AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Dedicate to Joy…who will love this twist.

I'm so sorry that it took me a while to update, but I really am here and I'm going to try to update a lot more, but the summer is really rough for me job-wise. This chapter is also on the short side, but it's a chapter, so oh well, lol.

WARNINGS: Language, Sex, Innuendo, Violence, Blood, Angst

ENJOY!

xxxx

Stryker smiled at them and shrugged a little bit, not seeming in the least bit worried about them overpowering him. Andy took that as a challenge and barreled over to him, tackling him down to the ground with a force that Stryker had to admit he wasn't expecting, her fists flying at his face. He felt her knuckles hit him hard in the jaw and for a moment Sharon didn't react, but then she was to Angel, trying to untie her as Andy yelped.

In all of the confusion, Stryker had stuck her with a needle.

She managed to pull it out, but not before noticing that he had pushed the fluid into her and then she put her hand on the wound and Stryker threw her off of him. For a moment everyone was stunned, but Stryker just smiled as Andy looked a bit woozy, practically feeling like all of her strength was leaving her. He had just drugged her and her body wasn't adapting to it and that was a bad thing…that was a very bad thing.

"Andy?" Sharon asked timidly.

Angel coughed gently. "He took her powers."

"He what?" Sharon asked suddenly.

"Whatever was in that syringe…it sapped my powers," Andy said shaking her head. "Jesus…I never realized just how much I depended on them…"

"It makes you weak, doesn't it?" Stryker asked with a grin on his face, pulling out a gun and pointing it at Sharon. "It's your turn."

"Son of a bitch…" Sharon said shaking her head.

Before she could lift her hand up toward him to stop him with an absorbed power, she found herself being shot and it took a moment or two, but the bullet hit and dispersed the drug into her system. She hit her knees hard on the ground and shook her head, hands planted on the floor as she tried to take deep breaths. This wasn't how it was supposed to go—it was supposed to be in and out and killing Stryker and right now they were the ones that were being held captive and Sharon didn't think that she could handle this.

In fact, it made her almost want to cry because here she was at Stryker's mercy once again and it felt as if her past was assaulting her. She was suddenly so tired of all of the running and she had wanted to face her fears and here it was…but she was failing. Sharon was failing and the three of them were at his mercy and she wanted to know how to get back at him, but then she felt the blade of the knife gently tracing her flesh and she swallowed, fighting back tears now.

"Are you ready for me to carve?" Stryker asked Sharon evilly.

xx

"Just move out of my way," Logan said angrily to a scared S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Logan was to the Avengers Tower so fast that Steve, Clint, Tony and Thor wondered if he had powers he wasn't telling them about. He didn't, he just worried about his little ones and he wanted to know that they were alright and that they were all in one piece because Stryker was a bad man and this time, Logan wouldn't be letting him live. Last time had been nerve wracking and hurried and it was more important to him to get Sharon rescued than it had been to kill Stryker.

"We have a lock on them?" Logan asked, looking at them. "Because I want to find them and I want to find them now."

Tony nodded and started for his suit. "Just a few minutes ago we got a signal and we're getting ready to suit up and head out."

"That means trouble," Logan said nodding, heading out the way he had come.

"What do you mean by that?" Steve asked with a worried look on his face.

"It means that their powers have been compromised," Logan responded gruffly.

At first Steve, Clint and Thor just exchanged worried glances, but quickly they were grabbing their weapons and they were heading out because this was it. This was the women that they loved and they were in danger and Logan knew what he was talking about. He had been through this before with Stryker and it would be good if he made sure that he was in control here because with his leadership he could do this. Logan was the only one who knew what it was that they were all walking into and the others would follow him into it for the sake of the girls.

"How could he harm their powers?" Clint asked slowly, shaking his head as he made sure all of his arrows were in order. "They're three of the most powerful mutants, aren't they? Their powers are pretty amazing."

Logan nodded slowly. "While that's true, Arrows, Stryker has been experimenting for years and he has his ways. Do any of you know what his research is like?"

"There is little we know of the monster, Stryker," Thor admitted.

"Well, he's been trying to eradicate the mutant gene—turn it off. There's a cure of course as all he can do is suppress the gene but that's just it…" Logan explained hurriedly.

"Without the gene…what exactly happens?" Steve asked, needing to know.

"That gene makes up who they are," Logan explained, stopping and turning to the men that were following him. "Without it, they're simply damsels in distress…"

Tony showed as Logan said it, clad in his Iron man suit. "Alright…let's go and get them back."

xx

Stryker was having a little too much fun having Sharon back in his clutches, so he was focusing on Andy instead as he had known her father. He was a painful reminder to her of what his father had done to her and he was glad that he had had such an influence on the man, as they worked together for Weapon X. Angel's torture was of her own, as the pure energy wasn't agreeing with her and every once in a while she through her head back and grunted through gritted teeth.

