Avenging Fire: Age of Ultron. ~Book Four~

Chapter Four: Strucker's Base.

After dinner one night, when they were all full and chipper, the whole team was hanging out in the common area of the tower. Steve had Levi sat in his lap, and they were watching the news with Bruce as Red, trying to ignore the brisque tension between her and Tony, played Go Fish with Clint. 
Tony, who was sitting at the bar, leaned back to look at the happy couple on the couch. "You two look cozy." 
Levi smiled as she snuggled closer to Steve. "This is the best seat in the house." 
Tony smirked at her. "Oh, I'm sure it is." 
"It is," Levi said, returning the smirk. "And I'd offer you a turn, but it's my spot. Permanently." 
Red chuckled, but didn't butt in as she looked at Clint. "You got an Ace of Spades?" 
"No, Go Fish." 
Natasha, who was sitting in the chair behind Clint, leaned forward and rolled her eyes as she looked over his shoulder and at his cards. "You're playing Go Fish, not Poker." She took the card out of his hand and held it out to Red. 
Red grinned as she took the card from him. "Thanks, Natasha." 
Bruce turned the TV up, the news was playing footage from a country called Sokovia. "Man, things look bad over there." 
Red glanced up at the TV. "Didn't they have a civil war a few years ago?" 
Tony huffed. "Yeah, something like that." 
She sighed as she set down her cards and leaned back on her hands, she felt guilty for being relieved that none of them were involved. It was one less thing that they would have to deal with. Of course, that was before Fate told her to fuck herself as Hill's face appeared on the screen as Bruce was about to change it. 
"Ah, good," Hill said as she looked at the group. "You're getting familiar with the location." 
Levi raised an eyebrow. "Location?" 
"The last base is in Sokovia," Hill explained. "Manned by Baron Strucker, one of the many SHIELD informants that were actually HYDRA." 
Red quickly put the cards away. "When do we need to head out?" 
"Right away," Hill turned her gaze Clint. "Barton, I already sent you the coordinates." 
Clint nodded as he stood up and helped Red up with him. "We'll be there soon. Anything else?" 
"No, find that scepter." Hill said before the group got up and got ready to go.
Red glanced at Tony as they went to the armory. She hoped beyond everything else that this would be their last job together so that they could all finally go their separate ways.
+++
As she and Steve got their suits on, she turned to look up at him. Levi was sure that worry was written all over her face, she couldn't help it. He was her everything, and she hated that they had to risk that every mission that they went on. 
"Is this the last one?' It was something she asked every time they were about to head out. 
Steve turned to face her, smiling softly as he pulled her to him. He kissed the top of her head as he held her against his chest. "I really hope so." 
They left the room and met up with the other's in the quinjet. It was going to be a two hour trip, and Levi was happy when they snuggled up to each other and she fell asleep.  At least in all of this chaos, she would always have him as a safe space. 
+++
Red and Clint had been the only ones who decided not to take a nap. She sat down beside him in the cockpit and leaned her chin into her hand as she watched the night sky pass by them. 
"You sure you don't wanna sleep a bit?" Clint asked as he glanced at her. 
"I'm sure." Red sighed as she reached down to grasp at Bucky's tags. "I napped earlier today." The truth was, she was so tired, down to her very bones, but her room was so empty, and her nightmares were so bad that she wasn't able to sleep much.
Clint slowly nodded. "Alright." He glanced at her once again. "Are you and Tony just going to ignore each other now?" 
"I don't know." She leaned back in her seat and swiveled it from side to side as she looked down at the ground. "It's easier for me if we just go our separate ways after this." 
"Is that what you want?" 
She slowly turned to face him. "You're such a dad, Clint." 
He smiled and chuckled, then sighed at her. "Just answer the question, Red." 
Red sighed as she leaned her head back and looked up at the ceiling of the quinjet. "Yes, that's what I want." 
"Then lets hope this goes smoothly." 
"Yup." 
When they finally got to Sokovia, and the sun was starting to rise, Red was thankful that she decided to dress warmly because, for some ungodly reason, it had decided to snow. 
"I really wish you had put on your armor." Tony said. 
