Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, ABC, Disney or the Avengers. Just Sera.


Walking into the kitchen, we were greeted with SHIELD agents in jeans and t-shirts, and the Avengers in their suits.

"Is this a normal thing? Wear your suit the whole day before a battle?" Daisy asked as I poured myself a cup of tea, and toasted some bread.

"It's about as normal as can get with this bunch." I smirked, grabbing food for the twins.

"I think we need a bigger kitchen," Pietro said, trying to maneuver his away around people making breakfast.

"NO!" Everyone but me yelled.

"Bigger kitchen means I won't cook anymore," I said, taking a sip of tea.

"Never mind, I love how cramped it is!" He said quickly, before taking the pot of coffee form Clint.

"I can still put an arrow through your eye," Clint said, before Pietro gave the pot back. Everyone trickled out of the kitchen slowly, gathering in the control room.

"You have your teams and coordinates. Fitz and Sera have designed a safe cracker that will cut through even titanium. So don't need to worry about concrete. Our priority is the rocks, but if something looks to be dangerous, assess and report to team leader. They will determine if it's something we should bring back."

"Zephyr One will be our mobile base. You all wait until we give the signal," Coulson said, standing beside Steve.

"Cameron and Fury are taking point on this mission. Fury's words are the only one you take," Steve said, as Cameron looked surprised.

"You are the communications expert," Bucky said, slapping Cameron's shoulder.

"Oh," He said embarrassed.

"Comm's, equiptment and tech." Fitz said, putting 7 cases around the table.

"Seven cases, but 8 teams." Bobby asked, confused.

"Vision can walk through walls. We don't need a safe cracker," I explained.

"And, to be safe, as we know Brock took off last night with the 'smuggled guns', we are giving everyone the vaccination for Tetrodetoxin B. It will only last 24 hours as of right now," Jemma said, pulling out a vaccination gun.

"We will have that problem fixed before our trap takes place," Fitz said, as I saw a quinjet land outside.

"That's probably Pepper," I smiled to Dad.

"At least the grandbabies will be safe here." He nodded, as Jemma came around to us. The shot wasn't painful, but my father grimaced.

"Baby," I teased, giving him a small Ironman Band-Aid from my small first aid kit.

"I'm still your favorite superhero," he beamed.

"Dad, you will always be my favorite superhero, named Dad," I chuckled, as we watched Steve and Bucky.

"That wasn't so bad," Steve chuckled.

"That was penicillin," I said under my breath and Bucky sounded like he was choking from laughter.

"What?" Everyone asked.

"When I got turned into Captain America, Dr. Irskine gave me a shot and I thought it was the serum," He explained.

"And he said, "That wasn't so bad."" Bucky laughed, patting our husband on the back.

"And Dr. Irskine replied, "That was penicillin." And then the real serum was injected in by like 50 different needles on panels." I said, as Steve grimaced.

"That wasn't pleasant," He sighed, as everyone smirked at our lighthearted story.

"Okay. Teams 2-8, report to control room on Zephyr One in 30 minutes. Suit up," Steve said, and the agents all but ran form the room.

"You giving orders," I chuckled, looking at Steve under my lashes.

"We have an audience," Steve mumbled, gesturing to the four Avengers scattered in the control room.

"Just don't get hurt," I said, looking at them both.

"Can't promise that ангел," Bucky smiled sadly.

"If you can't promise that, promise me you will bring them home. All of them, cause it means you'll have to physically come back."

"Yes dear," They said sweetly.

"Smartasses," I laughed, turning to greet Pepper.

"Okay, so the kids are in the lab with Jane right now. She's being extra attentive, because she knows they aren't adults that can look after themselves. Feeding times are on the fridge in the kitchen, and extra diapers are in the closet behind my shoe wall."

"Sera, relax," She laughed, leaning down to kiss my forehead.

"Yes mom," I said sarcastically, leading her down to the labs.

"Bye my darlings," I said to the twins, before kissing them goodbye. Pepper and Darcy each had a twin.

"Go, or I'm taking you over my shoulder," Maria said, pulling me away from them.

"The rest of the team doesn't need us in position for another hour," I said, waving goodbye.

"Sera," She warned, as Vision walked into the Quinjet beside us.

"Okay," I sighed, taking my seat up front and closing the hatch. Getting us off the ground, I set course for DC, noting that Maria was eyeing Vision.

"Take a picture," I said into her comm, she blushed, turning to glare at me.

