Echoes

"Great timing…" Scarlett muttered under her breath sarcastically after the distress call rang over the radio. "Alright everyone, stay calm! Just… don't run each other over, alright?" Scarlett grumbled as people did exactly the opposite of that.

Something was happening in the upper levels of the old theater and it was not good, whatever it was.

Natasha had given the order for evacuation and ever since then hell had broken loose in the back of theater. Cast members were running through the halls for escape, several had stopped to ask Nathan if he was alright. Scarlett had, at first, grabbed Nathan and made a run for it but he'd insisted upon helping his fellow thespians before he could flee to safety. She had mentioned something about his stupid conscience that had incited a laugh despite their situation but had decided to help him regardless.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents had emerged from the crowd attending the play and were hurrying people from the theater as quickly as they could. It was far less organized than one would expect from such a large organization. When it came down to it evacuations really just weren't organized in practice. People were smarter than they were given credit for… evacuation never meant something good was happening. People were also panicky.

Then the theater shook! Scarlett grabbed the wall and crouched low then grabbed Nathan's arm to keep him from falling over. Dust fell from the ceiling as the building quaked. The lights flickered then returned to life but panic erupted all around them.

Scarlett was more than familiar with that sound.

Something had exploded outside the theater.

"Tasha? What's going on up there? Are you all right?" Scarlett stepped away from Nathan who followed after her. There was no response but it wouldn't have mattered, Scarlett wouldn't have heard it.

People were suddenly shouting in fear and running past her. Men and women dressed in black from head to toe, gas masks on their face, marched through the halls, armed and ready for battle. They spread out from left to right through the crowds but in front of them was a man Scarlett recognized.

But just barely.

Scott, but not the Scott she had known, was directing this tiny militia but he himself kept going straight the hallway. Right toward Scarlett and Nathan.

The only thing that hadn't changed were his blue eyes. Not to mention the scar in the middle of his forehead from where Scarlett had shot him. Hair still blond, still short, but messier than it had once been, Scott no longer wore the glasses he'd once relied on. In fact, one of his eyes was completely dull, glazed over, and accompanied by terrible scars that spread all over his face, covered his left ear and spread down his neck. Once relatively thin but tall, Scott was twice the man he had once been, wearing body armor, no weapons slung over his back that Scarlett could see.

"What's wrong, Scarlett? You look like you've seen a ghost." Even his voice was different, slick, slithering, hoarse with damage. Blood was spattered across his face and for the first time in her life, Scarlett could swear that she was frozen in place with fear. Never had she understood that expression, not until now. Scott's laughter echoed throughout the hall.

"You know him?" Nathan awoke her from her panicked state, though not without scaring the hell out of her. She jumped nearly out of her skin, her heart racing in her ears as she immediately held out an arm to make Nathan back up while Scott slowly approached them.

"Know me? Oh, have you not told him about all your exes, then?" Scott snarled, blood dripping down his lips.

"What happened to you?" Scarlett felt the sickness rise in her stomach, the taste of bile in the back of her throat threatening her. Never had she seen anyone look so disgusting, so sickly and still remain standing.

"What happened? You happened, you bitch!" Scott smiled and his teeth were tinted pink, his gums bloodied. He placed a gloved finger to his forehead, mocked the shape of a gun and pulled the trigger. "Don't recognize your own handiwork anymore? Or is that an act too? Do you even remember what it was like to pull the trigger and take a life?" Scarlett stepped back with Nathan as Scott edged closer. His men were spreading through the theater, she could hear fighting. Other S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents were making attempts to intercept but she would have to be on the lookout. There had been eight of them, at least two of them had made their way backstage so she'd have to watch her rear. Her mind ran over the schematics, searching for an escape, at least for Nathan.

"What is he talking about? Scarlett who is this… or what is this…"

"Am I good enough now?" Scott laughed, holding his arms out to his side and gesturing to himself. "Am I strong enough for you now? Does the danger still turn you on? I was never dangerous enough for you, was I? Always the safe choice. Tot so much anymore, am I?"

"Look, I don't know who you are or what you're doing here but I think this is quite enough!" Nathan tried to step around Scarlett who turned and urged him to stop.

"You don't know what you're doing." Scarlett whispered.

"I know you don't deserve to be spoken to like that!"

