Hey guys! A new update just for you!
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Don't say I'm out of touch
With this rampant chaos, your reality
I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge
The nightmare I build my own world to escape
-Imaginary by Evanescence
About three weeks had passed since Ellie's night catastrophe. Since then, there had been at least one more incident every night. No one spoke about it –or at least in front of her. It was just something they had learnt to move away from. As long as she was in the same room as the rest, it was like nothing ever happened the next day.
Each person had a chance to wake her up already. The soft chants had turned into painful screams. They couldn't ignore it, but the process of going to bed, waking up to wake her up and eventually going back to bed became their nightly routine. To avoid turning her bedroom into a complete wreck, she'd successfully removed most of the décor from her room, like lamps, books, boxes and photoframes. Her room was just an empty space with a bed against one , she was up right after the first scream so that nothing around her got damaged.
She thought back to the look on Pepper's face the first night. She'd seen that face an endless amount of times, but somehow never imagined seeing it on one of her dearest friends. Other than that, they all treated her how they always did at first; joking around, teasing, talking and everything in between.
"Ellie."
"Ellie…"
She shook her head snapping out of her thoughts. Right in front of her was Clint, waving his hand in front of her face. She snapped back to where she really was; on a jet with Natasha, Clint and Steve, to do something for Tony. Something that apparently included sneaking around and stealth –two things Stark particularly sucked at.
"Good to have you back," Clint smirked and moved away.
"…You four need to infiltrate Hammer Industries' hidden base to retrieve the blueprints."
"Remind me why Stark can't get his own shit back?" Barton asked, checking the coordinates on the radar.
Natasha, who was checking the parashoots, rolled her eyes. "Because he's a lazy ass, that's why," she responded. The pilot steered the aircraft downwards, toward a safe spot for them to land. "And because he's not a trained agent. The only thing he knows is attacking first, thinking later."
"How far until we reach the base?" Steve intervened on their little conversation, stepping behind the cockpit.
"A few minutes, so hang tight," Clint answered, sighing, "Ellie," he called back. She stood up from her seat and came forward. "Are you taking a parashoot?"
"Uh…do I really need one? I could just teleport, I suppose."
Steve looked at her, nodding once. "Alright. Ellie and I'll push through, Nat, Barton, you two cover us until we get in. Once we're in, you rendezvous with us again and we'll spread out to find the objective. Got it?" Steve went through the plan. The three agents nodded and before they knew it, they reached their destination. The pilot hovered over the land. Ellie vanished and reappeared on the ground –only a few minutes before Steve, Nat and Clint landed.
The four split up into their groups. Natasha and Clint made their way up the heavily fortified walls and took out as many guards as they could. Once she got hold of a sniper rifle, she attached her silencer and got down to work by sniping any oncoming enemies. Clint did the same with his bow. When they had a chance, they used their scopes to survey windows of the building, trying to find their objective. In one window, Clint spotted Justin Hammer walking down the hallway, holding a brief case.
Bingo.
"I have eyes on the target. It's with Hammer."
"No. Wait for Cap's signal. Do not engage."
Clint rolled his eyes and loosened the grip he had on his bow. Natasha swiped her tongue across her bottom lip, holding her sniper rifle closer to her cheek. Meanwhile, Steve had single-handedly taken down a handful of guards while Ellie was positioned further away from everybody, ready to teleport on the Captain's command.
After taking out the last guard, Steve lifted his fist, signaling Clint and Nat to hold on. One nod in Ellie's direction directed her to make an appearance nearby. In a few seconds, she emerged a few feet before him and he quickly caught up.
"We're entering the building now," Steve's voice filled the ears of Natasha and Clint. The two assassins watched as Steve clasped his hands together on top of his knee as he leaned against the wall, allowing Ellie to use it as a boost to climb up the wall.
"I'm up," Ellie announced and got down on her stomach. She grabbed her binoculars from the pouch on her belt and surveyed the area cautiously. "I've got two hostiles making their way around the corner to the left and two more right below me."
"Hawkeye," Cap called out, "make your move."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Clint smirked and loaded another arrow into his bow. With one single shot, both guards were down, leaving only the remaining two he couldn't reach. "What about the other assholes?"
Ellie put her binoculars away and took a deep breath. "I can handle it. I'll open the door once I've secured the outside. Widow, be ready."
"I was born ready, kid."
She crept to the edge of the roof and silently jumped down right behind them. Without a second to spare, she wrapped her arm around one of their necks and used the body as a pole to swing over, kicking the other one in the face. The kicked guy regained some balance while she slammed the man within her grip onto the ground, aggressively slamming the side of his head against the concrete ground, knocking him out instantly.
The second guy whipped out his handgun, but before he could shoot, she kicked him in the crotch and ripped the gun from his as he bent over in pain. He too was quickly knocked out by the butt of his own gun.
"Clint, what's the status of the area?" she asked as she jogged over to the gate to open it.
He checked through his scope, making sure that nobody was around her. "It's clear."
"Good. Cover me," she said, inspecting the door. It was long and silver, without any handles or locks visible. Next to the doorframe, on the wall, was a small computer screen with a keyboard. "Fuck," Ellie huffed, irritably kicking the door. "I need a password. Can anybody get reach Stark?"
Steve took out his radio, trying to get Tony. "Stark, this is Rogers. We need you to hack into the building's security. Romanoff's not equipped."
A couple of seconds later, a familiar, cocky voice intervened. Nat rolled her eyes as soon as she heard his voice. "Well well well," Tony finally responded over the radio, "look who needs me after all."
"Hurry it up, Tony," Natasha sighed. "I'm tired."
"Give me a second," he said. Steve, Ellie, Natasha and Clint waited patiently for Tony's word. Like always, he quickly came through and the locks within the thick, silver gate unlocked. "There you go."
Steve jogged over to Ellie before both began making their way into the actual building. Ellie thanked Tony for his assistance before he went back offline. Steve and Ellie jogged towards the target, cautiously keeping an eye out for any unwanted attention. Of course, Clint and Natasha, who were positioned on top of the walls that surrounded the base, had them covered.
"I'll go around the back," Ellie whispered to Steve, pressing her back against the wall. He stuck his head around the corner to see if the coast was clear and nodded.
"Alright. I'll take the front. Barton, Nat, I need you to –"
"I know old man. We're making our way down now."
Steve sighed. "Right. On my mark, we'll enter at the same time. Do whatever's necessary to acquire the target, got it?" he turned to Ellie for the last bit.
She nodded once. "Got it."
"Alright. Go."
Without a second gone to waste, she disappeared. A few moments later, her voice was back on the line to tell Steve that she was ready. Once he received the news from Natasha and Clint that they were positioned outside two other entrances, he gave the word.
He prepped himself to kick down the door. "On my count. One. Two –"
"Three," Ellie finished it off and they all broke into the building at exactly the same time. On Ellie's side, she was forced to take down three guards with Clint taking out two from where he was. Steve had knocked out a couple by himself and Natasha waited for a chance to make her move...
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Just a filler chapter. We're getting closer, kiddos.
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