"Clint!"
Natasha's scream cut through the air as the electrified fence sparked with power and Clint was thrown off. Steve caught him, cushioning their fall as best as he could as they tumbled to the ground. Steve already knew Clint wouldn't have a pulse and wouldn't be breathing, but that didn't stop Steve from checking and hoping Clint would.
Steve immediately started CPR, Natasha pacing anxiously next to them. Steve spared a glance at her between compressions, and his heart lurched at the tears tracking down her cheeks.
"No, Clint!" Steve said urgently.
Steve gave Clint a breath and restarted chest compressions. It shouldn't be taking this long, Steve thought. Clint promised him it would work, that Steve would easily bring him back. It already felt like Steve had been doing this forever, anxiety bubbling in his chest with every second that passed and Clint remained de-
Unmoving. Clint wasn't moving and Natasha was crying and none of this should have happened in the first place.
"Come back, Clint!"
Steve gave Clint another breath.
Clint jerked, sucked in a breath of air, then started to cough.
Steve smiled in relief.
"That's good. You're doing good, Clint. Just breathe."
Steve picked Clint up and cradled him on his lap, Natasha kneeling on the ground next to them. She bent over as if her muscles couldn't support her weight anymore. Her hand found its way to Clint's neck, her shaky fingers settling over Clint's pulse.
"Don't you ever do that again," Natasha whispered.
"I won't," Clint wheezed. One hand sluggishly reached up and pulled Natasha's hand away from his neck, holding it loosely, his fingers resting on her pulse. "That sucked."
They stayed like that for a couple of minutes. Then Natasha wiped her eyes and her shoulders stiffened, ready to push forward with the mission. Clint had been half asleep, and Steve regretfully gave him a little jostle and helped him sit up, Clint's back resting against Steve's chest, his suddenly fluffy hair tickling the bottom of Steve's chin.
"What hurts?" Natasha asked.
"Everythin', Tasha. I got electrocuted."
Steve chuckled, stopping when Natasha glared sharply at him.
"What hurts?" she repeated firmly.
Clint sighed and held out his hands, nearly identical burn marks on his palms. "Left hearin' aid's fried, too. And no offense, Steve, but I think my leg landed wrong."
"Anything else?"
"I'm tired."
Natasha pulled a blue handkerchief out of Clint's pocket and wrapped it around one hand while Steve pulled off the red handkerchief around his neck. He handed it over to her when she had finished, and she wrapped it around the other hand. She carefully tilted Clint's head to the side, frowning at the irritated flesh and trail of blood coming from his left ear.
"In or out?" she asked.
"Out."
Natasha pulled out the broken hearing aid and pocketed it. She felt expertly around his knee and nodded when she didn't feel any broken bones.
"Figures you would be the one to die in the movie." Natasha sat back, satisfied that Clint was going to be okay. "I knew you were hiding something from me."
"Clever girl."
"Never do that again."
"I promise." Clint smiled at her, faltering a little at her serious expression. "I'm sorry, Tasha. Really. I mean it."
"Good."
Natasha returned his smile and stood up. Clint tried to follow her, but Steve scooped him up and held him on his hip.
"No, Steve, I'm fine. I can walk," Clint protested weakly. "Put me down."
"You need to rest," Steve said. He started walking toward the visitor's center, Natasha falling into step beside him. "Give your body a break. Let me carry you for a bit."
Steve could tell Clint wanted to argue, but there was no denying the fact that Clint was limp weight in his arms. His head rested on Steve's shoulder, legs hanging loosely and swinging as Steve walked. Clint seemed to realize that fighting was useless, and after a few minutes, his arms tentatively came up and wrapped around Steve's neck.
Some of the tension left Steve. Clint was a warm, comfortable weight in Steve's arms. Steve could feel Clint's breath on his shoulder and the rise and fall of his chest with each breath. He could feel Clint's muscles twitch as Clint alternated between awake and dozing. And most importantly, if he focused hard enough, Steve could feel Clint's steady heartbeat continuously telling Steve that his teammate was alive.
