It didn't take long for Yelena and Karley to be processed in the Raft and put in their own rooms under high security.
Yelena's room was nothing but padding, on the walls, the floor, the ceiling and the door with a one way handle on the outside. They had made her change into a thin white jumpsuit, no strings, no buttons. Not even a tag. They knew what she was capable of and they weren't going to take any risks.
For Karley, they had instantly taken the inhuman to their medical wing and had two gloves put onto her hands. They were high tech versions of what the Red Room had used on her, the fabric covering from her fingertips all the way up to her elbow. It was laced with thin wires that were glowing a dull red. To make sure she couldn't take them off, they had also put thin metal locks around her wrists and elbow, securing them to her firmly. They had her change into a thin white jumpsuit as well.
"Don't even try to use your powers Danvers," the woman told her as she locked them in place. "They won't work, not with this design. But just in case you do somehow manage to use them," Karley watched as she picked up a small remote control and pressed a button. The brunette fell to the ground clutching her chest as electrical currents shot through making it difficult to breath. It felt like an eternity before it stopped. "Well, that was just a warning so you don't get any funny ideas. Each time I hit this button, the shock will last for five seconds. You don't wanna know what'll happen if I rapidly click it, so don't test us."
Karley was pulled off the ground by two guards as they dragged her to her room. It was completely padded, with nothing in it except a thin blanket. As she was escorted to her room she had been looking for signs of Yelena anywhere but hadn't caught sight of the blond.
"Don't worry Danvers," one of the guards said, looking at her with sympathy. "This year will be over before you know it. As long as you cooperate, that is."
He closed the door, leaving the girl alone with her thoughts.
The first few days were insanity.
Karley sat there staring at the whiteness around her which drove her mad. She missed seeing colors.
They hadn't let her out of the cell, instead bring her food on a paper plate and cardboard utensils. She knew that the Raft was secure, but damn this was extra. Now she understood why no one escaped.
After her first few days a counselor came to talk to her.
"My name's Reyna," the woman greeted, sitting down across from Karley. She was wearing the same white paper thin jumpsuit. "I'll be your therapist during your stay in the Raft, Ms. Danvers. May I call you Karley? We'll be getting to know each other very well." Reyna was nice, but after days of talking to the woman it was clear that they weren't getting anywhere. She wanted Karley to talk to her about her time in the Red Dawn, about her powers and what she was capable of. She wanted to talk about the families of her victims. "Do you remember what it was like killing your first person?"
"I wanna know about Yelena," she cut the girl off with a snap.
"Your friend is getting the same treatment as you, Karley. You don't need to worry about her."
"When can I leave this room? You guys put me here so I could recover but after being stuck in here for a week I feel like I'm going crazy," Karley told her.
"You can leave as soon as you show us that you're making progress in your recovery. To do that, you need to talk to me."
Karley punched the wall lightly, rolling her eyes.
"Alright, Reyna. Let's talk then."
After the first two weeks in her cell they had finally let her out, saying that she would be allowed to go to the cafeteria and have a regular cell, as long as she continued talking to Reyna. It was what she dreaded most every day.
As she was escorted to her cell outside of the psych ward she could see the other prisoners eyeing her up. She couldn't believe she was here, in the Raft with many of dangerous criminals that the Avengers and even Peter had taken down.
Unluckily for her, it was a gender integrated prison because of how high the security was, the state of New York didn't want to build two separate ones.
One prisoner was eyeing the inhuman up in particular as she made her way to her new cubicle.
Karley knew who he was. Of course she did, everyone knew who this man was.
Carl Creel's face was a bit surprised to see that they had put one of the Avengers own in here. Especially when said girl was the known sister of Daisy Johnson.
As soon as she walked into her cell a welcoming sight greeted Karley.
"Took you long enough, дорогой."
"Yelena," the brunette walked over to the girl and enveloped her in a hug, relief washing through her at seeing a familiar face. Yelena didn't pull away, instead she held the taller girl in her arms.
That relief was short lived, however, when both of them felt a strong electrical shock run through them as they fell to the ground.
"Don't touch the other inmates, Danvers," a guard warned her.
Both of the girls could see that the man had a helmet on, one of his eyes covered by a yellow lens as his finger moved away from a box on his hip. As he turned to walk away they noticed that the box had a button on it, with wires leading up into the helmet. All they had to do was look at an inmate and hit that button to electrocute them.
"I forgot to tell you about my super awesome new gloves," Karley explained as she showed the blond the intricate design. "All for little old me."
"Ha! That sucks. They didn't put anything like that on me. I guess that's a benefit of not having superpowers," Yelena joked.
"Sorry about that, I guess no more hugs," the brunette said as the duo sat on the bottom bunk together.
"Look on the bright side - we're cell mates," she said merrily. "I've broken out of many prisons before but this one is a different level of crazy."
"Yeah I'm surprised that Ross put you in here. This is designed for only the most dangerous people in the world," Karley explained, gesturing to the window that was pretty much a metal wall with tiny slits in it.
"Oh yeah, I'm not dangerous at all," Yelena sarcastically replied.
