CHAPTER 5 - Can This Stop?

Two more battles went by after that. Three more camp switches and more dwindling members of their unit. Aiden got hit with a cannon ball that tore off his right leg and killed Sam. Thankfully he survived, well survived for now, and was sent home for better treatment. Bill ended up getting shot in the back that paralyzed him from the waist down and was sent home. Burley, Josh and Ross vanished in a retreat from a battle and never reappeared. Joey had to be 'put down' by Bucky himself when the poor guy got hit in his chest and it collapsed his lung. There was no coming back from that in the 40s. So it was down to Bucky, Dugan, Clint, Gabe and Dennis. Thankfully the new Captain, Captain Murray, didn't seem to want to force Bucky or Dugan to add to their ranks. It was doubtful that any of the original three could tolerate it at this point.

Peggy still had an odd fascination with Clint. It was getting to the point where even Dugan, Gabe and Bucky were getting nervous with it. Dennis was even beginning to get bothered that she was around a lot. No matter how much any of them tried, Peggy always found a way to speak to them at least once at every camp. It was getting tiresome.

"Corporal Barton," Peggy called out. Clint winced, glancing at Bucky for some type of help. Bucky just made a face before both of them turned to look at the woman as she came up toward them. "I heard what happened with Joey. I'm sorry."

Joey was still fresh in Clint's and Bucky's mind. He had been the latest death. Dugan had been with Dennis and Gabe a small distance away so they hadn't seen what happened. Clint nodded his head, not wanting to speak. Bucky also seemed a bit tense.

"He was a good guy," Bucky murmured. Peggy nodded. "Not sure I want to add any more people."

"The 107th is nearly two hundred seventy people at this point. Only around six hundred people of various regiments made it to this camp," Peggy pointed out, her voice sad and pained. Bucky and Clint blanched. So many people from the 107th had been killed or sent home since they arrived in this damn war. Damn. And Clint estimated at least a month left before Azzano. The whole thing sucked ass.

"Ma'am, please," Bucky mumbled. Neither of them really wanted to hear the damn numbers about how many they've lost. Peggy nodded, realizing she had made a mistake.

"I apologize. Just wanted to make sure you knew that no one was going to force you to increase your unit," Peggy replied. Bucky sighed.

"Doubt we'd be able to anyways. Don't wanna lead any more."

"I understand. Have a good night boys," she mentioned before turning and leaving. Bucky sighed, turning to look out of the camp.

"I hate this," the Sergeant muttered. Clint nodded. He was beginning to think he should cast a lot more protection spells. The few he had done lately weren't working at all and he had no idea why. He couldn't wait to return home so he could ask Loki why the fuck it hadn't been working. What was the point of the spell if people kept dying?

"Hey, we're doing okay," Clint whispered. Bucky huffed.

"Everyone keeps dying," he retorted. Clint sighed. Yeah, that was true. Well, some of the guys just went home or missing but they couldn't keep a lot of them safe. "I don't think I can take much more."

"Neither do I. But, we should get at least two or three more people. It can't just be the five of us," Clint admitted. Bucky groaned. "I'm not gonna force you but just think about it."

"I'll try."

Bucky ended up actually adding three more guys to their unit. Norman, Brent and Liam. Clint swore he would do everything to protect these three. Bucky wouldn't be able to handle another unit member passing away. Just for that reason, Clint casted a minimum of three protection spells on Dennis, Norman, Brent and Liam every morning and adding two more in battle. He was beginning to wish he asked Loki for some stronger spells. Maybe like a deflection spell or some shit like that. Anything that worked better than the spell he was currently casting and apparently only to have it fail nearly every time.

A week and a half before Halloween (some jackass decided to keep count of every god damn day), the unit found themselves pinned by the enemy.

"I'm running low on ammo!" Norman cried, taking a few more shots out to defend themselves better. Bucky checked his mag.

