Hydra was toying with them, Celeste realized as she was knocked to the ground, a second blast going off much closer this time. Steve was so close to her, the explosion knocking him off his feet as well. Just past him, she could see Sam, dust beginning to settle around them.

~~~

"What's so special about it?" Celeste asked, turning her arms over as she examined the dark grey spandex hugging her skin. It looked similar to what Black Widow wore, but a subtle sheen reflected off it.

Tony smiled as Bruce kept working with the cuffs they'd been developing. "Glad you asked. Try using your 'needles', if you will."

Celeste frowned, and put her arm out to the side, summoning the needles to slide from her skin slowly, but without firing them.

The fabric vanished.

At least, that's what she assumed until she looked closer. Between the sharpened bits of metal, the dark grey fabric still existed, but it was compressed. As she withdrew the needles back into her skin, the fabric expanded to cover her arm again immediately.

She looked at it with awe, wondering how it was even possible.

"It's polarized," Tony told her, sliding a finger over her outstretched arm. "Your needles have a certain charge to their atoms, which is what allows you to propel them. Now, if you will, activate your 'armor'."

Celeste nodded, and hardened the metal in her arm the way she would to protect herself from damage.

The fabric didn't budge.

Tony nodded his approval, gripping her arm to ensure the metal was in it's defensive mode. "As suspected, your armor has no charge. It's stable. Which is why it doesn't shift aside from when you command it to go from hidden to a protective plating. It's quite efficient for us. We've already made one for Iris as well, so you needn't worry about that. I'm quite happy that it turned out as hoped. Since you already have a built-in armor system, we didn't really bother with trying to make something to add to your protection."

Celeste nodded slowly, fascinated. She would never shred this clothing the way she'd done before.

"Thank you," she murmured, sliding her hands over it. "This is amazing. I mean it."

"Of course you do," Tony told her with a grin. "We know what we're doing in here."

She nodded again, glancing over at Bruce. "What about those?" She asked, her head tilting.

"Those are vital to our mission as well," Tony informed her, following her gaze. "Those cuffs were inspired by your abilities. They emit a certain wavelength due to the microchip in each cuff, that travels through the electro-magnetic emissions of the body, into the brain. And there, it essentially blocks the neurotransmitters that allow the target's powers to be used. It's mind over matter. You think it's purely physical that your powers exist? No, without the brain to send those signals, you're harmless."

"That's incredible," she said breathlessly. "You're geniuses," she muttered. "I never would have thought of that."

"Yes, but we've devoted our lives to these things," Tony told her. "You've devoted your life the way the captain has. Protecting lives in an obvious way. Fighting the war traditionally. We're working on both sides of the war to gain an upper hand, but that does not make you any less valuable. Especially with your powers." He winked at her. "Now, control me."

Celeste shook her head. "I-I can't."

"Bullshit. Do it. You need to practice."

She nodded, then focused on the man standing in front of her, head tilting as she felt for the wavelengths from his brain to his body, intercepting them at the spine, and changing them to her will.

~~~

Celeste fought through the fog in her mind to focus on the world in front of her. The team had all changed into their uniforms before takeoff. You never knew what could happen.

Except for Tony. He was back on the jet.

She forced herself to get up, the struggle in her mind harder than it should have been as she ran for the jet. Tony had no powers. Tony was in a jet half-full with fuel.

He was so close, so close, and yet . . .

The explosion came in several parts, the initial blast throwing Celeste back, crashing her against the concrete wall that lined the backside of the landing strip, keeping it separate from the nearby forest.

Her metal shielded her from the impact, but damn if it didn't make her ache in her bones. Coughing, she hit the ground as the subsequent blasts shook the ground. "Tony!" She called out, coughing again as the flames rose higher.

Then she noticed that the rest of the Avengers had vanished.

"Steve!" She shouted, standing back up. " 'Ris!" Sprinting towards where they'd been, she found the ground empty. No bodies. No blood.

They were alive.

Possibly prisoners.

Groaning, she looked around for any sign of life. For any sign of Hydra.

Her metal flashed in her skin as she was tackled to the ground.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Soldier?" Natasha shouted, bullets striking the car behind them. It was meant to be their transportation to their new base. "Never stay in the open when enemies are around, especially when you can't tell where they're coming from!"

Celeste nodded quickly, eager to get out of their line of fire, Natasha quickly got up and pulled Celeste with her, immediately taking off. Celeste was behind her without a second thought.

Bullets from snipers were not a fond memory for her.

Natasha led her behind a concrete building. "Stay low," she instructed, peering around their surroundings to check that they weren't completely surrounded.

"Tony-," Celeste started, her brows furrowing in worry.

"Is just fine," Natasha assured her. "He's in the suit. He and Bruce are trying to give us some cover so that the rest of us can get involved without being shot at it from all angles. If we were to go out there now, we'd be dead in an instant. We still don't know how your skin holds up against bullets, especially when you don't know where they're coming from."

Celeste paused, her mind racing. What was she supposed to do like this? She was trapped here with Widow.

"I can't do nothing," she said, voice shaking. "I have to be out there! This is my fault!"

"You have to be patient!" Natasha shot back. "We have to wait for the gunfire to die down unless you'd rather die before you can do any good!"

Celeste gripped her head in her hands, pulling at her hair. "What am I supposed to do if I can't be out there?"

"You wait!" Natasha told her again. "Just wait. Keep calm. We'll be in the fray in no time."

"Where is everyone?" She asked. "Where's the Captain, and Iris, and Bucky, and Clint?"

"They're close," she answered. "They've taken cover just like we have."

Celeste nodded, and waited, listening to the gunfire, the frequency and the volume. Every second felt like an eon. Every moment she was sure she'd hear someone's scream echo from somewhere nearby as they were struck with a bullet or taken prisoner. Celeste was certain she'd go crazy before she could get out there.

Her breathing was shaky and uneven, she was waiting. Waiting. God, the seconds couldn't move any slower. She couldn't stand it. She couldn't stand doing nothing when they were being hunted because of her.

Celeste wasn't sure how much time had passed since she'd gotten here, hiding for the sake of preserving her life, because she couldn't stand it. Raking her hands through her hair, she saw it.

On her forearm, a tiny cut she hadn't had before. Only a trickle of blood stained her suit, a few insignificant drops discoloring the smallest of tears in the fabric.

She'd been shot when Natasha had come to save her.

But her armor had reacted and kept her safe.

She was okay. She would be okay. She could be out there.

She had to be out there.

" 'Leste!" Natasha reached for her, trying to grab her wrist as the brunette shot up, but Celeste was out of their covered spot before Natasha could reach. The redhead cursed as Celeste vanished from her sight, sure she'd hear a body thump to the ground in just a second.

But Celeste ran. She ran through the gunfire, bullets grazing her skin, leaving tiny bits of blood.

Only five rounds hit her before they stopped aiming at her.

"They want her back," Iris had told them, her eyes hard as steel. "They will stop at nothing to get her. She's one of their favorite experiments, after all."

Iris had been right. They wouldn't risk killing her.

But the same couldn't be said for the other Avengers.