Chapter 13

Clint's eyes narrowed as he listened to the conversation going on over the coms. Steve had found Tyra, good, but what was going on? He said she wasn't in great shape... what exactly did he mean by that? What had Hydra done to her now? Clint absently stroked the flights on the arrow he had knocked, keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of Hydra coming out to surround the team while he thought about the girl – well, he had to admit it, young woman – who was in there. They'd taken too long to retrieve her, he was certain of it.

"Hey, guys." Someone new said and Clint grinned. She sounded tired, but she was actually able to speak, so that was something.

"Good to have you back, Tyrant." Stark said.

"What's your current position?" Nat asked.

"Good question. Not entirely certain. Somewhere in the base. Ask Steve. He's actually been aware of his surroundings this whole time."

"You might want to keep the talking to a minimum, guys. Don't know when Hydra's gonna hear you." Clint pointed out.

"Clint! Hey there, how's it going for you, Hawkeye?" Tyra sounded like she was forcing herself to be cheerful, then hissed in pain. It was almost too quiet for Clint to pick up on it, but he did. Nat probably had, too. It was questionable if anyone else aside from Cap, who was actually with Tyra, would have picked up on it.

"Better than it is for you. When are you getting out of there?"

"Soon as we find Dale and Barnes."

"Dale?" This confused Clint. What did Dale have to do with anything? He'd been presumed dead for nine years, still no clue about who actually killed Tyra's parents and, they had thought, Dale. And Clint had searched pretty hard.

"Yeah. He's the Entity."

"You're joking."

"Who's Dale?" Nat asked.

"Tyra's older brother. Good kid. How the hell could he be the Entity? And if he was then why would he be trying to hurt you? Tyra, you're making no sense. How do you know it's Dale?"

"I can't explain it. I just... I just know."

"If they have control over Tyra then they could just as easily have control over her brother." Sam stepped in. His reply was quickly followed by the sound of a fight, but it clearly wasn't a long one. After all, he and Nat were in the same place. There was almost no chance for the Hydra agents they had presumably been fighting.

"If suppose that it'd also explain why they never found his body. If he had shown signs of being an Enhanced, then they'd have jumped at the chance. But how would he have been an Enhanced without being previously experimented on?"

"We don't know how long Hydra knew about me before they made their move. It's possible that they were manipulating my powers and giving Dale his powers before they took me."

"I think we should regroup, talk this over." Stark suggested.

"No time. They would have realised what was going on as soon as they lost control over me."

"Which is why we should regroup, come up with a plan."

"I'm with Tony on this one." Clint admitted, not at all liking the idea of Tyra being in less than great condition and going after her brother and Bucky, who were under the control of Hydra. They'd smash her, probably lock her up again and find a way to control her all over again.

"I'm not leaving until I know that Dale and Sergeant Barnes are safe, and that's final. I'll do it on my own if I have to, but we don't have time to regroup. And we certainly don't have time to argue about this."

"She has a point, boys." Nat supplied and Clint scowled. As much as he hated to admit it, Nat and Tyra were right. There wasn't enough time to regroup, and Tyra was ridiculously stubborn sometimes. If only there was some way that he could persuade them that they were wrong, that they'd get Bucky and Dale out without Tyra, who could then go and get checked out by a doctor or something.

"Thor, what do you think about all this?" Clint asked, realising that the Asgardian had been silent through this conversation.

"She will not leave until she knows they are safe, she has said as much. I believe that it would be better for her health if Tyra does indeed stay and help." Thor replied immediately.

"That was something that I was not expecting." Tyra sounded rather surprised and Clint shook his head. That was one plan that backfired quite spectacularly.

"What's the plan then, Tyrant?" Tony asked.

"Ah... Hadn't thought that far yet, not exactly. Pretty much find where Hydra are keeping them then beat the crap out of the guards and get out. Leave the rest of the planning up to Steve." This wasn't going to end well. Clint could feel it. Something was going to go wrong, and he wouldn't be able to do anything to help. That was about the only problem with agreeing to watch his friends' backs. He was backup. He couldn't actually do anything to help if they got in trouble inside.

Hauer slammed the desk next to the computer screen, his face almost crimson with rage. It should have worked, she should have killed him! Verdon stood in the corner, her face slightly pale as Hauer turned on her.

"How did this happen?" He asked, his voice dangerously quiet. Verdon shook her head.

"I don't know, sir. She shouldn't have been able to – "

"Well, she did! She beat it, I thought you said she was too weak to fight the tech!"