"I think you're ignoring all the guns walking around us." Scarlett hissed and at once Nathan's eyes widened. He hadn't even noticed that people were carrying guns. It was amazing how oblivious an ordinary person could be.

"Oh, she's leaving you in the dark entirely then, is she?" Scott tilted his head to the side curiously and clicked his tongue. "Maybe because deep down she knows she still belongs to me."

"People don't belong to other people." Nathan was disgusted.

"Enough! I know what you're doing here, I'm not stupid." Scarlett had known that MedCo would be smart enough to realize they would counter their attack but never in a million years had she considered that Scott would be present. He'd never been much of a fighter, skinny, more of a thinker, she thought he would be more behind the scenes with whatever they were planning.

"You aren't? Oh, I know you're not but you are a fool. So smart and yet so… naïve." Scott smirked. "If you come willingly I'll let the pretty boy go unscathed."

"And if you touch me I'll break your hand." Scarlett could hear panic over her radio, Jinx and Mickey were organizing the chaos the best they could. Agents subduing MedCo and vice versa, cries for help.

"Scarlett, what is going on?" Nathan wasn't a stupid man, he could see this was way over his head but it didn't mean he was going running. "I'm not letting them take you anywhere!"

"Nathan, I know you are trying to be sweet but I really, really need you to shut up right now." Scarlett hissed.

"Oh, she doesn't have a choice." Scott stepped closer, close enough to grab. He hissed and made a false start toward her and she backed up in fear. Laughter echoed from his throat but it sounded horrible and gurgling. What had MedCo done to him? "You should let me take her. You're not her type. You'd find out soon enough."

"You're a monster!" Nathan was shaking from head to toe but Scarlett was searching for an exit. They were close to the stage. The curtain was still closed and the set was still up. It could offer them a chance to get to one of the emergency exits on the other side. Scott was trying to distract her, to upset her, but Scarlett wasn't going to let him get into her head. She couldn't afford to be as vulnerable as she'd been feeling lately.

Yes, he had, for a brief moment scared her stiff. But Nathan was there. Nathan needed to get to safety. That kept her focused, kept her stronger than her fear.

"Ah yes, but I wasn't once. She made me into a monster and if you're not careful she'll make you into one too." Scott hissed with delight. "Chances are she's already cheating on you, Richardson."

"What…" Nathan was thrown off by the sound of his name.

"You think she wouldn't do that?"

"Why does he know my name, Scarlett?" Nathan hissed.

"Don't listen to him." Scarlett wished that Nathan had any combat training at all. There were no discreet signals she could throw to tell him of her plan. She was going to start a fire. Scarlett had never liked fire, it was too unpredictable, but it was the best option she had right now.

"He knows who I am!" Nathan grabbed her arm, alarmed.

"He doesn't know? He doesn't know what you are? I bet he doesn't know the trouble you're in either. Tell me, how is it you're not hospitalized yet?" Scott growled, the blood dripping past his lips as he stepped closer. "What is it they're doing to you at S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Rage flashed over his face. Had the poison done this to him? Scarlett noted the changes again. Was what she saw now the result of MedCo's attempts to keep Scott healthy?

She had done this to him. The monster in front of her was of her own creation. She'd tried to kill him, to leave him for dead. She'd even made sure he was dead, she'd infected him with that poison after he'd done the same to her and shot him in the head! It didn't matter that she'd tried to kill him. Fact was, he was alive, and he was a monster. A monster of her making.

This was no time for a panic attack. She had to tell herself over and over again that it was no time to freeze up, to shake, to get sick.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Nathan echoed.

"Don’t tell me!" Scott held up his hand, his grin spreading wide across his face. "Don't. Let me find out as we cut you apart, piece by piece. I'll find out just why you're still standing upright. Peel that pretty skin back layer by layer, piece by piece. Don't worry, you'll be awake. I'll make sure of it."

"That's enough! You won't touch her!" Nathan shouted and made a surprisingly controlled jab at Scott.

"Nathan, damnit!" Scarlett tried to grab him but it was too late. Scott knocked the punch away, grabbed Nathan by his shoulders and threw him against the wall near the stage entrance. Nathan stood up and stumbled but then steadied himself.

"You're a devil, whoever you are! I don't know what happened between you two but it is clear you are despicable! I won't allow you to harm her!"

Scott's smile faded and his lip twitched. A low growl emerged from his throat, unearthly and distorted.

