A/N: Italicized text can represent several things (dialogue in another language, inner thoughts, flashbacks, etc.) please be aware of this and the context to better understand what is happening!
Odette teleported back to the facility.
It was empty.
But the lights were still on. The afternoon setting sun lit the facility in a golden glow, but no one was there to enjoy it.
"Friday?" Odette teleported to her room and gently laid down her blanket on the bed.
"Yes ma'am?" Friday answered.
"Where is everyone?" She demanded, a bit sharper than she intended to be.
"In the city." Friday answered. Her TV came on and showed live footage of a very pregnant Brooke in civilian clothes protecting bystanders as a man with a sword fought against Steve and Natasha.
"What!?" Odette couldn't believe what she was seeing or hearing.
"Four days ago, Agent Romanoff was tipped off about an assassin in the city." Friday explained, "Two days ago, Captain Rogers found out she was attempting to apprehend the assassin herself and went to her aid. Yesterday, Miss Field grew worried about the lack of communication from both Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff and went to the city to aid them both." Odette watched, her mouth slightly agape, as Natasha jumped onto the roof of a car and then onto the assassin's shoulders. She took him down, but he was quick to his feet, kicking Natasha across the street and into a mailbox. Steve ran at the assassin and engaged him in hand-to-hand combat, but the slightly smaller man was able to quickly dodge him. The more she saw, the more numb she became to the anger shaking her shoulders. Her mind felt warm and fuzzy. She felt numb.
Odette glared at the screen, quickly scanning the background to find out where exactly this fight was taking place. She disappeared from the facility and appeared in the snowy afternoon street.
"Odette?" Steve exclaimed seconds before the assassin charged at him with his sword.
Odette teleported between the two men and caught the sword in her hands. The jointed metal sliced her hands, and her feet dug into the slushy road, pushing her back. She didn't feel it. Gritting her teeth, she twisted the sword to the side, jerking the assassin along with it.
With the man thrown off balance, Odette grabbed the collar of his ninja suit and teleported him to the top of the nearby apartment buildings. Her face was motionless as she dangled the man over the edge. The man gripped her arm tightly with one of his arms. If she tried to drop him, he would drag her down with him.
He kicked out at her, trying to find his footing.
Then, he stopped squirming and looked at her. The only part of his face she could see was his eyes.
"Odette!" Natasha screamed from below, "Don't do it!"
A hot, golden glow wrapped around her arms. Energy smoked off her skin as she tightened her grip on the assassin's collar.
The energy coming off her swarmed the assassin's head. It began to seep into the man's mask. He breathed it in and out, hyperventilating as the energy curled up around his eyes. It crystalized in the frozen air.
Odette stood firm.
Unmoving.
The steel blue eyes exposed on the assassin's face widened as the energy began to pool in his eyes, "No, no, no! Doc, it's me!" A familiar voice pleaded with her to stop.
Odette's mind suddenly cleared, she quickly pulled the assassin back over the edge, and away from the eyes of the bystanders below. She tossed him as far from her as she could, the energy shaking and dripping off him and fizzling in the snow. "Clint?!" She questioned in a low hiss so no one else heard them.
Clint caught himself from falling on his face and panted heavily. He doubled over and held himself up with his hands on his knees. "Jesus Christ, Doc, if I knew you were gonna show up and kill me, I would have stretched." He wheezed, lowering his mask enough to breathe.
Just then, Natasha came running out of the roof entrance, "Odette, don't, it's—!" She skidded to a stop when she saw Odette and Clint standing side by side, not killing each other. Steve was right behind her, and if the mumbled shouts from the stairwell were an indication, Brooke was on her way up as well.
Steve panted heavily and looked between the three Avengers in shock. "Barton?" He finally said.
"Hey…Cap…" Clint sounded like a kid caught in the act of coloring on the walls with a sharpie.
Steve looked between Natasha and Clint, "What the hell, Romanoff?" He seethed, his breath coming out as frozen vapor.
"I was gonna tell you," Natasha panted, "but I didn't think he'd put up such a fight."
"I told you to leave me alone. I have business to take care of." Clint grumbled.
"Assassinating politicians doesn't sound like business to me." Steve glowered down at Clint.
"I'm here!" Brooke panted heavily, "Everyone's safe." She held onto the doorframe and looked at the older Avengers. "Whhhyyy aren't you all killing each—," Brooke's voice trailed off as she finally noticed Clint. She did a double-take, and her voice broke when she asked, "Clint?"
