Disclaimer: I do not own any character from Marvel; all rights belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 5
Wolf Among Sheep
Middle East Nuclear Facility, 1 Months Later
"Cap to base. All ground-to-air defenses have been neutralized. Several surprises they had in store for us have also been 86ed."
Captain America sat at a terminal inside a trashed room. The floor was littered with scattered documents, hard-drives, guns and soldiers. The captain was currently hacking into the base's mainframe with a virus courtesy of SHIELD. The data flashed before the hero's eyes and displayed schematics, weapon systems, and the base's outline and patrol patterns.
"A lot of this is just as Intel said. They did have some EMP bombs and auto-mines set up but they've been disabled. Have the Techs sweep them up afterwards. No need for civilians to get hurt scavenging them."
"Roger Cap. Any problems from the locals?" Fury asked.
"Security spotted me 20 seconds ago. It'll take them a whole minute to react, cock their weapons and charge in here."
As he spoke, a squadron of armed soldiers burst into the room with assault rifles aimed at the super-soldier's back.
"FIRE!" They screamed in their native tongue.
Before a bullet could be fired, Cap muttered a single phrase.
"Quicksilver, I'm done here."
BABABABABAAA!
ZWWWWOOOO!
Bullets tore apart the control console as a gust whipped through the wind, sending papers flying.
Outside Base, 1 Mile
A massive stream of dirt was thrown through the air as a force of super-human speed ripped across the desert ground. Each footstep shattered the ground; each footfall had the kinetic energy of a bomb.
Quicksilver skidded to a stop, kicking of a small dust cloud at the abrupt halt.
"What are you doing?" Cap asked in irritation as he was sent tumbling onto the dirt. "We were suppose to be three miles from the base, you barely got us over one!"
"You're too damn heavy! You're like three hundred pounds of muscle! One mile is the best I can do!"
"Don't sweat it Pietro. Satellites have you in the clear. Kick back and watch the show." Fury ordered over the com-line.
Base Grounds
The soldiers watched in both awe and fear as they saw a full squadron of fighter jets shoot across the sky. Each jet was fully equipped with machine guns and a half dozens long range bombardment type missiles.
Said weapons dropped from underneath the plane's wings and ignited their engine, rocketing forth towards the base.
The soldiers ran for cover as the missiles struck home, igniting the air in a flash of intense heat that incinerated anything in their radius.
"First strike is good! All units clear the field! Make way for the Giant-Men!"
The ground trembled like an earthquake as the massive footsteps echoed across the desert landscape. Soldiers braced themselves as the ground cracked and trembled under the weight of the seven 60-foot tall humans that stopped across their base, tearing open their barracks and hangars like they were removing weeds in a field.
Soldiers fired their weapons in a vain attempt to stop the massive titans from tearing through their base. The soldiers screamed out curses and cries of panic in their foreign languages. Without their anti-air defenses, the Giant-Men roamed free across the base, their only obstacles were the small patrol of tanks rolling towards them.
"Kill them! Do not let them take the silos! Shoot! SHOOT!"
Hank Pym, aka the first Giant-Man watched as the tanks rolled towards them in an organized line. The cannons spun around to face the goliaths.
"Fury we got tanks!"
"Easy Pym, the EU is already on it."
True enough, high in the sky, a small flock of superheroes flew down towards the base. In the lead was Iron Man flanked by the remaining members of the EU's Excalibur team. Captain's Britain, Spain, Italy, France and Germany flew in behind him and saw the squadron of tanks.
"All right boys, new game plan! Hit the tanks and then head for the silos! Do not give them a chance to fight back!" Iron Man roared over the sounds of tanks firing up at them.
The six flyers zipped through the air as bombs detonated behind them. The five EU heroes smashed into the tanks like mortar shells, tearing the vehicles apart from the inside while Iron Man obliterated the remaining artillery with several quick shots of repulsor blasts.
The Giant-Men continued to tear apart the base's warehouses, crushing any vehicles and unmanned tanks that they saw.
"Pym to team, all warehouses cleared. We might want to get those missile silos now."
"Stick to the plan Pym. You and your boys stay put and clear the base. Tony, take the Excalibur team and meet up with the Ultimate reserves." Fury said.
