Chapter 15 - Sam Was Wrong
Bucky and Clint stood out in the courtyard with Ramonda and Shuri as the Wakandan jet took off, intent on getting to the Red Worm base. While Sam hadn't said anything to the snipers about the mission, it was clear that Bucky was livid. Heck, Clint knew that when Sam mentioned neither of them were going, no one (outside of the two of them) argued with it. Lucky for Sam though, Rhodes, Scott and Hope were actually able to come help. The air-man had also tried to get in touch with Bruce again, but it didn't work.
"This is bullshit," Bucky grumbled under his breath once the duo was left alone. Clint sighed. He'd been hearing that over and over since Sam first told them that they wouldn't be going. Clint tried to help Sam by arguing the air-man's reason with the Sergeant even though it was clear that Clint was on Bucky's side. They should have gone with the others. Staying back like a homemaker wasn't their style. But, it was Sam's decision in the end. He was the new leader of the Avengers.
"It'll be okay," Clint muttered, placing a hand on Bucky's shoulder. "Isn't much we can do now."
"I'm half tempted to say fuck it and go anyways." Clint snorted. He sadly knew from experience that Bucky would have done it to Steve so doing it to Sam wouldn't be all that strange. "They're gonna need us."
"We're gonna have to trust them," Clint tried to soothe. Bucky made a nasty face, turning to look at Clint.
"What if they're in over their heads? What if they can't come back?"
"Bucky. They have the same chances of those things happening even with us being there. But, they'd also have the added pressure of making sure you and I don't get caught. As stupid as it is, there isn't anything we can do." Bucky huffed, shrugging Clint's hand off his shoulder. Clint allowed it and watched as the Sergeant turned away.
"I don't like this."
"Never said I did either."
"I want to go help."
"So don't I. But they can handle themselves and Sam is smart enough to call us for help if they need it. We'd be going in with Okoyo, Shuri and a bunch of Dora Milaje," Clint explained, not that that fact had been fully agreed upon by any party outside of Shuri. Bucky rolled his eyes. Sam had only settled on the duo being back up because he thought they wouldn't need the snipers or the women's help. Kind of insulting really but hey, what could you do?
"I don't want to wait till they need us. I want to be with them now," Bucky hissed, turning back to look at Clint. The archer sighed. He could tell there was no way he'd convince Bucky to calm down. It was just going to happen as it happened. Until the others return, Bucky was going to be as tense as a bow string and pissed off like an upset cobra. Shaking his head, Clint turned and walked off, intent on going to their room. It was actually only their room because Bucky still hadn't felt comfortable trying to order Clint to go to sleep. What if Bucky phrased it in such a way that Clint would never wake up? The sleeping together thing didn't seem to bother anyone. Especially not the two of them. So, they just continued. No need to mess with something that they didn't need to mess with. Sighing himself, Bucky turned and followed.
For three days the duo waited for any news on the team. Sam had said they'd be doing a bunch of recon first so Clint wasn't fully worried at the moment. Bucky was basically bouncing on the edge of his seat, just waiting for the call or distress signal that they needed help. Both of them made sure their stuff was packed so that they didn't have to waste time in getting them ready once the call came. But nothing came. On the fourth day, Clint was starting to get a bit nervous.
"Okoyo, have you heard from T'Challa?" Clint asked, walking up behind the woman when he spotted her down the hall. Okoyo paused, turning to look at the archer with a hum of confusion. "Has T'Challa reported anything on the mission?"
"No, he has not," Okoyo responded. Clint frowned. That didn't seem right. Why weren't people more worried about that? "It is not uncommon for our King to go without reporting in for more than a few days."
"But, it's been-"
"Four days. I am aware. My King and your friends would have called for help if they needed it. All we can do is wait for them to return or to call," Okoyo interrupted. Clint made a face at that. He knew that what she was saying was obvious. They just needed to wait. But, in his heart, Clint felt that something had gone drastically wrong. Bucky had even made mention to it once or twice now.
