Chapter Thirteen

Phil kept a hold of Natasha's arm until they were out in the corridor.

"Let me back in there," she said, her voice deceptively calm. Rogers and Stark were there, standing too close for privacy. Somewhere along the line they had dropped into Russian.

"No, you're only in the way. Let Banner and Clint look after her until the doctor gets here."

"She should never have gone after Hornet alone." Phil sighed, looking away. If Natasha had really felt like it he couldn't have held her back and kept her out of the room. She knew that and didn't try, some vestige of respect for him coming through to her. He knew that sending Juliette after Hornet had been a mistake, but he had hoped, somehow, that his hunch had been right. He had a lump of guilt obstructing his throat.

"She was briefed," he answered, telling her what he wanted her to believe. "She knew what she was going into." He had told Juliette briefly, but she hadn't been prepared. The information was too classified, kept too close to his chest.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Captain Rogers asked him politely. "Agent Hill has informed SHIELD, they have people tracking Hornet." Phil nodded, it would mean that other people were in harm's way and the threat of information leaking out about Hornet was greatly increased. Even within SHIELD, the fewer people who knew about Hornet the better.

"Thank you, sir," he said quietly, removing his hand from Tasha's arm. Pepper had arrived, and joined them milling around the infirmary door.

"Do we have all the equipment they need?" Pepper asked, peering into the room. Phil knew he should probably get Tasha away from the door and set her to something useful to keep her quiet.

"You've got more than most hospitals," answered Banner with a brief smile as he came out. "She's stable and the analysis on what Hornet gave her has started. I assume the SHIELD doctor will have her file?" Phil could feel his gut tense at that. Medical files were precious, dangerous to the individual if they were read by the wrong person, and guarded as closely as the locations of bases or assets.

"Yes." He needed to speak to Maria, to check who was coming and how much they knew. Phil's arm went back to Tasha's elbow, keeping her where she was.

"I'm going to see if we can watch Jarvis' security footage," Tony said suddenly. Phil thought he was still lobbying for Hornet's status as a good guy. "Well, Agent?"

"She won't be waking up for hours," Banner informed them.

"Lead the way." Phil followed, trailing Tasha and Captain Rogers towards the conference room again. There, Stark flicked a huge flat screen on. Tasha stood behind Phil's chair; he could see her tight with anxiety.

"Jarvis, replay the security footage from the kitchen cameras, from the moment Anne walked in." The kitchen appeared, in colour, as Hornet entered. Out of her pocket she took a small black box and placed it on the side.

"What's that?" the Captain asked.

"Looks like a Dictaphone," Stark replied. "It records your voice then plays it back." Hornet stared out of the window for a moment, her back to the camera.

"And Mede walks through the door," she drawled, a split second before the door opened and Juliette walked in. "Can I help you, agent?" Juliette didn't waste time, her knife was out. "Not many right handed people are forced to use their left." There was the briefest pause in Juliette's movement forward, her arm hovering down slightly before she slipped around the island counter and her knife went straight to Hornet's neck. There she stopped, as if frozen solid. Hornet laughed, moving away.

"Come on, surely you aren't new to telepathy? I thought you would have come across it." Juliette turned around slowly, the camera showing the pure shock on her face. "You don't mind," continued Hornet, switching the Dictaphone on.

"Not a jot," Juliette answered, her voice echoed on the recording. "How did-" Again her voice was in time with Hornet's pre-recorded one. "That's a neat trick."

"Not a trick." They could see, facing the camera that Hornet wasn't speaking.

"Most-" Juliette stopped talking. "People use a puppet." Hornet ducked just as Juliette flipped over, missing the smaller woman's back by inches.

"It's really rather simple, when you know the next move," Hornet answered with a smile. She ducked the next blow, making it look like a choreographed fight where the actors knew what was coming next. "What can you do, when the enemy knows who you are?" Just as Juliette turned, she dropped her knife, her hands flying to her temples. Hornet produced the needle from her pocket and it went into Juliette's shoulder. The agent moved fast, sending Hornet across the room to fall against the worktop. "You're quick, very quick."

"Get out of my head," Juliette spat, picking up her knife again. She didn't bother crossing the room, throwing it at Hornet who rolled aside. It sliced through her arm, bouncing away as Hornet muffled a scream with her other hand. Juliette staggered around the central island, grabbing onto it for support. She tried to reach out for Hornet before hitting the floor, ripping the needle out of her shoulder.

"Ta ta," Hornet smirked, wrapping a towel around her arm as she left the screen, pocketing the Dictaphone. Juliette's head raised up one more time before it hit the floor and she stopped moving.

Phil stared at the screen. He had sent Juliette because he had thought she could handle Hornet's powers, he had never thought they could work to that efficiency. If he had been anyone else, he would have been impressed with what Hornet could do. Instead, she was simply a threat.

"Do you still think that was self-defence?" Natasha asked Tony coldly.

"Juliette was trying to kill her," came the less than certain reply. "And Hornet didn't kill Juliette in return."

"I'd say that was self-defence," Captain Rogers agreed. Phil was standing up now; he wanted to know what Hornet had done to Juliette's mind.

"She didn't call for help," Natasha shot back. "She could have called you, or anyone."

"Leave it, Tasha. It doesn't matter," said Phil. Whether Stark believed them or not, he didn't care. Hornet was a threat and could have compromised Juliette. "Go and find out who the doctor is, and check his clearance level."