Author's Note: Original Marvel Characters and locations belong to Marvel Entertainments and Affiliates. Everything else is mine. After all the wonderful feedback I got on "Of Mothers and Mentors" I was inspired to crack out another one shot really quick. I wanted to do another unique perspective and this came out. I think Hunter is a lot more perceptive and a lot more caring than he wants people to think. All feedback is so very appreciated. Let me know what you think.
Summary: Recruiting her as an ally had been an easy choice; the only logical choice. He needed to beat Ward and there was only one woman who could realistically do that and come out the other end alive. He just never expected he'd actually enjoy her company. A Hunter and May exploration. One-shot. Tags to 3x02, 3x03, 3x04 "purpose in the machine", "a wanted (inhu)man", and "devils you know".
::
"You lead."
He raised his eyebrows, but didn't respond. The vote of confidence was unexpected. Everyone knew she was the best. And he knew that he was the last person May cared to work with. It was common knowledge she had been a part of the great Strike Team Delta, so working with an ex-merc wasn't probably on the top of her ally list.
He was no Clint Barton, after all.
And so when they fell into an easy rhythm of undercover work with Spud, he was surprised.
No wonder Bobbi was a little in love with her.
::
"Well you lost it." Her tone didn't change as she dropped the information and it took a moment for him to even realize what she had said. He didn't remark on it. Her fingers kept moving rapidly, cataloging the weapons.
"How long were the two of you together?"
May's eyebrows contracted slightly, the only indication of her slight confusion, but they didn't move off her task.
"Andrew and I?"
He hummed in the affirmative.
"A little over nine years."
"You were young," Hunter said, fiddling with row of throwing knives stacked on the counter. He and Bobbi had been too young to understand the seriousness of what they were committing to. Which lead to their constant back and forth between together and not.
But Andrew and May didn't seem to have the same divorcee flirtation he and Bob did, where after months of hating each other they couldn't their hands off each other. For a split second, a smirk crackled across the Chinese woman's features, but it was gone as soon as he saw it.
"Old enough to mean it."
::
He was surprised when she sat on the couch next to him. She normally sat across from him, a clear show of the boundaries that he was supposed to be obeying or whatever. No one was ever able tog get too close. So when she sat cross legged on the other end of the couch from him, he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep the triumphant smile off his face.
She was like an exotic bird; get too excited to spot one and you'll scare it away.
Perhaps he was growing on her after all.
"That was my contact, she sent over the blue prints for the warehouse where the meetings are held out. They apparently rotate locations every fight. We have the chance for on sight surveillance and block by block checks."
He took the tablet from her, his eyes coursing over the specs. "I thought you had to be in the field to have contacts. Are you on extended vacation or whatever?"
She rolled her eyes, but didn't reply. "She thinks that the meeting will be at a secondary location. Not enough security or exits in case of a bust. Ward knows better than to leave himself that many variables in play."
"And who is this mystery source of yours?"
There was a slight sparkle in May's eyes as she took the tablet back.
"That's classified."
::
"It was stupid," her voice was light.
"I won, didn't I?"
Her fingers were the exact opposite of Bobbi's. While the blonde's were warm and heavy, May's touch was cool and barely there. He could have almost mistaken it for a breeze if not for the needle biting into the skin of his shoulder.
"Jesus woman!" he jerked away.
"Relax, I'm sure you've had worse storming hostage situations and leaping from helicopters, Lieutenant."
He felt every muscle in his body freeze. It was like ice water coursed through his veins burning him. He licked his scabbing lips before speaking, tasting blood on his tongue. "Did Bob tell you?"
Her eyes didn't move from the wound she was uniformly stitching.
"No."
"Then how—"
She sighed. Not like her usual, 'you're such an idiot, why do I continue to allow you to breathe in my close proximity' sigh, but more of a sad one. Quiet. Like she didn't want to burden him with whatever she knew.
"You jab before swing, always moving to the left twice before rounding to your right; take away your firearm and your best plan of attack becomes some crap about tiring out your opponent. You migrate towards the doors and windows when you're in crowded rooms. It wasn't hard to guess."
