A/N: Holy shit HI! I'm back again for the third story in my Phoenix series. Welcome old readers and new readers both, if you didn't know the first story in this series is Love and Fire, and the second story is Ice and Fire. You can read both of them by going over to my profile page and looking at my works. Anyway back to this story, it is set during the events of Age of Ultron, not after or before, DURING. Phoenix and The Experiments are back, now unlike my other two stories, this doesn't feature Clintasha. This story mostly focuses on my OCs, but there will be appearences from a multitude of mainstream MCU characters. I'm so excited for this story, and I hope you all like it. Don't forget to read, review and enjoy.

A figure lay on the ground, flat on their stomach, eyes scanning the surroundings. They kept their face low to the ground, fluttering the grass as they exhaled a quiet breath. The figure had a slim feminine form, but her body was strong. Long red hair was tied back off her pale, rounded face. Dark blue eyes never moving from the target in front her.

Phoenix Romanoff sucked in a breath of night air. She was perched atop a hill, looking down over the crest, observing the small concrete building with caution. Phoenix's hand subconsciously went to the arrow necklace around her neck as she took in the details of the building. When Clint had handed it to her, he told her that it meant he would always be there to protect her. Not that she needed much protecting, but the thought of it brought her comfort.

Close to a year and a half ago, Phoenix had been saved from death by Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton. Known to the world as Black Widow and Hawkeye, members of the superhero team, The Avengers. At first they had been her mentors, but a year ago, they become her legal guardians. Phoenix still couldn't bring herself to see them as her mother and father. She'd never had parents before in her life, it was uncomfortable calling them that. But they were as close to a family as Phoenix would ever get.

Phoenix gave a hand signal to the person waiting for her among the coverage of the trees. They signalled back, and Phoenix dropped her arms to her side and rolled down the back of the hill. Once she cleared the hill, she crawled with her body low to the ground. Strong arms helped pull her to her feet once she was behind the tree line, and Phoenix looked up to see Sam grinning at her.

"Nice one commando," Sam joked in his deep southern accent, placing a hand on her shoulder as they walked away from the tree line, seeking more coverage.

Samuel Lidsdale was tall and muscular with a strong jawline, giving him a misinformed threatening appearance. His true personality could be seen in his soft brown eyes, usually hid behind glasses, but for the mission he had opted for contact lenses instead. Pushing back the fringe of his dark brown hair, Sam gestured to the person who had just appeared in front of them.

"Bella," Phoenix addressed her. "Where's Heather and Mark?"

Isabella Mason was small in stature, but not in her personality. Her previously long black hair now rested on her shoulders in a neat haircut, framing her porcelain pale face. Her narrow dark eyes looked from Phoenix to Sam, an exasperated look forming around her thin lips.

"Arguing," she informed Phoenix with a sigh. "Again."

Phoenix gave a grunt of annoyance and walked past Bella, her eyes falling on two individuals up ahead. The two people were angrily hissing at one another, trying to keep their voices quiet as they squabbled. As they saw Phoenix approach, the argument died down and they turned to look at her.

Marcus Winters stood to attention, but wore a cheeky grin on his face as he gave her a mock salute. Tall, and pushing the line between athletic and gangly, Mark and his personality were ones to stand out in a crowd. He had dark hair, and electric blue eyes that stood out against the contrast of his pale skin.

Heather James watched Phoenix closely, fixing her friend with a guilty look. Heather was of supermodel height with an athletic body and feminine frame. Her blonde hair fell in curls that usually framed her face, but had been tied back into a neat bun, out of the way for the mission. She had hazel eyes and tanned skin with little imperfections.

"Is there an issue?" Phoenix asked them, knowing full well of the animosity between the two of them. "We're in the middle of a mission, if you two can't keep a lid on it you'll compromise the whole operation. Sort yourselves out."

"Mark thinks we should charge the building instead of waiting around," Heather informed her, casting a bitter glance in Mark's direction as she spoke.

Phoenix flicked her unamused gaze to Mark and he chuckled nervously. "I didn't say that," he covered himself pathetically. "I was merely suggesting that we use the element of surprise, and take out most of them in one go. It was just a suggestion!" He raised his hands defensively.

