Okay guys, so sorry for this uncalled for wait for this chapter, I have been unbelievably busy for a LONG time, started working on other fanfics...I need to learn I cannot write multiple fics at the same time! Gosh I feel so stupid sometimes...anyway this chapter is long to make up for my mistakes :/

Chapter 7- Operation M.I.N.D

The day after their meeting, Elaina had told the Avengers and Fury everything she knew about the farm in New Mexico. It wasn't much, since she had only been there a couple times, but like Fury said any detail was helpful. She had told them about the two underground rooms -being on top of the ground certainly wasn't the doctor's thing- one was under the house, the other under the barn. The barn was the least likely place he would be, which meant he wouldn't be there, she knew he was aware of her thinking so he would reverse it on her. After they had figured out Elaina's rationality Fury once again put Tony and Natasha together to search the barn and Steve, Elaina, and Clint to search the house. Getting in would be much more complicated than last time, even without the high-tech systems and trap doors there would be scouts watching every blade of grass in every direction of the farm. They would see the Quinjet coming from miles away and notify Durov to get out before the Avengers would even have time to get close. If they lost Durov again Elaina wasn't sure she'd be able to find him in time to stop his attacks on the U.S population. Now more than just their lives were in the balance, millions of innocent people would be in danger. This mission was crucial, no mistakes could be made if they were to save humanity from this unknown evil.

"Elaina?" the voice pulled her focus from her thoughts of impending doom.

She smiled when she saw Steve walking beside her.

"Hey. Please, don't pick of Clint's habit of accidentally stalking me," Elaina joked with a laugh.

Steve's puzzled look made Elaina reconsider her words.

"Never mind, so what's up?" she said casually.

"I'm just making sure everyone will be ready in time, we'll be leaving soon," Steve said.

Elaina shifted her eyes to the ground in an attempt to avoid staring at Steve, which was tempting.

"Have you called her yet?" she asked curiously.

"I'm sorry?" Steve asked, confused at her question.

"Peggy, have you called her yet?" Elaina clarified.

Immediately, she saw Steve's expression harden and fill with a longing look, he looked away before responding.

"No," he said shortly, still looking away from her.

"I'm sorry, it really was none of business," Elaina said, realizing her mistake and being truly sorry for what she'd just done.

"Please, don't apologize, I can tell you're just worried that she won't know," Steve said.

"Did that serum give you telepathy as well? Those were my exact thoughts," she said, smiling.

"You're kidding," Steve said.

Elaina smiled and shook her head.

"After what happened in New York, I'm sure she knows," Steve said.

"Steve, please, I know what happened all those years ago. If I were her...I'd want to know, personally, that you were alive."

"How exactly would I explain this?" he said gesturing generally to himself.

"She loved you unconditionally she won't need an explanation, I'm sure as long as she's able to know it's you that will be enough."

"I'd have to go see her."

"Then, do."

"She lives in Europe," Steve explained as if it were a problem.

Elaina cast her eyes around the Helicarrier's interior before looking back at Steve with a raised eyebrow.

"Really?" she asked in defeat.

"Even with that, when would I have time?"

"After we take out Aaron, I promise I'll-"

"Aaron?" Steve asked in confusion.

Elaina's face became flushed of all color when she noticed what she'd just said.

"Damn," she cursed under her breath.

"Elaina?"

"It's Durov's first name," she replied in a low voice of self-punishment.

"Okay, but why did you look like you'd seen a ghost when you said it?"

"I don't know," Elaina lied.

"But," she continued quickly so Steve would not see through her guise, "what I was saying is after we have neutralized the threat I'd be glad to take one of the Quinjets and get you out to Europe."

"You would do that?" Steve asked.

"Without a doubt, what you did for us, Steve...this would hardly be enough in return," Elaina said letting her gratitude towards Steve shine through all the way instead of being intimidated as she usually was.

She could see the return of gratefulness in Steve's shining, blue eyes as he looked back at her.

"Thank you," he said. "I think Peggy would like you, you remind me a lot of her."

