From the Abyss of the Heart

Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers, KanColle, or the League of Legends.

Slightly long A.N: Sorry about the exceptionally long wait. This chapter was a true monster to write and I haven't even gotten to the Main Event. Sigh. Though there is some good news. I have successfully plotted this story to it's conclusion. So all major events and interactions have been decided. The only thing left to do is turn the road map into the story. Wish me luck, cause real life is probably going to screw me over a couple more times before this is finished.

Just to be clear here, there are a few things going into this chapter that I'd like you, my beloved readers to know. As of this point in the story, Clint has been reinstated as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Which will make later events make a little more sense. Second of all I have nothing against the Guided missile cruiser Yorktown or her crew. I simply chose a ship that is currently on the list for the scrapyard and uh, well, you'll see. Just know, I chose her fate with a coin flip. That said, I thought Sona's Pentakill outfit was awsome so slight disclaimer I don't own her either. But I do have the Pentakill albums and was listening to Mortal Reminder will writing this. But I digress. So with out further ado, Onward! To The BATTLEFIELD!

Chapter Five: The Yorktown Incident

Atlantic Ocean- One week till Time Heist...

BOOM! SPLASH! BANG! BANG! BANG! BRIIITTTT! RAAATTTATTAT! BOOM! SPLASH! BOOM! PING! Such were the sounds that once again stunned the ears of Steve Rodgers as he watched Battlegroup Barton fire on the 'decommissioned' cruiser USS Yorktown from the deck of the Illiad. The aforementioned cruiser was an older variant of the Ticondroga Class that had been decommissioned back in 2004. Apparently she had disliked the idea of be scrapped so much that she Abyssalfied on the way to the breakers, sinking the tug boats that had been towing her when she did so. Unfortunately she also decided to unleash a full barrage of missiles on the shipyards wrecking the dry docks so thoroughly that they would have to be rebuilt from the ground up. From there the Yorktown proceeded to destroy anything that tried to stop her as she sailed down the Delaware toward the Atlantic. The military did its best to respond to the attack but soon discovered that all conventional methods of attack were insufficient to stop her.

At first it was believed that her sudden reactivation was the work of Thanos worshipers, who believed that Thanos was right to kill half of all life. With that in mind, it was initially believed that conventional military forces would suffice. So it wasn't until after the ship began showing it's new nature that the government decided to contact the Avengers, a full hour after the first attack. It had started with the crooked teeth that made up her unnatural grin appeared as a black metal coating covered her hull. Then twisted vein like growths began to wrap around her barrels and crawl up her superstructure twisting around the lattices that made up her mast. A hellish red light began to glow inside the ship's bridge and it became obvious to many that something not of this earth had awakened.

With the Avengers having been called into action, it was decided that the three Barton woman, along with the Illiad, would be deployed to counter this unexpected threat. Granted, the only reason the Bartons were even brought into this whole affair is due to the fact that they were Abyssals themselves. Which made them the go to choice for dealing with this new threat, despite Clint having tried to argue otherwise. It had been a brief argument, one that was promptly shut down when Laura revealed that she had a GIGANTIC two headed 'pet' that had some impressive firepower of it's own. Clint relented after that little display, but had made it a point never let his family out of his sight for even a second, and was currently acting as the commander for the Illiad. Add in the fact that both Tony and Bruce were on board the Illiad, and it seemed a lot like when the Avengers were first put together.

All of these events led up to Steve standing on the lower bridge of the Illiad, looking down at a deathly pale red haired woman dressed in a black floor length dress that started at her breast and seemed to turn into mist as it touched the ground. On her right shoulder was the tattoo of a human skull with the ship's crest being held in it's jaw. Completing the look was a pair of spiked gauntlets on her wrist. To the great surprise of Steve and the rest of the Avengers F.R.I.D.A.Y. actually got a hit on identifying the mystery woman. Only thing was, the woman was a fictional video game character called Sona, 'The Maven of Strings', which led to Steve wondering what tricks this 'Maven' had up her non-existent sleeves.