Hank looked back towards the sky to see a swarm of small figures flying towards the base. The flock consisted of over forty super-powered SHIELD soldiers outfitted in a form fitting blue and white bodysuit while at least two-dozen Rocketmen hovered above. The gold and red robots surveyed the area while occasionally popping off several bursts of repulsor fire, via their arm cannons, to suppress what remained of the base's ground forces.
The human super-soldiers flew towards the missile silos aiming straight for the nuclear arsenal. The men landed on the tops of the silo doors, four to each silo. They gripped the doors by the sides and wrenched them open.
"This is Blue team! Silo one is open! Removing warhead now!" The leader shouted before he and two more dived into the silo to lift the missile. They gripped the warhead by its head, the base, and its middle before lifting off into the air, hoisting the massive WMD into the air where the Scarlet Witch floated.
Wanda watched as the super-soldiers and the EU captains hoisted the warheads into the air.
The girl was breathing heavily, eyes darting across her allies and the weapons they carried. Iron Man flew towards her and hovered around her as he watched the missiles slowly approach them.
"Alright Wanda, once we give the signal, you fry the missiles and that's thirty less nuclear warheads in dangerous hands."
Tony smiled under his helmet as he saw SHIELD's new super-soldiers arriving with the warheads. Tony glanced at Wanda once and then again when he saw the look of distress.
"Wanda?"
"I can't do this." She muttered.
"What?"
"I'm freaking out! What if I mess up? What if I blow them up?! I can't! I just ca—"
"Wanda! You can do this!" Tony shouted and grabbed the girl by the shoulders. "You can do this! You're the Scarlet Witch! Magneto's Daughter! Show these guys you don't make mistakes!"
Wanda looked around at the floating warheads and tried to breathe.
Tony sighed. "Fine. I call Pietro and have him come find you. We'll take care of the missiles."
Iron Man flew off towards the warhead carried by the Excalibur team and reached its center. Captain Britain saw him land on the weapon's body and start to cut through the metal with a gauntlet released blowtorch.
"Tony? What are you doing? Wanda was supposed t—"
"She's freaking out, let her be. We got to do this manually."
"EVERYONE!" Wanda screamed drawing all eyes on her.
The girl's body glowed dark crimson as arcs of energy circled her. She looked at the shocked group of super-humans before speaking again in a near growl.
"Get. Clear."
"Everyone! Missiles up and clear the air!" Iron Man shouted before hoisting the warhead up and hurling into the sky. The others quickly followed his example and tossed the missiles sky high.
Wanda eyes flashed red once again and unleashed a wave of crimson energy that coursed over the nukes like electricity. The warheads sparked and smoked before pieces of metal blew off their bodies sending them crashing into the desert floor.
Wanda took another deep breath and looked over her handiwork. "Scarlet Witch to command…job done."
"Well done sister." Pietro congratulated over the com.
Wanda smiled and slowly descended to the ground.
Outside the Base
Captain America watched as the massive WMDs plummeted from the sky and crashed to the desert.
"Well done sister." Pietro commented as with a smile as he watched his sibling's handiwork.
Cap cracked a small smile before looking up in the sky. The smile fell into a frown as he saw ten fast moving objects approaching the base. He strained his eyes but could barely make out the objects.
"Cap to command, did we authorize another bombing run?"
"Negative Captain. All air support has already moved back to base. Why?"
"We have a problem, enemy faster movers! Tony get airborne and take them out!"
"Cap what fast movers?"
"The ones flying towards the base genius! Now get airborne and down them!"
"Jarvis check the radar for any enemy aircraft."
"Scan results: Negative. No enemy aircraft detected."
"Cap, you need to get those baby-blues checked buddy. Radar has nothing."
"Incoming!" Britain roared.
The super-soldiers looked up to see five sleek black jets rip through the sky, unleashing a hail of bullets and short-range missiles. Iron Man threw up his arm and unleashed a thick shield of energy that engulfed himself and everyone around him in a 500-meter radius, effectively shielding all inside.
"Damn!" Stark shouted as his the shield trembled under the force of fire. The jets were more akin to drones and didn't cease their assault.
"I can't move and sustain the shield! We're stuck in here!"
"I might be able to screw with them." Wanda said as her eyes glowed red again.
"Sit tight team. Back up is en route."
"We have back up?" Captain France asked.
