Every number being called out felt like a ticking time bomb. The sound of Khalil voice vibrated around the deathly quiet house. No one was making a sound except for me as I thumped down the stairs. Nick glanced over at me and didn't need to be told what to do. He ran straight for the door, yanking it open just far enough to let me out. I went invisible as I hit the bottom of the stairs and I was out the door in a few paces. As I passed through the door frame, I smacked the end of the arrowhead into the wall. Hard. The loud beep told me I had about ten seconds before I blew myself to pieces.
It was all happening so fast. I had to trust in myself with the bare bones of the plan in my head. While running, I threw the arrowhead into the thick of people and sprinted for my life. And Sam's. The arrowhead bounced harmlessly into the crowd, landing at someone's feet. No one glanced down at the minor disturbance. Like us, the mercenaries would all have their attention fixed firmly on what was happening in front of them. Time slowed down as I got within reach of Sam.
I tackled Sam from the side as hard as I could throw my body into it. We both skidded sideways, sprawling out in the dirt. My bruised and battered body screamed in protest at me hitting the hard ground. My chest felt it had been stuck in a vice as I struggled to gain any breath. There wasn't a second to waste. I twisted my body around, forcing myself to my knees and put my hands out. Time seemed to slow down even further as I saw 30 men all raise their weapons at me. Their shouts were muffled, lips were moving with no real words coming out. Khalil's face had twisted into an angry snarl as his Sig Sauer pointed towards me.
The beep coming from the arrowhead was the only thing I heard clearly. I set my jaw and hoped like hell I didn't sign mine and Sam's death warrant. I'd done this before and I could do it again. My power gathered on my fingertips and without thinking, I pushed it out as hard as I possibly could. The effect was instant. The ice fanned out a nanosecond before the exploding arrowhead went off. I could feel the ice cracking under the pressure of the kinetic shock that followed the explosion. My ears rang from the resulting force of it. The wall of ice was enough to shield us from the worse of the shock and noise of the explosion. Khalil was unfortunate enough to be standing too close to the wall of ice as it fanned out. His body was engulfed before he could take a step backward. It felt like an eternity before the explosion stopped, leaving the wall of ice intact under my hands. In reality, it was only a few seconds.
Sam yanked me to my feet the moment the gunfire from the other side of the wall of ice started. My legs didn't want to cooperate with the first few steps but thankfully Sam managed to keep me upright. The wall of ice shattered behind us and the bullets started to come far too close for comfort. I zigzagged, almost tripping over my own feet in the haste to avoid getting shot. Sam was with right with me, nearly colliding with me as we ran for our lives.
It was only about 40 feet from the building. Right now it felt like it was 40 miles. I could feel the heat of the bullets traveling past me. It was so loud I couldn't hear a damn thing. Next to me, Sam staggered. His grip on me was still strong and it brought us both crashing to the ground. I looked over at him to see what had happened. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but the pool of blood forming underneath us was a pretty clear indication. Sam was on the ground, clutching at his right arm. He'd been shot.
The only thing I could do was protect us while we were a clear target on the ground. My body was already acting as soon as that thought hit my head. The ice shield, as Clint had dubbed it so long ago, came up quickly giving us a few precious seconds of protection.
Another explosion went off, shaking the ground underneath me. Men from the mercenary side of the army screamed loud enough that even my hearing could manage to hear. I couldn't see what had happened clearly behind the ice. A hand grabbed my shirt, yanking me to my feet before I could do anything else. I didn't struggle and let whoever it was, drag me back to my feet and shove me roughly in the direction of the house. Out of the corner of my eye, two figures in black were pulling Sam up to his feet as best as he could manage. I didn't have time to stop and help, whoever it was that pulled me to my feet grabbed me by the shirt and dragged me back to the house.
Everything was a blur. The noise of returning gunfire didn't help my already shitty hearing. There was a burning sensation in my right leg that wasn't helping my ability to run. Somehow, the group of us managed to make it back into the house. The door slammed behind me and I collapsed to the ground.
Looking up, it was Rumlow bent over me looking like he'd just run a marathon by the way his chest was heaving up and down. He mouth was moving but the sounds were all a jumble in my head.
"What?" My voice sounded distant and far away to my own ears. I knew I wasn't speaking quietly.
"Are you hurt?" Rumlow's voice finally broke through the painful ringing in my ears. While I was glad to have my hearing back, the rest of the sounds of the world around me also came rushing back. When the pained scream cut through the air, I really wished I'd been deaf for another few seconds.
"No." I looked around Rumlow to see where the sound had come from.
Sam was propped against the wall. Nick had Sam's shot arm and was applying a tourniquet. Sam looked deathly pale. He was biting his lip, kicking and flailing his legs against the ground as Nick wound the tourniquet up.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Nick kept repeating the same phrase over and over again as he worked on Sam's arm. Nick moved to put pressure on the bleeding wound on his arm. It was enough for Sam to fight against the seemingly light touch.
Without being told, Rumlow and I both sprung towards Sam to pin him down. I ended up sitting on his lap, keeping his legs from thrashing around and Rumlow held up down by his shoulders and the uninjured arm.
"Hurts," Sam said hoarsely, bucking against me as Nick tried to get some pressure on his arm again. "Fucking hurts."
"I know." I felt useless as I straddled Sam, fighting my own fatigue and aches trying to keep him still. "Just give it a minute. Nick will get it fixed up."
There was a lot of blood. Sam's upper arm looked very misshaped. It was almost like his humerus had been snapped and bent in the wrong direction. There was a clear entry and exit to the gunshot wound, both which were bleeding profusely. The only bit of luck was there was no arterial bleeding. The blood wasn't spurting out, only running in rivers from the bullet wound.
"Hold him," Nick commanded firmly.
Before any of us could ask why, Nick wedged Sam's arm between his hands, slapping two hemostatic dressings on the entry and exit wound. The bent shape in Sam's arm suddenly moved and I realized it was his bone being shoved back into place.
Sam's scream of pain was thankfully short lived. He went pale as a ghost before passing out completely. It was only because of Rumlow's strength that he managed to keep him upright. Nick was a Navy corpsman before he joined SHIELD. It showed now as he got Sam's wound bandaged and the arm splinted in less than a minute. The crisp white bandages stood out against Sam's dirty uniform. Whatever had happened to him in his brief time in captivity must not have been pleasant. Half of his face was bruised, looking like someone had hit him with the butt of a rifle. His uniform was torn and stained with dirt and sticky patches of blood.
"Is he going to be all right?" I could scarcely get the words out. My throat was so dry. Talking made it feel like my throat was sticking together from lack of moisture.
"Provided we can get out of here," Nick said gruffly, sitting back onto his haunches. He suddenly looked as exhausted as I was currently feeling. "I can feel his humerus in a few pieces. He's lucky the bullet didn't hit an artery otherwise he would have bled out before you got him in here."
That was far too close for comfort. My mind suddenly went to poor Gibson still on the ground out there. None of us had time to grab him in the chaos of it all.
"We need to go get Tommy." I felt tears prick at my eyes. Gibson didn't deserve to be left out there for the enemy to tear him to pieces. He didn't deserve what had happened to him. He was finally putting his life back together after his suicide attempt last year. I only found out a week before the mission that he had a three year old son. He wasn't with the mother anymore and they lived 2 hours away. When we got back from this mission Gibson had been planning to have his son for an entire week. Now his little boy was going to grow up without his father.
