I couldn't sleep. I was warm but I couldn't get comfortable. As Clint said there were only enough sleeping bags for everyone to share. No one bitched or complained though. Everyone except me had done this before. They all knew the drill. The sleeping bags were only big enough for one person so it was a tight squeeze especially for some of the bigger guys. Clint was lucky he got me. We could lay back to back and he still had plenty of room. I had to stop myself laughing at Riley and Sam squishing themselves into one bag. Both jokingly arguing over who was spooning who.
I lay resting on my arm with most of the sleeping bag tucked around my head. Just after we headed back into the cave, the northern lights began to dance across the sky. I wanted to stay outside and watch them but I also didn't want to leave Clint alone. He was fast asleep behind me. I could feel his steady breathing against my back and the very occasional light snore coming from him. Everyone else had done the same thing as us. Eaten the only hot meal we'd get in days and dragged themselves into sleeping bags for an early night. Judging by the quietness of the cave I was the only one still awake. I squinted into the darkness of the sleeping bag trying to read my watch. It was too dark to really see anything. I wriggled around trying to lie so I wasn't directly on my hip bones. The cave floor was hard and with my lost weight, I wasn't finding any position comfortable. Making matters worse, I really needed to pee. I thought I could hold off until morning but my body wasn't going to let me.
I sighed, giving up the futile exercise of trying to sleep. As carefully as I could I detangled myself from the sleeping bag pulling on my outer layers as I went. As careful as I was, I still managed to wake Clint up. He stirred beside me, rolling over onto his back.
"What's up?" Clint asked sleepily.
"I need to pee," I whispered quietly. "Back in a minute."
"Take a sidearm," Clint said with a yawn. His arm came out from the sleeping bag and he fumbled around on the ground for a second before producing a thigh holster. "Here."
"Thanks." I didn't think to arm myself. There would be polar bears around here as well as wolves and foxes. The last thing I needed to do was run into one of them looking for a quick meal while I was squatting for a pee.
I didn't get a reply. Clint was asleep again. I marvelled at how quickly everyone else seemed to be able to fall asleep. I felt like I'd been lying here for hours listening to everyone around me sleep. I quickly pulled my boots on and crept outside trying to be as quiet as possible.
The night sky was alive with the Northern Lights. Out here in the middle of nowhere the stars glowed so brightly. There was nothing around us as far as the eye could see. We were in the middle of nowhere. I forgot about my desperate need for the toilet and just stared at the night sky watching the hues of green, blue and red danced around the horizon. Despite the bitter cold and my face feeling frozen nearly instantly, I couldn't stop the smile creeping onto my face. The next few days might be shitty but right now I wasn't too unhappy about being here. I looked at my watch, it was only 2130. No wonder I couldn't fall asleep.
"What are you doing?" Riley's whispered voice came a second before arms wrapped around my waist. Riley kissed my cheek before resting his chin on my shoulder.
"I was going for a pee but I got distracted." I motioned to the night sky. "I've never seen that before."
"Amazing isn't it?" Riley tipped his head so he was facing the sky. "The stars are incredible out here."
"It nearly makes up for having to do this course." I smiled wider, pleased at having Riley out here with me. "Nearly. How are you enjoying being the big spoon in your sleeping bag?"
"Sam is no fun to cuddle. I know who I'd rather be spooning," Riley chuckled. "Unfortunately it's frowned upon. Evans told me in no uncertain terms I was to spend the night in my own sleeping bag with someone from my own team."
"That sucks," I laughed quietly. "Barton told me I could sneak into yours when everyone was asleep."
"Lucky you." Riley's grip tightened around my waist. I lent back into his chest enjoying the few moments of peace. "Sadly for both of us, there's no spare sleeping bag."
"Do you think Barton and Sam might want to spoon?" I snickered at the thought of it.
"I think Sam would rather sit out here naked than to spoon with Barton," Riley laughed. He nuzzled into the side of my neck. His cold breath gave me goosebumps which he chased away with warm kisses. "If you haven't noticed, Barton is quite intimidating. I think Sam is terrified of him actually. Where did you guys go after you got dressed?"
"Just out to sit alone by the lake," I explained trying to keep my mind on this conversation. Riley's soft kisses were very distracting. "Neither of us likes crowds terribly well it seems. Plus I was playing with my powers a bit."
"Freezing the lake so we can walk across it instead of around?" Riley joked. He wrapped his arms around waist tighter, pulling me into him as close as we possibly could with all of our layers on.
"Not quite. Though that does sound like a very good shortcut." I squirmed against Riley's wandering lips. If he kept that up I was going to strip him off naked right here and have my way with him. I tried to keep on the topic so neither of us would freeze to death for the sake of a quickie. "I was seeing how big I could make things. It's f the perfect climate to do it in. Barton wants me to practice with it more."
"I can always bring you home warm beer and you can practice that way." Riley's hands started to wander under my heavy jacket. "I don't know about you but I can't wait to get home."
"Me either." Especially with Riley not being able to keep his hands off me right now. There was so much promise laced in those few words. "You better keep away from that train of thought otherwise Sam might think you've got something going for him."
"He's not exactly my type," Riley laughed, his breathing tickling my neck as he kissed me again, dragging his lips against my neck. "Do you want to go sit down?"
"I still haven't peed yet." Talk about a mood killer. My body decided to make it well known right then that I was going to burst if I didn't go in the next few seconds. "Can you stand guard for me?"
"Everyone is asleep, but yes I will guard you will you pee." Riley let me go with a small laugh. "Is that a sidearm on your thigh?"
I'd forgotten I'd strapped it on. The bulky layers of clothing made it easy to forget it was there. I turned around so I was facing Riley with a smile.
"Hawk told me to take it. I'm not going to sit there and argue with him. I'd rather not become a midnight snack for a polar bear or wolf."