"Codename: Falcon, War Machine. You are clear to engage." Fury said.
"Did he say…Rhodey?!" Tony exclaimed looking up at the drones.
Two smaller figure shot through the sky, darting towards the black drones. One was a humanoid robot with a six-barreled rocket launcher mounted on his right side while a mounted laser turret rested on his left shoulder (War Machine Initiative Armor).
The second figure was a man in a dark grey and red combat fatigue jumpsuit with body armor situated on his torso and knees. On his back was a red and black rocket pack with two metallic wings shooting out from the sides.
"Colonel Rhodes I've got the two on the left. Engaging now!" The operative known as Falcon soared forward as two automatic pistols ejected from his belt and landed in his hands. The jets on his back burst to life with a flash of heat, propelling him towards the automatic killing machines.
The drone's failed to notice the interloper until a hail of bullet tore through the machine's wings, reducing them to splinters. The machine whirred in distress as it plummeted to ground level, its remains engulfed in a small explosion.
The second drone, having time to react, shot forward, circling the area until the Falcon was in its sights. The drone's targeting array locked onto the soldier, unleashing a hail of bullets that almost shredded the man if he had not dived downwards.
"Uh…Colonel…I might need a little help."
War Machine rocketed through the air blasting apart the first drone with a burst of repulsor fire from his gauntlets. His Gatling gun unleashed a hail of laser fire that peppered the armor off the drones, reducing them to burning splinters floating in the air.
"Kinda busy Sam." James 'Rhodey' Rhodes said as he ducked under a missile and blasted it with a repulsor blast. He dived down, tapping a small pod on his hip. The device opened up to release several tiny spheres of metal.
Two drones soared toward him, guns roaring. Once the machines entered the nearly invisible cloud of pellets, they exploded. A cloud of smoke and fire occupied the space where the drones had been as the explosives had done their job.
"Bring him around for me and dive on my command!" Rhodes shouted over the gunfire.
"Roger!" Sam exclaimed as two small turrets opened up on his suit to reveal to mounted sets of rockets. The goggles he wore locked their sight on the two drones trailing the mechanical hero and flashed red.
"Anytime now!"
"Dive! Dive! Dive!" War machine shouted as his shoulder turret roared to life. Flashed of blue light sailed past the aviator as he dived down, firing off two rockets at each drone.
The machines exploded at the projectiles struck home, incinerating the drones in midair.
War Machine landed on the ground near the force filed shielded heroes. He walked toward them as the glowing blue shield receded. Falcon flew down towards the ground, stopping just above before his thrusters cut out and allowed him to drop to the ground. His wings retracted into his suit allowing him to walk.
Iron Man walked past the group of heroes and straight towards the black armored man. The taller man saw the red and grey hero and moved towards him as well.
"Rhodey!"
"Hey Tony!" War Machine responded as he received a hug from his longtime friend. Falcon walked past them, pocketing his machine guns in the leg holsters he wore.
"What's up buddy?" Tony asked as he popped the facemask of his visor open.
"Saving your dumb asses apparently. How many times do I have to tell you, stop relying on radar all the damned time. Trust your eyes once in a while."
"Yeah, I'll put in a memo." Tony replied with sarcasm.
"One of these days I'm not gonna be there to bail you out. Remember that pal."
"I'll take it under advisement. Fury didn't tell me you were in on this."
"Guess he left that out of the briefing." Rhodey said with a hint of suspicion.
"I guess so." Tony responded.
A gust of wind zipped past the group, blowing a small trail of dust into the air. Quicksilver dropped Captain America onto the ground as he leaned over, panting.
"Cap…you…are too….heavy…" Pietro moaned in between pants of air.
"Hey Cap." Falcon said as he shook hands with the American super-soldier. "Good to see you Sam. How was the flight?"
"Explosive." Sam said with a smile.
"You two know each other?" Wanda asked as she helped her brother steady himself. The two soldiers turned to the group while Cap responded.
"Met Sam when I was on a run. Met him again in SHIELD's R&D division."
"Sam Wilson." Falcon said as he introduced himself. "Former 85th Para-rescue and SHIELD R&D field tester. Nice to see you guys up close and personal."
"Thanks for the save." Captain Britain said as he extended a hand. Sam shook it before looking over at the two mech-armored heroes.
