Hey ya'll, here's chapter 26! I hope you like it, in this one you get to see Minnie and Fury's little talk, as well as the Great Escape into Canada. There's also a nice moment between Steve and Minnie that I liked writing. I'm watching Captain America as I post this.
Enjoy!
When I woke up early in the morning three days after the party I heaved a heavy sigh before slipping out of bed and grabbing a thick pair of socks, I slipped them on, along with a pair of sweat pants, replacing the shorts I had worn to bed and winced as I tried not to move my stiff shoulder. It had started getting cold outside, and the early morning it felt like was the worst. I groaned softly as I rotated my shoulder, and then walked over to Bruce's side of the bed, where he was still sleeping. I pulled the blankets up over his shoulders and lightly kissed him before I walked out of the room quietly and down the hall to the room Kayla and Amanda were sleeping in.
The two were passed out, Kayla had kicked her blankets off of her and was sticking her butt in the air making me cover my mouth to suppress my laugh. I covered her with the blanket and turned to look at Amanda who was on the other twin sized bed, she was hugging her pillow, her blonde hair was everywhere and she had also kicked off most of her blankets. I rolled my eyes and pulled them up for her before I went back to the hall, softly closing the door behind me. I walked over to the thermostat and adjusted it before I walked back to the master bedroom and went to the bathroom.
I turned on the shower and stripped before looking at myself in the mirror. My shoulder was pretty bruised, but it wasn't as swollen as it had been the day before. I stepped into the shower and groaned when the hot water hit my shoulder. I shut my eyes and bit my lip before I let out a sigh and felt the muscle starting to loosen up.
After getting out of the shower I went to the bedroom, wrapped in a towel and picked out some clothes. It was a little warmer outside, so nothing too thick. I got dressed quickly and tied my hair up in a bun. I was pinning it in place when Bruce appeared in the mirror behind me.
"How's your shoulder feeling?" he asked and I looked at his reflection.
"It's tense. It feels better after I shower, the hot water helps."
"That's good." he said as he shifted my shirt to the side. "It's still pretty bruised."
"Is that normal?"
"Well it's been three days, so yeah, that's normal." he said before he lightly kissed the bruise, his lips just barely brushing over it. I smiled lightly before I turned and kissed him gently. He leaned forward pressing me up against the vanity table, his fingers easily pulling out the pins I had just placed. He grinned as my hair fell around my shoulders and I rolled my eyes, he pulled back, and ran his fingers through my hair. There was a knock on the door and I pecked his lips lightly before I moved out from under his arms and opened the door.
"You have a visitor." Erik said and I looked back at Bruce. "He uh, asked to speak to you alone."
"Okay." I nodded and held up a finger. I went to Bruce and gently kissed him. "See you in a bit." I said before I turned and walked out of the room.
"Mrs. Banner," The familiar voice of Director Nick Fury said when I got to the basement. "I see you've been spending some time in here." he turned around at the desk and looked at me.
"It's a part of my life." I shrugged as he gestured to the chair in front of him. It felt oddly like being called to the principal's office. I sat down in the chair and looked him over. "So where did they get you?"
"Left shoulder. Right under my collarbone."
"Jeeze." I muttered. "Any lower and-"
"I'm aware what would have happened." he said and I raised an eyebrow, giving him a sharp look. It made him look a little surprised, and then amused. "You look just like your grandmother when you do that." he said and I smiled lightly. "Have you given any thought to what your grandmother told you?"
"My grandmother told me a lot of things, and I've thought about a lot of things," I paused, and then added. "Sir." He caught my eye and we stared at each other before I walked over to the computer and typed in a few things. On the monitor on the wall a large picture came up. "This is what I've come up with." I said and he looked at it before looking at me.
It was the morning after the party, and getting to bed so late usually ensured I would sleep in for a good time, but I don't know what it was that made me wake up early. It must have been the fact that we had slept over at my parents house rather than going back to MeeMaw's. Sleeping on that old mattress, in my old bedroom, it just made me wake up at my old time. I heard the door open downstairs and I leaned over Bruce to look out the window. Dad was walking to the barn. I got out of bed, Bruce shifted, rolling over and pulling the pillow close to him and I smiled gently as I got dressed quickly and pulled my hair into a quick ponytail before I went downstairs. I followed my dad out to the barn, the air was cool, and it was just getting light as I walked into the barn. I could see dad cutting the twine off of bales of hay, so I joined him.
