View source for 5393/Changeling: Big Trouble in Little China

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/09/18
|Location=New York City
|Synopsis=Skye and Nat rush to rescue Clint. They get him, but at a cost for all of them.
|Cast of Characters=137, 1191, 93
|Tinyplot=Changeling
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>(OOC: Continued from +scene 5354) <br><br>As May departs wearing Skye's face, everything else happens at once. A message goes out to active SHIELD agents, that Barton has been kidnapped from his home about an hour ago and to be on the look out, select ones get told a quinjet is taking off to go get him back. Natasha is one of those agents. <br><br>On the tarmac at the Triskelion, the pilot May picked to fly the mission, of the quinjet to Skye:. "Where to?" <br><br>At the same time the data May requested came up on Skye's tablet. <br><br>The phone call about the meet was tracked to a row of shops in Gotham's China Basin neighbourhood, that, coupled with the traffic cam footage pretty much confirms this is where they can find the man who made the call on Clint's phone if not Clint himself. <br><br>There's no footage of the buildings themselves, but given the time in the morning, the streets around the building are likely crowded with commuters heading to work opening the neighbourhood shops.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>Skye is still in a bit of shock - she'd fully expected *she* would be the one heading to the meeting with the 'boss', so May's setting all this in motion and taking that meeting herself was not only unexpected, but leaves the junior agent slightly off her game. Expecially as until the data comes up on the tablet may thrust at her, Skye has *no* clue where she's heading or what to expect.<br><br>All she can really hope for is May's information isn't wrong, and the meeting on May's part doesn't go south faster than she and the quinjet team can find Clint.<br><br>"Here," she tells the pilot, giving him the co-ordinates. "Who do we have?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>When the message came through on her phone, Natasha walked away from the stake-out she was on. It was left in the hands of other agents. She made a stop at one of hte many caches she kept hidden around the city and loaded up before sending in the radio call.<br><br>"Black Widow reporting. Pick me up on the top of the parking garage on 49th." It wasn't a request really although she sounded utterly calm. <br><br>When the Quinjet arrived, if the pilot didn't just ignore her request, she would be standing there in her work clothes. Her usual weapons were in place but she also had a sniper rifle slung across her back. Just in case. She might not need it but if necessary, she was prepared.<br><br>She wasn't chatty, wasn't talkative. Somber. Serious. Those that know her best? Deadly.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>The pilot inputs the coordinates. <br><br>"Short hop, we can be there in under fifteen," he reports, already finishing up pre-flight. <br><br>The second question, has him checking his screen. "Looks like everyone is thirty minutes out, we could pull a tactical team, but-"<br><br>Widow's call came through.<br><br>"And we have Black Widow... Should we pick her up?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>Skye gives the man a 'you have to be kidding me' look. and while her first instinct is to snark and tell the man something like 'No. How about we just leave her there' she manages to gather the self control to nod.<br><br>"Affirmative."<br><br>And her relief is palpable. If she were going to hand pick a team to go on this little mission, May and Nat would top the list - and May was otherwise occupied doing her own part in the 'rescue'. Given the window she has before it's likely May is discovered to not be Skye, the young woman adds, "And negative on the tactical. We'll work with what we've got." Then settles into gearing up as a means of waiting.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>The man smirks at the look. "Dumb question," he gets the quinjet in the air and heading towards Nat's coordinates. Activating stealth mode, for flight over the city, that doesn't do much to hide the jet wash as the plane hovers over the parkade a few minutes later, stirring up a huricane of old drink cups and discarded news paper and setting off a couple of car alarms. <br><br>The ramp opens a few feet above the ground for Nat to enter, appearing out of the shimmering outline of the jet.<br><br>Onboard, as Skye gets ready her phone rings; the name Jin Xu, from a Gotham exchange shows up on the display.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>As the ramp opens, Natasha leaps the couple of feet to get inside. She walks toward the jump seats and settles in, giving naught but a terse nod in Skye's direction. She doesn't check her weapons, having done that when she picked them up on her way to the garage.<br><br>As the phone goes off, she glances over at Skye with an upraised brow.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>Skye's not geared to the extent Nat is - no sniper rifle, for example but that's okay, Nat's the better shot (though Skye is more than passable nowadays). She's grabbed standard issue.