Chapter 12

They came to a stop with a hard jolt. Terry fell and brought the others down with him. Bailey squirmed, trying to wriggle out from underneath Arvid. Arvid put an arm around her waist. Bailey considered biting his shoulder, if she got her teeth around the muscle; she could immobilize him for several months; she decided not to bite him when he grinned at her and said, "You're a genius."

Lofi muttered, "Don't tell her that. She'll do something stupid."

Justin slapped him on the back of the head. As he started to speak, Lofi lunged for him and they rolled around the lab, bumping into things and punching one another violently. Terry tipped his head toward the ceiling. He sighed aloud, "We'd better have gotten everything back to normal."

"What the hell are you doing?"

Fury stood in the doorway of Bailey's lab. He looked down at them, brow furrowed. Terry scrambled out of the pile of bodies and said, "Director Fury – uh – well –" He swallowed, "It's my fault sir."

He clasped his hands behind him, military style, and looked down. Fury nodded, giving Terry a sour glare. He was about to speak, when a slim girl entered. Her hair was dark reddish brown and was twisted in a thick braid. Her eyes were a piercingly dark blue grey. She wore high heeled leather boots and a leather cat suit that hugged her figure and left almost nothing to the imagination. She had a quiver of arrows slung across her back and a bow clutched in one hand. She had a gun strapped to each hip. She glanced at the tangle of bodies; her lips trembled as if she was going to smile, then looked at Fury, batting her eyes coyly, "Mission completed sir."

She turned to Terry and grabbed his face in both hands. She pulled him down and pressed her lips against his. She opened her mouth. Terry's eyes widened and he almost pulled away. Then he blinked several times and frowned, but he continued letting her kiss him. One of her hands slid up his neck and she began running her fingers through his hair. Terry slid a hand down her back. She pushed him away after a moment. She smiled at him, ran her fingers slowly down the front of his suit, and murmured, "I'll see you tonight."

She strode out.

Terry stared after her, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Bailey blinked half a dozen times. Lofi and Justin gagged and held onto each other for support. Arvid smiled, "Nice."

Director Fury frowned as he stalked out, "I would appreciate it if you kept your personal life separate from your work." He looked at them, "I want all of you in my office in ten minutes."

Once he was gone, Terry rounded on Bailey, "Who is that?"

"Nikkita Barton," Bailey smiled at him, "You have to remember her."

"I do, but she was never there." Terry frowned, "We've been dating for five years, but I know we weren't dating when we left." His eyes narrowed as he glared at Bailey, "What did you do?"

Arvid grabbed Bailey's upper arm and swung her around to face him. He shook her, "You changed history. You told me you hadn't changed history!"

"No I didn't!" She jerked free. "She was always here. You remember her. I remember her." She smiled, "I might've given Clint a watch the counted down to the exact time Natasha got hurt and had the coordinates for exactly where she was at that exact time, but that doesn't mean I changed history." She shrugged, "Besides, I wouldn't have built a time machine if Clint hadn't told me I did. I know better."

Terry looked slightly lost. He turned to Arvid, "Am I supposed to be angry with her?"

Arvid considered it for a moment. He looked at Terry, then Bailey, then back to Terry. He said, "The rest of us have the right to be upset. You should be down on your knees thanking her. Without her you'd never ever have gotten a girlfriend."

Terry glowered at him, "Shut up. I could've gotten a girlfriend."

Justin muttered something to Lofi. Lofi's cheeks reddened as he tried his best to suppress his laughter. Terry glared at them. Arvid patted his shoulder, "Don't worry. You'd have gotten a girlfriend, maybe. But I doubt it would've happened."

Bailey put her head on one side, watching the boys for a moment. She sighed as they began to argue. She stepped forward and shoved Arvid in the chest. "Go on, get out."

She shooed them to the door. Arvid stuck his foot in the door, "We have to go see Fury."