"I take that as a compliment, from what I've heard she's an amazing woman."

Steve smiled, "I'll see you around."

As he walked away Elaina knew why calling Durov, unknowingly, by his first name was enough to flush her face; to her, first names meant that she cared. She had to tell someone, now.

When the sun had fallen just behind the horizon, bathing everything in a dark orange tint Elaina once again found herself on the bridge nervously checking her information for what seemed like the millionth time. It was obviously her way of coping with the stress that was coursing through her, considering the circumstances, it was probably better than physical exertion in the training room. The mission would be brutal and long and would not only test physical ability but mental endurance as well. Elaina promised herself Durov, if she got within a hundred feet of him something resembling a personal World War III was going to occur. He had threatened her family and that was something she would never tolerate from anyone.

"Hey. Is New Mexico still occupied by crazies?" came the sarcastic voice behind her.

She spun around slowly in her chair with a half-smile, knowing that sarcasm all too well, her eyes landed on Clint.

"That's what it looks like, but you know, the mother ship could come pick them up any time," she replied.

Her equally-sarcastic remark wrung a short laugh from the archer.

"Sorry, you still have to go. Anyway, here for story time?" she joked looking back at the screen.

"Only if you want to talk, I understand you're busy..."

"Are you kidding me? I need something to do besides check this thing another billion times," she laughed at herself. "Sad right?"

"No, not really," Clint said.

Together they left the bridge and walked down the lesser-populated corridors of the Helicarrier, which were expansive.

"So, what do you want to know?" Elaina asked with a small amount of mock-enthusiasm.

"Whatever you need to get off your chest," Clint replied simply.

"You know this was for you to know what you wanted, right?"

"Yes, but I also understand it was to help you, I know you need it too."

This was her opportunity and, given it was Clint she was talking to, it was the perfect set-up. She knew if she really confided in anyone on this ship it was going to be either Clint, Bruce or Steve, the others hardly understood, even Natasha couldn't understand now. Elaina knew Tasha had feelings, but when it came to her job she was called "Black Widow"; that wasn't something meant light-heartedly. Tony was too much about Tony, and Thor, even if he was here, was Thor and did not understand much about the human ways. Elaina took a large breath before she started, even if this story was less painful to tell than the last.

"I'm guessing everyone is wondering why Fury chose me for this mission out of hundreds of other agents and how I know so much about Durov in the first place, his mentality and hideouts. At my old agency, like I've said before, I was their top agent, which meant I got the most difficult ops. My others had been sent after Durov, but none ever came back, eventually they got tired of chasing him. I went in on a three-month undercover job with him as my target. Before I knew it my mission was seeming pretty bleak compared to the high-end parties, the formal dances, the whole rich lifestyle, and then something totally unexpected and unintended happened," Elaina started.

"You started to develop feelings for him," Clint said more than asked.

Elaina looked at the floor with a self-mocking smile.

"How couldn't I? I knew him better than I knew myself, but I still knew I had a job to do. After one of the many dances we went to I planned to execute my mission...to execute him. However, I soon ran into one, massive glitch in my plan: his young son. When I saw that innocent face looking up at me -a complete intruder to his life- with nothing but acceptance I knew I couldn't kill Durov. I couldn't leave that child alone because I murdered his father, just as my sister left my life; that grief was still too close to my own heart. That was the biggest mistake of my life, Clint, and I regret it so much. Now everyone else is paying for that mistake, S.H.I.E.L.D, the Avengers, and innocent people soon enough. I feel like all I can do now is clean up my mess, it's the only redeeming thing I can do."

"Stop saying 'I', Durov decided to go head to head with S.H.I.E.L.D, we can stop him, Elaina, you're not alone," Clint said, the intensity in his eyes making her unable to look away. "This is a team and, no matter if you choose to believe it, you're apart of it."

