I had my hand over my mouth, deep in thought, as I stared at the flat-screen TV in one of the sitting rooms. This was the fifth attack in a month.

Something was going on. These couldn't be random.

I licked my lips. Was S.H.I.E.L.D. all over this? They had to believe what I was thinking, that these weren't random attacks. All of them remained in the United States, just in different states. The first attack had been in Texas, leaving two fatalities. The second had been in Massachusetts, the body count had been a little higher there. Colorado took a hit, the fatality count was a medium rate. One of the Carolinas—South, I believe—got hit with an attack too. The fifth one had been last week, and the news was still broadcasting it. Wisconsin had been hit in the most recent attack.

"Authorities in Wisconsin are still looking into the explosion that left seven people dead last week," the middle-aged female broadcaster said. The makeup she wore made her age even further. "This marks the fifth attack on the US in a month. It's beginning to appear as though these attacks aren't coincidental. But, authorities in the states hit have yet to find a connection between the five attacks. We will keep you updated when we receive any new information."

I bit down on my thumbnail now. S.H.I.E.L.D. had to be looking into these attacks. The broadcaster hadn't said the words "bomb" or "explosion", but those are what all the attacks had been. Well, that's what the police concluded anyway.

My phone buzzed on the couch beside me. I peeked at the text.

Still alive?

It was Seth. He hadn't bothered me until it'd been one week since I'd been injected with the serum. At one week, I hadn't had any incidents. Weeks two and three were the same. At week four, still no episodes. The only thing that hadn't gone on was me testing out my powers. I was still a little shaky about using them again, since the last few times I'd tried to, they'd faulted. A life had been taken.

Still going strong.

Good to hear. Should anything come up again, tell me immediately.

My phone buzzed again, and I growled a bit. But instead of it being Seth, it was Tony.

Mind joining us for a sec?

I quirked my lips before I typed back: For what?

Tony's response: How current is your knowledge of current events?

My response: Where are you in the tower?

One of the upper levels.

Be right up.

I lucked out on my guess as to what floor Tony was situated on. I entered the big area, seeing holographic images of all five separate attacks on the United States. All were still-photos though, no video. In front of some of the imaging was Bruce, who was beside Tony. Both were examining the photos.

"All right, so I'm not the only one whose attention this caught," I said conversationally as I crossed the room to the guys.

"No, you're not." Of all people's voices to hear, and I had Clint's. He was on one of the imaging screens. "How've you been, Kiara?"

"Good." I was honestly getting sick of hearing that question. "So, what do you have for us?"

"We think we might know where the next attack is going to be."

"Please don't be New York," I pleaded.

"Fortunately, no, not New York. Unfortunately, it's Chicago."

"And how have you figured this out?"

"Eyes everywhere, Kiara. We've been monitoring for any suspicious activity. We have some in Chicago."

"Isn't that a shady area anyway?" asked Bruce.

"There are shady places everywhere in the country," Clint deadpanned. "Anyway, we've got two suspicious faces in the area. If this is a terrorist threat, we want to do this right to prevent more casualties."

"This isn't going to require the whole group to assemble, will it?" I asked.

"No, only a small group. Nat and I are part of the team. We're flying by to come snatch you, Kiara. You're the last part."

"M-me? With as unstable as I am? Don't you think Tony would be a better choice? Or Steve?"

"We've got to put a little faith in you and stop treating you like you're glass."

I had to smile a bit at that. It was nice that someone had that mentality. "How soon are you coming?"

Judging by the loud engines I suddenly heard, they were here now.

Bruce, Tony, and I looked out through the windows to the landing pad on the tower, where a small jet landed. The three of us headed out in the July heat—it was scorching—as the ramp was being lowered and jet engines were quieting down. Clint came down the ramp, already dressed and ready to go.

"You set?" Clint asked me.

"I guess so." I looked at Tony and Bruce. "This shouldn't take too long, right?" I aimed that at Clint.

"It shouldn't, no. We should make it there in a few hours, if that. Come on."

Tony made me hand over my phone ("I promise I won't tamper with it."). With a parting way to him and Bruce, I followed Clint into the small jet, hearing the ramp being pulled up behind me.

"Hey, Kiara," Natasha called from the front of the jet. "Better get comfortable back there."

I knew the drill, as I had done this once before, back when I'd been summoned to be part of the Avengers Initiative. Back when Phil Coulson was still alive. Back when I had believed Loki to be dead.

I felt the tears gather in my eyes at the fallen S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Phil Coulson had treated me nicely in the short time I'd known him. I'd like to think had he been alive around now, he would oversee Todd's training. Todd would get along great with Coulson.

I made sure to strap in as Clint headed up to the front to join Natasha.

"Oh, hey, there's a tablet on one of the seats," Clint called from up front. "Take a look at it. We've got the profiles on our possible terrorists."

I thumbed between the two profiles. Both were men who looked like they were the kind you didn't want to cross even on a good day. The one had a permanent cocky look on his face, with piercing gray eyes. The other looked just as burly and as dangerous. He had a slighter darker complexion, practically no hair on his head, and his face looked as though he had it in a permanent scowl.

"Charming," I noted loudly. "Isn't it bad to judge a book by its cover, though?"

"In this case, it's not. If they're our guys, we can't overlook them."

While I imprinted the faces of these two men in my mind, Clint and Natasha continued to fly us to Chicago.

It felt like no time had passed when we landed. We made sure to land on the outskirts of the city, some place where we wouldn't risk exposing the jet.

"All right, so, we're here. Any ideas as to where these gentlemen are?" I asked Natasha and Clint.

"We've got a rough idea. The attacks seem to be mostly in the heart of a city or a town. Our guess is that'll happen here too."

"So, are we walking or...? We're a bit a ways away."

Somehow, the two of them managed to add some small motorbikes onto the jet, which answered my transportation question. I ended up riding behind Natasha, Clint got his own ride.

We zipped into the shabby city of Chicago. Some areas, though, looked tidy. These were the areas that people were wanting to be caught outside in. This seems like a more viable place to stage an attack than in a ruddy old area.

Our rides kept close together, the wind the only thing helping us tolerate the bad heat here. In July, it was pretty hard to get mild temperatures, no matter where you were in the United States.

Once we were close to the heart of town, we stopped the bikes and parked them in an alleyway somewhere. Yes, there was a chance of them being stolen, but unless the thieves had special access to the motorbikes, they wouldn't be able to start them. You had to love technology sometimes.

Natasha and I had to opt for summer clothing, Clint was able to get away with walking in the heat in his costume getup. He didn't have his bow out just yet, we needed to find our targets first. I kept my hair out of my face and back into a ponytail, eyes searching for our two suspects.

When the streets were empty, we walked in the middle of them. Three pairs of eyes covered every inch that we walked through, eyeing every top of every building, every open door, every window, and every locked (or unlocked) car.

"Did they know we were coming? We're not dressed in our usual getup," I told Natasha and Clint.

"Or maybe they're waiting until later," Clint said.

"Look out!" I shouted suddenly, extending an arm to each side to shove Natasha and Clint away from me.

I ducked just in time before the ball of fire could hit me.