Takes place during 2x17 "The Frenemy of My Enemy", and vaguely references 2x18 and Age of Ultron. (No spoilers though, I promise!)

Bobbi sighed as she walked down the hall in the Playground. The meeting she and May had had with Gonzales and Weaver had not gone well, not in the slightest. She knew when May told her the toolbox was a fake, Simmons confirming it, that their "superiors" (even though they were meant to be on the same level) were not going to be happy, but she hadn't expected their backlash. The tail they put on Fitz had definitely lost him to Coulson, Peterson, and Hunter, but they had assumed he was without any tech that could cause a problem.

Of course, they were wrong. Fitz had taken the toolbox, and even though Simmons had known and been covering for him, the girl's inability to lie, at least about something so important, had been the downfall of that particular plan. If only the men following him had been competent agents and managed to take him in, they could have gotten the cube back and it wouldn't have been a problem. Gonzales and Weaver wouldn't be practically breathing fire that she and May had to take the brunt of, and they'd finally be able to figure out what Coulson's goal was – with Theta Protocol, with SHIELD…

Shaking her head, Bobbi pushed the thoughts out of her mind. She rolled her pleasantly achy shoulders that were starting to get sore from her spar with Mack (god, it was great to do something again), and paused as she heard a voice that drifted into the hallway from the lab.

"You do realize that it was my plan to switch the box, not Fitz's?"

Simmons. Of course she'd gone behind their backs. She hadn't expected Fitz had done it all on his lonesome, and she'd heard plenty of stories about FitzSimmons' unmatchable talent as a team, before HYDRA, but she'd never seen them work together in that way. Until Fitz had escaped at least, as it seemed. Bobbi peeked in the window. Simmons and May. And neither of them looked happy.

May said something incomprehensible, and Simmons continued, "I mean, Fitz carried the plan out to perfection, but I handed him the schematics."

So Simmons had been at the root of the plan. Bobbi had thought that all the scanning the cube had been to discover how to open it, which hadn't been wrong she supposed, but it also seemed to have given them a way to create an exceptional replica in a small period of time.

"I don't care whose plan it was," May said quietly, though loud enough for Bobbi to hear, even as she pulled away from the window when Simmons stood up suddenly.

She wouldn't bring the information to Gonzales – there was no use locking Simmons up like a prisoner, especially when it was all said and done with and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Unfortunately, May and Simmons didn't know that, and would be suspicious.

"You threw Fitz to the wolves!" Simmons yelled.

"To protect you!" May countered, apparently cutting off whatever Simmons was going to say. "They raided the base for that box. You're lucky you're not in a cell right now."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing," Simmons countered, with a small intake of breath. "You're on their side!"

Bobbi almost scoffed. If only Simmons knew just how the "sides" had changed in the last forty-eight hours. It wasn't about whose SHIELD you allied with, but more about whether or not Coulson could be trusted. He might not be the enemy, but he was an unknown variable. And if they were fighting HYDRA, as they should've been doing all along instead of having a "family feud", they needed to know everyone's motives, pure and simple.

"It's not about sides, it's about the truth," May said, letting some exasperation leak through her voice, and echoing Bobbi's own feelings on the subject. "Coulson left us with a mountain of lies and the only way to understand his reasoning was inside that box."

"Honestly, I don't care what's in it," Simmons said, a much more even tone in her voice. "All I know is that Coulson was trying to protect Skye."

"That might be so," May said with a soft sigh. "Get back to work, Agent Simmons. Inform me of any progress you make."

"Yes, Agent May."

Footsteps came toward the door and Bobbi slunk back to hide behind a column that stuck out of the wall, into the shadows so May didn't see her. The woman breezed past, head down and more preoccupied in her thoughts than Bobbi had ever seen her. Once she had passed and turned the corner at the end of the hall Bobbi looked into the room and only saw Simmons, who was staring blankly at her computer screen, fingers motionless on the keyboard. Bobbi considered offering support to the younger scientist, but it was pretty obvious that was not going to be taken well. Simmons still held a grudge against Bobbi and Mack for them being undercover for so long, and Bobbi wasn't stupid enough to think she would be forgiving them at any point in the near future.

