"No." Bobbi Morse stood with Daisy Johnson and Jemma Simmons in the SHIELD lab early that morning, a single word stuck on her lips. "No."
"Bobbi, the test is positive," the biochemist assured her "I checked the results three times."
"No. No that, that can't be right. Take it again."
"Again?"
"Yes Daisy. Again," Bobbi snapped, giving the Inhuman an icy glare "That last test can't be right."
"Bobbi."
"There has to be some mistake." Bobbi's lungs screamed for air. Her heart pounded like gunfire. To put it simply, she was freaking out. "The test has to be wrong. There is no way that I am-,"
"Bobbi!" Daisy grabbed the blonde agent by her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "That was the third test," she reminded in a gentle, calming voice "and they all say the same thing. You're pregnant."
Finally letting it sink in, Bobbi let out a gasp as she leaned against the wall, her face in absolute shock. "What am I going to do?"
"I'm guessing this wasn't exactly a planned pregnancy?" Simmons assumed.
"Bobbi, if you're worried about Clint being there for you, you're not alone in this." Daisy assured her.
"It's not that." Bobbi sighed as she ran her fingers over the Mockingbird charm around her neck, remembering her brief marriage with the Avenger known as Hawkeye. Even though they were divorced, they had never stopped loving each other. And for the past three months, they had been trying to reconnect. "October 12th," she whispered.
"What?"
"Back when Clint and I were married I got pregnant," Bobbi explained "And about halfway through I….miscarried."
Simmons gasped. "Oh my God."
"It was during the second trimester. We were just about to find out if…if it was a boy or a girl." Bobbi took a shaky breath as she fought to keep her voice level "Clint was so ready to be a dad. He tore up his den and turned it into a nursery. Spent months trying to find the right crib." Bobbi swallowed a lump in her throat as tears glistened in her eyes "I'm not worried about Clint not wanting the baby. I'm worried about getting his hopes up on a dream that might not come true."
"Hey." Fitz frowned as he when saw the solemn faces on the young women of SHIELD as he walked in. "You guys alright?"
"Yeah," Bobbi took a sharp breath as she quickly dried her eyes. "You need something, Fitz?"
"Not me, Coulson. He's got a mission for us."
The agents of SHIELD stood huddled together around in Coulson's office, the Director of SHIELD wearing a dark blue button-up, black jeans and black leather boots. "This just came in on our satellites. Looks like some enhanceds had a fight not too far from one of our safe houses."
Daisy frowned as the image came onto the screen. "Isn't that the cabin you had me stay in when you found out I was Inhuman?"
"The very same."
"What do we know about the enhanceds?" Bobbi inquired.
"We caught one of the parties on the satellites. An old friend," Coulson quickly pulled up the image on the monitor "Maybe you've heard of him."
Daisy's eyes widened she recognized the familiar face instantly. "That's Iron Man."
The SHIELD agents quickly arrived at the safehouse, the surrounding area decimated. Mile-wide craters scarred the ground. Trees were cut in half and ripped clean from the ground. The scent of smoke lingering in the air.
Fitz whistled. "Some fight."
"Whoever attacked Stark sure didn't pull any punches," Mack commented.
"Are we sure about this?" Hunter asked nervously "If Iron Man was just here, doesn't that mean that the rest of the Avengers will be here soon? Along with just about every media outlet known to man?"
"Relax, Hunter. Hill's buying us time," Bobbi reassured.
"I'm just saying, not all of us have an Avenger for a significant oth-Aaah!" The former mercenary's words turned a panicked scream as he stepped on a hidden tripwire, causing a camouflaged net to snap up and suspend him in the air.
"Hunter!" Bobbi shouted "Are you okay?"
"I think so," he confirmed, mentally reprimanding himself for falling for such a obsolete trap.
BOOP! BOOP! BOOP!
The Agents of SHIELD quickly became on high alert as a blaring alarm rang throughout the woods, a series of red and white Stark Industries RC drones flying into view. The agents of SHIELD quickly opened fire, the bullets bouncing off harmlessly as the drones unleashed a barrage of brightly colored paintballs.
Mack quickly dropped his weapon as one of the paintballs landed on the barrel of his gun, the pistol quickly becoming hot as it turned into a puddle of bubbling goo. "Since when does paint melt metal?"
SWOOSH!
A bright red disc came flying through the air, knocking Lincoln Campbell into the side of the Zephyr.
"Lincoln!" Daisy barreled over to the electric Inhuman's side, sliding across the dirt as she used her powers to knock one of the drones out of the air with a sonic blast. "Are you alright?"
"That depends. Did Captain America just try to kill me?"
"ICRs only!" Bobbi ordered "We don't want to cause any serious injuries."
"Brilliant idea Bobbi," Hunter remarked, impatiently waiting for May to cut him free from the net "Let's all just pull our punches while the bloody Avengers try to kill us!"