"They know each other?" Brian asked gesturing to the two Iron Men.
"Didn't Tony mention friend of his named Rhodey?" Wanda asked.
"Let me introduce you guys!" Tony said bringing Rhodey over to the group.
"Sup." War Machine said with a wave. Tony gestured to the man and his suit.
"I'd like you all to meet my best friend and personal pilot of the War Machine armor, invented by yours truly, Air Force Captain James Rhodes. Or as I like to call him, Rhodey."
"Thanks for the introduction." He said.
"Why don't you take off the helmet." Pietro asked.
"Uh…"
"Simple, take if off." Tony said tapping the side of the helmet. Nothing happened. The two suit-wearers looked at each other before Rhodey tapped the side of his helmet. Again, nothing happened.
"Helmet jammed?"
"Helmet is jammed." Rhodey repeated.
"That's happening a lot lately." Iron Man muttered as he closed his own visor.
"Fury to team, redirect all troops for EVAC of civilians. The quicker these people are safe, the better."
"We're in route Fury. Cap out. Alright team, move towards the village."
Iron Man pulled Rhodey to the side away from the team as they moved to the incoming transports.
"You doing okay?" Tony asked. Rhodey rubbed the back of his armored neck in clear agitation. He turned to look at Tony who popped his faceplate. "The implants are they…?"
"They're fine…I guess. The suit's a little tight though."
"Rhodey I promise I'll fix this. I just nee d a little more time and you—"
"Tony I'm fine. Help Jarvis. The implants are fine and I'm doing fine. The suit's still working and I'm still kicking. Focus on the important stuff."
"What you're not important?"
"I'm last in line right now. I'll call if something's wrong man. But thanks for worrying."
"Not much else I can do here." Tony said with a smile as he gestured to the destroyed base.
"Says the playboy billionaire who makes things go boom."
SHIELD Command Hub, Triskelion
Nick Fury smiled as he saw the nukes lying harmlessly on the ground. The massive warheads lay inert and silent as the super-soldiers began to take them apart piece by piece.
"Sir."
Fury turned to see Maria Hill approaching him with a holographic clip board. She typed in several commands before looking up at him.
"Report Hill."
"Captain Rogers has evacuated about 90% of the villages situated around the target sight but the remaining 10% is trouble."
"Are they armed?"
"No, just resisting. They're not entirely thrilled about being kicked off their land."
"I bet they'd like radiation poisoning less. Have the Captain clear them out. If possible with no aggression. In the meantime I've got a meeting with the World Security council regarding the new Super-Soldiers we managed to churn out."
"Oh, you also have a report from Colson. He said they found the object but the energy field it's emitting is playing Yahtzee with their communication system. They'll need a few more days to lock it down."
"They'll get it done. I trust Colson's judgment." Fury said as he walked out.
Hill looked over her data sheet again and then back at the image of the fallen war heads. "Have the techs strip the missiles down for parts and confiscate the uranium. See what we can do with that and crosscheck with the foreign treaties we have established. Make sure removing the Uranium from country doesn't put us in any kind of violations."
"Yes ma'am." One of the techs responded as she left the room. She walked past two scientists who were locked in a heavy debate but quickly went quiet. Hill spared them a small glance and turned around continuing her walk, a small frown on her face.
She tapped the earpiece she wore and waited for a response.
"Tech Ops."
"It's Hill. Tell the Vault that I'm going down to cell 42. Makes sure Carol knows."
Lower Manhattan, Apartment 542, 2 Weeks Ago
Rick Jones opened the door to his apartment and stumbled inside, almost falling over. He caught himself on his table and struggled to stand. Failed and slumped to the ground.
His vision swam and his breathing was labored. The bottle of whiskey was almost empty. It slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground. What little bit of alcohol left in the bottle pooled onto the floor.
The man was disheveled and had grown a short beard that covered most of his jaw. His clothes were wrinkled and dirty and his apartment looked filthy and unclean. Mail had piled up near the front door, indicating it had been there for weeks.
"Feeling down Mr. Jones?" A distorted voice said.
Even in his drunken haze Jones knew it wasn't natural. He scampered off the ground and towards the a cabinet drawer. He wrenched it opened and withdrew a loaded gun before aiming it at the occupied armchair.