<br><br>But when the phone ringer goes off, she freezes, staring at the thing. The name on the faceplate is unfamiliar, and Skye shrugs at Nat. "I have no clue?"<br><br>She thinks about not answering it, until she remembers it's a phonecall, not a video call, and while she's supposed to be in Madripoor, the person on the other end won't know she isn't there.<br><br>"Should I answer?"<br><br>Even as her brain supplies the answer: Of course, dummy.<br><br>Holding up a hand - unecessarily - Skye answers, flipping the call to speaker. "Who is this?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>"Hello, Keyboard?" Clint's voice says over the phone. "Probably don't have long, if you're still out don't come home, go to the Trisk, the Neon Dragons got me, I don't know where I am except the building is brick construction with boarded up windows. I think they carried me up three flights of stairs too, probably wood by the sound of them. I think someone's crying in the next room." <br><br>There's noise in the background, a door being opened. <br><br>"Damn it, hold on, leaving the line open, love you, find me Keyboard." <br><br>There's the sound of plastic sliding on concrete then a soft thump. A door opens and then the sounds of people fighting, Chinese cursing, and then a gunshot and muffled screams of fear and surprise. <br><br>Then Clint's voice; distant: "Whoa, whoa, okay everybody relax. We're good. Getting on my knees. Let the lady go." <br><br>There's another pause and the sound of movement. <br><br>Then Clint speaks up, "Hey there short stuff. Let me guess my kidnapping is being sponsored by the Lollipop Guild?" <br><br>Then the muffled sound of flesh hitting flesh, hard. <br><br>A voice says, "He better be alive," it was the same one that called with the instructions to find the meet.. <br><br>More movement. "Good, then you, pick him up, Zheng, Jin," he switches to Chinese. "Burn this place, it's time to go."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>Skye mutes the call, and gives Nat a questioning look. "What next?"<br><br>She's not only got no clue who this Jian Yu is, but now it sounds like some other person has been caught up in the kidnapping as well - at least that's the takeaway she has from 'let the lady go'.<br><br>"You've done this before. I haven't."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>Natasha is already tapping her commlink, speaking low. "SHIELD see if you can trace the call coming into Agent Johnson's phone. We need to triangulate and see if the location is near the original meet location."<br><br>She looks at Skye. "Keep the line open as long as possible. Everything we hear is a clue. We know there are at least two captives. Female hostage they are using to keep Clint in line. Male suspect with at least two accomplises, going by instructions. We have the description from Clint and can see if it matches the location where you were supposed to rendezvous."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>The line stays open, there's the muffled sound of movement and more talking. This time shifting to English. <br><br>"Take the woman with us, but the rest leave them here."<br><br>There's a moment of hesitation.<br><br>The voice says again, "Do it."<br><br>---<br><br>Waiting for a pause from the phone. "We heading to the same spot as before," he says getting the Quinjet in the air again.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>Skye dutifully keeps the line open on the phone even after it's ascertained that a location has been triangulated, and they're heading to their initial destination.<br><br>"Fuck," she murmurs, and then is glad the phone is muted. "They're moving. How fast can we get there?"<br><br>Because of course the phone Clint called on is under a bed or in a corner or somewhere that wasn't going to be taken with them, and if they didn't make it to the site before they hauled ass out of there, they were going to lose all opportunity to rescue Clint.<br><br>"We ran into this gang in Hong Kong. We stopped a shakedown in a market district. They were all wearing these masks."<br><br>She nods to the mask her neighbour had thrust into her hands back at their house, tossed aside while Skye had geared up and then answered her phone. "We thought they had Hand connections, but I don't for certain. Karl's the one - the Benefactor - he's the one who's been trying to blackmail me into meeting with him." But it's only conjecture he's involved. She really doesn't know. Although perhaps Nat will recognize the mask.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>"They are going to burn down the site," Natasha says with a frown. "With additional captives inside." She taps the commlink again. "We will need emergency crews on standby including fire personnel. No sirens and do not have them within two blocks of the location until we give the order. If an alarm comes in for a fire anywhere in the city, particularly if it is near our target, let us know immediately."<br><br>She takes the mask from Skye, looking at it closely. "Triad. Middle level. Stronghold is Gotham city State side, but they are based out of Hong Kong." She sets the mask back down, looking to Skye. "If they have already moved him from Chinatown, they likely will be heading for the China basin ports. See if you can get us some satellite images to see if he's been brought into the open to transfer to a vehicle of some kind?