"After everything she put me through you have no say in what happens here." Scott slowly took a step toward Nathan but not far enough from Scarlett that he'd let her out of his sight. "She's mine. Mine! She belongs to me! I earned her! Years of waiting, hoping she'd change! Years of being cheated on! I earned this!"

"You're a madman!" Nathan, much to everyone's surprise, swung again at Scott and struck him hard enough in the face to knock him back. Scott stumbled and wiped the blood that dripped down his lip. His flesh had ripped enough to reveal a few of his teeth hidden beneath his skin.

Scarlett would have to remember to ask Nathan where the hell he'd learned to throw a punch like that. With surprising speed for a monster of his hulking size, Scott jumped at Nathan and grabbed him. Nathan punched at him again but Scott absorbed the blow and the jabs that followed. Then he grabbed Nathan by the throat and lifted him into the air with ease. Nathan choked and swung his legs in an attempt to break free and even pulled at Scott's fingers. He even clawed at his flesh in desperation.

Scott merely laughed. It was haunting and echoed despite the chaos of the theater that was finally emptying out. Scarlett could hear her radio going off but past the buzzing in her ears she couldn't make out the call.

"I've just decided I'll let you watch." Scott squeezed Nathan's neck harder and went to continue taunting. He turned toward Scarlett but Scarlett was no longer there.

She had moved behind Scott, grabbed his free arm and pulled him away. For a brief flicker of a second she'd been afraid that her waning strength from illness would keep her from being able to fight but she seemed to be doing just fine. With a swift tug back and then up she felt the bone snap and crack. Nathan scrambled onto the ground and stumbled away. Scarlett kicked Scott hard in the back, forcing him away before twisting and grabbing Nathan to hold behind her protectively.

Aiming straight at Scott she held the pistol readily, surprised her hands had stopped shaking.

"Is that a gun?" Nathan whispered in awe, but he wasn't letting any of the surprise knock him off of his game. He gasped and rubbed as his throat but stayed upright, prepared to help Scarlett if he had to, even though he had no idea what exactly was happening.

"Don't move." Scarlett clicked the safety off and placed her finger next to the trigger, ready to fire if he took a single step toward her.

"Go ahead and shoot me." Scott stood up straight, his arm twisted unnaturally at his side. For a moment he had gritted his teeth, had felt the pain she'd inflicted but now he acted as though it was nothing at all. "You wouldn't kill me twice, would you?" His laugh echoed through the hall. Scarlett took a step closer and held her free hand behind her to make sure Nathan didn't move with her. "I thought not…"

Scarlett pulled the trigger twice and shot Scott once in the chest and when it struck body armor, shot him higher and to the left where the bullet pierced his flesh. Blood spattered against the wall and he stumbled in place.

"Oh, you bitch…" Scott chuckled and stood upright, his breathing not even ragged. Scarlett glanced again at the bullet hole in his head and then at the fresh wound on his chest. He wasn't dying, not like this. Whatever MedCo had done to bring him back to life after she'd made sure he was dead had made him superhuman. It sounded crazy, hell, it felt crazy even to think it but Scarlett could deal with rationalities and reality later when she wasn't being attacked, when Nathan wasn't in danger behind her. If she couldn't kill him, she could at least disable him.

"Nathan, you've got to go." Scarlett whispered to him as she took a step back, shoving behind her blindly with her other hand.

"Not without you." Nathan argued in return. They didn't have time for this.

"Fine." Scarlett aimed and shot Scott in the foot as he made a step toward her with the growl. Then she shot again but he merely dragged the bloodied foot along behind him with a howl. Before she could fire the gun again he grabbed the smoking hot barrel and twisted her toward him, making to grab for her with his ruined arm. Scarlett twisted her gun free, ducked under his arm, grabbed his wrist and twisted it so she heard another terrible snap.

Pulling his ruined arm away, he twisted low, pulled a knife from where it was strapped to the side of his leg, turned it in his hand and swung at Scarlett. She held up her arms defensively, watching his hands and as he swung she dodged. When he swung again, she blocked his wrist and knocked him back.