Clint grimaced, but did his best to smile, "Hey, kid."
"Not that I don't love touching reunions," Natasha cut off Steve before he could start up again, "but can we go home?" She asked, looking at Odette.
Odette looked between Clint and Steve. Neither of them objected to that idea, so she teleported them home.
"Okay." She said once everyone had gotten their bearings. She'd taken them straight to the lounge and she dumped off her winter coat, folding it once and slamming it down on the back of one of the chairs, "Someone start talking." She pointedly looked at Clint, but it was Natasha that spoke up.
"When did you get back?" She asked.
"About two minutes ago. You tried to assassinate someone?" She asked Clint, deciding that she wouldn't let them beat around the bush.
Clint sighed and groaned as he rolled out his arms, "I didn't try." He said in a low, gravelly voice.
"He killed the man who had just been running for Congress—," Steve began to say.
Clint cut him off, "He was taking dirty money and letting kids be smuggled out of the country, does that sound like someone you want in power? Any kind of power?" Brooke hugged herself and shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. Odette put her hands on her hips, waiting for either one to say more. "Now, I don't know about you, but I'm taking a page out of Stark's book. Okay, I'm not just gonna sit on my ass and wait for something bad to happen. I'm not gonna wait for the problem to be a problem, you know?" His face was hard, but his eyes and voice were sad (even if he was nearly yelling). "So, yeah, I killed him. Him and every goddamn goon that was in on his little scheme. And he won't be the last."
You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed.
"Why is it they get to live while," Clint's voice broke. He inhaled sharply and turned his head away in an attempt to compose himself.
"I admit," Natasha spoke up after letting Clint breathe for a moment, "I should have been more truthful with you," She said, looking at Steve, "But, I had the situation handled."
"Which is why he killed more people and got away from us for two days." Steve put his hands on his hips. "Barton's lucky no one saw his face. He's lucky we aren't turning him into the authorities."
"You know they couldn't hold him." Natasha said with a playful smirk.
Steve wasn't biting. He was stiff, rigid, pissed. "I can think of one place that can." He said, his voice sharp.
"And you didn't call me once you realized something was up?" Odette asked, now turning her tired and angry eyes on Steve and Brooke. Steve matched her glare, but Brooke tensed up and turned her eyes downward. "You didn't think your friend with the teleportation powers couldn't have helped with the evasive assassin?"
"You were busy." Brooke mumbled.
"You were working." Steve said at the same time.
"We are a team, God damn it!" Odette, in a fit of uncharacteristic rage, flipped over the chair she'd been gripping. That got everyone's eyes on her.
Brooke looked at her fearfully.
Steve matched her hard stare.
Natasha looked at her shocked.
Clint looked on edge.
"We are supposed to work together!" She reminded them. "This is why we fail." She was so angry and so tired, and she was so tired of being angry, and she was angry at being tired. "We don't communicate. We're no better than when we first started out six years ago!" She gestured wildly to the Avengers, "We're still a time bomb, we've just extended the clock!" Frustrated, Odette clenched and unclenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. "If you had just told us," She stressed her words, looking pointedly at Clint, who looked at her with sad eyes, "We might have been able to help you take these people down," She saw Steve move to protest, so she quickly added, "in a way that wouldn't have killed them, or gotten you in trouble."
"No one saw me." Clint shook his head.
"You can't be sure of that." Odette shook her head in response. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Odette rested her weight on one leg, "Brooke, monitor the media." Odette turned to the young woman, "Make sure there is no connection between the assassinations and Clint." Brooke nodded wordlessly, still shaken by Odette's early outburst. "Natasha, let Rhodey know that Clint is home with us for now." Natasha opened her mouth as if to protest, but then she thought better of it, and nodded once. "Clint," she looked at the assassin, "You're not leaving the Avengers campus until you have proven to us that you are not going to work alone in this capacity again—have I made myself clear?" She added sharply when Clint turned to argue.
Clint closed his mouth, his jaw tight as he answered, "Crystal, Doc."
"Good." Odette nodded, "Steve and I will go back to the city to deal with the clean up of Clint's crimes. When I come back, I expect everyone to be in this building." No one protested or argued further, so Odette took that as everyone going along with her plan. "Good." She dismissed them. Natasha took Clint to their hallway, likely to speak with him one-on-one now that they were no longer fighting.
Brooke scurried off towards the offices, silent as could be after all the yelling she'd just witnessed.