"I'll be out in a minute." Bailey slammed the door shut behind her and leaned against it. She smiled happily. She bounced across the room and picked up her time machine. She caressed it lovingly and placed it on the desk. She petted it for a moment, then picked up a mallet.

Bailey slammed the mallet down onto the machine. Sparks and springs flew out at her. She smiled wildly and continued slamming the mallet down. The console was the first to go. The keys fell off and Bailey made sure to crush each and every one. Soon the machine was a smoking pile of rubble. She swept it off the table in one smooth motion. She kicked the pile of rubble into the corner of her lab near the paper filled trashcan. She pulled the corner of the tarp she used to hide her mess over the new pile.

Bailey went to the door and went out into the hall. The boys were waiting. Terry looked nervous. Bailey frowned and looked down. She walked ahead of them. Suddenly she whirled on them. The heel of her right hand flashed out and slammed into Terry's chin. He crumpled to the floor, eyes rolling back in his head. Bailey grabbed Justin and Lofi and slammed their heads together. The boys landed together in a heap.

Arvid stepped back. He held his hands up, "I'll go willingly."

Bailey turned her back on him. She lashed out, twisting her body around and slamming her right heel into his temple. Arvid moaned, "That hurt."

He landed on Lofi as he fell. Bailey looked around. No one was there. She dragged the boys into her lab. Bailey locked the door from the outside and strode down the hall. She didn't bother to knock as she waltzed into Fury's office. She sat down and started to speak before Fury could open his mouth.

Almost an hour later, Bailey finished speaking and sat still, watching the expression on Fury's face carefully, trying to gauge his mood. Fury tapped a pen slowly on his desk, "So you're telling me you were the one who messed up," Fury looked her in the eyes. When Bailey had arrived alone Fury had suspected that he was going to be hearing something odd. He had been right.

Bailey looked back, head on one side. She nodded, "Yes."

"Why did Rogers say it was his fault?"

Bailey paused for a moment, then offered, "He didn't want me to get in trouble?"

"You're a bad liar."

"Not usually," Bailey ducked her head. She didn't look up as she murmured, "They can't get in trouble. Their parents will get angry with them. They'd be upset."

"Won't your father get angry?"

"He's used to this sort of thing." She looked up, "Besides, I don't care about his approval."

Fury hid his surprise well, "In that case, I have no choice," Fury thought for a moment, then he inclined his head toward the door, "Until further notice, you're suspended from active duty."

Bailey's head snapped up, "You mean I have to spend all day with my dad?" Her eyes widened.

Fury nodded, looking down at his paperwork, "Won't that be fun?"

Bailey cringed. "No."

FIN

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Almost

Hours after being dismissed from Fury's office, Bailey emerged from her lab. She drifted down the hall until she heard the sound of voices. She looked in the room and put her head on one side. She vaguely remembered the room. Nikkita had commandeered it when she first began working for Fury. Bailey caught sight of Terry and Arvid. They were sitting at the table and talking quietly. She noted Lofi and Justin, squished together on a small couch and fighting for possession of said couch.

"You're allowed to go in, you know."

Bailey turned to look at Nikkita. She looked Nikkita up and down, feeling suddenly out of place beside the beautiful girl. Nikkita's eyes narrowed as she looked hard at Bailey, "Is something wrong?"

"No," Bailey answered. She walked away from the door quickly.

Nikkita stopped her, her right hand flashing out and gripping Bailey's shoulder very tightly as she spun the green eyed girl back around to face her. She put her head on one side and looked Bailey in the eye. Bailey realized that Nikkita was almost taller than her. Bailey stepped back, shaking her shoulder loose. Nikkita glared hard at her, "You got Terry in trouble."

"I did no such thing." Bailey replied, voice monotone, "He was the one who messed with my machine, besides, Fury won't punish him."

"It was still your machine." Nikkita pointed out. "Next time, don't be so stupid, if you can avoid it." She stalked through the door and slammed it behind her.