"Kill me once shame on me, Scarlett!" Scott shouted as he leapt at her in anger, jabbing the blade toward her. Scarlett twisted out of the way, ducked underneath his arm and then kicked it away as he made for her a second time. Twisting the knife in his hands Scott swung down hard. The blow missed as Scarlett intended and he stumbled downward. Scarlett kicked at his wrist, then turned and fired her gun again at his foot. If she could slow him down their odds for escape would be doubled. Nathan was watching and holding up his fists, making mock jabs left and right, urging Scarlett onward encouragingly.

Howling in rage, Scott ran toward Scarlett with such speed, such anger that she didn't get to aim. Nathan was behind her so Scarlett moved aside and braced her footing but Scott grabbed her and threw her to the ground, back toward him. Twisting in anger, Scott swiped left and right, even with his ruined arm which moved far beyond his control at this point.

"How do you like me now, Scarlett? How? Is this what you wanted?"

"Are you all right?" Nathan helped Scarlett to her feet and she did so then immediately pushed him away. Scott ran at her again.

"You're weak! I can see your strength fading!" He swung the knife toward her and Scarlett grabbed Nathan and pulled him at a run toward the stage. Scott ran headlong into a cart full of props, knocked it over then picked up the cart in his rage, smashed it against the wall and threw it toward Scarlett who dodged it with ease, with Nathan at her heels.

As Scott recovered with a growl, Scarlett aimed the gun toward him and fired her weapon at his shoulder twice but he leapt high, higher than humanly possible, and grabbed onto the catwalk above their heads. The second bullet clattered against the metal, missing its target.

With a slash of his knife, Scott cut the rope on one of the sandbags above and it crashed below, exploding onto the stage but missing Scarlett and Nathan by a long shot. One of the lights hissed as Scott grabbed it and it burned his hand. With a horrible screech it was pulled from the ceiling and thrown below, exploding in a haze of electricity and sparks.

"Come on!" Scarlett grabbed Nathan and pulled him further onto the stage, the curtain was half open. It wasn't ideal, she was a target on the middle of the damn stage literally surrounded by spotlights. So much for starting a distracting fire, she no longer had the chance and would risk only harming herself in the process if she couldn't escape Scott in time. Her shortness of breath was catching up with her but she managed best she could.

"Oh no, not so fast!" Scott grabbed another light fixture, swinging on the catwalk and threw it hard toward Scarlett and Nathan. Scarlett pushed Nathan aside and rolled out of the way as the metal scraped hard against the stage, leaving a terrible tear in the ground as the metal bent and sparked. The stage shook beneath him as Scott leapt with a crash. "This is my show now, Scarlett!"

Arms in front of him, Scott ran toward them as they recovered from their dodge. Scarlett rolled to her feet, shoved Nathan out of Scott's path and then turned and shot Scott in the shoulder, the bullet tore through his flesh and clattered somewhere behind them. His arm swung wildly, busted beyond repair, or at least Scarlett hoped for long enough that it could give her an advantage. It didn't stop him from running toward her, blood splattering all over her as he jumped right on top of her.

They were both knocked to the ground, sliding with Scarlett beneath him. One horrible maimed and bloody hand grabbed at her. She kicked him hard in the stomach but he pinned her leg down with his own and grabbed for her throat.

"You've done enough damage, haven't you? You're coming with me one way or another you bitch! I can't wait to watch you suffer!" Scott squeezed her neck and so she shoved her palm hard against his nose and he was forced to let go. Again she kicked at him and he sat upright and withdrew the knife from his side. Before he could stab at her Scarlett aimed her gun but she never got to pull the trigger.

There was a terrible thwack as a piece of the set was swung hard at Scott, hard enough to knock him off of Scarlett. Scarlett got to her feet and rolled away. Nathan held the prop steady, gripped it tightly in his hands and swung it hard over his head toward Scott again. This time Scott grabbed the prop and ripped it away, tossing it backwards. Nathan's hands stung as they were skinned, the prop pulled with such terrible force that he fell forward onto the ground.

"Shit." Scarlett whispered as she saw Scott lumber toward Nathan. There was gunfire in the theater and she ducked low. It wasn't aimed toward her, but she could see agents in the stands near the halls but she couldn't tell which belonged to MedCo and which belonged to S.H.I.E.L.D. There was no time to think about the secondary threat, right now she had to deal with Scott.

When he reached to grab Nathan who was slowly getting to his feet, Scarlett leapt right onto Scott's back, wrapping her legs around his middle. She placed her arms around his throat and squeezed.

