Disclaimer: I do not own Skye, Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Grant Ward, or FitzSimmons. I only own the variation I have created off of this very popular idea.
I firstly must thank Neeeeeal who, as the author of Turn Back Time, has done such a very interesting and lovely job on their story I wanted to give my attempt of it a go.
However, because I cannot find B.J. Britt's wiki page or his age, I'm going with Ward. But that's not the only reason. It's because with the Hydra plot, I see no room or logical way for this story to make sense. So... It's AUish. Ward isn't hydra. Yay! Because I really did love Ward.
Warning, MAY include Avengers. I upped the rating for my own comfort.
The two agents drop down onto their stomachs, the Hulk's arm gently brushing the tops of their heads. The gun fire immediately stopped, replaced by screams and cries of pain as the Hulk showed nearly no remorse. Glancing up Coulson could see that all the men down were either severely injured or possibly dead. That is, except for him and May.
The Hulk turned on the two agents, seeing that they weren't at all dead or dying of internal bleeding. He brought his arms up over his head and then down to smash them like bugs. Panicked, Coulson rolls to the right and May rolls to the left in an attempt to avoid it. They do, but the impact of his fists hitting the ground sends a sort of shockwaves across the floor and knocks them a bit into the walls. The big green giant turned and raised his arms over his head, nearly mirroring the same position he had over Natasha at the Helicarrier. Except instead of the red head assassin, he had the Asian specialist against the wall with no where to run.
"Bruce-" May couldn't help but raise her arms a bit in self defense, palms out. She had no other options, "Now would be a great time to get some control."
Hulk didn't answer, instead swinging his fists down to smash May like a bug.
"STOP!" Coulson shouted, and suddenly the Hulk abruptly halted the movement. The fists hovered over May's head, her eyes staring at them wide. Hulk turned and stared at Coulson before giving a grunt. Coulson had a feeling it didn't translate well.
"Bruce, we both know you're in there. I know the attack startled you, made you change without warning, but you really need to get a grip. May and I aren't the ones you want. No-no Hulk wants to smash all the people who broke into the tower to take the children. And we're looking for the kids. So we can protect them. And you wanna help," Coulson was only half certain, maybe even a bit less, that this would work. But he kept trying, "Bruce, you and Hulk want the same thing. To protect those kids. And smashing May and I, that will just make it worse. So please, please back away from May."
Hulk stared at May, then at Coulson, then back at May before giving a grunt. Hulk didn't say anything, and moved away from the SHIELD specialist. Without another word, he stepped away from the two agents and smashed a hole through the floor, dropping onto the intruders down below.
For a brief moment the two stared at each other before Coulson helped May to her feet.
"Come on, I don't want to know what the kids initial reaction will be if Hulk finds them first."
There was gunfire in his ears, bullet holes in the wall and most likely a real good knick in his shoulder that was bleeding. But Clint Barton didn't care at all. He was more concerned with getting to Natasha, the red head who, despite whatever she might scream at him later, couldn't possibly hold her own against this with her current injuries.
He didn't know where these men were coming from and at the moment he didn't exactly care. He was armed with only a gun, a sidearm that he usually always carried around throughout the tower as a tool of comfort. He couldn't exactly carry a full quiver and bow around everywhere could he? Good thing he had an extra bow and full quiver hidden in the back of Nat's closet, something they agreed to for many reasons, just like how she had an extra pair of guns in the back of his closet.
Clint shot everyone he came across, storming his way as best he could through the hallways towards Natasha's bedroom. If Melinda May could only see him now, maybe he'd give her a run for her money with that Cavalry title. Maybe.
His heart started to thump wildly, picking up it's pace when he saw Natasha's bedroom door open. He had definitely closed it when he placed her on her bed and got her settled. He sped forwards, running right in to her room to see the bed tipped to it's side and riddled with tiny holes, the broken floor to ceiling windows, and a few dead intruders near the window and near the door. He felt better seeing no blood but it wasn't by that much.
The archer wasted no time ripping Natasha's closet open and reaching into the far back for his signature weapon. He was going to kill these bastards if they hurt a single hair on her head. They've done enough to her.
Steve held up his shield, reflecting bullets back at their intruders. Grant, Leo, Jemma, and Skye cowered behind him, clinging to the captain's legs. Steve liked that they were staying close, but them clinging to him make this a bit more difficult.
Steve felt himself back up into the wall, his efforts to protect the children placing him at a disadvantage. He couldn't stand here forever, but if he threw the shield then it leave him vulnerable to getting shot.
For a brief moment, Steve raised the shield a bit higher, obscuring his vision for the shortest of seconds. And when he lowered it, he saw a couple of the men on the ground, bleeding with arrows sticking out of them. Clint leapt to the ground from the vent beside him, loading his bow with another arrow and fired. The children, had they not been scared of getting shot, would have hugged the archer.
