Izabella raises her volume, sliding on her stomach, "I got one!"

Valkyrie looks up from her own fight, "Be sure to scream loud. Ensure all our enemies hear you are now in possession of the stones!"

"What?"

"Do not set any intentions while holding them. Do you understand?"

She checks her hands, shoving them into her shirt pocket frantically, "Yes!"

The warrior steps in time with Thor as she mumbles under her breath, "My blade may have to miss the next target on purpose…"

She raises her voice to take it a pitch higher, mocking Izabella, "'Oops'."

Thor tilts his head, calling his hammer, "Banner and Lady Natasha are protective of the young girl and therefore I am as well."

"The one with the golden eyes-here I thought we had become friends."

"I believe she is…unpredictable."

"She will be held accountable? Perhaps a lighter sentence? She would be a fearless warrior under my watch."

Thor steps ahead, "If we survive, you shall decide her fate."

. * . * . * . * . * . * .

When Lucy collides with the hulk, they've each met their match.

Jameson takes the first swing upon realizing he's in her way. When he retaliates, she blocks his fist and holds it with both of her hands. She plants her feet apart, pushing him backward. Right now, anyone getting in between achieving her goals is an enemy.

She goes low when he swings high. They alternate until she can flip over him with a move she learned from her mother he recognizes.

The hulk growls and so does Lucy, looking each other in the eye when he tries to be intimidating. She does the same, mimicking his every move.

The hulk eases up until she tries to stab him with her knife, snarling in a rage over her attack.

Lucy moves to take advantage until his voice changes, tamer than what's standard for the hulk;

"Lucy…"

Jameson freezes, holding her stance.

Something changes as Banner's kinder, softer eyes start to come through, trying to reach his cousin's daughter, "Lucy."

Lucy freezes, her own eyes flickering. She takes a swing at him.

"Don't fight," Hulk snarls and captures her hands with one of his as she tries to punch.

He withdraws next, moving to shake Banner off. The hulk has his own ideas of how to handle her, and it involves wrestling.

When Thor charges his hammer and sets off a storm. Lucy snaps right back into her red zone.

. * . * . * . * .

Izabella looks exhausted from her own mission. Studying the hulk and Lucy's every move.

The wrestling isn't entirely unexpected however violent it may appear. She shields her eyes from the lightning, losing her breath and looking on in horror when her friend drives her knife into the hulk.

Izabella's scream is drowned out by the thunder and the full lightning storm coming from the sky when Thor arrives to intervene.

"Stop!" Mikhailov blocks him in defense of Lucy with a warp that infuriates a raging Brunhilde who is mad over the hulk falling.

Izabella tries to protect the hulk with a misted shield hand, while teleporting the others.

Winded, injured, and on the verge of snapping savagely, the hulk unravels. He's constantly shaking his head to rattle his alter ego. If it were only up to Hulk, Lucy might've lost an arm by now. Fighting with Bruce is no doubt draining his energy, stopping any healing from taking place.

Lucy tries to take another stab in her fury, mistakenly blaming him for Thor's lightning blast. She's knocked off balance by a more unpredictable hulk and hit by another bolt from Thor.

Izabella tearfully watches her mentor struggle, unsure if he'll let her close enough. She causes another warp before she can see anything else, this time separating the Asgardian prisoners from their intended path.

The mini she-hulk is somehow still in her red zone. Her target switches from off the hulk and onto a large blue figure. Some 'demigod', Izabella assumes. He's oddly optimistic, asking Thor for guidance.

Valkyrie screams next. When Izabella looks over she watches the warrior fall. She teleports to bring Brunnhilde closer, "I got you!"

The Valkyrie throws her head back against the ground, addressing her leg once she's able to exhale, "You're bleeding. Your ears!"

Izabella ignores, wiping her wrist against her own ear before acknowledging Brunnhilde's injury, "That is deep. We cannot pull it out."

"Why not-."

"Stubborn, voin - do not touch it!"

"You're as bossy as Natasha Romanoff," Brunnhilde states, slightly concerned.

"Move!" She pushes Izabella aside, swinging her sword at their next attacker.