"We got him," Rumlow said softly, inclining his head towards the door. "It's okay, he's going to come home with us."
A sheet had been draped over him but it was unmistakable there was a body underneath it. I had to swallow back the lump in my throat and force the tears back. I couldn't think of it now. There'd be plenty of time to mourn him later. Underneath me, Sam stirred again. He groaned, blinking rapidly as he slowly returned to consciousness. He stiffened underneath me, feeling ready to start fighting for his life as his unfocused eyes landed on me.
"Hey." I leaned forward and gently hugged Sam. "I got you."
"Kari?" Sam's voice was scarcely above a whisper. I hugged him a little tighter to make sure this was real. That Sam was here and breathing underneath of me. That I'd actually pulled off the impossible and not gotten either of us killed.
"She'd kill me if I let you die," I was close enough to Sam's ear I could whisper than to him without fear of anyone hearing. Sam still seemed dazed, but his good arm came up and awkwardly hugged me back. It only lasted for seconds. The arm dropped away from me just as quickly and Sam passed out again.
I eased myself off Sam's slumped body. Nick and Rumlow both gently eased him to the ground. Rumlow arranged him so he at least looked comfortable while Nick made sure his injured arm was above his head. He hadn't bled through the bandages yet so that was at least something. I sat on the ground, sprawled out as I struggled to catch my breath. Everything had happened so quickly my brain was still having trouble processing everything that happened.
Clint was lying near Sam. He looked like he hadn't been moved since we'd got here. He was still breathing and that's all I could ask for at the moment. Right now I'd give anything to have him awake and here with me. The rescue of Sam had been the last of my strength. I had nothing else now.
"Let me look at that." Nick broke through my thoughts, pointing to my right leg.
I glanced down to see my thigh bleeding from a wound. It looked like a bullet graze. No wonder my leg had been burning on the run back here. It wasn't deep and the sluggish bleeding would have stopped on its own sooner rather than later. It was still a numb shock to see it.
"Do it upstairs." Rumlow cut off Nick reaching for my grazed leg. "They're going to be back and we need a new plan."
Rumlow pulled me to my feet while he spoke. My shaking legs really didn't want to be working again. I felt like I had lead weights attached to them as I trudged after Rumlow. Each stair brought a fresh pain to my legs and back. If it wasn't for Nick behind me, I'm not sure I would have made it up the stairs. There were a few times he put a steadying hand on my back as my legs faltered. I was never so grateful to collapse into Evans waiting arms when we reached the room.
"You do your team proud," Evans said, his voice rough with contained emotion. He hugged me as tightly as my poor bruised body could handle. "Sit."
I collapsed into the waiting chair. Nick wasted no time in dumping chlorhexidine into bullet graze. I swallowed back a string of nasty curses I wanted to spit at him for the burning sensation in my leg. Instead, I clutched at the table with my right hand, gritted my teeth and let him clean out the wound.
"Left hand next." Nick didn't look up from cleaning out my leg. "Don't think I didn't notice it before."
I'd barely noticed the pain in my left hand from the bowstring cutting in up until now. I tested the motion in the hand tentatively. The shooting pain down my fingers was bearable and I was able to move them a fraction. The cuts in the folds of my fingers were deep and covered in dried blood.
The room was silent while Nick cleaned me up as best he could. Rumlow handed me a canteen full of water. It took every ounce of my self-control not to drink it dry in a few big gulps. I was so thirsty. I forced myself to sip, not guzzle, otherwise, it'd be making a reappearance sooner rather than later. When it came to my hand, my fingers didn't want to uncurl. Nick had to physically straighten them one at a time while he cleaned out the deep welts on them. Although stiff and the cuts deep, it didn't feel like I'd done any lasting damage to my fingers. Clint's bowstring was made of a combination of different materials to withstand the pressure he put them under. Even with his calloused fingers, he always used finger guards when shooting his mission bows. I was lucky I didn't cut through to the bone while using it.
Even through all my squirming, Nick had my leg and hand bandaged up within minutes. Once I was done, he gave my arm a squeeze and left the room. There were no words to say about anything at the moment. Because I'd saved Sam it didn't mean we were any less in the shit right now.
"Tell us everything from when you pulled away from us." Evans sat down heavily in the chair across from me. I didn't miss the tight expression of pain all across his face. Even I could tell he was doing everything he could to stay off his left leg. It was no doubt why it was Rumlow who followed me downstairs and not Evans.
I felt oddly detached as I started to give all of the details. It was almost unbelievable to my own ears to what I'd done. I would have scoffed at it all if it had been someone else. But here I was. Alive and only a few minor wounds for my troubles. My description of what I'd seen along the way had Rumlow's jaw tight with tension. Evans looked drained and exhausted as I told them about the small city the enemy seemed to have. All of our escape routes were blocked and there was no getting out. Even though Clint and I had survived the crash, the situation wasn't looking any less grim than those horrid moments as we tumbled down to the earth. I didn't need to ask what was going to happen. The look on Rumlow's face was enough to tell me we were royally fucked right now. I was about to ask Rumlow and Evans what the plan was before a yell from downstairs cut me off.
"Incoming!"
No sooner had the word rung out across the building, the sound of gunfire started up again.
"Can you get on the roof?" Evans asked me. "Tex and Cobb are both gone, we need some cover."
"On it."
There was nothing else to be said on the matter. I couldn't let the little piece of information distract me from anything right now. Rumlow took the lead, carrying Clint's bow and quiver for me as we went through the upper level. There was a rickety ladder with a hatch leading to the roof.
"Be fucking careful," Rumlow stressed as I started to climb the ladder. I nodded, not having the breath or energy to speak right now. The wooden hatch opened easily, spilling bright sunlight into the dim building. It was blinding for a second, making me wince. I carefully poked my head out looking at my surroundings.
The top of the building wasn't much. An open area with a foot high barrier around it. I was going to be very open up here, even if I was laying down behind the CheyTac. My first call of business was going to have to be taking out the sniper so I didn't have to worry about my head being blown off.
"Here." I looked back down to Rumlow, holding out my hand for the bow and quiver. I could make a big distraction again to give me time to pick off the sniper.
Rumlow handed me up the items, making it a very awkward handful. I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath as I went invisible again. It was getting harder and harder every single time I did it. Right now the only thing keeping me going was sheer willpower. Somewhere in that willpower was giving me the concentration and energy to maintain my power.
Despite my exhaustion, my hands were steady as I got another three explosive arrows ready. I could clearly see everything happening up here. There were three groups of men advancing on our building. Two of the groups were firing while the third one, the group in the middle was staying hidden in the cover of one of the smaller buildings. They were making no attempt at sneaking up or being quiet.
It was almost too easy for the two groups in the open. I notched the first arrow and before it hit its target, I had the second arrow notched and going for the second group. The resulting explosions were no less horrific than before. I forced myself to not look and turn my attention towards the third group. I couldn't see them at all from my position on the roof. I moved a few steps to the right, scanning the shadows of the buildings for any sign of movement.
A sharp crack came through the air. Whistling less than a few inches from where I was standing. The bullet slammed into the rock behind me just as the resulting bang from the other sniper's rifle was heard. Whoever the sniper was, he wasn't far away. There was only a 3-second delay between the two sounds. In the moment of my attention being focused elsewhere, the middle group ran out from their cover with a rocket launcher.
