Time froze as I stared at my twin in horror. He was like a marble statue. Unmoving and uncaring. Both of us were rooted in our spots. The emergency lighting flicked off and the fluorescent light blared back on overhead. It made our situation even eerier. The unnatural blue shade in Jared's eyes stood out in the stark contrast to his pale skin. He vaguely smelt like something had burnt.
I shifted the weight onto my other leg to see what Jared would do. Instantly the Glock was raised higher. Jared's grip on the gun was so hard his knuckles were turning white.
"Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?" I was very proud of how steady my voice sounded.
"It's up to you," Jared's voice even sounded robotic.
A muffled roar made both of us jump. It was something I had never heard before in my life. Before I could think on it further, I used the surprise to my advantage.
I slammed my booted foot down on Jared's toes. His nice dress shoes did nothing to absorb the impact of my heavy boots. Jared cursed and reached out to me.
I knew this game. We played it as kids. Jared and I would tussle and he would try and grab me, do a bad teleport, and drop me somewhere I didn't have an advantage. Or I'd be so disorientated from it the fight was gone out of me. I was going to have to stay out of his reach. Having a gun pointed at my head was really pissing me off too.
Dodging out of his way, I landed a hard blow on Jared's wrist. It was hard enough Jared was going to have a really sore hand when the adrenaline wore off. It did the job of his grip loosening on the Glock. The grip was loose enough I managed to snatch it out of his hand with a hard twist. Jared hissed in pain as he stepped apart in the tiny bathroom. I turned the tables and raised the gun at him.
Jared reacted right away. He came at me and I did the only thing I could think of. I quickly unlocked the door and used my elbow to jam the handle down. When Jared's weight hit me, we both tumbled out into the brighter room. I rolled away and sprung to my feet, gun aimed at Jared.
"Kari?"
Sam's voice scared the shit out of me. He wasn't in my line of vision and I wasn't taking my eyes off Jared.
Jared was crouched down, looking at me with an eerie smile.
"Don't let him grab you." My voice was steady and calm.
Sam came into my line of vision a second later. He had his M16 raised and ready.
"Jared, I've learned to tolerate you. Please don't make me shoot you," Sam's sounded extremely annoyed. "I also don't want to have to explain to Natasha why I shot you."
If the situation wasn't so dire I would have laughed. Even in a tense moment like this, Sam was always able to find a way to make a joke.
Jared's smile faded to a feral look on his face. In an instant, he was gone.
Both me and Sam, whirled around the room checking for where Jared had disappeared to. Training made us inch together so that we were nearly back to back.
"Clear," Sam said sharply. "What's the play here, Kari?"
I lowered my gun ever so slightly. Teleporting right in behind me wasn't an accident on Jared's behalf. He wanted something to do with me.
"I don't…."
I didn't get to finish the sentence before Jared appeared again. This time he sidestepped around me and went straight for Sam. My only saving grace as that I knew Jared was fast. Sam didn't. A second later they were both gone.
I'd kill Jared myself if he hurt Sam. I backed up until I hit the wall. At least Jared would have to teleport in front of me next time he came.
Beyond my own heavy breathing, the empty room gave me a few seconds to process the noise going on outside. Whatever was happening in the medical rooms sounded like it was chaos. I needed to get out there.
I managed three steps before Jared was in front of me again. It was so sudden and I had no warning. My first reaction was a literal knee jerk. I smashed my knee into Jared's stomach. He doubled over with an audible groan. He blindly reached out for me but I took a step back.
Part of me wanted to kick Jared in the face while he was down. He almost deserved it.
"Whatever he did to you," I went for a different tactic. "You have to fight in. You know it's wrong what he's making you do. I was there, I felt it."
Jared looked up at me with his eerie blue eyes. There was no emotion on his face at all. The horrible empty feeling that chilled me right to my bones was back.
Without a flicker of emotion, Jared was gone. Again.
A commotion out in the main medical room pulled my attention away. Booted feet sounded like they'd come running in.
It was weird. No one would have known Sam had gone in this short space of time. There wouldn't be anyone coming to me this quickly. I cautiously crept out into the main room.
An armed man in SHIELD gear was gesturing with his gun to Max. My doctor had a scowl on his face and I was too far away to hear whatever Max had said quietly. Another armed SHIELD agent was with the man, standing at the door and on guard.
