SHIELDED

Prologue

Penelope Rogers's POV

"I want you to get the least involved as you can," Steve says quietly. He had pulled me off to the side, away from the others.

"I think that over the last few years I've proven that I can handle my own," I retort. When will he stop treating me like a kid?

"This isn't some robbery or fake mission we're talking about. We're going up against our own."

"Which is why you need all the help you can get."

"I don't want you getting hurt, Pen."

"Yes. I know. You've made that very clear by preventing me from getting real-world learning experiences to become more prepared to protect myself." I cross my arms and roll my eyes. "I'm fifteen, Steve. I'm not a little girl who lost her mom anymore." Steve sucks in a breath and looks down. I knew we needed to have this conversation at some point. He did too.

"Listen," he sighs and puts his hands on my shoulders. "We can talk about this later, but for today, I need you to do what I say."

I avoid his eyes. I know that this is for the greater good, and the selfish part of me wants to run off and join Tony's side because I know he would let me fight. Actually, I don't know if he would. He seemed pretty keen on the Accords that put me in the position of adolescent. Steve says he's doing this to keep me safe. I trust him, but I think he means from the press. I saw what all the news was saying about me after Lagos. Apparently he didn't think I could take the backlash. I thought that I handled it pretty well.

But, despite all of this, I nod my head in agreement.

"Ok," I mumble. Steve smiles and pulls me into an embrace. This isn't all about the Accords. The real battle is against Hydra and the potential other Winter Soldiers.

"I love you, Penny," he says into my head.

"When will you be back?" I ask.

"Soon." Mom squeezes me one last time before walking me to the door where we wait for one of the Parkers to answer.

A small chill runs through me and I pull away instantly.

"Are you okay?" Steve asks, concern across his face.

"I'm fine," I quickly assure. "We should get going so we can beat the doctor."

Steve nods his head. "You know the plan?"

"Stay with Wanda and Clint until we regroup, then get to the quinjet," I repeat monotonal. I can't get my mom's last words out of my head. We all had thought that Hydra fell after Ultron, but with the new information on the doctor, it clearly didn't. Maybe soon would never come, but I had a dark feeling that she's still out there.

()()()

"We're already running," I sigh.

"That's part of the job," Clint lets out a small grunt. "Haven't done this in a while."

Right as I'm about to comment, several small explosions erupt around us. I turn my head back and spot Tony flying towards us. We slow down as the explosions start to close in. Wanda ducks her head and Clint shields her. I stand in font of them facing Tony and remove my bracelets. After one preparatory breath, I create a force around our small group, holding it in place with ease. After a couple seconds, the explosions stop and Tony hovers in front of us. I let go of the force and stretch my hands out.