"If you have a problem with the plan you come to me!" Phoenix snapped, keeping her voice to a low hiss. "The time to offer suggestions was yesterday when we came up with the idea. We're sticking with the plan, and we're waiting until Josh gets back. Honestly, I think you're just picking fights with Heather for the sake of it."

Mark looked outraged. "It was mostly her fault," he exclaimed, jabbing a finger in Heather's direction.

"My fault!" Heather cried, placing a hand over her chest as she repeated Mark's words in outrage. "You're the one that opened your mouth in the first place, and while we're on the subject, you did the exact same thing last week when you-"

Heather was cut off when Phoenix shushed the both of them harshly. "We are on a mission," she reminded them angrily. "Save it. You can tell me all about your childish disagreement later. But for now, we're sticking to the plan and waiting for Josh."

They nodded glumly, and just as Phoenix turned around, a figure appeared in front of her, inches from her face. While it may have looked like Josh materialised from thin air in less than a second, he had in fact simply made himself visible to those surrounding him. Phoenix didn't even blink as he appeared in front of her.

Josh had the gift of invisibility in simple terms. Somehow he was able to bend light around himself, therefore rendering him undetectable to the human eye of security cameras. The only way to see him, was usually with thermal vision. When he moved, he left no mysterious ripples in the air, it was nearly impossible to see him coming.

"You weren't even a little bit scared?" Josh asked in disappointment, taking a step backwards.

Phoenix ignored his question and moved onto the more important matter, the mission. "What's the interior look like?" She questioned. "How many obstacles do we need to worry about?"

Joshua Smith knew the time when to stop joking, and moved right into business at Phoenix's command. Standing at a height of 5'5, a single inch below Phoenix, Josh was known for being emotional. His facial expressions could range anywhere from anger to disgust, but his resting face was usually grumpy. He hid green eyes behind unkempt, dark blonde hair.

"Couple of guards at the entrance, couple patrolling the hallways," he informed her. "The server room is on the second floor, but on the third floor there are a lot of soldiers milling around. Once we're spotted, they'll enclose us on both sides. We need to keep to the shadows as long as possible."

"Right," Phoenix nodded. She turned to address her team and they formed a line in front of her, awaiting her orders.

They were her team, The Experiments. Each one of them with a unique ability, a superpower that set them apart from the rest of humanity. These abilities were the result of a serum that transformed them into what they were. They were the perfect strike force, and for a year now they had been conducting missions against dangerous forces that they found themselves pitted against.

Today, the enemy was Hydra

Phoenix looked up and down the line and directed her attention at Sam. "I need you in that server room to transfer the information. Bella and Josh, you go with him. Josh you'll scout ahead, making sure the way in clear, while Bella you stay at Sam's side and keep him shielded from view," she instructed them. "You'll make your way into the first floor and slowly creep up to the server room, once you're in, drop us a line. Good luck."

"You got it boss," Sam winked at her and moved off with Bella and Sam at his side.

Phoenix watched as they snuck around the tree line and vanished into the forest as they searched for an easy entrance. Phoenix turned to Mark and Heather and began to run through their segment of the plan. "Mark, you circle the building, note all entry and exit points. I may need you to clear us an exit path," Phoenix gave him his instructions and nodded, indicating for him to move off which he did.

Phoenix and Heather watched as Mark ran ahead at a speed close to 100 mph, his shape blurring as he moved at impossible speeds. The watched as he made it out of the trees in less than a second. In the blink of an eye, he probably could've made it to the other side of the building.

Mark's gift was one that allowed him to run at incredibly fast speeds. Thought it seemed like a simple ability, Phoenix knew that there was something more to it, as Mark also had the ability to transfer his gift. If he ran while holding onto someone, as long as contact wasn't broken, the other person could run at a speed equal to his. It was a constant puzzle for Phoenix, but not something she needed to address at that moment.

"Am I with you for this one?" Heather asked, moving to stand behind Phoenix.

