Oh my God... I'm so sorry I took so long to update this. I was just having trouble to write this chapter because of all the action sequences involved.
And the depression I'm feeling from watching IW is still not going away so yeah... I'm screwed. Someone help me. T.T
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ C H A P T E R T W E L V E ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
"Oh my God! Did you see the way she looked at me when I did the little leg-lock she always does?" she shrieked.
"Yup, mom's eyes were as wide as saucers."
"And dad too. He gaped like a fish when he saw us both in action. Especially that time when we reenacted what he and mom did in the Battle of New York."
"Ah, the one where she jumps off his shield?" he asked.
She nodded, "Yeah, really took them off by surprise. Which I think was a mistake because they got even more suspicious."
"Don't worry, Uncle Tony told them we just idolize them too much." James assured.
Allie hummed. "Or maybe it's also because of the fact we actually defeated ten soldiers, five aliens, eight robots, and a giant duck in less than thirty minutes."
"The duck was creepy as hell though."
Allie and James were currently triumphing over the fact that they had just managed to pass their simulation tests and get their parents' approval for joining them on the mission (though with a great deal of reluctance at first). Tony was very proud of them.
Both Rogers shared a high five before heading straight to their room to pack the things they needed for the mission.
On their way upstairs though, the two managed to pass by the main office of SHIELD HQ. From the corner of his eyes, James could see that his sister was subtly trying (cue the word trying) to search for a certain someone in the crowd.
"Als,"
"Hm?" she answered, but obviously her attention was somewhere else.
He had to roll his eyes at her ignorance. The first few times were fun but this was just going to go way out of hand.
James snapped his fingers in front of her, making her look at him pretty quick.
"What's up with that face?" Allie asked, startled.
James sighed, running a hand through his air. Just how was he going to explain this lightly to her? "Look Als, I know you're not a fan of long talks like this so I'm just gonna cut to the chase."
Allie kept quiet, urging him to go on.
He placed his hands in his pockets, nodding at the direction of where she was formerly looking at earlier. "I'm not a fool to not know that you're interested in this guy."
She snorted, trying to dismiss the fact out of hand, "Oh, please, James. You know that's not true."
"It's not?" he raised an eyebrow, quizzically.
Allie bit her lip, fidgeting slightly.
"Okay, maybe a little."
"So you are interested in him."
"What's your point?"
"Oh, nothing really. Except for the fact that he's pretty much 30 years older than you, I don't see any problem with that."
Allie shot him an irritated look, "If you're so bothered about this then why tease me about him? Don't you know you're just making things worse?"
"What I did— that was a test," Jame claimed, "Which you failed."
"Whoop dee doo."
"Allie," he warned. "This is serious. You can't let your feelings get to your head. We both know that it's impossible and someone's just going to get hurt."
"Don't you think I know that?" she shot back.
"Just don't forget the real reason why we're here. Stop it before it's too late."
"I know that, big brother. I'm trying to."
A moment of silence passed between the two until— "So, what do you think his reaction's going to be if he found out that the daughter of Captain America has the hots for him?" James pretended to scratch his chin.
"Zip it."
"Just wondering."
—————————————————————————————
"Guns?"
"Check."
"Tasers?"
"Check."
"Knives?"
"Check."
"Allie's brain?"
"Ah, we seemed to have forgotten that."
"Hey!"
Allie glared at her brother and uncle, who were trying hard to keep themselves from succumbing to a round of laughter. Tony walked over and ruffled her hair, letting his hand rest on it for a short while. "Stay safe, little widow."
Despite being annoyed at him messing up her hair, she couldn't stop the smile appearing on her lips. "Thanks, Uncle Tony."
Tony grimaced. "Told you guys to stop calling me that. It makes me feel old."
"That's because you're already old." James asserted.
"Watch it, Cap Junior."
James let out a cheeky grin. "I have to say you do have a knack for coming up with creative nicknames."
Tony scoffed, acting all smug, "Of course, kid, you're talking to Tony Stark. I pay for everything, design everything, and make everyone look cooler."
