A/N: This story is a continuation of several others. It might actually be considered the third story that started with Unchained. I highly recommend going back and reading at least that story and then Unbound in order for this one to make sense.

Standard Disclaimer: All rights belong to those whose rights they belong to, primarily Marvel, though quite namely not me. Don't own a thing aside from my OCs.

Steve Rogers stood at one end of the cavernous warehouse, flexing the hand that held his shield's strap. He surveyed the obstacle-filled room, looking for the easiest path towards their objective.

"Alright," he stated, turning towards the rest of the Avengers team with him. "Let's do this. War Machine, Vision, take to the air, left and right flanks."

Both of the heroes nodded wordlessly and took flight, one on roaring thrusters while the other was silent and smooth in his motions.

"Falcon, you're on the ground with us for now, rear guard, but be ready to get airborne as needed. Wanda, stick to my side, I'll give you cover to blast any opposition."

"It will be my pleasure," Wanda grinned, wiggling her fingers as she accompanied Captain America forward. "Do you think they will hit us soon, or at the end?"

"Natasha's running the exercise," Rogers commented grimly. "So the answer is, yes."

Sam chuckled, his guns held upright and goggles settled over his face. "Don't forget her little surprise."

Rogers glanced over his shoulder curiously. "Did she tell you what it was?"

"Nope, I'm just as much in the dark as you, Cap." His head swiveled. "Movement on the right flank."

"Vision, you got them?" Rogers asked into his comm.

"Affirmative, Captain, I am engaging," the android replied smoothly. Sounds of combat sounded nearby, and a shiny metallic object arced over the high wall to land at their feet. Wanda nudged it with her foot, rolling it over to reveal the visage of one of the combat simulation droids.

"Is this a new model?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, Stark sent us a new batch," Rogers replied as they moved forward. "From what Nat said, it took quite a few trucks."

"So… figure on a whole shitload of 'em," Sam grunted. "Hey, she wouldn't be mean enough to throw both the old and new models at us at the same time, would she?"

Rogers stopped and glanced at him, his face telling him everything he needed to know.

"Dammitall," the Falcon sighed. "We're screwed."

"Do not be such a grumpyman," Wanda chuckled. "That honor goes to War Machine."

"I heard that," Rhodes complained over the comm. "And I've got a group of 'bots moving in from my flank. Engaging now."

The sound of gunfire echoed through the area, bouncing off of the many walls of varied height. There were protrusions overhead as well, making straight flying near impossible and obstructing much of the line-of-sight for the team.

"Why haven't they engaged us yet?" Sam muttered worriedly.

"Careful what you wish for," Rogers retorted. "Keep moving, objective's still in that direction."

The group came to a halt around the next bend as the path branched out both ways.

"Well, shoot," Rogers sighed. "Falcon, gimme some recon, huh?"

"On it, Cap," he replied as he took flight. Rogers and Wanda stood back-to-back, each facing one branch and waiting for the enemy to make an appearance.

"Alright, I got us a path," Sam reported over the comm. "Down this way, see where I'm at?"

Rogers glanced over to see the Falcon hovering in place, just in time to spy a small, black-clad figure drop down from an overhead beam.

"Sam, look out!" he barked, but by that point it was entirely too late. The figure landed on Sam's back, stabbing into him with some sort of electrical device that stunned him into unconsciousness. Both of them dropped down behind a concealing wall.

"Damn," Rogers growled, irritated at himself for getting them so spread out already. Dimly he realized that Natasha, who might very well be the mysterious dark figure, might have planned on this. "Falcon is down. War Machine, Vision, close up. You copy?"

There was a moment's silence over the comm which made Rogers' brows furrow in concern until they answered.

"Affirmative, Captain," Vision replied.

"Yeah, I'm almost free of these bastards, they're pretty tough for- Shit!" Rhodes voice rose to a panicked shout. "Something's on my back, sensors are down, projectile hit me-"

And then his transmission cut off. In the distance a resounding crash of sound indicated that War Machine as well was now out of the fight.

"On his back?" Wanda murmured anxiously. "Same person as took out Sam?"

