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"SHIT!" MAL HELD in a laugh as she heard Tony bounce off of the shield surrounding the HYDRA base. She shoulder rolled as she hit the ground after diving out of a vehicle, before sweeping her leg out and knocking a soldier off of his feet.
"Language!" Steve snapped out with a scowl. Mal laughed quieter this time, shaking her head slightly.
"JARVIS, what's the view from upstairs?" She asked, pulling two long, curved blades from her back, and throwing one, sending it directly into a soldier's chest before using her powers to bring it back to her.
"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken." JARVIS explained and Mal frowned. Whatever they had in there, they were doing their best to protect it. Spinning around, Mal threw both blades, eliminating a line of soldiers before bringing them back to her hands.
"Loki's scepter must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it. At long last." Thor said, pleased with the idea of their search coming to an end. Mal had to admit that she was glad too - ever since the Battle of New York, the thought of Loki's scepter being out in the world for a group of horrible people like HYDRA to use made her skin crawl.
"At long last is lasting a little long, boys." Natasha said after taking down two soldiers with ease.
"Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise." Clint called out over the sound of gunfire. Mal narrowly dodged a few stray bullets, ducking down behind a tree.
"Wait a second. No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said language?" Tony asked incredulously and Mal could easily picture his shocked face in her mind.
"I know." Steve said before throwing his bike at some soldiers driving up in a truck. "It just slipped out." Mal stifled a laugh, before there was a slight ache in her head. She immediately knew that something was wrong with one of her teammates - in the year since her fight against Pierce and his agents, Mal had gotten increasingly better at locating people with her mind, sensing their energy. After spending too much time with the Avengers and being so close to them, she could easily reach out with her powers and find them. It helped her keep track of them while on missions and helped her make sure everyone was safe. She could feel that something was wrong; someone was hurt.
"Clint!" Natasha yelled, confirming Mal's feeling of someone being injured. Suddenly, Steve was knocked to the ground by a blur, making Mal whip around, trying to lock her eyes onto the strange person.
"We have an enhanced in the field." Steve said through the comms, standing back on his feet.
"Clint's hit!" Natasha shouted back and Mal narrowed her eyes slightly, following the blue streak that was zipping through the trees. She was thrown off, however, by a bullet shooting past her. Ducking behind a tree, Mal leaned out far enough to throw her blades before taking cover again.