"I said that she had grown a resistance to it, I never said that she was too weak to fight it. Either way, she's free. I told you she wasn't ready."

"You keep up like this and I swear, Olivia, I'll hand you over to the authorities." He grabbed her by the throat and started applying pressure, constricting the air flow, her face slowly turning a strange shade. Verdon struggled against his grasp, clawing at his hands with her fingernails, but it didn't work. If anything the pressure only increased. Hauer leaned closer towards her so his face was right in hers.

"That's if you're lucky." Then he released her and turned back to the screen, watching as the girl and that cursed Captain America made their way through the halls. The girl didn't look to be in good shape, which was something. It at least slowed their progress. Contingency plans were always a good idea.

"Makes sure you fix your mess. Start with getting the Asset and Schatten secure. I'll deal with the Avengers," Verdon didn't move, "Didn't you hear me, Olivia? Or did I just imagine myself giving you a direct order?" Now Verdon nodded, stepping backwards and leaving the room. Hauer pressed a button on a mic that was sitting on the desk. It was connected to only one other room, so he knew that Captain America and the rest of the Avengers wouldn't hear what was being said.

"Kuznetsov, it's time to move in."

I placed my hand on Steve's shoulder, almost falling over because I was about to be sick. I didn't understand why, but for some reason my head was even worse. Something was trying to block my powers again, but I could still feel them, bubbling just below the surface. It was almost as though instead of blocking my powers though, this was just angering them. Putting that with the migraine I had and suddenly it was as though my head was about to explode. I could hardly hear Steve, but I could see his lips moving. It was a shame I never learned how to read lips. Would have been really handy right about now. Then I felt it. Not just in the air this time, like I had with Sam, but now in the ground as well. Something moving. No, not just one something. A lot of them. Slower than what you would expect, and it felt lighter as well. I reached down into my pocket and drew out the lighter again, opening it and holding it ready. I'm not sure if I actually spoke, but I felt my lips move. I only hoped that I did actually tell Steve that something was coming. It's all I could do. Then I felt something else in the air. Something slight, but with a certain pattern to it. Not that I could tell what that pattern was, but it felt familiar. Slowly I felt my control seeping into the air, drawing water from it and working the liquid around a bunch of people. I could feel them, feel their body heat. So I attacked. I didn't even notice Steve being separated from me, drawn away to protect me from someone else who had shown up on the scene. Someone I couldn't sense. I just continued on slipping the water down the throats of everyone in my way, drowning them. Eventually my concentration wavered and I could feel my body again, could actually control it. Somehow I was on the floor, crouched low, right hand palm down on it. My head still hurt, but it wasn't as bad as before. I looked around, only now noticing I was alone in the hall.

"Steve?" I called out, rather hesitantly, not sure if speaking was quite the right thing to do right now. I ended up gagging and almost throwing up. There wasn't any point in trying to stand up like this, not without help, not when I was in this condition. After a moment of rest I moved my way over to the wall and used it to help me up. For a moment the world spun, but it stopped reasonably quickly. Once it had stopped I looked around again, trying to spot Steve.

"Steve!" I called out again, louder this time, "Steve, this is no time to be playing games." But I knew he wasn't. As much as I hated to admit it, something had happened. And now I was on my own. With a piece of technology shorting out in my brain. And my powers starting to all come to me at one time, which was leaving me exhausted. This wasn't good. When was anything good? When was the last time anything had really been 'good'? I wasn't even sure if I knew what that word meant anymore. I mentally kicked myself. This wasn't going to get anything done. I kept going, knowing that the plan hadn't changed. I pressed the button on my ear piece, cringing when it screamed, pulling it out and throwing it to the floor, cursing. Someone was blocking communications. Why couldn't Hydra be stupid, just for once?

Dale fell forwards as his shadow returned to him, gasping for breath. For once he was actually thankful for his weakness to fire. Because of Tyra gaining even limited control over her body, he was now free from Hydra's control. For now. If he played his cards right he could keep that control. Nine years he'd been waiting for an opportunity like this one, and he was finally getting it. One of the doctors – Verdon – walked into the room and stepped up to him while he struggled for air. Dale looked up at her, breathing heavily. Verdon was in Hauer's centre circle. There was no way he could trust her, and he knew that his window of opportunity was closing with each step closer she took. So he stood up, glaring at her, but he didn't say anything. So long as he didn't say anything, they might continue to think that he was on their side.

"Report." Verdon demanded.