"I got four more shots," Bucky announced. Slowly, everyone announced their amount. Dugan had six, Clint had one, Dennis had three, Brent had seven, and Liam and Gabe had none. Clint cussed, glancing at the enemy during his last shot. If they ran out of ammo, they'd be dead. He looked at the group. No... He wasn't gonna let them die here. Bucky looked over to Clint and saw determination in the archer's eyes. His own eyes widened. "Barton!"

"Shut it," Clint muttered as he called upon Izril. Dugan cussed at the sight. None of the others had seen what Clint could do. But Clint didn't care anymore. He casted his spell seconds before standing. A moment later he pulled back and rapid fire shot half the guys advancing on them. The unit went silent as they watched Clint continue to attack anything that moved in front of them. Two minutes later and they heard the German word for 'retreat.' It was a bit of a relief. Sighing, Clint released his first spell and allowed the bow to drop back into it's pocket dimension.

"What the hell was that?" Gabe asked, staring oddly at Clint. The archer winced. And here was when he was going to lose all the friends he had made (outside of Bucky and Dugan). Bucky stood, looking down the field to see the arrows sticking out of people. He frowned and looked back to Clint.

"Get rid of those," he ordered. Clint nodded and sent out the dismissal spell. The arrows vanished making the others gasp. Brent's eyebrows rose in surprise. Clint shifted backwards, away from the group, ready to run. While the announcement of his magic had gone well before hand, he doubted that his luck would hold with the new group. Before he could run though, Dennis grabbed him by the arm to hold him still. Clint tensed.

"Dude, it's fine," Dennis said. Clint frowned, glancing at him. Dennis shrugged. "Grew up in an Indian reservation. Magic and shit don't phase me."

"What else can you do?" Brent questioned, curious and eager. Clint furrowed his brow, looking everyone over. None of them really seemed to care. In fact, they seemed impressed and curious.

"I... I've daily been casting protection spells..." Clint muttered.

"Did you do that with the others?" Gabe inquired. Clint frowned before looking to Bucky and Dugan.

"Just tell 'em man," Dugan encouraged. Clint sighed.

"Technically. I didn't do it as much as I have been lately. I think that's where I messed up and why guys kept gettin' hit," Clint whispered, tears slowly beginning to form in his eyes. With one look, Dugan and Bucky knew that the archer was blaming himself for all the death around them. Bucky shifted to Clint and just hugged him. Clint stilled, confused.

"It's okay. As you said before. This is war," the Sergeant mumbled. Clint laughed at that but it seemed to break whatever tension and reservations the rest of the group had over it all.

"From now on, when we're split from the rest. Use gotta your bow," Liam told him. Clint swallowed, glancing at Bucky. They had never done that before. It wasn't safe. But it could be exactly like this. If they ever got trapped again, he'd get them out. Slowly, the unit got up and headed down the cleared path. Clint's hand twitched, waiting to call upon Izril at the second they saw an enemy. Thankfully they didn't.

"HEY GUYS!" someone screamed out to them. The group turned to see another unit was coming up behind them. Bucky sighed deeply. Quickly the unit joined the larger set of troops. "How ya all doing?"

"Out of ammo," Bucky reported as if he hadn't a care in the world. Dugan gave him a slight nudge that thankfully only their unit saw. "Thank god we had enough to last till they retreated."

The guys around them twittered with laughter. Around them, people starting offering the small group some of their own ammo. They all graciously accepted it. Norman kept stealing glances at Clint but had silently taken more ammo than the others. Likely he didn't trust Clint to keep him safe. Clint could only think that it was a good decision.

"We're gonna stock up at the next camp. Word is our next strike is Azzano," someone else reported. Clint froze, unable to stop himself. He thought Azzano wasn't going to be for a few more weeks or more. How the hell had he been so wrong? Coulson used to drill that shit into his head like twenty four seven! Hell, he was friends with both Steve and Bucky! What the fuck was wrong with him?

