Chapter Twenty-Three: Cognitive Recalibration

When Hiro was blown out of the laboratory in a fiery explosion with his friend, Dr. Banner, and Agent Romanoff, his mind inexplicably went back to the first trial of the Triwizard Tournament, despite the fact that this had nothing to do with dragons and broomsticks. It did, however, have everything to do with the slimy serpent of a god and his stupid, mind-controlling glowstick. He supposed he probably should've been more concerned about falling to his doom out of the window, but he was slightly preoccupied with thoughts of which hexes and jinxes he wanted to hit Loki with should he ever get back to human form.

Thankfully, a hand reached out and grabbed him before he was too close to the concrete, his claws automatically hooking into the soft fabric he was pressed against. When they stopped moving – and probably a little longer than that – he allowed Spider-man to detach him from his hoodie, only taking a couple staggered steps before regaining his sense of balance. With the world no longer spinning around him, he noticed a couple of important facts.

One, Romanoff was stuck.

Two, Dr. Banner wasn't looking so good, quite literally turning green in the low light.

Spidey rushed over to help the agent, who had been talking to the shaking scientist, both of them having a conversation Hiro wasn't bothering to keep up with. His head jerked up when two of the maintenance crew came over to help, only to be shooed away and he went back to observing the doctor, gingerly padding over. Maybe he could help, his presence always seemed to calm Peter down when he was having a rough go, and sure, he hadn't known Dr. Banner for nearly as long, but he liked him and wanted to help.

But, of course, before he could get within a couple feet of the slowly "Hulking-out" man, he was swung off his feet by a pair of ungloved hands, that alone telling him that Agent Romanoff was taking him for a ride. Hiro carefully adjusted his perch on her shoulder – which was actually slightly broader than his usual partner's – and felt her nod professionally to the other spider once before they were off. All the overprotective kit could do now was hope and pray that Spider-man didn't get himself into too much trouble while he was gone.

His ears swiveled, always on the lookout as the redhead jogged through the ship with a purpose, but could only catch muffled, inaudible chatter from her earpiece. Though, if he concentrated hard enough, he could almost hear brief grunts and shouts amidst howling wind, sounds he would only hear on the Quidditch pitch when someone – usually him – was hanging off their broom and trying to get back on. Their winding path finally cleared, well… sort of. More like the walls and floor ended as they neared the part of the Helicarrier that had taken the brunt of the explosion and Hiro got to see who was making the I'm-falling-off-my-broom noises.

Captain Rogers. He definitely wasn't on a broomstick, but he was in a different sort of pickle as he dangled from the ship, only held back from the winds and the sky by a cord. Well that was a different sort of predicament, especially with the angry-faced enemy taking potshots at him from the not-so-safe-anymore safety of the hallway. The reason for it being more dangerous now? That had to do with one angry cat and a very well-trained spy. Safe to say, he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon when Hiro was done with his poorly armored face – for some reason, the idiot had removed his goggles and mask – and Agent Romanoff's carefully aimed knockout blow when she tired of watching the kit whale on him amusedly.

"Hey, Captain!" she screamed over the winds. "Need a hand?" The blonde nodded jerkily as he advanced hand-over-hand, closer as she reeled him in with some difficulty. They finally got him back on the platform, panting with his hands on his knees and going to stand by a large, red lever. Captain Rogers gave Hiro a curious once-over when he noticed the black feline still eyeing and growling at the unconscious, scratched-up guard.

He turned to Agent Romanoff. "Which one of you did that?"

"The scratches were all him," she answered breathlessly in the high-altitude atmosphere, gesturing over to Hiro. Suddenly, she straightened, putting a hand up to her ear. The animal could only guess what she was listening to and only barely caught her reply. "This is Agent Romanoff. I copy." A quick turn to Rogers. "I'm going to get Clint back. Detention lab." No argument, no doubt. A statement of fact.

