Chapter 50: Jailhouse Rock
Whatever ideas Mika had about being arrested, this was certainly different.
Granted, she'd never been arrested before by normal police, let alone by high-end superhero task force police. The seat was uncomfortable, and her shoulders were getting tight from the position, but every time she looked at Wanda in her straightjacket the pain faded. The van ride was quiet and tense, and Mika didn't know whether to look at the people around her or not, so she ended up just keeping her eyes on her shoes. Since her hands were still zip tied behind her back, she couldn't pick at her nail polish to calm her nerves, so she just bounced her leg up and down to try and dispel the energy. Sam sent a glare her way and she stopped, but his face softened as she did. It's like he knew how terrifying this was to her. But she wasn't worried about where the van was taking her, she was just worried about Bucky, and whether he was alright.
The van finally stopped and the door opened to reveal an annoyed looking Natasha. They were back at the building from earlier, the task force building. A few soldiers stood behind her with their weapons drawn, but she turned and chastised them in German until they lowered them.
"For the record, I tried to prevent all this." she said, her eyes sliding over to Clint. He didn't even look sorry at this point.
"Yea, I know." he replied. "What happens now?"
"I don't know. Agent Ross said I no longer get a say in anything." she said, and she sounded disappointed. Mika's eyes flew to Sam's, wide and scared. If Natasha was no longer in charge, then things were sure to go from bad to worse. Sharon and the older man from the interrogation room walked out of the front door, and the man looked completely irate. Sharon could barely keep up with him as he strode over to them, weaving through the soldiers until he stood at the back of the van next to Natasha.
"Well I hope everyone is happy with themselves." he said. He looked directly at Mika, and it took everything in her not to wither under his gaze. "Are we still pretending we don't know English? Cause I'm sure Agent Romanoff here would be more than happy to continue the charade."
"No, thank you." she said, and while her voice was not as strong as she wished it was, it was still firmer than she thought it would be. He nodded.
"Thank God. Okay, everybody out." he said, gesturing for them to get up and follow him into the building.
"Where are we going?" Sam asked, and for a moment they thought Agent Ross (Mika assumed that's who Natasha was referring to) was going ignore the question. But with a sigh, he answered,
"The Secretary of State and other United Nations delegates are on the way. They'll make the ultimate decision of where you will all be incarcerated." he said, sounding more irked with every word he spoke.
"So this isn't like, an 'if' situation?" Scott asked, and his question was easily ignored by Agent Ross. It was a fair question, Mika thought. Wasn't there supposed to be due process of law or something? Wasn't there supposed to be a trial? Had there been a trial, and she somehow missed it? Again, she looked to Sam, not bothering to hide her panic. He gave her a look that said he was unconcerned, shaking his head as if the threats were empty. He was being so nice to her now, so supportive, that she felt a little bad for being so cold towards him over the past day or so. She didn't want to keep bothering him with her panic, but he was currently the only person she'd known for longer than a couple hours. With Bucky gone and her sister and friends a lifetime away, he was the last line she had left.
Scott and Clint kept pestering Agent Ross as they walked through the building, and not even a few warning glares from Natasha and Sharon could shut them down. Mika didn't know if they were actually trying to accomplish something or just trying to provide some comic relief to ease the stress of the current situation, but either way she was happy for the distraction. They made her believe that maybe, just maybe, this was going to end up okay.
She was wrong, of course, but that was beside the point.
Once in the building, they were all put in separate rooms and the zip ties were cut from their wrists. The reprieve was brief, as soon they were handcuffed to the tables in front of them. Sam was taken further down the hall, and she was left sandwiched between Wanda and Clint. She was the only one who seemed to be panicking; Clint looked annoyed, and borderline bored, and Wanda just looked like she wanted to fight somebody. Mika analyzed the handcuffs in front of her, but these were different than the ones they'd put on her earlier. These were made for super beings, and she was not one of those by far.
"Can't pick these with a bobby pin." Natasha said from the door, announcing her arrival. Mika tried and failed not to jump in surprise; she'd been so focused on the chain, she hadn't noticed the Black Widow's arrival. She was leaning casually against the doorframe, her arms crossed loosely over her chest.