"Good thinking." Riley smiled back at me. He reached over and cupped my face and pulled me close again. "Have I ever told you that I find it really fucking sexy when you walk around armed?"
"Yes, but tell me again because I like hearing it. And just think, you didn't even have to explain yourself for having to drop everything and go away for four days with no notice," I said wrapping my arms around his neck. "Aren't I the best girlfriend ever?"
"You're so fucking hot standing there with a P30 strapped to your thigh. I'm still not sure how I managed to get you." Riley kissed me. His warm lips made my entire body tingle, right down to the tips of my toes. "But I'm still feeling like the luckiest guy in the world right now. Especially hearing some of the phone calls this morning when we were told we were leaving in an hour."
"I think I'm the luckiest girl because my boyfriend doesn't care if I get called away at a moments notice either." I smiled and lent forward to kiss Riley again. "It makes it even better when he's here with me."
Riley kissed me again, pulling me close. It was a big reluctance that I pulled away from him only after a few seconds.
"I can't hold it any longer," I laughed quietly. "Gimme a sec."
I let Riley go and walked around the corner. Pulling my gloves off with my teeth I quickly undid my pants and squatted to the ground. The freezing air on my exposed ass made me pee quicker than I ever have in my life. I yanked my pants back up, jumping around trying to get warm again.
"Oh my god, it's so fucking cold." I shivered, yanking my gloves back on. True to his word Riley had stood just out of sight, with his back turned. He was such a gentleman. Besides Jared and Clint, I'd never had a guy who always did things like open the door for me. If I had something in my hands he'd carry it for me. It didn't make me feel weak or useless, it made me feel treasured. How did I, generally the biggest screw up in the world when it came to relationships and guys, manage to get so lucky? If Riley thought he was lucky in having me, the feeling was multiplied a thousand times over for me.
"What are you smiling about?" Riley asked as I came back to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled up at him. He pulled me in close with his a smile lighting up his entire face.
"Just how perfect you are," I said truthfully. "And I'm feeling the same way in wondering how the hell I got so lucky."
"Let's see how perfect you think I am after 3 days of no food and no sleep." Riley leant forward and kissed me again. I wrapped my arms around him tighter, pulling him as close as I could. This was probably going to be our only chance at this for the next few days. Riley's weight made my own weight shift back a fraction. The change of weight made my foot hit a slippery patch of ground and before I could stop it, both of us ended up toppling over. I sprawled out flat on my back with Riley landing on top of me.
"Sorry." Riley scrambled to get off me. "It's slippery there."
"Who cares." I grabbed the front of Riley's jacket and pulled him back down so we could kiss again. His lips on mine warded off any thoughts of being on the cold ground. My kiss became more insistent, my tongue teasing against his. I wrapped one of my legs around his, pulling him closer.
"You're going to be my undoing." Riley pulled away first, panting slightly. "You have no idea how much I want to strip your clothes off right now and fuck you."
"I wouldn't say no," I said with a mischievous smile. "We may freeze to death though. Only a few more days to go."
"A few more days." Riley repeated, leaning down to kiss me again quickly. "Are you coming back in?"
"Yes, are you two done and coming back in?" Clint's voice made us both shoot to our feet instantly, and very guiltily. Clint was standing a few feet away, arms crossed and looking very pleased with himself. I could feel my face heating with embarrassment as Clint stood there with a smug grin on his face.
"We weren't…" Riley started and Clint cut him off.
"Oh, I'm well aware of what you two were and weren't doing," Clint voice was choked with muted laughter. "I thought I'd break it up before you got busted by someone who might actually be upset with what you're doing."
"You missed me warming your sleeping bag," I teased Clint to cover the lingering embarrassment of being caught. I brushed the snow off my clothes ignoring his smug grin.
"That too." Clint didn't look the least bit apologetic about disturbing us. "Come back to bed Kari. Trust me when I tell you that you'll need your sleep more than you need sex right now."
"Coming." My choice of the word got a snort of laughter from Clint. I shot him an exasperated look for having such a dirty mind. Ignoring Clint's muted laughter, I turned back to Riley. "I guess you'll need to cool off before you go and spoon Sam?"
"I'm going to go for a lap around the lake naked to cool off," Riley laughed before giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
I didn't want to head back inside. I knew I couldn't stay out here either. I reluctantly dragged myself away from Riley and followed Clint back inside. I stripped off my outer layers and wriggled back into the sleeping bag on the cold floor. If only SHIELD had thought to throw in a pillow for everyone it wouldn't be so bad. I grabbed my jacket, turning it inside out so the cold outer layer wouldn't be sitting against my face. Squishing it together I formed a makeshift pillow. It would have to do for now. Clint slid in beside me, with his back facing mine.
"Don't hump me in my sleep," Clint whispered to me. "I might like it."
I kicked him in the leg. I had to chew on the inside of my cheek to stop the laugh that nearly bubbled out.
"I don't need to feel your morning wood, so don't spoon me in your sleep," I shot back.
"You're too bony." Clint's voice was muffled as he tried to cover his own laugh. "I don't want to cuddle you."
"Good, I don't want to cuddle you either." I put my hand over my mouth to smother my own giggle. "I'm going to sleep. Stop annoying me."
Clint went quiet straight away. It took him less than two minutes to fall asleep. My eyes were starting to get heavy now too. I yawned and closed my eyes. Maybe I was tired enough to actually sleep now. I put my arm under my temporary pillow and burrowed my face into it. Despite being uncomfortable I finally drifted off to sleep.
"How come Barton gets to share his sleeping bag with Kari? It's not fair." A whispered voice broke through my sleep. "I vote we draw straws on that matter."
"I can hear you," I muttered not opening my eyes. "I'm awake."