"That's not what I meant. I'm just sorry that you're here with me for an entire year. 50 more weeks to go, huh?"
"Actually it's 352 more days. It hasn't even been two weeks."
"Really? It feels like it's been longer."
"Nope. What took you so long to get out of the padded room?" The blond asked her.
Yelena could see the dark bags under Karley's eyes, not that it was new, but they were much more prominent compared to the last time the two saw each other.
"Talking isn't one of my strong suits," she admitted, rubbing her face. This was bad and she knew it. How were the two of them going to survive in here?
"Well I sung like a bird, told them some bullshit lies and they let me out," Yelena told her with a smile.
"You do realize that we're stuck in here with most of our siblings enemies?"
"Well, to be fair they're mostly the Avengers enemies. And Peters," the blond said with a shrug. "I've gotten along just fine. Even made a few friends the last couple of days."
"Oh? And was that with your charming personality or with your fists?" Karley asked, gesturing to her knuckles which were a dark purple.
"A little bit of both. But they won't be fucking around with me." Yelena laughed as she picked her hands up and examined them. "I never thought that I'd end up like my father, sitting in jail to rot away."
"Hey," Karley said after hearing that. "You're nothing like Alexei. You're so much more than that."
Yelena watched as the brunette reached for her bruised fists, larger hands covering her much smaller ones. She would kill for a short joke right about now.
As if the universe knew that the two girls were sharing a moment, the loud speaker crackled to life, causing them to jump apart.
"All inmates to the cafeteria. If you refuse to move, there will be consequences."
"God I think I liked the MRE's in Afghanistan more that whatever this is," Karley said watching as the food on her fork seemed to slowly crawl away from her.
"It's actually not that bad," Yelena stated as she chewed on the same bite of food far too long. "No, you are right. This is retched. At least the Red Room fed us properly."
Karley laughed at that as the blond spit the food back onto her tray. The two of them had their own table away from the rest of the inmates, but their privacy didn't last long when a few men walked up to them slowly.
"You know, Ross did us a favor by putting you in here," the closest one said, taking a seat across from the ladies as the other three stood behind him. "I didn't know Daisy had a little sister."
"Carl Creel," the brunette let the name roll off her tongue, taking note of their aggressive stance. "To be fair, Daisy didn't know she had a little sister."
Yelena watched them carefully as she pushed her food around they tray, appetite gone. She could sense trouble brewing.
"Karley Danvers, or should I say Johnson?" He clasped his hands together and leaned forward. "How is our mutual friend doing?"
"She's dandy."
"Oh I'm sure. Who would've thought that she would go on to become an Avenger?"
"What do you want Creel?" She cut to the chase, watching as he held his hands up.
"Whoa there, Karley. Why so aggressive?"
"Well you didn't come here for pleasantries," she snapped, her green eyes never leaving his own.
Creel looked around the room bustling with other inmates, some laughing and some arguing. There were at least five guards that they could see, all of them keeping a carful eye out. Carl leaned forward so he could whisper to the girls.
"I know that the Avengers aren't going to let two of their own rot in the Raft. So when is it going down?" He asked lowly.
Yelena looked to the brunette for a moment before they both started laughing, Carl watching them with a confused look.
"You're funny," the blond said after they settled down. "I like this one, why'd he get locked up again Karley?"
"Oh you know, he was doing dirty work for Hydra before S.H.I.E.L.D. took him down."
"Enough!" Creel shouted, slamming his hands on the table. If the guards weren't looking at them before, they were now. "I want a ride out of here with you, or I'll make your time in here hell. I run this place, trust me, I can do it."
With his piece being said the boys left.
"Well that was fun," Yelena commented.
"Yeah, I'm sure our stay here will be pleasant."
That night the girls settled down in their beds, Yelena on the top and Karley on the bottom.
"You don't think they're actually stupid enough to break us out of here, do you?" Karley said quietly, picking at a piece of stray thread from the mattress above her.
"I think that...I think our sisters are being smart about how they go about this," the blond answered. "They won't leave us in here, but they can't be seen getting us out either."
"And then what? Where would we go? Ross has us listed as enemies of the state so what's the point? Even if we did get out -"
"Hey!" The blond jumped off the top bunk, landing with a soft thud as she crouched before Karley. "Don't talk like that. We don't deserve to be here. We should be out there, right now, hunting down the Red Dawn and Hydra."
Karley sat up in her bed, swinging her legs around to the floor. She stared at Yelena for a moment, their eyes locked on the other.
"What if we do deserve to be here? Ross has a point. I'm dangerous, you're dangerous."
"So what? You know who made us this way? They did. And every day that we're in here, rotting in this prison and talking about our feelings, the Red Dawn and Hydra is out there making more dangerous people," Yelena explained, hoping that she was getting through to the brunette. "We were helpless when we were taken by them, with no one coming for us. Now there's more helpless people out there going through the same thing we did, the only difference is that they have someone coming for them. Us."
She had a point. Karley knew that. Deep down she knew that she deserved to be in the Raft for what she's done, that Ross was right to put her here. But she also knew that Yelena was right.
Every day that they sat in here more families were being torn apart.
