You guys said you liked the twins, so they're back for one last time! The innocence of children makes more some fun dialogue :)


Chapter 29
Operation O.N.W.A.R.D.
"And Back in Line to Do It All Over Again" Part IV

Bobbi pulled up to the restaurant and handed her keys to the valet. She took a deep, steadying breath and patted down her dress. She was about to go on a date, which she was ashamed to admit had been set up by her mother, and was actually rather nervous. The last guy she dated—nope, not going there. She was going to enjoy this evening...and also, her mother hadn't really given her an option as to whether she would attend. Message received, loud and clear. Time to move on.

Or, if all else failed, pretend to be.

She stepped into the restaurant and was greeted by a very polite waiter. "I have a reservation under King."

"Right this way, ma'am," the waiter said before leading her to one of the tables for two, where Ronnie King was already seated.

Ronnie stood up to greet her before moving around the table and pulling her chair out for her. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Barbara."

"Oh, please, call me B—"

"Bobbi?"

Bobbi spun around at Hunter's voice, the shock on his face mirrored on her own. "Hunter," she acknowledged, heart pounding. This was just her luck, her first date since divorcing him and he showed up.

"What are you doing—and who the bloody hell is that?" Hunter questioned loudly, pointing at Ronnie.

The man in question cleared his throat, glancing awkwardly between them. "I'm Ronnie King," he introduced himself formally, holding out his hand to shake Hunter's.

A male who Bobbi didn't recognize appeared beside Hunter, his hand darting out to shake Ronnie's outstretched one. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. King. I'm Idaho and this idiot is Lance Hunter, her ex. We were just leaving," he interjected before grabbing Hunter's arm and attempting to lead him out of the restaurant.

"Are you kidding me? You're with that guy? I guess your standards have dropped!" Hunter called over his shoulder as he was forcibly dragged to the exit by his friend.

"He's a definite step up from you, Hunter!" Bobbi retorted, which would definitely have started a blow up if Idaho hadn't literally given a great pull and propelled Hunter out the door of the restaurant. She turned back to Ronnie, who was still standing behind her unoccupied chair, and awkwardly took her seat. "Thank you."

Ronnie moved around to the other side of the table and joined her. "Ex-boyfriend?"

"Something like that."


Bobbi had just finished beating Mack in a sparring session when she heard her phone buzzing from the other end of the room.

"Look's like you caught a mission," Mack commented as he pressed a hand gingerly against his side. This was the reason she'd convinced Mack to relocate with her from California to the Atrium after the divorce. She missed having someone willing to let her beat him up.

Bobbi smiled. "About time," she replied as she jogged over to her bag and pulled out her phone. Her smile instantly evaporated when she saw the caller ID—Lance Hunter. She was tempted to not answer it after their last encounter, but she noticed Mack was looking at her curiously. Thankfully the phone stopped ringing, meaning she didn't have to take his call, but luck wasn't on her side as it started ringing profusely again. He had called her straight back.

"Someone really wants to get in touch with you," Mack told her.

She pursed her lips and hit the button to answer it, taking shallow breath as she moved the phone up to her ear. "What?" she demanded in a firm voice. In the background she heard the gunfire, which wasn't all that rare of an occurrence on their calls.

"Finally! You answered! Can you tell you stupid S.H.I.E.L.D. friends to stop shooting at me and my team!" Hunter shouted.

"You can't just call me up and order me around!" Bobbi shouted back, mainly so he would be able to hear her over the gunfire, although that didn't stop Mack from giving her a concerned look. She sighed as she signaled for him to follow her as she ran from the gym to Hill's office.

"Yeah, yeah—just get them to stop, I'd like to keep my blood inside my body and my organs intact!" Hunter yelled in reply.

"Hold on," Bobbi replied before skidding to a halt in front of the office door. Hill should know what was going on, and she was her best bet for ongoing ops worldwide as well. She burst into the room without any of the normal niceties—it was an emergency. "Why is my ex calling me, demanding for S.H.I.E.L.D. to stop shooting at him?" she asked, only then just realizing how annoyed she sounded. Unfortunately there was a drop of concern in her voice too.

Maria simply smiled apologetically. "You and Hunter still not getting along after the divorce?" she asked sympathetically. But when Bobbi gave her the seriously-you-want-to-talk-about-this-now? look, she cleared her throat and took the phone. "I'll look into it. Hunter, this is Deputy Director Hill—what is your location?"

Bobbi watched as Maria nodded before walking to the other side of her desk with her phone. She paused, waiting, before deciding that Hunter was not her responsibility and walking back to the gym. Mack, who had been following her, picked up his bag and made to leave. "No, you're not going anywhere," Bobbi told him. "I need to work off some steam."

"What? We've been in here for two hours…"

"That was before my ex called me; let's go," Bobbi said, walking onto the mat.

Mack only sighed, dropped his stuff, and joined her.


Bobbi jogged along the path, simply enjoying the sun against her skin and they way the wind caught her hair. She hadn't dared return here much since the divorce as this was the park she and Hunter used to frequent while they lived in D.C., but it was such a nice day out that she couldn't resist. Besides, it had been almost a year and a half now—she had no excuse to keep avoiding places she enjoyed on his account.

