Joe's Note: This was the other half of the original Redback posting from Fic-a-Day. Like Chapter 1, this has been expanded a bit as part of splitting the story and inserting the intermediate chapter. Mostly to accommodate a newly introduced character, but there are other changes scattered here and there to accommodate the changes that will be introduced in the midquel chapter, along with the events of the sequel chapters that follow.
Dedications & Thanks: To Alexander, Nicholas, MJ, Judedeath, James, Ken, Thyatira, Daniel, Vi9, William, Koby, Wil, Thomas, Christopher, Juan, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.

"Thank you for your cooperation, officer. We'll be right out."

Well this just sucked. And not just because she was being forced to wear a dress that - while being her favorite shade of purple - did absolutely nothing for her figure. That was an occupational hazard when you were part of a bridal party: nobody was allowed to look better than the bride, especially not the maid of honor. Kate Bishop scowled as she watched the armed gunmen who had taken her sister's wedding hostage gather their varied loot. "Seriously? The cops are letting them walk away?"

Inching a bit to her left so she was better hidden behind Kate, her sister Susan groaned. "Yes, Kate. This way we get to walk away too."

"That's ridiculous." Kate's scowl grew as she looked over at the nearest of the gunmen. Despite being well dressed - and armed - it was obvious that he was in decent but not exceptional shape. Especially when she compared him and his friends to her current self-defense instructors… "We can take these guys. I mean, there's something like two hundred of us and only five of them."

Behind her, Susan sucked in a breath as the gunman pulled his weapon from its underarm holster and pointed it at Kate's head. "Yes, sweetie, but all five of us have guns."

Before Kate could offer a rebuttal, a thunderous crack echoed through St. Patrick's Cathedral and the skull of the gunman with chin-length blond hair simply… disappeared. "Actually, there are only four of you with guns. And mine's bigger." The barrel of a massive rifle emerged from the shadows that cloaked the Lady Chapel behind the high altar, followed by a teenage redhead in a glossy black and red catsuit. She had bright blue eyes ringed heavily with mascara, wavy red hair that was pulled back into a ponytail with the sides shaved down to a soft fuzz, and if she was old enough to legally work in the state of New York, Kate would eat her heels. After sending a pointed look down at her gun, the redhead offered a smirk and some advice in her soft, Scottish brogue. "Your move. But before you think about going for human shields, I want to point out that I can shoot you through them and saving only a hundred and ninety-six people is still a ninety-eight percent success rate. And that's pretty damn good in my book."

The gunmen trained their weapons on the slowly advancing newcomer even as they exchanged uncertain looks. Finally, the one who had threatened Kate cocked his gun and let out a bark of laughter. "You're bluffing."

"Are you sure about that?" The redhead ascended the two steps to the high altar before pausing, raising her gun so the butt was pressed against her right shoulder. Pulling the trigger, she transformed another gunman's chest from an outie to an innie before smoothly pivoting and destroying the shoulder of a third gunman. What was left of his arm dropped to the floor with his gun still gripped tightly in his hand, and the girl raised an eyebrow as she peered over the top of the scope. "Do you want to take that chance?"

Kate glanced to her left, smirking as one of the remaining gunmen bent down and placed his pistol on the floor before kicking it away as he raised his hands high. That just left the one closest to Kate… who barely managed to make it half a step closer to her before being caught in the side by a bolt of brilliant blue electricity. "Ah!"

Swinging the gun up to rest casually on her shoulder, the girl swaggered over to watch as the man hit the floor, twitching and jerking wildly. "Black catsuit with a red hourglass on the front. Red hair. Big gun. Willingness to use it. Did you seriously think I'd put this much work into a Black Widow imitation and not go the whole nine yards?" Pivoting, she sent the gunman who'd surrendered crashing to the floor with another blast of electricity before turning back to Kate. She offered the taller brunette a smile… that Kate promptly wiped off her savior's face with a blistering slap. "Ow! What the… holy… what is wrong with you? I just saved you and your family!"

"After giving them the idea of taking human shields! God! If you'd been any slower with your zapper, he would have grabbed me and I might have ended up the one missing in your 'one ninety-nine out of two hundred isn't bad' math." Kate shrugged off Susan's hands as she stalked forward, poking the girl in the chest. "So excuse me if I think that being the one missing would really, really suck. That being said?" Bringing both hands up, Kate grabbed the girl's head and pulled her in for a kiss. After silently counting to three - it was the thoroughly stereotypical reward from a damsel to her hero, not the opening salvo of a heated make out session - Kate pulled back. "Thanks."

The redhead grinned goofily, reaching up to touch her lips, but a bright flash of yellowish-green light interrupted her before she could reply. Kate's eyes widened as a glowing ring of light appeared on the floor two steps behind the redhead and a bit to her right. It slowly rose into the air, revealing what appeared to be a person as it ascended toward he ceiling. First came knee-high black leather boots with white spats, followed by thigh-high green silk stockings with repeating gold embroidered circles up their faces, and then a thin strip of bare thigh. Going purely by the legs, Kate was willing to guess the new arrival was a woman, which was only reinforced as the ring continued upward to reveal a gold leather corset cinched around an emerald keyhole minidress with long, lighter green sleeves that left the woman's shoulders bare. Finally came a gorgeous, upturned face topped with golden blonde hair that was held back away from her eyes by a light green headband decorated by odd, fin-like protrusions. A foot after it cleared the woman's head, the yellowish-green ring fizzled out of existence and the new arrival sighed before relaxing and opening her eyes. "I do so hope you brought enough to share with the entire class, Katherine."