"Clint, you okay?" Bucky asked when he noticed Clint had stilled. Gulping, Clint nodded. Bucky frowned before realizing what could be going on. He grabbed Clint's arm and dragged him away from the others. Dugan and Gabe looked over at the duo but when Gabe went to follow, Dugan held him back with a shake of his head. "What is going on?"

"I can't," Clint replied, strained. Bucky's frown deepened. Clint just shook his head, mentally begging that Bucky dropped it. After a moment, Bucky sighed.

"I'm guessing this must be an important event in history and you can't change it," Bucky mumbled. Clint nodded, tears slowly starting to form once again. Bucky sighed and pulled the archer into a hug. "No matter what happens, I will not blame you."

"I would," the archer whispered but accepted the hug none the less.

The walk to camp after that had everyone tense. They could tell something had happened between Bucky and Clint but they were too afraid to ask. Not that either of them would answer their questions. Knowing Clint as well as he had lately, Dugan saddled himself up near the archer. Gabe took Dugan's example and left himself near Clint as well. Dennis, Norman, Brent and Liam were just super tense, looking around like mad. Their arrival at camp was fine and as they collected weapons, Clint hardly felt comfortable in grabbing anything.

"What is it?" the Sergeant whispered when he noticed the archer not grabbing a weapon like normal. Clint tensed. He really wanted to say it... But he couldn't. He couldn't change history like this. In the end, Clint just shook his head and with a deep frown, Bucky accepted Clint's answer. The soldier knew that Clint wasn't going to say a damn thing. And considering all he knew so far, Bucky wasn't going to argue. No point changing something like this. Wouldn't want to have it that he did something different than Clint remembered and got either the archer killed or even himself. Bucky would not leave that on Clint's conscious.

The attack happened at night. 200 men from the 107th joined the attack along with so many others from other regiments. Bucky, Clint, Dugan and Gabe all kept themselves near each other. Dennis fell in battle real quick. No one truly saw how. Norman, Brent and Liam had banded together within Clint's eyesight but they had no chance of joining them. Another protection spell sent their way was all Clint could do. A blast of something landed near the four of them and Bucky quickly rushed them off into a hole a short distance away. They dropped.

"There's got to be at least five more other companies out there," Dugan shouted over the din. Clint grimaced. They had left camp with seven. No wonder Bucky never wanted to talk about Azzano. This was one of the worst battles he had been in so far. God, if it all got worse with Steve, Clint wasn't sure he'd be able to last.

"Radio B company. Tell them we need cover," Bucky ordered. Gabe shook his head even as he shifted the radio he carried. He hadn't originally been their radio man. But after their last one died, Gabe took up the mantel.

"That might be tough," Gabe alerted them. Clint glanced over and noticed the radio was blasted to shit. Gabe nodded his head at the archer and it took a second before Clint realized Gabe was thanking him for the protection spell. It was likely that whatever hit the radio would have hit Gabe somewhere important. Well... That was something. At least it seemed to be working on Gabe, even if the man survived the war.

"Bucky, behind you!" Dugan shouted making everyone look over in that direction. It was then that they became highly distracted with defending their position. Bucky turned around at an explosion and Clint crying out when a debris piece snapped him across the head. While it didn't feel like anything other than a graze/scratch, his head was dizzy and unsure. Almost like he had gotten a concussion without the extreme force needed to get one.

"Here they come!" the Sergeant announced as he jumped sides to better defend the dazed archer. Clint hardly noticed or if he did, he didn't comment on it.

"I hate these guys," Dugan grumbled before getting up and going at it again. Shaking it off, Clint also twisted to lay beside Bucky and shoot out at the advancing troops. They took down a bunch of men before Clint saw it. A blue streak lit up the area and hit two men who vanished in a puff of smoke. Clint froze as his mind snapped to the blue he had gotten under Loki's control. He didn't have a chance to shake it off before the blue blasts filled the area, vanishing more and more of the fighters around the area.