She slowed down when she noticed a young boy, around the age of eight, alone and crying. Seeing that everybody was just walking or jogging past him, she approached him. "Hey, did you lose your mom and dad?" she asked, causing him to turn around. Her eyes instantly widened when she realized it was one of Hunter's nephews.

He looked up at her, instant relief filling his face as he hugged her. "I can't find them!" he exclaimed.

Bobbi was completely shocked that he still remembered her, as they had only really met twice. She put one arm around him in a small hug before pulling back and bending down to his level. "It's okay, you're safe now. Who were you with?"

"Uncle Lance," he sniffled in reply.

"Of course you were," Bobbi muttered under her breath before putting her hands on his small shoulders. "Well, you're in luck: I'm very good at finding Uncle Lance when he's missing. Sorry, but are you Michael or Patrick?"

"Patrick," he answered.

Bobbi stood up as she took Patrick's hand and looked around briefly, not seeing Hunter or any of his family anywhere. Okay, Plan B. Call the bastard. She couldn't believe he lost a kid. She dialed his number, suddenly wondering if he had changed it since she last spoke to him, which was over a year ago.

"Go for Hunter," Hunter answered, sounded distracted.

"Hunter—" Bobbi began, about to get straight to the point, but he immediately cut her off.

"What the hell… Bobbi?" he questioned, the surprise evident in his voice.

"You said a bad word!" said another voice which she presumed was Michael on the other end of the phone.

Bobbi decided not to think about the fact that he had recognized her voice instantly and instead cleared her throat and got straight to the point. "I found Patrick; he said he was with you."

"Oh, thank you!" Hunter exclaimed, the relief evident in his voice. "Is he okay? Where are you?"

Bobbi gave him her location, mentally preparing herself to see Hunter again and hoping that as soon as she reunited him with his nephew, she could leave. She hung up when Hunter said he was on his way and returned her attention to Patrick.

"Uncle Lance is on his way," Bobbi informed him.

"Thank you!" Patrick replied, hugging her. She wiped away his tears, and gave him another one armed hug. "I'm getting a little brother; did you know?" he asked her.

She smiled. "I didn't. Are you excited?"

"Yeah! But Mum says he won't be much fun yet and that I'll have to be really careful around him," Patrick told her earnestly. "Grandma also said I would probably be getting a baby cousin but that never happened."

After a moment Bobbi figured out he was talking about her and Hunter. "Uh, no, it didn't," she said uncertainly.

"Because you don't love Uncle Lance anymore," Patrick said. He tilted his head curiously. "Why not?"

"We just don't get along very well," Bobbi replied.

"Did he steal your candy? Michael stole mine and I still love him," Patrick pointed out.

Bobbi couldn't help but laugh. "Sure, Patrick, he stole my—"

"Patrick!" They both looked to the right to see Hunter sprinting toward them with Michael lagging a bit behind but desperately trying to keep up. He skidded to a halt in front of him, ignoring Bobbi completely. "Don't run off in opposite directions like that! I was worried. Do you know what your mum would have done to me if I hadn't found you?"

"Aunt Bobbi found me!" Patrick told him happily. Hunter met Bobbi's eyes briefly before training his on the boy again. Patrick tugged on his shirt. "You should give Aunt Bobbi her candy back. Then I can have a baby cousin too!"

Hunter stared at him for a second. "Candy… Baby cousin… What are you talking about?"

"It's nothi—" Bobbi started to say before Patrick jumped in again.

"She said she doesn't get along with you because you stole her candy! But I want a baby cousin, so you need to give it back," Patrick explained eagerly.

"Plus Mum says you need a girl in your life," Michael added.

"I didn't steal…" Hunter stopped and looked up at Bobbi. "Thanks a lot; see what mess you've made?" he asked sarcastically.

"Don't look at me, you're the one who lost a child," Bobbi's temper flared. She turned to Patrick. "See, this is why you can't have a baby cousin. Your uncle isn't responsible enough not to lose her."

"Her?" Hunter questioned, losing his annoyed stance, his expression becoming unrecognisable and closed off. "Why did you have to give it a gender?"

"So what if I did?" Bobbi asked angrily. "Maybe she would have been a girl! You'll never know because you can't stick around long enough to find out!"

"I'm glad we didn't have children, because that would mean they would be stuck with a mother like you!" Hunter threw the worst insult he could think of at the moment. Before turning around and catching Michael and Patrick by the arms as they started to run off.

Bobbi stared at him, livid. "You'd better go," she said tightly, "before they scatter on you again."

Hunter looked at her coldly, but there might have been a hint of remorse in his eyes. Or maybe she was just imagining it. "Yeah, I'm supposed to have been at the hospital ages ago anyway," was all he said as he turned away from her, leading the boys down the path.


We're nearly done, everyone...but there are a few more stories to tell and loose ends to tie up first. Battle of New York, a certain saloon, the Iliad...