"It's not fair." Natasha flopped back on her couch. "Why am I getting sick now? Of all fucking days…."
Natasha had to trail off so she could sit up again. I quickly handed her the bucket she'd been using to throw up in when she couldn't make it to the toilet. She dry heaved but nothing came out. She looked utterly miserable sitting on the couch wrapped up in a cocoon of blankets.
A stomach bug had gone around the teams. It had originated from Alexi coming home from playgroup not feeling well a week ago. There'd been a team barbecue that night and suddenly people were dropping like flies within 24 hours. The resulting bug had given everyone a nasty case of diarrhea and vomiting at the same time. I had it the day after Alexi had started being sick and spent a day on the toilet with a bucket. Once Clint got it, Natasha avoided both of us like the plague until we were well over it. She thought she'd gotten away with not getting sick until last night.
"I told you not to go to Sam's." Clint handed Natasha a bottle of water. "Just because he'd stopped throwing up doesn't mean he wasn't still contagious."
"I know," Natasha whined, "I want to come with you guys."
We were leaving for a mission to hunt Aldon down today. Natasha had been throwing up since 0200 this morning and could barely keep water down. Coulson had to order her to stay home and she was very unhappy about missing out.
"Jared will be home tonight," I pointed out to her. "He'll come over and keep you entertained. Probably in a hazmat suit but at least it's some kind of company, right?"
My quip was only met with the most pitiful look I'd ever seen from Natasha. It reminded me of the look Alexi would give me when I had to leave. I did feel sorry for her. This was the biggest mission since Stark had gone missing. Alpha, Bravo and Delta teams would be on the ground with Charlie and Echo teams on standby. The last few weeks had been absolute chaos with trying to put this mission together. All of the teams had been training their asses off. I'd never spent so much time at the range as I had these last few weeks. I'd learned how to rappel out of a Quinjet and we'd been hammering out close quarters drills as well. We'd be at work by 0500 and the earliest we got home one night was 1830.
Jared had been the one gathering all the intel for this mission. I'd only see him in mission briefs before he'd be gone again. He wasn't able to get close to the remote village where Aldon was stationed. The warlord had everything locked down within a 20 miles radius with his ever-growing army. Given how remote the town was, it wasn't hard to hold his perimeter either. We were going in the cover of darkness, Quinjets cloaked and landing smack bang in the middle of the rural town. It was bold and risky. There was no other way to be doing it though.
I'd honestly thought I'd be the one being left at home. The anniversary of Riley's death was in a week. There had been quite the debate about me being allowed to go on this mission. On Coulson's request, I'd been seeing Andrew every single day while all the lead up was happening. In the end, it was Rumlow who'd said I was better off in the field being busy than sitting at home by myself. I'd agreed and by some minor miracle, so had Andrew, along with Clint and Natasha. Coulson and Evans were both unhappy about it but I was allowed to go, on the condition I didn't leave Clint's side. Rumlow's confidence in me was a big ego boost. He made me feel like I could take on the world after Tatiana's interrogation. I owed him a good bottle of bourbon once this was all over for sticking his neck out for me, again.
"We have to go," Clint said, shooting a sympathetic look at Natasha. "Rest up. Maybe you can tag along when Echo team leaves."
"Be safe." Natasha sighed looking defeated. "Leave some bad guys for me."
"We will." I gave Natasha a reassuring smile. "Get better."
Natasha grunted, pulling her blanket around her tighter. I didn't doubt as soon as we left, she'd be fast asleep. While the bug was over in 24 hours, it had zapped my energy levels for a few days. I'd been glad we'd been mostly at the range those few days. With the bug going around, no one was in trouble for having to catch a nap here and there if needed. Clint and I took turns having naps while pretending to spot for each other on the long distance range.