"I figured." Mika replied, letting the chain run through her hands. At least it gave her something to fidget with. "Earlier, when we spoke…"
"You did what you had to do." she said with a shrug. So Mika was able to interpret her signals correctly. "Now, I was hoping you wouldn't get caught, but here we are."
"Yea that...was not part of the plan." Mika sighed. She wouldn't trade the outcome, though. Bucky was safe, and was able to get away to go on whatever mission he'd put on himself. She finally looked up at Natasha. "This is not going to go well, is it?"
"It's going to get worse before it gets better." she conceded. She pushed off the door frame, looking like she was about to leave, but Mika was so desperate for a friendly face that she couldn't help but blurt out the question in her mind in order to make her stay.
"Why did you help me?" she asked, clamping her lips shut as soon as the words left her mouth. She was supposed to be tough, and badass, a woman strong enough to be the love of the Winter Soldier. But she didn't feel any of those things right now. She just felt very alone, and very scared. "Why did you go against orders?"
"Because sometimes orders are wrong." she said simply, and Mika wished she could have even a shred of the woman's confidence right now. "I learned a long time ago that the world is not evenly divided by right and wrong. You have to find your own code, and follow it."
"Wise words. But I don't think I executed my code quite properly." Mika agreed, though she couldn't help but think that it's a lot easier to follow your own code when there's special training and skills involved. And when you're not super handcuffed to a table. She didn't regret doing the things she did to help Bucky, but she was acutely aware that they were less than legal.
"You're gonna be alright, Corsof." Natasha said with a grin, and Mika imagined there was a bit of affection to her voice. Again, she looked like she was about to leave, but Mika had one last question for her.
"Did you know my sister?" This time, she wasn't afraid of the answer. Just curious. Natasha paused for a long time, looking at her almost like she was seeing the similarities between her and Raisa for the first time. One corner of her mouth lifted in a smirk, and she nodded.
"Our paths crossed a time or two. I'll tell you about it sometime." she said, and this time Mika didn't stop her exit with another question. She didn't like the silence that followed, but she could at least rest in comfort knowing that someone was on her side. She sat and she waited, watching through the glass walls as official looking people in suits and ties started making their way down the line of hardened criminals. And even if it was the most inappropriate time, all she could think of was the movie Jaws, feeling like she was stuck in a tiny boat watching the shark get closer. By the time it was her turn, she felt like she was drowning, barely able to get any air into her lungs. She'd been in trouble before, sure. But not this kind of trouble.
"Mika Alexandria Corsof." A man that she did not recognize was the first to speak. Behind him stood Agent Ross, a very official looking older man, and a few soldiers she didn't know. Sharon was nowhere to be found. She didn't know if she was supposed to answer or not, and found she couldn't anyways due to her panic. When he spoke again, it was in perfect Romanian, and a smug looking Ross made it seem like he wanted to be sure she understood how much shit she was in. "You have been charged with evading arrest, aiding and abetting a known international enhanced terrorist, and purposeful cyber attacks against Berlin Brandenburg International Airport, Stark Industries, and the Avengers Initiative. How do you plead?"
"Shouldn't...shouldn't I have a lawyer?" she asked, though she wished she would have pointed out that Bucky was not a terrorist. That's how this was supposed to go, right? She wasn't supposed to just try and figure all this legal mumbo-jumbo on her own? The man looked like he expected this answer.
"In accordance with the Sokovia Accords, which is an international initiative to regulate enhanced beings and their associates, evidence is presented and sentences settled solely on objective measurement of the crimes. There is no longer room for persuasive arguments, only the facts." he said. God, he was enjoying this. Mika glanced over at Wanda, whose eyes were glowing red as she stared at the group. This was not good. This was not good at all. "How do you plead?"
"Not guilty?" Mika said, all her confidence lost. She felt completely out of control. She looked at Wanda again, the young woman looking so frustrated that Mika half expected the straightjacket holding her to burst into flames.
"On what grounds?" he asked sternly, and once again she was unable to answer. She felt like she was stuck in a nightmare, unable to breathe and unable to speak. She wanted to be tough, wanted to be strong, but she was quickly falling apart.