As the situation was currently the red head was standing atop the Yorktown's bridge and glaring at Laura Barton and her two headed 'pet'. Said 'pet' had just fired a salvo into the rogue Abyssl's engine room, leaving her dead in the water. Pressing down on the button for the loudspeakers Steve spoke to the Abyssal. "USS Yorktown, this is your final warning. Stand down or we will be forced to sink you."

For Steve, it was strange feeling being in a command position and not on the front lines. Granted this was a fight that he actually had no ability to participate in. Steve considered the the sentient cruiser's actions up to this point and sighed. While her reasoning for going rogue were understandable to him, but her actions since becoming self aware were not. Had she just cut the tow lines and ran, it wouldn't be so bad. But she had blown three tugs and their crews to oblivion and killed almost three hundred shipyard personal in her escape. That wasn't counting the four jet fighters she had shot down and the Coast Guard cutter she had rammed/bitten at the mouth of the Delaware. But he had been giving instructions by the President himself to either capture or sink the new abyssal. The latter being his option of last resort, simply out of principal.

Through his binoculars, Steve watched as the girl flipped him off as a voice came through the radio. "And why the fuck should I stand down?! Give me one good reason to stand down, for I'd rather be sunk than be scrapped and turned into razor blades!" She said with a hint of steel in her voice.

Steve cursed under his breath, for it was situations like this one that really made him miss Nick Fury. Fortunately Tony came to his rescue as he spoke through the radio in his armor. "How about this for a reason Spitfire. As of two minutes ago you ceased being the Navy's problem and are now a 'Research Platform' for Stark industries. Which means you are not going to scrapped."

Her glare hardened. "Hah! Sounds like a fancy way of saying that instead of scrapping me, your going to dissect me instead. I don't think so."

What she didn't know was that Tony had just bought her her freedom. Unfortunately for her and everyone else, she didn't give Tony a chance to correct her before she cried out a battle cry. "FINAL DEFENSIVE FIRE!"

With those three words the world caught fire as the abyssal cruiser filled the area around her with ordinance. Missiles flew as fast as her rail launchers could reload, while her guns pumped out lead as fast as they could. There was an explosion just above the cruiser and a cry of pain sounded out over the radio. "Ahhh! Shit! I'm hit! Severe damage to Vertical thruster 4! Flight capacity reduced to 10,000 feet." Lila cried out.

Steve watched as the airborne battleship began to trail smoke, just as the Illiad herself began to take hits. One of the shots hit something critical and Illiad shuddered violently, and started to roll to starboard. "Damage report!" Clint ordered.

"Engines One and Three heavily damaged. There is a fire in the main hanger bay." One of the bridge staff announced, before turning to Clint. "Sir, flight capacity has been reduced to 32%. We are losing altitude rapidly."

Both Steve and Clint cursed, as the Illiad spiraled toward the ocean. "Helmsman, can you steady our descent?" Clint asked.

"I'm trying to sir! But she's fighting me!" The operator at the helm stated as he held the flight controls with a death grip. "I should be able to bring us down intact though."

Steve and Clint shared a look. "Tony, we've got a fire in main hangar. Can you give damage control an assist?"

"Banner and me are already there. It's a mess down here, and I have bad news and worse news." He said. "Which do want first?"

Steve grimmiced and Clint groaned. "Bad news first."

"Well in that case. Bad news is that the fire suppression system is down and we've got multiple planes on fire down here." He said with a slight nervous chuckle.

Wondering what could trump loosing the fire suppression system and make Stark nervous, Clint frowned. "Okay, that's pretty bad, what else is wrong down there?"

That's when he decided to drop a bombshell "The worse news is that I'm going to have to shut off the fuel lines to Engine Cluster 2."

Clint slamed a fist on a console "Damn it Tony we need those engines to maintain what control we still have!"

