Chapter 21: Climb
Morning came and between the sun and the noisily singing birds, none of the Avengers could have slept in if they wanted to. Wanda had half hoped Pietro and Sam would show up in the middle of the night, but they hadn't. The Avengers packed up camp and trekked into the woods where the two boys had entered last night, fanning out it pairs, calling their names. Wanda was with Natasha, who was doing her best to keep Wanda from getting too worried. They had been searching for around ten minutes when Tony shouted,
"Guys, I found something!"
Wanda's heart started hammering nervously as she and Natasha hurried over to Tony. He was standing near the edge of a cliff, peering over the edge while Pepper watched anxiously. Once all the Avengers had gathered, Tony turned around.
"So, I've got some good news and some bad news," he announced. "The bad news is, it looks like Pietro and Sam probably fell off this cliff. The good news is, it doesn't look terribly steep so they might have survived. I tried calling down to them to see if they were there, but there was no answer, so either they wandered off, they're knocked out, or they're... well, dead."
"So what do we do?" Wanda asked.
"Honestly, I think the only thing we can do is keep heading down the mountain," said Tony. "Once we get into range, we can call for help, both for ourselves and for them."
"So we're just going to leave them down there?" said Wanda.
"Yeah... Look, Wanda, I'm sorry, but there's no way anybody could climb down there and we haven't got rope, and this cliff is pretty unstable on top of it all, which is probably why they fell down there to begin with. So unless anybody's got a better idea, it's the only option we've got," Tony said.
"Unfortunately, Tony's right," said Steve. "If any of us tried to get to them, they'd just be stuck down there too. Leaving them is the only way we can save them."
Pietro woke to a splitting headache. Sam was already awake and leaning against the cave wall.
"Good morning," he said. "Sleep okay?"
"I was freezing and I think there may have been a rock stabbing my back, but otherwise, sure. You?" Pietro replied.
"About the same. Are you as starving as I am?"
"Probably."
"Awesome. We're off to a great start on our stranded-in-the-wilderness adventure," said Sam sarcastically.
"Shall we go?" Pietro asked.
"Might as well."
They got up and left the cave. The cliff walls were not terribly tall, but nowhere near being climbable, and the gorge seemed to go on for quite a while in both directions.
"This may be harder than we thought," said Pietro.
They turned left out of of the cave and started walking. And walking. And walking. At some point that neither of them noticed, the gorge started to grow narrower. The sun was high in the sky when they finally found themselves at a dead end.
"Well, shit," said Sam. "Now what are we supposed to do?"
"We could try climbing it," Pietro suggested.
"Are you crazy?"
"No, seriously. It won't be easy, but it's definitely more possible here than anywhere else we've seen."
"I'm not doing it," Sam said.
"Then I will," said Pietro. "And if I make it to the top then you can follow."
"Whoa there, buddy, slow down. This is a bad idea. That's a pretty big 'if' you're counting on, and I can't guarantee I'll be able to catch you if you fall," said Sam.
"We can't stay down here forever, Sam," Pietro said. "And if I'm gonna die, I'd rather do it trying to survive than wasting away at the bottom of a hole."
Sam sighed heavily.
"You really do have a death wish, don't you," he said. "Fine. I'll be right here if you need me. And don't hesitate to ask for help just to keep me from getting hurt. I'd die for you too, you know."
"I know."
Pietro took a steadying breath and turned to face the cliff. He looked up, squinting in the sunlight, determining the best possible path.
"Can I get a lift?" he asked.
Sam came over and gave him a leg-up. Pietro settled his hands and feet and paused.
"You okay?" Sam asked.
"Yeah," Pietro replied.
Then he started to climb. It wasn't so bad at first, almost easy. But the higher he got, the smoother the cliff face became, giving him fewer places to hold on. To top it off, he hadn't eaten in twenty-four hours and, based on his still lingering headache, probably had a concussion, and it was all starting to take its toll on his strength. He paused again to catch his breath and looked up. The top wasn't too far away. Surely he could push himself for just a little while longer.
"You okay?" Sam called again.
"Fine," Pietro called back, though he probably didn't sound fine.
