Forget me not

by kiwikid

There were screams coming from Clint Bartons mind that disturbed even Loki. So the God reached forth and found a damaged portion of his mind where something was struggling to get free. He promoted healing and set in motion the return of memories locked within Clint's mind of his life as a child and of someone he did not know existed. A man identical to himself known as Will.

23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23- power play

Byron Ink could feel the anger pulsing through his being as William Brandt cut the connection . On his phone the tracking signal still flashed, almost taunting him with its unrelenting movement. Beside him Cory was studying his every move, like a panther ready to spring, yet holding back because he was the bigger and more dangerous cat. What Brandt had said cut deeply, many years ago he had paid the price for not finishing the job with Brandt and bringing HYDRA the location of the research laboratory . Now he could finally correct that error, yet delays and taunts lay in his path. Even though he was angry he had to consider his next move, the status of William Brandt had also changed over the years. He was no longer the soft target, a young teen without protection. Now he worked for one of the super spy agencies, the IMF, he'd have to be good to have survived this long as an agent. So he had to consider that the taunting words were a trap, Brandt wanted him to hit the bunker full force, with all his troops. Once inside he wwas sure Brandt had a way to kill everyone. It was sentiment at the driving force of all Brandt did, wanting to keep the HYDRA forces away from the Avengers and IMF teams, his friends and colleagues. Byron did not feel the same about the people he worked with, in fact he did not feel that way about anyone, it was a weakness. Thus he would ignore the taunts, Brandt would pay for them personally later. He did not doubt for one second that this time he could get the information from the agent. It just might take a little longer than it would have years ago.

"Alright, its time to activate the troops Cory. How many have we got", he asked. Now the other man smiled, "I contacted the beta team for this mission, 500 hundred heavily armed men, all carrying weapons enhanced with the substance. HYDRA has finally stabilized the viral type that can be used upon people", Cory actually grimaced, even he did not like using this weapon. The problem with things like this was they could go horribly wrong and affect the wrong people. He took a breath noting Byron was waiting. The man as usual showed no emotion about the use of what was essentially a biological weapon. Starting again with a surprisingly calm voice Cory continued ."It has been mutated again so it can be airborne within a short proximity to the target. The plan is for the troops to place themselves around the SHIELD team. With the buffers blocking their detection they can only be identified through visual means. But it does not matter if they are spotted , once in position they will release the virus into the surrounding area. It will infect anyone it touches. Our own people have protective gear that will enable them to stay clear from infection. Unfortunately the virus will weaken as it spreads out through the area ,so it will not be an effective killer on Iron Man .For assault upon him, we also have automated drones also with enhanced weaponry. We will take out their air support first, Iron Man, then turn our attention to the ground forces, "Cory wound down.

Byron smiled feeling powerful, all the plans of embarrassing SHIELD and making the agency destroy their own had faded away. With HYDRA finally finishing the virus they now could make a very big statement. He scowled as he told Cory," In their arrogance they have only brought a small team of IMF and SHIELD forces, though we do face the Avengers. The main issues there were their enhancements, that is why HYDRA has spent years upon perfecting the substance. We do not just wish to kill normal people. It has been harder to predict what would happen to the Avengers. Our main concern is the Hulk". He noted that Cory shivered when he said the name, typical the man was scared again. He was weak and would be disposed of soon enough. At the moment Cory was still useful. He told him, "Banner will not get a chance to transform as we will enhance the dose given to both him and Thor. Remember we only have to delay them long enough to acquire Brandt. Once they are all infected we will leave it to SHIELD to sort out what happens to them". You can count on the fact all of them will suffer, I have seen the effects of the virus before", Bryon stated with a rather sick smile. He had watched some of the earlier experiments with the virus using human subjects and had to admit they had touched some deep part of him that could still feel terror. His voice did not shake though when he stated," just remember to watch the cross fire, any of our troops who hit themselves with their enhanced weapons will also be affected". Cory would heed those very carefully. It sounded like a full proof plan, capturing Brandt and killing all the Avengers as well as several IMF agents. HYDRA would definitely be talked about after this.