Well, kind of. I rubbed my eyes before blearily opening them. Despite my warning last night, Clint was completely wrapped around me from behind. I'd been asleep on his arm, instead of mine. I was warm and somewhat comfortable. Now I was definitely not happy about being woken up. It wasn't fully daylight yet. There was a very weak grey light trying to come into the cave. I rolled my arm so I could read my watch. It was 0620.
"Yeah, shut up I'm comfortable," Clint grumbled behind me. But he didn't bother moving. I didn't want to admit it but I wasn't complaining about that too much. I really was warm. The only exposed part of my body was my cheek and it felt like it was frozen. I wasn't in any hurry to move and get dressed.
"Shut the fuck up," Rumlow's voice echoed around the cave. "It's way too early. Go the fuck back to sleep."
It was quiet for another few minutes. Then people began to get up, shuffling around making enough noise to disturb the people who were still sleeping.
Clint groaned in frustration as someone tripped over our feet.
"Seriously?" He snapped finally untangling himself from me. "You couldn't avoid standing on me?"
"Sorry Barton," whoever it was, said sullenly.
It seems no one was going to be happy this morning. I sighed and started to wriggle out of the sleeping bag. I may as well stop delaying the inevitable and get up. No doubt with people starting to move, we'd be heading out soon. The blast of cold air was instantly numbing, leaving me scrambling for my outer layers.
"Cold, cold cold," I said with my teeth chattering as I got dressed quickly. "Brrrr."
"I'm so not getting out of this sleeping bag." Clint pulled the sleeping bag around his head, burrowing back down into it. "Wake me when we actually have to move. Or you have coffee. I accept either bribery."
"Get up Hawk." I nudged him with my foot. "If I'm up you are too."
"Really don't want to," Clint's voice was muffled under the sleeping bag. "It's fucking cold and I don't want to get up."
"I can make it colder if that makes you get out there any quicker," I said mischievously. Freezing the sleeping bag would be a bit of evil fun. "Come on, up."
"I'm up." Clint finally emerged from the sleeping bag, blinking at me sleepily. His hair was sticking up in every direction and he looked like a grumpy five year old as he glared at me. "Ugh. I was warm and comfortable and you had to get up."
"Yep." I stood there with my arms wrapped around me, putting my still ungloved hands under my armpits to warm them. "If I have to be cold and miserable you can be too."
"Blah blah blah is all I'm hearing coming from your mouth," Clint sassed me making a talking motion with his hands. "I'm getting up. Find coffee."
I had no idea how I was going to find coffee. As I looked around everyone was packing up the sleeping bags and getting dressed. The fire had died out during the night so there was no water boiling. Everyone looked as tired, cold and miserable as each other. Riley was struggling into his own outer clothes rubbing his hand over his face tiredly.
"Where's the coffee?" I asked turning back to Clint with a quiet whisper.
"You're such a rookie sometimes," Clint grumbled as he stood up, yanking his boots on over his socks. "Fine, I'll get us coffee."
"Good boy," I smirked at Clint ignoring his comment about me being a rookie. If he was like this now, I was not going to enjoy what he was like three days of no sleep.
"Again, blah blah blah," Clint groaned as he straightened up. He stretched his hands over his head, his body cracking in various parts. I winced as I could hear every vertebra in his back make various snapping and popping sounds. Still grumbling under his breath, Clint moved to the back of the cave and came back with two cans. He cracked one open and handed it to me. I eyed the unmarked can warily.
"You aren't serious are you?"
"It's coffee, I promise," Clint said encouragingly taking a sip seeing the look on my face. "I'm not feeding you weapons oil or anything like that."
Seeing Clint drink from his own can made me crack mine open. I took a cautious sip at the unfamiliar beverage. Somehow it was warm and it tasted vaguely like coffee. Instant coffee with powdered milk and the sugar bowl maybe hovered over it. But it was warm and I wasn't going to knock it back. I sat back down on the sleeping bag, crossed legged watching everything around me. Everyone was up, somewhat dressed and a few were sipping out of the same cans as us.
The cave was fast getting crowded again with everyone up and moving. I got to my feet and walked outside, finishing off my can of coffee as I went. Despite the clear night the clouds were rolling in thick and fast now. They were grey and heavy, promising more than a dusting of snow. I hiked my jacket around me a little tighter at the thought of the threatening weather.
I walked to the edge of the lake staring out across it. The body of water was huge. It'd easily be a few miles across and just as wide. I couldn't actually see the other side of the shore. The hike around it was going to be a few hours at least. The low grey clouds were covering the distant hills and mountains, making the promise of the next few days trek to be more than interesting. The lake had more than a few chunks of ice floating around on it. Thinking back to Riley's comment last night, I put my hand in it, just playfully pushing my power out to the nearest small chunk of ice. The lake froze under my touch, ice fanning out rapidly until it was a good ten feet from me. Shocked, I yanked my hand back from the water. I stared at what I'd done. I'd frozen it inches thick. I hadn't done anything like that since I was a kid. But like I'd said to Clint, this kind of weather was perfect for messing with my power.
I cautiously tapped my foot on the solid piece of ice. It seemed completely safe. Putting all my weight on it, the lump didn't creak under my weight. I jumped up and down on it a few times, being careful not to slip.
"Huh, cool." I grinned as I carefully walked to the edge of the platform of ice. I stuck my hand in the water and pushed my power into it again. This time I didn't pull back. I just watched the ice fan out from my hand and across the lake rapidly. I could feel a very satisfied smirk playing across my face. It felt good to do this again. It was like being a kid all over again and just making things freeze for the sake of making things freeze.
Much to my surprise, the ice kept forming with very little effort from me. I stopped only out of curiosity and began to walk across the platform of ice I'd created. I didn't get far before I heard Clint's voice call out to me.
I turned around to see him standing on the shore, arms crossed looking out to me.
"It's safe." I waved him over. "Slippery, but it's frozen solid."