"You don't think I realize that!? However, if I don't shut off the fuel lines, we WILL loose the ship! The fire will melt through those lines any second now! If it manages to do so while those lines are still active it will turn the ship into a fireball."

Steve cursed as he looked at Clint. "Tony shut those lines down. We'll just have to try and do without." He said with a shake of his head. "Damn it Clint, I was hoping we would be able to end this peacefully. Hopefully your girls are having better luck than we are.

Clint smirked. "Knowing how my wife was when I first met her, I almost feel bad for that Abyssal."

Raising an eyebrow, Steve asked "Oh? She seemed nice the few times I came over."

With a chuckle, Clint just shook his head and smiled. "Who do you think I was partnered with before I met Nat?"

A look of realization crossed Steve's face. "Ah! Now that really does improve the odds doesn't it?"

Clint just smiled. "Yes it does."

"T-minus one minute to impact." A bridge officer announced.

"All Hands! Brace for Impact!" Clint ordered over the intercom. With that order given the two men strapped themselves in, and watched as the ocean grew ever closer in the bridge window.

Laura POV

This damn woman was getting on my last nerve. There's no way she should of had any ammunition on hand to began with! Let alone the copious amounts that she was using up! But that didn't change the fact that she was launching missile after missile into the sky. One of which had struck Lila, while several others had crippled the Illiad. I raised my right arm and point at her, before clenching my hand into a fist. Bastion fired another salvo at her and I watched as her CIWS tried to shoot my rounds down. But a few got through and one shell took out her forward Missile system while another shredded her AEGIS radar. Now she was crippled and blind. Lila fired a salvo of her own while Meadow focused her attention on the Cruiser's flanks.

But before I could do anymore harm to her, I found myself distracted by a large splash as the Illiad hit the ocean surface. As the Carrier crash landed I noticed one of it's massive engines ripping away and causing several sections of her hull to collapse into the sea. My heart clinched as dread filled it. I immediately tried to contact my husband over the comm link. "Clint! Are you alright? Please respond!"

"*Cough* *Cough* We're alive honey. We've taken heavy damage but we're alive. Just take that bitch out before she can finish the job." He coughed out over the radio. Hearing his voice caused me to feel a weight lift off of my shoulders.

Satisfied that my husband was safe for the moment I turned my attention to the red haired cruiser."Okay bitch, you wanted my undivided attention. Now you have it! Shizume!(Sink!) I said as I had Bastion aim his guns at the crippled cruiser, who returned my glare with a smirk on her face.

"Bring it bitch!" She said as she launched a salvo of four missiles at me.

Dancing across the water I managed to dodge three of the missiles but the forth one struck me in between my Number 3 and Number 4 turret. I felt my deck buckle as the warhead detonated, knocking my aft turrets out of commission. Gritting my teeth I aimed my remaining guns at the cruiser's waterline. "Eat lead!" I cried out, firing my guns once more, only to have my shells knocked out of the air by a chain whip.

Several cries of shock sounded as the Cruiser grew a pair of Chain whips from each hand. The red head gave me a feral grin as her eyes glowed bright green. Leaping off of the mangled wreck of her bridge, she slammed onto the water, before sprinting towards me. "Why don't you do me a fucking favor and go to hell!" She cried as she launched the whip on her right hand at me.

Ducking under her whip I got in close to her and countered her with a sweeping right kick to her legs. Fortunately my opponent was a sloppy brawler, as my kick connected, taking her feet out from under her. As she hit the water I grappled with her using my primary body, trying to keep her from using her whips. While at the same time I had Bastion move into position to attack, as my guns hadn't reloaded yet. But before my guns finished loading, Meadow and Lila to beat me to the punch as the they fired their broadsides in tandem. There was a massive explosion as the cruiser was ripped apart by the high explosive rounds, causing massive chunks of her hull to go flying through the air. The red head in my grip screamed as her body was ripped apart by an invisible force."NO! AAAAAHHHHH! *Gurgle*" Her scream was cut short as the glow left her eyes and her body sank below the waves.