With a sigh, Karley shook her head and turned to the small window in their cell. She could barely make out the stars in the night sky, her thoughts going to her sister.
"Alright, so how do we get out of here?" She asked the blond, who in turn shot her a smirk.
"I've been scouting out the patters of the guards, their shift changes and their gear. Remember when we got here how they tagged us?" Karley shook her head in confusion.
"I wasn't tagged? You were?" Yelena let a small laugh out at that, reaching over to the taller girl and pulling her sleeve up to reveal the tiniest incision mark Karley had ever seen.
"We were all tagged, дорогой. Tomorrow I need your help with something that's going to put us a step closer to getting out of here. You up for it?"
"I'm up for anything," the brunette replied. "Let's do this."
The next day the inmates were spread throughout somewhat of a lounge area for their free time. It had a foosball table, couches surrounding a TV, a small area with some weights, a table with chess and other board games and even yoga mats.
"It's funny right?" Yelena asked, pointing to the yoga mats where they could both see a man meditating.
"It is, now that you point it out," Karley added on as they approached him. "Bruno Horgan."
The man in question stood up from the ground with a smile to the ladies. Once he was at his full height, the girls could see that he was easily six foot three, about a foot taller than Yelena and towering over even Karley. He was dressed in an orange jumpsuit like the rest of the male inmates were, stretching his arms out to reveal his muscular arms covered in tattoos.
"Well, if it isn't the infamous Surge," he taunted in his thick Russian accent before turning to a couple of men behind him, speaking to them in his native tongue. "Крил сказал нам, чтобы мы трахнули их, мальчики. Теперь у нас есть шанс."
Although Karley had a degree in languages and psychology, she spoke French, German, Spanish and Arabic, not Russian.
Yelena, on the other hand, easily heard what the man said to his friends and grabbed Karley's hand, backing her up a bit. She knew what was coming as the four of them walked towards the duo. Glancing about, the blond could see that Creel was standing in the corner watching the exchange. Above the lounge where the guards were supposed to be watching, there was no one.
"Vous êtes prêt, chéri?" Yelena asked the brunette in French, the only shared language between them other than English.
"I'm always ready with you," Karley smiled in response, the two of them getting ready for the fight stirring before them. Bruno struck out first towards Yelena, but Karley stepped between the two, catching his fist in her hands and flipping him over her hip. "Pick on someone your own size, huh?"
"I knew you were going to make a short joke," the blond grumbled, instantly engaging with the other three men as they exchanged punches. Years of training in the Red Room paid off as the blond easily starting to win the fight. But as she glanced towards Karley, watching the brunette letting herself get beaten by the larger man, she was reminded that they weren't supposed to win this fight. It was part of the plan.
So instead of easily taking care of the three inmates, Yelena put up a fake fight, allowing one of the men to kick her in the chest and throw her to the ground, the other two joining him as they threw punches to her face, chest, legs. She's taken many beatings before in her lifetime and this was nothing new, though it didn't make it hurt any less.
"I don't know how you pissed Creel off so quickly, bitch. But I don't care as long as I get to punch something," one of them growled in her ear, picking her small form up and slamming her onto the ground.
Yelena could see Karley was in no better condition as the brunette was thrown onto the cold cement next to her.
"This is fun," the blond groaned in pain. It felt like her heart was beating in her head.
"Hey, this was your plan, remember?" Karley asked, groaning as well before Bruno grabbed her arms and picked her up by her jumpsuit.
"You don't mess with Carl. It would do you girls good to give him what he wants," he explained, one hand wrapping around Karley's throat and squeezing as hard as he could.
"See what I mean?" Carl asked, walking up to the girl as she struggled to breath. "I told you I run this place. Maybe now you'll reconsider my offer."
As he walked away with a grin, he waved his hand to the four men that had just beaten them up. Bruno laughed in Karley's face as he set her down, her legs weak from the beating they just took. With one last smirk her punched her again, her head snapping to the side as she landed on the ground once more next to the blond.
"Next time, I'm making the plan," she stated, causing Yelena to smile revealing bloody teeth.
Not long after the fight both girls were escorted to the medical wing.
"What happen, you fall down the stairs?" One of the guards asked, laughing as he pushed them forwards.
"Yeah, you know us," Yelena mumbled, knowing damn well that he was one of the guards that was supposed to be on watch when they got beaten up. "Clumsy."
As the duo sat there getting patched up by the prisons doctor, Karley winced as the man pulled tightly on the stitches. That last punch that Horgan gave her was hard enough to cut into her cheek a decent amount.
"What? So you can kill people without blinking an eye but you can't take a couple stitches?" The doctor sneered, putting the thread and needle down before turning to Yelena. She was shooting daggers at him. "Oh Ms. Belova, don't give me that look."
As the Doctor turned his attention to Yelena, leaving his back exposed to the inhuman behind him, Karley slowly grabbed the pair of scissors on the tray beside her.
"What look?" The blond asked innocently, distracting the Doctor as he looked her injuries over.