"Because he didn't do anything wrong." she said, giving possibly the worst argument that she could have chosen at this moment. Again, the man look like he expected this answer.
"Former Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes bombed a United Nations summit, escaped arrest, assaulted thirty-eight German officers between here and Bucharest, stole a police helicopter, attacked members of Stark Industries and the Avengers Initiative, and stole a Stark quinjet. Again, on what grounds do you say 'not guilty'?" he said, his words practiced and robotic. His monotone did not match the odd sadistic grin on his face. Mika looked at Wanda again, but she was just looking at the table in front of her. She looked to Clint, and was sure her face told every emotion she was having, but he just gave her a sad look and shook his head. The water was too deep, and she couldn't outswim the shark.
"Because I don't think what I did was wrong. I was protecting a man that I love, who was a victim trying to get his life back." she said. The man's eyebrow twitched, the only break in his facade that let her know she'd finally said something he hadn't planned for. Of course, he still had an answer.
"Not a viable, objective answer. If you cannot give me concrete evidence that you did not commit the crimes you are charged with, then you assume responsibility for your actions." he said. She sat, completely paralyzed, the silence around them suffocating her as she scrambled for something, anything that she could say to stop this. But it was too late. "Very well. You are sentenced to twenty years on the Raft, at which time your case will be reviewed for either further sentencing or parole."
With that, he stood and walked out of the room, moving on to Clint as if he hadn't just completely destroyed her world. Sentenced? Twenty years? Fuck, fuck, fuck-! She looked to Wanda again and their eyes met. The younger woman cocked her head to the side, mouthing, how many? Mika held up her hands, displaying a two and a zero with them. She nodded at Wanda, asking the same in return. She had been so angry earlier, but now she just looked defeated. And Mika understood why after she mouthed one word - life. Her blood ran cold. They'd only given her twenty years, but they were planning to put Wanda away for life?! It made no sense. For a document that seemed to be based on objectivity, the variance in sentencing seemed suspiciously subjective. She was just a kid, for heaven's sake!
Mika turned to see if Clint had any sort of input, but he was glaring harshly at the sentencing man, somehow managing to cross his arms despite the handcuffs. She watched as he sat up, speaking so emphatically that she knew he must be yelling, even if she couldn't hear anything he was saying. The man sat, unperturbed, and waited for him to finish. He delivered his final verbal blow before making his abrupt exit, as if they weren't people that he was talking to, just items on a list to be crossed off. Clint was breathing hard, his eyes on his hands, and for the first time he looked like he regretted participating in this. He looked up at Mika, perking an eyebrow. She held up her hands again, signalling the twenty. He held up both of his, but not for twenty; no, he showed thirty. Thirty? What the hell kind of sentencing game was this? She tried the cuffs again, but they remained locked. She tried to push the table or the chairs, but they were bolted into floor. She shook them, pulled them, kicked them, trying to get them to move. She had to get out of there, had to leave, before she completely suffocated. Twenty years? In prison? Not even prison, they'd called it "the Raft;" what the hell was "the Raft"?!
Panicking won't help. Bucky's words came to her then. He'd originally said them during one of their training sessions, when he was teaching her how to get out of a hold. She forced herself to take a deep breath, and another. Bucky had to deal with assaults on both body and mind in the past twenty-four hours, and was now on a rogue mission to take down a group of assassins. She could handle prison. She would just have to wait.
"What a fucking way to get a lesson in patience." she muttered to herself, finally letting her arms relax. Her wrists were battered and bruised from trying to break the cuffs, and possibly bleeding in a spot or two. It hurt a disproportionate amount. And if anybody asked, that was the reason why she was crying right now.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. She wouldn't say she was in a catatonic state, but she certainly felt numb all over. She stopped trying to fight when they moved her, stopped trying to answer their questions. Nothing she said would matter anyway. She was going to the Raft, and she was just going to have to hope that in twenty years, she would be released. She followed their orders, going through the motions as she was stripped of everything on her person and given the odd prison uniform. They barked at her to go this way or that, to stand here or there, to keep her eyes down or look up at the camera or "see what you've gotten yourself into." She thought she would have a breakdown due to everything that had happened over the past two days, but it looked like she was just going to shut down. Very well, that would make this process easier.