They were both wearing masks. None of the STRIKE guys wore those masks. As I entered the room, their attention got drawn to me. Both of them raised their guns at me, fingers at the trigger.
"Drop it and get over there with the rest of them." The guy closest to Max spoke first. "We're here for protection."
This was wrong. It was Bravo and Charlie's team on the Helicarrier right now. I knew every single one of them by name.
"Okay." I lowered my gun first. "You okay, guys?"
"Fine." The first one gestured towards the group again with the muzzle of his AR-15. Now I'd gotten a look at it, alarms bells were screaming at me. He also wasn't wearing my vests that SHIELD had now issued to all people in Enforcement. "Get over here, girl."
Calling me girl was the worst mistake of this guy's life. I didn't hesitate. In one quick motion and enough noise to alert the dead, I dropped them both in two shots.
"Is everyone all right?" I asked over my ringing ears.
To their credit, the medical staff behind Max hadn't made any noise. I half expected someone to scream. They all looked pale and shaken. No one was hurt.
"We're fine," Max answered for everyone. Even he looked pale at he looked at the two dead bodies on the ground. "Help me drag these bodies out of the way. We're going to need the room very soon."
I flicked the safety on and did as I was requested. The two neat headshots meant no one bothered to lean down and check for a pulse. Me and Max dragged the closest guy to us into a corner. It wasn't until Max dropped the guy's hand did he lose his composure. I thought he was going to be sick but he managed to swallow it back. Max always had a babyface, even though I know knew he 41. Right now he looked like a terrified child.
"I've never seen anyone killed in front of me," Max admitted in a shaky whisper. "Not like that."
"Sorry." I gave his arm a quick squeeze before bending down. These two guy were armed to the teeth and I had a feeling I'd need more ammo before the day as done. "I'd like to say it gets easier. But it doesn't."
This was something else to add to me never ending list of nightmares. Max gave me a sharp nod before turning around.
"All right everyone…"
Max didn't get the rest of his announcement out. Jared's sudden arrival in front of me scared to shit out of everyone in the room. This time, someone did scream.
Adrenaline was not my friend right now. My hands were shaking and it was a perfect target for Jared to firmly pay me back for the blow from before. The hand numbing strike to my wrist released the grip on the gun I was holding and I found myself looking down the barrel of a gun.
Again.
I was really fucking sick of seeing that right now. Out of sheer anger, I kicked Jared's bad ankle as hard as I could.
The effect was instant. Jared's yell of pain made me feel a little bit guilty for the force I put behind it. His ankle buckled but he managed to mostly stay upright. He paid me back by landing a forceful punch to my stomach.
It knocked the air right out of me. I doubled over from the pain and shock of how hard he actually hit me. Wheezing for breath, I only just managed to avoid Jared grabbing hold of my arm. I managed to throw a punch. It went wild but Jared backed off,
There was no chance for me to catch my breath. Though he was heavily limping, Jared came at me again. This was no playing sparring between siblings. Jared was hitting to hurt and I was on the back step the entire time. My anger had been all but washed out by fear now. Fear that I was actually going to have to hurt Jared to stop this.
There were plenty of times we'd accidentally hurt each other over the years. A well placed punch out of anger or a well aimed kick because of one of us being obnoxious. It was never intentional though. Not like now.
A determined punch from Jared landed on my forearm, pushing me back. My feet met with resistance and I found myself flailing in balance. I tripped over the arm of one of the dead men.
I hadn't had the chance of taking this ones weapons. I could fall and snatch up the Glock sitting in the thigh holder of the man. If I played it right, it might even stop Jared in his tracks. He'd discarded the gun he snatched off me early in our fight. It was a huge gamble. But I was tiring quickly and I wasn't going to win this fight.
Gravity took over as I let myself fall. All the ass kicking from Clint and Natasha came in handy in the fact I knew how to fall to my advantage now. As I hit the body, I snatched up the gun out of the holster in one swift movement. Rolling to the side, I came to a crouch with the gun raised at Jared.
He barely flinched. A thought crossed my mind and for once I didn't overthink it. I shifted my aim and squeezed the trigger.
The resulting bullet neatly clipped Jared in the leg. It was little more than a graze but it would still hurt like a mother fucker. The effect was instant. Jared dropped to his knee, grasping at the injured leg with a yell of pain.
"You fucking shot me," Jared yelled at me, clutching at his leg.