"What if they-"
"Hawk, calm. They are fine," Okoyo tried to soothe. Clint sighed deeply. Well, hopefully she was right. Not like any of the Wakandans would allow Bucky and Clint to take a jet to go check on everyone. Trust me, they tried already.
"Okay," he gave in. Okoyo frowned, staring at the archer and waiting to see what he would do next. Closing his eyes in regret and worry, Clint turned and began to walk away.
"Hawk," Okoyo called. Clint paused, looking over his shoulder at her. "I will investigate if we hear nothing in two days."
"Thank you. But, by then. It might be too late."
Another two days passed in silence and with each passing minute, Bucky and Clint became more and more tense over it all. When would the others get back to them? Call them for help? Just, contact them? On the second day, Clint kept trading glances with Okoyo anytime they ran into each other. At this point, she had begun to look worried. Then, just as Okoyo was going to look into the team's silence, they got a message.
"I fucking knew we should have gone!" Bucky raged, punching his flesh hand into a wall. Thankfully it didn't damage the wall at all. Clint stood there, breathing heavily as he stared at the video message that had been sent to Shuri to be given to Bucky and himself. It was a video of Rumlow showing the others had been caught. Sam had been sitting in the Chair. Wanda was unconscious and bound with anti-magic/mutant chains and collar. Rhodes was hanging by his wrists in the background and T'Challa was chained to the floor like a cat. Hope and Scott seemed to be missing outside of two glass bottles that showed something moving inside but there wasn't even detail in the footage to see what the movement belonged too. Other than the movement in the bottles, none of their friends moved. "I told him!"
"Sergeant Barnes, there is no guarantee that this would not have happened with you both there," Ramonda called. Bucky punched the wall again. "If you had been with them, we may never have known what happened."
"We could have helped!" Bucky argued. Ramonda nodded.
"And there was a chance you would have been taken as well," Ramonda countered. Bucky growled at her. It was a near similar argument he had had with Sam before they all left.
"We need to do something now. Not argue about what should have been done," Clint hissed, finally over his anger at the situation and now simply determined. "How many of the Dora Milaje are willing to come and help."
"None," Okoyo responded, though there was a tension in her voice that showed her own disapproval of this. That brought Bucky and Clint up short as they turned to the woman. They had been told that they would come with them. Ramonda had a disappointed look on her face. "Our Council believes you should both handle the situation and that the Dora Milaje must protect Queen Ramonda and Princess Shuri."
"But, I'm going to go," Shuri mentioned. While technically Ramonda or Shuri should have been considered leaders of Wakanda while T'Challa was gone, it was actually the Council that tended to take over. Ramonda and Shuri were just faces until such time as it was determined T'Challa was indeed dead. Okoyo shook her head.
"They are ready to lock you in your room until T'Challa has returned home. If something happens to him and Queen Ramonda passes. You are next in line," Okoyo reminded. Shuri made a face at that. She never wanted the regency. In fact, T'Challa and her had been raised with the knowledge that T'Challa would inherit the crown and mantel of Black Panther as long as he defeated any challengers. T'Challa had lost once and Shuri was not fully trained as a fighter. It was her tech that she was going to use in battle rather than skill like the others. There had been talk lately of training the Princess but nothing had been done as of yet.
"So, how many willing people would be coming with us to save at least T'Challa?" Clint wondered. Okoyo sighed and Clint knew. "It would just be Bucky and me?"
"We cannot risk the safety of Wakanda. As much as we all wish to save T'Challa, we also know he can handle himself. He may have a plan to get himself out and we just need to wait," Okoyo explained, again her dislike showing in her tone. Clint huffed out a disbelieving breath as Bucky tossed his hands into the air.
"Why did you all hold us back if you were just going to not come?" he snapped.
"It was for your protection," Ramonda announced.
"And what about theirs?" Bucky snarled, waving a hand off into the distance as if pointing to where the others were trapped. "If we had gone to help earlier, they wouldn't be in that mess."
"We do not know that." Bucky spun on his heel intent on leaving the room but Clint caught his arm and held him still.
