Disclaimer: Avengers and anything Avengers related is owned by Marvel. Hope Ashton and her "daughters" are the only things I own.

CoffeeTableWriter: I am having a lot of fun with this story. It's so awesome to write it, especially when I get feedback. I worry because people might not like it, but I'll try to tone down my fretting. Fingers crossed that Warner was always Warner and not Warren. Thanks for reviewing!

Moonleaf Stormrunner: I have been working about correct character portrayal, so thanks for the feedback. It's nice to know I'm staying in character as much as I can. Your words, the moment I read the review, made me smile so much my face started to hurt. I'm really glad you like this story-it makes all the nights I stayed awake working on it worth it. I apologize a lot because I know I take forever sometimes and I'm always really rushed, so I'm worried I've screwed up a lot somewhere in the story. Thanks for the compliment-I'll try my best to deserve more. Thank you so much for the review!

MeowMix1100: They have become her family kinda, that's true. Truth be told, I'm torn between who to put Hope with. So I did something evil/sneaky in this chapter (you'll see what I mean). I'm glad that you're as excited as I am for me to post another chapter. Thank you for your review!

Author's note: Nearly five thousand words (excluding the disclaimer, review replying and author's note). Aren't you guys proud of me? This has to be the longest chapter I've ever written, or ever will write. But do I keep my promises or what? Excluding the two times I broke my word, of course, but I did stick to them the instant I could I swear. I've decided to answer past reviews next chapter, since this chapter is long enough as it is. But they will be answered, mark my words. Anywho...

Chapter 14

Selene snorted. "Oh good job Mr. Archer Man. Make her choose between the people she's known for barely a year or the people she's spent nearly a decade with. And here I thought you wanted her."

Clint turned to Hope. Jerking a thumb in Selene's direction, he asked hopefully, "Is there an off button?"

"Oh ha-ha, very funny. You're so lucky I'm not Erica," she said, scowling. He looked at her, hand placed under his chin, and replied somewhat eagerly, "Oh? Why's that?"

Tilting her head and smirking, she responded sweetly, "Because she's a pyrokinetic who would eagerly burn your face off if she had the chance."

Hope made an idiginant noise in the back of her throat, and for the third time in the past hour, smacked the girl's arm.

"I thought I raised you better than that. No revealing other's secrets unless they give you permission to do so," she chided. Selene rolled her eyes, indifferent to the scolding, by all appearances seeming like she was totally used to it.

"Oh please. It's not like it will make her hate me any less," she replied offhandedly, waving Hope's words off. Hope frowned.

"I thought you two had overcome your differences and stopped loathing each other."

Selene snickered. "Uh-huh. And on the weekends we braid each other's hair and make necklaces out of daisies."

Hope sighed, placing a hand to her forehead as though she were experiencing a nasty headache. And in truth, she kind of was. Selene was, after all, standing right in front of her.

"Why must you be so difficult?"

Selene clucked her tongue and said as though it were obvious, "Because it's fun."

Hope opened her mouth, ready to retort, when a baffled looking Clint held up a hand to stop her. "I'm sorry, what? Pyrokinetic?"

With a smirk on her lips, Selene replied, "And that's not even the weirdest one."

She winced somehwhat at the scathing look Hope shot her way but decided to continue nonetheless (though only if further questioned). After all, they'd find out their secrets anyway, whether she told them or not. SHIELD was like that.

"Really." He sounded doubtful, like he didn't believe her. Which was perfectly fine by her because in all honesty, she didn't really blame him. A lot of people claim things that never end up being truth.

"Yes, really."

He still seemed like he didn't believe her. She frowned, studying him for a moment, then, with a mental shrug, snapped her fingers. Instantly, most of the lights in the room went off. She kept a few on, just to ward away any thoughts if an ambush that the two SHIELD agents might have.

Hope would never be considered as a SHIELD agent to her, not even in her head.