As the smoke began to clear the only sign of the other Abyssal's hull was her bow slowly sinking beneath the waves. Despite the fact that I had once again witnessed someone dying at the hands of one of my children, I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. "Hostile Vessel USS YORKTOWN confirmed sunk. Good work girls. Now let's go see how badly mangled the Illiad is, and how we can help."

Just as I prepared to head towards the stricken helicarrier, I heard a choked sob come from Meadow. "Damn it! *Sniffle* Why! Why couldn't she just surrender!" She wailed, as she came to a stop above the spot where the Yorktown's human body sank.

Lila landed beside her and scowled. "Really sis? It was just a stupid cruiser! Dumb woman choose to die! So what? Did Thanos cry when he erased us and half the universe with us? Did he cry when he doomed Peitro to hell? NO! So why should we cry when we kill our enemies when our murder didn't?"

Giving Lila a pointed and furious glare, I berated her. "First thing first Lila Barton! NEVER and I mean NEVER compare yourself to Thanos! If I even suspect that your trying to follow in that monster's footsteps I'll sink you myself!" I said with anger in my voice, causing Lila to stumble backwards.

"Whaa? But it's the truth!" She said in frightened tone, as I closed the distance.

"I don't care if it's the truth young lady! Thanos was a monster of his own creation! I will not let you become one if I can help it! Secondly, when it comes to killing another being, whether they be Abyssal, Human, or Alien, it should never come easy Lila. This is especially true of your sister, and seeing as this is her second Abyssal kill, she still has difficulty adjusting to the idea of taking another life."

Recovering her balance, but not able to look me in the eyes, Lila gave me a half-hearted snort of contempt. "Just her second kill? Big whoop! This makes kill number four for me!"

I groaned and rubbed the area around my horn in disbelief. 'Great, my youngest is a blood thirsty, battle driven idiot. While my eldest is a pacifist it seems. Lovely. Wait a moment, if this is Lila's fourth kill, what were the other three?' I wondered to myself before asking my younger daughter about her kills. Her answer surprised me and filled me with a sense of pride. She told me of the three Japanese guided missile ships that attacked her and how she sank them in one salvo. But there in laid the difference. She had sank three NORMAL guided missile ships, and a SINGLE Abyssal. Where as Meadow's kill record consisted Two Abyssals and nothing else. And I made sure to tell her as much.

This earned me an pained look in return from Lila, who suddenly seemed a little more fragile than I had seen her be since my resurrection. "So what? I also killed nearly five hundred sailors in that attack! You don't see me shedding tears every time I have to kill! Shit!" She said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Seeing that I had finally gotten through to my youngest living child, I smiled. "But the fact that you do feel that pain means you haven't become a monster yourself. Your still the daughter that I raised, and not one of the monsters that now live inside of us."

She didn't answer me verbally, but she didn't need to the soft sniffles coming from her assured me that my daughter could still feel human emotions. I turned to look at the Illiad and my stomach dropped. "Oh god." I uttered as I watched the helicarrier list heavily on it's starboard side while smoke came pouring out of the upper hangar deck. Severa "Clint, if you can hear me, the Yorktown has been sunk. What do you need us to do?"

"That's great news Babe." He responded, and I released a sigh of relief. "I'm not going to mince words here honey. The Illiad is in bad shape. Steve just left the bridge with a damage control party to seal off one of the more damaged sections to keep us from taking on anymore water from below. But it's the fire in the main hangar that's the real concern. Tony and Banner have half the crew with them fighting that thing, but it's kicking our ass. If you could help them, that would be a start."

I looked at Lila, knowing that one of her upgrades was advanced firefighting equipment designed to help complement the Illiad to help in the event that the carrier's own fire suppression system failed. It apparently was part of the bargain to get the flight upgrades. Lila must of known what I was thinking, for without a word she gave me a nod and took off towards the crippled carrier. "Clint, Lila's on the way now. Tell Tony to expect her to start fire fighting operations any moment now."