"Focus on the…"

"Sky?" I asked sarcastically.

"You know what I meant."

"Yeah, yeah," I said, pressing a button for ARSENAL. She was now the AI for the Avengers, making everything easier.

"ARSENAL, you up?" I asked.

"For you ma'am, always."

"I'm gonna need you to start hacking into Gideon Malick's personal computer, cell phone records, and landline use. Find out where he was heading."

"Yes Ma'am. Shall I do the same for Mitchell Carson?"

"Might as well."

"Dive into Brock's mercenary circles, find out if any large number of people were contracted within the last few days." Maria added.

"Good thinking Miss Hill," ARSENAL commented.

"If Malick is hiding, I want to know where. Engage cloaking, enter stealth mode."

"Yes ma'am."

"I wonder if we could rebuild the Cradle. It would be interesting to meet ARSENAL," I joked to Maria. Her and Vision just gave me a look.

"I know, I know. Bad idea. I don't act on impulse like my father," I teased.

"A large amount of men were just contracted out to Project Distant Star Return, owned by Gideon Malick," ARSENAL said.

"Banks said that Malick funded the original mission back in 2001." Maria said, confused. I quickly patched myself through to Zephyr One and relayed the information.

"Which is why we need to hurry if we want to beat them to the vaults," May said, as I heard the others brace themselves.

"Time table is moving up. Everyone to your respective Quinjets," Steve said, as I neared the DC location.

"I am so glad we added a second dock for Quinjet's Fitz," I commented.

"You and me both," He chuckled. Landing our Quinjet silently, I exited with Maria and Vision. Setting to work with scanning the building, I signaled that we had two guards, and another 5 downstairs.

"Incapacitate, or kill?" I asked Maria.

"Let's see how much of a fight they put up." She smirked. Vision made his way through the building, as we snuck up on the first two guards. Giving them sleeper holds, we heard the commotion downstairs and ran to help Vision.

"Hello boys," I said, taking my swords out, while they trained their guns on us. Swinging my blades, I defected the bullets with practiced precision, walking towards the group. Hitting the first with the hilt of my sword, I placed one back in the sheath and pulled an ICER on the others. They fought back well, kicking me in the ribs, but I punched one in the throat and the other I ICED in the head. Maria had knocked out two and was looking at the large door to the vault, as Vision bore a hole in it for us to get through.

"Night night," I joked to myself.

"Oh god, this is where…" I started. It was an abandoned bank, and the doors were what Bucky described… I shook my head clear and pulled out the small Geiger counter. Vision went to stand watch while we searched. Maria was opening all the accessible ones, and I was looking for false walls.

"It… is," I said, using the device Fitz rigged up to detect the radiation from the Monolith, "Here!" Prying open the deposit box door, I pulled the glass box free.

"God, I wanted it not to be true." I said, before storing it in the case and listening to the others on comms.

"We are still 20 minutes out." Phil said, when I asked how they were doing for time.

"We'll be back to base by then. Package one secure." I said, kicking a guard that was waking up in the head.

"That leaves four packages unaccounted for." Steve said, as I tuned them out.

"Prisoners or no?" I debated, looking at the unconscious men.

"Leave it to the local authorities," Maria said hanging up her phone.

"Just to be safe," I smirked, pulling my gun out again, I ICED them all once more for safe measure.

"Over the top," She said, as we ran back up the stairs.

"Some days, I live for over the top," I laughed as we got back in the Quinjet. Quickly getting us up off the ground, I sighed in relief.

"One of these days, I am going to want to retire," I said, feeling the placed I was kicked. Maria shook her head as she examined the rock in its box.

"Seems harmless enough," She said, before it melted and morphed before out eyes.

"Well, I was not expecting that." She said, putting it back in the case calmly.

"I was," I teased. She smiled, and pushed my shoulder lightly.

"I want to ask you something," I said, taking out my comm. She did the same and looked at me, waiting for me to ask what I wanted.

"I know that to be cleared for higher levels, it had to go by my SO, my CO being you, and Director Fury. I wouldn't have passed if one of you said no. So how come I was basically given the keys to the kingdom, and Phil was only Level 7?"

"Phil didn't want to go higher then he had to after New York. If he needed Level 8 clearance, he wanted it temporarily. He didn't want the power to go to his head."