While they were talking, Karley got to work on carefully cutting the wires inside of her gloves, keeping a close eye on the man in front of her. As soon as she cut the wires within the glove on her left hand, she put the scissors back on the tray just as the Doctor turned around once more, done with his check up on Yelena.
"Well you girls are all set to go," he told them, walking them to the door where a few guards were waiting to take them back to their cells. Their plan had worked. While they were walking Karley could vaguely feel her connection to the astral plain return. It was a weak one, as one of her gloves were still working, but it was there nonetheless.
As they settled down into their cell for the night, the guards walking around the halls outside, Yelena hopped off the top bunk.
"Did it work?" She asked optimistically.
Karley simply held her left hand out, a crackle of blue energy sparkling to life.
"Yeah, it worked. The other glove is still on but that's a minor setback. Have you figured out the rest of the plan?"
Yelena answered by pulling a piece of paper out from under her bed, unfolding it to reveal a crudely drawn layout of the Raft.
"Having a pretty face will get you places," she smirked. "Hence why I did it myself."
"Did you just imply that I'm ugly?" Karley asked, a grin slowly crawling onto her face as she moved closer to the blond, getting into her personal space.
"No, I just complimented myself since no one else seems to be doing it," she answered.
Their faces were so close that Karley felt her stitches on her cheekbone gently tickling her, the blonds breathing slightly picking up. As they sat there planning their prison break she couldn't help but notice Yelena was right about herself. She was beautiful.
The small amount of moonlight that managed to make it through the window lit up the blonds face, her electric blue eyes never leaving the deep forest green ones staring back at her. Her long hair was pulled back into a pony tail filled with braids as it hung over the side of her shoulder, stray strands sticking out.
"You are beautiful," Karley whispered, her cold hand cupping the side of her black and blue cheek. Yelena smiled at that as she placed her own hand on top of Karley's, bringing their foreheads together.
"Thanks, дорогой," she said softly as they pulled apart. "I'll lead the way out of here."
"I'll follow."
The very same night that Karley and Yelena were taken to the Raft the rest of the Avengers followed Steve to Wakanda. Only a few of them even knew that the place existed let alone how to get there. Once they did arrive though, they were greeted by a friendly man named King T'Challa.
"It is nice to see you again," he greeted, clasping hands with Tony, then Steve before turning to Natasha. "You don't have those stingers of you on, do yo?" He asked with a smile before shaking her hand.
"I'm sorry about that," she said as they pulled apart. His gaze turned to Daisy.
"And who might you be?" He asked.
"Daisy Johnson," she replied, holding her hand out which he happily shook.
"Welcome to Wakanda, Daisy," he greeted warmly before turning to Steve. "I assume you're here to see him?"
"Yeah, actually. We need his help with something," the blond explained as they followed the King through his home.
"He just came back not too long ago. He wouldn't tell me where he came from though," T'challa explained as he opened a door. "He was upset when he did come back. His recovery here has been going well."
"Thank you, T'challa," Steve said as he entered the room. Tony stayed outside to talk to the king.
"Steve?" A man with one arm called out.
"Hey Buck."
Natasha and Daisy watched as the two of them hugged each other before finally pulling apart, both of them with grins.
"I'm sorry it took me so long to reach out. I had some unfinished business with Hydra," Bucky told them as he sat back in his chair, the rest finding a seat as well.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is that you're alright," Steve said with a smile. "I think we know what unfinished business you're talking about though."
Bucky raised his eyebrows at that. "You do?"
"My little sister, Karley Danvers," Daisy told him, watching as recognition crossed his face at the name.
"That's your sister?" Daisy nodded. "I'm sorry I couldn't save her. I tried, but being so close to Hydra again was risky as it was. Then I came home one night to see them at my house. I figured she ratted me out and ran."
"That's not your fault," Steve told the man, placing his hand on him shoulder. "But did you see the news about the Senate meeting today?"
"No, I've been staying away from the outside world as much as I could. Taking time to recover and all," Bucky told the group. "Why what happened?"
Daisy took over the conversation.
"The Senate imprisoned my sister and Natasha's for working unwillingly for the Red Room and the Red Dawn," she told him. "They sent them to the Raft for a minimum of one year for 'recovery'."
"The Raft, isn't that the place they put all of the powered people?" He asked Daisy.
"Yeah, also where most of the people that the Avengers and Daisy has imprisoned," Natasha explained. "We need help breaking them out but the Senate is watching us too closely. If we did it-"
"They'd know it was you," Bucky finished for her. "So you need someone on the outside to do it."
"Precisely. We couldn't think of anyone else who would be capable," Daisy told him, crossing her arms. "We know this is a lot to ask of you but -"
"I'll do it," Bucky said in a heartbeat, surprising the group around them. "I couldn't save Karley from the Red Dawn but I can save her from this harsh punishment. She doesn't deserve that. I won't just sit here knowing that I've done worse things while she rots away."
"Thank you Bucky. We wouldn't ask if it wasn't important," Steve told his friend, helping the man stand up.
"I know, Steve. Besides I've had a few months to sit here and recover, I'm ready to help you guys do some good," he explained to them as they made their way to the door. "Is Tony here?" He asked hesitantly.