They didn't let them talk to each other or see each other after that, though she didn't think that would help anyway. There was nothing they could do about any of it, except to wait out their sentences. A line of armored vans took them on a long drive, passing kilometer after kilometer of countryside. She didn't know where this Raft was (or what it was), but apparently it was very far away. She watched the horizon as the sun started to set, and soon she couldn't see anything besides the distant lights of the cities they passed. She tried to stay awake the whole trip, but soon the day caught up with her, and she fell asleep with her head bouncing against the window.
She was awoken roughly. It was still dark, and the van was now parked on a dock. Was the Raft just her own little boat that she had to live on alone for the next twenty years? Clearly not, because why then would there be a helicopter right next to them? Her handlers pulled her out of the van, and she immediately grimaced and averted her face as the wind from the blades slapped at her. That didn't stop the agents from dragging her by the arm to the chopper, loading her into it like another cow sent to slaughter. They didn't say anything to her now, and barely looked at her. Their attention was on their surroundings and the large automatic guns in their hands. Did they really think her that dangerous? Or was that the sort of people that usually crossed their paths? She thought the helicopter ride would be short, but it actually lasted a couple hours, finally setting down on a massive building in the middle of the ocean. Now the name made sense.
More shoving, more walking, more processing. Go here, do this, look here, do that. With every step, she became a little more hopeless. She knew she couldn't give up, and didn't plan to overall, but for the moment she planned to wallow in misery and feel sorry for herself. She was glad when everything was finally sorted, and they started leading her down, down, down into the claustrophobic prison.
They led her to a round room, its walls lined with cells. Most of them were empty, but her heart leapt as she saw Sam sitting on the bench in his. So she wasn't going to be alone, or with a bunch of dangerous strangers. They put her in the cell next to his, and she held her breath until they filed out of the room to process the next prisoner. She stood up then, going to stand at the corner connecting their two cubes.
"Hey Sam?" she said cautiously. She knew they were likely being recorded, both with audio and video, so she tried to keep her voice low. Not to mention, she wasn't sure he could hear her anyway. There was a very real chance that the walls were sound proof.
"Yea?" he asked, guarded. She winced; that was fair. She didn't know what to say first: I'm sorry this happened, or thank you for everything, or I'm scared. What she settled on was,
"I'm sorry I yelled at you for flirting with my sister." She could hear his laugh, and could almost imagine him shaking his head.
"It was a fair call. I'd be more surprised if you didn't." he said. She smiled to herself then, thinking that even if this situation was horrible, at least she wasn't alone. "Don't worry about it, Meeks."
"You've got a thing for...for...fuck, what's the word…" she tried to remember the English she was looking for, snapping her fingers as if that would help it come to her. "Not new names but…"
"Nicknames?" he asked, laughing louder at her exclamation of yes! "Yea, it's a bit of a habit. For the record, Steve's just as bad."
"It's not a bad thing. I've never really had many nicknames." she said. They were silent for a moment, the weight of their situation settling on them. "How long did they give you?"
"Forty years." he sighed.
"Forty?! But they only gave Clint thirty!" she said. These numbers were seemingly arbitrary compared to the relatively equal crimes between them, and she was suddenly happy for her short twenty year sentence.
"I was there when Rhodey got hurt, so they tacked on an extra decade for good measure." he said. She expected him to sound frustrated, but instead he just sounded sad. She didn't know who Rhodey was, but Sam clearly did, and even if they all disagreed on these circumstances he obviously didn't want him to get hurt. "Plus, we're the examples here. And if I'm honest, I don't think any of us are actually getting out."
"Fuck." she breathed, crossing her arms. She eyed the chair and the cot, but they didn't look any more comfortable than the floor. So she just leaned against the wall, sliding down until she was sitting on the tile, her knees pulled to her chest.
"My sentiments exactly." he said. They were silent again, and after a few minutes she heard him start pacing steadily around the tiny room. They watched as the agents brought in Scott, then Clint, then finally Wanda, putting them all in their spots with the same brusque attitude they'd shown her. Wanda was sedated for the first hour, laying on her cot with her arms still tucked around her in the straightjacket. Clint sat up on his, arms crossed and eyes angry as he watched over her. Scott, the only one who seemed to accept their fate, tried to crack a few jokes before giving up and sitting down. Once they were all settled, the older man that was there during their sentencing came and stood in the middle of the room, eyeing each of them like dogs that needed to be put down.
