Girl At War

Little Bomb - 29

"Sorry, I couldn't." she held out her hands, showing her bracelets. Clint got a sympathetic, pained expression.

"Oh, yea. Those."

The momentary confused silence in the little fort was broken by a clinking of metal against concrete. A small ball came bouncing over their barricade, neatly landing in the center of the group. For half a second, they just stared at it. Then Clint yelled,

"Bombs away!"

Wanda used her telekinesis to grab Steve's shield and slam it over the bomb. When it exploded, it rocked the ground they were on. Eloyse had raised a quick barrier around her and the people who were next to her, mainly Clint, Nat, Wanda, and Pietro. The bracelets were loose, so she could hold it.

Dust and debris flew everywhere, despite the fact the bomb had been capped with Steve's shield. When the explosion appeared finished, everyone slowly straightened and looked around. Their cover was gone. The huge concrete slabs that had been protecting them now had huge holes.

"Where's Steve and Bucky?" Clint asked, startled. The two super soldiers were indeed gone. Panicked, Natasha scrambled to her feet. Pietro was shocked. Wanda looked stricken. Clint started off, picking his way towards where they'd been standing. Eloyse followed close behind.

"This is all my fault." she groaned, "If I hadn't left y'all and gotten caught, you would still be fine."

"Maybe, maybe not." Clint replied without looking, "We seem to have a special talent for getting into trouble and fights. And most often, somebody gets hurt, even if it's just a little bit." He dryly informed her. Suddenly he perked up. "There's Barnes." He hurried as well as he could amidst the destruction. Eloyse clambered on top of a chunk of rubble and jumped from cement piece to cement piece, finding that easier. She reached Bucky a moment before Clint. Putting a bar over his head, she was relieved to see he was still plenty alive.

She worked quickly, trying to help before her bracelets tightened again. He had a gash across his chest, quite deep. Eloyse put her hands on it, not quite closing it completely before moving on to his head. He was coming to, trying to sit up. Clint quickly knelt by him, putting a hand on his chest to hold him down. In a confused anger, Bucky slapped the archer with his metal hand. Eloyse quickly slipped her hand behind his head, temporarily disabling the muscle system. Then she went back to what she'd been doing. He had a concussion, but luckily it wasn't too bad. She took a deep breath, biting her bottom lip.

"Hold still, Bucky." she murmured. He stared at her in disgust. Of course, he couldn't move anyway. She kept her hands on either side of his head, her eyes closed. She could "feel" his mind, detecting where it was injured. Swiftly, she righted the injury. Opening her eyes, she saw the pain leave him. He smiled wryly at her. She slightly smiled back. "You'll be able to move in a little bit. I'm going after Steve."

The panic returned to Bucky's eyes, but he didn't say anything. Eloyse could tell the paralysis was already wearing off. She left him there with Clint, who kept his distance from the metal arm. Natasha seemed to have located Steve. She was crouched beside him. He was already wanting to sit up. Eloyse dropped down beside him. She checked his vitals, finding them strong. Despite that, she worried. He had taken the full force of the blast, whereas Bucky had been slightly protected by his metal arm.

She could feel her bracelets tightening, and acted swiftly. She completely healed the small scratch on his cheek and picked the shrapnel from his arm where it was embedded. She was finishing up the last cut when she suddenly jerked back from him with a soft cry. Bowing her head, she rocked back on her heels and crossed her arms.

Concerned, Clint touched her shoulder, but pulled away on contact. "You just shocked me. Is that them?" he asked, shaking his hand. 

Eloyse numbly nodded. She swore softly, but vehemently. Clint raised an eyebrow. "I really, really, REALLY hope we didn't teach you that particular vocabulary." He held up crossed fingers. Eloyse gave a weak laugh, shaking her head no. She staggered to her feet. She had to find the person with the controller, and destroy it. Detestable little machine.

She suddenly turned serious and perked up, despite the recent shocking. "Something's co-"

A blast of color and light crashed into the ground several feet away. Eloyse let out a yell and instantly vanished, the bracelets' effects forgotten. The rest of the group cheered. The rainbow of light vanished, and Thor stood there. The instant they saw him, the team fell silent. He had a murderous expression, and was missing his hammer. His hands clenched and unclenched, sparks flickering from them. He savagely glared around at his teammates, then stalked through them to Steve. Towering over the sitting man, he growled,

"I am NEVER babysitting a child of this planet again!"

With that, he turned on his heel and strode away. Clint stared after him. "What got into him?" he muttered curiously. Eloyse came creeping over a chunk of cement. Her expression was guarded.

"What was that?" she demanded, storming up to Steve. He sighed. 

"The BiFrost." he explained it to her. She listened intently, arms crossed and a dubious expression on her face. Near the end of the explanation, Thor came meandering back. He was no longer angry, having taken out his fury on the dozens of agents that rushed him. He dropped down beside Steve.

"You know, it's mighty useful to have enemies sometimes." he cheerfully commented. Steve slowly nodded.

"Sometimes. Come on, let's go." he stood up. Eloyse stood on tiptoes, barely reaching Steve's ear. Clint's eyes wandered down. She was standing on a cement chunk as well. How tall was she? Steve was quietly agreeing with Eloyse. He waved at his teammates, motioning them to head out. "You guys go ahead. We'll come."

A few minutes later, Eloyse spoke over the comms, asking Tony for night vision goggles. Iron Man dashed off, returning shortly. Instead of handing them to her, her dropped them from fifty feet above her head. She barely caught them.

"Thanks!" She waved, putting them on and heading into the dark building. There was a few minutes of silence on the comms, then Eloyse's voice was heard again. "Hey, guys? I'm seeing double with these goggles. Is that normal?"

Iron Man paused in midair, one hand out to shoot, "Uh... not really. I mean, it could be that your eyes work differently, and so-"

"No, it's not normal!" Clint interuppted, sounding hurried.

"Yea, yea. That's what I was saying." Tony hastily backpedaled. "Just, uh.. don't get hit in the head again."

There was incoherent mumbling from Eloyse. She reappeared from the building, making a beeline for where Steve was fending off three agents. "Where are all these coming from? she grumbled, swinging around with a metal rod. She wacked two agents, but they only staggered back slightly before surging forward.

"May I borrow that?"  Bucky's voice came from behind Eloyse. She handed the rod over. The soldier grabbed it, testing its weight and grinning. Taking it in his metal hand, he spun in circles. When he struck an agent, they went flying. Eloyse watched in appreciation for a minute before skipping over to Steve. She ducked under his shield as it flew past to hit somebody behind her. 

"Steve, I found it."