The ride to the Triskelion was quiet. I spent most of it sending texts to Gareth and my Mom. Their near identical responses of 'Be careful' made me smile. It was going to be a long flight over there so Clint and I would take turns flying. We'd done what felt like a few thousand mission briefs over the last few days. From our perspective, the plan was relatively straightforward. We'd drop off Bravo team at the landing zone and land in a secluded spot about 2 miles away, along with the other Quinjet with Alpha team. From there, we'd hike in on foot and set ourselves up on the perimeter of town and provide cover. Once we were in position, we'd hit hard and fast at the main building which looked to be housing everyone. The other teams had their own strategies which they'd been training nonstop on.
A lot relied on the element of surprise. We were going to be outnumbered by the estimates of the mercenary army. We'd use the cover of night and the late hour to our advantage. Intelligence suggested they had little in the way of technology beyond the old anti-aircraft missiles seen on the satellite photos.
Once we got to the Triskelion, we went straight for the armoury. We had 2 hours to get all of our weapons and gear organized. Unlike the last time, I had no complaints as Clint piled the gear on me. This was real and my first big mission back in a long time. There was no room for any mistakes.
The armoury was packed with the other STRIKE Teams getting ready. It was noisy but not from excitement. It was people yelling at each other getting ready. I had to squeeze between the muscly bodies to get my AWSM and as much ammo as I could carry. It was only then I saw Cobb touching something he really shouldn't be. He was picking up the CheyTac case.
"That's for the big kids only," I said sharply. Riley was the only person to use the CheyTac. Besides the few times I'd taken it to the range, it sat gathering dust in the armoury.
Cobb gave me a sour look and very purposely grabbed the case. I had seen far too much of him lately. His attitude certainly hadn't improved over the last few months. The only thing going for him was that he was actually a brilliant shot over long distances. He'd seen me shooting the CheyTac the other day at the range and no doubt wanted to prove himself with it.
"Cobb!" Evans sharp voice carried across the room. "Don't make me regret my decision to bring you along. Put it back."
Cobb muttered something under his breath but did as he was told. It didn't stop him shooting me a nasty look as he reached for the standard M24. I opened my mouth to make a snappy retort at him. It wasn't hard to work out whatever he said under his breath was a nasty remark about me. Knowing Cobb, it was probably something about me being a slut. It was his favorite insult, not that he'd ever say it to my face, he wasn't that brave.
"Kari, don't be an antagonistic bitch," Evans commanded before I could speak, his ire turning to me. "I won't hesitate to kick you out either."
My smugness about Cobb getting into trouble evaporated as quickly as it came up. I meekly nodded and grabbed my AWSM. I disappeared from Evans ire stare as fast as possible. He was really not happy with me coming along. Even if I was only sitting up somewhere a mile away.
"If it was me I would have grabbed the CheyTac just to piss Cobb off," Clint said to me quietly as I came back up to him. I glanced over back towards where it was. I was torn between using it and the AWSM. They both had similar ranges but the CheyTac had 15 pounds on the AWSM. It was an extra weight I didn't need to be carrying around.
"Go on." Clint saw my hesitation and gave me a sly smile. "I'll carry it if you want."
It was all the encouragement I needed. Without looking in Cobb or Evans direction, I lifted the CheyTac case off the rack and walked back to Clint. There were plenty of sniggers of amusement following me. No one would have missed the exchange even with how busy it was in here. It was petty on my behalf. There was something about Cobb that made me be on my worst behavior. I'd take working with Rollins over Cobb any day. Still, it was something to lift the mood before shit got really serious. I wasn't nervous yet. My part until we hit the ground was relatively simple. I'm sure the nerves would be kicking in once we got closer. Everyone else looked focused and ready to go.
We checked, re-checked and then tripled check all of our gear before lugging it all to the Quinjet. Alpha and Bravo team would do another brief together while we did pre-flight. Like everything else today, the pre-flight got checked three times by both of us. Nothing could be left to chance for this mission.
