I had a little time to write on the weekend and the chapter almost wrote itself, so you'll get an update after four days. Tell me how you like it!

Again a big 'Thank you' to Senema for her proofreading of the chapter, it reads much better now. Any remaining mistakes are mine.

Chapter 7

It was late in the night when Clint, Sam and Scott were woken up by a loud bang.

Clint straightened up. "Can you see anything, Sam?"

Sam was the only prisoner who had a clear view of the corridor that led to their cell block.

Sam got up. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw two guards lying on the floor. They must have been on their round. He looked down the hall. "The security gate is closed and there are two guards on the ground."

Clint and Scott got up immediately.

"Are they dead?" asked Scott.

"No, they are breathing, I can see their chests rising and falling", Clint replied immediately.

The three prisoners heard scraping and the faint noise of an engine, it sounded as if something heavy was being moved.

"The security gate is reopening again, but I can't see anything else, the corridor is completely dark", Sam reported.

"Shouldn't the emergency lighting be on?" Scott asked confused.

"It looks as if someone has switched off or bypassed all systems." Sam felt hope stir in him.

"Someone triggered the Raft's security systems, but in such a way that it turned against the guards themselves. I assume the whole complex has been secured in this way. Nothing can get out, and only those responsible for this, can enter the Raft. Looks like we're going to leave this hospitable place." The sarcasm in Clint's voice on the word hospitable was unmistakable.

"Your friend?" Sam asked curiously.

"He at least has a hand in it", Clint replied with satisfaction.

"I can't wait to meet and thank him", Sam said softly.

"What about Wanda? They're going to save her too, won't they?" Scott was worried about Wanda. She had been separated from them and neither of them knew how she had fared.

"My friend knows Wanda, he won't forget her." Clint had a bad feeling about Wanda. He'd heard a few innuendos from the guards that he didn't like. Like Scott, he was very worried about her.

xxxxx

The landing platform was completely empty when Steve left the plane. He listened but couldn't hear anything. With a short hand gesture he gave the order to enter the building.

As soon as he entered the Raft itself, he saw the first people lying on the ground. Steve crouched down next to one of them and checked his pulse.

"And?" asked T'Challa.

"The pulse is strong and regular, they are fast asleep", replied Steve relieved, and straightened up again. "We can go on."

As they walked through the barely lit corridors, Steve noticed that most of the security gates were closed. If he remembered the layout right, the corridor they were in, led them directly to the cell blocks, where the Avengers were held.

It felt quite eerie for Steve to walk through the dark and empty corridors completely undisturbed. Usually his rescues involved a lot more shooting and running.

Okoye watched Elijah quite fascinated. As soon as they entered the Raft, his movement pattern had changed. His movements were still measured, but now it reminded her more of a predator stalking its prey.

They had been on the move for a good 15 minutes when they encountered the first obstacle, a security gate was closed.

"Elijah", Steve softly called, he wanted Elijah to come to his side, but Elijah was already standing next to him.

Elijah sighed in annoyance, took out a cell phone and dialled a number. "What is the problem?" He asked as soon as someone answered the phone without bothering with pleasantries. As a courtesy, he activated the loudspeaker so that the others could overhear everything.

"Six guards were doing a drill. They wore their masks, when the gas was released", replied the man without hesitation.

"I see. How is the situation in the rest of the Raft?" Elijah asked thoughtful.

"Otherwise there are no problems. I locked the six guards in and they have no way of alerting anyone."

"At least something", said Elijah coolly.

"Is there another route we can take?" Steve asked calmly.

The voice didn't answer.

Elijah sighed again. "Answer him!"

"No, it's an important intersection. This is a prison, there are only limited evasive routes."

Steve didn't look surprised, he had already expected this answer. "What do we do now?"

Elijah thought for a moment. "Are the guards armed?"

"Yes, with fully automatic weapons. On every one of the two security gates guards have positioned themselves and are keeping their guns ready."

"Which means that as soon as the gate opens, they will start firing", Steve said seriously.

"And none of us are bullet-proofed", said T'Challa.

"We can't give up", Natasha said desperately. She wanted Clint and Wanda out of this jail.