"What do you think? Neat trick, huh?" Selene asked, sweeping an arm to indicate the dim area around them. Natasha and Clint gazed at her suspiciously, but Hope just threw her head back and groaned.

Frowning, she snapped, "What, you two don't believe I did this?"

Looks were exchanged before Clint, arms crossed against his chest, said, "Well, no, not really."

"Really? Huh, guess I'll have to up my game then."

Hope saw the mischievous glint in her eyes and darted forward, but was too late, as Selene raised her hand and, with another snap of her fingers, shut down the Helicarrier. The engines, communications, lights, everything shut down. Well, probably not everything. In order to stay conspicuous, Selene had more likely than not kept the Helicarrier's camouflage on.

Even so, they were still plummeting at high speeds towards the ocean.

While Nat and Clint scrambled to try to fix things, Hope turned to the true culprit.

"Fix this!" she ordered, ignoring the grin on Selene's face for the moment. The girl rolled her eyes but complied. Everything in the Helicarrier turned back in, and it righted itself, gliding normally through the sky as if nothing had happened. But something had, and Hope wasn't going to forget it.

"What were you thinking?" she demanded, shoving her lightly, her face a mask of anger. She sure seemed to have been feeling that particular emotion a lot lately.

"What do you mean, me thinking? That's insane! Stop being so crazy, Hope, it's not a good look for you."

Hope merely stared at her. She's going to be the death of me, she thought to herself with a sigh. Out loud, she said, "Just...don't do it again. Believe it or not, I happen to like it when my organs are in their proper place."

Selene saluted her. "Aye, aye captain."

"What," someone gasped out, and Hope glanced over her shoulder to see Natasha walking towards her, hand over her heart, "in the hell was that?"

Hope was prepared to answer but Selene beat her to it. "That was me proving to you naysayers that I do, in fact, have powers."

Natasha's hand twitched over her gun in its holster though she didn't pull it out. Still, Hope could tell the thought was tempting for her, and honestly, she couldn't blame her.

"That was you?!"

Selene modded, though her eyes strayed to the spy's gun. "Uh-huh. You guys didn't believe, so I had to do something grand."

For a moment, Hope was worried she would break out in jazz hands, but thankfully she didn't.

Natasha hummed thoughtfully, and for a long while, no one spoke. Until, that is, Selene noticed the absence of a certain archer, and inquired, "Did I accidentally kill him? Because if so, I'd like to apologize-killing people wasn't really my intent when I showed off."

"Really," Natasha remarked dryly.

"There's that word again," Selene muttered, and the spy arched a brow at her, silently asking her to elaborate. She did so, albeit with some reluctance.

"That word filled to point of bursting with 'I don't believe you.' It gets kind of annoying, after a while. Honestly, I'm pretty sick of it now."

"I'll try to refrain from using it."

"The sarcasm and snark is not appreciated and is in fact frowned upon. Please stop."

"Make me," the Russian challenged. Selene simpered, and looking entirely too pleased with herself, retorted, "I could cause that nifty little comm. link that's currently attached to your ear to short circuit it and electrocute you to death. Would that work for you?"

Natasha ignored her and instead turned to Hope. "So that's how you survived all of those years with Tony. You had practice."

"Not practice. Experience," Hope corrected, also ignoring the girl who had nearly killed them all. A thought suddenly struck her then, and so she acted on it and said, "It's oddly quiet considering the fact that a minute ago we were all plummeting towards our deaths."

"Oh trust me, everyone is panicking. You're just lucky you haven't been issued a comm. quite yet."

Hope shuddered at the thought. "I can only imagine, and even then, I don't really want to."

"Anyway," Selene drawled, drawing back their attention, "let's get back to the more important question: is Clint dead?"

"Nope," the voice of Clint came from behind them, and they turned. Hope's heart went out to him-he looked so tired and worn. But she could take comfort in the fact that he was alive and well.