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>The pilot answers, "Well, if we don't like the neighbours, five minutes."<br><br>His previous estimate was based on not rattling windows through downtown New York and Gotham. Though he doesn't seem too put off by the idea of doing it. In fact, he seems excited.<br><br>Emergency services are easy to raise, and have ready to respond. And the alarms come quickly, people reporting fire coming from a shop in the area of Chinatown they were looking at.<br><br>They know where they were, now they just had to head them off on where they're going.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>Skye lets May handle the logistics of how much they like the neighbours. She's hoped that the 'burn the place' was figurative, but it seems she's wrong and now that a literal event is imminent, she makes fast work with May's tablet to tap into the various sources at her disposal - cheerfully using the non-SHIELD satelittes that Oracle had set her (and SHIELD - though it was a closely guarded secret) months ago, and setting tracking in place.<br><br>"I've got three fans headed for the ports. Just like you said. I can keep eyes on them, and off of SHIELD radar in case they're looking."<br><br>She also tabs out a program to alert to any emergency response vehicles in the general area. "Send a team in to the burn site, and we tackle the port?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>"Exactly," Natasha says to Skye's allocation of manpower. Now that they have eyes in the sky, they will be able to get to their target quickly. "Once we get there, we need to quiet things down and go stealth until they get in the open. If possible, drop me on a rooftop nearby and I can try to get in a shot to get whoever is holding Clint."<br><br>She glances at the pilot. "The neighbors play their music too loud every night so we hate them. Light 'em up."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>The vans make it easy to follow them by satellite, to them, traffic laws are just a suggestion.<br><br>Though hard to throw stones when your jet is flying invisibly and at treetop level through one of the biggest cities in the world. <br><br>Windows are rattled, car alarms and dogs sound off along their route until their nearing the China basin docks, then the pilot takes them wide over the Hudson some they're coming at them from over the water. <br><br>As the vans come to a halt near a freighter. The doors open and men in black suits with those neon masks come out, armed with guns and melee weapons, fanning out as, the doors to the middle van open and a stocky man begins hauling Clint out. <br><br>As for vantage point there's plenty of warehouses and stacks of cargo containers to choose from.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>"Those cargo containers. Drop me there." Natasha is on her feet heading toward the rear ramp. "Go over at an angle they won't see. Open the doors and I'll drop behind then gain the vantage point."<br><br>She glances at Skye. "I assume you brought some weapons for him as well." She considers a moment. "I'll do what I can to clear the immediate area around him. We want a few of them alive for questioning." She sounds rather irritated at that reality. "Once there is a space around him or he's clear, join him on the ground and then you two meet the Quinjet at a rendezvous nearby. We need to find this woman they are holding too."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>"Weapons for Clint. Gotcha." Totally an oversight on Skye's part - but there are more than enough to go around. It's just a matter of grabbing some up before the drop. As for the rest, she nods. "Sounds like a plan."<br><br>As to the other, "I'm not sure if she's in the same vehicle as he is. I'd have split them up. Keep him guessing if she's safe or not. Plus split their losses should anything happen." All which means they'll have to play this a little more safely than if it were just Clint they had to extricate.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>The pilot puts the Quinjet in position, it's back pointed at the cargo containers as the ramp lowers. <br><br>At the vans, the stalky guy, peforms a miracle, lifting all 6'3" inches of Clint out of the van like he's a rag doll. At the lead van, a bald headed Dragon gets out, along with two other men and a woman. The woman struggles as one of the men hold a gun to her head. <br><br>They start moving her towards the ship, making sure they're in Clint's line of sight. <br><br>The other men are still in defensive positions, just in case, well, people are planning what Skye and Nat are planning.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>Skye's perch is stop a cargo bin, with a fairly decent view of the goings on - Nat is ... well, off a ways, and not so close, but she's got the sniper rifle.<br><br>"I've eyes on the woman. Clint looks to be conscious, but immobile." They could fix that. And she's thinking what Nat is thinking - the one with the gun to the woman's head goes. Unless he's the leader, in which case.. he doesn't need kneecaps. They're pretty expendable.<br><br>"We don't want them getting to the boat. Shall we?