"So? Who wants to tell me where Barnes and Rogers went?" he asked, and Mika couldn't help but roll her eyes at the arrogance with which he carried himself. He turned to her then. "How about you, Ms. Corsof? I'm sure we can negotiate an early release for some information. I'm sure your sister or your mother would be happy to hear that."
"Clearly you haven't really spoken with my mother then." Mika said. Sure, her mother would actually be very concerned about her being in jail, but if she knew the whole story then she likely wouldn't feel sorry for her. One time Raisa had returned from a stint in America battered and bruised and with a broken arm, and she received no sentiments from their mother. It was up to Mika and Nicoletta to nurse her back to health. The man turned to Clint then.
"What about you, Barton? You gonna let Laura and the kids wonder what happened?" he asked. He was very obviously trying to bait them, and Mika wondered if he really thought that tactic was going to work.
"The world will keep turning, Ross. It always does." he replied shortly. Another Ross? He stared at him for a long moment before going to Scott.
"What is your ex-wife telling Cassie right now, hm?" he asked. Scott perked an eyebrow.
"Probably that Daddy has to go away for a little while, but that he loves her very much. Just like the last time." he said, and though he tried to sound tough, Mika thought he also sounded quite sad. At last, Ross finally went to go stand in front of Wanda.
"And you? What would your brother say, if he were still alive?" he said. Wanda glared at him, the only thing giving away how angry she was being the glowing red of her eyes.
"If my brother were still alive, he'd be right here with me." she said through gritted teeth. "Actually, he'd probably have gotten us away."
Ross didn't like that answer any more than the other ones. He went to talk to Sam, but was interrupted by another agent coming down into the room, whispering something in his ear. Mika couldn't hear exactly what they said, but thought she heard him mention the name Stark. Ross looked even more annoyed then, shooing the agent away and rounding on Sam again.
"Stark is here. Anything you want to confess before I go talk to him?" he asked, an eyebrow perked and a challenge in his eyes. Sam was silent for a long time, and since she couldn't see him, Mika almost started to worry that he was going to give in.
"Nope." he said finally, popping the p on the end of the word. She grinned then, her confidence bolstered knowing that all of them were in this together. Ross didn't respond, he only turned on his heel and stomped out of the room. They didn't celebrate this small win, because they were all very aware that they were still in jail. But at least it was something.
Tony was very aware of the chip on his shoulder (and possibly, on his humerus as well) as he got out of the helicopter on the Raft. Of course, his attitude wasn't exactly helped by Secretary Ross and his antagonism. This was where they sent everyone? Since when did they treat their own people like the most dangerous people in the world? He spotted Wanda on a screen as he walked through the security room, tied up and sitting in the corner of her cell. She was just a kid, this was not where she belonged. All of them deserved to be punished, but none of them deserved to be here.
It was a long trek down to level eight, and he felt a pressure in his chest like he was scuba diving too deep. God, it was suffocating down here. Sam didn't look at him, Wanda eyed him with cold indifference, and the weird size-changing guy and the girl with Barnes both stood up to look at him properly. The best, though, was the sarcastic slow clap coming from Clint.
"The futurist, gentleman!" he called in a showman's voice, each word grating on Tony's ears. Didn't they see where he was coming from? Didn't they understand? "The futurist is here! He sees all. He knows what's best for you...whether you like it or not."
"Give me a break, Barton." he said shortly. He didn't come here to be ridiculed. He came to try and right some wrongs. "I had no idea they'd put you here. Come on."
"Yea, well, you knew they'd put us somewhere, Tony." he said. It was a fair point, which is probably why it stung so much. These were his friends, his family. They weren't supposed to be in jail.
"Yea but not some supermax floating ocean pokey. This is a place for maniacs, this is a place for...I don't know-"
"Criminals, Tony. I think that's the word you're looking for, right? It didn't use to mean me, or Sam, or Wanda. But here we are." Clint said, finally coming to the glass to look him in the eye. Tony felt like another piece of shrapnel went into his heart, but he ignored it. He had a job to do.
