"So, apparently I forgot to post the chapters I had saved, weeks ago. I'm three chapters ahead on AO3! There is no excuse for making you wonderful readers wait like that, so I apologize. On the other hand, you won't have to wait for the next couple chapters, so you won't suffer for the cliff-hangers. I hope you enjoy as Clint and Logan dive into hot water full of snakes. Stay tuned!
Update: Somehow my original post got lost in translation, so I had to repost it. Thanks to StampedLizzy and DragonFox for letting me know.
Chapter 14- Hydra
"Hydra?" Clint asked, cocking his head in confusion. "What's that?"
Logan shook his head, and Clint kept a wary eye on the man's clenched fists. "In this case, it's an organization, an old one, dating back to WWII at least. Think Captain America's enemies."
"Nazis?" Clint squeaked. Even he knew about Captain America vs. the Nazis, mostly from comic books, but it counted, right? They were educational. "What are Nazis doing in SHIELD?"
"I don't know, bub, but I don't like it," Logan admitted. He stood up suddenly, making Clint jump back. "We should git out of here, with or without the truck."
Clint took a deep breath to calm down. "Yeah, sure," he agreed. "What's the plan?"
Logan held up a hand for quiet and slowly opened the door. The musclehead from earlier, the one who hadn't said his name, was standing guard at the door. He turned as the door opened.
"What do you need, sir?" the agent asked without inflection.
"I want to talk to the Commander, can you see if he'll come down?" Logan asked, like it was his intention all along. "We need to talk about the boy."
"Yes, sir," the red head agreed. He pulled out a radio to talk to someone about bringing the Commander to the officer's quarters.
Logan nodded and ducked back into the room. "Someone put a guard on us," he told Clint is a whisper. "Seems someone doesn't trust us anymore."
Clint feigned surprise. "No, why wouldn't anyone trust little old us?"
Logan glared, apparently unamused by the joke. Clint decided not to poke the bear when his mentor was obviously thinking. So he turned his attention to finding something he could do to be helpful. Looking around the small room, Clint decided that was easier said than done. He didn't know anything about Nazis or spy organizations and precious little about fighting. His only useful skill was his aim. He turned to his bowcase which was still leaning against the wall where he left it to go on his unsupervised tour of the base. He grabbed it and put it reverently on the bed. He opened it to see his precious bows, both the one he had from the circus and Princess. After only a moment's hesitation he grabbed Princess and strung her before laying her on the bed and pulling out his quivers and arrows. He didn't have any special arrows, not even the broadheads used for hunting, but it was better than nothing. He divided the arrows between his hip and back quivers. Hopefully that would give him access to an arrow in most situations. He strapped the quivers on and shook himself to get them settled. He was surprised how calm he felt. It was like the focus he felt before a performance when he just set aside his nerves to deal with later. He'd probably pay for this detachment later, but now he was ready for anything. Well, almost anything. He grabbed his bag and dug to the bottom to pull out the throwing knives he got from Jacques. He slipped them in sheaths hidden in his pockets and around his ankles. Now he was ready for anything.
Logan watched Clint's preparations with an approving smirk. He opened his mouth to say something as Clint started closing his case when there was a knock on the door. Logan glanced at the door, his chest heaving as he took a deep breath through his nose. He glanced at Clint who nodded and finished closing his case and shoving it under the bed. He slipped into the corner that wasn't immediately visible from the door.
Logan opened the door carefully and whispered something before letting the Commander inside. Smith walked in stiffly. He seemed much more sober than he had looked earlier. He started in surprise when he noticed Clint, but Logan didn't let him pause, forcing him inside so he could close the door.
"What is this about, Logan?" Smith asked; his tone full of annoyance. "I thought you wanted to talk about a punishment for your ward."
"There is something I wanted to ask you, Commander Smith," Logan growled softly. The sound made the hairs on the back of Clint's neck stand up and it had a more pronounced effect on the commander. Smith jerked at Logan's words, his hand automatically going to the weapon in his shoulder holster. Logan snarled at the move and Smith froze.
Clint hadn't seen this side of Logan before and after a second he realized why. This wasn't Logan, the gruff Canadian who had rescued him; this was Wolverine, the best at what he does. Clint's grin grew just a little as he watched the base commander shake in his shoes. Maybe, just maybe, Clint would have a chance to show his guardian that he was the best at what he did too.
Wolverine prowled around the frozen SHIELD agent. "I hope for your sake that you answer this question correctly," he growled before coming back around to face the man head on. "Are you loyal to SHIELD or Hydra?"
The man's eyes widened and he reached for his weapon again. Wolverine didn't give him a chance. He punched the agent in the sternum, making the man gasp like a fish, before knocking him out with a blow to the back of the neck.