This was bad. This was really, really fucking bad. Although the house seemed pretty damn sturdy and well built, there's no way it would handle a rocket being shot into it.
It was the ultimate game of who's trigger finger was quicker. Muscle memory took over and I had the arrow on the bowstring and it was launching through the air before I could blink. It felt like hours as I watched the arrow sail through the air towards the target. I don't know how it happened but the arrow hit first.
Hitting a rocket launcher with an exploding arrow was devastating. I could feel the heat of the resulting fireball from where I was standing. The force of it made me stagger back a few steps as the building shook beneath me. In my moment of inattentiveness, I glanced down and realized I could see my arm. My invisibility was gone.
I dropped to the ground, rolling away from the spot I'd been standing in. No sooner had I hit the ground, the crack of a bullet passing the sound barrier echoed through the air. I swore under my breath at the other sniper. Whoever the person was certainly didn't mess around with trying to get rid of me. They were a good shot too. If I'd dropped half a second later there would be a very big hole through my body. I stuck my hand up and gave the other sniper the finger. A taunt for missing me. I quickly went invisible again, scuttling along the ground as fast as I could from my previous spot. Luckily for me, the other sniper had an ego. Another shot landed in the spot I'd been in a few seconds later.
Back when Riley had taught the sniper class he'd discussed a lot of tactics. He'd been adamant on never, ever being taunted into shooting at another person. All it did was give away your own position and make it easier for your nest to be compromised. During that class, I'd rolled my eyes thinking that only someone stupid would get pulled into a game like that. Right now someone was doing exactly that. Even in the rush of moving, I could easily count the seconds between the snap, bang. The other sniper was about 300 yards away and from the sound of the echo from the fire, it was to the right. There weren't many places a sniper could be in that direction.
Moving slowly so I didn't disturb anything on the roof that might give me away, I crept over and picked up the CheyTac. It was a slow crawl back to the wall to find the optimum position to fire from. The wall was a perfect height. While it didn't provide me any cover at all, I could easily rest the CheyTac on it. The building was high enough that I had a perfect view of the village around me. Looking through the scope, my attention went to the right-hand side of the village.
It was all single story mud huts over there. The Quinjet crash site was in the distance, meaning this was the side I'd entered from. A few of the mud huts were more solid than the rest of them. There was one building looking like it was made from mud bricks with a solid roof. It wasn't much higher than anything else around it. The difference would have been enough to make it a good perch. A small glint of something caught my eye on that building as I studied it. It was nothing more than a flash. If I blinked I would have missed it. I adjusted the scope, feeling a feral grin tug at my lips. The other sniper was lying on the roof cleverly concealed by my some scrap metal. The haphazard design of the roofing made it very easy for him to pull a few spare sheets of metal over the top of him and not look out of place. What had given him away was probably little more than a zipper catching the light. It was enough for me though. I tucked the CheyTac in and lined my shot up. Exhaling, I gently squeezed the trigger.
The first shot of the CheyTac always felt like it rattled your bones. Today was no different as the bullet left the chamber and traveled through the blistering morning air. It would have taken less than three seconds for the bullet to reach its intended target. Watching it travel through the air felt more like three hours. A .408 round coming from a CheyTac was devastating on a human body. I could see the brilliant splatter of a human body going everywhere once the bullet hit the other sniper.
I didn't have time to cheer on my victory. The sound of men shouting drew my attention back to what was happening closer towards me. More of the enemy were rushing towards us again. I didn't hesitate. At this range, they had practically painted a target on themselves. I let go of my invisibility and started firing. Below me, I could hear the sounds of returning gunfire as well.
Time became irrelevant as I lay in the baking sun shooting down men. They'd come in waves, sometimes there'd be so many I could barely keep up with them. Other times, smaller groups tried to sneak through our defenses. Neither of us gained an inch and there seemed to be an infinite number of the enemy. In the times of inactivity, I managed to catch snatches of the activity going on in the enemy base. It wasn't much, people scurrying back and forth. The actual house was heavily guarded. As the day wore on there were fewer attacks on our building. I began taking shots at men who strayed too far from their camp. If they wanted to box us in, I was happy to do the same to them. It didn't take long for them to get the idea and huddled together. It was a small blessing that they didn't have another sniper. It could have made my day interesting in a not so great way.
By the time the sun was setting I was down most of my ammo supplies. Every so often someone had come up to the hatch and thrown me a water canteen during the day. It had gotten further apart as the day went on. It didn't take a genius to work out that our water supplies were limited and I was being given what little we had because of being out in the sun. I sent the last canteen back half full. The injured needed it more than I did.
I was grateful when the first shadows of the evening fell over the building. The few parts of me that were uncovered were really sunburnt. My lips were cracked and bleeding. I'd lost my gloves in the crash so even the back of my hands were a brilliant shade of red. I had a headache, the throbbing felt like it was coming from my brain. I'd happily kill someone for a chapstick and some aspirin.
The hatch opened and I glanced back. Rumlow came out a second later, crawling along the ground until he reached me.
"How is it?" He asked quietly, scanning the area himself.
"We're at a stalemate." I looked through the scope again. There wasn't much activity coming from the enemy at all. "I think they're trying to wait us out."
"They are," Rumlow confirmed.
I glanced over at him. He looked exhausted, even more so than before. His expression told me more than words really could. We were really fucked right now.
"There's no water, no food and our injured need some serious attention," Rumlow said lowly. "Unless we can get a radio and let SHIELD know we're all still alive, there's no rescue coming. Even if there was, I don't know if we can wait out another 24 hours."
This was meant to be a quick mission. In and out within hours, not days. No one had taken supplies beyond enough water to drink while on the mission. In this oppressive heat, we'd all be dehydrating at a rapid rate. My guess would be 48 hours before we all started dropping from it. For the first time, I thought of Jared. Someone must have thrown around some serious weight for him not to come after me. Either that or someone had the sense to knock him out so he couldn't disobey them. I could really do with his help right now. I closed my eyes and blew out a long breath. It was no good wishing for something that wasn't going to happen. I had to figure out a way by myself. I'd been up here watching for long enough I had a rough idea of how to infiltrate the enemy's building. They had radios that still worked. All I'd need to do is sneak in, grab a radio and any other supplies I could carry.
"Kari?"
Rumlow saying my name snapped my attention back to him instead of the plan forming in my head. He was looking at me and I could hear the expectation in his voice.
"What do we desperately need that I can carry?"
There were no arguments. Rumlow thrust a water canteen in my hands looking the most hopeful I'd seen him.
"Radios, any medical supplies you can put your hands on," he began to rattle off as I drained the water canteen. I knew this was non-negotiable that I drank it. I'd need every drop of moisture too if I was going to have the energy to pull this off. "But if nothing else, grab the radios. It's our only hope of getting out of here."
I nodded as I pushed myself into a sitting position. My entire body screamed in protest at the movement. My back felt like it was in spasms. The skin around the bullet graze on my leg was tight and pulled as I shifted positions. My shoulder ached from where the CheyTac had been kicking back all day and my left hand stung with every flex of my fingers. Moving set off my headache again. I was a fucking mess. I knew this was our only hope though and I was the only one who was going to be able to pull it off. A lot of lives depended on me to get them home.