"You'll be by my side," Phoenix responded with a small smirk. "We're going to wait until Sam gives the signal, and then we storm the building and meet them at the first floor stairs. Once we're together, we make our way out of the building as a group."

"Sounds good," Heather agreed with a grin.

The two girls waited, slowly, they slunk towards the tree line and crept in a circle, keeping hidden as they moved closer to the entrance of the building. Heather flanked Phoenix's right side, a hand on her gun as they crept with hesitant breaths, keeping themselves as quiet as possible.

Phoenix tapped at the comm in her ear, growing anxious for news from her team. Eventually, Sam's voice broke through. "I'm in the server room," he informed them. "It's quiet here, not a lot of soldiers that we had to take down, but I'm not taking any risks. I'll disable the cameras and then get to work on the pick-up."

"Acknowledged," Phoenix spoke, her voice lowered to a murmur.

Phoenix watched as a guard moved around the corner of the building, stood at the entrance for a second, and moved off, continuing his patrol. Seconds later, she received a conformation from Sam, and Phoenix and Heather nodded to each other.

Moving in tandem, the girls crept forward, dodging the lights that moved in a pattern to scan the surrounding area. They reached the door just as a guard came around the corner. Heather reacted instantly and drew her gun, firing a dart that hit the guard in his neck. The shot sent him to the ground as the specialised toxin entered his bloodstream and paralysed him.

"Nice shot," Phoenix complimented her as she looked the door up and down, trying to figure out a point of entry. "Stand back," she warned Heather while keeping her eyes fixed on the door.

Heather took a step backwards as Phoenix raised her hands, palms aimed at the door. A fire sparked in her palms and spread up her arms. She brought her arms backwards, and pushed them forward, the fire shot out from her hands. It hit the door with an explosive force, burning through the metal, it knocked the doors off their hinges and onto the open floor of the building's entrance hallway.

Phoenix, she had the gift of pyrokinesis. Phoenix could create fire from nothing and control and manipulate it in whatever way she wanted. She was also immune to burns, allowing her to set herself on fire, a trick she frequently put into action. Out of all The Experiments, Phoenix had refined her ability the most. Since she had undergone ten years of intense training, she knew how to manipulate her abilities in terrible ways. That was the curse of being a mad scientist's pet soldier.

"So much for subtlety," Heather commented at they stepped inside.

"We're way past subtlety," Phoenix retorted as a group of soldiers came running around a corner, heading straight for them.

Heather raised her hands, fingers outstretched towards the approaching men. She flicked her wrists abruptly, turning her hands. As she moved, the men's guns flew from their hands and hit the ground in front of them. Heather swept her right arm underneath her left arm, while she pushed her left arm forward. All the guns except for one, flew into the group of men with enough force to knock them backwards. The last gun flew into Phoenix's hands, and she caught it in a flash, turning the gun to the soldiers, she fired at them.

Heather was telekinetic. Her ability allowed her to move objects by using the power of her own mind, whatever she object she chose to move, she could do it. Larger objects of course, required more effort, but so far, there wasn't anything Heather hadn't been able to shift.

Once the hallway was clear, the girls ran to the stairwell quickly before any more came. Given the noise they had made, reinforcements from upstairs would be coming in. The girls reached the stairwell just as Bella and Sam came barrelling down it, leaping down the stairs, frantic to get away.

"Soldiers! Weapons! Time to go!" Sam exclaimed in a panic as he came screeching down the stairs and shot past Phoenix.

"What about Josh?" Phoenix demanded, remaining where she stood at the base of the stairs while the others took off down the hallway.

"He's holding them off!" Sam responded with a shout as he ran back to Phoenix and grabbed her hand. "He'll catch up. We need to go now!"

Phoenix had no choice but to run after Sam as he pulled her along. He let go of her hand as they rounded the corner and found themselves in the path of a large group of soldiers wearing black Hydra uniforms. They raised their guns prepared to fire as Phoenix shouted to Bella. Bella dropped her arms to her side and stood in a ready stance. She twisted her hands, and the room was plunged into darkness.