"Not yet, at least," he continued, brushing off specks of dust from his arms and chest. Selene looked very relieved that he was alive, and Hope knew the root of why. She didn't want the death of a highly regarded and respected SHIELD agent on her hands. Not just a death in general, because for that she didn't really care, but it was killing the likes of him that she wanted to avoid.

"And I won't ask what that was," he stated, gesturing wildly to the area around them, "because in all honesty, I really don't want to know."

Natasha groaned. "Trust me, you really don't."

Selene nearly rolled her eyes. Again with the "really." At least this time, they didn't say it like they didn't really mean it. Oh great, now I'm doing it, too, she thought, and this time she didn't even bother trying to stop herself from rolling her eyes. The irony here was, after all, too strong to completely ignore, even if it was only in her mind.

And on that note...She turned to Natasha and, slinging an arm around her shoulders as if they were old friends getting reacquainted, asked, "So have I proven myself to you?"

Natasha, scowling, peeled her rm off of her and replied, "I suppose you have."

"Was she the one who did this?" Clint asked, slightly awed, and it showed in his voice. Hope, realizing that too many statements like that would go to Selene's head, just nodded and said nothing, covering the technopath's mouth with her hand when it looked like it was about to open and sending her a scathing look. Clint and Natasha watched the exchange without a word. Until, that is, Selene pried the hand off her lips and, pushing it aside, said, "In all of this chaos, Hope failed to tell us who she was choosing to stay with."

Directing her total attention to the woman beside her, she continued, "So out with it, Hope. Are you escaping with me, or will you be caged here?"

A lump formed in the empath's throat. Selene was right-she had forgotten all about that. But now the spotlight was on her, and she felt the pressure to decide like a knife against her throat-so painfully obviously there. Everyone was looking at her beseechingly (sans Natasha, who merely stared at her), and it terrified her. She hated feeling pressured; it was such a horrible feeling. And Selene, the little wretch, knew that. Hope narrowed her eyes at the aforementioned girl, who batted her eyelashes at her innocently in return, as though she weren't aware of the torture she was putting her through.

"I...I haven't decided."

She watched their faces fall and practically drowned in guilt. But it was the truth. She hadn't decided yet. Silently, she weighed the pros and cons in her head, ignoring the fact that they were watching her intently.

If I stay here, then the government will leave me alone and I can redeem myself. However, my girls will do suicide mission after suicide mission to get me back, and I'll have to barter everything I have to keep them free. Not to mention I'll be some agency's dog again, something which I loathe will all my being. And being seperated from my daughters.

If I go back with Selene, we can gather everyone up again and we can continue to be a family. However, I'll be constantly on the run, my girls' safety will be called into question every moment of the day, and I'll never be allowed to see my newfound friends again. We'll be enemies.

Again and again, she ran through everything. And again and again she was torn. Finally, though, she came to a decision.

"I would like to-"

But she never got to finish that sentence, for at that moment, explosions went off and rocked the Helicarrier. Everyone instinctively ducked, all but Hope. Admittedly she flinched a little, but she could shield herself and others from harm. She threw her arms out, and her shield formed around them, coating them in safety.

Hope knew immediately that whatever this was was not Selene's fault-she had morals, after all, and would never go this far just to get Hope back. Thinking quickly, she demanded, "Selene, damage report."

Her teammates opened their mouths to question her, but were stopped by Selene. The technopath straightened, held a hand to her temple and closed her eyes. A moment later she opened them, and said, "The engines are 50% demolished, as is the control panel. I'm not sure how much longer we can stay in the air for."

Hope shot her a glare and she hastily amended, "But I'll try to keep us up for as long as I can."

Hope nodded, and the two SHIELD veteran agents exchanged looks. They had known she had to be have been a pretty good leader to keep so many people together, but they hadn't realized she was this good. By some miracle, she had managed to rein in Selene's...Tony-ness and had gotten her to act serious. Only one minute in the role of a leader and she had already gained their respects. Now that was impressive.

They were all distracted by the sounds of a scuffle coming from nearby. Hope glanced in the direction the sounds had come from and her eyes narrowed.