"I wouldn't disagree with that." Allie chimed in, admiring the newfound suit that Tony had made for her.
Her new suit was similar to her mother's, only, instead of an electric-blue color along the edges and lines of her suit—it sported a bright red. Making her fiery-red hair stand out even more. There was a patch of what looks to be a SHIELD logo on her right arm.
James's suit was all-black. It was almost similar to his father's suit, save it from its patriotic colors and the star emblem on his chest, clearly, he knew where Tony took his inspiration from in making his suit. But of course, his physique was a tad bit smaller compared to his father's.
What James was really missing though was his energy shield. It wasn't his father's shield, no, it was really his shield. He so often uses it whenever he would be training or be sent in simulation rooms in his original time. His Uncle Tony was also the one who made it.
But I guess having a shield right now would be too risky. The last thing they needed to know was why the younger strangely looking twin of Steve Rogers knows how to use a round shield too.
"Thanks, Tony." James sent him a genuine smile. "I'm really glad you're here with us."
"Don't start getting teary-eyed with me now, Jamester. You better promise that you'll be back alive and well."
James chuckled, "Of course we will. We still have our real mission to accomplish right?"
Tony smiled heartwarmingly, patting his nephew's shoulder. He turned to Allie who just gave him a confused look. "What?" she asked.
"Come on, I'm trying to build a moment here."
Allie rolled her eyes but nevertheless walked closer to let her uncle give them a crushing hug. "I'm serious, kids," she heard him mutter, "I'll personally be the one to smother you in your sleep if you don't do well in this."
"Lighten up, Tony." she said as he released them, "We can handle this."
"You better."
"Mom and dad are going to be there too if that eases you a bit."
"Speaking of your parents..." Tony nodded in the opposite direction.
Allie and James looked behind just in time to see their mom and dad heading this way. It looked like they were discussing something important while Natasha handed Steve a tablet.
"Duty calls, young crickets. I'll do my best to finish working on the time machine sooner. Two days ought to be enough to get it done."
Both siblings nodded simultaneously. "Thanks, Uncle Tony."
"Wish us luck!" Allie grinned, slowly taking a few steps back.
"Break a leg!" Tony shouted after then added, "Not literally!"
Allie and James laughed, giving a final glance and wave to their uncle before deciding to join where the rest of their team was preparing to go. By the time they got there, they spotted at least five other SHIELD agents who looked like were shaking with nervousness but was trying to stay calm and composed. Falcon was there, but Clint wasn't yet to be found.
She nudged her brother, suddenly realizing something. "Hey, I just realized that I haven't seen Uncle Thor for a while now."
"Oh, yeah..." he agreed. "Maybe he's back in Asgard again. You know how his duties are back there, it's always filling up like crazy. Well, from what he tells me that is."
Allie simply hummed in understanding. She and his Uncle Thor were good friends, well, who wouldn't like his magical uncle? But he and James were much closer, apparently. I guess it's not a surprise considering she's closer to their aunts (EXCEPT SHARON) while James would be closer to their uncles.
They snapped their gazes when they heard the doors open and came in Captain America and Black Widow.
Steve immediately looked up to meet their faces. "Okay, is everyone here?"
"Barton's still MIA," Sam informed him.
"Nat, how many are we taking today?" Steve asked.
"Eight agents." she answered, doing a head count right after. She frowned the second she was finished. "But we're missing one."
"Who?" Steve's eyebrows furrowed.
On that cue, Clint Barton walked in with Lucas Whitmore by his side.
"Sorry we're late. I had Lucas come and pick my bows in the training room." Clint said, sauntering over to where they were. "What did we miss?"
"Nothing that's essential yet." Steve answered, peering his eyes away from the tablet and focusing on the team. "You ready?"
The agents — along with Allie and James — gave him a single nod in response. That's what all the Captain needed to start preparing for battle.
"Let's go."
One by one, they started to fill in the Quinjet. Natasha and Clint were seated in the pilot's seats as they were the ones who usually fly it whenever they were on missions. Allie and James took a seat next to each other and secured themselves with the seatbelts.