Logan glanced at Clint who had watched the violence without flinching. The young archer gave a thumbs-up because he wasn't sure he could speak without squeaking.
"Guess we know his answer," Logan said, toeing the downed man onto his back. "Help me tie him up. Then I'll take care of the brute in the hall and we'll get out of here." They cut strips of bedsheet to tie up the commander and gag him. Then Logan moved silently to one side of the door. "Soldier, get in here!" he barked sharply.
The agent standing guard opened the door cautiously, looking around. He froze when he saw his superior hogtied in the corner. Wolverine didn't give him a chance to react. The mutant struck like snake and the man collapsed in a heap. Clint came over to help tie up the second man.
"Now what?" the teen asked as he stepped back.
"Now we get out, call Fury and chew him out for sending us in here blind," Wolverine snarled. "Come on," he ordered, opening the door to peek out. There was no one in the corridor, so they slipped out and made their way through the base.
They almost made it to the emergency stairs, which would get them to the surface without being trapped in the elevator, when they ran into Agent Reynolds coming out of what appeared to be a records room. The young agent went still when he saw the pair, his eyes blinking rapidly as he tried to come to terms with the change in demeanor for both of them. Wolverine didn't give him a chance to decide what to do. He shoved the man into the wall and unsheathed his claws under Reynold's chin, just enough to tickle when he swallowed.
"We don't have time for pleasantries, Agent Reynolds," Wolverine hissed. "So I'm only going to ask this once. Are you loyal to SHIELD or Hydra?"
"SHIELD, SHIELD, definitely SHIELD," Reynolds babbled. He held his hands in the air in surrender. "Please, I'm on your side, Wolverine."
"Talk. Did you know about Hydra?"
"No," Reynolds promised, going up on his toes to avoid the claws. "I swear."
Logan narrowed his eyes. "But you knew something was up?"
Clint watched the agent closely. He didn't have Logan's sense of smell to tell if the man was lying but he had worked for a circus for the last five years. He was pretty good a spotting a fake. So far, Reynolds seemed really cool. Clint really hoped they wouldn't have to hurt him. He glanced uncertainly at his guardian, but Wolverine's cold glare gave nothing away.
"Yes," Reynolds admitted. He flinched when Wolverine growled and explained quickly, the words tumbling over each other in his attempt to get them out as quickly as possible to placate the angry mutant. "Something seemed off. Some of the officers would be unreachable at weird hours and I noticed some of the agents hanging out together without reason. They certainly didn't work together but they didn't seem to like each other either. I was starting to think I was imaging things but then you showed up and those groups started acting stranger." He shot a hard look at Logan. "You're saying they're Hydra?"
"Yes," Wolverine replied.
The young agent drew himself up. "So, what are we going to do about it?"
The mutant retracted his claws and stepped way. Reynolds came down off his toes and rubbed his throat, checking for blood before smoothing out his fatigues. "We're going to get out of here and call in a report," Wolverine growled. Reynolds stepped back at the ferocity in the mutant's tone, bumping up against the wall. "I want Clint as far from here as possible before this powder keg blows."
Reynolds glanced at Clint and nodded sharply. "Of course," he agreed, not even questioning the change in names. Clint filed that away to think of later. "I can get you through to the surface. Follow me."
The agent led them to the emergency stairs and used his codes to get them through, which was much easier than Logan's plan to slice the door to pieces. They ran up the dimly lit staircase in silence. Agent Reynolds led the way, his footsteps barely louder than his unlabored breathing. Wolverine brought up the rear, straining his senses to prevent an ambush or attack from behind. He was deadly silent and if Clint hadn't feel the mutant at his back; he would never have known he was there. Clint stayed in the protected center, his bow at the ready with an arrow nocked. Despite the seriousness of the situation, not to mention the danger, Clint swelled a little with pride to be a part of the team. He bit his cheek to control the grin that threatened to show on his face.
Finally they reached the top and Reynolds carefully opened the door, peeking out into a hallway.
"Coast is clear," he hissed, waving the other two through the portal before closing it and locking it with a code. He glanced around, finally settling on the left side hall. "This way to your truck. We'll have to pass by a surveillance room so try to act casual."
Wolverine nodded and glanced at Clint, jerking his head at the bow and arrow clenched in the archer's hands. Clint rolled his eyes, but put the arrow away and slung the bow over his shoulder. Wolverine straightened to his full height and tipped his head from side to side, cracking it and releasing some of the tension in his neck and shoulders. He waved at Reynolds to lead the way and the trio started down the hall.