"Get down!" Clint screamed the second he was finally able to shake himself out of the fear he felt.

"What the hell was that?" Bucky growled, spinning and looking at the archer as if Clint knew. Clint grimaced. Fucking Hydra. Fucking Schmidt. With attention now being draw away and to the other side of the battlefield, the group got up out of their hole and looked around.

"That looks... New," Dugan needlessly pointed out. Then over the din they saw it. A gigantic tank was rolling itself out onto the battlefield. Bucky sighed and looked to Clint who just grimaced. This was the end of the battle. He looked to Bucky with a pained face and Bucky couldn't help but wince. Both of them hated that this had to have happened. Why couldn't Clint have changed it? Bucky looked back to the field just in time to see the tank level it's gun at them.

"DOWN!" Bucky ordered seconds before the thing fired at them. Everyone was able to duck but when he landed, Clint landed wrong and ended up hitting his head hard on a rock. He was out within seconds.

"Clint... Barton... Barton, wake up," a familiar voice snipped. Groaning, Clint began to come too. The voice belonged to Bucky, of course. He was looking down at him concerned. What happened? Clint knew that what was going on was not good for them but he couldn't remember why or even what. "Hey, man."

"Wha-?" Clint grunted. Bucky snorted and backed up a bit to show how they were locked up. Clint grimaced and slowly got up. Oh... That's what's wrong. They had been caught.

"Woah there, you should rest," someone called. Clint rolled his eyes. Why does everyone assume he's weak?

"I'm fine," he insisted. Bucky huffed and looked around. After a moment, he slipped closer to Clint.

"This supposed to be what you feared?" Bucky asked. Clint nodded, ignoring the dizziness that swept over him for a second. Bucky sighed. "Really wish this wasn't an important moment in history."

Clint tried his best not to laugh. Wouldn't look good considering what was going on. Looking about, at all the cages Clint tried spotting everyone or anyone he knew. Bucky, Dugan and him were lucky enough to go into one. The cage that they got put into already had a few men in it before. Clint quickly noted James Montgomery Falsworth was in the cage next to them. Gabe Jones ended up across the way. Jim Morita was also across the way. Clint couldn't see Jacques Dernier. He moved to the bars on the cage right after the enemy left.

"Hey, what groups we got here!?" Clint cried out at everyone. Best to know what they were dealing with here. Bucky moved and smacked Clint's arm. Clint ignored him.

"La Résistance!" someone cried. Clint assumed it was Dernier. Nice to know he was here and not added later by another captured group. Well, not nice but still. Five voices shouted in agreement. So maybe it wasn't Dernier that originally answered.

"Her Majesty's 3rd Parachute Brigade!" Falsworth added, drawing Clint's attention to him briefly. At least two other voices joined in agreement. There ended up being like seven or eight other infantries with various amounts of numbers. The 107th had apparently dropped from nearly two hundred men to nearly twenty. That stung. A lot. Clint could only hope the missing had gotten away and was waiting back at camp, safe and sound.

"Norman, Brent and Liam aren't here," Bucky softly informed. Clint cussed but otherwise tried to act un-phased. Only seven people, out of all the ones who traveled with them, had made it home. Or at least in the sense that they had been sent. Who knew what happened to those missing.

"Heard something bout they vanished in smoke," Dugan grumbled. Clint winced, only remembering blue. How could there not even a body to send home? It wasn't fair. Fucking Hydra. Sighing, Clint headed toward the front of the cage and looked it over. He could possibly get them all out of here. But... Carefully, he allowed his gaze to settle on Bucky. The Sergeant needed to get... Well, tortured. Clint couldn't get them out right now. But he'd damn well give it a try. Bucky must have sensed something cause he gripped Clint's shoulder tightly.

"Don't do anything stupid."