Finishing the water made me feel slightly more human. It did little to quench how thirsty I was, though it was better than nothing at all. I didn't need to pinch my skin to tell how dehydrated I was, I could feel it well enough. Using my cryokinesis so much earlier had really drained my body. I wouldn't be surprised if it was like last time I was in the desert and using my power. The moisture had to come from somewhere and there wasn't enough in this environment to use it.
"I'll stay up here." Rumlow motioned to the CheyTac. "Anything I need to know about it?"
"When it's hot it will shoot to the left a little." No matter how much I wanted to tell Rumlow I'd kill him if he broke it, there was no need. He knew the importance of the weapon in his hands. "I think there's a bit of a shit in the barrel from when I dropped it. Mind the recoil."
"Got it." Rumlow nudged me so he could settle behind the rifle.
It took a lot of effort to get my body to work, even more so to start crawling to the hatch of the roof. Even though there was no sniper, I didn't want to give it away that we were changing positions. It would be a dead giveaway that something was about to happen. Especially with me carrying the bow and quiver. Evans was waiting for me at the bottom of the ladder, leaning all of his weight off the left leg. He had my P30's and knife in his hands.
"I'll take this." I lifted the bow. "It'll let me be quieter. I'll have the knife though."
There was a lot more bravado in my voice than I was feeling. If I wasn't so exhausted I'm sure I'd be shit scared. That part of my brain seemed to have switched off. I wasn't looking forward to this but I wasn't throwing up from nerves either. It was a bizarre feeling.
"Just…" Evans trailed off as he handed me the knife. He swallowed heavily before continuing. "Remember there's a little girl back home who loves her Kari very much."
That tugged on my heart. I didn't have any words to say to that. There was no point telling me to be careful or to come back. It was very likely neither of those things were going to happen. Giving me a small reminder of Alexi was a good incentive to do everything I could to come back.
With every step, my legs seemed to gain a little more strength. By the time I made it downstairs I was a ball of jittery energy. The adrenaline was going to be a blessing while it lasted. It was dark down here, it took my eyes a few moments to adjust. I found the two people I needed to easily enough. Sam and Clint hadn't been moved since I left them here. I couldn't look at the other injured, it was too much to take in.
"Hey." I knelt down in front of Clint and took his hand. He was still unconscious. There were a few marks on the ground looking like he'd been struggling at one stage. Right now he was quiet and still. "I'll be back soon. You better be awake when I get back. I'm not carrying your heavy ass anymore."
Nothing. Not that I expected anything different. If there'd been a change in Clint, for good or bad, then someone would have let me know. I didn't linger. I shuffled over to where Sam was laying. Unlike Clint, he opened his eyes as I took his hand on his uninjured arm. He was dripping with sweat and I could feel the heat radiating off him from where I was. His injured arm had soaked through the bandages and judging by the pile next to him, I knew it wasn't his first change of bandages either. I had no words as I realized at how dire it was becoming for him.
"Didn't…" Sam's voice came out hoarse as he struggled to focus on me. "Was ready to see Riley."
"Too bad." I shoved back the sudden lump in my throat as I looked at him. I forced a smile on my face. "He wasn't ready to see you yet. I'm going to get us home, okay?"
"Don't….anything stupid," Sam's words became slurred. "She'll kill me too."
This time the smile wasn't quite as forced as I put together what Sam was saying. I had no doubt Natasha would kill him if I didn't come back alive. I gave his hand a squeeze before gently setting it down beside him. I had to go before I really started to think of the consequences of me doing this. Sam didn't notice me getting up, he'd passed out again before his hand was back on the ground.
Standing up, I slung the quiver over my back. I adjusted it so it was comfortable and not going to bang around on my back. The precious minute of getting it comfortable and in the best position could possibly save my life. I kept the bow in my hand and shoved the knife into my belt. The door was already open for me. All I had to do was go invisible and run for my life. Along with the lives of the two STRIKE teams left with me.
I took in a deep breath, straightening up as I stared at the open door. I could do this.
I had to do this.
With that final thought, I jogged out into the rapidly cooling evening.
There was no avoiding the carnage I'd caused earlier with the explosive arrows. I forced myself to look ahead and not down at the crunching sounds underneath my boots. The smell was horrific. The scattered and burned body parts had been baking in the sun all day. The lingering stench of purification hung in my nostrils even when I was clear of the debris. My body wanted to cough and retch to get rid of it. I put my hand over my mouth, forcing myself not to do either. Any sound would very easily give me away on my current destination. The path had been clear before I left. Anything could have happened in those few minutes I'd taken to get myself ready.
It was almost too easy to reach the energy camp. My shooting from earlier seemed to still be a deterrent. Men were still hidden under the cover of the buildings. There were low rumbles amongst them as they spoke. I was moving too fast and too focused on my target ahead to take much notice of it though. The entrance to the house was unguarded. The bodies of the two guards I'd shot earlier were still on the ground. Both were missing most of their heads from the perfect headshots I'd landed. Brains and blood were scattered along the wall of the building. I paused for a moment to stare at the bodies. The only feeling I could muster was a sense of achievement at how perfect the two shots had been. Clint would have been so proud of them if he saw them.
Shaking my head, I focused back on the task at hand. Stepping into the building was going to be the hard part. I had no idea of where anything was. It wasn't a huge building. My biggest problem was the main bulk of the enemy force was going to be positioned in here. It's where most of them had dove for cover when I started shooting at their camp. I took in a deep breath and stepped into the dark unknown.
My eyes took a few moments to adjust to the darkness. I'd stepped into a large room, not unlike the one where Clint and Sam now lay. Men were sitting on the ground doing various tasks. The stink of cigarette smoke mixed in with the stench of unwashed bodies. Along with the smell of the rotting dead bodies outside, it was an odor strong enough to make my stomach recoil again.
I forced my feet to keep moving. Throwing up would definitely give me away. One of the rooms to the left had the door open. There was a dim fluorescent light flickering in the room giving me a good view of it. The walls were lined with weapons. That wasn't what caught my eye first. The most noticeable thing was the many packs and webbing dumped on the floor. By some stroke of luck, the top one was clearly labeled with a bright red cross on the white background. It was the Alpha team medics pack. I hadn't seen Wilkerson among the men in our own building. I didn't hesitate to pick up the pack and sling it over my free should. It looked unopened and undisturbed. The few supplies would go a long way.
Beyond the walls filled with weapons, the room was missing one important thing. Radios. I knew it couldn't be that easy. The radios would have to be somewhere that would have shielded them from the EMP blast. More importantly, it was a very necessary piece of equipment. Not something that they'd leave lying around in the open. Especially when your enemy desperately needed it.
Resisting the urge to kick the wall in frustration, I hiked up the pack on my free shoulder and left the room. As I turned, I narrowly avoided running straight into another man. He was barely half an inch from my face as I quickly sidestepped around him. He wandered into the room, lazily kicking some webbing out of the way as he went. I was about to turn away when something caught my eye in the dim light.
A radio was clipped to his belt.
I stared at the little black device hanging within my reach. This was my only shot to do this. It was a good thing Clint had taught me how to pickpocket a few months ago. Beyond doing it to him and the odd STRIKE guy just to piss them off, I'd never done it for real. I didn't hesitate. I crossed the few steps between us, sticking my foot out near one of the straps of a backpack. He tripped over my foot and got tangled up in the backpack strap.