"No, too far away… I'm betting it's a pair of someones," Rogers murmured back, scanning for the attack he knew to be impending.

"Pair of… I did not know they were in town."

"Neither did I, but I'm guessing that was Nat's surprise."

"Aw, you guessed it already, Cap," Natasha's voice broke in over their comm. "By the way, mission parameters have changed. You now have five minutes to reach the objective before it detonates."

"Detonates?" Rogers exclaimed. "Nat, you are an evil woman."

"Flatterer. Better get your ass moving."

Captain America sighed as he heard the approaching metallic footsteps. "Right, change of plans. Vision, break off and head directly for the objective. Wanda and I will tie down their forces here."

"On my way," Vision replied. He had just gotten within visual range when he veered off again to follow his orders.

"Do you think they'll be with this wave?" Wanda asked, flexing her fingers again anticipatorily.

"That'd be my guess," Rogers affirmed as the first of the robots rounded the corner and broke into a run. "Stay ready."

The new combat prototypes were indeed more advanced that the older ones. Those in the first rank were able to dodge his shield when he flung it, though it bounced off of the second rank, felling several of them. Rogers leapt into the air, catching it on the fly before launching himself into the fray.

Wanda was uncomfortably reminded of the battle in Sokovia those many months ago as she used her telekinetic powers to blast away at the attacking robots. They were significantly dissimilar, more human-like and less Ultron-like, which was likely by Stark's design, but still she felt a pang of loss as she remembered the last time she and her brother fought together. She had little time to reminisce, however, as she spied a small, dark figure sprinting up behind the attacking robots.

"Wanda," Rogers warned loudly.

"I see her," she replied, sending a blast outwards. Several robots were toppled but the figure slid in on its side, down below the force of the blast. She sent another wave of force out, deflecting the figure's course, though it seemed to have been at an angle in the first place. Now that they were closer, Wanda could confirm that the figure was indeed that of an athletically slim girl.

The black-clad girl bounced to the side from Wanda's defense and rolled right into Rogers, knocking him off of his feet.

Wanda bit back a curse, bringing her arm back to batter the girl away, but found herself suddenly flung onto her face from an impact to her back. She had the wind knocked out of her but she could feel the pressure of another figure straddling her back.

"Hi, Wanda!" Caitlin's voice chirped from behind before she jabbed the stunner into the woman's side. She jumped nimbly off, narrowly avoiding Rogers' flung shield, to land next to her sister.

"Hello, Captain Rogers," Rebecca's muffled voice came from the first figure as she crouched in a combat stance.

"Becca, Cat," Rogers sighed as he retrieved his shield.

"Surprise!" Caitlin grinned as she slipped her mask off, revealing a mess of curly brown hair.

He kept his shield defensively up and in front of him, not fooled in the least by their disarming attitude. "Nat call you two in?"

Rebecca slipped her own mask off, shaking out her long red hair which had been tied back into a simple ponytail. "Indeed. She felt you needed challenged."

"Consider me challenged." Rogers eyed the pair of unassuming girls as they circled him to face opposite sides.

Before they could make any further moves, Vision's voice came across the comm. "Captain, I am at the objective's location but it is no longer here."

"Oh, yeah, and we moved your target," Caitlin snickered. "Just to up the challenge."

"Really?" Rogers deadpanned.

"Tic toc, Captain," Rebecca smirked.

"Time's a-wastin'," Caitlin added with an identical smirk.

Captain America wasn't about to give up just yet. "Vision, scan the area, find it soon. How long?"

"Two minutes and thirty-seven seconds," Vision replied.

"Well, I'll keep our hosts occupied until then," Rogers sighed once more, settling himself into his own combat stance.

"Why, Cap, are you asking us to dance?" Caitlin giggled.

Before Rogers could issue a retort he felt more than saw or heard Rebecca launch herself forward. He brought his shield up and around to deflect the foot aimed at his head, swinging his arm around to block the kick that Caitlin had sent out a split second later. Soon he was dodging and blocking for all he was worth as he was rapidly attacked from both sides.