"Why are you up this early?" he asked and I shrugged.
"Living here I always got up with the sun. Coming back, well, it's like they say, old habits and all that." I said and he laughed. He let me take over while he threw the hay into the horses; I went to the first stall and smiled at Gypsy. "Good to see she's still around." I said and he looked up and nodded.
"Yeah, uh, Hermes wasn't so lucky." he said softly and my face fell. "Sorry pumpkin, about a year after you left." he sighed as he walked over to me. "He was old."
"I know Daddy." I said softly and he nodded.
"I know Pumpkin, it's hard. We got this girl about a year ago, her name is Fawn."
"You don't see the irony in naming a horse Fawn?" I asked and he rolled his eyes.
"I got him off of Drake Salazar when his girl left for school you know how horrible she was at naming animals." he rolled his eyes. "Lord knows, her kids are gonna be called things like Susie-Q, and Harmony and things like that." he said and I laughed lightly as I wiped the tears from my eyes. "About a month after we got her, Fawn had a baby. Little girl, we named her Juno."
"Let me guess, everyone you tell that to asks what your favorite scene in the movie was, or tells you to "Shut your freaking gob"." I said and he rolled his eyes. "Would have been better off naming her Hera."
"Oh please and explain to everyone who Hera is, and tell them it's not an abbreviation of O'Hara?" he asked and I laughed.
"Like anyone today could make the connection to Scarlet O'Hara!" I said and he grinned.
"I've taught you so well." he said ruffling my hair.
"Hey Dad?" I asked as I moved deeper into the barn. I looked out the back and could see the long horse trailer. "You ever go to auctions?"
"Sometimes." he shrugged.
"And the shows?"
"Sometimes." he repeated and I smiled. "Why do you ask, does this have anything to do with that trouble you're in?"
"Dad, look, the trouble I'm in, it's-"
"I know what it is, it's another big SHIELD cover-up." he sighed and I stood there, not knowing what to say. "Oh, yeah, I know about SHIELD." he said with a nod when he caught sight of my shocked face. "Yeah, I was about nine, maybe ten when dad first brought me to the basement, to tell me about my future." he sighed. "I know what you are too. I know all about it."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"Baby girl, I didn't want to tell you something and change your entire life. Now maybe if you were all blue and furry like this guy I knew in college, maybe then I'd tell you that you were different." he shrugged.
"Daddy I don't think you'd need to tell me then." I said and he chuckled.
"You never know." he shrugged. "What's going on?" I told him everything, everything from how I had been kidnapped, how Kayla was different, how Amanda was different and how HYDRA had teamed up with HAMMER and how SHIELD had pretty much disbanded for the time being. He knew about the Registration act, but since he had never been officially told he was a mutant he hadn't registered, and I told him about how we were considered fugitives because of what Tony had done to himself to keep the names of every known mutant and hero a secret.
"What do you need me to do?" he asked and I looked at the trailer.
"How soon can you get to Canada?" I asked and he smiled gently.
"My plan is to fly to Washington, and meet my father there. He has a horse trailer and a very ornery Clydesdale. If we get it done on the right days at the right times, he knows the guys that are working the border at that particular entry, they've worked there for years, he's been going to horse shows for years."
"Now you're thinking like a real SHIELD agent." he nodded. "I'll have a friend on the other side of the border waiting for you, right about here." he pointed to an area on the map. "When your husband disappeared after the little Harlem Incident, he had a place here," he pointed to an area. "It's been in SHIELD custody since he left, after an episode where he Hulked out and scared the crap out of a group of eco terrorists who decided to steal his land and build a commune there. Needless to say, that didn't go over too well." he said and I chuckled lightly at the thought.
"I hope they were all-"
"Oh they were fine. A little shook up, babbling about animal testing and such, but, alive." he shrugged. "Now that's where we'll keep you for now, what exactly have you been thinking about?" he asked and I sat back down on the chair.
"I've been thinking about how different things would be if I had joined SHIELD at eighteen rather than going to become an intern at Stark Industries." I said slowly. "I've been thinking about how my family had been involved with this my entire life and how I never knew..." I paused. "And I've been thinking, my... Mutation, it's a survival instinct, right? Well what if I put it to work not only for us, but..." I paused again and bit my lip lightly.
"But...?" he prompted and I sighed.
"But for you." I finished and he smiled lightly.
