Then Agent Ward stepped in front of me and knocked him over with a hard punch.
"Not bad," was the only comment I got from him.
Actually, as arrogant as this will sound, I have to agree. That was one of my more shining moments as a martial artist.
I moved along the wall toward Fitz, Simmons, and Skye, who were attached to cables so they wouldn't get pulled out of the plane. Seemed like a good plan to me.
I made my way toward them. Simmons grabbed my hand, pulling me toward them. I latched onto the cable with both hands.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"That can wait until later," I replied.
One of the remaining soldiers grabbed the cable and started to pull himself toward us.
"Oh, no you don't," I said.
I moved along the cable toward him. This one had seen what I'd done to his friend and moved quickly, kicking me in the midsection. Something snapped under his foot.
I let go with one hand, staggering back, then regained my grip and twisted, kicking out. My foot connected with his jaw. I reached forward, grabbing his head with one hand, then brought it down onto my knee. Something made a rather sickening crunch, but I did it again, then let go and kneed him.
Somehow, he managed to keep his grip on the cable, but he was obviously feeling the effects of my attacks. Blood poured out of his nose and down his face.
In one last effort, he kicked to my hand that gripped the cable. Several bones in my hand snapped and I released my grip on the cable.
I went flying toward the hole.
Probably would have flown out, too, if Skye hadn't grabbed my arm on the way out.
She probably couldn't have held onto me for long, but a split second later I latched onto the cable with both hands.
She suddenly unattached herself from the cable and began to make her way over to something in a corner.
"What are you doing?" yelled Simmons.
A moment later, a huge yellow raft inflated. It flew toward the hole, blocking it. Ward hit the raft.
For a moment, there was silence.
It held in place.
Coulson turned to Reyes, who lay on the floor.
"Told you they were good."
I sat down on the floor, next to the wall, and began to inspect my various injuries. This was the most injuries I'd managed to sustain on one of my outings. One knee of my jeans was blood soaked, and the red liquid also splattered my shirt. Everything was kind of fuzzy – I put it down to all the punches to the face and head. Every breath hurt – I put that down to the broken rib. That and my eye was swelling almost shut from where I'd gotten punched.
Agent Simmons dropped down in front of me. "Describe your injuries."
"Think I broke a rib and some fingers. Took a couple blows to the head. I'm seeing things weird. I think it's a concussion." Sadly, it wasn't my first. And probably not the last. "You saw me get choked." My wrists had several cuts, too, but that was the last of my problems.
"I wouldn't be surprised. How does your throat feel?" She grabbed my hand to inspect the broken fingers.
I almost yelled in pain, but managed to keep it in. "I seem to be breathing fine. I can't wait to figure out how we're going to explain this to my parents."
"We're working on something," said Coulson.
"Thank you," I said.
After this, I just wanted to get home and sleep for a week.