"Thanks," Steve sighed once the hallway was cleared, it had required some team work but they had managed, "Where'd you leave Natasha? Perhaps we can hide the children with-"
"I didn't hide Nat. They took her before I got to her," His voice was dead serious, the laid back archer gone. They already shot Nat in what could have been a fatal injury, Steve knew that Clint wasn't going to let them get away with even a hair out of place on the Russian's red head.
"I'll help you look," Steve promised, "But first we gotta get these four out of the cross fire. It's bad enough if one gets taken, I don't want to see a Agents May and Coulson's expressions if they've been shot."
Skye piped in suddenly, staring at Clint, "Auntie Nat is in trouble again?"
"Yeah, but I'm gonna find her and save her and kick bad guy ass," Clint stated.
Skye simply nodded quietly, following her siblings and the two Avengers down the hall before back up could pin them back against the wall.
Tony came flying up beside Thor, shooting repulsor Ray after repulsor Ray at the helicopters as they turned their machine guns onto him and Thor. Tony was completely unaffected in his IronMan suit, blasting one of the mechanized weapons right off and down into the street below. Of all the evenings these bad guys had to pick, they had to pick the night that he was helping the kids set Phil up with the cavalry? That was just totally unfair.
Thor flew past Tony, raising his hammer as the sky filled with the mighty call of thunder. When the god pointed towards one of the helicopters, lightning passed through Thor and out the hammer, blasting the engine of the helicopter and sending it spiraling below.
Tony looked down at below to watch it's descend for a brief moment and saw, not only sticking out of the tower but surrounding it, what looked to be an army of armored cars. And he doubted that they were all with SHIELD.
The sound of bullets bouncing sharply against his armor brought him back to reality, and without any sort of joke or comment, the billionaire raised his right palm and shot out at the helicopter.
Steve didn't know how, but somehow he got separated from the group. This was probably the worst thing to happen at a time like this, with so many men shooting at him and Clint, trying to get to the children. And Clint, Steve was terrified he might accidentally lose the children or leave them behind in his mad dash to find Natasha.
But he didn't understand how it happened. One minute he had his back to Clint and the kids, deflecting bullets, and the next minute when he turns to check on them, they're gun. It's likely he hadn't heard them over the gun fire but it worried him, how was he suppose to find them now?
The only solution the captain had, was to follow the trail of corpses with arrows sticking out of them.
'Great, just great' Clint groaned as he shot a few more intruders, 'I lost the Star Spangled Man with the plan.'
Clint didn't have much time to actually care about that as he fired arrow after arrow into the intruders, using himself as a shield to keep the kids from being shot. Every time a bullet so much as nearly touched, the children screamed in fear. It was entirely distracting, he would cover more ground if he ditched the kids. So after he get them to a safe room he'll ditch to find Natasha and bring her into the safe room.
"MOVE!" Clint nearly didn't recognize his own voice as he ordered the kids down the hallway, hearing the thumping of several footsteps approaching behind them. The children raced to follow their beloved uncle, Jemma and Leo clinging to one another.
"If only we had a monkey," Leo whispered, "A brave monkey. He could help find Auntie Nat."
Clint almost smiled and then quickly turned down a hall. He was surprised to see no one down here, but perhaps they didn't have enough agents to cover every corner of the base. What made it more surprising and maybe even a bit suspicious was that down this hallway, the fourth door on the right, was a sort of panic/safety room.
"Come on," He heard those footsteps again, getting closer. The archer herded the children to the door, opening it silently and ushered them inside. He entered silently behind them, closing the door silently and locking the door.
Clint Barton wasn't stupid, if he stayed in the hallway then whoever was coming into the hallway would see him, shoot him, and probably check the room to see the kids in there. He'll exit through the vents and come to retrieve them through the vents. Because it was so dark in the room, Clint started to feel around for a light switch as he turned to talk to the kids.
"Ok you guys now-" His whispering voice was cut off though with a slight whistling sound through the air. When the lights turned on, the four children found their dear Uncle Clint on the ground, having been shot. And all around them were the intruders, having been waiting.
It was a trap.
Wow I really miss the First Season, I spent yesterday watching the Second and a Third episode of Season One. You know, when Ward wasn't Hydra, or evil, or torturing our Mockingbird, and he liked Skye and he didn't have a beard! And all we knew about him was that he was a good big brother to his little brother because their big brother was abusive. I slightly miss those days. And I found it so funny how FitzSimmons are like "She's the Cavalry?" And May answers in perfect timing, "I told you never to call me that." And then later when they're making sure they all know the plan May's like, "You guys talk too much."
Is it so wrong for me to feel a slight bit of nostalgia for those days? When I know that they're likely to never ever come back.
AND I PROMISE CLINT ISN'T DEAD! OH GOD DON'T SHOOT!