Some guess.
She was probably the most observant person he had ever met and wouldn't have ever known if she hadn't said anything. What else did May notice that she had kept quiet about? Secrets she had held without anyone ever being aware, ever asking?
"The others?"
She scoffed and Hunter felt his body relax slightly. He knew May wasn't one to gossip. On everyone on the base, she was the least likely to say anything to anyone.
His secrets were safe with her.
::
The nightmares woke him in a cold sweat.
May was perched on the side of the edge of the bed, half dressed in a large t-shirt that was clearly not hers. Damn she was hot. His mind immediately went to sleepy, half formed excuses. The nightmares came few and far in between and still secret.
In the dark, his eyes met her wide awake ones. He prepared himself for the sympathy, the sadness, the pity—god he couldn't stand the pity.
But the only thing he found was understanding.
"Careful," there was something in her voice he had never heard before, "you don't want to pull the stitches." Her blessedly cool hands felt like ice on his clammy skin as he struggled to sit up.
There was no talk of nightmares. No talk of why. No talk of talking.
Mack called it the 'B' word. The mysterious freak desert accident that took The Calvary out of field work. No one knew the actually story; a hundred Bahrain soldiers, fifty armed assassins, a building full of tortured S.H.I.E.L.D. classifieds. Though Hunter doubted anyone but May knew the true story. After the mission that made him leave SAS, he told no one. Not even Bobbi.
In the dark, the shadows he felt her entire body leak sadness. Not the kind that was fleeting and belonged to little girls. He had seen enough short term tears over his lifetime as a mercenary. But the kind that was heavy and sweet, the kind that never went away and left the scars open on your soul.
"Do you ever sleep?" he grumbled rubbing his hands over his face.
Something about the way he said it elicited a laugh from her. A real one that was light, gorgeous in the night air.
"No, not anymore."
::
When he saw friendly fire, relief flooded his system.
But as soon as Ward realized his team was losing, he knew who had joined the party and Hunter's relief turned to horror as May caught sight of just who was on the video.
He knew he'd regret the decision in the morning.
He always did.
::
"Where the hell do you think you're going?"
"To check on Andrew."
May moved to block his path. He had seen her annoyed, relieved, he had seen the look on her face when she talked with Andrew (whatever emotion that was, he still wasn't sure), but he hadn't ever seen her like this.
Her body rippled with anger, fury. She was like a caged tigress. And he wasn't sure if whatever ninja-jedi java juice that normally kept her so zen could keep this kind of rage inside.
"You're the reason he's injured."
He made a move to go around her, his first mistake, but in a swirl of black, May spun. Her left palms struck him openhanded center mass on his chest, knocking him backwards. A painful electric shock ripped through body and a cough bubbled through his lungs. How the bloody hell did she—In a sudden flurry, Coulson had appeared from the end of the hall.
"Melinda!"
Hearing May's first name spoken so quickly, casually like it was second nature sounded so strange. The Chinese woman took an automatic step back from the ex-mercenary at Coulson's voice. Her chest heaved up and down, as if she were the one without air.
Like she was drowning.
This was as close to emotional and uncontrolled that he had ever seen her. Coulson's eyes marked her face without even a glance towards Hunter himself. Bobbi flittered in the background, her eyes watching the Deputy and Director intently.
"If he goes near any more innocents, if you send him anywhere near the field—I don't care if it's just for surveillance—I will have him executed." There was no more emotions in her words. The hint of an accent that he had caught in her voice before was gone, replaced without a cool, detached promise.
And in that moment, despite whatever partnership they had shared him the last few weeks, he knew that she was just as dangerous as everyone whispered about.
::
Bobbi's hands were warm as she tapped his already black and blue ribs in the dimmed medical pod. No one was around. Simmons and the rest of the medical agents were still operating on Andrew, so they were thankfully alone.
"Say something."
Her eyes glanced up and met his own before moving back to her task. Her hands were less gentle than they would have normally been and the initially shock of May's impact had retreated into a dull, yet significant ache.