The man's arm shook as the figure flicked on the lamp's light, illuminating the face of a man wearing a thick white skull mask. The man had a thick build and a single mechanical hand.
"W-who…?" Rick slurred as his vision was still blurred.
"Let's just say my employers sympathize with your plight."
"M-My p-p-plight? W-what are y—"
"Dr. Banner's death. We feel for you. Losing your friend. That's painful. Especially when you helped cause it. He became the Hulk because he saved you. And now you get to live while he died a monster."
"S-shut up!" Rick roared.
BANG!
The man dashed out of the chair as the bullet tore through the couch he swatted the scientist across the room and into the side of the table, shattering it.
"Don't be stupid Jones. I'm not some wimpy mugger or a wannabe terrorist. I'm the real thing. And I can help you."
"W-with what?" Rick muttered out as he trued and failed to stand, instead slumping onto the floor.
"Taking down SHIELD."
Triskelion, Lower Prison Level, Three Days Later
Tony Stark sat across from the self-proclaimed God of Thunder as they stared each other down. Neither said a word for the longest time until Tony decided to break the silence.
"So we're not talking now? The silent treatment is a little childish don't you think?"
"Why should I speak when my words are written off as mere noises to be ignored."
"We aren't ignoring what you say. It's just that what you have been saying is crazy."
"I use to think you were one of the smart ones Tony."
"Oh please stop treating me like I'm the bad guy here. We had to stop you! You were out on the streets chanting that people should overthrow their governments! You attacked world leaders! These delusions of yours were putting everyone in danger. And you know it."
"I am Thor. God of Thunder, Son of Odin and enemy to the wretched witch Amora, The Enchantress."
"Jesus Christ." Tony muttered running a hand through his hair.
"Fuck this man, I'm trying to help you, I really am."
"I thought you were suppose to help the world. Isn't that why you stopped making weapons of war?"
"Don't." Tony said, warning the man not to tread any further.
"I guess you were lying then. Because as I've heard, you launched an attack on a third world country. Not vey heroic, is it."
"They were a country with nuclear weapons pointed at their neighbors."
"I think you'll find that the only country in mankind's history who've used a nuclear weapon is the one you swore an oath of allegiance to."
"We're done here. Guard, open the door please." Tony said getting up from his seat.
"Understood Mr. Stark."
"Be careful Tony. The forces of evil are turning on you, fangs bared. Are you sure you can stop it?"
"Next time I visit I'm bringing a psychiatrist." He muttered.
"I wonder if you've found anything on Amy Encante." Thor said as the doors sealed themselves shut, leaving him alone in his cell.
The solitude didn't last long.
"Some friends, huh?" a young man said.
Thor turned to look at a teen of around 16 wearing a green jacket, black shirt and jeans. His jet black hair was set in a loose fringe.
"They have been fooled Loki. I cannot blame them for these events."
"But you can for the intense beating they dished out on you right? They will die if Amora's plan succeeds. You know that right?"
"They will prevail." Thor responded.
"Right. Because of all the super-soldiers they have. Because of the Ultimates. Because they're still so unstoppable." He replied sarcastically.
"They are strong." Thor argued.
"So were you. And now look at you."
Thor didn't respond and instead looked towards the front of his cell, staring at the faint reflection of himself.
"Listen…Thor I didn't come here to throw this in your face. I can get you out of here ya know. Give me the word and I'll bust you out. Send you back to Asgard, Mjolnir and all."
"If you return me to Asgard…will father allow me to return to Earth?"
Loki looked down at his older brother with a frown. "No. Midgard has been declared off-limits to all Asgardians, he won't let you interfere with the realm of man. Now come on."
The God of Mischief walked in front of the cell and placed his hand against it. "I can take you home brother."
"Will you return with me?" Thor asked.
A look of shock appeared on Loki's face before he turned his head, refusing to meet his brother's gaze.
"No. I won't."
"And why not? You are my brother. My family. Why do you reject me? Our father?"
"Your father." Loki snapped back. "You do know what I really am."
"You think that makes you any less my brother? We were raised together, played together…does that mean nothing to you?" Thor asked, a pleading look in his eyes.
"Don't." Loki said turning away from his brother. "Do not try and convince me that I'm just misunderstood or that I need my brother's love to help me!"