Jared almost sounded like himself again. His eyes were still the eerie shade of blue though. This reminded me of the times we got into screaming matches as kids. Sometimes as adults as well.
"You fucking deserved it," I yelled back.
While we were yelling at each other, Max had snuck up on quiet feet to where Jared was writing on the ground in pain. In a flash, a steel surgical dish smacked Jared hard in the back of his head.
It felt like an explosion in my own head. I'd never felt anything so painful before in my life. The blinding light before my own eyes made me crash to the ground, squeezing them shut. It was like a switch had flipped and I couldn't control the rush of emotions bombarding me.
Fear, so much fear. The anxiety that had felt like it had wound my stomach into knots was slowly unraveling. Then there was confusion.
Suddenly I felt whole again. Like something had slammed the missing pieces of my soul back into my body. It was disorientating and my swimming head threatened to make my stomach throw up the three bites of burger.
I was on my hands and knees gasping for breath when my senses came back to me. Ice had fanned out in a large circle around me and it was slippery underneath me.
"Kari?"
Jared's shaky voice made me look over at him, he was face down on the ground but still facing me. His entire face was twisted in agony but for a brief moment his eyes opened.
They were back to his proper shade of blue.
Relief hit me nearly as hard as the explosion of pain in my head from before. I fell back onto my ass, my legs splayed awkwardly in front of me. The entire room was silent and I became acutely aware of the audience in front of us.
I opened my mouth to thank Max for his quick thinking. Right as the entire Helicarrier started tilting. It wasn't a lot but it was a stomach dropping terrifying feeling.
Something as big as the Helicarrier meant you weren't meant to feel it moving. A tilt that was enough to knock the people on their feet off balance meant we were in very big trouble.
I was torn. I wanted to stay with Jared. He was out cold. For the first time in days, I felt like I could breathe again. And think. The massive headache was gone.
There was something going on though. A gut feeling was telling me I needed to get up and move. Find out what was causing the Helicarrier to be on such an awkward tilt. I'd give my right arm for a comms unit right now.
I looked over at Jared. He looked peaceful in his knocked out state. He was going to be one big fucking mess when he woke up though.
"Go. We've got him." Max made the decision for me. "I promise I'll keep watch over him myself."
I scrambled to my feet and shot out the door. As I did I nearly ran straight into two of the Charlie boys.
"It's secure in there," I said briskly. "Everyone is fine."
Thompson, one of the guys I didn't know very well, gave me a brisk nod.
"Call outs at every junction," Thompson informed me, reaching down to unclip a spare radio off his belt. "Coulson went down to the detention level to secure it."
"Copy that." I took the offered radio.
Knowing some of the situation gave me a feeling of calm. Besides the funny tilt of the Helicarrier, I had no idea what was going on.
Things were chaotic as I made my way down to the detention level. At least I caught snatches of conversation as I weaved through people. An explosion had initially taken out one of the engines. Tony and Steve were out repairing it. The inhumane roar was apparently the Hulk coming out.
Another explosion had taken out the second engine which had been the tilting I'd felt as the Helicarrier lost altitude. As I raced along, the tilt had become more pronounced making it harder to
Hurt people were clogging up the elevators so I made the decision to go for the stairs instead. Although the Helicarrier was huge, I knew every inch of it now thanks to my last lot of F-35 training. Even on normal days taking the stairs was grueling but a hell of a lot quicker.
Taking them two at a time and praying I didn't trip and fall flat on my face, I reached the detention level as the Helicarrier started to level out. It was sudden enough I nearly got thrown off my feet as I opened the door to the stairwell. I put my hand on the wall to steady myself and my erratic breathing.
The moment of silence, except for my ragged breathing, was odd. The headache that had plagued me for days was gone. I felt whole again. After what felt like missing part of my soul, it was disorientating to feel good again.
Unfortunately I couldn't stand here and feel good. I had to help Coulson.
Kicking the door of the stairwell open I was greeted with the sound of nothing. It was eerily quiet down here. Lifting my gun a little higher, I cautiously stepped out into the corridor.
There should have at least been guards down here. A lot of them.
The thought was met with half a dozen unconscious bodies as I rounded the corridor. They were all Bravo boys as well. I knelt down to the closest one, who was Nick. His pulse was strong under my fingers.
"I need medical down here." I was very grateful for the radio right now. "Agent Lyngley in the detention level."