Day one of being captured, everyone spent a lot of time just talking, trying to guess what was going on. Every time Clint got close to the door, Bucky would 'gently' pull him away. And when Bucky wasn't doing it, Dugan was doing. They all weren't fed through the day which had some men more than a little 'hangry.' No one was giving any of those guys shit cause they all knew it was going to happen to them sooner or later as well.

Night one, some loud cries woke Bucky, Clint and Dugan up, along with a few others from nearby cages. Some guards had gone into one of the cages cage and grabbed one of the men out from it. That man was screaming his head off, bucking and fighting to get free. He was pulled down the hall and through a set of double doors. Clint got to his feet and moved toward the door, trying to see through the doors to find out where the guy was going. But he couldn't see anything. The guy never returned.

Day two, Clint shifted to check out the locks on the cages yet again. He was tempted to say 'screw Bucky' and try to break out but when he went to reach his arm through the bars, one of the men from a different cage hissed that he should stop. Nervous himself, Clint backed off. That guy had been here longer than the archer and Clint figured he knew at least one other person that had tried to escape and failed. Not that Clint planned on failing.

A few minutes later, another guy was taken through the doors. An hour after that, food was finally delivered and a third guy was removed. Clint growled as he watched the guards stalk past. From then on, about every hour or so, the guards would come back into the room to grab at least one man from one of the various cages. When the guards opened Bucky, Dugan and Clint's cage, the two Sergeants held Clint back, making sure he didn't make things worse.

It continued this way for a few days. The more men that were taken, the more Clint attempted to try and break out. But, he always backed down when someone gave him crap about even attempting. As the days went though, it was much harder to convince the archer to stop.

Day five of being captured, Clint was sick of watching guys getting taken out of the cells and never returning. Much to Bucky's and Dugan's chagrin, Clint did what he did best. He tried to unlock the cage he was in. Thankfully, this time, no one seemed to mind that he had chosen to finally ignore the warnings the others had given him about trying to break out. Course, some of the POWs had still tried to convince him to not even try at this point, just like on day one. But Clint wasn't going to listen anymore. It was bullshit to keep waiting. Men were dying and Clint knew he could do something about it.

Ignoring them, Clint got nearly two seconds away from unlocking the door when a guard came down the hall. Clint had to back off, losing his place with a soft cuss. Bucky patted his back (giving in to Clint being stupid), knowing the archer had tried. Once the guard passed, Clint was at it again. This time he was a bit faster, but apparently the guard from before hadn't gone too far away. There was no warning before the guard was on top of the archer.

"AH!" Clint cried when the guard slammed a baton against the archer's hand. Clint backed away, cradling it. Bucky and Dugan rushed forward to protect the archer. Clint snarled at the guard. "Go fuck yourself!"

"Amerikanisch Arschloch," the guard growled. Clint snarled. Fuck this guy for calling him an American asshole.

"Arschloch. Sie sollten uns einfach gehen lassen," the archer retorted as if the guard would actually listen and let them all go. The guard's eyebrows raised before snarling and moving to attack Clint again. The whole cage pushed Clint away from the man in defense. No one wanted the idiot to get taken. But Clint fought them a bit to stay up front. He wasn't gonna back down. (Asshole, you should just let us go)

"Du denkst, du bist so schlau," the guard grumbled. Clint had to force himself to not charge at the guy. His smart mouth was certainly going to get him killed one day. Just, Clint wouldn't let it be today. (Think you're so smart)

"Sicherlich schlauer als sie, Miststück," Clint snapped, for some reason intent on pissing the guard off by insulting his intelligence as well. The guard jerked back before leaning in, right against the cage bars. Clint tightened his hand into a fist but Bucky quickly snatched Clint's arm into his own hand to still the archer. Giving the Sergeant a quick angered glare, Clint tried to cool down his tempter a bit. "Sie werden genauso gut verlieren könnte jetzt verlassen." (Smarter than you, bastard) (You will lose, might as well leave now)