"How are you feeling?" Clint asked me as I settled into the pilot seat. I'd fly for the first few hours then switch out with him for a nap. Due to the tight landing to drop the team off, I'd take over before we got to our location.
"Right now? Great." I flicked a few button on the control panel. "I'm sure that will all change when we get closer."
"I doubt we'll get much action on this one," Clint said, screwing up his face in mild disgust. "Coulson made sure of that."
"Sorry." I shot Clint a sympathetic look. He was essentially stuck babysitting me instead of getting in on the action. "I don't know why Rumlow thinks I'm the greatest thing out there right now."
Natasha, Clint and I had all discussed that very topic at lengths at the moment. Rumlow was backing me, a lot, right now. It felt like there was something else going on beside him trusting my abilities. Coulson had a glowing report passed down from Malick about my performance in Paris. The World Security Council leader had been very impressed with me for some reason. I'd just been doing my job. It wasn't anything different from Clint or Natasha being there. They would have done the exact same as I did, probably a lot more efficient than me.
"Hey, its better than being on everyone's shit list," Clint said with a shrug. "I'm happy to be doing something rather than sit at home too. I didn't think Coulson was going to let any of us come along."
That didn't surprise me. This time of year was going to be hard on all of us. Once again, I found myself grateful for Rumlow's newfound trust in me. There's no way Coulson could say yes to me and no to Natasha and Clint. It was only the bad timing with Natasha getting sick that she wasn't here with us right now.
Bravo team started to come onto the Quinjet before I could reply to Clint. The back soon grew noisy with chatter and the sounds of people stowing their gear away. Like us, everyone was triple checking for any minor thing that could be out of place. Even something as silly as a broken buckle could really fuck someone's day up. There was no turning around once we were in the air. We were on time, right down to the second as I powered up and moved out onto the runway. My clearance to take off with instant from air traffic control. The other pilots in the Quinjet with Alpha team were right behind me.
It was a beautiful Spring morning as we took off. There wasn't a wisp of cloud hanging around. The bitter cold February had grown into a warm Spring, seemingly overnight. The year was already starting to fly by.
The back of the Quinjet grew quiet very quickly. Most of the guys would be trying to get as much sleep as possible before we got there. The ones who weren't napping were reading or listening to music. Once we were level, Evans came up to the cockpit.
"Do either of you need anything?" Evans asked. He was in mission mode right now, gruff and straight to the point.
"No, I'm good." I looked over to Clint who was shaking his head. "Everything has been tripled checked and I could recite the mission plan off by heart now. In every language, I know."
"Funny." Evans rolled his eyes at me. "Speaking of other languages, what does Merde mean?"
"Shit in French," Clint supplied, a slightly guilty look on his face. "That one was my bad. Sorry, Evans."
Clint hadn't been back to see his kids since Valentines Day. The visit had gone well for the weekend by himself. Things between him and Laura were still no closer to being anything but mostly civil to each other. With everything happening at work he hadn't made any plans, knowing he could be gone for weeks at a moments notice. He'd been coming with me to see Alexi and William at every chance he got to help keep himself busy. Clint was good at covering every time he swore making sure it was in another language. Unfortunately, Alexi was a little parrot and would repeat whatever was said, whether she knew what it was or not.
"At least she can get away with that one at playgroup." Evans sounded as tired as he looked. William was teething at the moment meaning their normally happy and routine loving baby was a crying nightmare right now. With the long hours at work, I doubted Evans was getting more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep every night. "I'm going to try and get a few hours in. Can you wake me when we hit African airspace?"
"Yeah, of course." I gave Evans a small smile. "Sleep well."
I didn't take offense to the responding grunt. The pressure Evans would be under as a STRIKE leader was enormous. A mission like this took so much more planning than I'd ever be privy to. I knew Coulson practically lived in his office or the mission briefing rooms the last few weeks. I'm sure Evans was the same but he made the effort to go home every night.