Red looked down at her jacket as she zipped it up. "It's on under my jacket." She avoided his gaze as she side stepped him. "Thanks for the concern." 
"Not that you need it." 
"Just..." Red said as she made her way off of the jet. "Lets get this done so we can go home." She thought that it was almost as if Strucker had been expecting them. The moment they stepped out, they all were swarmed by his men, so much so that they had gotten separated from each other and Red was taking on a group of HYDRA all on her own. 
She could see most of her team, but couldn't get to any of them. Levi wasn't too far away from her, she clapped her hands together and send out a wave of lightning that rumbled with thunder. 
Red ducked behind a group of trees as she was shot at, she was starting to think that she should've worn all of her suit as she summoned her staff to her hand. She reduced some of them to ash as she flew over, and set others on fire. But no matter how many she killed, or knocked out, they just kept coming.
+++
Levinia crash landed on a platform full of Strucker's men, grinning as another wave of lightning left her hands and destroyed what was in front of her. She grinned even wider when she noticed the boost in power that her new suit gave her. 
"This suit is amazing, Tony." She said over the coms as she took off again and headed to the next place. 
"Glad that at least one of you is wearing the suit I made for you." Tony replied. 
Red sighed as she said. "I'm wearing most of mine." 
"Really, Red?" Steve said. "Most?" 
"Get in that base first, chastise me later." Red said in a flat tone that told Levi she was rolling her eyes. 
It still amazed her that she was able to pick up so easily on her mother's tells after only a year and a half of spending time with her. 
+++
As Tony was flying over the base, a siren sounded and the projected an announcement that left nothing to the imagination. They were, clearly, prepared for them. Strucker, somehow, saw them coming. 

Report to your stations, immediately. This is not a drill. We are under attack. We are under attack.

He got distracted for a moment and, as a result, forgot to ask JARVIS to check for barriers, and as he tried to land, he ran face first into it. "Shit!" He called as he pulled back up.
"Language!" Steve yelled. Tony could see him drive passed Red and Clint on his motorbike. "JARVIS, what's the view from upstairs?" 
"The central building is protected by some sort of energy field." JARVIS reported. 
Levi snickered, which was quickly followed by a grunt of pain. "You find that field, Stark?" 
"Uh-huh." He muttered. 
"Strucker's technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken." JARVIS said. 
Tony could only silently agree as he was too busy getting shot at to speak. 
+++
Clint was able to meet up with Red, and pull her out of the way as beams of blue rained down around them. He wasn't quite sure what he was expecting, but this wasn't it. He wasn't used to used to having the bases fire laser beams at them. 
He watched as Red closed her eyes as she pressed herself against the tree and reached up to grasp at Bucky's tags. "It looks like the same kind of tech that Schmidt used back in the day." 
"Oh," Steve said as he drove passed them. "That's why it looks so familiar." 
Beside them, Hulk threw a tank into one of the many bunkers that surrounded them. Clint fired another arrow as Red threw a ball of fire at group of them. 
Clint could tell that she was ready for this to be over. She just wanted to find Bucky and finally retire. Just like he did, well, mostly anyway.
+++
"Loki's scepter must be here." Thor was saying as Red kept cover behind a tree. She almost felt like a coward for staying hidden, but she felt panicked when she saw the weapons they were using. It brought her back to the days when they were fighting the Red Skull. 
"Strucker couldn't have mounted this kind of defense without it." He continued on, and she heard his hammer whizzing through the air before it made impact with a group of HYDRA soldiers. "At long last." 
"Uh-yeah," Natasha said. "At long last is lasting a little too long." 
And while their friends were fighting off Strucker's men, Clint and Red continued to take fire as they stayed hidden behind their tree. 
"I think we've lost the element of surprise." Clint muttered as he tried to find a way to safely get back into the fight. 
"Are you sure?" Red asked as she stepped out of cover and opened her hand, she let the fire leak out of her hands, and ingulf the group that had them pinned down. "I thought that they were supposed to be ready for us." 
She finally flew away from Clint and managed to use the leverage from her flight to flip one of the soldiers over her shoulder and snap his neck. She hadn't done that in a while, at least it was a somewhat quick death for them. 