"You are my brother!"
"I'm a monster!"
"You belong in Asagard!"
"I belong here! On Earth! To live out my life as a mortal! To pay for all the sins of Ragnarok."
"Loki…what happened then…"
"Killed everyone! I can't remember all of it, but I know enough! I was a monster! If I go back to Asgard that is who I will become! My brother, the only person who ever loved me…I fed you to a snake while Asgard burned! That is who I am if I go back!"
"Loki…"
"I will ask you. One more time. Do you want me…to return you to Asgard?"
Thor looked up at his younger brother. The man who had thrown him to the Midgard serpent, and laughed while he died killing it. Thor sighed reluctantly before giving his answer.
"No. I will remain here on Earth."
Loki turned away from his brother and walked away, his body fading into a green light.
"Then there is nothing I can do for you." He said before vanishing.
"Goodbye." Thor said as several guards walked in carrying a tray of food.
"Goodbye? We just got here."
Labs, Upper Levels
Betty Ross walked through the solid steel doors that separated the Research & Development aspect of SHIELD's scientific division. Betty walked into the room looking for one scientist in particular.
She found her scientist in the form of Jennifer Walters. The brown haired scientist was to busy being engrossed in her work that she failed to realize Betty walking up behind her. She looked at some of the equipment lying around and saw a microscope with a slide underneath it.
Moving quietly, she looked into the microscope and saw to her shock and horror, green blood. The cells were multiplying and restructuring themselves, exactly like Bruce's cells. Exactly like the Hulk's.
"Fascinating." Jennifer muttered as she leaned back from her work.
Betty saw a tube of green ooze –like substance inside it. "You monster." She muttered.
"Huh?" Jen said as she turned around to see Betty staring at the vile.
"Betty! NO!" Walters screamed as Betty grabbed the vile and tried to smash it.
Walters tackled her to the ground, dropping the vile onto the ground. The two women grappled with each other with Walters silently thanking whatever god was listening that the lab was virtually empty at this point.
"OFF!" Betty screamed, elbowing Walters in the nose, breaking it.
"Gah!" she screamed, falling back and gripping her nose.
Betty dashed towards the vile and lifted it off the ground, preparing to break it.
"DON'T!" Walters screamed, pointing a gun at her.
"How could you?! He was like a brother to you!" Betty screamed as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. "You went and made another Hulk serum! You're recreating the monster Bruce tried to destroy!"
"It's not like that!" Jennifer pleaded, not lowering the gun.
"This is a Hulk serum! I recognize the formula and the blood work! You were planning on giving it to Fury!"
"I was planning to use it against him!"
"What?" Betty asked, now thoroughly confused.
Jen lowered her gun and rested herself on a nearby table, using her sleeve to stop her bloody nose. "Blackmail. So I can leave."
"Leave?"
"I'm sick of this Betty. I'm sick of SHIELD…of the Ultimates…of the lies. All the questionable morals we break…they killed Bruce. The last member of my family was vaporized by SHIELD while the Ultimates never raised a finger. You think I'm still gonna work for them?"
"So what will you do?"
"Before SHIELD recruited me, I was almost a lawyer. I'm going to finish my studies. Fury doesn't like to lose assets so I chose to have a backup plan."
"And the Hulk serum is the best one?" Betty asked, failing to restrain her rage.
"It's not Bruce's serum. It's not the original. It gives you the Hulk…but none of the rage. The perfect Hulk. And if Fury doesn't want that in the wrong hands, he'll let me go."
"Is it done?" Betty asked.
"Almost. Betty…please…don't tell Fury."
"Why would I tell him anything, when he's the reason my boyfriend is dead."
Stark Industries, Later
Tony Stark walked out of the elevator and into his private pent-house. He strode forward, tossing off his suit's jacket and walked behind his countertop bar. He pressed the concealed switch and watched as the bar receded into the wall to reveal the passageway to his armory. He walked inside to be surrounded by the dozens of mechanized suits housed in protective cases.
"Planning to tinker again master Tony." Jarvis asked as he finished playing a game of solitaire. The English butler began to gather up the cards as his employer walked past him and sat in the terminal seat. Several video screens swiveled around to face the young man and flickered to life.
"You seem more troubled than usual master Tony."
"Talked to Thor."