They reached the open door to the surveillance room, which was filled with monitors showing different sections of the base and surrounding areas, without incident. Four agents milled around, watching the screens, filling out reports, and drinking coffee. Reynolds stepped forward, while Clint and Logan held back to see how the guards would react. They positioned themselves at an angle to see some of what was going on in the room without being fully visible. One glanced up when he saw Reynolds and saluted the younger agent with his coffee mug. Reynolds waved back, a cheerful grin plastered on his face even as he tensed to see if the man would sound the alarm. The other agent turned back to watching the monitors without a word and Clint breathed a sigh of relief.
His relief was short lived. An ear-piercing alarm started blaring through the base, making Logan snarl and Clint clutch at his ears. The SHIELD agents, including Reynolds, froze for a moment, listening to the alarm, which consisted of three long high pitched tones then a pause before repeating. Then a lot of things seemed to happen all at once. It was only later, when Clint had time to process everything and talk with Logan could he put everything in order. Reynolds and the friendly guard glanced around in confusion. They were looking at each other, while Clint and Logan stayed hidden by the door frame, when two of the other guards pulled their weapons and without flinching, shot their compatriots in the head. Reynolds bellowed in outrage, bringing his weapon to bear and shooting the closest in the chest before they could react. He turned his gun on the last guard, who was swinging his weapon around to shoot the newcomer when Wolverine barreled into the room. The traitor's shot hit the mutant in the chest, but he didn't even register the wound, just kept going. With a flash of his claws the man's rifle was scrap metal and Logan had the man pinned to the wall by his throat, two claws on either side of the man's chin. The man's eyes widened as he felt the middle claw press on his chin.
"What the hell is that alarm?" Wolverine snarled. "Is that a signal from Hydra?"
The mutant's prisoner braced himself, his eyes flashing with defiance and hate. He spat at Wolverine and when the feral snarled at him he did something with his jaw, jerking it to the side and biting down hard, swallowed and after a second, started to spasm. Wolverine threw the man to the floor and the three of them watched him finish his death spasms in silence.
"Cyanide?" Reynolds exclaimed, sounding more insulted than upset. "Seriously? Is this the Cold War and no one told me?"
Clint stared at the body. He had Princess in his hands and he ran his fingers over her grain compulsively. He had never watched anyone die before, not like this. There was the old horse trainer who had a heart attack, but he died in the hospital. And that one gilly who thought he could walk the high wire better than the carnies. Barney and Clint found the body, but they didn't see it happen. This, this was different. This man killed his friends in cold blood and took his own life. Clint started to shake. He looked at Logan, hoping for something but if he was honest he had no idea what. That's when he noticed the bloody hole in his guardian's shirt, almost right over his heart. He could still see the wound sluggishly weeping bright red blood, dripping down to mingle with the rest of the blood that covered the floor. Clint stared at red trail until it filled his vision and he started to hyperventilate.
"Clint, hey, look at me!" Logan ordered, snapping his fingers in front of Clint's eyes.
Clint couldn't disobey the order and he looked up into the worried face of his mentor, his friend. "I know I give you grief for the points, but have you ever thought about how ridiculous those muttonchops are?" he said, his mouth running away from him without consulting his brain. Honestly he had no idea where that comment came from, but at least the words come out. He would have guessed that anything beyond a squeak would get caught behind the lump in his throat. He felt a little more stable when Logan smiled. "I mean, you got shot! Futz! Are you okay?" he exclaimed, finally putting words that made sense to the situation together.
"Yeah, bub, I'm okay," Logan rumbled softly. He put a hand on Clint's shoulder and squeezed gently. Clint leaned into the touch, glad to feel the living heat in the man's hand. "Healing factor, remember? It'll take a lot more than that to slow me down."
Clint laughed. Duh, he was stupid, of course Wolverine wouldn't be brought down from one gun shot. What was he thinking? He sobered up after a few seconds. He kept thinking about what would happen to him if Logan died or left him. Not happy thoughts.
"You okay?" Logan asked, snapping his fingers again. Clint hadn't even realized he was staring at the blood again.
Clint took a deep breath, then another before nodding. "Yeah, just kinda freaking out about all the dead bodies."
"I'm with you, kid," Reynolds said from where he was messing with the camera feeds. "This has me freaked. I don't recognize this alarm, but obviously these bastards did. I mean, SHIELD has different alarms for everything. We have one that means "Alien Invasion" for fu…gosh sakes," he glanced at Clint as he changed his swear word. Clint rolled his eyes. "But I've never heard one for kill your fellow agents!"
"Hydra," Logan pointed out, moving to stand beside Reynolds. "I'm bettin' this is their move to take the base, which means someone found Commander Smith."
"Then they're killing everyone else?" Clint squeaked.
"Not quite," Reynolds said, pulling up a couple different cameras. "They have the personal quarters on lockdown with guards watching the doors. Most of the agents off duty don't even know what's happening, yet."
