Author's Note: So guess what guys?! I'm sick again! I had to stay home from school today, so I figured I'd update early. Probably won't on Saturday though. You guys don't know how tempted I am to just dump the rest of the chapters here daily until it's over, but at the same time I like giving you some time to wait and process everything. Sorry.

The currently untitled sequel will have spoilers for Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. And a little bit of Iron Man 3. See End Note for everything else I wanted to say, including review responses.

Loki and Violet-Sky had almost turned the far corner when Banner's transformation into the… Other-Guy was completed. He looked murderous, but still remarkably like Banner when the doctor was human. Loki's death-grip on Violet-Sky was getting more and more painful by the second. He did not like the big green… thing that was currently roaring at her cousin.

The demigod began to quickly drag her away, ignoring her protests and reminders that he promised to let her go. Her face was scrunched up as she struggled to get away from him. "Loki, I get that you don't like the Hulk, but you need to let me go! You're hurting me!" she snapped. Loki's face didn't change. It looked slightly alarmed. Finally Violet-Sky couldn't stand the pain of the man's fingers digging into her arms. She grabbed Loki's wrist and judo-flipped him over her shoulder, sending him sprawling over the pavement.

Instantly, determined to get back to the fight, she leapt over Loki and went bolting back to Clint, Tristan, Stark, Captain Rogers, Thor, Natasha, and the Hulk. She turned the corner, and ignoring the others' objections—mostly because they didn't see it was her until it was too late—launched herself right at Barney. This is the last time he hurts my friends and family! Her thoughts were dark and angry.

If Clint had fought his brother savagely, it was nothing compared to how she did. It was like watching a mama bear protect her cubs. Brutal and angry. Usually Violet-Sky was a fierce but reserved fighter. She saved her energy for when she really needed it.

Apparently she gave up that strategy.

She was in great pain, and every blow was like hitting lava. Her bullet wound was seeping through her shirt and dripping down the fabric, and her left arm was just getting more and more burned as she used it to shield her face from the heat, but her right arm and both legs were dealing more damage than Barney had even believed possible for one so injured. Usually she smashed his face with her closed fist, but sometimes her bow would clip him across the cheek.

"Violet-Sky!" she heard Tristan shout as she wrapped her knee around her cousin's neck and twisted him to the ground. Her eyes, the bright, vibrant purple replaced by a dark, malicious amethyst, glared down at Barney as her chest heaved. Blood oozed from the wound below her rib cage, getting closer to her pants' knee by the second. Her mouth was slightly open and she was panting. "We have to deal with him humanely. Put him the secure holding cells at SHIELD or something!" Completely statuesque, the younger archer didn't move.

"Why?" she asked. "Why shouldn't I just put an arrow through his eye now?" She pulled one out of her quiver and loaded it with expert ease, not even taking her eyes off the slightly-frightened Barney and ignoring the pain in her arm.

"Because it's not your life to take!" Captain Rogers urged.

"No?" The bowstring was drawn back farther.

"No, it's not," the super soldier insisted.

"Why isn't it?"

"Because it's mine," Clint put in.

"We've had opportunity after opportunity to kill him over the last little while, Clint. And we never have. Usually you're the one who could have done it. And you haven't. I think you don't have the guts to kill your own brother. The same can't be said for me," Violet-Sky retorted, leaning down and getting the arrow even closer to Barney's eyeball. She felt Clint's hand rest on the elbow that held the string, but she ignored it.

"We can brainwash him. Make him forget everything. Make him become good again."

"See? You don't want to kill him."

"Barney was to me what Angelina is to you. Could you kill her?"

"Was not is. And it depends on what she'd done. How deep the rift she tore in our friendship was. If she'd done all of this, I don't think I'd hesitate to execute her on the spot."

"Okay, you're right. I don't want to kill him. He's my blood, my kin. Please Vi. This is for your soul's sake as well as his. There is a way we can all get out of this alive," Clint insisted. Violet-Sky pressed her foot against Barney's leg, much as he had the day he'd shot her. But she'd increased the pressure.

The older Barton brother growled. "I'd rather die than forget who I've become now," he spat.

"That's your choice," Violet-Sky retorted. "My choice is to kill you. His is to brainwash you." She smirked savagely. "Which means one of us is going to be disappointed."