Cursing, the man glared down at his seemingly clumsy feet and went to kick his foot free. While he was distracted, I darted forward and pulled the radio from his belt in one swift movement. It was the key to it all. Do it quickly and never, ever hesitate. I had it off his belt and was halfway out of the room before he finished getting his foot free. I knew I should have stayed and done some more scouting ahead to see what else they had in the building. I'd been relying pretty heavily on luck right now and I didn't want it to run out. I ran from the building, as fast as my legs could carry me clutching the precious piece of equipment in my hand tightly.
I went visible as I ran into our building, scaring the shit out of everyone in the dimly lit room. I didn't bother to apologize or stop what I was doing except to dump the medical pack at Nick's feet. I went straight up to the room where Rumlow and Evans had commanded. Evans was sitting down, nearly in the same position as I'd seen him last time. He looked up at me, not bothering to cover his surprise. I put the radio down on the table.
"I wasn't going to push my luck getting another one," the words came between my gasping pants as I struggled to catch my breath. "Found some medical supplies too."
Evans wasted no time snatching the radio up and turning it on. He quickly flicked through the channels while I lent on the table struggling to catch my breath. My chest seemed to be hurting more and more as time went on. I was confident I could add a cracked rib to the list of injuries. As I struggled to breathe, Evans tried several radio channels. It was only a small radio, designed to pick up local channels. I wouldn't have a clue about the protocol with it and judging by the despair creeping across Evans' face, it wasn't going to help us.
"Come on," Evans muttered under his breath, twisting the dial a little more forcibly this time. "Give me something."
Like a prayer being answered, the radio crackled to life. Neither of us breathed as we listened to the minority distorted voices coming through. It was in English and the accent sounded a lot like home. Evans didn't waste any time in rattling off the standard SHIELD identifier. There was a long pause on the other end of the line when the receiving end finally spoke.
"Copy SHIELD Bravo, hold secure on this channel."
It felt like less than a second before another voice came over the radio.
"SHIELD Bravo, this is Agent Coulson. Do you read?"
If I was any less tired or numb, I might have burst into tears at hearing Coulson's voice. Even though it was slightly distorted, it was music to my ears. I impatiently waited for Evans to finish doing their security check to confirm it was actually him. Then he got down to the nitty details.
"Mission was compromised from touch down." Evans reached up to scrub a hand over his face. "I have six confirmed KIA STRIKE agents, 2 pilots KIA. Nine are MIA, all STRIKE."
Evans paused to look over at me. A strained smile tugged at his lips.
"Both Delta accounted for."
I don't think the long shuddering breath Coulson let out was meant to be heard by us. Evans continued with the rest of his report on our situation. There was no time or room for me to talk to Coulson, no matter how much I wanted his reassurance right now. This was all business.
"We have Charlie and Echo on standby five hours away," Coulson's statement made me turn my attention fully to the radio. "I've got F-22's on alert fifteen at Camp Cooke if you need air support. Authorisation for a kill order for Aldon has been given."
Those words were music to my ears. The initial orders had been to capture instead of kill, hence why we hadn't been allowed to drop bombs. Now we could blow this shit hole to hell. Alert fifteen meant the pilots had fifteen minutes to get into the aircraft and in the air. It would roughly be an hour of flying time here if they dawdled. An F-22 could probably make it here within half an hour if the pilots were allowed to fly at any kind of speed. There was still the problem of getting the rest of our guys out.
"We still have agents in the enemy camp." Evans seemed to read my mind. "I'm not calling in air support while we have men alive."
The pause on the other end of the radio made my stomach turn uncomfortably. I knew how ruthless SHIELD could be with leaving people behind.
"Do we have confirmation they're alive?" Coulson finally asked.
Evans looked over at me for the answer. I'd been the one on the roof all day watching the goings-on. As far as I could tell, our guys were being held in one of the larger tents. One of the tents hidden behind a building seemed to be guarded heavily. I hadn't been able to get clean shots in the area at all because of the placement of the buildings in front of it. I motioned for Evans to hold the radio down so I could talk.
"Yes." The lie was easy to slip out. "I can get them out but I need some help."
Coulson would know exactly what kind of help I meant. There's no way I could sneak people in and out without them being noticed. It would take too long. I really needed Jared's help with his. Teleporting nine people out would take him less than a minute. I had the perfect distraction to keep any eyes off him too.
"Give me five," Coulson said briskly. "Over and out."
"Can you get Rumlow?" Evans turned to me. A little bit of hope had gone a long way to making him less exhausted. "We're going to need him here to plan this."
Hearing Coulson's voice had given my body a new burst of energy. I jogged to the hatch and hollered for Rumlow. As I turned around, I stopped short as a familiar buzz in the air came in front of me. Jared appeared in front of me and I wasted no time in throwing myself into his arms. Jared grabbed me, hugging me so tightly I could barely breathe.
"Thank god your safe," Jared's voice was choked up. "I've never been so scared in my life. I'm so sorry, Coulson wouldn't let me come after you until you guys made contact. Even think I'm sure he broke about thirty rules by sending me. Hang on, here."
Jared pulled back abruptly enough that I staggered at the sudden loss. He dropped the oversized bag slung over his back on the ground and dropped to rummage through it. He produced a bottle of water, aspirin and some lip balm a second later.
"My head is fucking kill me." Jared handed me the items with a visible wince. "Do us both a favor and get rid of it."
Instead of taking the offered items, I threw my arms around Jared's neck and hugged him again. The relief of seeing him felt like an elephant had been lifted off my shoulders. A lump formed in my throat and I quickly blinked the moisture gathering in my eyes away. Now wasn't a time to cry, no matter how happy I was to see him. Jared hugged me back, hard. I didn't need Mom's powers to feel the relief pouring off him.
"I hate to break up the family reunion," Rumlow's dry voice came from behind Jared. "But we have shit to do."
Right. People to save. Asses to kick. I gave Jared a final hug before letting him go. This time I took his offered items. The lip balm felt like heaven on my cracked lips. The cold water tasted like the best thing I'd ever drunk in my life. The coolness chased away the desert in my mouth and throat. The bottle was nearly gone in the few steps it took to get back into the room with Evans. I took a handful of aspirin with the last mouthful, hoping it would speed up the process of getting rid of my headache.
"You rang?" Jared's overly happy voice made Evans glare at him It softened a second later as Jared threw him a bottle of water, along with a bottle of pills. "Percocet. I have morphine and a few bags of IV fluids too."
Jared put the bag on the table, opening it again and rummaging around through it. He pulled out a few bars of chocolate and a plastic case.
"Radios, secure channels," Jared said, pushing the case towards Evans. "Chocolate. Water. It was everything I could stuff into the bag on short notice."
The last part came off sounding apologetic. I didn't waste any time, I grabbed a bar of chocolate and ripped into it. The chocolate was the caffeine laden stuff that came with MRE's. My bar was gone in about three bites. I'm not sure Rumlow chewed his at all. Normally I'd made a dirty joke about how he learned to fit so much in his mouth. Right now all I could focus on was chewing and swallowing. Sugar and caffeine went a long way to making me feel I had some energy again. While the three of us were eating, Jared went downstairs to deliver the rest of the care package to those who needed it. He came back upstairs looking rattled by whatever he saw downstairs. Ever the true professional, he was all business by the time he crossed the room. I didn't miss the questioning look he shot me. No doubt I'd be in for an interrogation later.
