Hello guys! I'm ssssoooooo sorry for such a long update! I've tried my best to write as much as I can but I'm neck deep in school work and sports practices/games. I was so relieved when I was able to actually sit down and write again because, believe me, I love writing and I especially love writing this story. Again sorry for the long update and I present to you chapter eight!
disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination
Chapter Eight: Hawkeye
It's hot, like sitting in a truck with no air conditioning in the middle of a Texas summer hot. "Well anything's better than the cold." I think to myself. The events of the past few hours come crashing back to me in an instant and my eyes fly open. I jolt up into a sitting position, nearly knocking Nat to the ground in the process. A searing pain rips through my chest and my hand flies over the injured area. Quickly I recover and I stare at the red head in confusion for a minute before shaking my head.
"Nat? What happened?" She glances towards the door of our jail like cell and I notice the green magic surrounding us. The almost fluorescent color snakes around each bar individually like a flame and in the back of my mind I'm afraid to touch it in fear of getting burned. My attention is brought back to the woman in front of me when she suddenly starts speaking.
"What's the last thing you remember?" I squint my eyes in concentration and finally recall the events that lead to me being released from my earlier prison.
"I remember walking down the hallway with you and getting dizzy." I pause trying to recollect any other information. "After that everything goes blank." She nods slowly.
"Trickshot and Loki brought us here where the others were already waiting." It's at that moment that I notice the rest of the Avengers are huddled around us. They all look to be in pretty rough shape. Cap and Thor have got this haunted look in their eyes and refuse to look me in the eye, Tony's scuffed up with deep gnashes scattered across his torso and arms, Bruce looks pretty fragile with dark circles under his eyes and an assortment of purple bruises. Finally my eyes land on Natasha. She has a gunshot wound in her right thigh along with other gnashes and cuts littering her arms and face, one particularly nasty cut by her hairline is seeping blood down her face and I'm tempted to reach out and wipe it away, but I restrain myself. It takes me a minute to realize that my partner is still talking. "They left right after they dumped you and I here and they haven't come back yet. That was nearly sixteen hours ago." I'm taken aback by her last statement. Every time we've ever encountered these specific group of criminals we've never been left alone for more than four or so hours, if they haven't made another appearance yet it probably means they won't be coming back anytime soon. Natasha sees the gears turning in my head and I know she can tell exactly what I'm thinking. She nods. Dread fills me as I think of the magnitude of problems that this could cause for us. With one glance at my companions I know that they are all thinking the same thing. Tony speaks everyone's thoughts.
"They're leaving us here to die of dehydration, or at least nearly die of dehydration." His words are the last straw for Steve, who stands up and without warning goes barreling into the cell bars. He pounds on the metal trying to break through and I can feel the anger coming off of him in waves. At first no one moves, we're all too stunned at the Captain's sudden violence. Finally my mind snaps back to reality and I jump to my feet, which thankfully will move now that the blood has started to flow again. I reach out and grab hold of his arm trying to stop his onslaught on the cell bars to keep him form injuring himself further.
"Cap! Cap stop!" My pleas land on deaf ears and he continues to wail on the metal. Blood seeps from his knuckles and he's already broken one of his fingers. The others have joined me in trying to subdue him and Thor is finally able to pull him away from his attack. The man struggles against him and Thor frowns. "Steve, calm down! Steve!" At long last my voice reaches his ears and he stops fighting. I watch as all the energy leaves him and he goes limp. I motion towards Thor and the Asguardian release him before taking a step back, startled. Cap's breath is coming out in harsh gasps and he's shaking violently. Quickly I kneel down in front of him and place my hand on his shoulder. "Steve." At first he doesn't look up, he just continues staring at the floor. "Steve." I repeat. The soldier lifts his head.
"It's all my fault." His voice is such a quiet whisper that I'm the only one who hears it. I stare at him, dumbfounded, and mumble the only word that manages to come to my mind.
"What?" He clenches his jaw and grinds his teeth before answering.
"It's my fault that we're here. I should've known that they would've had traps set up, I should've known they'd be expecting us. If I had been a better leader y'all never would've ended up in this position." I shake my head and roll my eyes.
"Enough with this pity party stuff. You should've been a better leader, I should've been more vigilant, every one of us could've done something different and it wouldn't of changed a thing. I'm sick of hearing my team mates blame themselves for things that our enemies set up for us. It's none of our faults. The only people responsible are the ones who set this entire trap up. We had nothing to do with this. You had nothing to do with this. Got it?" My speech immediately seems to sober him up and he nods. The room is stunned into silence after our statements and for a long moment no one speaks. Bruce is the first to take action as he kneels down beside Steve and begins to examine his hands. Blood seeps from cuts on his knuckles caused by the rough metal bars. The red liquid flows down his fingertips where it drips off the tips and onto the ground. Gently the doctor takes Steve's injured appendages into his hands and carefully gauges the severity of his wounds. Without pausing Bruce rips two strips of fabric from his shirt and wraps the fabric around Cap's hands, successfully stopping the bleeding. The super soldier nods gratefully at the man in front of him and the doctor nods. With that taken care of I scoot back slightly so that I'm able to lean against the wall. The structure provides much needed support to my tired body and I let out a sigh. Natasha comes to my side and plants herself down next to me. She places a gentle hand on my thigh and I put my hand on top of hers.
"Are you ok?" Her simple question carries so much weight in a situation like this. What can you say to that when you and your closest friends, really your only friends, are trapped in the middle of an empty compound waiting for them to either come back and finish you off or die of dehydration? I don't relay this to her of course, I simply put on my emotionless mask before answering.
"I'm fine." She scoffs at me.
"You may be able to convince other people of that, Clint, but I'm your partner and you know you can't lie to me." I don't answer her, I choose to close my eyes instead and I'm relieved when she drops the subject. My partner shifts her weight slightly so that she's now leaning against me as well as the wall. I'm grateful for the comfort this gives me. When you end up in situations like this often, as we spies do, it's easy to overlook just how much having someone there with you gives you strength. It gives me hope. Hope that no matter how bad things get in the next few hours I won't have to face it alone. I reposition my hand so that it's no longer resting on top of her's, but intertwined with it. She squeezes my hand softly and I return the gesture. It's in this moment that I fall asleep, my partner by my side, a moment of peace in this hellhole of a place.
Well that's it for chapter nine of Cold as Ice I hope you enjoyed it! Once again I'd like to apologize for how long it's taken me to update. Unfortunately I'm not sure when the next time I'll be able to update will be and I can't promise that it will be any soon. Regardless of that I want to thank everyone who's stuck with me through this story despite the long wait. I would really appreciate some reviews. Thank you