"Be on the lookout," Fury's voice surprised me over the radio. "Barton's onboard and headed that way. Romanoff is trying to intercept."
"Copy that," I said instantly. "Jared has been detained. He's in medical."
The noise of the elevator doors opening made me raise my gun. Going invisible, I tiptoed over the bodies, glancing down to make sure everyone was still breathing. There was no blood on the floor to show any sign of major injuries. I had to hope no one was sporting any internal bleeding.
As I rounded the corridor, the door was closing on Loki.
I knew it was useless but I ran for it anyway. Loki gave me an infuriating smirk and jaunty wave as the door closed.
I'd never wanted to shoot someone in the face more than Loki. Next time I saw him I was going to make that come true.
The door to his cell room was wide open. Gun raised, I cautiously crept in. The glass prison that held Loki was gone. And Coulson was slumped against the wall, his hand clutched to his chest. Beneath him was a pool of blood.
"Coulson."
Every breath had been knocked out of me. I was frozen to the spot until Coulson looked over to me.
"Hey," Coulson said, sounding short of breath. "Come here."
His free arm reached out to me. My legs felt like lead as I walked towards him. They gave way as I knelt next down to him. Now I was closer I could see the gaping wound on Coulson's chest. It looked exactly like someone had driven something with massive force through his chest.
I reached out to try and put pressure on the massive wound on Coulson's chest. He gently redirected my hand down.
"Don't. Please just listen," Coulson was struggling to talk.
I nodded. I doubted I could speak anyway. A lump had formed in my throat and I could feel the tears prickling at my eyes. I took Coulson free hand.
"He's going to need you." Coulson squeezed my hand hard. "He's going to be a pain in the ass and fight you every step of the way. But don't give up on him."
"I won't." That was a promise I could keep. "Coulson, I'm…"
"Don't." Coulson cut my apology off. "Don't apologize for something that is making you two happy. We don't have a lot of that in this life."
My lip started to tremble and I knew I wasn't going to be able to hold the tears in for much longer.
Coulson's breathing hitched. He clutched as his chest with his free hand. His grip on my hand was near crushing but I held on tight.
"I'm very proud of you, all of you." Coulson looked over to me, his voice choked up. "Don't ever forget that."
The tears were spilling over now. I couldn't stop them if I tried.
"Thank you for making me part of the family. We still need you though. Someone has to keep Barton in check."
Coulson let out a small laugh. It was pained and even I cringed at how bad it sounded. His breathing was getting worse with every ragged intake.
Heavy boots came stomping around the corner. Fury himself came into the room with a whirl of his trench coat. Fury stopped dead in his tracks as the scene in front of him.
"Sorry boss, the guy rabbited," Coulson apologized as Fury came over towards us.
"Just stay awake," Fury commanded. "Eyes on me."
The grip on my hand was about to break fingers. Coulson looked so calm though. Almost peaceful.
"No, I'm clocking out here," Coulson's calm demeanor was in his voice as well.
"Not an option," Fury said firmly.
"It's okay, boss. This was never going to work," Coulson's voice hitched. He struggled to draw in another breath. "If they didn't have something.."
Coulson's breathing hitched again. The grip on my hand was starting to loosen.
"To…"
Without warning the grip on my hand went slack. Coulson's entire body slumped against the wall and his head turned away from me.
"Coulson?" I grabbed Coulson's hand.
There was nothing. His grip was totally gone and his entire body was falling away from me.
More people came running in. I found myself pushed back and someone strong was pulling me to my feet. I was in such disbelief I could barely progress what was happening. Coulson was invincible and this couldn't be happening.
"Kari."
It was Fury pulling me out of the way.
I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. I was barely aware of me gasping for breath through my own sobs.
"Agent Lyngley."
This time Fury's stern tone made me look at him. I could barely see him through my blurry eyes.
"You need to go tell Barton that Coulson had gone to Tahiti," Fury ordered. "Right now. No one else."
"But…" I choked out through an uncontrolled sob.
"Agent Lyngley, that's an order."
Fury's grip on my arm was tight enough to bruise. I hadn't even realized it until that moment.
He pushed me away firmly. I staggered but my legs managed to remain upright. My feet moved when my mind couldn't get anything else to work. I staggered a few steps, right into Evans.
He didn't say anything. He kept me upright and into the elevator. People were pouring out of the elevator as we got in.