Bobbi kept walking, not sure of where she was going.

May had called them together for a meeting – Mack, Simmons, and Bobbi – to discuss their next plan of action. Simmons hadn't had any more luck breaking through the coded Deathlok technology, and they had no leads on where Coulson could be.

"I say we sit tight and bide our time," Bobbi said, after a few moments of silence. "Coulson's not one to linger in the shadows and hide – he'll be out there doing something sooner or later."

"The only problem is-"

May's comment was cut off by the phone on her desk ringing, and the four in the room shared curious looks. If it was Gonzales he would have video-messaged them through the Playground's systems, and the same with Weaver. Could it really be Coulson calling in?

May answered the call, putting it on speaker so they could all hear. "Hello," she said evenly.

"May, it's Skye. I need to talk to Coulson."

Bobbi's eyes widened. She certainly hadn't been expecting the younger agent to be the one on the phone. She had fallen off the map since being taken away by the other Gifted, and Gonzales hadn't been too concerned about tracking her down. And yet, Bobbi was still partially glad Gonzales wasn't looking for her. Bobbi recalled his feelings against powered people and Skye in particular, as he'd expressed. No, they didn't need to deal with Gonzales.

"Skye, where are you? Are you alright?" May asked, and Bobbi could sense the conflicting emotions in the usually stoic agent.

"Yeah, but I don't have much time. Where's Coulson?"

Bobbi felt a rush of cold run through her veins as she realized Skye didn't know about Mack and Gonzales' SHIELD. All Skye knew was that Bobbi and some other agents had come to take her away using force. She didn't know that Coulson had fled, nor anything involving Hunter or Fitz, or the controversy about Theta Protocol. Bobbi wondered what Skye's feelings were toward her. Had Skye realized Bobbi was trying to protect her, at least to an extent, before Calderon got violent?

"He's… out. Looking for you," May lied, only hesitating slightly. The older agent nodded to Simmons, who picked up a tablet and began tracking the call. "Where have you been"

"I'm with Cal, but I won't be for long," Skye said, sounding rushed. "And when I leave him he's gonna be pissed. Okay? Dangerous. SHIELD needs to come get him and make sure he doesn't hurt anyone."

Was that Cal as in her insane, psycho, father Cal? Bobbi wondered. What was Skye doing with him?

"Wai- Skye, slow down," May said, trying to get the younger agent to stay on the phone long enough for Simmons to track the signal.

"Okay, there's no time to explain," Skye interrupted. Bobbi shared a look with Mack at that. The way she was talking – it sounded like someone was after her, or at the very least that she wasn't allowed to contact them. "Please, it's just too complicated, just- don't hurt him."

Bobbi remembered the last time Skye had confronted Cal, on the field in Wisconsin. She hadn't seemed too upset about him getting hurt then. What had changed in three days' time?

"Skye, where are you?" May asked, almost shouting into the speaker phone. "Skye!"

"I got neapolitan and vanilla. Which would you like?"

"Uh, you pick."

May looked up at Simmons, who nodded, checking the tablet. "She left the line open for us. We'll have the location in a minute," the scientist said.

"She doesn't sound like a hostage," Mack remarked.

Bobbi nodded, eyes narrowing. "More like she's playing along."

She caught May's eye and quickly volunteered to do what she knew the senior agent was planning. "Mack and I can take a team, go get them."

It would be a chance to go out in the field, to hopefully show Gonzales and May she could be trusted. Bobbi was pretty sure the woman understood Bobbi's own reasoning, but Bobbi had come in and infiltrated them. The Mockingbird only wanted a chance to prove herself. She was more useful as a field agent anyway. Which meant she was grateful and relieved to hear May's affirmation.

"Do it."