Cory sent forth the orders that would make the HYDRA troops hiding within the dense bush, begin their battle against the enemy forces. He and Byron would head toward the bunker by circling around to another entrance, a small drain, hidden in dense shrubbery. You would not stumble over its location by accident so it was just as well they had good intel on the place. Byron doubted the Avengers force knew about the drain as they did not have any guards in that area.

XXXXx

SHIELD base

"There is still no contact with Ethan Hunt", Killian Gideon reported in a flat tone to Director Fury and Lila Craddock. He had burst in on an intense discussion the two of them were having to give the report on Clint contacting Will. "Clint is not going to seriously injure him", Fury replied firmly. Killian, seemed flustered, "I did not say he would", he replied. This mess is all down to my agent director, Will has obviously gotten his brother to go along with some crazy plan. "What will happen now is just pure speculation". Fury guessed he was embarrassed about having an agent that acted in an unpredictable manner. "This could mean that my theory is correct", Lila ventured. She had known when she presented the theory of what happened based on her observations of the videos , that it all sounded impossible. One huge barrier stood in the way of her being right. "Nothing has changed ", Fury replied steadily, "I think you might have been correct, then they changed their minds". Killian frowned, "what are you talking about", he asked. "Just a theory", Fury replied. "We watched the tapes on the interactions between Will and Clint over the last two days. It could just be viewed as normal, one brother introducing the other to his friends and way of life. Yet…, he broke off. "Anyway its not plausible, so no point talking about it anymore. As for whats happening now, if we can't find Clint and we can't get to Will then we will have to see what unfolds. I would say with 98 percent certainty that both of them are on our side" ."He is feeding us information on the name of the enemy", Killian acknowledged. He too was sure Will was not working for HYDRA, though it still made him anxious about what was on his agents mind. He had a whole lot of hatred for HYDRA boiling below the surface and it could explode into something very dangerous and unpredictable.

"Whatever happens is going to be interesting", Fury concluded. Killian agreed with that.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tony flew over the area still scanning for any communications of signs of life other than their own people, but found none. He also checked the area for Ethan Hunt or Clint, but could not find anything. The dense forest did make it difficult to get an accurate line of sight. He was going to change to using thermal imaging when suddenly every alarm in his suit went off. "Sir, there are numerous flying objects heading this way", JARVIS warned. "There are roughly 500 HYDRA troops, hidden throughout the area, came the next warning. They are wearing protective masks over their faces, that could indicate they will be using some type of gas. Proceed with caution and use the material of your suits to protect your faces", that one was not JARVIS, yet sounded equally as familiar, "Clint, what the heck are you doing", Tony stormed. He got no reply.

Tony swore, he really was going to have a long conversation with the archer after this was over. Clint must have the high ground somewhere above the others heads . He still could not detect him though , but then neither could the enemy .'We hear you", Steve acknowledged as he and others moved more cautiously through the dense forest. Ahead of them Steve spotted some men, all wearing camouflage gear. The men fired at him then weaved away. Steve , Benji , Jane and Bruce followed

Natasha too was swearing, she had run to the area where Clint had supposed to be to find no signs of either him or Hunt. The forest floor looked undisturbed, perhaps sign that whatever had happened it had not involved the two of them having a physical altercation. She felt slightly off balance that Clint had not shared any plans with her. They had been inseparable ever since Clint had brought her into SHIELD. He had at the time been the only one on her side. They knew each others deepest and darkest secrets. Yet now an identical looking man was coming between the two of them. She could no longer be sure of what the future held.

But right now was not the time to think about that, she had to get moving. "Be advised that they could be using the virus. If you are hit you will be infected", came Clint's voice. "Clint", she pleaded, again there was no reply. He was warning them, yet not wanting to chat. Natasha pulled at the suit she was wearing in response. It had been made in just hours and provided protective layer against the virus coming in contact with the skin. It was not going to be effective if they were hit by projectiles. She shivered, this was very dangerous . But danger was always their calling. She had decided to be an assassin a long time ago and there was no turning back.