"That's great! Tell her to put her hoses on the fire in the aft hangar bay! That's where the fuel lines are closest together. If she can knock down the fire there we should be able to start knocking this thing back." Tony stated over the comms.

"Roger that Uncle Tony!" Lila responded as she shifted to her full hull form, causing me to feel a little envious. I had tried to preform the feat myself but kept getting stuck as a 6' 5" version of a Montana class. Not exactly awe inspiring, if I say so myself. But seeing how even Meadow was capable of the transformation, I figured their ship souls must be integral to pulling off the trick.

I cleared my thoughts with a shake of my head and watched as Lila pulled along side the stricken Carrier. " I am extending my hoses now!" She stated as multiple robotic arms deployed from her hull and began to douse the fires with nozzles at their tips.

With Lila attacking the fire from the damaged ship's port side, I motioned for Meadow to follow me to the Illiad's mangled starboard side. As we came about I could see massive wounds in her hull, and I felt a deep sadness fill me. The forward Starboard engine had been ripped away during the crash creating a massive gash that ran the length of her hull, ending just before the aft starboard thruster. Fire and smoke was billowing out from the gaping wounds. Fortunately, the worst of the damage seemed to be above the waterline. But something in my gut told me there was even more damage that I couldn't see. It was when I heard Meadow gasping in horror that I noticed there were people in the water, and there was no way I was putting them on back onto a ship that could sink at any moment. Which left but one option and there was only one of us that could do it. Giving my daughter a sad glance I let out a tired sigh. Kneeling down on the water so I could look her in the eye, I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Meadow, sweetie, I need you to do me a favor."

She looked at me with wide eyes, an eagerness to do anything to help visible in her eyes. "Mom whatever it is you need us to do, we can do it!" She said in a determined tone.

"That's right Ma! What do you need?" Kendra said, piping in an equally determined voice. Bringing her head around to look over Meadow's shoulder and look at me.

A deep sense of pride filled me. Despite everything she had gone through leading up to this point, she was willing to help others. I pointed at the figures in the water. "I want you two to take on your steel hull form and take the wounded aboard. Just get those people out of the water and out of harms way."

She didn't even hesitate. "I promise you that you won't be disappointed in us mom!" She said as the two gave me a chipper salute, Meadow saluting with her hand and Kendra with the rapid elevation of one of her cheek guns.

The two steamed past me and shifted into their full hulled form, their Iowa linage showing through proudly with turrets one and two standing at attention. But it was from the amidships on back that the lines that defined the Iowa class disappeared, giving way to a hangar deck topped by an angled flight deck. This was my beautiful daughters' true nature, a wonderful blend of battleship and aircraft carrier.

I watched with pride as the two lowered rescue nets over the side to allow those in the water to climb to safety. But I soon noticed that there were quite a few who were so badly wounded that there was no way they'd be able to make the climb, and I realized that here was MY opportunity to help. Making my way over to the nearest wounded sailors, I had Bastion start carrying those with the worst injuries to safety. It was a slow and tedious process at first but that quickly changed once some of the Illiad's crew managed to get a few of Meadow's small boats in the water.

It was around the same time that the last of the wounded had been brought aboard that a loud cheer could be heard from the crewmen on Meadow's deck. Following their gaze, a smile crossed my face, the fire was finally out. There was another loud cheer as several people pointed to the southeast. My smile grew into a full on grin as at least a several dozen ships of the US Navy along with several Coast Guard Cutters and at least two ocean going tugboats appeared on the horizon. 'What a beautiful sight after a long battle.' I thought to myself, as a smile crossed my face. "USS Louisiana to Illiad, the navy is here." I said using my ship name as to not reveal my identity.