"Phil knew that being higher up would mean Avengers, and that meant more secrets, more lies, and he wasn't up for any more than what he had already. He had recommended you being given higher clearance because you had the ability to remove your feelings from the situation. He knew how invaluable you would be to SHIELD in your later years."

"Look where that got me though."

"You were going to be my replacement," She said, smirking.

"Come again? I was only there 6 years," I said, confused.

"I wasn't going to be there longer than after Insight. I was getting out because, even for me, the secrets were getting too much. Fury was shaping you and training you to be the new Deputy Director of SHIELD. And if DC didn't happen, and we didn't have Hyrda inside, he wanted to give Steve his job."

"What the actual fuck?" I whispered to myself.

"I wanted to leave because I realized what I was missing. I wanted to start a family without looking over my shoulder." She confided in me.

"Oh," I said, smiling at her.

"But, we can't change the past, as much as I wished I could." She smiled sadly.

"You could still get out. It's not too late for you."

"I'm not the same woman. And as if I would ever find a guy that wasn't a total Avengers groupie," She laughed.

"True that. Some of them are a little odd. Scott for instance, said that he was a big fan to Sam, when he was breaking in a month and a half ago." I said, making us both laugh.

"So, your replacement huh?" I smirked.

"Not with that attitude," She sassed.

"Oh come on, that's really weird! I'm still getting used to May being deputy Director. It's all I've ever seen you as," I said, as we approached base. Clearing the landing with Cameron, we set down inside the hangar.

"Yeah, it's weird for me too. But, I love it." She smiled, grabbing the case as Vision walked out of the Quinjet. We brought it up to the labs, set it in a specialized case that would hold it until Daisy could destroy it.

"What's the story guys?" I asked putting in my comm and sitting down next to Cameron.

"We've got a possible package in the hole, but we are under some fire."

"Can you believe that we haven't had a single serious injury yet?" Hope yelled through her comm.

"God I hope we never," Daisy said, as I heard the scuffle in the background.

"We have 13 guards on this one," Bucky yelled, as I heard him cock his gun. I heard a pinging sound, and squealed, making Fury look at me crazy.

"Sera, the magnetic shield gag isn't going to work," I said, mimicking Steve's voice.

"Yes it will my love, because I am really smart." I said in triumph, "And guess what Steve? It did work."

"Sera honey? It's a little hard to fight with you doing that in my ear," Steve said, as I felt mortified again.

"I totally forgot that this was an open line." I said, as I put my face in my hands.

"You guys are a riot," Sharon said, before I heard someone gasp.

"It's okay, just a flesh wound," Mack said.

"Is it you?" I asked.

"No, Turbo." Mack said, as Fitz whined, "That does not feel like a flesh wound."

"Package two secure," Bobby said, panting.

"It's like they were expecting to get their asses whooped," Daisy joked, before adding, "Package three secure."

"Could you all quit the chit chat, I have a bomb I need to diffuse," Dad said calmly.

"Bomb?"

"Seems as thought if you just blast through the wall it triggered time bomb. Von Strucker was paranoid, that much I can tell." Coulson explained.

"Dad, serach and get clear. Do you hear me?" I yelled, "I don't need to lose both my Dads today."

"Agent is your Dad too? What is this? I have ot compete to have you as my daughter?" He joked.

"DAD!" I said, exasperated.

"Package four secure," Bucky said, as Jemma gasped.

"Got it! Package five I mean," As I heard Wanda groan.

"Wanda is hit," Pietro said in panic, "It's in her shoulder."

"Pietro, put pressure on it. It's gonna hurt her but you need to hold pressure." Jemma said, as I heard her close the last case.

"Everyone, fall back to the Quinjet extraction points." Steve said.

"Wait!" I heard my Dad yell.

"Dad, we don't have time for guessing games."

"Well, we have an opportunity to bring a whole bunch of Hydra scum to justice," He said, and I could hear the smirk.

"Scan them for bugs and bring em back." Fury said, nodding in agreement.

"Let's just drop one big load of them on the president's lawn," Hunter suggested.

"We do have international authority," I conceded.

"Okay, whoever doesn't come willingly, knock em out." Steve said, grunting as he hit someone.

"I've got Quinjet one coming to your rescue Team 2," Trip said, and added, "Coming right for you afterwards Team 7,"

"I've got the bleeding under control, but I need to remove the bullet and sew her up soon," Jemma said, as I heard Dad taking off in his suit.

"We've got 10 here," Mack said, before I said, "Look for fake teeth."

