Chapter Text
Ten, they had sent ten guys. The group of bulky men in dark clothing had forced you and your teenage brother into the damp New York ally. They hadn’t told you their intent, but you could guess. The flash drive you were sure they wanted sat in the pocket of your jeans. You fingered it, feeling the warm plastic in your hand. On it contained files from the bank you were working at as a computer security consultant. Files that were the proof you needed to prove the bank had been embezzling money from its customers.
Cool metal met your other hand as you were backed into the chain-link fence that split the ally. It protested to you moving any father with a metallic jangle. Your brother Jamie stood beside you. The serious set of his mouth and eyes looked mismatched with his freckled cheeks and curly dark hair.
"Just give us the files and no one has to get hurt.” One of the men threatened. You recognized him from the bank. His lean body was more intimidating to you than the others. There was a difference between big and scary and being trained. This man was the latter. You could tell in the way he carried himself and the steel in his voice. The promise of safety didn’t mean anything either. It never did in these kinds of situations. No matter what you did they planned on leaving the two of you dead in the ally.
You looked at them with a smirk on your lips and defiance in your eyes, “We could say the same thing.” Some of the men leered, others all out laughed, and you intimidated none of them. You could understand why. A young woman and her teenage brother didn't seem threatening. Maybe if the two of you had your S.H.I.E.L.D uniforms on you would get more respect.
After you discovered Jamie had some type of special ability you reached out to a hacker that was working with S.H.I.E.L.D. That was about three years ago. Almost two years ago Phil Coulson recommended that Jamie go to New York City to train with a group of powered kids. You followed, your role as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent taking the back burner. Even though raising Jamie had become the center of your life you still found yourself getting in trouble now and then.
"Ready for this Jamie?" you whispered as you readied yourself for a fight. Jamie let out an amused huff, also adjusting his stance and raising his fists. It was time to see if those years of S.H.I.E.L.D. training were worth anything.
The men came at you in waves. A tactical error on their part. If they had just come at you all at once they would have over powered you and that would be the end of that. Instead one man came at you, and another came at Jamie. Your training kicked in as you dodged at lashed out at your attacker. You kicked at him and he spun away, stepping to the side and delivering a blow to your back. You stumbled forward, but blocked his next assault. It was only a few seconds when your brother shouted "One!" His shout was accompanied by the thump of a man falling to the ground. You were busy with a guy who actually knew what he was doing, matching you punch for punch.
"You think you could call for some back up?" You ask Jamie as he knocked another assailant to the ground. Though you were fairly certain the two of you could handle this yourself, some help from the kids on Jamie’s team would have been helpful.
"I didn't bring my coms." he quickly replied ducking under a pipe that had been swung at his head. Your gaze quickly flashed to Jamie’s wrist. The watch-like communicator that usually sat there was missing.
"What?" you asked, your voice filled with anger. You finally kicked the man you were sparring with to the ground.
"If I had known that 'going to the movies' was a euphemism for 'going halfway across town and breaking into my old job to steal information' I would have come a bit more prepared." he snapped, punching a man in the face, knocking another grunt down. "And," he added, "That’s three guys down. I'm winning."
"They're going easy on you.” You huffed, two men now coming at you, “plus you have an advantage."
It was hard for you to watch Jamie fight since you were occupied with your own thugs, but you knew that he was using his ability to block his attacker’s blows. That was Jamie’s power, a blue light that could shield him from any physical attack. Small bursts of blue light came between Jamie and his attackers' punches. The light blocked his opponent's hits, opening them up for another attack. Jamie took it, punching the man in the gut making him double over, only for Jamie to deliver a kick to the face. "That's four."
You also knock another of the goons out, watching as the four remaining attackers eyed the two of you carefully. Your breath came out in heavy gasps and your fists were still clenched. Jamie also looked tired, but his gaze was still alert as it darted around his surroundings.
The fighting began once again. The men came at you with renewed vigor. You weren't sure if these men were better fighters, or you were just slipping up as you felt the sting of a blade grazing your side. In a flash one of the men grabbed your arm, and delivered a strike with his forearm to your elbow. Your scream ripped through the night air, followed by Jamie shouting your name. The pain of your broken joint sent you to the ground, your limp arm still in the man's grasp. With all the motivation and strength you had left you struggled in his grip until you felt cool metal pressed against your head. The sound of fighting stopped as you saw two men had also subdued Jamie. He was thrashing in their grip, desperately trying to get to you.
"It's okay Jamie." you said, surprisingly calm, trying to work out a plan through the pain. You wracked your mind in desperation, trying to find a solution where the two of you got out of this alive.
"Where are the files?” the man hissed into your ear, pressing the barrel of the gun harder to your head. You didn’t have to look up to know that it was the professional you recognized from the bank.
"You think I have all the files on me now?" You mocked, "I have already sent most of the files I stole to at least three major news organizations. This was just supposed to be the icing on the cake. The files are gone, your boss exposed." This was a lie. All the files you had sat in the flash drive in your pocket. Nor did you plan on giving them to any news organizations. Your plan was to hack into the bank’s website and publish the files there, but you would have to get out of here alive first.
The man that held you opened his mouth to say something as a shadow came up from behind him. He grunted and loosened his grip, his body crumpling to the ground. Jamie used this distraction, lashing out at his subduers with his legs. You let out a whimper as your arm fell back to your side and tucked it close to your body. The men that held Jamie lied on the ground and the last goon turned and ran. A wooden baton shot from the darkness behind you and struck him hard in the back, causing him to crash to the ground.
Jamie ran to you, putting his arm on your shoulder and helping you up. You both turned at the sound of footsteps. A black clad man with a mask over his eyes came out of the shadows. Jamie tensed next to you, ready to fight.
"Let me look at that arm." his voice was gruff as he walked closer to you. Jamie went to step forward but you pushed him back.
"You hit that guy with the gun. And the baton, that was you too." you stated, looking him over with curiosity. He didn't say anything, just gingerly held your wrist and examined your arm.
"It's broken," you explained, "He fractured my elbow." he nodded and turned his attention to your opposite side. Before you could protest he lifted your shirt a fraction to get a better look at the knife wound on your side.
"It's not more than a scrape, you'll be fine,” he observed and let go of your shirt.
"Who are you?" Jamie asked. The man didn't answer.
"Who are you?" he echoed Jamie, "What were they after?"
You shifted, not comfortable in telling this man about your business "I appreciate the help, but we need to go." You answered, walking past him and Jamie following behind.
The man's arm shot out, grabbing your good arm by the wrist in a vice like grip. "What do you plan on doing with those files?" he hissed, "Sell them? You might be just as guilty as those thugs."
You struggled to release your arm, but to no avail. “I’m (y/n) (y/l/n), a programmer who specializes in computer security. I was working at this bank here in Hell's Kitchen. While I was working I started finding some suspicious files that proved the bank was scamming people. That's what I took. I'm going to expose the fraud by hacking the bank's site and publishing the information. That is, as soon as you let me go."
The man seemed to be taking in your story, still holding your arm. His grip loosened and you yanked back your hand and began to walk away again. He turned to you, as if watching you go, "Make sure to get that arm checked out."
You gave him a wave with your good arm, and then draped it over your brother's shoulders. "Let's go home,” you said with a sigh walking away.