Bella's ability essentially allowed her to control 'darkness'. She was able to purge light from a room, which meant you could see nothing, even your own hand when it was right in front of you. She could also formulate what Phoenix called a 'light-consuming' mist. The mist moved as Bella controlled it, and anyone caught in the mist would be unable to see any form of light.

The Experiments moved into action, gliding through the darkness as they took down the Hydra soldiers. They moved as if they could see through the all-consuming blackness, when really, it was their connection that kept them alive amidst the frantic gunfire of the soldiers.

From the serum, The Experiments had somehow become connected through a mental link. They weren't entirely sure of how it worked, all they knew was that as a result of the mental link, they could feel each other's presence, identify each other's emotions and operate as a single force. Out of all of them, Heather maintained the strongest connection. They weren't sure why this was, but while the others struggled to feel each other at times, Heather never had any trouble.

Phoenix gained speed as she ran down the hallway, and dropped to the ground, her momentum sliding her across the floor as a Hydra soldier went flying over her head. Phoenix's legs connected with the ankles of a soldier and he went down, only to be shot by Heather as she ran past.

Heather charged at another soldier who was firing his gun wherever he heard noise. She leaped at him and threw herself onto his back. Her hands finding his neck, she pulled him backwards until both she and him hit the wall. Heather brought her elbow upwards and rammed it into the soldier's ribcage. As she pushed herself off him, she wretched the gun from his grip and fired at what she hoped was his legs.

Light hit them once again with a nauseating shock as Bella finished off the last soldier and deemed it safe to reinstate the lights. A scream came from around the corner and they turned to see Josh turn the corner, now visible, and running towards them as fast as possible in a panic.

"THEY'RE COMING! THEY'RE COMING! THEY'RE COMING!" He screamed. "THEY'VE GOT A FUCKING MISSILE LAUNCHER!"

At the words missile launcher, the group reacted sensibly, and turned on their heels and took off in the direction of the exit. Phoenix placed a hand to her earpiece. "Mark!" She shouted at their missing member over the comms. "We need to leave now. Clear the road!"

The Experiments rounded the last corner to find Mark leaning against the wall with several unconscious Hydra soldiers lying on the ground. He gave Phoenix a cocky smirk and gestured to the soldiers. "You were saying," he joked.

A loud banging noise from behind them cut Phoenix off before she could say anything. The large group of soldiers had caught up to them, and we're moving down the hallway, led by three men, carrying what was undoubtedly a missile launcher each.

"Get to the exit! Now!" Phoenix shouted a frantic warning.

They surged towards the exit at the end of the hallway, but as they placed their hands on the door, they realised that it was locked. Phoenix was about to tell them to step back so she could break it open, as the group of soldiers entered the hallway.

Sam, who was at the back of the group and facing the soldiers, reacted first. He raised his hands up, and abruptly brought them downwards in a smooth arc. As he did so, small strikes of lighting came off from the walls struck the group of soldiers, knocking them all down in one fell swoop.

Sam's ability seemed to revolve around the manipulation of electromagnetic waves and the control of electrical currents. The ability allowed him to do a multitude of things, he could essentially control anything that ran off electricity, create miniaturised lightning bolts, and telepathically hack computer networks and download and transfer information.

With the distraction from Sam, Phoenix had enough time to knock down the door with a fireball just as more soldiers came running for them. They ran out of the building, making sure to stay together as they ran into the cold night air. The soldiers followed them, but before Phoenix was able to turn around and push them back, she felt a rush of air next to her right ear and realised that someone was firing at them from the other direction.

Phoenix's eyes went to the same hill she had been perched upon earlier to scope out the building. As she looked closer, she saw the distinct shape of another human being, and saw the faint outline of a rifle. Phoenix pulled Bella to the side as another bullet came dangerously close.

"Sniper!" Phoenix shouted a warning. They had nearly made it clear of open ground and were about to reach the tree line, but the sniper was following their every movements. Another bullet fired, but it flew over the top of Phoenix and struck one of the soldiers running after her. "Get to cover!" she cried to her team.

As they ran for the trees, Phoenix stopped in her tracks and turned to the Sniper. Her hands erupted in flames, and she cried out angrily as she swung her hands over her head and thrust them in the direction of the Sniper. A fireball shot from her hands, and Phoenix watched as the Sniper's features were illuminated by the oncoming flame, before he dodged the attack.