"What about the men on duty?" Logan snarled. He reached over the agent's shoulder to get control of the cameras. He started flipping through the feeds faster than Hawkeye could follow, though he wasn't trying real hard. He didn't really need to see more bodies.
"Personal space?" Reynolds whined before giving up and relinquishing controls to the X-man. He glanced at Clint and the teen couldn't decide if the look was full of pity or understanding. "It's not pretty, but it looks like only strategic areas had the kill order. But that leaves a lot of hostages. This is not good."
"Bub," Logan snapped, bringing the agent's attention back to the screen. "What do you think of that?"
Clint slipped up behind the adults to get a better look. He tried not to think about how sticky the floor felt or why. The security feeds showed men sporting big guns herding men and women in lab coats into a room filled with lab equipment. As they watched, one of the men, an older man with an impressive grey mustache, turned to beg his jailors. The Hydra agent shoved the poor man in the shoulder with his rifle butt, hard enough to knock the scientist over. The other prisoners hurried to help the man to his feet before the Hydra agent could hit him again. After that they all stopped resisting.
"That doesn't look good," the archer felt the need to say. "This is where we call Directory Fury right?"
Logan shook his head but Reynolds answered. "All communications with SHIELD were cut when that alarm started. It will take too long to get help. I think I know what they want with the R&D team."
Logan snarled as he stood, grabbing the bag he had carried from their room, which Clint didn't really notice until now. "Care to share with the class?"
"This is a little base, but they do some very unusual experiments in R&D. The kind of experiments that are best done away from highly populated areas," Reynolds explained. "I've made a couple friends, but they won't talk about it. I think it has to do with chemical weapons though. Mostly neutralizing them, but…"
"They need to make them to figure out how to neutralize them," Logan finished, his eyes getting that unfocused look that meant he was remembering something. After a moment he shook it off. He opened his bag and pulled out a yellow and blue bundle of fabric. "So we need to keep Hydra's hands off whatever it is they got in there. Great."
Clint stared at the suit that Logan unrolled. It was the Wolverine costume; he had had it with him the whole time. Clint felt a little annoyed by that. He would have loved to see it before they were in a life or death fight. He also wished that he had a cool suit to put on too. It might make him feel more like a hero, instead of like a teenage carnie with a prehistoric weapon who was way out of his depth. He even kinda wished he had his circus costume or the outfit from the fair, but they were both back in the room.
Logan changed quickly without ceremony, just pulling the suit on and flipping the cowl up. Clint hid a snicker behind his hand. The points on his mentor's hood looked just like the points in his hair style. He wondered who came up with that idea because while it definitely looked intimidating, it was pretty funny too.
"Stay with the boy," Wolverine ordered as he strode to the door.
Clint opened his mouth to object but the SHIELD agent beat him to it. "What do you think you're doing?" he shouted, bringing the X-men to a halt. "We need a plan and to work together. Do you really think you can cut your way through the problem?"
Wolverine's facial expression was hard to read with the mask, but it was obvious that was exactly what he was thinking. He bared his teeth but the agent didn't back down.
"Those are my comrades and friends in trouble," Reynolds pointed out, walking over to the mutant and poking him in the chest, making Wolverine growl. "We do this smart before anyone else gets hurt."
"Fine, bub," Logan growled at the taller man, but his eyes were on Clint. Under the posturing and the snarling, Clint thought his guardian looked…well, he looked sad. It took the archer by surprise. "What's your plan?"
Reynolds deflated a little in relief that he didn't need to fight to get his point across. "Well, we need to do this on two fronts. First is to rescue the scientists, second is to get help from the loyal SHIELD agents trapped in the personal quarters."
Clint raised his hand with a question. Logan snorted in amusement but waved his hand for Clint to speak. "Um, how do we tell if they're good guys or not?"
Reynolds and Wolverine shared a look. "If they're shooting at you, they're bad guys," Logan answered gruffly.
Clint considered this as he ran his hands over his bow again. "Okay, yeah, that makes sense." He swallowed hard and resolutely pushed his fear and uncertainty to the back of his mind. "So, how are the three of us going to save the base?"
Reynolds chuckled darkly and went to the computers to pull up a map of the base to explain his plan. Clint followed, memorizing the layout, especially the vents where he had gotten lost earlier. After a moment, Logan stepped up beside the teen, bumping him with his shoulder gently.
Clint looked up in surprise. "Good job, Hawkeye," Wolverine whispered. The smile he sent Clint's way was positively bloodthirsty. "Let's show him what the best can do, huh, bub?"
Clint felt his heart swell with pride at Logan's confidence in him. He nodded eagerly and they both turned to pay attention to Reynolds' master plan.