"We need to move," she whispered, before turning on her heel and running as fast as she could to where she knew the control panel was. Perhaps they could help. Without a second of hesitation, everyone else followed. The shield Hope had created moved with them as they ran, not letting so much as a finger out of it.

"Do you have any guesses as to who did this?" Natasha asked as they ran. The reply the empath gave had the Russian on edge.

"I might, but I sincerely hope I'm wrong."

Selene glanced over at her, eyes wide, and Hope nodded, face grim. Selene knew who Hope was referring to. She had to. Natasha desperately wanted to know, but then again, it was just a hunch. There were bigger things to worry about at the moment, like making sure they didn't die.

"Can't you just..." her voice trailed off as she gestured at the area around them. Selene caught on immediately to what was being implied and shrugged.

"Like I told Hope, I'll try to keep us up for as long as possible. But don't get your hopes up-there's not much of an engine left to work with, but I'll try my best."

Natasha saw the look in her eyes, the intense hatred of admitting a weakness, however slight, and sympathizing with her, let the matter drop. They ran for a while in silence, and surprisingly came across no enemies. But they knew they had to be there somewhere, if the fight they had overheard was any way to judge, so they kept a close eye on their surroundings. Still, no one came to stop them. THe hallways were scarce, devoid of any life, agent or otherwise.

Hope prayed that the Director and all of her friends were all right as they came across the control panel room. It's now or never, she thought, pushing the door open. She was met with a battle scene. Everywhere agents and masked enemies in black were fighting. And to all appearances, the enemies were winning, since a quick glance at the floor showed more agents downed than bad guys. Natasha and Clint flung themselves headfirst into the fray, no questions asked or any time to formulate a plan. Selene and Hope, however, stayed back.

"Did Rose-" she started, indicating the comm. in Selene's ear with her hand, but before she could finish, Selene shook her head.

"She was too focused on our confrontation to notice anything else. She was and is totally blindsided. She's trying her best, but we'll probably be without her for this battle."

"And it's just you, no reinforcements or anything."

"Unfortunately."

"And you're unable to fight because you need to stay focused so we don't crash into the ocean."

"Uh-huh."

"So I'm going to have to blindly throw myself into the fight without any assistance on your end."

"Yep."

"Right," Hope said, nodding with a sigh, before she did just as she promised and lunged forwards, catching an enemy unawares as she sucker-punched him in the jaw. An energy bolt appeared in her hand, and she shoved it into his chest. She then wrenched it free, and he fell to the floor, blood gushing through his wounds. But she had already moved on, mutilating another enemy who dared go near her. Hope was going to stay on the defensive for this battle, which of course meant keeping Selene safe from harm. She was, after all, the only reason they weren't currently treading water (if they even managed to survive the crash).

This she did on and on, until the moves blended into each other and she found herself repeating the steps in her head: incapacitate, kill, repeat.

She didn't know how long the fight lasted for, as focused as she was, but she learned that it was over when a hand placed itself on her shoulder, halting her in her tracks. She was just gearing about to decapitate them when the person said, "Easy, Hope, it's only me."

Hope instantly relaxed at the sound of Steve's voice. Hoarsely, she asked, "Is it over? Are we done?"

She could practically hear the frown in his voice when he returned, "Not quite. We managed to capture someone. We'll be interrogating them shortly."

"The Black Widow?"

"The Black Widow," he agreed, and she nodded. Steve was still frowning as he checked her over. He knew she could fight, but had never seem her this ruthless before, so cutthroat. Wordlessly, she returned the favor and studied him for any injuries on his person before looking over her shoulder and spotting Selene, exactly where she left her. The technopath was hunched over, a head pressed to her temple. She was wincing, her eyes squinted in pain, and a steady stream of blood was trickling down her nose.

Hope ran over to her and, though confused, Steve followed. She knelt beside her and placed a hand on her arm comfortingly while the other caressed her face. Some tension leaked out of her body, but she still continued to use her powers despite how much pain she was in. Hope attempted to heal her, but since it wasn't a psychically made injury, there was nothing she could do.