Milwaukee. Well, Cal certainly had a thing for Wisconsin She and Mack walked through the building, the other agents sweeping the lower levels, though there were obvious signs of a fight all over the building. Bobbi could only be grateful she hadn't seen any familiar bodies lying around. She'd had enough of that when HYDRA had come out into the open. Guns drawn, the two of them were scoping out the halls, but there didn't seem to be anybody around.

If only they had gotten there sooner, but once they had tracked Skye's call, gathered a team, and flown to Wisconsin they had to ask the locals for disturbances, trying to pinpoint where Skye and Cal had gone. The police had set up a perimeter at the front of the building to keep the public out, but Bobbi, Mack, and two other field agents had snuck in a back window and had managed to find… absolutely nothing, apart from plenty of bullets on the ground and a few bodies and blood stains littering the floors.

Bobbi examined some of the bullets, rolling the familiar shapes around between her fingers. "Standard HYDRA issue," she informed Mack, trying to keep her voice even. She did not want to think about how she knew that. "I'd say we missed them by less than an hour."

"Hell of a fight though," Mack commented, stowing his gun and glancing down the hallway on both sides of them. "Looks like everyone cleared out."

"Not everyone," said a very familiar voice from down a side corridor. Bobbi and Mack exchanged glances, and they drew their guns as they approached a solitary room at the end of the hall. With Coulson's motives still unclear, he could be setting a trap for all they knew.

But when they entered the room, all they found was a dusty office, with Coulson sitting in the chair, playing with a hula doll.

"I doubled back after HYDRA took off," he said idly. "Their clean-up crew really sucks, doesn't it?"

If it hadn't looked like a practical war zone in the building, Bobbi would have laughed. "What the hell happened here, Coulson?" she asked, gesturing around them. How could Coulson be so calm when it seemed like he had been part of the conflict. They knew Skye and Cal had been there, but HYDRA had somehow gotten on their tail, and then Coulson? Something wasn't adding up.

"I'll tell you all about it back at the base," he assured them, setting the hula girl back on the desk and standing up, raising his hands in surrender. "Take me to your leader," the man said with a smile on his face, his hands raised in surrender.

If Bobbi hadn't been so concerned about what his surrender meant after he'd run and hidden Fury's toolbox from them, she would have rolled her eyes.

They'd had to wait around for another hour for Gonzales to bring the Bus, since he hadn't wanted to take any chances with Coulson, and then they had gone back on their way to Playground. Most of their team had found space to relax in the kitchen and lounge area, but Bobbi had commandeered the lab for herself, locking the doors so no one else could get in. Clint had called her during the hour they'd sat around waiting, and she hadn't been able to answer. Bobbi only hoped he wasn't in trouble.

He picked up on the second ring.

"Bobbi, are you alright?" Clint asked immediately.

"That's what I called to ask you," Bobbi said. "You're never the one to call me. Are you alright? Did something happen?"

"You're the one who wouldn't pick up her phone," Clint commented dryly.

"I was in the middle of something!"

"You're still the one who didn't answer," was his only response. "I just wanted to give you an update."

"What sort of update?" Bobbi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A life update, little bird," Clint said with a chuckle. "Stark's called Nat and I in for a mission. Apparently Rogers is coming in too."

"Mission?" Bobbi asked, not liking the familiar term. If SHIELD was currently having a minor civil war, where were they getting the mission from? What was the mission that needed all of the Avengers?

"You know Maria Hill's working for the big man, right?"

"Yeah. She went to him because he had money on his side and was a familiar face. With Fury dead she had to go somewhere."

There was a small, but noticeable pause on Clint's end of the line before he continued. "So, anyway, Hill apparently got word of some HYDRA bases in Western Europe and Nat scoped them out. She got made contact with some ground units and the bases are legitimate. Stark called us all up, and we're assembling tomorrow in New York."

Oh. That was almost worse than what she had imagined. She had not expected he would be going after HYDRA bases. Bobbi supposed it was good that someone was going after HYDRA, but that didn't mean she wanted her big brother going out there, regardless of how good a fighter he was, or who he was with. She could remember the corpses of her friends, the way they looked after being more or less massacred by HYDRA coming out into the open.

"Bobbi, you still there?"