Elijah lowered his cell phone, stepped forward and put an ear to the gate to listen. He frowned.

"The gate consists of half a meter of steel", said Steve, confused. "How can you hear anything through it?"

Elijah didn't answer but kept listening intently. Finally he pulled away from the gate. "They plan to open fire as soon as the gates opened enough to let somebody through."

"The bullets would tear our legs off or hit us dead centre in the body", Steve said worriedly.

"And when we roll through, we'd be in a non-defensible position on the ground with no chance to get back on our feet", added Natasha.

"You are right, this is hopeless", said T'Challa grimly.

Elijah sighed. "No, it isn't", he said resigned. "You will stand next to the door where the bullets cannot injure you. I'll take care of the guards."

Steve frowned. "What can you do? The bullets would hit you too."

Elijah smiled slightly. "The few bullets, which could perhaps hit me, can neither stop me nor harm me permanently."

Steve opened his mouth to ask something, but then let it go. He didn't think Elijah would answer him and it wasn't the right time to ask questions, if they wanted to rescue their friends. "Are you really sure that you can do this?"

"Absolutely sure, Captain." Elijah spoke into the cell phone again. "You will open both gates at the same time to split the guards' attention between them. Are there any other gates between the gate on the other side and the cell wing?"

"Yes, two", the man replied immediately.

"Then close the first one. I don't want the guards to get to the prisoners", said Elijah.

"It's closed", the man said a few moments later.

Elijah looked at Steve, who reluctantly nodded. Steve made a gesture and the others lined up next to the gates, Steve followed suit. "As soon as I hang up you will open the gates. When I've resolved the problem, you can open the gate again. Are there any other obstacles after that?"

"No, none", said the man.

"Well then, open the gates." Elijah hung up.

A few moments later the gates lifted and as soon as the distance from the ground was large enough, Elijah let himself fall and roll through.

In the meantime, Natasha had crouched down with her back to the wall and was holding a mirror in her hand, with which she could through clever positioning follow what was happening in the room.

She gasped loudly when she saw Elijah get back on his feet in a way, which was physically practically impossible, before the guards could even react. Elijah disarmed all three guards and knocked them unconscious with a speed that made her dizzy.

Meanwhile the gates were open so wide that Steve could also look carefully around the corner. The remaining guards had turned around as well, realizing that the threat was only coming from one side. Two guards stood a few meters in front of the other with weapons pointed at Elijah, who was a good 20 meters away from them. Before they could pull the trigger, Elijah stood in front of them, grabbed their throats and smashed them violently onto the floor.

Steve looked over at Natasha, who looked just as shaken as he did. They had last seen speed like this with Pietro. And the strength with which he had brought the two guards down, indicated inhuman strength too.

The last guard started firing but Elijah was no longer where he had been before. He stood next to the guard, took away his gun and hit him over the head with it.

"The room is secured", said Elijah in a calm voice and turned to the Avengers. He didn't even seem out of breath, no visible injury on him.

Steve looked slightly dazed. In just a few seconds Elijah had eliminated six guards, armed with fully automatic weapons, and none of them had even had a chance to hit him with a bullet.

Natasha and T'Challa checked the state of the guards one by one, while Steve looked thoughtfully at Elijah.

Okoye and the other two female warriors kept an eye on the room so that there were no more surprises. However, they too now looked at Elijah with a certain respect.

"They are all unconscious, none of them is life-threateningly injured", reported T'Challa and looked at Elijah with narrowed eyes.

Elijah just smiled blandly. "We have to go."

"Yeah, but when this is over I'd like to ask a few questions", Steve said calmly.

Elijah shrugged. "You are welcome to do that." But whether you will get answers is another matter was left unsaid.

Steve understood the unsaid end of the sentence very well but it was still not the time. He started walking.

They passed the next two gates and then there were two corridors that were left open.

"The right corridor leads to Clint and the others, the left corridor leads to Wanda's cell", Steve explained.

"I'll get Wanda", said Elijah calmly.

"All right", Steve agreed. "Okoye, please go with him!"

Okoye glanced over at T'Challa, who nodded in agreement. Elijah had already started moving and Okoye followed him with a scowl.