"You should've stayed dead." She hissed in his ear and he coughed and sputtered. Blood dripped onto her jacket, looking sick and oddly coagulated after it sat for a second and dripped. All she could keep thinking was what the hell MedCo had done to him in an attempt to stop the poison in his veins and to make him stronger. Scott spun in place, making mad grabs for Scarlett to try and pull her away. Finally she jumped off of him and placed the gun to the back of his head. "Dodge this."

Before she could pull the trigger he turned with surprising speed and kicked her feet right from underneath her. Scarlett fell to her knees, feeling the impact from the stage all the way up her legs to her hips. Scott turned toward her and she rolled around him and aimed her gun again and fired once more at his lower back. The bullet struck and tore but never came out the other side. Scott arched his back in pain and Scarlett lost her target as he howled. She only had three shots left in her magazine, she wasn't going to waste them on body armor.

Pain ripped through him and for a moment Scarlett thought she had incapacitated him. Scott stood breathing heavily, shaking from head to toe, blood dripping from his arm, his back, his mouth. Then heavy breathing turned into choking and choking became laughter. Picking up the discarded prop Nathan had swung at him, Scott turned and threw it straight toward Scarlett. She rolled out of the way onto her stomach and then leapt to her feet. Nathan was running toward her to try and help her up and so she grabbed his hand and pulled him in the opposite direction toward the other side of the stage instead.

"Oh, we are far from done! You slimy little rat, you thieving, murdering little harlot, we are far from finished! I will tell you when we are done!" Scott got to his feet, grabbed onto the curtain and then jumped back to the catwalk where he scaled it from beneath after them across the stage. With a great leap he swung from the catwalk and landed in front of Scarlett and Nathan, blocking their exit.

Scott grabbed for Scarlett and she shot at his hand and shoved Nathan backwards in one swift motion. Scott grabbed the barrel of her gun, hand bloodied and dripping and pulled her with it. Scarlett let go of the gun, twisted beneath his arm and kicked Scott hard in the stomach. Then she grabbed his arm, twisted it hard again until she heard another horrid cracking of bone and the gun clattered to the ground. Scott howled in pain and lurched for her but Scarlett kicked him in the chest. He stumbled back but she punched him in the jaw, then in the face with her other hand. Her fist ached but didn't break skin beneath her thick gloves. Then she kicked him again and punched right at his shoulder where she could see the bullet hole in his black clothing. He groaned and stumbled back, breathing heavily and hunching over, holding his bloodied shoulder.

"How can you still fight like this?" Scott hissed between haggard laughter and heavy breathing. "How? What are they giving you at S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Scarlett backed slowly away from him, on her guard, trying to listen for the footsteps of more agents around her. Everything was a setup, they would likely be waiting for her at the exit. Scott wasn't bait, he was corralling her like cattle. He wanted to make her angry, make her sloppy and she wasn't going to let it work.

"I forgot just how good you were." Scott straightened his back and rotated his shoulders, staring down at her menacingly. "No wonder they want you so desperately."

Scarlett could feel Nathan staring from her to Scott and back again. She couldn't say anything, it would only be feeding into the bullshit. The only thing that really got on her nerves was that Nathan could hear every word of it, Nathan would have to know the truth after this. She'd done her best to keep him from being involved but even her best had been a failure.

"Nothing to say? Not even a word?"

"Not much for bullshit. Never was." Scarlett finally spoke, but quietly and refused to take her eyes off of Scott. With a scream of anger Scott ran toward her, his feet falling so heavily that the stage shook. Scarlett waited, breathed, counted and when Scott came close enough, flipped out of the way. As he stopped short toward her, she swung at him hard again in the face. When he reached for her she grabbed his arm and swung him so hard around that he flew out of her arms, off of the stage and crashed into the seats in the orchestra pit.

Scarlett stumbled from the momentum, her breathing caught in her throat. It felt stuck there, like she couldn't inhale or exhale and so she coughed. Her chest ached, she saw stars in her vision but still she kept her best eye on the seats where she'd thrown Scott. Even if there was an ambush waiting for her outside of the stage exit she would risk it. Clearing her throat, Scarlett spit something vile to the side and then slid across the stage and retrieved her gun then aimed toward the seats.