"What's the plan?" Jared asked, looking between the three of us.
I took in a deep breath. Jared wasn't going to like this.
"I can get us to the tent where I think the other guys are being held," I spoke up, keeping my voice steady. Jared looked at me with one eyebrow cocked up in surprise. "From there you teleport them out while I create a distraction."
"No." Jared shook his head straight away. "You get them out and I'll make a distraction. I can get out of the way quicker than you."
"You can also get the nine guys out a lot quicker than me," I argued back, bristling at Jared's instant dismissal of my plan. "Aldon wants me. He's made that clear a few times. I can use that to our advantage. If we time it right, we can have an airstrike hit their camp."
"And if you don't time it right, you're going to get blown up." Jared frowned at me. "No, I'll create the distraction. I'll teleport right in there and that will be tempting enough for him."
"Before this turns into an argument," Rumlow spoke up before I could argue back. "I agree with Kari. She's the one that's been causing problems with Aldon. He'll want her. You'll only get yourself killed Jared."
Jared turned to Rumlow and started to argue with him against the idea. I knew why he was doing it. Right now I didn't need an overprotective big brother. I needed a partner in crime. I snuck a look at Evans who'd been silent during the exchange. He had a stony look on his face. He didn't have to voice his opinion. I already knew what it was. Evans caught my eye and gave me a small nod. It was all the permission I needed.
"Jared." I cut into the rising voices of the two men. "I'm doing this with or without your help. If you don't help, the causality list is going to be higher than it needs to be."
"You're going to get yourself killed for no good reason," Jared snapped, turning to me. The ire in his voice could easily be mistaken for anger. I saw through it easily. It wasn't anger, it was desperation. Jared knew this was right. He just didn't want me to be the one doing it, no matter what the logical plan was. I wanted to reach over and hug him, reassure him that I was going to be fine. That wouldn't work here though. This plan all rested on Aldon being greedy and wanting me for his army. He could easily shoot me on sight.
"I'm STRIKE Team fucking Delta," I said, setting my jaw stubbornly. This was the bravest I was ever going to get. I couldn't falter now. "I'd like to see them try."
We didn't have time for this. Jared and I had to get moving. I was going to have to go invisible, sneak us in so Jared could get a look at where he was going. It was going to take time with the two of us and me not a hundred percent sure I had the right tent. It felt like an eternity as Jared and I stared at each other. I didn't have to be his twin to see the internal struggle he was having right now. The emotions were flying through his head, pride, worry, stubbornness and most of all love. He didn't have to tell me how proud he was of me. I could feel it. Then there was defeat. The slump of Jared's shoulders was barely noticeable, but I saw it.
I held my hand out to Jared. He took in a deep breath and laced his fingers through mine. His grip was strong and reassuring against mine.
"Get that airstrike ready," I said to Evans. "Even if I'm not out, don't hesitate."
I turned away so I didn't have to see the look on Evans' face. I wasn't doing this to be brave. I was doing this to save the lives of nine other agents. There was no other way they'd get home alive. We'd already lost too many people in this clusterfuck of a mission. I had to trust in my ability and Jared's as well. It was the only way.
Rumlow held out a radio to me which I declined with a shake of my head. No doubt I'd be searched when they took me captive. The less the enemy knew, the better.
"Good luck," Rumlow said lowly, looking between Jared and I. "Kick some ass."
There wasn't much else anyone could say in this situation. We had no time to waste either. With another squeeze of Jared's hands, I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. The invisibility wasn't hard to maintain this time. It slid over both of us easily. Having Jared's strong grip in mine was grounding. With a small tug, he followed me down the stairs and out the door.
It was silent as we picked our way along the path towards the enemy camp. We came up to the camp easily enough. It was just like my last visit here. Men were still hidden from view. It was easy to get to the larger tent that was shrouded in the cover of the buildings and other tents. As we got closer, I nearly sagged in relief to see the inside of the tent I suspected to be open wide enough to see a few black uniforms in there. As we stopped to get a closer look, a man walked out of the tent pushing a STRIKE uniform person in from of him. I couldn't see the face of who it was or understand the language being yelled. The situation was deteriorating quickly though. I only hoped we weren't too late. I could only see five people in the tent.
Jared squeezed my hand before letting go. He teleported out of sight before anyone could see him. I closed my eyes, taking in a few deep breaths before I moved again. My stomach twisted into a knot of anxiety as I jogged into position. I was in the shadows of one of the small mud houses closest to the entrance of the larger building. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it echoing in my head. Letting go of my invisibility, I took a step out of the shadows before my courage failed me.
"Aldon Machar!" I called out, moving slowly towards the building with my hands held up. "I heard you were looking for me."
The sounds of about a hundred rifles being cocked made me stop in my tracks. I raised my hands a little higher in the hopes no one had an itchy trigger finger. I didn't have to wait long for something to happen. In less than ten seconds, a group of armed men came jogging out to my position.
"Down." The sharp command in English made me drop to my knees instantly. I hoped my compliance would make this easier for me. I laced my fingers behind my head without being told and kept my eyes on the ground. Rough hands groped over my body searching for weapons. I kept my eyes fixed on the ground as the hands roamed over my body. Thankfully no one seemed inclined to grope me and I hauled to my feet less than a minute later. The only thing in my pockets was the lip balm Jared had given me. There was a scoff of disgust and the tube was shoved back in my pocket a second later. My hands were yanked in front of me and metals cuffs tightened around my wrists. The muzzle of an assault rifle pressed into the back of my head, telling me in no uncertain terms that one wrong move would see my brains blown out.
"Walk."
I was surprised at how steady my legs were as I did as I was told. There were so many people staring at me as I marched forward steadily into the building. The first door on the right-hand side was already open and with a rough shove forward, I staggered into the room. Unlike everywhere else, this room was brightly lit. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the brightness after being in the dark for so long.
"Leave."
Still blinking, I focused on where the deep voice had come from. Standing in the middle of the room was a man my height with dark skin. His shaved head reflected off the harsh lighting in the room. His brown eyes looked at me with a sinister smirk. What surprised me most was he looked young. I doubted he was any older than I was. The men who'd marched me into the room all left as quickly as possible.
"So," Aldon's deep voice had a tinge of a French accent attached to it. He looked up and down over my body looking very unimpressed at what he saw. "You're the mutant girl. Please, get rid of those cuffs. You aren't fooling anybody with keeping them on."
It was a taunt for me to use my power openly. I had to play his game so I twisted my fingers so I was touching the cold metal. The cuffs iced over and shattered off my wrists a second later. I flicked the cold ice crystals off my hands, keeping a bored expression on my face. Aldon's face twisted into an amused smirk as he watched me.
"Impressive, Kari isn't it?" Aldon said casually. "I've heard a lot about you from your friends we captured. You certainly made fools of some of my men. Some of the best mercenaries money could buy and you fucked them up rather spectacularly."
"I do aim to impress," I said, the cocky smile on my own face wasn't forced at all. So Aldon wanted to chat. This I could work with. "And my aim is impeccable. I know I don't look like much, but I'm pretty sure my kill count was heading up around the fifty mark by the time your mercenaries learned to hide better. Your marksman was fucking terrible at hiding too."
Aldon let out a short laugh, shaking his head.
