Chapter 21
The house was in chaos. She didn’t know why she’d agreed to this. She’d regretted it almost immediately. But when it’s raining and you have five hyperactive kids to entertain you don’t have a lot of choices. They could only play videogames so much and they did need to burn off some of their energy. It was for this reason that she’d agreed to allow a game of hide and seek. She had the feeling if it wasn’t for Nat helping them she would have found them all by now. Well Phil anyway. Trying to find a master spy wasn’t easy nor was finding ingenious children, who unfortunately apparently remembered some of their adult training. Sighing she headed back upstairs to continue the search up there.
She was grateful to Nat for helping out but wished she wasn’t quite so mischievous; she’d already encouraged the kids to cause trouble. With Leo, Jemma and Phil it wasn’t as bad as they were all too young to be able to follow all of Nat’s instructions but Tripp and Mel just lapped it up. When she awoke this morning she’d found all the kids sitting on the table, on it not around it, while Nat threw them food that she was cooking. Skye still wasn’t sure how exactly she’d got in the house as Fury had implemented their security himself and refused to explain it to anyone else. Presents were scattered around the floor creating a minefield for Skye to cross before reaching the coffee pot. Next to it stood a large bottle of vodka.
“For us later.” Nat remarked as she threw another pancake to Tripp who caught it in his mouth.
So now she was faced with hyper kids and the prospect of getting extremely drunk later. Everyone knew the stories about Nat. Hell it was one of the unwritten rules of Shield not to drink with her unless you wanted a killer hangover and embarrassing stories that would entertain the new recruits. Moving as slightly as she could, cursing the creaking floorboards she snuck into the girls’ room, certain she’d heard giggling coming from in there. Pausing in the doorway the rocking of the wardrobe was clearly obvious. Easing up to the doors as silently as she could Skye flung them open and caught the body that tried to hurtle past her.
“Got you.”
“Mummy.” Jemma twisted from side to side but couldn’t escape Skye’s grip.
“One down another five to go.” She muttered as she threw the squirming little girl over her shoulder and strode off to continue her search.
Two hours later and everyone had been found. Leo had eventually given up, as he’d got hungry, allowing Skye to catch him raiding the cookie jar. Mel had hidden beneath the dinning table, clinging to the top whenever Skye looked underneath it. Phil and Tripp had nearly reduced her to gibbering mess when she’d found them hiding in the washing room. Tripp seemed unphased by her lecture that allowing his little brother to hide in the washing machine might not have been a good idea. Finding Nat was an unrealistic goal on her own but she wanted to win so she decided to try by hook or by crook. Bribing the kids to help the scoured the house but eventually had to admit defeat.
“Lunch?” Nat sauntered towards the kitchen having dropped down from the loft hatch that didn’t contain a ladder.
“How’d you get up there?”
“Planning. So lunch?”
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Eight hours later and a frantic phone call to Bruce later all the children were in bed. Thankfully Bruce was happy to come out and treat the knife wound Mel had inflicted on Tripp. Skye hadn’t wanted to have to go to the hospital and explain that one. His sister was practising her aim by throwing knives at his head wouldn’t go down well. Nat had thought it was hilarious but had listen to Bruce’s lecture and agreed that maybe it hadn’t been a good idea. At least she might make them wear protective gear even if there was no chance of her not teaching them again. Skye was exhausted, the kids had been that much more hyper today. The only reason she hadn’t caught on to Nat’s training was she’d been dealing with a very weepy Leo who was missing Ward. She knew the feeling well. She’d only stopped herself hacking the mission feeds by the threat from Fury if she did it again he’d cut off their Internet supply. Her retaliation that it wouldn’t stop her was met with the chance of the entire block having no power. She couldn’t inflict that on her neighbours so had finally given in. She hated not knowing what was going on.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Nat clinked two shot glasses together as she carried in the vodka.
“Just wondering what’s happening on the mission.” Skye accepted the shot, downing it quickly and enjoying the burn down her throat. It reminded her of the scotch Ward poured the team after bad missions.
“He’ll be fine. The others will look after him.”
Ignoring the fact Nat had seen straight to what she was worrying about Skye poured another shot for them both and drank it as quickly as before. If Nat was going to continue with this conversation and take it where she thought it was going she’d prefer to be drunk.
“I know. He’s an agent, a robot with skills. But the kids are missing him already. I don’t want to have to explain to them if something happens to him.”
“Just the kids missing him?” The amused smile on her face made Skye wonder if she somehow had found out what happened last night. Kissing him in the street may not have been the best idea but she couldn’t help herself.
“Thank you for helping out, Nat. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Don’t think I missed that you didn’t answer me. I like the kids. It’s nice to just have some fun. Though I could have done without the lecture from Fury before coming here.”
Pausing before drinking Skye tried to puzzle out why Fury would lecture her.
“He’s always been close to Phil but I think he absolutely adores him as a baby. He slipped up and called him his grandson a couple of times so I’d expect another visit from him soon.” Grinning Nat knocked back another shot before topping up their glasses again.
“Fury has a heart?”
“Occasionally. You just have to dig deep to find it. Now do you want to play a game?”
“That sounds ominous.”
“Just a bit of fun. Helps get us drunk. You need to relax. When was the last time you had some girl company apart from Jemma and Mel?”
Blinking Skye considered that but drew a blank.
“I honestly can’t remember.”
“So let’s have some fun! Once the robot is back from the mission we can leave him to look after the kids for a while and go out. We’ll persuade Pepper, Maria and Jane to come as well.”
“I don’t know…”
“I’ll leave Clint to help look after the kids. It’ll be fun.”
“Fine! So what are we playing now?”