He dimly noted that their coordination had improved greatly. At times it was like they were reading each other's minds, or perhaps they were simply able to interpret each other's moves that quickly. Rebecca would attack high and Caitlin would do the same low, but when Rogers would go to block they would quickly change their attack angles in mid-strike to hit his unprotected flanks.

He could really use an extra set of arms right about now.

Eventually Rogers lost his shield as it was torn from his grasp by Caitlin. She tossed it behind her strongly enough that it flew perhaps thirty yards before rolling to a stop.

"Ready to give up yet?" Caitlin asked with a grin.

"Ain't… gonna… happen…" he panted in reply. "Vision? Status?"

He groaned slightly as he received no reply. The overhead lights came up, shining brightly to illuminate the carnage of metal corpses below.

"Time's up!" Natasha called out cheerfully via the overhead speakers.

"I'm guessing Vision ran into our other surprise," the brunette girl snickered as she walked around the beleaguered Captain America.

"Most likely," her redheaded sister said calmly as she linked her arm through Caitlin's. They walked off together around the corner, back towards the entrance.

Rogers shook his head, glancing down at the groaning form of Wanda. "What other surprise?" he wondered out loud.

Just then he heard additional footsteps from behind, and turned to see Hawkeye walk by in the same direction the Brown sisters had gone.

"Captain," he nodded to him in a friendly way as he passed. "Rhodey's gonna be awhile, his systems need to reboot still.

Chuckling despite himself, Captain America shook his head once more. "EMP arrow?" he called out to Clint's retreating back.

"I got all the toys," Clint replied merrily as he rounded the corner.

Perhaps a half hour later Rogers entered the debriefing lounge, freshly showered and his humor somewhat restored. The Avengers had decided to use the more comfortable settings after training exercises and missions to relax while going over what went wrong.

Today's session was going to be a long one.

As he walked into the room he noted that everyone else had already assembled. Wanda and Vision were sitting close together as usual, the brunette woman sprawled out on the couch and rubbing her sore side. Rhodes looked the freshest of the group, having sat out much of the fight inside an inoperative suit, while Barton, Natasha, and Caitlin sat around a small table and talked quietly.

Sam was sitting in a comfortable chair with Rebecca in his lap. She was carefully applying a bandage to his forehead which must have gotten banged up when he fell.

"I still can't believe you took me down," Sam was grumbling.

"If it were Caitlin, you would have been upset with her," Rebecca answered calmly, finishing up her work.

"So you think I wouldn't get mad with you?" he retorted irritably.

"That is correct." The petite redhead leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on the bandaged spot, the bright patch showing up starkly against his dark skin.

"Girl," he sighed, his irritation bleeding away. "You are so…"

"Adorkable!" Caitlin called out from across the room.

Rebecca shot her sister a glare, but Sam just chuckled. "Well, that goes without saying, but hell. I wouldn't want you any other way."

"Truly?" she asked quietly, her pale green eyes wide and shiny.

"You bet," Sam grinned, giving her a quick kiss.

"Then I am the most fortunate girl in the entire world to have met you," Rebecca sighed as she snuggled into his side.

Rogers cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the public display of affection. It seemed that he might be the only one in the room to feel that way, though. "Alright, folks, let's go over-"

He was interrupted by a voice over the facility's intercom. "Captain Rogers, Caitlin Brown, Rebecca Brown, please report to the Director's office immediately."

The sisters glanced at each other guiltily. "We didn't do anything this time, did we?" Caitlin gulped.

"No, not since we were reprimanded last," Rebecca replied as she gracefully rose to her feet. She was clad in her usual casual attire of jean shorts and a crop top, this one a brilliant royal blue color.

"Didn't think so," the brunette girl mused as she stood as well. She had on a pale green sundress, and like her sister was barefoot. As they weren't regular S.H.I.E.L.D. employees or Avengers, they tended to ignore most of the proprietaries when it came to anything resembling a dress code. "Still, did we keep our bags packed for a quick getaway?"

"That is our normal operating procedure when visiting here, yes," Rebecca affirmed.

Both girls paused at the door to glance over their shoulders. Two pairs of pale green eyes examined Rogers curiously.

"Coming, Cap?" Caitlin asked.