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear." he said and I smiled gently. "We're going to need an agent out there who can tell me what's going on, who can keep us in the loop and to act as a leader for the agents I send to Canada." he said as he reached into his inner pocket.
"A leader?" I asked and he nodded.
"Assistant Director sound good to you?" he asked and I stared at him in shock.
"You're joking with me right now right?"
"Mrs. Banner, when the world is in danger, I do not joke. Talk to me when it's all clear, I've got some ones that'll have you rolling on the floor, but in the meantime, there's no room for comedians." he said and he pulled a leather ID case from his inner pocket.
"Why Assistant Director? Isn't that going to be a little weird to the rest of the Agents out there, not to mention unfair, seeing as I'm only just starting and I'm sure plenty of them would kill for the position-"
"No they wouldn't," he said quickly and I stared at him blankly. "And that's the problem. Those agents, they're good, but they will not do what it takes to make sure everything goes the way it needs to. They'll do anything and everything according to protocol, but I need someone capable of making the tough decisions. I need someone who knows what that jackass Norman Osborn is capable of, and most of all, I need someone on my side. All those other agents, they could be working for us, and they could be working for them. There are only four people in this world I'm one hundred percent about, and because of your past with HYDRA, you are on the top of that list. Not to mention, your grandmother's too old." he added and I laughed as he smiled lightly, something I hadn't seen him do since my wedding. "HYDRA and HAMMER, they all think I'm dead; and it needs to stay that way. That's why I need you Minnie. Can I count on you to be my person on the other side?" he asked and I stared at him. "Or should I go find someone with a fifty percent chance of finishing the job Leona Hiss started?" he asked and I bit my lip before I reached forward and took the ID from him. "Good girl." he said softly and I smiled lightly. I opened it and grinned seeing the SHIELD ID card, along with the badge. It was similar to the one Coulson carried, but mine was engraved on the bottom with the words 'Assistant Director'. "How does it feel?" he asked and I looked back at him before swallowing.
"It feels right." I nodded and he nodded.
The next day we were getting onto a Stark airplane with one of the board holders to Washington State where he had to attend a meeting in Seattle. Since he was a scheduled passenger and this flight had been planned for awhile there was no suspicion, and we flew easily. It was the afternoon when we got to Seattle, and we had to get to the border. We took a bus but got off at the town before the border where my father was waiting for us.
"Okay, Sam, you look close enough to Taby, you ride in the back of the truck, bring Kayla with you, Ms. Romanoff, you look like Abby almost, you sit up front too, but remember you two are sleeping in the truck with me driving, they won't see your faces." Dad was saying as we discussed the plan.
"What time do Bert and Ernie go on duty?" Tony asked and Dad smirked lightly.
"Their shift starts at about ten. I've got a motel room just down the street from here, I figured we could all use some sleep." Dad was saying and I nodded.
"Good and that gives us time to figure out what you're going to say to them."
"Come on Sammy, they're old friends, we'll bullshit a little and they'll let us through."
"No offence Dad, but what if they want to look in the back of the van? What if their supervisor decides to make it mandatory for them to check passports and faces, what happens if they got fired and were replaced by younger, by the book types of guys?" I asked and he stared at me for a second and I nodded. "We're going to figure out what you're going to say." I said softly.
At the motel I found myself anxiously pacing, most of everyone else were sleeping, getting themselves well rested for the night to come but I found it impossible to turn off my brain. I decided to walk to the liquor store down the street and stepped outside, silently closing the door behind me, before walking to the corral next to the motel. The owner of the motel had horses and had known dad for years, so he let Dad put both Juno and Ox in there. Ox walked over to me instantly and I smiled as I stroked his soft nose.
"I know how you feel right now." I turned around as Steve walked over to me. "Anxious. Uncertain. You feel like you're in charge of this mission, in charge of making sure everything goes well. Making sure we all get through this." he continued as Ox nudged my shoulder. I gasped, and held it as I stepped away from the large horse. "It's too much pressure to put on yourself."
"It's not just us I'm worried about anymore." I admitted to him and he looked down at me curiously. "Yesterday, Fury, he came to me, and..." I shrugged before I pulled the ID out of the inner pocket in my jacket and handed it over to him.
"Assistant Director?" he asked and I smiled lightly.
"Fury is, for all public reasoning, dead." I explained as he and I walked over to the liquor store. "There's a large number of SHIELD operatives in Canada and Alaska, and there's no one around to keep them in check."
"Why you?" he asked and I shrugged my good shoulder.