And Steve…Odette could feel Steve's eyes burning through her skin as she righted the chair she'd thrown earlier. She put her coat back on and readjusted her scarf before she looked back at him.
"Ready?" She asked.
"You let him off too easily." Steve answered.
"And you," Odette stepped in front of him, "Should have answered my calls."
"My cell was here." Steve pointed out.
"Do you know how worried I was?" Odette asked. She hadn't been worried until she'd come home to an empty nest. But, that was besides the point. They were a team and by not communicating with her and taking his phone into the field, Steve excluded her from a team decision. A team decision that put the very pregnant Brooke in harm's way. She was barely a month from her due date, she shouldn't have been off campus, much less using her powers! Granted, Odette knew for a fact that Clint would never purposely hurt Brooke, but he might not have been the only person with deadly motives on the streets that day.
Steve looked like he wanted to say something back, but he bit his tongue instead.
"Besides, if we keep Clint here, we can keep an eye on him. Friday is good for that sort of thing." She snapped with more venom than she'd intended.
Like a dog with his tail between his legs, Steve sheepishly nodded in agreement. "You're right." His voice was low.
"Good, then let's go." Odette teleported them back to the city.
The two found several police officers there, and got to work gathering intel—well, more like, Odette gathered intel and Steve followed her around.
Odette eased back into her role as a spy, lying her ass off when they questioned what they'd done with the assassin, pretending to share a common goal with the police staff in wanting to apprehend the assassin, and being sympathetic towards those who did not deserve an ounce of kindness.
Evidently, these were Clint's first killing's, which made Odette wonder just how long he'd been planning this. The election for New York had happened a few months ago. The victim had lost, so clearly, the position this person held made no real difference to Clint. All that mattered to him were his actions and how he made a living.
Odette sighed as she and Steve turned away from the officer's. "Now what'll happen when months go by and we haven't apprehended their assassin?" Steve whispered, his hands firmly in his coat pockets to keep warm.
"They won't care." Odette pointed out. "They want to pin the blame on someone, sure, but didn't you hear that rookie? Someone had tipped the department off about his smuggling deals. There are rumors someone hired this assassin."
It took Steve a second to catch on, "They're going to let it go cold because of what he's done."
She nodded. "No one cares if the bad guy gets closure."
"Shit." Steve sighed.
"It still doesn't excuse what Clint did, you're right about that." Odette whispered, tucking herself closer to Steve as a brisk wind picked up. "But, we at least can rest easy knowing he wasn't going 'total psychopath' and killing innocent civilians."
"He shouldn't be killing anyone." Steve argued.
"I agree, but that has already happened." Odette said, "the best we can do right now is support our friend. Can't you see he's hurting?" Odette understood all too well the kind of lengths people would go to when they were desperate from grief.
Steve's eyes...changed...
He looked over Odette's face, tracing every line and curve as if he was looking for something.
"I do now." He finally said.
February
"Why does it have to be so cold?" Odette thought to herself as she pulled her blankets tighter around herself. Laying on her bed, she could look out the window and see the thick blanket of snow that had covered the facility grounds.
There was an eerie sort of peace that came with the silence snow brought. But lingering just behind the peace were darker memories. Memories of screams, lives lost long ago, unpleasant things that consumed the present and threatened the present.
Odette felt around her bed for the grey blanket she'd brought back from her and Bucky's farm in Wakanda. Finding it bunched up by her pillow, she unfurled it and tucked it close to her body. It warmed her enough to where she let out a sigh of content.
But, knowing she couldn't lay in the comfort and warmth of her bed for much longer, Odette got up and dressed in her work out clothes. Not wanting to trek through the chilled facility, she opted to teleport to the gym instead.
Clint and Natasha were already there, just finishing their warm up as Odette appeared.
"Good morning." Odette said, setting her water bottle down beside Natasha's.
Natasha panted heavily, and looked up at Odette, "Morning." She nodded.
"Morning." Clint was quieter.
"Steve's not here, yet?" Odette asked.
Natasha put her hands on her hips and shook her head, "Brooke was showing him some security footage from last night. She said Friday tipped her off about it and she wanted him to see it."
"But not us?" Odette wondered why to herself. She shook it off. "If Brooke wants just Steve to see it, it must be for a reason." She reassured herself, though she couldn't help but remember her own actions. "Of course she doesn't want to tell me anything anymore…" Odette had broken the trust between them several times, she didn't blame her for going straight to Steve.