The girl rolls away, warping away the onslaught to help Thor from the ground. The hulk is useless, still out of commission and unable to distinguish friend from foe. Lucy is lying unconscious across from him, red blood on her hand, lip, forehead…from what, Izabella doesn't know.

Looking out at the horizon Izabella watches the incoming charge. Thor is flailing. The king of Asgard can't keep up and it's causing Izabella's hope to fail.

Her fingers are aching, trying to cause a protective shield to form over Valkyrie with one hand and continuing to warp with the other. She strains with her eyes burning and her head buzzing.

Thor is raging, tackled by someone she can't control. Thunder bursts from the sky and lightning follows. It's all a blur.

She reaches to form one more protective bubble, yelping over the pain in the back of her skull. She goes dizzy, reappearing at the hall of the palace.

There's a gasp when she realizes the stones are in her hands and she's not where she wants to be.

"No!"

As she unwraps her tightly curled up fingers, she watches their green glow fading. Sinking back against the wall she breathes. With a soft jolt from her palm, she tries to 'jumpstart' her powers. The green fades immediately due to her lack of stability and concentration.

".. ostanavlivat'sya !"

Izabella frees the other hand and tearfully wiggles her fingers, intent on seeing the future. She's desperate for answers when the current situation feels beyond bleak. When it doesn't work, she shuts her fist and throws an open palm against the wall with a scream.

The stones fall from her hand and onto the ground, one by one colliding with the tile.

She looks up at the ceiling, "Why?!"

Izabella holds her head, sinking to the ground. She misses home, and Svetlana. She holds the stones, knowing it would be easy to reverse it all.

If she could stop Riley's accident, help stop Lucy's first red zoned occurrence. Maybe go back far enough to give Lucy a happier life through her teenage years.

Maybe she could save Riley's family…save her own. Izabella cringes painfully with a thought for her parents.

If she goes back that far, where would it stop?

She weighs the pros of time travel and what leaving Asgard would mean. She closes her eyes and hears the hulk still roaring in the back of her mind.

Lucy never would've ran off to get Loki's help if the girls hadn't fought... it's her own fault.

Izabella lifts a stone and chucks it in a fury. Her hands glitch and flicker, looking at her scarred and trembling palms;

"I'm sorry Natasha. I'm not worthy... ya nikogda. I failed you, Vrach ."

Izabella tucks her head and pulls in her legs to cry over her knees. Her head is aching, her palms are burning. Her body is shutting down from the strain of the battle.

Romanoff never would've let the hulk get stabbed. No one would've hurt him if the Black Widow were there.

Alex steps closer to lick her hand. He tucks his head and legs beside her with a growl, puppy eyes wide as they look up at hers. His tail thumps. She hugs his neck, his soft fur under her fingers. She lays her forehead on his, gently holding his old fragile muzzle.

Izabella trembles lightly, letting her tears fall as she pets Alex and talks to no one in particular, trying to justify her intention of quitting, "I thought I could fix the future... ya naportachil . All I did was cause it. I cannot fight anymore."

"You have to," Antonia comes running out, determined to state her case.

Izabella sniffles, looking up to greet her company, "You are supposed to be hiding."

She crouches, "Why are you bleeding? Why are you crying?"

"- I keep messing up," Izabella shakes her head.

Alex licks the tears, completely clueless.

Izabella pets Alex in a gentle attempt to make him stop while she addresses Antonia, "You never should have gotten hurt. Why are you here?"

"Alex came out so I came out. Jane said as long as I don't cross that line I'm safe,' Antonia points to an obscure location, presumably some tile line amongst the other hundreds, 'I wanted to see you do cool things."

".. I hurt you."

"Frowning gives you wrinkles. You should smile," she shrugs, sitting on her heels and clearly quoting something she either read or watched. She reaches to touch a stone from off the ground that curiously reacts to her contact.

Anna sighs, "Is this a hero tool? Can it make me fly like my daddy does?"

"Anna-."

"How does it work," she grabs the next one from off the ground, "Jane said they're powerful."

Izabella sniffles and takes them back, "They are too dangerous to play with."

Anna rolls her tiny and yet excessively judgmental eyes, "Where's your magic?"