At least I think it was. The edge of the lake was shallow enough it was probably frozen solid. The further I got out, the less solid it would be. I still had the ice inches thick, safe enough for people to walk on.
Clint nodded and cautiously put a boot on the ice, stepping on it a few times to test the accuracy of my words. When he was satisfied he carefully walked out to me.
"This wasn't quite what I had in mind when I told you to practice your powers." Clint had both eyebrows raised as he looked out across the lake. "Umm, wow."
"I didn't mean for it to happen," I said feeling a bit defensive as I crossed my arms. "Like I said last night, it's kind of easy to do in this environment."
My previous glee of doing this was quickly evaporating under Clint's surprised stare at the expanse of ice in front of us. I felt myself deflate and looked down to the ground, scuffing my toe along the ice.
"No, no, no, don't get upset Kari." Clint quickly grabbed my arms so I uncrossed them. He gently pushed my chin up so I was looking up at him. "No seriously, keep going. This is good. I'm just surprised that's all. I'm not upset."
He could read me so well. Clint motioned towards the water again.
"Go on, knock yourself out. If you can freeze the lake all the way across it takes off at least half a day."
I hesitated slightly. A few of the guys had made their way out of the cave and were mucking around outside. The wind picked up and I shivered despite the warm layers. Fuck it, knocking half a day off was going to be well worth it. We might even get more than a few hours sleep in if that was the case.
Carefully I walked back out to the edge. Clint followed me, grabbing my elbow to steady me if I slipped. I'd frozen the lake to a fair distance, but still had quite a way to go yet. It wasn't all the way to the edges but the ice fanned out enough to fit both STRIKE teams on here comfortably. By now they'd all started to walk across the ice I'd just made, either curious or hoping that we really were shaving half a day off.
Once Clint and I reached the edge I put my hand back in the water. It was absolutely freezing further out. I barely had to concentrate using my power this time. There were thicker sheets of ice floating around. It felt like it was more of a game of connecting the dots. By the time I was finished we had a clear path of ice to walk across. Both STRIKE teams had caught up to us, watching fascinated at the path of ice I'd made for us.
"Well," it was Riley who first spoke when I stood up, shaking my hands to get rid of the last few ice crystals on it. "This makes life a bit easier."
"Here's hoping." I grinned feeling very pleased with myself. No one was looking at me like I was diseased or I'd done something wrong. "So let's go?"
"You heard, Agent Lyngley," Rumlow spoke up. "Let's roll out and get the fuck home."
Both teams moved off. Riley lingered towards the back, just in front of Clint and I.
"Good job." Clint clapped my shoulder. I winced at the amount of force behind what he'd consider a gentle slap. "I promise I won't make you carry me now."
"Any chance you can swipe me another Mars Bar for being completely awesome?"
"Already done." Clint produced the promised chocolate from his jacket pocket. He pulled a can out along with the chocolate. "Coffee too."
My joy was short lived as we shuffled and slid across the ice. A few times guys in front of us slid too much and went down. I thought one of the guys from Rumlow's team was going to end up in the water but he managed to save himself. But there weren't any complaints. They all took it with a laugh and plenty of jokes. My legs were already aching from sliding every few steps. Clint was only doing marginally better than I was. We'd both snort with contained laughter at each other's shortcomings. There wasn't much else you could do really. The weather got worse as we stumbled along. A biting wind picked up, blasting us from the North. It felt like it froze any exposed part of your body. I pulled the hood of my jacket around my face trying to ward it off. There was a pair of sunglasses in my jacket pocket which I finally pulled on so my eyes would stop watering.
It was mind numbing putting one foot in front of the other with the only thing to concentrate on was not falling over. It only got colder the more we moved so no one spoke much. There was the occasional quiet conversation pop up. It was too far away and too quiet for me to hear. Clint was silent leaving me with my own thoughts. They were mostly to do with the cold. As mid morning approached the clouds hung even lower in the sky looking an ominous dark grey. Just as we reached the edge of the lake, snow began to fall. It was heavy enough to make things uncomfortable, but not bad enough to make us stop.
Once we reached the edge of the lake, I was very happy to stand on solid ground again. We were the last ones to hit solid ground. Everyone had sat down to have a break. The snow was starting to become heavier every second. I wasn't missing the concerned glances every kept looking up with. I cleared a patch of ground with my foot before I sat down.
"This is going to make things harder," Clint said quietly as he sat next to me. "We're heading that way and the terrain starts getting tough."
Clint pointed towards the east of us, towards the mountain range. My gaze followed his outstretched hand with a quiet sigh.
"We basically climb up and down that about three times," Clint explained with his own sigh. "It'll take us the rest of the day to reach it. Then the next two and a half days to go over it. Once we get over it all, SHIELD has a cabin which thankfully is stocked pretty well and we call for our extraction. It takes six hours to get here so at least you can sleep and get warm."
"Any shortcuts?" I asked looking at the mountain range. It didn't look huge, but it was going to be rough terrain. There looked like there was dips and crevices all throughout it.
"Not really, not unless you can build us a bridge between the mountains." Clint looked at me with a hopeful smile. "Believe me when I say we're taking every shortcut and easy way possible. We have to do this course every two years and it never changes."
"At least I cut some time off for us." I looked back over the lake. I hadn't realised how big it really was until I had to walk across it. Even cutting half a day off was better than nothing.
"Yeah." Clint got up and dusted himself off, then offered his hand. "Come on let's keep going before this snow really sets in."
"Sounds good to me."
I grabbed Clint's hand and got pulled to my feet. Seeing both of us get up, the group started to grumble but climb to their own feet.
"Barton," Evans called from the front of the group. "Come up here for a second."