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>As the ramp is lowered, Natasha jumps to the cargo containers. Her movement is blocked by the stealth mode so she manages to get flat and crawl on her belly to the edge of the container. She had moved the sniper rifle off her back in the process and already has it held at the ready.<br><br>"Bozhe moi. That guy picked up Clint like he weighs nothing. Possible meta so be careful when you get down there. I can't chance if he might be bullet resistant so going to ICER rounds." <br><br>She keeps her voice low but she settles in with her eye to the scope, making sure it is not going to reflect any light when she takes the lens cover off. Wouldn't do to alert the targets that they are being scoped. "Do we know which one is the leader yet? Were we able to get sound on him?" <br><br>She lines up her first shot on the guy with the female hostage.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>Skye had thought, for a brief heartbeat of a second, when Clint had been hoisted out of the vehicle, similar thoughts to Nat's warning. Worse, she'd thought perhaps it was her dad - but the framing was all wrong. Not the right build. Not the right anything, really, but the strength, and honestly, there were a lot of folks on and off the index with superhuman strength.<br><br>Still the warning didn't go unheeded.<br><br>"Negative on the leader yet." She wasn't sure if she was disappointed about the ICER comment or not. On the one hand.. was she really someone who killed other people. On the other.. Clint. But it was Nat's call, and likely the wiser choice.<br><br>"If you've got the woman, you want one less support staff there, or?"<br><br>No, she really didn't want to be taking down support staff. She wanted to thwack big and ugly carrying Clint.. However, they were still supposed to be the good guys, and one less person on the woman, willing to drag her onto that boat to use as leverage, the better. They could rescue Clint off the boat as easily as the ground. Leverage, however was a lot harder to work around.<br><br>"Your call."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>Through Nat's scope she can see the woman against her captor, he raises up his pistol and whips her across the face with it, raising a bloody bruise on her cheek. She stops struggling and he keeps dragging her towards the boat.<br><br>Around him the other men move. The bald headed man strides purposefully towards the gangplank of the boat, the other man coming from the first van keeps close to the man with the gun, giving the woman a quick and brutal kick to go with the pistol whipping.<br><br>At the second van Clint lets the second man heave him over his shoulder to caveman carry him to the boat. His hands and feet are tied, but those watching the lift, might catch Clint's hand dip into the man's pocket for a heartbeat. Sooner or later these guys will start learning to keep a better eye on their gear near a carny. <br><br>The other three men from the second van, spread out defensively, joining the four from the third van. <br><br>A gust of jetwash, blows a news paper up into the face of one of the men from the third van.<br><br>He curses loudly in Chinese, and glances around, weapon raised glancing around for the source of the sudden gust of wind.<br><br>Hey, it's Gotham, you don't survive long without being paranoid.<br><br>The pilot comes over the radio. "Guys thinking they're close to being on to me. Whatcha want me to do?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>"I don't care if he is the leader," Natasha says when the man pistol whips the woman. Fortunately for the bad guys, she already loaded up with ICERs. If she was willing to waste the time, she'd actually swap to real ammo.<br><br>"Pilot, prepare to light 'em up with the spotlights. Keep yourself airborne for now. Skye, when the three get hit, you hit the ground and get to Clint. I'll give you cover fire and take out anyone between you and him."<br><br>A moment later, there are three shots so quick and close together, it is almost impossible to tell. The first takes the man who is holding the woman and dared to hit her for no reason other than being a complete and utter douche. The second that kicked her gets the same, an ICER to center mass. <br><br>The third shot hits the man carrying Clint. Her voice is utter calm. "Go."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>That's all the permission Skye needs.<br><br>her perch is abandoned in favour of scurrying under cover towards the man carrying Clint and those surrounding him. She's utter faith Nat is picking off the leftovers behind her, and.. well, she'll find out about the judicious use of retribution against the brutes who hit the woman later. ICERs might not be lethal, but a blow to the chest still hurt more than, say, the arm...<br><br>When she's close enough that she can confront Clint's 'captor', Skye takes down first one nearby lackey,, with careful aim, and takes a shot at a second as she moves into position to confront.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>The guy holding the girl goes down, dragging her with him. A blue ICER dot on his head just above his mask. The second man only has a fraction of a second to turn before he's down too. The ICER round blasting it's toxin through his tie and dress shirt.