"Wait a second," Tony said as he flew over them. "No one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language'?" 
"I wasn't gonna say anything." Levi said. 
"I was," Red said as she looked up at the sky. "I was just waiting until later." 
"I know," Steve said, sounding semi-disappointed as he drove by on his motorbike and threw it at a truck that was passing by. "It just slipped out." 
Red's gaze followed Levi as she picked up a soldier and dropped them as she flew up. "It's okay, love." 
Red took a deep breath and went back to work. She wasn't going to let herself hope that Bucky was at this base. That would be more of a curse than a blessing. The truth was, she was just ready for this to be over. 
+++
Dawn stood between her siblings, Wanda and Pietro, as they watched the base's occupants panic. Honestly, if she wasn't feeling so stir crazy, she'd find it all very funny. But she wanted out of there, and she knew that the three of them were waiting for their chance. 
"Who gave the order to attack?" Strucker asked as he passed the corner they were hiding in. 
"Herr Strucker," one of his soldiers said. "It's the Avengers." 
That peeked her interest. Of course she'd heard of the Avengers, she'd followed them closely over the years, mostly because Tony Stark was in the super powered group, but also because of everything her boyfriend, Derek Asher, had told her about them. How they'd brainwashed and taken his childhood best friend from him. 
Another soldier spoke up. "They landed in the far woods. The perimeter guards panicked." 
Dawn tilted her head as she watched Strucker turn to face Doctor List. "They have to be after the scepter." He turned back to face his soldiers. "Can we hold them?" 
He shrugged, looking like he was at a loss for words for a second before he finally spoke. "They're the Avengers." 
Strucker was silent as he set his hands on his hips, then he gave a sigh of defeat. "Deploy the rest of the tanks." 
"Yes, sir." 
"Concentrate fire on the weak ones. A hit can make them close ranks." He pulled list aside, and he seemingly didn't notice that the triplets were mere feet away from him and could still hear him. "Everything we've accomplished... but we're on the verge of our greatest break through." 
List gave him an exasperated look. "Then lets show them what we've accomplished. Send out the triplets." 
"It's too soon." Strucker said, causing Dawn to roll her eyes. She felt like she was ready to take them on. 
"It's what they signed up for," List argued. Pietro placed a hand over Dawn's mouth to keep her from speaking up. 
"My men can hold them." Strucker said stubbornly. Dawn let out a snort of laughter. 
That was the best joke she'd heard all day. The only people in this whole fortress that could even dream of holding the Avengers off, especially with the kind of literal fire power they had behind them, were her and her siblings. 
+++
Tony was growing more and more frustrated with the fact that he couldn't find his way into this base. It was all to easy to get into the other ones, but this one was being difficult, which meant that this had to be the right one. 
"Sir, the city is taking fire." JARVIS said. 
"Well, we know that Strucker's not going to worry about civilian casualties," Tony said as he made another lap around the field that protected the base. "Send in the Iron Legion." He watched for a moment as the Iron Legion landed in the middle of the protest, he just wanted to make sure that everything ran everything ran smoothly while they were working for a living. 

"This quadrant is unsafe, please back away. We are here to help. This quadrant is unsafe. Please back away. Please back away. We wish to avoid collateral damage and will inform you when this current conflict is resolved. We are here to help." 

And all the while, the civilians of the city chant for the Avengers to go home, and they threw things at the bots. Tony understood why they were doing this, they were scared, they were angry, but that didn't mean that he didn't wish they would see reason. 
"We are here to help." The Iron Legion repeated. 
+++
Dawn's eyes were wide with excitement as she fidgeted, she just wanted to get out of there and fight, which was what they all signed up for. She wanted to get her life back on track after all the things she's had to endure. 
"We will not yield," Strucker said, his back turned to the triplets as he gave the men his speech. "The Americans sent their circus freaks to test us. We will send them back in bags. No surrender!" 
"No surrender!" His soldiers repeated. 
Apparently still unaware that the triplets were listening in, or at the very least, that Dawn was listening in, he had a muttered conversation with List. "I am going to surrender. You will delete everything. If we give the Avengers the weapons, they may not look too far into what we've done." 