"How close are the engines to being fixed?" she asked, not pausing in her motions. Steve simply shook his head, his gaze sad.

"No one has even had the chance to look."

Hope made a displeased grumbling noise in the back of her throat, then, still caressing, she murmured to Selene, "You're doing a terrific job, Sel. We just need you to hold out for a little longer."

She hated doing it to her, and hoped she would understand. Selene was, for the moment, the only thing keeping them afloat. Selene grunted, and Hope took that as a 'I'll try.'

To Steve she said, "Get someone working on it right away if no one has issued the order yet."

Steve nodded and did as told. He waited, and then the response came back on his comm. that someone was on their way. Hope seemed relieved by this, though she did not comment. He didn't expect her to.

"We should go," Steve whispered into her ear then. He wanted to question who this mystery girl was, but they really needed to get to the interrogation room. Natasha would be starting soon, and it wasn't something that should be missed. They needed to find out what had happened and who had attacked them.

Hope, lips pursed, reluctantly nodded. She stood up, then, with a concerned look at the girl, turned to Steve and asked, "Could you carry her, please? I'd rather not leave her here, alone. People might mistake her as an enemy."

She hoped this wasn't a mistake and that none of the blood would stain his suit, or more importantly, it wouldn't hurt Selene anymore than she already was.

Steve didn't question it-he simply hoisted her up as gently as he could and carried her bridal style to the interrogation room, Hope hot on his heels. Unbeknownst to him, Hope had a slight smile on her face. Steve was kind, too kind, for both his old time and this one.

"Who all was active?" she asked, and Steve started a bit.

"Pardon?"

"Were Tony and Bruce involved in this skirmish as well, or was it just Natasha, Clint, you and I?" she rephrased. He gave her a tight smile.

"If Bruce was active, trust me, you would have heard," he told her, and though she scowled, she nodded anyway.

"As for Tony..." his voice trailed off as his brow furrowed, and it became obvious to Hope that he honestly didn't know. A solution to the question popping into her head, she tapped his comm. link and commented, "If Tony were involved in the battle, I'm sure you would have heard him, too."

Steve chuckled, and he couldn't help but nod at the truthfulness of her words. In his arms, Selene whimpered, then went quiet. Hope worried her bottom lip, leaning forward to grasp the girl's hand with her own and stroked it with her thumb for a few seconds before letting go.

She couldn't explain how happy she felt when they finally reached the interrogation room. Finally, she could find out who did this to all of them. The Director, Clint, Bruce, and Tony had been staring at a seated figure through a one-want mirror, but they all looked up when they entered the room. Everyone looked greatly relieved upon seeing them whole and well, though it quickly turned to wariness when they spotted Selene. Wanting to avoid her daughter being shot, she gestured to the girl in Steve's arms and said, "This is Selene, one of my girls. At the moment she is the only thing keeping us from dying."

They all nodded, seemingly satisfied, and Hope took the time to study them. None of them were too injured or worse for the wear, which was good; just a few scraps here and there, all of which she promptly healed. Bruce didn't have that shroud of weariness that usually engulfed him after a Hulk-out, and Tony's suit was nowhere to be seen. Steve and Hope exchanged smiles. So they had been right, after all.

It didn't take her too long long to realize that Steve was still carrying Selene, so she directed him to set her daughter down in a corner of the room, propped up so she wouldn't fall over. That matter having been somewhat settled for the moment, they turned their attention back to the man in the chair. His wrist were bound together behind his back, and he was still masked. A thick looking table was directly in front of him. Natasha stood behind him, looking quite menacing and dreadful, eyes locked on him and him alone. Then, unceremoniously, she reached out a hand and yanked his hood off, and it took all Hope had not to gasp.

"I recognize him," she breathed out in horror, and everyone's attention swerved to her. "Clarke Syrelle, a Hydra operative low on the totem pole. More likely than not he has a capsule of cyanide in his mouth as we speak."