I expected Clint to doze off but he stayed awake, playing a game on his phone. He'd recently discovered Angry Birds and it was driving me crazy that he was so good at it. I was only a few levels behind him but he was fast pulling away from me. Especially now he had a few hours to kill with no interruptions.
"What do you think of the rumors of Aldon being Enhanced?" Clint asked, startling me out of my thoughts. I'd been daydreaming while he was playing on his phone.
"Anything is possible." It was an uneasy thought. Someone who could manipulate people into their bidding was a very powerful person. The only blessing was he couldn't do it through speak alone, he had to touch someone. According to Tatiana's report on him. She had been surprisingly helpful in SHIELD custody. "I mean, it's not unheard of. It's an unusual power though. Especially to slip through the cracks."
I'd rung Grams and spoke to her to see if she'd heard of Aldon before. She hadn't and after some digging around in her private contacts, no one else had either. The man seemed to be a ghost. There as no record of him anywhere until he popped up on SHIELD's radar when he started on his rampage of killing anyone who stood in his way through Africa and amassing an army behind him.
"There are so many variables here." Clint blew out a long breath. "I know Coulson wouldn't send us in unprepared but this felt like it was thrown together. Ops like this usually take at least 2 months to put together before they even think about sending us out."
"You think someone from up higher was pushing for this?" I looked over to Clint. He looked uneasy and Clint never looked uneasy going on a mission. His lack of confidence made me nervous.
"I think someone was pushing very hard for this," the grumble was clear in Clint's voice. "This would have been much simpler by sending in you and Jared to kill him in his sleep. Or a sniper team. This is too loud."
Jared had voiced the exact same concern and suggestions during the first mission brief. He'd been quickly shot down by Hill with a stern look and told to keep his opinions to himself. The fact Hill had been in most of the mission briefs really made it look like someone from higher up was pushing for this. It seemed to be a common theme these days.
"Do you think he has the entire army under his control?" I didn't have an answer to what Clint had just said. To me, a quiet kill would have been a perfect idea as well. I didn't like the thought of killing people who might simply be under someone else control.
"I hope not." Clint visibly shuddered. "It's not possible though, is it? Especially if he has to touch people to make it happen."
"You wouldn't think so, but then again, an alien that people used to worship as a Norse god dropped out of the sky a few months ago." I tried to lighten the mood. I'd drive myself mad if I kept thinking of all these variables. At least the quip worked, Clint smiled which eased some of my tension as well.
"And we shot at a giant alien robot," Clint added. "Don't forget that part."
"How could I?" I said with a snort. "I see it in my dreams often enough. As if they weren't weird enough to begin with."
I'd been so tired lately the dreams I thought would plague me from Tatiana's interrogation were nonexistent. As were most of my regular nightmares. It was a small blessing and I was happy for the trade-off.
"Me too." Clint gave me a sympathetic look. He glanced at the back of the Quinjet again, lowering his voice as he spoke again. "Once this is over, are you coming down to see the kids again?"
"Of course." I'd been planning on doing it regardless if Clint asked or not. I missed the kids and Laura a lot. "I think we'll need the peace and quiet. Why?"
"In the second drawer beside the bed is a letter for them if I don't come home." Clint's expression turned serious. "It's a new one I wrote last night when I couldn't sleep. I sent Coulson a text to let him know but I want you to know as well, just in case."
"Of course." There was no point pandering that I wouldn't have to give it to them, that everything was going to be fine. This was a dangerous mission and though the chances were slim, there was the possibility some of us wouldn't come home. "Mine are in the third drawer on the table with my lamp. Jared already knows where they are, but just in case."
I wrote the letters over the last week after hearing Rumlow make the suggestion to his team that everyone had their personal effects all up to date before this mission. I'd updated my will again and when I'd included Alexi's trust fund in it, I began to write a letter to her as if I wasn't coming back. There were a few tear stains on the page by the time I was done. It had turned into a letter to everyone I held dear in my life. It was hard but I didn't want there to be anything left unsaid if I never came home.