Only Bobbi wasn't so sure it was Avengers. Toy drones and paintballs? The blonde-haired agent ducked as the shield made another run through the air, bouncing off the wings of the jet and into the bushes in the distance. Bobbi frowned. Steve would have to be on his knees to throw his shield from that angle. "I got movement," she announced, noticing a small figure running through the trees. "I'm going after them."
POP!
Bobbi stopped dead in her tracks as she stepped on a hidden button in the grass, causing a six foot tall, bright red action figure to appear out of thin air. Baymax, the flagship character of the film Big Hero Six.
"Hi there."
Bobbi tucked and rolled as Baymax swung at her with his massive plastic fist, popping up on one knee and firing three bullets into its chest, only for them to prove just as ineffective against the drones.
"Are you satisfied with your care?" Baymax asked.
VOOM!
The enlarged action figure was sent flying as Daisy hit him with a sonic blast, the female Inhuman sending it crashing into a tree. "What you waiting for? Let's get them."
The two female specialists took off into the woods with Fitz and Simmons behind them, the unseen attacker staying just out of sight. None of this made any sense to Bobbi. Whoever this person was had skill, that was clear. But filling the woods with weaponized toys? It was like something out of a Home Alone movie.
THWIP!
Bobbi, Fitz and Simmons stopped moving as Daisy stepped on a makeshift landmine, the female Inhuman now trapped in a net of a sticky, web-like substance.
Bobbi's eyes widened. She and had seen a trap like that before. Now it all made sense.
SWOOSH!
Bobbi quickly whipped around and caught the whizzing shield as it flew by her, silently confirming her theory as she finally got a good look at it. This was not Captain America's vibranium shield. This was a scaled down, rubber replica. A toy. "James!"
At that moment, the rustling in the trees came to a stop, a tense silence filling the air.
"James," Bobbi repeated "is that you?"
"Bobbi," Simmons gave her friend a disbelieving look "You can't really think it's-,"
"Yeah, I do."
"It can't be," Fitz disputed "There's no way he'd do this again."
"What are you guys doing?" Daisy hissed "Get me out of here!"
But Bobbi wasn't listening. Maybe it was her developing maternal instincts kicking in, but she knew who was behind this and no one could convince her otherwise. "James? it's Aunt Bobbi. Come on out," she coaxed "no one's going to hurt you."
After a moment of silence, a blue-eyed boy with bright red hair stepped out from behind the trees, dressed in a grey t-shirt, camo-print pants and bright red Stark-brand sneakers. "Hi Aunt Bobbi."
"Hey kiddo."
Daisy could hardly believe her eyes. "A kid? We got our butts handed to us by a kid?"
Simmons stared at the boy in awe. "It can't be."
"What are you doing here?" Fitz demanded.
"Right now, appreciating the fact you guys actually recognize me."
"Somebody want to clue me in here?" Daisy demanded.
"You remember that mission FitzSimmons and I took to New York?" Bobbi asked.
"You mean the one where you all got to go Avenges Tower while I was stuck in quarantine for being an Inhuman?" Daisy gripped.
"Here's why. Daisy, meet James Rogers," Bobbi introduced "He's the son of Captain America and Black Widow. And he's from the future."
"It's been a while since we've seen you." Bobbi tilted her head to the side as she noticed "You're taller."
"I'm thirteen now."
"So it only took you three years to forget not to play with time travel?"
"This is not my fault!" James protested "Those eggheads are the ones that took the Chronosphere from the vault."
"Are these the same friends that help you booby-trap the woods?"
"They're in the cabin. We were waiting for you," James informed "Uncle Tony told us you were coming."
"So the Stark we got on the cameras is from the future too," Bobbi realized "If he told you we would find you, why set up the traps?"
"In case that guy he was fighting came back," James justified, a hint of fear creeping into his voice "I only got two words to describe him: Big and nasty. Besides, we had no idea what time we landed in. Those guys that got off the plane with you could be HYDRA sleepers."
"But they're not," Simmons insisted "James, think about it, love. If we remember you, wouldn't that mean you landed in a time period after your dad stopped project Insight?"
"Uh-oh."
"Uh-oh?" Daisy did not like the look on that kid's face "What uh-oh?"
"I kind of promised my best friend she could fight the big guy," James answered.
"Mack? He's six foot four and weighs two hundred pounds," Fitz exclaimed "Why would your little mate want to fight him?"
"Somebody get me out of here!" Hunter sat impatiently in the net suspending him in the air, waiting for May to finish cutting her way through one of the knots. "You can take down a man twice your size in less than a minute, but it takes twenty minutes to cut a rope?"
"I'm trying!" the Calvary groaned in frustration the ropes refused to give "What are these things made of?"