"You called?" The billionaire popped from behind the doorway, his eyes landing on the Winter Soldier. "Barnes," he said coldly.
This whole trip to Wakanda he's been thinking about everything that's went down in the last year. The Civil War, finding out that Bucky was the one to kill his parents, Steve and his falling out, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents showing up on his doorstep. To say the least, he's been busy.
But after spending so much time with Karley and getting to know the girl and what she's been through, Tony had realized that Bucky was no different from the inhuman. He wasn't going to be friends with his parents killer by no means, but he's made room in his heart for acceptance that it wasn't Bucky's fault.
If he blamed Bucky for his parents death then he might as well blame Karley for everything she's done too.
No, Tony would make room in his heart for Bucky's wrongdoing's under Hydra's control too.
"You going to try and kill me again?" Bucky asked, eyeing the man up as they stood there. The events of Civil War were all too recent.
Stark sighed, looking to the ceiling for a moment in thought before returning his gaze to the Winter Soldier.
"No, I'm not. You killed my parents and that's never going to change. But recently I've come to accept that it wasn't you. It was Hydra," he told the man, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to say. "I'm sorry for what happened between us."
Bucky looked to the billionaire in shock, clearly not having expected an apology. He understood that Stark would hate him forever, with good reasoning, but he was not expecting an apology from him.'
"You don't have to apologize, Tony. I understand why you did what you did," he responded tensely.
"Yeah, well I'm never going to say that again so let's get going," Stark said as he started walking towards the jet. "We have a prison break to plan."
"Before you leave," T'challa called out to the group as they were boarding their plane. "Shuri made some improvements to this," the King held out a large box to Bucky.
Inside lay a brand new arm. It was shiny as it reflected in the sunlight and Bucky could smell the newness of the limb. Smiling, he grabbed the item with his good arm before attaching it. As he rotated his new limb to test it out Bucky felt like a brand new man.
"It's made of vibranium, my friend. Just know that you're all welcome in Wakanda whenever," T'hcalls told the group as they boarded the jet.
"We'll be seeing you shortly," Natasha told the King. "If you don't mind taking in two more people, that is?"
"Not at all. Anyone who seeks refugee in Wakanda is welcome," T'Challa said with a smile as Natasha walked off.
"Thank you for everything," Bucky said, shaking his hand before joining the rest of the team on the jet as well.
"Alright Buck, let's fill you in on the game plan," Steve said, jumping into what they knew about the Raft.
Daisy was pacing around the meeting room in Avengers tower, everyone sitting around the table watching her with a worried eye.
It had been twelve days since the Senate had sent Karley and Yelena away to the Raft with no visitations allowed. The public went crazy after seeing two of the heroes responsible for taking down the Red Room treated so coldly by the Senate.
The situation had been on the front page of the news everyday, states around the world even going as far as starting petitions. There were over 98 million signatures in the favor of the two imprisoned women.
"Daisy if you keep pacing you're going to burn a hole in my floor," Stark told her. The inhuman was making him anxious as well as some others in the room.
"I can't help it. Are we sure he can get the job done?" She asked, finally sitting down next to her girlfriend as everyone turned their attention to the life feed on the television in front of them. A live feed coming from the one and only Bucky Barnes jump out of a plane, rapidly going towards the Raft.
"I broke people out of the Raft earlier this year, so for Bucky it should be a piece of cake," Natasha reassured her girlfriend as she placed her hand on top of Daisy's.
"Yeah, I just hope that nothing goes wrong. I'm sure Ross knew we were planning something," Daisy muttered.
On the television the team watched in silence as Bucky landed on the roof with a thud. Thankfully the weather was on their side as a raging storm could be heard through the camera, hopefully covering up any noises he made.
"Making approach now," Bucky said into his ear piece as he slowly pulled the hatch on top of the roof open. "Wish me luck," he whispered, shutting the hatch once more as he jumped into the darkness.
Yelena watched through the bars of the cell as the guards went out of sight. It was time for shift change.
"Okay you're up," she whispered to Karley. The brunette nodded before placing her hand on the lock, blue energy gathering around the metal as it slowly melted. Once it was damaged enough to open, the duo silently slipped through and made their way to the stairs. Yelena held her hand up, letting the woman behind her know to freeze. "There's two guards still walking around. I'll take care of them. If they see you then all they have to do is push a button and you're electrocuted."
Karley nodded, knowing that she was right as she crouched down low on the stairs.
Yelena slowly crept up the remaining stairs and stuck to the wall, watching as the two guards were walking side by side on the catwalk. She knew that they didn't carry guns on them but they did have batons. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she popped around the corner and snuck behind them.
As soon as she was within range she struck, jumping onto the first guards back and throwing him to the ground. She was thankful that as they crashed onto the metal catwalk a loud crash of thunder struck outside, silencing the sound. The second guard didn't hesitate to pull her baton out and swing at Yelena who easily rolled out of the way and grabbed the girls extended arm, pulling her down as well before putting her in a chokehold.