"Clever girl." Aldon's teeth flashed as he smiled at me. If he wasn't a complete psychopath, I'd almost find him attractive. His face turned stony in a flash as he stalked towards me. He stopped an inch away from my face. I forced myself to stand my ground and not take a step backward. I couldn't show any sign of weakness here. "What do you want?"
"I know when I'm on the losing side," I lied easily, letting a flirty smile slip onto my lips. I really hoped Aldon was going to be distracted by my pretty smile. If only Natasha had come here with Jared. She could have easily distracted him in her flawless Black Widow persona. "They are pretty fucked back there."
"Mmmhmm." Aldon stony facade slipped away in my bold move. "What makes you think I'd want you?"
"You've seen what I can do," I said easily. There was no need to be smug about it. I looked up at Aldon from underneath my lashes, trying to appear as sincere as possible. "I never wanted to join SHIELD. It was that or die. I've been trying to find a way out ever since it happened. Can you help me?"
A damsel in distress routine wasn't going to work here. But if I could convince Aldon I needed something, and badly, it gave him the upper hand to think he could hold some power over me.
"Matib." Aldon abruptly stepped back from me and called out loudly. "Bring the mouthy one in here."
A few moments later, a black-clad figure was shoved through the door. The guard must have been waiting for this. The guard himself was a huge guy brandishing a wicked looking machete. I glanced back at whoever it was climbed to his knees. It was Cobb. He'd been roughed up a lot. He had two black eyes, a swollen nose, and his right shoulder was hanging down a few inches lower than it should. Cobb looked up at me, scowling as he saw who it was. Out of habit, I scowled straight back at him.
"You." Aldon marched over to where Cobb was. Aldon's hand lashed out and he wrapped a hand around Cobb's throat. Cobb instantly stilled underneath his touch. "Tell me about this woman."
"She's one of Hawkeye's sluts," Cobb scoffed. "Got tangled up with some shit to do with killing someone with her powers. Sleeps her way to better things in life."
Of all the people Aldon dragged in, I was very grateful it was Cobb. The man hated me and Aldon didn't need to use his powers to get that kind of reaction out of him. I stood there with a passive look on my face. Cobb's hatred of me could work to my advantage.
"Really?" Aldon glanced back at me, the easy smirk back on his face. "Tell me, do you think she'd betray SHIELD for a better opportunity?"
"At the first chance she could," Cobb said without hesitation.
"Very good," Aldon tone was like he was praising a small child. "Do you think you could kill her for me?"
A pit of dread formed in my stomach as I watched the scene in front of me. This wasn't going the way I wanted it to. Even if Cobb forced my hand, I wouldn't be able to kill him. My plan would fall apart in an instant.
"I wouldn't stand a chance," Cobb's eyes slid over to me. The cocky look as gone and right now he looked young and vulnerable. I didn't doubt he was beginning to worry about his own life right now. "She'd kill me in about three moves on a bad day. As much as I hate the slut, she's deadly and one of the best shots I've ever seen in my life. I respect her for that if nothing else."
Respect I could live with. When we got out of here I might start cutting Cobb a little bit of slack. I was an antagonizing bitch to him all the time. If he could still respect me after the shit I constantly gave him, I could start being civil. He's given me the perfect opening to make this about sex. I wouldn't have any problems luring Aldon into my plan now.
"How sweet."
Aldon moved so quickly I barely saw him pull out the knife and stab Cobb in the chest. I tried not to let the horror show on my face as Cobb's breath left him in an audible rush. Aldon let go of his throat and shoved Cobb backward, the knife still sticking out of his chest. I faked a look of indifference as I stared at Cobb on the floor. He wasn't dead. The wheezing and bubbling sounds coming from him were horrible. Cobb's legs kicked out weakly like he was trying to gain some traction to get up. His body wouldn't let him. I was going to have to stand here and watch him die.
"You know, I'm not even sure some of my men could stand there like that and watch a man choke to death on his own blood," Aldon said, striding back over towards me. "Even the Red Room bitch had the good sense to keep her distance after I showed her what I can do."
"What can I say, I hate that asshole. He made my life hell." I kept my face impassive and gestured towards Cobb. "I'll happily watch him choke to death. The longer the better."
Aldon stopped in front of me, the terrifying smirk was back on his face. I forced myself to smile at him. I had to end this quickly if there was going to be any hope to save Cobb. I started to unbutton my shirt, taking as much time as I dared to draw his eyes down to it.
"In the meantime." I let the promise hang in the air as I popped open the first button on my shirt. I had a tank top on underneath that gave me some modesty. "Maybe we can get to know each other a little better?"
Aldon's eyes were on my fingers undoing the buttons of my shirt. The only movement he made was to flick his head in dismissal to the man who brought Cobb in. The door open and closed quickly, leaving only the sounds of Cobb's labored breathing in the room. I had to look at Aldon and try and block Cobb out.
"Three months of nothing but men following you everywhere must be very lonely," I said in my best seductive voice, undoing my second button. "When was the last time you had a willing woman? One that wanted you without any persuading otherwise."
Aldon stepped forward and grabbed my shirt. He gave it a hard yank, sending buttons flying off everywhere. He roughly yanked the shirt off my arms and threw it to the side. As much as I wanted to dodge him, I let him lean forward and crush his lips against mine.
Bile rose up my throat and I forced myself not to stiffen against him and to return the sloppy kiss. He was so distracted I didn't even fell him use his power on me. His hands groped blindly on my body as he pushed us backward. When he groped my breast, I could stop the shudder going through my body. It definitely wasn't in pleasure. He took it as something else. He groaned against my lips, pushing his hips into mine. I could feel his erection rubbing against my pants, making the bile rise even further. His mouth finally left mine as he latched onto my neck, leaving a brutal bite mark. His hands wandered down to the bottom of my tank top, tugging at the material trying to get it out of my pants.
I reached up, wrapping my arms around his neck like I was encouraging his ministrations. He was so distracted trying to get my shirt out of my pants I had the perfect opportunity to end this. I placed one hand on the side of his head and closed my eyes, feeling the power tingle only fingers. Before Aldon could react, I sent the ice coursing through his body. He stiffened, his body falling on mine as let my power froze every available moisture source in his body. He didn't have any chance to react at all.
For good measure, I grabbed his head and gave it a sharp twist. His frozen head snapped to the opposite side of his body at an awkward angle. There was no coming back from that. I pushed his body off mine, not feeling any emotion as his lifeless body fell to the floor with a thunk. I kicked the body for good measure. One less piece of shit in the world.
Wheezing breathing brought my attention the other person in the room. I ran over to Cobb and knelt down beside him. Fuck, this was bad. The knife had gone all the way through. Aldon had purposely missed his heart to prolong his suffering. Cobb was red in the face and shivering violently.
"Hey." I reached over and put a hand on his cheek, gently turning his head so he was facing me. Cobb looked terrible and I knew I had to move him quickly. "We have to go. Can you sit?"
Cobb nodded, bracing himself as I grabbed him by the arm and hauled him into a sitting position. His hand went to the knife still sticking out of his chest.
"Don't." I grabbed his hand and pushed it down. "It could be plugging something important. I know it hurts but leave it. Okay?"
Cob nodded again, his breath coming in wheezing pants as I patted him on the back. There was little I could do to reassure him right now. Our situation was shit. I couldn't stay here in case one of the guards opened the door. Moving Cobb was going to hurt him a lot. There's no way I'd be able to carry him either. I didn't have the strength left in me.