A news helicopter began hovering overhead. Captain Rogers came forward and put his hand forcefully on Violet-Sky's shoulder. "Not here. We can't do anything here. Not with civilians and the news watching," he said quietly. "We can't just execute a man without a fair trial in America in front of people who don't understand what's going on."

The purple-eyed agent's fingers tightened dangerously on her bow. Slowly it lowered. "Fine. You detain him." She kicked Barney's shin over to the general area of the captain's foot and stormed away. Clint jogged after her as she left.

"Vi, you don't need more blood on your hands at your age," he told her. "You made the right choice."

"I should have killed him when I had the chance. No one else is going to have the guts to do it."

"Violet-Sky Barton," Clint said vehemently, grabbing her shoulder and stopping her forward momentum. She whirled on him, her face still angry and murderous. For a moment Clint thought she was going to shoot him and keep walking. But she didn't.

The fit of intense rage passed over her and suddenly she was nothing more than a broken teenage girl who'd just lost her parents again. The black, swirling wrath in her eyes faded away to extreme sorrow as Captain Rogers and Thor heaved Barney up to his feet. The others rushed to their aid, leaving Clint and Violet-Sky off to the side—alone for the moment. Tears were welling up in Violet-Sky's eyes. And Clint could see them. Usually she fought so hard to remain emotionless—to not have any weaknesses. But it was like shaking a soda pop. The slightest release and everything she'd tried to bottle up for who-knows-how-long came bursting out of her.

So, Clint didn't say anything. He just reached out and gathered her into an embrace. The tears soaked into the front of his suit as they fell from her eyes silently. She shook, but her sobbing was completely noiseless. The older archer wanted to make her laugh somehow, but nothing came to mind. She had her arms wrapped tightly around her cousin's waist.

Tristan moved to approach them, but the overprotective instinct Clint had flashed over his blue-gray eyes deterred him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Clint," Violet-Sky whispered into the fabric pressed against her face. Clint ran his hand down her hair, stroking over and over again so she knew he was there, and trying to comfort her as best as his out-of-practice mind would allow.

"It's okay, Vi. It's been a long day for all of us."

"Is it bad that I still want him to die?" she asked.

Clint didn't know how to answer. So he didn't.

Loki did though, as he walked by. "No. It's not. It's a part of being alive. Mostly, it's a part of your pathetic mortal existence. I'm not saying I still don't want several humans dead, but that drive is mostly human."

"You're too adorable to admit that those 'several humans' are all standing within fifty feet of you right?" Violet-Sky asked mischievously, wiping tears away.

"I am not adorable!" Loki shouted.

"I don't care. I just wanted to see what you'd do." She broke away from Clint's arms and slugged the pale demigod in the arm playfully. "You oughta check on your pride, mate," she joked in a British accent. Clint snorted. Her moods seemed to swing faster than a child on a playground. He shook his head and looked down, like there would be some answer to the riddle that was her written on the pavement.

"Vi? Why is there a scar on your foot that wasn't there before I left?" he asked.

End Note: Come on guys! Feedback has slowed down by like... a ton! I love you all still! Please don't think that because this is coming to an end that you can't still follow/fav/review! I love it when you do! And as of right now, there might be a couple bonus chapters in this in the year between the sequel and this. They're crossovers right now. Please keep giving feedback! It's so amazing and uplifting. It makes me feel so good.

On a funnier note, in an attempt to get a little more feedback, how'd you like my special guest from last chapter and this one? And, here's another question, I saw this thing that said "Some FanFics deserve their own films." If I dare ask, "yay" or "nay" for Violet-Sky? Does she deserve her own film? Or do you guys just read this to pleasantly kill a couple minutes of your time? Anyway.

To "callieandjack": Thank you for being my forever faithful reviewer. To "BlackUndertaker": Glad you liked it! I totally don't mind when you found it, I'm just ecstatic that you found it! To "silent song of shadows": Okay then. Still, I'm sorry you haven't seen any of them. Glad you liked the special guest!

~Cass

PS (Edit) I suppose I should mention that Loki can appear here because it takes place right before Thor: The Dark World (Aside from Iron Man 3, I reckon they all happen relative to the season of their theatre release dates)