<br><br>As the rifle's lined up on the meta with Clint, the quinjet throws on it's spots and flicks the engines off silent, rezzing into visibility above the gangsters. "Man, wish Stark left us his music for moments like this," the pilot quips. <br><br>The quinjet's arrival is met with shock from the gangsters, the ones at the rear van open up, their rounds pinging off the hi-tech transport.<br><br>The third shot from the sniper rifle hits the meta and he lurches, pressing a beefy hand against the side of the van but he's still on his feet. Clint uses that moment to heave his body weight to the side and escape his grip. Bending almost in two to cut at the bindings on his feet with whatever he took from the guy's pocket. He's exposed though. <br><br>Then enter Skye, she drops one of the lady gangsters with her first shot, the second guy brought a sword to a gunfight and goes down right after. <br><br>The meta looks up, gives his head a shake and then bullrushes at Skye. Mistaking her for the one who shot him. <br><br>In the front of the column the bald man curses and takes cover behind his van, stopping his course to the ship. While on the ship itself more men come from down below, seeing the Quinjet they shout and one of them runs back below deck, the others draw weapons, firearms and melee, and make for the gangplank.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>There isn't time to change rounds. Natasha sees the meta going for Skye even as all hell is breaking loose. The Quinjet is drawing a lot of the fire at least. But things are getting ugly fast.<br><br>They will need an exit and quickly. But first, that guy needs to be taken down before he lays a hand on Skye or Clint. This time the round is aimed for his head, hopefully the shock enough to scramble his brain despite his resistance levels. For good measure, she fires two more into his body. <br><br>Then she has to start picking off some of the others as they bring up weapons on the pair. A chest shot here. A headshot there. Here a shot, there a shot. <br><br>By now, they may be able to pinpoint her location but she will hold and continue working on picking off targets.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>The meta takes one shot in the head, then two to the body before sagging to his knees in the 'superhero pose' one knee down a hand on the ground to steady himself.<br><br>Clint kicks free of his bonds, and makes quick work of the ones on his hands. He tries to stand, and sags suddenly catching himself against the van. As close as Skye is she can see the angry bruise dominating one side of his face and head. <br><br>Nat's follow up shots drop the remaing two defenders of the middle van, leaving Skye, Clint and the meta in an island of calm. <br><br>The men firing at the quinjet, move to cover, but at a shout from the bald guy peeking out from behind the first van, he points at Nat's position, shouting something in Chinese.<br><br>The men start firing theire the bullets rebounding off the container.<br><br>The men on the ship reach the foot of the gangplank and begin rushing towards the vans.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>Nat's a big girl.. and also not in immediate danger (Skye hopes), but big and ugly is an immediate threat. Skye registers the bruise on Clint's face, but hasn't got time for worrying overmuch about it.<br><br>More to the point, her focus has narrowed down on the brute in the superhero repose, not willing to give him a chance to get up and make things a little more interesting for them. (Okay, a tiny wee bit of her is hoping he tries something, if only to give her a reason to go full out bitch on him, but really, she could use a little less excitement in her life at this moment).<br><br>"You can get up, but I'm going to empty everything I have into you as soon as you twitch an eyebrow. So I wouldn't." Skye's smile is a twisted mockey of its usual self, and left snarky behind long ago. "Who the hell do you work for?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>Even as the shots are pinging off the container around her, Natasha continues to focus on those approaching Skye and Clint. She doesn't take out those firing at her. Each time she fires a round, it is at one of those men approaching the van where her teammates are confronting the meta.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>The meta looks up. Tanned skin, beareded. His eyes widen in recognition. "I work for your father you're supposed to be with him!" he lurches forward reaching for Skye. <br><br>Clint for his part gets his feet under him, in time from one of the quicker men from the boat to get around the end of the one of the vans, the man raises a gun then drops as one of Nat's rounds lays him low. Another follows landing almost on top of the first.<br><br>Clint throws a glance towards the stacks of crates and then rushes at the meta as he comes for Skye. <br><br>The quinjet ducks low, blocking some of the shots aimed at Nat. <br><br>Though the one guy who went below decks on the boat returns, with an RPG over his shoulder, he takes aim at the quinjet, but at a shout from the bald guy turns and aims it at Nat's stack of crates and fires.