Chapter 14

Battles are loud.

Seriously. Between the explosions, gunfire, screams, shouts, and crashes, I am surprised I haven't gone deaf yet.

"Beta, how are the tech rooms coming on your front?"

"Almost there, Cap!" I reply as I jump and roll to avoid a flying table.

"Roger that, Beta. Keep going. Hawkeye is two feet behind you and to the left."

The comms go silent as I skid to a stop in front of a vault door. I quickly notch an exploding arrow and scoot back a few steps. "Hawkeye, hold your position!"

No reply comes, so I assume he listened. I hope he listened, because the arrow was released and an explosion shook the hallway.

I'm left blinking at the dust and debris, my ears ringing and my head pounding. Because of this, I do not hear the rumbling until the hallway starts trembling.

I start to move, but I don't get very far before I'm plowed over by a textbook football tackle, shoving me into the next room just as the hallway collapses into a pile of concrete and twisted metal.

I twist slightly to lift my face off the ground, my rescuer slowly getting off me. Speaking of rescuers, mine has brown hair, a goatee, and a glowing chest…

"Dad?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Where did you learn how to tackle?"

"Do you think you were the only kid beat up in school?"

I shrug and accept his hand up, brushing off my clothing as I peruse my surroundings.

"Where are we?"

"Um…give me a minute."

The room we landed in is huge, with at least fifteen, maybe twenty, foot ceilings, and huge black blocks about six feet high and two feet wide. A low hum fills the room, and the blocks have multicolored blinking lights and wires-

Oh.

I facepalm. "It's official, I am an idiot. We found it. The server room!"

I chuckle as light spreads across my dad's face as he notices his all too familiar surrounding. The he, too, groans and slaps his forehead.

I clear my throat. "Right, can you get me a computer, monitor, and a bunch of network cabling? Go stand watch while I break this open."

"Hey! Why can't I hack it while you go stand watch?" He crosses his arms.

I pause and then nod. "Just don't let your fingers freeze up, old man!" I holler over my shoulder.

"Middle aged!"

I take up position in the doorway, feet spread and head and shoulders back, bow primed and notched. I probably look the most threatening a nineteen year old can.

I idly monitor the buzz and chatter in my ear, it blending with the click-clack of the keyboard to form a melody that very nearly puts me to sleep.

My eyes are about to close when – "Eureka!"

I rush over to my dad and look over his shoulder to see a screen proclaiming Access Granted and a bunch of switches and buttons and graphs. The cursor is positioned over a switch that says Main ship control.

I nod at my dad, who pokes his comm and announces that we were shutting the power in three…two…one…

The room in plunged in darkness – save for two blue circles – as the noise of battle breaks into confused silence. The only sound for a few seconds is my blood roaring in my ears.

Then, from above, I hear a clatter, a thud, and an ungraceful squawk before – for the second time in an hour and a half - I'm on my stomach with another person pinned on top of me.

I wince as my chin hits the floor and bounces, causing a shock to rattle up and down my jaw.

"There you are, Beta!"

I shove the person – Clint – off me as I sit up and rub my cheek. "No duh, Hawkeye. You did not just fall on top of me, you doofus."

I can't see much of anything right now, but I would bet money on the guess that Clint just rolled his eyes.

"Avengers, report!"

"Iron Beta reporting in from the server room."

"This is Hawkeye, I've got Beta."

"Iron Man here, in the server room."

"Banner, not Hulk, with Iron Man."

"Black Widow is in the dining hall."

"Thor?"

"Yes, Capitan?"

"Never mind. Does anyone have eyes on Coulson, Hill, and/or Fury?"

"Indeed!" We all wince as Thor shouts directly into our ears, then there's a scuffling sound, a muttered curse, and his voice is replaced by a much calmer, quieter voice.

"Coulson here. Hill, Fury, Thor, and I are all safe in the eastern detention level. Good work everyone."

"Don't congratulate us just yet. A battle still needs to be won here. If anyone finds night vision goggles, announce that fact. Move out."

I nod even though nobody can see me and shakily stand, using what I think is the wall to support my ascent.

