Vigilance (Avengers)

Before we start, a quick disclaimer: I only own Kira and whatever OC I create, none of the other characters or events known in the Avengers. Enjoy :)

It was just another day in the workforce for Kira Banks: meaning she was now facing a hostage situation with some crazy guy in a black skii mask. He was flanked by at least ten men dressed entirely in black. How cliché. Kira's advantage: only two of them had guns. Easy.

Skii Mask was holding several innocents at gunpoint, demanding that a ransom was payed, or he'd pull the trigger. Yeah, like Kira would let that happen.

"Get your hands out of your damn purse, lady! Unless you'd like your brat there to be the first to eat a bullet!" Skii Mask yelled at a middle-aged woman. The man clicked the safety off of his gun and aimed it at the frightened boy that the woman was holding close to her. He must have been her son and couldn't have been older than 9.

"Where the hell's the money!" Skii Mask yelled crudely at one of his several henchman. He did not move the gun from its aim on the boy.

"It's not 'ere, Boss! What're we gonna do?" another man replied. Skii Mask looked frustrated by this, and slightly nervous. Kira knew that he hadn't actually been planning on killing anyone. Fools like him never did. He tightened his grip on the gun as Kira watched from her perch on one of the rafters of the old, abandoned warehouse they were in. The men had taken random people off of the streets and sent a ransom note to the NYPD. They obviously hadn't done a good job of covering their tracks.

"Well, we'll just have to keep our promise." Skii Mask said menacingly. He went to pull the trigger, but never got the chance. A figure swooped down from the rafters, so quickly that none of his buddies had time to react. Kira made a point of hitting the man's gun before she landed on top of him, so that when it discharged, the bullet would hit the ground and not any of the captives. She then planted her combat boot into Skii Mask's face, hearing a satisfying crack. The woman then folded in her large hawk's wings close to her back, so they wouldn't get in her way. The henchmen were stunned at first, which gave Kira her chance. She pulled out her pistol and shot the gun out of the other's hand. She then turned to face several other henchman. Kira had to be careful that they didn't get to any of the innocents. She sprinted at the nearest lacky and pistol-whipped him. There was another down. She ducked a swing by a charging enemy. Kira then brought her elbow into the man's nose and kicked his legs out from under him. She caught the arm of the next attacker, stopping him from stabbing at her with his knife. She flipped him and his arm cracked from the woman's strength. She was about to go after another man, when she heard a familiar, somewhat aggravating, voice in her ear.

"Banks, do you copy?" Director Nick Fury questioned. Kira punched another henchman in the jaw and quickly hit the button on her earpiece that would allow her to reply to the head of SHIELD.

"Fury, you'd better have a damned good reason for contacting me now." Kira growled as she ducked a punch. Fury ignored her annoyed tone. Agent Banks took her duty very seriously, but these were desperate times.

"We need you to come in." Fury replied. While Banks was distracted, another lacky managed to get a hit on her. He slashed his knife down her jaw. Kira swore and slammed the butt of her gun into the offender's temple. Down the man went.

"Now? Is that really necessary?" she asked, iritated. Fury knew the importance of this mission. She couldn't just leave the innocent people here at the mercy of these psychos.

"Kira, Barton's been compromised. It's time to put the initiative into action." the Director replied grimly. Kira was shocked, but was forced to keep fighting when a goon swung at her with his wooden baseball bat. She caught it and yanked it out of his hand. She then promptly broke it over the lackey's skull.

"When?" was all Banks asked as she kicked another henchman's knee out.

"Asap. I'm on my way to recruit the Captain now. I could use some help." Fury responded, relieved that Kira hadn't put up a fight.

"Where am I going, exactly?" she asked and Fury heard a thud and a grunt in the background.

"I'm sending you the adress as we speak. It's not far." the Director told his agent.

"I'll be there in five minutes." Banks said, before she turned off the earpiece. She was on the last lacky by now, who tried to run. He wasn't going to get away that easy. Kira ran after the black-clad figure and jumped, propelling herself off of the ground. Her boots hit the coward's back. He faceplanted and Banks flipped off of him as soon as her feet made contact. She landed lightly on the balls of her feet, knees bent. The former hostages watched the woman that had saved them in awe as she stood up to her full height. She wore a dark blue and black suit, but had no emblem or symbol on it. Her wings were all she needed. The strange woman had dirty blond hair, cut in haphazard layers and pulled back, out of her way. Her piercing golden eyes searched carefully for any signs of further danger. She nodded once she was satisfied that there was nothing else that could harm the pedestrians. She then changed the channel on her earpiece and spoke into it.

"Alright, we're clear." Kira said and police officers immediately flooded into the building. They got all of the hostages out and Kira followed them, making sure everyone was safe and uninjured. The little boy who had been threatened earlier watched the SHIELD agent with wide brown eyes. He tugged on his mother's hand and diverted her attention from the police officer that had been questioning her.

"Mom, that's the Guardian!" the boy exclaimed, pointing excitedly at Banks. The others that had been held captive looked at the woman that the boy was pointing at and realized that he was right. Kira watched awkwardly as all of the civilians stared at her. The mother stepped forward, feeling grateful for the young woman. The Guardian had been the only reason that her and her son were still alive.

"Thank you." the mother said earnestly. The others chorused their thanks as well. Kira, or the Guardian to the spectators, smiled at them.

"There's no need Ma'am." she told the woman, before extending her hawk's wings to their full wingspan. With that, Kira took off, heading to the address that Fury had sent her. As she flew, she couldn't help but wonder who or what could have possibly compromised Barton, her colleague, her friend, the sharpest man she knew. Whatever it was, it had forced Fury to play his last card, the Avengers. A group of highly-skilled individuals, a long shot. And Kira was to be one of them.

So, what do you think? If I get feedback and readers, I'll continue on. If not I'll put it on hold, so I can focus on finishing my other stories. Comments, votes and constructive criticism is always appreciated :)

-Vega8282