"Magic is not real," Izabella lifts the stones, back up into her hand, toying with her necklace.

Anna points, "What does your crystal do?"

Izabella looks down at her necklace, "Your dad made me this. It helps me channel my warp-."

"Does it control time and space? Wait! Can you rewind me so I can run in here again?"

"Wait," Izabella pauses in her movement, looking up with a thought.

"What?!" She drops her hands, offended over her friend's snapping at her.

"You! You are a genius!"

"Obviously…?"

"Rewind! A controlled rewind with my crystal …Vrach needs just a little more time-We all need time- I do not have to change fate I just need to I just need to 'rewind' it."

"You said that already."

"It might not be the best idea. What choice do I have?! I will not change anything I will just- I can use the crystal to control my warp with one of the stones- Lucy's book said with one of the stones, you can control it-time,' Izabella stands, 'maybe I can 'rewind' without tampering with things. I do not know the future so cannot say I knew better. Maybe I- Cross your fingers. Lucy is going to murder me-."

"Are we going to a really cool lab where mommy would probably forbid me to go?"

Izabella wipes her eyes, patting Alex who stands beside her and addresses Antonia, "We need to search their apartment. Come on."

Antonia runs behind her, sliding as they round the corner and break into the Banner's quarters.

Izabella frantically searches the shelves with shaky hands, Alex circling next to her while she mumbles.

"Ha!" Izabella lifts her item, dropping a small iPod to the ground in the process, 'u menya yest' eto !"

"Huh?"

"I found it!" Mikhailov lifts her book with wide eyes.

Anna jumps on the bed, holding and fiddling with the iPod, "I think it's broken,' she reads, 'Moon River. What's a 'Moon River'?! The moon is in space! It doesn't have rivers!"

"There is water on the moon," Izabella scans the book's pages frantically.

"Yeah but not rivers!"

"This stone. I need this one."

"A glowy thing?" Antonia stands to explain the image inside of the book.

She circles to dig through Natasha's things so Antonia does the same.

Alex turns his head to scratch his ear, tag clunking loudly. Antonia pets his head, "Silly doggy. Why are you itchy?"

Izabella turns, suddenly attentive to the extra jingle on his collar. Curiously, she crouches and leans to get a better view.

She gasps, reaching for the glowing pouch underneath his new Asgardian name tag that glows the closer she gets. She scratches at his ear and kisses the side of his muzzle.

"You khoroshiy mal'chik ! Thank you for not creating a world full of dog bones with your own intentions."

Antonia shoves her face in closer, "That could power my treehouse."

Izabella sorts the stones, following the directions from the book, "We need a lab. Science-Sister."

Antonia places Natasha's sunglasses over her face, clicks her tongue and points her forefinger in a way that channels her father, "Yeah we do."

Antonia runs off upon arrival, dashing through the lab where Jane Foster and Bruce Banner have been working;

"Hey Sister-Friend? How are we supposed to do science without computers and artificial intelligence robots and snacks?"

"We can make anything work," Izabella circles the outdoor facility, trying to work in the pouring rain.

Izabella removes her necklace and analyzes the crystal, chipping off the edge on a nearby table, "Can we find tweezers?"

Antonia is searching, "Whatcha doing?"

"I am going to take the inside of the stone and input it into my crystal."

The girls look up when the curtain opens to reveal a frazzled Jane Foster, the twins gawking beside her;

"Antonia! We thought you were taken!"

Izabella looks up with tears in her eyes and the dried blood down her neck.

Jane stares in the moment. She's shaken from her trance when the warning bells go off above them.

Agatha calls with a tremble, "They're coming mommy."

Jane swallows the lump in her throat, her eyes on Izabella;

"You have the stones…it's leading them here."

"It was her idea!" Antonia hides, passing the blame.

"Please," Mikhailov whispers under her breath. She feels a twinge of guilt. Messing with the stones is exactly what she fought Lucy over. The reason why Anna was hurt in the first place.

She has to hope a bit of begging does the trick. Something without bringing up any science related 'butterfly effects' would be Izabella's preference.

Mikhailov takes another breath, addressesing Jane, "I have to do something."