"Queen Ramonda is right. If they got caught, there is no way to prove that we would have changed the tides," Clint told him. Bucky yanked his arm away and went to retort when Clint shook his head. "Think of what would have happened to them if we had been there and we all still got caught? They'd be dead already. Likely killed by us." Bucky sighed, the anger flowing out of his system quickly. "We need to look at more than just what ifs. What we should be working on is a plan on how to get them back."
"Simple, we go in and kick Hydra's ass," Bucky replied. Clint sighed.
"We can't. If there was enough soldiers or LMDs there to capture the others, there is a high likely hood that we won't be able to handle the mass without back up," Clint countered. Bucky made a pissed off and upset face.
"I wish my people could bring you more help in this matter. But, my son can handle himself and we must protect those still here," Ramonda announced. Clint sighed once again and looked over to her.
"We understand," Clint said to her, before looking back to Bucky.
"We need to borrow a jet," Bucky declared, facing Ramonda. She nodded to him, agreeing to help at least in that small way. With that said, Bucky spun once again and stalked off. Clint groaned before nodding his thanks to the others and chasing after his friend. He caught up to Bucky just as the Sergeant stormed into their room.
"Bucky, we need a plan," Clint pushed once again. Bucky growled, grabbing his bag. "Bucky, we can't go in half-cocked like in the war."
"Yes we can. Worked then, can work now." Clint watched as Bucky grabbed the archer's own bag before turning to get a jet. The archer snarled.
"It worked then with Steve and the Commandos at our backs!" Bucky stilled. "We can't do it now. We need a plan!"
"We'll plan on the way."
"Bucky," Clint just about whined but the Sergeant shook his head.
"We need to go now. They need us." Clint huffed out a half angered half calming breath.
"I know they need us. But going in like you want to could get them killed and us completely under Hydra's control. We need to-"
"Plan, I know!" Bucky shouted. Clint growled.
"Think it through," Clint finished. Bucky rolled his eyes.
"We'll plan in the jet. Let's go," Bucky ordered. Clint's eyes widened in shock as Bucky walked past him and he was forced to follow after. Bucky had just ordered him to go. And the worst part... Bucky didn't seem to notice or care. As they walked, Clint was half tempted to tell the other sniper about the order but decided against it. They were already in a tough situation. No need to make Bucky feel like shit over an angered accident. Half sulking, he just silently walked behind the Sergeant.
Waiting outside the palace was a readied jet. Shuri and Okoyo waited at the entrance, though neither were dressed to go fight. At the sight of them, Clint had wondered if they were going to come anyways but after seeing them still dressed as they had been before and no weapons on them (outside of Okoyo's staff), the archer knew that they hadn't. They were just the send off party.
"You gonna stop us?" Bucky hissed at the sight of them. Shuri shook her head no.
"I wish for my brother's safe return and for you and your friends as well," the Princess stated. Bucky nodded before looking to Okoyo.
"If it would not be for the danger of Hydra possibly lurking around here and the order of the Council, I would follow. But I must think of the safety here," Okoyo added, once again pointing out that it would just be Clint and Bucky on their own. Bucky huffed but nodded a thanks and headed onto the jet. Clint forced himself to still.
"Thank you both. I promise to bring T'Challa back," the archer told them. Shuri moved forward to hug him.
"I wish there was more we could do," she muttered into his ear. Clint smiled as his body hummed with energy to try and just sneak past her and to Bucky's side.
"We'll be okay," Clint soothed her. Shuri nodded and backed away. "We'll get them back."
With that said, Clint couldn't stop himself any longer. He slipped onto the jet. Bucky was already at the controls, setting everything up to take flight. Sighing, Clint allowed himself to head to the controls and help. Bucky glanced over at him quickly but said nothing. It wasn't until they were in the air and off to California that he finally actually looked at Clint.
"You okay?" he wondered, twisting his chair to look at the archer. Clint stiffened. "Clint?"
"It's nothing," the archer whispered, refusing to budge on admitting Bucky ordered him to come. He knew it was simply an accident. Bucky had been too pissed off to watch how he was stating things but it had been as Bucky feared. The man could randomly make a small mistake somewhere and Clint would be forced to do something, even if it meant putting his life on the line.