"Enough of what?" Just when Kate thought she couldn't get any more surprised by the situation, the blonde stepped forward and wrapped her arm around the redhead's waist, leaning in to rest her head on the taller girl's shoulder. Winking, she blew a kiss at Kate… who proceeded to blush as red as her savior's hair. "Oh! The two of you are-"

"Mmm. Although if you were to kiss me as well, then perhaps I could forgive her for cheating on me and-" The blonde scowled at the sound of breaking glass, and Kate whirled around to watch as the shattered remains of the massive rose window at the rear of the cathedral rained downward. "Hold that thought, would you?"

The destroyed window allowed the strangest quartet Kate had ever seen to enter the cathedral, floating forward through the air until they came in for a landing between the two rows of pews in the cathedral's transept. They stood there staring up at the wedding party - or, more likely, its newest additions - in mute disbelief. Stepping up beside Kate on her right, the redhead leaned in toward her. "Wanna be a participant instead of a spectator?" Kate let out a vaguely agreeable noise and the girl chuckled. "Your right hand, my left thigh. Grab and pull. Three… two… one… now."

As the girl surged forward, Kate followed the instructions she'd been given and wrapped her hand around… the grip of a pistol? Then again, what else would a faux-Widow carry in terms of extra weapons? It slipped smoothly from the redhead's thigh holster, and Kate raised it in a two-handed grip as she gave chase. Proper threat evaluation was a skill that had been drilled into her by every instructor she'd worked with, and she quickly drew a bead on the boy in a modified version of Bucky's costume. Even with a shield, he seemed to be closer to her league than the big green boy, the armored boy, or the godling. "Hands where we can see them."

"What?" The boys exchanged wide-eyed looks before turning back to her. Taking a step forward, the green boy held his hands up in surrender. "You do know we're here to save you, right?"

Shrugging her shoulder, the redhead let her rifle swing through the air before dropping into a ready position, peering through the scope. "Yeah, well, next time you might want to show up while people still need saving. And without destroying a priceless masterpiece."

Behind Hulk-Boy, Iron Teen crossed his arms over his chest and huffed loudly. "I told you not to go through that window, Hulkling. This is why you don't listen to Patriot."

"Hey hey hey. I didn't tell him to bust out the window." Patriot - which was a decent enough name for the not-Bucky in Kate's opinion, and definitely better than 'Hulkling' for the green boy - took a step to his left, putting some distance between him and Hulkling. "I suggested it. He didn't have to listen to my suggestion."

Breaking away from the others, the teenage Thor began wandering down the aisle toward the back of the cathedral. "I wonder if I can use my powers to put everything back together? I mean, I've done stranger…" His musings were cut short as the blonde slipped past Kate, closing the distance between them until she invaded his personal space. Grabbing Thor Boy by the chin, she leaned in and peered into his eyes. "Uh, hi?"

The blonde reached up, gently caressing Thor Boy's face. "Given your powers, I'm surprised that you didn't choose to pattern yourself after me."

"Well, Amora… I'm guessing you're the real Amora and not someone like us based on what you said?" Thor Boy waited for the now-named Amora to nod before continuing. "There are two problems with that idea. One: you're a villain. Were a villain. Not quite sure which. Either way, you don't really fit with the motif we're going for. And two: you're a girl. I'm not."

"I am also an Asgardian, whereas you are not." Amora gave Thor Boy a pat on the cheek before turning and walking away. "One of those is within your powers to correct, should you so choose. At that point, though, I would recommend patterning yourself after your mother if you're worried about adhering to an Avengers motif…"

Thor Boy took a step forward, his mouth opening… and then froze. He stared after Amora in disbelief, jaw working soundlessly for a few seconds, and then finally managed to string together something coherent. "Wait what? Are you sure I am who you think I am? Because my mother is a psychologist, not an Avenger."

Retaking her spot beside the still nameless redhead, Amora let out a throaty laugh. "The question you should really be asking yourself, Midgardian, isn't if you are who I think you are. It's if you are who you think you are."

As Thor Boy's expression shifted from confused to contemplative, Iron Teen took a step forward and offered Kate's companion his hand. "Listen, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Iron Lad, and my friends are Asgardian, Hulkling, and Patriot. We're… well, the papers are calling us the Young Avengers. Not sure if we're going to change that, or who we'd have to talk to if we wanted to."

"Redback. Amora's already introduced herself. And…" Lowering her rifle, Redback reached out to take Iron Lad's hand, only to freeze with her hand halfway to his. "Katherine. Three feet to the bride's right, six inches higher than her shoulder. Fire." Kate didn't even hesitate, spinning around and firing a single round that passed between her sister and one of the bridesmaids before burying itself in the shoulder of the gunman who'd threatened her. He cried out before collapsing back to the floor and Redback let out a low whistle. "…definitely team material, don't you think, Amora?"