Foster changes her focus with an inhale, tugging the curtain closed behind her. She takes charge, stepping forward. She addresses the twins next;

"Stand here and guard the entrance. Nobody comes in or out unless it's Uncle Heimdall. Agatha? We need a storm. Agmundr?"

"Mom?" He looks up, his eyes wide.

She brushes his cheek with pride in her eyes, "Work your magic."

Agatha whistles for her fox for comfort and let's her eyes cloud over, eager to bring the rain. Agmundr salutes.

Jane heads over to the work station, "What do you need?"

Izabella releases a sigh of relief, "I need some way to attach this."

Jane gets her hands on the crystal for a look, "I have a theory. Mind if I steal that from you?"

Mikhailov takes her step back and hands over her crystal for Jane to smash apart.

Izabella analyzes and meshes, trying to use what she can to inject fractions into her crystal with some help from Jane.

Antonia is decently quiet, jumpy over every noise.

Jane works with wide eyes;

"How were you holding all of these without starting an alternate reality?!"

The girl panics, "I am never touching these things again!"

"Just the one?"

"Just the one."

Jane lifts their crushed and fractured creation;

"Here."

Izabella shuts her eyes and wiggles her fingers to warm up, studying the object and scanning over her book one more time. She takes a breath, trying to push away her negative thoughts, the visions, the doubts and tries to stay positive.

Jane is still serious, her eyes fixated on Izabella, "You know what you're doing, right?"

"I do. Can you keep these safe? If I go back even ten minutes we cannot afford to have multiple stones on the field."

Jane dumps the contents from a nearby box and extends it so that they can hide the rest. She hugs the box into her chest, "If this doesn't work-."

"It will. It has to work," Izabella takes an inhale once she's ready, blowing over her new and improved crystal until it starts to glow over her new intentions.

Garrett lifts his hands to block Clint and Natasha from charging further once Riley takes off. Donning her teal black widow uniform she takes over and works her tools like a professional spy.

With her hair slicked back and in soy mode, she's independent enough to judge her surroundings and could easily be misinterpreted for Maria Hill.

Natasha tilts her head, "She doesn't need my help at all does she?"

Garrett scoffs, "At the kicking ass part of this? Nah!"

Clint slaps the boy's shoulder, just hard enough to make Garrett groan;

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"Watch your goddamn mouth, for fucks sake!"

Romanoff glares toward the boys, "…Really Clint."

"Don't lecture me Nat. We are NOT friends right now."

She sighs, "..he's an adult. I'm just saying that you can't tell him what to do anymore."

Garrett chimes in once he realizes Natasha is on his side, "Pops curses like a drunken sailor. Where does he think I learned it from?!"

Clint squints, "Your time in Boston! Obviously! Listen; When you marry Riley and move out of my damn basement you can do and say whatever the hell you want."

Natasha scoffs in amusement, "Marry Riley…that's ambitious. She seems a bit too preoccupied with career to worry about getting married. Someone needs to tell her to slow down."

Clint laughs, "Now who is being an overprotective parent? She's 'an adult', Nat, you 'can't tell her what to do'."

"Yeah, we're not friends right now."

Romanoff checks her com and finds enjoyment in the new mini video screen at her wrist. Watching Riley use moves and tricks she's learned from Natasha and through practice only serve to make Romanoff prouder of the girl. She smiles to herself...Riley doesn't need backup. She's a professional in her own right.

'You're all clear,' Riley's voice comes through moments later.

"We're on our way," Natasha calls back.

Garrett heads toward the gate with the twosome, standing watch. Clint delays an extra moment, watching his son reach for an arrow and load the bow as a precaution. He might be in his twenties, but all Clint sees is the 14 year old boy he adopted years ago.

"Be careful."

"I will," Garrett hardly looks up from his position, focused on keeping Riley safe.

The spies head straight through the halls that Riley has cleared. Clint turns to take the staircase, knocking out a stray.

"Save the next one for me," Natasha banters playfully.

"What were you doing in Asgard anyways? Other than warrior school."

She punches their next victim, "You should bring the wife and the boys up. Come visit."

"Ask me in 168 hours. I'm still getting over the initial shock of finding out you're somehow alive and trying to talk myself out of killing you."