"Earth to Odette?" Natasha waved one hand in her face.
Odette blinked and pulled back into herself, "Sorry." She apologized, "Lot on my mind."
"Clearly." Natasha looked her up and down.
"You okay?" Clint asked seriously, moving from one machine to another, but pausing to look at her.
Wanting to move on in the conversation and avoid any unpleasant topics, Odette smiled but shook her head, "I'm fine." She turned to Natasha and held up her fists, "Train with me?" She requested.
Natasha and Clint shared a silent, long look, but she eventually turned back to Odette and nodded. The two walked to the gym mats laid out on the far side of the gym. Odette stopped at the edge of the mat to allow Natasha the room she needed to stretch out. She knew she should have warmed up first, but Natasha was already here, and she didn't want to hold her up. Plus, she needed to feel a little pain today. She could feel Clint's eyes on them, and knew he'd stopped his workout to watch them.
Odette stretched her arms out and up, cracking her knuckles as she laced her fingers together overhead.
Natasha smirked as she rested her weight on one leg, "Ready, old woman?" She mocked.
Odette rolled her eyes, "Watch it, you're no spring chicken either."
Clint snorted and Natasha nearly barked out a laugh, "Spring chicken? You really are a Midwest girl." She said with a smirk.
Odette shook out her shoulders, "Let's just go—," Her eyes widened as Natasha charged at her, raising her knee and slamming it directly into her gut. Odette would have staggered back if she hadn't caught Natasha by the knee and spun her away.
Natasha kept up her momentum, landing her raised leg and lifting the other as she completed her spin to kick her heel across Odette's jaw.
That one got her.
Odette caught herself as she fell sideways towards the mat. A jolt of pain ran up her elbow, but she was fine. She whipped her head back, flinging the hair out of her face before she pushed her body back around to sweep Natasha's legs out from under her.
Natasha managed to jump over her legs, but Odette laid a rounded force field under her. As she came back down, she slipped to the side and had to catch herself from falling, giving Odette time to stand back up.
"You know," Natasha said as they continued their match. She ran at Odette and caught her by the shoulder. As the two spun around, Odette's feet twisted under her, and Natasha used her own body weight to throw Odette down on the mat once more. "It's been a while since we've had a decent fight."
"Hey!" Clint took offense to that.
Odette mostly ignored Clint, she curled her body up, rolling backwards into a kneeling position, "Are you asking for another world threatening event?" She asked, taking a deep breath.
Maybe they were all going a bit stir crazy.
Natasha ran at her again, jumping on her shoulders. Odette, however, didn't allow Natasha to use her body weight to take her down. Instead, she grappled Natasha's back and flipped her over her head. Clint hissed at the loud, painful, 'thud' they made when they landed on the mat. However, the two were quick to their feet, taking up defensive stances as they walked around each other.
"No." Natasha answered, panting, "But maybe something a little more fun than some of the things we've been dealing with."
"Crazy men bent on killing every low-level thug and highly corrupt politician isn't fun?" Odette asked, raising her eyebrows. She smirked when Clint clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Shouldn't you be lifting weights, or something, Ronin?" She taunted him with his underground name.
Natasha rolled her eyes, "You know what I mean." She said, bringing Odette's attention back to their fight. She charged once more, dropping to her knees to take out Odette's legs as she did. Odette jumped to the side, catching her arm and twisting it behind her back. She managed to wrestle Natasha to the ground, her jaw tight as she pinned the Black Widow to the training mat.
"Unfortunately, I do." Odette admitted between her teeth.
Natasha rolled over as much as she could with her arm pinned behind her back, "Yeah?" she questioned, almost out of breath as Odette straddled her back and squeezed her sides with her knees.
"Yeah." Odette's voice trailed off. Natasha tapped the mat twice and Odette immediately released her. She stood up and offered a hand down to Natasha, "Sorry."
Natasha shook her head, "Guess this spring chicken still has a lot to learn." She tried to ease the tension, but Odette couldn't rid herself of the tension her body carried.
She sighed and walked to the far end of the gym. She sat down on one of the benches with a heavy sigh.
Natasha joined her, "Okay, spill it." She ordered.
Odette looked at her friend curiously, "What?"
"Spill it." Natasha repeated, "You're doing that thing where you close yourself off and go all quiet." Odette opened her mouth to protest, but Natasha cut her off, "You go on and on about Tony and Steve carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders, but then you turn around and do the same thing." Odette closed her mouth and Natasha looked at her, worried. "Doc, come on, talk to me."