The trek to the visitor's center was quick after that, and in what felt like no time at all, Steve was pushing open the doors to the empty lobby and leading them into the equally deserted dining room. Steve walked over to the largest table in the center of the room and carefully sat Clint down on the top of it. Clint looked like he was still waking up, his shoulders drooping forward and head hanging slightly.
"We're almost done. I'm going to find Bruce then I'll come back," Steve said. "Natasha's in charge until then, okay?"
Natasha nodded.
Steve had hoped that would get a rise out of Clint, and when Clint didn't respond, Steve instead brushed a hand through Clint's static-y hair and bent so he had a better view of his face. "What do you know, they were right," Steve smiled. "Hair's all sticking up. You really are like a human piece of toast."
Clint smiled lightly back and Steve counted it as a win.
"I'll be back soon. I promise," Steve said. He hesitated at the door, sparing another glance back before walking through and practically sprinting back to the main entrance. "Almost done," he muttered to himself.
Okay…it looked bad.
Clint had been electrocuted before: a few times during hostage situations and once while plugging in the lights of a Christmas tree. And while he'd never actually died, Natasha was always quick to point out he'd come close to death enough times to know how it felt. What happened to him from the electric fence should have had him miserable, begging for pain killers, and hardly able to move.
But all things considered, Clint felt pretty good.
Clint's hands ached where the skin had been burned, his body an odd combination of stiff joints and jelly-weak muscles that refused to hold him up. His pride had taken a hit when Steve carried him like a sleepy child too tired to walk to bed. Sure, he was exhausted. However, it wasn't anything a good boost of adrenaline couldn't power through.
He'd felt worse after falling into a dumpster that one time.
As soon as Steve left the room, Natasha stood in front of Clint and pinned him with a worried, angry look.
"I'm okay. Just needed a second."
Natasha still looked doubtful, so to prove his point, Clint slid down from the table and shuffled over to the food table. He made a beeline for a chocolate cake topped with strawberries and white chocolate flowers, turning around to show it to Natasha with a big smile on his face.
"I told you it looked delicious. I won't say anything if you wanna split the cake with me instead of eating veggies," Clint said, mustering as much enthusiasm into his voice as he could. He made it back to the table and took a seat across from her, his legs swinging under the table, before holding out a fork to her. "C'mon, Nat. We both know you've got the world's biggest sweet-tooth."
Natasha's mouth quirked up in an annoyed smirk as she accepted the fork and took a big bite of cake straight from the middle of it.
"Rude."
"Serves you right," Natasha said.
She took another bite, stealing the piece of strawberry from right under Clint's fork. They ate the cake ravenously, only crumbs left on the plate. Clint had moved on to a slice of pie while Natasha was eating green jello. Natasha looked up and froze, jello jiggling on her spoon. She glared at a point over Clint's shoulder, eyes narrowed reproachfully, and whispered, "It's here."
Clint turned and saw the shadow of a six-foot-tall Velociraptor pass over the wall to his right, its head bobbing up and down. It turned toward the dining room, sniffed, and continued walking.
Natasha silently moved out of her chair, and the second Clint stood up, she hooked her hands under his armpits and dragged him hurriedly toward the kitchen. The kitchen was brightly lit with four rows of long silver counters spanning almost the entire length of the kitchen and an open walk-in freezer on the far right. Natasha closed the kitchen door behind them. She waited for the lock to click before her hand flew out and shut off the lights one by one.
They ran to the end of the first counter, far away from the door, and crouched out of sight.
Several long minutes passed before they heard the first low purrs from the Velociraptor. Clint peeked around the corner of the counter and saw it staring in through the window. Its sharp yellow eye examined the kitchen, its lips curled back in a snarl before it let out a high-pitched chirp.
The sounds of a second raptor chirping back followed soon after, and Clint ducked back around the corner. He leaned closer to Natasha, making himself as small as possible. A shiver raced down his spine as the Velociraptor's claws scrabbled for the door handle. With a soft whine, the door opened.
The Velociraptor let out a series of hisses as it shoved the door out of its way and stepped inside. In the reflection of the metal, Clint could see the Velociraptor raise its head before the dinosaur let out a loud series of grunts and the second Velociraptor pushed its way inside with a snarl.