She jumped at his voice and wiped away the moisture that had appeared in her eyes. Nothing had happened yet. He was alive and well and talking to her.

"I'm here. I'm fine," she assured him quickly, though she cursed the waver in her voice.

"Are you alright, Bobs?" Clint asked, having heard the tremor. "Is something wrong? What were you busy with earlier? Do you need help? I can make a detour to wherever-"

"I'm fine, Clint," Bobbi stated, an edge forming in her voice as she leaned back on the holotable, dragging her thoughts back together. "It's just been a rough day."

There was a sigh and a silence that had and strong sense of disapproval about it hung in the air between them. It was like they were both trying to be the older sibling, even though Clint was the elder by a few years.

"You sure?" he asked, and she felt tears burn her eyes again at the amount of concern in his voice. Damn, she really needed to hit something.

"I'm fine," she repeated, her voice steady and her tone sure. "You're the one who's going into battle with HYDRA."

"Like you haven't done it before."

"There were a lot more of us." And she, Mack, and Izzy hadn't been up against whole bases of HYDRA soldiers, but infiltrators who had pretended to be SHIELD, who were fine with the whole capture-not-kill business. Bobbi had a feeling any base the Avengers attacked wouldn't have the same mentality

"But we're 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' and all that jazz. Trust me, we've got HYDRA covered."

"Good to know," Bobbi said dryly. She bit her lip, hesitating. "Don't die out there, alright?"

Clint knew what the phrase meant to her and he was silent for a good few seconds before he replied. "I'm not planning on doing that anytime soon, don't you worry, little bird. And don't forget, Natasha's coming with me – she'll keep me from getting mortally wounded."

"I'm sure she'll try," Bobbi said, standing up and taking a deep breath. "But just so you know, if you come back in a body bag I'm going to find a time machine and go back in time so I can kill you myself."

"You'd be in line behind Nat," Clint joked.

"I'm sure I would be," Bobbi answered, though there was a distinct lack of cheer in her words. He didn't blame her, he would feel the same if he knew that she was going on a potentially lethal mission. According to Tony, Hill had been researching potential HYDRA bases with the help of an unknown asset, and that's how they'd gotten the information. According to Natasha and her own prying/hacking work however, the situation was a bit more complicated than that. And if she was right… He's have some words for both of the men involved.

"As long as it's a quick and painless death, I guess I wouldn't mind too much."

"Don't bet on it, Big Bird. If I'm going to come back and kill you, it's going to be brutal and you're going to feel every damn second of it."

"Looking forward to that," Clint murmured, glancing out the window of the farmhouse at the clouds drifting lazily past in the blue sky. Nat would be coming by to pick him up in a couple of hours, when the sun started to set, but he'd already been methodically folding and unfolding his bow, checking the tension of the string and each of his arrows individually for a couple of hours.

"You'd better not," Bobbi retorted.

"You want to call Nat, get her in on the plan?" he asked, leaning back on the couch in the living room. "You could brainstorm creative ways of killing me together."

"I might just do that," Bobbi said. Clint was glad to hear a smile in her voice, and considered that a success. He grinned to himself and stretched his feet out on the coffee table. He could tell Bobbi was hiding something from him, and knowing Bobbi it was probably something important, but he didn't want to push her. He knew she would let him in when it got too much – he'd had experience with that in the past – but he almost wished it would take a shorter amount of time for her to crack. He was worried.

"Have you got any plans this week? Anything exciting happening?"

"Sounds like you don't want to talk about your impending doom."

"I thought we established I was gonna try not to die!"

"'Try' being the operative word," Bobbi shot back. "Knowing you, it's not going to matter though. You're always accident-prone. Remember Chimolo?"

"You mean Mozambique?" Clint asked, astounded. "We agreed never to speak of that again!"

"Really? I don't remember that agreement," Bobbi said, chuckling a little. "But I distinctly remember you tripping on a rooftop and falling head over heels into-"

"Bobbi-"

"-a stall of bananas, after which you tried to talk your way out of it, but I was the only one on the mission who knew Swahili besides our undercover man."