Captain America shook his head. He seemed to perform that action more and more when dealing with the two remarkable yet oftentimes frustratingly independent teenaged-seeming girls.

"Good luck, Steve!" Natasha called out humorously.

As he walked along behind the cheerfully chatting pair, he reflected on the short life they'd had so far. While they might pass for twins, were it not for their differing hair color and the smattering of freckles across Rebecca's face, Caitlin was actually the older by several years. She'd woken early, a lab-grown prototype model built for infiltration and combat, but she'd managed to quickly escape. And then about a year ago she'd returned to the same lab and ended up with a sister.

Rebecca had been built purely for combat, but she'd been damaged in the activation process so that the soul of the person used to power her was burned away. She and Caitlin had formed a bond, one that replaced her lost conscience and allowed them to be closer than many actual twins were able.

Rogers didn't understand it all, really. Natasha had tried to explain it at one point, but the scientific and psychological terminology went way over the head of a mostly uneducated kid from Brooklyn. It was enough to know these two girls were close family together. And that with all they'd been through, they deserved each other.

He smiled to himself as he overheard them bantering about which prank Fury might be upset about now.

"But the last one wasn't even us!" Caitlin protested in a hushed voice. "I mean, how would he have figured it out? Kitty was way too good at covering her tracks, he'd never have pinned the pirate-speak browser incident on us…"

"Wait, that was you girls?" Rogers spoke up humorously.

The brunette shot a guilty glance over her shoulder. "Oh, uh, hey Cap, forgot you were there for a minute. No, I mean, um, we just heard about it…"

"Caitlin," her sister interjected firmly. "We are busted."

"So busted," she agreed with a groan. "Um, you gonna tell Fury?"

Rogers considered it for only a second. "After all this time, I think maybe it'd be best to just let that one go."

Caitlin grinned. "Knew I liked you, Cap."

"Thank you, Captain," Rebecca added solemnly. "We shall try to be less… adventurous with our pranks."

"Meaning there's gonna be more?" he asked suspiciously.

"Well, yeah," the brunette giggled. "I mean, come on, it's us."

By that point they'd reached the door marked 'Director', and Rogers sighed slightly. It was still hard to face him and not feel a little bit of resentment for what he'd put him through. "Well, let's get this over with," he murmured, rapping on the door. The three of them entered when bid to do so.

Standing by the window and conversing quietly was a very mismatched pair of men. The taller one was dark-skinned, bald and imposing, with his trademark black leather trenchcoat and eyepatch. The shorter man was more unassuming, dressed in a neat but understated suit and with the beginnings of a receding hairline.

"Director Coulson," Rogers said evenly.

"Hi, Nick!" Caitlin broke in with a cheery wave. Rebecca sighed and rolled her eyes at her sister's incorrigible antics.

Fury chuckled lightly but the other man waved the three of them towards a set of three chairs facing the large desk. "Captain, ladies. Please, have a seat."

As they did so Fury turned to gaze out the window again while Coulson walked over to lean back on his desk with his arms crossed in front of him. "How have you been, Steve?" he asked gently.

"Good, sir. Yourself?" Rogers kept his face carefully neutral. Both Caitlin and Rebecca were glancing between the two men, trying to puzzle out Captain America's cool reaction to the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"It's been busy," Coulson sighed resignedly, giving up for now on trying to reach out to his one-time hero. "Busy enough that we're looking to expand a little once again."

"I hope you're keeping better control of who you let into the organization this time," Rogers retorted.

Caitlin sat up straighter at that. She was there to witness firsthand the betrayal when Hydra emerged from S.H.I.E.L.D. as the driving force of their policy, and she paid a very personal price for it. "Are you? Sir?" she whispered earnestly.

"We are, yes," Coulson affirmed. "In fact, we're keeping things small. Trying to recruit known, reliable assets who we can count on to perform independent actions and investigations. The world is still a dangerous place."

"It is at that," Rogers nodded. "I won't work for S.H.I.E.L.D. again, though."

"We know that, Cap," Fury spoke up for the first time, still gazing out the window. "You're not the one we're looking to recruit, just asking for your blessing, as it were."