Bailey sighed as she heard the faint sound of the door locking. She felt something coiling low in her chest, something heavy that made her stomach roll, forced her throat to tighten and stopped her breath momentarily. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the feeling. She walked down the hall quickly. She reached the heavy, metal door and put her hand on the ID pad next to the door frame. It opened and Bailey went through. She waited for the door to shut, then knelt and began rewiring the ID pad. She pressed two wires together and smiled as they sparked. Bailey jumped when a voice behind her asked, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Bailey replied as she got to her feet. She turned to look at her father. She was almost the same height as her father. His hair was graying and his face was wrinkled. He was still in shape. But his eyes were dark and haunted.

Bruce looked at her suspiciously. Bailey blinked three times, then stood beside him and pulled his arm around her shoulders and leaned her head against his chest. She tried to flutter her eyelashes, but it merely made Bruce frown, "Did you rewire the ID pad?"

Bailey blinked three times, "Maybe."

Bruce shook his head, "I've told you to stop doing things like that."

Bailey stuck her tongue out. "I know." She sighed and muttered, "I shouldn't do nice things for people. They always end up backfiring on me."

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked. He knelt and began rewiring the ID pad again.

Bailey leaned over his shoulder and pointed, "The red wire goes there."

"I know how to rewire something."

Bailey replied, "You know science, this isn't science. Don't you remember what happened to the toaster when you tried rewiring that?"

"It wasn't that bad." Bruce muttered.

"Half the kitchen burned down and we got evicted." Bailey reached around her father and grabbed the wires. She sighed, "Let me do it."

Bruce moved to one side. Bailey made a few adjustments, then turned to him, "You're early."

"Tony made plans with Pepper."

Bailey blinked, "But they don't like spending time with each other."

"What gave you that idea?"

Bailey blinked, "Maybe because the last time they were near each other, Pepper slammed his head in a car door and said the 'D' word."

"The 'D' word," Bruce looked at her, slightly confused.

"Divorce," Bailey enunciated every syllable.

"They have problems. That doesn't mean anything. They've been together this long, they won't get a divorce now."

Bailey put her head on one side, looking at her father suspiciously, "Are you sure?"

He nodded. Bailey smiled, "Good."

Steve appeared, "Did she rewire something?" He still looked much the same, but he had slight wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. His blond hair was graying. He looked at Bailey suspiciously, "What did you do now, young lady?"

"I fixed it." Bailey replied.

Clint and Natasha appeared. They were walking beside each other and talking softly. On the fourth finger of their left hands, was a pair of identical gold bands. Natasha's red hair was kept the same color. She had it dyed carefully every month. Clint's hair was very grey and he had a scar from his cheekbone to jaw line of his left cheek. They looked at Bailey and Clint winked at her. Natasha asked, "What did you do this time?"

"I didn't do anything!" Bailey glared at them, especially Clint. The grownups returned her glare and after a moment, she slumped down against the wall and rested her forehead on her knees. Bruce gave Natasha and Steve a hard stare. Natasha went to the door and put her hand on the ID pad. She jumped back with a loud yelp. Bailey looked up, "I might've missed a wire."

Bruce glared at her, but said nothing. Bailey looked at him and asked, "Hypothetically, would I be in trouble if I had gone back in time with the boys, changed history slightly, almost killed you and destroyed several thousand dollars worth of equipment?"

All eyes snapped to her and Steve asked, "What did you do?"

"I said it was hypothetical." Bailey blinked several times, then asked, "Would I be in trouble?"

Bruce put an arm around her neck, "Do you remember your punishment when you threw Thor through a mountain?"

"Yes."

"It'll be worse than that," Bruce added with a smile, "Hypothetically of course."

Bailey sighed, "I have a confession to make."

FIN

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Well, here's the last chapter. Thanks so much to everyone who's Reviewed and/or Watched, Followed or Favorited over the course of this story. And a special thanks to Amy for being really cool.

(P.S. I am so writing one shots for this, I promise!)