Steve looked after the two of them and then started moving too. They were still on a tight schedule. The others followed him.

When Steve stepped out of the darkness and Sam saw him, he started beaming. Steve was just as relieved to see that although Sam looked a little battered, he could still stand on his own two feet.

"It's about time", said Sam, when Steve let him out of the cell. Natasha let Clint out of his cell while T'Challa got Scott out.

Natasha gave Clint a big hug. "I am so sorry!"

Clint returned the hug and kissed her hair. "It's all right, we're still friends." Then he nodded to Steve. "Good to see you, Cap! Who is getting Wanda?"

"Elijah", Steve replied, noting how relieved Clint was about it. "You have an interesting friend there, by the way."

Clint smirked. "Yes, he is very special. How is Wanda?"

"Not so good", replied Steve sadly.

Clint grew serious. "Let's go to her!"

"No objection", replied Steve.

All of the Avengers turned and then headed down the left corridor, concerned about the state they would find Wanda in.

xxxxx

A part of Elijah was still thinking about the previous fight. He had no doubt that the humans had seen some of his abilities. Fortunately, he hadn't been wounded, let alone killed, so no one had at least seen him heal or come back to life.

When he entered Wanda's cell block, Elijah saw two guards lying unconscious on the floor. Without looking at them, he stepped over them. His only goal was Wanda's cell.

He opened it and then saw Wanda sitting on the bunk, in a straitjacket and with a shock collar around her neck. When Elijah saw her hollow gaze, he lost his composure for a brief moment, his face changed and he snarled angrily.

Okoye had stopped when she heard the growl. The sound had been so inhuman that it sent a cold shiver down her spine. When she stepped next to Elijah and saw the young woman's condition, she could certainly understand his reaction.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw how Elijah's face slightly changed, but when she looked at him properly, his face was completely normal.

Elijah went to Wanda and crouched down in front of her. "Can you hear me, child?" He asked gently.

Okoye frowned. Child? Elijah was at most a few years older than Wanda.

Wanda didn't move and her eyes remained empty. Elijah sighed and put a hand on Wanda's cheek, but that didn't provoke any reaction either.

Elijah turned his attention to the shock collar. He had made inquiries how to get the collar off. With slow movements Elijah pressed the key combination that had been given to him and the collar clicked. Elijah carefully opened the collar and took it off.

Elijah looked up and for a moment there was a flicker of life in Wanda's eyes before they went empty again. Next, he gently turned her around and undid the buckles on the back of the straitjacket so that Wanda's arms could hang down. Elijah pulled on the sleeves until Wanda was released from the straitjacket. Wanda sighed softly, the first reaction she had shown so far.

"Everything will be fine, Wanda, you are safe! I'll take you in my arms now and carry you out of here. Captain Rogers and Natasha are getting Clint and the others out of their cells." Elijah's voice stayed soft and steady as he followed his words with actions.

When Elijah had Wanda in his arms and carried her out of the cell, her arms crawled around his neck and she rested her head on his chest.

Elijah smiled and looked at Okoye, who returned the smile. So there was still a part of Wanda that was awake and reacting to her surroundings.

Steve and the other Avengers met them in the corridor.

Clint immediately hurried over to Elijah and eyed Wanda worriedly. "How is she doing?"

"She is completely apathetic, no wonder, but a part of her is aware of her surroundings", Elijah replied quietly. "Are you alright, Clint?"

"Finally, yes! My family really is safe?" Clint asked anxiously.

"Yes, they are. Your daughter will have her first riding lesson tomorrow", said Elijah with a grin.

Clint let out a sigh of relief. "I so owe you one for this, man!"

"It's been my pleasure, Clint", Elijah replied sincerely.

Steve stepped up to them now and smiled down at Wanda. It struck him how trustingly Wanda cuddled up to Elijah. "Let's get out of here!"

Again Elijah walked in the middle with Wanda and the other former prisoners, but it was unnecessary. They reached the landing platform with their plane, where the two other Dora Milaje were waiting.

One by one, the Avengers boarded the plane, Steve being the last to get on. The tailgate closed and the plane took off. They were finally safe!