"She regained control and used the fire. I could not maintain control over my form." Dale said, as deadpan as he could. Judging by the look in Verdon's eye, it wasn't quite as deadpan as it should have been. But she nodded, which confused Dale no end. She was Hydra... if she noticed that he was in control and not Hydra, then why was she going along with it.

"Make sure you're ready to move. I have been commanded to get you and the Asset to a safe location." She said. Dale didn't move. Then Verdon reached out and grabbed the object nearest to her and slammed it against another doctor's head. Dale cringed slightly as the rather heavy lamp connected, sending the doctor falling to the ground. But he didn't stand still for very long, kicking out at one of the guards, then grabbing the man's hand and twisting it behind his back before slamming him head first against the wall, slipping the gun out of his holster as he went, then pointed it first at the second guard, then at the third, pulling the trigger twice. Both the men fell down, holes in their heads. Then Dale turned the gun on Verdon, not trusting her at all.

"Put the gun down." She said, dropping her weapon and holding up her hands.

"I can't trust you. You're with them."

"I just helped you, you really think I work with them anymore?"

"Another reason I can't trust you. You've turned on one group of people already, what's to stop you from turning on me?" Verdon paused, then nodded.

"OK, yeah, I guess I do deserve that one. But we really don't have time for this conversation. Hydra wants to harness Tyra's powers. They aren't simply going to let her go."

"Should have thought of that before you had her taken here." Dale muttered, lowering his gun, his face expressionless.

"I know," Verdon sighed, "I wasn't lying when I told you I was ordered to get you and the Asset out of here."

"He has a name."

"Not one I was ever told and I've never had anything to do with him, never seen his file. Only yours and Tyra's."

"And I thought you were important to Hauer."

"Not as important as other doctors. I was in charge of you and Tyra, that's the only reason I was important. Now we need to get going. Now. There is no chance that he missed what just happened here." Dale nodded, bending down and grabbing the vest off one of the guards, putting it on. It offered a bit more protection than just his white t-shirt. After a moment he took a vest off another guard and chucked it at Verdon without saying anything. She just blinked, standing there for a moment before she slipped it on, nodding her thanks. When Dale held out a gun to her she shook her head.

"I'm a doctor. Not a soldier. I'm supposed to heal, not harm."

"You never seemed to have an issue with hurting people before. Look what you did to Tyra, to me, to who knows how many others. What you did is in many ways worse than being killed." There was nothing in Dale's voice, nothing to say how he was really feeling. It was like he was just a shell, empty of any humanity. And Verdon knew that he was right. He was only like this because of her. She could still remember when she first met him when she was new to Hydra, only 19 years old. Before she was a doctor, when it was her father working here. Dale had watched his parents die. And Verdon and her dad used that to get into his head, used it to gain his trust. Hesitantly she reached out a hand and took the gun.

"I thought you didn't trust me?"

"I don't. But I don't have the time to act on my doubts, and killing you here and now seems rather pointless."

"Good to know." Verdon nodded, watching as Dale headed over to the door and readied to open it, holding the gun in a position where it would be easy to hold it up and shoot at anyone who was Hydra. They'd turned him into a weapon. Hydra had turned them all into weapons. Verdon had thought they were doing good. It was only now dawning on her that she'd taken the wrong side.

Nat spun around, stabbing another Hydra agent in the neck then using them to launch herself into the next agent. Sam was busy shooting at people, switching to hand to hand combat when his guns were wrenched off him. Once the fighting had calmed down he turned to Nat.

"You good?"

"Yeah. You?" Sam nodded, looking around before bending to pick up his guns, slipping them back into their holsters. He pressed his earpiece and cringed as it started screaming in his ear. Nat had a similar look on her face as she removed her earpiece and looked around at him.

"Well this keeps getting better." She muttered.

"Tony was right. We need to regroup."

"That's not gonna happen. We have no clue where anyone else is, and without the coms we have no way of finding that out." At that moment the sound of running feet echoed downtown the halls. Nat and Sam shared looks.

"I vote we regroup with Clint, that way we've got a bit of back up at least." Sam muttered.

"Good plan." Nat nodded before ducking down a side hall, Sam following her. There was no way they were going to be able to fight off the small army of Hydra agents that were storming down the hall. Maybe they could have taken them out, but it probably wouldn't have been the best idea to try in case they couldn't and ended up getting in more trouble, giving the others more people to rescue. As much as both Sam and Nat hated to admit it, they would be of more help if they got out of there.