chapter two
╰  ( age of ultron )

💫 ━━ PAISLEY blinked down at the man standing underneath the branch she sat on. She didn't say anything, yet her mouth opened and closed numerous times. She saw bright colours, red and gold, some silver mixed around as well.

"Kid?"

The man's words went through one ear and out the other. Paisley was wide eyed as she burned holes into the man's face — that was all she could see since he was covered in metal.

"Steve, there's another one. A kid."

She wasn't registering the words, they weren't said to her but into a communications piece. Nor was she seeing the other people walking up to the tree she had gotten into, thanks to her father.

Maybe this was good, maybe whoever these people are could give Paisley a life away from HYDRA. That was wrong, HYDRA would follow Paisley around for the rest of her life. Whether it was in the form of a nightmare, of a flashback, or even a simple person, HYDRA would never truly leave her.

"Kid?"

This time Paisley tilted her head downwards and let her young eyes connect with the man holding a bright golden stick with a glowing blue gem— also known as Lokis sceptre. When he, the unknown man moved his gaze to the sceptre, so did Paisley.

It was like a game. He would look in one direction and Paisley would follow. If the man looked at his feet, Paisley would look right where he looked too. Maybe it because she felt the need to see what he thought was so interesting.

Possibly it reminded her of the eye-spy games she and Pietro would play together. That games her favourite, and it always calmed her down.

"Kiddo?"

He spoke once more, and just when he believed that this kid couldn't hear him, she nodded. Paisley had nodded to the man, her eyes still cast on the sceptre, but she showed an understanding.

"I'm Tony. This is Steve." Tony spoke.

Paisley heard stories, she knew the dirt the older Maximoff twins held on him. He had killed her grandparents, well she had never met them, but the people who would have been her grandparents. She knew all about Tony Stark, she just didn't know what he looked like, and now she did. Paisley was now able to put a face to the man in her fathers stories, a wicked man.

"Kid — "

Paisley jumped, the action quick and took both men standing around by surprise. Neither had expected it, and neither had expected the young girl to reach forward and grab the golden scepter and bolted. She was fast, not as fast as her father, but she was still fast.

And she was young and childish. She often got distracted by shiny things or bright coloured bugs. Paisley got distracted by most things. That was never good, because she would often focus on one thing and leave something else behind her.

Now Paisley was so focused on getting the spectre back to her dad and aunt, that she didn't see a woman with red hair step out from behind a tree.

The same red headed woman placed her hands on her hips as she planted her feet, "Hey."

Paisley ran right into the woman, the spectre dropping to the ground with a 'tink' and Paisley dropping to the ground with a 'thud'. "Ouchie." Paisley muttered as she clutched the back of her head, having unfortunate bumped it when she fell backwards.

By now Tony, Steve, and Natasha Romanoff were all crowded around the youngling. Tony now help them spectre in his gauntlet clad hand, Steve held his shield tightly, and Natasha continued to keep her hands on her hips.

"Kid? You okay?" Tony spoke as he kneeled down and let his AI system do a quick scan of the young girl. He turned to the two beside him which his AIs voice echoed in his ear. "She's okay. No damage."

Natasha scoffed, "She's crying. There's damage done."

"You — you are the bad guys." Paisley whispered with fearful teary eyes. She couldn't do this alone. All she wanted to do was get the spectre back to her dad and aunt — she believed that if she and her family could keep it safe than maybe HYDRA would let them go ( of course she was wrong though, ) — she wanted them to be proud of her too.

Her father was always there when the bad guys showed up, and he was always there when she awoke from her nightmares. It was strange, yet so was Wanda. Only the woman seemed to actually show up in her nightmares to fight away the bad guys with her twirly red magic. Only this time, neither were there.

"Hey, kid. You okay?" Tony questioned softly as he reached forward, his gantlet now removed from his hand.

Paisley shook her head, and despite the pain she felt in her head she pushed herself away from Tony. "No. No. You are the bad guy." Her brown hair with bright blond stripes swayed with every shake of her head.

"We're not the bad guys." Steve spoke this time, a comforting smile reading on his lips. ( Well he at least thought the smile was comforting. )

Something flashed in Paisleys eyes, "Daddy says you are."

The three avengers stayed quiet as they racked their brains for anything they could have done recently. Tony didn't think about the weapons he made, Steve didn't think about the war and how someone on the other side could have viewed him as the enemy, and Natasha didn't think about the red room.

"Paisley?!" It was only a matter of seconds now before Pietro came to his daughters rescue. She wasn't where he had left her, and now he had to look well in panic.

Paisleys head snapped away from the avengers and towards the direction she had heard the yell in. "Dad!"

And just like that, the little yell that was so loud, let Pietro right to his daughter. Pietro knelt down and picked his daughter up, holding her tightly against him as he speed away, leaving the avengers with only a blue trail.

     Paisley was safe, for now.

━ ━ ━ ━
chapter two! ah!
this was slightly poorly written.
it hasn't been edited, or anything.
but here it is, so enjoy!