Clint complied, leaving me standing there by myself. Not wanting to be a loner I walked up to Riley who was standing with a few guys from his own team. No one paid me any attention as I joined the circle standing between Riley and Sam. I thought I was going to go unacknowledged but Sam was the first one to speak.
"Do you follow hockey or football?" Sam asked me as soon as I joined them.
"Both, why?" I asked slightly taken back by the question. I shouldn't have been surprised. Most guys when bored will either talk about sports or sex. There wasn't really too many other subjects they'd touch on. With me standing there my guess would have been there was a quick topic change to be polite. I'd always been a hockey fan, but I'd learned to appreciate football as well during my time as a pilot. It was fun getting involved in those nights at the bar during games. Even if I wasn't a die hard football fan, I was definitely a very big hockey fan.
"Teams?" Sam asked. "Do you actually follow it, or just watch it for the hot guys?"
"Bit of both," I admitted with a laugh. "Rangers and Giants. I follow hockey more than football though."
"You and me, are new best friends." Sam grinned at me. "Do you think the Rangers will finally win one again this year?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Riley roll his eyes at Sam. I couldn't stop my own grin coming onto my face.
It was on. Sam and I went off on a spiel about hockey and it only broke up when we were told to get moving again. This time Riley was walking beside me, listening as Sam and I both kept rambling on about hockey. We didn't even pause in our conversation when Clint walked back to us.
"Not another die hard hockey fan," Clint groaned as he heard what we were talking about. "You and Nat are seriously clones. I can't deal with this, someone talk to me about football. Riley, seriously please tell me we can talk football."
"Only if its college football," Riley said. That made me smile, but not enough to break into their conversation. Riley had been a star football player in high school and got a scholarship to college with it. He opted to join the Navy and become a SEAL instead.
"Iowa Hawkeye's all the way," Clint said with a relieved smile.
We moved off again and the time flew by this time with talking to Sam, and the occasional input from some of the other guys. Instead of dragging by, I'd barely noticed to long hike until we started a definite upward climb. When night began to fall around us was only when I'd run out of things to argue or discuss hockey. Somehow I'd stupidity said yes to going skating and letting Sam teach me how to handle a stick properly. He was horrified that I didn't really know how to play even though I was a big fan. I could barely skate so Sam was going to have his work cut out for him.
Just as it was getting dark, another break was called. Clint went up the front again to speak to Rumlow and Evans so I was left alone with Riley. Although the hours flew by my body was telling me it wasn't terribly happy about the miles we'd covered today. My feet and calves were aching and I had an annoying twinge in my lower back. I was more than happy to collapse onto the ground, leaning against Riley. Unlike Sam and I, he and Clint had stopped talking a few hours ago.
"My feet hurt," I said with a quiet grumble. I reached down to massage my aching legs as best as I could with gloves on. "And calves, and thighs. I think I need a massage."
"I'd offer to take your boots off and massage your feet but I think you'd get frostbite pretty quick," Riley said as he stretched his own legs out with a wince. "You'd have to repay the favour though."
There were too many people around for me to make a dirty joke about what I'd want to massage on him.
"I can't wait to get home and soak in a bath." I kept our conversation PG rated. I lay back, despite the snow and cold on the ground. "I have some new bath bombs that are calling my name."
"Good thing I have a tub then," Riley said, smiling down at me. He looked as tired I was currently feeling. "Am I joining you for this soak in the bath?"
"Please do. I hope you don't mind smelling like strawberry bliss or whatever it is I bought," I joked, smiling up at him. Those thoughts might be enough to keep me distracted for the next part of the hike. "So, is that an invite back to your place when we get home?"
"You don't need an invite." Riley lay down next to me, putting his hands behind his head and resting on them. "I've got a spare key for you that I was going to give to you tonight anyway."
"Awesome, your TV is so much bigger than Jared's," I said lightly to cover my surprise. While I wasn't complaining this was moving a lot faster than I ever anticipated. Then again I didn't have a lot to compare this relationship to than anything else.
"Oh, that's how it is?" Riley laughed giving me a small shove with his foot. "You just like me for my big TV."
My comeback of another big thing I liked him for got cut off by Rumlow calling everyone to their feet again. I groaned as I pushed myself back up. Didn't we just sit down five seconds ago? I was more than ready for a nap. It was getting dark now, I could only just make out shapes around us in the grey light. The snow had been steady all day, leaving a few inches of powder sitting on the ground. I was warm enough from all the hiking, almost too warm. I'd nearly taken my jacket off a few times but knowing how much I'd freeze if I did stop me. The clouds had started to thin out and a few stars were shining through tonight. I followed Riley as we started walking again. Clint was waiting for me as I came up and fell into step beside me. He slowed down a bit, enough to put some distance between Riley and us.
"We were just arguing over whether to camp for the night or not," Clint explained before I could ask him what was happening. "But we decided to keep pushing ahead to get home sooner. You knocked eight hours off with going across the lake instead of all the way around it."
"Nice." I felt very proud of that. At least the pain of keeping on going for tonight was going to get us home sooner. "What happens from here?"
"If it stays clear tonight we'll just keep going and have a few hours sleep just before dawn," Clint said fumbling in his pocket for something. He pulled out two more chocolate bars for us. Where he kept getting them from I'll never know. "Tomorrow is the hard part. It helps to be a little bit rested for it."
Why did that sound very ominous? Today hadn't been fun. I was dreading to know what else was in store for us.
"Where do you keep getting the chocolate from?" I asked to change the subject onto something a bit lighter.
"Pockets." Clint explained, patting the side of his jacket. "I shove as many as I can in before we leave. Don't worry so does everyone else. Check your inside jacket pocket."
I unzipped my jacket enough to be able to get my gloved hand in. Patting the pocket I was told I could feel a few bars of chocolate in there that I hadn't noticed before.
"The sugar keeps you going," Clint said around his mouthful of Mars Bar. "It's easier than trying to carry rations and having chocolate always makes the day feel better."