"Clint, please," Bucky sighed. Clint closed his eyes. He wasn't going to get out of this. "I know something's up. You normally would have argued with me the entire time it took to get here."
"I know," the archer mumbled. Bucky frowned, shifting in his seat to get closer to Clint. "It was an accident."
"Wha-" Bucky started before stopping, his face going pale as he remembered the words he had shouted. "Shit!"
"Buck, it's fine!" Clint cried, spinning himself around to look at the now panicked super soldier. "It isn't a big deal!"
"Isn't a big deal! How could you say that?" Bucky called, getting to his feet now to begin pacing. Clint moved to do the same, except the pacing. "I fucking ordered you to come! Did you even want to?"
"Of course I wanted to come! Jesus Buck, it wasn't like that. You just said 'let's go' and I found myself following you. Even without the order I would have come," Clint stated. Bucky shook his head and raised his hands to run them through his hair.
"Fuck, Clint! What if I do that again?"
"Buck, it'll be fine. I'll tell you next time it happens." Bucky spun on Clint.
"You should have told me this time," the soldier snapped before his eyes widened. Did he just order Clint around again?
"Bucky. I promise, I'll tell you. I didn't need to this time cause it didn't really matter," Clint mentioned. Suddenly a clapping echoed through the jet. The two stilled. How had someone snuck on without either of them knowing?
"Touching," a familiar voice told them. Clint frowned and turned to look toward where the voice was coming from. No one seemed to be there. But now that the archer was paying attention to the area, he could feel the signs of familiar magic. It would explain why he hadn't noticed before. He hadn't thought of the magic as a threat.
"Loki?" he asked, confused.
"I thought Loki died?" Bucky uttered, remembering Sam explaining what happened during the SNAP. Clint nodded unsure what to think or believe.
"Oh, a version of me did," the voice replied before there was a shifting of the air and Loki was standing before them. He looked slightly younger than he had before he was killed by Thanos, but otherwise... It was clearly Loki. Clint gritted his teeth, analyzing the difference between the Loki in front of him and the Loki he had become friends with. Bucky tensed, waiting for a cue from Clint as to what to do.
"A version?" Clint echoed, slowly growing tense. What if this Loki was actually evil? Or what if it was another magic user just trying to mess with them? Bucky shifted his weight, ready to attack.
"When, I believe, Tony Stark went back to 2012, there was an accident," Loki explained, tilting his head to the side a bit. Clint and Bucky frowned. What did that have to do with this Loki being a version of Loki? "The Tesseract had been dropped and I got a hold of it."
"So, you're from an alternate timeline?" Bucky questioned. Time travel and magic and all of this whole mess was getting too confusing. How was anyone supposed to know what was actually happening? Loki gave a shrugging motion. He was busy organizing his thoughts as memories scattered through his mind. Clint's eyes narrowed. He remembered Tony mentioning there had been an accident, but he had been too much in grief over Natasha to really pay attention.
"Not quite. One would think it would be an alternate timeline. But, a timeline that has had a change, depending on the amount of change, simply makes a new reality. A new dimension so to speak," the trickster answered. Clint frowned. Bruce had mentioned that the Sorcerer Supreme from 2012 had warned the doc about a timeline being created. It would make sense that that second timeline actually became it's own world that ran concurrent with the unchanged timeline. He shook his head. It hurt too much trying to think about it.
"Okay, so, why are you here?" the archer retorted, his voice slightly saddened but cautious. He missed Loki, just as much as he missed everyone else he had lost. Seeing this Loki almost made the pain worse. Especially if this Loki would not remember their time together. Loki looked to him slightly confused, going through the memories a bit faster. He needed to figure out why the archer was fine with him.
"Last I knew, you did not like me," he accused as flashes of his other self worked with the archer. Clint sighed, relaxing his stance a bit to rub a hand against the back of his neck. Bucky glanced between the two. The Sergeant had heard about Clint and Loki's first meeting but he also knew of the moments that drew them closer to each other. Events like Hela taking their souls and going off into space.