"That way," Clint whispered. He pointed ahead of them and Natasha led them around the second row of counters. They crawled on the floor back toward the exit, while the Velociraptors stalked them on the other side of the aisle, moving in the opposite direction.
Clint could see the Velociraptors through the gaps under the counter. Their claws tapped against the floor as they moved, a foreboding purr getting steadily closer and interrupted by harsh, quick calls as the Velociraptors talked to each other.
The leading Velociraptor paused to sniff the air, and Clint and Natasha froze. The dinosaur was in touching distance, so close that Clint could make out the small twitch of its powerful muscles rippling under the skin as it started to walk again.
Clint and Natasha had made it halfway toward the door when the Velociraptor's powerful tail swept over the table and knocked off an assortment of pots and pans. A few of them hit Clint and Natasha as the metal clattered to the floor, and the two were just able to make it to the end of the counter and hide in front of the next one before the Velociraptor's head poked through the open shelf of the table to investigate the noise.
The spoons hanging on a rack right behind them clinked softly, and Clint's eyes flew to the traitorous ladle he knew would alert the Velociraptors to their presence. He attempted to grab it and buy them more time to escape.
It was like another jolt of electricity hit him, and instead of preventing it from falling, his arm knocked it off the hook.
It fell to the floor, ringing like a dinner bell.
One of the Velociraptors jumped on the table, both of the dinosaurs' heads whipping around as they tracked the noise. As the dinosaurs moved toward them, Natasha crawled with incredible speed toward the opposite end of the counter again, keeping herself as far away as possible. Clint tried to follow, but only made it about a foot before he was stopped.
It was like someone had grabbed the back of his neck and was holding him in place. A vise like pressure tightening whenever he tried to move. Natasha waved him closer furiously, but all Clint could do was shake his head. He wanted to shout at her that it wasn't his idea, but the words caught in his throat as a leathery nose appeared in his peripheral vision.
Thankfully, even if he hadn't told Natasha about the fence, he described the kitchen scene in painstaking detail. Natasha had wasted no time to pick up a spoon and start banging it on the ground to distract the Velociraptors when it became clear Clint couldn't follow.
The Velociraptors growled and turned toward the noise as Natasha hid herself inside an open cupboard built into the end of the table. Seeing her reflection, one of the Velocirapors let out a sound like a high-pitched scream. It crouched and charged forward with a snarl; its arms extended.
It opened its mouth as it reached the end of the counter and pounced.
Its head smacked against the silver metal on the counter opposite Natasha, distorting Natasha's reflection. While the dazed dinosaur struggled to orient itself, Natasha pulled herself out of her hiding spot and crawled away.
Clint took the opportunity amongst the confusion to dash toward the open door of the walk-in freezer, half dragging his injured leg behind. The other Velociraptor caught on and gave chase with a loud screech.
Clint reached the freezer seconds ahead of it. His hands grasped the side of the shelf as his feet slipped on a layer of ice which had frozen on the floor. He managed to stop himself, but fell hard to the ground. Clint covered his head as the Velociraptor tore into the freezer after him and immediately lost its footing. The dinosaur crashed into the back of the freezer with an angry cry, sharp claws lashing out as it crashed to the floor, slicing through the air inches away from where Clint lay.
Feet struggling for purchase on the slick floor, Clint finally managed to stand upright. He ran for the door and with a scream, started to close it as the Velociraptor managed to find its own balance.
He nearly had the door closed when a large head with needle sharp teeth rammed into the other side and shoved its face through the narrow gap.
Natasha let out a scream like a banshee and appeared next to them. Her hand flashed through the air, and Clint saw something tear through skin on the Velociraptor's snout. The Velociraptor let out a shriek, blood welling up from the gash, and it pulled its head back. They closed the door, Natasha putting the pin in the door handle to lock it closed with one hand, her other hand clutching the now bloody Velociraptor claw she had taken from Steve.
Clint leaned against the wall nearby, a hand over his jackhammering heart, struggling to catch his breath. He gasped when Natasha came up behind him and grabbed his arm, pulling him quickly across the kitchen and through the open door.
When he glanced back, the remaining Velociraptor was standing upright.
Its head followed them, amber eyes tracking their movement, a sardonic grin on its face as it bared its teeth.