Half an hour later, in the dark, early morning, Elaina, Steve, Tony, Natasha and Clint sat in a Quinjet that was going to take them to a neighboring farm. All five of them were suited up and, the three that needed to, had checked their weapons. Bruce was also with them after Elaina had advised Fury that Durov might have already perfected the machine. If he had, she warned, they could need medical backup in the event one of them was targeted. To her, Bruce seemed too quick to take that responsibility when he was only trained in minor medical situations. She wasn't too skeptical about it ,though, because of Bruce's genuinely caring nature.

"So," Tony started. "What was the plan again?"

"I haven't told you the plan," Elaina said secretively.

"Um...okay," Tony said in complete bewilderment.

Elaina, Steve and Natasha all smiled in amusement at Tony's confusion, something that didn't happen too often.

Clint sat beside Elaina, his serious expression unchanged. Ever since she had talked to him about her sister he had looked at her differently, as if he had underestimated her emotional experience and was now regretting it, she couldn't know for sure. In minutes the Quinjet landed on the acreage of the farm across from Durov's hideout. Elaina was the first to get off, waiting patiently as the back hatch opened before she could run up to the front door of the farmhouse. She knocked in a toned pattern also calling out in a low voice.

"Johnathan! It's Elaina, please, I need to talk with you," she called.

"Hang on, I'm coming," came an English-accented voice from within the house.

Soon the wood door of the white house opened inward revealing a tall, sandy-haired manin the doorway.

"You really should get in a habit of calling ahead...what is this? You work for the government now, huh?" the man said in his lightly-accented voice once he saw Elaina's uniform.

"Kind of, listen could we borrow a few horses, like four? I'm really sorry about this but its important or I wouldn't ask," Elaina said.

"Will you be able to return them or should I come with you so I can lead them back?" Johnathan asked.

Elaina looked back at the Avengers as they exited the Quinjet.

"Come with us," she said looking back at him.

He nodded, coming through the door onto the porch with her and locked the door behind him.

"Thank you so much, you don't even know-"

"Elaina, it's no problem, Maria loved you dearly and I'll respect that as you were almost my sister-in-law," he said as they approached the Avengers.

Elaina looked down at his hand and saw a gold band on his finger, a wedding band.

"You remarried?" she asked.

"Hell no, I wouldn't even think of it, we got the rings early its all I have left of her besides the kids, the only thing I can keep with me all the time anyway," he replied.

As they got closer to the Avengers she saw Johnathan's pace slow beside her.

"Oh...my God," he said in shock when he saw the other four.

"Yeah, well, no need to introduce them, we'll probably need three easy horses and I can take anything you can give me," Elaina said trying to release some tension.

"And what about Mr. Stark?" Johnathan asked.

"You really think a horse is going to carry him in that suit?" Elaina asked rhetorically.

"Good point."

Dawn was rapidly approaching when the avengers Elaina and Jonathan were finally on their horses heading toward the hide out. Tony walked in the Iron Man suit beside them making it known he was glad to be on the ground. Elaina was shocked to noticed that Clint road as if he done it quite a few times before, she made a mental note to ask him about it later.

"Why didn't we just walk up?" Tony asked, his augmented voice low.

"Horses are a common sight out in these fields and believe it or not we are hard to spot on them if the sentries aren't looking too hard. I seriously doubt they will be looking for us, they are sure to expect some loud, forceful operation with our jets and agents. Oh, by the way, Clint..." Elaina started.
"Yeah?" he said looking up from his horse.

"We're going to need your skills to double as sniper work. Eventually we are going to get within plain sight of those sentries-"

Clint smiled, "I understand."

The sun peaked out from the horizon a few minutes later, throwing their mission into harder ground.

"Ride many horses in your day, Cap, oh, wait wasn't that all they had for transportation back then?" Tony asked Steve.

Elaina looked over at Steve, who rolled his eyes at the remark.

"Real funny, Tony," Steve said sarcastically.

Ahead Elaina saw a small, black spot in the tall grass a few feet in front of them.

"Whoa," she said quietly, holding her hand out for everyone to stop.

She nodded to Clint, but he was already removing his bow from his back. Elaina watched in her normal amazement as he drew the bowstring back and released, sending the arrow straight into it's target in the sentry's shoulder. The man fell into the grass, out of sight, without a sound.

