In a matter of seconds, the area went from deathly quiet to deafeningly loud. Above them, the sound of gunfire rang out from every direction.
"This is our priority," Steve announced, indicating the Wellspring. "This is what we came for. We need options on getting it out of here safely. Talk to me."
"Can it survive outside the freezer?" Tony asked.
"Yes," Scully answered, "but not for long. We need to get it into the Quinjet's cold storage fast."
"Good, that makes our lives easier. Here's what I'm thinking. I can move the fastest out of all of us. Give it to me, I'll fly high and keep it out of Hydra's reach. I can lay down fire from up there too."
"Negative," Clint cut in. "They've got drones out here."
"Can you take them down?" Scully called back.
"I'm trying, but I'm exposed so it's taking time."
"Dana, Nat, Mulder," Steve said, "you three come with me and let's lay down some cover for Clint. We need those drones out of the air. Tony, Thor, stay here with the Wellspring. If it comes to it, make a run for the helicarrier. I'd rather it thaw out mid-flight than have Hydra get their hands on it."
Mulder and Scully left Tony and Thor carefully removing the Wellspring from its frozen vault and dashed upstairs beside Steve and Nat. In the house, they found Skinner and Coulson each at one of the two doors using their weapons to take out the advancing Hydra ranks. Occasionally they would spot a drone drop to the ground, trailing smoke with a single arrow stuck into its rotors. Bruce was sat on the kitchen floor keeping his breathing under control lest the mission suddenly require a Code Green.
"We need a route to the roof," Scully called.
"There's an access panel to the attic space in the bathroom, not sure if you'll be able to get out from there though," Coulson called back between volleys.
"Worth a try," Steve said and the four dashed through. Once there, Steve reached up and pulled the access panel open, causing an avalanche of dust to fall down into the room.
"Boost us," Nat told him. She and Scully stepped forward and in one well-practiced movement, Steve used his shield to boost the women into the attic while Mulder took up a position by the window to keep them covered.
"Is there a way out?" Steve called up.
"Doesn't look like it but there's a whole lot of loose shingles. We can pull some off and fire up through the gaps."
"Do it," Steve ordered. "Mulder, join them and get those drones down. I'm gonna go for the truck and try to take down as many of their soldiers as I can.
Mulder nodded and jumped to pull himself up into the filthy attic space while Steve disappeared outside. He found Scully and Nat at opposite ends of the room each smashing out a single shingle to create a small hole through which they could fire while also keeping themselves mostly covered.
"Clint's beside the chimney," Nat told him, indicating the brick column toward the centre of the main wall, "try to get a spot on the opposite side to him if possible. The roof is higher there so we can't reach as easily."
Mulder ran over and quickly removed his own piece of shingle. Above him he could see the drones zipping back and forth. The tiny space opened up by the missing shingle didn't offer much room to aim, but he made it work, picking off the drones as they moved into his line of fire.
"You know," he called over to Scully and Nat, "right now I'm really glad of those hours I spent at the arcade playing Space Invaders. Makes me think of firing up to make a hole through the shields and attacking from there!"
He heard Scully laugh in the distance before Nat's weapon cut her off.
"Can anyone see anything down below?" Nat asked over the comms.
"Steve's made it to the truck," Clint answered over the comms. "He's driving it toward Hydra's ranks and scattering them." He paused and they heard the telltale swoosh of an arrow letting loose. "That was the last drone."
"Steve? Where do you need us?" Nat called into her comm.
"Can you get onto the roof?" Steve called back. "These guys are swarming from every direction, we could use more support from above."
"Need me airborne?" Tony asked. "Thor can handle guarding the Wellspring."
"Do it," Steve agreed, "there's a lot more of them than we thought."
"We need Dana down here," Coulson's voice cut in with an edge Scully knew well.
"I'm on my way," Scully responded, running for the hatch while Nat started smashing out more shingles to create a hole big enough for her to clamber up through. Mulder watched her go for a second then shook his head to clear it. Scully was entirely capable of taking care of herself. He'd seen that. Steve had told him he was needed on the roof, Clint and Nat needed his help, so instead of obeying his instinct to ignore orders and follow Scully, he instead ran to Nat and helped her smash out the final shingles before helping to boost her up through the hole and then climbing through himself.
From here he could see the extent of the devastation. A dozen Hydra vehicles surrounded them, most now bearing significant damage from where Steve had rammed them with the armor-plated S.H.I.E.L.D. truck. What felt like hundreds of soldiers were advancing on the house, although having lost the support of their drones, several groups were now falling back into the surrounding woods. Without needing to communicate verbally, Mulder and Nat settled into positions around the chimney near Clint and picked out areas to lay down fire where the Hydra teams were closing in.
Downstairs, Scully had arrived in the main living area to find Bruce tending to Skinner.
"He took a shot to the shoulder," Bruce told her, removing his hand to reveal that Skinner's shoulder was soaked in blood.
"It's nothing," Skinner insisted. Scully gave him a look.
"Let me see."
She ripped open his shirt and pulled it away to reveal the wound.
"You're lucky," she told him, "the bullet went clean through. I can fix this up in a few seconds if you hold still." Kneeling in front of him, she placed her palms on either side of the wound and concentrated, allowing the healing energy to flow through her and out into Skinner. She heard him sigh as the pain ebbed away and in only a few moments, the wound was completely healed. She moved her hands and Skinner rolled his shoulder experimentally.
"Good as new," he told her. She flashed him a smile then tapped her ear to activate her comm.
"What's the situation?"
"We've got them on the run," Steve answered, "Tony, can you clean up those last holdouts near the garage? Everyone else, regroup by the house. I want this thing on the move."
Scully heard Tony's jets blast by overhead followed by the rapid fire of his weapons. Then the house fell quiet again. From above, they heard the sound of footsteps as Clint, Mulder, and Nat made their way down from the roof. Outside, an engine came to a stop by the main door and Steve emerged looking a little worse for wear. After a few moments, Thor appeared from the basement holding the Wellspring and Tony arrived, bringing the team back together.
"Is everyone ok?" Scully asked. Mulder could see her palms glowing slightly in readiness but everyone was apparently uninjured except for the odd scratch.
"Seems like we're all good," Tony replied, retracting the faceplate of his suit, "even Captain Kirk over there." He pointed at Skinner who was standing among the group with his shirt hanging open exposing all his chest muscles. Skinner glared at him and started trying to pull his shirt closed.
"Let's move," Steve told them. "The sooner this thing is aboard the helicarrier the better."
They all piled back into the truck, Tony and Thor flying arcs around them as they drove to watch for incoming trouble. Clint perched on the cabin roof with his bow ready to go and Scully, Mulder, Coulson, and Nat all sat in the rear, each one facing in a different direction with their backs to the Wellspring and with weapons drawn. Thankfully they made it back to the Quinjet without further incident and all piled on board except for Coulson who offered to return the truck to a nearby S.H.I.E.L.D. facility and hitch a lift home later on. Scully insisted Skinner come back to the helicarrier so she could run some tests on his shoulder.
Nat took the helm with Mulder as co-pilot and within an hour, they were safely aboard the helicarrier once again where a team of researchers arrived to take control of the Wellspring, with Bruce stepping up to take the lead on research.
"Fury's given us all leave to get some sleep," Steve told them. "I suggest you take the opportunity while you have it."
Neither Mulder nor Scully needed to be told twice.