Odette looked in the wall of mirrors. Either Natasha had told Clint to back off, or he simply knew that Odette needed space, because he stayed at the far end of the gym and tried his best to look preoccupied with his work out. She looked back down at the floor and took a deep breath, "Did you, at any point, think that maybe you wanted to do something else...besides be an Avenger?"
Natasha got a far away look in her eye. She looked down at her lap and swallowed hard, "I have a lot of red in my ledger—,"
"Which you've more than cleared." Odette reassured her.
Natasha shook her head, "No. I can't imagine being anything else...doing anything else." Odette frowned and turned to look at the floor, "With anyone else." She turned back to look at her. Natasha gave her a small smile, "I'm glad you and Steve stayed." Then she rolled her eyes, "And I guess I'm glad Ninjago is here too." She tossed a smile over her shoulder at Clint, who remained either willingly or painfully oblivious of their simultaneous turn towards him.
Clint carried on with his work out, not sparing the women a single glance.
Odette smiled as they turned back around. She thought for a moment, then nodded, "I'm glad we stayed too. And I'm glad you're here. And that Clint is here, too." Her throat felt tight, "I failed at keeping us together...but you?" Natasha began to shake her head, but Odette continued, "You're keeping The Avengers together. You make everyone check in, you keep tabs on everything and everyone. You figured out that Ronin was Clint. You tried to bring him home."
"I wouldn't be able to do it without you." Natasha continued to shake her head. For a moment, the two women sat in silence. Then, Natasha asked, "Have you ever imagined being anything else?" She asked.
Odette sighed, "So many times." She admitted. "But I don't think I can ever be anything else." Natasha cocked an eyebrow up at her.
Odette began to explain, "Back during the war, I wasn't sure what I was going to do once I got home. I had grown," her eyes unfocused as she turned to the floor, "So accustomed to war, to independence…"
"Right," Natasha nodded, "Because back then, women were expected to stay home and sit pretty for their husbands."
Odette grimaced. An exaggeration, but it still hit the nail on the head for her. "Right." She agreed. "Then, back in D.C.," her throat got tight at the memory, "Sam once asked me if I ever considered leaving it all: S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers...I couldn't think of anything else I would rather do but fight and work." She sighed as she raked a hand through her hair. "And...our conversation just now," she nodded to the training mat, "It reminded me of something Ultron once said."
Natasha looked at Odette as if she'd grown a third head. Like she was thinking, "What could Ultron have said over three years ago that has stuck with you this long?"
"That I'm pretending I want to live without a war." Odette clarified. The words had been burned into her brain, haunting her and mocking her every time she left Bucky at their farm in Wakanda. Every time she thought she was okay settling down, moving on from the hero life, Ultron's words came back to her. They pulled her back to Steve's side, even though she claimed she wanted to stay by Bucky's. She shook her head and rested her elbows on her knees, "I think he was right, and I just didn't want to admit it." She admitted. "Why else would I leave the peace we had made to join the fight?" She said to herself. "Even Steve noticed I was going crazy just sitting here." Not to say that Steve was oblivious to the mental and emotional needs of his team, but it usually took some prompting before he asked if anyone needed a break or needed help.
"Well, keep in mind, Ultron was full of shit." Natasha joked, nudging Odette's shoulder with her own. Odette couldn't help but smile and chuckle. They settled in silence, their own thoughts brewing behind strong floodgates.
"Sometimes it's hard to leave the past behind." Natasha's voice pulled Odette out of her thoughts.
"Yeah?" Odette asked.
"Believe me." Natasha's smile slowly dropped, "I know."
"You've done more than enough to clean your ledger." Odette reminded her once more, but Natasha shook her head. Now it was the younger spies turn to look down at her lap. "Nat?" It wasn't like her to be so...timid? Cautious? At least, not with Odette.
"I don't think I ever told anyone." She said, "Not even Fury or Clint." Odette looked at Natasha, afraid that if she said anything or even moved that she'd suddenly stop talking. "There was a family before the Red Room."
The revelation had Odette frozen. She didn't dare blink or breathe for fear of missing something. This was clearly a sensitive and special subject since Natasha hadn't even told Fury or Clint about it. "Speaking of…" She glanced at Clint, who was still working out on his own, but now he was looking at them. Odette pointed at him, then made a sideways 'v' with her fingers and raised her eyebrows. A silent, "Are you okay?"