Steve took a seat next to Sam, just across from where Allie and James were.
"I hope none of you gets airsick or something," Clint said with a smirk.
Within a few minutes after, they felt the jet shook before slowly moving. It's a good thing Allie and James were already used to these kinds of things. Maybe being the children of two Avengers also had its own benefits.
Before they knew it, they were already up in the air.
Allie must have probably dozed off at some point in their trip because she jolted awake when she felt a nudge on her arm. She looked over and saw James giving her a look. Being half-awake, she groaned in annoyance, "What?"
"Dad's giving out the orders now, that's what." he hissed.
Startled, she quickly looked ahead and saw Steve standing up from his seat. He was walking over to the center of it so everyone could see and hear him clearly.
"All right, listen up," he clicked something on the tablet that made numerous pictures appeared as a form of a hologram. "Tony and the others are going to be with us throughout the mission. Here is your earpiece, don't forget to turn it on as soon you have it."
Steve each handed them a single earpiece to which they had it put on immediately.
"This is actually our first mission on the eastern side of the planet so... this place is going to be foreign to me as much as it's going to be for you. But we still have the same priority —rescue the hostages and get them out of there. We're gonna have to split the team so it's easier to deal. Sam, Clint,"
"Yes, boss?" Clint called from the pilot's seat.
"You're taking Mason, Woods, Collins, and Hanaway." Steve then faced the mentioned agents, putting an apologetic look, "You guys alright with this arrangement? I know these guys are all arrows and wings but they can still knock someone out." his tone was obviously filled with slight humor.
"Don't listen to him. This guy's got a freaking flag on his chest, he's liable to get you guys shot." Sam asserted.
"Better than having wings." Steve shot back.
"But I can fly myself to safety."
The agents slightly laughed at their friendly banter. Steve shook his head at Sam, then his gaze landed over to Allie and James — who was already looking at him and shyly pried their face away as soon as he caught them looking.
Steve smiled warmly at them. "And I guess that leaves Whitmore, Page, and the Rogan siblings to bear with me."
"And me." Natasha piped in, walking over to where he was with a slight smirk on her face. She crossed her arms over her chest, "Ready to get owned again, Cap?"
Steve scoffed, but a smile remained on his face. "Puh-lease."
Allie and James tried to hide their grin as soon as they saw how much tension was stored in there for their mom and dad. They needed to get their plan going as soon as possible.
"The hostages are taken by this man," Steve continued on, clicking on something for a picture of a bearded man to appear on the screen. "Isnilon Hapilon. He's the leader of the ISIL-affiliated group. And if our surveys are correct, he's hiding at the exact place we're going to be in fifteen minutes."
"So, where do we take the hostages?" Sam asked.
They were given a large view of a map. "The nearest evacuation center is not more than three miles away from their base. If we could make it quick, hopefully, by an hour we could get them to safety and hunt down Hapilon." the captain explained.
"Are we supposed to kill him?" one agent asked, with wide eyes.
"No, no." Steve quickly disapproved, "We'll just need to take him and get him to the authorities. The Philippine government is who's going to decide what's gonna happen to him after all this."
Suddenly, Allie felt a great feeling of nervousness building up in her chest. It seems that just now, it all started coming down to her. The realization that in a couple more minutes she and her brother would be fighting alongside her mom and dad while trying to rescue people and beating up the bad guys — she had wanted to do this ever since she was training in her time. But now that she was finally getting the chance to do it— she was actually terrified.
And there was no way in hell they were allowing themselves to die in this mission. This must be a pretty stupid decision they made because she and her brother have no other option than to stay alive and go back to the present, but even if it was pretty reckless, she has no ounce of regret over it.
She noticed James being eerily silent this whole time. His shoulders were stiff and his jaw was clenched while his fingers were deliberately shaking. Almost on instinct, Allie reached out to grab her brother's hand, squeezing it to provide comfort.
James immediately looked her way, surprise written over his face, "What's this?"
"What does it look like?"
"You being your weird self?"