"Then…" Rogers trailed off as he glanced over at the two girls sitting next to him. They had both come to the same conclusion and were looking at each other anxiously.

"I don't think…" Caitlin began hesitantly.

"Wait, please," Coulson interjected. "Just hear us out. You would both be S.H.I.E.L.D. agents but with unprecedented independence of action. We've learned that sometimes small teams can make a bigger impact, a bigger difference, than a large organization."

"And it comes with benefits," Fury continued as he turned to face them. "I understand your bank account from your last job with us is starting to run a little dry."

"We can still get by," Caitlin retorted.

Rebecca nodded firmly. "We do not require much besides each other."

"And that's not going to change with this job," Fury replied archly. "We'll give the both of you a salary, granted it's a bit more modest than your last one, but we can also give you another very important benefit."

Coulson nodded. "The job will include a small apartment, say with two bedrooms, in downtown New York City where you will be based out of."

Caitlin whirled towards her sister, her eyes sparkling. They stared at each other for almost a full minute, their expressions unchanging, until Rebecca finally smiled. "Very well," she murmured.

The brunette turned back excitedly. "So, what exactly would you want us to be doing?"

New York City

Hell's Kitchen

Caitlin sauntered down the sidewalk in the waning sunlight of the cool spring day. Her sister Rebecca was at her side, pale hands tucked into the pockets of her jean shorts.

"When did they say we could see our new place?' the brunette asked idly.

"This evening, according to Director Coulson," Rebecca replied evenly.

/You need to collect your belongings from upstate, as well as the Xavier school./

"Ooh, hey, Chris makes a good point. We've got stuff in two places now that we can bring together."

"This is true. We will also require furniture."

"I think we've got enough left to buy some things. Maybe a bookcase, a bed…"

"A bookcase would be nice. I have many books now."

"Hmm, maybe we need more than just one then…"

They paused as they arrived at their destination, a rather run-down looking pawn shop.

"Well," Caitlin mused. "At least it's not a bar."

"That is fortunate," Rebecca agreed. "And it reminds me, I still must extract payment from you for your foolishness the last time."

"What, it was funny!" the brunette girl protested. "You know I wouldn't have really lost that arm-wrestling match!"

"You did not need to wager myself," her redheaded sister huffed irritably.

"Oh, come on, he was kinda cute, right? For a guy?"

Rebecca levelled her with an unamused look.

"Okay, fine... " Caitlin grumbled as she mounted the steps in front of the shop. "Not like I ever told Sam about it…"

"Caitlin Brown, if you so much as breathe a word of that incident to my boyfriend-"

Rebecca's tirade was cut short by a friendly greeting from behind the caged-off back half of the pawn shop as the brunette girl opened the door. "Why, hello there, young missys! What can I do fer ya?"

"Hi!" Caitlin replied cheerfully, shooting her sister an amused glance. "So, we're just looking for some information, actually, about something you bought?"

Rebecca let out a resigned and inelegant snort through her nose and turned to peruse the contents of the store curiously. The shelves behind the mesh cage were lined with an odd assortment of items, everything from old televisions to toasters to a few guitars. She did spy a shelf full of books, some of them rather old-looking much to her excitement.

"I would also like to peruse your book collection," she announced without turning around.

"Um, yeah, sure thing missy, lemme come 'round there and pull 'em down fer ya…"

"Really?" Caitlin queried as the rather corpulent man huffed and sweated his way around stacks of old magazines and boxes filled with strange items. "You're shopping for books while we're on a mission?"

"I will require more books to fill our two bookshelves," the redhead replied primly.

"That we don't have yet."

"Which we shall be purchasing," Rebecca corrected.

Caitlin gently banged her head several times against the protective cage. "Okay. Fine. So, if we get two really big bookshelves, all for you, and fill them to the brim, will that repay you for the arm-wrestling incident?"

"I believe it shall, yes."

"You drive a hard bargain, Becca."

"Would you prefer payment extracted in the form of a prank?"

"No, no," the brunette hurriedly backpedaled. "You get vicious with your pranks. I'm good."

"Yes, I thought as much," Rebecca said smugly as she looked over the pile of books the proprietor placed on the counter. "Oh, several of these would be lovely. These are what are called 'classics', yes?"