Three arrows later the team said their good-byes to Johnathan and let him lead their horses back. They moved cautiously closer to the main farmhouse, it was a small, white-wood house only one story tall.

One story on ground level, Elaina thought.

She cast her eyes over the yard, spotting the small, brown barn quickly. Catching Tony's and Natasha's attention she motioned to the barn and the two started across the yard while the remaining three moved toward the house. Elaina, Steve, and Clint formed a small triangle with Elaina at the head followed by Clint and Steve on opposite sides. Clint had his bow loaded and slightly drawn, Steve had his shield held close to him, both preparing for the unknown. Elaina was armed with one of S.H.I.E.L.D's newest prototype weapons that, along with bullets, shot off a powerful electric pulse to stun enemies. She cast her eyes around to look for any possible threats still active, but kept her main focus on the house they were coming up on pretty quickly.

"How are things over there?" Elaina asked quietly into her earpiece as she approached the door of the house.

"We're clear up top, going under now," came Natasha's voice.

"We'll be in touch," Tony added.

"Good," Elaina replied.

She turned back to Steve and Clint, nodding and then receiving two nods in return. She stepped to the side of the door a few feet, as did Steve. When they were both away from the door Clint pushed a few buttons on his bow before drawing an arrow from his quiver. He shot the arrow right next to the lock on the door, Elaina watched as the tip of the arrow incinerated the lock and a large portion of the wood door. The door then swung open without being touched, allowing Elaina, Steve, and Clint to enter the house undetected.

"We've searched half the place and found nothing," Tony's voice came over the earpieces.

"Keep searching, but if you don't find anything come over here immediately, it means I was right," Elaina replied looking around the living room of the house. She soon found an inconsistency in the floor and, bending down, pulled up the door leading under the house. It was a long, dark staircase leading down at a slope only wide enough across for one person at a time. Elaina was in the motion of starting down before her arm was grabbed from behind.

"I don't think so, it's my turn," Steve said.

She didn't argue with the soldier and instead stepped aside as he started down the stairs in front of her, his shield held up in front of him.

Elaina looked back at Clint and raised an eyebrow, "Wanna protect me as well?" she asked.

He gave her a skeptical smile, "That's a trick question and you know it."

"Damn, you're clever," she replied with a grin.

He held out his arm in a gesture for her to go ahead of him. When she started down the staircase she could still vaguely spot the white stripes of Steve's uniform a few feet in front of her. It was just a small change in the light, however, and would go unnoticed to anyone not looking for it. Elaina could feel Clint close behind her, feeling a little bit bad that her uniform was depleted of any light colors for him to follow before she realized, once again, he wasn't called "Hawkeye" for no reason. All of a sudden, the trap door above them slammed shut, plunging the trio into total darkness.

Now was the time to start using code names, or so Elaina assumed.

"Hawkeye, was that you?" Elaina whispered.

"No, someone shut it from above," Clint replied, his voice equally hushed. "...Eagle," he added in a semi-joking tone.

"Cap, hold up for a second," Elaina whispered in the general direction of Steve.

All three of them acknowledged the danger they now faced with the disadvantage of no sight heightening the risk.

"Tony, please tell me you two are almost done," Elaina whispered into her earpiece.

"Yeah, still nothing though, you guys okay?" Tony replied.

"Actually, no, you need to get over here as soon as you can, we're operating in complete darkness, and I'm positive he's over here if he's not there, we're in deep now."

"We're on our way, then," Tony said.

"Come on, if we keep moving we'll be harder to find, just stay close," Steve said.

"Barton, can you see anything?" he added.

Elaina knew full and well which Barton he was talking to, she didn't even bother to reply as a joke.

"Yes, but not far," Clint replied.

The three of them walked down the rest of the stairs in the darkness, Elaina could feel the narrow passage turn into a wide, open room; seconds later she felt a hand on her shoulder that made her jump.

"Easy, it's just me, you were about to run into that table," came Clint's voice from the darkness behind her. "Go five steps to your right and you'll be clear."