"I wonder what Clint's done with Ethan", Benji worried. He guessed he had probably tied him up somewhere. He knew Ethan could take care of himself ,so should not worry. That did not stop him wanting to smack Clint Barton firmly, if he could get up the courage to do it.

Hearing gunfire Benji stopped thinking about Ethan, he could not afford to be distracted. Holding his gun firmly he poked his head out from behind a tree. A bullet streaked past, so close he could hear the sound it made. Shaking of the urge to freeze Benji ran on following the others straight toward the gunfire.

Above them Tony swerved as the first drone relentlessly followed him. He fired his laser upon it only to hit enhanced shielding. Those shields just made the thing glow and not explode under his attack. It was going to take a lot of firepower to destroy, and there was more than one. "Sir, I now have a visual on Agent Brandt. He has come from out of the bunker and is now above ground". Jarvis put up a picture of the agent standing there. He was dressed identically to Clint right down to the bows and arrows on his back. 'What is he doing now, if he doesn't have a gun then he's defenseless. The man seems to be a frigging idiot." We cant protect him with those drones on our trail", Tony moaned.

Indeed now the drones were firing and his own enhanced SHIELDs found themselves tested to their fullest limits.

Down below him gunfire rained as the rest of the team engaged with the hostiles around them. The SHIELD , IMF team seemed unaware that the HYDRA troops were forming a particular patterning. The enemy were just using normal weaponry at the moment, until they got into an effective range. Their gunfire could not reach the SHIELD team, it just acted as a bait that drew them closer..Soon they would be in range and it would be too late to run.

Bruce found the bullets flying around him and got ready to transform. He too was wearing a protective covering, though it might be ineffective if he transformed. He had no idea what the virus would do to the Hulk. If they used enough of the substance it could be the thing that finally put an end to his dual existence. Thinking about that did not make him as angry as he expected.

Thor too was feeling what humans would describe as pensive , he remembered feeling out of control on the island, an unfamiliar and unsteadying position for a god. Even he may not be immune from the effects of the virus, so he was using extra caution. The HYDRA troops were closing, so he would be able to take out several of them in one go. They may have 500 troops but it was a fairly puny number when they were facing the Avengers.

"I have eyes on you", The HYDRA troops are circling out to form a ring around all of you", warned Clint. 'Those masks have me worried, if they haven't used the gas yet then it could be they have something else in mind. I have a very bad feeling about this". Despite the warning Thor relaxed somewhat, no matter what the archer was up to he was still definitely on their side. Thor looked out at HYDRA troops who swerved when sighted. They were drawing them closer, even he knew that. Either they were crazy or they did have some new technology they were about to unleash. He knew they would find out the answers soon enough.

Not too far away Brandt stood out almost in the open as though taunting those below. Tony could see him clearly , but could do nothing. He guessed Will was trying to confuse the HYDRA troops by attempting to mascerade as his brother.

Xxxx

"Hydra troops report they have a sighting on Brandt", Cory remarked as he put the image up on his phone. Bryon scowled at the image, quiver, bow and arrows, not very Will like. "He is trying to throw us off the trail by pretending to be Clint", he remarked. "Well Barton is with the SHIELD team, Cory confirmed, Brandt would have no way of knowing about our spy in the midst, thus we already know who is who". Byron nodded, "From up there Brandt can see what is happening below. He knows his taunts have failed, our troops are not moving toward him. So he has to think of another stategy . If he could at least divide our troops it would protect some of his colleagues. He probably has guessed we would use the virus, but of course not that we have an airborne version." He is still trying to protect them. The masquerade is smart play, but a predicable one". We keep heading for the hidden entrance and leave the troops where they are". "Poor Brandt, trying to be so inventive. I feel almost sorry for him", Ink mocked.