I couldn't argue with that. Taking one glove off I peeled off the wrapper and demolished mine in a few bites. Having no food other than chocolate all day was making me feel sick. But it was better than nothing. I wasn't starving just yet, so the chocolate filled my empty stomach nicely.
Everyone fell silent as the night deepened around us. The clouds lifted bringing out the northern lights and stars again. It got even colder than before and I stuck as close to Clint as possible. I didn't think I was going to be able to see but my eyes adjusted very quickly to the darkness. It became a case of putting one foot after the other. The terrain got more and more rocky and uphill, making everyone start to stumble. We ended up on a windy path, taking us upwards. It was only wide enough for a single file so I stumbled along behind Clint. It wasn't until well after midnight when we finally stopped. I happily collapsed to the ground, feeling like my legs were still walking. Clint was right next to me, leaning against the wall of rock.
"How long do we have?" I asked Clint tiredly, finally breaking the silence from the last long hours.
"A few hours." Clint sounded like he was already half asleep. "You cold?"
"Not yet." I couldn't stop the yawn escaping from me. My poor feet and legs were throbbing mercilessly. As painful as it was, I doubted it would be enough to keep me awake. "Won't take long to get cold though."
Clint opened his arm and I didn't hesitate to put my head on his shoulder and let him pull me close. If I couldn't cuddle Riley, Clint would have to do.
"Don't drool on me," Clint murmured quietly.
"I'm more worried about you drooling on me," I said with my own quiet laugh.
Neither of us made a response. I was asleep as soon as those words left my mouth. I didn't stay that way for long though. I drifted in and out of sleep, not able to get comfortable or warm enough to really sleep well. It was almost a relief when dawn started to come around. Clint got up first, leaving me grumbling on the ground until I took his offered hand to get up.
"I need to pee," I said quietly.
"Off you go," Clint said smartly. I glared at him until he gave in with a short laugh. "Fine, just go down the path a few feet. I'll stand guard if you need me to."
"Thank you." I couldn't muster too much enthusiasm about his smart mood this morning. I crunched through the snow down the path for a few feet before I felt safe enough no one would see me. Struggling with my layers I finally was able to answer the call of nature. I glanced back to make sure Clint wasn't watching. He wasn't, he looked like he was writing his name in the snow. I gave a quiet laugh at the sight of his turned back and ass waving in the breeze. Child.
I was really dehydrated. I wrinkled my nose noticing that none to subtle signs my body was giving off. I only realised I'd had nothing to drink all day yesterday. I should have been dying of thirst but the cold weather seemed to have shut that response off. Surely I had to have some kind of water somewhere. I knew well enough not to eat snow or ice. It lowered your core temperature too much and could cause hyperthermia. Another thing I was going to have to ask Clint. I pulled my pants back up and walked back up to Clint. I had been right, he had written his name in the snow while peeing.
"You're such a five year old," I scoffed at him, but couldn't keep the grin off my face. Little things like this really helped making the day a little more bearable.
"I know." Clint grinned back admiring his handiwork.
"So another stupid question from me," I said deciding not to encourage him any further. "Apparently, I'm dehydrated and I'm smart enough not to eat snow. Any suggestions?"
"You can eat the snow if you're moving so your body temperature doesn't drop that much or just wait a few hours," Clint said with a small quirk of his eyebrow. "Where did you learn that?"
"SERE training," I said simply. As shitty as SERE training had been, it was probably one of the more exciting thing I'd done in the Air Force. "What's in a few hours?"
"Checkpoint, it's not much but there's coffee, water and something to eat," Clint explained. "Why did you do SERE training?"
"Because I requested to be deployed," I gave Clint a confused look. It was a standard thing to need if you were going into a combat situation. "You need to know what to do if you were ever shot down over enemy territory."
"Flying Raptors wasn't enough adrenaline for you?" Clint asked. There was a slightly teasing tone behind his voice, but also curiosity. We hadn't spoken much of my time in the Air Force. It was still a sore subject for me.
"It wasn't that." I bit my lip contemplating how to explain this. Even to me, it sounded a bit odd. "It was I wanted to make a difference. This sounds so fucking corny but I really did want to feel like I was doing some good in this world. I'd hear nothing but all the things SHIELD were doing all from my family. I guess I just wanted to prove to myself, and everyone else that I could do some good in the world without being part of SHIELD."
"That's not corny." Clint's mouth quirked up in a small smile. "Its pretty admirable really. So what was SERE training like?"
"Two weeks of classroom lectures and another week of being yelled at, hungry, sleep deprived and miserable." I looked around me with a wry grin ."I guess this is a slight improvement."
"At least we have chocolate to make everything better."
The rest of the hike passed in a cold blur that morning. It was about midday when we reached the checkpoint. It was nothing more than a hollowed out cave in the side of the mountain we were currently climbing. But it was out of the cold and well stocked. Somewhere during the morning, I'd begun to get blisters on my feet. By the time we'd stopped it felt like I was missing half the skin off my heel. The first thing I snatched up was a medical kit, along with a bottle of water. I drained the bottle in under a minute and plonked myself down, working the frozen laces off my boots off. I tried not to grimace too much as I pulled it off, along with my socks inspecting the damage. It wasn't as bad as it felt. My entire heel was pretty red raw, but the blisters had already popped.
"Ow," I grumbled poking the offending hurt area. Not wanting to keep my foot out in the cold for much longer I rummaged through the medical kit for what I needed. Condoms were the best thing you could put over blisters when you had to keep walking. I learnt that trick very quickly when breaking in new boots int he Air Force. Clint was watching me as I pulled a few things out, still looking for the missing item.
"Do you know what you're looking for?" He asked. He was watching me carefully as if to judge if I actually knew what I was doing.