"Take the cat with you. I don't think Spider-man would be very happy if we dropped his pet off the Helicarrier." Hiro gave him a slightly offended look but didn't protest as the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent placed him back on her shoulder and they took off through the ship once more. A left, a right, a right, a left, a… something, he couldn't keep track. As they got deeper inside, the lights got dimmer, the sounds of panicked crew dissipated, and she moved slower as she approached her target.

The kit stepped silently off her, fully aware of how things were likely to go down with the shadowed figure in front of them and hide expertly in a space between pipes. The air was thick with suspense, he could almost bite through it as the sounds of the room stayed levelly quiet. She was right behind him, but not visible, and neither seemed to be ignorant of another presence in the room.

Abruptly, the mind-controlled man spun around, nocking an arrow, only for Romanoff to pop up beside his arm with a hold on his bow. The arrow flew out harmlessly, and the pair engaged in what could best be described as a deadly dance, each partner knowing the other's moves, knowing exactly what would come next from the other. Agent Romanoff swung around gracefully, landing a kick, and Barton's moves, although rougher, landed as well. She caught his bowstring, he pulled back and released, causing her to hit herself in the face.

A show that Hiro was sure no one else could put on.

Now Romanoff had the bow, but Barton had a hunting knife. The dance resumed, hit, block, parry, the knife getting awfully close at one point! No, now the short-haired man had her in a hold, weapon up and ready to bite down, but she did it first, literally. He cried out in pain but had little time before the assassin flipped him about in a move Hiro couldn't even follow and whacked his head on the metal railing with a loud clang. The kit winced, that couldn't have felt good and the man wasn't getting up. All he could make it too was a wobbly crouch, where he looked up in apparent surprise.

"Natasha…" Agent Romanoff punched him square in the jaw, knocking the manipulated bloke out and retrieving Hiro. He looked down worriedly at the man he knew had been taken control of by the scepter. Yet… curious. Maybe the magic of the staff wasn't as close to the Imperious Curse as he'd thought. With the last headshot at the end of the two agents' fight, he'd been out of it, not only dazed, but released by the magic. Head trauma, Hiro filed away. If you hit them on the head, the spell couldn't keep its hold. There was probably a fancy term for it that the doctors in the med-bay would coin when the fiery spy finished dragging her opponent down the halls.

Yipes, so that happened. That chapter was basically whatever the heck Hiro and Nat were doing while Spidey tried to get the Hulk to chill and Thor fought him. I know it wasn't the best, but I have trouble with fight scenes already and I really can't do justice to the Black Widow's kick-ass moves. Sorry for that and the shortness. I promise the next one will be longer

Shout-out to all the super helpful people who helped me with the fanfiction-jargon! You are all awesome!

As for the poll, there's currently only one vote, which is for Astrid. Which was surprising to me. Please vote! You have one more week!

Saw Captain Marvel (finally)! Am-a-zing!

And last but not least at all, I recently looked at the views, reviews, favorites, etc. (including the chart that shows you different countries) and HOLY FLARKING CANNOLI! 109 reviews, 33,397 views, 312 followers, 201 favorites, and people from 73 countries! Das't. I really need to check those stats more often...

Thank you SO MUCH everyone reading this! You all have made my day! =D

Lucky (just had her mind blown)

To Dylan-A-Friend: Thank you and will do!

To Vladimir Mithrander: Thanks! Yeah, Thor kinda ruined the moment. And you're welcome!

To Lord Royal: Glad to have you and to hear your review! All are welcome! (Sorry, I'm weird. But don't let that scare you away!)

To Mary D. Black2000: Thanks for the info, I will. (To be honest, I don't understand why some people are so against stuff like that, but whatever.)

To winfield56: Thanks, hope you liked this one just as much!

To micaelladungan: Hey, thanks a bundle!

To Silvermane1: My gods, neither can I. I mean, it's been written, but I can't wait for the reactions.