The Director peered at her. "That's already been removed."

Well that was a relief, she thought.

And then the interrogation started. Hope could only watch, eyes wide in wonder. Natasha was good. A little too good. At first, she started off with good cop, bad cop routine. She tried to be nice to him in order to get him talking, but when that didn't work, she started threatening him. When silence still continued to be her only answer, she tried to trick him. It worked. He let something slip, and Natasha pounced on it, goading him until he broke.

"Alright, fine, I'll talk," he hissed out, and Natasha stopped in her relentless questioning and arched a brow at him, silently asking him to continue. He did so warily.

"You were ambushed by a Hydra wing," he informed her, "with men from all over."

Natasha frowned. "That can't be all."

Looking fearful, he nodded, continuing, "We were sent here to recapture the empath."

Everyone stilled. Even Selene, out of it though she was, stopped twitching in pain in order to better hear what the man had to say.

"Our Intel told us you'd managed to outmaneuver her and recruit her to your side, that she was aboard the Helicarrier. And the boss man, well he really wanted her back, so he sent us to retrieve her."

Natasha pounded her hands on the table and demanded, "What did he want with her?"

Syrelle shrank in fear. Honestly, Hope couldn't blame him. Natasha was something to be feared, that was for certain. Especially in this moment. He stuttered out, "I-I-I don't know, really, okay, a-aside from her obvious powers."

She narrowed her eyes at him, unimpressed. He winced, and said, "Something to do with a vendetta or something...I don't know!"

His last words became a wail. Natasha studied him for one more moment, noting how shaken and defeated he was, before holding a finger to her comm.

"Director, I think that's all we're going to be getting out of him."

The Director nodded, and was about to give her the go-ahead to leave when Hope's voice said from behind him, "I would like the chance to try."

Then, before he could stop her, she walked through the door into the interrogation room. Natasha looked surprised to see her, though she quickly composed her facial features as she turned to face Syrelle again. However, he was no longer paying any attention to her. His gaze was for Hope and only Hope.

"Hello," she greeted, and he glared at her.

"You little bi-"

Profanity, she could see, was on the tip of his tongue, so she walked over to him and slammed his head down into the desk. Over his head, she sent the Russian spy a look, one that told her to leave. So Natasha did, joining the rest of the equally stunned superheroes on the other side of the one-way glass.

Leaning in, a hand threading into his hair and grabbing it tightly, she breathed into his ear, "Please watch what you say. As you can see, I am in control here; you are not. So I kindly ask that you not insult me."

He nodded frantically, and satisfied, Hope released him and stepped back.

"Now, Clarke, I'm going to ask you who sent you here."

Her voice was a scary, deadly calm. Her eyes dared him to make a wrong move, say something he shouldn't. He opened his mouth to say "I don't know," but she cut him off with a laugh.

"And don't say I don't know. We both know you do."

On the other side of the room, the Avengers were all debating if their friend was bipolar or not. Bruce had walked over to Selene in an attempt to help her, but he kept a keen ear on what was being said, both in the room he was in, and the one Hope was interrogating in. He, too, couldn't help but wonder.

Syrelle still hadn't said a word of reply. Hope waited, arms crossed against her chest, but when it became clear to her that he would not speak, she stepped closer and said, "Come on, Syrelle. Tell me who it is. Confirm my suspicions correct."

At this he looked up. Then, smirking, he said a name Hope hoped she wouldn't hear every again. But it was the name she had anticipated.

"General Alexendre Abel."

In other words, Hope's father.

A cheap shot, I know, but this is, I swear, how I wanted this chapter to go as soon as I started typing it. Now we can get into the real action. Ugh, but I still need to put more Bruce and Hope interactions and less Steve and Hope. I'm not betraying you guys, I promise-Steve's just an older brother figure to her. Next chapter there will be a Bruce and Hope moment, cross my heart. Any ways, bye for now!