As the first guard she took down recovered, holding his bloodied head he stood up and pulled out his own baton, swinging it at the blond who was choking his partner. Yelena quickly shifted her body weight backwards and pushed the girl in front of the mans strike, watching as he hit his partner on the head, knocking her out. Not wasting the precious time they had, the blond ducked under the next swing he took at her and punched him in the nose before bringing his head down onto the railing, watching as he slumped down as well.
"That was hot," Karley whispered as she joined Yelena on the catwalk. The blond smirked in response before grabbing the batons and keycards that the guards didn't have use for anymore, handing one to Karley as they continued down the hallway.
"We need to get to the docks. I hope you're not afraid of thunderstorms," Yelena whispered back. They opened a door to another hall that they weren't supposed to be in, checking to make sure it was empty before continuing forward.
"I think I can manage a bit of rain," Karley told her, peeking around a corner to see four more people walking towards them. One of them was Reyna, her therapist. The other three were guards but they weren't in uniform. They must be the off going shift. "Four people approaching, no weapons. Should be a piece of cake," she whispered to the blond.
"Got it. I'll follow your lead."
The two girls waited as the group walked to the corner they were hiding behind, listening to their voices to know when they were within range. Karley nodded to the blond as they both jumped into action at once.
Karley grabbed the arm of the man closest to her and turned their bodies, shoving him against the white walls as she bashed his head against it a few times until it turned red. As she went to turn around she could feel a set of hands on her shoulder, grabbing one before dropping under his arm and twisting the limb behind his back as hard as she could, only letting go when she heard it snap. The man stumbled forwards as Karley twirled the baton in her hand, sending a blow to the back of his head as he fell to the ground unmoving.
Turning around she could see that Yelena had taken care of the last guard, leaving only Reyna who was staring in shock at them.
"What are you doing?" She asked in horror, backing up against the wall away from the two inmates in front of her. "Ross will hunt you to Earth's end. Let's just talk about this," she pleaded as Yelena walked up to her, baton in hand.
"We're done talking about our feelings, Reyna. It's time that we took the Red Dawn and Hydra down," the blond said before bringing the weapon across the woman's head. It wasn't too hard, but it was enough to knock her out as she joined the rest of the guards on the ground, papers flying out of her hand.
Karley peeked at the top piece of the papers, seeing her name listed before picking it up.
"Hey it's my psych evaluation," she said with a smile, skimming over the paper quickly.
"We don't have time for this Karley, let's go," Yelena complained, grabbing the brunettes arm and pulling her down the hall.
"It's not even accurate," Karley scoffed before dropping the paper as they turned another corner. "It says that I'm 'emotionally unstable' and 'use humor to deflect questions.'"
"You're right," Yelena told her as they slowed down to a jog, pulling out one of the keycards to open another door. "Because you're not funny."
Karley rolled her eyes at the blond with a playful smile as they broke into a run down the long corridor. It would suck if they got caught here as there were no doors, which meant no exit.
As if the world were flipping them off, saying 'fuck you' for all the things they've done in their life, a group of guards turned around a T in the hallway. These ones were armed and instantly saw the girls. There were at least ten of them.
"Hey you're not supposed to be here!" The first one shouted pulling his baton out as did the rest of the guards. "Get down on the ground right now!"
"This would be a good time to use your powers," Yelena mumbled as the two groups approached each other.
Knowing that it was now or nothing, Karley summoned energy into her one hand was free and threw it at the center of the guards. They watched as the blue ball of light exploded, sending the first three men flying into the wall as the rest of the guards stepped around their fallen friends and made their way to the girls.
Yelena jumped into the middle of the fight, engaging as many as she could at once. She moved quickly and struck harder, taking down a couple of guards before more swarmed around her.
Karley, on the other hand, walked towards the first man and started fighting him before she felt the familiar surge of electricity run through her chest, causing her muscles to seize up and immobilize her. As she was frozen in place the guard that she was fighting took his baton and brought it down on her knee, hard. If she could've screamed in pain, she would've, but instead she fell to the ground as the electricity stopped.
"Stay down you freak!" The man screamed above her, holding his baton out in warning.
Pissed off and in pain, Karley reached her hand out and blasted the man through the ceiling as another wave of electric washed through her body.
"Shit!" Yelena cursed as the remaining seven guards surrounded her. She was better than excellent when it came to fighting, but even she had her limits. That didn't mean she was going down quietly though as she lashed out to the closest man to her, cracking him across his hip with her baton. Turning around she barely managed to duck under an arm as she punched the man in his throat, moving to the next one swiftly.
As another three guards went down, she dared a peek towards Karley only to find the girl still being electrocuted. Yelena saw that one of the guards was looking at the inhuman on the ground, his hand pressed firmly on the button on his hip. He wasn't letting go.
Taking a moment to throw another man much beefier than the rest over her shoulder before taking aim with her baton and throwing it at the guard who was focused on Karley. The weapon struck him dead in the nose as he stumbled back into the wall. Yelena could see that he let go of the button and instead turned his attention towards her.
The fight was starting to look somewhat hopeful as the blond was down to five men. She could handle that, she thought as she brought her knee into one of their heads, turning just in time to avoid a baton to the head as she rolled over the back of one of the guards crying in pain. Yelena went to kick one man but faltered when her ribs exploded in pain causing her to fall to the ground clutching them in pain.