"These guys are a little too young for dentures, love," Hunter said, making me smack my forehead.

"They are Hydra, most famously known for cyanide in the fake tooth. It should be the upper molars," I explained.

"Why do you know this?" Bobby asked.

"I like to read in my spare time," I sassed.

"Quinjet 2 on route to Budapest," May said, "And then swinging around to Vienna."

"Team 4 on Zephyr One. Awaiting further instruction," Bucky said, as I calculated how long it would take for extraction.

"Team 7 and 5 estamated time of extraction, 20 minutes. Hang in there guys," I said, wishing we had sent over a third Quinjet.

"Team four, take Zephyr One and swing around to catch the strays from Quinjet 2." Fury said.

"Got it," Sam said, catching Fury's drift. Throw the captured out the Quinjet to make room for our people. Sam and my Dad would load them onto Zephyr One when closer.

"If everyone gets back here with only minimal injuries, I'm making brownies," I suggested lightly.

"Oh hell yeah," Some of the guys said.

"Sera!" Steve said in a warning tone.

"Right, shutting up." I said softly, as I listened in for distress calls.

"Quinjet 2, dropping off first load," Mack said, as I heard my Dad say, "Just toss them already."

"Load 1 safely in cargo bay," Dad chuckled.

"Quinjet 2 approaching extraction point for Team 5," May said.

"Quinjet 1 approaching extraction point for Team 7," Trip said.

"Hallelujah," I muttered as everyone checked in.

"May, bring them home." Fury said, taking the words out of my mouth. Turning on the video feed to the med bay in Zephyr One, I waved at Jemma.

"Jemma, how is Wanda?" I asked.

"I've got her sedated, and just about to extract the bullet. Fitz is whining," She chuckled, looking up at the screen.

"I got shot Jemma," He said exasperated in the background.

"Doesn't mean you get to complain louder than everyone else, because you need two stitches." She shot back.

"Any other injuries so far?" I asked.

"Some bruises, broken ribs, and a nasty concussion. But that should be the last of it."

"Who has the concussion?"

"It's Hunter." She said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm fine, love," I heard him groan in the background.

"No he's not." Bobby said, coming up to the screen.

"Broken ribs?"

"That would be Mack, Coulson, and Hope."

"It's nothing sis. I've had worse." Hope said, waving in the background.

"May," I asked into my comm.

"Yes," she said, a tinge of pain to her voice.

"Estimated time of arrival?"

"Two hours. Three tops." She said.

"Once they dock, give Trip the controls and go get checked out."

"I'm fine."

"You're labored breathing doesn't sound good. Bobby, go check her out." I said to the video feed.

"Sure," she smiled, kissing Hunter's head sweetly and leaving.

"Steve, Bucky?" I asked into the comm.

"Split lip, knife wound to the arm, not too deep." Bucky's voice came back to say.

"You or Steve?"

"Both of us. Wait," He said as Steve groaned softly, "He's got a GSW to his right thigh."

"Get him to Jemma," I demanded, "I told you specifically not to get hurt."

"Sera," Steve said wearily, "Relax, it's not that bad."

"If your leg heals around that bullet, you're gonna be in more pain." I reminded him.

"I've got him Sera," Jemma said in the video, as Bucky put him down on a table. I realized that Fury and Cameron had left the room, and I sighed.

"Captain Rogers," Jemma gasped as she scanned him over, "You've lost two pints of blood."

"God dammit Steve," I said, covering my mouth and releasing a few tears.

"It's not that bad," He groaned.

"If it isn't that bad, you can cook tonight. But if you admit it's bad, I'll cook."

"It's…"

"I'm making my casserole." I said, before shouts of, "Just admit it!" were heard in the med bay.

"It's… it's bad." He said, grimacing in pain, looing at me on the screen.

"Okay. I'm cooking you a big casserole and I'll be your nurse tonight."

"Okay," he chuckled and Bucky punched his arm lightly, "Lucky."

"I should go get started on dinner then. I love you two."

"We love you too," Bucky said as Jemma put Steve under.

"Could you possibly make cookies?" Hunter asked, not sounding like himself. Bobby was giggling, because he sounded high.

"Yes, I will make cookies for my favorite agents and Avengers." I chuckled, before waving goodbye and closing the video connection.

"Hey," Laura said, coming in with the kids.

"Who wants to help with dinner?" I said, kissing both kids heads.