"What do you want me to say, Hunter?"
Agitation prickled inside him. "Something. No one will ever will talk to me or look at me besides to glare at me." Or attack me, he silently added in his head.
"And why do you think that is?" She shut the medical drawer with a little more force than necessary.
He knew why, of course. He had almost caused the death of loved one of the single universally adored person on the base. Those that didn't know her personally respected her, admired her. If they didn't know her personally, they knew of her, and her legend was enough for them to hold her deference.
And Bobbi was among them.
Before May left the field, Bobbi had been on the short list for her
She sighed heavily before leaning across the table to press her lips against his. "I'm glad you're not dead."
He opened his mouth to reply but his ex-wife had already slid out the door by the time any words had come to mind.
"You really bloody screwed this one up, mate," he whispered to the air around him as he slid off the table and awkwardly shrugged back on his shirt. Bobbi had already left the hallway by the time he made it out and he found himself alone in the hallways until Coulson's quiet voice stopped him.
The Director's back was standing in the doorway to his office, a sat phone held up to his ear. "I'm not sure she'll make it if he doesn't pull through, Maria…" Coulson's eyes found him from across the hall and he immediately frowned. "Mmhmmm, yeah I'll keep you updated," was all he said before closing the sat phone.
For a moment the two sized each other up before Coulson spoke again.
"She break anything?"
Hunter felt his head shake and his tongue was suddenly too big for his mouth. "Just bone bruises."
"Yeah well…you deserved it."
::
He wasn't sure he could respect her any more than he already did, even after she threatened to kill him. But when he watched May tame the inhuman monster that used to be her husband, then put four in his chest before he could kill anyone else, his admiration swelled.
He found her in Garner's old office. Papers and print outs lined the walls, scribbled in Chinese script. Photos of Ward sightings, the ATCU backgrounds and files were linked with timelines and other HYDRA events. There were lines of medical compositions and chemical compositions. It was clear she was searching for something. What it was, he wasn't sure.
It reminded him of the alien carvings.
Nothing on Andrew's desk had been touched. The files, the laptops, the chair all hadn't moved. It was like May was moving around his presence in the room.
"Ummm, hi?"
He cringed at the awkwardness. He found her sitting cross-legged in one of the corners, a tablet on her lap and papers strewn out like a halo around her.
"What do you want, Hunter?"
There was exhaustion seeping through her voice that he knew wouldn't be noticeable under different circumstances. She looked like a mess; a blue academy training shirt was too large to be hers (he could see the beginning of COU on the back and knew exactly where it came from) and leggings. Her hair hung around her face, casting a shadow around her eyes.
He heart leapt at the sight of blood that was seeping through the blue of the shirt. It was to the lower left center mass, near the kidneys. He felt his stomach twist slightly.
Apparently May's husband didn't have very good aim.
"Why didn't you have Simmons look at that when you got back?"
There had been six causalities, all ATCU. No one from S.H.I.E.L.D. had been killed. Daisy's friend but from what he heard, that kid was the reason Andrew hulked out in the first place so he wasn't sure some broken bones were a bad thing.
"It's just a flesh wound."
He could tell she was lying. It wasn't even convincing.
"Can I help with…whatever this is?"
"No."
Her voice was soft, barely there, like she was fading.
"'kay," he said, forcing his voice not to change, "let me know if you need stuff."
Hunter shut the door behind him feeling the energy he had gone searching for her drained, sucked dry. Walking towards the hallway, he ran into Coulson on the way out of the office.
"Errr, boss?" Coulson paused with his hand on the doorknob. "She's still got the bullet in her."
Coulson paused for a long moment before responding.
"I know. She won't let me take it out."
"Why?" The word was bitter on his tongue.
The circles under Coulson's eyes seemed to grow darker and for a second he looked about ten years old than he had forty eight hours before. He sighed heavily.
"Because she's learning to breathe again."
Hunter swallowed the bile at the back of his throat and turned back towards the gym where he knew he'd find Bobbi working on her physical therapy.
The Universe seemed to have it out for Melinda May.