As he popped up from between them with a roar of anger and a mighty jump, Scarlett shot him twice in the chest. The bullets crashed against body armor but he fell back between the seats anyway. One quick look around the theater she saw four of the eight MedCo agents who had come in with Scott. That left four uncounted for, probably backstage, but none that she could see were focused on her. They must have had orders to minimize interference between her and Scott or to wait until she exited to take her down.

Scarlett could handle four MedCo agents.

But why weren't they just taking her down? There were more than enough Agents swarming the building, in the confusion they could have had her. MedCo was keeping her busy. Yes, there was likely an ambush or something outside for her, but they wanted her inside the theater. Scott had even seemed desperate to keep her there. Hell, he wasn't even armed. One simple shot to even her leg, her shoulder, anywhere would put her down for the count. They were letting her pump lead into Scott. There was something more going on, something worse. Scarlett wasn't sure what could be worse.

She aimed her weapon as Scott scrambled back to his feet, stumbling in the aisles and having to steady himself on the chairs. He grunted and Scarlett backed up, spotted Nathan who stood ready behind her instead of actually escaping as she had hoped. Now she was grateful for his stubbornness. With a growl, Scott pulled hard at the chair he was leaning on and the metal creaked, groaned and then ripped right off of the floor. As he turned, he threw the chair, it clattered across the stage and Scarlett rolled narrowly out of the way.

Then he threw another and this time he threw it at Nathan. Scarlett ran toward him and jumped, tackling him out of the way just in time. Pulling him to his feet, she dragged him across the stage, behind one of the set pieces.

"You've got to go, you've got to go, cover your face, get out through the front door. Okay?" Scarlett hissed. "Get a cloak or something stupid and pull it over your face and go! Just go!"

"No, I'm not going to leave you here!" Nathan whispered in return, his eyes wide. "That man is crazy! He's going to kill you!"

"You are being used as bait for me, okay? The longer you stick around the more danger I'm in!" Scarlett stomped her foot in frustration. "He knows I will try to protect you!"

"I want to protect you! I don't care what kind of trouble you're in…" Nathan whispered.

"God, this is not the time! I get it, noble, sweet, so very British, now go! You've got to go! I can protect myself but I can't do that if I also have to protect you."

"Fine! Fine." Nathan whispered under his breath. "But you have to promise me you're not going to let this monster catch you."

"I promise, now go!"

A chair crashed through the set piece, splintering it to pieces. Scarlett pulled Nathan out of the way, rolling into plain view. Nathan was cursing, lying face down. Scarlett caught sight of one of the damaged stage lights hanging above and saw Scott walking menacingly toward them. With her last two bullets Scarlett aimed at the stage lighting above, at the already split metal and gritting her teeth she fired. There was a terrible clattering of metal on the first shot and then a groan with the second and at last the lights fell and crashed right on top of Scott, knocking him to the ground.

She ejected the magazine of her gun, shoved it into her belt and then pressed against the earpiece. At once it came to life, she could hear Jinx screaming through it to several other agents receiving orders.

"I know shit is probably crazy out there but I need help!" Scarlett felt her heart pounding practically through the walls of her chest. "It's an ambush. They were waiting for me. This whole thing was never meant to be a real threat on the theater, they were just trying to lure me into their clutches and we fed right into it when we thought we were luring them out!" Scarlett didn't care who answered, she needed someone to know the truth so S.H.I.E.L.D. could react accordingly.

"What?" Jinx's panic was rich in her voice. "There are explosions everywhere, of course it's a credible threat. We have uncovered five different explosive devices all around the theater district, Scarlett…"

"I know! I know, but they did this on purpose. It's all a distraction tactic, Jinx."

"Well, it's working!" Jinx tapped away at her computer and then got up from her station. Scarlett was on her radar, she'd done nothing but keep an eye on her but once there had been an explosion just outside their safe house she had lost sight of her. The NYPD had shown up quickly, they'd helped with evacuations but in the attempts had discovered explosive devices all counting down and so now there was a mass effort to try and disarm them. The media was already spinning this as a terrorist attack, blaming folks in the Middle East for it but the truth was far from it.

"Jinx, I need backup."

"I'll send it when I can." Jinx whispered, her head swimming. "Team Four, what's your status? You are supposed to check in every forty seconds to let me know…"

"Scott is here! Scott is here, Jinx! I need backup!" Scarlett shouted over the earpiece, which made Jinx lean away even though there was no escape from the sound. For a moment Jinx swore she was going to fall over.