"What about this so called hidden entrance. SHIELD must have some intel on the place or Brandt would not be using the bunker as a hideout. How do we know he has not rigged the back door", Cory asked. Byron smiled, "the hidden entrance is not in any data base I know of, its old knowledge that was personally handed down ." There is a good chance SHIELD does not know, but we will naturally proceed with caution". He looked up into the sky as laser fire boomed around them. He could see Iron man banking ,stunting and firing like crazy. Yet still 50 drones littered the sky and all of them only had one target. "He must have enhanced the suit, smart, its still not going to be enough. I would love to see that smart smirk fall of his face when he realizes he has failed to out think HYRDA".It is only a matter of time before his shielding fails." Byron stopped moving and watched the action from his phone. The cameras on the drones gave a dizzing yet spectacular view of the battle above their heads.

Tony was stunting like crazy, trying to throw off at least one of the enhanced drones. It was not working though, they were all firing at him now, with deadly accuracy. Naturally he was firing back, but his efforts had not lessened their numbers at all. "Sir, the drain on the suits shields is incredible, they are have to less than 70 percent. You will not have many hours as originally predicted", JARVIS stated. His scanners were locked onto each drone, testing its defenses. They picked up new information, "I have detected that the weapons systems upon the drones have been coated with the substance, however its structure seems different. Without direct study I cannot say for sure, what has changed. There is a high possibility that they could have further mutated the substance", he warned. "Great, just great, muttered Tony. He could at least be thankful that the drones were only firing upon him and not the others. A grim thought intruded that it might only be a matter of time, before he was rendered useless and the drones turned their attention to the others. For the first time in a while Tony let the possibility of death touch him. It felt scary, an all too familiar feeling of being out of control. "Bank right, Iron brain", the familiar voice of Clint cut through his doubt. He did so.

"There is an arrow ascending out of the trees", JARVIS reported. 'Yeah well Legolas probably has high ground, but if I can't take those things out, his arrows aren't going to be enough". JARVIS had fallen silent as its mind computed possibilities and so forth. It could not really help doing that even though Tony Stark did not like being reminded of the odds. Something seemed a little off though, because some new information was testing his powers of prediction to their limits. How was what he had just seen actually possible. 'JARVIS, are you in there", Tony sounded worried that he had lost contact with the AI. "Yes sir, just trying to compute how that is possible", he remarked. "How what is possible", Tony muttered. Behind him came a boom as the drone exploded. It was a relief and a shock all at the same time. "What happened", Tony asked. "The drone swerved to avoid the first arrow and was hit by a second",JARVis reported. "Smart move Legolas, though I still don't see how even his concussive arrows could have penetrated that drones shields. I must have weakened them enough", Tony decided. It was the only explaination that made sense. "The second arrow was enhanced" , JARVIS reported, "It was not detected as it came from another position." "Ahh , Legolas is moving about like Tarzan, maybe a new nickname is in order", Tony wisecracked. "Sir, there is something you should know..", JARVIS said.

"The drones are being taken out by arrow fire", Cory reported as the camera feed from one of the drones went orange then faded out. "Bloody Barton, his arrows must have penetrated a weak spot, well he can't get all of them", Ink stormed. He had hoped that SHIELD would leave the archer behind ,but obviously that had not happened. Cory looked at the feed coming from his phone. The drones had programming that enabled them to make tactical moves. So far they had out maneuvered and out flown Iron man. It had felt like they would soon have a victory. The thing that had just happened however had even thrown off the mind of the well programmed computer inside the drones, "umm I think we might have a problem", he remarked…

Xxxxx

"Sir, that other arrow", Jarvis remarked ," the trajectory was all wrong for Barton". That is why I could not compute what was happening ".As Tony watched his screens arrows started coming from two different directions. How was that even possible he wondered, what exactly had Barton done to rig that. Then JARVIS told him the explanation that no one had counted upon ,'Sir, Brandt is also firing arrows", even the machine sounded slightly stunned.