What she needed was Bruce and Reed.

While no one else seemed affected by the pure energy she emitted when she used her powers, it was almost trapped inside of her body and it wanted out. At first they had thought that pure energy could help someone—make them stronger in a more natural way—but her mutant gene had all sorts of effects on it and while it was being suppressed, the energy had nowhere to go except to attack her organs. She had been fine until now because the mutant gene helped her body to take the pure energy and use it and store it safely.

It seemed that pure energy was far more harmful than it was helpful—at least when it came to exposing it to people—and that made sense. At the same time, they had simply been worried and they were the only ones that could replicate a antidote for Stryker's serum, which was what Reed was working on while Stryker poked Andy with a sharp rod and Sharon struggled against her restraints. This was the second time she'd had to deal with Stryker and all it was doing was bringing back painful memories.

"I think your father was on the right track," Stryker told Andy, face close to hers. "He was just too weak to carry it out as far as it needed to be."

Andy smiled a little, trying to let him know that she wasn't going to give in. "Oh? I think that the fact that he was willing not to hurt his daughter makes him a pretty good dad. I mean at least compared to you—you win, 'Worst Father of the Year Award' for the torture you put your son through."

"That was Xavier!" Stryker yelled, striking her face with the back of his hand.

"What was you," Andy responded, turning to meet his eyes with hers. "That was all you…"

"You're going to pay for that…" Stryker informed her, stabbing her in the side with the metal rod.

Andy clenched her teeth and grunted as Angel passed out, unable to handle this anymore and that made Sharon feel pretty terrible about it all. She started to struggle harder as Stryker left the rod in Andy and moved over to her, a look on his face that Sharon really hadn't seen in a long time. Sharon had a terrible feeling that something truly terrible was going to happen to her when she found that she could barely breathe let alone move and it had nothing to do with the serum in her system either…it just had to do with Stryker.

She could remember how her experiences with him had messed her up for so long, and how she had idolized Logan practically. Sharon had told Angel and Andy enough, but she hadn't told them everything and they had never pushed her because it was her experience and it was a scary thing and it was so scarring that they felt bad asking about it. Now all she could think about was how they had made her feel after he had come along and for the first time in a long time, she didn't feel as weak in his presence, but something about him still made her feel so small and insignificant.

"He tortured me," Sharon told the girls gently.

It had been the first time since the young girls had met that Sharon had really started the conversation off about Stryker and Andy and Angel were both suddenly silent. They wanted to be there for her and protect her and she knew that…it was the only reason that she was even coming clean to them because she trusted them and she believed in them. She wanted to be strong and they made her feel strong and accepted and so she thought it best that she tell them.

"I still have nightmares about it," Sharon admitted slowly, shuddering gently. "Only light through the darkness was Logan."

Andy smiled and nodded. "He stormed right in and he saved you."

"He almost killed Stryker…I wish he had," Sharon told them.

"His priority was you," Angel said, reaching out and cupping Sharon's face. "Getting you out of there was more important than killing Stryker."

"Nothing should have been more important than killing him—not even me," the ten year old said.

Angel stroked Sharon's hair and nodded. "Well, I beg to differ."

"You're the most important thing to us," Andy agreed with a nod.

Sharon had bit her lip to stop it from trembling when the door swung open and all she could hear for a second was a familiar gruff sound and the sound of claws. She would know that sound anywhere and a smile graced her face as Stryker turned and seemed rather surprised and unhappy as he had really only accounted for the three of them. The other mutants hadn't been able to get into the room, but Logan knew Stryker better than them and he was about to do what he had done all those years ago: save Sharon…only this time he was saving all of his girls.

"You've just made your last mistake," Logan growled, going for the man and not even bothering to give the moment any ceremony as he stabbed him in the gut.

Andy smiled at him. "Don't leave us out of all of the fun…"

Logan knew what Andy and Sharon wanted to do and before the others came and tried to talk them out of it, Logan got them untied as Stryker lay there on the floor bleeding, knowing this was over. He smiled a little as Andy took the rod out of her and stabbed it into him, Sharon tracing the knife along his throat as he tasted his blood in his mouth. Honestly? He knew there was another around to do his work and this wasn't the end…not by a long shot.

"It's our turn to carve," Sharon said strongly, ignoring her headache.