"Denken Sie, ich bin auf der Gewinnerseite Sie dumme Amerikaner," the guard responded. Clint snorted. (Think I'm on the winning side, you stupid American)

"Denk alles, was du willst, weiß ich," Clint harshly laughed before lunging forward before anyone could stop him and spitting in the guards face. The guard's eyes went wide before he smacked the baton against the bars, nowhere near Clint. (Think all you want, I know)

"Sie werden bereuen dass oder. Sie könnten als nächstes genommen werden," the guard hissed. He spun on his heel and stormed off. Clint nearly paled at that. Fuck, he was really digging himself into a deep hole here. The whole room was silent for a little while just to make sure the guard was gone. (You will regret that. You might get taken next)

"You can speak German?" someone from a different cage asked. Clint huffed and shifted deeper into his cage to lean against the wall. Bucky and Dugan followed him, deep frowns on their faces. Clint said nothing, just looked away.

"Stupid to get them all upset like that man," another called. After that the conversation drifted into what Clint had actually said. Only four other men could speak German and they easily translated it for everyone else. The whole room had no idea how to respond to Clint's banter with the guard.

It wasn't until the next guy was taken before Clint headed straight back to trying to unlock the cage. This time everyone acted as guard for the archer. And so it only took a minute to unlock the door. He snuck out but told everyone else in his cage to stay put. The archer needed to unlock the other cages before they could all escape. Thankfully they understood. Clint was able to unlock two more of the six cages before a guard came back. An unknown British man alerted Clint to the guard. Clint just barely snuck back into his cage in time. The guard looked at everyone, seemingly sensing that something was going on.

"Was ist los?" the guard asked wanting to know what he couldn't see. No one spoke. He repeated himself, moving to hit one of the cage doors. Sadly, it was one of the ones Clint unlocked and the door creaked open. "Ich brauche Hilfe!" (What is going on) (I need help)

Clint busted out of his cage and attacked the guard before any more could appear. All the other POWs hesitated just long enough for seven more guards to rush into the room and begin attacking the archer. Bucky and Dugan rushed out to help. Soon there was a large collection of guys fighting it out. Ten men actually used the chaos to run for it. An alarm went off in the base and more and more Germans came out of the woodwork and began dealing with the mess. It didn't take much longer before the Germans took control of everyone and got most back in their cages. Bucky and Clint were the only ones held out. A man walked into the room. Clint almost paled when he realized it was Arnim Zola.

"Bring zem to my lab," Zola demanded, a slightly pleased smile on his face. The whole room burst into cries of outrage but no matter how hard Bucky and Clint fought, the duo were quickly dragged out of the room. Zola's 'lab' was further away from the cells than Clint expected but that didn't stop him from fighting. In fact, the further they went the harder Clint fought. Bucky took his cue and attempted to do so as well. They both failed, especially when some batons got jabbed into both of their guts to make them still enough to be dragged down the hall easier. It worked. Then they got separated.

"CLINT!" Bucky roared the second he realized Clint was getting pulled into a different direction than him.

"BUCK!" Clint screamed back. Both men fought again but they could do nothing about the large amount of guards that shoved them in each room. Clint got one last look of Bucky's horrified face before someone hit him hard in the head and he blacked out.

Coronavirus... Damn... Not sure if schools, daycares and hubby's work being closed will be good for me or not... For now. I'm anxious as all heck.

Darius refused to go to daycare this week on the few days it was open. Didn't want to force him but it was aggravating. Yesterday hubby pulled an all day shift so that he could do inventory in his store. Apparently he will also be doing three more inventories even those his store is officially closed till the end of the month. Currently, Darius is watching his tablet so that I could work on this. He's doing fine. Having fun being home. Making a gigantic mess. Hubby supposedly as plans to use this 'down time' to clean up and finish unpacking the house. I'd like that. Would be nice to finally have this place freaking clean. Would also help to make a list of things we need to buy for either storage or for viewing purposes. We'll see how things go.