She followed his directions before she continued after Steve's still-visible uniform.

"Thanks," she said back to Clint.

They continued to walk through the room without finding sign of anyone or anything, which was both bad and good.

After for what seemed like forever Elaina finally realized what she had been forgetting until now. She grabbed the prototype rifle from her back and switched on the night-scope. The vision was still blurry, because of the lack of light, but she could make out the layout of the room. She turned to see a long, rectangular metal table to her left that had papers strewn across the top of it. Going over to it she picked up a laminated piece of paper and brought it up next to the scope to read the words. In large, bold letters was written two words: Operation M.I.N.D. On the rest of the thick paper was drawn a map of the United States that had specific locations marked with what looked like red circles.

"Hawkeye, Cap, you need to see this," Elaina said, her tone spooked.

"New York City, L.A, Miami, Chicago...they are some of the most populated cities in the United States and they're all on this list."

"Well, that's not good," Clint replied.

"That's right, my dear Avengers," a voice came and at the same time the lights all over the room flicked on simultaneously.

The three of them turned to face their, what most definitely would be, attacker. As soon as she laid eyes on the man, Elaina moved behind Clint, letting him shield her from the man's view.

"If he sees me it's over before it begins," she whispered to the archer.

Steve moved beside Clint, also helping hide Elaina from the tall man with graying hair and a slight Russian accent.

"You cannot stop what is already in motion," the man finished.

His dress was that of someone going to an important or a formal dinner; the freshly-pressed nature of his black suit clearly demonstrated this. Elaina, from her vantage point behind the two Avengers, could see that they were both analyzing this new threat as he, in turn, was analyzing them.

"You seem a little full of yourself for someone we didn't have much trouble finding," Clint taunted.

"Do not deny you had...a little help with that, isn't that right, Elaina?" the man said. "I'm sorry, is that still the name your using?"

She walked out from behind the Avengers figuring if he knew she was there, there really was no sense in hiding.

"Ah, you changed your look, but I will never forget that face, the face of betrayal. There is only one person who knows about both of my facilities that just so happened to be infiltrated one after the other, this one included," he continued.

"Same old, Aaron, talks too much for his own good," Elaina jeered at him. "That always was your downfall, wasn't it?"

"And yours was your pride, my dear, now you will pay for what you have done to me," he said disappearing into the shadows.

Elaina knew he would be back, the opportunity to kill her was irresistible to him. She could see Clint and Steve both scanning the newly-lit room for any threats.

"Who the hell was that?" Clint asked in an irritated tone.

"You don't know? That was Aaron Durov, our beloved mad scientist," Elaina replied sarcastically.

"He's real charming," Clint replied in sarcasm as well.

"What was he talking about? 'You will pay for what you have done'?" Steve asked.

"Besides me leading him on that I actually loved him and then left because it was my job, which I doubt is why he is angry, I have no idea," Elaina said honestly.

They cautiously moved a few steps forward, Elaina's eyes still lingering on the spot where Durov had disappeared.

"I don't like it, it's not good," she commented.

"How so?" Steve asked.

"I don't know...I can just feel it, he's up to something, make sure we secure that map no matter what happens, we'll need to contact Fury about it as soon as we can. Not only that, Tony hasn't contacted me in a while and he's still not here with Widow, something's wrong."

The words had barely left Elaina's lips when she heard a loud bang come from the far side of the room. It caught the attention of Steve and Clint as well, urging all of them to take up defensive stances. Clint aimed an arrow at the far side, the side that was still dark, of the room where Elaina could now hear a constant noise coming from. The lights surged, off and then on again, as if to give some subtle warning that something was coming. When the room went dark again it stayed like that for a much longer stretch of time.

"I am sorry to say, Avengers, that your time is up," came Durov's cold voice from the darkness.

Elaina could hear Clint beside her, moving around trying to aim at the source of the voice; Steve was still, listening to the villain's words.

"Come on, Tony," Elaina muttered, her words barely audible.