Logan smiled and he let Andy and Sharon do what they were going to do for the next ten minutes, but soon it was like déjà vu all over again as the boys came barging in to save them. Steve was over to Angel in a second, gathering her up in his arms as Clint went to steady Sharon and Thor checked Andy over, finding the stab wound and wanting to kill Stryker, but he was dead, lying in the floor with wounds on him that were certainly not self inflicted. Now it was time to take them home and make sure that they were safe and sound.

xx

Killing Stryker hadn't even left a bitter taste in Andy's mouth and the fact that Thor was more than okay with what she had done made her smile. He had taken her back to the home that she shared with Sharon after she had gotten her wound checked out by Reed and Bruce and she had asked him to stay for a little bit even though she knew that he had to go. They had killed Stryker and for now that meant that the Avengers could disband again and working on fixing the BiFrost was a constant issue and he needed to be there. She just wished that the two of them had more time now that she was being truly honest about her feelings.

Still, having the demigod stroke her hair and hold her on the couch was nice while it was going to last and she snuggled into him. She knew that Sharon was in good hands with Clint and Angel with Steve, knowing Angel would make it through it the moment that Reed and Bruce had gotten her vitals steady and paused everyone's worry. Tony was with Joanna trying to figure out where they stood, and right now Andy just wanted to enjoy this time with Thor and forget about everything else. She thought that after everything, she deserved that much.

"You and I have a lot of time together," Andy said with a smile on her face. "I guess it has suddenly dawned on me that we're both going to live for a long, long time."

Thor nodded gently. "You are certainly not mortal like many of your kind."

"Maybe this was fate trying to tell me something," Andy responded smiling. "We were brought together for a reason and yes, I know that sounds strange, but I'm starting to believe it."

Thor just smiled at her as she leaned up to kiss him, kissing her back passionately as Angel stirred a little bit. She felt the familiar feeling of a bed under her back, but this time it was her bed and she smiled a little at Steve sleeping in her reading chair. She reached out to stroke his hair, feeling better and assuming that Reed and Bruce had worked their magic and now she was fixed for the time being. Seeing Steve pay her such attention warmed her heart and she knew that she couldn't stay mad at him forever.

Feeling her fingers in his hair, Steve stirred as well, opening up his eyes to see Angel smiling fondly at him and just that was enough to make him grin. Bruce and Reed had reversed what Stryker had done, trying to figure out if Stryker had anymore of the serum because it was rather detrimental to mutant health and they wanted to make sure that he couldn't use it on anyone ever again. He might have been dead, but he still had followers and any of them could easily get their hands on it and distribute it in a less than pleasant way.

What they needed was Angel to manipulate the system.

So far, hacking into it hadn't helped and while they could enlist a Technopath, they really just wanted Angel right now. Steve had told them to leave her alone for the time being and just let her wake up, Joanna having changed her and then taken Tony out for dinner while Steve stayed here to look over her. He had gotten checked out too, but he refused to get any other kind of treatment until he knew that Angel was safe and that was fine—he was a super soldier and he was already healing rather well.

"You make it really hard to stay mad at you," Angel said gently, lifting up the covers.

Steve smiled as he took the cue to slide in and hold her. "Good…that was my master plan."

"I could tell," Angel replied, kissing his cheek gently and then his lips. "While I want to talk everything out with you, not right now, alright? I just want to be in your arms…is Stryker dead?"

"Andy and Sharon made sure of that," Steve responded with a nod. "Logan went blasting in and let them do it and honestly…I don't feel all that bad about it."

Angel smiled a little bit. "Neither do I…"

She smiled at Steve and kissed him tenderly, Steve letting his fingers run through her hair as he kissed her back, Sharon and Clint sitting in silence in her room. Sharon had decided while she was with Stryker this last time that she was tired of running, and that meant from Clint, but she still had a lot to think about because for a moment she honestly missed Loki. Of course she wanted to be with Clint, but the distinct difference between the two men was that Clint wanted to protect her and he wanted to fight her battles for her, while Loki admired her strength.

Loki wanted Sharon to show her worth.

It wasn't that Sharon thought that Clint thought she was weak and in need of saving, it was just that with Loki, she felt that she was able to be more independent and their kiss was still on her mind. Clint knew nothing about this, however, and while Loki had made his way into the room shortly after and praised Sharon and Andy on their work, Clint had been there. Maybe Loki hadn't wanted to overstep his bounds and fawn all over her though…maybe he had known she was strong and Clint was there to look her over for the moment.

All Sharon knew for certain was that she was here with Clint and she was tired of running from him and that was what was important, right? Clint would find a way to accept that she fought her own battles, it would just take him a little bit more time—she was sure of that. So when she kissed him suddenly, Clint was surprised, but he kissed her back, Sharon wrapping her arms around him. She had spent so much time trying to push him away when not once since she had killed Stryker had he told her she was wrong for doing it…when not once had he stopped fighting for her.

"I really do love you," Clint said suddenly, pulling back and cupping her face, looking her in the eye.

Sharon smiled a little and decided to just let it happen as she started to tug at his clothes. "I really do love you too…"

Note: No way…did I just give them to you? Next chapter is just cute and fluffy and sexy and fun. Feedback is always appreciated!