"I remembered you had blue eyes during the invasion. Then... We had some incidents with a secondary set of infinity stones in which I spent time in your memories. We kinda became friends after that and got closer when we were sent to the other side of the galaxy," Clint informed. Loki gave a small snort, the memories coming through in earnest. Along with the feelings the other Loki had gone through.
"Yes, I can see that now," the Lie-smith replied, mentally chuckling at some of the things the duo spoke about. He certainly enjoyed 'remembering' Clint's archery contest and the archer yelling at Odin. Clint and Bucky furrowed their eyes. If this wasn't the Loki they knew, how did he suddenly know what Clint was talking about? Shaking his head, Loki noted their curiosity. "When I appear in a different dimension in which 'I' have died, I slowly gain the memories of that one." Loki smiled suddenly and looked to Clint. "So, Izril does work for you."
Clint nodded before flicking his wrist and drawing the bow out so Loki could see it. Loki smiled, stepping forward to look at it. He hadn't seen it in many a decade but it still looked as beautiful as he remembered. Loki held himself from touching the bow but once done gazing at it, he nodded and Clint quickly sent Izril back to the pocket dimension.
"So, you have magic as well?" Loki wondered, looking up to Clint. The archer nodded once again. Bucky simply stood back, watching the interaction. As Loki stood before them, the soldier could see the trickster relaxing into something familiar. Bucky may not have been around Loki long, but he could notice some of the differences. "Interesting."
"As great as all this is, why are you here?" Bucky asked, suddenly realizing that this Loki had to have appeared for a reason. Especially if he was from an alternate timeline. One would think Loki would have enjoyed beating the Avengers in 2012. Loki smirked.
"Ever the pragmatist," Loki chuckled. Clint and Bucky raised their eyebrows. Loki knew Bucky? "In my original dimension, or timeline. When I left with the Tesseract, I was still angry with my treatment in Asgard, so I did actually return the stone to Thanos. While I no longer had the Scepter, Thanos knew he could get it back so I was spared. I watched as he rained Hel upon Midgard and Asgard even though he promised I could rule Midgard. And I watched as he made vanish half of the universe. It was in this that I noted, Thor had vanished as well."
"Thor didn't vanish here," Clint interrupted, half wondering about Odin and Frigga but figured it was best not to bring it up. Loki gave him a small smile, the emotions from this dimension infecting his own. Already, the trickster could feel himself settle with the two men before him. It was much different than any of the other dimensions he had visited before. But not in a bad way. It felt nice.
"I am pleased to hear as such. And I also am aware that in my timeline, those you are off to rescue never will become heroes. None of them had abilities in 2012. All of them gained them after. So there was no team to go back in time to collect older stones and reverse the damage. Captain Rogers, Tony Stark, and Natasha Romanoff did not have enough help," Loki stated. Clint paled, easily noting his name was not included. Bucky shifted a step closer, immediately realizing that Clint wasn't going to like that the archer wasn't included. Loki sighed at both of their reaction. "Ah, yes. Thanos used the Scepter to regain your allegiance to me."
"Fuck," the archer whispered, a hand raising up to run across his face. Loki nodded unable to truly give Clint any pleasing information at the moment.
"Had I thought it possible that we could have ever been friends, I might have gone about things differently."
"Sorry, but, from what I'm hearing, your dimension or timeline was working out in your favor. So, why did you leave?" Bucky questioned, turning things back around. Loki sighed. It was true. He had gotten his promise of ruling Midgard and later Asgard. His revenge on Thor had been taken. But once Thanos went off on his merry way, Loki found a new issue.
"There is a bigger threat than Thanos coming."
HA! Another on time.
To be honest, I'm surprised that I'm on time. This entire week I've been having sleeping trouble. To the point where Darius opening his mouth has aggravated me. Good thing, I've mostly gotten my bad reactions under control. I state mostly because Darius still isn't at the point where he'd listen without me repeating myself a hundred times. Especially over things where he thinks he doing something innocent (like yelling at our dog) and I tell him no. Bout ninety percent of the time, Darius just stares at me and continues to do it. Otherwise, everyone is doing fine.