He only shot her back a thumbs up and nodded.
Odette nodded and looked back at Natasha right as she started talking.
"A typical American family," Natasha made something between a smile and a grimace, pressing her lips tightly together, "A mom and a dad, and two little girls." She got a faraway look in her eyes again as her lips transformed into a fond and nostalgic smile. Just as quickly as it came, the smile dropped and Natasha's throat grew tight, "But they weren't American." She shook her head, "They were spies. All of them." She took a deep breath and looked out across the gym, trying to avoid Odette's wide eyes. "And when their mission was complete...they were separated."
"Nat…" Odette couldn't help but breathe out.
"I was nine." Natasha said, turning to Odette. Odette reached out and laid a hand on one of Natasha's. Instantly, the other woman relaxed and turned her hand over to hold Odette's hand in return. "My ledger goes back pretty far…"
Odette didn't know what else to say, but it didn't seem like Natasha minded the silence, so they sat together in a comfortable silence.
Then, "What happened to the other girl?" Odette asked. Natasha hummed, having been in her own thoughts. "You said 'two little girls'." She said, "What happened to the other girl?"
Natasha opened her mouth, then thought for a second and said, "I thought I'd destroyed the Red Room a long time ago...back when I defected to S.H.I.E.L.D." She shook her head, "I hadn't even scratched the surface with Dreykov."
"Is she..?" Odette's heart instantly seized. If there was someone important to Natasha who needed help, Odette would drop anything in an instant to help them.
Natasha cut her off with the shake of her head, "They were all Vanished."
The tension finally rolled off of Odette's shoulders. "Well...at least they're not dead, but—," "All?" She asked.
"Mom and Dad." Natasha nodded, "And Yelena."
"Yelena...why does that name ring a bell?" Odette wondered to herself.
However, before she could say anything Friday's emergency tone echoed across the campus.
"Alert. Someone is attempting to hack into the Avenger's security system." Friday said.
Natasha and Odette shared a look of horror, they looked across the gym at Clint who looked equal parts concerned and confused.
In a practiced move of silent agreement, the three took off in a run back towards the main campus.
"Friday!" Natasha shouted, "Status!"
"Working on blocking them!" Friday answered.
"Track them!" Odette ordered, "Watch out!" She grabbed Natasha and Clint by the shoulders as they ran and teleported them back to the main building. Natasha stumbled as they reappeared in the office hallway, and Clint staggered into the wall. Odette kept one hand on Natasha's shoulder and the other on her midriff to keep Natasha from falling on her face. Steve had just made it to his door when they arrived. "Steve?!"
He shook his head, "Someone's trying to get onto the campus." He was just as clueless.
"Where's Brooke?" Odette asked, her heart pounding in her chest.
Friday sounded panicked, "She's in the—," The whole campus hummed as everything shut down.
Lights.
Security.
Friday.
The four Avengers froze.
Odette's body was tense once more as she strained her ears, listening for something—anything to happen.
"Where's Brooke?" Odette whispered, fearful someone might pop out and attack them.
"Clinic." Steve whispered back, "She wasn't feeling well—," The four dropped into protective stances as the emergency lights came back on.
"I'm going to get Brooke." Odette informed her team.
"Wait, Odette—,"
"Odette—!"
"Doc, wait—!"
Natasha, Steve, and Clint all called for her, but Odette was already gone.
She appeared outside the clinic in the midst of an unfair battle!
Brooke was backed against the clinic doors, which had yet to come back on from their short power outage, and she had her hands in front of her, keeping the angry mob back by holding a wall of energy between them. She spotted Odette instantly, her eyes lighting up, "Odette!"
"Brooke!" Odette curled her hands into fists and held them in front of her. Spreading her fingers as she opened her arms she forced the mob back against the walls and made a mad dash for her niece.
She joined Brooke by the doors and stood between her and the mob.
"Where's the others?" Brooke asked over the angry shouts of the mob.
"On their way." Odette answered absentmindedly, "I hope." she added under her breath as she lowered her stance. "What happened, are you okay?" She ignored the angry mob that was shouting and pounding on the force fields she'd put up. Even with all of them against her she was able to hold them back without breaking a sweat.
"I'm fine." Brooke panted. Though, one look over her shoulder told Odette that she was lying. Brooke was leaning heavily against the clinic door, one hand resting on the wall, the other on her belly.
Then, just as suddenly as the chaos started, it ended.