"I'm going to help you, but you're going to have to get on your feet." I crouched down in front of Cobb. "We need to get out of here. Evans has ordered an airstrike. They won't be far away."
The sound of gunfire and shouting made both of our heads snap to the door. I felt a flash of panic that was definitely not mine cross my mind. Over the noise, I heard the word mutant and teleport yelled. We were out of time. Jared had been spotted.
"Up," I commanded, all but dragging Cobb to his feet. He grunted in pain, leaning against my heavily. He staggered into me, sending us both to our knees. In that moment, the door swung open. I barely had time to grab Cobb and make us go invisible before the man from before, Matib, spotted us.
"Aldon," Matib started into the room, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw Aldon on the floor. The string of curses he let off wasn't in any language I knew. In his moment of staring at the scene in front of him, I dragged Cobb back to our feet and started to walk to the door. Matib had closed it on his way in so I was going to have to wait for him to exit again.
My grip on him slipped after the first two steps. I struggled to gain any traction on his falling body. The timing was terrible, I hit the handle of the knife stuck in his lung in my attempt to grab him. Cobb did his best to stop the strangled groan but it was audible even over the noise from outside.
I let go of the invisibility and let Cobb fall. I'd apologize to him later for the rough landing but I needed both hands to fend off our attack. Matib growled, raising his machete as he came at me. The machete came down in an arcing sweep, narrowly missing gutting me. I didn't doubt it was sharp as hell and he could probably easily hack me to pieces with it.
"Just because he's dead doesn't mean we won't kill every single one of you," Matib sneered at me. His English was clunky and the words were heavy on his thick accent. He said something else in a language I didn't know. The intent was very clear. He was going to kill me.
Unluckily for him, I fought against big guys a lot. I was fast as hell and there's no way I was going to let him catch me.
He came at me again with the same move as before. This time it was easy to dodge around it and watch him carefully for an opening. He had the reach advantage with his weapon and height over me. I was going to have to get behind him and use my power again. He swung at me wildly and I took my chance. I ducked and rolled towards him. As I rolled, I felt the machete miss me by the barest of margins. I ignored it the fear of the near miss and sprung at Matib. All I took was me digging my hand into his bare arm and I let go of my power. It was scarily easy this time. The ice shot across his arm and with a yell, Matib tried to wrestle away from me. I'd grabbed his free arm and he swung wildly with his machete. I twisted as much as I could while I still hung onto his arm but I was too close. The machete caught me in the hip and I manage to twist away to stop it impaling me completely. The tip of it cut into my skin across my hip and upwards to my ribs. I barely felt it. I only knew it happened because I saw the blade. It was the last time Matib moved. The cryokinesis took over his entire body a second later, leaving nothing but a frozen solid lump of human flesh.
There was no time to waste. I ran back to Cobb and hauled him back upright. In the short fight, Cobb's breathing was sounding a lot worse. There was a terrible hissing sound coming from his chest every time he tried to exhale. I pushed it from my mind and focused on one thing. Getting the fuck out of here before we got blown up. Despite my earlier bravado, I really didn't want to be blown up in an airstrike. Cobb was so unsteady on his feet, he had nearly his entire weight leaning on me.
I carried Barton all the way from the Quinjet. I could deal with Cobb leaning on me. I gritted my teeth and ignored my protesting body. I took the first step and then the next. As soon as I reached the door, I went invisible and swung it open.
It was chaos out here. Men were running back and forth yelling at each other. I could hear gunfire up close and in the distance. There was a hell of a firefight going on somewhere close by. I hoped our side were winning. In all of the mess of people, it was easy to slip back into the night air completely unnoticed.
Along with the gunfire, there was a distinct rumble coming from a distance. I'd lost track of all time in the building. But it was pretty clear we had approaching air support and judging by the sound, they would be less than a minute away.
"Motherfucker," I swore and dragged Cobb along as fast as he legs could manage. There was so much noise going on around me, no one would have noticed me swearing. I managed to get us as far as one of the tiny mud huts before Cobb collapsed again. The roar of approaching jets was louder now. I was out of time.
I grabbed Cobb by his shirt and dragged him inside. I collapsed next to him, wincing at the new pain spanning from my hip and up my ribcage. I put my hand on it, rather uselessly, to stem the bleeding. At least in the dark, no one would be able to see the trail of blood I'd left on the ground.
"I'm sorry," Cobb's voice cracked as he spoke. I could barely see him in the dark but I crawled over to him, leaning over his body. I took one of his hands and gave it a weak squeeze. Cobb's breathing was coming out even worse now. I'd run out of time.
"Don't apologize, I fully expect you to keep being an asshole to me when we get home." The bright enthusiasm in my voice was very forced. "I know I'm a bitch to you."
It wasn't just Cobb's attitude that made me on my worst behavior towards him. I'd never admitted it to anyone but it hurt seeing someone else in Riley's position day in and day out. No matter who it was, they would never be as good as Riley in my eyes. I took out that frustration on Cobb at every single opportunity I could.
"Really do respect you," Cobb's voice pitched up and down as he struggled to get enough air into his body.
"You're not such a bad shot yourself." Even in the dire circumstance, I felt one side of my mouth tug up in the resemblance of a smile "It's kind of hard to shine when we both have Barton to contend with. He's a bit of a spotlight hog."
That earned me a breathless chuckle from Cobb. The sound of approaching jets were nearly on top of us now. I gave his hand one last squeeze and put my own hands up, ready for something I'm not sure I could protect us from. Even the thickest ice shield wasn't going to protect us from the Small Diameter Bombs that F-22's carried for air to surface weapons. I closed my eyes and let out a long steady breath. Even if I died now, I'd done well. The rest of the teams would be able to get home now. Clint would be able to go home to his kids. Natasha would be able to see Sam again. I was at peace with my decision to protect everyone else.
The ground shook and I braced myself for the resulting explosion. At least this would be quick. I felt Cobb reach over and grab the only part of me he could reach, my leg. Before I could push my power out, the world dropped out from underneath me. I felt like I was being thrown around in a spin cycle of the universe. A heartbeat later, I landed on a hard floor sprawled out on my stomach. It was a good thing because I promptly threw up the chocolate from before.
"Spit it up," Jared's voice cut through the ringing in my ears. My messy hair was pulled away from my face and Jared was rubbing circles on my back "That was rough, I'm sorry. I got you."
Jared had me. I was alive. Holy fuck we'd made it out. We were going to go home.
Despite my shaking body, I pushed myself up and threw myself into's Jared's arms. For the first time during this mission, I couldn't swallow the lump in my throat away. Tears of utter relief leaked from the corners of my eyes before I could stop them.
We were going home.
Authors Note
I just want to start by thanking all of you for the massive response to the last chapter. I was blown away by the support and even now I'm still a bit dazed about it, to be honest. It's no secret that us authors love reviews and having that last chapter as the second highest reviewed chapter on the story. I have no words except THANK YOU!
Secondly, I do want to apologize for this being out later than intended. I lost my old horse on Monday, I'd had him for 18 years and it has just knocked me around a lot emotionally. It was very unexpected and I've struggled to gain any sort of traction this week with doing anything. I intended to fit the aftermath in this chapter too, but as you can all tell. It ended up being jammed packed.
Thank you all again for your support of this story.
Until next time