"Because you broke the law. I didn't make you." he said, defensive. Everyone was always trying to fight him. Why couldn't they see the bigger picture? "You read it, you broke it. You're all grown up, you got a wife and kids, I don't understand why you didn't think about them before you chose the wrong side." He was done trying to talk to Clint. He wasn't listening anyway.
"Gotta watch your back with this guy. Chance he's gonna break it!" Clint said as Tony walked away, slamming the glass for good measure. Tony stopped briefly, wanting to turn back and yell about how what happened to Rhodey wasn't fair, how he knew he'd now get even less sleep at night until he could figure out a way to solve his best friend's problem. But Rhodey was in recovery, and he had a bigger job to do. He was the only one who always looked at the big picture.
"Gram always said you could never trust a Stark." Scott said, his tone scathing. This dude's gram was the least of Tony's problem right now.
"Who are you?" he asked, moving on. Sam was facing away from him, but the girl that was with Barnes glared at him with a passion he didn't expect. "Got something to add there, Stockholm Syndrome?"
Her eyes widened for a moment, and she spat out something in Romanian before going to the back of her cell. He rolled his eyes. Girl couldn't even insult him in English.
"She told you to fuck off." Wanda called from across the room, a weirdly satisfied smirk on her face. "And called you a name that Americans find very, very rude."
"It would have more effect if I could understand it." he said snidely, and the girl came back to the glass. She held up her middle finger, making sure he could see it.
"Fuck. Off." she said slowly before returning to the back of her cell. He let out a frustrated sigh, and looked to see that Sam was finally giving him the time of day.
"How's Rhodey?" he asked, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Well their flight into Columbia Medical is tomorrow so...fingers crossed." he said. He didn't want to think about how much pain he was in right now. He had to focus, had to compartmentalize. Had to make it through. One problem at a time. "What do you need? They feed you yet?"
"You're the good cop now?" Sam asked. Again, a fair question considering how they met earlier that morning.
"I'm just the guy who needs to know where Steve went." Tony said. There was no need to hide his intentions anymore, or try and talk his way around it. These people would see right through him, because they knew him.
"Well you better go and get a bad cop, cause you gonna have to go Mark Fuhrman on my ass to get information out of me-"
Tony didn't care, punching his watch to work the audio jammer from his helicopter to the main control room. "Huh? I just knocked the 'A' out of their AV. We got about thirty seconds before they realize it's not their equipment. Just look," he pulled a holographic image of a body found in a bathtub in Berlin. "because that is the fellow who was supposed to interrogate Barnes. Clearly, I made a mistake. Sam, I was wrong."
"That's a first." Sam muttered.
"Cap is definitely off the reservation but he's about to need all the help he can get." he said. The clock was ticking, and he needed information if he was going to salvage his team. He could deal with the legal issues later, but none of it would be worth it if Steve was dead. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Barnes' girl come back to the glass, listening in. "We don't know each other very well, you don't have faith-"
"Just...alright." Sam conceded, and the woman next to him looked like she wanted to disagree. Luckily she stayed silent, though she was clearly trying to decide how much she trusted Sam. "Look, I'll tell you, but you have to go alone. And as a friend."
Mika waited to see what Tony would say. She didn't think it was a good idea, but she wasn't going to fight this. This was way out of her depth, and it was completely up to Sam. "Easy." the word was so easy to him, so sure, that she couldn't help but believe him too.
"Siberia. Old Hydra base. We think Zemo's trying to release an army of super soldiers." he said quickly, not wanting to take a risk on their time limit.
"Pleasure doing business with you." Tony said, stepping back away from the glass.
"Please don't hurt him." Mika said, finally able to speak. He looked at her for a long time, but apparently couldn't think of anything to say, because he just nodded and turned to leave. Once again, they were left alone.
She just hoped he wasn't too late.
Yiiiiiiiiikes! Poor Mika! But at least she's got her buddies there to help...right? Meh, we all know how the movie ends.
Thank y'all so so so much for all your wonderful reviews! I seriously smile at each one like a goddamn fool cause y'all are the best around. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know what you think!
-XM