"Agent Coulson is down."
Fury's voice was full of static over our radios. Evans swore and quickly turned his down and reached over and took mine as well.
"Hey, look at me." Evans took me by the shoulders. "Kari. Look at me."
Through my blurry eyes, I managed to just make out Evans face.
"Natasha has Clint. He's in the infirmary," Evans was all business. "You need to dry your face."
I reached up and wiped my face on my sleeve, leaving a smear of tears and snot.
"I know I sound like an asshole," Evans said calmly. "But I need you to pull your shit together."
Damn fucking right Evans sounded like an asshole right now.
"Coulson," I began through my choked up voice.
"Is going to need to be avenged," Evans said, putting an arm on my shoulder. "And someone needs to keep Clint from doing something stupid. Yeah?"
I wiped my face again, nodding in agreement. This was going to be bad when Clint found out. My own heart was crushed beyond belief. Coulson was our glue. He was the only thing that kept us together. Clint was going to blame himself for this. A promise made with a dying breath was going to be hard to keep but I'd be damned if I didn't do my best. I had to internalize this.
Loki had got away. We were going to have to find him.
I sniffed back the last of my threatening tears. Compartmentalize. I had to repeated that to myself . The big word rolling around in my head until I felt like I wasn't going to break down into tears at any second.
"Jared is in the second isolated infirmary," Evans filled in for me as the elevator continued its amazingly slow crawl. It was worse than usual. "Clint is in the fourth. Natasha is with Clint. He's slowly coming around. Jared is still out cold."
I nodded. There was nothing else to say or do.
"I'm going to go to Jared first," my voice was thick and it was hard to get the words out. "Natasha is better with Clint."
Evans nodded. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his stony face nearly lose composure. I had to look away before I did as well. Coulson and Evans were good friends. He would be hurting as badly as I was now.
The elevator opened and Evans motioned for me to go first. As I stepped out, Evans cleared his throat. I knew that kind of hitch well.
I turned on my heel and went straight back into the elevator. I threw my arms around Evans in a crushing hug.
"Thanks." Evans voice came out choked as he hugged me back. "Go, give your brother a hug too. He's going to need it."
My throat closed up again. Wordlessly, I nodded and walked out of the elevator. This time I managed to get down the corridor and found Jared's room. The heavy steel door had a window in it. I could see Jared strapped to the bed. He was still passed out, twitching in his sleep.
I opened the door, feeling lost. This was the part where Coulson would come in and tell us what we were doing. He'd have a plan for every single scenario. We were fooling ourselves if we thought otherwise.
There was a chair next to Jared. Exhaustion hit me hard and it took all my energy to get to the chair. Collapsing into it, I put my head in my hands. My self control was hanging by a thread and I wasn't sure if I could stop the tears this time.
Why Coulson? Fucking Loki. Of all the people he had to go after. This had to be personal. Loki knew far too much about us. I didn't doubt that. I just hoped whatever Fury had said about Tahiti made sense to Clint. Otherwise, Clint would fall apart.
Or go off on his own revenge mission. I wouldn't mind joining him if that was the case.
"Kari?"
Jared's raspy voice made me jump. I raised my head to meet his confused face.
"Hey," My voice cracked as relief flooded through me.
Jared's eyes were back to normal. He blinked in confusion as he met resistance when he went to raise his arms.
"It's okay." A burst of energy got me out of the seat. I unbuckled his restraints before he could freak out. "I don't even know why they did it. It's not like you couldn't get out of it."
Jared let out a strained laugh as his head fell back against the pillow. He stared up at the roof while my shaking fingers fumbled with his leg restraints as well.
"Do you want anything?"
"Pizza and some really good vodka," Jared's voice shook as he gave me a forced smile. "God, my head fucking hurts."
Jared winced as he sat upright. He touched the back of his head gingerly.
"Max walloped you with a bedpan." It was a small lie. The look of disgust on Jared's face was worth it. "It's about time someone whacked some sense into you."
Jared gave me a weak smile as he swung his legs around to hang off the edge of the bed. Every movement looked painful. He was visibly shaking with the effort.
It wasn't the vodka he wanted but there was some water on the stand beside the bed. I poured Jared a cup and gave him a nudge.
"If it's not vodka, I don't want it." Despite his words, Jared lifted his head and took the offered cup.