"Everyone okay?" I call into the darkness.

I get three murmurs of agreement and I'm just about to let go of the wall when someone grabs my arm.

I do not think, I act; my gun is drawn and loaded with him three seconds, pointing at my assailant's head, or at least in that general area.

"Whoa, easy there Beta. Sorry, it's just me."

I lower my gun, putting it back in my holster and letting Clint draw me a little closer. "Do we have arrows for this?"

"Not yet. But we should. Can we?"

"As soon as we get home. After I make Beta V." I promise as he leads me – somehow – out of the server room and into the hallway.

"Are the blind leading the blind here? How can you see?"

"I can't. But I know this ship with my eyes closed."

"Touché. So where are we headed?"

"Dinning hall. Tables make both good perches and barricades."

I nod silently as I stumble awkwardly through the ship. I guess I'm about to find out what happens when the lights go out on the Hellicarrier.

We eventually shuffle through the doors and are hit by a bigger, more open space that is a little cooler than the previous hallway. The dining room, at last.

Clint nudges me behind what feels like a table and I automatically notch an arrow – one I can't actually see, but…principle.

I can hear him crouch next to me as the door breaks open, shaking the room as Clint and I pop up as use the conveniently glowing blue Phase 2 weapons to get a lock on our enemies.

"On your left!" I scream as I watch a booted foot swing towards Clint's stomach.

"Thanks!" Clint says as he back up a step. "Does anyone have eyes on Pierce?"

"Negative, Hawkeye. Keep your eyes open."

"Will do, Cap."

He turns back to me. "How you doing?"

"Good." I duck and fire a gas arrow at a bunch of soldiers, triggering it one it lands and watching as they fall like rocks.

He glances quickly at the crowd quickly closing around us. "We need more cover…"

I blink slowly and wait for a plan to form in my head. "If we end up back to back, that would give us both sides. Twist at the waist to cover a half circle each. Two half circles…"

"Equal a full circle!" I can some shuffling an a few grunts before something presses into my back. I straighten my spine against his, trying to focus on the battle, and definitely not the fact that this is the most body contact we've had. Ever.

I twist and duck beneath his bow range to fire a shrapnel arrow at a crowd of legs, watching the blood splatter the floor.

I take a moment to pause, breathe, and spot my next target as I straighten up against Clint.

People have quickly recovered from the power outage, screams and shouts ruling the air once again.

The noise gets louder and louder, almost reaching a deafening pitch –

"ENOUGH!" A voice commands, not even in a loud tone. Just a commanding one.

Well it works, because everyone freezes. Once the fray stops, I can catch a glimpse of my dad and Bruce over by the east door, Natasha and Coulson against a wall, and Thor, Steve, and Fury fighting by the main door. Well, at least we're all here.

"Enough." The voice says again, still commanding. A bunch of soldiers in the center of the room loosens to reveal a figure standing on Fury's pedestal thing. A familiar, feminine, cloaked figure.

"It's Steel! From jail!" I shout as I notch an arrow and aim it at her, pausing only to think about the fact that I just recognized someone from jail.

I shrug it off and straighten my aim, pulling back and steadying.

I fire the arrow, but Steel just sidesteps and fixes me with a curios gaze, her head tipped slightly.

"Now, now Taylor."

I freeze for a second, because how does she know my name?, as she pulls back her hood to reveal fair skin, strawberry blond hair, and bright blue eyes.

Eyes like mine…something whispers in a corner of my mind.

Shut up, I scold it. I am not the only one in the world with blue eyes.

I turn my attention back to Steel, my cocky, brush-it-off mask in place, complete with a raised eyebrow. "Should I know you? I don't usually associate with psychopaths, sorry."

She laughs, something missing all humor, short, dry, and brittle. "Taylor, Taylor." She tsk's me a few times.

"Is thy any way to talk to your mother?"

A/N

Dun dun dunnnn!

The backstory there is in my story Her Eyes, my Everything.

I was thinking of starting a new AU story where the Avengers are all elementary school teachers. After this one, of course, but what would you guys think?