She rolled her eyes, "I'm trying to be a good little sister by comforting you." she drew her hand back, "You look worn out, you know. And we're not even down on the ground yet."
"I'm just... scared, alright?"
"I am too. We all are."
"I think this was a stupid decision."
Allie hummed in agreement. "But do you regret it?"
"No," James answered, not missing a beat. "Not the slightest bit."
"Good." she smiled.
They stopped as soon as they heard another voice chimed in their conversation. Both looked up to see Natasha coming over to them.
"You guys okay?" she asked.
Both nodded in response.
"You don't feel nauseous or anything?"
"No?" James looked at her with puzzlement, wondering why would she ask that.
Natasha seemed to notice his confused look. "Well, most agents have the tendency to throw up when it's their first time going out the field. Especially on heavy missions like this."
"Why?" he asked, baffled.
She shrugged. "It's probably because they get airsick or something."
"Probably."
Natasha's face then turned to one deadly-serious. "I just want you guys to give everything you got out there. And remember, it's always nice to look out for one another but don't forget to look out for yourself too." she gave them a soft smile, bending down a bit to their level, "We're not just SHIELD agents here or a couple Avengers — we're a team. And a team always sticks together."
Allie and James felt like clapping their hands for their mom's hell of a good and motivating speech. "Y-yes. Agent Romanoff." she beamed at her.
"I'm starting to think my good speech-making skills are starting to rub off on you, Nat." Steve said, suddenly coming out from the side.
"You really think you're an influence on me?" she arched an eyebrow.
"Oh, I don't know." A smirk started to form on his lips, "Saving the world, helping the innocents, putting others first before yourself. Hmm. Probably?"
"You're a jerk."
"Not to mention, my taste in music seemed to rub off on you too."
"Oh please, Rogers, I listen to classical music long before you put it in your playlist."
"You looked through my playlist?" a cheeky smile appeared on his face.
A faint blush started to settle on the spy's cheeks, as she knew she had let herself walk straight into this one. "No. You just listen to your music very loud you know."
Steve decided to let it go but was not able to bite back the amused look he has on. "Uh-huh. Sure."
Allie and James snickered to themselves as Steve excused himself from them and strode over to where Sam was while Natasha followed him and tried to take back what she said by explaining further — not wanting to give him the satisfaction he wanted just by hearing those words from her own mouth.
With that, the siblings couldn't help but grin at the sight.
Turns out their work just might be a little easier than planned after all.
—————————————————————————————
"Oh my God..."
Allie's jaw dropped in horror as she inspected the scene in front of her. What once stood as a lively and peaceful city, was now nothing more than a deserted place in ruins. The houses were destroyed, and the huge trees were already blocking the roads — making it unpassable for any vehicle, cars were tumbled over as well.
And it reeked a lot. Like a hell lot. The smell was lightly that of a mixture of chemicals and rotten flesh. They suspected it must have come from the bombs that they had used on this, and the decaying corpses.
She already had her pistol in hand, while James had a rifle in his. They all stand a bit behind their dad — who was, as usual, taking the lead.
It was strangely quiet. And they yet have no visual contact with the people they were expecting to fight.
Steve must've probably suspected this to be strange as well because once he found no sign or trace of someone in the area, he placed a hand on his earpiece.
"Stark?" he called.
They all heard the response came shortly. "What's up?"
"Are you sure this is the right place?"
"Yup. Something the matter?"
"It's just... it's quiet." Steve inspected the area once more with a wary look, adding under his breath, "Too quiet."
"You just gotta keep checking because I'm pretty sure there are hostages somewhere. I'm picking up heat signatures."
"How many?"
"Close to thirty."
James's eyes widened, sharing a look of horror with his sister. That was a damn lot of people. How were they going to rescue all those hostages and get them to safety while having to fight off those soldiers? And not to mention, in a limited amount of time.
"Okay. We'll keep searching. Stay put." Steve said.
"Aye, aye. Captain."
Steve turned to them, and at that moment, Allie and James saw something change in him. The way he stood in front, and the way he held his face high like he was the higher up — yes, it was at this moment they once again saw Captain America. Gone was the Steve Rogers they were just talking to minutes earlier.