"Condom," I said. A small smile tugged at my lips as I decided to be a bit of a smart ass. "Preferably something flavoured so my foot smells awesome."
"And you call me a five year old," Clint laughed at me. "When you find them, throw two over here too. My feet are fucked."
Clint's feet weren't in much better shape than mine. While hiking in wet boots would have been torture, doing the miles we had in boots you weren't used to was not exactly fun either. I finally found what I needed and threw a few over to him.
"Plain ones, how boring," Clint joked. He barely winced pulling them over his feet. Unlike me who kept repeating the word ow until my feet were covered. It was a disgusting feeling having a condom on your feet. But my feet would be thanking me later. I put my boots back on and enjoying being off my feet even if it was for a little while. I was too tired to even think about getting up and getting something else to drink. Something I'd regret later on I'm sure of it. I must have dozed off briefly because I jumped when Clint gently nudged my leg.
"I'm awake." I blinked rapidly looking up at him. "What?"
"Come out here for a second" Clint asked motioning towards outside with a jerk of his head. I didn't ask why I climbed to my aching feet and followed him outside. The day was clear with weak sunlight coming through. It just made the glare of the snow fallen from yesterday so much worse. I pulled my sunglasses down to stop myself squinting in the harsh landscape.
"So, we need to go over there." Clint pointed towards the smaller mountain directly in front of us. "Which means we have to climb for a few more hours before snaking our way back down into the valley and then up the other side."
"And?" I asked looking at him blankly.
"Do you think you could build a bridge?" Clint asked looking hopeful. "With your powers? If you go directly across it's only about a mile. Less than what you did across the lake."
"Yeah, but I had the water to freeze in the lake." I pointed out the flaw in the plan. "It made it easier."
"Just try," Clint urged gently. "If you can't do it, then no big deal. If you can, then you can get home quicker to fuck your boyfriend. Laura will love you for getting me home early."
I bit my lip looking out across the expanse. It wasn't just the distance that was worrying me. There'd be a massive drop off if someone slipped. It'd be pretty treacherous going. Especially with the sun being out and making things melt.
"Who's idea was this?" I asked stalling for time trying to think of how I was going to do this. I really wanted to make our life easier and get this over and done with. But I also wasn't sure if this was beyond me or not. As much fun as it'd been freezing the lake. I didn't have a lot of confidence in my ability to make this work.
"Mine," Clint said. "And mine alone. You won't know if you don't try."
Clint had a very good point. I hesitated for another few moments before walking closer to the edge of the mountain. I crouched down, wanting to feel where I was forming the ice instead of trying to concentrate on just making it happen. I bit my lip, before pushing my power out and watched the ice fan out from my hands forming a wide sheet of ice before pushing it outwards.
It took a lot more concentration than using the water from the lake. But there was plenty of moisture in the air from the melting ice and snow already on the ground. I watched as the bridge grew out across the expanse until I got halfway across. I pulled my hands back, breathing heavily from the exertion of the concentration.
"I need to get out there to finish it." I turned to look back at Clint. He was standing there watching me do it with a smile on his face. "What?"
"I knew you could do it." Clint gave me a proud look. "I'll get some rope so we can make a handrail when we get to the other side."
I sat on the ground as he turned back to the cave to get what we needed. It was hard to believe what I'd just done. I'd made the sheet of ice six feet wide and half a mile long. I'd never believed I could actually do something like that still. It took a lot out of me though, I was already tired and now I was teetering on the edge of exhaustion. The mental effort of the concentration it required to manipulate was just as exhausting as the miles we'd covered by foot just getting here.
"Ready?" Clint seemed to be back within seconds. I jumped at the sound of his voice.
"Sure," I said half heartedly.
Clint had a huge length of rope that he'd secured into the rock wall. He was giving it a few very hard yanks to make sure it wasn't moving. He tied one end off on his belt, then the other to me.
"Scared of heights?" Clint asked as he secured the knot on my belt.
"No." I shook my head."Most definitely not scared of heights. What about you?"
"Only if I'm falling from them," Clint said with an amused chuckle. "All right lets go, Rumlow will come out in a second to make sure the rope stays put."
I felt a rush of nerves stepping out onto the platform of ice. Unlike stepping onto the lake where the worst thing that could happen was falling into the cold water. This was a 200 foot drop onto the rocks, not something anyone could survive. I tapped my foot on the ice a few times to give myself some certainty it would break as soon as I stood on it. The platform was a good four and a half feet thick. It should be able to hold a lot of weight. Stepping out onto it was a bit unnerving for the first few steps until I became surer of myself. Clint followed behind me, his footsteps sure and steady. It was reassuring to know he trusted me enough not to kill us both if I'd fucked this up. It took us ten minutes to reach the edge of the platform. The going was made slow only by the wind that picked up as soon as we got away from the shelter of the mountain. I had to stop and catch my breath before I could do anything else.
"Sorry, it's a bit exhausting doing it," I apologised to Clint as I sat down again. "And I'm wrecked already."
"You don't need to apologise." Clint gave my shoulder a reassuring pat. "You're doing awesome. Whenever your ready is fine, there's no rush. Want some chocolate?"
"Stupid question," I laughed breathlessly.
This time it was just a plain Hershey's bar, but it was still good. The sugar was enough to perk me up again a few minutes later and finish building the bridge. By the time I was done, the sun had disappeared behind the growing clouds again. Even if it gave us a ten minutes reprieve, it was better than the weak sunlight slowly melting the bridge making it slippery. Clint and I walked the rest of the way and I collapsed as soon as we hit solid ground again. Clint didn't falter, he undid the rope from both of us and tied a long thin spike on the end on it.
"Watch out for a second," Clint said. I scooted out of the way on my ass and watched him curiously. He banged the spike against the rock and held it there. The point started to automatically drill in with a faint whirring sound and stopped a few seconds later. A solid thunk came from deep within the rock.