"Just in case." Clint nodded at me. He reached over and laced his fingers through mine, giving my hand a squeeze. "I'm going to try and get some sleep. Are you good?"
"I'm good." I squeezed his hand back. No other words needed to be said after what we'd just discussed. "I'll wake you up for the changeover."
The hours ticked by slowly as Clint fell asleep, leaving me to my thoughts. I'd brought a book with me but I found it too hard to concentrate on the words on the page. My mind kept drifting back to the mission and going through everything I needed to know. Like I'd told Evans, I knew it all off by heart. My mind wouldn't let me concentrate on anything else. Once it was time to wake Clint up and hand over the controls, I was too wired with nervous energy to sleep.
Clint didn't protest or try and talk me into trying to sleep. If anything, he seemed glad for the company and distraction while he flew. We talked about everything and nothing for the next few hours. I woke Evans once we hit African airspace like he'd asked. As we traveled over Africa, Evans did the last of his communication between SHIELD and the other Quinjet. The guys in the back started to stir and do get themselves ready for what was about to come. The last food of any kind until we were on the way home got passed around. As we changed over again, Clint made sure we both got an MRE as well as some chocolate. Nerves were starting to kick in now making the beef stew MRE sit uncomfortably in my stomach.
As we entered Syrian airspace, I cloaked the Quinjet. The other one carrying Alpha team pulled up level next to us. The back was quiet except for the sounds of everyone getting ready. It really was the quiet before the storm. The last hour of the flight seemed to pass by within seconds. We were in the middle of nowhere. The tiny town backing onto the mountain range didn't even have a name. It was all old mud brick buildings, no running water or electricity.
It was a tight fit getting both the Quinjet down to the landing zone at the same time. I didn't know the other pilots but whoever they were, they were exceptional. In perfect synchronization we both hovered 20 feet above the landing zone. The ramp opened with a rush of cold air hitting all of us.
"Bravo team, move out." Evans' voice carried clearly over the noise of the Quinjet and the wind rushing in.
It was on. I watched the camera in the back as everyone moved into position. Like training, it was all precise timing as the ropes were put out to rappel down. The first four guys were down on the ground in half a minute. Everyone continued in a quick fashion and the last four guys were nearly on the ground when my control panel suddenly lit up.
Someone had a missile lock on us.
"Incoming!" Clint and I yelled at the same time.
The next moment happened in slow motion. Training made me aggressively roll the Quinjet to the side and go vertical. It made us a smaller target and we could survive on one engine if one of the wings got hit. My stomach churned at the sudden change of direction and my body got forced back into the seat as the speed I'd pulled up at. The Quinjet's responsiveness was the only thing that stopped us exploding into a million pieces. An explosion flared in the corner of my vision as the wing got clipped by whatever was being fired at us. The Quinjet lurched underneath us as the right engine was gone.
I jammed my foot hard on the pedals and pulled the stick as hard as I could to counterbalance the Quinjet. It fought me every step of the way, lurching dangerously and threatening to spin out of control.
"Mayday, mayday, mayday," Clint's voice sounded far away as I struggled with the controls to gain any semblance of getting us level again. "This is 629 Bravo…."
Another explosion next to us distracted me and cut off Clint's distress call. The other Quinjet that had carried Alpha team exploded in a bright ball of flames.
"Fuck me," Clint swore next to me. I couldn't turn to look at him but the worry was clear in his tone. "Kari?"
"I've got it," I said through gritted teeth. We were gaining altitude, despite the tilting angle we were flying at. I shoved everything except keeping us in the air from my mind. I could mourn the other pilots later.
The incoming missile alert sounded again. Instead of fighting the Quinjet for control, I simply let go, letting it roll sharply and released flares. It took every ounce of my self-control to let the Quinjet roll basically out of control. The missile exploded behind us, the flares doing the job. For now. If there was another missile we were going to be fucked.