"Elaina! Barton! Cap! Get out of there! Widow and I are trying to fight them, but there's too many! They-" came Tony's voice as if by a miracle, but his words were cut off mid-sentence, Elaina's earpiece going dead.

She tried to hold her composure, but the message was striking panic within her. Knowing Steve and Clint had also heard the message made her slightly less panicked, since she could tell they were both remaining calm. When the lights finally came back on she saw why Tony had sounded so frantic, he had a good reason.

The two Avengers and the S.H.I.E.L.D agent were almost completely surrounded. The men surrounding them looked the same as the ones they had faced in the lab, plus sixty. The sheer number of them was intimidating for Elaina, but she dared not show it. She fought to keep her expression level, especially when two of the minions -for that's what they were- dragged a very limp Iron Man from the middle of the crowd. Elaina wanted to rush forward to help Tony, but Steve held his arm in front of her, preventing her action. The only thing that kept her from simply pushing past Steve was the fact she could still see the arc reactor in Tony's chest glowing through his armor. After the initial shock of seeing Tony went away, she realized Natasha was nowhere to be seen. Elaina didn't know if she should be angry or glad Tasha wasn't there, glad because she could escape and bring reinforcements, angry that she left Tony at the mercy of these bastards.

"So, you see, you are not invincible as you like to believe you are, not in my world like you are in everyone else's," Durov said, appearing on the platform above his henchmen. "Surrender now and I may let you live."

"Yeah, I don't think so," came Clint's sardonic remark.

Before any of the henchmen or Durov could respond he had drawn an arrow which exploded at the feet of the men surrounding them. The explosion veiled the team in smoke and dust, giving Elaina and Steve the perfect cover to grab Tony from the enemy force. Once they had Tony, Elaina knew, the henchmen were free game, no hostage to hang over the Avengers' heads, and even better, Durov was now free game. As the Avengers took on the plethora of minions that had all now converged on them through the smoke, Elaina had her eyes on a bigger target. Using a few well-placed kicks and punches she broke through a line of three men, dashing nimbly up a side staircase in pursuit of the scientist. Her boots created sharp pings against the metal stairs as she pursued the fleeing man and she knew she could overtake him with a little more speed, however, it was not meant to be. Durov stopped a few strides ahead of her and, turning on a dime, caught her by the neck when she was unable to slow her headlong run after him. Even though he had meant to keep a firm grip on her neck, Durov was unable to counteract the force at which Elaina had come to a complete stop with and couldn't keep hold of her, sending Elaina to the ground. In utter shock and pain, Elaina laid in a heap upon the metal-grated floor, waiting for Durov to kill her once and for all, but he was just standing looking down at her. Wondering what was staying the blood-thirsty hand of her rival, Elaina composed herself, preparing for anything.

The truth of Elaina's past was shattered into pieces by Durov's next words, words that Elaina never wanted to hear, words that she had tried to avoid by lying to herself. She had tried so hard and his words were to prove for nothing, risking her life and innocent lives for naught but a delayed result.

"You remember Joshua, yes? My boy?" Durov said, taking a stance above her.

Elaina recalled the boy she had almost seen as her own, yes, of course, she remembered him. She conveyed this recollection not with words but with a nod.

"Up, get up," Durov commanded.

"Why should I do anything you say?" Elaina asked with defiance burning in her tone.

"Because if you don't I will kill all of your friends, and, because you will do everything I say," he replied coldly, pulling a gun on her.

Hands raised in defeat, Elaina rose to her feet, placing her own gun at her feet before kicking it away.

"Good, now I will tell you what you have done, what grief and hardships you caused with no more as a thought to what your actions would do to me, and you will not speak out."

She nodded, doing as he said and not daring to utter so much as a letter.

"Joshua, as you know, was the only good thing that had ever come out of my life. I do not believe I was the best father, but I was all he had, and he was all I had. I saw the way you doted on him and I knew, I knew, that you could not possibly ever betray me. So, that night when you were going to kill me, for once your mind was set I found your secret out, I only knew you hesitated because you did not want to leave this poor child without his father. Now look where you have gotten me!"