"That's right, some of 'em were required readin' back in my day," the man sighed fondly as he ran his hand over the dusty covers. "Arabian Nights here was one of my favorites. And this one? Yeah, Moby Dick is one grand ole tale."

Rebecca nodded decisively. "I shall take all of them."

"All of 'em?" he repeated greedily.

"All of them?" Caitlin asked incredulously.

"That is correct. All of them." Rebecca looked into the merchant's eyes. "And we will require information as well, as we indicated earlier."

"Well, alrighty then, lemme bag these up and you can tell me what it is yer lookin' fer."

Caitlin pulled a folded picture out of her pocket. "This. You bought it from a man two nights ago. We just want to know who he was."

The man blinked down at the paper as he gently placed the books into a paper bag. "Hmm, yeah, I remember that little item… Looked pretty strange, he said it was some sorta family heirloom."

"It was actually stolen," Rebecca said softly as she sidled over. "Quite possibly dangerous."

"Really?" He shook his head. "Well, that figures. I dunno if I should tell you two, I mean you seem like nice kids and all, but I got a reputation to protect, you know…"

"Anything at all you could tell us would be of tremendous help," Rebecca pleaded, her eyes wide and imploring.

"Oh… fine, okay, I can tell you one thing, but you ain't heard it from me none, got it? So, I dunno his actual name, but he wuz in here wearin' the work shirt from Al's Garage a few streets over, name tag said 'Skeeter'. From the oil on his hands, I 'spect he's a grease monkey over there."

Rebecca blinked her eyes uncertainly. "A… grease monkey?"

"He means mechanic," Caitlin murmured.

"Oh! I see." Rebecca smiled brightly at the man, the wattage turned up high enough to blind. "Thank you so much for your assistance."

Fifteen minutes later they were headed down the street again, the redheaded girl happily toting along a bag filled with dusty old books.

"You are such a nerd," Caitlin chuckled, looking down at the bag.

"I do not comment on your hobbies," Rebecca stated loftily. "Do not make fun of mine."

"I'm not making fun, Becca, and really, I mean it in a very affectionate way," Caitlin replied gently.

"Well then, that is acceptable," Rebecca smiled. "I do enjoy books," she added somewhat shyly.

"And I think you being a kickass bookworm is all sorts of awesome," Caitlin laughed.

"And when we find this Skeeter person, will we be kicking his ass?"

"Only if he won't talk," the brunette replied genially.

"Then I hope he is recalcitrant," the redhead smiled. "I did not get to spend enough time with Sam, and I wish to expend some energy."

"That's my sister," Caitlin giggled, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her in close as they walked. "Burning off unwanted horniness with combat."

"I am not… 'horny'."

"Oh, you are so."

"I did not make any implication of that sort."

"Your blush says otherwise."

"You are annoying."

"Yep, true enough."

By that point they had arrived at the garage. It was in the process of closing up, but there was still plenty of activity inside the brightly lit pair of mechanic's bays.

"Shall we?" Caitlin asked politely.

"Yes, we shall," Rebecca replied agreeably, setting her bag of books down outside the entrance..

The pair strode through the doors confidently. It didn't take long for them to be noticed.

"Hey, you kids!" shouted an older man, likely the owner as the name tag on his overalls read as 'Al'. "You can't be in here!"

"Won't be long," Caitlin assured him. "We're just looking for Skeeter. He around?"

There was a clatter towards the rear of the shop, and a door there swung gently in the breeze.

"Well, that answers my question," she grinned while turning to her sister. "Would you like the chase or the flank?"

"I shall chase," Rebecca replied smoothly. "You usually take that option."

"Well, I am a predator at heart."

"Yes, but I would like to experience it."

"Oh, fine, go right on ahead."

"Thank you," she said politely before sprinting through the shop and past the rear door.

The redheaded girl froze once outside, her senses straining. She didn't have her sister's olfactory tracking ability and had to rely on her enhanced hearing. Fortunately, Skeeter was making plenty of racket in his escape across the junkyard behind the auto shop.