He finished it in two hurried gulps and put the cup out for a refill. His knuckles were white as he gripped the cup hard. His face was drawn and pinched. I'd never seen Jared look so haggard. When was the last time he ate? Or slept? The dark circles under Jared's eyes were hard to tell whether if was black eyes or exhaustion.
"I promise I'll buy you the best bottle of vodka money can buy." I refilled the cup without making a comment on his appearance. "And as much pizza as we can eat."
It was a rare occasion when I didn't know what to say to my own twin. What the hell did you say to someone who had their mind taken over?
"I don't want your pity," Jared said lowly, as if I'd voiced the previous thought out loud. He finally raised his eyes to look at me. When our eyes met, his brow furrowed. "What's wrong?"
I shook my head. If I said anything now, I'd lose it again. Luckily for me, the door opened and in stepped Natasha.
She looked like she'd been in one hell of a fight. Her lip was cut and she had a bruise on her cheek that was already coming out. It was nothing compared to the haunted look on her face.
"Tasha," Jared breathed out her name as if it was giving him life.
The look that followed made my heartache for selfish reasons. I knew Jared loved Natasha. I'd also bet my substantial bank account that she loved him back, in her own way. In a way I was happy for them. I may want to bash their heads together to get them to admit it. But the selfish part of me was jealous I had no one to look at me like I was their only reason for breathing.
I don't think I'd ever get that again. I seemed to be very good at losing the people I loved.
"Clint's conscious," Natasha soft voice snapped me out of my imminent pity party. "He's asking for you."
"Okay." I didn't know what else to say or do.
I gave Jared's leg a small squeeze and turned around to leave the room. Natasha took my place and before I left the room, she'd wrapped her arms around Jared.
I couldn't watch them. Even if it wasn't anything beyond a friendly hug, I was feeling too raw for it. I kept the lump in my throat back long enough to make it to Clint's room. I couldn't see him through the window in the door but as I stepped into the room, I could hear water running. Clint's room had a small bathroom off to the side. Following the sound, I opened the door.
Clint was hunched over the basin, splashing water on his face. He was shirtless and his pants were hanging low on his hips.
The familiar scene almost didn't feel real. When Clint looked up, he had the same tired smile for me that he did most mornings. Besides the bruises marring his face and body, he looked completely normal again. He didn't look much better than Jared though. He looked like he hadn't slept in days.
"Hey."
Clint's voice was back to normal. I couldn't hold back my sob of relief as I flung myself across the bathroom into his waiting arms.
Clint's grip on me was enough to leave bruises and he crushed me against his body. Neither of us said anything for the longest time. We just held each other. Clint was shaking as hard as I was. He felt like he'd lost a lot of weight in these short few days.
"I'm sorry," Clint broke the silence, his voice thick with emotion. "I'm so sorry for everything I did to you. I had…"
Clint broke off with a ragged gasp. He struggled to get his breathing back under control for a few seconds.
"Don't worry. You're back now." This was going to be a fucking mess. One I couldn't deal with right now. "You came back to me."
I didn't mean to say it. It slipped out without me realizing it.
"Of course I did."
Clint responded by tilting my head towards his. Then he kissed me in a desperate crush of lips.
There was a lot of kisses I'd gotten from Clint. Most of them were playful or soft. In private he was extremely affectionate, always trying to sneak one more kiss in where ever he could. I'd never felt him kiss me like this before. This was desperate and a level of passion I couldn't process right now. It made my toes curl and my entire body heated in response.
"Sorry." The kiss broke off suddenly. Clint stopped, breathing heavily and leaned his forehead against mine. "I had to know you were real. Nothing has felt real."
"Don't be sorry." I racked my fingers through his hair. "I've got you. I do draw the line at sex on this bathroom floor. I'm not that flexible."
Clint chuckled, the rumble of it vibrated between our bodies. I wrapped my arms around his neck and went back to hugging him. Clint dropped his head on my shoulder and just held me.
It was moments like this that I wish lasted forever. The comfort of being back in Clint's arms almost made everything feel right again. Unluckily, I knew it couldn't stay that way. There was something horrible and painful I was going to have to do.
"Clint, what's Tahiti?"
My voice was so soft, if it wasn't for his amazing hearing I'm sure he wouldn't have heard me. He instantly stiffed in my arms.
"Are we talking the French Polynesia Tahiti or something else?" Clint pulled back from me, looking at my face.