On either side of her, Pietro and Want ran off, while Dawn grinned as she made herself invisible. List finally turned to the corner where they had been hiding.
"The triplets." List said, horrified to see them missing. 
Strucker rolled his eyes. "They aren't ready to take on-" 
"No, no, I mean," he pointed into the corner. "The triplets!" 
Dawn giggled as she ran after her siblings, running as fast as her brother was able to. Finally, she was on the battle field. She wanted to experience first hand what the Avengers were like in a fight.
+++
Clint was surrounded by HYDRA soldiers, but he was able to avoid getting shot at by weaving between the trees. What he didn't see coming was a blur of blue making its way toward him. He was so unaware of it that he didn't know it was there until it knocked him over. 
A boy, probably no older than twenty, was now standing over him. He was wearing a dark blue tracksuit and had brown hair with frosted tips. He was something Clint had never seen before, and that made him nervous. 
The boy smirked at him. "You didn't see that coming?" He asked, then ran off before Clint could even dream of having the chance to shoot him. As he stood up, he got shot. 
"Clint!" Natasha yelled as she ran toward him. 
That same blue blur knocked Steve down as he and Levinia fought off Strucker's men. 
"We have an enhanced in the field." Steve said as Levinia helped him back to his feet. 
Similarly, as Red was throwing a ball of fire, a different, green blur ran toward her, and she's hit as well, but with her own fire, and it set her jacket ablaze. The girl in front of her was strawberry blonde, with bright green eyes. 
"So, that's what Asgardian power feels like." The girl said, still grinning as Red threw her jacket of of her body. 
"What the fuck?" Red said, wincing in pain as she felt the burn marks on her arms and shoulders. The girl ran off again, still grinning as she met up with another blue blur. "That makes two." Red said, hissing in pain as she looked over her wounds. 
"You okay?" Tony asked. 
"I will be." 
+++
Steve and Levi looked at each other, both looking just as confused as the other felt. She was the first to look away, and start looking for those lights, but neither of them could see anything. Or, at least, he never saw anything.
"I don't see anything." Steve said as he set his shield on his back and reached out to pull Levi closer to him. He wanted to make sure that she wasn't hurt while they had a breather. 
"Neither do I." Levi said, closed her eyes as he brushed his thumb over her cheek. The only wound he could see, much to his relief, was a small cut on her cheek. 
"Clint's been hit." Natasha yelled to them. They stepped away from each other, watching as Natasha covered Clint from the bunker. "Can somebody deal with that bunker?" 
As both of them turned to jump back into the action, Hulk beats them to it. It was very easy for him to destroy it, that bunker was gone in seconds. Levi simply nodded before she pushed her hair out of her face and let lightning crackle over her fingers as the next wave of Strucker's men marched toward them. "Good job, Jolly." 
Steve paused in putting his shield back on his arm and raised an eyebrow at her. "Jolly?" 
Levi offered a sheepish smile that made his confusion melt away and he smiled as she said. "Yeah, like the Jolly-Green Giant." 
"Oh yeah," Tony said with a chuckle. "He's super jolly." 
"Thank you." Natasha said as Hulk left to go take care of whatever the next thing would be. 
And as they got surrounded again, Levi's suit glowed green and she threw a ball of lightning into the on coming group of soldiers. As they fought this next group of HYDRA, Red spoke up over the coms, sounding winded. 
"Where they Hell are they all coming from?" She asked. "I kill one, and a dozen more appear." 
Levi ducked down as Steve threw his shield over her head and into the crowd. It connected with a clang as it hit someone in the chest. "Wasn't HYDRA's whole thing 'cut off one head, two more shall appear'?" She said, practically falling into Steve's arms as he pulled her out of the way as a truck barrels passed them. His heart almost stopped in his chest as she smiled up at him, and he had to resist the urge to kiss her. "Seems pretty on theme to me." 
He kissed her forehead before he let her go and they got back to work. "Stark, we really need to get inside." 
"I'm closing in." Tony said as he circled back around and toward the base. "JARVIS, am I... am I closing in? Do you see a power source for that shield?" 
"There's a particle wave below the north tower." JARVIS said. 