"I had to pay for all of those bananas! It was not funny!" Clint protested, though he was also smiling.

"I guess it wasn't funny," Bobbi admitted. "At least, not as funny as that time you slipped on a wet spot in the hall at HQ and ended up flat on your back in front of the new agents."

"Bobs, you're treading in dangerous waters…"

"Or what about that time in Cambodia when you were drunk and though having-

"That's enough, Bobbi," Clint groaned, even as his lips drew upward into a smile. "Did you get that one from Nat?"

"Sure did. I've got plenty of blackmail material on you, Big Bird."

"Wish I had as much on you."

"I'm the smart one in the family. I wouldn't let you see the potential blackmail material, let alone actually get your hands on it."

"And I'm sure you'd have Nat's help too."

"We girls have got to stick together."

Clint laughed at that. "I'll keep my eyes open."

"Probably your best bet," Bobbi agreed. "Hang on-"

She sounded distracted and Clint could hear the murmur of voices from wherever Bobbi was.

"He's let them do what?" he heard her ask, sounding both disgruntled and angry. "Why?"

It didn't seem like she enjoyed the answer. There was a moment of silence before there was the soft rustle of the phone ending up next to her ear and she spoke again.

"Listen, big bro, I'm gonna have to call you back," she said. "Will you be available in Europe?"

"If I answer, I'm available," he said, already making a mental note to leave his phone on when he left for the world-saving-thing. Usually he would have left it in the farmhouse, since they would be on coms anyway, but Bobbi's psychological well-being was important enough to him to bring it with. And, if Bobbi got into trouble with whatever she was doing that she wouldn't tell him yet, he'd already be with the other Avengers, in a more-than-ready position to help.

"And if you don't answer?"

"Leave a message at the tone. And I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

"Clint!"

He laughed at her exasperation. "No, seriously. Leave a message, Bobs. I'll get back to you when I can, don't worry."

"I'm going to anyway."

"Don't I know it," Clint smiled affectionately. "Talk to you later, little bird."

"Talk to you later, Clint."

He hung up the phone and stared at it for a moment before throwing it up in the air, catching it as it came down. His limbs felt shaky with restless energy, but he started making some coffee anyway, knowing he'd be in for a long night, and knowing that there was no way he'd calm down enough to take a nap.

So sorry about this being late! I really did mean to have this out on Thursday, but I made the "mistake" of going to see an Avengers double feature (the first and second, basically back-to-back), which left me with a large amount of feels and no way to cope. If you've seen the movie, you know what I mean. I also had an insanely busy day yesterday and I was going to publish this earlier this morning, but we had to take our dog to the vet. He ruptured his ACL, which is usually treated with surgery, so we'll see where that goes. :(

Anyway, this story is officially AU from the greater MCU in a couple of ways now that Age of Ultron has come out (again, if you saw the movie you know what I'm talking about). But there's no real spoilers here and there won't be for at least one more chapter. (Of course, I've got some really great ideas for the next few chapters now that AOU has come out… :3 That look Clint had at that one moment… And that other thing… Yeah, I'm excited.

I've also got part of the next chapter already written already, and I'm planning on it leading up to AOU, though I'm going to have to see where the show picks up from the movie in "Scars" this coming Tuesday in order to figure out what's happening with this story.

You'll notice, if you've seen "The Dirty Half-Dozen", that I'm warping AOS canon in a minor way, but I promise, it's still going to work out the same, with what Coulson said at the end of the episode.

Did you catch the little reference to Coulson, though? It was pretty subtle…

Thanks to La Monde and Ealasaid Una for wishing me luck on my exams – they went really well, and I'm officially home for the summer (unpacking's a whole other adventure)! Also, thanks to mfmxxx, RegalSwanQueenMarvel, Juliette (guest), Sanctuaria, and SwifteForeverAndAlways for leaving reviews on chapter 6. :) You guys, all of you (and all you other readers, of course) rock.

Love you all, thanks for reading, and I'll see you on Tuesday!

~Dancer