AN ~ So much for break…I've been busy. But! I haven't been useless. My brain has been too preoccupied to work with a sustained plot but I have written several AOS drabbles and oneshots if any of you are interested:

theclaravoyant . tumblr mightierthanthesword-fanfiction

PS - now I really am on break so I should get this out much more frequently. Thank you SO MUCH to the SO MANY people who have subscribed, liked & commented even though I took so long to update this time!

PPS - This story will at this point end when it merges with the beginning of season 2.

Without further ado:

Chapter 5

Hawkeye's fingers tightened around his bow as he ducked behind the wall, out of sight. A moment later, Skye launched herself over the wall, rolled on landing and slammed her back against the limestone. She smiled at him and nodded, and he nodded back.

"Bruce is in retreat. May says we're getting up that building to get you sights on Azimi, and me network connection to hack the CCTV. Byrne hit the subway. May's in pursuit. Coulson's trying to get through to the police but the lines are being run off the hook. Between them and Hydra we've got maybe twenty guys shooting at us. And the building's in lockdown so there could be more."

Hawkeye nodded, and notched an arrow to his bow.

"You ready to run?"

Skye nodded.

"You're probably gonna have to bust the door. I'll cover you. If they follow, it'll be easier to pick them off in a stairwell anyway. See any arrows lying around on the way, grab them, but don't go out of your way. Run. Ready?"

She nodded again, and three – two –

Hawkeye jumped out of cover, drawing the fire. He ran along the top of the wall, bullets shattering limestone fragments and flower stalks alike as he dodged their wrath. If one of them so much as tapped his ankle he was gone and they'd be descended upon and suffocated in a matter of seconds. Fortunately, he was rather good.

Skye zig-zagged under the protection of his arrow fire, dodging overturned bins, abandoned possessions, and the odd dead or unconscious body as he sprung from flowerbed to flowerbed behind her, keeping her cover up. One Hydra guy, she had to flip onto his back, but otherwise they made it across the block without incident, and she smashed through the glass door and threw herself at the carpet just in time to avoid a series of bullets to the back of the head.

"Upstairs, go go go," Hawkeye insisted, giving her only a moment to recover. Breathing heavily, she nodded, and hauled herself to her feet. She ran for the stairs, stumbling but determined. Police sirens outside declared that more cops had shown up. This had turned into a much bigger deal than they'd wanted. But then, putting a man who could shatter diamond, melt bullets, and shoot plumes of flames like dragon's breath down the street under pressure was bound to draw some kind of unwanted attention. When the Hulk had made an appearance, matters had escalated quickly. Now, with squads of police and an unknown number of Hydra agents shooting at them, and at each other, Hawkeye wondered why they didn't just abort. This had been intended as a covert mission, so neither May nor Skye had lethal weapons on them, and not enough ammo for a fight of this scale. Hawkeye would have pulled the plug, he thought as he checked and re-quivered the arrows Skye had handed him. But then, he hadn't often worked in a team, and he had never been the leader of one. Maybe this is just how it worked. Besides, Agent May trusted Coulson's judgement, and Skye's ability, at least enough to let the whole thing go down, so Hawkeye kept his mouth shut, and followed Skye into the stairwell.

.o.o.o.

"What happened out there?" Coulson asked, passing Banner a cold, wet towel. The Doctor wiped his forehead.

"I'm sorry. I was stressing out. When the gunfire started I guess I lost it." He shook his head. "Is Skye okay? I meant to get in the way but I might have got too close…"

"Skye's fine. She's with Clint."

"Good." Banner put the towel down on the upturned bucket beside him, and picked up his water bottle just as the van rounded a corner a little too sharply, and he and Coulson had to grab the straps installed for this purpose to avoid slipping to the side.

"I'm sorry," Banner said, not for the first time. "I kinda blew this thing didn't I?"

"You had a tough couple of days."

"We all have. It's no excuse for putting people in more danger than they're already in."

Coulson pressed his lips together and lowered his eyes.

"We'll…get you back in the lab," he offered. "FitzSimmons will have something for you to do, out of the line of fire."