Both women turned as the crowd parted. Odette felt a wave of energy wash through her, and stood strong as slow, meticulous, footsteps echoed down the hall.
A woman, tall and slender, stepped into the hallway. Thick gauntlets on her arms extended down past her fingers, giving her long, sharp claw-like appendages. Her face was heavily scarred, and she glared down the hallway at the two Avengers. In the early morning light, only the pink sun and the red emergency lights illuminated the hallow woman's features.
"What does she want?" Brooke whispered to Odette.
Odette didn't answer immediately. The woman just kept walking towards them, she wasn't speaking or taunting them, she wasn't making wild demands…she was quiet. When she was only about fifteen feet away, she stopped. "I don't know." She finally whispered back.
Odette stared at the woman, but could feel the eyes of all the trespassers turn to her. "What do you want?" She asked. None of the intruders spoke, at least, nothing loud enough for Odette to hear. They were mumbling, shifting like a pulsating unit. A few people were recording on their phones. This situation was not going to end well.
The woman tilted her head to the side, her unnaturally bright eyes turned to look behind Odette. Odette shuffled to block the woman's view. Her eyes refocused back on Odette, and her eyebrows narrowed.
"You're trespassing." She announced. She resisted the urge to look over her shoulder when Steve, Natasha, and Clint came around the corner. Clint already had his bow drawn. "Leave now, and we won't have to take—," Odette was going to say that they wouldn't have to take defensive measures against them, but several things happened in a short span of time, seconds really.
Clint released his arrow.
The woman turned and held up her hand, the tip of the arrow lodging itself into her palm and sending arcs of electricity up her arm.
The crowd swarmed in two directions. Everyone rushed towards the middle of the hallway, but half of the crowd rushed Odette and Brooke, and the other half turned and ran at Steve, Natasha, and Clint.
Odette threw up a force field, but the crowd—now screaming and acting like rabid animals—were able to push against the force field and push Odette and Brooke back against the clinic doors. Brooke screamed behind her, but Odette had to focus on keeping the crazed crowd at bay.
Through the crowd and her force field, Odette could see Steve fighting the enhanced woman one-on-one while Clint and Natasha kept the crowd away from them. "I've got to make a choice here, fast!" She thought. Not wanting to waste time, she turned around and grabbed Brooke.
"Odette, wait!" Brooke exclaimed as she pushed them through the clinic doors. "What are you doing?" She stumbled as Odette dragged her great-niece over to the supplies closet.
"Keeping you safe." Odette said.
"Wait, we can fight!" Brooke protested.
"No, you can't." Odette argued.
"Odette, I can fight."
"Stay down, stay hidden, stay safe." Odette recited, pushing Brooke into the closet.
"Odette!" Odette ignored her shouts as she closed the closet door, she dragged a chair over and propped it under the doorknob. It wouldn't hold her for long, but it should hold her long enough.
Teleporting back outside, Odette appeared behind the crowd.
"Hey!" She shouted.
Strangely, though, only half of the people shoving against the clinic doors turned back to charge at Odette. Remembering that these were civilians and that they were recording, Odette did her best to disarm and knock out her attackers.
Two people charged at her, she dodged one punch and dropped to her hands and knees. Leaning back on one hand, Odette kicked out the legs of one attacker. As the second one raised his leg to kick her, Odette dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way. She popped back up as the man's foot slammed into the ground where she'd been, and she punched him near his ear. His head snapped to the side, and Odette hit him in the other ear. Discombobulated, the man staggered back and held his head. Odette raised her leg and kicked him in the chest.
A larger man from the mob grabbed Odette from under her arms. Grunting, she placed force fields under her feet and ran herself into a backflip. Once she was over the man's shoulders, she curled her legs up, then quickly extended them, kicking the man in the back. She landed on her hands and knees and was quickly kicked in the side by a rogue mob member.
Odette blindly reached out, grabbing her kicker by the ankle and dragging them down with her. The woman fell, her head bouncing against the hard floor as she landed. Odette didn't care. She shoved her hand out, a force field sweeping her, and the two people trying to help her up, across the hall.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Natasha and Clint were also doing a fine job at knocking out their attackers, so the crowd was thinning out considerably. Steve was just barely holding on his own with the crazy woman. Deep slashes and cuts were in the walls where they'd clashed, but the fight seemed to be at a stalemate.
Odette pushed herself to her feet. A woman screamed and charged at her, but Odette grabbed her fist and twisted her arm behind her back. Odette pushed the woman into the wall, no longer being careful or gentle with their attackers as she felt a satisfying crack in the woman's wrist.
