~Broken Family~

Queen of Last Minute Decisions

Harley watched the mustached guard collapse to his knees, a smoldering patch of crispiness burning on his chest. With a squeal, his partner raised his gun and started firing on them, but he was soon down as well.

"You killed them!" he blurted. "Tony! You're only supposed to knock them out!"

"Really?" Tony sounded amused as he dropped a quivering Clay back to the floor and pretended to blow the smoke off his blaster. "If we knocked them out, they would have time to call for help when they woke up. And quit sniveling." He gave Clay a kick.

"That's why we're going to be fast," Clay said after brushing himself off. "We can't kill any more HYDRA agents because then they'll start seeking revenge. I think quietly stealing Gwen away is enough."

"Me too," Harley piped up from the back. A couple of agents shushed him.

Now he wasn't sure why he had wanted to come. Sure, he could rescue Gwen and all, but why risk his life for hers after she'd said all those hurtful things to him? Why bother saving her if she was just going to turn away and not even care? She was the one to dump him, the one who claimed Tony wasn't coming to rescue them because he didn't think Harley was his 'real' son. And while deep down Harley knew it was true, that didn't mean Gwen had to go around saying it like a slap to his face. She didn't have the right to do that, just like she claimed he didn't have the right to tell Clay about her identity.

If we get out of this, he decided, I'm not going to go crawling back to Gwen like some needy coward. I don't need her anymore. I'm going to wait until she comes crawling back to me. She'd better have a good apology.

***

The rescue itself was quite unremarkable. Honestly, Harley had been expecting more intensity, but it was kind of anticlimactic. It was the getaway that got interesting.

They found Gwen's room right where Clay had said it was, the girl herself lying on a table. The room was deserted. It should have raised a red flag, but no one seemed to notice.

"Gwen!" Harley shouted, shoving his way into the room and ignoring Tony's protests. She was sickly pallid, a thin layer of sweat coating her skin. Her breath was shallow and rapid.

"What did they do to her?" Tony demanded. Harley opened his mouth to answer before realizing he was asking Clay.

"I'm not sure," Clay admitted as one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents took Gwen from a reluctant Harley's arms. "I wasn't involved in all this very much, I was only told to bring her in."

Harley pointed to a syringe lying on the table, which was filled with a bright green liquid that seemed to glow. It looked like alien snot. "It doesn't look like they did much."

Tony held the syringe up to his helmet and had FRIDAY take a picture. "Send that to Happy," he said, pocketing it. "I'm gonna bring this back to the compound. Do some research on it."

"Oh, good idea!" Harley exclaimed. Tony rolled his eyes and they crept out into the hallway.

Stupid of them for thinking they could just waltz out. As soon as they turned a corner, they were surrounded.

"Freeze!" a young woman shouted, raising a gun and cocking it. The dozens, maybe four dozens of soldiers behind her and Harley did the same.

They were trapped.

"Ellie!" Clay suddenly shouted, stepping forwards. A look of realization, panic, and then anger flashed across her face.

"What are you doing here?" she growled, taking a hesitant step back. "We were told Iron Man had taken you out in the park."