"Oh. I take it that it didn't go well."
"No it did not. But something he said peeked my interest. Bring up everything you can on Amy Encante. If its classified decrypt with Code-Breaker FORGE. I want to know anything and everything. If there is a hair out of place, flag it."
The computer screens flashed as streams of data were decoded and deciphered. Every scrap of data to be found was displayed before the genius's eyes. Tony narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
Rumiko walked into the room seeing the massive hall of armors left her in awe every time. Her eyes drifted to Jarvis who stood by Tony. What caught her eye was the information displayed on the screens.
"Don't tell me you're planning to cheat on me with this bint." Rumiko said as she walked towards the young genius.
"Of course not darling. I'm just curious about the so-called fiancé of Thor."
"And? Anything to report?"
"Oh yes. She seems to be very gifted in almost everything she tries. But she didn't exist before three months ago. The exact same time all this info on her came up. She's not who she says she is."
"How was it the EU didn't know about this?" Rumiko asked as she looked more closely at the data.
"That's the million dollar question isn't it."
Barton Household, Evening
"Nicole asleep yet?" Natasha asked as she took a sip of water.
"Thankfully yes." Laura said as she sat down on the couch.
Clint checked the coffee he was making and seemed satisfied by the results. "You probably want to take a cat nap now Laura. Nicole will be up in a few hours so you'll need the rest."
"Nicole cries too much!" Barney shouted as he helped his dad with the coffee.
"Hey, be nice to your sister Barney." Natasha chastised.
"Haha!" Francis teased.
"Ease up there kiddo. I can't have you beat my record." Clint said as he watched his son hit the bull's eye with a dart from across the room.
"No way!" Francis declared before launching another dart at the dartboards, hitting another bull's eye. Natasha saw the look of agitation on her best friend's face and decided to intervene.
"Hey Francis."
"Hmm?"
"Come here. I got something to show you."
Francis put down the dart and walked towards his godmother, hoisting himself up onto the stool.
"Let me show ya a trick. Nat said with a sly smile.
"Seriously Laura get some sleep. We got this covered." Clint said as he finished pouring a few cups of coffee.
"What's with the coffee? You know that'll just keep you up."
"Its not for me. It's for the security guys. I know we always use to enjoy a nice cup of it during late-night ops, right Nat?"
"It's true. A little coffee on the job made things easier."
"Well aren't you considerate." Laura teased.
"I just don't want them to think that I some kind of jerk."
"That's not necessary." Nat said as she showed Francis a pressure point on his hand.
"Clint you've saved hundreds of SHIELD soldiers, they have sweepstakes to find out who will be your bodyguards. You're like John Wayne to these people!"
"Yeah? Well no one said that John Wayne couldn't bring them coffee. Come on Barney, help me give this to Fritz and the others."
"You softie." Laura teased
DING DONG!
Clint looked towards the hallway and then back at the confused faces of people in his house.
"We expecting anyone?" he asked.
"Its probably Mrs. Bernstein. I bet her cat's stuck in the dryer again. Honey can you send one of the guys to help her out?" Laura asked as he walked towards the door.
"Six former spec-ops soldiers and they're taking cats out of dryers." Clint muttered.
"They're living the dream." Natasha said sarcastically. "Like this Francis, down the line…" she said as she traced the lines of her godson's hand. "Now you."
"Okay." He responded as he imitated her motions on her hand.
Laura approached the front door and unlocked the latch and opened the door. "Mrs. Bernstein if you needed help all you needed to do was ca—"
PTTT!
Blood exploded from the blonde's skull before she fell backwards onto the floor, painting the carpet red.
Clint and Natasha heard the thud and looked up. Clint set down the coffee cups and moved towards the hallway.
"Laura? Honey, is everything alright?"
In the hallway three men in ski masks carrying sub-machine guns and wearing black military fatigues moved inside the house.
"Four in the kitchen. One kid upstairs. Move." The lead man said.
Nat got up from her seat as he left hand trailed towards the back of her jeans, resting on the grip of her pistol. "Laura? Come on girlfriend give us an answer."
The room was quiet while the two Ultimates slowly moved towards the hallway.
KRRRSSSHH!
The window exploded into a shower of glass. Widow dove to the side, tackling Francis and shielding him with her body.