They step towards the offices to look over a large silver item- presumably the bomb. Romanoff patches into Maria;

"We could use a little help from the science department."

Clint scoffs, "Did you murder your husband? Is that why he's not around?"

"Bruce is alive and green at the moment. Wrestling…rogue Asgardians."

"Oh boy."

Darcy answers over the chatter in the background of her laboratory, 'Okay! You're going to want to look for the blue chord.'

Clint leans over Natasha's shoulder with a flashlight when she moves the cover, "So we chop that?"

'No!' Darcy shouts into Clint and Natasha's ears, 'That's a really bad idea. You want to chop the blue wire, last.'

Selvig chimes in, 'Make sure you don't hit the orange one at any point.'

'And! Make sure you don't lift the cover of the bomb until you're absolutely one thousand percent ready to snip the wires or else you'll set off the timer,' Rick Jones offers next.

"You're some of Earth's most brilliant minds and you couldn't open with that statement?!" Clint frantically tries to locate every wire.

Darcy sighs audibly, 'You set off the timer didn't you?'

Natasha mumbles, "We can't take Clint anywhere."

Darcy's volume raises, 'Isn't this discussed in spy school?!'

'I'm out of practice, wise ass! And apparently, she's been on Mars years!' Clint snaps.

Natasha snaps into action, "I need a full rundown. And now."

"Ugh! Okay! Listen up-."

'Hate to interrupt,' Stark's voice comes through, 'but the spy on line 37 sounds an awful lot like Romanoff.'

"Miss me?" She retorts, jumping into the tunnel of silver bomb that's large enough to hold her.

'Hey Legolas, both causes of my migraines disappeared years ago. Suddenly I feel one coming back on. Any idea why that would be happening? Does it have anything to do with a five foot three inch tall Russian bitch? Do I need the hulk buster-.'

Clint reaches to grab Natashas arm over her intended action, "Are you serious?! You'll blow up with this thing."

She protests, "I'm old, Clint. My eyes are bad, I need to get a better view."

"Bullshit. You just like to be dangerous."

"You missed this," she spares a smirk.

"I missed you," Clint climbs down and looks over the left half of a couple thousand wires.

Tony calls back, 'Hey Clint; Here's an idea, why don't you and I peace out and leave Natasha to handle this alone? Let's take off to Long Beach. We can show up again when it's convenient in about give or take 7 years. We can even leave her to raise Anna and Nathan- that seems fair. Hey Jenny?! Are you hearing this?"

Maria sighs and calls in, 'Jen doesn't have a com for…obvious reasons. Let her do her job, you do yours!'

'Miss Romanoff! I have the schematics,' Rick calls next.

Natasha sighs, tapping her wrist, "I lost eyes on Riley."

Maria comes through, a panic in her tone no matter how hard she tries to hide it, 'Riley. Report in. Riley!'

'I'll go after her,' Garrett snaps through his own communicator.

Clint looks up at Natasha, "If she pisses Linda off, trying to dismantle this bomb is futile. Either way we blow up."

Natasha immediately crawls out of the tunnel, "I've got to get to her first."

Clint nods, "You go, I've got this...Talk to me, Darcy."

Natasha turns to run up the hall, clutching her com to warn her teammates of the mob of HYDRA agents coming towards her;

"We've got incoming."

She flips her batons, fully prepared to fight the ten figures charging in her direction. She rips through nine of them. Preparing to take a swing at the last when a blonde does it for her.

She tilts her head with a sigh, "Steve."

He steps back with a heavy exhale full of shock, "…Romanoff. Wow."

She lifts an eyebrow, "We can chat later. I'm looking for Linda. Hoping Riley hasn't gone after her."

"That's exactly where she went. I muffled the alarm but she's only got a minute."

"Great!"

Natasha stops when Rogers makes the call. He waves forward, "She's at the control panel."

Natasha swears in Russian under her breath, pressing forward. She taps the pistol at her side and her heart breaks instantly over seeing Linda at her station.

Shooting one of her kids isn't an option. Not now, not ever.

The woman with the tight blonde bun shamelessly lifts her own weapon towards Riley upon her entry;

"Stay back, or I'll have to shoot."