With a tight grin Rebecca shot off again, nimbly leaping over various pieces of rusting metal as she closed the fleeing man's lead. Before he could leave the yard she was within sight of him.

"You cannot escape," the petite redheaded girl called out. She thought it was likely both trite and melodramatic, but criminals often responded to such phrases.

The man whirled, a gun in his hand, and sent a hurried shot in her direction.

Well, I suppose they do not always respond in a positive fashion.

She dodged the first shot, but felt the second one burn across her upper arm as he found his range. Briefly Rebecca considered flinging one of the many knives she kept concealed about her person, but didn't want to risk leaving him in a state unable to talk. So instead she flew at him, her lips pulled back in a snarl, as the third bullet entered her left shoulder. She put her head down and rammed her right shoulder into his stomach, sending him sprawling and his firearm clattering off into the dark.

Rebecca panted lightly as she stood. The man's eyes widened as he saw the wound on her arm stop bleeding and close up, and then again as she held her hand out in front of her shoulder to catch the bullet when it was pushed out of her body as it healed as well. She held the bloody bullet up in front of her between her thumb and forefinger, regarding it almost curiously, before turning her pale green gaze on the man prone at her feet.

"Who… what the fuck are you?" he sputtered.

"The last people you want to mess with," Caitlin commented lightly as she walked around the corner, the bag of books in her hand. "You ready to give us some answers, or does my sister need to beat it out of you?"

Rebecca tossed the bullet nonchalantly onto Skeeter's chest. "I would not mind terribly if you were to refuse," she practically purred.

"No, no, I'll talk, it's about the item, right?" Skeeter was trembling, sweat beading on his forehead and upper lip. "Look, you're just like the other, ain'tcha? Did the boss send you? I'm sorry, okay? I just got greedy, I was stupid, I shouldn't have taken the one, but it was gold and I thought-"

His rambling confession was cut short by the sharp crack of a rifle's report. A bloody hole sprouted on his forehead, centered directly between his eyes, and he collapsed soundlessly backwards.

Both girls leapt back and into the shadows, seeking immediate cover.

"See anything?" Caitlin whispered.

"I do not," Rebecca murmured. "Do you believe they are still observing us?"

"You wanna gamble on that?" The brunette shook her head. "Let's get out of here, okay?"

As the pair of girls raced through the closing twilight darkness and out of the junkyard, they could hear the distant sound of sirens in the distance.

"Well, our first new mission was a bust," Caitlin grumbled as they ran, the bag of books clutched to her chest.

"Not necessarily," Rebecca disagreed. "We know that this was an organized crime. There are more objects. And one more item of note."

"Yeah," the brunette grunted. "He said, 'just like the other'. Must be another model out there."

"That is safe to assume. Should we include this information in our report?"

"No, not just yet." The girls paused, several blocks away, to catch their breath. "I think we should sit on this for awhile," Caitlin continued. "See what else we can uncover."

"You have further leads?"

"Not yet," the brunette answered her sister grimly. "But we will."

A/N: Welcome back! I hope if you're reached this point you've read, at the bare minimum, Unchained. There are several other short stories and another full story associated with my OCs in the MCU, and this tale will make a whole lot more sense if you do read them.

So, this will be a prequel story to a longer one I will be writing. Whereas this one is set inside the Avengers movie category, the main one (simply called Unraveled) will be in the X-Men movie category. All will be made clear soon enough… I have almost a dozen chapters planned out for this story, it will be in a chapter format like Unbound was, though the main story will return to the standalone episodic format that was seen with Unchained. It's going to follow a larger storyline as it goes, however. Should be fun. We'll see, anyways.

I've been away from writing fanfic for a spell, working on my larger piece of fiction that's hosted over on FanFiction dot net's sister site, FictionPress dot com (same author name). It's loosely described as a Paranormal Supernatural Lesbian Fiction. But yeah, I'm kinda hopping between the two right now.

Much appreciation for reading, and I hope you can follow both the story and myself as an author to get updates. Much love to my faithful Beta, KellyConnely, and also to those of you who pop a favorite on here. Please do drop a review if you have the time and let me know what you think!

Stay shiny!