"It's in my genes." I said as I slipped the ID back into my pocket. "My grandmother was one of the first SHIELD members, and the first female member." I said and he smiled lightly. "So, I guess I was kind of born to work for them." I sighed. "It's weird, knowing that you're around for a purpose."
"We all have a purpose Minnie." Steve said and I nodded.
"I know, but to know that I was born to do something and I didn't do it until now."
"Minnie, we all have free will." Steve said. "You weren't born to be a SHIELD operative anymore then I was born to be Captain America."
"Even if we're good at it?" I asked and he nodded.
"Even if we're good at it. These things just happen, and if we're good at it, then good for us, and if we're not, we find something we are good at and we roll with it. You may be good at being a SHIELD agent, but you're great at being a mother, and I want you to remember that. They're going to want a lot from you, and you're going to want to give it to them. But you need to remember first and foremost, you have a life outside of SHIELD, whether they like it or not." he said as he put his hand on my good shoulder. I stared up at him before I moved forward and wrapped my arms around him.
"Thank you." I said and he hugged me back.
"If you were to ask me," he said softly as he hugged me. "Your plan is a pretty damn good one." he finished and I smiled as I looked up at him and wiped my eyes. "Come on," he said as he led me to the liquor store. "I think we could both use one of those... What are they called? The ones with the bull?"
"Red Bull."
"Red Bull, that's right." he nodded and I smiled.
"We're getting to the border." My dad said into his walkie-talkie, I knew Clint had one in the back of the horse trailer, the trailer fit five horses, and the first two stalls, closest to the doors had Ox and Juno in them, but the last three had different Avengers and my surrogate daughter hidden in them, all staying still and keeping silent.
"Roger that, turning off the walkie-talkie now. Good luck." Clint replied before the line went dead. Dad shut off the walkie-talkie and shoved it under the seat, before looking back at me. I had my back to the windshield, lying across the seats, and had a blanket pulled over me and Kayla, she was asleep, and I was clutching a knife that Natasha had decided I needed. "Just in case HAMMER and HYDRA have decided to close down the borders and our crossing is a little messier than we planned for." She was sitting in the front seat wearing a beanie, and a large hoodie I recognized as a London hoddie of Rick's, with the hood pulled up so you could hardly see her face.
"Evenin' 'Gents" Dad said out the window to the two men checking passports.
"Oh, hey there Nate." one of them laughed. "Long time no see, what are you up to?"
"Oh, just bringing 'ol Ox for show." he said nodding to the back.
"Ox huh? Isn't he getting a bit old for show?"
"Aw, he's a good horse, one of the strongest I've seen. Not to mention some jerk up there says his draft horse can beat 'ol Ox."
"Someone thinks they can beat Ox? Good luck with that!" one of the men laughed.
"These your girls?"
"Oh, aye, that's Abby right here," he pointed his thumb at Natasha. "And I've got Tabby in the back with her little one, both of 'em conked out."
"You got their passports?"
"Course." he handed them over and the guy looked at them.
"So is Ox the only one you've got back there?"
"No, I've got a one year old Norwegian Fjord, her name is Juno if you want to take a look. Trying to get a good price for her at auction."
"What in the hell am I going to do with a one year old?"
"Has she been broken?"
"No, not yet."
"Good luck with that one mate."
"So how long you up there?"
"Few days at best." Dad said and they chatted for a few minutes until I heard someone move in the trailer.
My heart started beating quickly and I felt my face drain of blood.
It was a long moment before someone finally spoke.
"Sounds like Ox is gettin' antsy." one of the men said. "Best get on out of here; I know you've got a ways to go."
"That I do Amos." Dad said. "I'll see you two on my way down again."
"Alright, say hello to your girls when they wake up." Amos said.
"Good night Nate, good drive."
"Good night Fred." he replied before he started to drive again.
I think everyone let out a collective breath as the walkie-talkie under Dad's seat was turned back on.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Tony said into it. "We are now Canadians."
There you have it, the great escape, pulled off. What you can expect to see in the next chapter: An old friend of Amanda's, a nice warning to Minnie and the rest of SHIELD, and the 50 State Initiative being put into action as well as Norman working on his own special project, with an unexpected guest who has a very big, very angry problem. That's it for the teaser, until next time, please don't forget to review. I'd love to know what you all think of this twist I've thrown in, and if you guess the big problem correctly, I'll dedicate a chapter to you! =D