Despite the dizzying roll, the Quinjet was still sluggishly gaining altitude. It was our only saving grace as I struggled to get us back under control. I could hear the metal groaning in protest as I flew the Quinjet in a way it really shouldn't be flown. The control stick was shaking violently under my clenched hands. Sweat dripped off me, feeling like every pore of mine was leaking. I couldn't focus on anything except keeping us level and getting the fuck out of there as quickly as possible. We weren't any good to the teams on the ground if we got blown up too.
"Come on, come on," I said breathlessly, forcing the Quinjet to climb faster. The control panel was lit up like a Christmas tree. I had alarms going off in every direction and the flight computer screen scrolling with the problems far to fast for the eye to read. Beside me, Clint was finishing off the mayday call.
The Quinjet started to falter underneath my control. There was a groaning sound as something sounded like it was being ripped off from the forces I was putting it through. We lurched dangerously back to the right despite my best efforts to try and stay level.
"Mayday, only Barton and Lyngley on board," Clint's voice cut back through my concentration. "Angels point five, grid…"
There was another explosion from outside. Whatever Clint was about to finish died suddenly as everything in the Quinjet suddenly shut down. In the blink of an eye, we lost all electronics. The stick under my hand was dead and all the tension from the pedals was gone. We hung in the air for a long second. Long enough for Clint and I to both exchange terrified glances.
We were going down.
The Quinjet tilted and with another groan of metal, started to gain momentum. I felt my stomach and heart climb into my throat as the Quinjet plummeted from the sky.
"Hang on." It was a useless thing for me to say. There was nothing else Clint could do right now except hang on and pray.
I'd never trained in what to do in this situation. Fighter jets had ejection seats, something the Quinjet, unfortunately, didn't have. I knew us hitting the ground nose first was going to be a death sentence. Our best bet would be to go down on our side like we were heading now. The cockpit was heavily armored and it might be the only thing that could save us. I held onto the control stick, hoping the hydraulic override system didn't go bang as well. The stick shuddered under my hand but the Quinjet stayed on its side instead of spinning out of control. My entire arm was shaking from the effort to keep us in this position.
"Kari." Clint's hand suddenly gripped my arm. "I trust you."
Clint's hard grip and words kept my arm steady enough to keep the Quinjet tilted to the side. The Quinjet gained speed, cutting through the air as we plummeted to the ground. I didn't dare look at the altimeter. 500 feet was going to be a very quick journey to the Earth at the speed we were starting to pick up.
I'd never been so scared in my life as the wind whistled around us. The ramp was still open making the contents of the Quinjet flap noisily in the wind. I wanted to close my eyes so I didn't have to see the ground rushing up towards us. We were going to land on my side, so at least Clint might have a chance at surviving this crash. But I kept them open and used every bit of concentration I could muster to keep us from smashing nose first into the ground. Time slowed down as the enviable rushed up towards us. Clint's grip on my arm didn't let up and it was the only comforting thing as we plummeted to the ground. At the last second, something in my head screamed at me to pull the nose up. I didn't fight whatever voice it was screaming at me and yanked as hard as I could on the control stick. The Quinjet responded right before we hit the ground. The open ramp hit the ground first bringing us to a sudden and abrupt stop.
The momentum of the sudden stop jerked me forward. My head came into contact with something and everything went black a second later.
Authors Note
Sorry, not sorry about the cliffhanger and shorter chapter. I promise the next few are going to be big and beefy to make up for this one.
Well... everything just went to shit. Again. I've got chunks of the next few chapters already written out so the next few updates shouldn't be too far away. I'm not sure what else to say. Hang onto your seats? Get your tissues ready?
But in all honesty, thank you to all of my readers. Your reviews keep me motivated and keep my inner muse fed and happy. Seeing people follow and favourite make my day that you enjoy the story enough to want to keep reading.
Until next time.