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>Skye might have done better not knowing that information about her father. Of all the people she expected to be responsible for Clint's kidnapping, Cal wasn't one of them.<br><br>"You lie!" she almost shrieks, living up to her threat of you move an eyebrow I start emptying rounds into you. She's also not being all that careful about body of mass, settling for aiming at the meta period. Head. Chest. It's all about the same.<br><br>Of course, all hell is breaking loose arounds her while she's having this personal moment of crisis.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>More rounds are fired. More men go down. Then the guy comes from below deck. She aims for him as he turns on the Quinjet. Words are yelled and a moment later, the RPG is aiming at her. <br><br>Her voice comes over the comlink and the words she murmurs are in Russian. They also aren't fit for polite company.<br><br>She leaps to her feet and runs the opposite direction down the container as he fires the round. <br><br>The rocket hits the container and the explosion is massive, shaking the area as the metallic box is ripped asunder and whatever is inside was apparently flammable. <br><br>BOOM!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>This meta is made of stern stuff. He keeps going until half the clip is spent before sagging to his knees than being tagged by the rest of the clip. He's not getting back up anytime soon.<br><br>Clint changes course, rushing to Skye. "Hey Keyboard, you okay? We need to get going."<br><br>The BOOM follows, Clint ducks, pulling Skye close on instinct.<br><br>The Neon Dragons duck too. Then, seeing the sniper's nest is down get their heads up and rush forward. <br><br>One of them comes around the first van and into Clint's line of sight. Yanking a spare gun from Skye's belt he fires two quick shots. Dropping him with his second ICER round.<br><br>Yeah, Clint missed, how hard did they hit him?<br><br>"C'mon, keyboard, go time."<br><br>The Neon Dragons are closing in. <br><br>As for the quinjet, the pilot radios, "Lost visual on Romanov. Romanov can you hear me? Agent Johnson, what's my orders?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>It doesn't register at first, that the meta has gone down. Even when it's clear he's not getting back up, she continues to fire until all her rounds are spent and Clint is tugging at her elbow, for her attention, urging her back to reality and informing they have to leave.<br><br>"Huh?" The young woman blinks, and not that he'd know it, it's like a roaring whooosh of sound running through her head as she comes back to awareness of where they are, and what's going on, and that yeah, they *really* do need to get out of here.<br><br>"I.. uh.." The pilot is calling for orders and Skye has no clue where Nat's position might have been in relation to her own anymore. "Where'd you lose eyes on her? Run interference. We gotta get the girl." Because.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>As the smoke begins to clear due to the breeze coming off the water, a small figure in black appears walking away from the wreckage. There is no longer a doubt where Agent Romanov is. She raises her arms up, Glocks in her hands. Rounds are fired off one after the other and Neon Dragons begin to fall.<br><br>These are not ICER rounds.<br><br>"Get on the Quinjet and get out of here. Now," comes the calm voice of Natasha as she begins to run toward the bad guys. If she runs out of rounds, things will get more personal. <br><br>She may have taken offense to someone trying to kill her with a rocket. A little.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>"Back at the cargo containers..." the pilot begins. "Nevermind-" <br><br>Nat appears firing at the Dragons as they come around the van, men dropping. <br><br>Clint for his part, keeps firing, as much to keep people's heads down. <br><br>"Where's the woman?" Clint asks. "We got to get her out of here."<br><br>The answer to that is in Skye's line of sight. The woman is on the ground by the men who'd beat her, clutching her head and trying to curl up so small she'd disappear as the bullets fly all around her. <br><br>The two of the Dragons are rushing her way to grab her. Two more turn the corner and raise their weapons at Clint and Skye. <br><br>Meanwhile on the deck of the ship the guy slots another long RPG round into the launcher, readying to fire at the quinjet as it makes its approach for the extraction.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>Nat's words are rining in Skye's ears even as she sights the woman lying on the ground.<br><br>"Copy that. One pitstop first." That being the woman.<br><br>Small logistical problem: Skye only has non-ICERs on hand now that Clint took her other ICER. Because of course she grabbed up real guns as well - they were on hand, and she wasn't going into this playing games with Clint's life on the line. It's.. going to make things a little trickier for the woman, though she's got presence enough of mind to aim for non-lethal now.<br><br>Clint doesn't have comms. She's got to resort to shouting at him, "There! Closer to the loading platform. Grab her and we're outta here."