Riley jumps forward, tossing her weapon into the center of the room. She takes her stance, "You won't."

"I will."

"You don't sound like a HYDRA agent. They don't warn," Riley starts, standing up from the ground with her ears on her target. She waits, in her widow uniform with the center icon turned teal and two long straight bangs falling from her bun and over her eye.

Riley continues, "You won't hurt me. We both want the same thing."

"You hunted me," Linda grinds her teeth, still holding her weapon high.

"Because you targeted my family. You did this to yourself. It's your own fault."

"Because you chose to become the enemy. You use your gift for the oppressors. We don't need heroes, it's a new world order. One that you don't yet understand-."

"Is that what they told you? You're brainwashed if you believe that."

"I do."

Riley scoffs and shoves her hands into her pockets to ensure her hidden weapons are accessible, "I don't even have to breach your mind to know that this isn't what you want. We were made into weapons when we were in Russia. Locked in Alexei's mansion and then in some creepy basement. We were targeted, it wasn't just you!"

Linda cringes, when she looks at Riley.

"Why are you here if it's not to shoot me?"

"..I'm going to. If you keep talking. If you don't come quietly," she sighs, unaware that two other HYDRA agents have appeared.

Linda clicks her weapon.

Natasha comes out from their hiding space and jumps forward, taking the shot for Riley after pushing her away.

Steve screams through the communicator, "Widow's down, repeat Widow's down! Evacuate the floor!"

Riley finally breaches. She senses Natasha's mind- the years of regret…love.

Riley's heart drops to her gut as she scrambles, "No! Natasha!"

Romanoff tries to aim her widow's bite, gritting her teeth with a hand on her rib cage, "Gah! Get her out of here!"

Steve crouches, firing his own weapon as he tries to pull Riley.

Linda dodges. She moves to escape and reaches to remove the gloves from her hands and brush her palms together.

It's a smooth motion that incites terror and sends Natasha back. Suddenly she's standing in her tower apartment, watching the glass shatter and her world explode…

Linda makes eye contact with the Russian on the ground, responding coldly to her bleeding mentor;

"Hail HYDRA."

Natasha shuts her eyes, hides her face, and holds her breath as the building goes up in flames.

Violet dashes across the pavement. Her blood is pumping, her heart is racing. Her focus is on the building. Zipping through to rescue her.

Brody and Sam were sent out moments ago, and Tony is already headed in their direction, but the girl who runs faster than the speed of light will arrive first.

She knows the structure; Clint is in the basement last she checked. Riley and Steve are at the hall and Natasha is in the middle.

Violet is moving faster than she ever has, in a suit from Tony meant to keep up with her friction.

Everything in the building is a blur but when the flames seem to suck inward she circles, lifts her goggles and watches.

Garrett's arrow is retracting back into his bow, the shingles returning to the roof. Agents are moving backward, people are rising from off the ground.

She ducks to avoid collisions, left standing in a whirlwind when it's as if life resumes.

Garrett yells at her, "What are you doing here you're going to endanger the mission!"

Riley scolds next, "You need to back up Violet, why are you here?!"

Violet frowns, "Where's Miss Natasha?"

Riley grits her teeth, "In the bunker. Like we planned."

Violet looks over, watching Clint and Natasha in the distance, "Okay! I just watched the building completely blow up and then rebuild itself so either I'm faster than time OR time just spun around me."

"That's impossible."

"If I explained what I just saw-."

"Stop. You're not making sense."

"Okay, just- Riley, wait,' she grips her friend's arm, 'Don't make anyone mad, okay? Promise me! We just got a second chance at this. You can't die this time, okay?"

Riley listens, her head on a downward angle away from Violet.

Her friend is rambling on about nonsense. The problem in Riley's mind is that Violet so clearly believes it. Even post breach, Violet seems set on her story.

Maria calls from her communicator, "Riley? Is everything alright?"

She holds her com to answer Maria, "I'm going in, mom."

Riley lifts her chin. She can feel a chill in the air, suddenly aware of the storm clouds that must be forming overhead. There's a breeze through her hair when she reestablishes a direction with some tech on her wrist and makes her way toward the base.