She was used to fighting in her Widow suit which had padding built into it, unlike the thin white jumpsuit she had on now.
As the blond went to stand up a fist collided with her temple, snapping her head to the side. A foot hit her in the eye next as she was literally seeing stars. Before she could move a set of hands grabbed her and threw her face first into the wall as she slumped to the ground in pain, holding her ribs as she tried to get her breathing under control.
They definitely had fractured a few.
Leaning against the wall Yelena could see the remaining four men standing above her as an alarm went off and more guards ran up to them. This was it. It was over.
As another seven or eight guards ran up, Yelena really couldn't tell as her eye was already swelling, two of the picked Karley up off the ground. The blond watched in futile as Karley tried to blast them away one more time, instead she received a shock causing her to seize up.
"It's over Danvers!" One of the men shouted at the girl before shoving her against the wall roughly.
"You too Belova, let's go," another guard stated as they picked her up.
"You two are really stupid," one of them said with a laugh. "The Raft is the most secure place in the world. You girls wouldn't have made it to the docks."
"Well, I wouldn't say it's too secure," one of them said. Yelena could barely see him, but she noticed he had long brown hair.
"Why's that?"
"Because I got in here," the man mumbled, taking his baton out and cracking it in half over another guards helmet.
"What the hell!" The man holding Yelena shouted, letting go of her as they surrounded the rogue guard.
Seeing this distraction the blond dropped out of the guard that was holding her and swept his legs out from him before sending a brutal punch to his face. She heard a crack, letting her know that his nose was broken. Looking up from the ground Yelena could see that the newcomer had taken down five of the guards, only leaving a few left.
Beaten and sore, she jumped into they fray to help as she engaged two guards at once. Just as she had knocked one of them out a blur of blue shot over her shoulder where she could see the second one she was fighting slump to the ground.
"You're welcome," Karley mumbled as she stood weakly against the wall with a grin plastered on her face. Yelena rushed to her side and threw the taller girls arm over her shoulder, taking on most of her weight.
"Who are you?" The blond asked as the man finished off the last guard. Taking his helmet off she could see clearly who it was now. She had seen him hanging around the Red Room a few times over the decades she was there. "Bucky Barnes," she whispered in disbelief.
"I came to get you dolls out of here," he stated as he looked the two over. "I had a plan made but then I found you two in the halls. What's the chances we staged a prison break on the same day at the same time?"
"Slim," Karley laughed which turned into coughing, a metallic taste filling her mouth. The inside of her stomach felt like it was fried. It probably was. Not to mention she was pretty sure that they had broken her femur in her left knee. She could barely stand with how weak she was and the knee was just an added bonus. "Nice to see you again, Bucky."
"Likewise doll, let's get you out of here," he said with a smile as he started walking down the hall again.
"What's the plan?" Yelena asked as her and Karley limped down the hall much slower.
"You're not going to like it," Bucky stated as he opened the door leading into a large, circular room. Looking up, they couldn't see where it ended. "I hope you ladies are good swimmers."
"You've got to be kidding me," Yelena mumbled as he opened his backpack, pulling out swimming gear.
"This is the only way out, trust me. I'm sure that the Raft is getting their helicopters in the air as we speak, making a boat useless. They'd track us down with no effort. Obviously the sky isn't an option. The only way out is under."
"How do you expect Karley to swim? She can barely walk," the blond argued.
"Between the two of us I'm sure we can manage. It won't be a problem anyways, trust me. Now let's get going."
Bucky stood up and walked to the last set of doors where they could all see the weather raging outside.
"Are you sure about this?" Karley asked hesitantly. She was a great swimmer since that was a huge part of being Reconnaissance in the Marines, but that was when she was at full strength. Right now she couldn't even walk without support.
"There's no other option I promise. Now put these on." Bucky held out a pair of long flippers to each of the girls who quickly put them on. He also gave them a pair of high tech goggles with earpieces attached to them. Putting those on as well, they could see that they also had night vision lens built in. The last thing he gave each of them was a large breathing mask with straps on the back of it. They attached them to their faces, noticing how it left room for them to speak. "It's going to be a long swim. Ready?"
"And you said my plans were bad," Yelena mumbled to Karley through the mask as they opened the doors.
If they thought the storm was bad on the inside, it seemed ten times worse when they stepped into it, wobbling awkwardly in their flippers towards the edge of the railing. The rain had them soaked within seconds, chilling them to the bone. Not that it would matter anyways as they all stepped over the railing.
Glancing below, they could see it was about a twenty foot drop into the raging ocean, the waves crashing against the pillars supporting the Raft angrily.
Yelena wasn't afraid of the water. She's been on many mission that involved going into the ocean before, but seeing how terrible the weather was made her a bit nervous.
"When we drop down swim as far away from the pillar as you can," Bucky's voice said over the earpiece. "We have a ride thanks to Stark, but it's a bit of a swim. See you ladies down there."
Yelena and Karley watched as he jumped into the darkness below without hesitation, his body swallowed by the ocean.