“I have never. We each say a statement and if you have done that thing you have to take a shot. It’s more fun if there are more of you but it can work with the two of us. Besides we can get to know each other a bit better. I’ll start. I have never kissed another agent.” With that she picked up her shot and downed it. “Oh you can lie but you have to take a shot if you do.”
Skye sighed and downed her shot. It was going to be one of those nights.
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Ward had entered the Shield facility to find the rest of the team already prepared and waiting for him. As he’d met Steve before an introduction to him wasn’t needed, he knew Thor by reputation though they’d never actually met. Skye was going to kill him for preventing her meeting him. Clint grinned at him from the rafters where he sat watching all the comings and goings. As he’d already read the mission briefing on his drive all that was left to do was grabbing his equipment and sync coms. Clint was to provide air support and watch their backs while, Steve and Thor took point. Ward was to follow them and provide the link with the science team that were staying within the safety of the Shield facility.
“So everyone know what they are doing?” Steve examined the team as they prepared to head out. “No risks Agent Ward. Fury was very clear about bringing you back alive and as an adult.”
“I understand. I think we have more than enough children to deal with at the moment.”
“Children are delightful. On my world we encourage big families.”
“Yes but these kids still have some of the skills they had as adults Thor. They’re not exactly normal children by anyone’s description. Plus it’s a bit of a security risk.” He tried to explain.
“His world is different to mine, with so many rules. Who knows what is strange or not.”
Seeing the slight shaking of Steve’s head Ward decided not to delve further into Thor’s statement.
“Get Pepper to explain it to you later.” Piped up Clint, seeming determined to stir the pot.
“Lady Pepper is good explaining this world. I will do that.” Thor mussed.
“Tony’s going to kill you.” Muttered Steve before attaching his Shield to his back. “Let’s head out.”
The house they were entering had seemed innocent enough. Located on a quiet suburban street no one would expect it was a hive of illegal activity. Neighbours knew each other well, children played on the road. Everything was quiet and peaceful. Until Steve broke down the door anyway. Holding his shield in front of him he strode into the house as bullets flew towards him. Behind him Thor spun Mjolnir creating a breeze that knocked some of the assailants off their feet. Behind him Ward followed them in using his ICER to take out anyone who remained standing. Outside they could here cried as Clint picked off anybody who tried to flee. Plastic tents filled what would be the front room but as it wasn’t what they’d come for they ignored them heading further into the house. Thor moved to secure upstairs as Steve and Ward headed outside.
There they found another group of men who put up a bit more of a fight. Holstering his weapon as it would be no use to him in close quarter combat Ward prepared to take them out. They weren’t as skilled as he expected, especially if they had played a part in sneaking up on the team. They were fairly easy to defeat, even if they did manage to give him a few injuries. That was more due to shear numbers than any particular skill. It didn’t matter how skilled you were if there were more than you can handle you were going to get hurt.
“On your left!” Ward didn’t have time to examine where the voice came from as he dodged a hammer blow that would have stuck him on the head. As it was it caught his arm, sending pain radiating through his body. It didn’t feel broken but with the adrenaline pumping through his body it was hard to tell how serious his injuries were. Catching the second blow from the hammer he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, knowing there was no way he could prevent the blow that was coming. Before the blow hit him in the ribs the man suddenly soared upwards with a scream. Ward and hammer guy watched as the piece of fence panel fell from the sky, blinking up at the man who was carrying the attacker and depositing him atop a tall tree where he would cause no harm. Taking advantage of the distraction Ward kneed his attacker in the groin before wrenching the hammer from his grasp. A quick tap to the temple put him out of commission. Steve appeared to have the other attackers in hand, as soon as they recognised him the ones with more sense gave up, recognising a fight they couldn’t win.
Slightly bemused he watched as the flying guy landed and removed his protective goggles.
“What would you do without me?”
“Oh I’m sure we’d be fine.” Steve commented from where he was bent over examining one of the captives.
“Sure. Without me or Nat you’re hopeless.”
“We had everything under control Sam. Agent Ward this is Sam Wilson also known as the Falcon. Sam this is Agent Grant Ward of Shield.”
“Nice to meet you. I thought Shield was destroyed?”
“ We rebuilt it. Thanks for the assist.”
“Anytime. I heard a lot about you from Nat.”
“Oh?”
“We can talk about it later. How about we see if we can find what we came here for? And get you patched up, that cut looks nasty.”
“I’ve had worse.” He was used to ignoring injuries. He didn’t miss the piercing look Sam gave him.
‘How much does he know about me?’ He wondered as he followed Sam back into the house.
“Sam’s a therapist. He’s worked with Nat a bit.” Steve informed him as he got to the door, which explained the look.
Entering the house again they found Clint and Thor watching security footage with sombre faces. Grabbing a first aid kit Clint indicated for Ward to sit as he explained.
“Good news we’ve just taken out a gang. Bad news they’ve nothing to do with us. From what we can tell our suspects left about a week ago.”
“Damn it.” Ward snapped wishing he could punch something.
“We’ve got footage of them leaving so Tony can do something with it.” Clint offered as he pulled a needle and thread through a cut on Ward’s face.
“That’s something.” He sighed.
“So Sam how come you’re here?” Clint continued as he cut the thread.
“Nat thought you might need an extra hand so contacted me. Plus I think she wanted to make sure you were all ok.”
“We’re big boys.”
“Yeah that’s why you were out numbered and one of you is currently getting sown up.”
“Semantics! Anyway we can’t do anything more now. Shall we head out and leave these for the police to deal with? You need to have that arm checked over anyway.” He turned back to Ward. “It might need to go in a sling.”
“Skye’s going to kill me.” Ward sighed, moving gingerly from his perch to the car.
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