<br><br>Even if leaving Nat rankles. Alot. Both Clint and the woman are injured and if Skye stays put, so will Clint, and yeah.. much as it rankles, unless things change between grabbing the woman and boarding the quinjet, Skye, for once, is going to listen to orders.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>No way she's letting that happen. RPG guy is the one that has turned Natasha from ICER to real bullets. As he brings up the weapon, she continues her rush toward the others. She leaps into the air, feet slamming into the one man's chest as she rides him down to the ground. <br><br>Two shots are aimed at the man with the RPG. "Get the woman and go!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>Clint turns as the two guys raise their weapons, zat-zat-zat-zat, the distinctive discharge of the ICER rings in Skye's ears as he fires four rounds into them dropping them against the lead van.<br><br>"Okay let's go," he says, firing at the next guys to round the vans covering their route to the woman.<br><br>The two dragons running for her, reach her, hauling her up off the ground one of them putting her in front of him while the second one fires off shots at Clint and Skye to cover their reatreat.<br><br>The guy on the ship takes the first shot, weaves on his feet and the second puts him down. The round launches as he falls, skidding across the deck until it slams with BOOM into the wheel house. <br><br>Furious, the bald headed dragon with the neon orange mask, roars lifts his gun and fires at Nat advancing at a run trying to close to hand to hand.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>"Fuuuck," Skye mutters as the bad guys score points by nabbing up the woman and using her as a shield. "We have a problem. Hostage back in play. How do you want us to proceed?"<br><br>She can, however, shoot the second guy. It's gonna hurt.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>"Shot between the eyes. Don't miss." Then Natasha has to fall silent as she closes that distance with the lead Dragon. Her left shoulder jerks back once as she continues to run. When she is within range, the Glocks are holstered. <br><br>She leaps into the air, trying to lock her legs around his neck then using her body weight to force him to fall, one of her signature moves.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>The guy simply drops his weapon as Nat closes in, he ducks as she leaps, then rising up tries to knock her out of the air with a spin kick. <br><br>The second gunman by the woman goes down, his white shirt turning red with blood. He's still alive though and as he tries to sit up Clint hits him with his ICER, then turns to drop one more guy trying to flank them.<br><br>"Skye," he says with the full gravity of what he's asking in his tone. "You'll have to take the shot. I'm going to miss."<br><br>It was a hard admission and an even harder request.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>Skye would have gladly let Clint take the shot. As it was, she knew she'd hit the second gunman because he was bleeding all over. The shot Nat wanted her to take was considerably more serious and permanent.<br><br>It was that, or they got the woman, and all things considered, while they weren't going to let one of their own be taken if they could help it, once the woman was a hostage in play, the focus of the mission had already shifted to rescuing her.<br><br>This really wasn't an option.<br><br>Skye nods at Clint, knowing how hard it was for him, and equally aware of the level of trust and responsibility that had just landed on her. Thankfully, she'd been practicing at the range, and on the training drills. There was a reason why the head was an included target and earned points.<br><br>Sometimes there was a no-win scenario, and you had to go with drastic. And.. her archery practice hadn't hurt any either. She'd learned a lot about aim and focus, and centering herself during that. Such that when it came down to it, Skye was pretty sure she could make the shot.<br><br>Carefully, taking the extra second or two she needs - because she only gets one chance in this - Skye aims for the 'right between the eyes', steadies her breath, and as she exhales, slowly squeezes the trigger.<br><br>...You only get one shot. Boom. Headshot.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>As the man ducks out of the way, Natasha is already spinning her body around in the air. He kicks even as she lands. Her arm comes up for the block, his shin slamming into the wristband she wears. <br><br>She fires a punch at his face, to force him to dodge or take the blow. Then she is spinning, coming around in a roundhouse kick but she isn't expecting it to land. He's good enough he can avoid.<br><br>Only, it wasn't the strike that was the problem for him.<br><br>She fired her wristbands, the Widow's Bite electricity arcing out to take the man down. The charge wasn't set to kill but it was enough it should knock him out.<br><br>They will have their man for questioning if he isn't shock resistant.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>There's a moment where the masked man sees the shot coming, his dark eyes widen then a second later go blank as he falls away, leaving the woman splattered in his blood but alive. His weapon clattering on the ground. <br><br>Clint grips Skye's shoulder, "Get back to the quinjet, I'll get her." Then he's moving, snapping off a couple of shots for covering fire as he rushes towards the woman. <br><br>"Your safe. Everything not bad," he says clawing desperately at the snippets of Chinese he learned on his vacation.