Banner nodded, but he too lowered his eyes. He hated thinking about what had happened to those kids. Since he'd met them the other day, he'd learnt of the other things they'd lost; how they'd been reported MIA, how their credentials had been wiped, locking them into SHIELD, Hydra or AIM for the rest of their lives. Their brilliant, hopefully long lives. He'd seen photos and footage from just a few months ago, that he would have aged at years old. He'd seen how Agent May rebuilt herself every time she stepped into and out of that room, determined not to walk on eggshells around them, but unable to deny that the young scientists under her protection, she had failed to protect. No wonder she had been so on edge when they'd met, and so eager to fight when they were out today. He and Agent May were more similar than he'd first thought.

.o.o.o.

May flew down the subway stairs as fast as the crowd would let her.

"Get out of the way!" she hollered, her voice snatched up by the murmuring crowd and the screech of the incoming train and how hard her lungs were beginning to have to work.

She launched herself off the platform, and wrapped her arms around Byrne, knocking her out of the way as the train screamed past. In the tiny space, they rolled. Byrne knocked May onto her back, and pinned one of her arms by her side, and braced the other one away from her body. A few millimetres more and her wrist could easily be broken, so she dropped her ICER and cursed under her breath as she returned to making sure Byrne couldn't strangle her.

The train screeched to a halt and the two of them huddled in the dark space, waiting, breathing into each other's faces and trying to sneak the upper hand. May could feel the sizeable gravel digging into her flesh and bones. She was going to have colourful skin by the afternoon. At least, May figured, her body was incidentally protected by Byrne's.

When the train pulled away, May took her chance. She shoved upward with her whole body, forcing Byrne off the ground. The moment of confusion allowed May to pull herself to her feet, and knock the bewildered Byrne into the train. The woman's head snapped back against the window, but the glass wavered and her head bounced back as if against a mattress. She grabbed May's wrist, and May gritted her teeth as she watched her bones bend. It didn't feel like they were breaking, but she lost her grip and her stomach twisted at the jarring unreality.

Byrne sprung away from her, throwing her back against the wall, grabbing May's abandoned ICER and chasing the train as it disappeared down the tunnel. The platform was clear, but for the few people who had come down in the minutes after the train had left. May launched herself after the woman again, but slower, she was tiring. She gritted her teeth and raised the comm unit at her wrist, to her mouth.

"Stark, I can't get a grip on her."

"That's fine. I'm on my way. Keep eyes on her. Is she going intangible?"

"No, it's her surroundings she's changing."

"Can she get through or just bend it?"

"Bending. At least, so far."

"Duck."

May threw herself into the gravel, panting, but glad for the reprieve. She watched as something flashed and shot over her head. Iron Man. She smiled.

.o.o.o.

"Louise Byrne," Tony announced. "This is SHIELD. We want to help you. Let us take you into custody or we will do it anyway."

Byrne jumped onto the back of the train, and fired three bullets in quick succession. Tony rolled his eyes and dodged one, and let the other two ping harmlessly off his suit. He raised his arm, and pulled up his wrist launcher. FitzSimmons' bullet shot perfectly from it, spun through the air and shocked her still. She fell off the train and rolled, and Tony grimaced as he came to land beside her. He pressed the button to lower his helmet to get a better look.

"Byrne's down for the count," he narrated. "She's gonna medical attention."

"I'll get Simmons on it," Coulson replied. "I'm sending a truck to the station. Get up top if you can. See you soon. Over."

"Roger that."

"Roger that. Over."

Tony turned as May jogged to catch up to him. They nodded to each other, confirming a mission completed with no serious harm, at least to either of them, and then she knelt beside Byrne. Pressing her lips together, trying to ignore the sickening feeling of watching her arm twist, May pressed two fingers to Byrne's neck. The woman did not move, but her heart was indeed still pumping. May recovered her ICER, then stripped Byrne of her own pistol. Her eyes were drawn to the bullet Tony had used.

It was longer than a normal bullet, more closely resembling a miniature missile. The nose was so warped it was like it had been liquefied, like a frozen puddle, but the needle it contained had barely been affected.

"FitzSimmons," Tony explained, as May raised the bullet to examine it. "Started on that as soon as we got a read on Byrne's abilities."

May tucked the bullet into the outside pocket of her jacket and wiped her gloves on her pants.

"Let's get her up."