He took another deep breath and forced himself to keep climbing. The sun was beating hot on his back, sapping the little energy he had left. Then finally, there was dirt under his fingers. He grabbed a tree root and hoisted himself up. He lay on his back with the cool earth pressing through his shirt as he struggled to catch his breath.
"Pietro!" Sam called. "Everything alright up there?"
"Yeah, gimme a minute!"
Pietro got to his feet and immediately wished he hadn't. His vision clouded and he staggered slightly, head pounding, heart skipping a beat as he drifted dangerously close to the cliff's edge. He reached out his hand to steady himself against a tree and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to take slow, even breaths.
"Pietro?" Sam called.
"It's fine, you can come up!" he managed to shout.
The pounding in his head was getting worse and he slowly lowered himself back to the ground, leaning against the tree trunk. He sat like this, unmoving, until Sam crawled up over the cliff.
"Oh good, you made it," he said, surprised at how weak his own voice sounded.
Sam looked over at him from where he lay panting on the ground.
"Dude, are you okay? You look awful," he said.
"I feel awful."
Sam got up and came to Pietro's side, a concerned look on his face.
"Man, we gotta get you some water, you're dehydrated as hell. You should've worked up a sweat climbing that cliff and there's barely a drop on you. Come on, let's see if we can find a stream or something."
"I can't," Pietro said. "I can't..."
"If you don't, you'll die. I'll carry you if I have to!" said Sam.
"No, no, I can walk, just help me," said Pietro.
He didn't want to make Sam carry him, not when he was probably in nearly as bad of shape. Still, he couldn't help feeling like he might pass out if he tried to stand.
"You're fucking impossible, you know that?" Sam said, helping Pietro to his feet.
"So I've been told," Pietro replied.
He draped his arm over Sam's shoulders and they began to stumble through the woods, Sam carrying more of Pietro's weight than either of them would admit. Pietro's head was aching more than ever and he was beginning to worry that they wouldn't find water in time. Suddenly, Sam forced them to a halt.
"Do you hear that?" he asked quietly.
Pietro was too tired to speak, so he shook his head. He wished he hadn't.
"Running water. We're nearly there," said Sam.
They started walking again. Pietro's legs felt like rubber and he was surprised he was even managing to move them. He could hear the running water now, but his senses all seemed to be fading in and out like a badly tuned radio, so he had no idea how close they were. Finally, they stopped again and Sam lowered Pietro to the ground underneath a tree.
"You stay here, I'll bring you some water," he said.
Like Pietro could've moved if he wanted to. He leaned back again the tree and fought to stay conscious, watching Sam use a leaf to scoop up some water from the stream. He hurried back over as quick as he could without spilling and gently tipped the water into Pietro's mouth. The water was a little bit dirty, but Pietro didn't care. Water had never tasted so good in his life and he doubted it ever would again. Sam returned to the stream and got some more, then helped Pietro drink it.
"What about you?" Pietro asked hoarsely.
"Don't worry about me," said Sam. "I'm not the one who's barely conscious."
He brought over a few more leaf-fuls of water before stopping, saying they should pace it so Pietro wouldn't get sick. He went back to the stream and finally got some water for himself, then came and sat next to Pietro under the tree.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"A little better," said Pietro. "I think I might manage not to pass out now, at least."
"Well, that's progress."
"I don't think I'll be able to go on, though," Pietro continued.
"That's okay. We'll stay here," said Sam.
"No, Sam, you can't. I can't make you stay here, just go on without me," Pietro said. "You can send someone up to get me once you're out of here, if I'm still alive."
"Okay, now you're just being stupid," said Sam. He almost looked angry, except for the obvious pain in his eyes.. "Look, Pietro, I get that you want me to get off this mountain alive. That's fine. Noble, I suppose. But you're a fucking drama queen. You've got some death-wish, hero-complex shit going on, buddy. I swear to God, you're worse than Steve, which is saying a lot and Bucky can back me up on that one. But you don't have to sacrifice yourself to help anybody else. It's one hundred percent possible to save someone's life and live to tell the tale. I totally get that you don't want me to die up here on your account. But I ain't leaving you up here to die either. We're both gonna make it out of this, I promise. So yes, I can stay here. 'Cause I'm not giving up on you, Pietro. Not today."