Steve and Levi took a moment to take a breather between waves as Tony tried to break into that base. "Great, I Wanna poke it with something." He said moments before he threw one of his repulser blasts at the base and field went down. "Draw bridge is down people." 
"You need back up?" Red asked over the coms, before she proceeded to grunt in pain.
"No need to feel obligated," Tony said in a flat tone. "I've got it." 
Steve glanced down at Levi, and they shared a look of annoyance. He wished that they'd stop being passive aggressive with each other, and that they would lay it all out on the table in front of them. He could tell that Levi felt the same. All of this passive aggression was going to get either, or both, of them killed.  
Levi jumped in surprise as Thor suddenly landed beside them. She set her hand on her chest as she muttered. "Jesus Christ." Under her breath. 
"The enhanced?" Thor asked as he looked at them. 
"He's a blur." Steve said, almost chuckling at her skittishness. "All the new players we've faced, I've never seen this before." He took a moment to look around, but saw nothing. "In fact, I still haven't." 
Natasha sighed as she spoke up. "Clint's hit really bad, guys. We've gonna need an evac." 
Red landed beside them, just as suddenly as Thor had, which caused Levi to jump again with another whispered, "Jesus Christ." This time, Steve laughed as he pulled Levi into a hug and kissed the top of her head. 
"Clint's not the only one." Red said, shivering as the snow landed on her burn marks.
Thor took off his cape and set it carefully over his sister's shoulders. "I'll get you and Barton back to the jet. The sooner we're gone, the better." He turned his gaze to Steve. "You and Stark secure the scepter." 
"Copy that." Steve said as he let Levi go. 
The four of them turned to face the approaching soldiers and their ridiculously over powered tank. Both Red and Levi took a step back as he and Thor raised their weapons. "It looks like they're lining up." Thor said. 
Steve shrugged. "Well, they're excited." 
Thor spun his hammer before he hit it against the face of Steve's shield. Behind him, Levi and Red ducked as a wave of force radiated out around them and knocked down that group of soldiers. 
"Find the scepter." Thor said as he took hold of Red and flew off. 
"And for Gosh sake, watch your language." Tony said with a chuckle. 
Steve sighed and let his head hang as Levi giggled. He pulled her closer to him by her belt and leaned his forehead against her shoulder. "That's not going away anytime soon." 
She giggled again as she touched the back of his head and made him lift his head to look at her with a gentle tug against his hair. "I'll see you on the jet." Levi kissed his cheek. "Be careful." 
Steve smiled as he looked down at her. "I will." He gave her quick kiss. "I love you." 
Levi grinned as her thumb brushed against his cheek. "I love you too." 
He wanted until she was flying away and toward safety before her jogged off to meet Tony at the base. 
+++
Tony flew through a window as he entered the base, and as the glass fell to the ground, the soldiers inside started to fire at him. He sighed as he held up his hands. "Guys, stop. We gotta talk this through." Tony shrugged as he fired non-lethal rockets into their knees. They all feel down with groans and cries of pain. He gave a satisfied nod. "It was a good talk." 
One of the soldiers seemed to disagree. "No it wasn't." 
As he was about to step out of his suit, he spotted List trying to delete trying to delete files off of the computers. Tony sighed, annoyed, as he fired another non-lethal blast at him, and knocked him out before he stepped out of his suit. 
"Sentry mode." He said as he walked over to the computers. "Okay, JARVIS, you know I want it all, make sure copy Hill at HQ." As he walked around the base, he listened to the team talk through the intercom system. 
"We're locked down out here." Natasha said. 
"Then get Banner. Time for a lullaby." Steve answered. 
But Tony, being both stubborn and curious, kept making his way through the base. He really hoped that this time he'd get lucky with a secret room or something that would keep him busy for a while. 
"I know you're hiding more than files," Tony whispered as he slowly walked down a set of stairs. "Hey, J, give me an IR scan of the room real quick." 
It was silent for a few seconds as the AI did his work, and then he said. "The wall to your left. I'm reading steel reinforcement, and an air current." 
Unaware that the coms were open, he giddily talked to himself. "Please be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door..." He gently pushed on the wall and it opened up, revealing a hidden passageway. "Yay." 