"Let's go," Karley said as she prepared to jump. She could see how hesitant Yelena was. "Hey, we're going to be okay. Give me your hand."
"Don't let go of me," Yelena whispered. Karley nodded her head as their hands found each other.
"On the count of three. One, two," as soon as Karley said two she hugged on tightly to Yelena and pulled them both off the railing and into the darkness below.
While they were freefalling the world seemed to slow down. Karley was facing the dark night sky, but she couldn't see any stars through the heavy clouds pelting them with rain. Just before they hit the water a flash of lightning lit up the sky, crackling with energy.
When the two of them hit the water their lenses were filled with bubbles, causing Yelena to panic for a split second before they left her vision. The water engulfed them and stole whatever warmth they had left, their clothes clinging tightly to their bodies.
"You ladies coming?" Bucky's voice filled their ears.
"On our way," Karley replied. As hard as she tried, she couldn't use her left leg to swim without excruciating pain. Seeing this, Yelena grabbed her left arm for support as the two of them swam as hard as they could against the current of the water.
Now that they were under the waves and the rain above them, it was actually pretty peaceful. It was quiet except for the occasional crash of lightning and thunder above.
"On your left," Bucky told them after a few minutes of swimming. Turning to the left, the girls could see where he was treading water to stay in place. They had to admit, these goggles were amazing as it lit up every fish that swam below them.
"What's the plan now?" Yelena asked him as they all gathered around.
"Now, we switch channels," Bucky told them as he turned a knob on his earpiece, the girls following suit. "It's Bucky, does anyone copy? I have the girls with me."
"We copy you," Steve's voice came through. "Send us your coordinates Buck."
"Sending them now," Bucky said, tapping his watch a few times. "Did you get them?"
"We got them. Sending your rides there now," Steve replied.
"Shit!" Yelena cursed suddenly. "We still have our trackers in our arms."
"Say less," Bucky said as he swam towards them, pulling a knife out. "Lift your sleeves up ladies."
It didn't take them long to cut the trackers out of their arms as Bucky put his knife away, letting the small tracking devices sink to the bottom of the ocean.
"Now what?" Karley asked the man, her voice weak. Ever since they plunged into the ocean she's been getting light headed, her mouth still tasting metallic. She didn't know how long she could keep exerting herself like this.
"Just give it a second," Bucky told them.
Not even ten seconds later the trio watched as one large metallic device approached them. It was an underwater propeller with three harnesses built on the side of it.
"Strap up," Stark's voice came through. "And hold on tight. Enjoy the ride and remember, keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times."
As soon as the three of them were strapped onto the propeller it took off through the water faster than they were expecting. They had to cling to the side of the machine to avoid being ripped out of their harnesses.
It felt like forever when really it had only been about ten minutes before the machine stopped. Looking up Karley could see that they were near land.
"Let's get a move on," Bucky instructed as they climbed out of their harnesses and swam towards shore. "Once we get near shore ditch the gear in the water. We have another, much warmed and more comfy ride waiting for us."
Doing as they were told, they all ditched their swimming gear a couple hundred feet from shore as it disappeared into the seemingly bottomless ocean. It took them a few minutes to reach land, but as they did, Yelena and Bucky were practically carrying Karley at this point. Once they were on the sand the three of them collapsed exhausted.
"That sucked," Yelena panted as they stared at the stormy skies.
"Yeah it did. Can't stop now," Bucky grunted as he pushed himself up, the girls doing the same. As they made their way into the small campground that was on the beach Karley grunted in pain and collapsed as she stepped in a pothole. "We're almost there, doll," Bucky said as he moved to pick the girl up. She was a lot heavier than she looked but he managed to carry her easily.
"Where are we going?" Yelena asked as she kept an eye on their surroundings.
"Just up ahead," Bucky said as they made their way through the campground. He sighed in relief when he saw the limousine waiting up ahead for them. "That's our ride."
Yelena was the first to reach the car as she opened the door and climbed in, collapsing on the seats exhausted and sore.
Bucky carefully slipped Karley through the door who was instantly grabbed by a set of hands.
"Oh my god Karley," Daisy whispered in relief as she took her little sisters drenched form from Bucky.
"Hey sis," Karley groaned in pain as the two crawled into the seats. "Long time no see."
"I told you I was coming for you, didn't I?" Daisy laughed as she stroked a piece of her sisters hair out of her face. "What hurts?"
"Everything," Yelena groaned from the floor as Bucky stepped around her and took a seat.
"Oh stop whining," Natasha picked on her sister as she stepped into the limo as well, dripping from the rain. She had been on the lookout for trouble but thankfully found none. Their plan had worked perfectly. "Let's get going Happy."
"Who's batshit crazy idea was it for us to swim our way out of the Raft?" Yelena asked them as she plopped down into a seat.
"Well it was everyone's really," Natasha explained as she handed the younger siblings a towel.
"Where are we going?" Karley mumbled with her eyes closed. She felt like absolute shit and her knee was throbbing so badly that she could feel her heartbeat in her head.
"The only place safe right now," Daisy told her. "Wakanda."