His blue orbs held no trace of hesitance nor uncertainty, it was full of seriousness, determination and still, selflessness.
"Alright, so until we find where the hostages are being held, we've got to stick together. We don't know a lot about this place so—"
Immediately after the Captain's orders, he felt something attached itself to his shield. His eyes dropped down, eyes widening at the sight of the detonator, and in a blink of an eye, he swung his arm and threw his shield back in the direction where the detonator came from.
It exploded just in time it collided straight to an abandoned car.
"I'm guessing that isn't just plain coincidence." Natasha narrowed her eyes, coming up beside him.
As Steve went to pick up his shield, he saw something move from the corner of his eye. There was barely any movement but he knew there was someone else. And when he heard the rustling of the leaves coming from a nearby tree, he flung his shield and straight it went. As he expected, he hit someone.
A body fell towards the ground, unconscious. In a glimpse, and from all the files he read, he already knew it was one of the soldiers of the Maute group.
He pressed a hand over his earpiece, knowing that any moment someone would be coming their way, "I think I found—"
He was cut off when an explosion came from his left side. The impact wasn't enough to send him flying off. He had raised his shield just in time, and the second he lowered it down, he clenched his jaw and only gripped it tighter.
"I think that's what we're looking for." Sam said.
"Get into your positions, now." Steve commanded.
The SHIELD agents followed his orders without any hesitance and went to lay low. James ushered his sister to follow him as they took cover behind a barrier. He was already gripping his rifle tightly, Allie could see his knuckles turning white.
His brother was sweating and his chest was heaving uncontrollably.
If they weren't in a life and death situation, she would've smacked him in the head right now.
"You're going to shoot yourself before you could even aim it at them." she said flatly, hoping she'd somewhat ease the tension in him.
Thankfully, it did. He let out a breathless chuckle. "Sorry if I'm not freaking out over the fact that we could die any moment."
"Who said we're going to die?"
"So full of yourself."
Before they could even go further into their banter, they heard their dad's voice shout over through the comms and in the area itself, "Get down!"
They weren't prepared for the explosion that followed after and they ended up tumbling over and hitting their backs against the concrete ground. Allie coughed from the dust that took over and James grunted in pain, but still pushed himself up and look over the barrier to see what was coming for them.
An army of soldiers and a tank was heading their way, and they didn't look like the ones to stop and negotiate in a peaceful talk.
No, these soldiers were here to fight, to destroy, to kill.
"Cap, you guys got incoming. I'm detecting dozen heat signatures heading towards you." Tony said.
Yeah, no kidding, Stark. Steve pushed himself up from the ground, looking over to check if everyone was okay (unconsciously, his gaze first went over Natasha before the others) and almost sighed in relief when he saw them still. "And the hostages?"
"Can't tell who's who. But I'm sure they're in the area."
They heard one of them shout — most likely the one in charge — something that they couldn't fully hear nor understand. It sounded like a language foreign to any of them.
And then came the shooting.
Steve raised his shield for cover, while he shared a glance with Clint and Sam. "Get your team ready. Circle the perimeter and try to get around them."
Both nodded.
Clint took an arrow from his back and loaded it into place. "If they're here the hostages might not be far behind."
"Alright, kids," Sam pressed something on his wrist, it made his weapons appear in place, "Let's go beat the shit out of them."
With that, Clint and Sam guided their own team and went to part with them. Clint gave his godson (yes, he is James's godfather, much to Tony's disappointment) and niece a fleeting glance.
James caught his stare though and he didn't miss the worry in the archer's eyes but he gave them a nod as if to say they can do this.
He nodded back and off they ran to another certain area. At least they could still communicate through their comms. He sucked in a heavy intake of breath and turned to his sister, "You ready?"
Despite feeling nervous about this, she managed to brush it off with a smirk. "I was born ready."
They both stood up from their hiding spot and began firing at the soldiers. The other SHIELD agents were also doing the same way. Surprisingly and shockingly, both the siblings were able to get accurate shots. Only missing a few.