Red chuckled in his ear. "I take that you found a secret door?" 
"Oh yeah," Tony said with a smile. "Bet you wish you were here." 
"Nah. Better to let you have the glory." Red said, his heart gave a painful squeeze as he heard the smile in her voice. 
Maybe he was a fool for letting her go.
+++
She smiled at Red and Tony's interaction, glad that they were finally seemingly getting along after their breakup. But now it was time to get Bruce to feeling like himself. When Natasha found him, he was alone, trying to find the next thing to fight. 
"Hey, Big Guy. Sun's getting real low." Natasha said as she knelt down in front of him and held out her hand. 
Carefully, Hulk set his hand in hers, and she gently ran her fingers over the palm of his hand and up his wrist. Slowly, as she stroked his hand and arm, he started to shrink down and turn back to Bruce. She leaned away as he stumbled back and became himself again. 
+++
Steve felt like he had been wondering around that base for hours, trying to find Strucker, or any sign of the scepter. At least he was finally lucky when Strucker literally ran into him as Steve was walking up the stairs. 
"Baron Strucker." Steve said, looking satisfied. "HYDRA's number one thug." 
Strucker smiled. "Technically, I'm a thug for SHIELD." 
Steve returned the smile with a shrug. "Well, then, technically, you're unemployed. Where's Loki's scepter?" 
He raised his hands in surrender before he clasped them in front of himself. "Don't worry, I know when I'm beat. You'll mention how I cooperated, I hope." 
Steve shrugged again, still giving at sarcastic smile. "I'll put it right under illegal human experimentation. How many are there?" 
Suddenly, a woman in a black dress appeared. Her hands glowed red and she used her... well, Steve could only describe it was magic to knock him over. As he got back up, she left just as suddenly as she appeared. 
"We have a possible third enhanced." Steve said as he got back to his feet. "Female. Do not engage." 
What made Steve real mad was that Strucker looked like he was about to laugh. "You'll have to be faster than-" having had enough of his bullshit, Steve kicked his shield up and off the ground. It hit Strucker in the face and knocked him out before Steve caught it. 
"Guys, I've got Strucker." He told the team. 
"Good job, Cap." Red said. "Lets go home." 
"Yeah, not just yet, Red." Tony said, his voice full of wonder. "I've got something bigger." 
Levi cleared her throat before speaking. "How much bigger?" 
Steve froze in picking Strucker up as Tony answered with. "Leviathan big." 
+++
Tony stood frozen in place inside the secret lab. Most of the tech they had stored in there were spoils from the Battle of New York City, which included his old scrapped armor and the corpse of a Chitauri Leviathan.
What broke him out of his trance was him spotting the scepter, which was sitting on a sort of pedestal on it's own. On one hand, he was really glad that the job was over, but on the other, he couldn't stand the thought of never seeing Red again unless the world was ending. But that was all his fault. 
"Thor, I got eyes on the prize." 
As he moved forward to grab the scepter, he was suddenly unfamiliar with his surroundings. He was now standing before a set of stone steps, with his dead teammates laying atop of them, and they were all in space, in front of a portal, but he wasn't sure if it was the point where the portal had opened up above New York City, of if it was an entirely new portal entry. 
He staggered forward, toward his team that seemed to be put on display for him, and him alone, to see. He checked Steve's body first. Beside him, Levi was held protectively in his arm, while his other held a broken shield. 
Tony almost screamed as the Captain grabbed him. "You could have saved us." And even as Steve fell back against the stone, Tony could still hear his voice echoing in his mind. "Why didn't you do more?" 
And then he'd in the Chitauri's realm, and he watched in awe struck horror as they invaded Earth. It was only then that he snapped back to reality. 
It was Hellish to see them all like that, but it was even worse, somehow, seeing Red laying there, staring up at him unblinking, not living, with no life or feeling left in her blue eyes. 
That sighed would probably haunt him forever. 
+++
Wanda held Dawn's hand as they watched Tony summon a gauntlet from his suit to his hand. "We're just gonna let him take it?" Her brother whispered to them. 
But she and her sister could only smile at each other as Tony Stark took the scepter. It was best to let them think that they won, let them fall into a false sense of security before the triplets struck.