"Self drilling and embedding," Clint explained to me, as he caught my expression. "It won't come out unless the mountain comes down."
"That's reassuring." I tried to smile but I could only manage a small quick of my lips. "I feel like such a wuss, but can I grab ten minutes of sleep? I'm shattered now."
"You can have as much as you want." Clint smiled down at me, looking very smug and proud at the same time. "Considering you just cut a day and a half off. If you go about twenty feet to your right there's a small hollowed out space. It's not much, but it'll get you out of the weather."
We'd come over onto a large overhang of rock. It was protected from the sun here so there was still plenty of fresh snow on the ground. With the clouds coming over the wind started to pick up again making the temperature dropped dramatically. I didn't need to be told twice to get out of the weather for a sleep. I went to where Clint directed me, fell on the floor and was asleep on my arm instantly.
"Kari." Clint shook me again awake. I sleepily looked up at him. It'd only felt like seconds since I'd fallen asleep.
"We've got a blizzard coming in," Clint said, crouching down next to me. "I know you're tired but we need to get moving."
"Okay," I murmured pushing myself up into a sitting position. "How long to get off this mountain?"
"A day, or twenty minutes if you can do another bridge," Clint said carefully. "Any chance you can?"
I was really tired. But with the impending weather, I could definitely push myself to do it.
"I have chocolate." Clint pulled out another Mars Bar, waving it around with a small smile. "Is that bribery enough?"
"You owe me a bottle of scotch when this is all over." I couldn't help but return the smile. Clint could be very charming when he wanted something. "But chocolate will be good for now."
"Whatever scotch you want it yours," Clint chuckled handing the Mars Bar over. "I'm sure everyone here will chip in to get something really fucking expensive since you're getting us done in half the time it normally takes."
I got to my feet and nibbled at the chocolate, following Clint out of the little alcove. We left the two teams as Clint and I carefully skirted around the mountain face. Besides the overhand we were on there wasn't a lot of walking room. It was another narrow track, only wide enough for one person. As soon as we caught sight of the last mountain, I knelt down to start making another bridge. My hands were shaking this time and it was a lot of effort to keep it going. I doubled my efforts to make sure this one would work just as well. The distance wasn't as far, and the next mountain was smaller making it easier to push the bridge downhill. It took me fifteen minutes to get it finished.
"How much further do we have before we make it to safety?" I eyed off the incoming weather. It was still a few hours away but the snowstorm was promising to be nasty. I wasn't sure how long I was going to be able to keep going as well.
"This is the easy part," Clint reassured me. "We get to that side and it's about an hour climb down. It's really short and sharp instead of winding down. The cabin is only another hour from that. You good?"
Two hours. That's all I had to hold out for. Then this would all be over and I could have a shower and bed. I nodded, not having the energy to speak.
"Hey, you're doing awesome." Clint gave my shoulder a squeeze. "Come on, we're nearly home."
I'm sure I slept walked most of the next hour. I barely remembered crossing the bridge. By the time we'd hit the flat ground I was half propped against Clint as we walked along. I was randomly going through songs in my head just to keep myself going. Clint encouraged me very quietly the entire way. I expected some ribbing for being the only one staggering along. But no one said anything. There was the buzz of chatter going through the group. It got louder the closer we got to the cabin.
"I can carry you if you want," Clint said quietly as I stumbled and nearly took both of us out. Clint managed to regain his balance but I fell to my knees. I scrambled back to my feet before anyone could see what happened.
"Not a chance, I'm already expecting teasing for being the only one looking completely shattered," I murmured feeling embarrassed Clint even suggested that.
"You're allowed to be the only one completely shattered," Clint said gently. "You got us here in record time. No one is going to give you shit and if they do they can answer to me. That's a guarantee no one will mess with you."
I laughed quietly but didn't have anything else to say. There definitely was a distinct advantage on being STRIKE Team Delta. No one would ever be game to say anything within earshot of Clint or Natasha about me.
"Come on, not far to go," Clint slung his arm around my shoulders. The simple gesture looked innocent enough but it allowed me to lean against him better. "Only about half a mile to go. Then we can all sleep until our extraction comes."
Half a mile. Just half a mile. I kept repeating that in my head as I walked with Clint. We were the last ones to make it to the cabin. It was huge. The cabin was too nice of a word for it really. It looked like a mini hotel. I just hoped it had a bed and somewhere to have a shower. Stepping into the mud room of it made me sweat instantly from the heat coming from inside. I peeled off my outer layers, kicked my boots off and let Clint guide me to the nearest bed. I passed out instantly.
When I woke up again I had a pounding headache and my muscles refused to cooperate. Everything around me was quiet and I rolled over onto my back to look around the room. I hadn't paid any attention to my surroundings when we first got in here. The large hall was set up almost like an old school dormitory. Rows of bunk beds lined it and in the semi darkness, I could see plenty of bodies occupying the beds as well. I was wrapped up in a warm blanket on a bottom bunk. To my left, a hand was dangling down from the top bed. I was so comfortable I was tempted to just go back to sleep. But the more I was awake, the more aware of how hungry, thirsty and in desperate need of a shower, I was.
I quietly rolled out of the bed and padded across the room to the door. It had been left open and the light was streaming from the hallway into the room. There were murmured voices coming from towards the room near the entrance and I could hear water running from the other direction. Food and something to drink won out first in the needs department. I walked towards the sound of the voices and into a large room with a few couches scattered around it, and most importantly a large kitchen at the other end of the room.
A large window caught my attention before anything else did. I stared out of it, not sure if I was seeing things right.
A snow drift had piled up against the window. You couldn't see out of it. By the looks of things, the threatening blizzard had snowed us in. Turning around to look out the other window on the other side of the room I was faced with the exact same thing.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me."
Edited 6th June 2018