<br><br>The leader grunts as his kick is blocked, trying to counter which leaves him open for the punch. It lands, jolting his head back, but he's still quick enough to dodge the roundhouse. <br><br>There's a feral smile as the kick sails clear past him. It doesn't last long. The sting hits him full in the chest, sending him to the ground in convulsions. <br><br>"We're good for evac here," the pilot says over comms.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>If Skye had been caught in the moment before, acting without awareness, emptying her ICER into the meta, now she was in something of minor shock.<br><br>One minute the guy was standing? The next, he was dead on the ground, and there was no avoiding who was responsible for that.<br><br>Almost on autopilot, Skye nods to Clint and makes to the rendesvous with the quinjet, providing what covering fire she may.. when she remembers it, belatedly.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>"Bring it down," Natasha says as she walks over to the fallen Dragon. She grabs him under the arms and begins to drag him toward the Quinjet. Leaving him there will just lead to him escaping. She needs him for information.<br><br>As the Quinjet comes in, she will do her best to get him dragged up the ramp and inside.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>The remaining Dragons are sticking to the vans. Their prospects are grim. Most of their men are down, their boat is on fire, and sirens seem to be drawing closer. They're still firing, but the tide's turned and it's to keep the SHIELD agents for talking aim. <br><br>Skye gets to the quinjet first, the pilot looks back, "Good shooting," the pilot remarks. "Strap in."<br><br>Clint's next, he ushers the woman into the jet, then waits crouched at the bottom of the ramp taking shots at the guys hiding behind the vans, covering Nat. <br><br>For someone Nat's height, the tall skinny leader would be a challenge to carry, if they weren't Nat. The Soviet enhancements though make all the difference and he's an easy lift and carry back to the jet. <br><br>Two of the Dragons find some courage before she reaches the jet. Rushing from cover to recapture their boss, but Clint's cover fire sends them to the ground. His ICER clicks empty.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:'''<br>The pilot gets an absent nod, complete with a wan smile, "Uh, thanks." All the while thinking: No it wasn't! A man is dead. How is that a good shooting? I killed a man. I. Killed. A Man.<br><br>Telling herself it was necessary didn't help much.<br><br>She straps herself in, and waits anxiously for the other two, their rescued hostage, and the leader taken prisoner. All the while mulling over in her head not only the killing, but that this is her father's fault and work.<br><br>Much as Skye had always wanted parents and a family, she was beginning to think the whole thing might be a little overrated in her case, and leaning towards she wished she'd never found out about them.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:93|Natasha Romanova (93)}} has posed:'''<br>Once she drags the man on board, Natasha quickly binds his hands and feet. She doesn't bother strapping him into a jumpseat though. If he gets bounced around a bit in the flight, she really doesn't care.<br><br>She looks at Clint but says nothing, just giving him a once over before she moves toward the front of the craft. On the way she pauses, glancing at Skye. "They would've taken her and killed her. If she was lucky, it would've been fast. Most likely, it wouldn't. Think of that instead of what is likely going through your head right now." <br><br>Then she walks up to the front of the Quinjet, taking a seat next to the pilot. It will allow the pair to have some time to themselves, if one didn't count gangster and former hostage.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:'''<br>Clint hits the button to raise the ramp once Nat is inside. The pilot gets them in the air and engages the cloak.<br><br>Clint for his part helps the hostage get buckled in before he slumps into a seat beside Skye and buckles himself in.<br><br>Nat's look gets a nod, that speaks volumes, thank you, glad you came, I'll be fine, all of it's packed into one single little tilt of his head. Clint'll live, may just not be happy about it. The Dragons took him wearing only his sweat pants, so the bruises up and down his chest and sides are visible. He got a hell of a kicking and that big bruise on the side of his head suggests that meta packs a hell of a punch. <br><br>He puts a hand on Skye's. There's no words there either, just the lacing of his fingers with hers and a squeeze to tell her he was there.<br><br>In the cockpit, the pilot looks back as Nat joins him, "ETA fifteen minutes, Agent-" his eyes fall on her shoulder, where her uniform is damp and dark. His eyes jerk from the wound to her. She hadn't mentioned it, and he wasn't going to piss off the Widow. "Need something for that?" he asks quietly turning his head back towards the windscreen.<br> <br>
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