"JESUSS CHRIST!" Clint screamed before the roar of gunfire ripped through the room tearing apart the kitchen counter as they slammed into Hawkeye, sending him tumbling over the counter top.
"MOMMY!" Barney screamed as he ran towards the hallway.
"Get the kid!" a man screamed as a second grabbed the child. "Hold him still!" another screamed a he leveled his rifle.
BAM! BAM!
Two bullets broke the skulls of the two men, releasing Barney from their grip. The assassins turned to see the Black Widow aiming her pistol at them before several flashes of light left its barrel.
The men fell with blood gushing from their wounds. Two more charged down from atop the stair and unleashed a hail of gunfire. Widow, still holding Francis, rolled to the side.
"Kill them all!" The men screamed as they leveled their guns.
Before they could fire, blood spurted from their skulls as several kitchen knives found themselves imbedded in their heads. The men crumpled to the ground while the Barney huddled in the corner, tears streaming from his eyes.
Nat looked towards the kitchen and saw the near prone form of Hawkeye slumped against the kitchen floor, a set of forks and knives were gripped between his knuckles, chest bleeding from the gunshot wounds he had suffered.
"Shouldn't have popped me in the fucking kitchen!" he muttered struggling to stand.
"Daddy!" Barney cried as he hugged his father.
"Clint!" Natasha screamed before more bullets ripped through the walls. "Nat go! Get Francis out of here!"
"But Da—"
"No buts Francis! Run!"
"Come on!" Nat said keeping Francis tucked near her as she dashed out of the room with inhuman speed. She burst through the back window and tucked herself into a ball to shield the young boy in her arms. She landed painfully on her back but quickly fought through it as she carried Francis towards a black SUV parked near the edge of the street.
She ran towards the car but stopped a few meters before it. "Francis let go." She ordered, setting the blonde on the ground. "Stay put near the car and don't move."
Francis did as he was told and stayed by the white Honda while Natasha slowly approached the black van. Natasha kept her gun raised as she took a closer look at the truck. When she approached the vehicle she saw the windows were filled with bullet holes and the seats were drenched in blood.
"Aunty Nat?" Francis asked as he stepped closer.
"Francis don't!" she cried out. It was too late. Francis stared at the four dead bodies of his father's security detail. Each one was riddled with bullet holes. Two were outside the car with knife wounds across their throats. Their guns were sprawled on the ground, showing that they had at least been able to pull out their weapons before being killed.
Francis backed away and tried to run but was embraced in a hug from his honorary aunt. "Shhh…it's okay…it's gonna be okay…" Widow said as her eyes darted to a parked car.
"Come on Francis. We need to leave."
Barton Household
"Daddy!" Barney screamed as he cried into his father's shoulder.
"Shhh…it's okay Barney…listen to me. This is no time to be a baby. I need you to run next door and tell Fritz that Daddy needs him to call that special number. Can you do that?"
Barney looked up at his father with red puffy eyes but nodded. Clint smiled down at the boy and ruffled his hair. "Atta boy. We're gonna be fine."
PTTT!
Blood painted Clint's face as his son's forehead exploded. The Ultimate stared wide-eyed at the dead face of his child before the shock registered with him.
"BARNEY!" he creamed as his son's head fell forward.
"NO! NO! NO!" he screamed as he cradled his dead son's body in his arms.
"Don't cry soldier. He's with his mommy and sister now."
"I'LL KILL YOU YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
"Easy soldier." The man said as he stepped into the light. The large Desert Eagle he carried glinted in the kitchen light. A single red laser dot was aimed at his head. The man's skull like mask was pure white while his right hand was replaced with a prosthetic fist that gripped the gun tightly.
"That's my mother you're talking about. If ya have to call me something…call me Crossbones."
"I'm gonna kill you for this…I swear." Hawkeyes snarled as he pressed Barney's head against his shoulder, ignoring the warm trickle of blood that oozed down his back.
"Now now soldier…" Crossbones said before placing a gun to the hero's forehead. "…don't be stupid."
BANG!
Chapter Five is now complete! I hope this settles youfor a while why I start the next chapter. I'm planning to finish this story before I start on the next chapter of my Spider-Man and X-Men stories. Reviews and criticism's are welcome!
Up Next: Grand Theft America Part 1