"Ink both of them are firing arrows, Brandt and Barton.", Cory remarked. It was an unexpected move and he tried hard not to smirk because of the expression he had just seen come over Byron Inks face. Brandt and Barton had just thrown him a very big curve ball. A very strange sensation came over Bryon Ink then, total disbelief. He had been sure he had known everything about Brandt but now had to take those words back. "Umm, this means that our intel about their identities could be inaccurate, Brandt obviously would not show SHIELD what he was capable of. So now we have the question of which one is Brandt", Cory asked. That of course was yet another problem, because now he had no idea whether they should capture the one in the bunker or the one in the midst of the enemy force.

"Maybe we should just go for both of them again", he growled." If Brandt is the one in the middle of the troops then if you use the virus on him you won't get the location of the laboratory. We cannot risk hitting him. So if you want him, you'll have to switch to using normal weapons. Then we will most likely have to divide our forces so we can hit the bunker. The one in there could be heavily armed. It seems that neither one is the idiot you made them out to be", Cory told him.

No indeed they weren't Ink had to admit. Brandt had keep the knowledge of his abilities quiet enough that nobody had known he and his brothers skills with bows and arrows were identical as well. He must have practiced on the quiet to prepare for his moment. Now there was no way other than an advanced test to tell them apart. It was a brilliant strategy and he ground his teeth together as he ordered the troops, "stand down from using the virus upon the SHIELD force, ordinary weapons only". Of course that meant his troops had not much chance of defeating the Avengers. "Bastard", he said firmly.

He hoped desperately that a mistake might come that would reveal which archer was Brandt. It was probably the only thing that could turn the tide now.

Above them Tony relayed what he was seeing to the others. "Brandt has fired as well, so we have no way of knowing who is who", Steve remarked. "I think that perhaps that was the whole idea", Natasha mused. "This whole plan is dependent on the enemy not knowing which twin is Brandt. They will have to divide the forces to hit two targets. To get one they have to go through us, and the other is in a fortified position, it is brilliant. Maybe I won't smack Clint after all", She decided. "Yes it is a good plan, Brandt has kept this knowledge secret because he can use it against them. But it all hinges on them not being able to tell them apart physically. If any mistake is made that accidently reveals their true identities then it is game over", Steve warned. "But even we don't know the truth, Benji remarked. Natasha touched her lips, the one with them had kissed her in the same way Clint would. She had been certain it was Clint. She kept her lips firmly sealed, that type of knowledge could now be very dangerous.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

SHIELD base

Gideon Killian had his mouth hanging open in total shock. It told director Fury that he had not known what William Brandt could do. "He's bloody awesome", he stuttered as they watched the feed coming from Iron mans suit. "Yes he is and it is a brilliant plan yet it all hinges on the fact of identity", Fury agreed

Fury, felt a shiver come over him, It was possible that he knew the truth about which one was which. But it could never leave his lips. Brandt had kept this secret so HYDRA would never find out the truth. They had gone after the twin in the bunker, and that warned him that someone within SHIELD had loose lips. So he did not tell Gideon Killian what he knew. "If he has felt like he needed to conceal this knowledge from two of the most powerful agencies in the world then it probably means he suspects that both of us have been infiltrated", Gideon Killian had drawn his own conclusions. "He had planned this well and I hope its not all going to come crashing down around him." He took a breath, "if I factor in the disappearance of Hunt , I might suspect that he has just found out which twin went with our team."

"It is really the only explanation for his disappearance. Since I doubt he permanently silenced Hunt then it is possible he might be the one to accidently spill the truth", Gideon concluded. He hoped not, this was a brilliant plan and it could be deadly for the truth to be discovered now.

Gideon was correct Ethan Hunt did know everything, because the message 'do it now ' had been the signal to begin the plan of confusion through a masquerade. Both of the twins had identical skills and when arrow fire came from two different directions HYDRA would not know which twin was Brandt.

But he did…