Deception || Steve Rogers Daughter

Chapter Fourteen

Emma shakes out her good arm, causing the flame to disappear in a matter of seconds. Quickly, she grabs the oxygen tank and rushes out of the lab, the smoke detectors blaring loudly. Agents rush behind her to go and investigate the noise, which gave her the perfect opportunity to slip through the compound without being questioned. 

Eventually, Emma made it back to the Avengers hangout area. She didn't pause but slowed down to allow herself to gaze through the glass doors. As she suspected, the room was empty only a few scraps from where she had fallen through the vent. 

She trudges forward, dragging the tank behind her carelessly, towards the only door that her father could've exited in a hurry. Otherwise, he would've cut through the halls to go out the training room doors, which she'd have to check next. Emma slowly drops the mask from her mouth and wraps it around the tank to leave inside, her lungs felt better but not enough where she'd leave it totally unreachable. 

Emma opens the door, the wind blowing her hair back. She blinks a few times before her surroundings dawn on her. Hydra trucks sat along the side of the base with agents lining everywhere. People were shooting at one another and she noticed most of the SHIELD agents huddled behind crates of some sort, completely pinned down.

Fury turns his head slightly and spots Emma standing in the doorway, almost frozen as she took everything in. He looks at the Hydra vehicles and back to her, at some point someone would see her and try to go after her. That's one of the main reasons they were here. Fury couldn't call out to Emma, it'd give her away immediately. He turns his gaze to Steve, who was reaching over to throw his shield at one of the trucks. 

Steve turns back and locks eyes with Fury, a silent conversation passing between them. All at once, they both turn towards the door to see it swinging shut with Emma nowhere in sight. Fury curses and presses his finger to the com in his right ear.

"Watch out, we have a minor on the field now. Keep an eye out for Emma and secure her the first chance you-"

Emma cuts Fury off by throwing her oxygen tank, with all her strength, towards the vehicles. She pushes her arms forward and a line of fire emits from her fingers, the fire travels through the air and hits the tank right as it was about to land on the cars. All at once, a large explosion shakes the compound as Emma dives behind a smaller crate to herself. 

She shakes out her hands, her hurt shoulder stinging because she had moved it to shoot the fire. Emma hisses in pain and slowly looks over the boxes to see how much damage the explosion had caused, something shoots past her head and she ducks again. Emma brings her gaze to the wall and stares at the ice that now sat on it, almost taunting her. 

Her gaze hardens as she moves her arm to a better position. A hissing sound causes her to turn her head towards Fury, who shakes his head furiously. As if he was going to stop her at this moment. April had betrayed her trust and thrown her heart through the dirt, Emma was sure as hell going to kick her ass. 

After a few seconds, Emma rises and stalks across the concrete despite Fury groaning and falling against the crates in defeat. April smiles while placing her hands on her hips, her eyes gazing towards Emma's injured arm. "Huh." She calls. "You like that touch?"

"It was you who killed him." Emma replies. "How could you?"

"Hydra likes to keep their soldiers broken." April replies. "To remind them where they truly belong, put them in their place."

"I'm not like you." Emma hisses while turning to a fighting position. "I don't belong there."

"Oh, sweetheart, you wrote the book on how to be a brainwashed agent." April cackles as she sends a shard of ice towards Emma's chest. 

Emma pivots to the side to avoid the hit and sends a ball of fire back to April, who flips through the air to get out of the way herself. April lands on her feet perfectly and whips her hair up to glare at Emma, almost as if saying that it was now her move. When Emma doesn't move, April stands and starts to send a shower of ice towards her. Emma raises her arms, despite the screaming in her shoulder, and crosses them in front of her.

A wall of fire rises from the ground and towers between the two girls. Any bullets would melt through it as well as the ice shards that April was continuously throwing at it. Emma gasps in surprise, she had never been able to do this so well before. Usually, her wall would cover just her but now it was almost covering the entire front of the SHIELD base.

"How long can you hold it?" Fury questions while jogging up beside her. The other Avengers join but hang back slightly, not really knowing how to interact with the young girl. 

"Um, I've never done this before." Emma admits.

"I'm sorry, what?" Jemma cries. "It will put a strain on your body! Your shoulder is already injured, it will give out."

"So not long." Emma states with a small shrug of her good arm. "What're you planning on doing?"

"Stark." Fury states while turning towards the billionaire. "Send the legion."

"Friday?" Tony smirks while tipping his head to the side slightly. "Give 'em hell."

Emma watches as several iron man suits fly above the group and stop just on top of the remaining Hydra agents. For a few moments, nothing happens. Then, all at once, they begin sending down missiles, lasers, bullets, and anything else that was on the suits. An explosion occurs on the ground yet is stopped by Emma's wall of fire. 

The mushroom cloud curls by the fire before rising up the wall as if trying to find a way to get into the base. When it seems safe, Emma drops her arms and cradles the bad arm. She hadn't realized how much pain her shoulder really had been in. 

Emma blinks a few times, trying to clear her head. Why was it so foggy all of the sudden? Why was the world spinning? She did feel a little light headed, maybe she should've kept the oxygen tank? No, Emma wouldn't have gotten the advantage if she did. Was Fury talking to her? Why was he looking at her with so much concern? Had he been speaking? 

All at once, Emma's eyes roll into the back of her head and she crumples to the ground. Coulson shoots forward, as he was the closest to her, and catches her head before it cracks on the ground. Jemma falls beside him and begins to do the routine check to try and figure out what was wrong with the young girl.

Steve stares down at his daughters body as a frenzy begins around him. Yet all he could see was his little girl, how was she here? Laying right in front of his eyes! He had been searching for years yet now when the time came, he couldn't grow a pair and look her in the eyes. A few agents rush out with a gurney and lift Emma onto it, all of them disappearing after a while. Most of the Avengers slowly started to walk back towards the doors to go to their compound area, they weren't needed anymore. 

Bucky sighs and turns to look at his best friend, he looked like a wreck. "What is she like?" He questions.

"Stubborn, dumb, like someone I know." Bucky attempts to joke while clapping his friend on the back. "She's smart but what Hydra put her through....I'll be honest, she's got a lot of trust issues. It isn't going to be easy to start a relationship with her, especially after you left. Emma didn't want to tell you yet, she wasn't ready, but Fury pushed her. She may resent you for that."

"Me?" Steve inquires.

"Hydra told her things." Bucky clears his throat. "I told her things about you. I didn't know at the time, they just told me to chant the words till she cried. I'm really sorry, Steve." 

"What did they tell her?" Steve sternly demands.

"Steve, I-"

"No!" He interrupts. "What the hell did they tell my daughter?"