ROMANOGERS: PAST TO PRESENT

Chapter Thirty Seven

Clint's POV

"Clint! Damn it wake up! Clint" I could hear someone shouting over the thunderous roar of jet engines. For the life of me I couldn't comprehend what was happening. There had been yelling, and an explosion. Lurching, and crunching, lots of tossing and turning. I tried to open my eyes but every ounce of my body was screaming at me not to. My muscles ached painfully and it hurt to breath. Slowly my eyelids peeled open and painful streams of fading light stabbed at my eyes. The world swirled in color before my gaze rested on the panicked face of Hope. A brief flash of relief overcame her features but quickly disappeared.

Groaning I slowly looked around to see that I was still strapped into my plane. Heat pressed against my skin as I realized it was on fire. Fumbling I searched through bleary vision until I located the fastener. Undoing the straps I collapsed onto the snow covered ground crying out in pain. My right arm felt like it was on fire and upon further notice I realized it was burned and boosted with shrapnel in the bubbly flesh. Firm hands jerked me to my feet andi turned to see our ally Jerry his dark skin in painful contrast with the snow. Whizzing sounded near by as a plane sweeper low and the snow erupted where bullets smacked the ground. Glancing around I noticed my young co pilot watching in terror.

"Come on!" Hope yelled over the ruckus. Jerry grabbed the little girl slinging her onto his back. Together we sprinted through the snow to the best of our ability as bullets threatened to hit us. The city was close, we could make it, but what would we do once we got there? Knocking an arrow I aimed at a plane as it passes by. The arrow smashed the windshield and impaled the pilot. Shield planes were zipping across the sky opening fire in the enemy. A full aerial war was taking place and we were caught right in the middle of it all. Realizing the true danger I picked up the pace hardly noticing my throbbing arm. My breath came out in a misty cloud as we struggled forward. Not far from our right a plane came hurtling to the ground before exploding. Shrapnel shot everywhere coming scathingly close.

"Let's go!" Taking the lead I lead the charge. Jerry was struggling to get moving and with each second we tempted fate with our lives. Wheeling around I fired again taking someone off of a shield jet's tail. With further notice I realized who was inside of it. Maria was navigating the skies with incredible skill. She caught my gaze and her face broke into a huge grin. Smiling she spoke into her headset.

"Yeah!" I hollered as she went flying by. With a rush of new adrenaline we continued the race to the city. It wasn't long before the first burning building came in sight. The streets were littered with rubble and corpses, sights of pure Gore greeted us. The young girl whom I had taken a liking to whimpered. "We need to get her to SHIELD."

Hope nodded shifting form and fluttering up to get a higher view of the situation. Seconds later she was leading us down the streets zig sagging, and making a path free of conflict. Turning another corner I spotted a temporary bunker. Shield agents were armed and waiting in front. Sprinting to the best of my ability we practically threw ourselves into their ranks. Far away I could hear explosions but what was more horrifying was the roar of Hulk. It sent chills down my spine. We weren't in the clear yet.

"Get us inside now! Patch us to Fury!" Hope ordered as two guards led us into a crumbling building. Inside portable computers were set up and agents were talking frantically into headsets. The atmosphere was somehow a controlled panic. The tension was there yet no one seemed to be particularly worried. Bounding up a flight of stairs we came to the second floor of the building where a familiar face waited for us.

"Scott!" Hope cried running forward. He startled turning around as Hope tackled him in an embrace. His face was one of disbelief.

"What? How?" He laughed ecstatically before kissing her directly. His bewildered eyes then landed on me. "How did you guys get here? What happened? No, what is going on? No,..."