Although they had to take cover once in a while though, especially when they needed to reload.
Steve and Natasha on the other hand, formed a different tactic in mind. When they saw the gun mantlet of the tank starting to move, possibly preparing for a deadly fire— they needed to stop it fast.
"Steve, we need to..." her voice died down as she fired a shot after another with her pistols.
But he already knew what she was going to say. "I got it."
"No, I'll do it." she stopped him before he could even run for it. "Stay on the ground."
"Natasha—"
"I got this, Cap." she promised, "trust me."
With a sigh of defeat, he gave in, "Fine. But you're gonna have to need to jump to get up on that thing."
"I could use a boost." she said, eyeing the shield on Steve's grip.
Steve realized what she was implying. Suddenly, a wave of nostalgia hit him as he remembered their first battle in New York. The situation was rather similar.
"Can you guys cover for us?" he asked through his comm. "We're gonna have to be quick."
Natasha almost rolled her eyes. Of course, we should.
James was the first one to respond, his voice did not waver as he said without a doubt, "We can." He saw him look back to where he and Allie were. "Just tell us when."
"Now."
Huh? Allie rather felt shocked at his order, and dumbly mouthed, "Now?"
She wasn't given a proper answer when her brother suddenly pushed her forward. "Allie! Step on it!" She almost glared at him for making her stumble a bit but focused instead on the mission. There were still numerous soldiers out there who were firing at them.
James nodded at the other SHIELD agents to come and help them out. They fall into place. And with his signal, Agent Page hurled a grenade bomb straight at them followed by a smoke bomb thrown after.
The grenade only as much gave a little shook for the soldiers but at least the smoke bomb was enough to get Steve and Natasha the cover they needed.
The Captain quickly took his stance, standing in front of Natasha and held his shield in place. "You sure about this?" he asked, worriedly.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, her lips curled into a smirk, "I'm getting a little deja vu here, you know."
Steve rolled his eyes, a tiny amused smile was on his dirt-strewn face. On his count, he braced himself as Natasha backed up a little and ran towards him, hoisting herself up just in time to land on his shield.
The moment he felt the weight above him, he used all his muscular strength to push her up and send her in the tank's direction.
As always, she landed in a perfect stance.
Allie was focusing her aim when one emerged from the smoke only to find out she was out of ammo. "Damn it."
"What?" she heard James asked.
She grunted in frustration and worry, then tossed the pistol to the side and grabbed her batons from her belt. "I guess I'll have to do this hand to hand."
"You're crazy. You know how strong their guns are right?"
"Dad doesn't seem to have any problem."
Both looked up just in time to see Steve rush over to their aid and flung his shield to hit one soldier straight in the chest. He raised his shield just in time when one fired at him from his side and took the gun from his hands. He kicked him just right in the shin as he flew across the ground.
Even though James and Allie knew the extent of their father's powers, what he could do and how much could he do, it still amazed them every time they see him in action, nevertheless.
Especially in a real mission.
"See?" Allie said before raising her hand and curling it into a fist to send an electric bite to the man who was threatening to come at his father from behind. She rushed over to slug him across the face with her baton.
Steve saw her over his side and smiled, "Thanks."
Allie found herself smiling too. "Don't mention it." Dad.
She had thought about the incredulity of the situation. Inwardly, she was already grinning in amusement at the thought. This was the first time they've finally fought side by side with their parents. With Captain America and Black Widow.
And she wondered... how would they take it once they knew they were actually their son and daughter all along?
Oh... she winced at the thought but still smiled in amusement. She and James would be in so much trouble once they get back home.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ E N D O F C H A P T E R ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
And tada!
I'm sorry if you felt this chapter still lacking. And I'm sorry if there weren't any enough Romanogers moments, I just felt like I needed to give attention to Allie and James as well.
I promise the next one has more of those fluff moments. xD
ANYWAY...
I'M STILL NOT OVER INFINITY WAR. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE BEAR WITH ME? I JUST NEED A MOMENT TO BUILD MY SHATTERED HEART ALL OVER AGAIN HUHUHU :(