"What? What do you mean he's here? He's actually here?" Jinx mouthed and for a moment she thought she was going to have a panic attack. "We aren't prepared for this."

"Well, get prepared! I need backup!" Scarlett was getting angrier by the moment and in the back of her thoughts, Jinx thought she heard fear in her voice. That was right, Scarlett hadn't been well, she had to send her backup, but there weren't many people left. Just then the door opened and Mickey walked through, looking weary, her hair a mess, dirt on her face.

"We're making progress, Jinx. The evacuation is looking good, even if those bombs go off in the worst case scenario there will be minimal cost to innocent life."

"Mickey! Mickey! You handle this, change your signal to Scarlett's!" Jinx threw a radio at Mickey who barely caught it and just in time.

"What?"

"Scott is here, Scott is in the theater and it's all a big setup and we walked right into their hands. I told you I had a bad feeling but no one listened to me! No one ever listens to me! What is the point of having me around if you never listen to me?"

"Calm down, Jinx, grace under pressure remember?"

"Easy for you to say, you aren't trying to explain how to disarm a complex series of explosives that you can't even see." Jinx turned back to the computer. "Do you have this, or not?"

"I have this!" Mickey dropped the radio and changed the frequency on her earpiece. She'd been in charge of the evacuation, she hadn't been listening to the inside of the theater. Every ten minutes she was to scan through frequencies but hadn't heard any sort of panic. Yes, there was the obvious panic, but it was all fairly organized thus far. "Miss Damien?"

"Scott is in the theater and I need a much, much bigger gun if you could bring one!" Scarlett cursed and there was a crash on the radio and a shriek from someone else on Scarlett's end.

"A bigger gun?" Mickey walked outside of the café and then saw a group of Agents arriving, exiting a van and called to them. "You, all of you! With me. Weapons ready, body armor, now! You have fifteen seconds!"

"He's basically eating my ammo, fired a whole clip into the bastard." Scarlett shouted. "Are you coming or not? I'm going to have to get creative if you don't."

"I need half your team!" Jinx leaned out of the doorway and then snapped her fingers. "Found another device. You six, sending you coordinates right now!" Jinx ran back inside, nearly tripping over her own two feet before heading back to the series of computers set up at the far end of the café.

"I'll be there as quick as I can." Mickey nodded and pointed to the six remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents at her disposal, all holding their weapons at the ready and dressed as she had asked. "Scarlett?" There was no response and Mickey nodded her head and then pulled a helmet on to protect herself. "Follow me."

Mickey led the team in through the front doors, one of the only they'd secured with S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents. There were several fights along the way but Mickey led her team at a run, toward the hallway backstage and onto it. They met no resistance along the way, and Mickey was nervous. She hadn't seen or heard from Natasha since she called the evacuation.

"I need to hear you, Scarlett!" Mickey shouted into the earpiece but got nothing in response. She checked her phone for the layout again. A message from Jinx appeared, pinpointing Scarlett's location via the GPS in her earpiece. She was on the stage, there was a lot of erratic movement. Mickey signaled to her six Agents to split up and cover her left and right and she started onto the stage, holding shotgun at the ready. There was a crash on the stage. Only a few of the lights were left, flickering, and the other half were twisted and broken on the ground along with half of the elaborate set. "Scarlett!"

A crash interrupted her second call for Scarlett and Scott came crashing through one of the last upright set pieces. Scarlett was close behind him, running with Nathan at her side. The curtain began to fall from the sides of the stage, billowing as it fell and they narrowly managed to get out of the way of it. Scarlett pushed Nathan aside and turned to face Scott who leapt toward her.

She fell onto her stomach and rolled onto her back as Scott tackled her. But she braced his torso with her feet and then kicked him hard up and over her head before rolling onto her feet and jumping toward Mickey. Scarlett grabbed Nathan again and watched as Mickey's team of six S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents surrounded Scott before he could even get to his feet.

"I unloaded my weapon into this asshole! He's still kicking!" Scarlett reloaded her gun at last, her hands shaking from the adrenaline.

"Stay where you are, Aaronson!" Mickey aimed her shotgun at the ready toward where Scott was now lumbering to his feet. Scarlett backed away slowly, making sure Nathan was close behind her.

Something told her that detaining Scott wasn't going to be that simple.