At this point Elaina cringed at the man's change in tone, the sheer hate which radiated off his words.

"I was nothing! Nothing but a sorry man with bad intentions! A criminal! He was everything! He was innocent and loving, never even questioning his father no matter how many times I failed him! And you killed him! You killed him..."

A teary glisten in Durov's eyes as he spoke these last words threw Elaina and despite his orders, Elaina could not take the offensive and untrue words about the child she held dear.

"What? He's dead? I-I...I didn't know, I swear I didn't kill him. I didn't know..." she stuttered truthfully, sincerely hurt by the news.

"Shut up! But you did, you'd seen it, you had seen the lengths to which your previous employers would go to see their missions completed! They found out why you would not kill me, my son, and they did not hesitate as you did, they killed my son. They killed him so as to prevent him from coming between their best assassins and their targets. He was eight...only eight. Now, you shall know how I feel, you will know..."

Elaina watched in horror as Durov aimed the gun at the floor below them, seeing who the target of his aim was. Completely unaware was Clint, who was fighting one after the other of Durov's minions, of the gun aimed at him from above by the man who almost never failed to take down his target.

"No!" Elaina cried, throwing herself back in front of the barrel of the gun.

"Don't do this, don't bring them into our conflict, my friends have nothing to do with our past," she said calmly, hoping to dissuade his aim. "If you kill them you are no better than those agents who killed Joshua, bringing him into something in which he didn't belong."

She saw the man's hand quiver on the gun, but he did not try to re-aim it at Clint, to Elaina's overwhelming relief. Now it was time for her to get information which she needed.

"Is the machine...is the machine you're building, is that revenge for Joshua?" she asked.

"No..." Durov said, his eyes wandering to the side for a second before drilling them back onto her as hard as his words that followed. "But this is."

Elaina heard the gun fire once, panicked, she cast her eyes over to Clint, but saw his fighting had been uninterrupted, he was not the target. Before she could scan the room to see if any of the other Avengers had been targeted, she felt it. The searing pain focused tightly on her chest that hit her seconds later was enough to make her scream out, but miraculously she was able to keep silent outside of a shocked exhale of air. She saw the sheer satisfaction in Durov's expression as she collapsed back to the floor, giving him the change to escape along with exacting his revenge on her.

Eyes cast sideways, Elaina could see the fighting going on below, but it was not good, the Avengers were being overrun. She was panicking and unable to do anything but watch as her friends were crowded by,what seemed, the unending number of henchmen still fighting. Her fears only stopped when she heard the deep boom of thunder, thunder that really could not have been the result of a storm, for no storm had been coming. Elaina watched on as, only seconds later, part of the roof of the place was ripped off in crackling lighting that spiked out of nowhere. The roof exploded, causing a huge amount of debris to fall on numerous henchmen below, but missing all the Avengers. However, the arrival of what Elaina knew to be their friend did nothing to stop the onslaught of henchmen who hadn't been hit by the debris. Taking her focus off of her friends, Elaina now faced her own problems as she looked up from where she lay. Above her stood one of the many henchmen with a gun trained on her head, lying defenseless she could do nothing. She expected the worse, but in a second everything changed. She and the minion were engulfed in electricity from a bolt thrown from across the room, amplified by the metal platform they were on. Elaina knew that he hadn't meant to hit her as well, though it didn't help to stop the pain surging through her body. Before the pain was able to knock her completely out, she was grabbed up in what her unfocused eyes could only perceive as a blur of red and silver. Seconds later she heard nothing but her name being called, no sounds of fighting, no struggling, only the rain pouring through the hole in the roof and the sound of a familiar voice calling her name. By now she could only draw in shallow breaths, her whole body quivering in pain. She knew if she didn't try to respond before unconsciousness took her, he would worry a lot more, but what came out of her mouth was not reassuring even to herself as Clint ran up to her.

"Clint," she said, barely audible through her gasps, "you can start worrying now."

Hope you enjoyed this XD I promise I am working on the next chapter this weekend, hopefully with spring break coming up I will be able to get the chapter out by then

keep with me, guys...