aquila's eyes following the light in shock. What on earth was that?

"I see you haven't changed much, Tequila." Tony teased the eagle. After his confusion with her name when he had first met her, it had stuck and had turned into yet another nickname she had a love/hate relationship with. "Still complaining."

"Oh, shut it," Aquila claimed before she heard Natasha yell Clint's name, concern coating her tone. 

"We have an enhanced on the field," Steve informed the others as Aquila realized what the blue flash of light must have been. 

"Clint's hit!" Natasha shouted. 

The bunker nearby continued shooting beams into the air, and Aquila assumed that was what had hit Clint. She had flown down towards to try and take out the person operating the bunker but quickly regretted her decision, as a beam blew a hole in her left wing, sending her to the ground. 

"Somebody wanna deal with that bunker?" Natasha asked just as the Hulk came roaring, throwing himself into the bunker and accomplishing what Aquila had tried to do only moments before. 

Aquila eventually picked herself up, transforming back into her human form, cursing under her breath as she examined the wound in her left arm. At this point it seemed like everyone had it out for Aquila's limbs, she still held the nasty scar on her thigh from the Chitauri attack. 

Her eyes darted around, trying to find something or somewhere that she could help, since flying as Talons wasn't an option anymore.  

"Clint's hit pretty bad guys." Natasha's voice came over their earpieces. "We're gonna need Evac."

"Yeah, I'm down too," Aquila said. 

"Aquila?" Natasha said only reprimanding her but Aquila could still hear the concern in her voice. 

"What?" Aquila asked. "I'm fine."

"Sure."