"May? A little help?" Mack ducked as the giant Baymax took another swing at him, the SHIELD engineer trying to find a weak point on the giant action figure while dodging the acidic paintballs flying through the air. He didn't know how paint could melt metal, but he certainly didn't want to see what it could do to human flesh. Thank God for Lincoln Campbell. Those drones may have been impervious to bullets, but not high volts of electricity.
"Falalala."
Mack jumped back as Baymax slammed its fists into the ground where he once stood, firing his last shotgun shell into the giant toys' chest. It didn't even leave a scratch.
ZZZAP!
Mack let out a gasp as Lincoln shot Baymax in the back with a massive electrical blast, the human-sized action figure dropping to the ground in a lifeless, plastic heap. "Thanks. I owe you one."
"Don't mention it. To be honest, I wasn't even sure that would work," Lincoln confessed.
WHOOSH!
A blur of yellow and a gust of wind came flying out of the woods, throwing Lincoln into the side of the plane and knocking him out cold.
Hunter's eyes widened as a young girl appeared in the middle of the clearing, wearing a white t-shirt, light wash jeans and sneakers, a strange sword trapped to her back. "Who the bloody blazes is that?"
"For Asgard!" the little girl shouted, a faint British-like accent in her voice as she leapt up into the air, ready to drive her fist through Mack's head.
The SHIELD engineer dove out of the way as the girl came crashing down in front of him, his face turning pale as her fist leaving a massive hole in the trunk of the tree. "Whoa, whoa, whoa." Mack quickly held up both hands as he rose to his feet, the blonde-haired girl staring him down with her electric blue eyes. "Take it easy, little lady. We don't want to hurt you."
"Liar! I won't let you hurt my friends!" The little girl grabbed Mack's shirt with one hand and effortlessly lifted him into the air with one hand, using the other to draw her sword as she prepared to deliver a massive blow.
"Torunn stop!" James Rogers raced into the clearing as his best friend pointed the edge of her blade at Mack's throat, with Bobbi, Daisy, Fitz and Simmons right behind him.
"I remember you," May's neutral face shifted into a faint scowl as she recalled "You're the kid that dropped a sack of flower on my head."
"I said I was sorry."
"Aunt Bobbi." The blonde-haired girl's face broke into a massive grin as she dropped Mack to the ground, running over to the Mockingbird's side and giving her a warm hug.
"Bobbi, why is the demon child hugging you?" Hunter paled and shrunk back in the net as the Torunn gave him a murderous glare, pointing her blade right at his face.
"I am no demon. I am Torunn Foster. Daughter of Thor," she stated proudly "Princess of Asgard and heir to the throne. Insult me again Midgardian peasant, and you will feel my wrath."
"Is she always this dramatic?" Bobbi asked.
"She's just getting warmed up," James warned, rolling his eyes "Torunn, relax. They work with Aunt Bobbi."
Torunn frowned as she looked back the battered agents "You guys are SHIELD agents?"
"Yep. We're the good guys," Mack confirmed, rubbing the now sore spot on his head "Please don't hit me again."
"Sorry." Torunn smiled apologetically as she helped the SHIELD engineer to his feet "so much for a normal camping trip, huh James?"
"Hang on," Hunter furrowed his brow as James and Bobbi helped him out the net, a confused and bewildered look on his face "did you just say you lot were camping up here?"
"Yeah." James jerked a thumb towards the woods behind him "in the cabin."
"Wait a second." Torunn frowned as she turned her attention to a tall tree beside James and Bobbi "did you know these guys were SHIELD agents?"
"Who are you talking t-bloody!" Hunter shouted as an arrow hit the trunk of a tree behind him, a thick metal coil connected to the shaft, trailing to the tree Torunn was facing.
Emerging from the tree, a boy in a flannel shirt and jeans zip-lined down to the ground, a bow in his hands and a quiver on his back.
"Yeah, I did. Maybe if you guys hadn't left me in the dust when the alarm went off, I could've told you that."
Bobbi was drawn to him the second she saw him. His hair was a pale blonde, the same way hers was when she was young. His eyes were dark, yet soulful beyond his years. Bobbi had only seen eyes like that on one person before. Clint Barton.
The boy took one look at her and frowned. "Mom, why are you looking at me like that?"
BOOM!
Clint Barton jumped as a deafening explosion echoed in the distance, the retired Avenger dropping a skillet full of eggs on the floor as he made breakfast for his sister and her family.
"Uncle Clint?" Five year-old Katie Bishop sat at the kitchen table with her mother and her brother, each of them giving Clint a nervous expression. "What was that?"
Nothing good, he thought. "Everybody upstairs." The archer quickly removed a bow and quiver from the holster strapped to the bottom of the couch and went outside, heading towards a burning crater in the back forty. There, he found a dark-haired man in a tattered black dry-fit shirt and black pants lying unconscious on a bed of burning rock, the cracked arc reactor in his chest giving off a flickering blue light. Tony Stark.