Without missing a beat Clint responded, relief evident in his voice. "That's great news Louisiana. Tell USS Kentucky to break off and take the wounded back to shore. USS Montana might need help towing us back to shore though, as our engines are shot. Over."

"Copy that Illiad. Be advised it appears that they brought some deep sea tugboats with them. Over." I informed him.

"Copy that Louisiana. We see them as well. Even so I'd feel a lot better if you and USS Montana escorted us back to New York. Over" Clint said, the weight of five years showing through.

Closing my eyes, I contemplated what he must of gone through, a sad frown crossing my face. 'God Clint. I wish this hadn't happened. That we hadn't paid the price for that madman's idea of 'Balance'. But we did, and I still haven't figured out who got the better end of the deal.' I shook my head. 'No. There were no winners here except Thanos and even he lost his head in the end.'

Trying to clear my head of such thoughts I turned toward my eldest. "USS Louisiana to USS Kentucky you've been given clearance to break off and get the wounded to shore. Over."

"We read you Louisiana, making my heading one-four-O' degrees and headed for port. See you later Ma. Over." She said as her engines began to build steam. She broke formation with the Illiad and sailed past me with a loud blast from her horn.

"See you in a little bit USS Kentucky. Over and Out." I said waving to her as she passed.

Pulling up to the side of the Iliad, I spotted the red and gold figure of Ironman standing on the forecastle, trying to guide one of the tugs into position to receive the Illiad's tow line. Correction. Tow lines, as Dr. Banner had several of them in his hands. I pulled along side and shouted up to them. "Oh Boys! Pass me a line!"

That earned me a chuckle from the two of them, and Bruce tossed the end of one of the lines to me, as he shouted. "OKAY LAURA! ONE TOW LINE COMING DOWN!"

Catching the line in my hand, I then wrapped it around my waist. With tow line secured I maneuvered myself in position for the tow. Which earned me looks of disbelief from the crew of the Tug boat, to which I simply grinned and winked. "Don't worry boys, I can handle my own. The question is can you keep up" That caused several of them to gape and sputter, clearly unable to figure out how I intended to out do an actual tugboat. I giggled at the sight before announcing over the comm link. "Louisiana to Illiad. I am in position to tow. Over."

"This is Illiad to USS Louisiana, hold position until all lines have been secured. Over." Came Clint's calm voice.

Following Clint's instructions, I held my position beside the tug until another message came over the radio. "All ships, this is the Illiad. We will begin towing operations. All vessels will proceed on heading 140 degrees to New York harbor entrance at 5 knots." Clint said over the comms, and at those words a twelve hour marathon began.

Twelve hours later, New York Harbor...

Third Person pov

It was almost midnight when the fleet surrounding the Illiad passed under the Verrazano Narrows bridge, but that didn't stop many New Yorkers from taking the opportunity to witness the bizarre sight. For it truly was bizarre, with a Tall dark haired woman with a towline pulled taut wrapped around her waist, and standing on water of all things, leading the way, with a thick wake churning behind her. Keeping pace beside her was the Aerial battleship Montana, the two of them pulling the ruined form of the Illiad. Entering the harbor with them was a fleet of four destroyers and two cruisers, with the Coast Guard cutters having broken off to return to their patrols. The Ocean going tugs had also broken off just before entering the harbor, having passed their charge over to the local harbor tugs.

As the fleet entered the harbor they were greeted by the sounds of car horns and cheers from the bridge and shoreline, and dozens of air horns and shipboard whistles from the water, despite the late hour. It was as though the whole city had stayed awake just to welcome the weary and wounded carrier home. Waiting by Stark Naval yards was the sleek form of the Kentucky, who gave a loud blast from her horn.