Phoenix saw a glint of metal as the Sniper picked up his rifle and moved down the other side of the hill, vanishing from sight. Phoenix sucked in a breath as she processed what she had just seen. For a second, she could've sworn that the brief flash of metal she had seen, was that of a metal arm.

Phoenix turned her head to the oncoming group of soldiers, raising her hands once more for an attack. Just as she was about to strike them, a loud noise from above called to her attention. The wind around her began blowing at high speeds, whipping Phoenix's hair into her face. She looked upwards, and saw lights shining down on her, beyond that, she could identify the silhouette of a slowly descending helicopter.

The helicopter landed in the space between Phoenix and the group of Hydra soldiers. Phoenix raised her hands in defence, prepared for an even greater attack. Surprisingly, a familiar figure leaned out of the helicopter and waved his hands at her.

"Get in!" he called out. "And hurry up about it, I ain't waiting around here too long."

Phoenix turned behind her and saw The Experiments at the very edge of the tree-line, their retreat halted by the new arrival. Phoenix relayed the message to them with a shout, and soon they were running back towards her. Phoenix waited by the door for The Experiments to reach her. The helicopter began to ascend as Phoenix was helping them clamber on.

By the time the other Experiments had climbed on, the helicopter was already 6 feet off the ground. Phoenix stepped backwards and jumped up, her hands barely managing to grab the railings at the bottom of the chopper. She heard firing below her, and looked down to see the soldiers aiming their weapons at her.

Someone reached down out of the chopper and grabbed Phoenix's hands. They hoisted her upwards, and Phoenix was pulled into the chopper with such a force that she fell forward, into the person who had pulled her up. She collided with Mark and the two of them fell and hit the ground, their foreheads connecting painfully as Phoenix landed on top of him.

"Ow," Mark commented, rubbing his forehead as Phoenix pulled herself off him and rose to her feet. He still lay on the ground, and looked up at her with a sly grin. "You owe me one for that. Actually you owe me two, because not only did I participate in physical exertion by pulling you up, you practically just gave me a concussion."

Phoenix wasn't listening to him, instead she was looking at the person who had just saved them. Mark looked up and recognised who it was, stuttering as he tried not to curse out loud. The other Experiments moved into the seats of the chopper, staring at the man standing before them.

"It's been a while Director Fury," Phoenix acknowledged him as she sat down beside Heather. "To what do we owe the honour of this convenient mission extraction?"

"You know the last time I had a conversation with you I don't remember you being this sarcastic," Nick Fury shook his head as he took a seat. He placed the gun he had used to fire at the Hydra soldiers to the side. "That's what I get for letting you near Barton and Romanoff. And it's not Director anymore. In case you hadn't noticed, my job ended kinda badly."

Mark finally found his words, leaping to his feet off the ground, he pointed to Fury. "You're supposed to be dead!" he exclaimed.

Sam grabbed Mark by the shirt sleeve and pulled him into the seat next to him. "Sorry to disappoint Winters, but I am very much alive," Fury responded, fixing him with a mild glance of annoyance before he turned back to Phoenix. "As for the mission extraction, let's just call it a favour for a favour. I do something for you, and now I need you to do something for me."

"What exactly do you want us to do?" Phoenix inquired cautiously, leaning forward in her seat.

"The Avengers are in trouble and they need our help," Fury replied, watching as Phoenix's expression changed from intrigue to concern. "I thought that might catch your attention."

"Are Natasha and Clint alright?" Phoenix asked, her mind immediately jumping to the worst possible conclusion. "What's happened, why are they in trouble?"

"Barton and Romanoff are alive," Fury answered her first question. "It's a complicated situation. Right now the Avengers have gathered at a safe house, after a less than fortunate battle with a new enemy. You'll hear more about what happened in Johannesburg soon enough. For now, while The Avengers are working on a plan, we need you to be ready."

"Ready for what?" Phoenix demanded, her voice turning cold as Fury gave her incredibly vague answers.

"Ready for a war," Fury answered.