"Why would Fury tell me to tell you Coulson has gone to Tahiti?" I hated myself for ruining the moment. But Clint had to know.
Clint pulled back like I'd physically struck him. He went so white I thought he was going to pass out. He took a step backward and collapsed down onto the toilet. He looked close to hyperventilating.
"Clint?" I tentatively took a step towards him.
"What happened?" Clint looked up at me with tear filled eyes. "Kari, what.."
Clint trailed off as a sob caught his voice. This time I closed the gap between us and pulled him into my embrace. Clint wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his head into my abdomen.
There was no way to sugarcoat this. I mentally cured Fury in every language I knew. Why did I have to be the one to break this to Clint? Anyone but me would have been better.
"Loki." I was struggling to keep my own voice even. "Loki stabbed him."
"Nat said he got away," Clint struggled to get out through his heavy breathing. "She didn't…"
Clint's emotions betrayed him again as the stopped him speaking. I didn't bother to stop the tears that came come to my eyes.
"Project T.A.H.I.T.I," Clint started again in a shaky voice. "Is designed to resurrect a fallen Avenger. Phil told me about it when he resigned from the program. If Fury told you to tell me, then we have to trust him."
Clint pulled back from me to wipe his face. The front of my shirt was stained from his silent tears. His explanation did nothing to ease my confusion.
"We need to find Loki," Clint's voice sounded stronger this time. "I'm going to put an arrow through his fucking eye."
"Okay." I wasn't going to change the topic If Clint trusted Fury with this, no matter how confused I was, I'd trust him. "Do you have any idea of where he was going?"
Clint shook his head. Despite sounding stronger, he was looking like a lost boy at the moment. I knew all of the emotions he was shoving down now would only explode later. Hopefully, it was going to be in a better time and place.
Besides, I wouldn't mind putting a bullet through Loki's other eye.
"Where do we start?" I asked.
I needed something to do as much as Clint.
"Jared knew more than I did." Clint looked pained to admit that. "Loki was good at only feeding us what we needed to know. All I knew is that he needed a big power source."
That could be a thousand places. At least it was a starting point.
"Our weapons will be down in the armory," Clint sounded nearly back to his old self. "Jared can get them out easily."
"We can either steal a Quinjet or have Jared take us to the first point." It felt good to have something to focus on besides the mess of the last few days. "He was awake when I left him. I think Natasha is flexible enough for them to have sex in this tiny bathroom so we should give them a few more minutes."
That got a smile out of Clint. He glanced over at the shower, almost longingly.
"We might be able to squeeze in?" Clint suggested. He wasn't fully into the joke though.
I opened my mouth to tease him about his epic biceps when a noise outside got both of our attention. Someone was coming in the door.
Clint reached over to pull his shirt back on and I poked my head out to see who it was.
It was Steve.
"We need to go." Steve had his cowl and shield on his back. "Do you know where Natasha and Jared are?"
"Probably having sex on the bathroom floor."
They'd both kill me for it. But the flippant comment just slipped out.
To his credit, Steve only looked mildly surprised. Then again, I don't know why everyone thought Steve was a poster boy of purity and virginity. According to Grams, he banged his way through the chorus girls for his show in the first week.
"Where are we going?" I asked, quickly changing the subject.
"I'll tell you on the way. Are you good to fly?" Steve looked impatient.
"We both are." Clint came out of the bathroom, dressed and wiping his hands with a towel.
Steve looked at me for confirmation. I gave him a firm nod.
"Got a suit?" Steve turned to Clint.
Clint nodded, throwing the towel behind him.
"Then suit up."
Authors Note
It's here! It was a bit of a marathon effort to get done but it's here. Sorry guys. I thought I could fit full time study in with nearly full time work and there were some pretty major meltdowns. Thanks to Covid-19, my work cut me back dramatically which has been a breath of fresh air. I have one assessment left for the semester and if I ever have to do another public health subject, I'm going to shoot myself in the face.
There are parts of this story that I know so clearly and know exactly how I'm going to write it. The lead up to the Avengers was a big part of that. But after Jared dropping into Kari, I was at a blank on how it would actually work. Which made writing harder as well.
As always, thank you everyone for your support and love. Your reviews got me through some rough times over the last few weeks. I won't promise timelines for another update. But hopefully it'll be a lot quicker than this one.
Until next time.