As the ships approached one of the two open dry docks at Stark Shipyard, the woman removed the towline from her waist, while the battleship also cut it's towline, before the two of them broke off to meet the battlecarrier. This allowed the the harbor tugs to take over and guide the wounded carrier into the dry dock. As the ship was brought into the dock and the gangway was raised into position, the dock workers and repair teams moved about. In the middle of this controlled chaos several figures stood out among the workers, for not all of them were human.e

The battleships having unloaded their human cargo shifted into the forms of two young women, their transformations hidden by the cover of night. The two glided over to the older woman and the three of them proceeded to make their way onto the pier. They were met by the others as three men and the Hulk made their way down the gangway, with the crew of the Illiad following behind them.

The four Avengers made their way over to the group of fellow heroes. "I appreciate you all coming here tonight. You missed a hell of a fight." Steve said, addressing the others.

A large heavy set blond man nodded in agreement as he stepped forward revealing himself to be Thor. "So I've heard. I also heard that Tony and Banner have a plan to undo what Thanos did."

"We do. We just haven't had chance to test it due to the Abyssals that have been popping up lately." The Hulk remarked.

A blue skinned woman cocked her head in robotic way, slightly confused. "Abyssals? Is that what your calling these creatures that have been showing up lately?"

"That's what we are... Um, I'm afraid I never got your name." Laura Barton admitted slightly embarrassed.

"It's Nebula, and the fur ball with me is Rocket." The cyborg said, causing said fur ball to growl slightly.

"Hey! I'm not just a fur ball! Okay?! I'm one of a kind, 'cause you ain't gonna find another one like me in the 'verse! Got it?!" The racoon said.

The woman shrugged. "Ugh. Whatever works for you." She looked at Laura. "You say you are one of these Abyssals, but I have never heard of such beings until a few Terran days ago."

"Some of us, such as my daughters and myself, are escapees from the hell Thanos sent the souls of the Vanished. But others are the warped souls of warships, and those are the ones causing the biggest headaches right now." Laura said gesturing to the Illiad with her thumb.

Thor frowned, and both Steve and Tony noticed it. "I take it you've heard of these beings before?" Steve asked.

"Indeed I have. Beings of immense power born from the spirits that inhabit vessels. I will tell you more later, after everyone has rested. That and I would prefer that everyone was present for this so I do not have to repeat myself." Thor said knowing that the knowledge he held would be better received when everyone was both present and wide awake and not half-dead on their feet.

There were a few mummers of agreement, and Steve nodded. "Well I won't argue with getting some shut eye, particularly after a long day like today. Well reconvine in the morning and discuss the nature of the Abyssals and undoing the Snap. Say Tony do we still have those living quarters on base?"

"You mean the ones S.H.I.E.L.D. installed when they constructed the Illiad? I didn't sell those if that's what your asking." Tony replied.

"Well in that case why don't we all get some shut eye, and finish this conversation in the morning." Steve said as he resisted the urge to yawn.

This was great news to Lila and Meadow as the two were barely able to stand, the excitement and physical toll on their bodies having finally caught up to them. "A comfy bed sounds wonderful." Lila said in tired voice. "Mmmmn. Bed. Sleep." Meadow said echoing her sister's thoughts. "Just remember to set a pillow for me this time sis." Keira said. Her head may of been made of metal, but a pillow was still comfortable for her. Meadow nodded to her twin. "Sure thing Keira."

The girls' antics had managed to earn them a few laughs, and a couple small smiles. Laura looked to her husband for help, and Clint let out a tired chuckle. "Alright, lets get you girls situated for the night." He said ushering his daughters down the pier. He gave a parting glance at his fellow Avengers. "See you guys in the morning." With those final words the Barton family made their way down the busy pier to retire for the night.

Okay confession time. This chapter did not go according to plan and the Illiad rescue took much longer than I wanted. So I chose to cut it off here, making this feel like filler chapter instead of what it could have been. Sorry. Hopefully chapter six will further the story enough for me to get back on track. That is if, and I mean IF, my real life problems don't send my life into a tailspin. Which with my grandmother moving in, seems more than likely to happen. So expect delays. Really LONG delays. Wish I had better news, but I don't. This is Draconious signing off.