A metal pipe hit the top of her head, and Odette's vision swam in darkness for a moment. She blinked the pain away, staggering on her feet. Whoever was wielding the metal pipe hit her head again and Odette saw stars. Her head hit the ground. A group of the trespassers ganged up on her, beating her with pipes and fists and kicks. Odette curled up, protecting her head with her hands as she was assaulted from every angle. Fiery energy throbbed from her core, and in a desperate move to be free of her assailants, Odette fought and struggled against her beatings to push herself onto her hands and knees.
Once on her hands and knees, Odette shouted, "Friday! Lights out!" In response, Friday turned off the emergency lights and Odette gathered the shadows from the far reaches of the room. She blocked off any permeating sunlight and squirmed her way away from the mob attacking her. Her attackers were thrown off balance, but some of them were still able to find her by flailing blindly in the dark. Odette focused all of the energy arcing off of her into her hands and she slammed her fists on the ground, letting out a painful scream as a force field shot out of her and pushed her attackers back.
"Doc!" Clint was at her side. He grabbed her by her upper arm and pulled her to her feet. "You're bleeding." The darkness seeped away from the edges of the room. "Friday, lights on!" Clint ordered. And Friday obliged, no longer relying on the back-up power to light the facility.
Too angry to care, Odette shook his hand off her arm. She glared through the thinned-out crowd at the woman who'd brought these people here.
To her home.
To attack her family.
Lost to her rage, Odette marched past the crowd. Anyone who got too close to her was instantly thrown across the hall by an arc of fiery gold and blue energy. The woman and Steve were stuck, her elongated cybernetic fingers tore through Steve's Wakandan shield. But Steve stood firm and wouldn't let her pin him back.
Odette stepped up beside them and swung a punch out at the woman. The woman stumbled to the side, her hands still stuck in Steve's shield, which caused her feet to twist out from under her.
Hot golden energy rose off her skin like smoke. She stepped back and allowed Steve to yank his shield off the woman's hands. He stomped on her chest and yanked backwards, nearly dislocating the woman's shoulders and she screamed in pain.
Once she was free from Steve's shield, Odette bent down and picked her up by the collar of her leather jacket. "Why did you come here!?" She shook the woman, "Who sent you!"
The woman rolled her shoulders out and slashed at Odette's face. Odette pushed her back.
She meant to just push her back with a force field, however, a beam of energy shot from her hands, blasting and burning the woman where they hit her. The woman slumped down to the ground, motionless.
Odette's eyes widened and the fog over her mind cleared up.
"Nice shot." Natasha panted heavily beside her.
Odette did a double take, "When did she get here?" She thought. She looked behind Natasha and saw nearly all of the mob had been taken out and were sprawled across the hallway in various states of pain.
"What did you do to her?" Clint asked.
"I," Odette hesitated as Steve stepped around her to check on the woman, "I don't know."
"She's only knocked out." Steve said, standing back up. He turned to Odette, his eyes were hard, and filled with confusion. "What happened?" He asked.
Odette shook her head and shrugged helplessly, "When I got here, the mob was already closing in on Brooke and—Brooke!" Odette ran back towards the clinic, hearing her teammates hot on her heels.
Odette's heart was hammering in her chest, but it came to a complete stop as ice cold fear washed over her.
The clinic doors were open.
The storage cabinet was open.
The windows facing the lawn were shattered.
And Brooke was nowhere to be seen.
So, I HAD this chapter already written and ready for Thursday, but when Thursday came and I went to edit it, I hated it.
Full on hated it.
I don't think I have ever hated a chapter as much as I hated the original draft of this chapter. Usually, when I write something for this story that doesn't quite fit, I'll save it in a separate document or folder so I can come back and reuse the parts that I liked.
I didn't like a single word of it. I deleted it. Didn't save a single word. And it was 2,000 words MORE than my usual 6,000 words.
So, I had to completely redo it and the events that followed. I am MUCH happier with where the story is going no, but that did mean sacrificing two upload days to get it to this point.
With that being said, though, because of the delay, I will upload one (hopefully) two more chapters BEFORE Christmas. So, either expect two more chapters tonight, or one more tonight and one more tomorrow. (Btw has anyone watched Hawkeye? I watched the first two episodes, but decided to wait to watch the rest. No spoilers, but did you like it if you watched it?)
Happy Holidays!
